Ice Skating & Happy New Year

Yesterday my kids eventually got to go ice skating for the first time in their lives, they have been asking me to take them for sometime now but because it has been many years since I did ice skating myself and not having the desire to do it again, we never got to go there that is until a friend of mine offered to take them while I just sit outside and watch.

They got very excited putting their skating shoes on but as soon as they entered the rink, Amir got a bit scared and wanted to come out, I encouraged him and in he went, I told them that they will fall many times but that almost everyone will have a fall.

Here is Aida having a great fall, one of many to come. After a while they both started to manage to skate a bit, although Amir got the hang of it quicker than Aida, I am assuming it is because he is a lot shorter :o)

They both enjoyed it so much and didn't stop talking about it for a long time, they were really looking forward to it and it actually exceeded their expectations, they loved it even though they both went home with a sore bottom :o)

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Today is the last day of the year, a year that has been unkind to some of us and good to the rest, I just want to wish everyone every where a very Happy 2008 and I hope inshaAllah that it is a good year for all of us :o)

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Update:

I would Like to thank Brave Heart for the Brave Heart Award 2007 and the excellent post with the result in which he gave me the award, I am overwhelmed and very pleased to get it, to me all Libyan bloggers are winners, we are all doing something that can only be described as good and brave.

Trolley Rage

The holiday season is almost over, driving in London at the moment is sheer bless but that will all change next week when people return to their places of work and schools.

Few days ago I took Amir my son with me to do the weekly shopping at the local supermarket, it was very busy in there with long queues at the check out points, I queued with my half full trolley, there was people in front me but it was not a very long queue, right in front of me there was a woman who had few items on her, about 6 or 7 minutes later I heard her calling someone behind me, I turned around and saw this older woman who I assume is her mother, she was pushing a trolley that was packed full of shopping, anyway the woman in front of me without saying a word to me very rudely started to push my trolley back and told her mother, here mum bring your shopping here, that is right in front of me! of course at that moment my Libyan blood started to boil and I said to her, what are you doing? she looked at me as if I was a piece of dirt and said that she is in the queue and can do what she wants, I said yes you are in the queue but not your mother or her trolley and at least say excuse me do you mind, she ignored me and started to bring that trolley in front of me, I pushed in and told her that there is no way that they are coming ahead of me, she started to shout and make a fool of herself, her mother looked worried and said she would join another queue, at that point this rude woman shouted obscenity at me in front of my 7 year old and everyone else to which I told her that she was trash for swearing at me in front of children and that I will ignore her and not go down to her level, the security guard came over after hearing her swear and made sure she moved to the next queue, this trashy woman who used a language that I can not possibly repeat, in front of her mother and my son was unfortunately Asian and from the way she was dressed a Muslim too, just shows that trash gets every where.

There are so many family movies out at the moment because of the holiday season, we went to see Bee Movie the other day. while the graphics were great, the film it self was complete rubbish, I didn't like it and even though I don't usually fall asleep in cinemas, this time I fell asleep for a bit and was so glad when it finished, the kids said they liked it but I never heard them speak about it, to me this means they did not think much of it :o)

Happy Christmas

Wishing everyone that celebrate it, a very Happy and peaceful Christmas

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy Amir (New Year)

Creepy London

Last night I noticed that London was getting foggy and scary, this morning it looked really foggy and I thought it would clear up soon but as the evening started the fog became a lot more dense that I had to stop my car so that I can take some pictures in the park which looked very creepy, you can almost feel vampires and ghouls are going to jump at you from the fog.

I made this short video as well, very creepy and it brings to mind all the those scary stories and films that used to be made in London where London always appeared foggy, yet in reality it is hardly ever foggy here:

Libyan Eid in London

Today the Libyans in London held their usual Eid party at the London Regents Park Mosque, the party was organised and sponsored by Takaful Trust Association, I took the kids with me and we arrived about 6:30, the first thing I noticed that there was not a lot of people, usually many more turn up for the Eid parties.

The Trusts banner which has seen better days, today it looked like it had been chewed by a cow :o)

yes that is me (the slim one in case you are wondering)

Amir

Aida

Bouncy Amir

A lot of savoury pastries and sweets were served and the kids were provided with drinks, crisps and sweets too, Takaful Trust as usual did their best to provide a festive atmosphere for adults and children, even though not many attended but still it was nice to meet up with so many friends that I have not seen for a while and all kids had a great time.

Libyan historian/writer, Dr. Faraj Najm & daughter

Eid Wishes

Wishing everyone everywhere a happy and peaceful Eid

Kitty Wigs!

Last night I was surfing the net and watching TV at the same time when on a comedy program I heard them talk about this website in America which sells wigs but wait for it! not just any wigs but wigs for cats!!

I thought they were joking but when they mentioned the web site's name, I googled it and there it was right in front of me Kitty Wigs!

So for all of you cat lovers, here is what you can buy for your kitty for Eid or Christmas :o)

One word of warning, the Pink Passion wig was out of stock the last time I looked.

Silver Fox Wig

Bashful Blonde Wig

Electric Blue Wig

Pink Passion Wig

The Season to be Jolly

It is so cold this morning, my car was covered in ice and it took ages to clear it so that I could see where I'm going, it was a very foggy morning too. I usually don't dress in heavy clothes and most of the time just wear a shirt or T shirt then a warm jacket, this morning I put on a jumper for a change and that's only because at my office I don't have the heating on, there is a massive radiator just behind my desk that if I turn on would probably heat all of London but it is permanently off and that is by my choice as I hate direct heat that is so close, this heater used to give me big headaches, I actually prefer to sit wearing my jacket than being roasted by a radiator!, even going to bed I much prefer a cool room with a warm duvet than a hot room where you end up just struggling to sleep because of over heating.

It is coming up to the holiday season here, usually at this time most people cant be bothered with working hard and just waiting for the holiday to start, I am extra lucky this year as it is Eid next week and get to have 2 extra days off work, the week after I am only getting 2 days off work for the Christmas holiday as other days have already been booked by other staff, that will be the first time I work during Christmas week in the past 7 years, I must make sure I book my holiday early next year. The kids will start their holiday next week, Wednesday was supposed to be their last day at school but the school decided to close on Wednesday as it is Eid, many schools in London close on main religious occasions, how cool is that for kids of other religions? that's why I love London, great city.

Well it is for sure the season to be jolly, Eid & Christmas holidays, double celebration, double the joy :o)

Where is Mansour?

Today is the 14th anniversary of the disappearance of one of Libya's most respected figures who disappeared while attending a human rights conference in Egypt on 10 December 1993, Mr. Mansour El-Kikhia is/was an uncle of mine (my father's cousin) whom when I was young we used to look up to with respect, I have many memories of him visiting us when I was living in Libya and how much he was liked by my parents. He held many prominent positions, he was an ambassador, a former Libyan foreign minister, Libyan UN representative and a human rights activists amongst others.


Many years ago I went to New York with my parents while Mr. El-Kikhia was working for the UN, he invited us to spend a day at the United Nations building and I remember how exciting that was, we were taken to areas that tourists were not allowed in, I even sat at the main UN Secretary generals chair which I remember had many gadgets and buttons on the desk in front of it, we were then taken to the main restaurant and had a good meal and we visited the gallery where they keep presents that were presented to the UN by each country, I remember the Libyan present which was a Libyan horse saddle hand made with silver and colourful embroidery, it was a beautiful sight. After I moved to the UK I only saw Mr. El-Kikhia few times, usually with my other uncle (his brother), in 1992/1993 my late father was very ill and having medical treatment here in London, Mansour came to London at that time and I used to pick him up from his hotel and take him to hospital to visit my father and then take him back to the hotel.
The last time I saw him was shortly before his disappearance when I met him and his brother and we all went for a meal near Oxford Street, I drove them back to their hotel that evening and said goodbye as they both were going away the next day, Mansour El-Kikhia travelled to Egypt to attend the conference and has not been seen or heard of since.
Both Libya & Egypt are responsible for his disappearance and have the answer to what happened to one of Libya's most educated, respected and civilised men.

A Teddy Bear Named ADAM

The news that the English teacher in Sudan Gillian Gibbons has just been pardoned has just come out to put an end to this ridiculous story that has dominated the news here in the UK. The whole story revolves on the teacher agreeing to name a teddy bear Muhammed which is a name chosen by one of her young pupils, while I agree that she may have been a bit naive to go ahead with this name as she should have known that it might get her into a bit of trouble, she was known in Sudan for being a good person, it was obvious that she never meant to hurt or insult anyone but was what the Sudanese government did right? to charge her with insulting Islam and then organize for 1000s of people to demonstrate demanding the teacher's execution, that's what I call way over the top and again extremists hijack our religion for their own benefit, again Islam has been insulted by the media due to this stupid reaction by Sudan.

Most of us that live in the west know how many children and adults love their teddy bears and usually name them after people they like and look after them for many many years, so if a teddy is named Muhammed its not to insult, the Sudanese boy that chosen this name for the teddy is named Muhammed and wanted to name the teddy after himself, what is wrong with that?? Which brings me to this story that shows how double standards are prolific in any community:

Few years ago, someone was selling teddy bears at a mosque in London, these teddys were marketed as Muslim teddy bears and if you press the paws and the legs you hear a phrase from the Quran recited in Arabic then you hear the English translation, I liked them a lot and bought 2 for my children, many others bought them as well, my kids still have them and love them.

These teddy bears came already named by the manufacturers and the name was written on a tag. The name of these teddy bears is: ADAM.

Adam was a prophet too but I didn't see any demonstrations asking for the execution of the person that was selling them, in fact I didn't hear anyone complain about them using a prophet name on a toy!

Many Muslims need to grow up and stop all this unnecessary behaviour that is causing more damage to our religion than anyone else and as for Sudan, well I think they should look into their own problems with Darfur and elsewhere, get your house in order, what you are doing to your own people is far more damaging than a storm about a Teddy Bear.