Tuesday, April 29, 2008

***** Drum Roll ***** PAINTED!!!

Hi everyone...I am an ecstaticly happy hyppie!

After much deliberations and quite a few sleepless nights, I present to you Soul's Home Sweet Home... PAINTED!!!

We went all around Bahrain to get a taste of local favorites in terms of exterior colors. Beige wins hands down, but WHICH beige is THE question!


Thanks to everyone who helped me make this decision! Thanks Mr. Soul for all your running around. Love you sweetie.


These were the 3 options that we had...










We chose the darkest one (Bahraini Diva liked that!)














Thanks everyone! I love sharing every step of construction with you guys!

Love,
Soul =)

India

It was an amazing trip to India, incredible in every way,




I loved the scenary, the greenery, the uniquness and diversity of this place.


This was the view from my room at the Shangri La New Delhi:














I went on a quick excursion of the city, first stopping at India Gate:









Its basically a war Memorial, sort of like the Tomb of the Unknow soldier, commemorating the Indians who died in WWI.














My next stop was the National Museum, numerous Hindu gods and godesses, dating back to the 12th century!














Very artsy!







There was even an Egyptian artefact!













This one was huge!!!









I love museums!


This is the presidential palace, the parliament is nearby as well.













And on the streets of Delhi




Cute "buggy"
The bus states "Propelled by clean fuel"!!!
My trusty taxi driver Sukhjeet!

Monday, April 28, 2008

Alanis Morissette - Precious Illusions

One of my all time favorite artist...
Great Video too!

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Gaza, the Arab's open wound

Gaza today continues to bleed, as you & I live on and pay no heed.
Soul


Ignoring the madness in Gaza is no different from approving it
The Daily Star
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Through its silence, the international community is effectively sanctioning one of the most shameful examples of inhumanity to have occurred in the 21st century. Some 1.5 million people, nearly half of them children under the age of 14, are being denied basic necessities like food and medical services for one simple reason: They live in the Gaza Strip
For nearly a year now, Israel has imposed a blockade on the territory in what it says is an effort to crush Islamist militants there. But without access to the outside world, the humanitarian situation in Gaza has rapidly deteriorated. Food prices have risen dramatically, garbage is overflowing into residential streets, children are becoming increasingly malnourished and basic health services are being denied for lack of fuel and other supplies. This week, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency and other international aid organizations were forced to halt many of their vital operations in the besieged territory, including food-distribution services, due to a lack of fuel.
Predictably, both Hamas and Israel have traded blame for the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza. Hamas has argued that Israel is at fault for having imposed its crippling blockade without regard for the welfare of innocent civilians. Israel, on the other hand, accuses Hamas of withholding vital supplies and dramatizing the crisis in order to score a propaganda victory. But it no longer matters which of the two parties is to blame for the events that have unfolded. What matters is that 1.5 million people are in living in a state of internationally sanctioned peril.
Those who argue that the blockade is justifiable for reasons of Israel's self-defense ought to re-evaluate their flawed understanding of security. How could the collective punishment of more than 500,000 children possibly achieve peace, or benefit either Israel or the Palestinians in the long term? Does anyone honestly expect that a generation of Palestinians who are forced to endure extreme hardship and depredation will one day want to live in harmony with their Israeli neighbors? Quite the contrary, these actions appear almost flawlessly designed to ensure that acrimony and violence will continue to flourish in the years and decades to come.
Opponents - including many Israelis - of Israel's traditional penchant for military solutions to political problems frequently note a sad irony, that of women and children being grotesquely mistreated at the hands of a state established in the historical shadow of the Holocaust. Fair enough, but it is not just the Israeli government that has failed to learn the right lessons from the crimes perpetrated by the Nazis: Western leaders are doing the same thing because just as their predecessors largely turned a blind eye to what was happening to European Jewry more than six decades ago, they are ignoring the plight of the people of Gaza today. Worse yet, the atrocities in Gaza are being carried out in the open - and nothing is being done to punish the guilty or protect the victims.

Happy Birthday


Happy Birthday Khalooooood...


(belated on the blog but not belated in reality!)


You are now officially 17 years old...


I love you my tweet wittle brother!

Next step....PAINT!!!

Hey everyone,

I now have exactly 24 hours to narrow down my 3 choices for paint for the exterior of my home sweet home.

We had the final 3 colors painted close to the window frames to see how they would match the windows.




So people, here is your democratic right to vote... Which color do you think is best?

No. 1, No. 2, or No. 3? These are Cream, Buff and Coffee Pot.

Start voting Now!!!!
Also for your info, here are the inside steps to the inside of the house. We had to go all the way to Saudi to get these! Sorry about the dust, believe me I feel like hosing this whole place down every day!

Thursday, April 24, 2008

A Tribute Blog

Taking a look at the Bahraini Blogs Agregator this morning, I stumbled upon a noteworthy blog, done by a loving and dedicated mother in memory of her daughter.

http://samaralansari.blogspot.com

I did not know Samar. But I was very touched by her mother's dedication in loving memory of a child who has so quickly passed away.

Its heartbreaking to read and watch the youtube tributes for a daughter who no doubtedly had left beautiful memories for a family that have loved her and probably always will.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Too close to home...

Just when I thought incidents such as the one that happened in Karzakan were a one time screw up, we wake up to very similar scenes in our own neighborhood. This time East Riffa.








This car belonged to the neighborhood's mosque Imam. Does that have any connection with what has happened?

Its sad.

I'll let the picture do the talking



Thursday, April 10, 2008

Street Hooligans


What happened last night? What provoked a gang of 30 to 40 hooligans to do what they did last night? What's happening to Bahrain? When folks just want to get a good night's sleep to be able to go to work the next day and earn an honest living?


Does violence solve anything?


Majid Asghar Ali from the Police Force is dead. And for what? Does this help Bahrain in any way? Does this violence serve any cause?
It was a total shock to read the papers this morning. I almost choked on my coffee and sandwich!
God help us. Where are we going?
Peace people. You don't want to turn into another Lebanon. Trust me.
Peace for Bahrain.
SoulSearch

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Enya - I Want Tomorrow

Amazing, Captivating. My song of the day.

Monday, April 07, 2008

Stomp till you Dromp



What an amazing performance! We loved the show by Stomp at the gorgeous Arad Fort venue. I loved their rebelious take on making music!



I like to call it "The Art of Cordinated Chaos"






The noise they were making was hilariously put together... loved it

Watching them gave me a sense of freedom, a non-conformist attitude always inspires me. I especially loved their choice of music at the end of the show ... Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana

Stomp was a fabulos grand finale to Bahrain's contribution to Art through Spring of Culture.
Love,
Soul...

Thursday, April 03, 2008

War on inflation...

Just the thought of prices increasing in Bahrain has given the greedy guys running the market the idea of raising their prices...
So i guess there are no authorities monitoring the hikes...
Read below:


تشتط غضباً بسبب ارتفاع سعر كيس الأرز

اشتطت سيدة بحرينية غضباً عندما أحضر الزوج إلى المنزل كيس أرز من ماركة «هبة الطبيعة« بوزن 40 كيلو من محل سوبرماركت كبير بمنطقة سترة وحين قرأت السعر قررت اعادة الكيس إلى السوبر ماركت واستعادة قيمتها والتوجه إلى سوبر ماركت أخرى تبيع الماركة نفسها ولكن بسعر أقل.
المحلان قريبان من بعضهما.. ففي الأول يباع الكيس بـ 24 دينارا وسبعمائة فلس وفي الثاني بـ 20 دينارا و500 فلس والفارق كبير بين السعرين مع أن الماركة واحدة.. والمثير أن المسافة بين البرادتين قصيرة جداً. وتمكنت السيدة من استرداد المبلغ وذهبت في الحال إلى البرادة الأخرى وابتاعت الكيس الأرخص وقالت لـ «أخبار الخليج«.. أين لجنة مراقبة الأسعار التي يقولون إنها تحمي المواطنين من جشع التجار
وتجاوزاتهم المستمرة؟!
أخبار الخليج
Kudos to her. Smart lady ...

Project: Dream House Update 3

Ahhhhh, the fresh scent of cement... Its so refreshinging to step into my dream house after a looooooong day at work at see all these gorgeous developments in construction...
I've promised a few picture updates so here goes...

Love and Peace,
Soul...


The windows are fixed, the external kitchen is fixed (don't you just love the chimney?!), some of the Aluminum doors have been fixed, and I just love the window high up on our staircase - It lights up that whole area...
Can't wait to move in...