The first thing we did when we got off the plane in South America was run outside to feel the warmth. That’s when Takashi started screaming, “I love you Brazil!” at the top of his lungs. We were surprised with 2 Smirnoff buses, branded, telling the world what we were doing. As I put my head out the window to feel the warm breeze, people were looking me, knowing I was a Smirnoff Ten member- and it felt good.
The first couple of days in Brazil were a little hectic, however I enjoyed every minute of it. We first went to a hotel in the heart of Sao Paulo. What amazed me was my window view: I had my own gateway to about 200 apartments. Every time I would look outside my window I could see what the world was doing, whether it was a guy eating, a mother playing with her kids, or someone who should have closed their window. Either way it was way more entertaining then watching TV. I found myself watching the world go about their everyday life.
Unfortunately we couldn’t stay there so we moved to a hotel in another district where I had the chance to get my own room. Guys, when you live with ten people in a cramped space it kind of bums you out, so having my own room felt good. However I still found my room with Smirnoff members- and even some sleepovers. I guess it just shows that I can’t get enough of them. However, once again, we stayed there for two nights and we were off to our last destination where we spent the rest of our time. It was called Formula 1.
One weekend the group decided to rent a bungalow in a little beach town called Santos. Part of the journey included taking a boat ride. The group really felt rejuvenated. We all lived in one house where we could cook and be with each other instead of being in separate rooms (sometimes on different floors). Those were our accommodations- now let’s get to the nightlife!
I must have gone to about 10 different clubs and a rave called xxxeslence. I really felt like I completely took Brazil for what it had to offer. The nightlife in Sao Paulo is absolutely shocking! I didn’t know what I had gotten myself into until I went out.
In Brazil they have a traditional type of music called Samba. It consists of about 5 to 12 people on stage with instruments, singing together in perfect harmony. But what really got me was the people. You have to picture yourself in a club with thousands of people and watching them all sing the songs that the artists were singing. It was nice to get away from my usual type of music and hear something that just instantly got me off, my feet dancing to every rhythm and beat…beat beat beat.
I don’t know where to start when it comes to the clubs in Brazil. All I can say is that people know how to party. I can’t say that there was one bad night in Brazil. Everything just seemed to amaze me.
Sunday, 16 December 2007
Monday, 3 December 2007
BUENOS ARIES
Alright folks! Argentiiiiina! Well people, once again my history on Argentina is pretty minimal, but as usual I embrace the world with open arms and let it captivate me for what it is. You see, the advantage of not knowing is not judging. When you hear about a city it’s easy to make your own opinion about it. However, in this particular case I was clueless and that’s the fun part about this experience, not knowing.
So let me try to paint a picture Buenos Aires; a gorgeous city and probably one of the places I could see myself living. The city looks like it was built in the 60’s to 80’s with a hint of French architecture but for some reason all construction stopped. Argentina is the 8th biggest country in the world with a population of about 12 million living in just Buenos Aries. All that could mean is more clubs, bars, and original nightlife. The people were friendly, the steak was to die for and surprisingly I met a lot of people that I could easily converse with in English.
There was one night where me and Takashi were coming back from a party and we completely forgot our address…there we were in a cab panicking because the meter was increasing by the second and we were running low on cash. We couldn’t really call anyone so we started to empty every pocket lights… smokes… receipts… camera… camera? That’s when I started to go through all my pictures and I came across a restaurant right near our house but it wasn't too clear. Then when we started to go through Takashi's camera and found a better angle, showed that to the driver and we were soon on our way to 4802 Guemes…Good times.
Before I get to the whole nightlife scene, Kung - A.K.A Ben A.K.A Thai Ben - was the director of the Buenos Aries video and with a little help from Ania we found ourselves at lovely lady called Natalia's house/garage to teach us the Tango. I'll be honest, Tango's not my cup of tea - however it has a memorable night and it was fun to get up close and personal with the ladies. I haven’t had a chance to use my lessons since that night, but I feel like I understand the traditional Argentinean dance that much more. Later on that night Natalia took us to a tango restaurant called Le Cathedral which became what it is today because of the market crash in 2001. The main room was electrifying. Here we have an old cathedral turned into a massive tango dinner hall, with beautiful old wood flooring and a massive open feeling.
In spite of that, what made this place original was that the tango music was mixed with an electronic beat - with time everything gets a twist and we got to see it first hand. What a night.
There is just so much in Buenos Aries that to leave a night out would be unjustifiable. One night we had VIP passes to an exclusive party held by MTV called La Zone de Combate. For us the highlight was finding out who would have the opportunity to come to Mexico with us for the final elimination on becoming the 9th member in the Smirnoff experience. That night we got a lot of work done and you can watch it in our video on the city. We were so pumped up and I guess proud in an innocent way. Keep in mind that this was a fairly early video in our production team, and to see us all working together as one single unit gave me a sense of pride. But the night wasn’t just all work and no play. We’re here to make original content while having fun so after all the production work was done it was time to hit up our VIP status in the white-couched, free drinks arena and so we did. We danced, sang, took pictures and got to know a little more about the Fanz (people who were hoping to be the 9th member). All in all I didn't want the night to end so I grabbed Takashi and Kung and we hit up the after party, which was held at the hotel where the Fanz were staying. I wish you could see the footage but unfortunately it didn’t make the final cut, either way, it was a sick night; over 50 people crammed into a hotel room talking, bonding, flirting, drinking, having good times with all different agendas. I mean there were us, the Smirnoff Ten, the Fanz that wanted to join us, and the bands who wanted nothing more than a record deal. That night I made a lot of really good friends.
There was this one contestant called Fez, who invited Takashi, Steph and I to see DJ Tiesto play at a party, but this was not your average party. People might find this weird, but this was the night where I discovered the underground scene of Argentina. Over 20,000 people from all over the country came to see Tiesto do what he does best under the stars. Unfortunately we got lost and the night ended with me and Steph trying to make our way through the crowd looking for the rest of the group. It was okay though, because we saw Doug - who was someone I met back at the hostel and was really cool - he partied with us and helped us clear the way when we wanted to move from one corner to the next. Doug if you're out there, thanks and good times! Tiesto... what a night, it was something I won't forget and I will appreciate it for the rest of time. It personally gave me the feeling of a night out with Argentina and the experience of dancing under the stars. Honestly I could talk about the night for a chapter, however I’ll keep it for the stream of consciousness for my memoirs. Either way Argentina blew my mind away, and I had the opportunity to meet wonderful people with extreme talent from all over South America.
So let me try to paint a picture Buenos Aires; a gorgeous city and probably one of the places I could see myself living. The city looks like it was built in the 60’s to 80’s with a hint of French architecture but for some reason all construction stopped. Argentina is the 8th biggest country in the world with a population of about 12 million living in just Buenos Aries. All that could mean is more clubs, bars, and original nightlife. The people were friendly, the steak was to die for and surprisingly I met a lot of people that I could easily converse with in English.
There was one night where me and Takashi were coming back from a party and we completely forgot our address…there we were in a cab panicking because the meter was increasing by the second and we were running low on cash. We couldn’t really call anyone so we started to empty every pocket lights… smokes… receipts… camera… camera? That’s when I started to go through all my pictures and I came across a restaurant right near our house but it wasn't too clear. Then when we started to go through Takashi's camera and found a better angle, showed that to the driver and we were soon on our way to 4802 Guemes…Good times.
Before I get to the whole nightlife scene, Kung - A.K.A Ben A.K.A Thai Ben - was the director of the Buenos Aries video and with a little help from Ania we found ourselves at lovely lady called Natalia's house/garage to teach us the Tango. I'll be honest, Tango's not my cup of tea - however it has a memorable night and it was fun to get up close and personal with the ladies. I haven’t had a chance to use my lessons since that night, but I feel like I understand the traditional Argentinean dance that much more. Later on that night Natalia took us to a tango restaurant called Le Cathedral which became what it is today because of the market crash in 2001. The main room was electrifying. Here we have an old cathedral turned into a massive tango dinner hall, with beautiful old wood flooring and a massive open feeling.
In spite of that, what made this place original was that the tango music was mixed with an electronic beat - with time everything gets a twist and we got to see it first hand. What a night.
There is just so much in Buenos Aries that to leave a night out would be unjustifiable. One night we had VIP passes to an exclusive party held by MTV called La Zone de Combate. For us the highlight was finding out who would have the opportunity to come to Mexico with us for the final elimination on becoming the 9th member in the Smirnoff experience. That night we got a lot of work done and you can watch it in our video on the city. We were so pumped up and I guess proud in an innocent way. Keep in mind that this was a fairly early video in our production team, and to see us all working together as one single unit gave me a sense of pride. But the night wasn’t just all work and no play. We’re here to make original content while having fun so after all the production work was done it was time to hit up our VIP status in the white-couched, free drinks arena and so we did. We danced, sang, took pictures and got to know a little more about the Fanz (people who were hoping to be the 9th member). All in all I didn't want the night to end so I grabbed Takashi and Kung and we hit up the after party, which was held at the hotel where the Fanz were staying. I wish you could see the footage but unfortunately it didn’t make the final cut, either way, it was a sick night; over 50 people crammed into a hotel room talking, bonding, flirting, drinking, having good times with all different agendas. I mean there were us, the Smirnoff Ten, the Fanz that wanted to join us, and the bands who wanted nothing more than a record deal. That night I made a lot of really good friends.
There was this one contestant called Fez, who invited Takashi, Steph and I to see DJ Tiesto play at a party, but this was not your average party. People might find this weird, but this was the night where I discovered the underground scene of Argentina. Over 20,000 people from all over the country came to see Tiesto do what he does best under the stars. Unfortunately we got lost and the night ended with me and Steph trying to make our way through the crowd looking for the rest of the group. It was okay though, because we saw Doug - who was someone I met back at the hostel and was really cool - he partied with us and helped us clear the way when we wanted to move from one corner to the next. Doug if you're out there, thanks and good times! Tiesto... what a night, it was something I won't forget and I will appreciate it for the rest of time. It personally gave me the feeling of a night out with Argentina and the experience of dancing under the stars. Honestly I could talk about the night for a chapter, however I’ll keep it for the stream of consciousness for my memoirs. Either way Argentina blew my mind away, and I had the opportunity to meet wonderful people with extreme talent from all over South America.
Monday, 12 November 2007
Kareem’s travel to London
So I made it through the London Selection Process. You know that feeling when you make it? Or get something you want and you take that deep breath; you breathe deeply in and then excel out slowly? And while you’re breathing out, it feels like all that anxiety and those over exaggerated negative thoughts just leave you. And you’re left with the sense that everything is going to be alright? Well that’s how I felt.
Now that my worst fears are over it was time to confront my parents and friends, how was I to tell them I was going to leave them for a year? Not be there to see both of my sisters’ second children being born, everyone’s birthdays, Ramadan, Eid, Christmas, parties, events, most importantly just being a member of my family and friends. I guess for them life still goes on; I might be gone, but everyone else is there.
Now that my worst fears are over it was time to confront my parents and friends, how was I to tell them I was going to leave them for a year? Not be there to see both of my sisters’ second children being born, everyone’s birthdays, Ramadan, Eid, Christmas, parties, events, most importantly just being a member of my family and friends. I guess for them life still goes on; I might be gone, but everyone else is there.
Sunday, 16 September 2007
Pre London
No one ever said it was going to be short…
Alright ladies and gents…how do I begin to tell you the story of my life? Well it all started one after noon randomly surfing the Internet, as millions of people do each and every day of their lives. However this day was not your average day, to me it was the day that landed me my ideal job. Smirnoff was holding a contest looking for the most original people in various fields related to travelling the globe, filming their experiences and exploring for original nightlife. As I stared at the computer screen, my eyes started to glaze and sparks were flying, something just told me this was what I wanted to do. Within ten minutes I had my sister over who is like my life adviser to revise my video, she loved it of course, I was myself and I was real. However I do have to pay my dues because she did help me choose a better song. Thanks Sis… and Timbaland ;).
Waiting impatiently, I decided to email Smirnoff asking them why I never got a confirmation email. Lucky doing so got their attention and I resubmitted my application, which lead to a phone call and an audition over the phone through a conference call. Now as excited as a person can be - in these kinds of situations you cant help but feel a little nervous. So how did I sleep? Well I do recall sleeping about 3 hours that night, my mother was trying to reassure me that everything was going to be okay and a friend of mine in Toronto was up with me all night trying to over analyze the question part of my interview. Yeah I might have over reacted you can say, but this was a life changing experience and it was okay.
It turns out I was over reacting - the interview went as good as it could. We laughed, we got serious, we conversed and there was no dead silence, nor awkward pauses. Then the worst part of every person’s life was now upon me “the waiting game”... Then millions of phone calls started pouring in from every person I over excitedly told about the opportunity. People I knew, people I didn’t know, family, and friends of friends… it seemed like everyone was more excited then I was. They anxiously asked ‘did they call? Did they?’ I could get away from this…I was in too deep. So why did I tell the world? Well I guess some part of me wanted this so much that I needed the world to tell me I could do this (I was EXCITED). Nothing in this life is stable or constant - everything changes, and as confident as you can be you always need to tell yourself to be positive and that I was.
One thing lead to another and by the time I knew it, I was on the plane to London England. Me… Kareem Minhas on an international flight for the first time flying to London. Whoa…No family, no friends, nothing but me and my dreams and aspirations of one day becoming a broadcaster travelling the world.
Alright ladies and gents…how do I begin to tell you the story of my life? Well it all started one after noon randomly surfing the Internet, as millions of people do each and every day of their lives. However this day was not your average day, to me it was the day that landed me my ideal job. Smirnoff was holding a contest looking for the most original people in various fields related to travelling the globe, filming their experiences and exploring for original nightlife. As I stared at the computer screen, my eyes started to glaze and sparks were flying, something just told me this was what I wanted to do. Within ten minutes I had my sister over who is like my life adviser to revise my video, she loved it of course, I was myself and I was real. However I do have to pay my dues because she did help me choose a better song. Thanks Sis… and Timbaland ;).
Waiting impatiently, I decided to email Smirnoff asking them why I never got a confirmation email. Lucky doing so got their attention and I resubmitted my application, which lead to a phone call and an audition over the phone through a conference call. Now as excited as a person can be - in these kinds of situations you cant help but feel a little nervous. So how did I sleep? Well I do recall sleeping about 3 hours that night, my mother was trying to reassure me that everything was going to be okay and a friend of mine in Toronto was up with me all night trying to over analyze the question part of my interview. Yeah I might have over reacted you can say, but this was a life changing experience and it was okay.
It turns out I was over reacting - the interview went as good as it could. We laughed, we got serious, we conversed and there was no dead silence, nor awkward pauses. Then the worst part of every person’s life was now upon me “the waiting game”... Then millions of phone calls started pouring in from every person I over excitedly told about the opportunity. People I knew, people I didn’t know, family, and friends of friends… it seemed like everyone was more excited then I was. They anxiously asked ‘did they call? Did they?’ I could get away from this…I was in too deep. So why did I tell the world? Well I guess some part of me wanted this so much that I needed the world to tell me I could do this (I was EXCITED). Nothing in this life is stable or constant - everything changes, and as confident as you can be you always need to tell yourself to be positive and that I was.
One thing lead to another and by the time I knew it, I was on the plane to London England. Me… Kareem Minhas on an international flight for the first time flying to London. Whoa…No family, no friends, nothing but me and my dreams and aspirations of one day becoming a broadcaster travelling the world.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)