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Marketing

Riad is a traditional Moroccan house or palace with an interior garden, you can find many riads in Marrakesh which converted to hotel.

Riad Dar One, i have to say it is one of my top 10 hotel in the world.

However there is a story to this secret jewel. First, if you decided to go, please don't be afraid to ask direction to how to get there. it is not on the main street, taxi can't take you to the door. the best is call ahead to ask someone to pick you up at the nearby Bahia Palace.

After our horror stories in Casablanca we were not prepare to be friendly and ask.

Especially we were surrounded by people left and right, whom they claimed to try to help us. However after few circles we have to stop and pick a person to ask for direction, we picked a store owner figured he should not do any harm to us other than asking for tip to guide us to the hotel.

Unfortunately, he do not know the location/ nor heard of this hotel,other than telling us we are in the right area based on the address. THIS IS JUST GREAT. A man walked up and asked the store owner if he can help, this man said that he is willing to take us to the hotel, some strange man walking by. yes this didn't sound right.
the store owner suggested to walk with us and follow this strange man. (yes i know, trust me being a new yorker all i can think of these 2 men had this plan all along they are just going to take all our bags and rape us.) but we have no choice, we risk it and follow 2 men to narrow alleyway. Were we stupid, maybe.

At the end of the alleyway we got to a gate where few teenager boys were sitting there, yes look like they wants some money from us in order for them to open the gate. at that moment we both were deciding if we should turn and run or just stop there and say thank you and walk backward. but the store owner told us to wait and he will check out the path beyond the gate, he didn't have to pay the boys they opened the door for him just like that. my friend and i was staring at each other and we know that we have to make a move soon. we waited at the gate, within 30 second but felt like 30 min the store owner returned and led the way.

we see more narrow alleyway, we followed..... my friend and i can hear each other heartbeat.

after 30 steps on so, someone opened one of the door... and here we are this is what we saw.

It was cloudy and overcast in the DC area today, perfect weather for curling up on the couch and watching old movies. I love old B&W movies. Directors and cinematographers back then did absolutely amazing things with light and shadow ('Casablanca' is one of the best examples of this) that modern filmakers just ignore. When I lived at home my parents could never understand why I always watched old movies and tv shows. At some point they would invariably shake their heads and say "I don't know why we bothered buying a color tv when everything you watch is in black and white."

I think Turner Classic Movies is my favorite tv channel. If I'm not watching an old movie on TCM, then I'm probably watching sports. I don't really watch much broadcast tv anymore. 'The Amazing Race' and '24' are about the only series I still follow. I gave up on 'Lost' after the second season. I don't really miss it.

This movie is 'Hotel Berlin' and it's from 1945. It's all about layers and levels of intrigue, schemes, and plots taking place among a group of people from different walks of life in a grand hotel in Berlin toward the end of WWII, most of whom are looking to get the hell outta Germany before it's too late. It was pretty good. It had been sitting on my DVR for a while, but tonight I finally got around to watching it (BTW, DVRs get my vote for most awesome invention of the past few years).

Now it's time to dash downstairs to the convenience store in the basement of my apartment building and grab a pint of Ben & Jerry's before they close. Then I'll browse through the list of movies waiting on my DVR and see what I want to watch next. It's a Friday night double-feature at my place -- bring your own ice cream and join in the fun.

(October 24, 2008)