visual of dubai!

Vale.. the photos i promised u guys!! Some of the pictures i took when i was in dubai.. Some of them arent too clear because someone else took the photos.. my canon ixus is too old already.. perhaps it needs a change.. *chucke*


This is the mosque near Uncle Husam´s place.. very modern design for a mosque.. unique in its own way, not stuck to the traditional design.. revolutionary.. i like¬ hehe.

this is the inside of the mosque.. not bad eh.. one of the things i like about dubai.. its growing at at amazing pace.. just imagine, 20 years ago, it was all just desert.. now, hundreds of sky scrapers, flyovers all above, MRTs/LRTs, gigantic malls, luxurious homes.. but amidst it all, masyaAllah, you can still hear the sound of the Azan in the malls, the mosques are as modern as all other worldly buildings, god is not forgotten.. alhamdulillah.

Here´s Ahmed, Uncle Husam´s son, with a falcon, during the desert safari..

aziza, my sister..

Sumaiya, Ahmed´s oldest sister..

This was in the car during the desert safari.. see ahmed in the back? hehe.

My parents, uncle husam, aunty sabra and siham were in this car.. you could practically hear aunty sabra screaming.. my mum was screaming as well at first, but she got quiet when aunty sabra started.. i think they all got deaf from that.. haah

aunty sabra and siham when they got out of the car..

Here´s the desert.. it was actually quite different from what i imagined it to be.. but probably because it was winter.. it wasnt quite hot.. it was quite nice, to be honest. the weather i mean. and the sand was very fine, it didnt even stick to my jeans..

the cars parked during one of our stops. there were about 10 cars altogether in a convoy..

heres salwa, the one in between ahmed and sumaiya (what a description.. hehe), eyeing the falcon.. haha.

guess who got the coolest picture with the falcon? hehe

when the convoy was driving.. it was really beautiful.. when you see, you can only say.. "que bonito..." it was breath taking..

the sun setting..

one of the pictures i meant when i said blur.. if you can see, thats me pulling ahmed down one of the dunes.. haha. it was fun!

here´s everyone.. i think.. let me count.. uncle husam, ahmed, aunty sabra, my mum, sumaiya, salwa, siham, aisha, aziza, me, my dad.. yeap.. thats everyone.. pity it turned out blur as well..

another one of me pulling ahmed.. you would think that the 2nd shot would be a clearer one.. =(

we´re on the camel.. haha. my legs really are long..

*chuckle* ahmed was reciting the kalimah syahadah when he was on the camel behind me.. hehe

they were just waiting for us riding on the APVs..

someone leaning over the chair like that, in sand so fine, u can just imagine whats going to happen..

did u imagine the right thing? haha.

when he fell, the first thing my mum did was to shout for Sumaiya to take a picture.. She even stopped Uncle Husam from helping my dad get up before the picture.. hehe. Uncle Husam said later on, he thought the camel was behind my dad, because all he said when he fell was "ah... ah.. ah.." lol

*covering up* "you camel! sneaked up on me like that!" hehe

when we got home.. just making sure the house doesnt turn into a desert.. ;)

a view in one of the malls.. i think this was Festival City, if im not mistaken..

During Eid.. I did the takbir.. Malaysian style.. rindunya di hati, beraya di kampung, merayakan keagungan Illahi, kebesaran yang Maha Esa.. then uncle husam started the read the doa.. the whole moment was very touching.. i think for a moment there, there was a bit of a drizzle in the desert..

Then the festivities! Dancing to some malay and arab music.. hehe

We had barbeque that night.. sooooo much food!

Juana grilling the chicken.. it started off with aunty sabra.. then salwa.. then when the first round of food was done, noone wanted to be stuck by the grill.. aha

just us..

and us.. hehe.

Well, i guess thats it.. next post.. Seville.. =D

Dubai!!

Dubai!! You know what, if ever ur looking for a destination, go to dubai.. hehe. was there for slightly over a week, and it was *two thumbs up*!! lol. We stayed with uncle husam and his family there - they just moved to dubai from oman. Theyve been telling us to visit them in oman for the past 7 years, and we finally did visit them, theyre not in oman anymore.. haha.

Anyways. when we arrived the airport, there was somebody waiting for us right outside the aircraft (i was like whoa~ special treatment.. haha).apparently, uncle husam arranged it for us. So yea, they took us to the immigration (using a buggie!! however u spell it.. the car thingy they drive in the airports.. i always wanted to ride on that thing.. dreams do come true.. ;) ),and at the immigration, they brought us straight to the counter,bypassing the looooong line (i was thinking again.. whoa~~ not bad..), had our passports stamped, and went to get our bags. there, a few guys were waiting to get our luggage (by now i was like, not bad at all~ haha), we went out,and there were uncle husam, aunty sabra, and ahmed, waiting..

We went to their house, freshened up, bla bla bla, and that night,went to the shopping mall. Pretty much the same the whole time - shopping malls everyday...

But on tuesday.. or was it monday? we went on the desert safari.. twas so fun!! haha. 2 4WDs came and picked us up. Uncle husam, aunty sabra,my parents and siham (uncle husam and aunty sabra's youngest daughter) went into one car, and my sisters, sumaiya and salwa (siham's older sisters) and i went into another. They drove us to the desert. well, if you can say that driving. haha. the drivers just *BAM!* everywhere. We were skidding on the dunes, sliding down the slopes, and stuff like that. Sand was flying everywhere, and a few times, we cant see anything coz the whole car was emersed in the sand it( um.. im running out of adjectives here) blew up.. haha.then we went sand surfing, camel riding, and APV riding.. then we had dinner in the desert, and when we got back home, it was around 9pm - dark~ haha. but it was really fun, though a few were screaming their heads off,among other things they did.. haha.

hmm.. what else we did? we just went to a few places, mostly malls.. went to the souk.. had a good time bargaining.. haha. nice food as well!!after being in UK, where its so hard to get halal restaurant, i think i just filled myself up with food whenever and wherever i went.. lol.

Another thing i enjoyed most - i got my own room!! haha. its been soooo long since i slept alone.in istanbul, i shared a room with my dad, in belgium, with my friend, in AC, with a few friends.SO you can just imagine the relief and excitement, after the practically nil privacy in AC, when i entered a quiet room, all to myself, close the door, and lock it.. haha. felt soo good!! =D

hmm.. i dont know what else to write.. we did quite a lot actually, and it was really really really sooo much fun~~ i dont know, maybe its because i was in the UK that i appreciate it all the more. Good company (as uncle husam regularly points out), good food, good surrounding, good everything. Owh, and a perkembangan. I'm considering Qatar after AC!! hehe.

Anyways, again, no more pictures here. Im at Madrid airport now, waiting for my flight to Seville, and i cant upload pictures here now. So i'll do it once i get to my friend's house in Seville. After that,i'll be posting about Spain!!! haha.

ant..

Just a short story i wanna share..

Everyone knows about Nabi Sulaiman, or Solomon, if thats how you spell his name in English. Once, he saw an ant and he picked it up and looked at it. He told the ant, "you are such a small creature without any significance. what use are you? why did Allah even create you?"

And the ant told him, "I say the zikir (praise to Allah, eg alhamdulillah, subhanallah, allahhuakbar..) a hundred thousand times a day. How many times do YOU do it? What use are YOU? Why did Allah create YOU?"

And Nabi Sulaiman humbly put the ant down and appologized. Its not about how big you are, or what you do, that gives you a place in this world of God's. God gives you a place - thank Him for that. MasyaAllah, Alhamdulillah.

istanbul in pictures~

Alright! so here are the photos i took in istanbul.. im in dubai already, and im trying hard to refrain from telling anything about it.. that, dear readers, is for the next post.. this, solely istanbul.. ;)


This is Zeynep Sultan Camii (Sultan Zeynep Mosque), its not a famous one (at least, i dont think so), but just put it here coz its from the 18th century.. 1769.. Loads of mosques like this all over istanbul.. in istanbul alone, there are 2000 mosques..

This is the blue mosque.. a magnificent, stunninf feat.. hehe.and those are my are my parents with aziza..

me, my mum, aziza and aisha in front of the blue mosque..

this is inside the blue mosque.. its so amazing.. it was built in the 17th century, and such architecture.. we should have progressed so much, yet, we fell so far..

Inside the blue mosque... the grandeur of the building.. the minute details..

This is the tomb of Sultan Ahmed, the sultan who ordered the construction of the blue mosque..

In these few boxes contain hair from the prophet Muhammad's (PBUH) beard.. amazing..

This is at the Oriental House, performance during dinner, playing some turkish music..

The battle cry/music of the Turks..

The sufi.. mystical..

showing a turkish wedding.. hehe (im just giving short summaries of the pictures.. feeling kinda lazy now.. :P)

The first belly dancer..

folk dance of the turks..

the 2nd belly dancer..

the 3rd belly dancer.. if u notice, shes wearing high heels.. those are the type of heels they use to dance.. i dont know how they do it..

and this was the chinese guy i was talking about in the previous post, the one called onto stage and the one in the "hitting game"..

This is in the grand bazaar.. just one small part of it.. just imagine, 4000 shops.. we got lost so many times in there..

the blue mosque at night..

this is in the Ayasofya/Hagia Sofia/Saint Sophia.. the muslims renovated it to make it into a mosque..

This, before renovation, was the place where Richard the Lion Hearted was crowned king.. it felt so weird to be standing there,where one of the great kings of history stood before, during his first moments securing a place in time..

an aeriel view of istanbul.. on the right, the western side.. on the left, the asian side..

the biggest cemetary in istanbul.. huge.. graves here date from the 16th century..

this was the yacht of M. Kamal Attaturk, the man who destroyed what the Ottoman Empire worked to preserve for hundreds of years - Islam as a way of life among the Turks..

I forgot the name of this fort.. but this is the symbol of the conquest of constantinople.. when they build this, constantinople fell in a matter of months due to the cut off of supplies..

At the spice bazaar.. Notice the sign.. *chuckle*