Sunday 27 December 2009

A simple summary...

I'm just dropping by to share with all of you my whereabouts for the past several days and the next few days...

21 and 22/12 - Travelling from Khartoum to Cairo

22/12 - Relax in the morning, after lunch went to Anwar Sadat's monument, Al-Azhar mosque and Husin Mosque. Had a glimpse of Khan Khalili...hehehe. On the way back, dropped by at Carrefour.

23/12 - Fell in love with crystals in Asfour! Hehehe. After that, went crazy in a four storeys carpet shop! And at night, went on the Nile cruise and watched live belly dancing...hehehe

24/12 - Went to Cairo's museum, found 'the' rug shop in Khan Khalili! Yeay! We went to see the lights and sound show in Giza and on our way back managed to squeeze in a trip to an Adidas factory outlet...hehehe

25/12 - Kak Faridah/Junaidi's family joined us in Cairo. We went to the first mosque in Egypt, Masjid Amru al Asr. Visited the Makam of Imam As Shafie. The men solat Jumaat in the Mosque of Sultan Hasan & Rifa'e. After that the kids had fun playing in the compound of the fortress of Salehuddin Al-Ayyubi. We were supposed to have lunch at the MSD but instead found a shop selling cotton materials infront of it...hehehe. And finally we went to Asfour crystals again! Yeay!

26/12 - On our way to Dahab, we stopped at the Kubu Israel and later to see part of the mata air 12 (where we found a lot of things to buy! hehehe). After that we tried the sauna at Hamam Firaun. We dropped by at Makam Nabi Saleh on the way to St. Katherine. Though we arrived in the darkness, I managed to scramble my way up to the lembu Samiri. Then, made our way to Dahab and after resting for awhile, went out shopping in the 'tourist area' (well, window shopping mostly...sigh).

27/12 - Went on a glass-boat ride on the Gulf of Attaba. Visited the fortress of Salehudin in the middle of the Red sea. Went back to Cairo.

28/12 - Going to Faiyoum

29 and 30/12 - An overnight trip to Alexandria

31/12 - Pyramids at Giza and shopping in Bazaar Khan Khalili, insyaallah.

1/1/2010 - Going back to Khartoum, insyaallah.

Well, that's my simple update...hehehe. I've been away from the computer for awhile because I was busy enjoying myself... hehehe.

Au revoir!


Sunday 20 December 2009

My new camera!

Sometime in November I realised that my camera's missing. I tried to find it everywhere and finally realised that I must have left it in the hall during one of my badminton sessions. I missed that camera so much, luckily I've transferred most of the pictures. The only ones left in the camera were of the ladies playing badminton.

I bought the camera on my way to Khartoum, on the 5th of April 2008. I had it with me for 1 and a half year and though it's not very expensive but I loved it so much. I took about 7000 pictures with that faithful camera and only about a quarter of them graced my blog. During the Aidil Adha holidays, I was forlorn without a camera.

So, probably my husband took pity on me and decided to ask Fateh (who's going to Dubai) to one for me. Something similar to my old compact camera because the old model was discontinued...sigh. On the 29th we went to Jabal Auliya', a very beautiful place. I could only watched as the others clicked away...sigh

Anyway, when I came back from the picnic, we got a call from Fateh. It seemed that he arrived the day before and I could have rolled on the ground. If I knew, I would have taken the new camera from fateh and brought it to the picnic?!! Nevermind, at least now I have a new camera! And it's pink! Hehehe. I still loved the old camera with its big viewfinder but this'll have to do. I'm back in action...yeay!

So these were the photos I took on the first day I got the new camera... Thank you, Fateh...

Fateh with one of his boys...

Aliah...

Hadi with his new trademark...

Amir...

Oh yes, I'm going for a holiday in Egypt tonight. We'll be there until the 1st of January 2010. So, I'll be taking a break from the blogging world for awhile (If I do not have internet connection...hehehe). So, Happy New Year everyone!

Saturday 19 December 2009

Farewell to Kak Zainon...

On the 4th of November, Kak Zainon and family went back to Malaysia for good. She would start working in Bintulu sometime in November. As our custom, we waited for her at the lobby of Block B to say our goodbyes.

The usual 'suspects' were there...hehehe. I teased Che' Ku a lot...hehehe. I told Kak Zainon that Che' Ku needed her forgiveness...muahaha! Anyway, I had fun. Some of the office staff also came to see her off. As usual, I took lots of photos but sadly no 'crying' pictures...hehehe

Bye, Kak Zainon... Good luck in the new place!

Waiting...

More ladies...

Mujur la Kak Faridah tu kurus...hehehe

Sibuk posing...hehehe

Kak Zainon and Fuziana...

I was teasing Che' Ku...muahaha!

Sesi bermaafan... look at my husband (in pink)

Group photo...

With her office staff...

Makan2 at Yana's house...

On the 3rd of November, we were invited to Yana's house (Ckn's old house). She just arrived sometime before raya if I'm not mistaken. So she wanted to have Yassin recital and a house-warming party.

The students helped her cooked nasi briyani, ayam masak merah etc. I conquered the long sofa with Kak Jas and Ina Sakinah...hehehe, so I had a good view of everyone. The food was good, the company was fantastic... what else could I ask for...hehehe

Ina Wahan and Kak Anum in red...

Kak Anum busy posing...

Khusyuk ko makan ye, Ina?!!

Some of the guests...

I could see what everyone's eating...hehehe

Ina Sakinah with Sh. Nayela...

Asma' and Shaheerah in serious discussion...

Min, apa ko buat kat situ, huh?!! hehehe

Yana, holding her boy...

Kak Rahimah, tengah pilih apa tu?!! Hehehe

Dessert table...

Kak Zu, Kak Rahimah and Najwa...

Eh, Norima pun ada kat sini?!! hehehe

Makan2 at Kak Anum's house...

On the 2nd of November, Kak Anum invited us all to her house for morning coffee. She prepared laksa penang, nasi impit, kuah kacang and rendang among other things. Her husband Ipin just received the letter to demob sometime in December and she wanted to show her appreciation to all of us by inviting us.

Kak Jas suggested that we start giving farewell gifts for our Block A friends who's going back for good. I agreed and gave out sms to ask the opinion of the others. Nearly 95% replied positively to my request and decided that we would collect sdg5 per person. I, by default had to act as the ceti as well...sigh. So roughly the present should be around sdg100. That was decided about two days before Kak Anum's morning coffee.

I (of course?!! rolled eyes!) had to buy the present...hehehe. I invited Kak Maria along because she has definitely better taste than me...muahahaha! Nani also came along to Bravo in Khartoum to find a suitable gift. Once we got to Bravo, we went straight upstairs to look at the variety of lamps, frames, mirrors etc.

Well, being in Khartoum we had limited choices. There's only a handful of shops that sell good quality houseware and Bravo's one of them. After pacing back and forth upstairs, we decided to buy a pair of lampshades and we brought them back to Kak Maria's house for safekeeping. Huh, I was very glad that we've done that in time for the morning coffee...hehehe

On the day of the morning coffee, we chatted and enjoyed the food prepared. Later, I acted as the emcee and we presented the present to Kak Anum (to her surprise...hehehe). She didn't expect that at all because she was to be our benchmark. I definitely love giving people surprises...hehehe. After that of course, we forced her to light up the lamp so that the rest could 'ooh and aah' over it...muahahaha! Enjoy the pictures...

Laksa penang...

Nasi impit, kuah kacang and rendang...

Dessert table...

My yoghurt...

Ina Wahab and Kak Maria...

Some of the guests...

Makan, jangan tak makan...

Kak Anum in the centre...

Prize-giving...

Najwa, K.Maria, K.Anum and K.Jas...

First, asked her to show us all...hehehe

Amboi, sukanya Kak Adik...

Then, we forced her to put it on...hehehe

Kak Adik, Ina Sakinah and Kak Liza...

The Chubby Chubs...Aleesha...

Salam Maal Hijrah 1431H...

I'd like to wish all muslims a happy new year 1431H wherever you are...

For myself, I hope to be a better muslim, insyaallah. Yesterday, I explained to Aliah the significance of the new year...well, I tried my best anyway...hehehe. Now she sort of understand that all our good and bad deeds are going to be recorded and starting from yesterday, she's been trying to score points...hehehe.

Once she did a good deed, she'll touch her right shoulder and say, 'good deed' and when she did something wrong she'll touch the right shoulder. It was kind of funny but well, kind of sobering also. I guess I should be doing what she's doing also.

Again, Happy New Year, everyone :)

Thursday 17 December 2009

Emmm... Padan muka?!!

Calar cam pirate!!!

After the performance, I was really relieved... Finally it was over. So in the afternoon, I joined the other ladies to play captain ball. What's captain ball... well it's like netball without the net. They've started playing only the day before if I'm not mistaken. I only managed to join for 10 or 15 minutes the day before because we were in the meeting with Puan Juni.

So, back to the story. While I was busy playing, I was involved in an 'incident'. Somehow or rather, the ball fell smack on my glasses and the 'plastic buffer' in the middle broke off, leaving the pointy sharp steel exposed and because the impact was quite bad, it scratched my right eyelid and beyond! I was bleeding!

Luckily Puan Taha was there to lend me her small towel...hehehe. The rest were too gobsmacked to continue playing. I was also lucky because we found the plastic buffer somewhere on the grass which was a small miracle in itself! Anyway, now I have a scar on my face, just like a pirate! Muahahaha...

That was also the end of our captain ball playing days...sigh. Maybe the others were a bit weary, but seriously it was just an incident. It's quite normal in sports to get injured...hehehe.

A note to myself: Padan muka! Hehehe...

Edufair 2009 : Zapin...

After silat, it was the kids turn to dance zapin. They looked so colourful and cute! I bought the dresses worn by the girls in Kamdar during the summer holidays. We were lucky because we managed to find similar baju melayu colours for the boys... well, after asking all the mothersay if they had yellow, red or purple baju melayu that we could borrow. Alhamdulillah, with the cooperation of everyone, they looked great. Thanks to Nina, Uji and Zai for helping with their make-up and hair!

Even though the kids performance was not perfect but everyone enjoyed it. I was standing at their side and kept on asking them to smile...sigh. I think they were a bit nervous when performing...hehehe.

Nervous smiles!

Starting...

Cute, kan?!!

Awat tak sama nih...hehehe

Bantai la korang...

Crowded kan?!!

Handsome si mamat nih...hehehe

Dah nak abis baru nak senyum...hehehe

Soon it was all over, yeay! I invited them to have lunch at the cafe. But there was a little bit of a misunderstanding among PCO, Cafe and us but was later resolved. The kids ate the sudanese food prepared for them...sigh and I paid for the drinks etc. because I wanted to and as my appreciation of their effort and hard work. Thanks Kak Liza, Nina, Fuziana, Ina Wahab, Kak Zila, Zai etc for your help in every way! :)