Together with a group of belly dance enthusiast from KL, Alor Setar, Penang, Sarawak, Singapore lead by Paola, we traveled to Cairo, Egypt.
That’s me at Dubai Airport in specs, kind-off blur after 7hrs of flight.
I stayed at a nice Villa while I am at Cairo, Egypt. It’s a 4 storey villa with a swimming pool, a garden & a dance studio in the building itself! The size of the living room is 4 times bigger than a normal living room with 4 sets of different furniture… not sure what for, maybe you can sit & relax at a different feel of environment according to your mood. The only similar thing they have is carpet. Egyptian really loves carpet, & they are famous for producing carpet as well.
Food in Egypt is definitely not my type. I can’t recall what is the name of the food, because all the names are very long and hard to pronounce. There are lot’s of ‘el’, ‘kheir’, ‘keif’, ‘ala’, ‘kr’. It sounds like a kid with no teeth pronouncing the words to me. I only learn 3 words: ‘Shoukran’= Thank You, ‘Naam’= Yes, ‘Laa’= No. So if we say ‘Yes Lah’, it means ‘Yes & No?’ Haha…. (I think I am confusing everybody :P)
Shopping at Khan el Khalili. It’s like a Bazaar, similar to Petaling Street in KL. You can actually get anything from there, from little souvenirs to expensive belly dance costumes. What you need to master before you shop there is your bargaining skills. And girls will have to be careful with their belongings & don’t walk alone. Egyptian guys are VERY ‘CHARMING’ indeed.
Taking a drink at El Fishawi, one of the oldest café at Khan el Kalili. It’s like coffee bean/ starbucks in ancient time.
Other interesting places that I visited:
The Pyramids & The Sphinx; Step Pyramid
The Citadel; The Hanging Church. This church rest on the bastion of a Roman Gate.
Ibn Tulun Mosque. We have to take off our shoes or wrap it up with plastic.
Belly Dance Show at Nile Maxim Cruise Restaurant. I was drag up to dance, a great experience to improvise on the spot as most Egyptian belly soloist didn’t pre-choreograph their performance.
This is the Tanura dancers. It’s an egyption folk dance where the Tanura dancer can spin for a really long time and did some tricks with his skirt. It’s like they are spinning and doing tricks with a very big piece of colourful ‘Roti Canai’.
Other than all these interesting places and dance shows, I’ve attended an intensive crash course for oriental dance/belly dance. It includes lectures and training, both theory and practical of oriental dance. Personally, this course gives me a better understanding of the dance history, the music, the instrument, the rhythm, the costumes, and interpretation of the music into dance styles. Not so much on dance technique but the theory and culture behind oriental dance.
In short, it’s a wonderful experience, great excitement, valuable knowledge gain; but a pain in my pocket! Especially the costumes…
