Salam Maal Hijrah 1430H and New Year 2009AD

I pray that the new year 1430H and 2009AD will bring more happiness and prosperity to you.

I woke up late this morning and quickly jumped to the balcony to gauge the time (I should just check the clock, shouldn't I) and to my surprise there was fog everywhere in my sight. It was quite a thick fog with visibility around 5-10 metres. It was a fantastic view and suddenly it reminded me of a lyric in a black metal band called Dark Throne. I quickly checked my Ipod whether I have the song, but I didnt have it.

Normal view

this morning

At the time of writing this posting around 4pm, a cloud of fog have already blanketed my office window at level 18th. I couldnt see the sea anymore. I thought - "what a foggy day to end the year 2008 yeah.."

Anyway, amid the crisis ridden 2008, the past 12 months have been a productive year for me considering that I received a bonus from my KL company in February, raised a healthy baby, played some fantastic gigs with Dewangga Sakti locally and abroad and of course, made the big decision of moving to Dubai in October.

So tonight I will be at home on the eve of the new year 2009. Maybe I watch a few movies at home or smoke shisha at lebanese restaurant down the blocks or finish up reading Jeffrey Archer's False Imprisonment (I bought it in a newly opened first Kinokuniya bookstore in Dubai Mall, i love Kino..). A few of my colleagues will get drunk tonight, some will go to Shakira concert in Abu Dhabi, some will go clubbing...all these are really not my thang.

My new year resolutions - A LOT ! but let me keep it to myself at the moment.

My dream car? ..no lah

So close but yet...

Well.. I wish I had a Macbook and a bass guitar now.

Cheers to a new year and another chance to get it right

Oprah Winfrey

Lets Go Picnic

Dates trees

The weather in Dubai is getting chiller by the day. This week a wind called Shamal is bringing in more cool wind from the west and in effect it has lowered down the temperature to minimum 22 degrees Celsius, especially at night.

Grass on desert land

My wife, Adrin and I definitely enjoy this weather very much as we get to wear new warm clothes and do what the peoples of Dubai do in this season, that is - PICNIC !

One thing I noticed about the parks in Dubai is that they are very well maintained. It comes with a price though around AED3.00 to AED20.00 per entry per person. Initially I wondered how do they grow the grass and the trees on a desert. I found out it is not an easy task for them as every tree, grassy spot and bush in Dubai need to be watered automatically by dedicated system of underground pipe tubes. Back home in Malaysia we could just throw a seed or plant a flower stem and it will grow steadily without we realise it or sometime we don't have to do anything and some plants will grow especially lalang.

In Dubai we have been to a few parks like Zaabel Park (entrance fee 5 dirhams per person), Safa Park (entrance fee 3 dirhams per person) and Jumeirah Beach Park (entrance fee 5 dirhams per person and 20 dirhams per car).



The other day, we went to Al Ain city which is about 160km east of Dubai. Al Ain is located further in to the desert area but it is not all sand and dust here because Al Ain is surrounded by a number of oasis. In fact Al Ain is also called "The Garden City of the Gulf" because of its greenery, lush parks and dates/ palm trees. We went to one of its public parks called Hili Archeological Park which is so named because there are a few archeological excavation sites in the park where they have found artefacts of desert people dated as old as 7000 years ago. The entrance fee for Hili Archeological Park was very cheap at 1 dirhams and on that day we went in for free. Besides the grand sight of mountains bordering between UAE and Oman and the archeological sites, one good thing I remembered about the park was that it was really quite. There were not many people in Hili Archeological Park on that day. I lay down on a picnic mat, closed my eyes and tried to focus on my hearing, but there was no sound at all. I felt asleep in no time until Adrin slapped me on my face...huh...



This week is going to be the last week for my wife and Adrin before they go back to Kuala Lumpur. I will definitely miss them after this and more so there will be no more picnic for me.

Life goes on....

I don't bother about how bad the economy is. If I can find a place to go picnic that is a quality of life.