Update on Mok and Raisa

Mok (right) and Raisa (left) sleeping on mybed.










Today, I felt so devastated. Dr. Siti of UPM vetenary clinic called to discuss Mok's blood test done last week. Mok is having kidney trouble as well though not as critical as Raisa's. I felt like half of my world collapsed. I just don't want to see my Mok suffers as Raisa does. He is so precious, so angelic and adorable to suffer such a destructive disease. We saw how Raisa suffers - to the vet twice a week for dialysis and once every two monts for blood test. She has a hard life but inspite of that she is such a good girl. Dr. Netto commented, Raisa is his best patient who didn't struggle when the needle is poked in her thin body. She just buried her head at Izrin's stomach and whimper a bit. Then at home she is in a daze and looks miserable until the effect of the medicine wears off. We felt so helpless. Both Raisa and Mok are perfect house cats and their presence is so therapeutic to us. They have given us so much delight over the years but we can't fight old age.

I just can't believe Mok is in trouble. In cat's years, Mok and I are of the same age, he is 14 but looks young and oh so good-looking. I took him to UPM vet clinic on Dr. Netto's advice to check his blood. At the clinic, Mok was a star. The vet interns there cooed on him, taking photographs, held and cuddle him. Being such a docile cat, Mok did't even whimper but basked in the glory of the attention. He has some skin trouble that results in falling hair. Mok has fungus on his skin. After the 20 questions, Dr. Netto gave me a medicated shampoo to be applied as prescribed. Poor Mok, he has to be shampooed every week. Dr. Netto suspected that the fungus he gets is the result of grooming since I took him for grooming about once a month. The groomer, I guess, didn't keep the combs etc sterilized. I hope no other cats get Mok's fungus if they go for grooming. There is no conclusive evidence but Mok doesn't mix around with other cats around the neighbourhood. He stays at home and around the compund all the time - too lazy and timid to venture out.
I am really upset.
Mok, please get well and I love you to death.

Najidah

Najidah came to visit me yesterday after quite a long silence. When I was in Dubai, I received news that she was involved in an accident with a lorry and she was on a motorbike. It was a hit and run case but fortunately, she managed to get the lorry number and the hit was witnessed by a few people. I was shocked and upset at the news. I remember while she and I were in Unimas, I used to tell her to quit riding motorbike. I have some kind of phobia with motorbike riding. When Izrin was using a motorbike, my heart was always in my mouth, fearing of the danger of riding a motorbike in KL. He was involved in an accident once and I almost fainted hearing the news. When he decided to get rid of the motorbike and bought a small car, I was overjoyed.
Please don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with motorbike but the road, the car, bus, lorry drivers and motorbike riders are frightening. My hair stood on ends many times when motorbikers weaved in and out in the traffic.
I hope this time Najidah really quits riding a motorbike and takes her car even though the place she wants to go is near. But this doesn't mean driving a car can shield you from accident but it's a lot safer than a motorbike. You will never know when accident could happen. For those who have no choice but to travel to work or anywhere by bike, please take care. Get a strong helmet, not the one just for show so that you seem to follow the law. Compulsory helmet is to protect you and not just to make you compliance.
She has to go for restorative dental care due to the accident which affected her mouth and teeth. It must be painful when chewing food and when talking. I hope she is strong enough to handle the challenges she faced in her personal and professional life.
To my other students, please be careful even while driving a car. I am a slow driver driving on the left lane most time but I always get horned by impatient bus, lorry and car drivers. Where do they want me to go? Such is a hassle driving in Malaysia - too many impatient and rude drivers. Some are not fit to be on the road as they think the road belongs to them alone.
Najidah, get well soon.

Ongoing tussle

Since I came back from Dubai, there are a lot of things happened in my life. Sometimes some events affected me hard and I needed to clear my mind by writing it down. But there are times when personal events are so big and complicated that touched not only my mind but the deepest of my heart, I stopped short - I don't know how to put it into words. Hence, my mind flies every where, not focused and my emotion will be like a roller coaster. Somehow I managed to calm myself, fearing putting pressure on me will result in increase in eye pressure.

I have been successful in keeping my eye pressure down but the last two visits to my eye specialist proved to be so disappointing. My optic nerve is in alarming state and my doctor is talking about surgery. I have lost ideas and efforts to keep the pressure down but the last visit on 22 March gave me such a fright - the pressure has shot up higher. I was referred to another senior specialist for second opinion, whether surgery is my best option. Of course with surgery, there are risks. I was told that surgery would the last option and she suggests for me to try a new drug and see whether it will help lowering the pressure. She is optimistic and I am hopeful. I am going to start the new eye drop on Thursday, 1 April and see what happens.

Though I look OK and brave, deep in my heart I have fear - fear of the uncertainty of my sight. Although I don't let that fear overcome me or stop me from doing things that I like but still it's there. It's REAL. The biggest fear I am facing now is the loss of my independence. I am very aware of it but for the moment I have to go on with my life. I guess I shall cross the bridge when I come to it.

I decided to stop using Permata Hijrah. It doesn't help me anymore. I still take Ocu Plus which is an eye food and some other supplements like bilberry, eye bright, ginko, Vit C and Omega 3. I do not know whether these help or not but they are also for my general health.

When I was doing my Hajj, the focus of my prayers was for my children, then siblings, students, friends and others. The only prayer for me is for God to extend my sight until the end of my day. I don't know whether my prayer will be answered - only time will tell.

So once again, I would like to remind my readers to take care of your eyes. Go for eye check with eye specialist, not with optician, regularly. Sight is a precious commodity given to you.

Impression of Dubai

Taken near the hotel where we stayed, unaware of the coming sandstorm (grey sky at the background).

Inspite of media report that Dubai is in trouble financially, as an ordinary tourist, I didn't see any sign of difficulty. Construction still goes on actively and foreign workers still pouring in to get jobs there. Everything looked normal.
February was still winter and the weather was pleasant except if there was a sandstorm, quite often when I was there,. I can feel the fine sand got stuck in my hair, clothes, mouth and nose. On the whole I am in awe with the development in Dubai and the modern facilities provided, including clean toilets. I notice the foreign workers there are committed in their jobs. The toilet cleaners made sure their toilets are cleaned regularly, almost every time after use. Unlike foreign workers in Malaysia, they curi tulang, and spent time chatting and loitering around and clean the toilets once or twice only. Sometimes our public toilets are in disgraceful condition made worse by selfish Malaysians attitude who are in dire need of toilet training. Going to public toilets is a nightmare. This is the result of lack of supervision and commitment from the management and the workers.



At dusk, groups of Indians gather at the wide pavement at Baniyas Street to drink coffee and to chichat.











Shopping at Baniyas Street. Glittering and glamorous top.











There are times in Dubai I was confused. I have to pull myself back reminding me that this is Dubai. When Maz and I went to see the shops at and around Baniyas Road in Dubai City, I thought I was still in India since it was only a week ago I visited India. There were so many Indians - on the road, in the shops, hotels and everywhere. It's like kampung India. But they were so different from the Indians I saw in India - more polite, friendly and clean. Many are Pakistanis and Afghanistans. We didn't feel intimidated and felt safe even when it was dark.
In the malls, another confusion for me. Was I in Manila? Every shop I went in to shop was being manned by Philippino sales persons, including at the Big Bus Tour, the Metro, Atlantis on the Palm - just everywhere. Wow, I didn't meet the locals except at the immigration. It was quite a pleasant surprise to meet Mohammad, our local Al Ain tour guide.The other Pak Arab I met are from Egypt, Syria, Lebnon, Morocco, Libya and other middle east countries. So Dubai is a country of foreigners. Did I meet Malaysians there? There are not many Malaysians working in Dubai compared to other nationalities. Many worked in Emirates airline as pilots and cabin staff, as mangement consultants with Metro, Electricity board and other construction companies as engineers. Maz met a Malay guy at Dubai Mall who made fantastic cup cakes but unfortunately when we we went there that night, the shop was closed.




One of the souks in the city.













Trying a water resisitence jacket made in China at a cheap price at a souk. I bought a Pierre Cardin sweater at a mall, made in China, which cost me 5 times more.

















The front part of spice souk.









Spice souk.









I just had one unpleasant experience in Dubai. That was the first time I felt insulted for being old.





At Dieara City Centre Metro.












The very pretty Souk in Wafi Mall.















A pretty and cosy garden at Wafi Mall.










At Wafi Mall, I waited for a cab to go back to the hotel. It was around 4 pm when the taxi drivers were changing shift. So taxis were far in between. Eventually, a taxi stopped, as usual I just board the cab telling the Indian driver to go to Diera City Centre. He said he didn't know the way and asked me to get down. Obediently I opened the door to get down. Immediately he invited a young Philipino girl there to get in who told him to go to Diera City Centre. I turned around and questioned him why do I have to get down? Isn't she going to the same place as I wanted to go? Why with her, he knew the way to Diera City Centre but to me he said he didn't know? Realising his mistake he asked me to close the car door and drove me to Diera City Centre. Along the way, I told him I know vaguely where my hotel was and he turned around scolding me and said if I knew where to go I shouldn't be taking a cab. I was furious and told him it was none of his business whether I take a cab or not. He refused to drop me in front of the hotel, I insisted. The meter clocked Dirham 13.50. He didn't return my change, I demanded it. Before alighting from the cab, I told him that he is a very unfriendly and unhelpful cab driver and that he should'nt be driving a taxi. Gudgingly he said sorry. How dare he deny me the taxi ride just to take a young woman. I still remember the number of the taxi NT 339 and this happened on 28 Feb 2010. Of course I wanted to lodge a complaint with the Tourist Board but Maz told me to forget it. She is more compassionate on this. If a complaint is lodged, he might lose his job. I will remember this insult for a long time.
Come to think of it, our cab drivers are worse than that. For females, getting into a cab at night is quite risky here because you don't know who the driver is. Cases of being robbed, raped or abducted are quite scary and I don't feel safe in Kuala Lumpur, my own country. Lodging a complaint is quite pointless, no action is taken. I have called and complaint about KLIA cab drivers who smoke and the smell of smoke lingers even though they sprayed with scented air freshner. The sweet smell goes away as the car moves leaving a stale smell of smoke in the car. I felt like puking when I was in this kind of cab and I compaint but still experience this unfortunate situation unaware of the smoking driver. At least in Dubai, I was confident and felt safe exploring Dubai. I could take a cab at night and the drivers don't smoke. I was just unfortunate to meet one rude taxi driver but that will not tarnish my good impression of Dubai.
I hope I have another opportunity to visit Dubai again and go to Hatta Mountain, Abu Dhabi and Omen. Insyaallah.

Desert Safari, Dubai

Before going to Dubai, I have already told Maz that I wanted to go on Desert Safari. I have read some materials on the safari and it created interest and curiosity in me. I was sure it would be an exciting experience. Well, I wasn't disappointed. Maz made arrangement with Atlanta Tours for 27 Feb 2010 for both of us and her colleague, Selvam. Adnan, the Syrian safari guide came to pick us up at the hotel at 9.00 am.
On the way, he stopped to pick up 4 Egyptian young men who were going with us - 3 lawyers and an architect. The ride to the desert was busy with Adnan conversing in Arabic with the Egyptians. I wasn't pleased as I have a lot of questions to ask but Adnan apologised and said his English was not good. So the three of us were in the dark of what to expect and where we were going. Reaching a point, Adnan came down to release some air from the tires, so were many other 4 wheel drives ahead of us. We saw a convoy of 4 wheel drives driving in the desert and it looked fine.




The hauntingly beautiful desert.












Adnan was a skillful driver in the desert. I was thrilled and shrieked with wow...w....w... every time the jeep went up and down the sand dunes. It was just like a roller coaster ride. Without skill, the jeep would tumble over easily. For some time all of us were shrieking and wowing all the way but suddenly everyone was quiet. I knew my stomach was churning inside and threatened to empty the contents. The others felt the same, I was sure. We were just waiting for Adnan to stop at a lookout sand dune where many jeeps stopped with the tourists. But Adnan seemed to take the long way there, going up and down the dunes, some very deep down. He was enjoying it! What a relief when we reached the stop point.

We took photographs, walked on the soft fine sand, so soothing. The scenery was haunting with vast empty desert as far as the eyes can see, the sand is reddish in colour and changed colour according to the sunlight. It was really bewitching and I was in awe of the silent beauty.












Relaxing on the soft fine desert sand.













The Safari camp.









We adjourned at a desert safari camp where we had our dinner and a show. The dinner was nothing to shout about-it's so normal but the seating concept was attractive. We sat on cushions on the sand.



With second daughter, Maz at the Safari camp.









Maz and Selvam before the dinner at Safari camp.
















The desert falcon.











What made it so rewarding there was the cultural show. Beside the normal belly dancing, another form of dancing was performed where the dancers danced spinning round and round throughout the routine. just like the Sufi dance where the dancers will float upward in trance but the dancers here didn't. Anybody would go dizzy after a few minutes but not them. The costume was fascinating - it twirled around the dancers and opened into a beautiful umbrella-like skirt, enhanced by colourful lights. It was such a pity that my camera was not able to record it.


We arrived at the hotel late, about 10.00 pm, happy and satisfied with the day's outing and would recommend others to do the desert safari. It's a wonderful experience!

A word of caution- If you go for desert safari, please bring a plastic bag in case you get sick with the roller coaster ride or bring buah asamboi. This trip is not recommended for pregnant women. No information was given about this.

My plan to tour the Hatta Mountain was vetoed by Maz. She just couldn't take anymore roller coaster ride up and down the mountain even though the views would be spectacular. Instead we went to Al Ain, an old historical city outside Dubai on 5 March 2010.

Dubai, the possible land

What once a desert, now has turned to be a bustling city with sky-scrappers and modern buildings everywhere. There was no trace of a desert unless you go to the outskirt of Dubai. Amazing! I have been to Dubai twice years ago but it was a brief stay and Dubai has not expanded as now (which is still expanding). A few days after coming back from India, Maz (my second daughter) sent me e-ticket to Dubai. It was a hectic 9-day stay in Dubai occupied with activities everyday. Maz was at work attending meetings and I was left alone to enjoy my time in Dubai.
We stayed at Flora Creek Hotel Apartment, a cozy service apartment from 26 Feb to 6 March 2010, very near the Metro station and across the road to Diera City Center Mall.
My first day began by exploring the Metro and Diera City Center Mall and getting information on how to move around in Dubai. It was easy exploring Dubai. I decided to buy the 2 day Big Bus tour (the hop -on and hop-off bus which cost Dirham 285). With a map, Maz helped me to plan where to go and explore the stop areas so that I could make the most of the city. Tourists find it so convenient to see Dubai by this Big Bus tour.


The Blue line took me to see Jumeirah Mosque at Stop 13, an old mosque opened to Muslims and non-Muslims. The government is encouraging understanding among non-Muslims about Islam and it's practices. Unfortunately that day, 1 March 2010 (Monday), the mosque was closed but it's really beautiful, with colourful landscape and clean. The Big Bus stops every 20 minutes and so we can time ourselves and make the most of our tour.






At stop 16, Jumeirah Public Beach, I was able to take a closer photo background of Burj Al-Arab, the 7 Star Hotel where the rich and famous stay. No, I didn't go there as even to enter the hotel we have to pay a hefty fee. Thank you, I'll do it when I marry a super rich Arab Sheikh some day! Alamak, I forgot I am not a sweet young thing anymore!!!!
The sea is so clear and sparkling under the sun. The beach is wide but in summer the heat must be killing. Like other places, Dubai is such a clean city, even the toilets. They use water to wash too but it's dry and clean with no smell. Why can't we, Malaysians, do the same?






The Jumeirah Public Beach, clean with clear blue water.









Stop 17, took me to Souk Medinat Jumeirah, a magnificent Souk with commanding view of the Burj Al Arab. All the souks in the malls are incredibly beautiful with selected and expensive merchandise. I just bought sandwiches and ate while looking around in order to save time to see as much as possible. Traveling alone gave me opportunity to make friends with different nationalities and they helped me to take photos. In the process, I made new friends.









The Souk Medinat Jumeirah surrounded by man-made canal with great view of Burj Al Arab.









The next stop was the one I was really keen to see, the Atlantis on the Palm. The Palm is incredible. Though not complete yet, huge houses and apartments are built on rows according to the palm leaves. About 25% only have been occupied and the construction is still actively going on. To see the the overall view of the Palm, I took the monorail to see part of the panoramic view of the part that is almost completed. It is really something to see. This is a place where Hollywood film stars, successful footballers and the multi-millionaires bought a piece of the Palm. To me it's frightening and intimidating, though fascinatingly beautiful. The water park, the dolphin play, the aquarium etc are for public but access is so expensive. I have satisfied my curiousity and I was happy.






The biggest waterpark at the Palm.













The exclusive apartments in Atlantis on Palm.









The Mall of Emirates at Stop 19 was another attraction where Ski Dubai is. Ski Dubai is the biggest indoor skiing facility in the world. Walking around in Dubai Malls gave me a headache and tired legs. Fotunately (or unfortunately) the sales were over and the price have gone back to normal - so crazily pricey. I didn't have time to do the skiing that day but I returned to Mall Emirates for beginners lesson in skiing on 4 March. What an experience!!! Yeah, the boots are so heavy that I hardly could lift my feet to walk. The oldest and the slowest in the group of 7, my poor bums took a beating when I fell so many times. Abdul, the Moroccan ski instructor, gave me a special attention and jokingly told me, I fell because I forgot to say 'Allahu Akabar'. Behaving like a child, I screamed, laughed and giggled when I toppled over and patted my back when I was successful going down the gentle slope upright. It was a wonderful experience. Will I repeat this? No, Thank you. I think one attempt is enough. I am lucky I don't suffer from osteoporosis.


At Stop 20, the Dubai Mall. It will take a day or two see all the shops in the mall. The biggest mall in the world, that's where I found Olympic skating rink, huge aquarium for public to see and a cascading waterfall. At night, there is the water fountain show that's so bewitching.
By the time I wanted to leave Dubai Mall, I have more than enough of Dubai for the day. It was already late and Maz was calling me wondering where her mother was.









The high artificial waterfall cascading down into a pool below with diving figures to depict reality. So fascinating.











Burj Dubai, one of the tallest towers in the world, pushing our Petronas Twin Towers behind. Taken at Dubai Mall.












So, if you visit Dubai, one easy way to see the city is by Big Bus Tour. The buses are punctual, the drivers and the staff are helpful and they tried to make your visit memorable. Above all, it is one of the safest cities in the world. I felt comfortable walking around in Dubai alone.