Shopping in a Souk

The old city of Damascus, enclosed by the old Roman city walls, is a thriving place for worship and shopping. There are about 15 mosques and in the Christian quarter there are 12 churches. This is in an area of less than 2 sq km!

People go to the old city also because of its famous souks. There are a number, the most famous is the Al-Hamidiyah.

This photo is taken from the entrance of Al-Hamidiyah souk also showing the old wall to the left. Souks are the commercial street or market in the Arab world. It is here where you can find jewellery, clothing, spices, wooden sculptures and other goods at a bargain.

Mesjid Ummayad

On the second day I was brought by my colleague who used to live in Damascus to the old city and the world famous Ummayad Mosque.

This is one of the world’s largest mosques. Walking in this mosque is quite an experience, the architecture is superb and uncomparable. Built by Khalifah Al-Walid back in 86 Hijrah, it took 10 years to built. The reign of the said Khalifah is considered as the height of Islamic power.

Inside the mosque is a shrine which is said to contain the relics of Nabi Yahya honoured also as prophet (John) by Christians. The previous Pope, John Paul II visited the mosque back in 2001 to visit the relics. It was the first time a pope ever paid a visit to a mosque.

Damascus Trip

The trip has been cancelled twice but I am finally off to Damascus in Syria for work. It is a city of 5 million and expanding with 1 million Iraqis sheltering from the chaos in their home country.

Syria has always been protrayed being the bad guys in Western media because of the totalitarian rule under its former president for 30 years and its alleged link to militant groups, Hezbollah and the killing of Rafik Hariri. But the people here are quite nice and the city is safe.

It is full of history – an understatement when you realised that it is the oldest inhabited city in the world. It was part of the Roman Empire before been captured by the great Khalifah Umar. The city became the capital of the Umayyad Empire - the greatest Islamic empire of all time expanding from Spain to India.

International Day

The great thing about international school and being part of the cultural mixing pot is an opportunity to learn from others. This year's international day was a success. Under the banner of our Brunei national flag, exotic local food was on display. There was kelupis, wajid and pulut pangang to start with (flown all the way from Brunei). Then the usual takeaways in a small box (so typical of our culture!). Books, photos and what have you that the ladies could find in the house was on display.

To cap it, our Chieftain (Pengiran) managed to produced a unique powerpoint with video insert showing our marshall art - silat. Other countries took a more concerted effort by being a bit more extravangant in their stage show. Well our students in the school is only made up of 3 families here.

Subtle Message

Its two years in a row the team has won something in the annual Rafting Klassik. First was for the most entertaining team, later for the best costume. Its a perfect fusion of team building, exhilarating fun and trying to express something in an inconspicuous way.

Initially dubbed the EEZ bandit slayer, the team apparently became desperate to later called themselves the Pirates of the EEZ. The well-laden raft is probably no match for the big guns out in the rich water out there. But in the real world the team is slowly but surely pacing itself for a final glory.

Town Hall in Spui

Between The Hague Central Station and the Centrum is this large white building (actually two buildings) which houses the civil servants of The Hague.

The amazing thing about the building is it got a huge and transparent atrium laid down between the two buildings. Above the two buildings are connected by an array of walkways. It is another good example of modern and beautiful architecture which if you think about it – is it worth spending money just for that?

Next to the Town Hall is the square called Spuiplein which has a unique water fountain - the water sprays directly from the paving bricks giving a bit of fun for people crossing the square.

Turkish Mosque in China Town

This mosque along the main China Town street is located right at the heart of the Hague. It is just a few minutes walk from Spuistraat the main shopping alley in the Hague. Going along with the Turkish traditions are two distinct minarets and elegant floor carpets for prayer.

Apparently there are more mosques in Holland than in Brunei. With a Muslim population of 1 million or so, literally there are more muslims here than in UK. In the Hague, the various ethnic groups are catered by multitude of Dutch, Turks, Moroccan and Indonesia mosques. The gathering for Indonesian, Malaysian and Bruneian is the Al-Hikmah mosque. The Friday sermon is conducted in Bahasa Indonesia.

Formula One starts......

The new season starts at Melbourne this morning (4 am Hollands' time). It promises to be a more competitive year with Schumie finally bowing out. As usual the season starts with unfamiliar car paint and pre-season expectations. There are also new drivers, new logos, new tyre rules and no more tobacco advertisement.

The most talked about driver this time is Lewis Hamilton - the Tiger Wood of F1. Like Tiger, he is not white and got strong support from his dad from very young age. He started go-karting at the age of 3 and has been kart and racing champions at every level. Today on his debut in F1, he got a podium spot! This photo was from Sepang last year when Fiz and Ish were there as well.

Spring is coming…

One of the first flowers to bloom in spring is the so called "Dutch crocus". Although it is still not spring yet but the daylight is getting longer with sunset now at around 7pm. In two weeks time the clock will be reversed by an hour prolonging the day light by an additonal hour into the evening.

Spring starts when the average day temperature rises permanently above 5 degC to even high temperatures in the afternoon. Today maximum temperature was 14 degC and you start to realize that its coming to good period weather when lots of people starts to go outside.

The prolonged light is good for the beginning of the so-called growth period for the early spring plants such as crocus and willows. The time of new live goes on through spring with colourful tulips start being prominent on the background everywhere you go in Holland

Shoarma Kebab

A trip to the Beverwijk Bazaar is not complete without going for a hefty lunch at one of many kebab restaurants. Walking past any of these restaurants, you will really get hassled and tempted to sit by the owners who offer free tea and extra portions.

Food in each restaurant are not too far different. But its the way they decorate and shape the place and how the owner treats you. We have our own favourite which we frequented all the time. The owner is an Egyptian and the place is run by his family.

Beverwijk Bazaar

Walking in this place is feel like being not anywhere in Holland. The place is located close to the coast of Holland just North of Amsterdam and takes about 30-40 minutes to reach from home.

Open only during weekend Beverwijk is apparently the largest covered market in Europe started from a flower auction place 25 years ago.

Most of the stores are mainly run by old and new generations of migrants from Morocco, Turkey, Afghanistan as well as the Dutch natives - a real cultural mix.

This is one huge place and take time to walk through all the stall spread out in many large halls, with its own unique culture, goods and atmosphere.

The main ones are the Black Market, the Oriental Market, the Flea Market, the Computer Market and the Grand Bazaar. It is said there are some 2,500 stalls or shop units selling clothes, shoes, furniture, antiques, books, computers, household items etc.

The whole complex is currently being modernize, old halls demolished for new ones. The place can be quite cold as we found out yesterday being close to the sea - its not out of winter yet!.

Chicken Tikka Masala

While in America there are a Chinese restaurant on every corner, in England it's an Indian restaurant. Recent count was something like over 8,000 Indian restaurants in Britain.

In The Hague, you can find several Indian restaurants but this one is run by an Indian and a Pakistani muslim. The place is frequented by staff from the Saudi and Malaysia embassies as well as the local Imams in the area.

Taking about Indian food, Britain's most popular national dish which is also our kid's favourite is chicken tikka masala or chicken tikka in a tomato gravy. It is eaten with rice or scoop with naan. The vegetable dish we like is aloo gobi, a combination of potato and cauliflaower with spices.

Visiting a Medieval Courtyard

Its not just about shopping. One could experience the rich European history as well which always give me the great suprise how advanced the society and political system were hundreds of years ago here.

Compare that to back home, we can only be proud of out Kampung Ayer (although a bit neglected now) and a hundred year of Bandar history. May be European history should be made an additional subject rather than just the local history.

This enclosed courtyard is again in Buitenhof where you will find yourself surrounded by architecture from the 13th up to the 19th century, with the normal crowd sitting around enjoying the sun.

Shopping in De Passage

Smacked in the middle of the Hague shopping area is a glass-roofed shopping mall, unique to the Netherlands, called De Passage.

Its history goes back to 1882, more than 115 years to make it Holland's oldest shopping centre.

The mall is home to many specialist shops. It also sit next to Novotel Hotel, Pathe cinema and the other main shopping alley in the Hague -Spusitraat. In all it has 3 entrances linking to the other well known part of the Centre of the Hague.

Go Karting

Its the start of another weekend. This time we went to a place on the outskirts of The Hague called de Uithof which got ice skating, indoor skiing, climbing and go-karting. We went go-karting of course, 5 chaps in all.

It was thrilling but also gave severe headache especially as we were pitted with some good drivers who seem to be having their best fun pushing and banging us aside during the race.

I found out there are two basics to fast go-karting. You can scream down a straight at top speed but the art is in the cornering in being able to pull the kart around it at its maximum speed. The other one is overtaking, the key to this one is simply confidence.