Ok...yeah this blog is meant to be over, however a few months back I installed a blog counter to check how many hits its getting. For a blog thats been virtually inactive for the past 2 years, I personally think a consistent average of 500 - 700 hits per month is still quite good. Furthermore people are still leaving random comments on posts that are nearly five years old. As I do not have time to check through the entire blog for these comments I have decided to enable comment moderation so I know where and when people are responding. Also...since it seems that this blog is still somewhat popular... I may get one or two guys (one guy and one girl) to reboot Secret Arabian.
Maybe.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
The Last of the Bloggers
The Review AE Dot Blogspot Dot Com
Secret Arabian is finished, but I guess you didnt need a post to tell you that. Its been well over a year since any posts were made, and the only updates to this site that you will see, are either from late late stragglers to this blog commenting on posts from 3 years ago, or comments coming from those spam bots that somehow still manage to get past the word verification thingy...
The three of us who wrote here, in a sense, have all gone our separate ways... Ali has passed away, Jassim is doing whatever he's doing wherever he is doing it, and the same goes for me. A few of you have actually tracked me down to Facebook and even Twitter... and we have become friends, which is cool. However for me the Golden Age of Blogging is dead, as nothing much beyond complaining, whining and bitching seems to occur in the UAE blogosphere.
2006 - 2008 was the good ole days, but now its time to move on. I do however have a new blog that I recently set up with a previously unseen 'Secret Arabian', but I think she will remain in the background on that one. Also my posts there wont be as personal as the ones here, (at least most of the time) yet I still hope you guys come and visit it...
The site is called The Review AE (say it fast and it sounds like 'UAE'), and the address is reviewae.blogspot.com/. Please check it out... Comments are not yet enabled, but still browse through, its all brand new. Also please read the post I done on my buddy Sayed Badreya and check out the work he has done. And if you dont know who he is, you soon will... ;-)
Take care and see you around.
Nomaadic.
Secret Arabian is finished, but I guess you didnt need a post to tell you that. Its been well over a year since any posts were made, and the only updates to this site that you will see, are either from late late stragglers to this blog commenting on posts from 3 years ago, or comments coming from those spam bots that somehow still manage to get past the word verification thingy...
The three of us who wrote here, in a sense, have all gone our separate ways... Ali has passed away, Jassim is doing whatever he's doing wherever he is doing it, and the same goes for me. A few of you have actually tracked me down to Facebook and even Twitter... and we have become friends, which is cool. However for me the Golden Age of Blogging is dead, as nothing much beyond complaining, whining and bitching seems to occur in the UAE blogosphere.
2006 - 2008 was the good ole days, but now its time to move on. I do however have a new blog that I recently set up with a previously unseen 'Secret Arabian', but I think she will remain in the background on that one. Also my posts there wont be as personal as the ones here, (at least most of the time) yet I still hope you guys come and visit it...
The site is called The Review AE (say it fast and it sounds like 'UAE'), and the address is reviewae.blogspot.com/. Please check it out... Comments are not yet enabled, but still browse through, its all brand new. Also please read the post I done on my buddy Sayed Badreya and check out the work he has done. And if you dont know who he is, you soon will... ;-)
Take care and see you around.
Nomaadic.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
religious dilemma
We've all no doubt seen and heard about the second wave of blasphemous characters that were published in European newspapers of the Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him) and how the Danish government is attempting to suppress the effect that this could have on its Middle Eastern partners such as the GCC countries, for one and how from another end they are trying to distance themselves from it by claiming that another political party is the one whose playing this card, may I add to the point of publishing a small video on their website that depicts Islam and how it could be related to the 9/11 atrocities and other happenings around the world ending it off with someone at the end calling for 911 emergency services in the USA frantically and not without panic.
Have we learned our lesson yet from the first wave?
Apparently not, because you still have people who give these individuals who hold high the slogan of 'Freedom of Press' well high above anything else; simply because it is part of the European constitution given to every person who has such a nationality.
But where does one draw the line between freedom of press and building hate between cultures & religions as if we don't have problems of our own all over the world not to mention in the region?
It is a choice of rationale.
There's just simply no getting over it. The world was never created perfectly. It has its flaws and imperfections. The same would apply towards the human race. There are those who would oppose such ideas and think nothing of it and others who think they have every right to question even the matter of if there is a God (i.e.: Atheists). It is a balance of life that must always be otherwise the world would topple over.
That does not excuse the individuals that push people to the verge of insanity to the point of suicide bombing because of insulting a religion or a representative thereof.
So what do we do?
Stay quite and let what be, be? Or engage in a holy Jihad against the infidels that started the whole thing and anyone who is in link with them?
Think of it this way: If a child is beaten up by another child, then the child cries the first time. Second time around, the child has learned to stay away from such individuals to the point that the other child leaves them alone eventually.
Are we better off this way? Perhaps. But if we pursue the silly threats and killings against such stupidities then we are just giving them an even bigger reason to come back and do it again.
Right?
Have we learned our lesson yet from the first wave?
Apparently not, because you still have people who give these individuals who hold high the slogan of 'Freedom of Press' well high above anything else; simply because it is part of the European constitution given to every person who has such a nationality.
But where does one draw the line between freedom of press and building hate between cultures & religions as if we don't have problems of our own all over the world not to mention in the region?
It is a choice of rationale.
There's just simply no getting over it. The world was never created perfectly. It has its flaws and imperfections. The same would apply towards the human race. There are those who would oppose such ideas and think nothing of it and others who think they have every right to question even the matter of if there is a God (i.e.: Atheists). It is a balance of life that must always be otherwise the world would topple over.
That does not excuse the individuals that push people to the verge of insanity to the point of suicide bombing because of insulting a religion or a representative thereof.
So what do we do?
Stay quite and let what be, be? Or engage in a holy Jihad against the infidels that started the whole thing and anyone who is in link with them?
Think of it this way: If a child is beaten up by another child, then the child cries the first time. Second time around, the child has learned to stay away from such individuals to the point that the other child leaves them alone eventually.
Are we better off this way? Perhaps. But if we pursue the silly threats and killings against such stupidities then we are just giving them an even bigger reason to come back and do it again.
Right?
Friday, December 21, 2007
'Block Secret Dubai'...
…is one of the more interesting Facebook groups I have seen. A certain local blogger who I gather has been sparing with SD for the past couple of years, very recently launched a new group on Facebook calling for Secret Dubai to be blocked. Already the group has over 400 members with most people leaving comments being local Emiratis.
I don’t blog as much as I used to, simply because I no longer have the time or the interest in it anymore. Furthermore Facebook has become this year's online craze surpassing blogging as a more agreeable pastime… as posting self indulgent pictures of yourself, fighting sexy vampires and catching up with old school and workmates has become a lot more enjoyable than reading constant negative and unconstructive comments on my favorite blogs.
However regardless of whether its Facebook or Blogger that you prefer to turn to, the best thing about life online is that we can all express ourselves in a manner we would perhaps be too shy to do in the real world. Ironically, despite the virtual and 'unreal' nature of life online…it is here where people are free to express themselves freely across cultures.
It is here where those of us who do not interact with Expats on a regular basis and those who do not interact with Locals in a likewise manner can actually see what we think of each other. Face it, expats and Locals very rarely interact with each other and after 30 odd years of growth and development, the UAE is becoming ever more segregated. While the UAE's PR machine encourages foreigners to come here to spend their tourism dollars or buy property while stating a very true fact that this country is more progressive and advanced than most western countries, it also glosses over the fact that our cultures remain worlds apart.
Online we can see the true realty of the situation: expats bitching about how bad the Emirates is and Emiratis bitching about how bad the expats are, and this is good, because unless we start developing the balls to speak openly and diplomatically in public about the things that divides us and concerns us, then we will continue to need the virtual world to portray the truth of our social reality.
I don’t blog as much as I used to, simply because I no longer have the time or the interest in it anymore. Furthermore Facebook has become this year's online craze surpassing blogging as a more agreeable pastime… as posting self indulgent pictures of yourself, fighting sexy vampires and catching up with old school and workmates has become a lot more enjoyable than reading constant negative and unconstructive comments on my favorite blogs.
However regardless of whether its Facebook or Blogger that you prefer to turn to, the best thing about life online is that we can all express ourselves in a manner we would perhaps be too shy to do in the real world. Ironically, despite the virtual and 'unreal' nature of life online…it is here where people are free to express themselves freely across cultures.
It is here where those of us who do not interact with Expats on a regular basis and those who do not interact with Locals in a likewise manner can actually see what we think of each other. Face it, expats and Locals very rarely interact with each other and after 30 odd years of growth and development, the UAE is becoming ever more segregated. While the UAE's PR machine encourages foreigners to come here to spend their tourism dollars or buy property while stating a very true fact that this country is more progressive and advanced than most western countries, it also glosses over the fact that our cultures remain worlds apart.
Online we can see the true realty of the situation: expats bitching about how bad the Emirates is and Emiratis bitching about how bad the expats are, and this is good, because unless we start developing the balls to speak openly and diplomatically in public about the things that divides us and concerns us, then we will continue to need the virtual world to portray the truth of our social reality.
Sunday, November 04, 2007
the billions.. the millions.. and then the zeros
Time has become the matter of everything that drives us around to where we should go, where we should be, and what we should be doing. And unfortunately, the drive to that point is not being punctuative about our tedious timings, but rather because our very lives depend on them - monetarally speaking.
It's all about the money these days, or so Madonna would have described it, 'material world'.
Unfortunately, nothing is sacred anymore because of this drive since it has been dug down deep into our very roots and fabrics that we live by - religion; culture; nationalism; and even our very souls we sell to the devil just to hang by that extra moment of luxury that has become so precious in current day and time.
But what about the future? What about the times that we will need each other most? When money won't matter anymore? What will we do then? Beg? Grovel? Sympathize?
Most of us may be shaking our heads now but believe you and I, that that is the future we must all look forward to because of our current trend. Building skyscrapers and futuristic modules of building that scour the high clouds of our imagination with technologies never thought possible. Or materialistic impulses that would push us to get the latest trend, fashion, or even food in the growing industry that knows no bounds to reaching our deep-end pockets.
But what will we do when we get to the point of where all this does not matter?
Sunday, October 21, 2007
consequences of a rising real-estate industry
The trend of rising prices in the real estate industry hasn't quite cooled down just yet in the GCC region due to the vast potential of clientèles, modern building material technologies and the obvious wealth factor that is spreading at locust speed in a time of change for the GCC nationals and their foreign counterparts.
However, such progress is coming at a very steep price.
The overwhelming development in the industry is facing rough challenges on how to cope with the demand that is pushing it further beyond the limits of natural resource capabilities in the region. One such example is the hog on the water resource canal that is being spent in a non-elusive manner and without proper consideration where such real estate project not only require the hydro-powered source to build such projects but it is also necessary to maintain it in the long-run if it is ever going succeed in the long run.
The fact is that as developing nations, we have a need - nay, an obligation - to monitor ourselves in such a capacity and not run ourselves dry of such scarce resources especially with mounting climatic changes all over the world disrupting normal weather tac-tics all year round because of the escalating global warming levels.
So what is there to do, then?
Nothing much, really. Since the development cycle has been turned around much too fast, all we can ever do is sit and wait while we battle it out in our own close regions and hope to the Almighty that we get through this safely and in one piece.
However, such progress is coming at a very steep price.
The overwhelming development in the industry is facing rough challenges on how to cope with the demand that is pushing it further beyond the limits of natural resource capabilities in the region. One such example is the hog on the water resource canal that is being spent in a non-elusive manner and without proper consideration where such real estate project not only require the hydro-powered source to build such projects but it is also necessary to maintain it in the long-run if it is ever going succeed in the long run.
The fact is that as developing nations, we have a need - nay, an obligation - to monitor ourselves in such a capacity and not run ourselves dry of such scarce resources especially with mounting climatic changes all over the world disrupting normal weather tac-tics all year round because of the escalating global warming levels.
So what is there to do, then?
Nothing much, really. Since the development cycle has been turned around much too fast, all we can ever do is sit and wait while we battle it out in our own close regions and hope to the Almighty that we get through this safely and in one piece.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Eid Mubarak to one and all
My sincere apologies to everyone out there who was expecting a set of new posts by the time I had gotten to post about Ramadhan and missing out on it. I was merely responsible for the change of layout you look at now - and still don't know if you like it not, but would love to know.
Both Jassim & Yahya were very busy during Ramadhan while I was sent in and out of hospital for the past 6 weeks of anemia trauma that I am still living under the fear that one day it would be my time. But that's what I am here to point out.
From hereon in, you can expect at least a weekly post from me at the very least if things get redicilously tight on my end. I can't imagine a better hobby to keep my mind off things than writing itself.
And finally; may I just conclude this small brief post on congratulating every single one of you on the auspicious ocassion of Eid Al Fitr. May it bestow upon every one of you a great many deal of blessings on your all your families and loved ones. May all your hard work get earned in this time of year, inshallah.
So, on behalf of me; Jassim & Yahya here at the Secret Arabian Journal; have a wonderful Eid Mubarak!
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Ramadhan Kareem - everyone
Here's hoping a wonderful Ramadhan to everyone who reads and comments on Secret Arabian Journal and hoping for many festive times to come by, inshallah!
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
This Summer's Blockbuster
I was not going to blog till the end of the summer, but Yahya, Ali and Moyarati have been blogging about this movie for nearly a year now and now I saw the trailer and i am excited. I did not even know what a Transformer really was until 6 weeks ago but I cannot wait to watch this movie. There is a rumor that they trash Doha at the beginning. Perhaps these giant robots can swing past Satwa and do us a favor as well.
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