Al Ain City Daily Photo on Abu Dhabi Week

screen shot of Abu Dhabi Week Magazine's webpage

Thanks to Abu Dhabi Week, the capital's magazine, for featuring this photo blog along with Adam Backer and Paul's Encore Plus Flou de Près. A few months ago, I was contacted by Sawaiba Khan, one of their junior staff writers, requesting for this feature. I agreed to respond to couple of questions and to send in some of my photos. With all honesty, I never had a second thought and immediately replied with a big yes to Sawaiba since Abu Dhabi Week is widely read among the residents of Abu Dhabi including Al Ain City.

screen shot of Abu Dhabi Week Magazine's webpage

In my own personal perspective, I think recognition is something that all photobloggers aim for.  I also believe that features like this is a great way of sharing your passion in photography. But it isn't about sharing at all...it is actually a way of saying thank you to your readers, host country and city. Having said that, I would like to thank the readers and followers of Al Ain City Daily Photo, my host city and country for being a part of my photographic journey. 

Again, many thanks to Abu Dhabi Week Magazine for this feature. Kindly grab a free copy of the April 26- May 2 issue at Carrefour stores in Bawadi Mall and Al Jimi Mall if you are from Al Ain, and at any mall in Abu Dhabi if you are currently living in central Abu Dhabi. You can read it online as well, kindly click here and you will be taken to the webpage.

Opppps, there's more! I'm so excited and I just can't hide it. Watch out for another good news in the next few months .

Desert Rose

 

Desert roses are commonly seen flowers here in Al Ain. First time visitors might not notice it but they are usually thriving in islands of road that separates the direction of travel, at the parks, gardens and roundabouts. 

Sometime last year, I remember myself calling this flower a "passion flower" because of its color. Because of a question posed by a twitter friend of mine, I have discovered that the flower I used to call passion flower, is actually the desert rose. It prompted me to read more about it.

Desert roses belong to the family of Apocynaceae in the kingdom of plantae. They can survive even in arid weather condition. For more botanical information about desert roses, please click here.

Wishing everyone a great weekend. Jumaa Mubarak! Salaam!

Souq Al Zafrana

These photos were taken sometime in January 2012. Sure the temperature was fine during the day but at noon time it can be hot and humid. With all honesty, the idea of walking around the souq at the middle of the day, with scorching temperature of 30 degrees didn't appeal to me, but I couldn't miss out the opportunity to visit this market place while hubby is around. So even a bit hesitant, off we went to the souq. It was a surprise when we've learned that this place is having a centralized air conditioner!

I must say that Al Ain's Souq Al Zafrana, located behind the First Safeer Centre at Al Khabisi, is worth a visit especially if you are looking for fresh fruits and vegetables. I can't even believe that they are way better than the ones you see in the well-known supermarkets! And it's just amazing to see that there are lots of fruits and vegetables available than in the market of Al Samak located at the town centre. The place is so clean and well-maintained as well. The sellers and traders will lure you to buy and mind you, they do sales talk in different languages depending on how they see you!

Small but terrible

As a photoblogger, I must say that the capabilities of the kit lens shouldn't be underestimated. Sure it is one of the cheapest lens ever produced by Canon but it can deliver sharp images and amazing results.

It's siesta time

Photos were taken from our last visit at Al Ain Zoo. These big cats were having their siesta at the time of our visit. JM wanted to hear them roar. Unfortunately, they were so lazy to move on the day. It was an advantage for me. I enjoyed taking photographs using my Canon 100mm f/2.8 prime lens. :))

Posted for Camera Critters hosted by Misty Dawn. Join us and have fun! Click the badge and you will taken to her blog meme. Have a great day everyone!

My favourite place in Al Ain

If you're a regular visitor of my blogsite, I'm sure that you've already seen several photos of Green Mubazzarah which I've posted over the past 2 years. No doubt that this prime recreational park located at the foothills of Jebel Hafeet is my favourite place in Al Ain. I really love to go there to see the sunset or visit early in the morning to catch the sunrise. Aside from taking photographs, I just love to sit on a bench and enjoy the view.

These images were taken sometime in January 2012. If you will squint your eyes or enlarge the 1st  photo, you will find people up in the hill. They were tourists from Fujairah visiting Al Ain for the nth time. No wonder, just like me, they so love Green Mubazzarah.

Long and winding road

The road leading up to the second highest mountain in the UAE is one of the things that makes Al Ain City unique and popular. At 11.7 km long, with 21 corners and a surface as smooth as glass but not slippery at all, it is no wonder why tourists and residents alike voted Jebel Hafeet as one of greatest drive in the UAE.

Photos posted above were taken last night. Since hubby is around, we've decided to hit the road. We were surprised that it was windy and chilly up in the mountain. It was quite foggy making it difficult to capture the whole scenery from the top of the mountain. Oh! How I missed the long exposure shots!

Tilapia Lake

 photo credit: Jerry Fer Damian

This lake is located about 25 kms to the south of downtown Al Ain on the Al Ain-Abu Dhabi Truck Road. I've been living in Al Ain for nearly seven years now but I haven't been to this lake due to the dangers of being bitten or stung by poisonous insects and animals. This area is infested by arachnids like scorpions. Its informal name is coined due to the large number of Tilapia fish in its water (source).

Thank you to Jerry Fer Damian (also known as Geri Damian) for sharing this photo with us. Jerry is an avid follower of Al Ain City Daily Photo on Facebook. I'm sure Jerry braved all the hazardous condition to capture the mesmerizing beauty of this lake. By the way, this photo is also featured in Abu Dhabi Week Magazine. Congratulations Jerry!

Free spa at Green Mubazzarah

Tired feet? Do you want to relieve those muscular tensions? Or are you a tourist in Al Ain who've spent the entire day driving and walking? If your answer is yes, then go ahead and visit the Green Mubazzarah, a park located at the foothills of Jebel Hafeet. Apart from the health benefits that you may get in dipping and soaking in the hot water springs, Green Mubazzarah also offers a delightful view of undulating rocky terrain that has been landscaped. Wait! There's more it has to offer. Click here if you'd like to find out.

Happy Monday everyone!! Salaam!

Al Ain Benches Series #3

 

I started the Al Ain Benches series 5 months ago and to date, there are only 2 photos posted in this blogsite. Anyway, I have lots of photos to share but I've been terribly busy for the past 3 months leaving my photoblog full of cobwebs.

For today, let me share this beautiful bench that I have spotted at Green Mubazzarah last January 2012.  It is located alongside the park. I just love the contrast of the pan Arab colors against the wood. I find the design simple yet very useful.

More of Al Ain benches next week. Maasallam!

Our Adventure in Al Dhafra Festival: Mazayna Al Dhafra for Camels

Good day everyone. It feels so good that finally, I am sharing the last part of the series of our adventure in Al Dhafra Festival 2011. I could hardly think of every single detail of it but I've tried to remember as much I could. So here it goes.

After our quick visit at the Ministry of Interior village, we proceed to our final destination...the Mazayna Al Dhafra for camels--the main attraction of the said festival. According to Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH), it is an annual event which aims to preserve the authentic camel breeds of Asayil and Majaheem, introduce Bedouin culture, and to create a market for the sale of camels.

On our way to the main venue of the activity, we saw these camels loaded in a truck and when I asked these men, they told me that those camels were for sale. With my limited ability to converse in Arabic, I just told them shukran and we continued walking. We were just few meters away from the truck when we saw this man in kandura selling authentic leather jackets. We were surprised to see those jackets for sale....some were pricey but some were affordable. As much as we would like to buy even a single piece, we simply couldn't because there were no available sizes for us.

 camels loaded in the truck and a man selling authentic leather jackets

We continued to walk until we saw a big majlis. Kids were tired and I wanted them to rest for a while. Thank you to these men for allowing us to sit and rest while waiting for the taxi. They even offered us something to drink but we politely declined and said thank you. We just had our shawarma and orange juice few minutes before we started to walk going to the main activity. JM was a bit cranky and started throwing his tantrums. To divert his attention, I gave him my cellphone.  Viola! JM never uttered a word when he started touching the screen of my mobile phone.

JM while playing the Galaxy on Fire in my mobile phone

We never thought that taxis seldom pass by in that area. While waiting for a taxi, I told my sons that I'll just have a look around. There were some interesting subjects like these camels and I found myself pressing the shutter again instead of resting. After an hour, I returned to majlis and luckily we found a taxi. Off we went to see the parade of beauties. :))

We reached the venue after 15 minutes. The place was with lots of beautiful camels in different sizes.  They were competing with each other and vying for the grand prize. The owners of the camels were also present. Lots of people and tourists around. We've seen shutterbugs clicking their cameras, looking for interesting subjects to snap. Last 4 photos are not mine. I remember myself clicking to my hearts desire. To my dismay, some of my photos were inadvertently deleted by my son.  If you'd like to see more photos, kindly click this link and you will be taken to Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage's facebook account.

the parade of beauties :)

photos by ADACH 

Our visit wasn't the day of declaration of the winners, we just ended up looking at the camels, taking photos, and touching some of them. Some may find this adventure plain and simple but for us, we've learned something out of visiting the traditional souq, the Ministry of Interior village and the Mazayna Al Dhafra. We appreciated the culture and heritage of the Emiratis and Bedouin life. I may not be able to state it one by one, but in general, it was such a fruitful and educational experience for us.

We left the place after an hour and half and the rest of the day was spent travelling back to Al Ain. We arrived at Al Ain Bus Station at exactly 08:00 PM. That's it,  we called it a day.

For more information about the Al Dhafra Festival 2011, it will  be best to visit their website. Kindly click here.

Our Adventure in Al Dhafra Festival: Journey to Madinat Zayed

Hello! How'ya all doing? I hope everyone is doing fine. After 3 long months of hiatus, finally I'm back to blogging. I missed everyone. Apologies for my long absence in the blogosphere and allow me to thank each and everyone for bearing with me.

This entry should have been posted 2 months ago but due to lack to time to sort out my photos because of my crazy schedule, it took me ages to do so. Anyway, allow me to share the second to the last part of our adventure in Al Dhafra Festival. Here it goes...

I never thought that our travel to Madinat Zayed was even longer than our travel from Al Ain to Central Abu Dhabi. The minute we set foot at the busy Abu Dhabi bus station, we've realized that we had to bear another 2 hours or more of travel time. Immediately after reassuring JM and Joel that we will be fine, off we went to look for the bus going to Madinat Zayed. To our dismay, we couldn't find one. We had to ask the other passengers for information. We were informed that the bus going to Madinat Zayed left 15 minutes ago. JM was starting to be pesky and I was getting pissed off of his attitude but I couldn't blame him. We were all tired. At that point, we were contemplating on going back to Al Ain but a man standing from our back told us that we can find a taxi going to Madinat Zayed. We just have to go the other side of the station which we did. We spent the next half an hour looking for a taxi and negotiating for our fare. At exactly 11:00 AM we're off to Madinat Zayed.

I started looking at the road the minute we sat inside the taxi--looking for some interesting subjects to capture but all I could see were cars. Road seemed endless. Kids started asking "Are we there yet?" in between talking and yawning. Because of exhaustion, they fell asleep during the trip. After 2 hours and 15 minutes, we arrived at Al Dhafra Festival. I had to tap the shoulders of JM and Joel to wake them up.

Our first stop was at Al Dhafra Festival Village. It was like a traditional souq that showcased different products made in the UAE---from dellah and handicrafts to pottery and carpets. We've seen some paintings by an Emarati painter and mounted photos for sale. We've even tried the camel milk! It was our first time to taste the goodness of Camel milk from Al Ain Dairy...and it's for free! It was like seeing lots of interesting products that reflected the Bedouin heritage. Allow me to share these photos to do the talking.

While walking and going through different stalls, I did what I've been doing whenever I am in a festival--people watching! 

Our next stop was at the Ministry of Interior Village located alongside the traditional souq. It showcased the different departments that exist within the ministry in an open and friendly environment. We had an opportunity to see the open exhibition that showed the evolution of the police uniforms from mid-sixties up to the present. Emergency 999 rescue vehicles were also present, painted in pan Arab colors depicting the UAE Flag.

After the quick visit at the Ministry of Interior Village, we proceed to our last destination--the Mazayna Al Dhafra. It will be the last part of this series. I'll be posting it as soon as possible. Hope it will be real soon :)).

Related posts:

Our Adventure in Al Dhafra Festival: Journey to Central Abu Dhabi 

Prologue: Our Adventure in Al Dhafra Festival