The City of Light

Faris wanted to go the the Napolean Museum, but we didn't have time. The last time we went to the De Louvre, that took us a good 4 hours. We actually only had 2 full days to spend. There was also a lot of catching up to do in Paris with our host there.

One thing we learnt recently is that the Parisians are disliked by most French. We could see why. We thought the driving style in Cairo was bad enough, here it is worst. Particularly at round-about, it's everyone battleground. Their driving habit is quite bad. We were told to be extremely careful with those driving on our right - they are our 'enemies'. They would just shove you aside or cut in infront of you without any warning at all.

The country itself is trying its hard to be secular, banning all form of religious symbols and practice from school and government offices amongst others. So it's not surprising to see the Christmas atmosphere and decorations are quite subdued compare to other cities particularly in Germany and UK. Nonetheless, the decoration lightings along the Champs-Élysées, claimed to be 'the most beautiful avenue in the world', are quite impressive. A walk down the avenue, stopping by at its cafes or peeking around inside the luxury speciality shops, is a great way to spend the evening in this city.

Beware of Pick Pockets

Whilst in Paris, we brought our neice to Disney. This time around we let the kids on their own. Christmas eve was a quieter day to go. Last year we went on Christmas day, and gosh that was really crowded. This time around, we didn't have to wait long in the queue. On the way back it took us sometimes to search for our car. Its just a vast parking lot and we thought we remember the parking lot. In the end after spreading ourselves we managed to find it. On the way back to Paris, which was only 40 minutes drive from Disney, the road leading out of Paris was jam-packed for miles and miles. It's the Christmas eve and everybody were going home. Luckily we were heading to the opposite direction.

There have been too many incidents of pick pockets in Paris. So here we are trying to educate those who are planning to go to Paris. Pick pockets are quite rampant there, be it at the metro, at tourist attractions or at Disney. The victims are not just tourists but also Parisian themselves. The criminals may guise themselves smartly and minggle around in the crowd with their quick hands always on the prey. Some may just drop coins in front of you which prompted you to help the poor guy not knowing his partner is helping himself from the back. Some may just drop in front of you, touching your leg or shoe, which would mommentarily shock you while his accomplish is working on your wallet or handbag. Others may guise as a Muslim woman wearing head scarf while conducting their attics but actually are gypsies . So be warned. We have heard quite a lot of incidents affecting many tourists and our countrymen.

Romantic Paris

Just back from Paris. Drove all the way from Paris to Holland today, a distance of 475 km in 4.5 hours, including a short rest stop-over at the border between Belgium and Holland. The drive was quite good, being Christmas today the roads were very quiet. And so we managed to drive on cruise control most of the way.

We tried to do a few things different this time as this was probably our sixth time to Paris. We stayed quite close to the Arc de Triomphe, and for the first time went up the structure to see the sunset in Paris. The climb to the top was quite something though, a total of 284 steps in all. But at the top it was quiet a nice scenary to see as most of main streets were decorated with Christmas lightings. On one side one could see the Le Defence, the futuristic part of Paris at a distance. On the other side one could see the Ferris Wheel near the Museum De Louvre. With the sunset the temperature dropped very quickly and was quite unbearable to hang around too long.

Day out in Amsterdam

Fiz gave Noruen a tour of Amsterdam yesterday. They took a train and amongst the many exotic things that Amsterdam has to offer is this King Kong on the loose at Dam Square. Today I dropped them together with Zim at Alexandrium Shopping Centre just outside Rotterdam City Centre, a place I have never known before but the girls seemed to know places like this better. There is apparently a newly open Primark store there. This well-known UK chain is either you like it or loath it. For the kids, they really love it as prices are great.

Sharia Compliant

In the news this morning was this initiative to create a chain of Sharia compliant hotels by Al Mulla Group based in Dubai. In its website it says all its properties operating under its three brands will respect and abide by the principles of Sharia and will not sell alcohol and only serve Halal prepared food, as interpreted by the Sharia law and the Sharia supervisory board. There's a large market to be captured. It says "according to the World Tourism Organization, Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest outbound travel markets in terms of average spend with tourists from the Kingdom spending US$ 6.7 billion annually on overseas travel. The UAE travellers are close behind at more than US$ 4.9 million, an average of US$ 1,700 per trip, which is US$ 500 higher than the European average".

http://www.almullahotels.com/site/media.php

Back home most if not all our hotels are actually Sharia compliant. But they are currently not promoted along that line, may be not to create a negative signal or was not thought about at all. And also there are little voices in the community and in particular in the tourism industry who have been advocating for alcohol to be made exception in these establishments in order to make this industry back home to be more 'internationally' alligned. The fact that this Al Mulla Group made a bold initiative is a good lesson indeed. They are making a big statement. When things are seen to be prohibitive and a disadvantage to be competitive in this global industry, there are always ways to counter it. If only we are are more creative, there is always a large opportunity our there to be gained.

Be Thankful

The last Saturday before Christmas. Centre of town was busy, the queues at the tillers stretched so long that at one shop it winded up a long distance. So what's all this about the credit crunch? It's there for sure but people are more conscious on how they spend. The high value items are the ones that are much harder to sell nowadays. When the oil price went up beginning the year, we all thought that the most affected group of people would be the poor and the have-nots. Where would they be by year-end? Amazingly at this momment of time, the most affected are actually the richest amongst us when the stock market crumbled, banks and companies gone bankrupt and savings disappeared. It is just amazing how vulnerable humans are. For we thought the richs have their wealth secured and happily living their high life, came the fate to plunder the wealth. It is a small reminder that everything we have in this world is God's own what little or large we get. We should appreciate and be thankful to God for all the wealth and abundance bestowed on us.

I Believe

The week finally ended after finishing a series of meetings and work over three days in Syria. It was a good end to the year with all done and dusted. Now ready for a new phase in the project come the new year. On the last night in Damascus, we went on a 30 minute walk to the Old City to our favourite restaurant - however was full - we regretted for not making an advance booking. So off we went on a search for alternative and found this one. This restaurant has an amazing ambiance inside, well decorated, the main dining place is set in an old courtyard. The place was well patroned.

Eating out with families and friends is one of the main social acitivities for the locals here. We were told that normally people would go out for 3 hours in a restaurant for hokkah and dinner. Hokkah or water-pipe for smoking is everywhere to be seen, used by both men and women. My Syrian colleague told me that women only picked this habit recently. Five years ago there was hardly any women smoking hokkah. But now it's a common sight, though not as bad as smoking. Herbal fruits are used as flavours so the smoky air does smell quite sweet.

Then back to Holland yesterday, welcomed by cold and rainy weather. Now everybody at home are on a break. I am on leave through the Christmas period. Kids are on their school break into the first week of the new year. We got plans to travel on the road over the coming week. Hopefully the weather and the road conditions are on our side.

An Amazing Restaurant

Today was the second day of work here. In the evening we decided to go to this amazing restaurant called the "One Thousands and One Night" on the outskirt of Damascus. The place looks like Vegas. Set in a large compund, the place has an almost exact size replica of the leaning tower of Pisa, a large windmill, a viking boat, a large stage and a few others things.

The workers, from the doorman to the waitress, were all fully dressed up in Persian custome and that provided a bit of different atmosphere. The place is normally packed in the summer when people could sit outside.

Tonight though with temperature at 13 Deg. C, it was a bit cold to eat in the open. The Syrian food at the place was great and quite cheap as well.

Going East

Back on the road again. Back to Syria for another trip with my team. It wasn't a good start. Taxi came 30 minutes late. Only just managed to catch the flight. Then off to Vienna before flying to Damascus. There the plane had to follow a holding pattern before being allowed to land. The irony is that the plane was 30 minutes late leaving Vienna but managed to claw back the lost time, only to be asked to fly around for 30 minutes before being let to land!

Anyway while flying aimlessly over the Syrian airspace, I went looking for obvious landmarks. Saw this one which looks like a power station. Because Syria is quite barren and cloudless most of the time, it is easy to spot any standing structure on the ground. Not long ago a neighbour made an intrusion into the country and bombed a facility that they claimed to be a nuclear facility. Don't know who is right. But it is difficult to hide anything here from being seen by spy planes or sattelites.

Seasonal Tree

It's time of the year when people here start to think about buying their Christmas tree. When we went to look for our supply of fireworks, the busiest spot at the plant and garden shop was the Christmas tree corner. Basically there were stacks and stacks of these items being readied and to be sold. And looking at the crowd, it must have been very good business today. The cheapest tree was around 7-10 euro, rising to 30 euros and over 100 for the really good ones. Imagine every household here buying one, that must be over 4 millions trees being sold before Christmas!

On our home front though, it is still the Hari Raya Adha period. Pretty quiet though. Our Ustaz or the kids' teacher is on Haj and he is supposed to be back this week already. Time really flies. It was not long ago that we saw pilgrims leaving for Haj and are now already back or on the way home.

On BBC we saw the news on the gathering at Mina last week. One thing that was really visible to all was the amount of rubbish scattered on the road. Amazing. Here people are supposed to be on a spiritual voyage and yet has a totally different attitude when it comes to throwing rubbish. I won't say more.

Our eldest is curently on food technology school trip to France. Not so long ago she went to Switzerland. I must say kids nowadays are so lucky. In our old school days in Brunei, one could only hope for a rare school trip to the Kota Batu Museum...

If You Got Nothing To Do

We thought the chaos on the streets of many Greek cities are a distance away and nothing to be interested about. But today we saw a group of people in the small town of Leiden doing their bits to ensure even in this far and small place that people here are aware of what's going on in Greece. They made a small demonstration and later walked through town handing out pamplets. Presumably these group, like those on the streets in Greek, are just looking for any reasons to flaunt their anti-establishment stance. And yet most are probably receiving social benefit of some sort especially those who are still unemployed. Afterall this government like others in Europe can afford the hand-outs as the running income tax is around 45%.

Ready for New Year's Firework

It's the weekend. Faris went to a birthday invite - this time it's two rounds of gokarting. I asked him if he is going to be competitive. He said he will try. At the end he gave his best shot and got third twice. Most of all he enjoyed the outing and has been awhile since we (father and son) went on go-karting.

Today we went around looking for our supply of fireworks for the new year tradition here. On the eve of new year at 12pm, the whole country basically will go crazy and will play fireworks. Normally one had to order the fireworks beforehand and only collect them a few days before the new year's eve. This is to prevent people from playing too early. All sort of fireworks are sold here. It's amazing to see the wide variety of fireworks being sold as these are basically banned back home. Some costing even over 100 euros. These fireworks have been tested by the authority here, those that were deemed unsafe are not allowed to be sold. Here's the video of us last year.

http://paulaland-paulaland.blogspot.com/2008/01/happy-new-year-2008.html

What Happened?

Last year, there were strong hints that RBA would start to run a service from Brunei to Amsterdam via Jakarta using Garuda alocation. Garuda has been banned from Europe due to the poor safety record of Indonesian airlines. It was said that RBA was only waiting for delivery of a new plane to serve the route. But 2008 is nearly gone and no sight of RBA landing at Schipol as yet.

On another news, Amsterdam Schiphol airport has suffered quite a bit since it introduced flight tax recently. The airport which won more than 120 prizes over the years, voted the best airport in the world 7 times in the last 2 decades and honoured with the title of "Best European Airport" for 15 consecutive years (1988-2003), however is not immuned to the ever budget conscious travellers.

The airport saw a decrease of a half million passengers in the last 5 months since the introduction of an 'environmental' tax on flying . The flight tax has added €11.25 to flights up to 2,500 km and €45 for longer journeys. As a result, nearby airports in Germany and Belgium saw a sharp increase, even up 300%. We also did the same recently when we opted for Brussels airport for our trip to Spain rather than Schipol. Time will tell if this amazing airport will revert back and reduce or even abolish the tax. It still serves 50 million passengers a year!

Patron Service

It was an early rise today. Left for Schipol Airport to pick up our niece who is spending 3 weeks here. Since this is her first time to Europe and travelling on her own, we asked for patron service or assistance service for travelling minors from Singapore Airlines. One could request that when booking ticket. You have to provide copy of your identification paper, address and contact number. The service turned out to be quite useful and easy. From the moment of checking in, assisting during transit in Singapore and at arrival, the whole thing went like clockwork. With the service, our niece received priority during the long queue at the immigration/custom - which is always useful. When we met her at the gate, we have to show our ID and signed a few things. She is fast acclimitising to the weather here - now round 3 Deg.C.

Busy busy

Just back from a dinner do hosted by a Singaporean family here. It's a small gathering but we got the chance to savour the Singapura specialities - the lodeh etc. In all 5 families but many nationalities - Brunei, Singapore, American, Dutch, French and Thailand! What a mix.

The week went like a breeze. Been busy in the office and the evenings finishing my report. It's a mega one. I must have been stuck in my seat for hour and hours, consuming doses of cappuccinos (I am luckily or .....maybe not) that the machine is directly outside my office). It's only the daily reminder from our son just before 6 pm...”bah... pukol berapa balik” that I started packing and cycled home. By end of the week I have finished 5 out of the 9 volumes, with about 500 figures in them done so far, and already with printing company. Four volumes to go....err. Yesterday was quite eerie, apparently everybody along my corridor has gone home because of the Sinterklaas celebration and switched off their office light. There I was alone in my brightly lit office along a dark corridor.

In the Right Path

Here's the photo of the biggest Mesjid in our city here. In all, one can find over 20 mesjids in The Hague.

Hari Raya will fall on Monday as announced. Today we took a train from the office for Friday prayer as nobody was driving. The Nusantara gangs obviously went to the Indonesian one, the Arabs to their Moroccan Mesjid.

Today's khutbah was interesting. The Imam started by mentioning about the recent statement from MUI (Majlis Ulama Indonesia) that the death of the 3 Bali bombers can not be declared as martys. These people and the recent attackers in Mumbai were on the wrong path. Rather than talking about these people who obviously made a big mistake in their life, the Imam quickly focused the khutbah to the Jemaah - asking whether we ourselves are leading and living in the right path. Rightly so. We seem to be preoccupied in our life in quickly judging other people but are less critical of ourselves.

The actual mass prayer was quite solemn, the Iman read the Surah Al-Rahman, half in tears.

Deco Lights on the Streets

It's now into the last month of the year. Daylight is getting shorter. Nevertheless, the holiday atmosphere is everywhere to be seen, to lend a bit of a cheer in these cold and dark days. As always the first half of December is when people are in frenzies trying to clear their work before heading off for the traditional end of the year break. That's when the office will be completely deserted. The kids will also have a 3-week break come mid December. We still need to plan where to go....umm

This is also my ninth month cycling to the office. I didn't even envisage that I would have the guts to cycle in this weather. Even with gloves, the fingers still feel quite numb because of the cold. However the daily 20 km cycle ride is becoming a normal routine now.

For What Cause?

So what are the causes of Islamic militancy. A lot have been written. Many think that these militant groups are products of envy and resentment of Western capitalism and frustration over weakening of Islamic nations. Some resent the economic systems in their own countries which benefit a small minority while keeping the majority of the population mired in poverty. Often the route to success is to have political connections. Officials use their office to enrich themselves. They are increasingly passing on their privileged political and economic positions to their sons and daughters. Corruption is endemic. For many, who deserve a particular place in life, watching as corruption eats away at their social status and their standard of living, they revolt against these in various ways....

These may be some of the roots of the problems. What probably drives these people to be extremists is their recent leaning back towards religion in the midst of their frustrations. Many, although highly educated, even doctors and lawyers, lack true and coherent understanding of the religion. Their empty mind is like a vacuum, absorbing and exploiting what ever they could find to use as legitimate reasons. In many cases, these people are easily molded. And so there they are -they closed their minds completely to the victims of their acts. The thought hasn't occurred to them that God might not like what they are about to do. Inside, their brains are fired up with zeal, their soul transfixed. Many innocent lives lost. Inadvertently Muslims and Islam as a whole came under the wrong spotlight.　

Heart of Borneo

Was wondering what's it about, came across this map which shows the areas that encompass the Heart of Borneo initiative. The main feature of this initiative is to have a continuous area of protected forests but on a grand scale. It involves a number of large tract of highland forests in the deep interior or 'heart' of Borneo, spanning along the mountainous spine of this large island. The diversity in this forest would be lost if the forests are fragmented. Successful rainforest conservation requires inter-connected forests. This is particularly critical as mass deforestations for palm oil plantations and other human activities are creeping in from all sides into this heartland.

Busiest Saturday

Yesterday was no doubt the busiest shopping day of the year here. Like back home when it comes to preparing for Hari Raya, yesterday was the last Saturday before the Dutch celebrate a very Dutch tradition - Sinterklaas. This is time of year when they buy presents, quite different to the normal Christmas celebration. In deed we thought our Hari Raya preparations are over the top and for some buying beyond their means, here it is quite similar. The main difference is that most of the buys are for presents. The rests are mainly towards decorations - which can be quite outlandish as well. We don't know whether here the sale has gone down compare to previous years becasue of the current recession. In UK and the States, the sales have definitely gone down and amazing bargains are on offer to kick-start people to start shopping again. Our son asked if back home is also affected by the current global recession. I didn't answer. Life is probably like normal back home, people are more likely oblivious of the real situation.

Captain Jack Sparrow

With the current pirate incidents in Somalia waters, my boy asked me if we are decendants of pirates as he seemed to remember someone saying that. Well it was a long time ago I suppose..who want to claim they are decendants of pirates. The water of Broneo in the past were littered with pirates. Most people were then fishermen. The more powerful and influencial ones, even though they might not be strictly called pirates, but were more likely to act like a pirate, rampaging and colonising territories.

One from the Past

Our boy is doing a project of family history and describing the timeline of someone - his victim unfortunately is me. So there he was jotting down all the interesting facts.....

Loking at old photos, we found this one taken ten years ago when we were here. We lived in a small town (the Dutch consider it as Kampung) called Assen about 2 hours drive North of Amsterdam. The winters were colder with thick snows everywhere. During one winter the temperature was as low as -17 Deg. C.

70 Years

Alhamdulillah. Whilst here we missed the 70th birthday kesyukuran for dad/grandpa. Looking at the photos in PHS blog, it was quite an event with speeches and so on. Born in 1938, in an era when boys became men early, dad/grandpa became a teacher after just a few years of schooling. Then off to Semenanjong but didn't finish his teachers training because of the consternation when Brunei didn't join Malaysia at that time. From then on he has been a teacher ever since, specialising in Malay sastera, before finally lecturing at the teachers training college until retirement.

Other than that that he has a real passion for travelling, something that definitely has rubbed on us. But his biggest contribution is to the community in his former village in Tutong where he spent endless amount of energy and time involved in probably the most successful village organisation in the country for many years. The organisation is called "Pertama".

What's the Point

Excessive celebration and opulence. The newest resort in Dubai, Atlantis the Palm, was opened this week with a mega celebration costing a staggering 20 million dollars. Amid lots of critics, the owner said this is a small amount compared to the cost of the resort itself which is about $1.5 billion. The irony is that some people think that Kylie Minogue fully deserved to be paid $4.4 million for her one hour show but piled hatred and called the owner greedy, selfish and self-centred immoral fat cats. The owner is not even a Saudi, a South African to be exact.

Nonetheless it does bring one to think why many people are looking for extravagence and opulence in life. I am not against people aspiring for good life and getting the right rewards, but lets not be too excessive. If only we all take one moment and have thoughts for the hungry and the have-nots, that will hopefully help us to act differently and avoid us being too opulence in life.

All White Outside

It's below zero outside right now. But that does not prevent the kids to play around with the snow.

Normally these first flurries are the one that makes everyone excited. But once you see it everyday, you would just want to stay inside the house and could not be bothered with it anymore. All in all, including the last time we were here 10 years ago, this would be 6th winter for the kids.

We hope this year will be a good one with proper long cold spell. Would be nice to see the canals frozen and walking on it.

First Snow this Winter

The snow came and go. But when it came down during our drive on the motorway today, it was quite scary. The whole road instantly turned white. The road looked more like an ice ring and everybody started to slow down. Cars were basically just crawling. This is still not the time of the year when the municipal starts to put grit or salt on the road. The current snow blast is unexpected and seems to come a bit too soon.

When we drove up a slope, we saw a car in front of us started to slide sideway. No sooner our car also started to do likewise. But luckily we managed to keep the car going and stayed on the road. Journey back home seemed a lifetime. That was scary. Its time to change the tyres this week. Although the tyres seem to be okay, a year old now, but is wise to take precaution. Normally people change their car tyres to a second set which is the winter tyres. But most people, like myself, opted for the multi-season tyres. The downside, because of the normally heavy summer driving, they don't last more than one winter. The photo is a view of our garden shed at the back of our house today.

Kenangan DiCordoba

This is our collection of photos in Cordoba.

Our Granada Photos

The weather has dramatically changed since yesterday. It now started to be sub-zero outside with the chill factor. Every now and then we see snow and sleets coming down. In the morning it's dark going to the office and again dark going back home. The daily 10-km cycle ride to the office is now more like an endurance test. Not only the bike dynamo is slowing the ride, but the cold and head wind make it a real effort to even get going. Nonetheless as always I am fully wrapped up from head to toes. No regret. Being out in the open, facing the environment, in the middle of rain and cold, and cycling along the many narrow streets and seeing people sitting cozily in their homes, is a humbling experience.

Finally got the time today to compile photos of our last holiday.

We are in Recession

With the ongoing global recession, it is hard to be unaffected by what is going on around you. Everyday we read thousands of jobs were being shed, companies going bust and major cost cutting measures are everywhere to be felt. Our utilities bill is expected to go up significantly this year.

And then suddenly China and the rest of the world start to use less oil. The oil price quickly tumbled down, from as high as $US145 per barrel to $US57 today.

At the pump, the big drop in the oil price however is not reflected in the pump price. Since its height 3 months ago when RON98 fuel cost Euro1.65 per liter, it is now only 25% down, at Euro1.26 per litre, which is about B$2.50 per litre. So why has the decrease in the pump price not the same as the decrease in the raw oil price. Good question - the same question being asked by all car drivers here. Somehow somebody is still raking a big profit.

A Ray of Hope

Whilst living away from our motherland, we don't have the privilege of a housemaid or a helper to do the daily chores. It's probably less of an issue for those in the diplomatic circles where they somehow are always able to bring their housemaid, but here in Holland it is just impossible. Nonetheless it is not that unmanageable at all. In fact this is one of the interesting aspect of living outside.

One thing that we managed to arrange ever since we were here is the weekly religious session for the kids. Ustaz Naf'an, the Imam from the Indonesia mosque here, conducts the session with our kids at home. Ustaz is well kown to the Bruneian and Malaysian communities here. Last summer he went to Brunei and was hosted by a few of our countrymen who used to be here before. He said he had a nice time there and appreciated the hospitality. Just now when we talked about our recent trip to Cardoba, Ustaz said he managed to pray in the grand Mosque whe he was there. Actually it is difficult to do it because the mosque is well guarded to prevent Muslim from praying in the former mosque what is now a cathedral. But somehow Ustaz did manage to do it. And we also heard a few others did it. Mostly they prayed that one day the Mosque will become a proper mosque again like in its glorious past. Ameen.

Legoman

Our son is into Lego. More of the same stuff is piling up as the weeks go by as he is buying more and more of it. Apparently there is a Lego Creator website which contain pictures of lego creations submitted by kids around the world. Faris has been busy making his own creations and submiting them. His creations can be seen if you search haris32 in the username.



http://creator.lego.com/en-us/Gallery/gallery.aspx

Lunch at Beverwijk

The place is 50 km away from home. We had a late lunch today at the Beverwijk Market at our favourite hunting ground - the Makkah Restaurant. The owner and his family as always were there to greet and serve us. They are really nice people. The father and his brother, both from Egypt, own the business which is only opened on Saturday and Sunday. As always, they were helped by their sons and few others. Beverwijk is like an Arab souk where you can get almost anything you want, but at a much better price. But most of all the shoarma and mint tea are great.

End of the Road

Once a week, what ought to be an opportunity to guide the ummah, more often than not Friday sermons nowadays are becoming too generalised and sometimes politicised. There are many times when you walked out of the mosque thinking what actually was the message and what should I be doing about it. The Friday sermons here to me are quite good. They really touched the real spiritual issues and left you to think and reflect deeply. Because they are not drafted by some academics sitting in a lofty office but rather by Imams who are on the street, the messages tend to be simple but strong. The topics recently were about being thankful or 'besyukur' for not only when big things come but for everything that are bestowed on us everyday which tend to be taken for granted. The other time was to do with the impact of Ramadan. Most of us adults have performed 30 to 50 full months of fasting in our life, but have we really see changes in the way we conduct our life. In the end it is up to each of us, rich or poor, what we want to prepare for the afterlife. Below is a nice story I came across.

There was a nobleman who decided to take a tour of his county. As he passed by different places, everyone rushed to see him. However, while passing by a certain place, he noticed a poor old man who did not pay any attention to the nobleman's arrival and remained engaged in his own activities. The nobleman went up to this poor man and asked why he did not join the people to see him. The poor man replied, "Before you, there was another nobleman who once passed by this place. Everyone gathered to see him as well. But, few days later he died and was buried in a place nearby. A poor man also died during that time and was buried near the nobleman's grave. After some time, a strong flood passed through that area causing those graves to overturn. As a result, the bones of the poor man became mixed up with those of the nobleman's. We could not differentiate between them any longer. After seeing this, it does not matter to me anymore as to who is a nobleman and who is a beggar. In the end, our home is the same."

What's with the Mascot

Time of the year when money are raised through donations of private individuals who may organised events to raise funds for charities working with children in the UK. It is now better known as Pudsey Children in need. The kids got involve with it through their British School here. The initiative which started since 1985 uses 'Pudsey', a teddy bear with a bandage over one eye, as the mascot.

Here's what Faris wrote ........ the school raised about 5000 Euros this year through Fame academy and dance competition in the school. The Fame academy is a competition where people audition in singing, acting or dancing. If chosen they will get someone to help them on their performance. The Fame academy was last night and to vote you pay 2 euros. From the voting they raised about 4000 euros. The dance competetion was this afternoon. Every class from year 8 and 7 (14 classes) performed a dance they made.They could ask a year 11-13 to choreographed their dance. There were 2 judges, an English teacher and a professional dancer from England. There was a winner for year 7 and 8 and an overall winner. The year 8's usually win because they had experience in the Pudsey dancing competition. Suprisingly my class 7JF won, choreographed by Fiz and friends! See the video.

Transiting In Budapest

The call from the travel agent was quite late yesterday. The message was that Air France was going on strike from midnight onwards. As I would be flying on that carrier the next day and transiting at CDG Paris, I was advised to change my flight. So the option was given - the best one was using Malev Airline (first time I heard this airline!) via East Europe. I asked if the airline has been approved by the company safety-wise and the answer was YES. I also asked around my colleagues if they have used that carrier before - YEEH... the airline that normally you travel with pigs and chickens onboard! The least assuring answer.

Anyway I took the option. The detail was a bit blurry. I thought I was flying on this M Airline to Sofia in Bulgaria before catching another flight to Amsterdam. Only realised that I was actually flying to Budapest in Hungary when I lined up to board the plane. Well I only had 3 hours sleep prior before being sent to the airport at 2 am to catch the flight at 4 am. And at the airport somebody did the leg work for me, getting my passport sorted out, my luggage checked-in and my exit visa done. I felt embarassed though as the airport was crowded and obviously this guy cut the queue and straight to the front desk (he got the necessary badge which comes with authority obviously).

I know a bit of Bulgaria - it was part of the Ottoman Empire for some 500 years before it got its independence and so has some Muslim population, although suppressed during the communist rule. Hungary - almost zero knowledge - apart from that there is a Formula One race held there every year called the Hungaroring. Looking at Wiki just now, found out that Hungary was one of the 15 most popular tourist destinations in the world in the past decade, with the capital Budapest regarded as one of the most beautiful in the world. The country is home to the second largest thermal lake in the world. And in fact there are over 100 natural thermal wells in the city to feed the many spas there which it is famous for. The most famous contribution of Hungary to the world is the famous square Rubik. It is the amongst the newest member of the European union when it joined in 2004. It is now going through a fast catch up programme to allign with the economy of the rest of the EU, heavily subsidised and helped by the other members which is obviously the attraction to seek EU membership for all the ex-communist countries in Eastern Europe. The membership also helps to reform a lot of things such as politics, administrations, legislation, economy etc.

I am back home now. The plane was good and the Budapest airport was quite modern.

Bawabet Dimashq

It's the last evening before flying home. My Syrian colleague invited me for dinner at this amazing restaurant called Bawabet Dimashg or Damascus Gate. Apparently it is the largest restaurant in the world. It was not full house today but in the summer the place is really packed with more than 6000 people dining at any time. The design of the restaurant is quite interesting, with a setting of a ruin city and small stream flowing across it from an artificial waterfall.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7435424.stm

Unlike in many places and becoming too common now around the world, there are still restaurants that hang Halal sign at their entrance and yet serve alcohol. This one doesn't. And the food was great.

Rain is a Blessing Here

Back home, the rain has been lashing endlessly. It must be a trying time for many especially those affected by the floods, disconnected roads and utilities, loss of homes and so on. It does test one's attitude towards the Almighty.

Here in Damascus, the rain fell down heavily today. I have been asking my Syrian colleagues the past couple of days how long has it not been raining. It has been a while. The city looks so dry and a bit dusty. So today it was an absolute blessing. When such things are taken for granted or even seen as an annoyance in other countries, here to see the rain falling down is a real joy.

After an exhausting day in the office, yours trully made a quick trip to the Al Hamidiyah Souk. The souk is in the middle of the Old City where the great Umayyad Mosque is located. After our Andalusia trip a couple of weeks ago seeing the extent of the Umayyad Dynasty, I am here right back to the heart and capital of the original empire. When the Umayyad Dynasty fell to the Abbasid Dynasty, Damascus had seen its height. The Abbasids moved their capital from Damascus to Baghdad.

On the way back I saw this local ice cream shop. Quite interesting to see the ice cream being pounded repeatedly before being piled up on the table ready to be scooped for the customers. It's definitely quite tempting for people walking by. Going back to the hotel was a bit problematic. With the falling rain, even in a city of literally thousands of taxis, waiting for a long time for an empty one is not how I want to waste my time. So there I was walking in the rain .........

Kid's Tour of Rotterdam

Whilst I am here, today, Faris our youngest, went on a school trip to visit the city of Rotterdam. The city is more modern compared to other main cities in Holland like Amsterdam. The reason is because the city was heavily bombed during World War II and so was later rebuilt more or less from scratch.

It was a full iternary, the school group went on a boat around the harbour which by the way is the busiest in Europe if not the world.

They went to the market and later to the Euromast, the tallest tower in Europe. From here, one could see the city skyline and the famous Erasmus bridge. Here's a couple of photos that Faris took today.