A buzy week

Been really busy the whole week last week. Finishing the assignments, packing the stuff to move to the new complex and sorted the old stuff to bring back to Malaysia next month, besides the normal routine everyday. I was still hoping that we could move to the new complex this month even though I know the chances are zero.

The packer came the other day to pack all the fragile stuff. So no more all the glass and dining ware for the moment until we move to the new complex. For the mean time we just use apa yg ada - melamine and plastic stuff. My display cabinet also already cleared. I asked the packer to pack it nicely as I will not open it anymore until we go back for good. Rumah baru takde display cabinet so no need to open the box.

Assignment statistic still put on hold even though I had already lend a book from a friend. Tapi sebab kuasa M yang kuat so I just put the book nicely on the table. When the dateline is nearer I guess I will start to do it passionately. In a mean time I prefer to be a procrastinator.

And to all my friends that been asking about the London trip, the entry will be put up soon. Don't worry I will share my trip this time as I shared before.

They did a nice job that day

Empty cabinet

Move or back for good?

In a month to come we will be moving to our new complex near the Nile River. How do I feel? Excited, tired, lazy, not excited. Entah la I don't feel that great about moving to the new complex. Thinking of loads of stuff need to be pack, unpack again and by the time we settle down maybe it is about time for us to go back for good to Malaysia it made me feel tired.

I once mentioned to hubby that maybe it is better for me just go back to Malaysia and wait for him there. But he disagrees on it. To him the family should be with him during the bad and good times. So apa nak dikata. Kemas je la barang and pindah.

So yesterday we went for the balloting to choose our apartment. Alhamdulillah we got a place at 2nd level. Not so high not so low. We are scheduled to move on this 22nd August. Since I will not be around that time so hubby la kena berkerja keras. But I will make sure to pack all the stuff before leaving for Malaysia.

A-2-7 will be our house number


Our new block in the complex

My new kitchen

The new living area yang kecil

The toilet yang lawa

Later after balloting and tour to the new complex, we headed to Rotana Hotel to fetch and old friend who just arrived from Malaysia for business trip. He is hubby's good friend when they were both in PDB and the wife was my schoolmate. We brought Ramzul to our favorite restaurant, Solitaire. We ate and chat and ate and chat again until we send him back to the hotel at 9.30 p.m. Planning to invite him with some other friends this Thursday before I start to pack all my utensil into the box.

Ramzul & hubby

Khairyn's Party

We just came back from London 3 days ago and been invited by a good friend, Lyn for her daughter's birthday party. Still in holiday mood and being so lazy to start my routine I delightedly accepting the invitation. Mana taknya ajak datang waktu lunch. So I don't have to cook.

The party were supposed start at 2.00 p.m but due to other commitment we excuse our self to come earlier. So we arrived their place at 1.15 p.m. Of course nobody have not arrived. We start the makan-makan session together with the stories of London and others. I brought some bubur pulut hitam as I have no mood to do any baking.

Later the blowing candle session started and of course my son yang over dari the birthday girl. He was the one who conquer the table. Khairyn nak tiup tak boleh tapi dia nak tiup boleh. Adoi la anak. Macam ni kena buat blowing candle session every month la. After that I leave the kids to play for a while, while waiting for our driver. We left the party when others start coming.

Mummy Khairyn buat

The table full of foods


Happy birthday to you.......

Ehsan yang melebih-lebih

Push Khairyn Push....

After sending the kids back home with the maid, we headed to Khartoum International University. Actually both me and hubby volunterred to become a coach for the students from several universities across the Sudan for their Petronas Intervarsity Debate Competition (PAVED). The coaching session is part of a program by Petronas to help the Sudanese community in term of humanitarian needs, education and social. Despite Sudan, Petronas also send their staff to Acheh, Phillipine and Pakistan. This program is called Petronas Volunteer Opportunity Program (PVOP).

The session started with briefing from Mdm. Samah, Executive of Corporate Affairs from Petronas. After the briefing we were given our university and we have to help and coach them to prepare for the topics given. I was assigned to the medical students from Omdurman Islamic University. The session ended at 7.30 p.m. We were supposed to attend the dinner at 8.00 p.m but we excuse our self as we were both tired.

Muka kebosanan

Another one leaving....

I guess semua orang pun dah bosan baca my blog. Asyik-asyik entry farewell. Ada je orang nak balik tapi tukang tulis blog sendiri tak balik-balik jugak. Well what to do. Perjuangan suamiku di sini masih diperlukan. But this time punya farewell was organized for our neighbour, Kak Gina & Mus. They are the 1st from our block to go back to Malaysia for good. But actually they are not. They are leaving for another country and another company in August.

I make a must to have some makan-makan at our place if any of our close friends are going back. This time around Kak Gina punya turn so I invited the whole residence of our block and a few others from other blocks. I made some simple dish - Laksa Penang, bread butter pudding and fruit cocktail. Karipap and cucur badak goreng yang instant imported from Malaysia. Since we also will be leaving for London the next few days so we thought it would be great to have it over the weekend.

Bila tengok balik rupa-rupanya tak banyak gambar yang disnap. Just these 2 that hubby managed to take. Masing-masing lupa diri sibuk makan.

Me, Kak Gina, Hasina & Hassina

Senget-senget suamiku ambik gambar...

Agung's Reception

Yesterday we were invited by the Malaysia Embassy in Khartoum for a reception celebrating Agung's birthday. The event started at 8.00 p.m with speech from Mr. Ambassador , Tuan Haji Zainal bin Hamzah, followed by singing the national anthem and 2 other songs. After that we had some makan-makan and gossip-gossip session with the rest of the invitees.

The food was great but the weather was not really. So we had to make our way back home by 10.00 p.m when it started to rain. It was nice to gather once in a while and get to know other Malaysian besides Petronas.

p/s : Tuan Embassy nanti selalu-selalu la buat makan-makan macam ni ek. Jangan lupa ajak saya lagi.... Hehehehehe

Us with Sham, Nasir & Azam

Sham, me, Lily, Rahimah, Faezah, Misliah, Jasila & Habibah

Curfew in Khartoum

I had not much to really write on the curfew that we've been through. Since me and hubby experienced the same incident I just put up his writing on this blog. Malas nak karang la...

Friday, 9th May
We heard of it at first as a possible threat, and we were advised to stay indoors - which we did - I was supposed to bring Ehsan swimming that evening.

Saturday, 10th May - evening
When nothing happened, we assumed that it was just rumors flying about. Until the next day that is, when Ckn received a call around 6pm, from a friend who is working in Omdurman (the person was specifically in a place called Souq Libya - a market next to where we have our kharouf breakfasts). She told us that she could hear gunshots and a huge commotion from the streets. The fighting had begun.

The first thing going thru my mind was the safety of my family; I knew it was safer to stay put, and not appear on the streets. Ckn took it on herself to start communicating by any means necessary with all our friends in the city (ym? facebook? u name it, she had it! both my cousin Azlie and brother Fyan helped manned the Malaysia end!) while I tried to contact our security manager. The phone lines were undependable due to the congestion. I received a call from Mama from Malaysia the moment the news broke on CNN. Although we have never been thru this kind of experience before, I think we all kept our heads as everyone in our block was kept informed of what was happening in Omdurman.

I kept going to the rooftop to check the conditions on the roads (which looked pretty normal to me - people were milling about, but traffic was light. A curfew was being imposed). But I felt something in my gut (and gasped!) when I looked to the west; we can make out the smoke trails in the distance, and see flashes from the fighting - and once in a while, we can hear loud noises, booms and even felt vibrations in our apartment.

Saturday, 10th May - night
Major fighting ended at dusk. In all, heavy fighting lasted for about 3 hours that Saturday, although reports said it started much earlier than that. Khartoum was eerily quiet that night. Most buildings were lit, including the Fateh tower which can be act as a beacon for anyone looking for the Presidential Palace (which was the prime objective of the rebels). The main road in front of our block was blacked out, but a strategic bridge leading to Khartoum North was lit.

Ckn wouldn't leave her makeshift communications center (read:laptop in the bedroom!), so I made us a simple instant noodle dinner, which she readily devoured despite earlier protests. The kids were their usual selves, but even they noticed our anxiety and kept out of our way (most of the time!). I wasn't concerned about food or drinking water lasting a few days, as we just went shopping on Friday, but I did fill the kids wading pool and charged all 3 emergency lamps, just in case (Others weren't so lucky. My big boss was due to leave on the ill-fated day, but had to turn back as the airport was closed - and as he was not expecting to stay in Khartoum, he didn't keep extra cash or had fresh food for 2 days...)

Throughout the day, Sudan TV was only broadcasting folk songs and documentaries, until around 9pm when the first news report on the 'failed' attack was broadcast. We couldn't understand the news, but the pictures spoke for themselves - burning 4WDs on the roads, captured vehicles and heavy weapons being driven around by security personnel and militias, prisoners, and of course, bloodied corpses. I stayed up late to watch all the news channels to get any scrap of information possible.

Sunday, 11th May
Although the rebels didn't cross the bridge from Omdurman into Khartoum, they did however, managed to disappear in the vast suburbs of Omdurman. So the curfew was extended a few times, and we all just 'worked from home' that Sunday (hehe if you can call it that). The situation was calm, but we _think_ we heard some shooting in the distance.

Monday, 12th May - midday
On Monday we were told that the situation was under control and that we were allowed back to the office. Traffic was nearly normal, although Omdurman was still closed off. There was a sense of normalcy at the office, and everyone was excited to share their experience of the attack.

As for me it was a memorable experienced that will never be forgotten though it was a tragic one. Hope that the battle will end soon.

Nile Cruise

Us on the Nile Cruise...

Petronita had organized a Nile cruise for it's members and spouse early this morning. It was the 2nd time for us as we had joined when we first came in 2006. This time around we wanted to bring our maid and Erica to experience it. The weather is not too hot. This time around we managed to take more pictures compared to before. Ehsan as usual was busy playing with the other kids that we had difficulty to make him stay still for our pictures.

What is so special about the Nile River in Khartoum? The Nile River is the longest river in the world. From its major source, Lake Victoria in east central Africa, the White Nile flows generally north through Uganda and into Sudan where it meets the Blue Nile at Khartoum, which rises in the Ethiopian highlands. From the confluence of the White and Blue Nile, the river continues to flow northwards into Egypt and on to the Mediterranean Sea. The merger of the two Niles is known as "the Mogran". You can really see clearly the merger of the two Niles if you take the cruise.

See the color difference??

Apart from that we could also see their lifestyle and culture. Along the Nile we can see they grow vegetables and raise livestock especially kharuf.

River transport is still the main carrier between north and South Sudan. This a picture from Tuti Island; the west bank of River Nile. Tuti is one of the tourism sites in Sudan.

The work site of brick making also can be seen along the Nile. This is one of the work site of brick making. Perhaps it is the 'oven' to bake the bricks.

Picture below is the remnants of the old Omdurman fort built during Anglo-Sudan war over 100 years ago. It was built during the Mahdist period to defend Omdurman.

The picture of the bridge below was an old Khartoum North Bridge which links Khartoum-to-Khartoum North. It was constructed during the early colonial period in Sudan.

The building below is a complex consisting of modern hotel, market and other utilities. It lies on the west bank of the Blue Nile opposite Tuti Island and is owned by a Libyan Company.

Al-Fatih Tower

And the last picture shows an Islamic edifice that became a landmark in Omdurman. It was established during the period of President Jaafar Nimeiri. It overlooks the West bank of River Nile.

Al-Nilein Mosque