K E M B A R A.......I L M U

Happy New Year 1431 Hijra

syamsulfaiz@gmail.com (Syamsulfaiz) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 06:11:00 +0000

The Dubai World's chronicle on the indebtedness of its subsidiary developer Nakheel was finally settled with Abu Dhabi's injection of USD10 billion to Dubai. This was expected by many. I personally have anticipated that there is no way Abu Dhabi will just let Dubai be torn apart by the creditors. Dubai is not a separate country. It is an emirate in the UAE. Between the 7 emirates in the union, Abu Dhabi is the richest and considered the big brother. Abu Dhabi gives budget annually to the other emirates. It has written and unwrtitten obligation to take care of its sibling emirates. That is the ties that bind them all together in the union. To let Dubai down would be an embarassment to Abu Dhabi and the union. But what interesting was the way Abu Dhabi and Dubai managed the announcement and all. Critics say that the waiting period had given enough time to tarnish Dubai's image in the market, and highlight the superiority of Abu Dhabi. Other people say the down time gave Dubai opportunity to buy back its shares in a stock market at a very cheap price. My friend in the Dubai Ruler's Court told me that Sheikh Mohamed prefered to downsize Dubai World rather than accepting a rescue fund from Abu Dhabi. But has Dubai got enough to survive without any rescue in a first place?

Again I dont think the rescue fund comes for free. There will be some consideration to be negotiated between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, business wise. We will see.

At the same time I am glad that Dubai managed to move on with the Nakheel's problem before the New Hijra Year. I hope Dubai will recover very fast and remain as one of the top cities in the world. The last thing I want to see is Dubai becomes a deserted city like the one depicted in the latest released for the Grand Theft Auto game.

I had a blast fun time with my parents and family for the past 2 weeks. It felt great to have spent 2 weeks with my parents at my age. The last time I stayed home with my parents for more than a week was about 15 years ago. Both my son and I really enjoyed our moment in the morning whenever we wake up, check out the living room and see my parents were already sitting on a couch and greet us together.

Let us pray "peace be upon Prophet Muhammad" and may the new Hijra Year 1431 brings more happiness, peace and prosperity to the world, as same as it did when the Prophet made the first Hijra.

To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right

Confucius

Go Picnic or Panic?

syamsulfaiz@gmail.com (Syamsulfaiz) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:58:00 +0000

For the past 5 days Dubai has once again made to headline news but for the wrong reasons. This time the world talked about the debt laden Dubai with total liabilities of up to $80 billion. The news was triggered when a government linked company announced its wishes to ask for at least 6 months delay for its bond's payment due to be paid in another 2 weeks. That request was believed to be the first for a series of defaults in other borrowings by that conglomerate. Being in the capital market industry I will not say that I am not excited at all about this news. In fact most of my times in the office lately were spent on reading and monitoring this story. Some peoples criticised on how it happened or laughed at the misfortune. To achieve fast tracked development like in Dubai involved a lot of money and risks. It has been a great 9 years for banks and investors in speculating and earning money out of Dubai's potentials. So now it is time to share some risks and bear losses. But the question with these capitalist banks and investors, are they willing to share the risks or incur losses at all?

Although the situation is serious for the future of Dubai in particular and UAE in general, Dubai need to experience this as a process towards a matured nation. My interest is to see how Dubai managed and solved this problem, what lessons have they learned and how can we improve the situations through laws and regulations.

Off course the hope of being saved by Abu Dhabi is always there, but Dubai is reminded that nothing comes as a free lunch. So we will see what will be the solutions soon.

Moving on to another interesting stories, Muslims in UAE are celebrating Eid al Adha since last 27 November and tomorrow will be the 38th UAE National Day. That means a long holiday to us yuppies. To celebrate these joyous occasions my wife, son, 2 brothers and parents came over to Dubai for 2 weeks holiday. My house is full with travelling bags, clothes and what more important, good laughters and foods. Despite the gloomy business news, peoples in Dubai continue to do what they are best at - work smart and party hard ! And that is business during these holidays. I have lined up some activities with cooperation from a few friends, like sight seeing, desert trip, beach and parks picnic and road trip to Oman. We will still discuss the grave going-ons in Dubai but over BBQ, shisha and home made cookings, out in the colder temperature of Dubai.

Adha Mubarak and enjoy your year end holiday, wherever you are.

Desert Offroad: Series 1 2009

syamsulfaiz@gmail.com (Syamsulfaiz) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:03:00 +0000

Yalla..yalla...yallaa I got an interesting story to tell here.

Remember that I just bought a new SUV in Honk...Honk..Vrromm..vroommm ? After about 2 weeks driving the Nitro I am quite happy with its handling in the city. I feel safer and superior on the road, and the ride is sure more comfortable than Toyota Yaris. But yesterday an opportunity came to test the Nitro off the tarmac road !!

I have been wanting to do offroad since I first saw Jeep cherokee in Malaysia. That was like more than 15 years ago. But buying and maintaining a four wheel car in Malaysia is not cheap. Hence all this while I could only dream about it.

Last week a friend invited me to join a group of Malaysians who planned a desert 4x4 excursion. It so happened that one of the organisers was my friend Farid Hussein, a Malaysian lawyer in Zaid Ibrahim & Co, Dubai. So without further ado I said yes to the invite and quickly packed my gears for the ride. Actually I didn't know what to bring except bottles of water, fruits and gas stove...hehe. Hey I was a newbie alright...

So on the day of event (Friday 30 Oct.) we gathered at Eppco petrol station, in front of Dragon Mart, sharp at 2.30pm. In the email only 7 cars signed up, but to our delight 10 cars turned up at the last minute, bravo! The cars were:

1) Hummer H3
2) Nissan Armada
3) Mitsubishi Pajero
4) Ssyangyong Rexton
5) Jeep Wrangler 2 doors
6) Jeep Wrangler 4 doors
7) Volvo XC60
8) Dodge Nitro (mine)
9) Toyota Land Cruiser
10) Honda CRV

After a briefing by our 'kapitan' we headed to Al Awir desert, which was apparently just 15 minutes from my house. We stopped briefly at the last groceries store to buy firewood. The shop charged us AED5 per log. My friends told me, in colder days, the price will go up to AED8 per log. Hhmm..nowadays even price of firewood fluctuates.

We passed through a small rural village before we arrive at the entry point of the desert route. Typical of my ignorance, I became the first car to get stuck in the sand. That was only after 5 minutes off the tarmac road. I was confused at first but quickly realised that I forgot to switch to 4wd mode. Haiyaaa bikin malu !

Ascending...well executed ! Good Nitro !

We charged into the desert area until we arrived at our first hilly area. This time we stopped again to deflate our tires. I was clueless on how to measure the deflation. Later I learned to use a deflator gauge to deflate the tires to a correct pressure. The ideal pressure is 15 - 20 psi. Next trip, I definitely will buy this gauge. The reason to deflate the tires was to get more tires surface touching the sand for better traction and to prevent the tires from sinking easily into the soft sand. Brilliant huh ..

Farid was giving me a tutorial on deflating tires

Anak bukit

When all tires were set, one by one, we revved up and ascended the first hill. This was when I started to feel proud of my Nitro, which managed to execute it very smoothly. The tip was just to accelerate without hesitation and never apply a sudden brake, as it will sink the car into sand. However we got delayed for about 1 hour when Volvo XC60 and Honda CRV got stuck in the sand several times. One thing I quickly realised about desert offroad, we could hardly rescue a car using a rope as most of the time, there was no hard surface area for the rescuer car to base on. When a car got stuck we have to push it up and rev up the engine until it gets out. The Honda CRV finally gave up as the driver felt his car was not suitable for the route. So I offered him and his family a lift in my car, as I was driving alone. But to save any embarrassment I reminded him that I was also a first timer.

Tires stuck in the sand

Men giving direction to a struggling Honda CRV

The next 1 and a half hours ride was exciting and fun. I could not follow the Jeep Wrangler 2 doors bashing the silky smooth dunes though, as I got 2 toddlers in my car. But at least I got to explore the Nitro's capability in ascending and descending the steep hills. Nitro definitely shares the similar specification and capabilities of Jeep and Hummer. I felt worth every fils of my purchase price for the Nitro. Had I not been carrying passengers in my car, I would have talked and praised the Nitro everytime we passed a hill.

Is that car going into a hole?

Nitro was taking a breath

Finally we arrived at our camp side. After a maghrib prayer, we lit up our firewood and set up barbecue pits. The rest of the events were nothing but talking, grilling, eating, laughing, drinking and eating again. The ladies were busy with their stories and news, the kids were singing and running around the silky dunes and the men were occupied with their fire and barbecue. It was another great chance for me to know more Malaysians in Dubai. Most of them have been around for more than 3 years. One guy has been in Dubai for 13 years. Where was I 13 years ago?

Praying in a desert reminded me the life of prophet

The "kapitan"'s Hummer H3

Goodbye sun

The ride back was short using a shortcut to the nearest tarmac road. When we got on the tarmac road, we stopped again to inflate our tires. This time we use air compressor which was charged from the car's battery. This another gadget I should buy next time. After saying goodbye and exchanging telephone numbers, everybody departed to their own destinations.

Air compressor inflating a tire

Jeep Wrangler 2 doors..the champ that day

It was my first introduction to a desert offroad excursion. I am excited to do it again, now that I have the right vehicle to do it. One of the must-go destinations which they told me, was a place called Fossil Rock. It was named as such because the area is full of fossil of pre-historic sea creatures as the area was under the sea billion of years ago.

Fossilised taik unta?

"Sunshine all the time makes a desert"

Arab proverb

A Child's Hug

syamsulfaiz@gmail.com (Syamsulfaiz) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 12:30:00 +0000

Everything has its end. I knew the time will come but I didn't expect it to be very emotional for me. My wife and son have been staying with me for more than 3 months and last night they have to leave for Kuala Lumpur as my wife's school term will start before a long holiday in December.

So after an early dinner I sat on the sofa and watched TV. My son suddenly came to sit besides me and we watched TV together. This was one of those rare occasions when he wanted to watch TV together instead of jumping and playing around the house. So I just started talking to him about what he was going to do that night, going to the airport, flying to Kuala Lumpur, behaving good in my absence, listening to mama, meeting Atuk and Nenek and he occasionally repeated the words I said like aeroplane, Atuk and Nenek. I just talked to him and didn't expect him to understand anything at all. It was just talking, to get him occupied with me.

But I underestimated my son. He actually understood. He started to calm down and looked up to my face when I was talking to him. He rested his head on my arm and hugged me. He never acted like that before ! I was so surprised and touched.

I stopped talking and patted his back. I didn't know what to say, I just lost for words. My ego and macho armour as a man and a father slowly melted down like an ice cream. It felt awkward. For a moment, I tried very hard to hold my tears by swallowing my saliva and focusing on a scene in TV, but it was hard. Tears brimmed quickly in my eyes !

I just could not hold it anymore when my wife came out from the bedroom and looked at me hugged by my son like that. Drops of tears slowly fell from my eyes. I tried to talk to my wife but I was so overwhelmed with my emotions. I never experienced this feeling before ! I never felt so touched, never by a man that small.

My wife whispered to me that I shouldn't be too sad as they will come back after a month. I wanted to say 'Yes, I know' but the more I opened my mouth, the greater the emotions. My lips just trembled and oozed some inaudible words. Finally I just succumbed to the feeling and let it takes over everything. My wife understood and quickly snapped a few pictures of us.

I was stunned not just for the fact my son understood the situation but because of his simple and honest gesture of hugging me. It was the very right response. I didn't expect it to come at all.

My son finally fell asleep on my chest, letting his father to deal with his newly found emotion.

It was my first cry for the love of a son. I felt embarassed at first (for shedding tears) but eventually felt very natural. It was indeed a lesson of life and fatherhood. And I praised God for the wonderful feeling.

I love my little man.

I was speechless

My oh..my, life is tough sometimes

"It is a child's hug that permeates our soul and thus we are graced"

Salvador G. Valdez

Honk...honk..Vrrooommm..vroommm

syamsulfaiz@gmail.com (Syamsulfaiz) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 06:27:00 +0000

After a year in Dubai I can say that I feel more confident about my career in this country. My law firm is not badly affected by the economic crisis as our litigation practice is booming. I am also becoming busy day by day, with banks and clients trying to make money out of new deals and products post 2008 crisis. Everybody is talking about recovery and becoming wiser for the years ahead. World economy is speeding up as peoples feel better to spend again.

To mark my first anniversary in Dubai, I decided to buy myself a car. This has been a plan since my arrival here but because of the economic crisis, I put it on hold for fear of being laid off. All this while I rented a basic sedan car (Toyota Yaris)which cost me AED1800 a month. That is double than what I paid for my car in Malaysia which is of the same model (Toyota Vios).

Now I have settled with a new set of wheels which is more comfortable and within the same budget. Presenting Dodge Nitro SXT 2009. It's a truck based-SUV and pretty much share the same specs with the new Jeep Cherokee. Equipped with 2W and 4W drive capability, I think it answers my dream of driving a 4x4 on a desert. I has the look, safety features, 6 CD changers and big cargo area. The only setback, are that it's quite thirsty (of course la) and the headroom is tight (same like hummer). But the overall good factor, I bought it after 10k discount as a last Ramadhan promotion stock. Ok la.

One thing for sure, no matter how cool my car here, I can never own it forever because the car is a left hand drive and too expensive to be exported to home. I can only enjoy it when I am here. At the end of the day, it is the same like renting a car only that I get a better one.

Talking about cars, when I was in UK, I found it interesting that the British don't really bother to drive big fast cars. Everybody drives a small compact car (I think Perodua Kancil can have a good market in UK, why there are not there?). But in Dubai, the automotive trend calls for big super cars. Almost 70% of cars in UAE are four wheel drive cars. It gives an advantage when one have to drive on the desert sometimes. It also works as effective armour when one is driving in the fast Dubai superhighways and busy Sharjah streets.

In the meantime I have passed two licences in Dubai, one for driving car and another for riding motorcycle. It has been a challenging experiences for me to obtain these licences starting from the costs up to passing it through. Thank God, I passed both licences with only one test. I am saving some moneys now to buy my dream motorcycle. I have to be careful though not to incur more debts as it will defeat the purpose of working here. But purchasing that life-dream motorcycle is a great motivation for my struggle in this dusty city. The price of my dream motorcycle in Dubai is 3 times cheaper than the price in Malaysia. One good point is, I can export the motorcylce to Malaysia at a reasonable tax in the future. It also has a high second hand value in Dubai and Malaysia. This is a dream which makes me smile whenever I wake up for another day.

Also, my wife and I have been making a lot of friends lately and becoming closer to the ones we knew, which is a greater thing to a social animal like me. Friendship takes time, effort and reciprocity. Life would be meaningful if we can share it with peoples who listen and care. My wife and I are so eager to get to know our new friends and understand their interesting lives that sometimes we have to remind ourselves that our new friends may need more times to accept us in their circles. At the same time, we are keeping close watch on our friends in Facebook. It is a great feeling when I can laugh to tears in front of a laptop looking at pictures and leaving comments to my FB friends.

Winter is approaching and that means a season of outdoor and social activities in the Middle East. Cafes and restaurants have opened up their summer curtains and arranged their chairs and tables on the pavement, alfresco style. Peoples bought air tickets and booked hotel rooms to bring in families and friends. Birds have started their long journey to escape the harsher winter in the western and northern hemisphere. My mind now is busy thinking how to make it merrier and busier than the last year.

Yeah...I am open for any invitation, friends !

I like the look of the front fender..tough !

It's a truck

The front grills

The Horns !

Grab Life by the Horns !

Dodge

It Has Been A Year

syamsulfaiz@gmail.com (Syamsulfaiz) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 05:54:00 +0000

It has been a year since I missed my first flight to Dubai and boarded another flight on the next day. It has been 52 weeks since My First Day In The Office. It has been 365 days since I looked in amazement at the snowy Ski Dubai, the wide Sheikh Zayed Road , the air-conditioned bus stop and the tall Burj Dubai. It has been 12 months since I winded my watch to be 4 hours behind Malaysia's time. Yes, it has been a year...for today marks the First Anniversary of my life in Dubai.

This morning I woke up feeling very refreshed after a good night sleep. My wife was still sleeping besides me. Adrin was also sleeping but has moved 360 degrees from the position I placed him last night. I got out to my dusty balcony and looked at the workers constructing a building near my apartment. A building which blocked half of my view to the neighbourhood. I focused my view to the left of the building and felt relief to see a blurry image of a row of highrise and Burj Dubai Tower guarding the Sheikh Zayed Road under it. I smiled.

chilling in Jumeira beach

Time flies very fast. I still could recap the feeling of dilemma and confusion on 12 October 2008. I analysed it for a while and concluded I was not confused anymore. I knew my way around in Dubai. I felt at home when I arrived Dubai from my UK trip about 2 weeks ago. I am used to the extremity of weather between a hot 48 degrees to 16 degrees celcius. I bought a new vehicle last week. I have been back to Kuala Lumpur twice for the past 12 months. I played my first musical show last weekend. Most importantly I got my family and friends here in Dubai.

View of Sheikh Zayed Road from Metro Station bridge

The past one year has taught me a lot and opened my mind up to a new horizon. I learned about survival, integrity, hardwork, respect, honesty, friendship and family values. I am very grateful to Allah for giving me opportunity to experience a life like this. At the same time I feel ashamed that I have not done enough to show my gratitude to Him.

View of Dubai Creek from Dubai International Arbitration Centre office

I look forward to do more in life and even more for Him. I prayed that my happiness and joy are not a prelude to something worse in the days to come. I prayed that I will never forget my purposes, responsibilities and more importantly my path to Him. Moving forward I will try very hard to be better as a Muslim, a husband, a father, a son, a relative, a brother, a colleague, a friend, a lawyer, a musician and a person.

My wife and son will leave for Kuala Lumpur in another 1 week. They will come back after a month together with my parents, brother and his friends to enjoy winter with me in Dubai. I hope they will enjoy their trip and my company soon Inshallah.

Now that I had survived a year and breathing. So lets do it for another year...Yeah !

Alhamdulillah

me

Lands Above the Wind - part 1

syamsulfaiz@gmail.com (Syamsulfaiz) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 19:17:00 +0000

Just after I thought that the summer was over when the first stream of cold water ran through my body this morning, it slowly felt lukewarm and warmer and warmer and hot ! But it is not a bad thing, really..I like summer. It's just that I am having a mild flu right now and kept telling my wife that it was an indicator for a change of climate in Dubai. So I was hoping I was right.

Anyway talking about summer, let me share some exciting trips that I have done recently. For the first time in my life I celebrated Eid-ul-Fitri outside Malaysia this year. To commemorate this, I have decided to go a further mile. Whilst Malaysians in UAE packing their bags to come home to Malaysia, I dragged my wife and son to fly to the Lands Above the Wind (translate in Malay - negeri di atas angin). In Malay folk literature, Lands Above the Wind refer to the European continent. To be exact, my family and I celebrated our Eid in 3 countries - Scotland, England and France.

The idea of visiting Britain has been stuck at the back of my head for quite some time. I thought I would be able to do it when I was about to retire. This was when I was working in Kuala Lumpur. But ever since I worked in Dubai, I realised how achievable the idea was, considering the geographical location of Dubai and hence the affordable airfares. It was also fueled by the opportunity that my good friend Zulkifli Hasan is studying in Durham and offered to be the host for my visit at anytime. Well, I took his invitation at "anytime" literally and decided to go there during Raya.

Coincidentally one of my younger triplet brothers got accepted to study in School of Pharmacy, University of London. His arrival in London also happened on a day earlier than my booked flight. So it was all a happy good plan for me.

Zulkifli Hasan and his family have been a great host during our stay. He basically arranged everything for me, from his house, hotels, train tickets, my rental car and even my own navigator which he managed to bid and bought in ebay, days before my arrival. May Allah bless him and his family with all the good things in this world.

It was on 18 September 2009 when we landed in Newcastle International Airport. It was 7 days after the anniversary of September 11. I was prepared to be stripped naked in the airport, in a worst case scenario. Not that I have ever been in the black list, but my skeptic brain was worried on the fact that my passport has never gone through any western security system before, so who knows..But to my relief, Newcastle International Airport was such a quiet airport. After we filled up the visa form, my wife and I noticed that we were the last persons to approach the immigration counter. In fact the corridor lights were being switched off behind us whilst we were walking towards the immigration counter. When we got out from the airport, Zul and my brother were waiting for us and the weather was at a cool 14 degrees Celsius. Nice !

We were greeted by the sight of greens and hills planted with grass on our way to Zul's house. Zul lives in Bowburn. He calls it Kampung Bowburn. It is actually a residential area next to Durham University. My first impression of Bowburn was a quiet and peaceful old residential estate. Besides the local whites, it was populated by students with families like Zul. After Iftar and Isha' I felt so tired and skipped my chance to pray Terawih in UK for a cold bed. I was trying to close my eyes when it became so apparent to me that the area was so quiet that I could hear buzzing sound in my ears. Dubai must have been a very noisy place.

The next day was the last day of Ramadhan. Again we planned for something special. Equipped with a hired Ford Focus and a navigator, I drove to Edinburgh, Scotland. The journey took me about 4 hours. It was worth every penny I paid for the expensive British petrol (GBP20.00 for not even half tank !). We enjoyed the clear air, cloudy/sunny day and the magnificent English countrysides. In some parts of the places I saw, it resembled the houses and areas in some old places in Malaysia, especially Ipoh and Taiping. It could be these places were landscaped during the colonial era to look just like home by the British architects. I was surprised I didn't sleep at all during the entire journey.

Peoples in the street at the foot of the Castle's hill

Edinburgh Castle

In Edinburgh, we were more excited. The whole city looked like a film set to me. I have never seen any city like it before. Every structure in this city was older than a hundred years. I imagined what my forefathers were doing when the Scottish built this city slowly. Our first visit was the Edinburgh Castle. The castle was situated on a rock hill overlooking the sea. The hill itself was a very ancient habitat for men dating back 850 BC. Oh yeah not to forget, in this city I got the chance to see men in mini skirt. The Scottish's traditional costume are a cashmere shirt and tartan kilt. A tartan kilt is made of a heavyweight cashmere. The design on the kilt represent a clan in Scottish society. In this clan aspect I share the same tradition with the Scottish. For I come from a Mandailing clan of Nasution ! After the castle we stroll along the Road Mile, a street in Edinburgh which ends on a seashore. Very nice. But we didn't complete the entire street to its end as we have to ruch back home for the last Iftar.

Wife, Adrin and me strolling along Road Mile

Zul and me

On our way back, we detoured to Alnwick Castle. I have never heard about this castle before but Zul's wife, Nani explained that this castle's other popular name is Hogwarth School which none other than the school of Mr Harry Porter in that kids' movie. It was a majestic building and we snapped a lot of pictures for our Facebooks...hehe

Alnwick Castle

We reached home on time for our last Iftar for the Ramadhan 1430H. It was sad to say goodbye to this holy month. I never knew for sure whether I can see Ramadhan again next year. Nevertheless, I told myself this whilst sipping my hot tea..."Edinburgh, been there, done that..Alhamdulillah..burrpppp".

To be continued...

I dislike feeling at home when I am abroad

George Bernard Shaw

Run for Your Visa

syamsulfaiz@gmail.com (Syamsulfaiz) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 11:01:00 +0000

One of new aspects of my life as an expatriate is a concern on visa. I think I am better off dealing with UAE visa laws compare to Saudi Arabia visa laws. I heard in Saudi Arabia, one not only need visa to come to Saudi but expatriate also need visa to get out from Saudi Arabia. I don't know whether this is true but if it is, that is really a headache.

In UAE, visa is issued for various categories of visit and stay. There are visit visa, tourist visa, multiple entry visa, residence visa and transit visa. Apart from visa, tourists and expatriates require sponsors who will apply visa on their behalf. Like in my case, my sponsor for residence visa is my employer. But Malaysians tourist are lucky because our government has a reciprocal agreement with UAE whereby Malaysian tourist will be entitled to 30 days free visa on arrival in UAE. So for Malaysians, they don't have to find local sponsor to apply for their visit visa in UAE.

A common culture for expatriates in Dubai is during school holidays, many expatriates bring in their wives, children and families to come over for long vacation in Dubai. I am one of them. My wife and son are staying in Dubai for a 4 months vacation. For a stay more than 30 days I am supposed to apply for a special long visit visa for my wife and son which costs around AED500 each.

However there is a cheaper way to do it. Instead of applying for that long visit visa, peoples here go for a visa run. Literally it means running to the border, get out from the country and come back in with a new visit visa. This privilege is only accorded to a handful of countries lke UK, USA, Singapore and Malaysia. It sounds easy? But I have to do it every 40 days. And that is boring..

Desert tree

So here are the steps for a visa run in Dubai, UAE:

1) Drive to the border. Don't forget to bring passport. There are 3 popular borders from Dubai ie, Hatta, Musandam and Al Ain. These are UAE borders with Sultanate of Oman. I use Hatta border because it is close to my house;
2) Present passport to the immigration counter. Get the exit stamp;
3) Drive to Oman border post. On the way, there will be car inspection. Should not be a problem if you are not carrying drugs or dead body;
4) At Oman border, present your passport to the counter. If you really want to visit Oman, you have to buy car insurance. But if just to renew visa, you can simply tell the officer you want to renew visa;
5) Pay AED60 per person and get visit visa to Oman;
6) Make a U-turn to Dubai and drive to Dubai border;
7) Get a visit visa stamp from Dubai immigration for 30 days. You are done.

A straight road to Oman border

Last weekend I made a record of 3 hours to complete the whole run. I felt lazy to do it in the beginning because my wife and I will be leaving Dubai for UK anyway, this coming Friday for our Eid vacation. But I didn't want to have any problem with the immigration for overstaying without valid visa, so I did the run.

It has been said that a pretty face is a passport. But it is not.
It's a visa and it runs out fast.

Julie Burchilli
British Columnist

Ramadhan in Dubai

syamsulfaiz@gmail.com (Syamsulfaiz) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 08:56:00 +0000

Muslims all over the world are enjoying the holy month of Ramadhan from August 22nd until September 19th or 20th, depending on the sighting of the moon crescent to mark celebration of Eid-al-Fitri. For me and my family this year we celebrate the Ramadhan for the first time in Dubai.

There are a few differences on how Ramadhan is celebrated in Dubai compared to Malaysia. The first thing I noticed is the shortened office hours. Whilst in Malaysia, government offices and some private companies close at 4pm, here government closes at 2pm and private companies at 3pm. It is a very short working hours for me to finish my usual day's workload. But on the other hand, I spend more quality time with family at home either preparing Iftar or looking for restaurants around Dubai.

There is no Ramadan Bazaar for public in UAE. But I am not deprived of Ramadan Bazaar experience here due to Malaysian Association's Ramadan Bazaar every Friday in Abu Dhabi and Dubai selling home made Malaysian cuisines. I have been to both Abu Dhabi and Dubai Malaysian Ramadan Bazaar. The peoples and the foods were amazing. Ramadan Bazaar is truly the Malaysian thing which cannot be found elsewhere.

There is no 'moreh' or refreshment after solat Taraweh. The solat Taraweh in a mosque near my apartment is performed for 20 rakaat. The Imam recite long Quranic verses with no zikr and praise to the 4 Caliph between the rakaat similar to the style in IIUM Mosque.

Iftar buffet. WOW ! there are a lot around hotels and restaurants in Dubai. I can find any type of buffet to suit my appetite. However I have never been to any of them, because I think it is too much for me. In fact, there is one international restaurant in Atlantis Hotel (the famous hotel in The Palm) which sell Malaysian dishes for Ramadan Iftar. I have not been there but I read that the price starts from AED400 per person. Wuhu...maybe next time or maybe not !

Iftar Tent. This one I have never seen it in Malaysia. Maybe some places in Kuala Lumpur but not a custom yet. But here, I find a lot of companies and wealthy individuals sponsoring Iftar tents for the public. So everybody irrespective of background and race can freely come and enjoy whatever dishes supplied under the tents during Iftar. This is Ramadan culture in Dubai. I have never been to any tent so far, but am planning to, inshallah.

Respect for the fasting time. In Dubai the laws require all restaurants including food court to close during fasting hours. Some restaurants which are allowed to serve foods must operate its business behind full curtains. Not only restaurants are closed, the public are not allowed to eat and drink in the open. This applies to non-Muslims as well. Restaurants and food court are allowed to take orders starting from 6 o'clock but the foods can only be enjoyed after Iftar time. The other day I was waiting for Iftar time in a food court and an Indian couple behind me started to eat their meals when it arrived. They were quickly been told off by the mall's security guard to wait until Iftar time.

Eid preparation. I have not seen any special Eid promotion. Most of the sale advertisement promote their discount as Ramadan sale. It was not as grand as in Malaysia. Maybe it is not the time yet.

Ramadan drama. I am not referring to real life drama here, but the special tv soap for the month of Ramadan. Here we have one drama titled "Siraa' ala al Reemal"(Struggle in the Sand) which is a UAE-based production, aired in Dubai One channel at 7.00 pm. The story was based on the poetry and imagination of Sheikh Muhammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum (Ruler if Dubai) himself, revolving around the life and struggle of groups of bedouin. His poem was beautiful, not bad at all. But at the same time my wife and I have been watching a very addictive Malaysian soap as well titled "Nur Kasih". You can watch this drama in Catch Up TV in TV3 website. This drama is very touching and made me cried with some of it scenes and dialogue. It is a good drama to exercise my tear glands.

I look forward to enjoy the rest of Ramadan days. God bless us all.

Ramadan Kareem...Ramadan Mubarak !!

Plans and Ramadhan

syamsulfaiz@gmail.com (Syamsulfaiz) — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 14:24:00 +0000

Everybody in UAE is rushing now to complete all urgent jobs, disputes or deals before Ramadhan. My clients tried to close deal or settle disputes as soon as possible. This is because peoples here reserve Ramadhan as a month to focus on ibadah, family and relationship with friends and clients. Nobody really want to talk business or quarrel during the holy month except for networking. This month is not only for fasting and attending tarawih prayer but also strengthening relationship with peoples and helping the needy.

I personally feel Ramadhan to be a very lively and busy month with family and friends. I hope I will get that same feeling again here in Dubai as this is going to be the first time my family and I spending Ramadhan outside Malaysia. I really thank Allah for making me able to bring my family here.

One of the Ramadhan things in Malaysia is the food bazaar. Recently the UAE Malaysians Association has been planning on having our Malaysian Ramadhan Bazaar in Dubai. Although I dont really need that much of food for Iftar or Sahur but the food bazaar will certainly be a good session to meet friends and create new one. Especially for expatriates, our friends are our families now.

I have also been busy planning certain personal projects this month. We will be travelling to new places during our upcoming Eid holidays and I am planning to acquire some things by end of this year.

I just hope that Allah Almighty will give His approval and blessing to me, as always, to carry out all these plans, inshallah.

Ramadhan Karim to all my blog readers !

yours truly

Deira Fish Market

syamsulfaiz@gmail.com (Syamsulfaiz) — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 07:31:00 +0000

The weather in Dubai is very bad today. It is not only hot and humid but dusty with a visibility of around 100 meters. They say this dust come from nothern Iraq. I hope a strong wind will blow away all these dusts soon. My wife and I are already coughing a lot since last week. Thankfully my son Adrin doesn't suffer the cough. I have been drinking a lot of water to clear my itchy throat.

Yesterday my wife and I executed our weekend's project. It was a trip to Deira Fish Market. The hassle was to go there early in the morning in order to escape the heat. We arrived at the market at 9.00 a.m. It was too late. The temperature was a soaring 39 degrees celcius. There was no parking available in the market compound. I have to drop my wife and son at the market and parked further 300 metres away in Hyatt Hotel. I walked to the market from my car, and I still regret it until now, because it was so hot that I bled my nose rightaway !

However our discovery in the fish market was worth the trip. My wife being a Melanau loves fishes very much. The Deira Fish Market IS the place for the freshest catch in Dubai. To our surprise we also found some species of cockles and fish that is available in Oya, Sarawak. We bought Ikan Lumik and later prepared it with Sarawak sago for our lunch. My wife even prepared her first Dubai umai which was really spicy to me. I told my wife that she should suggest other Melanaus in her hometown to come and work in Dubai, because of the similarity in the fishes.

Because of the heat, we totally forgot to take out camera and snap photos. I was in fact became clumsy a bit trying to finish everything very fast and escape to an air-conditioned environment.

I bought a half mackerel fish. At home we cut it to fillet and I personally prepared a lemon butter mackerel for lunch. The taste was quite satisfactory..hehe. Really, I think I did a good dish yesterday. I like it.

We plan to go to the Fish Market again next week to stock up fresh fishes. My wife's face is beamed up with happiness now that she can eat the freshest fishes again.

"All cats love fish but fear to wet their paws"

Chinese proverb

Sharing

syamsulfaiz@gmail.com (Syamsulfaiz) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 06:28:00 +0000

Ever since I bought a Macbook laptop and subscribed to internet at home, I am wired to the cyberworld almost 24 hours of my daily life. This could be literally true considering that last night I felt asleep infront of my Macbook and woke up this morning with my hand still on the keypad. I hope I didn't send out any nonsense email whilst unconscious. I am connected at the office and even can google whilst walking, using a blackberry. Indeed I am living in two worlds now.

One of the things which fascinates me lately is on the sharing concept of the internet users worldwide. Like the Mac applications that I am using now, I didn't have to spend any single cent to use the additional software, as I can get it free using the sharewares and freewares abundant in the web. Not only that, the inventors of the software also make sure that the users get all the latest fix and upgrade from time to time. How cool is that !

I naturally tend to be "overdosed" with my new-found hobby. I have long heard about torrent files sharing but never had the time to learn and use it. With the plenty of spare time at home now, I had the chance to use torrent application and ...what a great discovery ! There are several torrent hosting websites in the net that you can choose from. These websites host the files 'torrent-ed' by the users or act as search engines to locate torrent files in the world wide web. My favourite search engines have been isohunt, mininova and pirate bay.

As a background I am a movie maniac. I have spent thousands on purchasing VCD, DVD and VHS tapes. I was also addicted to DVD rental. Sometimes I rented DVDs on daily basis. But with torrent sharing network, I feel like I am the son of a DVD shopowner. I can download any movie I want for free and the picture quality is generally very sharp and high. So far my average downloads are 2 movies per day. I am so addicted to watching all the downloaded movies that I watch a movie before going to work and another movie before going to bed, ....sometimes two movies.

The plus point is that sharing movies in torrent network does not give me the guilty feeling of contributing to piracy industry. Simply because I dont have to pay anything and the guy who uploaded the movie to the network, I believe, would have bought original copy of the movie judging from the picture quality. Yes I will not be contributing moneys to the directors' pockets, but I am not stealing money from them too or give money to the piracy bosses. I am just sharing with my friends. On top of that I sometime donate to them for being very generous friends. So my simple mind says sharing is better than stealing.

Really, I feel very grateful to live in this era !

"It is appalingly obvious our technology has exceeded our humanity"

Albert Einstein

First Jamming with the Abu Dhabi Gang

syamsulfaiz@gmail.com (Syamsulfaiz) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 03:28:00 +0000

Last Thursday relived my memory of the busy life as a musician juggling between work and studio when I was in KL. But this time I experienced it in Dubai when I tried to finish my work at 6.30pm to be at the studio at 8.30pm. In between I must get back to my apartment to pick up my bass. I decided not to bring and keep my bass in the car since the temperature was hot and that could affect the guitar's wood.

To make matter interesting, I lost my way to the studio. The studio was oddly located inside a warehouse in an industrial area. But I like the studio's setting because it looked like a garage studio. It had the "homey" ambience and "discreet & underground" feeling to it. I memorised the route based on Google Earth map but in reality the routes were messed up with diversions and construction sites. At the end I arrived 1 hour late at the studio. (To Dewangga Sakti gang this all sounds too familiar huh..hehe)

The jam session was arranged by my friend Azli (the drummer). I got to know him in the Iron Maiden concert last February. Azli is actually a familiar face in the circle of performing art back in Kuala Lumpur. He has performed with acoustic bands like Siul Murba, Akar Gita Estetika and Swakarya etc. He is also a member of the Dubai Drums of the World, an 18 pax ensemble which performs every year during the Dubai Jazz Festival. He is the only Malaysian with a set of Gendang Sunda in Dubai ! He has been in Dubai for 4 years now. The other musicians were Zaidi (aka JD the pilot) on guitar, Mie on guitar, Ida (Zaidi's wife) on keyboard, Hanizan and Zaki (both sang that night). All of them hail from Abu Dhabi.

I had really a good time jamming with them. It was a sort of breaking the ice session with new friends but through our instruments. The songs "destroyed" by us that night were:

1) Green Tinted Sixties Mind - Mr Big
2) Hati Emas - M Nasir
3) Gerhana - M Nasir
4) Yellow - Coldplay
5) Clock - Coldplay
6) Californication - RHCP
7) Use Somebody - Kings of Leon
8) Larut - Dewa 19
9) I Will Survive - Cake (this was played impromptu when I was running the bass line to warm up my fingers and suddenly everybody followed...and I said jalan !)
10) Fade to Black - Metallica

It was an exciting introductory jam with new friends. I look forward to know all of them in person. That night we could not chat for long since the jam finished at 12.30am and they all had to rush back to Abu Dhabi. But I can tell they are very talented musicians. They also own several guitars each. I look forward to see their collection.

Azli

Mie

I felt a little bit awkward heading back home after a jam session without any teh tarik session. Because to me the teh tarik sessions before and after the jam are integral and as important as the jam itself.

But it was a great fun and my first jam in Dubai with totally new friends. I really want to do it again !

yours truly

As good as I am, I am nothing without my band

Steven Tyler

Making a (feel) good decision

syamsulfaiz@gmail.com (Syamsulfaiz) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 08:39:00 +0000

The month of June always inspires me to look back and asses the trail of life which I have left behind. Times fly very fast since I first set my foot in Dubai in October 2008. Now it is going to be another 4 months to complete a 1 year cycle of my life as an expat in this great city.

As my life settles day by day in this new place which I started to call home, there are many decisions which forced me to make up my mind on my commitment to my new life. It is easier to advise a client than to advise myself. Because to me the struggle is not only to ensure that I make a good decision but the decision must come with a feel good factor with it. It is about making a decision and feel happy about it.

One of such decisions is as simple as whether I should buy a car or continue on renting. On 6 June 2009 I attended the most awaited event of my life in Dubai i.e my driving test. I passed the test and now I have a valid UAE driving licence which also entitles me to buy a car here. I can write a lengthy opinion if a client ask me on the advantages and disadvantages of buying or renting a car in Dubai. But when it comes to me making that decision, the hard facts alone are simply not enough for me. I need something to spark the good feeling behind the decision. I dont know what it is, but I must continue looking for that factor.

Anyway, maybe there is no such factor in the first place. Maybe it is just the overwhelming anticipation of going home this July. So let me not run to the car showroom but instead take a lazy relax leisurely stroll whilst listening very hard to the beats of my heart.

The risk of wrong decision is preferable to the terror of indecision

Maimonides

Spanish philosopher
1135 - 1204

Hot.. Hotter.. Hottest News

syamsulfaiz@gmail.com (Syamsulfaiz) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 08:48:00 +0000

Trees in Safa Park during summer

For those who came to Dubai in November last year and thought they have come to paradise where the beach is a stone throw away, it is sunny day everyday and the wind is soothing and cold, this month they have to re-think again. For UAE is entering its pre-summer season and already the temperature has been 40 - 50 degrees celcius and the daylight is longer. The weatherman reported that this year the temperature rose very early in the season compared to last year. Welcome to the desert as you love it!

I love the dry heat and my iced tea. As long as it is not humid, I am smiling to the sun. In fact last weekend I met up with 2 friends for evening tea and it was around 4.00pm when the temperature was at 44 degrees celcius. I purposely asked them to sit outside the cafe in the heat and I saw my friend's boyfriend raised his eyebrow to my invitation. We sat outside anyway and I enjoyed the conversation whilst the hot air was blowing to my face. But I could see the boyfriend could no longer sit still and not long after that broke his accommodating politeness and asked us to sit inside as he did not want to soak his shirt with sweat.

However I am not the only person who likes this heat. My salute and admiration goes to the construction workers who work through out the day not under a single shade. These guys are really amazing and indeed a special breed. As much as I like to challenge myself to withstand the heat and sun, I think I can only withstand it for 1-2 hours or so, before I get any serious dehydration syndrom or heatstroke. But I never saw any single worker who run and hide under the shade but they continue to come to their sites and work as usual. However

Recently I have been trying to lose weight by swimming and running everyday. However the harder part was to change my diet. Nowadays I only eat vegetables, fruits and fibers. As you probably know, I cannot live without eating rice and because of that I have overdosed on my rice intake due to my passion for Mandi Laham and briyani since I came to Dubai. I hope with the help of the inconvenient temperature it will hinder me from going out to restaurants for heavy meal. But I am also sensing that by restraining myself from my usual food made me longing and aim for the food more. Lets pray that I will not go crazy with this lack of rice in my body.

Last weekend I attended an Extraordinary General Meeting of a group of Malaysians living in UAE for the formation of Malaysian Association in the United Arab Emirates (MY-UAE). MY-UAE is the first formal club for Malaysians in UAE under the patronage of the Malaysian Embassy and it will be the umbrella club for any other Malaysian clubs in the future. All this while the Malaysians expatriates in UAE have been organising activities under an unofficial club called MY-UAE Pro. Legally the setting up of this club in UAE is quite easy here since UAE do not have laws governing societies and clubs. So it was sufficient by just writing officially to the Ministry of Interior informing them of the formation and existence of this club with no political and commercial interest. They have launched their new MY-UAE website which can be the one-stop portal to interact amongst the Malaysians in UAE specifically and worlwide in general. The annual membership fee is fixed for AED50.00 and members will get to be informed and involved in all activities run by MY-UAE.

The Constitution of the MY-UAE club

The line-up for the Executive Committee of MY-UAE chapter 2009 - 2010 are as follows:

President : Affandy Mohamed Shaari
Vice President : Ahmad Imran Zainul Abidin
Secretary : Yusree Yahaya
Treasurer : Nor Afzanizam Bin Abd Manan
Exco members :
Ahmad Firdaus Mansor
Chan Chooi Lai
Clinton Ooi Chin Keat
Hasnoal Idris
Haza Hilmy Mat Zean
Khairul Affendi
Mushil Mustafa
Nik Fakhrulanwar Nik Abdul Rahman
Putri Khadijah Mohsin
Rozana Rahmat

During the EGM in Malaysian Consulate Office.

So if anybody need help from Malaysians community in UAE, the above peoples are contactable through the MY-UAE website. I can also help, no problem.

One of the activities by MY-UAE is the upcoming Tri-Nation Soccer tournament between Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia to be held on 5th June 2009 at Airport 2 Terminal Field. I hope it is not on the airport landing field itself.

Malaysian soccer players and supporters

The ladies will be having Captain's Ball Tournament

I will not be participating in the soccer tournament because I am not fit at all. Maybe I will join next year. Anyway I came to their training day and met up with the players. Good thing is, during the tournament like this, some entreprenueral Malaysians will open their discreet stall selling nasi lemak, mee rebus, kuih, nasi dagang and many more. That where my interest is !

Chef Haris manning his nasi ayam booth. AED12 per box.

It was hot yesterday, it is hot today and it will be hot tomorrow. I got to go for another glass of iced tea..

A community needs a soul if it is to become a true home for human beings. You, the people must give it this soul.

Pope John Paul II

Muscat : From Dusk Till Dawn

syamsulfaiz@gmail.com (Syamsulfaiz) — Mon, 11 May 2009 06:27:00 +0000

Arriving Old City of Muscat

Have you ever watched a 1996 horror movie called From Dusk Till Dawn? This is one of my favourite road-trip movies and it has been my inspiration for spirit and excitement for road trips in the past. That includes my recent road trip to the land of Sinbad the Sailor - City of Muscat, Sultanate of Oman.

I was having a chat with my friend Zulkifli Hasan last week when we suddenly talked about going for a road trip to Muscat. None of us have any information about the journey and the destination but we thought it will be a great adventure for both of us, the lonely husbands in Dubai.

We started our drive at 8.00am, slightly late from what we planned (as usual we planned right after Solat Subh) and the temperature was already hot like in a mid-day. In denial of the hot temperature and the desert surrounding us, we packed our home-made Nasi Lemak with a dream that we will enjoy it at any good spot in the desert (I magined the silky soft sand dunes..yehh) we could find on our way to Muscat. After 2 hours of driving, we reached Hatta, the last town before the UAE border post and we decided to finish our breakfast at the best spot we have found. Inside an air-conditioned shopping mall.

The immigration process in UAE border post was smooth amidst the fierce faces of the Emarati officers and the hot air blowing to our faces. Next we drove into the no-man's land, a stretch of 4 kilometers road between UAE border post and Oman border post. Before reaching the Oman border post, we stopped to buy an insurance policy for our car which caused us AED100. I found it interesting that despite Dubai's addiction to big buildings and structures, the UAE border post was very simple, only movable air-conditioned cabins where visitors have to queue outside, compared to the Oman border post which has a proper building, a big parking lot and an ATM machine. I guessed the comfortable working place made a difference when we noticed that the Omani officers were more friendly in their communication to us.

We passed through the Oman border post without any problem and drove for our first marking in the map, Al Widayat junction. By the will of Allah, we couldn't find the junction but we found a short cut which led us to the freeway to Sohar. Sohar is famous for being the birth place of Sinbad the Sailor as well as its souk and ancient forts. However we decided to just pass through it and continue our drive to Muscat. For the first 1 hour I was really amazed with the scene along the journey. There were a lot of dates trees, banana trees, green bushes, wadis, camels and sheeps visible from the main road. For a brief moment I thought we were driving in Terengganu because the houses, the landscape and the calmness of the place resemble the typical scene in Terengganu. We didnt feel like we were driving in a desert at all !

After driving for about 3 hours, we reached our first destination marked in Zul's tiny pocket map - Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque. I read that this is the biggest mosque in Oman. We went in and snapped a few pictures. As I was busy taking photos of the main entrance to the prayer hall, I was stopped by an officer (tok siak). The following dialoque ensued:

Officer: wein ruhh? (where are you going?)
Me : Solah ! (praying)
Officer: Ente muslim?
Me : Aih, ana min Malaizi, ismi Muhammad (yup, I am from Malaysia, my name is Muhammad)
Officer: Kam raka'ah fi Zuhr? (how many rakaat for Zuhr?)
Me: Arba'ah ! (Four)
Officer : tayyeb (ok)

Big Lamps Inside Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque

Cheh.., I guessed because Zul and I looked like Filipinos or Indians (I of course look like Italian la..) to him, that we have to answer his quiz first before we can enter the prayer hall. And the "tok siak" was carrying a pistol ! I wondered if our tok siak carry a gun in Malaysia.

We continued our journey towards Muscat. We passed through the modern Muscat city area where we observed there were no tall towering buildings but 3-10 storey buildings lining up the streets. Muscat certainly don't need tall buildings to impress its visitors because it already has beautiful rock mountains surrounding the city. The view of the city backed by the rock mountains was simply majestic !

Frankinscence burner..not flying saucer

Gate Museum

After about 2 hours we reached the Old City of Muscat. The view of the old city from a top of the hill was really fantastic. The buildings were painted in white surrounded by black rocky mountains and the architecture was truly of ancient middle eastern. I felt like a merchant arriving at a busy port city to trade my spices. We checked the map and took the right turn to Qantab beach. Again we were in a state of denial hoping to dive and swim in the Oman Gulf in the middle of a hot desert afternoon. The road to Qantab beach was quite steep and winding as it ascend and cuts through the rocky mountains. The view of the mountains and the sea was fantastic. We were completely mesmerised by the beauty of the rock formation and the greenish sea next to the rocky fjords.

Winding Road to Qantab Beach

Qantab area and the yachts

After spending about 30 minutes in Qantab beach, we drove down to the Muttrah area. Muttrah is one of the areas in the Old City Muscat. The main attraction in Muttrah is the Muttrah Souk where visitors can find and buy varieties of perfumes, silverwares, fabrics and traditional jewelleries. There are several old forts in Muttrah namely Muttrah Fort, Al Jalali Fort and Al Mirani Fort. These forts were built during the Portuguese occupation of the area in the 17th century. I was surprised to learn, that not only these forts are preserved in good condition, but they are still being used by the military for security purposes. Amazing isn't !? Imagine our A Famosa fort is still in use by our military! Other than the Souk, Muttrah also offers 1.5 kilometres pavement by the corniche for visitors to walk and enjoy the sea breeze and the view of the busy port of Sultan Qaboos. Yeahh, we found out almost every building and big road here is named after Sultan Qaboos. He is the Sultan anyway..

Muttrah Fort

Muttrah Souk

Ceiling inside Muttrah Souk

We checked in at one of the hotels facing the corniche. At night we tried to look for a local Omani restaurant selling "mandi laham". We drove around up to Ruwi city area to look for the restaurant. Our clue was based on the direction given to us by one of the hotel staffs. After searching for about 1 hour we concluded that the hotel staff misunderstood us because the area that we went to was full of meat shops (selling "Luhum") and not even a single restaurant serving "mandi laham"....chit poddahh..!

Muttrah corniche at night

I couldn't finish it

The next morning we went to Qantab beach again with an ambitious plan to swim. Again we were disappointed because the temperature was so hot. In fact when we arrived at the beach we were the only visitors. We were greeted by a fisherman who offered us a ride in his boat to explore the area. Hahaha.. he must have thought we came there to be fried and baked by the sun. ..No thank you sir, I have enough tan on me.

As the temperature continued to rise, I suggested to Zul that, instead of feeling down, let's embrace what the nature was giving to us. Let's enjoy the heat and the dryness. So we hung out at one of the alfresco cafes facing the corniche and enjoyed a good glass of iced tea (actually several glasses and a big bottle of mineral water) under the cafe's facade. We looked around and there was a table full of "mat saleh" group sitting beside us, also enjoying the heat and the sunshine. The temperature was at 48 degrees celcius. We felt so cool...

Zul and the Huge Rocks

Grand Canyon?

Thermometer

As soon as we got to our senses and sanity again, with the help of the iced teas, we decided to visit the museums in Muscat. There were quite a number of museums and art galleries in Muscat. In my opinion, if a city has museums and art galleries, indeed the city and its peoples have souls and organic growth. We chose to visit a private museum called Bait Al Zubir first. This museum was actually the house of Shaikh Zubair Bin Ali, a wealthy merchant of Muscat during the early 20th century. The house was built in 1914. In fact, the items displayed in the museum were his private collection of the daily items of Omanis like old pictures of Muscat and other regions in Oman, swords, personal affects, clothes, musical instruments, guns, silverware and jeweleries. The items and the information gave us insights of the rich traditions and cultures of the Omanis. No wonder when Marco Polo visited Oman, he called the place "paradise".

Entry Fee 1 Omani Rial

Abu Fatylah (P. Ramlee called it "Senapang Gajah").

Guns were amongst the early export of old Muscat

Dishdasha and Khanjar of Omani

It was a shame that we had to cancel the visit to Omani-French Museum because we were running out of time and hungry. So we headed off to the town of Al Khuwairah searching for a restaurant called Bin Ateeq which serves traditional Omani foods. The GPS system in my brain worked this time and we found the restaurant after just a one time miss of a junction. We ordered a local Omani food called "Qabooli Laham" which was a serving of rice cooked with ghee, raisins and mutton. The dish was served in a big iron tray (dulang) in a private room where we can eat while lying on the carpet. We wiped out the tray clean in less than 30 minutes. Amazingly Zul did it whilst texting his wife ! The dish was so delicious and it was worth cracking the GPS in my brain to look for the restaurant.

On our way out from the restaurant I bumped into a guy wearing a suit. He looked like a Malaysian. So I asked him and my guess was right. Apparently he is the Third Secretary in the Malaysian Embassy in Oman. He came to the restaurant together with the Malaysian Ambassador to Oman, His Excellency Datuk Mohd Zamri Mohd Kassim to entertain a group of Malaysian lecturers (Ustaz) who came to Oman for Arabic language courses. I was about to leave the restaurant when the Ambassador came out from a room to wash his hands. I greeted and introduced myself to him and we ended up joining him in his room with his guests. We had a great tea session with the Ambassador and his guests chit chatting about the Ambassador's adventure in Oman. The chance to meet our Ambassador in person really compliment our road trip. At the end of the session we were even invited to join them for a group photo. I thought, had I worn my Motorhead t-shirt that day, that group of Ustaz would have a guy with a Motorhead skull t-shirt in their group photo. Pheww...

Qabooli Laham..settled

Datuk Ambassador cracking his joke

Our journey back to the Oman border post was filled with picturesque view of rural Oman and its dwellings. I kept saying to Zul that the feeling was really like driving in Terengganu. We tried to look for any stall selling local fruits or delicacies but there was none around. But we could see Omani children and youths riding their scooters without helmet, playing football on sandy pitch, hanging around at coffee shops, sitting with friends playing poker and discussing about cars in front of a car workshop. We even saw camels and cows jaywalking by the road sides. It was really a retreat for us from the hustle and bustle of the metropolitan life in Dubai.

We arrived at UAE border post around Maghrib time and proceeded smoothly to my home in Al Warqaa 1. It was a great introductory excursion to Oman and I am planning to do it again in the near future.

Zul was happy to have made the trip before he leave Dubai this weekend. I look forward to do the road trip again with my family and friends. In the meantime.. I will go to work.

Ma'a as Salamah..

I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move.

Robert Louis Stevenson
(Scottish travel writer 1850 - 1894)

Life is an Improvement

syamsulfaiz@gmail.com (Syamsulfaiz) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 03:13:00 +0000

The pilot announced "we have landed in Kuala Lumpur International Airport. To all passengers Welcome to Malaysia and to all Malaysians..Welcome Home !"....fuhh I never felt so excited when I heard this announcement. My adrenalin pumped up when I saw the green grass and lines of palm trees surrounding the airport. After 6 months ....I am home !!

My wife wanted to pick me up at the airport but I declined the offer because I wanted to travel by KLIA Express, LRT and taxi so that I could see the faces of Malaysians again in their morning rush to work. I enjoyed the journey very much amidst the pushing, the squeezing, the humidity and the thousand smells of perfumes. Along the journey to the heart of Kuala Lumpur I could see a lot of completed development in KL. In fact I could notice how tall the trees and its shades have grown. I smirked alone whilst watching all the scenery of KL through the LRT windows. I wondered whether I could notice all these changes had I never left KL.

Although this trip home was for 4 days only, my schedules were full with activities with families and friends. In fact I have attended birthday bashes (for me by my wife and Dewangga Sakti), newborn greeting (welcome to Muhammad Rafiq Bin Muhammad Zurrusydi) and a funeral (Al-Fatihah to my Atuk Usu Hj Harun).

The new man in town

In every place I went to and peoples I visited, I saw nothing but good improvement in them. There is an up-market version of Nasi Lemak Antarabangsa restaurant near my house in Taman Melati, my Madumas apartment is almost completed, the DUKE highway is in full service, my son Adrin has become cleverer, Dewangga Sakti is progressing rapidly with their recording using newly acquired instruments and voice, the recording studio Purple Sound has moved to a bigger place, my parents looked fit and healthy, my father bought himself a new LCD TV and my wife looked more beautiful (hehe..).

Madumas Apartment@Setapak..any taker?

Walking with a big boy

For the record..my wife and son

Talking about improvement, I took advantage of the cheaper prices in Malaysia by upgrading myself to a Fender Jazz Bass and a Macbook. This upgrade is not a privilege but a long-time dream that finally come true due to long hard efforts (in earning and saving money !).

Kasi murah la tokey..

The crazy guys in Dewangga Sakti

Keeper of the keys

Purple Studio's new cat

Well...Alhamdulillah. That is all I can say when my aeroplane touched Dubai airport again.

"Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave
and grow old wanting to get back to"

John Ed Pearce (Pulitzer prize winner, writer)

A Day to Remember

syamsulfaiz@gmail.com (Syamsulfaiz) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 15:18:00 +0000

I have completed another year in my life. Yesterday 14 April 2009 was the 33rd anniversary of the day my mother made her panic journey to Hospital Besar Kuala Lumpur whilst my father was still thinking whether ShamZai will be a good name for his first son. Eventually my father changed his mind and named me Muhammad Syamsulfaiz after he consulted his Ustaz, Hj. Yusof.

I have thought of celebrating it properly like buying a cake for the office staff, but suddenly I decided this year I will celebrate it in the simplest way ever. That is by making use the technology of email and Facebook.

It didnt take an effort at all. As soon as I reach the receptionist's counter I just smiled and greeted the 2 cute receptionists manning the counter and when the time comes to reply to their greeting I just replied casually whilst walking to my room...."Ohh I feel super!..today is my birthday anyway.." After a brief moment of congratulation and asking about treats I said thank you and promised them a treat later and continued my lazy steps to my room.

Within 5 minutes after I switched on my computer, as expected, my receptionists broadcasted to all departments in the firm complete with their dancing cartoons and dangling ribbon .."This is to inform you that today is Muhammad Syamsulfaiz's birthday"...Hahahaha it works ! I can say the next 8 hours of working my inbox were filled with all the wishes and replies from almost everybody in the firm. I had a cyber party with them all! In fact I received a couple of emails from lawyers in the office who I have never spoken to all this while.

The Facebook website is blocked at my office which I am very grateful, otherwise I dont think I can finish my works. I could only check my Facebook using blackberry. And when I checked my profile I received around 57 greeting messages from old and new friends. Fantastic ! another party in the palm of my hand.

I went out for lunch with my colleague, Zulkifli and his friend to Metro Falcon Cafe for a good cup of teh tarik and chapatti. I offered to settle the bill but one of them refused to accept the treat. So I just settled the bill for the remaining who didnt mind.

At night I decided to go out with Zulkifli and his 3 children and wife to Dubai Mall. I promised them a lot of fishes in a huge tank. Luckily they were impressed with the sight of the biggest aquarium in the Middle East, the Dubai Mall Aquarium. We hung out at the food court whilst enjoying our fresh juices and ice creams.

It was a simple day for me but I was so grateful for it. Deep in my heart I could not stop thinking about how my wife felt on her birthday on 1st March last month. She was the reason why I chose to have a simple day on my birthday this year. She doesnt have email at her school and she doesnt have Facebook account. I skyped with her for about 1 and half hour and showed her the preliminary gift that I bought for her. I made sure that she felt remembered and all my family wished for her. It has been a challenging period for her to raise a kid without a husband at home.

Moving forward I cant wait to see my family again next week in KL and have a double birthday celebration at home. After all my world is my family...

"Thank You To ALL My Friends Who Remembered and Wished For Me You All Have Special Places In My Heart"

Rain, Water and Sand

syamsulfaiz@gmail.com (Syamsulfaiz) — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 18:34:00 +0000

I don't know whether it is a bad effect of global warming or what but lately Dubai has been receiving quite an extra litres of water when it rained for a week here. Being a city in a desert, the infrastructure here are not built to withstand rain and because of that even a short rain for 3 minutes could cause a serious flash flood on the road. In fact there is no drainage network or "longkang" in most part of Dubai.

Last 2 weeks I moved to a new apartment in Al Warqaa 1. It is a one bedroom apartment with a balcony at 4th floor. The task of finding this apartment was really quick and easier than I anticipated in My Quest For a New Cave previously. This "cave" is simply meant for me. I like the balcony view which is facing a big mosque with a background of rooftop of houses in nearby downtown Rashidiya. The view reminds me of one of the scenes in James Bond movie when Mr Bond open his window after checking in a hotel in Morocco...wahaha. The rental rate is affordable, the payment term is reasonable, the location is superb and guess what ...I got a free gymnasium and swimming pool now. Cool huh?

Besides the move to a new apartment, I almost forgot to update you guys that I have been hosting a very good friend of mine Zulkifli Hasan as a resident guest at my apartment. Zulkifli is a Phd candidate in University of Durham and currently he is doing an internship in Hawkamah Institute for Corporate Governance in DIFC Dubai. Zulkifli used to be my classmate during my second degree in Shari'ah years in IIUM. So not only I have a good buddy as a company at home but it turns out Zul is a very good cook. So far I had enjoyed a variety of tasty and quality home made meals like Nasi Tomato, Nasi Lemak, Roti Canai, Nasi Ayam Hainan and a lot more prepared by Zul. I will never forget anybody who gave me a good meal. May Allah bless you buddy !

Recently I have started a new routine of swimming in my pool. I guess the sight of daily rain in Dubai have made me feel closer to water. The "Yang" effect is doing its part in my feng shui. Not only I started to swim but yesterday I went to the beach to jog. So again closer to the water. I am thinking of doing some water sport activities this month. Coincidentally Zul is also a certified Life Guard and he has been teaching me a proper swimming techniques. I think the month of April will be the month of water for me.

That's all for now guys, I am off for my swimming class...blurrpp..blurrppp..blurrpp

The three great elemental sounds in nature are the sound of rain, the sound of wind in a primeval wood and the sound of outer ocean on a beach.
Henry Beston
(1888 - 1968)
Writer and Naturalist

Rockin' and Rollin' with Motorhead

syamsulfaiz@gmail.com (Syamsulfaiz) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:41:00 +0000

This posting is really late. In fact I have forgotten some of the points that I want to write about my recent visit to Dubai Desert Rock Festival.

In summation, my feeling about Dubai Desert Rock Festival 2009, was like watching and listening to the evolution of music.

I regret that I missed the first two bands - Scarab and Hatred. When I arrived Nervecell was already setting up the stage for their turn. Nervecell is a Dubai's local band. They play death metal. To me death metal is characterised by damped heavy riffs and brutal growling vocal. Nervecell has all these necessary features and if they stay long enough and continue to produce good music, they will soon join the rank of respected death metal bands. Not only they are the only Dubai's well known death metal act, but they put a lot of effort to produce standard quality album, music video and merchandise. Nervecell breaks my stereotyping of Emiratis on music.

Nervecell

The next two bands called Chimaira and August Burns Red were the US bands. Chimaira's music was full of double pedals punctuated with a lot of rest. It was quite technical. August Burns Red's vocalist used a lot of high pitch growl. However I failed to appreciate the attire on stage of the members of August Burns Red. Call me old fashion but I think when it comes to stage performance, not only your playing must be tight but at least your clothes should be cool too.

Chimaira

August Burns red

Opeth? this Swedish band is legendary. I think their frontman Mikael Akerfeldt is quite a funny guy especially with his macho and gentle speech with the crowd. Or maybe he wanted to set up the gloomy ambience of doom death metal. Anyway it worked ! They had good sound quality on stage and their guitar riffs and keyboard composition were very melodic.

Mikael Akerfeldt of Opeth

By the time Arch Enemy came on stage, majority of the crowd were already tired and exhausted. My back bone and calves were really in pain after standing and jumping for almost 5 hours. I saved my energy just to pogo for the song My Apocalypse. I wanted to join the mosh pit, but I scared I would get a pulled hamstrings. So better not. I was a little bit dissappointed with Arch Enemy's sound quality. It must have been due to the worn out backline system after 6 hours of overloaded decibels of death metal music. But it was great to see Mike Amott playing live in front of me.

Yeah ..Mike Amott and his ESP flying V

Angela Gossow...a lady with powerful voice !

We had a long break before Motorhead come up on stage. The organiser must have noticed the slow reaction from a very tired crowd throughout Arch Enemy' show. I managed to finish two shawarmas during the break and could not care less to lie down on the tarmac and gave my entire muscles a brief relief from any vertical pressure. I had never been to a long-hours metal festival like this in Malaysia. I was so exhausted.

rock n roll ..yeahhh..!!

Two black metal fans from Lebanon

I had never imagined to see Motorhead play live. I smirked when I see the latest look of their drummer Mr Mikkey Dee. My mental picture of him was the one he posed in King Diamond's Them album. Mr Lemmy Kilmister humbly opened his stage speech by saying "We are Motorhead and we play rock and roll". As if there were peoples who don't know them. Motorhead is the godfather of killer rock and roll riffs, period. It was the simplicity of the melody and rocking husky vocal of Lemmy Kilmister that made them legend. I was hoping they play Orgasmatron but they did not. After the first song Lemmy immediately asked the soundman to raise their amp volumes. It was really loud, really rock and roll attitude. Between the songs Mikkey Dee showed off his decades-old drumming skils. My jaw almost dropped. At the end of Mikkey's show, Lemmy simply said "Mikkey Dee, the best drummer in the world". In two of their songs, two leather clad ladies came on board the stage and did fire dance. It was spectacular !

Mr Lemmy Kilmister and his pyro dancer

Phill Campbell

Mikkey Dee...after 3 decades

It was my first experience and a great one. I never thought of seeing these legendary bands when I made a decision to move to Dubai.

I am indeed a very happy rocker now ! mashkuuuurrrr....

"There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the passion of life"

Federico Fellini Italian dramatist

Dubai Desert Rock Festival

syamsulfaiz@gmail.com (Syamsulfaiz) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 08:33:00 +0000

It is the month of March and for the metal fans in Dubai, it means the time to practice that pogo dance again in an outdoor concert called Dubai Desert Rock Festival. Before I come to Dubai, I have never heard about this festival. Apparently this year's festival is going to be the 6th. The organiser is Center Stage Management who is very active in bringing various international artists to perform live in Dubai.

This year's Desert Rock Festival is featuring:

Motorhead
Arch Enemy
Opeth
Nervecell
Chimaira
August Burns Red
Hatred
Scarab

Sincerely I have never really listened to these bands' music except a few songs by Motorhead and 4 months ago I bought Nervecell's Preaching the Venom album after I found out about them. But I am never too old to be their new fan and enjoy their music after this.

Tomorrow morning the Malaysians community here are going for a community picnic in an island in emirate of Umm al Quwaim. I am sure it is going to be fun and exciting but I have to pass this time. What a shame..but how can I miss Motorhead !! I drew their band's logo on my geography's textbook when I was in secondary school last time. I never imagined I will get the chance to see them alive in my lifetime !

So I have chosen pogo dance and blasting guitar sound over the calm and serene beach. I will enjoy myself ...I should...I need to...I better be..

Rock on....Hell yeah !!

Music has to breathe and sweat, you have to play it live

James Brown
(1933 - 2006)

Sand, Sun and Fun

syamsulfaiz@gmail.com (Syamsulfaiz) — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 06:29:00 +0000

I remember when I was a child there was a pile of construction sands beside my parents' house where my brothers and I used to play with. My brothers and I always had some imagination on how to play with the sands either by riding our three wheeler bikes on it, building sand castles and caves for our small soldiers or burying our toys in it with the hope it will be a sort of pirates' treasure after a 100 years. However non of our activities around that pile of sands were ever approved by my parents and most of the time we got punished if we got caught playing with it. I knew my parents were concerned about skin rashes or disease since we were playing with construction sands. But to us, playing was more fun than worrying..

Last Friday my big boss invited all his lawyers for a casual day out at his farm. I thought, in Malaysia if I come to somebody's farm, I would expect to eat a lot of durian or rambutan fruits or catch fishes in a pond. But a farm in a desert, I could only imagine dates trees. So I accepted the invitation and hoped I could pick the freshest dates from the trees.

However I fell asleep after the Friday prayer and overslept until 3.30pm. When I woke up I quickly headed to my boss's farm which was located in an area close to Dubai-Al Ain Road. When I arrived I was already late for the lunch and my colleagues asked me to wait for them beside the main road as they were already on the move to the desert area. I felt hungry and thirsty.

And when they arrived, I was so surprised. For they didn't arrive on their proper salon cars or perfumed 4x4, but on colourful quad bikes and high rev dune buggies and jeep !! Apparently my boss were treating us for a desert ride using all his quad bikes and dune buggies. I locked my car and jumped onto my friend's jeep and our desert journey began. Heck, suddently I felt full, not hungry anymore.

I have never been surrounded by so many sands dunes and literally asked to play with it. It could never be cooler than that ! On top of that I was given a quad bike and a dune buggy to knock myself out with the dunes. I cannot describe my feeling more other than wooohooooo !!!!

This kid was about to get dangerous with his new toy

The ride with the quad bike was really crazy and dangerous. The machine was engineered to bash on the sands and it could take on any type of slopes and cliffs as long as you ride it on it. It got 3 gears, but most of the time I only need to use the first gear.

Rev it up mate !

These guys won the craziest driver title on that day.

The dunes baggy is one hell of a machine. It got only two gears, forward and reverse. It came standard with roll cage and a safety belt. But I bet it can be of any use. In fact one of my colleagues accidentally smacked his forehead on the roll cage and got himself a 2 inches cut. I like it very but I personally prefer the quad bike.

Another kid in the office

This morning, my boss sent an email to all his lawyers thanking them for coming to his farm. He also asked for any suggestion for the event as he considered it as a company's activity. I replied to him with my gratitude for the event and wrote to him that I have only one suggestion, and that is - to do it again !

When I was younger I could remember anything, whether it happened or not.

Mark Twain

Up the Irons !

syamsulfaiz@gmail.com (Syamsulfaiz) — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 05:34:00 +0000

The Crowd.
Imagine peoples who live in those highrise apartments could just watch the concert from their balconies. But nothing beats the atmosphere of the Crowd

The Ambience of peoples who were about to rock !

I just could not describe more how excited I was to see one of the godfathers of heavy metal/rock i.e Iron Maiden. I have been listening to their songs since I was in Form 3 and finally I got to see them performing live ! What a great experience, considering that these rockers are already at their 50-ish and they may not be performing again. Also for the record, that was my first attendance to an international outdoor concert (as oppose to local small concert/gigs in pub/stadium).

The show started at 8.00pm. So at 5.45pm I drove to the Dubai Media City Amphitheater alone from International City. My friend Irwan told me that he will park beside Hard Rock Cafe and walk to the venue. So I drove to Sheikh Zayed Road and was looking for an exit to Hard Rock Cafe from Sheik Zayed Road. But it was not as simple as I thought it should be. To make matter worst I missed the exit to the Cafe and from that point onward began my journey of finding the right turn/ U-turn/exit road for about an hour and ended up passing byHard Rock Cafe 3 times but still in the wrong road. Finally I parked my car at a road side in front of a hotel and to my surprise the entrance gate to the amphitheater was right behind the hotel. Cool # 1!

After I passed the entrance gate, I followed a crowd of people swarming a booth. It was an official Iron Maiden merchandise booth and they got a lot of tour merchandises on sale such as t-shirts, caps, wallets, posters and Belgrade show vcd. Fantastic offer! and I jumped in the queue and bought myself a tour t-shirt for AED80. It was a good price compared to the stock Iron Maiden t-shirts sold in Virgin Music store which are priced AED150 each. Cool # 2 !

The stage that night was opened by Lauren Harris and her band. She is none other than the daughter of my two-fingering idol Mr Steve Harris. She flared up the mood of the chilly night with her 80's styled heavy metal songs of her Calm Before The Storm album. The bassist and the guitarist were already donning tight fit jean and t-shirt with glam rock hair style. They really complement the greater aura of Eddie and did a good job of warming up the crowd who were about to rock that night. Being a young artist she constantly promoted the band's official myspace at http://www.myspace.com/laurenharrisuk. I reminded myself that in the future if Lauren Harris become legendary rocker like her father, at least I could tell my son that I have seen her act back in 2009. Cool # 3 !

Lauren Harris and band members

Iron Maiden appeared on stage sharp at 9.15pm. They played on the Winston Churchill's speech and blasted the stage with pyro flare and the song Aces High. I was amazzed with Bruce Dickinson's high pitched vocal and the band's overall sound quality which sounded exactly like in their records. But how can they don't, that was the mighty Iron Maiden I was looking at.

Kaboom ! at the end of Winston Churchill's speech

2 rockers having fun with fingers sign

Irwan and Shajil - thrilled rockers that night

Throughout the show, I just could not leave my eyes from Steve Harris's fingers running on his bass. I listened attentively to the picking, the rest, the tone and I was really flabbergasted with the consistency of it all when compared with the sounds in their album. And about the two fingers gallop technique, I think it was three fingers gallop technique which I saw that night. I liked Steve Harris's classic style of aiming his bass guitar like a gun to the audience and tumm ..tumm... fuhhh I really got shot by him.

Mr Dickinson and his leather scales trousers

It was like a live karaoke session with the audience and singer on stage, when peoples sang together with Bruce throughout the show. There was no sign of complacency or jaded attitude on each of the band members and they really worked hard in giving the best entertainment to their fans. I was thrilled to think that I had karaoke-d Fear of the Dark, Hallowed Be Thy Name and Number of the Beast with Mr Bruce Dickinson himself accompanied with live music by Adrian Smith, Steve Harris, Nicko McBrain, Dave Murray and Janick Gers. Well, thanks for the karaoke session guys ! chehh..hehe. Cool # 3 weiii

Double head guitar playing by Dave Murray

The stage and the crew during the song Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner
(Bruce dedicated the song to the ancient seafarers who came to Dubai for trade)

When the band stopped playing and threw out their drum sticks and guitar picks peoples started to scream for more songs and and chanted "Maiden".."Maiden...I thought it was the end of the show, but my friend who has seen them before, told me it was a standard Iron Maiden gimmick. So after 3 minutes the stage light lit up again with spotlights and pyro and they continued with Number of the Beast and Run to the Hills. The song Number of the Beast reminded me of Jae'i of Sil-Khannaz.

Eddie made a cameo during the Iron Maiden song

The concert ended with the most anticipated cameo of Bro Eddie whilst the Band was playing Iron Maiden. Peoples screamed for his name and some hot chicks fans screamed "I love you Eddie!!". Wow you were so loved Eddie ! I just stared at that group of hot chicks and waited (almost prayed, actually) for their next "move" but they didn't do it. If you know what I meant ..hehehe

In conclusion, it was worth every fils and dirham for the ticket. At last, I had seen The Iron Maiden. yahooooo

Rock music should be gross, that's the fun of it. It gets up and drops its trousers.

Bruce Dickinson

Memory Songs

syamsulfaiz@gmail.com (Syamsulfaiz) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 12:30:00 +0000

I wondered whether you guys have a particular song for a particular stage of your life. Well I do, and I kind of regret for not documenting it in any diary or notebook. This is what I am trying to do now.

I have got certain songs which I associate with certain phase of my life. The songs are memorable not because of the lyric or trend but simply because the melodies caught my attention and memory and reminded me of that part of my life.

For example, everytime I listen to the following songs:

Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice - reminds me of my life when I was in Form 3 (1991);

Hijau by Zainal Abidin - reminds me of my life and a friend named Roshidi Roslan when I was in Form 5 (1993);

Penantian by Black Rose - reminds me of my weekend routine of doing laundry in hostel while "karaoke-ing" with fellow hostel mates (1992-1993);

Boo Hoo Clapping Song by Carburetor Dung - reminds me of my early underground year and a friend Yuzli Yusof when I was in Form 5;

Anarchy in the UK by Sex Pistols - reminds me of the sudden freedom and culture shock when I first start my life as a matriculation student (1993)

The Fourth Knight of Revelation by Rotting Christ - reminds me of my first black metal band and our jamming escapes in my 'kampung' ! (1994)

Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana - reminds me of my grunge wannabe year in IIUM matriculation (1994)

In the Garage by Weezer - reminds me of my "got nothing to think of" life after graduated from IIUM matriculation and whilst thrashing my mom's Kancil car (1995)

I'll be Missing You by Puff Daddy & Faith Evans - reminds me of my "confusing" year after my first girlfriend ditched me and I got dismissed from IIUM (1996). Alhamdulillah I got readmitted and straight up my life back...God gave me a second chance !

Mirai E by Kiroro - reminds me of my chambering year and commuting to work by LRT (2001)

Tamalli ma'ak by Amr Diab - reminds me the campus life and my rental car business when I pursued 2nd degree of Bachelor of Shari'a in IIUM (2001);

Human by The Killers - reminds me of my very first week in Dubai (2008)

There are a lot of other memory songs for me circa 1996 to 2002 and 2003 - 2007 but I can't remember it now.

Looking at the songs, I myself could not figure out why these songs remind me of the above memory. I think this is a magic of melodies to a human's mind.

Hallak...Do you have your memory songs?

Without a song, the day would never end
Without a friend, a man ain't got a friend
Wihout a song, the road would never bend
Without a song..So I keep singing a song

Elvis Presley

Mental Music

syamsulfaiz@gmail.com (Syamsulfaiz) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 15:41:00 +0000

Run to the hillssss..run for your live

Is there a music called Mental Music? Huh you don't know? Well I made that one up..

Ever since I came to Dubai I have not been listening to music (except the radio in my car) like I used to back home. And my ears' muscle is getting stiffed and my brain's gel is frozen because of that. It has also been proven that I don't really enjoy listening to MP3 songs through the tiny earphones of my Ipod. I wanted better sound, crispy acoustic quality and material originality !

After Jumaat prayer, I went to Virgin music store and purchased a ticket to Iron Maiden concert. This purchase has been planned since last year. So it wasn't an afterthought. But 2 hours after that whilst patrolling the floors of the Mall of Emirates, I decided to spend more on music. I thought in order to stay sane I must be able to buy and listen to quality CD again.

I went to look for a nice Discman first. But Dubai is all about anything trendy and fashionable and gadget like Discman is considered obsolete already. Next in the search is a mini hifi components. After listened to a few models and brands I found that the price was not worth the quality of the sound. I also thought rather than buying a small off-the-shelf mini hifi (small because of the price), maybe I should look for a quality home theater system, which I found out produce better EQ and offer superb features. Plus the landlord's DVD player that I have at the my apartment has started to play hide and seek with me when it comes to pictures !

At the end I bought a new model of LG DVD + Receiver + 6 ways home theater system. The price was affordable and I like it sounds quality. To complement the purchase I also bought the Iron Maiden's Somewhere Back In Time and Nervecell's Preaching Venom CDs.

That night I fell asleep on my 2nd round of the Iron Maiden's CD. Now I look forward to build up a new collection of CDs in this city.

"Puas hati aku !"

me