Arabian 'Holy'-day

Hey guys, I just wanted to share with you a little something from my 2 weeks long vacation...

The pictures.

I think the pictures best explain themselves so I won't be writing much, just maybe a few annotations here and there.

And, if you're wondering why there aren't many of my cam-whoring pictures, two reasons: its seems wrong to be cam-whoring in the Holy Land (somehow, cam-whoring sounds sinful), and, I was given a limit by my friends to how many pictures of myself I could take (for every 4 photos, only one could have me in it). Sob sob...

And lastly, I know that the title is kinda lame, but I got the inspiration from a certain globetrotting hobbit.

So sit back, enjoy and do write down your comments.

All the pictures can be found here.

Dubai, the 21st Century Middle East.

Dubai is one of the seven emirates that constitute United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the eastern Arabian Peninsula. While Abu Dhabi is UAE's state capitol, Dubai is just as important especially commercially.

It is one of the fastest expanding city in the world. It has 30% of the world's cranes (mechanical ones, not the birds). Everywhere you go you would see construction sites. 2 years from now, the city would have transformed itself drastically.

It is home to many of the world's first, finest, biggest and tallest. For example, the Burj al-Arab (above; source: internet) is the world's tallest hotel and it boasts the finest and most opulent hotel rooms in the history; it has rightfully earned its 7 stars. It stands on an artificial island 280 metres out from Jumeirah beach, and is connected to the mainland by a private curving bridge. It is an iconic structure, designed to symbolize Dubai's urban transformation and to mimic the shape of the sail of an Arabian boat dhow.

Just a peek into the hotel will cost one 60 pounds.

And one night can set one back to between $7,500 to $15,000; the panaromic suite costs $8,250 per night, and that doesn't include the fine dining in the many posh restaurants (like the underwater restaurant for one) or the other amenities (the tennis court, see below; source: internet).

Another tallest in the world is the Burj Dubai (above, source: internet). Due to be completed in 2009, it will be the world's tallest building, the tallest freestanding structure, and the world's tallest land based structure in the world, beating current title holders Taipei 101 in Taipei, the CN Tower in Toronto, and the guyed KVLY-TV mast in North Dakota, respectively. Holy shit.

Soon, in July, and slightly more than half completed, it will overtake Taipei 101 as the world's tallest building (refer above). No shit. It was monstrous when I saw it (half built, see below).

Other interesting must-sees of Dubai are definitely the interesting man-made (not one but three) palm tree-shaped islands and the world-shaped archipelago of reclaimed islands (see pictures below, source: internet).

It is hard to imagine that all this happened within the past two decades. Prior to this, Dubai was just a small trading port, clustered around the mouth of the Creek (see picture of the modern-day Creek below).

Dubai has been so successful in its transformation that it has attracted thousands of foreign traders, merchants and later businessmen into its shores over the decades. Currently, 20% of Dubai's population consists of the natives (called Emiratis). And the other 80% are foreigners (expats) who are mainly from India, Pakistan, the Phillippines, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations.

Okay, enough of the info, its time for the pictures....

Dubai I

Pictures from the first day of Dubai tour.
Lets start with a camera-whoring picture on the bus, shall we?

Something worth taking a shot of. Some clock tower given by some British Queen some time ago. Bad angle. I was on the bus and it was moving... So there.
One of the many palaces. One prince has one palace (and I mean PALACE; with a huge plot of land). The king has like 17 sons. You do the Maths.

Peacocks, peahens and peachicks guard the palace. The peachicks are sooo cute!A view of the Creek (the older and eastern part of Dubai). I love the building with the huge reflective surface, the National Bank of Dubai. It looks really nice at sunset and sunrise (I know cause my hotel room has a lovely view of it). Again, it is supposed to look like the Arabic dhow.

Boat ride on one of the quaint boats along the creek.

Stopped at the old Spice Market and Gold Souk for some shopping.

Next, we went to the Dubai Museum.
Hot!!!!
Thank God for the underground air-conditioned part of the museum.
Yes, camera-whoring runs in the family. ;)
Next we headed off to the western areas where a lot of the developments are taking place.
The Burj Dubai (soon to be the world's tallest building).
Dubai's Emirate Towers. The shorter one is a hotel and the other houses offices.
Then it was off to Jumeirah Souk. Its a beautiful replica of an old Arab market with air-conditioned covered streets. Really beautiful and really fake. And its beside the Burj al-Arab.
I kid you not when I say this, but my camera died after taking this shot.

ARGH!!! I came all the way from Dubai to see the Burj al-Arab this close but my camera battery had to die on me...

Beside the Burj al-Arab is another beautiful hotel known as the Jumeirah Beach Hotel Dubai. The hotel is built in a startling shape that mirrors a breaking wave.

And they have a water theme park called the Wild Wadi. It was like 50 Degrees Celsius. Do you think we are crazy like those angmos to go there for a swim?

More pictures of the hotels can be found in the next entry on Dubai and Abu Dhabi (last few entries).

Next it was off to Saudi Arabia to perform the umrah. We would then return to Dubai (plus Abu Dhabi) after a week and a half in Saudi Arabia.

More pictures can be found here.

Madinah and the Prophet Mohamed (SAW)'s Mosque

Then, we flew off to Jeddah and took a bus to Madinah, Saudi Arabia.

The second most important city in Islam, Madinah (also known as Medinah, Medina or al Madīnat al Munawwarah) is home to the Masjid-e-Nabawi or 'The Mosque of The Prophet'. Muslims believe that praying once in the Mosque of the Prophet is equal to praying at least 1000 times in any other mosque.

A shot taken from the front of the mosque with the famed green dome (below), called 'Dome of the Prophet'. It was built in 1817 and painted green in 1839. The area around the dome is the the site of the original ancient mosque. The mosque was then extended all around over the centuries by many Islamic rulers.

An aerial view of the gigantic mosque. Gigantic. And I mean GIGANTIC. (Source: Internet)

It is so huge that taking a shot of just one elevation of the mosque is impossible!

Day shot of the back entrance. The large square before the mosque can get quite hot but it gets cooler as you approach the air-conditioned mosque.

Night shot. Breathtaking...

The Mosque was built on a site adjacent to the Prophet Muhammad's (SAW) home. The site of his home, which is at the front part of the mosque, is also where the final resting place of the Prophet is located.
Tomb of the Prophet (above, source: internet). Muslims who are performing the umrah and hajj are required to visit the tomb and mosque before heading off to or returning from Mecca. Prayers (salaam) are offered at the tombs of the Prophet and his two closest friends (also the earliest Muslim leaders), Abu Bakar and Umar ibn al-Khattab. Other tombs of the Prophet's family members and friends can be found in the graveyard beside the mosque.

Note: cameras are strictly not allowed into the mosque (especially for women; somehow, they are more stringent towards the female visitors and will do a thorough search through the bags. Probably because it is to protect the other female counterparts' privacy).

However, my dad took shots of the interior with his camera-phone though. The interior of the mosque is extremely grand and beautiful, plus its entirely air-conditioned. High ceilings with gravity-defying huge domes and labyrinths of long corridors with wide arches will astound you and overwhelm your perception of grandeur.

Numerous large open courtyards greet you as you walk from one end of the mosque to the other (it hardly rains there, so courtyards are feasible). If it does rain, large contractable umbrella-like structures can automatically open up to provide the necessary shelter.

A shrewd eye can observe that different parts of the mosque have been built in different styles due to the different time periods the extensions were built. The area near the tomb is the oldest part of the mosque and has a large concentration of significant monuments and pillars.

A small site stretching from the Prophet's tomb to his pulpit, for example, is named ar-Rawdah an-Nabawiyah. It is a highly holy as the Prophet himself has proclaimed that the area there is as close you can get to the heavens and that supplications and prayers uttered here are never rejected. It can only accomodate less than a hundred people (I got to squeeze there to pray, not once but twice).

Note: Ladies who wish to visit the Prophet's tomb need to abide by the visiting hours (9-11am daily) as they will shut off the area to any male visitors or security guards. So it can get a bit violent and 'havoc' when the gates are opened for the female visitors (mad rush as my Mum and my cousins found out). Plus, they had a few 'racist' stories to share when they came back from the first visit too. It took them two trials in two mornings before they finally got to see the tombs. Plus, praying at the ar-Rawdah for the womenfolk can be extremely hard and close to impossible as the space opened to the female worshippers is extremely narrow...

To learn more about the mosque's rich history, see here.


Our hotel was very close to the mosque so most of my relatives and I didn't miss praying any of the five prayers at the mosque daily.

The second holiest mosque in Madinah is the Masjid Quba (Quba Mosque). What's so special about it? Try, it was the first mosque to be built, ever.


Of course, the mosque you can see now has been the renovated and rebuilt since the Prophet's time over the centuries. Its first stones were positioned by the Prophet himself on his emigration from the city of Mecca to Medina. It was also here where the calender of Islam was created.
It is said that offering two Raka'ahs of nafl (sunat) prayers in the Quba Mosque is equal to performing one umrah. So you can offer the prayers in the mosque on behalf of someone else to present them with the pahla (grace) of performing the umrah.

Another mosque to visit is the Masjid Jumaat (Friday Mosque). It was here where the first Friday prayers were performed.