Visitation at the Desert Villages

Took a picture with the kids or the kids actually came to us knowing that we are taking a picture there.

Our sole ma'am from Petronas with the ladies of the village.

Most of the village's females were gathered at this house.

When we arrived at the 3rd village, we were surprised by the lining-up of the kids and also the ladies.

They tried to line them (kids) up according to their heights too. Maybe the first 2 boys were late and just stood in front as we were arriving.

Colourful clothings by the village's ladies. They were dressed for their Eid Festival.

The little girls.

And the children were really good, as they didn't budge from where they were standing. They just turned around to see the happenings behind them.

Ok, ok the ladies were starting to get restless as to why must they be in a line.

On arriving at the next village, even the cows were disciplined. No fencing around them but they were all in one place.

What was that pastel green guy doing? He actually spotted a beautiful girl and he signalled another cameraman to go with him.

If you don't believe, just look at the left side of this picture. He was taking a picture with a local girl (blocked). Cheeky.......

The guys in front were smiling broadly because I just told them that I was taking the picture of their big happy family.

Amongst the village elders (supposed to be).

Actually the thought of taking the picture in the middle of the herd crossed my mind.........already 1 cow has spotted that I was quite near them.

Lots of cow dungs all over.

They were nice to pose for this picture. I'm sure they were in their new/best clothing for the Eid Festival.

Tags: Journal, Life, Diary, Sudan, Travel, Village, Eid, Festival

Saddam Hussein's Death

All good things will come to an end. To some international community, that's what they perceive of Saddam for his reign as the President of Iraq.

It ended yesterday at dawn and the international community didn't agree with the execution but neither did they agree for what he has done in the past. Todate, the Allied Force has not shown us the WMD to the public. And will this execution calm the situation in Iraq before the sectarian war erupts further. Will the withdrawal of the Allied Force help the situation?

Tags: Saddam Hussein, President of Iraq, WMD, Allied Force, War, Politics

Visitation at the Desert Villages

A mother with her son. She requested me to take a photo of them. Was she expecting me to give something in return for a picture taken? Upon thanking her, I just walked away fast.

The kids there really enjoyed our presence. On that day, I think there were about 10 cameras shooting at all over the place. Have to ask for each camera's pictures and then post those not similar to mine.

This picture was taken when there were about 3 cameramen aiming here and the kids ran to our spot.

Yeah, we got them to sit down as they were so estatic jumping up and down and our cameramen said they can't see our faces.

Ok, time for the first cow to be slaugthered out of the 13 in different villages. Not everyone can do it but a married elder in the village only.

Gross? I'm ok with it. It will still move for a moment as it struggles.

These guys were trying to get some pictures of the ladies in the village. Notice that they were in a house compound and not out of it. The kids just followed the cameramen.

Donkeys were spared.....haha....they were not in the list.

At the 2nd village now.I think this cow was under his name. About 2-3 persons will share to buy a cow and they have a list where it shows which village's cow was borned by them (randomly).

To play safe, the villlagers tied up its legs first, just in case it stands up and starts to run after slaugthering its neck. Imagine what a mess or how gory is the situation if it happens.

Such happy faces. The cow meat will be distributed amongst villagers later.

Here goes!

That small knife was really sharp.

More pictures soon.............

Tags: Journal, Life, Diary, Sudan, Travel, Village, Slaugther

Visitation at the Villages

(Happened on Sat, 3o Dec) Off we go to the villages to make our presence felt. The malay colleagues in my company and Petronas contributed monies to buy 13 cows to be given to the respective villages near our project site here.

Saw some people loading their truck with a few goats. The goats will actually stay put and won't jump off the truck.

9 of them cramped into a Pajero. Incredible!

3 Toyota Landcruisers (with 5 passengers each) and 1 Mitsubishi Pajero (the incredible one).

All the men in the village came out to greet us.

Group photo in the first village.

You can't miss me and neither can the Sudanese people.....they will say to me...Chinese? Chinese? To the Sudanese, Chinese comes from China only.

I will be missing from lots of the pictures as I prefer taking the scenario as I wanted to let you feel what it's like. And for some group pictures, no point for me to stand among them as you won't find me there too.....too small.

The first village was expecting us and they came out in full force to welcome us.

More pictures to come................................

Tags: Journal, Life, Diary, Hari Raya Haji, Eid Mubarak, Travel, Village

Year 2006

Things that you didn't know in the past 12 months - BBC News
But it makes no difference in my life even though I didn't know about it ..... hehehe

Lots of people will do the countdown at the night clubs, street parties, clubbing areas, hotels, restaurants.....many will be at their church masses, worship services reflecting back on God's provision and blessings or needing guidance for the year to come or asked why certain events happened. And I'm at the desert .....hahaha

Someone had asked me this question 'What's your new year resolution?". I responded "To be a better person". But the reply was 'It's so vague!'

As for me, this better person is so encompassing. It covers every single aspect of my life. Need to improve on many things in my life. I don't think that I have a few matters to look into only. Plenty of them. Just waiting for this project to complete now. To me, wherever I am, I'll leave it to God to take care of it but not to the point that I don't care at all.

For the coming year, I still have many dreams that I want to achieve. What are your dreams like?

In the world, there were sadness, defeats, demoralisation, betrayals, lies, wars and so forth......but there were triumphs, victories, joy, gladness, hope, dreams too ......... in spite of all this many people still have their dreams intact. I know of a group of people whose dreams are neverending. Is your dream strong enough to carry you through? Write your dreams on a piece of paper and put an achivable date beside it. It works and better still write down 100 of it........you'll never know where God can bring you. Try it!

If you don't write it down, then it's just a flash in the pan....it comes and it goes. And a person without a dream won't be able to progress much in life....their life will stay stagnant or status quo. They will leave their daily life as it is and as the years before. Why change it when you are comfortable with your current life. That applies to your work too in whatever profession.

A good life is the enemy of a great life.

A man with a dream will not be denied.

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!

Tags: Journal, Life, Diary, Dream

Where to Wash a Luxury Car

How much would you pay for a car wash? A company called Miracle Detail may be one of the most expensive car washes in the world. It costs £5,000 (US$9,198) for his Pinnacle car wash. It's the service Rod Stewart uses to polish up his Ferrari Enzo (left pic).

The 61-step process includes multiple washes, pampering with gentle towels and even the use of a depth gauge that lets the owner, Paul Dalton, measure the paint thickness so he can smooth out the scratches without messing up the finish. He waxes with a special kind of Zymöl wax that costs £7,000 a tube and Dalton keeps in a safe in his fridge. It is made with 73% carnauba wax from the Brazilian rainforest and just a few tablespoons work on the whole car. His website has a photo gallery full of the super glossy results.
Tags: Luxury, Lifestyle, Miracle Detail, Paul Dalton, Zymol Wax, Carnauba Wax, Car Wash

The Meaning of Hari Raya Aidiladha

Aidiladha is also commonly known as Hari Raya Korban or Hari Raya Haji in Malaysia.

Celebrated about two months after Hari Raya Aidilfitri, it marks the end of the haj pilgrimage period (about two weeks).

Aidiladha also commemorates the sacrifices made by the Prophet Ibrahim (hence the word 'korban,' which means sacrifice in Arabic), who demonstrated immense faith when he was put to the test by God. Prophet Ibrahim was commanded to offer his son Ismail up for sacrifice, and though it grieved him greatly, he made ready to perform the task. However, as he was about to strike his son, God stopped him and revealed that it was a trial. Ismail's life was spared, and a ram was sacrificed in his place. In similarity with the Bible, that was in reference to Abraham and his son Isaac found in the book of Genesis, Chapter 22.

As such, during Aidiladha, the sacrifice of four-legged animals such as lambs, goats, cows, bulls and camels is performed. The slaughter of the animal is done after the congregational prayer in the morning of Aidiladha and thereafter, it will be distributed.

One third of the meat is given to the individual who made the sacrifice, while the rest is given to the poor and deserving people in the community. Making the sacrifice (korban) is not a compulsory religious duty, but an obligations for those who are able to afford it. The rest of the day is celebrated by visiting relatives and friends. This is one of the cows' meat kept for our own consumption. They will be cooking rendang daging for Saturday's breakfast, a type of curry flavoured beef meat (dry style).My muslim colleagues from Malaysia and the Petronas staff based at the project site made a contribution to buy 13 cows and will be distributed to a few villages. Each village will await for our arrival before slaugthering the cow. The festival began on Saturday in this region plus the Middle East area. As for Malaysia, it falls on Sunday. On Friday night, Malaysians from my company celebrated together with the Petronas staff by having a BBQ night. They BBQ some of the beef and lamb meat for the night.

To be continued .......

Tags: Festival, Hari Raya Aidiladha, Eid Mubarak, Haj Pilgrimage, Journal, Life, Diary, Sacrifice