"Kembara" is a Malay word which means adventure, exploration and journey to places. "Ilmu" means knowledge. This blog is all about my adventure, exploration and journey for knowledge..
The month of March has been a month of "Hijra" for me. I moved to a new apartment in Dubai and also moved to my own apartment in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur. I took a 1 week holiday to sort out final renovation works for my new apartment. Although things did not really go as smooth as I planned (contractors delayed works, variation orders, broken lamps..etc) but eventually we managed to move in to No. 5-10, Apartment Madu Mas @ Setapak after waiting for 2 and a half years. This time I decided to hire a professional mover company so that I don't have to lift a thing. Their service worth every single cents of their fee (RM1350). They wrapped and boxed up everything in my house including the thrash in the dust bin.
Wrapped up
Later my wife and I learned that we have been keeping a lot of unnecessary things in our house simply because we thought we would use and appreciate it again in a future. But the truth is - and this is an important lesson I learned from this moving exercise - the moment we put or store a thing away, it means we no longer need it and its use has expired in our life forever. Unless we intend to build our own museum, there is no reason we should keep it and let it rot in our store room.
My Interior designer
For example I have been keeping all my university notes and files as I thought I would refer to it from time to time. But ever since I left classrooms I have never opened the old files because there is nothing in it which I cannot get from textbook in libraries everywhere. In fact I also realised that my class notes were not really reliable as most of the time it was written in a sleepy mode (wahaha).
Second example, my old clothes. I always thought that I can keep my old clothes for my son(s) later on or whoever wants it. But in reality keeping clothes in damped boxes are just creating a heaven for cockroaches and mice. It will take more than 20 years for my son to be in the same size as my clothes and by that time, the fabrics would have damaged. And unless I give it away immediately, nobody want to wear clothes kept in boxes for 2-3 years.
So after we moved in, I cleared out all the boxes and keep only things which we still use from time to time. It turned out that I have thrown away almost 1/3 of my stuffs.
I am enjoying a new feeling now. A feeling of a house owner. Although I live in Dubai, but my mind always wonders about my own house in KL. I am really grateful to my wife who took care most of the design and renovation works. I am really satisfied with her design and choice of colours. It really is a place which I can call home.
We managed to throw a mini house warming party (makan2 with doa) with my parents, siblings and a few friends. Next time we plan to hold a bigger makan2 by the swimming pool in our building.
It has been more than a week now since I moved in to my new apartment in Al Khan, Sharjah. My apartment is at the 45th floor. I enjoy the view of the Arabian/Persian Gulf and the Al Khan Corniche very much. In fact last Friday I spent the entire day at home which was a rarity in my life.
I was very anxious in the beginning about the traffic condition during the rush hours to work. But I discovered later that the traffic was not really bad. I have experienced worse than it. The only thing changed is that I no longer have a privilege of waking up at 8pm and drive to the office in 15 minutes. Now I can call myself a morning person. I wake up either at 5.00 or 6.00 am and drive out either at 7.00 or 7.30 am. So far I have never left my house later than 8.00 am. It is a good lifestyle to be a morning person. My parents always taught me about the benefits of being the early bird. One of the things that I look forward in my morning routine is to enjoy a cup of coffee/tea and sandwich at a petrol station in Al Awir Road (Refer to map: between E44 to E66) whilst enjoying the morning breeze of the desert and view of skycrapers in Shaikh Zayed Road. I love doing the breakfast on top of the hood of my Dodge. The breakfast in Al Awir Road is sort of a victory breakfast for beating through the morning traffic of the day. It motivates me to wake up and hit the road early in order to do just that.
My daily route.
But it is not always sunshine out there. Yesterday was the worse traffic I have ever had in this country. The UAE received a short but heavy downpour on Saturday's night and as a result a lot of roads in Dubai and Sharjah were inundated with water. One of the main causes for this is because there is no drainage system in UAE roads. Since UAE only received less than 6 cm of rain on average every year, the government has decided that spending millions for a drainage system is not worth it. Instead let give the motorists some worst traffic days every year for a change. So I spent 2 hours for my morning journey and another 4 hours on the way back. But after spending more than a year experiencing the Cheras - KL highway in the past, my mind and body quickly changed to 'zen' mode when I got stuck behind the wheel yesterday. Although I was exhausted but it did not alter my mood whatsoever. It was just a bad traffic day in a year...
The only thing that I regretted last night was I could not skype with my wife on the eve of her birthday 1 March 2010. God knows how much I miss her and Adrin especially on a special occasion such as her birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Honey !! I look forward to see her in the middle of this month in Kuala Lumpur.
Before I call it a day, an incident happened when I arrived at my door step. When I wanted to open my door I realised that I left the only key to my apartment in my office ! Damn...what should I do !!? I just arrived home after 4 hours of driving and there was no way I want to drive back to the office just to get the key. So I called up the security guys to find out whether they keep a spare key. But they did not keep one. Luckily a security guy passed me a handphone number of a lock master who lives nearby my area. So I called up the lock master and he came with his tool bag and changed my door lock in less than 10 minutes. I was very grateful that he turned up as it was already 12.00 midnight.
The price of lock master service = AED175 The price of not checking my pocket before leaving my desk = stupid stupid stupid..
“The paradox of courage is that a man must be a little careless of his life even in order to keep it.”
For the past one week I have been busy looking for a new apartment, as my rental in Al Warqaa 1 is coming to an end in the middle of March 2010. My mission this year is to move to a 2 bedroom apartment with rental in a range of AED50,000 to 70,000 a year.
The property market in Dubai and UAE in general has slowed down due to the credit and economic crisis. When I came to Dubai in 2008, the property market was in the biggest of its bubble. A studio in International City and Discovery Garden was for AED40,000 to 50,000. A 1 bedroom in Jumeira Lake Tower was for AED80,000 to AED160,000. A 2 bedroom in Jumeira Beach Residence was for AED200,000 to AED300,000. At that time I was even ready to rent just a bed space in Bur Dubai or Deira. Luckily my recruitment agent was kind enough to let me continue the rental of his studio by paying monthly installment. Not only the rental price was blown over, the accepted payment terms was for 1 or 2 instalments only. The landlords were really greedy at that time. And being a newbie to Dubai at that time, I simply did not have the cash money.
Coming 2009, the rental prices has come down tremendously between 30 - 40%. I was able to rent my current 1 bedroom apartment at AED62000 which was a reduced price from AED80,000. I have been living in a peaceful place called Al Warqaa 1 which is just a 20 minutes drive to my office with smooth flowing traffic at any time.
So for this year 2010 I checked the property market again for a 2 bedroom. As expected, the price is not only affordable but I have a privilege to choose for prime location and development, because for the past 1 year there have been a lot of new buildings completed all around Dubai that a tenant can choose from.
There are several prime locations in Dubai which are marked by its building quality, location and community. Some of the prime areas are Jumeira Beach Residence, Dubai Marina, Jumeira Lake Towers, Emirates Hills, Arabian Ranches, Discovery Gardens, The Gardens, Al Wasl, Mirdiff. These places are closer to the sea (except Mirdiff) and mainly populated by expatriates. My area Al Warqaa 1 is not a prime expatriate area but it is a peaceful Emirati villa residential area and very close to Dragon Mart, Uptown Mirdiff, Dubai Festival City and the upcoming Mirdiff City Centre. My only complaint about the place is its lack of landscape and undergoing construction. The latter is a general complaint by everybody who lives in Dubai !
After surveying rental market in Dubai, I found that I can get a 1 bedroom in the most prime area within my budget but not a 2 bedroom. So I expand my search to the neighbouring emirate of Sharjah.
Talking about Sharjah, my first impression about this city is, a driver's nightmare. My few excursions to Sharjah last year were not really happy experiences because of its traffic jam and crowd. Eventhough in Sharjah I could get a 1 bedroom apartment for AED30000 last year, I figured that my life would be miserable everyday to see its traffic condition. So most of the time I just avoided Sharjah and it remained as the least explored emirate in my travel log.
I stumbled upon rental advertisement in areas called Al Khan and Al Majaz in Sharjah. These places are the areas surrounding the natural corniches of Buhaira. It is a newly developed area in Sharjah. So last week I drove around the Buhaira Corniche to look for a 2 bedroom apartment. To my surprise, the area is quite exclusive and primary for its fantastic view of the Gulf Sea and of course, the Buhaira Corniche. There is a family entertainment place called Qanat Al Qasba which offers a big ferris wheel and outdoor F&B area along a man made canal. There are also plenty of shops and shopping mall surrounding the area. It is not over crowded with traffic and the population is mainly arab families from the Levant countries. A hidden jewel indeed !
What is more surprising, almost all the 2 bedroom apartments that I checked, offer a high rise view of the sea and corniche at a rental price between AED60,000 - AED70,000. To me this is a very good price at a premium location. There was one unit in the Palm Tower 1 building which I like very much. I think I am going to go for this one. The landlord even accepts payment by 4 installments.
Attached are the pictures of the building location and a video of a unit at 35th floor, Palm Tower 1. Feel free to say something.
All windows offer picturesque water view
To the extreme left is the famous Al Mamzar Park
The three corniches of Sharjah
Just 14.5 kilometres to my office
A house is good if it can make you smile every morning.
I was sitting in Old Town White Coffee kopitiam in KL LCCT waiting for my flight back to Abu Dhabi, when I received a message (sms) from Azli - "Ko sampai dxb what time? Gimme a buzz nanti. MTC suruh perform depan Najib on the 18th ni."
My face immediately beamed with a light of excitement. My UAE band (now we have decided to call it Ashabul Kahfi) was asked to perform in front of Malaysia's Prime Minister and his delegate in Abu Dhabi. I was very delighted to think that at least I have something to be busy about rather than suffering from my post holiday depression alone at home. When Azli sent another sms - "Ko interested nak main tak?", I frantically typed and sent "Yeah, I am in !" without any hesitation.
We had only 7 days before the big event. My UAE band members have not met and rehearsed together for more than 2 months. I have not been a good bass player for not brushing up my bass lines at home unless there is a jam session or a show to attend. So that means my finger memory of our usual songs was not really smooth and I need to practice very hard in a very short period of time.
When I arrived in Dubai, we agreed to jam on four consecutive days - Thursday, Friday and Saturday followed by a last full rehearsal on Sunday's night. The show was set on Monday's night (January 18, 2010). Because we were engaged by Malaysia Tourism Board, so we were given a privilege to use the Malaysia's Embassy in Abu Dhabi as our jamming venue.
It was really a tiring ordeal for me to commute between Dubai and Abu Dhabi (distances 160 kilometres), to practice everyday and to crash into someone's house when I should have a quiet week to wind down (and do laundry) after my hectic holiday in Kuala Lumpur.
But I must be lying if I tell you it was no fun at all. Because I indeed had another great time with my friends in the band. In fact I made a few new friends who are very talented musicians.
Rahimi and yours truly
Sahibulkahfi during soundcheck
On the day of the event, we were all ready to give our best. We had a list of 8 songs as follows:
1) Mustika - M Nasir 2) Getaran Jiwa - P Ramlee 3) Lagu Kita - Aizat 4) Sinaran - Sheila Majid 5) Ayat-ayat Cinta - Rossa 6) Widuri - Bob Tutopoli 7) Pupus - Dewa 8) Hati Emas - M Nasir
Azli the percussionist
Latif and Faniz, the singers
Taufiq the darbuka and toy master. Also happens to be a creative videographer
Azlin the keyboardist
In the end we were only allowed to perform 4 songs because of the time constraint. I noticed PM Dato Sri Najib and his delegate were really tired with their round the clock tour and was hardly seen as really enjoying the event. But I was glad to see the PM made an effort to tap his fingers and moved his body to the beat of Sinaran and other songs. Well at least, some reaction.
Our show lasted for less than an hour. But the journey and preparation behind the scene was what really counts. It proves my believe that with music, peoples of different backgrounds can be friends and work together more easily. I find it interesting when our singer made her opening remarks during the show that - "We are not professional musicians but we are professionals here in UAE with 3 lawyers, 2 engineers, 1 architect and 1 financial analyst." That kind of summing up some of our diverse backgrounds but unity in music.
If you noticed, my blog posts lately have no pictures in it like usual. The reason for that because my Olympus pocket camera's lens is jammed. So until I fix it or buy a new one, I don't have a picture to show to you. But already I am taking this as a strong excuse to look for a new camera. Only money could tell.
I just got back from 2 weeks holiday in Kuala Lumpur which turned out to be the most hectic holiday of the year 2009. Despite the busy schedule I managed to spend a quality weekend holiday in Langkawi Island together with my wife and son. The trip to Langkawi has been in my list of Cuti-Cuti Malaysia for quite sometime and I am relieved now that I can to strike it out a done deal. My wife was the one who insisted for the Langkawi trip as she had never been to Langkawi before. I first visited Langkawi back in 2002 by bicycle. Yes - I have traveled from Kuala Lumpur to Langkawi by bicycle. Although our stay in Langkawi was a short 3 days but we managed to ride the longest and steepest cable car in Asia and eat the most delicious and authentic laksa I have ever had.
The reason for my hectic holiday started when I received a set of keys to my new apartment - the one I mentioned in Life is an Improvement.
Then I met a contractor and the rest was like a spinning game of home improvement where a participant is given a budget and a task to renovate his house within that budget and specific timeline.
Except for the days I was in Langkawi, my life started with waking up before 7.am to send my wife to her school. Then I either have to run for breakfast (if my brother has not left for work) or stay at home until my son woke up and ready to be sent to his caretaker.
After that I drove around Klang Valley to look for lamps, airconditioner units, hob and hood, sink bowls, taps and many more. It sounds like a task which can be completed in one day but with the KL's notorious traffic, the abundance of designs and specifications, the quest for reasonable prices and the fact that I have to pick up my wife at 6.00 pm everyday, I hardly can buy many things in a day. In fact when I left KL for Dubai, there were a few items left which I could not find and buy. However I am a happy caveman with a new cave now. And I look forward to see how my apartment looks like after its renovation soon. Especially when I decided to let my wife choose and surprise me with her choice of colours for the apartment.
I still feel tired since I arrived from Malaysia last week. But this is due to another reason which I will tell in my next posting, hopefully with a few pictures.
"Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it."
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
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.
My Interior designer
In a TV room
Living Hall
Mini Makan2
