Desi's in the Arab Land

Recognizing the Enemy

2010-08-12T01:00:00.000-07:00

I know we all have seen these videos.But in my experience i need to be reminded again and again how to fight the real enemy. I have noticed that i need to keep on reading such things and seeing such videos in which i need to be reminded what I need to do.

So when feeling a little lazy during ramadan or any other time of the year to offer our prayers. Remember Shaitan is straying us from our path. May Allah be with us all.

HAPPY RAMADAN

2010-08-11T06:06:00.000-07:00

A happy and blessed ramadan to all the muslims sisters and brothers of the world.

Please Remember the people affected by floods in Pakistan in your prayers in this holy month. May Allah take away their pain and sufferin. Ameen

Recognizing the enemy

2010-08-06T01:46:00.000-07:00

From the time we were small we have been told the story of the devil/shiatan/satan. Of how he disobeyed Allah and promised to depath the mankind in every possible way. My depiction for a long time of these possible ways were small. I never imagined the devil having much knowledge. To me devil was always the little red guy with horns over my left shoulder telling me to lie, miss a prayer, hurt someone and all the things we these days NORMALLY do and dont THINK about much. We alwasy know someone who is worse than us and thats makes it alright.

But my perception was changed after watching a series called "THE ARRIVALS". It a series of documentaries REINTRODUCING us to our true enemy. I will call it a reintroduction because i think we all have forgotten about him. Yes we know that there is a devil that tells us to do wrong things, and yes we know that he will be locked in the holy month of ramadan. But that was all i knew about him.

The Arrivals is made by a team of three young Muslim men. In this documentary they explain how depathing works. They made me realize how powerful the devil really is. How knowledgeable he really is, How schemeing can he really be.

I think Infromation is the best defence against any war. I call it a war because it is a war. The devil IS doing its best to make us choose the wrong path. But we humans are fighting the wrong enemy. We are fighting among ourselves. The enemy is not muslims or christians or the jews or any body else. The satan promised to depath the mankind. The people ALLAH made.People who will do right, people who try to do right.

I would insist my readers to watch the series. It is not made that professioaly but it is worth the watch. I would love to have your comments as well. I want to be a good muslim and i need your help.

Ramadam Kareem

Pakistan Floods

2010-08-03T03:15:00.000-07:00

image taken from vancouversun

My country is in need of help and prayers. There has a been flood in the most part of the country. Officials have stated almost 1500 people have died and around 2.5 million people have lost their homes and livelihood. There is also a fear of the spread of water borne diseases such as cholera and malaria.

Please my only request from you is remeber these people in your prayers. May Allah have mercy on us.

Jeddah Part 4, RED SEA MALL

2010-08-02T07:32:00.000-07:00

One of the many mnay new malls in Jeddah, the one i Love to go to is RED SEA MALL. Its beautifully made, caters to everybody's need in every department and is fun to roam around.

It has a food court, Danube, designer shops local and international. A very beautiful aqurium, a place for your kids to have a little fun. A water show as well.

This time there was a tower on the ground floor. I couldnt find the details of the tower, Like how tall it was and all that but it sure was nice.

What was different about this tower was the material out of which it was made of. Here is a closer look

All used pepsi cans. Isnt it cool. I wish they would have put a board up explainin how many tins were used and all that. Oh well, maybe next time.

This time around there was another new thing there. On the third floor there was a new part opened up, ANDULSIA. worth a visit. It was beautiful. A little old city glamour in the middle of a modern 21 century mall.

It had all thoes lanterns, beautiful tiles, fountains. Most of the shop were selling local dresses, spices, jewellery. I found one shop that was selling handcrafted turkish thing. WOuld ahve loved to buy the whole lot. But it was kind of expensive. But it is worth a look. Colorful and pretty.

The fountians i was talking about. It even has a tea house. Lovely really.

My pictures actually dont do justice to how beautiful the place looks. But when in town do give it a visit.

That's called negative journalism

2010-07-27T13:43:00.001-07:00

I wasnt going to post anything in between my Jeddah posting, but i just had to. I really really get angry when I see the media trying to play with our minds with negative journalism. I hate it actually. I mean this is the second time I have seen MSN reporting news in kind of a really bad light. The first time was here. I dont even know if the news about KSA was even true or not. I mean in journalism its all about the headline insnt it?? (not a journalist so i dont know for sure) . Most of us read the headlines. Some of us will go on to read the news and but just a few of us willl actaully understand that their actually is no relation of the heaadline to the story.o So most of us will make an opinion based on that headline. For example. today i saw this headline on my MSN page WHAT'S IT'S LIKE TO HAVE CHILD IMPRISONED IN IRAN? what would be your first thought about this. OH! they really are barbarians, imprisoning children , OH GOD!!! or something on the same lines. But indulge me and click here to read the full story about the CHILD aging 31, 28, 28. Since when are we calling middle aged people CHILD. yes the story is a little sad as these hickers were captured for no apparent or told reasons but please have the headline say what the story actually is.

Jeddah, Part 3 Fantasy Stationery

2010-07-21T12:58:00.000-07:00

When we were growing up Jeddah and Ksa in general were also growing up. So we didnt have much to go around. Yes we had the Abhur and the cornich and AL-Baik ( cant forget that ). But Jeddah has definetly come a LOOOONNG way now. With the BIG malls, Great eatery, fun cafe's the list is endless.

Among one of these places is Fantasy Stationary (rawail Maktabat). It basically is for kids. From 3 to maybe 12. When I first visited the place i was sooooooo jealous of the kids now enjoying in Jeddah. I mean we didnt have anything like that growing up. It actually is a fun place. Its Beautiful to look at. For adults, There is a Boutique, Very nice clothes may i tell but with hefty price tags. There is a furniture shop. And of course a Stationery.

The buiding has three floors. You will find the stationery in the basement. The boutique, furniture shope and gift wrapping center at the ground level. On the First floor there are many activity rooms, 2 party halls.

The First Floor activites are mostly fro children 3 to 6. They have an art room, Craft room, Sand room, Kitchen ( childern were actually cooking with helpers ofcourse), Profession Center with fire engine, an ambulance. Each activity was individually priced ( ver very reasonable). parents or nany were not allowed inside the activity room but the rooms were visibly by glass walls. so you can actually see what your little ones are upto. What i liked about these rooms were that eevrything was child sized. like the frniture in the arts room, craft room and kitchen was small. realy small so the kids could handle them themselve.really nice.

NO good photographs of the rooms because taking pics was not allowed. sorry

The top floor has Activites for a little Older kids. The activites includes fishing, Go carting, somekind of a shooting gallery, which looked awesome.

Apart from these Great activites The Place has some Water fun as well. Well some is an understatement. It has a BIG water park with it. It has seperate pools for the kiddies, A wav maker. BIG slide. and lots lots of FUN. Good way to cool off in the summmer.

My kid was a little small to try any of these activities. But if your kids fall in the age range please do go and enjoy, Its fun, Educational and fun again.

Jeddah, Part 2 AL-Feroze

2010-07-21T09:49:00.001-07:00

We LOVE to eat. and more than anything i LOOVE to eat out. One of the places i always go to when in Jeddah is FEROZE. Its a Turkish restaurant. Its not expensive. And its really reall good.
It has three branches in Jeddah that i know of. One of them is on Heraa Street towards cornich.
Other restautrants i love to go which caters to my Labanese and Turkish taste buds are

AL-Wazzan (available in Khobar as well)
Khayal (Labanese)

All these restaurants are reasonably priced and lovely to eat at. They taste good and are light on the wallet as well.

Feroze has a long list to choose from.
I love the bread they serve, But ask them to bring it fresh.

I am a Kabab lover, but their grill is equally tasty.

If you ever visit, do try their sizzler.

Iron, they used to serve bigger glasses. But maybe the recession is getting to them as well.

Anyways, Its a fun and fullfilling expereince. Do enjoy with your family.

Jeddah, Love it!!!! Part 1

2010-07-11T15:47:00.000-07:00

My first time around in KSA was spent in Riyadh and Jeddah. The part in Riyadh was not that much and we were too young to remember. But i do remember Jeddah. I Love Jeddah. I dont know why??? Maybe because i spent my happy childhood there. Maybe because all my memories are from Jeddah. or just simply put Jeddah is the best. I mean the BEST. dont get me wrong I really like Khobar as well. But I am IN love with Jeddah. Its colorful, its loud, crowded, overflowing with cars, and the roads are narrow but i still love it. I love the Malls, i love the street Fashion, I love the eatries, basically i love the fact of having sooooooo many choices.

I was there a couple of days ago. I planned to stay there longer but my trip was cut short by someone's lack of planing skills. I wont name the someones's name. But I am free to say anything about my better half if no names are named. hehehe

Anyways, whenever i go to Jeddah since my first exit from KSA i have some rituals. I visit all the places that have special meaning for me. Like the place i grew up. The mall that was near my house. Go to corniche in sunlight. eat shawarma at the old place, see my school. Its after all that i normally do all the new stuff. But unfortunately this time it was a little different. I couldnt get to my rituals and just did the fun stuff this time. Here some of the pics

Corniche
Flying car near corniche

Old building in Balad (restored)

Another old building

LAnterns, they look lovely at night

A masjid near Balad

A Ship themed restaurant(under construction)

never what it is. near Tahlia

Coming soon more posts of Jeddah at its best.

Arabian Dreams

2010-07-11T05:19:00.000-07:00

I love this look and the makeupartist Jangsara who does them is an awesome makeup artisit.

She did this look a while back ago on her first blog

But no tutorial.

This time she is doing the same look different color palete but with a tutorial. Hurrah!!!

You can see the Tutorial here.

Hope U enjoy. Do check Jangsara's blog and all her looks, amzaing really. And if u try the look do send me a pic. i would love to see how it turned out.

Have Fun

Bakery Review

2010-07-03T16:49:00.000-07:00

I am a Big Big dessert fan. It dont care what it is Pastries, Doughnuts, cakes, i will have anything with sugar in it. So a friend of ours took us to bakery here in Khobar. From the outside it didnt look much like a bakery but a restaurant. Le Gourmet is the name. But it was really really good.

They had a wide variety of things there

Sweets

Different kinds of chocolate and candies, Very tasty

miniture pastries, big ones as well. forgot to take the pic of it as i was really busy deciding which one to dig my teeth into. sorry

Cakes

Some delicacies like salmon and other processed and preserved meats

The cigar shop was located on the entrance of the bakery. but can be good gift for someone who are into cigar along with a delicious pastry.

Overall the cakes and pastries were finger licking good. Would go there as many times my husband will give into my pleadings.

The LeGourmet bakery is in Jeddah as well, on Tahlia Road.

How to do Arabic Makeup

2010-06-25T15:12:00.000-07:00

So hopefully you enjoyed the last video I posted on how to do Arabic makeup. This one is kinda of step further, but i think still easy to do. I liked the tecnique the artist used. It looks doable. Try and tell me how it turned out for you.

WORLD CUP 2010 Anthems

2010-06-21T14:49:00.000-07:00

Out of all the World Cup 2010 songs i liked this one th best.

Which one is your favorite???

Can this be True????

2010-06-19T15:20:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago i saw a really small headline on the msn homepage which was quite shocking to me. I didnt post it earlier because i was a little confused as to if i should post it or not. I am still confused but I am posting it anyways. The original article is here. The article states that London Times is reporting that the SAUDIS CLEAR ISRAEL TO BOMB IRAN.

Really can this be true? i am still trying to put my mind around it. If it is True how can the saudi do it. I mean ISRAEL really. Isnt Palestine enough. Isnt Iraq enough. Isnt Afghanistan enough. Isnt Kashmir enough. Do we really need more beheaded children photos in our inboxes. or do these photos not reach the people runnig the countries or do they not care cause its not their kid, sister, mother or father cut into half. I mean why the muslim countries are not standing with each other, even in this time and age why are the muslims against muslims, Whatver our differences maybe.

I really am quite disturbed over the news and i am hoping and praying that its false.

May allah be with us

Chronicles from Jeddah----Forgotten Glorious Past

2010-06-13T08:26:00.000-07:00

Finally the first thursday of June came along and we went to the Islamic Center where they were holding a Morroco day. I was really exicited about it as I mentioned in my earlier post that I would love to visit Morroco some day, so it was a sneak peek into the experienec waiting for me. But there was more than I was expecting, Morroco had taken a backdrop for there ongoign series "Why do we belive In....???". This time we were shown a short film and my GOD was I totally in AWWWWW. Please have a look at it.

This short film was made for an exibition held in London this January. It was quite a big Event organsied by a Saudi organization. At the exibition Islamic history is being presented in a marvellous way. It was so insightful not just for the western world who usually show a bleak picture of Islamic culture and call that era the dark ages but for us as well.

WE muslims need to know where our roots lie. Where we come from and how at one point in time we gave the world its latest discoveries and invention. I dont know what the curriculum in arabic schools in the KSA is, but growing up I certainly was not introduced to this period of muslim history as I should have been in my schools. I mean yes I knew some names, and yes I knew we did something but not to the extent I know about the western scitentist and their acheivements. Why this lack of expopsure to our own hisotry I cant understand. Maybe because in my schools the authorities are BLINDLY following the curriculum definetly not designed completley for us and adding information to it is too much work for them. And we as parents are relying too much on our schools to educate our kids. Why is that, that we dont have any heroes of our own? Why is that, that we dont have any Muslim scholar or scientist to look up to and follow? Why is that, that we are from the get go made a follower of the western civilization? I dont know. Maybe if we are shown and taught what great acheivers we were maybe we will replicate it. We did it once and we certainly can do it again.

Here you can get a little view of the exibition.

Please do share this with your friends, family, children of all ages so that they know alll about our great past. and for a change know the names of someone other then Elbert Einestein and be proud of what we are and our contributions to the modern world.

After the movie we had a discussion on the "Why have we forgotten where we came from?". We know the first message give to our Prophet Mohammed (P.B.U.H) was IQRA (read)....so being a muslim its our mission on earth to seek knowlegde, knowledge of everything and then to apply that knowlegdge for the goodness of mankind. Leaving a footprint in this world. Maing a mark. We dont know what an impact can it make. It can be as small as making someone smile or as big as changing someones outlook to life. The main goal of all this is that do somehting productive while we can, whether it be with your children, your family, people you know. start small. Seek out knowledge, share your knowledge, lets make this world a better place for you and for me,so that a few decades later we still have a remarkable past to look at.

~How to do Arabic Makeup~

2010-05-31T02:19:00.000-07:00

A friend requested Arabic makeup. I LOVVVVEEEE how the arabs do their makeup and i do it most of the time. But I am not very good at it. So to keep on learning how to do the makeup I watch a lot of how to videos. This is the easiest one. I will keep on adding them every week.

This is marlene from Makeup Geek i love love her turorials. They are easy and very adorable.

This video is from youtube if you cant open it, maybe if u visit the site makeupgeek you can directly see the tutorial from there.

Hope you enjoy and look lovely!!! ;)

Chronicles from Jeddah---Breakfast Anyone??

2010-05-29T10:35:00.000-07:00

There aren't lots of activities that you could do in Saudi Arabia, especially if 1) you are a woman 2) living on your own....but most of the time I am ok with it because i believe in "Live in Rome as the Romans do".
Anyways, two to do things that I see the abundance of and personally enjoy alot are SHOPPING(should have guessed it) and Eating out. Eating out in Saudi Arabia especially in Jeddah is a Fun experience. You can find the best deals under 10 Riyals. And you can have the best ambiance and dinning environment you can imagine at the price you can imagine (ALOT). Anyways, In Jeddah you will find every cusine there is around the world. And being a desi and more accurately a lahori ( ppl from lahore) I cannot resist what Jeddah have to offer in this sector!!!

So me and a collegeue of mine have started going out every thursday to try different breakfast places. And I would say we are discovering some favorite & some completely no no place :)!!!

Few weeks back we went to a place called "The Crepe Cafe" in Star Avenue. I specifically went there because on thier menu it says they have pancakes and i loveeeeeee pancakes but sadly upon arrival there what did they tell me !!!! "WE DONT SERVE PANCAKES AND WAFFLES!!".I was like but it says here that you have so many kind of pancakes but there answer still remained the same!! I would say that it was bit of a blow for my taste buds that were already getting ready to taste some maple syrup and soft spongy pancakes, But the name Nutella crepe on the menu just saved the restaurant a huge NO NO review.

Thursdays are family day so be prepared to see some cute babies in the place but also get your ears ready to hear shrieks and yellings of the same cute babies who will not seem too cute anymore.

Now WHY would you put up a scrumcious picture of pancakes when you know you aren't serving them :S!!!

My healthy ;) breakfast....nutella crepe...it was quite yummy..but could have been yummier if it was served warm...so i could get more melted chochlate...ummm yummmm!!!

Iced coffee which is nice!! especially for a sunny warm Jeddah morning :)!!!

My strawberry smoothie.....somthing I did not like much!! it just had a funny taste...or atleast it wasn't sitting well with my taste buds !!!

My friend's philly cheese crepe. In her own words it was quite nice with spring onions and melted cheese....only if they wouldn't have taken half an hour to serve it , we might have gone there another time!!!

Ummm.. overall a good place with nice decor, good ambiance, an ok food ...nothing that you must have to Have as soon as you think of it!!! Rest is for you guys to check it urself.....

Until Next Time

Toodlessss!!!

Two Reviews

2010-05-25T16:00:00.000-07:00

I was really really exicited today. If you dont remember, the Jewellery Exibition at the Dhahran Exibition International Center started yesterday I talked about it here on a previous post. I was really looking forward to it, as the description of it named a lot of things that were goign to be there. But I am sorry to say that it turned out to be a little disappointing for me. Why???? well becasue i am not a filthy rich, diamond buying (eyeing maybe, dreaming surely), person and that is what they all had. I mean dont get me wrong, The jewellery on display was exquisite. My eyes popping out beautiful. No words to describe for pretty. But it was really expensive. Yes if u are into diamonds and can afford to buy them you are in luck because most of them are having special offers and have almost upto 50% off on many items. And you still have time uptill 28 of May. But other then diamonds they didnt have much. One stall of silver jewellery and one stall of Indian gold plated jewellery with semi precious stones in them. Thats It. One more thing dont take your kids under the age of 16 with you because they are not allowed inside for this exibit. If you have someone to look after them, you can leave them outside the Exibition Halls, But thats a chance because its hot out there. No photographs because they didnt let me take any. One thing I used to dislike and now I am starting to hate about KSA. Photographs restrictions, I dont get it. Just dont.

Anyways, I promised two reviews, so this is the second one but unfortunately this is one is not a very good one either. After the exibition we went out to dinner, a farewell dinner for my in-laws. We went to the corniche on the CORNICHE AVENUE. It comes after Kudo and before SEEF (by the way there is somesort of Exibit there as well but i dont know what about because everyhting was wriiten in Arabic and you know about me and arabic from here). The Avenue has six restuarants in it, One of them is a Labanese one AL-BALAD

I liked the location of it, as it is first of the restaurants. It has a rustic entrance, but the thing that I liked the most was the signs on the washrooms there. The WC are located at the start of the restaurant before entering in the main hall. This was the sign on the Ladies one.

And this was the one on the Male one. I am thinkingof copying them and putting them on my own WC's. wont they look nice??

Anyways, Enter the main hall. the ambiance was nice and clean. The servers were friendly, the filipino or indonesian ones at least. But the locals not that much. The menu was in Arabic and in English. But the problem I faced with this one was that many of the names of the dishes were traditional names and not self explainatory. So I had to stick with the only choices I could understand. I do like to explore food alot but not with company. Anyways the food tasted fine. The Grill was really good. I havent had really soft and juicy kababs or grill like this one. Taste wise they were fine. The quantity of the food as compared to the price was not much. If you are willing to spend around Sr.250 for 2-3 people then you can try this restaurant otherwise wait for my next restaurant review.

I loved the fresh bread, it look so pretty.

This is Al-Balad Shrimps from the starters cold section. It was good.

Fattoush. My mother-in-law really liked this.

Hummos

MIX Grill. the grill in under the bread. Good.

Overall I was not impressed with the Restuarant. The food was OK but the price was too much for it.

I Dont Speak Arabic

2010-05-22T06:06:00.000-07:00

Have I told u I am a desi in an Arab land. oh yeah my titles clears it. I love this Arab Land. I actually enjoy many of the strict policies which other expats might find annoying or anything like that. I do call this land my home. And yes I do wish that I will be able to live here without the fear of leaving evrything behind or my iqama renewal or not being able to have my family here just because they dont fulfil a certain condition the government has.

Anyways, one of the things I love here is the way the arab women are always so made up and looking nice even when they out to the malls. I love going to the malls just to look at the well groomed ladies. Getting confused as the ladies are all covered up in black here???? Thats the MOST astonishing part. I mean even when these ladies are coverd in Black they still tend to be stylish. With their trendy shoes, fun bags( most of the time designer ones, still cant figure out if all of the ladies in the mall are carrying original Loiu Vitton or fakes and if they r fake i need one too), colorful nail colors and gorgeous makeup.

Sometimes when I am in the mood, I dress up as well when going to the mall. Peole have told me and many a times have mistaken for an arab which flatters me alot ( if an arab is getting offended, not my intention, ask the arabs who mistake me for it). Sometimes the flattery truns into embarassment. WHY???? Let me tell you a scene.

ME (all madeup with kohl eyes and nicely done scarf)

Me roaming a shop

Arab lady (nicely made up, obviously better than me) comes up to me and starts saying something in fluent arabic.

ME NOW

Anyhow I tell I dont speak arabic or understand whatever you are trying to say to me.
The nice lady starts to tell me how she got confused because I looked so much like an arab and I tell her oh no worries I have lived here for 25 years. I have the look down.

And now she looks likes this

ME and my Big mouth, and now I am like this

Really this is embarrasing, I mean I have lived here for all my life really and I dont speak or understand the language. I can however shop in Arabic.

Kum haza?(how much?)

Kum akhir?(what will be the last price?).

Ghali kateer( too expensive), and oh I can count in arabic too (important if u want to shop). But thats about it.

I dont know who to blame for my lack of language skills. I mean living here all my life I have never had arabic speaking friends, I had when I was very little, and I dont know how I comunicated with them, but me and my sister used to spend hours with them. I guess kids have a universal language, and I lost it when I grew up.

The only socializing I had with arabs were the families my dad used to work with and they spoke english. The shopkeepers in the malls didnt used to be arabs, mostly filipinos or indian and they spoke english as well ( these days i have prolems shoping sometimes cause the salespersons are arabs now and have very little english skils). These were the problems in Jeddah. In Khobar its a whole new story. Evrybody in khobar speaks english. I actually have seen Arabs speaking in english with Arabs (i know i am sounding jugdmental but in KSA english speaking arabs is not a norm). When I came to KSA again after a break, I commited that I will learn the language this time for sure, but it seems that I wont need to again, who am I going to learn it for. I mean you normally learn a foreign language because you NEED to communicate. The great thing about KSA is that the country has accomodated so many nationalities. And MOST of the time they are welcomed by the people. But still I think I need to learn arabic just so that i dont have to roam the malls like this

IS Boycotting FACEBOOK the Answer?

2010-05-19T03:25:00.000-07:00

Muslims these days are being targeted EVERYWhere, whether its the news, standup comedians, Movies, or Facebook . I dont blame them, I dont blame them at all. First of all a non-muslims does not know what ISLAM is. What are its teachings? What it really is about. He or She will know ISlam through a Muslim they know, the muslims they meet in schools or malls, office place or the internet. But what kind of Muslims are they meeting these days???

We say we are Muslims( myself included) and then we say only strict muslims dont shake hands with non-mahrams. We say we are Muslims, and then lie in a blink of an eye and say little white lies that dont harm anybody are ok. We say we are Muslims, and make promises we never meant to keep in the first place. We say we are Muslims, and meet people with malice in our hearts. We say we are Muslims, and burn tyres on streets, make protests destroying properties of our mulims fellows and other civillinas on the issue of disrespect of Muhammed (P.B.U.H) which is done by non-muslims, who by the way dont know any better ( and learn a little more about us when they see us burning and swearing on the news).

But dont you think that, what we do as Muslims, disobeying Muhammed and Allah on every step in our life is Disrespecting him even more??????? What has given the non-muslims the right to disrespect our reilgion and our prophet??? Dont you think its US???? Dont you think by not practicing what we preach WE are ourselves mocking our religion????

There is a page on Facebook. you will find it here. This is causing many of my friends to deacvtivate their accounts on facebook. I dont think that the authorities will know the difference. My husbands says otherwise. He thinks it will, because they earn money from the clicks we do on the advertisements. I dont know. But taking an action is important. I think reporting it as abusive should do the trick. The important thing is we do take an action.

But is it the Final solution? Do you think this the last page they will create?? Dont you think its more important that we take action in being better muslims, we from our actions show the world what Islam is about. We from our doings show how generous, gentle and giving Islam is.

I know the post has become a little preachy. But i am Not ashamed or embarassed. I am doing this for me. Maybe putting in writting will make me strive more to be a better person and ultimately a better Muslims.

May Allah be with us always.

Jewellery??? What? When? Where??

2010-05-17T15:11:00.000-07:00

A week and a half ago, I went to Dhahran International Exibition Center. The Exibit was about household item and furniture form different countries. It was sooooooo wonderful. though i didnt buy anything in particular from there. BUt let me tell you, if i had a little space in my house and wee bit of money in my pocket i might have bought the whole stall of Morroco. The stuff in that stall was soooooooooo pretty and colorful and magical and all that. The stalls from Tunis and Iran had very interesting stuff as well.

Anyhow, i enjoyed that trip utterly even though i didnt buy anythig from there. There is another Exibit coming there from 24 May to 27 May. The Exibit is of Jewellery and Watches. The main sectors will include, Amber Products, Antique jewellry, clocks, Crystal collection, pearl sets, Diamonds, Jewellry Boxes and many many more.

I am trying my best to be there, doesnt matter if i buy or not, having an experience is enough for me (spoken like a person who has no money in her pockets).

Have fun

Chronicles from Jeddah---Something to Ponder

2010-05-15T15:18:00.000-07:00

A friend and I had a chance to go to the Islamic Education Center in Jeddah a few weeks ago. Its a really beautiful building with amazing islamic architecture situauted near Tariq Malik road. They offer many different courses, from languauge to islamic studies and classes for convert as well.

What took us there was a series of gatherings called "Why do we??" they have started on every first thursday of the month. They were discussing that why we(muslims) believe in Creation(Adam being created by God) vs Evolution ( monkey being my forefather). We were invited to watch a Documentary Scientific Adam. The documentary showed scientific proofs of us being connected to Adam and Eve. But still some parts of it were still a little confusing for me. Any how, after the documentary we were served some refreshments and a round of discussion started. My confusions were to some extent cleared in the second half of the session by Mrs. Asma. She explained the Adam and Eve thing and our creation with the help of scripture from quran. I loved the way she explained why we were created and what role should we play while we are here on the earth. An example she gave was of a pencil maker.

There used to be a pencil maker whoes pencils were sent to all parts of the world. One day he held one of his pencils and started talking to it. He told it 5 important things that would be imortant for it to be succcessful in its job.

He said to the pencil : You will be able to do great things,but only if you allow yourself to be in someone's hand.

You will experience a pianful sharpenig every now and then, but you will need it to be a better pencil.

You will be able to correct your mistakes.

The most important part of you is whats inside.

On every surface you are used, you must leave your mark.

We(Muslims) as a nation should also be leaving our marks(ina positive way not the suicding bomner kind of way) but if only we would allow oursleves to be held by ALLAH and agree to whatever He has deciede for us is the best for us.

NEXT month they are bringing mini Morroco in the islmaic center and we would get the chance to experience Morroco in the midst of Jeddah. Cant wait for it cause i am crazy for Morroco, It is placed quite high on my traveling wishlist. You also do try to go if u get the chance.

And please do watch the documentray and tell us your take on it.

Happy days

NO PHONE ZONE

2010-05-15T06:25:00.001-07:00

I am a big big big fan of Oprah. Although, I think that she is not perfect and sometimes i do think she gets a little jugdmental but i like to see the bigger picture when it comes to Oprah.

I love what she does. Her job is sooooooooo fun And she gets to influence ppl to do the right. These days on MBC 4 she is campainging towards, NO PHONE ZONE. She is convincing ppl to take a plegde to not to text or talk on the phone while driving. Which i think is a comendable thing. I not only have seen but have practiced ( regretfully)in KSA and iin my homeland, ppl not giving a thought even a second before attending a phone or caling someone or even worse texting someone while driving.

What the worst part is that sometimes whole families are in the car. Its not just dangerous for our familiy but the other s on the road as well. Some peoplel i know even BRAG about their talent of multitasking. I on the other hand would not call it talent but IGNORANCE, which Oprah has taken a step towards to eleminate. If you have missed the programmes you can go to Oprah.com and get the whole stories. There is also a segment where an expert is telling about WHAT WE DONT SEE when we are driving and talking on the phone at the same time. This actually was an eye opener for me. Please do watch it.

30 April, In america is a National No phone Zone Day. But i would like to say lets make it Every Day No phone Zone day in our lives. For us, Our loved ones, And our fellow Humans. May Allah keep us all safe.

Something New

2010-05-11T16:28:00.000-07:00

hello there...
Ivisit many many blogs. If u r looking at my blog list , well its kinda not completley updated. But i am getting to it. I got so impressed by all the cute designs and pretty blogs out there, that i was feeling quite sad for mine. So i started a search for free blog backgrounds and design and all that stuff. I thought it would be diffficult to find these things, i mean Why would anybody give out free stuff????, even nice pretty very very cute stuff. But to my knowlegede the world is full of generous ppl.

So in the spirit of passing on generosity I am posting the links i got my stuff from. This is not the final look but for now i am happy to see some color.

I got the background from here.

I got my header from here.

And i got a whole list of free giving blogging sites from this one.

I am trying to find a design that can give a desi and modern touch at the same time. so wish me luck .

Happy days.

Its Official.....I am OLD

2010-05-09T04:12:00.000-07:00

My husband sent me an email today which made me realize that i am getting old. I was no evil knivel in my days but i also was not that weak of heart as well. But seeing this email i seriously think that i have no fun spirit left in me. What makes me more scared is that my kids will consider these things FUN. Which is, i think, an excuse for doing evrything these days.

Personally i think FUN is overrated ( long discussion, will ramble on later)

Tell me what u think of these FUN activites.

GRAND CANYON SKY WALK

It doesnt look that scary, take a look at the second pic

WHAT do u think now????

would be fun to walk on it but Y temp NAture???

LAS VEGAS TRIPLE THRILL AMUSEMENT CENTER

Can u see where the park is? NO? let me give u clearer picture.

Can U see It NOW?????

Seriously Y tempt NAture????

Share with me new scares and worries for mothers all over the world on Mother's Day.

HAppy MOthers DAY.

UPSY DAISY

2010-05-01T14:55:00.001-07:00

I, a desi, have just been 5 months in the arab land. Have no socializing still. very little to do at home if u dont count my running aound after my 2 yr old. so i spend a lot of time in front of the computer. naturally my 2 yr old is also trying to type over my fingers and telling me not to toucht the keyboard as he is working. so i started searching for nursery rhymes for him on youtube. i found many good ones. i also started searching for islamic ones, i thought its a good way to teach him somehting valuable as well cuz i was not getting anywhere with him. evry time i asked him to recite me the kalimah he would go baba baba black sheep. NOt good right??? i know.

i found some good ones and he likes to listen to them but i am starting with a very few i thought its a goood idea to share them. This is the one he is learning cuz its slow and easy.
i really like this one cuz it is upbeat. The video is good as well. Fun for kids. I likes this one as well but the visual are all lyrics so it doesnt get my kid too enthusiastic when on the comp. but if i sing to him he listens. The other two this one and this one are for a little older kids. i am memorizing it myself to i have subsitutes for twinkle twinkle and mary had a little lamb. I dont have anything against these nursery rhymes, i think nursery rhymes are a great way to teach children vacbulary, language skills and they just plain fun. These traditional poems are inshallah going to be a part of my childs life but i think bringing the islamic culture in his life at an early stage is very important as well.

Hope this helps and was fun.

I have a comeback

2010-04-26T05:06:00.000-07:00

For years and years i have been a part of this discuusion. Whether i am the one intializing it, listening to it, reading it, researching it or trying to convince someone that a woman covered from head to toe and hovering around like a black ghost doesnt seem to me the right thing.my argument being that if there is nothing to see except black clothing then the men shouldnt have been asked to lower their gaze. but i think my understanding was put into much better words on this blog which i love by the way http://hegab-rehab.blogspot.com/2010/04/sick-of-this-mentality.html

i mean next time if i ever have to explain y i woman should not be covered to the extent that she is literally dosent exist, this the blog i am reffereing to.

Neither here nor there

2010-04-23T17:10:00.001-07:00

Growing up in Saudia Arab we were always aware that we will have to leave the place we call our home someday. The reasons were many Higher Education, loss of job, ppl at the iqama renewal place deciding that they dont want to renew our iqama or just the fact that this was, even after living for 25 year, not our home. I am one of the ppl who lived here all my life but had to go back to my mainland for studies got married there and now i am back cuz of my husbands job in KSA with the same insecurities as before. After going from KSA it was really hard for me to readjust. evrything was different. The environment, the culture, the expectations. It took me and my family quite sometime to partially adjust, not totally. and even that was because we knew that there was no going back. i really never could understand this policy of the saudi government and still dont. I had decided at that time that even though i love the country i grew up in I would never settle and raise a family there. I never had a sense of belonging. I knew my Homeland was mine cuz thats the nationality on my passport and i am proud of that but i never belonged or was totally accepted in the place i spent my whole life in. I never wanted my children to face the rejection, the depression or the hurt one feels leaving there home, the home where all there childhood memories are, a place one cannot visit without a particular visa(with as many conditions as a person can imagine). But God had other plans.

Half of my family is here. Me and my sister(co-author of this blog) and we have decided that this time we are going to really live here like a tourist. Enjoy what KSA has to offer. Taking you along on our roller coaster ride.

Hopefully U will enjoy.