Saudi Moon

Dedicated to RotiKacangMerah.
(If you dont know yet, cik lin kita ni likes to collect pictures of full moons)

We saw this moon on our way back from our daily walk (in preparation for Hajj)(Maklumlah, kita dah gumux dan lama tak exercise) last Thursday.
When we(read: Taufik) were taking this picture, we heard a whirring sound from the back of the houses and saw these smoke columns billowing up. Rupa-rupa nya diorang tengah buat fogging kat luar.
"Ambik gambaq cepat!!" I told taufik and he took a picture before the smoke engulfed the moon, thus catching it in this thriller-like creepy looking pose.

I wish I had a zoom lense.. the moon looks so small in pictures. :P

Picnic at R@s T@nura

R@s T@nura is an oil facility about 150km north of Kh0bar. It has quite a nice beach.

Last Thursday we went there for a gathering of students of brother Saleem, who is my tajweed teacher. There were about 100 of us, including kids. It was a potluck gathering and I decided to bring a cake, sort of to celebrate Izani's 1st birthday.
The cake was nothing fancy. Just a chocolate cake out of a box. But to make it slightly more special, I sandwiched some hazelnut chocolate cream inside and decided to frost it with some chocolate frosting (also out of a box). To make it extra special, I decided to experiment with marzipan. I made some ribbons and bows and even cut out I, Z, A, N and I and arranged it on the cake. I did all this the day before and kept the cake in the fridge in its carrier, all ready to go.
I also made 3 pavlovas and cut up some strawberries and whipped the cream at home, so that I can assemble them when I got there.
We left the house around 1:30pm. The drive there took about an hour, and before heading to the picnic area, we stopped by a friend's house for a bit of lunch. We didnt bother bringing all the food into the house. By the time we got to the picnic area and had lugged all our stuff to the tents, it was about 3:30pm. I was putting strawberries on the pavlovas when Taufik plonked the cake carrier onto the table in front of me and said, "Look what happened to the cake".
[queue: gasp]
It. was. a. mess!!! :(
It was a lump of cake with melted frosting poured over it and flowing all over! An 'N' was all that was left of the marzipan decorations!
I was so frustrated I wanted to cry! :@
I didnt even get to take a picture of what it looked like before it was destroyed!

After finishing assembling the pavlova as calmly as I could, I went over to Taufik who was looking after the barbecue pits.
I told him how frustrated I was and how I felt embarassed to serve the cake now that it looked like a lump of mud.
At first he just said "dah nak buat macamana..." (what can we do), which just doesnt cut it for me, so I went on about how he could be more supportive and at least try to make me feel better.
In the end, he said, "Letak ajelah atas meja tu, jangan risau, mesti ada orang makan punya lah" (Just put it on the table, don't you worry, someone will eat it for sure.) Which makes a lot of sense. It's 4 hours till the end of the gathering, there were 100 hungry people, and no one can resist a chocolate cake, no matter how ugly it looks.
I gave my husband a little thankyou hug and walked back to the dessert table and sprinkled some colourful sugar stars on the cake.

The kids had a lot of fun playing on the beach. Even though the water looked relatively nice and clean compared to Half Moon Bay (which is not so nice and clean), because of the proximity of the oil refineries and possible pollutants from its effluents (read: god knows what they spew out into the sea), we decided not to let the kids swim in the water but just play with sand. Even that really built up their appetite and we had lots of food! Fried rice, fried noodles, fried kuey teow, roti pratha with chicken and potato curry, lasagna and a huge assortment of malay kuehs, on top of the barbecued chicken and sausages.
Guess what, by the end of the gathering, my chocolate cake was gone, just like Taufik predicted.
tee hee! :D

The next day we were too tired to go out anywhere, so we stayed in. My kids had a great time eating ice lollies which I made using lolly molds from IKE@ and bottled mango juice. The weather was sunny but not hot, so we hung out on the porch before Friday prayer time.



After lunch, the boys went to the pool while Anis stayed home with me. Anis took too long to finish her lunch, so staying home was her punishment. Izani wanted a nap, so I had to forgo a trip to the pool too, and I did some sewing instead.

All in all it was quite a good weekend! (Despite the cake mishap) :)

what I know about S@udi Ar@bia

First, let me explain why it took me so long to write this.
I am ashamed to admit that I know so little about the culture of the country I am living in. I don't think I have explored it enough. I don't know why it is so. Perhaps it's because I haven't had the chance to travel around in it much, or I'm not observant enough. Perhaps it's also because I am living in a town where the population is 90% expatriates (80% of them from India, Pakistan or Bangladesh), so I am not exposed to the locals or their culture that much.
So, don't take my word for it, these are just my observations.
(Apologies in advance to any S@udis who might be reading this, in case I make any mistakes)

Food
Start with the easy one first :)
I think food in this country is similar to food across the middle east. They eat a lot of bread, with spiced grilled meats. There are also rice, which are called Kabsa (cooked in ghee and sweet spices) and Mandi (cooked with spices and meat, so the rice absorbs all the animal fat. absolutely sinfully yummy). They like to eat lamb a lot. Even though beef is available, I don't see many beef dishes except for maybe kababs. My only comlain is that they don't eat rice with gravy. I need to eat rice with my curries and gulais and kurma and sambal.
I love their salads though. Olives and rocket and parsley and bulgur wheat and lemon and olive oil. Hummous (chick peas and sesame paste) and mashed eggplants. Sometimes I think i could suvive with eating just their salad and bread.
They love sweet desserts! nuts in honey wrapped in filo pastry, tiny stringy pastry rolled in sugar, these sweet butter and honey cakes called basbousa and all sorts of cookies and cakes. Actually, I don't know if they have a traditional dessert specific to S@udi. I can't tell the difference between local dishes and pakistani dishes.

Attire
The men like to wear 'thob's, long white robes made of the most comfortable cotton. It's light enough to be flowy, but heavy enough to drape nicely and it is so so smooth and cooling. Because it's white though, you have to wear something underneath or else everyone will see your 'treasures', so they usually wear white cotton undershirt and pants before putting on the 'thob'. Taufik and the boys wear them for Friday prayers every week.
The men also have a headress made of a white and red chequered cloth folded into a triangle and set on the head with the long folded edge on your forehead (I hope you get the picture). Muttawas, which are the moral police, do not wear the circular black ring to hold the cloth in place, but normal folks usually do. I also found out that in Q@tar, then circular black ring has a long tassle attached to it and according to my guide, it is something that is unique to Q@tar.
The women, on the other hand, would wear all black. While expatriates would choose the black abayas that are button front like a robe and embelished with some sort of designs and patterns, the locals would usually don plain black robes. Most local women cover their hair, and some, even their whole face. Some even wear gloves when their are out shopping and doing transactions with males. The more traditional locals wear the type of robes that are not button front, but look tent-like, covering themselves from head to toe in one full piece. As I had mentioned one time long ago, I understand why this type of clothing is necessary in this climate. Covering their whole body and face really do protect them from the adverse effects of the sun and the sand, which are aplenty in this land. I have not seen this myself, but I have heard many many tales of the beauty of the skin and features of the locals underneath all that black garb.

People
The s@udis are really private people. They seldom invite strangers to their houses. Even when they are out eating in the restaurant, most of them would request for a screen to be put around their table. They are also very family oriented. They place very high importance on blood relations. Perhaps this are the leftovers of the tribal culture that was prevalent in this country in the past.
S@udi children and youth gets all their education for free. Once you are enrolled into the university, the government will pay you a monthly allowance and give you a computer. You also get a certain amount of gift money when you get married. Though some s@udis did become complacent due to these benefits, there are still some s@udis that are hardworking and enterprising.
And don't get me wrong. There are poor people in s@udi. There are sheepherders and camel herders and farmers who have to work hard every day. I find that these people are usually more friendly than the more well-to-do ones.
The s@udis really love children, be it theirs or yours. It is not uncommon to see fathers cart their many children to parks or amusement centres while the moms trail along. They really spoil their children to bits. Sometimes they also generous towards other's children too, giving them sweets and presents. Until, your children get in a fight with their children, coz then, no matter how cute your kid is, their children is always right. :D

Culture
Greeting:
The normal form of greeting (another person of the same sex) is to extend out your hand as if to shake it, then kiss the other person's cheeks, first right, then left, then right again. you can give them a little hug, depending on how affectionate you're feeling at the moment.
I was taken aback the first time someone did this to me, but now I am so used to it that it has become a habit, and I found that I involuntarily do the same even when I was back in Mal@ysia.
The form of greeting is so comforting ... it really develops a sense of closeness with the person you're meeting. You will find that after being greeted that way you will be more open and relaxed with the other person :)
Past time:
The locals here really like to picnic. At any grassy or shady space, you will be able to find clumps of people sitting on a mat, chatting or eating. On the side of roads, the government plants trees and grass and flowers and people would just park their car and have a picnic. Even out on the dessert, if you drive out during the weekends, you will be able to see people pitching up tents and have a picnic. There will be more of them doing it during the day in the cooler seasons, but even in summer, they'd have picnics late in the evening when it's cooler.
They also like to have shisha. It's them pipes thingies. I have never tried one, so I wouldnt know what the experience is like, but I hear they have shishas of all sorts of flavours, even fruity ones. There are coffeeshops that specialize in shishas and it'd be filled with men just lounging around puffing on them. The shisha pipes can be really beautiful, and Taufik has made it a goal to buy one before we move back home.

Hm.. i guess that's all I know about this country I'm living in. But I have only been here for 2 years and there is still much more to see and explore. I have yet to get to know a local family.
I will definitely tell you more as and when I learn new things.

Tumair's Iris Field

This roadtrip was almost cancelled when we received news about a shooting incident near Madinah.
Sunflora called me to ask whether I still wanted to go, and I asked her if her husband still wanted to go. He did, so we did too. I had expected that there would be only 2 cars, but it turned out that there were other people who were unperturbed by the shooting incident (even though some of the victims were their neighbours).
We drove about one and a half hours north of Riy@dh to Tum@ir, then about another twenty minutes off-road at Tum@ir to reach the Iris Field.
The moment we got there a sandstorm started, and a herd of sheep passed by, almost trampling the tiny iris plants. Being tourists, the first thing we did was rush over to take pictures of the herd.. heh heh.
We parked right by the edge of the 'field', to wait for 1pm, when the flowers should bloom.

While we waited, we prayed for the sandstorm to die down and chowed down on food brought by the other better prepared folks. I only brought some fried meehoon that Zura and I made that morning, while other folks brought roti canai, dalca, kuey teow goreng, nasi goreng, mexican bread, chicken wings, ice cream, tit bits and teh tarik. adusss... malu seh.
After we got tired of eating delicious dishes with sand on the side (and inside), some of us started picking out our own clump of iris to monitor. At around15 past 1pm we began to see some flowers starting to bloom. I grew impatient of waiting for my clump to bloom so I started wandering around from clump to clump.
Taking pictures was quite a task coz the wind was blowing so hard and from unpredictable directions, we didnt know which way to turn to avoid getting sand in the exposed orifices of our equipments and bodies.



Satisfied, we finally left around 2 something, to head to one of the ladies' house to resume the picnic, sans sand.
Cleaning ourselves up, we found sand everywhere! My white headscarf had turned beige and even my booger was a shade of reddish-brown (the color of sand in that part of the desert).

All in all, it was a good trip. Even though the irises were small and the 'field' wasn't as big as I thought it would be, I was still amazed by the beauty and magic of God's creation. I also made new friends, yay!!!

Sunflora, please do tell Anis, Salinah, Nora and Kak Saadiah that if they are ever in Khobar, they are most welcomed to come over to my place! (You included lah of course!)