SALAM EIDUL ADHA dari DUBAI, UAE

Salam Eidul Adha to all our family, relatives and friends.....

May Allah's blessings are always upon us....

To those who have been "selected" to be the Guests of Allah in the Holy Cities...

May your Hajj is a Mabrur one.....

Finding Solace in Allah.....

The economic situation now is bad.....I heard that many people have been laid off....have been unemployed......They have every reason to be angry, to be sad.....to blame it on somebody else (in some cases.....)....

Luckily for me....my employer is still holding on to it's staff.....alhamdulillah....all praise be to Allah.

I received a bad news from home. One of my uncles was diagnosed with a stage 2 Thyroid Lymphoma....a type of cancer. It was a devastating news for us all....He is one of the relatives who are close to us. I even stayed with him and his family when I first started working in Bangi.

When we got married, we stayed at his house for a few months before moving to a rental house....which belonged to him.....We rented his house for almost 5 years before moving to our own house.

It's a little disappointing for us not to be by his side to lend our support. However, knowing him for so long, I know that he is strong....plus that he has his loving family around for support.

We just pray that Allah will give him and everybody the strength to face this ultimate test.

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As Muslims, Allah is the only solace that we have.....after everything that we do....after trying hard and doing our best.....it's to Him that we should return to and ask for help.....

Allah will give us some difficulties....but in the end, He promises that there's a light at the very end of every dark tunnel.....

Let's take a look at this one Surah (verse) from the Holy Quran:

Surah Al-Insyirah - An 8-versed Makiyyah Surah. It is revealed that Allah is the comfort and removal of obstacles.....and that at the end of a difficulty, there's always ease.....

Historically, this Surah served as consolations for the Holy Prophet when he was having confusions and difficulties professing Islam in the early days.

Malay Translation

Click HERE to hear the recitation of this verse on YouTube.

The Kids are ready for Winter......

Here's Apit....with his new pair of sneakers, a new jacket and Ayah's ski cap....

And together with his sister.... all ready for a night out to Al Khaleej Center......

I had some errants to do at the shopping center......As usual, we walked there.....

On the way back, we stopped by Citimart and Choitram, at Al Rolla St, to buy some supplies......

My Old Faithfuls

No, it is not about the Old Faithful geyser in the Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, in the US.....

It is about some of my prized possessions that date back to 1993....about 15 years ago.

They remind me to the time when I was just a mere kampung boy in a big country....away from my family and everyone that I loved....

Let me start with a pair of Skechers boots....They are one of my favorites.....They have never failed me, except for that one time when the soles came out when I was going to watch a football match in Seremban..... I got them fixed though.....

Then, when I went to Tehran for the first time....these old faithfuls came with me.....I put on new laces on them....and they kept my feet warm in the snow....

The inside part is pretty worn out, but the outside is still OK and presentable....

Next are an olive-green RPM jacket/blazer and a white Ralph Lauren long-sleeved shirt......I bought them for our Eidul Fitri gathering back in 1994 I think.....

It is still amazing that they still fit me well.....I wear them for official occasions or functions....but I sometimes wear the shirt to the office as well.

The next four items are those that I rarely wear due to their "seasonality nature".....

Here they are (refer to the above collage):

(1) The MIT hockey jersey.....I got this when visiting the East Coast of the US around 1994.... MIT is one of the top colleges in the US....just near to Harvard....

(2) A striped collarless Bon Homme shirt.....I seldom wear it as it's quite warm....but now it's winter in Dubai....so, it will see daylight quite regularly during the next 2-3 months....

(3) A gray Dingus hooded sweat-shirt I bought maybe in 1994 as well in Sacramento.....I use it regularly now as the weather in Dubai is getting colder....

(4) A Planet Hollywood New York denim jacket.....I bought it during my East-Coast trip....(same as the MIT jersey)...

There you go.....some of the things from the old days that I still keep and still use.....Yes...some of the brands are relatively unknown....but who cares about brand-names....as long long as they are "serving" me well.....

At the Burjuman Center and the National Day celebration at Raffles IS

Burjuman Center (29th November 2008)

I took the wife and kids to the Burjuman Center....we wanted to get a taste of the noodles at the Noodle House......

Ain and Apit....with a Porsche.....waiting for a cab....

We ordered 2 curry laksas (for Ibu and Along), 1 tomyam (for me), an egg fried rice (for Ain) and a mango pudding with vanilla ice cream (for Apit). For drinks, 2 hot chocolates and a big bottle of water...... The tastes were not bad at all..... but I think my wife's and mother's cooking beats everything and anything.....and of course anyone....even Jamie Oliver and David Rocco...

Along's not feeling well....while Ain and Apit enjoying their readings

After dinner and Maghrib, we went to Macgrudy's... My wife wanted to get a novel......to read during her past-time....the kids also got the books of their choice....They already began to read them while waiting for the cab...

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Raffles IS (1st December 2008)

The girls' school Raffles International School held a National Day celebration at the South Campus.....I took a day off today to see Along performs. Ain didn't have any performance to do.....probably because she was ill during a good part of last week.....

Along and her classmates

Along was involved in the Traditional Arabic Dance.....click HERE to see the video.

Ain with one of her friends

Ain got the answer right....

Ain was just happy watching the performances...with her friends....but she got a present answering the question about UAE National flag colors during the interactive-presentation session.

What did Apit do all the while? Well, he wasn't feeling very well lately..... He is the third casualties after Along and Ain.....Ain was the first, followed by Along.....and now Apit...

Despite being sick...he's still as handsome as ever...

Lying on Ayah's lap....look at the dried lips....sian Apit....

But he still didn't want to miss the occasions.....he still wanted to give his morale support to Along and Ain.......

Yes!!!....long holidays....boleh bangun lambat.....yea, yea!!

It's going to be one of their last days in school this year.....their school will be closed until the 13th of December, then re-open for a week before closing back until early next year. School re-opens for the next term on the 4th of January 2009. That explains the smiles (in the above photo).

We had the opportunity to see what did the girls do in class.....some of the activities were exhibited on the walls lining the hall ways.....

Some of Along and Ain's class activities put on the walls....

It's good experience for the kids......and for us the parents too....we saw some samples of Arab cultures.....from the dance until the delicacies.....

We watched some Arab ladies cooking some traditional dishes....one dish looked like tosay, the other looked like our own Malaysian "cekodok".....

A traditional Arab dance by Grades 1~4....(Along in 5th from the right)

Traditional Youla dance by some Arab youngsters from another school

Arabian "Tosay" anyone?

And "Cekodok"... dipped in honey?

Waiting for the ride home.....

As usual....we asked the reception to call a cab for us.....and it arrived in less than 10 minutes.....

We arrived at our place at almost 300pm....everybody was very tired.....I think I slept until about 615pm......

Overall....it was a nice family gathering......

More photos HERE