Harder than they need to be

Getting to see someone so close to you for only 3 days out of the past 60 can make things a lot harder than they need to be sometimes. This man understands our struggle.

This Man

UPDATE: In regards to the last post, the reason why I like it the pictures so much is because even though you cant see me, its a complete reflection of myself. My passions of photography and music and illuminated in the shadow, hiding the rest of me.

For those of you who are curious, its Explosions in the Sky and Mogwai I listen to when I go off into my shutter wonderland.

I'll be very impressed

This is quite possibly one of my most favorite pictures of all time, and that says alot if its a picture of myself (because I hate taking pictures of myself). If anyone can tell me why this picture means so much to me, I'll be very impressed.

Please enjoy

I know many of you have been wondering why there aren't many pictures of myself in my albums...well obviously its because I am the one taking the photos durrrrr. Well either way, some of the people here that I work with have captured me in some shots. Please enjoy.

Yes. This is me. More to come soon! There are some others on the Picasa as well. See the title for the Picasa address.

Honked at him, real mean-like

Mooze and Todd

Last night a mosquito smuggled into my room. He was buzzing all around my ears last night, but I was too lazy to do anything about it. That soon changed. He buzzed around my ear one more time, and I smacked my ear. He fell inside my ear canal and I had to knock him out. Hahaha! Sucker.

I honked at my boss Todd yesterday, and it wasn't for fun. I was in his blind-spot on the highway and he almost ran into me, so I hit my brakes and honked at him, real mean-like. How many people can say that!

Half naked brown dude wearing yellow crocs

Got a little story for you, guys.

Last night I went for a run and decided to go to the sauna (pronounced "saw-na," as in the S in S.A.N) afterwards. I too off my clothes, aside from some mini shorts (hey, its the sauna ok) and I locked up my glasses, ipod, towel, shorts, and t-shirt, and took my key into the sauna. I had it prepared, and it was warming up for at least 30 minutes so it was piping hot when I came inside. I laid my keys on the bench. Clink clink. Oh god. Say it ain't so. Sure enough my key fell inside the wooden bench.

I didn't have my glasses so I looked to see where it was and I couldn't see anything. I tried pulling out some of the boards but they were sealed shut. So there I was, standing in my short shorts, with no shirt, or vision, or Ipod. Disaster.

How to get back to my room. Surely, I didnt want to walk back into the lobby with my yellow crocs and short shorts, so I thought it would be a better idea to go use the stairs. There arent many females in my apartment complex so I wasnt worried. I open the door. Silence. Whew. I take a step forward and hear the echo of my single footstep...followed by another one. Oh shyzacks (thanks samar).

Out comes a blonde-haired female, near my age, who looks straight at me while I hold onto the door with complete trepidation. She takes on look at me and puts her head down. Woe. I bet she told the first person she saw about the half naked brown dude wearing yellow crocs. What a sight.

I venture up to my room using the stairs, run inside, put my contacts on, wear a towel, grab a shirt, hangar, and some duct tape. I go back downstairs and use the hanger to jimmy my way inside. Success!! I pull the keys out and decide to end my trauma with, yes, a sauna. I go back into the work out room to get my bottle of water that I forgot, and who do I see? The same blonde-haired woman. With her boyfriend. Hot dog. So that's the story, the lesson is to never wear crocs. Or go to a sauna. Or be brown.

On a side note, someone from my client walked up to me and asked me if I was Amir Khan. I said no, and they asked if I was his brother. I said no, and they smiled and said "Wow, Mashallah!" and shook my hand. Later today, I was outside on my cell phone and I ran into them again and they asked if they could take a picture of me on my phone so that they could show it to their friends. I obliged and said I was talking to my agent.

Very little relevance

The response

No shoes

Yoda's Grandmother

I understand that there was very little relevance to the vegetables in my last post. However, I found that the colors and shapes looked very nice placed next to each other. Hence I posted them. Let's see how these guys look ma3a ba3athna.

Juxtaposing this kind of lifestyle

Sometimes I still cant believe that im here. Its was just a few weeks ago that I was back home, complaining about not knowing when I was leaving. I had a conversation with Sarah the night before, talking about how I was sure that I would get less than one week's notice to pack up and head out. Turns out it was much less than that - 3 days.I am still in the mode where I think that I'm coming home in just a few days or weeks time. I keep having to catch myself and remember that this is my new home now, albeit temporarily. I wonder how many people are having the same issue with me being gone, thinking that I'm coming back anytime soon - if any.I have made several mini-trips since my time here. I love everything about this place. Its so easy to be a muslim, I cant even begin to tell you.

Everywhere you go, there is a mosque or a place to pray, in a starbucks or a bar across from the Burj Al Arab, there is always a place to pray. And depending on where you are you will hear the Adhan, so theres no way you can miss it. Even in the shopping malls, the Adhan is played and people start filing away into the corners or pray in their own shops and close up for a few minutes.Everything here is halal and zabiha. You dont even have a chance! To get alcohol you usually have to go to a specific restaurant that you know has alcohol.
Juxtaposing this kind of lifestyle to the states is so drastic. Just by comparing food, there are so many differences. Not to mention "dress code" and things like that. Honestly, the Muslims here have it so easy (which includes me at the moment).This post is boring! For those of you who read this, please take care of my mom. She is alone in the house now and if you could please give her a call or stop by or something I would really appreciate it. She is having a tough time with me being gone so any help you guys could offer would mean alot. Take her out to lunch, dinner, whatever, I'll pay you back. Anyways, Im going to try to integrate some pictures into this thing. Hope it works.

Hot chocolate lava

So I wasn't aware that when people post on my blog, its expected that I respond to their post as well...see, I figure, my blog post is a post, and the comment itself is a response (thus creating a complete conversation). However, I will now respond to individual comments from today onwards!

Still no internet or TV in the apartment. I don't think I will have it for a long time either. The emirates seem to have a process that is similar to chewing aluminum foil.

I venture to starbucks these days to use the internet. There was a lot of people traffic there, plate stacking, babies crying, coffee slurping, etc. Sorry about the noise for those that I called. I also mumble because I dont want to look like too much of an idiot.

Ever since I got here I have been have some really crazy dreams. They are back! I still haven't written in my journal yet because im too lazy.

No super-amazing entries to make about food. However, I did eat a pizza that had a 1-inch hair in it. That should satisfy any appetite. I then cleansed my tongue by eating a chocolate volcano cake. The hot chocolate lava was burning the village townspeople so I did them a favor and put it out with pistachio ice-cream.

My blog isnt that cool yet because I dont have pictures integrated with posts - but soon, this will be only an element of the past.

Also, happy birthday to Mo-izz. He never picks up my calls. I guess its payback from being in the states.

Left my apartment

My first week in Malaysia I wore a face mask everywhere I went. I stopped after a week because I didnt see too many others doing that.

Sarah's response to me sneezing a lot.


I have made several "motor-skills" errors this morning. I left my apartment without styling my hair.

Check

New Pictures. Check them out!