Growing up in Egypt
This little girl on the donkey back had been waiting around near the pyramids to get money from tourists who photographed her. Abortion is frowned upon by the religion and many families keep a large family to help out in the farm. But poverty is prevalent in the country and many kids are left on the streets. However is not all bleak for the children. One great carpent master in Eqypt decided to take things in his own hands and started a carpet school in Memphis to train children in carpet weaving. With their small hands, they can manage very delicate prints and the school paid them for the carpet they weaved. With this, they get to earn a keep for their family and when they grow older, they could set up their own school. Over the years many carpets schools have mushroomed in Memphis as generation passed their skill to the next generation
A Nubian Spice and Frangrance Shop
I love the vibrancy and colour of the Nubian culture. The land of Nubia is a desert divided by the river Nile. In ancient time, Nubia was a land of great natural wealth,of gold mines, ebony, ivory and incense which was always prized by her neighbors. Because they did not write their own languages until very late in ancient times, we know their stories and their people largely through their archaeology and what the Egyptians and Greeks said about them. During the construction of Assam Dam, more than 100 of Nubian villages in (most of them in Sudan )with all monuments,tombs,temples were flooded by the waters of Nasser Lake after the construction of the High Dam. The villagers have since been relocated to various villages near Assam .
Camel patrol car
Try NYPD Blue the Sahara Version. Imagine Detective Andy Sipowicz in the ancient days punching horse thieves, trailing illegal spice traders, and bringing unethical ivory merchants to the court of law. ..I think the Eqyptian spiced coffee must have got into me....
Wa.. aunty you are very fit
Ma makes us proud. Ma beat everyone in the tour group in climbing fortress steps. Crawling through pyramid tunnels was of no sweat to her. She carried a note pad with her wherever she went and deligently she made notes of what she saw before she went to bed every night.
I wish I have half her drive in pursuing knowledge when I reach her age.
Ancient dwelling with Satellite Dishes
Ancient mud brick dwelling that are still being inhabited, but not without modern necessity such as satellite dishes to tune into the latest episodes of Desperate Housewives and American Idol.
The Singing Falucca
A Falucca is an old-fashioned sailboat. They are still in commercial use though some are now converted to tourist boats for the Nile cruise. Nubian sailers often entertain their guests with beautiful Nubian folk songs . Ours too but it proved to be challenging to get Malaysians to dance and sing along spontaneously.
Nile, the mother of Egypt
This is the view from the window of my cruise ship. Most houses in Eqypt has no roof. Someone commented that the strong dessert storm will leave no room for roof. Moreover it hardly rains at all in Eqypt, which of course sound extremely strange for someone who lives in the Equatorial climate. The only source of irrigation during the ancient time is from the flooding of the Nle. The more the Nile flooded, the better the harvest will be that year because more alluvium will be brought to Eqypt. Ever since the construction of the High Dam, flooding has ceased and fertilizers has replaed flood water in rejuvenating the farm lands. 
Cruising along the River Nile
When we were young, we used to hide at the corner indulging in the comic series titled Daughter of the Nile. I can hardly remember the story line now but I can still vividly taste the intoxicating experience of the fantasy of princesses and princes , intensified by the fear of being caught by Ma as we should be doing homework. I took this picture when cruising down the Nile. The fear of being getting caught was of course not valid, but the beautiful and dream-like scenery of the Nile made me tipsy.
Edfu Temple
The journey to the ancient Eqypt began with us arriving at Edfu temple with a contingent of horse drawn carriages. Edfu is the one of the best preserved major temples in Eqypt. The temple is dedicated to the falcon god Horus and was built over 180-year period from 237 BC to 57 BC. Its courtyard and surrounding were buried beneath sand and houses built by local villagers and was only discovered last century.
Our tour guide Mr.Wael told us with a straight face that he was convinced that this pyhlon were built by aliens . The Hollywood movie "Star Gates" described the story in details.
Language the enzyme for Civilization
This place used to be the libray where priests of kept the prayer scrolls. The ancient Eqyptians language is called Hieroglyphic. Hieroglyphic script is largely pictorial in character. Most are recognizable pictures of natural or man-made objects, often symbolically color-painted.
I read some where that the Nubian history was not known until very recent because they did not have any hand written records during the ancient days.
Talking about the power of words ! I wonder if we can consider our internet blogger boom as the foundation for next renaissance : )
Newspaper is never the same again
The tourist police Chief checking out the latest news in a makeshift chair placed outside the guard house of the Cairo Museum.
Newspaper in Eqypt has very few pages. I reckon not more than 10 pages. Having accustommed to close to 50 pages in every daily issue of Star, newspaper in Egypt is a luxury and more so even for old newspaper. The vendor at the souveniers shop was reluctant to wrap the cups with paper. After much squabling and negotiating, he finally relented and walked to next stall to ask for newspaper to wrap our souvenir cups.
It is only when we travel , we see what we take for granted in Malaysia is a prized possession for the poorer folks.
Friday morning in streets of Cairo
Like Brunei, Friday is a public holiday for the Eqyptians. The weather that day was cooler than usual and the morning sun was kind of lazy ; stretching itself reluctantly through the sleepy streets of Cairo. The usual hustle and bustle of a busy traffic frenzy was nowhere in sight. All the stores were closed. Only hotels and museums were open on public holidays.
Fortress of Salah ad-Din
I came to know the great Islamic general Saladin (Arabic Salah ad-Din ), from the movie Kingdom of Heaven. His generosity and compassion to not harm the crusaders at Jurusallem is a story that has made him one of the greatest King at that time.
You can image my star-struck look standing in front of this fotress.
Alabasta Mosque
In the serene courtyard of the mosque built by Mohamad Ali. The not so clever pharoah of Eqypt traded an invaluble obelisk with the British for a clock that has never worked. The clock is still located at the courtyard overlooking the entrace of the mosque
"Teh Tarik" the Egyptian Way
Is close to the midnight and the square in the central bazaar was crowded with local folks seeping red saffron tea and smoking pipes. The weather was extremely cold at a 10 degrees. This place reminded me of the Telawi Tiga of Bangsar Baru. Of course the real serious night life is at a different street where lines of night clubs open from 1am till 8 am the next day and belly dancers bring visitors fantasy of the ancient world.
Sunset at the Sahara Desert
God Rae, the Sun God of the Ancient Eqyptian is now retiring at the background making way for the descend of the Goddess of the Night. Temperature at night is quite low and the desert strong wind makes us Malaysian run for shelter. We watched the light and sound show of the Sphinx under huge thick heavy blanket that I rented with 100 Eqyptian pounds
Horse Riding runs deep in Eqyptian's blood
Driving in Eqypt is an experience of a life time. Our bus was riding right on top of the tram track in the middle of an extremely crowded market street. Suddenly a tram appeared out of nowhere in the opposite direction. The bus driver had to negotiate a way for the mamoth bus, but not after exhanging strings of horns and arabic instructions with the street hawkers who eventually made way for the bus. Funny enough, after our bus passed the tram, the street hawkers moved their stalls back to the same spot like nothing ever happen before.
No one follows traffic rules in Cairo. Our bus just parked midway in the road for one of the tour members who need to buy a few items from a nearby store. I guess they drive cars like they ride horses
Karnak Temple at Dusk
Is a long day today. Is 8pm and we have not had any food because Mr.Wael being a committed historian rather than a commercial tour guide, had insisted we finish the tour for the ruins from the Middle Kingdom. However all our tiredness were gone when we were welcomed by the beautiful Karnak Temple.
Queen Hatshetsut
While the infamous Cleopatra was the last pharoah of Egypt, Queen Hatshetsut ( our tour guide said "Hot Chick Soup" will be easier to pronouce ) was the first woman pharoah of Eqypt and had commissioned many great architecture during her reigns.
The Mortuary Temple at Abu Simbel is a design masterpiece. Constructed during the 15 BC, the palace was terraced, based on a central axis and cut into the natural relief of the canyon at Abusimbel. The queen imported trees to the site from as far away as Punt. The temple look modern even in current 21st century.
Queen Hatshetsut initated incense trading with a country now known as Somalia. Relief depicting the arrival of the spice trade contingent is still very well preseved in the temple.
Though Hatshetsut was known to be beautiful, she dressed as man wearning a fake beard as it was not acceptable at that time for woman to rule the country.
Blessing of the Ancestors
Looking at what left of side gate of Queen Hatshetsut Mortuary Temple, wondering if the ghosts of past kings and queens , high priests and farmers , warriors and poets were to look at the Eqypt now, what would their thoughts be
Canvas of God Rae
We had to wake up at 3am to join the heavily guarded bus entourage to the Valley of the King. The bus ride was a whole 3 hours. But it was worth it because we saw the most beautiful sunrise we have ever seen in life. I believe this is the work of God Rae, the ancient Sun God.
Imagine the caravan awoke to the morning sun, getting ready to continue their journey along the spice route , so as to present to the Queen the best quality harvest of the year.
Deep thoughts of a Nubian Boatman
Sailing along the Nile canal towards the sunset, our Nubian boatman was deep in thought.
Temple Kom Ombo
Temple Kom Ombo is located on a bend in the river Nile about 50 km north of Aswan. We arrived by boat and all of us gasped at the beauty of the temple. The temple is dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek and the falcon god Horus the Elder.
We saw a mumified crocodile in the side chapel of the temple. It was a huge crocodile and thrice the length of what we saw in our local Malaysian Zoo.
High fashion riding in Eqypt
Says who that bicycle has to be dull. Leaning leisurely outside the Edfu Temple, I think it belonged to one of the local students who was sketching artwork of ancient motives inside the museum .
I bet this floral seat cover would sell like hot cake in the current fashion craze for all things ethnic.
A cool and lazy Sunday afternoon in Bangsar
What I would like to have now is a bowl of piping hot Maggi Curry Instant noodles – that is so steaming hot that it will fog up the pair of eyepieces of any unsuspecting four-eyed dude who could not resist the temptation. My craving is absolutely justified. It has been raining for the past few days in Kuala Lumpur. Even though is half past four in the afternoon, the city is all snuggled up lazily under the cloudy grey sky. Coming Monday is the birthday of Sultan of Selangor. Like half of the city folks who took the chance of this long weekend to “balik kampong”, the afternoon Sun has unapologetically taken a siesta, allowing the little multi-coloured windmill at my balcony tap-dancing away to the tunes of the wind chimes. Not far away from where I live, the hawkers are busily setting up stalls in preparation for Pasar Malam. The night market offers a wide galore of fruits, vegetables, fish and typical Malaysian snacks. I think I shall go for two rolls of Stadium “po-piah” today. Apparently the stall owner made its name selling po-piah in his younger days outside our national stadium. Hence the eye catching paint job on the front panel of his stall - “Famous Stadium Po Piah. Minimum Take Two”. I wonder if he wore his bell-bottom pants and combed his hair like a curry puff during his younger days as a hawker. 
Since I get started on food, it will be very unfair to leave out my favourite peanut pancakes. This is the only stall that is still doing peanuts pancakes the Brunei way. The crust of the pancakes is crispy with an unmistakable smell of the Planta margarine. Sandwiched between the crispy crusts is a generous layer of chopped peanuts and crunchy sugars ; and with more butter of course. One bite into the peanut pancake you wonder if the time has set back to 30 years ago. Like the Macik in Brunei, this macik wears the same batik sarong and tucked her hair under the Malay lady cap. Something does change recently. Nowadays I see a young man, who looks like the son of Macik, being the head chef whipping up trays and trays of delicious pancakes, while macik busily chatting and serving her regular customers.
What makes Bangsar Pasar Malam different is the florists, or I shall be more specific, one particular florist who is Vivien’s father. Vivien is the friend of Kim and Kim is my best friend. Vivien and daddy owned a flower farm in Cemaron Highland. She grew up attending to flowers, selling flowers and loving flowers. Almost all the bistro at Telawi gets their weekly supply of fresh flowers from them. I have not explained why Vivien’s Father Daughter stall is so famous. Vivien’s father likes to sing and specifically sing about his flowers. Here is his song, and the only one song “Roses are red, Violets are blue, with this flowers, I chase away your blues”. It does not matter that his pitch is always out. Everyone walks past his stalls with a smile even if they do not buy his flowers. Not not I am suggesting a good singer makes a good businessman, but certainly fun and passion attracts customers.
The sun is out now. Let me get myself out of my lazy chair and make my way to get my peanut pancakes.
