BSA's Summer Bazaar 2009

The Summer Bazaar 2009 (SB2009) of the British School of Alexandria (BSA) is always happening. Looking forward by the students and parents alike, the SB2009 is one of the BSA activities that had helped to build rapport between parents, the students, and the teachers. One of the fundamental objectives is to encourage the students to lend their hand with charity fund effort and at the same time driving the students potential to venture the entrepreneurship world. Kudos to the organizer and the kids!
Among others, this year the SB2009 provided opportunity to Kamarul’s kids – Ayesha and Ali Imran trying their business skill. Joint venture with her friends from Malawi, Ayesha’s products – fried Malaysian noodles, Malawian delicacies, etc. were successfully penetrated the local demand with a net income of EGP 5++ as reported by Kamarul. Good job dude!

em..em...yummy....yummy. Well, she is on diet after completing full plate of the Malawian cookies?! Sehingga menjilat jari...!! literally means till licking fingers!

In the background of the above, one could see a mural painting yet to be completed by 'Afi as part of his contribution to the school. Good work 'Afi. See you next Summer Bazaar.

Where Ever You Are, What Ever You Do..........

Where ever you are, what ever that you do, and whether you do it by standing, sitting on a chair, lying on a bed, etc. we as a good Muslim must not forget to perform the five times daily compulsory prayer. This reminds me a story narrated by Al Mughirah: The Prophet Muhammad saw (peace be upon him) used to offer night prayer (Tahajjud) till his feet became swollen. Somebody said to him, “Allah azza wajala has forgiven you your sins of the past and the future.” On that, he replied, “Shouldn’t I be a thankful servant of Allah swt?”

Road Improvement

200 meters from where this picture was captured, there was a big roundabout, the bottleneck of the Pyramid-Giza bypass - link road between Alex-Cairo Highway and the Cairo Ring Road. Now, with the new four junctions with traffic lights equipped with timer, the usual jam or zahmah, especially on Thursday, is dramatically reduced. The dual carriage stretch along the Giza Pyramids has been converted to single one-way road, which further reduced the congested traffic.

Cairo at Night from the eyes of the Nile

She'd Made us Proud

Afiqah and her class mates during her friend - Rahila's (on the right) birthday. Happy birthday to Rahila and may Allah swt give you His blessings always.

Alhamdullillah praise only for the Almighty Allah. Lately, Afiqah has shown dramatically significant improvement in her academic endeavor. However, the efforts and passion towards the studies are most important than the result itself. Man plan Allah azza wa jala disposes.

Congratulations Afiqah and keep it up! All the best for the coming examinations.

Bueno Adiós Valencia España

There are nothing in this world will stay or live forever. The second phase of our life – our journey in this world is short. Thus, we have to optimize the time wisely as per the guidance revealed by the Almighty Allah swt and demonstrated by His Messenger Muhammad saw (peace be upon him) – the holy Qur’an nul Kareem and al-Hadith sherif.
We arrived at the Valencia airport at 15:15 hours. However, the counters were still closed. While waiting for the counters resuming its operations, we spent about 20 minutes at Il Café d Roma for a cup of coffee.
“Hola!”, greeted by the friendly Spanish receptionist once we entered the business lounge. In the lounge, we filled our stomach with fruits, potatoes chips, pastries, and coffee. One of my friends, by mistake, consumed a piggy-mixed chip. We left the lounge and boarded the Lufthansa flight LH 3542 at 17:05 hours.

Travelling in Spain or most of the European countries were quite challenging for the Muslim travelers especially when dealing with foods. Otherwise, there were many things that one could learn and share. Therefore, first and foremost, look for a Mosque or any Islamic Center, like what the great Prophet Muhammad saw (peace be upon him) and his companions did, InsyaAllah, we will be safe. Bueno adiós Valencia.

Shisha, Peggy & Meggy

Shisha is a female Persian cat belong to our good neighbour Nervin. The birdy Peggy and Meggy were given by Sherif to the kids. Despite the different of their origins, they are friends. However, no one could assure its curiousity. Thus, one is kept outside the cage.
I love animals and other living creatures created by the Almighty Allah Rabbul Jalil. But, not really keen keeping them at home. Anyway, this is for temporary I hope.

Customary Break at Istanbul Restaurant

After almost 3 years living in the beautiful land of Egypt, I have been acclimatized with the food, culture, and the environment in general. Falafeel or Tammiya, qushairi, roze billaban, beshamel, shawirma, etc. had become my staple food, in which without it, my stomach grumble like the Japanese drum.
Since three days, we sustained our energy with fruits, cereals, bread, and some local dishes, the Istanbul Restaurant situated just 100 meters in front of the Valencia Islamic Center, fulfilled our need to have our customary break. They served mainly Arabian food – Moroccan and Turkish, akin the Egyptian dishes. Among others, you could enjoy the kebab, Falafeel, Kush-Kush, etc. Ilyas, the owner, was very friendly. He speaks good English, which eased further our life.

During the lunch, after the Friday prayer, we met few typical friendly Egyptians – Ahmed, Mohamed, Mostafa, who are working in Valencia since years ago. They shared us a lot of information about their life as Muslim and the whereabouts in Valencia. Good money though, but life is tough. As a matter of fact, more than 1430 years ago, the prophet Muhammad saw (peace be upon him) said; “the worldly world and our temporary life is not for the real Muslim, the real life is the Jannah”. The life of all the prophets and their companions were filled with sacrifices to bring the human kind to the true path of Allah azza wa jala. Saidina Bilal r.a. for example, was dragged and laid down over the hot sand under the hot sun by the Quraish disbeliever, who forced him to surrender his faith. I appeal to all my family members, In-laws, relatives, friends, all Muslims around the globe, and I, to stand united, put our best efforts in anything that we does for Allah swt, make da’wah as shown by the great Prophet Muhammd saw as part of our sacrifice to enhance essentially our faith – Iman.

There are two other Islamic restaurants around the area, but both closed during Friday. Thank you very much to Ilyas and all his staff for the excellent service and hospitality. Hope we will meet again somewhere and may Allah swt give us His blessing and accept our good deeds for Him to reveal the Hidayah to the people in Spain. Amiin.

Federacion Consejo Islamico Valenciano

The conference closed it curtain at 13:45 hours. We changed our attire and decided to look for the Valencia Islamic Center for us to perform our Friday prayer. It is not compulsory for travelers like us though, but to me it is an opportunity for us building our networking amongst the Muslim wherever you go. We have spent hours looking for shopping complex and roaming around without specific goal. Thus, I do not see any reason why we should not spend at least the same hours looking for the ‘House’ of Allah azza wa jala and ‘iktikaf or staying inside it for Allah swt?
Mokhsen that we met yesterday at the Ankara restaurant informed us that there is big Mosque and Islamic Center within the place called Plaza de Xuquer. We took a taxi to search for the Mosque. With this famous saying: “No mountain is high when there is a will and when there is a will, there will be a way”, wandering around my head, I am very optimistic that the Almighty Allah swt will show us the way. As we were approaching the area, Allah Rabbul Jalil revealed us a clue through one Pakistani with his white grey beard, white turban, and white dress walking in front us when the taxi stopped at the traffic light. About seven minutes after that, the taxi driver who only know three English words dropped us at the Plaza de Xuquer. We run out of clue on where the Islamic Center was! Thus, we decided to go to the direction where the Pakistani guy went.After 3 minutes walking along the greenery pathway sandwiched by shops and restaurants (one of which is a piggy restaurant), we met three Indian-like men. I asked them about the Islamic Center. Alhamdullillah, the Almighty Allah had shown us another clue - a good English speaking Muslim from Lahore, Pakistan who was on the way to the Islamic Center to perform the Friday prayer. They invited us to join them and we went together to the Islamic Center / Mosque.

The Friday sermon was conveyed by a Moroccan Sheikh in standard Arabic and we joint the congregation when he was about to complete the first chapter of his sermon. There were about 500 people from various nationalities – Pakistani, Indonesian, Moroccan, Egyptian, Turkish, and quite significant number Spanish joint the congregation. The calmness and the soul of the Mosque, reminded me of the Moors, the Ottoman Empire and how the Muslim was expelled in the 15th century after they conquered about two third of the Iberian Peninsula in the 8th Century. Tears running out of eyes.

Fulfilling the five compulsory prayers in the Mosque is very essential and an obligatory to certain sect. Narrated by Abu Hurairah r.a., the Prophet Muhammad saw (peace be upon him) said: “I will ask the youth to collect fire woods and I will visit from one house to another and burn it if I find someone (man) without any justifications praying inside the house”. The lesson that one could learnt from the hadith is the importance of performing the compulsory prayers in the Mosque, which depicts the unity and oneness. One would gain sakeenah or peacefulness and serenity with full concentration during the prayers.

After the Friday prayer, we met few brothers and the Sheikh. They were very grateful with our presence and we were touched with their warmth hospitality. Around the Center, there were few brothers selling perfumes, miswak - a natural toothbrush made from the twigs of Salvadora Persica, also known as arak tree, recommended by the Prophet Muhammad saw (peace be upon him) for the Muslim to use before prayer, some local vegetables, scarf, etc. Let us supplicate before Allah Rabbul Jalil to accept our good deeds for His blessing and hidayah especially to the people in Spain.

Doing MORE with Less: Valencia Chapter

Doing More with Less – a very challenging but relevant theme fit the current world wide economic turmoil.The challenge is; how would you manage growth, innovation, talent, engagement, and performance when the pressure is to do more with less. Everyday in any newspapers, credit crises, rising inflation, global economic slow-down are making the headlines. On the other hand, the pressure for growth from investors and the stock markets remains the same.
We all feel that we are running just to stand still and have to do more with less. At the same time, the loss of talent and dwindling engagement levels keeps us awake at night.
However, there are ways out of the maze. Organizations can sustain growth and overtake the competition by working smarter and not harder, by adopting innovative new organizational forms and processes as well as products and services. What’s more, technology and connectivity are highly effective tools that will help. Better team working and collaboration across geographic and organizational boundaries and collaboration with customers will also keep us ahead of the field.

Some of the great speakers that delivered significant topics this year were; CK Prahalad on Our New Age of Innovation, Vijay Govindarajan with his Strategy as Changing Rules of the Global game, and last but not least Fons Trompenaars with his warmth topic Creating More out of Less.

Albeit the relevant theme, great speakers, and the splendid conference venue, in general this year chapter was not as good when it was organized in Rome. The layout of the program was compressed and the participation was almost half less than last year mainly due to Swine flu pandemic, which resulted with last minute cancellation. Life must goes on.

L'Hemisferic and the Inauguration of ICM 2009

L’ Hemisferic, located within the City of Arts and Sciences, was chosen by the organizer this year to launch this year HayGroup International Conference. L’ Hemisferic is a landmark of modern architecture and Europe’s largest leisure and culture complex. With the concept of human eyes and theme – the eyes of knowledge, a Valencia-based architect Santiago Calatrava, one of the most renowned living architects in the world, was tasked to put his best to design and built this Valencia master piece, which completed in 1998.
The City of Arts and Sciences is an ensemble of five areas and is made up of the following, usually known by their Valencian names: El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía — Opera house and performing arts centre; L'Hemisfèric — Imax Cinema, Planetarium and Laserium; L'Umbracle — Walkway / Garden; El Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe — Science museum; L'Oceanogràfic — Open-air oceanographic park. Surrounded by attractive streams and pools of water, it and the surrounding areas of the "city" are typically used as a relaxing place to walk day or night, with an open-air bar outside El Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe during the evening.
The HayGroup Global Managing Director for client development and reward services cum conference Director, Mr. Nick Boulter, inaugurated the welcoming reception, followed with the keynote address by the Mayor representative, Mr. Pablo.

The participant from at least 42 countries, were indulged with the local Spanish cuisine, among others the most popular paella. Any gastronomic reference to Valencia must begin with the paella. Originated in Spain's Valencia region near lake Albufera coastal lagoon in eastern Spain, Paella literally a rice mixed and cooked together with other recipe that includes chicken, sea food, rabbit and vegetables – “ferradura, I garrofo” – green beans, and even snails. However, there is no exclusive recipe since the paella is a local dish and the recipe varies from one place to another, and according to the time of the year.

This year there were only four Malaysians attended the conference and I was very proud to see the ‘Jalur Gemilang’ standing at par with the rest of the flags of 42 countries.

Ankara Royal Kebabs serves Halal food at Valencia

Around 18:45 hours, 10 minutes after the first day of the Conference we went to El Corte Ingles, one of the biggest shopping malls in Valencia, about one kilometer away from Hilton. It has at least five more branches all over Valencia. However, the prices of the products are comparatively high.
After about one hour roaming around the complex, we decided to boost our energy at McDonald. I bought myself a donut, medium size potato fries, and a cup of cappuccino. Immediately after exiting the McD’s estrada, right in front of us the first time we found a restaurant with a big halal sign called Ankara Royal Kebabs.
The gladness could not be hide from our faces that we spent almost one hour with the crew – Mokhsein (the supervisor I believed), Hayat – a jovial Moroccan who had been in Valencia the past 12 years, and Iman. They served mainly Turkish, Moroccan, and Arabian food in general. The price was reasonable but the tastes were more Moroccan. InsyaAllah, we will you again ya gemaah. For those who plan to visit Valencia, I would personally recommend to visit this restaurant.

At 21:15 hours, the sun obediently completed it tasks without fail, reminded us to perform our maghrib prayer as a humble servant of the Almighty Allah swt as guided or shown by His great Messenger Muhammad saw (peace be upon him). Thus, we called it a day.

Holà....Valencia

Holà Valencia…! the morning sky of Valencia was a little bit gloomy, at 10:21 we joint the ‘Bus Turistic’ exploring the old city center, the porto area where the Formula 1 race usually held, the marina, and the new Valencia. It cost us 13 Euro for the 24 hours ticket, however, the last pick-up is at around 19:45 hours during spring and early summer.
Whether it was fortunate or not, the roads, the seductive buildings, and their exotic parks of the old Turia River were colored by the Red & White colors of the club, which sunk the dark maroon-blue color of the Barcelona FC, and the atmosphere was filled with the club theme. The die-hard fan of the Athletic Club Bilbao came from all over Spain congested the whole Valencia since early in the morning. The final match of the Spanish league though, started at 10:00 hrs, and 120 minutes later, the red-white color of the Athletic Bilbao club was washed away by the 4-1 defeat. The happening faded away loosing its notes.
We stopped at the center of the old Valencia city called Plaza de Reina. We spent about one hour roaming around the old buildings and had our light lunch at the McD.

We continued our tour and hopped in to the ‘Bus Turistic’ heading towards the City of Arts and Sciences. I will share about this City in my later updates.

Valencia, Spain third largest city that accommodates around 1.7 millions people, has many things to offer.