For the creative spirits! Creativity is intelligence having fun. – Albert Einstein Save
Biking on the Corniche in Abu Dhabi, UAE
In Abu Dhabi, our apartment was near the Corniche, so almost every day whenever we went out, we’d pass by it. Corniche is a main waterfront road that spreads 5 miles in the city. It features beaches, parks, restaurants and cafes. I always saw a bike rental place on it and thought we could do it one of the days when we didn’t have anything big planned. That day came and I was ready to pitch the idea to my friend. I told her since we weren’t doing much that day, we could go explore the Corniche on bikes. She wasn’t too keen on the idea because I wanted to do it in the middle of the day. No one really did outdoor activities there that early in order to avoid getting overly hot and burnt in the desert heat (especially in the month of May and June). I was on a travel high and…
Wednesday Wisdom – Verily, it is in the remembrance of God…
Continuing with the mosque (house of worship) theme this week, I felt the following quote from the Holy Quran was appropriate: Verily, it is in the remembrance of God that hearts can find comfort. -Holy Quran 13:29 As most people, including myself, when going through hardships in life, turn to family and friends for advice and peace of mind. And for me and probably most of you, it feels good to know that there are people we can count on and who will always be there for us no matter what. Regardless of all those amazing people in my life, and how much I appreciate them, I sometimes still find myself uneasy until I bow down in prayer. There is in fact something about presenting myself before God that is truly comforting. It is not only in actual prayer that we can find relief, but in remembering Him continuously throughout the day and being grateful…
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Now to share one of my favorites places in Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. This mosque was a vision by the Late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan who set the foundation of the structure but was completed and opened for worship in 2007, after his death. When I went back in 2010, I had a basic point and shoot camera. While going through my pictures, 6 years later, I feel that they do not do justice to the beauty of this mosque (well…I don’t think any picture can really do justice to it). However, I hope that you will still enjoy looking through them. It features several different styles of Islamic architecture like Mamluk, Ottoman and Fatimid. There are four minarets and eighty two domes and it can accommodate up to 40,000 worshipers. Most of the mosque is made in the iconic white (favorite color of the sheikh who founded it) marble. It features ornate…
Wednesday Wisdom – Nature does not hurry…
Emirates Palace Hotel, Abu Dhabi, UAE
When I was in school, I randomly used to look up luxury hotels and go through their photo galleries for inspiration and also just for fun. The Emirates Palace Hotel was one of the first ones I had heard about in the UAE (besides the famous Burj-Al-Arab). When a friend told me about it, I immediately looked it up. From the pictures, I remember being more impressed with the exterior design and architecture of it rather than the interior. When I finally went and saw it with my own eyes, I still felt the same way. It definitely lived up to it’s name in that it looked like a palace.We didn’t get to go in any of the rooms or suites (I’m sure they are magnificent) but we did get to go inside and see the main areas like the lobby and the courtyard. When you enter through the main entrance, it is…
Wednesday Wisdom – When life gets blurry…
When life gets blurry, adjust your focus. – Anon Sometimes we plan things in our lives but they don’t necessarily go the way we hoped they would. And trying to change direction may feel like the most difficult thing ever but sometimes it may be for the best. And you may learn something else along the way. For example, many people that I know (and myself included) went to school for one thing but ended up getting jobs in other fields. I got a Bachelor’s degree in interior design; however, right out of school, I didn’t get a job in the industry like I had planned. It completely sucked! And applying to jobs was terrible too especially when you didn’t hear back. It took a lot of trial and error but I figured out that I wanted to go back to school and take some Graphic Design courses (I had remembered enjoying using Photoshop…
Heritage Village, Abu Dhabi, UAE
I’m going to start off by sharing with you the first place I went to when I arrived in Abu Dhabi. It was called Heritage Village which is basically a museum located on the Corniche that showcases the history of the UAE’s way of life. This is a fun and FREE thing to check out. The museum showcases jewelry, armor and basically every day items that people used back in the day. There are also setups of actual houses and campsites for you to go into and check out. I really enjoyed this part. You could actually see exactly how rooms would have been set up, where a baby would have slept, where people would have gathered in front of campfires, etc. In addition to all that, there are workshops here where different skills like metal work and pottery can be viewed. My favorite part was of the boats that were out by the water (is that even…
United Arab Emirates – A Dream
It’s about time that I share one of the most epic international trips I did a few years back in 2010. Being a lover of interior design and architecture, I was always in awe of the structures and designs found in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and it was one of my dreams to go there. I had been planning on going for several years, but having traditional Pakistani parents it was almost impossible to get permission to go. After trying to convince them for two years, my mom finally agreed and convinced my dad to let me go as a graduation present.What helped was that I had made a really good friend who was from the UAE. Her father still lived there so we would be going and staying at his apartment. This trip was like a dream (#blessed). It was the first time I was going somewhere internationally with a…
Wednesday Wisdom – It takes nothing to join the crowd…
It takes nothing to join the crowd. It takes everything to stand alone. -Hans F. Hansen I remembered a conversation I recently had about my hijab. I was talking to someone about how difficult it has been finding a job lately and they asked me if I thought it was because I wore a hijab. I told her that I would not have thought that a few years ago, but right now I do feel like that sometimes (due to all the Islamophobia). She then asked me if I would consider taking it off for job purposes. I responded by saying I would not because I don’t really know who I am without it. The hijab defines me and I have been wearing it most of my adult life. I don’t feel that I need to take it off to get something. I know I am not alone in wearing one, but…