Come share my world, closer to home.....

Switzerland......

Nah...Toronto.......

Nahhh...Christchurch actually......

Just kidding...we were in Dubai, enjoying snow in the dessert where the temperatures outside were in high 40's...

Ski Dubai Snow Park
The world’s largest Snow Park is nowhere else but at Ski Dubai. Lying on 3000 square meters of snow, the park is a one of a kind attraction that leaves you breathless.

At the Snow Park you won’t meet boredom; go crazy in the tobogganing hills, or in a twin track bobsled ride. Also, a snowball throwing gallery and a snow cavern filled with interactive experiences and amazing sights and sounds await you for an unforgettable journey. A large observation tower offers a perfect view of the Ski Dubai main slope. Parents can engage in recreation with their children while building a snowman and playing on the hills.

To complete this magical setting, regular snowfalls will surprise you and will add more excitement to this fun-filled snow experience.

All in all we had a verry good time with family, my sister's family, henna, nimmo and all.....getaways, family dinners, shopping and all....

We all have heard about the expressions, Paani mein Aag, Jungle mein Mangal, Sahra mein Phool, Pahadon mein Nahar and now add to the list Sahra mein Burf - Amazing it is...

Khuda bhi aasman se jab zameen par dekhta hoga,
Mere bandon ka aage aage kya hoga sochta hoga.....

What are we singing????????

Global Warming, we have become too familiar with these two words, but what we are experiencing here got me curious to search on the possiblity of Global Cooling and surprisingly I came out with the full picture on Global Cooling, also learnt words like Global Freeze, frankly I have never heard of these terms before now........

Unbelievabale as it may sound but leaving New Zealand made no difference to us when it came to facing the cold chilled rainy weather, choosing the hottest place on earth made no difference, even HOT PLACE like UAE, although people here are thrilled to experience this chill pill as they have never experienced before, infact they have sometimes praised, blamed or credited us by saying that we are the ones who brought cold weather from New Zealand (in a bag I suppose), it has not cooled here like this in UAE since 1992.

The last couple of months were the foggiest, coldest and rainiest of all, the chill spill is still very much on.........

CHEKOUT THE NEWSPAPER HEADLINES IN LAST FEW MONTHS:

UAE is experiencing its rainiest January on record

No end in sight for foggy conditions in UAE say weather forecaster

Fog forces Abu Dhabi airport to close

Incessant rain continues in UAE; heavy rain forecast

Heavy rains bring UAE wadis to life

Temperatures in the UAE to dip through the night

After gale force winds it's chill time

High winds reduce visibility in UAE

Snow falls on United Arab Emirates

UAE shivers under extreme cold spell

Global warming can cause Global Cooling, have you heard that before???

Scientists announced in the July 21, 1999, edition of the journal Nature findings that suggest that global warming can sometimes lead to cold weather or even a worldwide freeze.

Rains brought chaos to Dubai and the northern emirates on Tuesday morning as the weather department predicted thundershowers and lighting for the next 48 hours. Reports said major arteries of Dubai were choked with vehicles as residents began a rush.

UAE recorded a steep dip in night-time temperature, with 6 degrees Celsius on Monday, and the next three days will continue to be very cold across the country, according to Dubai meteorological office.

Snow has fallen over the United Arab Emirates for the first time ever, leaving a white blanket over the mountains of Ras al-Khaimah as the desert country experienced a cold spell and above-average rainfall.

The mean temperatures in UAE have also dropped six degrees below normal, said Dr S.K. Gupta, duty forecaster, promising chilly days ahead, but no rain.

I will end it with this couplet:
Hijr ke mausam mein yeh barish ka barasna kaisa!
Ek Sehra Se Samandar Ka guzarna kaisa!!
(Hijr - separation, Sehra - desert)

HELLO EVERYONE

First of all my heartwarming thanks to all those emails, querying about me, our blog and keeping in touch with me all this time while I was busy settling into my new life, cannot explain in words what it meant to me, what it gave me, I can't thank Allah enough for giving me bunch of great friends, I FEEL BLESSED.

LOVE YOU ALL, MISSED YOU ALL - HEEEEEAAAAPPPPSSSSS

I was planning to relaunch MY blog on 1st of January 2008, but another example of man proposes God disposes, my computer broke and I couldn't log into my blog, we humans have some attitude haan?? WE think WE can do whatever WE plan to do whenever WE plan to do, but hey does it work like that? Nah, there is a BIG BOSS up there who has set plans for us all.

Well I always believe when something doesn't work for us it is because god has something much better planned for us so maybe my blog was to restart on Islamic New Year, So here's praying for you, me and everyone a very blessed year ahead.

ITS AN ISLAMIC NEW YEAR TODAY
The Learning Continues........

The Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar, based on the revolutions of the Moon. The Muslim New Year is celebrated on the first day of Muharram, which is the first month of the Islamic calendar. New Year's Day is used to remind Muslims of the Hiraj or migration, of Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina. It is a known fact that the actual migration did not take place on the first day of Muharram. It probably took place in the third Islamic month. The Islamic calendar itself was instituted after the actual migration. As a result of the association of the Islamic calendar with Hijrah, New Year's Day is important to remember the significance of the Prophet's migration.

The way the Muslims celebrate New Year's Day is very different from other such celebrations. They gather in mosques and offer special prayers and listen to special readings from the Koran. An important part of the prayer service is the narration of the Hegira or the flight of Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina. Muslims are supposed to reflect on their life, the manner in which they are leading their life and about their own mortality. The day is spent in prayer and on reflecting on how one is leading one's life. There are no celebrations that we normally associate with New Year's Day. The New Year is known as Maal Hijra among the Muslims. Recently a number of Muslims have started sending greeting cards to each other on their New Year's Day.

The other new year calendars celebrated around the world are:
Hindu New Year
Jewish New Year
Celtic New Year

Thank you all for being BIG part of it, all along......

'New' seven wonders of the world

A campaign has been organised by the privately funded New Seven Wonders Foundation established by the Swiss adventurer Bernard Weber, to decide by votes on a global scale, what the top seven wonders of the world are.

Nearly 200 sites were under consideration at the beginning of the campaign, and they have been narrowed down to 21, ahead of the announcement of the final seven on July 7, in Lisbon.

The top seven in the list of 21 sites are:

1. The Coliseum of Rome, originally known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, completed in 80 AD.

2. Peru's Machu Picchu (which means manly peak) was built between 1460 and 1470 AD by Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui, an Incan ruler

3. Civilised life ended in the 8th century AD in the ancient and magnificient Jordanian city of Petra.

4. A mausoleum in Agra built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan to commemorate his wife Mumtaz, the construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632 and was completed in 1648

5. Off the coast of Chile, Easter Islands is one of the most isolated in the world. It has been estimated that over 1200 years ago, a remarkable society developed on the island who carved giant stone statues out of volcanic rock. The monuments, known, as 'moai', are some of the most incredible ancient relics ever discovered.

6. The oldest and only remaining member of the Seven Wonders of the World, Egypt's Pyramids of Giza are believed to have been constructed over a 20-year period, concluding around 2560 BC.

7. Great Wall of China: It was built over 2,000 years ago by Qin Shi Huangdi, the first emperor of China, during the Qin Dynasty (221 BC-206 BC).

Few famous quotes on a contradictory note:

Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition.

Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult.

If you want anything said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman.

Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.

Men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less.

Someone out there either has too much spare time or is deadly at Scrabble. (Wait till you see the last one)!

DORMITORY:
When you rearrange the letters:
DIRTY ROOM

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PRESBYTERIAN:
When you rearrange the letters:
BEST IN PRAYER

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ASTRONOMER:
When you rearrange the letters:
MOON STARER

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DESPERATION:
When you rearrange the letters:
A ROPE ENDS IT

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE EYES:
When you rearrange the letters:
THEY SEE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GEORGE BUSH:
When you rearrange the letters:
HE BUGS GORE

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THE MORSE CODE:
When you rearrange the letters:
HERE COME DOTS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SLOT MACHINES:
When you rearrange the letters:
CASH LOST IN ME

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ANIMOSITY:
When you rearrange the letters:
IS NO AMITY

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ELECTION RESULTS:
When you rearrange the letters:
LIES - LET'S RECOUNT

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MOTHER-IN-LAW:
When you rearrange the letters:
WOMAN HITLER

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SNOOZE ALARMS:
When you rearrange the letters:
ALAS! NO MORE Z 'S

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A DECIMAL POINT:
When you rearrange the letters:
IM A DOT IN PLACE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE EARTHQUAKES:
When you rearrange the letters:
THAT QUEER SHAKE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AND FOR THE GRAND FINALE:


ELEVEN PLUS TWO:
When you rearrange the letters:
TWELVE PLUS ONE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A WHITE PEACOCK!!!!!!!!!

“Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, a dancing peacock, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.

Ever wondered how, the more pretty girls are always hitched up with the less handsome men? My own survey of the odd scenario reveals that eight out of ten beautiful women, actually hook up with or get married to men who are just passably handsome, and in many instances, very plain looking. The ‘Adonis’ types end up with Venuses only on movie and cinema screens; In real life, the princesses invariably pair with toads.

I count myself a toad, and have nicknamed myself a ‘cockroach’. Mainly because of my average in height, weight, colour and below average in looks department. Maybe too, because I am really an amphibian or arthropod in anthropomorphic form. Either way, the point is, much to the utter amazement (and often, utter consternation), the ‘crow’ look-alikes of my campus ended up with the ‘swans’ of the campus. The population of the bevy of beautiful belles that hover round plainsmen, amazes.

I have a possible explanation for dichotomous crow-swan coupling.

You see, the crows, know they are crows and the cockroaches know they are just that, insects; vermin and overlooked: They have nothing to lose anyway, so, they dare to send the valentine card, or the bunch of roses or tinkle a bell - to the prettiest in the city. Rejection they can take, they know they probably will be, but they never give up trying.

Now the swans, all decked and dolled up, enveloped in a cloud of perfume, eyelashes aflutter, stand in vain for the never-forthcoming Lochinvars in shining armour. Instead, they have a bunch of Sancho Panzas, strewing petals at their feet, making them feel heady. The crows are born courtiers and wooers. They will boldly walk up to Aishwarya, sitting alone yonder, to ask for a dance: all the while, the handsome smooth shaven Gallahads, reeking of after-shave and dripping in gold necklace and bracelets, wait at the other end of the dance floor, and hesitate; Afraid of asking, for fear of being rebuffed. That is the key. They cannot take no for an answer, these macho types: their egos won’t permit them to take risks. But the cockroach, he is ready in approach, open in his admiration and genuine in his motive-and lo! The crows get the crown.

Next time you see an ill-matched married pair, the male Corvus splendens (common crow) with arms of the female Pavo cristatis (pea fowl) draped around him, don’t rant, just rationalize, and rue: it could have been you and her, instead it is her and ‘it’. The hare always loses the race to the tortoise. So said Aesop.

And so say all of us, the Periplaneta americanas (the roaches). Amen