Bring on the holidays!

Planning your next holiday? While checking the Telegraph's online travel section, I came across their Winter 2009/2010 gallery showing best holiday destinations and was pleasantly surprised to see Cape Town feature on the list :-D


All-star cricket
January 3 - 7 2010
Cape Town, South Africa

South African-born former England captain and swashbuckling batsman Allan Lamb will be on hand in the hospitality box to discuss the finer points of play when England meets South Africa. His Global Sports Travel tour – which leaves Heathrow on January 1– includes the full Test (January 3-7), as well as a cricket-anorak’s dream of a Q&A with Sir Ian “Beefy” Botham, South African players Jonty Rhodes and Allan Donald, and England captain Andrew Strauss – and an evening with Rory Bremner.


This one is mind-blowing!

Double 2010 celebration
Jan 1 2010
New Zealand and the Cook Islands

Clever crossing of the international dateline makes it possible to travel back in time and mark the New Year twice. After New Year’s Eve in Auckland, watching the harbour fireworks, the trick, next morning, is to jump on a flight to Aitutaki. Arrival will be on December 31, in time to start the party all over again. [Picture: Getty Images]


This is one exhibition I wouldn't mind seeing...

Van Gogh exhibition
January 23 – April 18 2010
Royal Academy, London

The first major exhibition in London for 40 years devoted to Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890), The Real Van Gogh – The Artist and His Letters, should prove a genuine blockbuster. There will be 65 paintings on show, each illustrating 35 original, rarely-seen letters, most of which were written to the artist’s brother, Theo. Tickets, £12.

Cherish those memories!

I had a traumatic weekend as a very good friend died after a short illness...
Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji’un (We belong to Allah and to Him we shall return)


It was a reminder for me to cherish my family and friends insha’Allah. Also to be friends with my loved ones and overlook their little idiosyncrasies coz none of us are perfect...and life as we know it on this dunya is transitory. That is why I treasure pictures of fun outings and events as these memories are ones I can visit again and again!


Enjoying a relaxing hot summer day out in the park with family and friends [© Washi]


At a family event with my Mom (seated), sisters and their children [© Washi]


Just want to share the last two verses of the following poem:

Memories

by Annabelle

There are memories of all those notes,
we would write back and forth,
When we would just get together,
And talk of this or that.

And when I recall these memories
As I go along life's way,
I find they grow more precious still
With every passing day.

Doing our bit

picture source


Yesterday I could actually see it was Pink Hijab Day in Cape Town! There was a number of events in and around the city which were well supported alhamdulillah.

Breast cancer awareness is a subject very close to my heart. I lost a very good friend nearly two years ago and having been right beside her when she was given the news, then watching her go through a mastectomy, umpteen rounds of chemo and radiation therapy, only to deteriorate and eventually waste away left an indelible mark on my life. It is important that we as women take care of ourselves so we can be there for others...



Getting in on the act! My nieces Aaliyah and Kouthar raided their mom's hijab drawer so they could wear pink "doekies" (scarves) for this pic :-D [© Washi]

Pink blogger! [© Washi]

Tribute to my friend

it's been two years -
i miss you every day
you left us way too young
i see you every time i see your little girl
and it breaks my heart
that she's growing up without her mom...

To the market

picture source

There's nothing this blogger loves more than going to the market! In fact, when I was on haj, I spent my spare money at the gold souk - coz a girl can never have enough...and she obviously had to share with all the females in her family as well :-D




My most prized possession - the gold ring I bought in Al-Madina, Saudi Arabia [© Washi]

But bigger than my passion about walking through the markets, bazaars or souks of this world, is my love for browsing through the craft markets...maybe one day insha'Allah I'll sell my wares there as well...


St George's Street Mall, Cape Town where there are crafts on sale [© Washi]


I want to share a few lines of a poem I recently read...I only like these few lines as I'm not so sure of the rest. Read the rest here for yourself:

Arabian Market
by Florence B Fry

Walk into the market place.
Look into each smiling face.
Listen to the noisy chatter.
Beware of the persistent patter.
Remember all the ancient fables.
Then think of all the many labels
That we place upon these people
From our high and lofty steeple.
See them working, see them playing.
Many times you’ll see them praying.


picture source

This painting even inspired me to pen a few lines of haiku!

Souk
a haiku by Washi

aromatic smells
wondrous sights and sounds beckon...
to the souk I go

Bright lights

Last night all 360 lights fitted in Green Point Stadium's roof was switched on at 8PM local time for an hour. Up till Thursday, the city had only switched on about 200 lights (or 60%) but for the first time the "ring of fire" was lit up!



Where are those lights?

Lunchtime blues!

picture source

It sucks that I have to work on a Friday!! I wish I was in the Middle East where Fridays are holidays and I can join my fellow sisters for jumu'ah prayers followed by a leisurely lunch...

Seed Bank

SA store 10% of its wild plants

By Tony Carnie

Cape fynbos at Kleinmond, Western Cape, South Africa - picture source

South Africa has stored away 10 percent of its wild plants in seed banks as part of a global insurance policy to safeguard the world's wild plants from extinction.

The project is led by the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, England, with support from plant specialists groups around the world, such as the SA National Biodiversity Institute.

The banking of more than 2 500 SA wild plants, including 250 of the country's most threatened species, coincided with a ceremony at Kew last week to celebrate banking the world's 24 200th wild plant - a pink wild banana from China.

Royal Botanic Gardens spokesman Dr Paul Smith said that banking of the banana species also marked the attainment of the 10 percent conservation target set almost ten years ago in a project known as the Kew Millennium Seed Bank. Read more here...

Long road

The road leading to Kagga Kamma Game Reserve where I had spent a wonderful week a few years ago - picture source

It is better to walk than curse the road.
- a Botswana proverb

Splendid read

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini is one of those books that grips you from start to finish and leaves you reeling, days after you read the last word and closed the book! There are many reviews of this book online so I’m not going to write another. All I want to do here is try to verbalise how this book affected me. (This was the review that I read before I bought the book.)




Almost all my life Afghanistan has been at war and in the news...till today. And I have often wondered what it must be like to be an ordinary Afghani girl or woman living under those conditions. What it feels like to be invaded by the ‘super powers’ of this world; and then when they withdraw to be at the mercy of warlords and the Taliban, just to be invaded again! When I was on haj in 2004, I saw people of all nationalities in Makkah including Afghan men with their distinctive clothing...they had leathery faces that told of a harsh life...


Dr Hosseini doing his UNHCR work (picture source)

Well, Hosseini writes beautifully. He outlines the grim reality of that wondering in a heartbreakingly haunting manner. Right from page one I was totally immersed and identifying with the characters Mariam and Leila...living through all their moments which left me totally shattered and more than ever hating wars and injustice...against women and humanity on the whole. A highly recommended read.

Old traditions

Like all places and cultures around the world, Muslims from certain locations have their own unique little traditions; and CT has quite a few. Most of them pertain to significant dates around the Islamic calender. At the moment, South Africans are preparing to go for haj.


Pilgrims outside Masjid-ul-Haram (Haj 1429)


In Cape Town, most pilgrims start their haj preparations years before the actual departure time. They obviously start with their niyyah; and then they educate themselves. They start going for haj classes at their local masjid or Islamic learning centre. For this blogger, it entailed a promise made to my Dad to go on haj while I was young and strong; then I started observing hijab. After that I paid off all my debts and started saving. All this took about 4 years; and in that time I regularly went for haj classes every Tuesday night and walked for an hour 3 nights every week after work so I could be fit. By the time I got on that plane to Saudi Arabia, I was mentally, physically and spiritually ready. Most important of all I understood the history, rituals and fiqh of the haj.


Millions of pilgrims at Mina (Haj 1429)


Now the CT tradition that I’m alluding to, is the practise of our community to personally go to neighbours, family and friends to greet and ask their forgiveness for any thing that we may have said or done to harm or hurt them in the past. Then a few days before the pilgrim leaves, the community comes to his home to wish him well and normally we gift him with money. This tradition stems from the time when our people came here from South East Asia in the 17th century as slaves and naturally were very poor. Once slavery was abolished and we could travel, only a few select (normally older section) of the community could afford to make the long journey to Makkah. In order to help, everyone in the community would gift money to the traveller to ensure that he had enough money to pay for food while he was away. The pilgrim obviously had to have enough to cover his journey, haj and accommodation before he set out, so this was just a small token to ease his worries about food, etc.


Pilgrims at Mina (Haj 1429)


This tradition is still very much alive in our local Cape Malay community and unique to the greater Cape Town area. This is not a tradition practised by Muslims living elsewhere in South Africa.

Global Handwashing Day

Today is Global Handwashing Day! Now I know for us this is a no-brainer...BUT I cannot explain what a culture shock it was for me when I started working, and saw that many of my female (non-muslim) colleagues do not wash hands when they've used the loo !!!

Poetry in motion

Frans Pieter Lodewyk van Kuyck (1852–1915): Peasant girl knitting while waiting for the laundry to dry in the sun


Knitting

by zan

Duelling needles
Fight for hours
Never need to take a break
Weaving woollens
In the process
Leaving sweaters in their wake


Then comes bed time
End of feuding
Tiredness they cannot hide
And to start again tomorrow
Tonight they’re sleeping
Side by side

Crochet love

As a newly addicted dedicated crocheter, I subscribe to Crochet! magazine. The October 2009 edition had a really interesting article that I just have to share...

Sharing the Love

by Susanna Tobias

In August and September of 2009, I was given the opportunity to travel to Thailand and Cambodia with the purpose of teaching various crafts to some very special young ladies. These young ladies, ranging from ages 8 to 15, were, at one time, at risk of being sold into the sex trade in Thailand and Cambodia. However, thanks to the vision and provision of Remember Nhu, founded by Carl and Laurie Ralston, these young ladies were rescued from a potentially terrible fate and given a chance to live a life that would have been an impossible dream had they been sold.

Thailand

On Saturday, Aug. 29th, the last craft of the day was crochet. I gathered the older girls and brought out the crochet hooks and yarn sent by Coats & Clark. As I began preparing my demonstration, I discovered that many of the girls already knew how to do some basic crochet stitches, so I got them started on making simple, kerchief-style head scarves.

They were so excited with their projects, and by dinnertime, most of the girls had completed several rows on their scarves. We didn't have time to get the crochet materials out again, but I left all of the materials with the girls so they could finish their projects later. Read the rest here...

Fresh Cape Town Style

The designer, 2nd from left, with her sisters outside her home on the slopes of Table Mountain


Last night at a charity fund-raiser, I met the most talented and very friendly young sister, Zubeida Joseph, who designs and sells her own brand of clothing. Her label, Jozeph, is young and fresh and can easily be hijabified!


Do check out her website and judge for yourself...

My favourite out of her Eid collection:



I could so wear this top!