tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64572569955864176772024-03-14T13:20:14.585+03:00My JourneysAbdallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16470099071743774101noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457256995586417677.post-68784085320727835022011-01-03T21:18:00.002+03:002011-01-03T21:28:51.484+03:00African musicAh, what a day! I love this country already and I have only been here for less than a week.<br /><br />I didn’t blog yesterday because there was nothing interesting to talk about. This does not mean that I didn’t have fun. Even though the days are the same and you basically do the same thing, you meet so many interesting people everyday that it makes your day worth it.<br /><br />I won’t make this blog post long since I need to go have dinner now that we came back after a long day at the exhibition.<br /><br />Today, I want to talk about music, and African music in particular. In the exhibition, there is music all around during the whole day. This is nothing special since music is played even in the exhibitions that take place in the Middle East. However, what I noticed was that people over here react to music in a very different way. All over the exhibition, I noticed that as soon as the music would start, people walking around would start dancing! It’s amazing! They dance with each other and smile to everyone around. People here are really happy. On the other hand, in the Middle East, people just walk around and there is no reaction at all! No one is dancing or doing anything. I know that you may say culture plays an important role, but atleast a smile makes a difference. And this is just my own opinion, so don't start hating!<br /><br />Most of the people here in Ethiopia are not as rich as the people in the Middle East but they still seemvery happy with their life. This really made me realize that money can buy you lots of things, but it can’t buy you happiness!<br /><br />I am really enjoying my time here and having a blast. I am sorry that I am not posting any pictures or talking about the beauty of the country, but this is because I am really busy helping out my brothers and finishing up the work I came to do here.<br /><br />I promise that this won’t be the last time I visit this country because soon, I will be calling it home…Abdallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16470099071743774101noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457256995586417677.post-33329340742655411342011-01-01T21:38:00.003+03:002011-01-01T21:47:14.340+03:00Ethiopian Women!<p>Sorry I didn’t post a blog post yesterday, I know you were all waiting for it (lol). I could lie and say that I didn’t have internet access or there was no electricity, but the real reason was because I was sleepy! I slept from 6pm to 12am and it was amazing. Woke up at 12 and wished my self happy new year and went back to sleep. Yea, people dont celebrate new years that much over here.<br /><br />Today started off early, at around 7am. I woke up to the beautiful chanting of the church right in front of our house. With all respect to all the Christians around the world, this guy was really annoying. He was chanting from 12am until 9am! Who does that!!<br /><br />Since it was Saturday, there was no dropping the kids to school. We went off to work at around 8ish. My work with my brother is helping him out at an exhibition which he is taking part in. It’s really awesome since I get to meet a lot of local people and interact with them. I learnt a few words of the local language (Amharaic) as well.<br /><br />We got back home at 8pm after having dinner at a local burger restaurant called tik tok. They have good fresh burgers, (just in case you come to Ethiopia and want to try some good food).<br /><br />That was all what happened today, however, I want to share with you some of the observations ive seen here in Ethiopia which made me rethink my life in the gulf region.<br /><br />Being here for the past 3 days made me realize how much I was dependent on the internet. My life revolved around it from the minute I woke up until I went to sleep. Facebook, Twitter, and Gtalk were all I did all day long. Coming here and being in this (almost no internet) country, I realized how much time I have that I could spend doing something useful. I am not saying that social media is a waste of time, I am just saying that too much of it is a waste of time.<br /><br />Another thing I realized here was when I talked with my cousins about their life here in Ethiopia. All they said was it is boring since there are no malls or places to go out. They said that the only thing they have is trees and rivers and mountains. This was kinda eye opening to me because coming from the Middle East, we always complain that we don’t have natural beauty and all we have is malls and tall buildings. Its funny how you realize the importance of the things you have when you don’t have them.<br /><br />I will end this post now because I am really sleepy. I just want to say once again that Ethiopian women are very beautiful! I really can’t believe how an entire country can have so many beautiful women! Its amazing. </p><p>I will dedicate this blog post to every beautiful Ethiopian woman out there! You Rock! </p>Abdallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16470099071743774101noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457256995586417677.post-69836377943277051352010-12-30T18:46:00.004+03:002010-12-30T18:53:41.012+03:0013 months of Sunshine!I am made it finally to Ethiopia!<br /><br />Lets start with yesterday....<br />So, my 8 hour stay in Dubai before coming to Ethiopia was quick. I guess it was because I had loads of friends online who kept me busy. Thank you guys.<br /><br />The flight from Dubai to Ethiopia took 4 hours and it wasn’t that bad either. If your visiting Ethiopia and on a budget, then use Ethiopian Airlines, otherwise, I advice you use Emirates.<br /><br />I arrived to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, and it started raining like crazy. My brothers picked me up and went home to see that the electricity was out. According to my brothers, this was normal!<br /><br />We had dinner (using torches) and chatted for a bit before we went to sleep. I couldn’t sleep the whole night because of the heavy rain that was pouring down insanely. However, I managed to get few hours of sleep before my eldest brother woke me up at 7am!<br /><br />Today started by dropping my niece and nephew to school and then we went off to work. All I can say is that it was a long day!<br /><br />Here I am now at home and its 6:30pm and the kids are playing around the house like crazy!<br /><br />Before I finish this post, let me share with you some of the crazy but interesting facts about Ethiopia.<br /><br />According to the Ethiopian calendar, today is the 21st of April 2003! I don’t know how they count it but it is!<br />Ethiopia has 13 months in its calendar, not 12! They count each month as 30 days and the last remaining 6 days make up the 13 month. Hence, Ethiopia is called the land of 13 months of sunshine!<br />Over here, the way they tell time is also funny. I think there are other countries around the world who use this system. If it is 2pm, they will say its 8 and if it is 3, they will say its 9. Its basically the opposite on the watch. I hope you get the point. I don’t know why they do it but I will try to find out.<br />Ethiopia has some of the most beautiful women I have ever seen in this world! All the women take so much care of them selves that even the ugliest woman will look beautiful. They know how to keep their men happy I guess!<br /><br />That’s all for today.<br /><br />See you guys tomorrow. I won’t be uploading pics either because of the dial-up internet connection I am using but I will try to find a solution to that.<br /><br />Now, its play time for my niece and nephew!Abdallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16470099071743774101noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457256995586417677.post-40574137809461329392010-12-29T09:40:00.003+03:002010-12-29T10:03:00.940+03:00Africa here I come!<div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Woo, its been a while since I posted a blog post here. I really miss this place. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Alright, so without any boring intros, here are the updates. I was supposed to travel to Ethiopia right after my finals, which were few weeks back. However, parents wanted me to come back to Oman to help out with sister's wedding. I flew to Oman and chilled there for a week. However, here I am now in Dubai Airport going to Ethiopia today :) </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The reason I am going to Ethiopia is for some family business which I will not be talking about here on this blog. I will also visit family and get a chance to see my country after not being there for more than 6 years! its been a while. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I will be there for a week and than get back to attend the wedding on the 12th of Jan before I leave back to Doha on the 14th. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I am really excited as I wanted to blog about Ethiopia for a while. I believe its one of the most beautiful African countries but people don't know much about it. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I hope I will be able to show the world the beautiful side of Ethiopia and help them realize that the world is not only about Europe and America ! </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">No one in my family in Ethiopia knows that I am coming today except for my brother who is picking me up from the airport. I hope they don't read this post before I get there :)</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I wont make this any longer as I have 8 hours to spend in this airport and I have loads to do. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Stay tuned for more posts about the beautiful country, Ethiopia. I am not sure if I will be able to post everyday as I don't know how easily internet is accessible there.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Until then, enjoy these videos . </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">This one is about the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElG9sAiln4Ahttp://">Blue Nile Falls</a> in Ethiopia.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">This one is about the capital City of Ethiopia, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI70B8FScXAhttp://">Addis Ababa</a>, where I will be staying.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div>Abdallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16470099071743774101noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457256995586417677.post-17243992116711159422010-09-18T11:50:00.004+03:002010-09-18T12:03:43.221+03:00Until we meet again...<span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Sorry for the late post, I had to make a quick decision to finish my break a day earlier. The day itself was not interesting at all since I was at home the whole day and went to meet Nasser in the evening. Met some friends from high school which is always good. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;">I was supposed to come back to Doha tonight but I came last night because it dawned on me that I have a lot of homework and I cant do it in Oman. Its to much distraction. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;">So with this post, I will be ending my travel blog about Oman. I hope you guys enjoyed the pictures and comments about the beautiful places in Oman. I hope I was able to portray a good image of this amazing country. I will try to make a google album soon and put all the pictures I took in Oman. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Until I travel again, take care and see you guys soon. Please leave your comments or suggestions below so I can know what you think of Oman.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;">P.S. I am already making plans for my next travel plans. This time, Its a country I am sure you all have not been to; I am going to Ethiopia!! </span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Stay tuned for more updates! </span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span>Abdallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16470099071743774101noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457256995586417677.post-46224570795069805062010-09-16T21:22:00.006+03:002010-09-16T22:02:33.723+03:00A day in China of the Middle East!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium; "><div><br /></div>It was amazing! I loved China. I cant wait to tell you guys about it.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Alright, jokes apart, here is what happened. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">So we had planned to go to Dubai today and do some shopping. We woke up at around 5am and were out of the house by 6:30am. The drive from Muscat to Dubai takes around 4 hours and the road is amazing. If you plan to visit Oman for a week, than you should think about doing this road trip. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">On the way, There was a lot of fog in some area and I couldn't stop myself from taking a picture to show you guys. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1dkKtTwq-tAwBKa_A569XDOmTDITATaWpKwz3Uo6KnlbovRGEoiReXDnNHqEuIt4VQ0yQ1YKOhQ_G33x9dqqo7hyphenhyphenC9zNUDsE8KH4nIhiYTKCq5SptaZ28NTyFprV5eajaPJcgyBHGHcI/s1600/004.JPG"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1dkKtTwq-tAwBKa_A569XDOmTDITATaWpKwz3Uo6KnlbovRGEoiReXDnNHqEuIt4VQ0yQ1YKOhQ_G33x9dqqo7hyphenhyphenC9zNUDsE8KH4nIhiYTKCq5SptaZ28NTyFprV5eajaPJcgyBHGHcI/s320/004.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517584771522904690" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizmdu95FOGtvKXc8ANwMBX95D7EOR6anTvEO2bqGq6c4ETSCt-DnVM2O8SA59V6qoACxi06EMP7OWQy_6E8rtjSONJtcq8OyN3fFT0AuT2MNPWebItWVoEqsjq8SZH4Ytl02v2Yk3cOHA/s1600/007.JPG"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizmdu95FOGtvKXc8ANwMBX95D7EOR6anTvEO2bqGq6c4ETSCt-DnVM2O8SA59V6qoACxi06EMP7OWQy_6E8rtjSONJtcq8OyN3fFT0AuT2MNPWebItWVoEqsjq8SZH4Ytl02v2Yk3cOHA/s320/007.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517584797168372130" style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></span></span></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Here are some pictures of the scenery on the way. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwZCOJBO4nadUPqqnAJr8NiQJcyJXdyth60WbpIqOU3u5IKJovpb4k3nGQej-Lh0tqsSr0rwk7dz9DebMCOSglHp4kUBYgwcVmNN8ac1p9ZxLbQu5Vb-C5je3NZaJCJSgqAnchwfyKeac/s1600/011.JPG"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwZCOJBO4nadUPqqnAJr8NiQJcyJXdyth60WbpIqOU3u5IKJovpb4k3nGQej-Lh0tqsSr0rwk7dz9DebMCOSglHp4kUBYgwcVmNN8ac1p9ZxLbQu5Vb-C5je3NZaJCJSgqAnchwfyKeac/s320/011.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517586193296642514" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV7gtxvRt_vT6NSLG11iljJS5R4mvqYpYkehZrOf3qZ9AijZ8Ua2BrwKPyBrQotWVnR0wqd3xv6yEuzQYG2uoxwV67Hi31VU2PWu7oTC_6CnrjiMwzl__qYBSK5k7KF-_ty3slUdVPgLw/s1600/008.JPG"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV7gtxvRt_vT6NSLG11iljJS5R4mvqYpYkehZrOf3qZ9AijZ8Ua2BrwKPyBrQotWVnR0wqd3xv6yEuzQYG2uoxwV67Hi31VU2PWu7oTC_6CnrjiMwzl__qYBSK5k7KF-_ty3slUdVPgLw/s320/008.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517586199273944050" style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></span></span></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Our destination in Dubai was a place called Dragon Mart. It is a huge complex on the outskirts of Dubai and it basically sells everything. However, the catch is that everything in that huge complex is from China! The entire complex is Chinese and even the shopkeepers are Chinese. I literally felt like I was in China. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We reached Dragon Mart at around 11am and started our 4 hours shopping madness. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The thing I liked about this complex is that it had everything and its really cheap! Some of you might argue saying that the quality is bad, however, I was shocked to see some really good quality products for a relatively cheaper price. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Here are some of the things I took pictures of that I found really amusing. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">This is a women's purse and a matching Iphone cover. It costs 600 AED (163 USD). Apparently, its expensive because its completely hand made and the blings are costly. But seriously, talk about creativity! </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI5dLWvoU4d0neqoWB9Kfv7WOlWn5h_FOUpll56ZW5cS0ma96e7r2nPd7m48L7Q__YGx3NrloItNMtqsp5AMybnxIFO0Fnku3xrMwH71dbj7zoksVFZe555UBM72LDFb3b-m5IDltqp_o/s1600/023.JPG"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI5dLWvoU4d0neqoWB9Kfv7WOlWn5h_FOUpll56ZW5cS0ma96e7r2nPd7m48L7Q__YGx3NrloItNMtqsp5AMybnxIFO0Fnku3xrMwH71dbj7zoksVFZe555UBM72LDFb3b-m5IDltqp_o/s320/023.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517584777508009202" style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span></span><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRjpPp_AZfHtkzF2i_KkQFOrHRoxMu3jDf-NuY7BHcYNmU_R51efji6sShvZeYVN3mZ5ux3yjmi26sTNQKihtR0jnPqQTNcV7CysXs4MLPhvBp7ZSORV5ZagKkDAZM0fEqnULTiOrxPic/s320/024.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517584784378798738" style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium; "> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Here is a very nasty looking t-shirt that I was wondering who would even think of buying.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB3QQMrW_OYwhUdaQsUAp74GqFCINvcTvqoSrXILIai9sGz6NHNSy5B0vumSHBgTnxpS4QXpSkMV0EUMI4YcMwIX1yp8a48MAKbNu-p6PSohhnrAufQ5lofCKDmz2FAuE5fJ6EyNp_7iA/s1600/027.JPG"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB3QQMrW_OYwhUdaQsUAp74GqFCINvcTvqoSrXILIai9sGz6NHNSy5B0vumSHBgTnxpS4QXpSkMV0EUMI4YcMwIX1yp8a48MAKbNu-p6PSohhnrAufQ5lofCKDmz2FAuE5fJ6EyNp_7iA/s320/027.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517584790330174274" style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></span></span></a></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Dragon Mart is really a place I would advice anyone to check out if you are in Dubai. It has a very interesting collection of phones (Chinese Iphone 4,lol), electronics, furniture, textile, and everything you can imagine the Chinese to make (which is basically everything!). </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We left Dragon Mart after walking across it for hours and started our drive back to Muscat. We were back at around 8pm. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">This is one of the reasons I love Oman. You can go to a different country and come back on the same day! </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Before I forget, I did not mention that even thought the products and shopkeepers were from China, the visitors of the complex were from all over the world. There were a lot of visitors from Oman which made perfect sense since its so close. The place was so diverse with visitors that I even saw a fellow Aggie from the Qatar campus over there. Talk about small world!</span></span></span></div>Abdallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16470099071743774101noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457256995586417677.post-35072141050113276812010-09-15T22:03:00.008+03:002010-09-15T22:57:07.114+03:00Numbers and stats<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium; "><div><br /></div>Since today was not a very fruitful day and I basically did nothing expect facebooking, blogging, and visiting family in the evening, I thought to share with you some other interesting stuff.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Since I started blogging my trip in Oman, I have been getting several comments from you guys, (my readers), suggesting me ideas and things to say and not to say. Thank you all very much. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I have also been testing out different blogging techniques and various ways through which I could increase my reader's circle. After all, I am typing all this so it could be read. Let me share with you some of the numbers I got since I started this blog in July. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I have got 1,344 pageviews since I started my blog in July. This is really good given that I just wrote 17 posts. I blogged two countries until now, India and Oman. I got 815 views for my India trip and 451 views for my Oman trip until now. Here is a snapshot of the graph that google analytics gave me.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEx_Vt_sdz4xSLQDKQsXZqV-kNxzXBQZ-jWKdxQ6fBiGxFLEObQRVMLt9hu07_skReEcphXIGQAoYEm7Nwb_NYwPGvkM2afWoQl42Wk7xSbLqR1MabfWBb8qNhjIUam35Nnpn93yYEz8g/s1600/overview_graph.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEx_Vt_sdz4xSLQDKQsXZqV-kNxzXBQZ-jWKdxQ6fBiGxFLEObQRVMLt9hu07_skReEcphXIGQAoYEm7Nwb_NYwPGvkM2afWoQl42Wk7xSbLqR1MabfWBb8qNhjIUam35Nnpn93yYEz8g/s400/overview_graph.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517229516716697858" style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 116px; " /></span></span></a></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Other interesting figures that google analytics gave me was the countries I got visits from. Here is a snapshot of those stats. Let me just point out that these are not all the countries since I changed the template in between and this caused some numbers and countries to disappear. I know South Africa, United Kingdom, and Australia should be on the list.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_rN2zuC3X4PM4lkgAe4cY6QKwxXv1uHLABm5COACtmEH4Ztwa6yZE6vwOcQle1wvaab7vHeJqoml8duQr-LD0YW87axInaU13GW4L_TZxbNA8MYHpALih94WeIFR7HJmrlGO82orgUKk/s1600/overview_countries.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_rN2zuC3X4PM4lkgAe4cY6QKwxXv1uHLABm5COACtmEH4Ztwa6yZE6vwOcQle1wvaab7vHeJqoml8duQr-LD0YW87axInaU13GW4L_TZxbNA8MYHpALih94WeIFR7HJmrlGO82orgUKk/s320/overview_countries.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517229030535359410" style="cursor: pointer; width: 262px; height: 320px; " /></span></span></a></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I don't know how these graphs will be useful to me but here they are. Views by browser and operating systems. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiEWnIN7jnMXegw6dQbAtp_5crSkWAUuifCStu_DzFYcX8yVYHZYs5B6lLc2KGCuWWdTndkgbIYa6F6KhJM1p-AtEQFHE5V-0iW3nN6yhZdFLs2o_ZQvaYv_1dp4s8Peirt6Y7gjy4Tts/s1600/overview_browsers.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiEWnIN7jnMXegw6dQbAtp_5crSkWAUuifCStu_DzFYcX8yVYHZYs5B6lLc2KGCuWWdTndkgbIYa6F6KhJM1p-AtEQFHE5V-0iW3nN6yhZdFLs2o_ZQvaYv_1dp4s8Peirt6Y7gjy4Tts/s320/overview_browsers.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517229023795753954" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 220px; " /></span></span></a></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwj2W8_AzmHqTz-lzw_WzXmQgGdT-ZVlBWKvYTQbG98K64_yWKD8RQQE_6px8JzMQxb11P8KRq_iA-C9DjF2LzjJwqJiVlKp-fHZXlvOu5lXwZLmJdedgP3Tg5Wg08_qHSzatIAXqiW_E/s1600/overview_operating+systems.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwj2W8_AzmHqTz-lzw_WzXmQgGdT-ZVlBWKvYTQbG98K64_yWKD8RQQE_6px8JzMQxb11P8KRq_iA-C9DjF2LzjJwqJiVlKp-fHZXlvOu5lXwZLmJdedgP3Tg5Wg08_qHSzatIAXqiW_E/s320/overview_operating+systems.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517229037879130818" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px; " /></span></span></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I want to thank everyone who has been following me since I started my blog. Thank you for reading and continuously providing me with feedback to help me become a better blogger. Please leave your suggestions in the comments section below. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div>Abdallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16470099071743774101noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457256995586417677.post-41521843627353072602010-09-15T10:28:00.013+03:002010-09-15T14:56:23.206+03:00A traveler's guide to Muscat<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium; "><div><br /></div>This post is a day late because yesterday was a very busy and long day. To the people who asked me to have fun, I did have fun. It was a very eye opening and eventful day. I also got some comments from my readers saying that I am not describing Oman in my posts. Its hard to do this when its your own country but I will try today to talk more about it. I have loads of pictures as well.</span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">As I told you, I got 4 friends from Doha visiting Oman. They arrived to Muscat and I planned to take them around on the whole day. The girls, (C & B) stayed at my place and the boys ( M & D) stayed at a couchsurfing family. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Me and the girls woke up early morning and went to the fish market in Mattrah. I missed that place alot because I remember when I was young, dad would always take us there to buy fresh fish. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The fish market functions in the early mornings because the fishermen go to the sea right after the fajr (dawn) prayers and by 7:30am, they will be back to shore with their catch. Everyone from around Muscat comes to this fish market to buy fresh fish. There are two sections in the fish market: a section to sell the fish and the other section to clean and cut the fish after its bought. I really like this system as it is very efficient and quick. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">After the fish market, We went back to get the boys from the house at which they stayed. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Our next stop was the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultan_Qaboos_Grand_Mosque">Grand Sultan Qaboos Mosque</a> in Al-Azaiba area. This mosque was at one time the largest in the Gulf (after the M<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masjid_al-Haram">asjid al Haram</a> in Makkah) and is still one of the largest Mosques in the Middle East region. </span></span></span></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_dl_eKnHsTuoEc0Xs4oI2_ml9g8dkowjmGvRXLpP3Zk39MAn7uA7oib49PGv7IpWITIF9qAuU-YFmR0a2lGY4djmDJDOU_Qi-TZxTXLgAbOoOXsVhXa-CZdXo5qv6PLLwWpos8m8dc60/s320/052.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517095270912362578" style="float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">You can click the link to read more about it however I will tell you that the carpet is so huge that it was woven on site and it is one complete piece. It cost more than 5 million Omani riyals</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">(around 13 million USD). Here are some pictures of this majestic Masjid which is one of my favorites around the world.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNnkFWceNR1p6n0uhF1Mph4l6IwR_eTv-0opE_2emRUnyNyvCJm-F-80AWEepkVJXN9cLTuiJuYh-vi7cftMknRkudQlzIX0vI31ckwbobwe5MNN8y43iA7PM9rgXDxNiMsjJZQqQOb4I/s320/049.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517095869852111506" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfiy0bViWA7soc9_w0vHnSiVZfIhe4PUPmDBm0rjtTFVZx85vX7hrDUNKaofLyixqfehon9-GjZ5wONel_QdVGC8bXKybkR-Mkgx2Ey6qZjlHjAcn7AXrvJV3QmI2ILijJsC74BspTUEM/s1600/058.JPG"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfiy0bViWA7soc9_w0vHnSiVZfIhe4PUPmDBm0rjtTFVZx85vX7hrDUNKaofLyixqfehon9-GjZ5wONel_QdVGC8bXKybkR-Mkgx2Ey6qZjlHjAcn7AXrvJV3QmI2ILijJsC74BspTUEM/s320/058.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517098664974894962" style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></span></span></a></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">After the Grand Sultan Qaboos Mosque, we did a short road trip tour around Muscat in the car. We drove by the sand dunes in Al-Khuwair area, the malls in Al-Qurum Area and than went to the Old Muscat City. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Old Muscat City has many historical sites that you have to visit if you come</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> to Oma</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">n</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">. We started th</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">e </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">tour by</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> going to the Qasr Al Alam Palace, Or the residence of the Sultan (president) of Oman.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlMadX97clFeIop7x3a3flnl7ma2RG6nE0fEsPBOZWvL-4wDtNzAx-5l2EYBtbPU5BBI4_XQKo5GYpaFjtc6zdHHOPC8M-fDqphm8SBa-xKXcf1GbTgFUtuUS47f4QwwgwegB98w87eJI/s320/062.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517098671223243042" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Our next stop was to an Omani research facility that focused on the Omani Fishery. It had a huge Aquarium that had fish native to Oman. I had never been to this place and I advice everyone to go there. It makes you proud to be Omani. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiPZQtG4G6noToVa8XguuqSiMvxnOJPWpSDVqTW-evOXwJ3ABEUknE-hpm7HgdLwArm0b0OcyhtiPWYsN6T8B7wy44nFCBdl7H49sNK-e45d7XsiZEibGnqpZn2WwS4w922QSp7Q5orJA/s1600/071.JPG"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiPZQtG4G6noToVa8XguuqSiMvxnOJPWpSDVqTW-evOXwJ3ABEUknE-hpm7HgdLwArm0b0OcyhtiPWYsN6T8B7wy44nFCBdl7H49sNK-e45d7XsiZEibGnqpZn2WwS4w922QSp7Q5orJA/s320/071.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517098679620364242" style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></span></span></a></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">After we took several pictures of the fish and the sea turtles, We went back home for lunch. Mom insisted that we have lunch with them at home. We rested for a while before we continued on our schedule for the rest of the day. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We headed out to the bandar Al Jissa Resort. This resort has 3 hotels that range from 5 to 7 stars. Its a very lavish and amazing place to be at. We went in and took a walk around one of the hotels. The beach is amazing and they even have a lazy river!.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwXHbT6qL-wO4N1y_1M99iVi5nNBEPN5ootLO4p8J2QZ5SFXbiR62dp5jMkFt-oq-3jkj0CZpDBOJa_h4gX0p8Eau7OqZDTPfc8LUt59rEBOX0uVmUwDSotM7W0lnrL55imzenkSHhN6g/s1600/082.JPG"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwXHbT6qL-wO4N1y_1M99iVi5nNBEPN5ootLO4p8J2QZ5SFXbiR62dp5jMkFt-oq-3jkj0CZpDBOJa_h4gX0p8Eau7OqZDTPfc8LUt59rEBOX0uVmUwDSotM7W0lnrL55imzenkSHhN6g/s320/082.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517098687536571346" style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></span></span></a></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">My friends didnt want to leave until they finished the game of chess they had started on the big chess board!</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl3tDhgUDrR9nXDj-HaCySDVnOMU4dTp4khkQNSX1dT9SEpJELPXoBluQZF0U3WOoL62kF97_KqHr2-easaR9AvTbOstncZ75NVoq_TDkO5P071pmc-tM5xqbhqUZ9QvoomwexLFUsWUw/s1600/090.JPG"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl3tDhgUDrR9nXDj-HaCySDVnOMU4dTp4khkQNSX1dT9SEpJELPXoBluQZF0U3WOoL62kF97_KqHr2-easaR9AvTbOstncZ75NVoq_TDkO5P071pmc-tM5xqbhqUZ9QvoomwexLFUsWUw/s320/090.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517100263656660210" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></span></span></a></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Our next stop was the corniche. We chilled around there for a few minutes before we went into the Mattrah Souq. This souq is very touristy and has silver and gold gifts like jewelery and swords.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3aF-0QMvZaWjRTo1Ia9Ll0IyHB-T6SpE1DXNz9WdxzVald84l_8EcbZp_gbzZBZDc_OOfc9GwJKXEOFL8kNaLAzAlP9rQUErvdIZ5BFATHgjX6eXaafIfC9KC4v0w23jxlkGZkvM6KOI/s1600/097.JPG"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3aF-0QMvZaWjRTo1Ia9Ll0IyHB-T6SpE1DXNz9WdxzVald84l_8EcbZp_gbzZBZDc_OOfc9GwJKXEOFL8kNaLAzAlP9rQUErvdIZ5BFATHgjX6eXaafIfC9KC4v0w23jxlkGZkvM6KOI/s320/097.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517098695594769042" style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></span></span></a></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">My friends wanted to get some souvenirs and gifts for their families and friends. They went on that quest while I chilled and helped them bargain for some of the things they wanted.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBodHa3TN0xfpuCd79BEflIrfIa0SzjS4wJVCWsuQsIszKbUouRRdqgs_27AAf7vfP0Jcd_-ZWX9yX9TnE6zuVq5J3PZx30VlwUTmPSmjSVIm4wXbp35jWIiZHi6Mz-Nz32Hi4ASy9rwM/s1600/108.JPG"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBodHa3TN0xfpuCd79BEflIrfIa0SzjS4wJVCWsuQsIszKbUouRRdqgs_27AAf7vfP0Jcd_-ZWX9yX9TnE6zuVq5J3PZx30VlwUTmPSmjSVIm4wXbp35jWIiZHi6Mz-Nz32Hi4ASy9rwM/s320/108.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517100270725182690" style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></span></span></a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">By the time we were done, it was sunset. We watched the sunset over the corniche which is a view that you must not miss. Sorry, no pictures of that.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">After sitting by the corniche water fountains for about an hour and talking about random topics,we moved on and went to see the Sultan's Palace again at night, since the view is a lot much better.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We ended the night with an amazing BBQ with the family that the guys had stayed with. It was an interesting chat. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">This is all about my trip around Muscat. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></div></div></div>Abdallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16470099071743774101noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457256995586417677.post-58438638461937431942010-09-13T22:48:00.007+03:002010-09-13T23:01:33.546+03:00Filling up the space<span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;"><br />This post will be short and simple as I have a long day tomorrow. The whole morning was very useless as I did nothing usefull except facebook and blogging. I made a new blog <a href="http://www.aboods.tumblr.com/">http://www.aboods.tumblr.com/</a> . Check it out if you got time.<br /><br />I was waiting for my friends from Doha who were coming later in the day. At 4pm, I went with mom and my sisters to visit my family since mom did not see them since she got back from Dubai. At around 7pm, my friends reached Muscat and I picked them up. We went to have dinner at my dad's restuarant and than I dropped the guys off at the house where they were going to <a href="http://www.couchsurfing.org/">couchsurf</a> at. The girls came back with me to my place. We walked by the beach before that and I showed them around my neighborhood.<br /><br />I have a long day tomorrow because we are waking up really early to go see the fish market, then see the Sultan Qaboos Grand mosque, and then show them around Muscat. I was planning to take them around Muscat tonight but they came in late and they were really tired.<br /><br />So hopefully tomorrow, there will be pictures and stories to share. Sorry that today's post wasnt as eventful as it was supposed to be but thanks for reading. As the title says, I am just filling up the space with this blog post, there is nothing much to say in it ;)<br /><br /></span>Abdallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16470099071743774101noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457256995586417677.post-17816631671003014632010-09-12T21:52:00.006+03:002010-09-12T22:33:10.630+03:00Al Nahda Resort and Spa = Epic Awesomeness!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpuHavVr2sZcmnDdoQbqkYcZ2mQ9vNDHb6zkeWetau9zj6zuEEH00IRbdBfsy6ms7oUsRohfxnF1Lzd44dhky3pB-GicMVBbPvoeVwlw_DhDuLTOG0e21RJeitjrI8JnaY8BxPmuUtZGw/s1600/IMG_0188.JPG"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUHy2WA3qGEfzO_4DQHdKSvI1laM5epUvwxe4LFqFKbDLtL-8GBQbPsHT-q6HTd4clyw44xdb1AYgLwhBSFKhSr45I1sGNKXxVI_rXDIFu08etWoQl1yR91PkEPRvmE5nLozWSzwUh-XM/s1600/IMG_0176.JPG"></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >I planned to wake up late today but failed. I woke up at 8:30 after my sister bashed into my room waking me up so we can leave to Al Nahda Resort early. I was ready in five minutes (as usual) but for some weird reason, we left home at around 11:30am. Don't ask me why, all I can say is that I was with three women! Dad did not come with us as he had work to do.<br /></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >Al Nahda Resort and Spa is located in the city of Barka, around 45 minutes by car from Muscat. We reached the Resort at around 12:30. In short, if you ever visited Oman and did not come to this place, then you did not see everything in this country. This place is epically amazing! The prices are not so bad compared to the services you get.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >We started the day off chilling in the pool for about an hour or two. Here are some pictures of the pool to give you a better idea. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgID2IHkAVoDFfyRwetM7xg3tVPYFyodGkmtcD_Vrrse9BCgfua5mav1cUxwCtxX03ehR_bv5wfK-B3UBA-mEin24JmbrbhsaVaqcQsROYFO_o7mcXdFuMBrTIBzZRmk2vwFyLlNcxslJQ/s320/IMG_0175.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516108061494655986" style="float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUHy2WA3qGEfzO_4DQHdKSvI1laM5epUvwxe4LFqFKbDLtL-8GBQbPsHT-q6HTd4clyw44xdb1AYgLwhBSFKhSr45I1sGNKXxVI_rXDIFu08etWoQl1yR91PkEPRvmE5nLozWSzwUh-XM/s320/IMG_0176.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516108782038392786" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; "><span class="Apple-style-span" >After the pool, all of us went to the jacuzzi. Now I have been to several jacuzzi's around Doha, but I never had the same relaxation as I had in this one. The temperature of the water, the water bursts, everything was perfect. I really had the time of my life! </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpuHavVr2sZcmnDdoQbqkYcZ2mQ9vNDHb6zkeWetau9zj6zuEEH00IRbdBfsy6ms7oUsRohfxnF1Lzd44dhky3pB-GicMVBbPvoeVwlw_DhDuLTOG0e21RJeitjrI8JnaY8BxPmuUtZGw/s320/IMG_0188.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516110387162131234" style="float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >After the jacuzzi, we took a bike ride around the place. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >Gi</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; "><span class="Apple-style-span" >ven my current physical status (completely unfit!), I was not able to bike much. After 15 minutes, I was done! Here is a picture I took while biking around the resort. The place is paradise on earth. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium; ">It was 4:30 pm by than and we had to leave since the place closes down at 5 for visitors.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >We packed our bags and headed back to Muscat. On the way back, we stopped at KFC for lunch and did some shopping at lulu. We got back home and the sisters went to bed while I spent the rest of the evening facebooking, tweeting, and checking out ways to make my blog look cooler. If you haven't noticed, I added my twitter feed to the blog.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >Tomorrow's plan is to go out with my friend's from Doha and show them around Muscat. I am sure tomorrow there will be loads of pictures of the city and its beautiful night life. Stay tuned! </span></span></div></div></div>Abdallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16470099071743774101noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457256995586417677.post-64906733486792875972010-09-12T00:10:00.003+03:002010-09-12T00:38:11.126+03:00It's always good to be back home!<div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div>Today started off pretty late as we had nothing planned for the morning. Parents are coming latter today in the evening so me and my sisters planned to kill the afternoon doing something eid-ish ( stuff people do during the eid days).</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Nothing came to our minds since my mom is the one who always plans trips and things to do. So being the not so mature people we are, we decided to go watch a movie ( if you don't remember, that is exactly what we did yesterday evening too! ). My sisters said they wanted to go watch an Indian movie this time. </span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We looked up the timings and saw that "dabaang" was in Al Nast cinema at 2pm. It was 12pm at that time. To kill time, my elder sister went to shop for some things and me and my other sister wasted time on the internet. Productively enough, I typed my blog post that was due yesterday night. 1:30pm came and we were off to the movies.<br /><br />We confidently parked the car and went in thinking we would find seats easily. The entire cinema was sold out for the whole day! OWNED! Then we decided to check out the other cinemas. We ended up going to Al bahja cinema which is a good 30 mins drive from where we were. We watched the expendables which is one of the best action filled movie I have watched this year. It's insane! You have to go watch it. Here is the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6RU5y2fU6s">trailer</a> to get you excited about it.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">After the movie, we got a message from dad saying that they would be arriving in 30 minutes. We had more time to kill so we decided to go to City Center which is another mall close to Al Bahja. We chilled there for a while and checked out the electronic store and had a light lunch. We didn't realize that time was running out until we got another message from dad saying that they had landed and will be coming out in five minutes. We were lucky that the airport was very close to the mall.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We were there in no time and picked the parents up. Its good that they weren't waiting for long. On the way back, they told us all about Dubai and their trip. I was just happy that they were back.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We headed home and I felt that there wasn't going to be much going out since they were tired and didn't feel like doing anything. However, we did plan on what we were going to do tomorrow, ( I told you, my mom is the best trips planner!). </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">When I thought that I was going to end my day in a not so fun manner, my mom told me to go get some stuff from the grocery store. Over there, I met my very close neighborhood friend Nasser. I was actually planning on meeting him tonight but his phone wasn't working. So it was my fate to meet him there. We talked for about an hour before my mom called and asked where I was. I told him I will drop the stuff back home and then we would meet up. He came in his car after few minutes and we went to chill. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Nasser is a guy that I really don't get bored talking with him. We chilled on the beach near my home and talked about life and other random stuff for hours. Its 1:20am right now and I just got back home to type this up. I must say, this guy is awesome! I really love being back home to hang out with him. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">As for tomorrow's plans, we are going inshallah to the Al-Nahda Resort. If you are a CMU Qatar freshmen or sophomore, you know what I am talking about. This resort is the one that CMU Qatar takes its freshmen class every year for their first year experience program. I haven't been there before but I hope it will be a good experience. We are planning to spend the day there so hopefully there will be a lot of pictures and fun stories since my little crazy cousin, Ahmed, ( the one from yesterday's post) will be there as well. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Until then, this is me signing off and hoping that you all are enjoying these posts so far because I know I am! </span></span></div><div><br /></div></div></div>Abdallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16470099071743774101noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457256995586417677.post-71472110468356192382010-09-11T10:13:00.011+03:002010-09-12T00:53:50.509+03:00Family + Food + Friends = Amazing Eid!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp3PAVCR6YrHDSw_ZFosJyBrW7StLKEsJ__biZOjZTWzj__IfUyGWw9O1LTLafK6eu_iWvOAGtRRNlCH69oDfrqPgMt4h1oU7g3YE-l1B3AL9-YP2f3h2OvHRXTpa2D6QnFpTtNN32W5c/s1600/016.JPG"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYvzeA4WvLiqhDrMFc9a5-o3T-GJh2G3cIASueYE-9l_xLB22SZEx2A6ILcvL6h3ur-Rl84DYMqWtF_2gb9IHUN0l-QLqshQ6wzJKjZov3-2CI1r890kcAUPgMCRQ7ThEt7QCPBpRzzPw/s1600/015.JPG"></a></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >This blog post is coming a day late because yesterday was a really busy day. I got back home and slept straight away. However, let me try and remember as much as possible.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >The day started off really early at around 5:30am when I got up to go pray the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_ul-Fitr">Eid Prayer</a>. I didn't know what time it was at so I guessed that they would pray at 6. Good guess since they prayed at 6:20. The Eid prayer, for those of you who know what I am talking about,</span></span></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwLDFDwFnVMOIXHez73ssvl9xLJ1YFDFMqqL-YuBzQJ6xvNENuYaTzxE63Aa-pMJprY_RihaXOeNe2Ao9mymx34V_Mw8WB6mXWLijWd3JTSg6K2N_7xSa5Kb5fqFWHYpVJ6tsk0BSyqeQ/s320/002.JPG" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515561174701182690" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >is one of the best parts I love about Eid in general. I feel that all muslims around the world come and pray and greet each other "Eid Mubarak". Its a really good feeling. I met some of my neighborhood friends that I havent seen for a long time. This is a picture of the sun rising as I was going to the mosque.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >After prayers, I got back home and wished my sisters "Eid Mubarak" as well. The plan was to go to my uncle's house and see the rest of the family. However, we were a bit confused since every year, my uncle calls the night before Eid and invites us to his place. However, this year, and since my parents are not at home, he did not call. We called dad and mom in Dubai and wished them Eid Mubarak and told them our plans. While my sisters were debating the idea of going to my uncle's place, I remembered that I had some friends coming over from Doha to visit Oman. I decided to go pick them up from the airport since I wasn't being of much use at home. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >The friends are three american exchange students from College Station who are doing a semester abroad in Doha and one Germany friend who is studying with me in Qatar. I picked them up from the airport and dropped them at the bus station since they were going to go to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sohar">Sohar</a> for the first few days before they come back to visit Muscat. I will update you guys about them more once they arrive here.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >Going back to the story, I went back home and saw that my sisters had decided that we were going to visit the family even if they didn't invite us, after all, they are family!. My sisters got ready (which took forever!!) and after a long photo taking session, we headed off. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >Seeing the big family has always been a joy and source of great happiness. I chill with my uncle and aunts and cousins all day. However, this year was a bit different since Dad and Mom were not there. Its always them that make the whole atmosphere lively and crazy! </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >We started the feast with the traditional <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harees">harees.</a></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYvzeA4WvLiqhDrMFc9a5-o3T-GJh2G3cIASueYE-9l_xLB22SZEx2A6ILcvL6h3ur-Rl84DYMqWtF_2gb9IHUN0l-QLqshQ6wzJKjZov3-2CI1r890kcAUPgMCRQ7ThEt7QCPBpRzzPw/s320/015.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515563958131480962" style="float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" > If you don't know what this is, I really don't know how to explain it. Here is a picture in case you are confused.</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "></span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >After that, fruits and coffee came in. Then some guests came to visit and more fruits and coffee came it. This kept on going until it was Friday prayers time.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >It was really weird to see that most of the people during the sermon were so sleepy and you could tell that they had eaten a lot at home. The sermon itself was extremely short!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >After Friday prayers, me and the sisters headed back home because we were very sleepy and had a movie to watch at 5. It was 1 when we left. We got back home and slept until it was movie time. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >We watched the Egyptian movie " Al-talata Yashtaghlonaha </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >(The Three Pranksters)". It was epically funny and I really advise everyone to go watch it.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >After the movie, I left my sisters and went to go see my old neighborhood friend, Ahmed. My sisters went to see their friends. I chilled with Ahmed for about two hours and chatted about life and other random things. Its always good to be back and meet this guy. I got back home at around 10. My sisters were back already. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >This in short was my first day of Eid. I met family, ate food, and met my old friends. What more can a guy ask for!</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></span></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >Here is a picture of my crazy cousin who wanted me to take a picture of him. His name is Ahmed and he is 7.I simply asked him to smile for the picture and this is what i got! I love this guy.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp3PAVCR6YrHDSw_ZFosJyBrW7StLKEsJ__biZOjZTWzj__IfUyGWw9O1LTLafK6eu_iWvOAGtRRNlCH69oDfrqPgMt4h1oU7g3YE-l1B3AL9-YP2f3h2OvHRXTpa2D6QnFpTtNN32W5c/s320/016.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515566048407271986" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></span></div>Abdallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16470099071743774101noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457256995586417677.post-40345175159498996512010-09-09T22:44:00.006+03:002010-09-12T00:55:20.968+03:00Muscat: The beautiful city!<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />I started the day in a very lazy mood and woke up at 10am. (Yes that is lazy for me!). Since my parents are not in the country for the coming two days ( they went to Dubai for a family friend's funeral), it is only me and my sisters at home. It will suck since I really wanted to spend the first day of Eid with my parents around.<br /></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5sHV5t4HJKSNkpugz8w1Fivtk5aSXiKZIujal8eluf4x1GBtqEIn7DH5nw4CFi05h-fq3s2-gAnkE9hgJMpQq6GKNfEjFP0hKnhY18d7AMYHJ8vycG9W50tPx2I_Iw5Bc5c0lm-jbhKg/s320/113.JPG" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515006410595600530" /><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I don't remember doing anything useful until Iftar time other th</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">an getting my Omani phone number and sleeping. For Iftar, me and m</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">y sisters decided to go out to Pizza Express. Amazing food. You have to check it out if you e</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">ver come to Muscat.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">After the Iftar, we took a cruise down to the old souq area because my sisters wanted to see the Eid preparations and crazy last minute shopping people usually do before Eid. For me, it was a good opportunity to take some cool pictures.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">It was than that I realized how beautiful my country is. I had always come down these roads several times when I lived here 3 years ago, however, I never looked at them from a tourist's point of view. I really admired the beautiful buildings and amazing road infrastructure in the city. You don't get to see much of this in Doha. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">As we approached the old souq area, called Muttrah, I was amazed by the amount of changes that had happened since the last time I came. There were water fountains all across the streets of the corniche and many of the old buildings were renovated. It really gave a sense of modernity to the area yet still holding on to its traditional flavor. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We walked across the narrow streets of the souq and bought some stuff. I couldn't take much pictures because my sisters were telling me that I was embarrassing them with the camera in my hand! However, I still managed to click some shots of the am</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">azing corniche. The problem is I am having some trouble uploading the pictures to the computer since the camera memory card is not compatible with my laptop. I will get Dad's laptop tomorrow and upload the pictures.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTsavRGlZwvFkF22lGhTcW9-mSqGIvUXGo2qOUNHChH2tTTflU1KxWpAJZCexh3E4g2lWrpQ7QmcAZTma9HMoI1U-VcNPNP5N2hWuFVcnd4Y3hJ2bh8X8nF2BCOTb-BpHs9ljwWGcFKUU/s320/muttrah.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515007696758824274" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px; " /><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Here is one I stole from my friend's facebook profile. It is a picture of the corniche and Muttrah area.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">As for now, I am heading to bed since I have to wake up tomorrow at 6am for the Eid prayer. After that, we will head to my uncle's house for the big family gathering. I really can't wait to see the whole family!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Eid Mubarak Everyone!</span></span></div>Abdallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16470099071743774101noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457256995586417677.post-32949680925865989932010-09-09T11:52:00.006+03:002010-09-09T22:09:12.472+03:00Updates, and my Oman Travels!<span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Lets keep this post short and simple. I am sorry I didnt update the blog for a while but a lot has been happening. First of all, I did not end up going for Umrah since I had other plans. As much as I am sad that I didnt go, I really appreciate the things I did instead. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Right after international orientation got over, an amazing idea came to my mind. I wanted to host the largest charity iftar event in Education city. The purpose was to raise funds for the victims of the recent Floods in Pakistan. I was debating whether to go for Umrah or stay in Doha and plan for this event. I decided the latter as I hoped Allah would reward me with this good cause. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;">In short, the event happened two weeks latter and it was a huge success. Check out the event page on facebook <a href="http://www.facebook.com/abdalla.abdalla?v=wall&story_fbid=158983217449957#!/event.php?eid=142151272484147">here</a> and I will try to upload some pictures as soon as possible. I really want to thank everyone who helped out in making this event a huge success. We finally managed to raise 74,000 QAR (20,325 USD) which made us all proud. I really felt happy that we, the students of Education city, were able to make a difference. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Moving on, other updates about me, hmm, I started my senior year and its amazing. I am enjoying ever bit of it. As for travel plans, I doubt there will be much this semester since it is fully packed and busy. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Right now, I am in Oman with family on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_ul-Fitr">Eid-ul-Fitr </a>break. Its the Eid right after the month of Ramadan. I will be here for a week and I hope to spend it chilling at home and meeting friends and family. Since I am back home, I don't really consider this as a travel plan. However, for my readers, I will try to post a blog post everyday and tell you about my awesome country. For once, I will try to be a tourist in my own country.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Expect to see loads of pictures as I will try to give you a good idea of how Oman is beautiful and different from the other countries in the Gulf Region. Hopefully, I will try to convince my family to travel to some places inside Oman and explore this country's beauty.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span>Abdallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16470099071743774101noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457256995586417677.post-83434196558364456372010-07-21T21:04:00.004+03:002010-07-21T21:49:24.761+03:00Decision taken, Plans made!<div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">In my last post, I had asked you all to give me your opinion about the idea of blogging while going for Umrah. I got some very positive feedback from all of you and I really thank you for your contribution. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I have decided that I will blog on my trip to Makkah inshallah! I will try to give you guys a touch of how it feels to be in the most holy place to Muslims around the world. I will take some pictures (but not a lot) to show those who have never been there how beautiful and peaceful the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haram">Haram</a> is. However, I will not deviate from the main theme of this blog, travel. I will tell you all about the trip to Makkah and what makes this city different from all the other cities in the world. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">So far, the trip plan is that I will go to Oman on the 14th of August and travel with Mom ( and hopefully sisters) to Makkah on the 16th. I will return to Qatar on the 20th by bus and my family will return to Oman.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I am 100% positive that this trip plan will change because when ever I travel with family, there is always a high degree of uncertainty. However, I have a back up plan in case my family decides not to go. Simply take a bus on the 14th to Makkah and stay there till the 20th!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I personally don't mind going to Makkah alone since I have done it 3 times already. The bus ride is long (23~24 hrs one way) but its completely worth it. I am really expecting this trip to be awesome since it will be during the Holy month of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan">Ramadan</a> and Makkah is completely different during that month!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I might not be writing any new posts until I get close to the first week of August because I will be extremely busy with a lot of work. However, if any changes happen to this plan, I will let you all know. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div>Abdallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16470099071743774101noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457256995586417677.post-12989837098939539822010-07-14T19:48:00.004+03:002010-07-14T20:09:01.302+03:00The stats, and my next travel plans!<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Hey Everyone!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I know I said that my last blog post would be the last one until I plan to travel somewhere, but I felt that I had to finish the India trip by telling you about the stats I got from my blog. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I connected my blog to Google Analytics which basically gives you daily updates about the number of visits you had to your blog and other interesting facts. I wanted to share these with you since I found them very interesting.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">In total, I posted 7 posts for my India trip and I had a total of around 134 visits until yesterday. I am saying around because this number also includes the times I personally visited the blog. So theoretically, speaking, around 100 visits would be a good estimate. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I got visits from 13 different countries. I know the people who visited from each country except one,the UK. Google analytics is so cool that it actually gives you the cities within the countries. My anonymous friend from the UK is from London. Pretty weird! </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I really want to thank each and everyone of you for taking the time to read my blog posts, even if you didn't read them all because you thought they were too long. I am sorry, but I love to write alot. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Keeping this blog post short, I will just share with you guys my next travel plan. I am actually planning to go for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umrah">umrah</a> during the first ten days of Ramadan which will be in August. My plan is to go back home (Oman) on the 14th of Aug and travel with mom to Saudi Arabia from the 16th to the 19th. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The dilemma here is: what is your opinion about blogging during this religious trip. For those who don't know about Umrah, please click the link above. However, for others, what is your opinion? I personally don't mind because I would be giving a perspective about this amazing trip to the people who haven't been there.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Please let me know your opinion by commenting below.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Thanks for reading! </span></span></div>Abdallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16470099071743774101noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457256995586417677.post-5129746276012572882010-07-06T17:23:00.006+03:002010-07-06T18:58:53.112+03:00'India Bandh!' and my last day in India<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbkXhuJXH2yU_ttN-MYPLrTMJc_jKf09ihY74i2d5gLsxUKpoa0Qh2QzjPevqZhgKckJLjkoQpvTOyCysS5S7SmKKDydVh96xwRhMIsCpqrH81IB-Pzc0R-sev6Ti-_pAFjwL2UCvDYPk/s1600/DSC00243.JPG"></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">This blog is actually one day late. I am in Doha now and chilling in my dorm. However, I still need to talk about my last day in Delhi.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">We started the day off at around 8 and were all set and ready to go to the market place, Chandi Chowk, to do some last minute shopping before we head to the airport. We had also planned to go see Jama Masjid and the Red Fort. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">However, as you know, sometimes you just plan for things and what happens is something completely different, thats how this day was. Dad switched on the TV before leaving and saw that there were protests all over the country and people were going crazy on the streets. They were protesting against the rise in fuel prices and other commodities. All the big opposition leaders were on the streets in different big cities in India and were telling the shops and all the businesses to shut down for one day. They named it India "Bandh" or shut down in english. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Few minutes after we watched all this, I looked out of the window in our hotel and saw that the protesters had reached our area! Honestly, at that moment, I was more excited about watching the protests then pissed at the fact that our plans had been changed. However, what happened was that we went down and stood on the side street watching what was going on. Dad got bored after some time and went into the hotel. I had my camera with me and I took many videos and pictures. By then, I had completely forgotten that we had other plans and I focused on getting the most out of this insane experience. I am currently finding difficulties uploading the videos so here is a picture I took. You can look at the album at the end of this blog and see all the pictures. I will try to work on getting the video uploaded soon. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbkXhuJXH2yU_ttN-MYPLrTMJc_jKf09ihY74i2d5gLsxUKpoa0Qh2QzjPevqZhgKckJLjkoQpvTOyCysS5S7SmKKDydVh96xwRhMIsCpqrH81IB-Pzc0R-sev6Ti-_pAFjwL2UCvDYPk/s320/DSC00243.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490822625421126354" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">After standing outside for about an hour, I went in and decided with dad that we were going to get the first taxi to the hotel since we might not be able to get a taxi if we waited any longer. Now this was around 1pm and our flight was at 7! </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"> </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">We checked out of the hotel, grabbed a taxi, and were in the airport by around 2. Now to waste time, dad was online on his laptop, and I was busy reading my book. The take off time came and I said good bye to dad, since he was going back to Oman and I was coming to Qatar. I boarded my plane and said good bye to India. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">The plane ride was nice. I unfortunately did not get to ride on first class this time, but the economy seats were not bad. On the plane, I watched " Wake Up Sid" which is honestly one of the best indian movies I have seen. I actually did not complete the movie by the time I had reached Doha, so I asked a friend to give me the link to watch it online. It amazing people, go watch it if you didn't.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">With this, I am going to end my posts about India. My last few words about India would be that its really an amazing country. If you are young and willing to travel and take some risks, India is perfect for you. The best thing I loved about the country is how friendly the people are. They are always willing to help and show you around. The country is dirty for sure, but I personally feel that this gives it a special flavor! </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">I really hope that you all enjoyed reading my posts about India. I will be stopping this blog temporarily until I find another place to travel to. I am sure it wont be for long, since I already have some travel plans in my head. Lets hope everything goes well. Please leave a comment if you have reached this far and let me know which country you think I should put on my "countries I have to visit before I am 30 " list!. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">If you want to see all the pictures I took from India, you can click below! <table style="width:194px;"><tbody><tr><td align="center" style="text-align: center;height: 194px; background-image: url(http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/transparent_album_background.gif); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/abdalla.ezadin/IndiaTripJuly2010?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_C2iqBtkwBOE/TDNOa8AuciE/AAAAAAAAAd8/29V4mBco7hI/s160-c/IndiaTripJuly2010.jpg" width="160" height="160" style="margin:1px 0 0 4px;" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="text-align:center;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/abdalla.ezadin/IndiaTripJuly2010?feat=embedwebsite" style="color:#4D4D4D;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;">India Trip July 2010</a></td></tr></tbody></table> </span></span></div>Abdallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16470099071743774101noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457256995586417677.post-72173980859168716222010-07-05T01:39:00.005+03:002010-09-12T00:54:21.392+03:00Agra, the City of Love!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHLiYqqSeoK5yigtlrlQ6THBj4camRvlqQ5d3b3I6_jNcPPRxZ4pZEuSeMBwNymkNofHOZGeerYD2onBvfcSSwwqJpueRr6JWLzN3DCVi-GUniTbuMHaL9bxKiHqdI3rZFE6XHeWwBnoY/s1600/DSC00226.JPG"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"><br />We started off the day very early, at 5:30 am. Got up and were out in our cab by 6:10am heading off to Agra. Now the reason we went by a car and not by the train ( like everyone else does) was because of two main reasons.<br /></span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">Remember the long 4 hours business meeting we had two days ago. Well one thing that could be said from that meeting was that the people we met with were very generous and kind that they insisted we go to Agra by a car that they provided and have a tour guide waiting for us in Agra to explain the Taj Mahal for us in detail. Initially, we hesitated, since we had planned to go by train, but the second reason convinced us to go. It was because the train tickets were sold out. We actually called the train company to ask and confirm. With these two reasons, we were forced to take the offer. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">Our journey to Agra took around 5 hours. We only stopped once on the way to have breakfast at a very expensive and touristy restaurant. Nothing interesting happened on the way as I slept through most of it. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">We reached Agra at 11 and were greeted by our Indian Tour guide. We picked him up from the side of the road. It was pretty random. I think he had already contacted our driver, but still , it was random! </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">As soon as the guide gets into the car, he says, " Gentlemen, welcome to the city of love, Agra". </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">Agra is a small city if you compare it Delhi but still noisy, dirty, and of course, filled with people. It took as another 5 to 10 minutes to reach the gates of the Taj Mahal. After those gates, cars are not allowed and we had to take electric cars. The government is doing this to preserve the walls of the Taj from the pollution. Good move Indian government!. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">Now came the time to buy our tickets. They cost 750 Rs for tourist and 10 Rs for Indians. I really wanted to do the same " act like an Indian " and get the cheap tickets but this time, we had the tour guide with us so we couldn't do it. We paid the amount, got our tickets, and headed towards the Taj.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">Whenever I saw the Taj Mahal in pictures or on the television, I always thought it was just that white building with the huge garden around it. Apparently, there are three gates surrounding it from the South, East, and West. The North side has a river. We walked in through the East gate and on the way, our guide explained to us all about the building of the Taj Mahal.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">The Taj Mahal is actually a mausoleum</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"> built by the Mughul Emperor Shah Jahan, for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It took 22 years to build and the whole white structure is made of white marble. I was thinking, would a husband do something like this for his wife in today's world. I doubt it! I wont go into more details since you all can google it. I would prefer giving you my own perspective of the Taj.</span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">After walking around for a few minutes, we entered through The Great Gate which is the main gateway to the Taj Mahal. It was really a breathtaking view as I had always seen this building in pictures, but trust me, its way more beautiful in real life. The size and beauty of this building cannot be described in words. All I can say is that I took out my camera and went crazy taking pictures. </span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">As we were walking towards the main building across the gardens, a local photographer approached us offering his service. I was not convinced since he wanted to take a lot of money but dad said, " how many times will you come to the Taj Mahal in your life? ". Wise man my dad!</span></span></span></span></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD7LX92Ujr0fODjHUMEPp3WYLNNOxeksmzR5Bp6TXk7Mj6j7KRDTLG0GTki7Efr_gwSqouX8kYykyuY7tAt-1dDaO94ZpD30jWyX8MfjuqtU36-yF0rRfebCF4h28TaC8LPahuisxaC80/s320/DSC_0036.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490196322479732178" style="float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px; " /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"><br /></span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">The Photographer took our pictures from every angle possible </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">and </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">he really did a great job. I promise to upload all the pictures once I am back to Doha,but as for now, here is one. </span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"><br /></span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">After another 20 to 30 minutes of walking around the place and inside the building, which was not very fascinating, we took our printed pictures from the photographer and headed out. As we were going to drop our guide, he said he wanted to show us a small shop. I knew here is where he wanted to rip us off! </span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">He took us to a small shop that makes marble pieces. He said that the workers working in this shop are the great grand children of the Persians who worked on the Taj Mahal! ( yea right! ).</span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">A little (not so persian looking) man greeted us and showed us around. The place was actually very beautiful and you could see that the marble pieces they made were really hand made and not from China. However, the prices he told us were ridiculous. My dad, being a businessman, told him that he will come latter to buy a lot of his marble pieces. He even took his business card! </span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">After giving the shop owner so much hope, we left and said good bye to our tour guide. With my dad having a little cold from the AC in our hotel, we couldn't see </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); line-height: 19px; ">anything else in Agra so we started driving back to Delhi. </span></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"><br /></span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHLiYqqSeoK5yigtlrlQ6THBj4camRvlqQ5d3b3I6_jNcPPRxZ4pZEuSeMBwNymkNofHOZGeerYD2onBvfcSSwwqJpueRr6JWLzN3DCVi-GUniTbuMHaL9bxKiHqdI3rZFE6XHeWwBnoY/s320/DSC00226.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490197953981992994" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">The drive was actually longer, 6 and half hours. On the way, I got really bored so I started taking pictures of things I would see only in India. I will upload them all back in Doha, but enjoy this one for the time being. Only in India!</span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">We got back to Delhi almost by sunset. I was extremely tired after this long drive and crashed on my bed. I didn't wake up except now , 3:30 am.</span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">Tomorrow, or actually today, we are going to Chandi Chowk, Jama Masjid, and the Red Fort. After that, we are each heading back home. Me, back to Doha, and dad, back to Muscat. Our flights actually leave at the exact same time from Delhi!</span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div></div></div>Abdallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16470099071743774101noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457256995586417677.post-50123271264003949702010-07-03T21:27:00.012+03:002010-09-12T00:54:21.393+03:00Touring Around Delhi<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGaaWgzesO3RKxfSg3CiShs_hWU0cB7-YKt0s4ANXW9GDeDBZpufdDP181nlbPy6hbg4RmLsctH8RgpsXAmapRaWcqotDv4YmEAUm1mjccw4D_lbs_6_gSQ9eHVqoHxdcvqQMdFADgpUk/s1600/IMG_3195.JPG"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMoEVsIORjfj3r1X5CEzUwPlPMmxEcegoNJ11lxOSzBeVpXkAgQG63dl_aRm9BvE6ckEkRyq0gIfHVbXwqU8zL5Ja2WznhF_XiJBISR48pmcsQDrHqAjfqL-6J0D5HcXsGW7rgjK2jdU4/s1600/IMG_3193.JPG"></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggHBp9TUkSag-JabuFvv6llI7xNySbqRJgFbx5MmYqQ65mVI3-blgrUnSq-1YgkGLEXDhpsAE7KTVqs_oguU3-xI3DvaTHqzGLkNP_jV3Q5LlRhtsWnKl2hLLAn8_exMrkN2uAuqKOQpc/s1600/IMG_3164.JPG"></a></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">The day started off today pretty late. We woke up at 9 and were out of the hotel within an hour. We had made our plans of places to visit and had our map of Delhi with us and everything was set. The plan was to visit the farthest place on our map and then come back for the rest later. So we headed off to the Lotus Temple.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Our means of transportation to get there were the Delhi </span></span></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvz90AkTSIIK88nqY3MYmG8bb7T6KCY2ldH5CV0Hav6msepaEHrU67VRzVCtNxz0BM-dWYMXm0dnOLANUZR92qkjn2UI7Lof0V8qGV6gWO5MHtmVGB4yaIdv5f4iGVT9coj8sJeGLGK3k/s320/DSC00163.JPG" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489751348108458898" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">metro and then </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">a 40 minute ride on a bus. The metro ride was, well let this picture speak </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">instead. Thats dad in the hat if you did not meet him before.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">The bus ride was not bad though it did get crowded by the time we reached Nehru Place, the area where the Temple</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"> is located. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">After a five minute walk</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">, we reached the Lotus Temple. I must say this is one of the most beautiful buildings I have seen. The </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_Temple"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Lotus Temple</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"> is actually a place of worship for the Bha'i religion.</span></span></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimFcyiPIbtnENDygVnotRb7K47GYh_1UQXf9T4eTcpOu2rtjVr6J8yxfsEsZkeal3y3C2CKHiYTebUINYoD3ZtejsJMsdbaDdUm29fiQlBR_-ILtOA8M34UckV78WLxgIjxtQCmNhFFcM/s320/IMG_3111.JPG" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489752200756294434" /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">I learnt a lot about this religion and its really interesting and not as small as I thought it was. The Bha'i religion has a</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"> p After a good 30 minute walk around the area, we headed off to our next destination, having lunch. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">We took a rikshaw to drop us to a Mc donalds we saw on our way to the temple. I know that most of you must be saying that I should be trying local food, but the problem is that dad does not trust their food at all, and I think you all should not too. More on the local food topic later. </span></span></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghs67ZuSplNJRUdd9DXbjkKim55JPp0pPtUxmNV32xqjvoePRTxplhNmY9lpoMwLFiiMbdF19PzDzaAZ88w3cGMiemZq-L28pMQnQ8q7VW_6dRJM1tAU4wGjiLE2eSvjok3zKKFlq8YcI/s320/IMG_3139.JPG" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489752792921711266" /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">After our tummies were full, we headed back to the bus </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">stop and took a bus to India Gate. I personally thought India Gate was pretty impressive </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">but dad had a different opinion. He said, " you got me all the way here to see this! ". </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Love you dad. India gate was actually built to remember all the Indian soldiers that died during WW1. Pretty cool.<br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">After taking all the touristy pictures near India Gate,</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">we took another rikshaw to drop us to the President's residence area or as it is called in Hindi, Rashtrapati Bhawan. We could not get inside ( obviously!) so we took pictures outside. Now the rikshaw guy, a Sikh punjabi offered to take us around 4 or 5 tourist places for 750 INR (16 $) and drop us back to the metro. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">We thought it was a good idea since we wanted to be back home early to watch the Germany vs Argentina game and we were tired. However, being Arabs, we didn't agree for the price he gave </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium; ">us. We bargained with him until we got it down to 600 INR (12 $) and minus one museum. I believe we could have done a better job at bargaining but dad was loosing his patience and just wanted to get going. So we started our journey with our Sikh Punjabi rikshaw driver and went off to Mahatma Ghandi's museum.</span></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggHBp9TUkSag-JabuFvv6llI7xNySbqRJgFbx5MmYqQ65mVI3-blgrUnSq-1YgkGLEXDhpsAE7KTVqs_oguU3-xI3DvaTHqzGLkNP_jV3Q5LlRhtsWnKl2hLLAn8_exMrkN2uAuqKOQpc/s320/IMG_3164.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489753737439444866" style="float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">It turned out that it was also the place </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">where he was assassinated at. I loved the museum. I now know why all Indians love this man. He united the Indians of all faiths under one name, India. Thats me with a huge statue of Ghandi in his museum.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">After snapping some photos over there, we got back into our rikshaw and went to Lodi Garden. It had the tombs of some of the Muslim leaders of India</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">. I honestly did not find this building as impressive as the one we saw next. Humayun's Tomb was the best part of the day for me. I loved the building and the whole atmosphere around it.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Another strike to my amazing Urdu (Hindi) speaking skills was when I went to buy the tickets for Humayun's Tomb. I read on the board, Indians = 10 Rs, Foreigners = 250 Rs. Seeing that ridiculous number, I told dad to step aside and let me go buy the tickets. I took exactly 20 Rs and went in with full confidence and asked the ticket guy for two tickets ( in Urdu). </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">The man did not even hesitate to ask where I am from and gave me the tickets. However, the security man at the gate asked us where we are from. I said I was from UP (Uttar Pradesh), and dont ask why! Dad on the other hand said Kerla ( again, dont ask why! very random). The security man was a bit suspicious about dad being Indian but when he said Kerla, the doubts were cleared!. If you are not a desi, you wont get this. So let me say in one senstence, people from Kerla usually don't speak Hindi, they speak their own local language. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Now, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Humayun's Tomb was an amazing building to see and take pictures off. I</span></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMoEVsIORjfj3r1X5CEzUwPlPMmxEcegoNJ11lxOSzBeVpXkAgQG63dl_aRm9BvE6ckEkRyq0gIfHVbXwqU8zL5Ja2WznhF_XiJBISR48pmcsQDrHqAjfqL-6J0D5HcXsGW7rgjK2jdU4/s320/IMG_3193.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489755265111063410" style="float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">felt it was very photogenic and had a lot to give. The walk from the gate to the Tomb itself was a bit tiring so dad left half way and decided to go out and wait for me near the entrance. I went up and down the building taking pictures from every angle possible. I loved this building. The two Pictures on the side and the bottom are of Humayun's Tomb. I had to put two pictures of this place, its amazing.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGaaWgzesO3RKxfSg3CiShs_hWU0cB7-YKt0s4ANXW9GDeDBZpufdDP181nlbPy6hbg4RmLsctH8RgpsXAmapRaWcqotDv4YmEAUm1mjccw4D_lbs_6_gSQ9eHVqoHxdcvqQMdFADgpUk/s320/IMG_3195.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489755632624831362" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium; line-height: 15px; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium; line-height: 15px; ">The last stop in our journey with the Sikh driver was a Sikh temple. He wanted to show us one very badly. The Sikh temple we saw was not that impressive but it was something I haven't seen before. There was not much to see inside so we just took a few pictures (and my memory card was full) and left back to the metro station.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">A quick ride back on the metro and we were back in our hotel room. After chilling in the hotel and watching the Germany vs Argentina game, we went out in search of dinner. Now as I said, my dad does not trust the food over here. He decided to go out in the first place ( we used to have food at the hotel before today) because he was sick and tired of the hotel food. After searching for about 15 minutes for a good place to eat, we had chicken korma and butter naan followed by a not so good mango juice for me and a pomegranate juice for dad.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Tomorrow, we have an early start at 6am when the cab will come to pick us up to go to Agra and see the Taj Mahal. Why we are taking a cab instead of a train?wait till you know tomorrow. Its a good story!</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"> </span></span></span></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 15px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 15px; font-family:verdana;font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div></div>Abdallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16470099071743774101noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457256995586417677.post-26846326733122053602010-07-02T17:31:00.006+03:002010-07-02T19:41:30.782+03:00Lets talk business!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Before I start talking about my first day in India, let me tell you about the amazing flight I had. I check in the airport at Doha and everything is fine. I don't check my boarding pass for my seat until I get into the plane and notice that it says 6C. I look around and see that 6C is the last seat in the business class! I was upgraded to business class without even knowing! Jet airways, you guys rock!</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">After an amazing 3 hrs 40 mins flight in the business class, I got to India. After getting done with passport control, I found myself a taxi and </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">head to the hotel. On the way, I told myself that I would put my urdu (hindi) to the ultimate test and see if this local indian taxi driver will notice that I am not desi ( from the sub-continent). I start talking to him and after a while, he says in hindi,' so you are from punjab?'. In my head, I was thinking, why in the world punjab? I instantly reply, ' yes of course I am from Punjab'. My Urdu has passed the test! This is amazing.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The hotel was easy to find. After meeting dad and talking about the two days he spent in India before I came, he told me to head to bed since we had a business meeting at 10. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJhxl0cseCq9Pahyb8dVkwT3uOqG5Iac5J_r2m7Gxt_wGRNydlt-gzPldWedOo3xJxkoCe7mi8Pygdb1ZA1T74Mmhr4SR9gDBaSXmRf8nbfxM7Rs9xnx4aEv_2w2esfuPZdMsAKUviJtM/s320/DSC00144.JPG" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489337742476234674" /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Before I continue, can someone please tell me why in the world </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">did the hotel put a fan in the toilet! This is the </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">most random thing I have ever seen.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The business meeting was really cool, but I am sorry to say that I wont be able to disclose any of the content of that meeting because its confidential. So let me just say that I learnt a lot about business and how deals are made. A good switch from the engineering world I have been living in for so long. The meeting went from 12 to 4 and by the time we got back home, it was 6pm.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Me and dad decided to have a walk around the area we were living in. Nice little town with small shops and people everywhere. Then we </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">got back to the hotel and watched the world cup games. (Go Holland).</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Here is a picture of the view from outside our hotel room. The thing on the top is the Delhi Metro rails.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhelZklI2bXeoKVlrakMXREufzPLFbF-Mq9WV_RJDAXPhqJKibAc17_ZC4abvCEG966BB5-m4USs9XfiHm3SwpbLIGnMHwGeeK08ryZDSb2DaD8KqbSM6meN06IibquboIRomP-kHpVvHU/s320/DSC00141.JPG" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489339209632899762" /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Its true that we didn't go out any where but the plan for tomorrow is to go around the famous sites of Delhi and on Sunday, head to Agra and check out the Taj Mahal and the cool sites over there. Then on Monday, well no plan yet for Monday!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">My first impression of Delhi is that I am really surprised by how developed this city is. I did not expect to see such a huge metro network. The roads are not as bad as I expected them to be. The food is amazing, I love it! The people are really friendly and especially when you talk to them in Urdu, they really feel comfortable and willing to help. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">However, I cant say everything in India is amazing. The insane traffic, the pollution and the dirt every where are just some of the things I could list as things I really did not like. But seriously, who doesn't know all this!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">let me sign off before you guys hate me for making you read all this. Sorry for this not so interesting post but I promise tomorrow will be fun!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div>Abdallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16470099071743774101noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457256995586417677.post-54681829333810651422010-07-02T04:26:00.008+03:002010-09-12T00:54:21.394+03:00I am going to India Baby! (extended version)<div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I finally made it to India! But before I forget, let me elaborate on what</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> happened yesterday since my last post was quick.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; "><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">'After finishing work, I rushed to meet some friends to go go-KARTING in Villagio. It was amazing. Omer, florent, noor, taina, and luma ( a new friend ) were all there and it was amazing. Pictures will be coming up soon'</span></span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; "><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">.</span></span></i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(41, 41, 41); line-height: 20px; font-family:verdana;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(41, 41, 41); line-height: 20px; font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(41, 41, 41); line-height: 20px; font-family:verdana;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnwnCG54Y2YbTs0hjXUvMiAIQ5bCWYEcu8e7hquaPmcmi4u3GRekFujY_vU9pUmWdXT9DYjZ9qwZfuc0Pw_OP0HIIyA8P1xSAPjnikny5Qx5tiCqL8GBZgPceCgNDc2Pmli5xWnGMzjg4/s320/DSC00129.JPG" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489128276260004978" /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 20px; font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Actually what happened was that I left</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">work </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 20px; font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">early and went for a </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 20px; font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">quick</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">meeting regarding the International orientation ( will elaborate on that some other time). After the meeting, I went to Villagio with </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Benazir to meet up the </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">rest of the group. Go-Karting was amazing. If you are in Doha and bored, its the best thing to do. Its true that its a bit expensive ( 60 QAR for 10 mins), but its really worth it.</span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje_cCa-bUqcGcW_nnFrx_VltOmMtn63oYxNRZICbXFKwDqx3cRMMfXa1k9TINl_BxJk9QDswHgpeYEkh7EBYMGZpmLbJkI4lZwFA276HcNfIFybHn_Vqeu9Lk9vxgcl8I3c2WfMMojcpU/s320/DSC00126.JPG" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489129691257686242" /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 20px; font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 20px; font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 20px; font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 20px; font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 20px; font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 20px; font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 20px; font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 20px; font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 20px; font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 20px; font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 20px; font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 20px; font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 20px; font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 20px; font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Than was a crazy drive back home since I was really late and had literally 20 minutes to pack and be ready to leave to the airport. Thankfully, everything went as planned and I was at the airport on time to leave to India. Basel, thanks once again for the ride.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Now for the story you all have been waiting for, how I got my visa! I know most of you reading this actually know the story but here it goes.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">So I go to the Indian Embassy last Monday to apply for my visa and I have all my papers ready. Benazir, a friend of mine who is interning at the same company I am interning at, was with me since I give her a ride everyday. So I enter the embassy and see the longest queue of Indian men I have ever seen.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Remembering what Corinne told me about her experience with the Embassy, I tell Benazir to submit my papers since she was a girl and she could cut through the line without anyone questioning. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">After cutting through the photocopying machine queue, and the general inquiry queue, I realized there was a problem. The Officer told me that the visa will need between one to two weeks to be issued and I was travelling in 3 days. At that point, I was really going to go crazy at the officer because when I called two days ago, the lady on the phone said that I will get the visa within one day. Anyways, moving on, I called my dad and told him the bad news. However, my dad with his smart thinking, gave me an idea (even though it sounded crazy to me). </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">He told me to go to the airport and give my passport to any trustworthy looking person who was travelling to Oman. My dad would then get the passport from him and get me the visa from the Indian Embassy in Oman. It does take a day in Oman to get it. And to get my passport back, my dad would send the passport with someone who was travelling to Doha! Genius</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">That is exactly what happened. My passport went to Oman with a group of three Qatari men and came back the next day in the evening with a Omani family. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Now I know that some of you might think its crazy to give your passport to a random person, but when you think about it, I had no other option. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Right now, I am at the hotel with my dad and its 7:30am. I think I will take a nap until our business meeting with some companies at 10.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">In tonight's blog, I will try to give you my first impressions of India and my little list of things I am planning to do while in Delhi. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(41, 41, 41); line-height: 20px; font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;color:#292929;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;color:#292929;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div></div>Abdallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16470099071743774101noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457256995586417677.post-22123895276984034972010-07-01T21:33:00.005+03:002010-09-12T00:54:21.394+03:00I am going to India Baby!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Just to give you guys the heads up, I am actually posting this post from my phone, so please excuse the grammar. I am right now in the airport waiting to get into the plane. Yes i made it, I am finally going to India.</span></div></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Many things happened today and I dont think i will be able to type it all up with my phone, so i will just give you the main headings and i will elaborate on them when I get to India safely. </span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />After finishing work, I rushed to meet some friends to go go-KARTING in villagio. It was amazing. Omer, florent, noor, taina, and luma ( a new friend ) were all there and it was amazing. Pictures will be coming up soon.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />Then it was rushing back home to pack my bags and head to the airport. Basel, thanks for the ride, i really appreciate it. I had to rush becuase my flight is at 10pm and I left villagio at 7:15pm! Crazy, I know!. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />I am really excited about India and I dont know what to expect. I am sure it will be dirty and messy!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />I know that I still owe you guys the story of how I got my visa, but that will have to wait becuase i have a plane to catch now.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />Talk to you all from India!</span></span></div></div>Abdallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16470099071743774101noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6457256995586417677.post-7691335941983890542010-06-30T22:35:00.001+03:002010-07-02T20:25:39.812+03:00Choosing A Title<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">I am officially starting my first blog. This has been something on my mind for a long while now and I am finally doing it. Since I am very new to the blogging world, I hope you guys will not judge my writing style or my blog in general. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">So After the intros, let me say that the main reason I am starting this blog is to document the different travel trips I usually do. I am a person who loves to travel and check out new places around the world. (who doesn't! ). Ever since I joined university, I have traveled to many countries including Cambodia, America, Italy, and just last month, I was in Jordan and Egypt!. I have many memories of these places but its sad that I haven't documented any. So with this blog, I hope to be able to write the nice memories I will have of my future travels. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Speaking of future travels, I am actually travelling to India tomorrow with my dad. He has some business to take care of there and I am just tagging along. The Indian Sub-continent has always been a place that I wanted to go to. I will be going to New Delhi only but i hope to see some other close by areas like Agra.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">My list of places to visit in India include the Taj Mahal for sure, Qutb Minar, The Red Fort, and India Gate. Anyone has any other suggestions?</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">I will try my best to blog everyday when I am in India and keep you posted about my trip, but if I don't, then understand that I am new blogger and it will take me some time to get used to this new routine. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">The title of this post is titled, "choosing a title" because i actually spent the whole afternoon with my best friend Zaid discussing my blog title. He was really excited that I had finally decided to start blogging so he wanted to make sure I choose a good name. "My journeys" is what i decided to name my blog because as i said, this blog will only be used whenever I am traveling, which I hope to do more often. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">I wont make my first post very long because I want you to keep coming back for more. Tomorrow, I leave at night, so I will probably post something before I leave. If not, then I will talk to you all from India. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;">Remind me to tell you about how I got my Indian visa, that's another completely different story. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div>Abdallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16470099071743774101noreply@blogger.com6