Syrian Hospitality

On the last day, I was invited by my Syrian colleague for dinner.

He lives in an apartment with 3 bedrooms. Five years ago, he paid it for US$120K but now would be around US$400K. Since the invasion of Iraq, nearly 2 millions Iraqis moved to Syria, mostly the more affluent one and they are responsible for driving up the house market.

The Beauty and the Beast

The beauty is this great piece of very fertile land spread out like a large carpet as far as the eyes can see. The beast is the gigantum forces of mother nature below which could create earthquakes and volcanic activities but provided the ingredient and the minerals for making these lands fertile. Each come one after the other thus alternating between disaster and bounty.

For people of this land, there is normally no choice. The best they do is to reap the benefit for the land, be grateful, and prayed their lives and families are spared when the next big earthquake strikes.

The Children of God

Alwasy a good distraction. There are at times when group of local children would come around to our group and curious to see what we were doing.

On this trip we have been looking, studying and witnessing the effects of a major fault system that goes through this part of the world.

These children and a few generations before them have not seen and experienced the might of this fault system. The last major earthquake was 875 years ago. Historical data shows that the area is overdue for another big one. Insyaalah these children and the people of this beautiful land will be spared and continue to enjoy the prosperity and blessing out of this great land.

Lunch by the Roadside

Our field trip brought us to some of the wooded and hilly part of Northen Syria. The sceneries are breathtaking and definitely great place to take rest. We made a stop at this small roadside place which use the original clay oven to cook turkish pizza or known as lahmacun locally.

Lahmacun is basically a round, thin piece of dough topped with minced meat (normally lamb), often sprinkled with lemon juice. Our group of 20 hungry lads must have made a very profitable day for this lady. She can rest and closed her shop for a few days now.

The City of Apamea

This is the ruin of the Roman ancient city of Apamea. Built before 300 BC, the city grown and flourished to hold half a million people. The central promenade alone (picture) was 2 km long. The armies protecting the city even possessed upto 500 elephants

But located in a geologically unstable area, the city suffered a series of setback and destruction by erthquake. The last big one that eventually destroyed it was in 1152.

Ground Nuts

This was the first time I saw groundnuts being slowly dried out on the field after harvesting. The process takes about 2-3 weeks to allow enough moisture to escape.

Groundnuts are grown best in light, sandy soil. They require five months of warm weather. When the seed is mature, the groundnuts change colour from white to a reddish brown. The entire plant, including most of the roots, is removed from the soil during harvesting.

The City of Hama

This is the view from the hotel of this charming city located in Northern Syria, eternally associated with the Norias.

There used to be about 220 norias scattered throughout the city, of which only 20 are left. Nowadays they only function as attractions and more often than not many restaurants are built around them and the norias providing a wonderful scenery.

Noria of the Orontes River

This is an amazing engineering dating back to the old ages. Norias or known as water wheels are very ancient, funtion to carry waters from the river up onto aquaduct or canals well above which lead to various quarters of the city.

The Norias diameter can be up to 21 metres and contain upto 120 boxes to carry the water up onto the collecting aquaduct well above the water level.

Invisible forces of Mother Earth

This is a spectacular picture showing an ancient aquaduct split by a series of earthquakes along a fault line. The total displacement is about 19 m created by 4 major events over the last 2000 years or so each time resulting in upto 5 m movement.

A major fault system called the Dead Sea fault system stretches from the Red Sea through Jordan and eventually to Syria in the North. This fault system is literally a weak point on the Earth's outer layer which act as a slip zone to accomodate differential movements between the different Earth's plates. The forces pushing these plates are enormous which explain the devastating earthquake events at areas around the fault system.

Ancient Dam

A view of a well preserved ancient dam in Central Syria. The structure is largely intact although it is now completely silted up. You can use the bus in the background to guide as scale.

Despite solid and lasting construction, the dam was apparently a failure because it quickly silted up. In such dry terrain, loose sands and silts easily ended up in the reservoir behind the dam. With time this has built up and eventually completely filled up all the spaces resulting in making the dam redundant. This is what also happening to all the modern dams that are being used right now, unless one can reduce the amount of accumulating silt behind the dam wall.

Syrian Meze

Syrian food is rich in vegetables, grains, fruit, nuts, beans and aromatic spices. Syrian cuisine is probably the best in the Arab world - that's what the Syrian claimed anyway.

Syrians often serve selections of appetizers, known as meze, before the main course. Meze are normaly made up of salads known as tabbouleh and fattoush serevd with pita bread and dips such as humus (chickpea), mutabal (eggplat with yogurt), muhammarah (reddish stuff) and Baba-Ganouj (eggplant salad)

Thats only a appetizers to begin with.

The Kingdom of Heaven

This is the famous crusaders' castle which fell down to the great Mamluk Sultan Baybars who laid seige on it for months. That resulted in the crusaders deprived of food and supply and no sooner gave up and surrender.

Located on a demanding position, it controlled the passage from the coastal area to the plain of Syria. It was also the northern headquarter for the crusaders in their mission to take Jerussalem.

The castle known as Krak des Chevaliers is located close to the Lebanon border. With its thick outer and inner walls the castle was almost impenetrable and housed about 2000 soldiers. Inside one could appreciate the shear size of the constructions.

Bagdad Cafe

Just back from 9 days in Syria. Was a very good trip - attending a field trip. This cafe is about 200 km to the Iraq border. The situation across the border is very precarious and is probably currently the most dangerous place on earth.

On the last day I went some 50 km near the border to visit the area that I am working on. The area is three times the size of Brunei. The environment is quite dry, semi desert and empty except for groups of bedouins scattered across the land with their obliging herds of camels and sheeps.

Terracotta Army in British Museum

We thought we could save a lot of money by not going to China and see the Terracotta Army at the British Museum instead. On checking the web, the exhibition was already booked up into next year.

Anyway we have not been to the museum and so out of curiosity went there for a quick visit. Its located near Holborn Station. The Museum complex is huge but rather disappointing. The exhibition halls are just too far apart and the atmosphere is just a bit too modern for a museum.

Oxford University Tour

It took 1 hour and 10 minutes to reach Oxford from Central London. Oxford is known for its University but also has a lively shopping centre unlike Cambridge.

We joined the University tour which lasted 2 hours. It is a good introduction for the kids and hopefully they get inspired by it. The tour took us to the Exeter college, one of the 39 colleges. The University is really full of history and achievements. It is proud of producing 23 out of the 47 British's prime minister for a start! Equally to get in is not easy - one has to be the nerdest of the nerds.

The Dressing Room

The changing room looks small. Apart from the football jerseys that hang across the room, the place is quite empty. But this is where Arsene Wenger inspires his players during halftime.

The guy also used his Japanese experience to provide input to the Emirate's stadium design by using Feng Shui rules, for example rounded edges etc. Seems to work though as Arsenal had only lost once in this stadium.

On the Pitch

The pitch was in an immaculate shape. New technology is being used to stimulate healthy recovery of the grasses with the use of powerful lightings to provide artificial sunlights. It really makes a big difference as the field looks amazingly good even though nearly 20 games have been played so far this season.

At the end of each season, groundmen who are responsible for maintaining the field are recognised by a special award. Apparently Spurs' groundsmen won it last year!

Touring the Emirates Stadium

This is one heck of a stadium. We managed to get on the stadium tour which runs a few times a day but selling like hot cakes. There were 50 people in our tour alone and took about 2 hours.

The tour started at the director's box where the club's main shareholders could watch the games with the best possible view. This was followed by the arrival hall, dressing room, touch line and finally the press room. Also included as part of the tour was the club's own museum.

Nahar Cafe in London

It took us quite a while to find this restaurant. Initially we wanted to eat at Satay House but did not feel easy as wine seems to be served there as well. Mawar Restaurant on the other hand was still closed for some reasons that we won't discuss here.

Back to Nahar Cafe, the last time we were here was in 1993 when Fiz was only 10 months old then - now 14 years later (Fiz is 14 years old now!). We tried mee mamak, mee tiauw, roti kosong and nasi lemak. All were excellent. The place is well visited by both Asians and Brits alike. Its located at 190 Sussex Gardens at basement level below the Mara building.

White Hart Lane

On 26th Nov, we went to this stadium which yours truly has supported the club since 1979. Located in NE London, the stadium can be reached by local train from Liverpool Street Train Station.

Apparently there was no stadium tour available on the day so we just went round the stadium and the shop. Martin Jol the manager got sacked the night before after a dismal start to what promised to be the year where Spurs could challenge the big Four.

Science Museum

This is a good place to visit to learn the rapid development of technology over the last two centuries.

Many original inventions are on display and they really open our eyes to realize the ingenuity and preseverence of those great people who invented things that we now take for granted these days.

Long Weekend in London

This was the third time this year we drove to London. This time round coincided with the Autumn half term holiday for the children. We set off early at 4 pm and reached Calais after about 4 hours in what was a smooth ride except for the delay between The Hague and Rotterdam.

Stayed in London for 4 days, made a number of useful educational as well as shopping trips here and there. Also met relatives and friends, all with happy faces. We also went to the movie a couple of times. At least Fiz is happy with her new supply of novels from Waterstone.

Trip to Ardennes

Its the turn for Ish to go to Ardennes this year. Located in Belgium, about 4-hour bus ride from the Hague, Ardennes offers a great outdoor opportunity for young kids to experience outdoor activities, learn new skills, develop communication and cultivate team spirit. Something that we adults still continue to learn and develop as we go along in our career.


Ish spent a total of 4 days, doing lots of activities and most important of all having the fun of his life.

Hari Raya in Holland

The celebratory atmosphere during Hari Raya is not lost at all as a good number of Bruneian, Malaysian and Singaporean did organised their own 'Open House'.

In Brussel, staff from the Brunei Embassy organised theirs on Sunday. Almost the whole Bruneian troops from Holland made their way down to Brussel, a 2-hour drive from the Hague and about 3.5 hours for those who live further up north in North Holland. Its nice to see such a big gathering of Bruneian once in a while.

Sunday Football

The mornings of second and third hari raya were spent on the football pitch watching Ish playing competitive football. Sports for kids are well run here where teachers and some parents make up a lot of time organizing them. Ish's team was playing against a team that came all the way from England - lost 8-2 though. The loudest bunch of course were the parents.

On the Sunday, they played 5-aside and on a smaller pitch, Ish team got 3rd placing overall.

The Khutbah

The Hari Raya khutbah was given by an invited lecturer from Indonesia. The khutbah was excellent - regarding the importance of reading the holy Quran.

The message was that reading the Quran is the first and foremost duty for all Muslims. The holy book was the first one to be revealed to our Prophet long before the command to perform prayers. Only then were fasting, paying tithe and performing Hajj were mandated. Unfortunately the holy book nowadays becomes more of something to keep in the house to scare off the devil. Most people hardly touch let alone read it - some even for years! The least one can do is read a few pages after Suboh prayer.

Selamat Hari Raya

Sorry........... It has been a busy month during Ramadan and didn't have the time to update the blog. This year's Hari Raya in Europe and Middle East fell on Friday. Brunei and most of Asia however were a day later.

Mesjid Al-Hikmah was the focal point for Indonesian and the small community of Bruneian here. Literally the Mesjid was packed. We were there one hour before the prayer started at 10 am. Because of the huge crowd, the prayer had to be done twice to allow the second group to perform their prayer.

Sungkai at 8:08 PM

Fasting month started on Thursday 13th September here. It was already decided a week ago by the Islamic Council. In Brunei moon sighting on Tuesday failed to see the new moon and hence fasting also started on Thursday. In fact, every where around the world, except for Libya, started on the same day.

Here, day hours are still long as we are still in late Summer to early Autumn period. It will get worse in the future years as Ramadan month moves forward 2 weeks every year. We wish everyone gain all the blessing and joy of Ramadan. This is the month to increase our amal and reminds ourself of the less fortunates. Ramadan Kareem!

This photo was when we had our sungkai at Beverwijk market.

Food Fair in The Hague

There was a food fair at the Malaysian High Com last Saturday. This was one of the events to celebrate the country's 50th independence. Lots of food on offer with seat and tables laid out in the compound for people to enjoy and eat the food. The weather however was a bit wet later in the afternoon.

A number of countries are celebrating their 50th independence this year. 1957 was one of the key turning point for the British Empire to allow countries to self rule. Some succeed to prosper, lot of others failed. Brunei opted for British Protectorate status before gaining independent 27 years later.

Turkish Restaurant in Singapore

On transit in Singapore, we headed to this favourite restaurant of ours located at Far East Plaza along Scott Road. Its located on the first floor. The food differs slightly than the ones that we find in Turkish restaurants in Holland.


We then proceed to do a bit of shopping in Orchard Road before heading back to Changi for our midnight flight.

Bowling at Empire

The kids had a small gathering with their ex-JIS school mates at Empire. There were 32 kids altogether and we had to use 4 lanes but more like they were running all over the whole place - very chaotic indeed.

The short break in Brunei came to a close. We had a good crowd of family members at the airport sending us off. All in all we had 125 Kg of luggage accompanying us. Indeed it has been a lovely return home, seeing everyone and at the same time eating and enjoying the food that we missed over the last year.

One Big House

This is one heck of a house! Still under construction it is located on top of a hill somewhere in Rimba and belong to our biras/brother-in-law. It got a sleeping quarter for driver(s) above the garage, 2 amah rooms, a number of store rooms and at least 6 bedrooms with their own toilet rooms. It is like two big-size houses stitch-up together.

Our own house is now 11 years old. Completed in 1996, we have left it empty for the previous and current overseas postings. It desperately needs some renovations just to keep it a bit more modern outside and make the kids happy. It cost 320K then. This is the only photo we could find, one of our kids took it on the final day to the airport.

Bandar at Night

On 31st August, whole family went out for steam boat at PortView Restaurant for a birthday treat. The restaurant is located on the river bank and offers a good view of Kampong Ayer.

After dinner, we went for a stroll along what used to be the old wharf. At 10 pm, there were still hives of activities here. There is also a new monument commemorating the Sultan's 60th last year. Standing at the wharf, one can see the real Bandar glittered with beautifully constructed buildings against the hilly surrounding of the Bandar itself.

A Swedish Sports Car

In Brunei and also probably everywhere in the world, car features strongly in stamping down one's status. There are plenty of car choices in the market right now, both luxury and affordable. Apparently this second generation Volvo C70 is currently the only one on the road in Brunei, just bought by our youngest brother.

Launched in Europe in 2006, the car looks heavy for its size due to numerous safety features, typical of Volvo design and reputation. This 2-door coupe convertible features a retractable metal hardtop that can raise or lower in less than 30 seconds. The car is mounted with a thirsty 2.5 L 162kW Five-cylinder turbo charged engine.

Mertabak at Millineum

During our home-coming in Brunei, we ate out in lots of places. Bruneians love food and there are excellent varieties of food on offer.

Eaing out in Brunei is much cheaper compare to Europe. Lets see where have we been in that 3 weeks - Millineum, Airport, Le Taj, Rang Mahal, Emperor's Court, Aneka Rasa, Port View, Capers, Pondok Sari and a few more and not to forget Tanda Kasih in Tutong.

Jame' Asr Mosque

The Jame' Asr is the largest Mosque in Brunei. It is beautiful but can not be compare in terms of originality to the Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque. The Jame' Asr is reminiscent of all the big mosques design in the region, from Malaysia to Pakistan, where its centre is a dome surrounded by 4 minarets.

Again like all recent national mosques built in the region, this one is built away from the main populated area. Hence it is quite empty except for the friday prayer. The nearby Kuilap shopping area is a bit far to walk from. This shopping area however is desperate for its own surau.

The Splendour of a Great Mosque

The Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque is one of the most spectacular mosques in Asia. Built in 1958, next year it will be 50 years old and yet is undoubtedly still Brunei's main landmark. Imagine how it likes back then in the 50's and 60's.

The main dome is covered in pure gold, adding to its magnificient sight. It is said to be unique in design, not seen in many Islamic mosques across the world, where it is the outcome of incorporating Renaissance and Italian arcitectural style.

Kueh Melayu Brunei

It was a real pleasure to see an assortment of Brunei traditional cakes being served in one of our family doa aruah function. Doa aruah is normally held in the month of Sya'ban before the start of Ramadan.

I am not an expert in Brunei cakes and won't be able to recall all the names except probably for a very few like Kuah Apam, cincin, pinyaram and sapit.

Parliment House

What has changed in Bandar? Not a lot though - apart from more shops in Kiulap area, new highway in Kg Katok and the new Parliment building - otherwise the clock seemed to stop since we left a year ago!

The new Parliment building is really grandeur in size. Located in the Government Office Complex in Jalan Kebangsaan, it dwafts all other buildings around it. Bandar at the same time has extended its boundary, increasing by a factor of 8 or 10 in area. Hopefully this will result in better planning on its route of becoming a true city.

Ambuyat - Fiz's Favourite

On several ocassions, we were invited and served this very traditional food of Brunei - Ambuyat. Ambuyat is made from pouring hot water into ambulung or better known as sago which is derived from a Rumbia tree trunk. Sounds simple but actually it requires lots of practice before one can make a good ambuyat mix.

Ambuyat is eaten or swallowed by rolling the sago around two bamboo sticks (Chandas kata orang Brunei) then dipped into a sauce made from sour local fruits for example binjai. One can alos use fish gravy or curry gravy. Of course the best way to enjoy ambuyat is to eat with lots of dishes of fish, meat, prawn and vegetables.

Back Home in Brunei

Just arrived today in Holland from a 3-week return home. It has been a very hectic schedule for everyone including the children, meeting relatives and friends, eating outs and attending a wedding or two. The weather was typical of the tropic that we missed, raining heavily almost every night!

This photo was taken at Kampong Ayer showing a water taxi operator plying his business. Kampong Ayer is on the decline with increasing number of its residents moving to dry lands.

Ending of Summer - Home Sweet Home

Last Sunday was the hottest day recorded for the year in Holland. At 32 DegC it was unusual as this Summer has been relatively mild with temperatures well below 22 DegC.

That Sunday the Dutch (and lots of Germans as well) thronged Schevenigen, a long stretch of beach in the Hague, in huge numbers, estimated to be around 290,000 people, creating massive traffic jams around the Hague. This picture was taken back in April when it was less crowded - imagine nearly the whole population of Brunei now sitting in there.

It has been exactly a year since we arrived here. This tuesday we will fly home for a 3-week stay.

Covered 4000 km in 10 days

Alhamdulillah, the 10-day tour went well. The biggest worry was whether the 7 kids in the group could cope with the journey. The 10-day tour totalled up to 2775 km of driving and about a thousand km on the train. There were also considerable milage on foot especially on the many city walks - some up to 4 km a day.

If there have been no traffic jam, total time driving should have been some 31 hours. But easily we ended up driving up to 45 hours.

In terms of fuel consumption, it was about 300 Euro per car. Hotel costs for 2 rooms for 9 nights per family amounted to about 1300 Euro.

Innsbruck - the Winter Sport Capital

This is one of the most beautiful city in Europe with its location between high mountains. The mountains also serve as an ideal place for skiing in winter with several ski resorts around Innsbruck itself. This is definitely worth a visit during winter time.

Just to prove the point, the Olympic Winter Games have been held twice here. From Innsbruck we stayed overnight in Munich before heading back to Holland. From Munich, its a distance of just over 800km taking about 10 hours to reach home.

Passing through Austrian Alps

The journey from Mestre to Innsbruck was supposed to take 3 hours. Because of traffic jams, it took 6 hours. It seems a lot of people were also heading home from holiday. This route through the Alps is more scenic than the one through Switzerland.

We noticed the motorways have comparatively more uphill and downhill driving and less tunnels to go through.

It Rains in Venice

Piazza San Marco, or known as St Mark's Square, is the main square of Venice, extremely popular with tourists, photographers and pigeons. A remark often attributed the Piazza "the drawing room of Europe".

During the late 13th century, Venice was the most prosperous city in all of Europe. At the peak of its power and wealth, it had 36,000 sailors operating 3,300 ships, dominating Mediterranean commerce. Venice traded with the Byzantine Empire and the Muslim world extensively. During this time, Venice's leading families vied with each other to build the grandest palaces and support the work of the greatest and most talented artists.