24hours / 3countries

some people says that you are lucky if you get to travel for work... well, yeah, it's true.... but if you really travel for work and/or meetings, you don't actually get to discover the place where you are travelling.... most of the time, you would have meetings back to back, and as most companies are particular about business trip expenses, they would schedule the meetings immediately after you arrive, and your return flight will be immediately after you finish the last meeting... kalau dah jadik senior staff, boley ler kaotim with whoever (secretary, admin officer... financial controller etc etc...) so that you will have more time to breath during the business trip, but kalau masih baru lagi in the company, they will make arrangements for your trip and you just keep your mouth shut and follow the itinerary that they have prepared.... jangan banyak songel... kang tak semena2 kena boikot/banned dek fellow colleagues...

Terminal 3, Dubai airport, terminal dedicated for Emirates Airlines only. Baru bukak tak sampai sebulan... canggih...! airport baru katakan... tapi.... tak ada Diners Lounge.... hiks, hiks...!! Diners Lounge kat Terminal 1 jer.... no more lounge access for me, unless I take "non-Emirates flight" :(

sempena menjadik jurujual kacang goreng rangup2 nih, I do get to travel a fair bit.... Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, France... and now to some of the countries in Middle East... dulu2 best gak, sebab I was alrdy a senior staff in the previous company, so I would find my way in gttng a "proper" itinerary, to work and rest.... (and sometimes holiday... hehe..). but now, with this new company, alahai.... ikut jer laaaa...

terminal 3 depa nih ada iras2 cam Changi airport... got tempat resting2 in the middle of the airport, ala2 "koi garden : kolam ikan , garden, pangkin etc"... aper ker hal nyer depa kat Dubai nih...? asyik meniru Singapore jerrrr....? tak ada idea sendiri ker...? kalau tiru Mesia ok gak.... tapi tak... Singapore jugak dia tengok.... hahaha.... abis la aku kena tibai dek sedara mara kat Kota Singa lepas nih.... hehe...

this is my 3rd month in Sagem Orga Dubai... first month was "initiation month", 2nd month was bulan posa & raya, so keje tak gerak amende... now that everything is over, it's time to "rock and roll"... went to Syria recently, went to Yemen last week, and next week, going to France for 3 days...

awai2 pagi dah kat airport, matahari baru nak naik....

kapal terobang Emirates nak ke Sana'a.... Airbus A330 jer flight nyer... (entry level for widebody aircraft)

pegi Syria was fine... I went to Damascus alone, so I could make my own itinerary/arrangement... pegi Sana'a (Yemen) dgn boss... perghhh....!! siksa kome...!!Boss is the type who doesn't like to stay in unfamiliar places... lagi cepat dia balik ke Dubai, lagi dia suka... (amende ler yg dia suka sgt kat Dubai nih...? dgn traffic jam nya yg mega dahsat tu...). as a result, whenever you travel with him, the itinerary will be dense and trip will be short....last week, masa pegi Sana'a... dia mati2 tak nak stay overnite in Sana'a... flight arrangement is not good... so pegi naik Emirates awal pagi (only 1 flight per day), bila abis mtng late afternoon, balik naik Qatar Airways....

here's the itinerary :

4.00am : wake up

4h30am : go airport

5.00am : check in at terminal 3, new terminal, no Diners lounge here :(

7.00am : flight departure Dubai - Sana'a

10.00am : arrival Sana'a

12.00pm : 1st meeting

4.00pm : 2nd meeting

6.30pm : check in

8.00pm : flight departure Sana'a - Doha (Qatar)

11.00pm : arrival Doha (and transit)

1.00am : flight departure Doha - Dubai

2.30am : arrival Dubai, and immigration queue

4.00am : baru lepas immigration Dubai

5.00am : baru sampai rumah (dan jam loceng berbunyi, as it was time for my daily wake up to get prepared and go to work...)

12.00pm : the very same day, ada conf call with colleagues in UK... (jgn nak mimpi having the day off... gotta go to opis...!!)

Sana'a from the sky.... bergunung ganang bandarnya... cam Muscat, Oman

Emirates in the sky

Sana'a is actually quite high above sea level, 2,200meter atas paras laut... so it is a city in the mountains... pleasant temperature... in general, southern part of Arab Peninsular bergunung ganang disebabkan pertemuan antara Asia continental plate & Africa continental plate - Asian plate has been pushed upward

perrrrgggghhhhh....!!! nak termuntah2 aku dgn schedule giler camni... boss is OK with this kinna schedule coz he will have access to various facilities... to lounges at the airport, late check-in, priority immigration clearance (as part of frequent flyer privileges) etc etc... yang aku nih termangu2 berkeliaran kat airport & immigration queue.... check-in kena dtg 2 jam awal lak tuh....!!so, dalam masa 24 jam, aku telah berada di 3 negara berlainan... UAE, Yemen, Qatar (and back to UAE).... siksa kome...!! so, sapa nak ikut boss aku pegi business trip abroad, angkat tangan...!!

Doha airport Duty free.... Doha airport tak ler beso sangat cam Dubai.

tapi depa nak lawan gak dgn airport Dubai... got lucky draw, and can win a Lexus car one hoorrrr....

next week, trip to Paris (meeting + exhibition). Departure Mon afternoon, and by Wed evening dah ambik flight balik ke Dubai (sampai awal pagi kat Dubai on Thu morning....). flight time is 7 hours each way... kang, sampai ke Paris kang, tak sempat adjust jetlag, dah nak balik Dubai balik dah....!! perrghhh...!hope that all these trips will get me to at least "silver skywards" frequent flyer card... boley la gua enjoy all these frequent flyer privileges.... kalau tak, koyak la badan...

badan nih, rasanya "nak pakai lama...", tapi kalau selalu kena lanyak baguih2 camni, alamat cepat expire ler nanti....

Kembara Fujeirah & Khorfakkan

MIM is back in Dubai lkng for a job. at the same time, have a friend visiting from Malaysia for 2 weeks... "ekcelliiii...", he is here for some business mtgs (his own business) and is bunking at my place... so, this wknd, we decided to go jalan2 kembara UAE, 3 of us... 3 stooges ker...? eh... mana aderrrr....!! hehe...

MIM dah asah bakat masak bihun goreng... sedap giler tuh... amende agaknya dia dah jampi masa masak tuh supaya "enak banget" bihunnya....

Alex Koh, the Tauke Kasut... his own label "Charm"... got store in Lot10 (silalah pegi check it out...) ladies shoes only for the moment, but will go into men shoes soon... opening another outlet in Singapore soon... (errr... don't mention my name if you go there, bukan dapat diskaun, "rege" naik 2 kali ganda lagi adalah kut....!! haha...). kat Lot10 tu is the retail outlet, but his office is in Serdang... so don't expect to catch up with him at Lot10... getting good responds from some UAE retailers... dah dpt order "bercontainer-container"/berkoyan-koyan dah Pakcik ni... but in UAE, he's selling his shoes under another label (label owned by Shoemart - OEM concept ler... bukan Shoemart yg buat kasut tu, depa order kat Tauke nih, and letak brand depa...). can get his shoes at Shoemart outlets across UAE... soon to become another "Jimmy Choo"... Go check out the outlet kat Lot10 before he becomes too successful and sell his shoes at premium prices. Baik beli sekarang sementara masih affordable. At least, kalau dia dah naik rege, you can say that "I have tried his shoes before...!"

Driver and pilot mencari jalan ke Fujeirah... first time pegi laaa...

fuh... dahsat tu... saper yg rempit kat sini nih...!

Fujeirah & Khorfakkan... here we come...!

first encounter with Fujeirah... teksi Fujeirah warna kuning-kuning hijau fluorescent... nasib baik not the type which can "glow in the dark..."

first stop, Friday market.... mari-mari...!! carpet murah...!! (kalau korang tak tawar 75% dan beli gitu sajer, memang korang kena goreng hangus bagus nyer...!!)

got oso jual buah2an tempatan and not so tempatan.... kalau tanya the seller, "is this local....?", jawapannya sentiasa "Yes..., local fruit sir..". Nak aku tanya, "ko tanam pokok rambutan/pisang nih kat mana kat Padang Pasir nih, huh....?". Seperti biasa, don't be a gullible visitor...

limau Tambun/Bali oso got.... "Local....!"...

locally pack la tuh kut....

Kingkong jumpa "Spiderman".... senang bulilah Spiderman nih...!! depa juai binatang2 nih sebab on the way to the beach in Fujeirah/Khorfakkan gaknya...

jagung rebus & jagung bakar... bukak harga AED5.... actual buying price after haggling - AED2... kurang enak... depa rebus/bakar jagung tuh tanpa garam, lepas tuh baru depa tabur garam atas jagung tuh... tak cukup garam...

after the Friday market, we wanted to go to this "500 year old" mosque for solat Jumaat (between Fujeirah & Khorfakkan)... but tak jumpa... so we went to this one mosque, in one "dunno where kampung" for solat....

kat Khorfakkan, mencari waterfall... dengar kabonyer, the very happening waterfall kat tengah2 padang pasir nih...

panorama yang amat mengkagumkan... macam kat Nevada/Las Vegas, kata Alex....

si Ravi tengah berehat tepi jalan....

yours truely... si Ravi kat belakang....

photo..!! photo...!! ko ambik gambo aku, aku ambik gambo ko.... posing baguih2 nyer.... haha...

MIM & Tauke kasut... (look at the background scenery...!)

MIM & si Ravi (look at the background scenery...!)

gunung ganang Khorfakkan

alone in the desert (the pokok laaa...)

curam ala2 Grand Canyon...

deserted.... kecian pokok kecik nih....:)

waterfall was below left hand side.... errrr... tatutttttt....!! gayat...!

yang depa nih, maman turun curam 75degre tuh pakai selipar jer.... siap macam boley melompat2 dari kiri ke kanan... kalaulah tersalah langkah.... abis kome....!! bertambah gayat gua dibuatnya.... terduduk jap kat ke belakang... serius sumpah tak tipu never bohong one...!! Gua tak berani turun.... gayat rasa macam ditarik2 supaya jatuh terus ke bawah...

sebab tak berani turun curam, maka si Ravi diberi cabaran baru mengharungi "Valley of the dead" pegi ke waterfall.... si Ravi disuruh berlakon seolah2 dia tuh "4wheeler" yang tersangat macho, powerfull dan perkasa....!! (walaupun title yg dipegangnya hanya CRV - comfortable recreational vehicule...)

best gak lalu kat lembah nih.... memang scenery yg "mengangakan mulut..."... haha... maka apabila sampai ke Waterfall yang mengkagumkan itu, si Ravi telah bertemu dgn kemalangan yang tidak diduga2.... hehehe... langgar baru besar, tangki minyak hitam "koyak".... kalau ikut bahasa hospital... "mahu kena jahit 50 or 60 stitches nih..." (bayangkan betapa besarnya koyak tangki minyak hitam tuh....)... so, tak sempat ambik gambo pun, terus pusing balik pegi ke Khorfakkan town utk repair kete.... (minyak hitam dah menitik sampai abis...)

"si Ravi dimeja operation...."



4 jam di meja operation...

sambil menunggu kete, kita orang gi pantai... mandi laut... (memang plan mandi waterfall dulu, then mandi laut...., mandi waterfall, tak kesampaian...)

si MIM lepas mandi laut.... seperti biasa, gambo tuan punya blog kena censored... "terlalu sexy..." .... ahaks...!!

verdict... nice outing.... walaupun AED450 terkurang membawa si Ravi pegi operation... nak gi balik soon.... tak nak kempunan tak dpt mandi waterfall... dan kena gagahkan "kemacho-an" turun bukit curam 75degre tuh.... errr... boley ker tuh...? we'll see soon... hehe....

Teratak usang, tepi sungai, hujung kampung...

During raya, while some people bring their kids and spouse to visit relatives, my parents bring their kids, grandkids and sometimes even great grandkids to visit our relatives….

my dad...

Just dunno why, every raya, whoever who are at home will plan together2 to visit relatives along with my parents… bringing their kids and now, grand kids along…. So imagine the number of cars that would arrive when we go visit a relative house…? I remember at one time, we had 7 cars going from house to house…. More often, it is more like just 4 or 5 cars (because not everybody will be able to come home on raya, or come home on 1st day of raya…).

my mom...

It has been part of our family tradition for as long as I can remember. I guess we like it that way because it is more meriah when we visit relatives all together, or may be because we do not have to make efforts to sembang2 kosong with the relatives since my parents are there and would be catching up with the relatives anyhow (so we just listen and enjoy the food)….

Or may be…, may be… since we were small, my parents have made it a point for us to know our relatives and always keep in touch with them, at least to visit them during raya, and we just get used to this activity, and just doing it every raya… I believe so….

I wonder if we would be able to maintain that tradition once my parents are no longer there… It would be difficult I guess… Well, we’ll see…

Teratak usang, tepi sungai, hujung kampung...

One of our favourite house to visit is Rumah Mak Yah (makcik Sa’ayah). Makcik Sa’ayah is my mom’s cousin. When I was small/kid/kemetot/sekolah rendah lagi…. I did go to rumah Mak Yah many times…. She was one of those lively makciks with plenty of kids of her own, and it was always fun to be around her (and her kids) playing all sorts of games…. One day, Mak Yah’s husband built a new kampong house for their family… and for me, that house was the best house to visit when I was small…. Why…? Because the house was located just next to a river, and we (Mak Yah’s kids, all the other kids around, and me…) would spend hours and hours pergi mandi sungai near the house…. Melompat dari tebing sungai macam2 style, sommersault, menjunam kepala dulu, lompat katak kaki cecah air dulu…. Synchronized lompat together2… Macam2 lah…!! Dahsat…, memang dahsat….!!

Mak Yah kelam kabut mengidang immediately after we arrived

Mak Yah’s husband is not well off… Pak Mat “Kegheaih” (“keras”…, beats me why he has that nickname…) was just doing some “kerja kampong”, earning just enough to feed the family… and somehow the kids “tak begitu menjadi…”. Having many of them, Mak Yah & husband couldn’t ensure that they provide the best education available to their kids. Furthermore, somehow, for reasons which only God knows, some of her kids are mentally challenged, some got into accidents, and/or fell into other malapetaka.. Believe me, “sudah jatuh, ditimpa tangga” proverb is totally applicable for Mak Yah & Pak Mat Keghaih….

Mak Yah... bercerita serius.... kurang citer kelako dia tahun nih

Despite all those challenges, Mak Yah has always been lively and happy go lucky… every time we meet up with her, raya time, kenduri time…, she will always be the curious one who will ask questions, getting updates from relatives, exchanging news, cracking jokes and chit chatting with anybody, savouring the moment and just make people smile whenever they see her… Pak Mat Keghaih is no lesser entertaining than the wife… together, they were “partners in crime”…

asking for confirmation from my sister...

Then Pak Mat Keghaih fall sick, he can’t go to work… the kids are not well off neither, so they can’t really help Mak Yah & Pak Mat Keghaih much… One can easily deduce that life is a bit more strained for them (despite their usual smile and laughter).

kuih muih kat rumah Mak Yah, simple, tapi sedap... dibuat secara tradisional

Relatives help as much as we can, those who are well off pay their zakat to Mak Yah… others give treats to Mak Yah, Pak Mat Keghaih and the family from time to time… and they continue visiting her home and leaving behind whatever that they could bring for them/give to her…

Then, a year ago Pak Mat Keghaih passed away…. I went to the funeral, and Mak Yah was calm and steady, not a single drop of tears… accepting the fate that has fallen upon her…

Mak Yah dan cucu... bapak keturunan Pakistan... mata cucu dia nih kalah mata Shah Rukh Khan

Since then Mak Yah continues with her happy go lucky life, may be a bit less than before, but still entertaining… Pak Mat Keghaih was not there to “answer” to all her indecent remarks and/or questions… but to us, she is still the aunt who will make you smile in whatever circumstances….

You can never say that you have gone through something hard, because she has gone through something harder/tougher, and yet she can still smile and BE alive….

manjanya cucu sekor nih dgn Opahnya....

Mak Yah often makes me think, how life is full of paradox…. One can be totally rich but yet living an unhappy life, feeling miserable, not knowing what to do with his/her money, being suspicious of anybody who would want to befriend him/her…., and finally dies all alone in a huge bungalow on top of a hill….

And at times, you meet up with people who just earn enough to live, kais pagi makan pagi, kais petang makan petang, not educated, ditimpa malang berulang2, hidup dalam kemiskinan, kehilangan punca pendapatan… but still they live with positiveness, looking forward to the next day, always pleased to meet up with relatives, always trying to find something to serve to visitors, making jokes about life, sharing whatever that they have,…. And just BE alive…. Savouring every seconds of the moment, live the present, and let tmrw be another day….

Mak Yah is rich…. all relatives love her, all relatives drive their car going through small tiny paths to go to her house at the end of the kampong every raya, relatives living in the kampong send dishes from time to time for her and her family to savour (and she will never forget to return the kindness with another bowl of her own home cooked dishes – using ingredients that she gets around the house), everybody always have something for her, …. everybody always think of her, everybody is concerned of her well being, and everybody wants to take care of her….

sekadar hiasan... Kak Hanim & Aisyah... Aisyah got the lady diamond studded watch... sempena raya & besday dia... hepi bebeno ler dia pun...

I wonder if we can ever have a joyful life as Mak Yah’s, despite whatever kekurangan that we would experience (like what Mak Yah went through….)…

enjoy life as if you will live for a thousand more years, and fear God as if you will die tomorrow…

Life is definitely full of paradox…

p/s... errr Mak Yah... what's with the bedak sejuk...? everytime we see you, always got bedak sejuk one... how comes...? hahaha...