a secret arabian journal..

Comment Moderation

2010-04-30T15:30:00.000+04:00

Ok...yeah this blog is meant to be over, however a few months back I installed a blog counter to check how many hits its getting. For a blog thats been virtually inactive for the past 2 years, I personally think a consistent average of 500 - 700 hits per month is still quite good. Furthermore people are still leaving random comments on posts that are nearly five years old. As I do not have time to check through the entire blog for these comments I have decided to enable comment moderation so I know where and when people are responding. Also...since it seems that this blog is still somewhat popular... I may get one or two guys (one guy and one girl) to reboot Secret Arabian.

Maybe.

The Last of the Bloggers

2010-03-16T19:49:00.001+04:00

The Review AE Dot Blogspot Dot Com

Secret Arabian is finished, but I guess you didnt need a post to tell you that. Its been well over a year since any posts were made, and the only updates to this site that you will see, are either from late late stragglers to this blog commenting on posts from 3 years ago, or comments coming from those spam bots that somehow still manage to get past the word verification thingy...

The three of us who wrote here, in a sense, have all gone our separate ways... Ali has passed away, Jassim is doing whatever he's doing wherever he is doing it, and the same goes for me. A few of you have actually tracked me down to Facebook and even Twitter... and we have become friends, which is cool. However for me the Golden Age of Blogging is dead, as nothing much beyond complaining, whining and bitching seems to occur in the UAE blogosphere.

2006 - 2008 was the good ole days, but now its time to move on. I do however have a new blog that I recently set up with a previously unseen 'Secret Arabian', but I think she will remain in the background on that one. Also my posts there wont be as personal as the ones here, (at least most of the time) yet I still hope you guys come and visit it...

The site is called The Review AE (say it fast and it sounds like 'UAE'), and the address is reviewae.blogspot.com/. Please check it out... Comments are not yet enabled, but still browse through, its all brand new. Also please read the post I done on my buddy Sayed Badreya and check out the work he has done. And if you dont know who he is, you soon will... ;-)

Take care and see you around.

Nomaadic.

religious dilemma

2008-04-01T12:52:00.002+04:00

We've all no doubt seen and heard about the second wave of blasphemous characters that were published in European newspapers of the Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him) and how the Danish government is attempting to suppress the effect that this could have on its Middle Eastern partners such as the GCC countries, for one and how from another end they are trying to distance themselves from it by claiming that another political party is the one whose playing this card, may I add to the point of publishing a small video on their website that depicts Islam and how it could be related to the 9/11 atrocities and other happenings around the world ending it off with someone at the end calling for 911 emergency services in the USA frantically and not without panic.

Have we learned our lesson yet from the first wave?

Apparently not, because you still have people who give these individuals who hold high the slogan of 'Freedom of Press' well high above anything else; simply because it is part of the European constitution given to every person who has such a nationality.

But where does one draw the line between freedom of press and building hate between cultures & religions as if we don't have problems of our own all over the world not to mention in the region?

It is a choice of rationale.

There's just simply no getting over it. The world was never created perfectly. It has its flaws and imperfections. The same would apply towards the human race. There are those who would oppose such ideas and think nothing of it and others who think they have every right to question even the matter of if there is a God (i.e.: Atheists). It is a balance of life that must always be otherwise the world would topple over.

That does not excuse the individuals that push people to the verge of insanity to the point of suicide bombing because of insulting a religion or a representative thereof.

So what do we do?

Stay quite and let what be, be? Or engage in a holy Jihad against the infidels that started the whole thing and anyone who is in link with them?

Think of it this way: If a child is beaten up by another child, then the child cries the first time. Second time around, the child has learned to stay away from such individuals to the point that the other child leaves them alone eventually.

Are we better off this way? Perhaps. But if we pursue the silly threats and killings against such stupidities then we are just giving them an even bigger reason to come back and do it again.

Right?

'Block Secret Dubai'...

2007-12-21T15:53:00.000+04:00

…is one of the more interesting Facebook groups I have seen. A certain local blogger who I gather has been sparing with SD for the past couple of years, very recently launched a new group on Facebook calling for Secret Dubai to be blocked. Already the group has over 400 members with most people leaving comments being local Emiratis.

I don’t blog as much as I used to, simply because I no longer have the time or the interest in it anymore. Furthermore Facebook has become this year's online craze surpassing blogging as a more agreeable pastime… as posting self indulgent pictures of yourself, fighting sexy vampires and catching up with old school and workmates has become a lot more enjoyable than reading constant negative and unconstructive comments on my favorite blogs.
However regardless of whether its Facebook or Blogger that you prefer to turn to, the best thing about life online is that we can all express ourselves in a manner we would perhaps be too shy to do in the real world. Ironically, despite the virtual and 'unreal' nature of life online…it is here where people are free to express themselves freely across cultures.

It is here where those of us who do not interact with Expats on a regular basis and those who do not interact with Locals in a likewise manner can actually see what we think of each other. Face it, expats and Locals very rarely interact with each other and after 30 odd years of growth and development, the UAE is becoming ever more segregated. While the UAE's PR machine encourages foreigners to come here to spend their tourism dollars or buy property while stating a very true fact that this country is more progressive and advanced than most western countries, it also glosses over the fact that our cultures remain worlds apart.

Online we can see the true realty of the situation: expats bitching about how bad the Emirates is and Emiratis bitching about how bad the expats are, and this is good, because unless we start developing the balls to speak openly and diplomatically in public about the things that divides us and concerns us, then we will continue to need the virtual world to portray the truth of our social reality.

the billions.. the millions.. and then the zeros

2007-11-04T02:51:00.000+04:00

Time has become the matter of everything that drives us around to where we should go, where we should be, and what we should be doing. And unfortunately, the drive to that point is not being punctuative about our tedious timings, but rather because our very lives depend on them - monetarally speaking.

It's all about the money these days, or so Madonna would have described it, 'material world'.

Unfortunately, nothing is sacred anymore because of this drive since it has been dug down deep into our very roots and fabrics that we live by - religion; culture; nationalism; and even our very souls we sell to the devil just to hang by that extra moment of luxury that has become so precious in current day and time.

But what about the future? What about the times that we will need each other most? When money won't matter anymore? What will we do then? Beg? Grovel? Sympathize?

Most of us may be shaking our heads now but believe you and I, that that is the future we must all look forward to because of our current trend. Building skyscrapers and futuristic modules of building that scour the high clouds of our imagination with technologies never thought possible. Or materialistic impulses that would push us to get the latest trend, fashion, or even food in the growing industry that knows no bounds to reaching our deep-end pockets.

But what will we do when we get to the point of where all this does not matter?

consequences of a rising real-estate industry

2007-10-21T13:31:00.001+04:00

The trend of rising prices in the real estate industry hasn't quite cooled down just yet in the GCC region due to the vast potential of clientèles, modern building material technologies and the obvious wealth factor that is spreading at locust speed in a time of change for the GCC nationals and their foreign counterparts.

However, such progress is coming at a very steep price.

The overwhelming development in the industry is facing rough challenges on how to cope with the demand that is pushing it further beyond the limits of natural resource capabilities in the region. One such example is the hog on the water resource canal that is being spent in a non-elusive manner and without proper consideration where such real estate project not only require the hydro-powered source to build such projects but it is also necessary to maintain it in the long-run if it is ever going succeed in the long run.

The fact is that as developing nations, we have a need - nay, an obligation - to monitor ourselves in such a capacity and not run ourselves dry of such scarce resources especially with mounting climatic changes all over the world disrupting normal weather tac-tics all year round because of the escalating global warming levels.

So what is there to do, then?

Nothing much, really. Since the development cycle has been turned around much too fast, all we can ever do is sit and wait while we battle it out in our own close regions and hope to the Almighty that we get through this safely and in one piece.

Eid Mubarak to one and all

2007-10-13T03:19:00.000+04:00

My sincere apologies to everyone out there who was expecting a set of new posts by the time I had gotten to post about Ramadhan and missing out on it. I was merely responsible for the change of layout you look at now - and still don't know if you like it not, but would love to know.

Both Jassim & Yahya were very busy during Ramadhan while I was sent in and out of hospital for the past 6 weeks of anemia trauma that I am still living under the fear that one day it would be my time. But that's what I am here to point out.

From hereon in, you can expect at least a weekly post from me at the very least if things get redicilously tight on my end. I can't imagine a better hobby to keep my mind off things than writing itself.

And finally; may I just conclude this small brief post on congratulating every single one of you on the auspicious ocassion of Eid Al Fitr. May it bestow upon every one of you a great many deal of blessings on your all your families and loved ones. May all your hard work get earned in this time of year, inshallah.

So, on behalf of me; Jassim & Yahya here at the Secret Arabian Journal; have a wonderful Eid Mubarak!

Ramadhan Kareem - everyone

2007-09-13T01:15:00.000+04:00

Here's hoping a wonderful Ramadhan to everyone who reads and comments on Secret Arabian Journal and hoping for many festive times to come by, inshallah!

...انا في وادي وأنت في وادي

2007-09-11T10:12:00.000+04:00

This Summer's Blockbuster

2007-07-03T10:58:00.000+04:00

I was not going to blog till the end of the summer, but Yahya, Ali and Moyarati have been blogging about this movie for nearly a year now and now I saw the trailer and i am excited. I did not even know what a Transformer really was until 6 weeks ago but I cannot wait to watch this movie. There is a rumor that they trash Doha at the beginning. Perhaps these giant robots can swing past Satwa and do us a favor as well.

Gonu survival instincts

2007-06-10T23:03:00.000+04:00

6 days ago, Oman had it's first warning about the worst storm that could ever come to hit it's shores. The authorities turned the emergency status to it's maximum level. The nation panicked by frantically buying anything they though they needed by emptying entire shelves into their trolleys in hypermarkets.

48 tense hours stood between waiting for it to happen and when it finally hit the Sultanate.

The worst storm in history having to rain more than 150 mm of water on lands all over Oman, with very strong winds up to 200Kmph and pushing the waves to hit the rocks and wave-breakers at around 10-12 metres in some areas. The worst to happen since the last storm back in 1977 where it hit the Masirah Islands with a downpour measured at 400 mm, ultimately killing more than 700 innocent victims.

What seemed to be mere days as the storm hit all over the Sultanate but fortunately staying on the coastline felt like eternity. As citizens and residents embraced the very fabric of their mortal souls, hearing their heartbeats faster and faster as the storm grew nearer and nearer and then passing by to give them mercy over the damage it caused along the way.

It tore buildings, roads, walk paths, power lines, water pipes, communication towers and flooded mostly the entire country except for some lucky parts that did not see anything of this disaster but a drizzle and a little breeze such as Nizwa.

As people came out to see the light of day to estimate the damages and put things back on the path to normalcy, they were devastated to see the amount of destruction all around them. But none-the-less put aside their grief to reach out for those who were less fortunate in their peril all over their neighborhoods, village, city and region, too.

The Omani spirit put together what was thought would push a nation down to crumble under the pressure of a disaster. But the spirit of love, warmth and togetherness paved the way to everyone's hearts. In this period; we saw Omanis and other nationalities side by side aiding one another, aiding others and breathing life to a city that once opened their hearts to them, to a city that gave them everything they needed and so much more and what's more; the feeling of giving back to that country was a feeling beyond comparison.

Today, everyone was an Omani.

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- We have developed a new banner for the Gonu Relief Blog.

If you are interested in joining in the cause you can join us by sending an email or leaving a comment on your email address so that we may add you to contributor's list.

Below is what the banner would look like if you were to put the code on your own website or blog. You will need to click on 'get banner code' to get the code. The banner directs the individual who clicks it to the Gonu Relief Blog.

"

Get my banner code or create your own banner

"

Please help us spread the word.

I would like to thank lipzickle from Omanforum for developing the banner for us.

Withdrawl

2007-05-23T04:06:00.000+04:00

I wish to say that I have greatly and thoroughly enjoyed my time and experience with the Secret Arabian Journal team in the long period of time that I have spent with both Yahya and Jassim. This experience has taught me that while it is an admirable characteristic to have to be hard headed when knowing that you are right in your opinion; it is also wise to know when to pull out.

I regret to say that I have chosen to discontinue my posting services on Secret Arabian whilst keeping intact my nickname for use as time to time as a guest poster - as suggested by Yahya.

I wish nothing but prosperity and further advancements on the path of this blog's voyage of endeavor.

God bless..

Don't Get Fooled

2007-05-20T00:36:00.000+04:00

I've been approached numerous times about this issue and I just wanted to make it clear to those who are lured into this small scheme of 'positivity'.

Now, before I go any further, let me just say that I may sound too pessimistic for my own good most - if not all - of the time. But that doesn't necessarily mean that I am someone who looks for tragedy and goes on like Piglet graving around in slogans of 'woah is me'. On the contrary, I am very a cheerful person looking always for the chance to make people smile, laugh and enjoy their lives to the edge and for those who don't believe in it go bungee jumping.

So when you are reading this post - please bear that in mind and consider it very carefully before making any judgment calls.

Now to the topic at hand..

I've been approached a number of times about having to get in touch with my positive sense because people seem to make the assumption that I am always down on myself and my own rotten luck. So they recommend to me that I should watch this movie by the name 'The Secret'.

The Secret is mostly a how-to televised guide made to introduce you and encourage you to think positively but for all the wrong reasons. The reasons that it uses is based on the so-called 'Laws of Attraction'. And while I try as much as I can to not judge a person by their beliefs and their understandings of mother nature & what else destiny holds in store for every single human being on this Earth - I believe The Secret is a total waste of time, effort and money both for us the viewers since it doesn't really teach us anything new but I also believe that the true purpose behind The Secret's production is to lure those who are faithless and also those who of other faiths - no matter which religion they may follow - but of the poorest 'standard' (i.e.: believing in their religion but not to the point that they could ever prove their point of view to be right in many cases).

The Secret offers a western and capatilist approach to the theory of 'Laws of Attraction'. Being that it implies strongly all throughout the movie that your positive thinking patterns is what brings to you what you wish the most just by thinking hard about it and at the same time applying this theory to everything you think badly about making, for instance, your day even more worse for you should you just think only negative thoughts all throughout the day.

The Secret has been devised so deviously that it provides the backup those who are weak in their faith in the western civilization by offering the neccessary 'nudge' by several religious and scientific figures to make you think that whatever it is you are about to endeavor is truly the right thing.

Its not amazing to me that such a movie has caused such disturbance and criticism in the West by both critics and science folk alike of which oppose the very idea that the concept of The Secret pushes forward to. And it does not amaze me either that this movie has been a large success in the US market and making its original book adaptation a best-seller. As the way The Secret has been made up - I am surprised that there's no '555' number at the end of the credits.

The only advantage that you would get out of the entire movie is that pushes you to think more positively about your life, which is commedable enough. But that's just about it.

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Links:

- Laws of Attraction: The Secret - Official Website of The Secret

- Wikipedia: The Secret

- Amazon.com: The Secret - Books: Rhonda Byrne

- The Secret Law of Attraction Blog: The Official Laws of Attraction Blog

No Caps, Jeans and Dishdashas

2007-05-18T21:22:00.000+04:00

Alot of non-Locals like to complain about feeling like outsiders in the UAE, even though this country is 99% made up of outsiders. However Gulf News highlighted a problem many Nationals experience but is never spoken about in the English press. It is not a breaking news story for us to learn the UAE Nationals dressed like UAE Nationals are not allowed to enter certain places because they look like UAE Nationals. When i was younger and living in Abu Dhabi I had been turned away a few times from bars/clubs and restuarants because I was wearing my kandora. It came to the point that I would only go to Balushi nightclubs to hangout, because there everyone else was dressed like me.

Now please no one speak to me about Muslims and alchohal and all that crap, coz it is irrelevant. Why? A) Because you go to a place that sells alchohal, it doesnt mean you will drink it and B) The UAE is 'technically' ya3ny by definition, a Muslim country, so no authority has the grounds to instruct bars and clubs to deny entrance to someone dressed in a dishdasha, because it is hypocritical: If taking a moral stance was really a concern, alchohal would be banned from all of Abu Dhabi's and Dubai's restuarants hotels and malls. So at the end, if you want to ban me from going to a nightclub because I am Muslim and there will be alchohal there, then ban me from freaking Spinny's and Choitrams as well because they sell pork, something that is as nasty as drink.

This rule of discriminating against Nationals has been going on for so long that when I go to certain restaurants with my wife or friends I mainly go dressed in trousers and top and not even think twice about it anymore. Reading this article has made me realized that it shouldnt be this way. Racism is everywhere but its worse when it happens in your own country in favor of people who are foreigners. The last place I remeber such a thing used to take place was in South Africa. Unless the 'Compliance Division' does not take action against these places, then maybe we should just grant certain establishments the right to put 'No Locals' signs up mid 80's Saffer apartied style.

Dreaming of Freedom

2007-04-13T23:56:00.000+04:00

With all the modern developments going on in the Sultanate of Oman stretching from road works, to health care in the last 36 years, one is lead to think that the country has outweighs its neighbors over numerous issues in the specific matters of civil freedom and freedom of speech.

Sadly, this is not the case.

One look at the media scene in the Sultanate of Oman one is mislead to think that the country's officials leave it to the publishing and media establishments to implement self-censorship on local issues that happen within. As there is there are 6 newspapers in the country; Al-Watan & Oman Tribune; Oman Observer & The Oman Daily Newspaper; and finally The Times of Oman & Al-Shabiba along with 2 government owned television stations - Oman TV & Oman TV 2; and 3 state-owned radio stations.

And although it is widely spread in the international media that the country enjoys freedom of speech in the sense to talk about internal issues that have nothing to do with political system; the truth is quite contrary unfortunately.

As according to a Royal Decree issues by His Majesty Sultan Qaboos - the Sultan of Oman - and in specific Article 29; "Freedom of opinion and expression whether spoken, written, or in other forms, is guaranteed within the limits of the law". But, of late, the Minister of Information has stated that the government with-holds the right to stop certain stories from being published in the local media because according to them, the country's population just isn't ready to grasp the amount of things that happen in their local environment so as to hear or read it in the local media.

Just to point out that it was not long ago that the country with-held information it was in a state of inflation, or the number of people who are unemployed, or even the rise in the price of basic commodities in the local markets. But eventually the population found out about it - the hard way by facing it in their daily lives and realizing the differences in prices or the number of people who didn't get a job because there were far too many foreigners in the country - this is where Omanization came into effect - and finally the inflation in prices of having to build houses and importing the raw materials and its after effects.

The country may have the best intentions in keeping this information in hiding from the unknowing public but as facts state there is a turning point here that the country's officials need to look deeply into by agreeing that there is a need for transparency towards the press; towards the people of the country.

Maybe one day that freedom would come.

But until then, it is a one-man-battle against 'the world'.

walking on very thin ice

2007-04-01T23:43:00.000+04:00

What Iran has come to do after the escalation from a US stand off for a potential war on the state by capturing 15 seamen off the Gulf of Iran was stupid and uncalled for.

If this is to be translated into anything, it would be 'come and get them' and that would be by taking the Bull by its horns.

I was one who was hoping that things would not end up to become to the situation that it is of now; by bringing in the international community and sentencing Iran to oblivion - in a matter of speaking. They may have the nuclear capabilities, but they're not only inviting the entire world to a stand off by their irrational and baby-like behavior but they are also going to bring in the world into the GCC a future so glim and gloomy that God only knows how it would end.

Nuclear winter, perhaps?

What does the future hold from now on?

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Links:

- Iran releases new 'Turney letter'

- Iran airs second sailor 'apology'

Dubai One

2007-03-30T20:56:00.000+04:00

Dubai One's news program is a serious program made for a serious channel. It also sucks. Dubai Channel's news and Abu Dhabi Channel's news is better than this. Why? Because the anchor people on those channels are not only hired for their good looks but also because they can actually read the news and make it look natural. Not like Dubai One's reporters who read like they rehersed the stories a thousand times over before going live and then look like a cat caught in the headlights of a car before going to be hit, when the camera goes on.

Ya3ny. How hard can it be to read press releases for 10 minutes, then some stupid story about a dog or a park or something and then interviewing some dull Dubaians about their opinions on the afforemetioned subjects? Right?

And what happens to the news that really happens in Dubai everyweek? Why doesnt Dubai One report on all the rapes, and suicides etc that the newspapers report about and only broadcasts stories about Indians getting hit by cars? There is more to Dubai than bad traffic and stories about Sheikh Somebody bin Somebody bin Somebody meeting some African leader from some country no one has heared about. There is also more to Dubai than what Mr Expat from the Greens or Jumeirah, having to live a hard life because they cut his Golf Membership (or whatever it is that has got all you European expats up in huff this week. )

Really when it comes to Dubai One news 'todays special number in the news' and really everyday's special number in the news is ONE. Why? Coz Khalid Al Subaihi is the only person who seems professional enough to stand in front of the camera. Khalid you run that show. If it wasnt for you, i'd say bring back Channel 33.

what will your choice be?

2007-03-15T23:26:00.001+04:00

The threats have been coming in left, right and centre on Iran from the United States because of Iran's nuclear enrichment plans that it claims are for peaceful purposes (i.e.: creating power needed for its major cities).

Yet, so far, we have not seen the US put down its rifles and shotguns in the escalated movement to a nearby future war on Iran.

While I have my own personal views about each party, this post is dedicated to cutting the losses quickly and swiftly by asking both parties to step down from their arms' race and look at the bigger picture of the people that will suffer if the war is conducted and what dyer consequences there will be on the region after that. The aftermath will be our nightmare come true.

There has been a movement in the US from different American Iranian parties that have chosen to fight this course of future action and stop it from ever happening. They have assigned a petition and a blog dedicated to this cause.

The blog is under the title: Stop War On Iran. While the petition online is dedicated to sending a strong message to both the US Congress and President George W. Bush to stop the war on Iran. The petition can be found here. Alternatively, you can also visit the dedicated website to this cause, which is under the name of StopWarOnIran.org.

Help us stop this madness.

There are lives at stake, here.

What will your choice be?

a secret arabian adventure part one

2007-03-07T17:40:00.000+04:00

I apologize for my extended spell of laziness with regards to posting on this blog, however I work in one of those high-stress professions where most of my days I spend a great deal of time fighting with fellow employees, bosses and the media.

The best part of my work is the weekend, when I turn my phone off and use the time to unwind. Most weekends for me are spent in the desert of Ajman, on the coast of Fujairah or in the mountains of Khor Fakkan (hence my nickname Nomaadic). The past weekend was slightly different from my usual schedule as we decided to go mountain climbing and hunting in an extremely remote part of Khor Fakkan.

When I recieved the call last Thursday night asking whether I wanted to explore a new area of Khor Fakkan, I jumped at the idea. I am no stranger to rock climbing the deep and barren wadies of the country side; however this expedition was somewhat different. My best friend Ahmed, a seasoned Emirati army officer, his brother Yassim and a third friend Mohamed are used too scaling cliff walls freehand and at extremely high altitudes, however for me, this experience would be a new one.

Early Friday afternoon, prior to beginning our ascent and after eating a large meal in the shade of our Fortuner, we checked our rifles and began a three hour trek through a deep valley and highly inhospitable valley that was completly littered with rocks of all sizes. Yassim's tales of being confronted by a pack of mountain tigers on a previous trip were not paid attention to until we reached approximately 400 hundred feet up and realized that there would be no where to run, if, we were confronted by at least one carnivorous animal.

Yet our initial ascent was comparably easy, even after walking for three hours through an extremely rocky wadi. However the higher we reached the windier it became and soon our trek came to a notorious point, where several animals and people had been known to have fallen to their deaths in very recent times. Still the cathartic nature of the expedition overwhelmed the fear of dieing and we proceeded to the top.

After two hours of climbing, and only one casualty (Yassim became extremely sick and spent a good fifteen minutes vomiting, but he still survived:-p) we reached an extremely steep precipice characterized by loose and broken rock and had to halt our journey. Only 300 meters from the top, we had to travel back down 100 meters and circle our way around the mountain to avoid the broken rock and the likelihood of slipping to an early death in an avalanche. (All of this I may add, without any climbing equipment whatsoever.)

With the assistance of some Bedu's we eventually managed to negotiate our way to the top of the mountain and was greeted with a site that could only be called an oasis. The whole area owned by one family was green, vast and sublime. No one was there accept the Sheikh of the area, his nephew, his cousin Salim (who was also our guide and fifth member of our team) and a handful of Pakistani farmers and laborers.

The mountain plateau covering over 10 miles, used to accommodate several family units up until the early Nineties, with their small huts scattered right across the area; however since then it has become deserted and today is only used during the winter as a holiday getaway for the men. It made me wonder how old women and young children managed to live up here in the past as the entire area is totally isolated from the rest of the country and traveling down and up these mountains is virtually impossible for anyone who is not in peak health.

The area has no electricity, no pluming and none of the creature comforts most people cannot get by without in the UAE and thus is truly another world where literally only the toughest can survive there - for any extended period of time. We were only there for two days and in that time garnered an appreciation for the sloppy infrastructure those of us living in Sharjah and Ajman have had to put up with on a daily basis. Here, when I asked Salim if there were any toilet facilities around, even a makeshift one, his reply was 'The whole area is your hamam, just be discreet, very clean and very considerate when you are doing your business.'

Life up there had not changed in over a millennia and I was pleased when I heard that when one of the Qassimies had earlier offered to buy the whole mountain area with the ambition of establishing a resort or ultra plush private getaway, its Sheikh said 'no'. This part of Khor Fakkan is a living time capsule, away and completely isolated from everything, including tourists and adventure travellors. Most expats and even many Emiraties have not even began to scratch the surface when it comes to exploring the wonders of the UAE.

It was Maghreb (sunset) by the time we settled so after we prayed we decided to eat. With nothing but a full moon lighting the entire area, the setting was as thematically romantic as any Hollywood movie could ever try to reproduce. Deciding that it was best that we all get an early night... the next morning hunting was on the cards.

© All pictures on this blog is copyrighted and cannot be reproduced without the expressed consent of The Secret Arabian Journal blog members.

where have the Secret Arabi Boyz gone?

2007-03-04T02:28:00.000+04:00

A question has risen to my head and I think to your minds as well as to where have all the Secret Arabi Boyz have been all this time; where they have gone and what have they been up to and why all this quiteness on Secret Arabian.

From my perspective, you probably know by now that I have been running my life around in the sense that I have been more focused on my own blogs; my write-ups in the local media here in the Sultanate of Oman; plus the fact that I have barely enough time to keep for myself that stress is getting to me but its the wonderful feeling of keeping busy that keeps me satisfied.

I have been barely in touch with Yahya and Jassim throughout the whole time that I had dissapeared from Secret Arabian up until now. So I have no idea what they are up to whatsoever. But if I am not mistaken, then Yahya is very much busy with his workloads that he is unable to submit anything to Secret Arabian - which pretty much leaves the work on both me and Jassim, who has also dissapeared.

All in all, everything seems to be going our way and in our way - and in the process, it's you who end up paying the price, regrettably so, may I add.

I apologize terribly for all this dissapearance act - I promise from my end that I will try my best to end this hush hush situation and keep Secret Arabian afloat.

But, as I said to Yahya once, if he leaves - then so will I.

Who Holds Who?

2007-02-20T00:50:00.000+04:00

First, Hamas was designated as a terror organization because it 'illegally' fought the Israeli opression machine. Then Israel started holding off the funds that were coming in by the EU until the 'situation' calmed down. And even the fact still stands that Hamas was elected by the people for the people in the last Palestinian presidential elections, they were still not recognized by the USA.

And now, ever since the Mecca agreement to form a joint unity government that consisted of both Hamas and Fatah leaders, the USA and the state of 'Israel' is now threatening to boycott the new unity unless the newly formed government 'recognizes the quartet's demands to form peace with Israel'.

Fact: None of the GCC countries recognize the state Israel ever since it's formation by the UN.

Fact: Hamas does not recognize the state of Israel because of it's violent and agressive oppression on the Palestinian people even since it invaded the occupied land.

Fact: The USA has told Israeli PM Olmert to withhold any talks with the Syrian side regarding the Jolan Heights to end the Israeli occupation in that area.

So, the question is here: Who holds who under their thumb?

----

Link:

- US and Israel 'back boycott plan'

Flashback to Lost again

2007-02-16T17:42:00.000+04:00

Every other 'Emarati' blogger has written alot about Lost: Ahmed, Emirati, Yahya and Moyarati, so its my turn.

Most of you people who have left Lost to watch Heroes or some nonesense like that, have done that because you are impatient and not demanding in the television you watch. You like simple entertainment made for simple people.

Most of you say you have Lost interest because its 'too slow'. You prefer to watch silly programs about normal people who turn into superheros (like thats never been done before) or programs about beautiful wifes cheating on their husbands (yeah coz thats so original) or like to watch crime scene forensic dramas about the brutal murder of an average every day person (because you are all sick freaks). You watch this nonsense because that kind of entertainment does not require any thinking or intelligence.

But really you are missing out on Lost. The drama aspect is really more interesting than the sci-fi part, but they both work together and seem verry realistic in the way the stories playout on the screen. Season 3 part 2 begun last week and now we are getting answers about the Island the plane crash survivors are trapped on.

My theory is, is that Scientist from a multinational mega corporation are doing a massive sociological and psychological experiment on the plane crash survivors, but these survivors do not know. But there is a bigger twist. The Island's, facilities are perhaps generated by power made from the Earths magnetic pull, so no one in the outside world can find them.

More interesting than this theory is the flashbacks each character has everyweek. As the viewer we think the flashbacks are just normal tv program flashbacks we see on most other dramas, giving extra information on the characters past lives, but this weeks episode prooves that the flashbacks mean a little more, as one character called Desmond actually realizes he is in a 'flashback' and so tries to change the future.

It is an amazing episode but probably makes no sense if you have never watched this program before. This episode where the screen shots are from is perhaps the best episode of the entire two years of the series...and it very creepy and sinister.

Answers for Israel

2007-02-14T04:38:00.001+04:00

This video is a message from the left wing 'Israeli' movement.

'nuff said.

George Galloway Embarrases Sky News

2007-02-06T03:29:00.001+04:00

God bless George Galloway.

35 Years In The Making

2007-01-30T23:28:00.000+04:00

And I feel so damned proud of our soldiers in white. We did it, even though really the Omanies played better than us, we made it and i feel so damned proud. Today we are all Emirati.