by witsandnuts on December 3, 2009
I was one of the many who weren’t able to resist taking snapshots of the full moon last night. It was playing hard to get though. In a split second it was fully shown, the next time it was partly covered by clouds. In a way, it was fun achieving the right time to click the shutter. Another just in time moment was that I was in this particular area of Corniche for the UAE National Day celebration. The humble skyline added to the sight.
Did you know that the blue moon would be appearing soon?
We would often hear the phrase “once in a blue moon”. That means it would happen only once every two-three years. In a month’s time, a full moon comes. However, when it has two full moons, the second is termed “blue moon”. This coming December 31 (yay, in time for the New Year’s eve), we will meet one. Will it be literally colored blue? No. The color just implies that it’s something rare. The next blue moons will appear on 31 August, 2012 and 31 July, 2015.
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by witsandnuts on November 27, 2009
Taken in August 2009, Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center
We panicked when we saw her. We personally tried to be “beheaded”. We did fit ourselves individually. I wonder what mechanism they used to make it appear like this. Even with the cameras.
Technology or trick? 
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by witsandnuts on November 20, 2009
One of the not so ordinary stuff that you will find inside the Emirates Palace washroom. Taken in April 2009.
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by witsandnuts on November 17, 2009
As previously mentioned in this post, I am currently taking an Arabic course and that I initially noticed (among other things) that they don’t have letters V and P in the Arabic alphabet. But they have “ba” and “fa”. Hence, instead of pronouncing Gavin as it is read, it becomes “Gafin”, while “pizza” becomes “bizza”, etc. Once you observed the pattern, you can easily adjust with the pronunciation part. But writing in Arabic is absolutely a different (and challenging) area.
Off the class, I had a not so ordinary yet funny conversation with some colleagues:
Canadian: Recently I was in Domino’s Pizza and I tried to practice my Arabic and I ordered, “One chicken b-izza, please!” Oh my, I’m good.
Me: Haha. I’ll try, too, next time.
Indian: I’ll try to speak in Arabic when I’m in the airplane (pronounced as “er-plane”) soon.
Canadian: You say, apple.
Indian: E-pol
Canadian: Hmmmm…
Me: Maybe, you don’t have A in your Urdu.
Canadian: Yeah
Indian: We have. It’s just that my English is British.
Canadian: Same here. But I can say “A”. Wits, what’s your English?
Me: I speak both American and British English. But most of the time, it’s American. Automatically becomes British when I watch Harry Potter (LOL).
Canadian: Yeah, I think.
Indian: (points to the Canadian) But you hardly know how to accent on aaa and ooo and iiii properly.
Canadian: Okay… (laughs)
Indian: (points to me) I think Filipino alphabet has no letter F. I met a Filipino and he kept on saying “Por you, Por you…”
Me: (Smiled) There is, of course. But P and F are interchanged by some “rarely”, same with V with B.
So on.
We were like kids that kept on discussing the lingual limitations of each nationality. We, therefore, concluded that there’s no such thing as incomplete alphabet, even for the Arabic. Needless to say, no tongue is too perfect.
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by witsandnuts on November 8, 2009
Inside this shell-shaped bread are pieces of yummies. Open sesame!
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Test of patience ala Karate Kid
The easiest way to a kiddo’s heart
Camels say they’re in Morocco, not in Abu Dhabi
The housewarming cake
