I'm in bed, bored and not sleepy at all, so I thought I'd recommend the songs I've been listening to extensively lately!! I hope u guys get the chance to download them and enjoy them... I'd love to hear feedback about which ones you all liked and which you didn't...
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Tagged by Princess...
You just had to tag me tonight lol... Just when I thought my lazy lazy night with nothing to do was gonna continue, and now this effort I'm gonna have to put in... I hope u appreciate it hehe :P
Okay, well here goes:
Best:
Male friend: Bidi, Maz, Shin, Faisal, Aswad, Wassim, MC..
Female friend: Sarah, Alaa, Lulu, Huda
Vacation: London & Miami!!
Worst:
Time of day: The time my alarm clock goes off at 7.00 am!!
Day of the week: Saturday!
Color crayon: Purple!
Last:
Person you talked to that goes/went to your school: Faisal
Talked to on the phone: Maj
Text: Mayan
Person you instant messaged: Haneen
Today:
What are you doing now: Laying in bed with the laptop in my lap! (Now u know why they call it laptop) hehe
Wearing: White t-shirt and black boxers! Yeah, they's what i wear to sleep..
Tomorrow:
Is: Sunday, depressing :(
Got any plans: You mean aside from the 9 hours of work!? hehe
Goal: To make it through the day without sleeping at the office.. No I'm kidding, I never sleep at work :P
Dislikes about tomorrow: Hot weather and i won't be able to go to the beach!!! Grrrrr!!
Favorite:
Number: 3 and 7
Song: Right now, it has to be Gallery by Mario Vasquez and Crazy by Gnarls Barkley!!
Color: Blue and Black!
Currently:
Missing Someone: Yeah!
Mood: Lazyyyy
Wanting: a vacation...
True/False:
I am a cuddler: False...
I am a morning person: FALSE!!!
I am a perfectionist: Hell yeah!
I am an only child: Nope. I am the youngest though
I am currently in my pajamas: Sort of...
I am currently pregnant: Like that's gonna ever happen!
I am currently suffering from a broken heart: Nope
I am left handed: No..
I am addicted to Blogging: Not really
I am online 24/7: Sort of... Does that make me a loser? hehe
I am very shy around the opposite gender: Only when it's a girl I have a major crush on!
I can be paranoid at times: Yeah, at times lol
I currently have a crush on someone: Hmmm I think so...
I currently regret something that I have done: Yes :(
I enjoy country music: noooooo...
I enjoy smoothies: Oh yeah!
I enjoy talking on the phone: Not for long hours though!
I have a hard time paying attention at school/work: No, Im fine with that..
I have a hidden talent: Of course, tons of them ;)
I have a lot to learn: Don't we all??
I have a secret that I am ashamed to reveal: Unfotunately yes!!
Anger:
Are you currently mad at someone? No... Im a pretty forgiving person :)
Which of your friends has the worst temper? I'm afraid to say otherwise he/she wil lose it on me!! hehe no I'm kidding, I just can't think of anyone...
Have you ever thrown something at anyone? Does the TV count as an "Anyone"?? hehe
Ever had something thrown at you? No...
When you’re mad do you prefer to stare angrily or yell and scream? Stare angrily!
Excitement:
Has anyone ever thrown you a surprise party for you? Yes :)
Are you easily excited? No, it takes effort to please me :P
What are you most excited about? Was excited about going to Beirut next month! Not anymore :(
If you won a million dollars what would be your first thought? I won!!! hehehe
If you could have anything right now what would it be? The college days back!
Self-Discovery:
Name: Omar (Self Discovery? Like I didn't know my name or something???)
Where were you born? Jeddah...
What’s your main goal in life? To overachieve (I'm getting too old and boring!!)
How do you want to die? Happy, between my loved ones and painfree!!
Opinions:
Sex before marriage? No...
Gay Marriage? No to Gays, regardless of with marriage or without hehe
Lower the Drinking age? No, increase it!
Recycling? Of course!
Dreams:
What was your latest Dream? Ehhhh, can't really tell you! It's too X rated to be told hehe
Have any of your dreams come true? Nope :(
What was the weirdest dream you’ve ever had? Something involving a plane crashing into my school's play ground while I was there all alone on a weekend!! Yeah, don't ask!!
Love-Life:
Straight, Gay, Bi? Straight...
Do you have a bf/gf? Nope...
Do you have a crush? Yeah
How many beds did you lay in yesterday? My own only! Sad hehe
What color shirt are you wearing? White...
Name one thing that you do everyday? Brush my teeth (And u thought I was gonna mention something nasty!!! tsk tsk tsk @ the way you all think hehe)
What color are your walls? 3 walls are beige and one is sponged in brick red!! Yeah, I'm creative ;)
How much cash do you have on you right now? SR 756 ($202)
I can’t wait till…? the weekend begins and I go to the beachhhhh!
When was the last time you saw your dad? August 2005 when he passed away! Allah Yer7amo...
What did you have for dinner last night? Nutella Donuts, and I claim to be dieting!!! Nice!!
What’s the last piece of clothing you borrowed from someone? Hmmm too long ago to remember
What website(s) do you visit the most during the day? aSmallWorld & ESPN...
Does anything hurt on your body right now? Nope...
Have You Ever:
Have you ever failed a class? Nope.. I was a good student :)
Have you ever sung in front of a crowd? Yeah, back in 6th grade!!
Have you ever not taken a shower for 3 days? Ewwwwww no way!!
Have you ever slept with a night light? When I was young...
Have you ever danced in the rain? Nope...
Have you ever lied? Yes!
Have you ever had contacts? Yeah...
Have you ever tripped over something stupid? Yes hehe
Pick One:
Samosa, Pakora, Kebab: Samosa
Bollywood, Lollywood, Hollywood: Hollywood
Love marriage, Arranged marriage: Love Marriage!
Honeymoon, no moon: Honeymoon
How many kids would u like 1,2, 3+: 1 or 2... Actually 2 is good!!
Kulfi, Ice cream: Ice Creammmmmm
Shah ruk khan, Orlando Bloom: uhhhhh....!?!
Meenar-e-Pakistan, Eiffel Tower: Eiffel Tower I guess lol
Lahore, Khi, Islambad: None of the 3!!
I tag whoever decides to leave me a comment! Evil, I know, but I did buy you all a way out ;)
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Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Azzurri Obsession!
I'm still utterly shocked and absolutely overjoyed with Italy's World Cup achievement!!! You don't understand, I'm a die hard Italian fan! My grandmother is Italian, so it's in my blood.. From the beginning of the World Cup, I've been hearing the whole Italy this, Italy that crap... I'm gonna analyze Italia's performances in its 7 games towards glory:
Game 1: Italy vs. Ghana
Italy's first game in the 2006 World Cup... Italy have had a history of starting off slow in World Cup group stages and this game gave an impression that it would be no different... Although Italy came out 2-0 winners, it was hardly an easy match... Ghana put up a good fight, and people already were doubting Italy, saying that they weren't good enough! What they failed to realize is the following:
Totti (Supposedly, Italy's equivalent of Ronaldinho if u may) wasn't fully fit as he had just returned from a broken leg...
Ghana were seen as a weak team at the start... Looking back now, 2-0 over Ghana is a marvelous result. They proved to the world that they're a very tough team...
Game 2: Italy vs. USA
This was probably Italy's worst game of the tournament, but given the facts of what went on in the game, it wasn't fair to judge the team... The game started off quick and Italy scored inside the first 15 minutes through Gilardino's nice header... But then the horror started! Danielle De Rossi elbowed McBride and got a red card in the middle of the first half!! What the hell was he thinking!? I mean why!!!! After that, another unfortunate event! USA crossed the ball into Italy's box and it fell towards Zaccardo... It looked like an easy ball to clear with absolutely no signs of danger written on it, but somehow Zaccardo managed to concede an own goal with no American player even pressuring him!! He was all alone and he shot the ball this way <----- as opposed to that way ----->!!! Talk about World Cup pressure! From then on, the game kept getting weirder and weirder! By the time the second half arrived, USA were also down to 10 men, and halfway into the second half, another American was given marching orders! It was 10 vs. 9!!! Despite Italy's player advantage, USA had better possession, but ZERO shots on goal! The game ended 1-1 and USA went down into the history books as the first team to ever finish a game with a goal scored for them despite having ZERO shots on target! Of course we should expect something like that from such a bizarre game!
Game 3: Italy vs. Czech Republic
Italy needed to win this one in order for them to qualify to the next round, and it was clear that they got the point from the very beginning... The Azzurri came out charged and as if they had a point to prove! In a way they did after the awful performance vs. USA... Anyway, this game was somewhat all Italy... The team kept pushing and pushing and were able to finish off the Czechs 2-0! The sad part was that before the WC, ppl were expecting The Czechs to progress possibly all the way to the final!! They did come in ranked 2nd in the world, so that wasn't a shocking expectation... But with this result, along with Ghana beating the USA, The Czech booked themselves an early flight back to Prague...
Game 4: Italy vs. Australia
This game was supposed to be a walk in the park for the Italians, yet it proved to be their toughest game of the world cup! Australia played the game of their lives and earned everyone's respect after this performance... Although Australia's amazing performance, Italy had its fair share of chances, that was until Marco Materazzi was dubiously given a red card for a tackle that instant replays showed did not even merit a yellow card!! Well as with all the great teams, Italy were able to win despite not playing too well (I do believe that great teams always seem to pull out undeserved wins, and that's why they're great! They can win even when they're playing ugly)... Just when it seemed like the game was going to extra time at 0-0, Fabio Grosso (My new hero actually) dribbled past his marker on the left wing and cut into the Australian penalty box only to be brought down by an Australian defender... The referee awarded Italy a penalty in the last minute of added injury time! Although harsh, and highly controversial, there WAS contact in the play, although slight... But still, under the rules of the game if the defender obstructs ur path and there is contact, then the ref has the right to award a penalty... Totti stepped up and scored and with that, Australia's dreams of progressing to the last 8 were shattered... Congratulations Italia :)
Game 5: Italy vs. Ukraine
I must say, being an Italy fan, I was feeling fortunate to be playing teams like Australia and Ukraine when teams like France were playing Spain then Brazil... Anyway, this is the game where Italy's World Cup took a complete turn... They dominated the game from start to finish, played very nice free flowing football and were even showing off with crafty passes and tricks towards the end... Not that I doubted Italy's will power and credentials to win the world cup, but this game provided me with an Italian ego boost! We're off to the semi-finals, yay ;)
Game 6: Italy vs. Germany
By far Italy's best performance of the World Cup.. Everyone was expecting a German win, as through out the first 5 games they had been dominant and highly entertaining, but we had other ideas ;) Italia played with such will, such determination that left even the most loyal Italians shocked at how their team CAN perform on its day!! The game was tense (Typical of a semifinal between 2 great teams) and there wasn't much flow, as the defenses were up to anything thrown at them! But despite the low number of cleat cut chances, Italy had the upper hand! They were bombarding the Germans with crosses and passes to their towering Luca Toni (Who had a very disappointing World Cup in my humble opinion)... Anyway, the game's first 90 minutes were done, and it was still 0-0!! Would the game go to penalties?! I hoped not, as Italy have been as unfortunate as any in games decided by penalty kicks (They've gone out in 3 of the last 4 world cups on penalties) while the Germans had scored 21 straight penalty kicks up until their semi-final! If ur the kind that believes in luck and history, then u would believe that Italy's chances were getting slimmer by the second! The Italians hit the German bar twice within the first 5 minutes of extra time! I thought with such lousy luck, maybe it was meant to be for the Germans to progress! But the will and determination prevailed again!!! Grosso scored a spectacular goal in the 118th minute of the game (The game goes to 120 minutes with added time) and let me tell u, I was jumping and shouting like crazy!!! Much to my surprise, Del Piero scored another stunner 90 seconds later! Oh my god, I was running wild all over the house!! We're off to the finals!!! Hold on, lemme pinch myself! I can't believe that this is real!!!
Game 7: Italy vs. France
As typical of a final, the game was very slow paced with both teams showing extreme caution!! I was sooooo excited and really believed that Italy would win it!! After 10 minutes Malouda was awarded a penalty and Zidane stepped up and softly lobbed the ball into the net! I was shocked! I couldn't believe it! My dreams were slowly fading!! It's sooo not fair to go this far and then fail!! No no no :( What pissed me off even more is that Materazzi's penalty was not even a correct call! Malouda did a great acting job to get awarded the penalty... I think once he retires, he definitely has a secured job in Hollywood!! Okay, back to the game! Within minutes Materazzi fixed his mistake by heading a corner kick! YESSSSS!! 1-1! Forzaaaaa Azzurriiiii!!! My eyes lit up again and I was smiling!!! The first half ended, and it was mostly Italian... Second half didn't carry anymore goals but it was dominated by the French... Extra time was also quiet and mostly French... The game was heading towards penalties when the whole world got shocked by what happened! In the 113th minute, after a French attack was minimized, and as Zidane was walking back to his half, Materazzi said something that pissed him off, and Zidane turned and head butted Materazzi in the chest! Of course after discussions between the referee and his linesmen, Zidane was given a red card! It was his last game before retirement, and what a stupid way to say goodbye to football!! He lost it in the worst of times!!! The game went to penalties and I really think my heart stopped beating for a few mins! Memories of all the heartbreaking penalty looses of the last few world cups were fresh in my mind! I was scared shitless!! But have no fear, Italia is here!! They scored all 5 penalties superbly!! France scored all but one, by Trezeguet which hit the crossbar!! So as a result, Italy were crowned world champions in 2006!!!
I was in pure ecstasy that day! I don't think I had ever maintained a smile on my face for such a long time! I even think I slept smiling hehe!! That was 10 days ago, and I'm still floating in 7th Heaven!!! Amazing! Italy's 4th world cup! But the first in my lifetime (Well almost... I was a 1 year old when they won it in 1982!!)
I think this amazing feeling is gonna stay with me for at least another month or 2! The best part?! My Italia are gonna stay champions at least till July 2010!!!!
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Sunday, July 16, 2006
Lunch with Mystique
Last night, I got a call from Ms.
Mystique asking me to join her, and a few of our friends for lunch the next day (Today)... So lunch time was getting close, and I asked Mystique if it would be okay to meet up a little earlier than the rest of the crowd, cuz I was getting bored at the office and I wanted to leave! She agreed, but she asked me to pick her up... As women can't drive in Saudi, that sounds pretty normal, right!? Right, exceptttt...... Mystique's office is actually in the same building that the restaurant is in... All it would take for her to reach the place is to take the elevator, walk out the revolving doors (Both of which she would be doing anyway, even if I were to pick her up)... Okay now for the tricky part! Walking from the revolving doors to the restaurant would take less than 1 minute! I'm being honest here, no exaggeration I promise! But her majesty Ms. Mystique couldn't be bothered! She needed someone to pick her up, drive for 5 seconds and drop her off... Anyway, seeing how nice and sweet I am (I truly am, for real) I agreed to pick her up! 3 mins before reaching her office, I call her up and tell her to come out cuz I'm almost there... She tells me nevermind, my cousin's downstairs... I'll meet u at the restaurant she tells me... Okay cool, so I park my car and meet up with her and her cousin, and we go upstairs and take our seats... Soon our 3 other friends show up and join us at the table...
This is where the fun starts... Mystique is relatively new to sushi and she only eats a select few kinds (She doesn't eat any of the raw stuff)... So she keeps telling me "OT I want the one with the piece of shrimp on top... Maybe we can share an order"... "But Mystique, the order is only 2 pieces!!" I tell her... She says "Oh okay, then I'll have one for my own"... The sushi comes and it was pure pleasure from then on! First she asks the waiter for lemon, and she gestures with her hand as if she's twisting a half lemon and squeezing it! Nice!! Then, I see her taking the fork and knife and flipping the sushi around (Shrimp on its back with the rice over it, and she cuts it in the middle, pokes it with the fork and dips it into the soy sauce! Of course I do not need to explain how messy it got, with the rice dropping into the soy sauce, shrimp halves flying all over the place, and of course Mystique laughing at herself!! Lovely!!! Wait wait, the best part is yet to come!!! I go by the saying "Save the best for last"
While waiting for the main dish, we started talking about childhood experiences... Apparently, Mystique and a cousin of hers had a rabbit when they were 4 years old... For some reason, one day the cousin held the rabbit and Mystique started spreading cream cheese all over the rabbit and then they put him a cupboard... (They were playing chefs and the cupboard was supposed to be the oven! That's her version anyway!!) Anyhow, the two went along and played all day... About 5 hours later they thought, "Oh the rabbit!!!!" Sure enough, the rabbit got "overcooked", in other words it was dead!!! Then Mystique continued with her stories! When she was young, she wanted to hug a bird she had, and I guess she was too emotional, so she hugged hard and the bird got crushed!!! She's been a criminal since the age of 4! I really feel sorry for her husband, whoever he ends up being hehehe...
Now for the best part... We finished eating and asked for the bill... Of course, being a classy restaurant, they brought us tooth picks and hand gel packets... I cleaned my hands, had a tooth pick in my mouth when I got an SMS on my phone... I look at my phone and the message is from Mystique... But she's sitting right in front of me.. I look at her and she's already laughing hard! I open the message and it reads: "The hand gel looks like Durex"... Sure enough, the packet does look like that of a condom... It even has a printed circle in the middle (Which is actually the logo of the restaurant)... Only a perverted mind like Mystique's could've picked that one up along the way!!! Below is a photo of the actual hand gel pack:
Anyway, so this is the story of my lunch break experience with Mystique and our friends... I must admit, I haven't laughed this hard since I can't remember how long ago! She's quite the character and the group was amazing... If only lunch breaks were this fun everyday!!
Oh by the way, Mystique took all the unused hand gel packets with her... I guess she wants them for personal use ;) hahaha
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Thursday, July 13, 2006
Prejudices vs. Religion
One of the biggest sins that Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) prohibited was Prejudices based on the family (Tribe) and town that one hails from. This is seen the most in the Arab World, and primarily in areas where tribal cultures are strongly evident...
In Kuwait, the country segregates the population into groups based on their bloodline... Group one would be people who are from original Kuwaiti tribes... Group two of those whose grandfathers migrated to Kuwait and got the citizenship but are still considered originally of other Arab countries... Group 3 consists of Persian Kuwaitis... Group four of non-Kuwaitis and so forth...
In Saudi Arabia, the country that's supposed to be the sacred heart of the Islamic Region, Tribal prejudices are extremely evident... Although not as clear as in Kuwait, prejudices in Saudi run deeper though, as there is differentiation between original Saudis from Najd (Central Region) and original Saudis from Hijaz (Western Region)... To the Najdi people, we are considered inferior and they are convinced that we should play second fiddle to them in anything and everything... Of course, needless to say, this is not a general rule, rather a norm that many follow...
Moving to a broader spectrum, cross country prejudices are growing by the day! It is sad to see people mocking others by naming them by their nationality! In Saudi, because the low end working class comprises mainly of Pakistanis, Indians, Egyptians, Philippinos, the perception of these countries has become very poor! When someone fucks up in something, he gets told "U have the mind of a Pakistani!"... You idiot Saudi, if it wasn't for that "Pakistani" you would probably be swimming in your own piss, shit and trash! If it wasn't for that "Egyptian" you would probably be still riding camels!! It cannot be hidden that all these Expats have helped shape up the country back when they were the educated class and we were the idiots!! I agree that now, it's time for them to make way and allow Saudization to take place, but the least we can do is send them back to their countries with the respect they deserve!
Had it not been for the "Pakistanis" and "Indians" would you think for 1 second that Dubai would have been where it is at today?! These so called low class nationals are the reason why Jennifer Lopez, David Beckham and others have decided to move to one of the quickest cities to ever flourish in history!!
In conclusion, I want to point out that I do not appreciate these hypocrites that claim to be servants of the lord 1 day and then go against the Prophet's teaching the next! He did say "The only difference between between an Arab and a Persian boils down to faith or beliefs"... So who are we to judge!?
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Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Friendly Post
I'm gonna keep my first post debate-free by picking a simple topic without much room for arguement available...
Bad habits are hard to let go of!! Living in Jeddah for most of my life (Except for 4 years in Boston), I couldn't help but get used to the life style of the people here... Although the second largest business city in Saudi, it seems like Jeddahwi people are not used to living an organized lifestyle... People tend to wake up late (By late, I speak of waking up after noon time for those who have no work or studies and around 8 am for those who do...) Although waking up at 8 am is typical of any employee with a 9 to 5 job, the fashion of which Jeddah does it makes it all unique...
The Night before:
Let me give an example of a very normal day of a Saudi in Jeddah as an explanation... Dinners are always late, typically not before 11 am for the avergae family. Streets are still full of cars till the late hours of the night... This should be unexpected as there aren't any activities to do after the shops close at 11 pm, but from then onwards, those outside either go out for dinner, or just cruise in their cars for hours till they get bored and decide to finally go back home... At home, the TV awaits, where people spend the early hours after midnight glued to the television mostly flipping between various music channels... For those who have work the next day, a lights out policy doesn't usually apply... On many nights, they end up sleeping at around 3 am with dreaded image of waking up 5 hours later in their minds...
The morning After:
Of course, as expected, they wake up tired, annoyed and lazy... This rubs off at the office, where the first hour is spent reading the newspaper and sipping on a cup of tea... At around 10-10.30, people start the process called work... That usually lasts for a couple of hours because at around 12.30, everyone starts preparing for prayer... By the time people finish praying at 1, the lunch break will have started, so most of the people get out of the office and go have a hearty meal (either at home with the family, or at a restaurant with friends)... By the time everyone returns to work from lunch, its almost 2.30-3.00 but then again people need to relax a bit after such a hearty meal! Half an hour of mingling with office mates while drinking another cup of tea is the usual norm here... Now it's 4 o'clock! Time to do some work! But wait, just as ur about to roll up ur sleeves and get into the nitty gritty stuff, it's already 6 pm! Damn, its time to go home... As much as I would love to stay and finish up work, I just can't, as I have a family at home that misses me dearly!!!
Procrastination??
Okay so I'll finish up work tomorrow! After all, I do have all day from 9 till 6 to finish it up, right? Or maybe not? Oh well, worst case scenario, it'll be done before the weekend!!! And they wonder why we're no where near the top when it comes to Global Power!!! What a shame...
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