UaEMaX

Random summer thoughts

2009-07-29T10:43:00.002+01:00

Halaw you its me... !
It has been a while since I last updated my blog, not much has changed though :D
Its amazing how people's views on what's right and what's wrong differ enormously. Everyone tends to have a strong believe on what's wrong and what's right, in terms of religion, work or even some social aspects. That's normal and acceptable. What is not normal and I find it disturbing, is the intolerance of some people toward others with different views, ideas or behaviours! Not cool !

Some thoughts.....
It helps to have miserable people around, they make you appreciate the heaven you are in ! (Thank you miserable friends) !
Having everything you want is not always a blessing, might makes u depressed over the silliest thing ! (Like not being invited to a tiny tiny tiny party )!
Superficial people die alone, no real friends and family hates them ! (Fact)!
Sometimes its easier to adapt with what's already there rather than trying to change some stone- age mentalities !(I know its 2009 but they are still around ) !
Some people work non-stop without anyone noticing while others can't stop complaining and whining !(Maybe they should at least do some work) !
Knowledge is power but saying all you know is not necessary !(Who cares how much crappy stuff you know ) !
Best red velvet cupcake is made in AbuDhabi ! ( addictive) !

Take home message : summer is hot

Until I c u again buddies take a good care of you hair, before its too late ! ;)

Make the Worst Better !

2008-05-24T20:36:00.004+01:00

Dear mother and Dad,
Since i left for college i have been remiss in writing and I'm sorry for my thoughtlessness in not having written before. i will bring you up to date now, but before you read on, please sit down. You are not to read any further unless you are sitting down okay ?
well, then, I'm getting along pretty well now. the skull fracture and the concussion I got when I jumped out of the window of my dormitory when i caught on fire shortly after my arrival here is pretty well healed now. I only spent two weeks in the hospital and now I can almost normally and only get those sick headaches once a day. Fortunately, the fire in the dormitory, and my jump, was witnessed by an attendant at the gas station near the dorm, and he was the one who called the fire department and the ambulance. he also visited me in the hospital and since i had nowhere to live because of the burntout dormitory, he was kind enough to invite me to share his apartment with him. It's really basement room, but it's kind of cute. He is very fine boy and we have fallen deeply in love and are planning to get married. We haven't got the exact date yet, but it will be before my pregnancy begins to show.
Yes Mother and Dad, I'm pregnant. I know how much you are looking forward to being grandparents and I know you will welcome the baby and give it same love and devotion and tender care you gave me when i was a child. the reason for the delay in our marriage is that my boyfriend has a minor infection which prevents us passing our pre-marital blood tests and i carelessly caught it from him.
now that i have brought you up to date, I want to tell you that there was no dormitory fire, i did not have skull fracture, i was not in the hospital, I'm not infected, and there is no boyfriend, However, I'm getting a "D" in American History, and an "F" in Chemistry and I want you to see those marks in proper perspective.
your loving daughter,
Sharon
"F" in chemistry yeah, but, defiantly, "A" in psychology !
think positive and put things in prospective, have a wonderful summer ;)

Hypocrisy

2007-10-26T01:28:00.000+01:00

Just pretend to laugh when,

.. you hear people saying thanks god i dont smoke ! but i only do sheshah !
.. its absolutely fine to hire a prostitute but "astghfer Alaah" you drink !
.. females say god forbids local males see our faces, but its ok for indians to see ! they are indians not locals !
.. you see guys wearing stylish funky jeans with even funkier hair styles but their sisters can't wear pants underneath Abaiah because its "Manqood" !
.. you see a religious looking man care so much about having long beard and short kandorah and meswach, but last think he would think of is smiling !
.. you see a religious looking female covered from head to toe but still shouts at everyone she comes across !
.. you see Munaqbat dancing in a musical concert !
.. fast junk food is more expensive than healthy food ! but people still go for it
.. you hear guys saying to their girlfriends I cant see you now, I'm fasting, I will call you after iftar !
.. you find girl friends waking up their boyfriends for fajer prayers !
.. guys pay AED 3000 for useless flirting calls but still fight the grocery keeper over AED 5
.. people feel sorry for labors working at 2 PM on the street and criticize construction companies for being so inhuman and cruel !, but dont mind them working outdoor at their homes, at the same time of the day !

its a hypocrite world
1 more .. you say I dont have time, but you are still reading this !
good day everyone ;)

Sunday the 15th !

2007-07-16T23:26:00.000+01:00

Bad luck can happen any day, any date anywhere !
My day started with me having to cancel AD
My mom telling me that my uncle's family had a car accident
Then again receiving a phone call telling me to be in AD before 8 pm !
My printer was out of ink, so couldn't get the papers ready !
Leaving late!
Arriving AD late ! which was too late !
My 1st cousin not answering
2nd cousin taking his friend to the airport
So I decided to have a hair cut and ended up having a messed up hair and beard !
Walking out of the barber, a stupid driver drove on my toes! (thanks god it was a light car)
Calling a friend who is always in AD except that day! He was out of town!
So I went to Chilies to have dinner alone !
My burger was over grilled! and so was the bacon !
It took the valet parking 20 mins to get my car !
I didn’t have change and they didn’t have too ! which took them another 10 mins !

By then it was 12:30 and, thankfully, that marked the end of that "not so lucky" day !

Enough women rights!

2007-04-15T13:33:00.000+01:00

You can hardly read a local newspaper without finding a couple of articles concerning women employment and women rights! and emirates today wasn't an exception !

I was reading emirates today the other day and there was an article talking about new statistics showing that 90% of young UAE women are willing to get a job after they qualify. The article was suggesting that it’s a new trend among female nationals, which is, in a way, worth celebrating. That was not the first of course, and won't be the last, I'm sure. We always read and hear media trying to praise emarati women if they decide to join work forces or if they've been appointed to head a big establishment. i know in some Middle East and third world countries, this might be a huge change that is worth mentioning where women used to be banned from working and still are in some societies. However, I personally think this does not apply to UAE. I feel the media, by giving all this attention to this matter, is indirectly sending false messages to people from outside the country suggesting that women were deprived from this opportunity in the past. It also gives the impression that such a change was only brought by a western influence during the 21st century. While, in reality, as far as our ancestors could remember, women have always been working in different jobs and businesses, women had careers and owned businesses and farms in the old Emiraty society. They have always been playing a vital financial role in addition to the other roles played by females in any society. They weren't only working as tailors, bakers teachers from their homes, but also working in farms, shops and even as traditional doctors. In the past, some women owned big businesses, others owned fishing ships and some of them were richer than most men at that time. In addition to their rights to work, women in UAE also had the right to learn. They had female "mutawaa" or a teacher who used to teach them how to read Quran, just like men .
in my opinion, the difference came about mainly after the discovery of oil. Men started joining petroleum companies where jobs where too difficult for women to take. It also involved traveling far from cities and villages to stay months if not years away from their families. so the difference in career choice taken by men and women was mainly due to differences in physical abilities.
however, these days in order for you to be modern, to fulfill the 21st century criteria and to become a certified 21st century society you have to give women any rights they think of, or at least pretend to do so!.
Ciao Ladies and Gentlemen ! ( how come we r always mentioned second ! aren't we equal ! lol )

Home

2006-12-08T03:27:00.000Z

At the beginning, I'm really sorry for the long delay since my last post. I was swallowed in by work especially the last 5 months, but I enjoyed every second of it !

It has been 8 months since I moved back to UAE from UK. And here is a list of things I miss :
1. friends
2. London
3. British TV
4. country side's driving
5. weekend hang outs

and 5 things I enjoy in UAE :
1. my family
2. Waking up in the morning in your house, where the breakfast is ready, your car is cleaned and your shoes are shinning !
3. the nice feeling of serving your country and your people
4. Dubai
5. old friends

One of the things I hate the most in UAE is the TV !. We have so many channels on so many different satalites and cables but you can hardly find anything to watch!
The majority are either music channels, with half of the screen covered by SMS messages, or political and sectarian channels!
I 've also started noticing that we have what I call personal channels, a channel for mainly one person advertising him/herself and their services.
What irritates me watching music channels is the sms messages I see!. I still don’t understand why would a person send a msg for at least 5 Dirham just to say Hi or I'm leaving or goodnight ! to people don’t even know him/her !
In general I think, Dubai and mbc channels are the best available channels.

Traffic has been the main subject for Dubai TV for the past month or so. I personally see one main reason for the traffic jams " everywhere, everyday in Dubai", its how cheap its to own a car in UAE ! anyone can own a car even if his/her salary was no more than aed 3000.

Yesterday was my birthday btw :D, have a good weekend all.

2006-08-03T11:58:00.000+01:00

Middle east, being the birth land of the three major religions in the world, has always been a battle field for clashes between followers of these three Great religions, fueled by a lot of politics, of course !.
And with all what's happening over there at the moment, its hard to think anything but war and destruction!
The British Museum in London, however, had a different view of the region, it looked at it as a land of beautiful and inspirational art.
Following an email from my Friend, Hassan, telling me about the event, I decided to give it a visit. It’s the "Word into Art: Artists of the modern middle east" exhibition at The British Museum in London.
I was first disappointed to realise that its for modern artist only ! as I was hoping to see some fine work of our old artists. And if that wasn't enough, I was asked to put my camera away !
So I have to apologise for Hassan who asked me to take some pictures.
However, before they did, I managed to take one picture, and I also bought some post cards showing the paintings.

The exhibition was not huge but very representative, I thought. I liked how Arabic alphabets were used to illustrate the simple Arabic person's thoughts, worries, dreams pleasure and religious believes.
There was a painting of Um kelthoom with the names of her famous songs, there was another with a kid holding an axe and a third of poem praising the day when snipers were having a day off !
In addition to paintings, there was some other art works, like a nailed book by tens of nails for an Egyptian artist.
Most of the art was for Iraqies artist and some Iranians and Egyptians.
The event is sponsored by Dubai holding and runs till the 3rd of September.
Although, it was a typical HOT July day in London!, It was a good day out and well worth it. I recommend it.

In summary,
The event : Word into Art: Artists of the modern Middle East
Place : British Museum in London
Period : between 18th of May and 3rd of Sep
Fees : Free
Time needed : an hour.
Ages : any age, people who can read and understand Arabic would enjoy it
more.
Scoring:
Educational : 5/10
Artistically : 9/10
Entertainment: 8/10
Overall : Good

Pictures:

The world is out of order

2006-02-10T23:47:00.000Z

whats happening to our earth !

After the biggest violation of human rights in our modern age in Guantanamo, after the illegal invasion of Iraq, after north Korea decided to go nuclear, after Iran decided to follow, after hamas won the election, after all that came the publication of the cartoons of prophet Muhammad (pbuh) to ignite the world once again.
Although the cartoons were first published last September, the angry response only came out this month !!. and some ignorant people took the advantage of this to serve their sick, stupid ideas. They attacked churches, burned embassies, threatened Christians and vandalised other public properties!.

After the made up proofs of Iraq's WMD produced by Collin Powell and Tony Blair, Channel 4 recently got hold of the memo for the conversation between Bush and Blair prior to going to war. At the meeting Bush suggested to provoke Saddam to shoot down an American aircraft painted with UN colours in order to get the UN involved in the war. Blair, however, offered a full support regardless what UN decides to do.

Iranian newspaper announced a competition to draw cartoons ridiculing the Holocaust. Iran also suggested Israel should be moved to Europe.

In south America, election brought anti American leaders to power. They declared war on Bush and American imperialism. Some called him Hitler, others just decided to ask him to stay out of their businesses.

People talk about dialogues between civilisations all the time, but what we see is the opposite.! We seem to be drifting apart every minute. More people are killed by hatreds and racial attacks everyday. Muslims were sent to jail just because they were Muslims, Americans and British were slaughtered on TV just because they came from that part of the world.

Strangely enough, non of the people, controlling all this, was hurt!. Saddam and Bin Laden are still alive, Bush and Blair are still in power. On the other hand, thousands of soldiers and innocent people were killed in between.

you know what I think,
The world is a crazy game where a handful number of people playing with millions other.

"Why bother" for me plz !

2006-01-18T02:26:00.000Z

I'm suddenly a big coffee fan and very interested to know more about every single aspect of the coffee world !. so I started looking into its origin, the different types and found some weird information about the coffee culture that I didn’t know about before.
The name Coffee comes from Kaffa, a little place in Ethiopia. Arab traders were the first to introduce "qahwa" seeds from that district and began first cultivation of the plants in the Arabian peninsula sometime between 1000 to 1500 years ago. The main centre of qahwa production was the port of Mocha in Yemen( I think its mukala now) During Othmanian rule of the Islamic empire, "qahve", which is the same Arabic "Qahwa", was very popular amongst the Turks, and they used to serve strong brew to visiting Italian merchants. The Italians then introduced caffe to Europe shortly after that.
Over the years a lot of flavours have been added to coffee and different types and strength were made.
I was curious to find out about the differences between the different types of coffee we see these days in almost every coffee shop, and fortunately, I managed to gather some information on the different names and terms used for coffee to share with you and here are some definitions:

Espresso : people who drink espresso are very serious about their coffee!, and so is the way to make it . its a dark, smooth, aromatic, bitter-sweet drink, the product of forcing hot water at about 150 PSI, by means of a piston or pump, through freshly and finely ground, firmly packed, recently roasted, high-quality Arabica beans, versus trickling hot water over coarsely ground Robusta beans, when making regular brewed coffee.
Double: An espresso made from a double shot; about 1 ½ - 2 ounces.
Americano: Also known as a Caffé Americano. An espresso diluted with hot water. Just plain great coffee.
Latté: The default espresso. Short for Caffé Latté. An espresso made with steamed milk, topped by foamed milk.
Café Au Lait: French for coffee with boiled milk. Similar to a no-foam latté.
Caffé Amaretto: Latté with almond syrup.
Caffé Latté: Also known simply as a Latté. It has less foam than cappuccino
Caffé Mocha :Also known simply as Mocha. A latté with chocolate.
Cappuccino : A shot of straight espresso with foamed milk on top. it is 1/3 espresso, 1/3 steamed milk, 1/3 foamed milk. The word cappuccino is derived from the Italian word for hood "cappucio", because it was a habit to wear a hood while ordering !
Crema: The tan-colored foam that forms on top of an espresso shot, as a result of the brewing process. The crema is composed of tiny air bubbles composed of espresso film and forms a "cap" that protects the espresso.
Half-Caff: A mix of half regular and half decaffeinated espresso.
Latteccino: A cross between a cappuccino and a latté. Also known as a Wet Cappuccino.
Mochaccino: A cappuccino with chocolate.
Skinny: If you want a latté made with nonfat or skim milk, just say you want it "skinny."

On the medical side, caffeinated coffee can cause sleep disturbances and anxiety. A study, also, revealed a cup of coffee in the morning can cause what's known as "tip-of-the-tongue"where the person find it difficult to come up with the word he/she already knows. However, some separate recent medical studies suggested that coffee can actually improve short memory.
Final advice, if you are going to use a decaf coffee make sure it was decaffeinated using a non-chemical method such as "Swiss water process". And next time you go out for coffee you can go "why bother" !! it’s the term used for a latte' with nonfat milk and decaf espresso ;)

Looking back,

2005-12-12T20:42:00.000Z

Sometimes you sit alone in a very quite place, not looking at your watch, not waiting for anything, just you, yourself and the air you breath . This is what is happening to me right now. my holiday has just started but unlike every year I'm still here in UK. I don't even know if I'm going at all. I was thinking about things that happened in my life, things I did, things that were done to me, I was thinking about them with a sorrow!. Why did I do that ? why didn't I !why did I let that happen? , I should have said that and so on, it was like a flash back of my life. I did bad things, I said horrible things to people, I lied to make others laugh I didn’t try to stop my friends from committing sins, I didn’t advice them to pray.
I thought it was the time to start thinking about my life, where am I heading? Is this is the best way to take? Because at the moment I think I'm not on that way!
I sometimes feel I'm lost, not knowing my aim or , funny enough, having too many aims!. I sometimes start thinking about my 10th step before starting to walk!. I preoccupy myself with future plans and forget my present work.
Its good to plan your future and work according to your plan, but you should not take your eyes off your current step. Imagine yourself climbing up a ladder, you had your aim, which is reaching the top, then you start climbing step by step with your eyes straight at your feet, you will reach in no time with no difficulties at all, on the other hand, if you had your aim and while climbing you were looking at the top, rather than your feet, you will fall off before you know !
Life is a school, as we all know, nothing wrong with making mistakes, you are a genius if you make mistakes and learn from them and you will have the advantage over people who didn’t make that mistake, because no matter what people try to teach you, experiment makes learning perfect !

FRIENDLY advice

2005-08-14T23:14:00.000+01:00

FRIENDLY advice
We all strive hard to keep alive
Seeking remedies to survive
At 91 I've pass them in to you.
Honey keeps most ills at bay
If taken liberally each day;
And ne'er forget what fruit will do
To keep away the dreaded flu.
One thing all witches do abhor
Is garlic hung outside one's door,
But don’t forget a clove or two
Is also very good for you;
Although I have to make it clear
It might offend those close and dear.
Essentially, I do advise
A little daily exercise.
And never eat and go to bed
Eat several hours ahead instead.
Above all else my life support
Is just a nightly glass of port.
Follow all this to n'th degree
You might then live as long as me!

William L B Walker

a patient wrote this and gave it to me as a recipe to reach 91 :D. he said u can try it, it worked with me ;)

PoWerFul WomEn

2005-08-03T10:58:00.000+01:00

Forbes recently published their list of the most powerful 100 women for this year. Mrs Rice came first which I think is not fair. Mrs Rice, as a USA secretary of state, has more naturally has more power than most women on earth, if not all of them! And for the first time an Arab Saudian woman’s name appeared in the list. I personally think it’s a great achievement, which all Arab women should be proud of. What makes it even bigger achievement is that it happened in a male dominant society like the Saudian society, where women are openly been discriminated against and where a large number of the population still believe women should stay at home and not work. However, this mentality is shrinking in size as I felt after chatting with a Saudi friend who is fighting to find a job for his wife.

OuT OF OrDeR !!!

2005-07-30T19:23:00.000+01:00

Im back in London after a very short visit home. Although it was only for 2 days I enjoyed it so much, its always nice to go home :)

The weather in AD was like hell ! humid and hot all day long , thanks god for the blessing of AC otherwise no one would be able to stay there at this time of the year.
In London its the opposite! Its raining heavily and cold! My friend was saying is this really July!
for me it feels cool and pleasant although, rain sometimes ruin your plans and make you stay home and watch TV (still doesn't make u study) lol

BAD NEWS: my camera (the new one) ! is not working. I don'tt know what happened I'm frustrated and angry its just 3 months old! and what makes it even worse, I gave away my old camera , so now I'm cameraless !

ALf MaBrOoOoK

2005-07-26T17:37:00.000+01:00

Marriage is a true turning point in someone's life. in our culture, it's the day where the girl leaves her father's house to a completely new house and people. While for the guy, Its the day where his family receives a new family member. Back home, as usual, we spend a lot of money on this night, more than what an average person in UK would spend in years!. Its true that because its one very special night, spending so much money might make it extra special and rememberable, at least for the groom ( maybe rememberable but not in a good way lol ). Its also part of our Arabian tradition and generosity to do the best you can for your guests. On the other hand, one might say you can be generous and kind to your guests without having to spend that much. For example, do we really have to throw away that much food just to show people how generous we are! Or is it part of our tradition and culture to pay so much for makeup, wedding dress and photographers?! In my opinion, we should be reasonable, we should spend and make it look perfect, but we shouldn't over spend on silly non-necessary things or food which gets wasted!.

However, its not mine yet, so lets wish them all the good luck and a very happy life full with joy and fun.

LoNdon UnDeR AtTack !!

2005-07-11T23:10:00.000+01:00

Wars , terrorism, bombing, anthrax...etc all means of killing! Leaders disagree, politicians negotiate governors talk! But, sadly, only innocent very ordinary people die!.
After New York and Madrid, Terrorists, whoever they are, decided to hit London on Thursday to reach achieve their "noble" goal of course, the goal of terrorising innocent people !.
Some organisations, who claimed responsibilities of these bombings, claim that they are doing this for the sake of Islam! What Islam is this?! This has nothing to do with Islam, in fact this is what Islam came to change in the Arabian peninsula , it stopped burying young girls alive ! It stopped the killing of old people and women who are not capable of fighting, even at war! Islam taught Muslims how to respect people with different faiths and beliefs.
Its disgusting how these people dare to use Islam to achieve their own political aims and to express the sickness of their minds in this way.

AvEnue DeS Champs ELySeeS

2005-03-06T13:31:00.000Z

PaRis

It was my first visit to Paris.... this city is amazing , something special about it, the ppl the weather the food , I don't know I just loved it
we weren't lucky with the weather though, it was freezing !, that's why streets weren't as busy as they should be , we were told.

I used Eurostar for the 1st time, it took us less than a minute to cross French immigration desk in waterloo !, that is nothing compared to at least 15 minutes u need to clear UAE/Oman border check point, and we think we have the easiest international border crossing.

red-flower

2005-02-08T23:24:00.000Z

red-flower
Originally uploaded by Mtfarda.

we all cross by flowers like this all the time but u only see the beauty of them when a talented photographer like Mtfarda presents them 2 u :)

The beauty of waking up early

2005-02-08T23:16:00.000Z

i love waking up early in the morning ,,,u get to c nice views like this, u feel fresh and u get to live ur full day ! unlike if u woke up around afternoon time.

FrAnCe

2005-02-08T18:57:00.000Z

I know with all this snow u would think its freezing ! but it wasnt it was a bit warm actually maybe because it's closer to the sun at around 5km above the sea level ! lol or simply by the reflection of the sun rays . however it was alot of fun