Save The Date

Save The Date

Got a sweet tooth? Well, head on over to the Liwa desert oasis in Abu Dhabi’s western region for it’s Annual Date Festival. If you are in the city during the warm summer months, you can taste the sweetest fruit the desert has on offer. Liwa is located in Abu Dhabi’s western region, and has been hailed as a cultural and folkloric hub. If you’re heading to Liwa from Abu Dhabi, it will take you between 3 to 4 hours.  That is, if you can stop yourself from taking a million photos on the oh-so-scenic drive along the way. Colossal, camel-colored, sweeping sand dunes almost dare you to take your eyes off the road and stare longingly into their eternities. After miles of driving, they turn a deeper sandier color, red almost, and you’re truly captivated. Half the treat of getting to this oasis in the Liwa desert is this drive. You’ll also stop along the way to see lots of adorable smiling camels and their babies, for this is camel country and the landscape is dotted with camel farms. You will be lucky if you get to lay your eyes on a very special breed of black camels. Yes, they do exist! And they are gorgeous!

Pretty Liwa Dunes

Gorgeous Black Camels. These guys are cute!!!!! 

What are these guys laughing at? :) Camels are always smiling. 

You will know you’ve arrived when you see the massive tent, (which is air conditioned by the way, thank you very much!) On entrance to the grounds at the festival, you can smell two things. Camels and dates. In that order. You can entertain yourself with camel, horse, and car races. There is a falconry competition as well that will leave you in awe. Falconry is an ancient sport and pastime in Abu Dhabi, and the showing of this tamed and beautiful bird is just breathtaking.  This year there was also a local farmers mango tasting competition. The sweet flesh and the syrupy thick nectar of this prize-winning mango at the festival was truly something to write home about.

Mango Competition - Seriously some of the juiciest most delicious mangoes ever. In life. Like, ever. Omg.

Falconry Competition- These guys are serious.

Just chilling. Having some tea. Camel hanging out in the background.

The dates are the star of the show, however, and there are more varieties of this bejeweled fruit than you can imagine. There are over 300 varieties and you can taste all of them. Once their sweetness bursts onto your tongue, that will be the point you will come to understand why this place is called an oasis. How can it be? How can a place in the middle of a dry and barren desert produce such sweet delicacies? You will savor them with wonderment. Each type of date has slightly different notes and subtle flavor variances. If you think this festival is just for fun, think again! The farmers take the festival very seriously, and there is over 5million dirhams in prize money to be won amongst the farmers with the best produce. So you can guarantee that you will taste some heavenly bites.

Not a smile to be found. Dates are serious business. 

Youngsters sampling the fruit.

"Hmm, my friend. How will we ever decide which one?????"

This festival has everything, and it’s truly one of those local experiences and a place that you won’t find too many Westerners or expats.  If you’ve got little ones, don’t leave them at the hotel, for the festival has a kids’ tent with tons of kid activities. The kids at the festival seemed to be having a grand time running around, tasting the local fruits, and watching camels. Inside the kids tent they can learn about UAE heritage and play some traditional games for kids.  You can get your shopping fix because in the larger tents are local handmade crafts and woven goods.  Most of these goods are made with the date palm tree itself. We were lucky enough to see some of the local ladies weaving baskets, hats, and other crafts from the palm fibres and fronds. The best thing about the Liwa Date Festival is that you really get a feel for how the date is a hugely inextricable part of the region itself.

Local ladies making crafts with palm fibers. 

Baskets and hats and bowls made with palm fibers and fronds. 

Hard at work. 

A Shopper's Paradise... Coming To An Island Near You!

If you’ve been thinking of coming to Abu Dhabi for work or for play, you’ve probably done a little bit of research. If this is the case, you’ve most likely heard that shopping is kind of our thing.  We have our fair share of shopping havens, and the newest one on the horizon is looking pretty great.  I’m talking about one of Abu Dhabi’s latest projects, Maryah Island. Centrally located and adjacent to downtown, you’ll have no trouble at all finding Maryah, and if you visit now you can literally be one of the first people to grace it’s beautiful grounds.  Even in it’s infancy, one can already see that this place has gorgeous potential. Along with the monumental Galleria shopping center, the island is also buzzing with the new Rosewood Hotel, the latest concept residences, and innovative new office spaces. Add to that a host of popular dining options in several new international restaurants, and you can easily see how Maryah is being named Abu Dhabi’s new Central Business District.  

Some images of the new Maryah Island. The oblong rectangular building is the new Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. 

The Rosewood Hotel is equipped with luxury penthouses, a state of the art wellness center, tranquil spas, and fine terrace-style restaurants and lounges. It’s a 5-star accommodation and it’s style and modernity won’t disappoint. In it’s opening stage, the Rosewood hotel offered up a sweet discounted deal on a Deluxe suite. A concierge greeted us on arrival to the hotel, and from that point on, he personally catered to our smallest needs.  Our room was plush, immaculate, and thoughtful in both design and detail. 

The Rosewood Hotel's sharp and edgy architecture. 

The pool and garden at the Rosewood Hotel. Relax much?

Terrace-style shisha lounge, "SMOKE" at the Rosewood Hotel. 

Opening in August 2013, the Galleria at Sowwah Square is both fresh and fashionable. It will feature some of the hottest global designers such as Prada, Bulgari, Christian Louboutin, and Alexander McQueen. You will be able to peruse top international brand stores like Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Tom Ford, and Jimmy Choo. Trust me, you will be completely spoiled for choice. After shopping, you can sip an espresso and unwind in The Great Room under the all-encompassing scalloped roof which has a new and cutting edge design that was constructed to simultaneously keep the inside of the building crisp and cool while filling the entire mall with Abu Dhabi’s famous natural sunlight. The roof’s structural design, which is made of sculpted glass and steel, sweeps across the central area of the mall. It’s quite the impressive architectural feat, and upon arrival you’ll take some time just to stare at it as it blends harmoniously into the Abu Dhabi skyline just beyond it. The Galleria roof was designed by none other than the architectural geniuses who built the inverted pyramid in front of the Louvre. Of course! 

Some image projections of the inside and outside of the soon-to-be-iconic Galleria at Sowwah Square. 

Maryah Island is definitely shaping up to be one Abu Dhabi’s destination islands. The thought and planning that have gone into every aspect of it guarantee a utopian experience. Spend the night at the Rosewood hotel. Treat yourself to a world-class spa experience and some shopping cardio, and I have no doubt that each time you come to Abu Dhabi, you’ll return to the very exclusive and the very unique Maryah Island.

My Island

I live on Reem Island. When I told my best friend back home I lived on an island, her response was, "Is it a real island, like with water around it?" :) She's cute. Yes, fool, it is a real island, with proper water on all sides. Reem is a relatively new property development in Abu Dhabi. It's a natural island. (We have lots of man-made ones in the Emirates because we're cool like that). Reem is located near the center of the city just off of the main Salaam Street. The location is close to the heart of the city, with really easy access to the highways. It's a great area and I'm really fortunate to live here. To think it was a lucky accident to that got me to this place.

See? Surrounded by water, as promised.  Can you see towards the bottom the tall buildings that are connected with the slab on top of them? Then behind those are two cylindrical buildings, one is tall and one is short. These are Sun and Sky Towers. Mine is the shorter one, the Sun Tower.

Reem is off to the side of Abu Dhabi. That reddish area next to it, is like a downtown-ish area. In there is the Tourist Club area, where the remarkable Beach Rotana Hotel is located. Fabulousness.

I like living on this island for a few reasons. Firstly, it's quite quiet here and there's not a ridiculous amount of traffic. We have our fair share of construction, but you honestly wouldn't be able to escape that no matter where you lived in the city...or emirate for that matter. Also, my building is attached to a mall that has everything I need in it, including a Waitrose grocery store. There's nothing like needing one clove of garlic and just going down the elevator to the store, as opposed to having to get in your car and drive to the store to get it. It's brilliant. There's also a pharmacy in the mall, hair salons, restaurants, an espresso bar, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, (my banking institution), and a nail salon.

It's really convenient, and I hope I never have to move again. Unless something else fabulous comes up. :)

My apartment is really nice. Everything in it is new and modern, right down to the key card access door entry. You use a card to open your door like you're in a hotel. Fanciness, I'm telling you. I'm up for it. I've done some decorating around the place. I get bored easily, and I like to change things, so don't be surprised at all, if you visit me and it looks different in here. 

This is my tea and breakfast nook. It's perfect for me! And maybe one friend. 

A persian rug. Of course.

Turkish lighting.

This is my bookshelf.. I know that it has a minimal amount books, yet it does have a fully functioning shisha pipe on the middle shelf. Haha! What? Don't do that, don't judge me. I have books in other places.... Seriously!

This is my living room and then the view from my living room window. 

Below is the podium and the pool area. I love the podium. There's also an amazing gym, whirpool, hottubs, and sauna. And there's a ladies only gym for when you wanna get your modesty on!!! Or for when you just don't have the patience to watch dummies flex their muscles in their tiny shirts in front of the mirror. Because let's be honest.  Ain't nobody got time for that.  

So, I mentioned there's always construction going on around the island as well as the city. The pictures below are the scene from outside of my bedroom window. They are building something that looks like a hotel with a little beach behind it. (Can't wait for that new beach!!! A beach behind my apartment? Yes, please.) Here in these pictures, you can see how quickly the construction happens. In the first photo, this is how it looked when I first moved in the flat, which was 9 months ago. The second is how it looks now. Amazing. 

This is laying of the foundation. Nothing there.... 

And then, nine months later... what's this I see? A hotel? A new apartment building? I don't  know... We'll see. Also notice the carving of the beach going to the right. They've carved out so much space for the water to go into. 

Anyway, this is my humble abode. I love it here. Come visit!!!

Actually, Alif is for Apple

So. What I haven't blogged about is my attempt to seize the opportunity for personal enrichment. Since I'm living in an Arabic country, I thought, "What better way to enhance this experience, than to speak the language of the country in which I am living?" So, I have been learning how to speak Arabic. Shway shway. (That's Arabic for slowly, slowly.) Perhaps the reason I haven't blogged about it is because I haven't felt very successful with it. Until now. I will touch on that success later.  Let me just take this opportunity to say, things have not exactly gone swimmingly. They've actually been harrowing at best. I've actually developed a couple migraines staring at the letter/characters, and I think I felt my eyes go teary a bit the first time I read a word. :)

Some random, good looking arabic script probably written by some know it all Arabic writing smarty pants... No, I cannot read it.... Yet...

Arabic is considered one of the top five hardest languages in the world to learn. The challenges are many.  For me, here's what has my hair falling out. Arabic of course, doesn't use the Greek alphabet. Arabic has it's own set of letters. At the first few glances they really look like characters, squiggly and extremely suspect. If I'm honest, when I first decided really and truly that I was going to do it, I was completely discouraged by the letters alone. How would I ever read anything, when I didn't know the letters or their sounds? I have to start from the beginning? Like a kindergartener?  Essentially yes.


My Arabic letters.

So in the first two weeks, I learned all the letters. I mean, I had them. I knew all 28 of them. I could identify them, point them out, and say their names. And if given four letters and asked to find a specific one, I could do it. (This took me 2 weeks, studying 2 hours each day.) The good thing is that most of the letters have an English transliteration. For example, Alif can be transliterated into "A" and Bah can be transliterated in "B".  Ra is "R" and Zay is "Z".  Great! So, now I should be able to read, right? Wrong. This brings me to the second thing that drives me mad about the Arabic language.  Of the 28 letters in the Arabic alphabet, each letter has 4 forms. What does this mean? Exactly what I've said. You can make each letter four different ways, depending on where the letter is in a word. First, there is the independent form which you will find if you just put the letter by itself and not inside of a word. Then there's the initial form, the medial or middle form, and the final positioning form. All of a sudden just when you thought you could master 28 little letters, you actually have over 100 letters to recognize.


This is my chart of the different forms of Arabic letters. Independent, initial, medial, and last.

 And this is an actual chart of the different forms of Arabic letters..... done by a professional.

Seriously? Yes, and now you're cooking with gas. But I'm not finished yet.

The third challenge, and possibly one of the biggest... is that there are vowels in the Arabic language...but you don't use them. You do, but you don't.... It's like they're there, but you don't really see them. Go ahead and laugh out loud here. I'm not kidding. And I don't know another way to explain that. Also, w makes a u sound sometimes... and sometimes y makes a long e sound. Which would explain why, when my Arabic teacher, Ms. Meerah asked us to practice writing our names, and she came to check my progress, the conversation went like this.

Ms. Meerah: "What is your name?"
Me: "Khadijah"
Ms. Meerah: "Why you don't make the Y?"
Me: (prolonged look of confusion) ".... oh there's no Y in my name..."
Ms. Meerah: "Yes, you have Y in your name."

At this point, I actually briefly try to think of the way my mother taught me to spell my name when I was 3 to see if I've been doing something wrong for the last 30 years, and when I realize the ridiculousness of that thought, I stutter softly..."No...No Y... really."

Ms. Meerah: (sigh and eyeroll) "Yes, Habibti. Ok, khallas, we will add a Y."

(Khallas means "enough." LOL!)

Turns out, because Khadijah has an "ee" sound in the middle, we have to add a Y when we write Khadijah in Arabic. No, I'm not kidding.


This is my name in Arabic script...

And below is my version of my name. I've put the letter sounds on top with arrows pointing to each Arabic letter. Look at the mine and then look at the one on top. Not too bad right?? Check out the random Y!!!  Lol.

What I have not found to be difficult, strangely enough, is that Arabic is read and written from right to left. For some strange reason, my brain clicks on and off into Arabic mode when it's time to read and write Arabic and I immediately go to the right side of the page to begin. Some English speakers have a little trouble getting used to this. My native Arabic-speaking students have a problem switching to English left-to-right. I'm surprised that I didn't.

   .now cringe can You  .way this sentence this reading be would you, Arabic were this if So

Isn't that just all sorts of madness and fun? Oh, I know. And I haven't even touched grammar, or singles and plurals...sun and moon words..whatever those are, etc.

But lets do talk about my success. So since I started two months ago, I can actually do these things successfully.

a. Write my first name in Arabic
b.  Recognize all letters in their independent form and most in their other four forms.
c. Read and sound out some small and non-complicated words.
d. Write those same words that I've read and break them down into their individual letters and sounds.



Words that I've made. pineapple=ananas     door=bab     bear=dab    wrote=kitabah

I think it's a big deal. My Arabic teacher is not convinced, nor is she impressed with me yet. She nods and smiles pitifully and gives me a look like I'm completely hopeless and I've disgraced the entire Muslim community.

Personally, I think I'm smarter than your average bear. Whatever.


When written by a competent person, Arabic is one of the most beautiful scripts I've ever seen.