The Land of the Pharoah- Part 2

On the 2nd day, our adventure continue to Alexandria,the 2nd largest city in Egypt also known as "The Pearl of the Mediterranian". It is very close to the sea and the distance from Cairo is 225km. But because of the road condition and the traffic jam, we took almost 4 hours to arrived in this beautiful city.

On the way to Alex, we had a chance to stop by at a place known as "The Lion Village". This place is like a small zoo but the entrance is free. This was the first time I came to a zoo..yeay. I was so happy to see many animals especially the camel.

Lion Village (but that is a tiger heh?)

This is a lion
Mr.Camel so tall Deer

We arrived at the place where Pharos Lighthouse that was one of the Seven Wonders once stood, now is occupied by the Fort of Quit Bay.It is one of the main tourist attractions of Alexandria and really one of the icons of the city. It is a beautiful location, overlooking and with a great view of the Mediterranean Sea and of Alexandria as well.

Fort Quit Bay

Imam Abbas El Mursi Mosque

The most important historic mosque in Alexandria, Egypt, as well as a very beautiful one, is considered to be that of Abu El Abbas El Mursi. Constructed in 1775 by Algerians, it was built over the tomb of the thirteenth century Murcia Andalusan saint, Ahmed Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi (Abu'l 'Abbas) who joined and then lead, as a devout Sufi, the Shadhali brotherhood.

Next, we visited Masjid Nabi Daniel and performed solat here. In this mosque, there are two maqam which are Maqam for Nabi Daniel and Maqam for Luqmanul Hakim. These maqam located under the mosque side by side.

In front of Masjid Danial

To end our journey in Alexandria, we had visited Muntazah Park the biggest park in Alex. Muntazah Complex is surrounded by great walls from the south, east and west, and with the beach on its north side. This area used to belong to the Mohamed Ali family, that ruled Egypt from the mid 19th century until 1952. The construction was started in 1892 by King Abbas II, who built a large palace inside the complex called the Salamlek. In 1932, King Fuad built a larger palace and called it the Haramlik. His son, King Farouk, built a bridge to the sea to act as a water front. The rest of the 115 acres is nothing but beautiful garden. This is a wonderful spot to enjoy the beauty of Alexandria.

Sunset-View from the bridge The palace inside Muntazah

The Land of the Pharoahs- Part 1

Today I want to write about my trip to Cairo. Our trip to Cairo was from 16/6 to 20/6. We flied on Etihad Airways because Abi managed to get cheap tickets from Etihad edeal. In Cairo we were staying at Rumah Tamu Perlis and our guides were two Al Azhar students ( Ami Najib's friends). It was a 4 hours flight and I had been a very good boy throughout the journey. When we arrived Ammu Matlan and Ammu Syam (our guides) already waiting for us. The Cairo International Airport was an old building, I think Alor Setar Airport is 110% better than it. But well, I was there not to visit the airport eheh.

Flight Engine

I love to sit in this bassinet The traffic in Cairo was so crowded and there was no traffic light on the road. You can hear the honk all the time. And the pedestarians? They crossed the road at their will. They could'nt care less of the oncoming speeding vehicles. Here I can see the horses and donkeys on the road too. But our driver (Ammu matlan) was an expert since he was here for more than 4 years. Syukran to him.

Our first visiting spot was maqam for Saidina Husein the grandson of the prophet Muhammad SAW. His head is believed to be buried on the grounds of the mosque.
Next to this place is the most famous local bazaar known as Bazar Khan el-Khalili where you can almost anything for cheap price. But most of them can't speak English so it is better to go with a guide to bargain the price.


Saidina Husein Mosque

Inside the mosque
Maqam of Saidina Husien

The Al-Azhar Mosque also located near to this place. It is a beautiful Islamic monument and was built in 972AD (391H). It was called Al-Azhar after the name of Fatimah Az Zahra, daughter of Nabi Muhammad SAW. Many of the Al Azhar students spend their time here to gain extra knowledge because there are many classes and kuliah at this mosque. I wish I can be a student in Al Azhar one day..InsyaAllah

Inside Masjid al-Azhar
Masjid Al-Azhar
Rombongan Cik Kiah in front of the mosque

I am tired already Minarets

From other side of the road Sailing at River Nile (Hungry faces)
Our last activity for the day was sailing at the Nile river. It was a fun trip but everybody were so tired and hungry. Maybe next time we should bring food on the ship :)
That's all for this time.. I will continue to post my adventure in Egypt in the next entry. Bye for now

Syeikh Zayed Mosque Abu Dhabi (Grand Mosque)

This weekend our activity is a visit to the biggest mosque in Abu Dhabi locally known as Grand Mosque. Based on my reading, this mosque was based on Moroccan architecture but it also includes many global design such as Turkish design. This Mosque has 80 domes all decorated by white marble. Amazing and very beautiful! MasyaAllah

When I entered the mosque I could see an impressive interior design with elaborate floral arrangement on the wall and on the floor towards the prayer hall. Abi let me sat on the floor and he took a lot of pictures of me with my freestyle actions.

As I walked into the prayer hall, I can see very huge chandeliers. These chandeliers were imported form Germany all designed with thousands of Swarovski crystals. Based on my reading,the largest of these chandeliers is hangs from the main dome of the mosque.

The Qiblat and the wall is carved with 99 names of Allah

Me, tok, che lah, umi and Abi had a great time and enjoy the awesome setting of this mosque. I hope I can be a great architect just like Abi and build a very big mosque in Malaysia, something similar to this....

I am already 8 months old

It has been a very long time since the last time I wrote in this blog. I am very busy playing with my tok. They arrived in Abu Dhabi last week and we already went to Musandam to see dolphins. I will update our adventure in my next entry. Today I am already 8 months old and I can crawl forward and I am happy with my progress..hehe. Now, I have started to pull myself up to stand on my two feets with toks help. I hope I will be able to walk soon :)

Umi is helping me to stand

I love to crawl on the bed..

Musandam Adventure-Part 2

We started our journey early in the morning after checked out from the hotel at 730am. It took us about 45 minutes to arrived at the UAE and Oman border. We had to go through a very long procedure in order to cross the border. We wasted about an hour at the Immigration Office, and I was very worried that we will missed the dhow cruise which starts at 9pm every day based on the info on the net. Abi drove very fast and we reach Khasab the capital of Musandam at 1030am. Abi went to a tour agent (Dolphin Travel & Tour) and we managed to get cheap rate for a full-day dhow trip and the best thing is, in that dhow just the 6 of us (minus 2 boatmans). It's just like a private dhow cruise for our family.

Musandam has a very different geology compared to UAE. Musandam begins where the mountains rise from the plains of Ras Al Khaimah. Musandam is also known as The 'Norway of Arabia' because of the mountains similar to Norway fjords. Musandam peninsular is surrounded by Indian Ocean and Gulf of Oman and here we can see dolphins in real.

Our dhow cruise was a full day cruise and on the dhow drinks, fruits and a very delicious lunch were served as we were kings. We just seat back and relax enjoying the natural beautiful mountains as we sailed. But at that time I can't wait to see dolphins..

The rocks rise straight from the sea
The road to Musandam

Ready to board

Then we arrived at one spot where they were so 4-5 dolphins swimming in their natural habitat.. wow amazing! This was the first time ever everybody seen dolphins in real life. Everybody were very happy. So do I.. Then Abdullah made a sound to call for dolphins and they were swimming happily as we approach them.

Can you see Mr Dolphins?

Yes, here he is.


Umi I want to see more.. ( Abdullah, the boatman is looking at Luqman)

Umi over excited..dolphin swimming along with the dhow
Luqman is singing Arabic songs

Playing with tok


Enjoying the view


So many fish..



On the way back, we stop at Khasab Fort for pictures. This fort was built by Portugese built in the early 17th century.

There was not many trees in Musandam except for dates trees and akasia trees.

Omani's Village and a goat

The road..and rocks

We finished our cruise at 4pm and went back straight to Abu Dhabi. I had a great time in Musandam and I wish I can visit Musandam again next time.