Souk Bahri...

In Khartoum, there are many souks or market and there's many kinds of souks. Some sell fruits, vegetables and meat while others sell dresses, curtain/cushion material and not to forget the cotton cushion itself...hehehe

I normally shop at Marwa, one of the supermarkets here but sometimes when I had to shop for the Block, I would go and buy the wet stuff at Souk Bahri. Actually, there's a bigger souk which sells wet stuff, Souk Makazi. But I prefer to shop in Souk Bahri because it's cleaner. In Makazi, the sellers sell their wares on the ground while in Bahri, they've made platforms for the sellers, so it's cleaner and better arranged.

Oh yes, here there's a lot of boys who would offer to carry your stuff on a wheelbarrow. The first time that I came, I was a bit scared of these boys because they were very competitive. Once you alighted from the van, there's a score of them trying to get your attention. Make sure you haggled for the price before you accept their service. The going rate for foreigners is about sdg2 but do not be surprised if at the end of your shopping trip, they ask for more.

On the 13th of January, I followed Ina Sakinah and K.Ina Wahab to Souk Bahri. Since they frequented the place, they've already got a regular boy to carry our stuff. His name is Abu Nas and his English is not bad. Sometimes we asked him to be our translator...hehehe. Shopping for vegetables during winter was a pleasure. You'll see a variety of vegetables and they're cheap. You'll see huge cabbages, cauliflower etc and they're fresh too.

FYI, all the sellers at the souks are men. Sometimes, if you're lucky, you'll see ladies shopping but normally it would be men also. So, it's advisable for ladies to go in groups. But whenever I go, I couldn't help myself from laughing out loud especially when I saw how funny it was for us to haggle with the sellers. I'm speaking for myself here because whenever I asked for the price, I'll have to start counting in Arabic which I'm only good up to number 10...hehehe. Sometimes, the men would look at us, which would me laugh louder...muahahaha. Just look at the pictures.

Ina Sakinah and K.Ina Wahab...

Cucumber and carrots...

Abu Nas is in the middle...

This Amu (Uncle) selling bananas...

p/s: Just as a reminder, these pictures were taken with the permission of the people involved. That's why I just took pictures focused on the people around us only, not of the whole scene. There's a law against taking pictures of people in public areas. So, before you take any picture in Sudan, make sure ask for permission first :)

Alahai Amir...

This is actually an old story...hehehe. But I went through my collection of photos just now and I remembered how frantic I was on that day.

It happened on the 19th of February, a day before the block A BBQ. I was busy with the preparation of everything and had little time to spare for the kids...sigh. After isya', Amir came to me and said cheerily, 'Mak, I got ball in my ear'. I thought he was joking but had a look anyway.

What I saw made my heart skipped a beat. I saw a yellow thing stucked inside his right ear. I asked him to lie down and tried to get it out with a tweezers but it won't budged. Then I tried using a needle. It worked! Alhamdulillah... I was really grateful to Allah. During the ordeal, I was imagining a lot of scenarios, all bad of course...sigh.

Anyway, when I asked him where did he got the yellow ball, he told me that Hadi picked it up from the playground...sigh. He couldn't answer the question why he put it in his ear in the first place...sigh. Even though I was quite angry, but the blogger in me couldn't pass the opportunity of taking the photo evidence of the incident...hehehe.

His right ear...

The yellow ball...

My instrument...hehehe

Stadium?!!

When we entered the compound of the Quran factory, I saw a humungous building quite near to it. Someone pointed out that was the Khartoum Stadium. Stadium?!! I thought it was an ongoing project but apparently the building of the stadium was already abandoned. The most interesting part that I'd like to share here is the fact that the stadium is in fact being used irregardless of the fact that it's not finished!

Some schools had their football or sports practice here, regularly. Though they were surrounded by the ugly incomplete seating area, the fields must have been good enough to be used. Hmm... In Trengganu, we had a collapsed stadium while in Sudan we have this unfinished structure. But in truth, the Sudanese are proud of this thing they called a stadium. Hmm...maybe we could learn something here, something need not be perfect to be used and utilised. What say you?

Picture taken from afar...

Trip to Quran factory...pictures

As usual, I took lots of pictures during the trip. I just would like to share some of my favourites... I love taking candid pictures because for me that would capture the essence of the moments but naturally most ladies do not like it one bit...hehehe...which adds to the enjoyment for me.

Nina at the forefront, Nani holding the water bottle...

Amboi! Khusyuknya Sakinah...hehehe

Kak Maria and Nani posing...cheh!

Kak Faridah and Sue joined them...

Puan Taha...

Apa kebende plak korang intai dalam tong sampah tu?!!

Kak Faridah posing...

Kak Faridah and one of the workers...

Menelefon ke apa? Sempat lagi pandang kamera...hehehe

Trip to Quran factory...

On the 16th of March, I joined other Petronita members in a trip to the Quran factory somewhere in Khartoum. When we arrived there was a bit of a confusion because the Sudanese guide kept asking about Mdm Siti, so I sort of very happily pointed out Kak Siti to him. Unfortunately, he actually wanted to speak to Ustazah Siti because obviously she could communicate in Arabic while we just 'open our mouths wide' aka terlopong...hehehe

While waiting for Ustazah Siti...

Sakinah...hehehe

When Ustazah Siti arrived, we were promptly whisked away to the first section of the printing factory. We were told that it was the second biggest Quran factory in the world after the one in Madinah (I was a bit skeptical because it looked quite small to me...wallahualam). If I'm not mistaken they produced about 8000 Quran a day. The first section was the designing area where they made the layout and the films for the printing section. We didn't miss the opportunity to have a photo op...hehehe

The whole group...

The Ustaz aka guide...

Ustazah Siti explaining that it was written by hand...

The particular design for Sudan...

The lay out...

After that, we went down to see the printing area. There were several machines in operation. It acutely reminded me of MPM actually...hehehe. I could understand the explanation because I've been to a similar printing facilities before... So, sometimes, I acted as the guide also...hehehe. Anyway, we went round the various stages of printing.

How they're made into films for printing...

This is like the newspaper kind of printing...

This is the photocopy kind of printing...

Those with mistakes are burned...

After that we were shown the binding section where the various parts were put together. I could see the spine mark on each part as another form of precaution. They used thread to put them together. The factory also produced or printed Quran for the Kuwaitis. It was beautiful and used better paper (very smooth and shiny).

Can slightly see the spinemark...

Good thread...

Stapling machine...

Kak Nor - The professional photographer for the day...hehehe

After that we were shown the showroom, well sort of...because they did not have a proper showroom or a shop where we could get the quran... a pity that. I did order, just for the sake of ordering as a momento actually of my visit there.

I was glad that I came because now I know that in producing the Quran, very stringent measures were taken to make sure that there's no printing mistakes. At the design stage, the first copy was written by an imam in Syria. Then it would be proof-read by tahfiz before it was scanned into the computer. Here there would be another proof reading.

During printing and after printing, there's other proof reading sessions by tahfiz. I was happy to see the careful steps in place because it's the Quran we're talking about here. And because of that, I'm confident with the end result. Now I wish I could go and see the Quran factory in Madinah, insyaallah.

Sand storm is not a deterrent...

View from the ground...

On the 18th of March, we woke up to the sound of the wind and when I looked outside, my suspicion was confirmed. We were in the middle of a sandstorm. It was quite a bad one because it continued for the whole day. Outgoing and incoming flights had to be cancelled because it was dangerous to land in such conditions. We had a very quiet day because there was the lack of noise from aeroplanes going in and out of Khartoum (the complex is actually in the direct path to and from the airport...hehehe).

In the complex...

But for Nani and me, the sandstorm was not a strong enough deterrent for us to keep us away from shopping...hehehe. We planned to go out to Souk Sya'bi and that was what we did. We went with Kak Adik, Kak Mek Na and Kak Ida. We had a spesific material in mind actually but we did stop at every stall selling curtain/cushion material. Nearly every shop in fact that I was quite exasperated...Adehhhh

No wonder I left shopping for these things at the last minute. I salute Nani and the gang who had the stamina to look for the materials that was 'just right'. Me? I would just grab anything that I fancy and I'll find the right concept when I got back...muahahaha!

I love 'red'...hehehe

I'll make this into a throw or whatever...

Souks in Sudan are normally made up of a big square and inside them you could find hundreds of little shops selling a variety of goods. From toys, curtains, cushions, materials, clothes etc. You just need to know where and have a good sense of direction. Me? Hehehe, not a chance! Put me anywhere and I'll get lost without fail...hehehe. I need a 'shop directory' to help me get around...muahahaha.

Buying in souks is definitely cheaper than buying in a shop, but be aware, you have to be good at bargaining. Another thing that I'm not good at. I'm hopeless because I always felt that the price quoted was low enough already...hehehe. And I 'pity' the seller quite easily...very, very bad in bargaining. So I left all the bargaining to Nani...hehehe

In one of the shops, while waiting for the others to bargain and choose their materials, I was busy snapping pictures (with their permission of course!). I even took several of the seller and he was 'bought' just like that. He was known for being very strict with his prices but because of the pictures, he 'melted'. Kak Mek Na who had been eyeing one beautiful material for about a year finally got to buy it at her demanded price, all because of the beautiful pictures...hehehe.

One of the shops...

Nani and the seller...

Kak Ida and Kak Mek Na resting...

Finally happy to buy her 'dream' material...

Kak Adik and the seller...hehehe

Walking back towards the van...

Nani resting...

Bales and bales of materials...

Velvety type of cloth...

Ni baru kata 'tersandar'...muahahaha

Visibility was very bad...

At the end of the day, we came out of the souk, very satisfied with our purchases. The visibility was still quite poor but surprisingly, it was very 'clear' inside the souk itself...hehehe. Or was it the madness of the shopoholic that gave our eyes extra strength?!! Whatever it is, I'll bring the memory of the day back with me to Malaysia and it was sweet indeed, especially when you're having fun with friends...

Boys and their toys...

We're going back on the 9th of next month, which is less than three weeks away. So, we asked Subalipack to start giving us several boxes, just to kickstart the packing. The first thing that I packed was the books on the shelves. I cleared the bookshelves and filled up 4 boxes. The packing was done after the kids went to sleep, so they were surprised the next day because they found the bookshelves empty.

Some of the boxes...

The books...

When the boys got back from school, Hadi asked me whether I've packed his toys or not. Of course, I said no, because you'll still have time to play with them. He got very upset and while I was busy preparing their lunch, I heard a loud sound. When I checked, I saw the boys 'pouring' their toys inside 2 boxes (literally, ok?!!). They worked together and carried all their toys in their respective containers and poured them into those 2 boxes.

It was hilarious! They were afraid that I might leave their toys in Sudan...hehehe. They were only satisfied when they've filled up the boxes. Now, they still play with their toys but they would put them back in the boxes at night...hehehe. Just look at the pictures.

They were working together...

Amir...

Their toys' containers...

One of the boxes...

The other one...hehehe