Johannesburg Joins Emirates A380's travel list

Johannesburg welcomed its first scheduled Emirates A380 service yesterday, as flight EK761 from Dubai arrived at O R Tambo International Airport.

Johannesburg, the economic powerhouse of South Africa, is the first destination for the double-decker in Africa and the sixteenth destination on the Emirates A380 network.

“The demand for Emirates’ services in and out of Johannesburg has always been high, with passenger growth of more than 27 percent over the last year. It is fitting that our A380 is now serving South Africa and we would like to thank the Department of Transport and OR Tambo International Airport for their efforts in enabling us to bring this exceptional aircraft to Johannesburg,” said Jean Luc Grillet, Emirates’ Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Africa.

“The UAE and South Africa’s strong and successful relationship has been built on the twin pillars of trade and tourism. In introducing our flagship aircraft and the extra capacity it offers, Emirates will help to further boost this important partnership,” added Mr Grillet.

Over the last year, Emirates has carried more than 900,000 passengers across its three South African gateways – Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg. In the first eight months of 2011, the airline also carried more than 37,500 tonnes of high value cargo on its South African routes, with exports up 26 percent from the same period in 2010.

So far in 2011, Emirates has launched passenger flights to Basra, Geneva and Copenhagen. St Petersburg will be launched on 1st November, followed by Baghdad on 13th November; and Dublin, Rio and Buenos Aires in January 2012. Emirates' 20th and 21st destinations within Africa - Lusaka and Harare - will launch on 1st February 2012.

The Johannesburg A380 service will operate daily as EK 761, departing Dubai at 0440hrs (local time) and arriving at O R Tambo International Airport at 1050hrs (local). The return flight, EK762, departs Johannesburg at 1410hrs (local) and arrives in Dubai at 0010hrs (local) the following day.

BLOW YOUR OWN HORN: The Nokia Dado- Dado C2-00; The experience.

BLOW YOUR OWN HORN: The Nokia Dado- Dado C2-00; The experience.: The Nokia C2-OO dabo-dabo dual SIM, Easy Swap, one sim goes under the battery and the other on the side. When I heard this advert, my first...

The Nokia Dado- Dado C2-00; The experience.

The Nokia C2-OO dabo-dabo dual SIM, Easy Swap, one sim goes under the battery and the other on the side. When I heard this advert, my first expression was oh now that’s new innovation; I can place another sim without affecting the functionality of the other but that was it another Chinese phone on the market!

Then I was told this was an original Nokia phone, I picked interest in it but still had my reservations. The appearance of the phone did not catch my attention and being the African I am (African eyes are in their hands) I asked for a one week trial of the phone and before I knew it, I was owning the phone.

I am not the gadget freak, but I do know nice gadgets. This Nokia Dabo Dabo can does it for me. Not only does this Nokia have a long battery life, but also good sound I mean really good sound. Over the weekend, we had a house party when UMEME decides to do justice; I just put on my Nokia Dabo Dabo and the party was back on. That is good sound!

Then comes the strong pixels of the camera, MP3 unlike the other double phonesI I was accustomed to this one has a provision for blue tooth as well as access to the internet. What else would one want in a phone? A one- stop communication shop.
24 months warranty; am I seeing that right? Which phone in Uganda would offer you this?

With the Nokia Dabo Dabo surely good things come in small packages.

BLOW YOUR OWN HORN: BLOW YOUR OWN HORN: And Another Candle Lit

BLOW YOUR OWN HORN: BLOW YOUR OWN HORN: And Another Candle Lit: BLOW YOUR OWN HORN: And Another Candle Lit : "Today, I look in the mirror, Older than I was yesterday, And it is, The return of my birthday,...

Emirates' A380 Double-Decker to Serve Rome

27th July 2011 –

Emirates, one of the fastest growing airlines in the world, announced today that the historic capital city of Rome will be the next destination slated for its flagship A380 aircraft. The daily A380 service will start 1st December 2011.

The announcement of Emirates’ first permanent scheduled A380 service to Italy comes on the back of its momentous June 6th landing at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport to mark the celebrations for its 50th anniversary, while commemorating 150 years of Italian unification.

“The permanent service of the Emirates' A380 to Rome underscores our commitment to Italy, having served this ever-growing market since 1992. The new A380 service will enable travellers to enjoy the unparalleled on-board amenities in all classes and the great connectivity of our network via the Dubai hub,” said Salem Obaidalla, Emirates' Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Europe & Russian Federation. “We would like to express our gratitude to the airport authorities who have strategically upgraded their infrastructure to accommodate the A380. This purposeful investment will help to strengthen the economic ties and tourism links between the UAE and Italy.”

"This is a further confirmation of the successful relationship between Emirates and Aeroporti di Roma," said Elia Pistola, Aviation Director of ADR. "This represents a further development of the Emirates' presence at Leonardo da Vinci Airport. Rome airport is the first Italian airport that can accomodate an A380 with the complete operating infrastructure. The new dedicated double bridge is a strategic investment for our airport, since the A380 is the best aircraft to serve the growing key markets where Emirates operates via Dubai."

Rome is currently served twice daily by Emirates. Coupled with a double daily service to Milan and a daily flight to Venice, the 35 weekly frequencies contribute to a US$ 4.6 billion trade relationship between Italy and the UAE.

The A380 service will operate daily as EK 97, departing Dubai at 0910hrs (local time) and arriving at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport at 1235hrs (local). The return flight, EK 98, departs Rome at 1435hrs (local) and arrives in Dubai at 2305hrs (local). The arrival time of the A380 in Dubai will allow passengers from Italy to connect to its extensive network of destinations in the Far East.

With 15 A380s currently in its fleet, Emirates is the largest operator of the environmentally friendly double-decker aircraft, operating services from Dubai to London Heathrow (double-daily), Manchester, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Toronto, Seoul, Bangkok, Beijing, Shanghai, Jeddah, New York, Hong Kong, Sydney and Auckland.

From 1st October 2011, the A380 will begin serving Johannesburg, followed by Kuala Lumpur as of 1st December and then from 1st January 2012, the A380 will be deployed on the Munich route.

So far in 2011, Emirates has launched passenger flights to Basra and Geneva. Services to Copenhagen will commence on 1st August and St Petersburg will be launched on 1st November, followed by Baghdad on 13th November, and Rio and Buenos Aires in January 2012.

The land the war-men chose to till

The land the war men chose to till.
This land I call home.
Tearing through the scrubs in search for blood,
Taking with them anything they come across,
And yet all this they say in the name of justice,
What is justice, if you kill your own mother?
Brothers turn against brothers,
Gunshots rocks the skys,
The days are dark,
In this lands the war-men chose to till.

The harvest of their work,
Is sorrow, pain and loss,
The justice we get is the chopped lips, ears and limbs,
Hatred is sown and death is harvested,
In these lands the war-men chose to till.
The dances that once filled the air are gone,
Laughter gone,
And yet 22 years, these war-men chose to till,
Their own homeland,
In the name of Justice.


22 years past,
The war-men are gone,
What is left to harvest; pain, sorrow, and agony
In the land they chose to call home.

In this fields, the laughter that was long gone,
Now returns,
The sound of children playing fills the airs,
And yet behind all this lies a dark memory,
One that nothing can erase,
Not even the strong detergent can wash away,
A memory that perhaps we will live and die with,
A toil that reaped nothing but pain,
In this lands I call home.

Three blind mice

See how they run,
A round the V offices,
The chinese rat, the nkoko muzungu and the main,
Now that the cat is away,
Its time to play.

BLOW YOUR OWN HORN: And Another Candle Lit

BLOW YOUR OWN HORN: And Another Candle Lit: "Today, I look in the mirror, Older than I was yesterday, And it is, The return of my birthday, which you have made me remember. It fills ..."

And Another Candle Lit

Today,
I look in the mirror,
Older than I was yesterday,
And it is,
The return of my birthday,
which you have made me remember.
It fills me with thoughts which
seems to be the general care of humanity to escape.

They say your birthday is just one day in the 365 day,
So just walk through it,
But this one my heart is heavy,
And I don’t know why,
But yet one thing for sure,
Another candle added.

When I was younger I wished I was older,
But now that am older,
I want to be younger,
The cares of this world weigh down on me,
The wiser I become,
The more dangerous it is for me
And yet one thing I know,
A candle I have added.

And now an older me,
Looking deep into the mirror,
Looking into the future,
Thoughts of the general care of humanity,
And yet, there are many more candles to be added,
It is no longer about that birthday cake,
But the candles burning out.

I know

You know you know it that it is wrong but you still go for it
You know you know it that you are looking for danger but you still go on
You know you know it that he will hurt you but you still fall in love with him
You know you know it that he is hurting you but you won’t look away
You know you know it that you have to leave but you are still stuck there
You know you know it that you are dying inside but he keeps you living
And before you know it you are stuck with him for good
Vampire Love!

Seasons

Years do run fast
Seasons do come and go;
The weather changes too
And so does everyone around me.

So why the empty promises
So why swear this undying love for me
The unchanging love
Yet we all know;
We all know,
People we change.

Amour lets no go through this again
Cause I know it and you do too
Seasons come and go!

Love gone

Love divine,
Oh love excelling!
But where is this love?
The love the old hymes have re-echoed,
Love that knows no boundaries,
Love, the word we love to talk about,
Love that sees no fault,
Love that cures the wiry,
Love that binds us together,
Love that casts away all evil
Oh love!
That word love we love to love.

Gone by the season

Yesterday,
I saw her green and titivated in pink,
Confidently she stands,
Like a beauty queen,
Swaying left and right in a rhythmatic motion,
A beauty no eye can ignore,
Even the best designer could never come up with such an idea,

Today,
Where is the beauty
I saw yesterday.
Withered and stripped of all her glory,
Her petal blown away by the wind,
A lone she stands,
Green and plain,
No on notices her.

Then comes an old woman,
Frail and feeble,
She hands me the withered flower.
Yesterday I was that blossom you are,
And today;
Oh beauty,
Just for a season.

Devine
Like a titan,
He walked up to me,
Eyes on me like an eagle eyeing its prey,
The handshake firm and yet smooth
His voice rythmatic like the grand harp played in Rwot’s court yard
Yet piercing like the obiya by the lake.
Dumb folded I stood smiling like a dummy
What spell have you casted on me

His teeth white like the first harvest maize
His warmth consumed me like the morning sun
His breath…………
And before he could undo his spell
Like the wind he disappeared
Gone!
Leaving me on my own

My heart he took with him
His presence he left with me
You, heart thief
When will you return to me, my heart
When do I get it back,
Remove this spell from me; you thief
‘Cause I want me back.

Purposeless Life

East, North, south, west the wind moves,
Taking with it everything it comes across
Tearing through the universal in random motion
So is a man without a purpose
Like the wind, he goes where ever life takes him.


So what is your purpose in life,
What purpose do you have in life,
What has life in store for you,
What legacy will you leave behind,
A purposeless life is lifeless life.

Poisoned wells or potion wells


The first discovery of oil in Uganda was documented in the 1920s by a Government geologist E.J Wayland. The easiest reference to oil was at Kibiro on the shores of L. Albert. Here it was discovered that there are five oil and one gas seepages in the Kaiso- Tonya area and three oil seeps which indicate that mature organic source rocks are present in the Graben and that some of them have generated and expelled oil. Kibiro also has oil saturated sands; oil impregnated sandstones and fractured gneisses have also been found along the kabyosi, Warwire and Hohwa in the Kaiso-Tonya relay ramp, along the shores of L. Albert.

The discovery of oil in the Albertin region has caused a lot of excitement among the locals as well as the entire country. This has raised expectations about infrastructural development, employment and a better living for locals. If the cash from the oil is well managed, then it could transform the economy, bring about infrastructural development, jobs and increase on our revenues. It also provides the country an opportunity for the mitigation of shocks from international oil and gas prices together with generation of revenues that will support other sectors of the economy like agriculture resulting into poverty eradication and achievement of a sustainable development if well managed. But will these well be a blessing as we have all anticipated? The trends in most African countries show that these wells are actually a curse, look at Durfur, Nigeria, Angola we can go on and on.

Nicholas Shaxson said in his book The Poisoned Wells stated that producing oil is a bit like taking cocaine: if you are healthy, it might invigorate you, but if you are weak or sick, as many African countries are, it can seriously harm you…Oil can also be like heroin: the injection of cash from each cargo delivers a feeling of wellbeing, but the effect over time is addictive…, some countries like Indonesia have managed and even broken the addiction, but again the record in Africa is dismal. It is with no doubt that is assertion is true for the African countries. Nicholas Shaxson is a born Malawian therefore his approach is from the indigenous point of view. He cites examples of African oil producing countries and sees how oil has destroyed the economy, there are a few rich people who have taken the bigger share of the cake will a few are nibbling on the left-overs.

However he cites examples of countries like Sweden, Botswana and Indonesia who have escaped from this syndrome. Uganda should therefore look towards these Countries for direction.

But the question remains that are we ready for this big volume of money that is going to be injected into our blood streams?

Graduation! What you have all been waiting for....

Finally, the day has come after 18 years of waiting. I finally get to be called a graduad and wear that prestigious gown. Looking at myself in the mirrior all dressed up in my gown, I could see the little girl in her checked dress sitting next to teacher Alice listening attentively to the words of wisdom that is to lead her to Makerere.

Read a book as a bee on a flower, you will harvest what you planted am like a hunter with a book as a shield and the pen is my spear. She would ask us to echo these words after her daily. Today all these word have come a fresh in my mind and for the first time in life, they really make sense to me, I am finally harvesting from my 18 years of tilling. It hasn't been easy I must say; my mother always says farmers do not break, they just bend; incase of a bad harvest, they bend but a good harvest will bring them back to their feet. Just like a farmer, education has never been easy: the stress, long hours of study, disappointments, and etc. But the fact that I have reached this day makes me an achiever.

Teacher Alice, I have finally killed the hunt. But it isn't that big am going for a bigger kill.

How would you want the world to be.

Everyone would want to live in paradise, not so. But I think this would be boring. Imagine a world with no uncertainities, everything is on a silver plate, a world where we trust everyone, no one above anyone. Imagine a world where you dont have to think coz someone is doing that for you, just imagine such a world. Being a hassler isn't the best thiing but I guess thats the beauty of life, struggling and then there is your golden prize, just imagine that look you would have on your face. Oh how sweet victory taste. Thats the kind of world I prefer. You work hard and yield result, sit back and ya!

What do u think. Do U agree or not.

How I wish we were an egg!

How I wish we were an egg you and me,
Me the embyrm and you the york
Protecting me from harm;
And the the chalanzer holding our love together
The egg white giving us the most conducive environment
For our love.
Oh how I wish we were an egg
Everyone would admire us and love us
Only if we were an egg.
Our love would be the egg shell
Keeping us together
And protecting us from all around
And so delicate no one willing to distory it,
Only how I wish we were an egg
Me and you.