Ikea

Have you noticed how the customer service sucks when you want to return something?! 

Ikea

Have you noticed how the customer service sucks when you want to return something?! 

Off raoding in wadi Asimah / Tayyibah / Sidr

salaam all, below are pics from a recent off road trip with mates to wadi Asimah / Tayyibah / Sidr, three routes off the Dhaid road near the Masafi mountains...

...and the adventure begins!

a tricky bit of rock crawling over a river bed

dont wanna scratch the bodywork!

...and a spot of rock climbing

time to break out the BBQ

looks good to me

ahh...isnt that cute

whats that over yonder?

GRRRR...need i say more?!

the 4 amigos

riding off into the sunset.

Burj Dubai

Some shots of the burj Dubai...you really have to see it up close to appreciate it!













Too tall to fit onto one pic, had to be done on two pics!







And a couplapnths later here it is again at a distance of a few km. For the perspective, you can see all the 'normal' skyscrapers next to it I'm comparison, now dwarfed by the burj!

M.I.A!!!

Missing in Action...yes I have been! Well it has been a long time and yes many things have changed, for example, I am sitting here knocking out this update on my iPhone! Hopefully what this should mean is that I will now be able to update the blog a little more often as and when things happen...possibly even on the go. Anyway I am still trying to figure out how to put pics up but as soon as I do, will post pictures of what I have been upto for the past few months.

Ciao for now!




Voilà, here we go, me and my little sufyan!

Deliver Hope to the People of Gaza

Assalamu alaykum and greetings to you all,

As some of you may be aware, recently i asked you guys to donate money to help ship urgent supplies to the needy in Gaza. This is an update of what happened to your hard earned wonga (and to prove i haven't been relaxing at The poolside on a luxury holiday courtesy of you lot!). In all we managed to collect roughly £1000 squids which worked out at over 5000AED in the local currency. 

Before I continue,  just some quick political analysis of the situation there...this to me is no more a 'war' than can be considered a war by Hitler against the Jews in the Warsaw ghetto. It was genocide and ethnic cleansing then and it it is genocide and ethnic cleansing now with the Gaza strip the new ghetto and Israel the new Nazi's. Now that there is a ceasfire everybody needs to continue to do what they can to keep up the political pressure to help free the people of Gaza from the opression of the zionist regime. 

Anyway, this is where some of your money went...

because people have lost their homes, large canvas tents that can accommodate a family of 6...

and loads of blankets to help keep them warm as it is winter there...

the bulk of the money was spent on medical supplies. pictured is a selection of assorted hospital grade  bandages, swabs, plasters...

some of the most expensive items were medicines including wholesale size packs of painkillers and anti-biotics. other supplies include emergency first aid kits and specialist stuff for hospitals such as the orangey iodine wash used for sterilising wounds before operating. on top of this the rest of the money was spent on dried foods such as milk powder, noodles tinned stuff etc. and personal hygiene products such as soap and washing up powder.

Once everything was collected, a bunch of us went down to the Aramex sorting and logistics depot in Dubai to help out with the sorting out of donations. Now personally I have never helped out before doing this kind of stuff so seeing this was quite an eye opener for me.

There was a throng of activity as we found volunteers from all walks of life helping out and doing their bit to help the people of Gaza.

tasks included...

Forming a human chain to unload trucks that were delivering donations being brought in from all over the country...

sorting everything and placing into various labeled bins...

to be packed onto pallets and loaded onto trucks to make the trip to the Gaza Strip via Jordan to be distributed by various humanitarian aid agencies including the UN and Red Crescent. 

Finally I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who contributed both in terms of money, physically helping and moral support. I am sure you have made a difference to the lives of the oppressed Gazans. That's enough out of me so until the next time.

ps. yes, you have figured there are lots of pics of us messing around and having some fun but i didn't want to detract from the seriousness of why we were there so i will save them for next time. ;-)

Freaky fruit and veg!

I promised to keep you entertained with with 'alternative' snippets of life out here so here's something to whet your appetite (or not as the case may be!)

so i was grocery shopping as you do and you know how in tesco's of late you seem to be able to find forever more exotic fruit and veg, well i was in one of our local supermarkets and came across these...

known as Durian fruit, some of you may have seen or heard of it because it absolutely stinks!

this one really freaked me out, known as snake fruit (or salak), I'm sure you can spot the resemblance to its slithery namesake!

and finally the weirdest pick of the bunch in my opinion was this...

Romanesco Broccoli, which looks like some type of alien 3D fractal art. 

going off on a tangent (well not exactly as it is linked to the broccoli) if you are not convinced of god's handiwork in nature then check this link on logarithmic spiral's. Signs of intelligent deisgn and not just a random act of nature?!

29th september was a great day...

reason why....?  Sufyan was born!

As you can no doubt imagine this little cheeky chappy has been keeping us very very busy. so much so i havent had a chance to update this till now. i get a feelin my 4 wheelin days may have come to an end...cant see myself tackling dusty trails and remote mountain passes with this little one in tow instead it might be discovering the wonders of a nappy change and mastering burping techniques. anyways, heres a few more piccies to whet your appetite, enjoy!

I am worried I may not have too much to write home bout now with sufyan taking up so much of our time so i may revert to civvy mode and start writing about the local taxi's and roundabouts...erm, i think not!!!

No promises, I will try and come up with a different take on what i am getting up to here to keep you all entertained, ciao for now :-)

Jabal Akhdar

On route to Al-Ain we headed back via Jabal Akhdar (or the green mountain) part of the Hajar mountain range. At over 2km tall this was definitely an awesome sight to behold.

Most of the mountain is scattered with roads and tracks that wind their way through the Mountains. with over 30 populated villages on this part of the mountain range, this place isn't as desolate as it looks.

We drove to a local beauty spot known locally as Diana's Viewpoint (something to do with when princess Diana visited Oman, she was brought to this spot because of the views via helicopter and so the name stuck) for the spectacular views overlooking the rest of the mountain range. It was here we stopped for lunch. Never has a salad and tuna sandwich tasted this satisfying all washed down with a stomach full of this gorgeously inspiring view.

You really do feel as if you are sitting on top of the world

the eerie quietness leads you to stop and appreciate the finer things in life

yes you are right, i was absorbed in a moments contemplation and meditation

for any of you considering the trip to Jabal Akhdar, it comes highly recommended!

Standing on top of the world (or so it felt like it!)

Now a word of warning! there are police checkpoints on all the roads entering onto Jabal Akhdar, with good reason. Only 4wd's are allowed on the mountain and with good reason. Put it this way, when a polce officer hands you some kind of safety leaflet - read it! Unfortunately I didnt and almost paid dearly. Due to the extreme gradients a lot of stress is put on your car therefore you have to adapt your driving technique and need a 4wd for the added traction and if necessary low range gears and better engine braking etc. To cut a long story short, on my way back down, I booted it down the mountain using hard braking at the bends however what i didnt realise was the hard braking was smoking out my brakes and had I not, half way down, decided to stop and read the leaflet the coppers had given me (it also conatined other touristy information), I would have become another statistic of some dopey tourist whose car caught fire because he overworked his brakes and ended up turning into a crashing fireball hurtling down the side of the mountain!

Muscat

After leaving Salalah we headed north and took a detour to to the capital of Oman, Muscat. This is a beautiful city and there is no way a few pics and scant words can do this city justice. If any of you have been to Monaco then picture something similar, in the sense of a city that blends into the surrounding mountains and littered with greenery everywhere. Compared to any city in the UAE, i think it beats them all hands down. There is definitely something in the air that adds a sense of genuineness and mystery to this ancient city. Suffice it to say, I am not done with Muscat yet so will definitely have to retrn again to do some thorough exploring. In the mean time heres a few piccies to whet your appetite until I return!

Muscat Beach

The view from one of the hotels we stayed in on the muscat corniche.

A viewing platform onlooking the city in the shape of a giant incense burner. One of the stops on the tourist trail except on the day it was too hot and i was too tired to climb to the top to take in the views.
Now this is one of the major landmarks of the city, the grand mosque, built by the sultan of Oman.


Being in this mosque really feels like stepping back in time as it has borrowed architectural techniques and designs found elsewhere in the ancient Muslim world.

Inside is a very ornately designed interior...

with a hand woven Persian carpet that is only exceeded in size and weight by the carpet of the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi

no doubt a record breaking chandelier hanging from the central dome

and finally the mihrab (or imams prayer niche).

Whilst in Muscat, we came across this quaint little aquarium with a limited selection of marine life however i had share this one with you. If memory serves correct, this was some kind of eel however you would not believe the size of this thing, its head was almost the size of a human head! Put it this way, i wouldn't want to bump into this fella in a dark and lonely coral reef!