Book Review: "The Lies of Locke Lamora" by Scott Lynch

When Virgin Megastore first opened in Jeddah I was among the first visitors. The promise of a new bookstore (with a potentially new collection) was far too seducing for me. The place was still in soft opening mode and the books section in particular was a mess. Still, being the bibliophile that I am, I waded bravely through the convoluted sea of pulp, seeing if I could find any treasure. And treasures I did find. Among my catch was "The Lies of Locke Lamora" which has been on my Amazon wish list for a while now. When it first hit the public consciousness, this debut book by Scott Lynch made plenty of waves, garnering accolades from critics and readers alike. Even getting itself a movie license. Quite a reputation to a live up to. Unto the purchase pile with ye, then.

Locke Lamora is the celebrated Thorn of Camorr; master thief, con artist extraordinaire, and man of mysteries. A man whose prowess is the stuff of legends. A reputation that suits the less remarkable Locke just fine. But things never go smoothly in the turbulent underworld of the fantastic city of Camorr. Just as Locke and his crew, the Gentlemen Bastards, are conducting their latest con, a shadowy figure enters the city and tips the careful criminal balance, threatening to overthrow the current leaders of not only the lawless underworld, but the noble masters of the city itself.

Now this book was fun! Think of it as an Ocean's Eleven set in a fantasy city based on Venice. The city of Camorr, with its rich and detailed imagery and history, quickly becomes something of a second character in the book, with its own personality and charm. But even more charming is Locke. While he is not exactly the most complex of literary characters he is very fun to read. Following his development from cunning street urchin to charming confidence trickster is almost as enjoyable as watching him navigate through yet another scam. Don't come here looking for high literary worth, or deep philosophical insight. This is a light read that doesn't claim to be anything other than that.

For some reason people love to read about other people getting tricked, which explains the success of the "heist" genre. "The Lies of Locke Lamora" delivers the goods and should ensure an enjoyable evening read.

10 Months of Being Married - The Aftermath

So, the official reason I haven't been blogging for such a long while was that my new state as the King of the Damned a happily married husband has been taking much of my time. While partially true, the real reason was a combination of laziness and a chronic case of the dreaded writer's block. Hning of Hningswara finally convinced me to finally try and dust off the cobwebs. I may not return to any form of regular update, but I'm going to give it another try.

So it's been 10 months of marriage for this previously anti marriage person. While it's more traditional to wait for a year before one would wax lyrical about a new experience, I thought I'd go anti-establishment and use the more metric 10 month mark. Most of it will be rambling while I find my writing voice again, if I ever actually had one in the first place.

Plus it gives me an excuse to write.

So here it goes; a review of the marital state of being.

Progression to Harmony

I was under no illusions. Marriage is one part romance, three parts compromise. Having two different people, both with highly independent streaks not only to co-habitate but to share a life is no easy task. And it wasn't. After the honey moon, it was a turbulent month or so while we set boundaries, marked territories, found common ground, and agreed on what not to agree on. Afterwards, the dust settled, and all the spilled paint turned to a nice, comfortable, uniform gray.

A huge number of marriages fail in this test, I had always known. Delaying the trial by fire would only prolong the suffering. So with gritted teeth I shouldred my lance and spurred my warhorse into the frey. Which is why I saw us passing this crucial rite of passage relatively unharmed as a confirmation of the commitment both of us had to making this relationship work.

Compromise and Change

I now listen to more Arabic music, watch Turkish soap operas, have (much) better fashion sense. She has a new found appreciation for the works of Hayao Miyazaki and stupid stoner comedy. But we still have an unresolved discussion over the artistic worth of romantic comedies and violent action movies. On the other hand, we share a common love for horror movies, Italian food, and Monopoly.

We were two different people, with many incompatibilities. Now, we are still two different people with many incompatibilities, but with a greater understanding of our individuality coupled with enough confidence in one's self not to feel threatened by the other person's field of independance.

Conclusion

We find that our view of the marital state of being is somewhat unchanged. It is still not for everybody, and find that society's inclination to force people into marriage to be laughable at best. That being said, if you are one of those lucky enough to have had the configuration of the stars just right, then I give matrimony five stars (out of how many stars? Ah, wouldn't you like to know!), and am looking forward to the next challenge; explaining to the persistant would-be-grandmothers why we have not reproduced our genetic code yet.

Furniture Expo in Jeddah - WTF?

For a few days now there have been several signs in Jeddah advertising the upcoming (and I quote) "International Furniture Exhibition". Great, I thought. Although my new apartment is already furnished with the basics, I still had an extra room that I'm planning on working on at a later date. My wife is also something of an amateur decor designer and has a gazillion and one design magazines, so we were both hyped about this.

So taking a few hours off of our busy schedule (heh heh) we hopped over to the JIEC, and for a moment I thought we had made a mistake about the dates. The grounds were uncharacteristically empty. Anyone who has been to the JIEC during their annual motor shows and computer shows knows how jam packed the place can get. Now, for the first time in living memory, I managed to find parking space inside the exhibition center. Crazy, I know. Feeling more than a little worried, I stepped into the expo center with my wife.

My worries were substantiated.

There was a grand total of maybe five furniture related shops inside. Tops. One of them was Syrian, so I guess the "international" bit of the name was right. The rest? Jewellery, textiles, nuts and spices, stuff you find in your usual run-of-the-mill souq.

Jeddah Ghair indeed.

Triumphant Return

Back again, this time with a particularly binding metal band on my left ring finger.

Spent the week luxuriating in the Jeddah Hilton and the Nawras Village Resort for some much needed R&R. Though an overzealous desire for a tan has resulted in sunburned shoulders, it's been fun stamping what's left of my bachelorhood to death. Once I get my bearings again I'll be posting some pics.

See when I see you :)

Just Married!

Be back in a week or so :)

The Wonderful World of Southeast Asian Fruits

One of the wonderful things about the tropics is the endless varieties of flora and fauna. The vast cornucopia of colors, flavors and smells of tropical fruit never fail to astound me. As big part of the Jawa culture here in Saudi Arabia, exotic fruits has always been part of my (culinary) identity. So here are some of the most common. You can find most of these in top supermarkets, though they will be far from fresh. But unless you're willing to pay your way to Indonesia every time you crave one of these beauties, supermarket fare should be good enough.

Rambutan
"Rambut" means hair in Indonesian, and it should be quite obvious from the pictures where this fruit gets its name. A relative of the lychee fruit, this sweet and juicy morsel is a popular favorite. Easy to peel and easier to eat. Though the external layer of the seed does tend to stick to the fruit despite one's best efforts. You can also find canned rambutans, which taste pretty good.



Salak
You think fruit with hair is weird? Try fruit with snake scale skin! But don't let the serpentine appearance fool you. This fruit is heavenly, especially when fresh. Last time I was in Indonesia I was addicted to the stuff. Inside the skin are 2-3 lobes. The flesh is rather dry and the seed is huge. Oh and don't eat too many. Many a stomach ache I've had back during my salak eating spree.



Manggis (Mangosteen)
Not a particular favorite of mine, but I know a lot of people who adore this fruit, and it's fairly commonly available in supermarkets as well. Inside a thick skin you can find several soft garlic like bulbs. These have a somewhat sweet citrus-like taste, almost like a mandarin.


Belimbing (Star Fruit)
Now this little wonder of nature is beautiful. With its wax like outer layer, its brilliant color and unique shape few fruits in the world make better presentation pieces than the star fruit. Like its name suggests, it's shaped like a five pointed star so make sure you slice it breadth wise for the full effect. They taste very good as well. Nice and tart.





Durian
Ooooh the durian. King of Fruits. Stuff of Legend. The strength of the durian's polarizing effect is only rivaled by the strength of its smell. You basically either love it to pieces, or you hate it with a passion. About as big as a mid sized water melon, this fearsome fruit sports a skin that is bristling with military grade thorns. You do not want to be hit in the head with a durian. But its resemblance to medieval weaponry isn't the source of its dire reputation. "It's the smell ..."(paraphrasing Agent Smith from the Matrix). The smell has been described by travel writer Richard Sterling as "pig-shit, turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock." And it's powerful. If you bring a durian home, be rest assured your whole home will smell like durian for days. Some airports and hotels forcefully ban durians from entering the premises.
If, brave soul, you have survived opening up a durian fruit you will find several pieces of yellowish pulp, with a texture that is somewhat custard like. And the taste? Well, that's what separates the lovers from the haters. While I belong to the former camp, my wife-to-be is firmly in the latter. So I guess that's the end of my durian adventures. This fruit is hard to find outside of SE Asia, but you might be able to find durian flavored candy in Asian shops, which are a milder alternative to the real thing and a good starting point for those who don't mind trying something new.

Nangka (Jack Fruit)
Don't mistake this with the durian. Though they may look similar from the outside, they're very different fruits. Inside the thorny husk are several yellow and firm bulbs. They are very sweet with a distinctive flavor that is somewhat similar to a pineapple. They are widely available in canned form.



Jambu (Wax Apple)
Ok I haven't actually seen this fruit outside of Indonesia but I thought I'd mention it since it's a favorite of mine. There was a jambu tree outside Grandfather's house and I grew very fond of them. I remember first biting into one and thinking: "Shape like a pear, red like an apple, and taste like a sweet crunchy tomato!". God I miss them.

Elevator Idiocy

Much like queues, there's something about elevators that brings out the worst in people. Perhaps it's the enclosed space, or the enforced waiting that rubs our inner barbarian the wrong way. Whatever that reason may be, elevators tend to devolve humans into apes.

Some time ago, I was in the legal notary in Makkah doing some legwork for some boring (but necessary) legal matter. Legwork. There's plenty of going up and down stairs. Yes there's an elevator, but it's so old and slow that I usually dispense with its use and depend upon my own personal locomotion facility. I could use the exercise anyway. While waiting for my papers to finish I noticed a couple of people who weren't as industrious as I was, waiting by the elevator. The door opened and there was a woman inside.

"Is this the third floor?" she asked. It was only the second floor.

For the benefit of those not steeped in Saudi etiquette lore; riding in an elevator with an unrelated woman can be considered "simply not done", especially by the more conservative.
So what did our two ne'er-do-wells do?

They said "Yes, it is!".

As the poor confused woman vacated the elevator, the two assholes rushed to get in before she wised up to their subterfuge. Divine Justice struck and the elevator chose this moment to blow a fuse or whatever. The doors chose that moment to close prematurely. On our two crafty villains. Sandwiched like peanut butter and jelly between two iron slices of toast. Understandably, no one moved in to help. One of our dastardly pair had to do a minor feat of gymnastics and stretch his arm behind his back and press the open button to release them from the grip of their sin's vise. Meanwhile, our poor victim climbed the stairs, thanking God she wasn't in the elevator when it decided to go crazy.

I'm sure we all have elevator related stories, and I'll be posting more soon.

See you then.

Book Review: "Spin" by Robert Charles Wilson

I have always been of the opinion that the lure of science fiction was its easy entry point and the richer rewards you get when you delve deep enough. I started reading science fiction for the space ships, robots, laser fire and all that Star Wars type special effects laden action. I stayed for the fascinating ideas, the sense of wonder, and the power of science. While I still enjoy the occasional space opera, it's books like the Hugo award winner "Spin" that keep me coming back for more.

Tyler and his best friends; twins Jason and Diane, witness the day that the stars disappeared. The day an unknown alien force wrapped the whole of planet Earth with a mysterious black membrane, for reasons they did not share with humanity. The Spin, as it has been called, allows sunlight to filter to Earth, but little else. What is more disturbing, it has isolated the Earth from time itself. Where only a few minutes pass on Earth, thousands of years pass outside the Spin. The threat of a dying sun killing off humanity is now no longer just a hypothetical exercise of thought. Humanity struggles to make sense of its new position. Some, like Jason, choose to pursue a scientific solution. Some, like Diane, pursue a more spiritual end. Others still, like Tyler, choose apathy.

The idea of a temporally unhinged Earth is a mind bogglingly fascinating idea, and opens several doors to many others. Time has always been one of humanity's greatest identifiers, and taking it out of the equation is an interesting prospect both scientifically and philosophically. If the book had only relied on these elements it would still be a good SciFi book. Asking interesting questions and exploring, along with the reader, the answer(s). But what makes it a great book, is that Wilson didn't stop there. A monumental event like the Spin would also have far reaching sociological implications. Faced by the very real possibility of global Armageddon, humanity itself becomes unhinged. And Wilson explores the new human condition masterfully through his three protagonists. But what makes it (in my opinion) a modern SciFi classic is that Wilson's characters are not just abstract cut outs used as placeholders in a moral debate, Tyler and company are real characters. They grow and they interact. Changing each other as they change themselves as they play out their lives in a well written drama.

"Spin" speculates and fascinates, makes you laugh and makes you cry, takes you to the farthest ends of the universe then reminds you of what it is to be human. That Hugo award is very much deserved. Highly, highly recommended.

We Don't want no Stinking Democracy!

A couple of days ago the quiet country called Bhutan made the jump from hereditary monarchy to a constitutional one (BBC article), holding their very first parliamentary elections. So far the news, while certainly momentous and historical for the Bhutanese, is of very little note. Bhutan is just a little, mountainous, land-locked kingdom with little to distinguish itself (apart from having a kick ass flag). What made me take pause during my news hounding was the reaction of the Bhutanese people. It can be summed up as "Democracy? Why the hell do we need democracy?!". Bhutan seems to be one of those very few countries that were small enough, and fortunate enough, to have a very stable and prosperous monarchy. The populace just don't see the need to make the shift. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" seems to be the mood.

Being a huge fan of Terry Pratchett's Discworld books, I couldn't help draw similarities with the Kingdom of Bhutan and the fictional Kingdom of Lancre. Both are mountainous backwaters that are blessed by young, recently enthroned, progressive-thinking kings. Like real world King Jigme Khesar, Lancre's King Verence II introduced a parliament to his fiefdom among his many reforms, thinking it a marvelous idea. The result? Having to quell a small rebellion by the villagers who protested that it's his job to rule!

Democracy? Pah! Go back to your palace Kingy and get back to reigning! The nerve of some people! :D

RIP Arthur C. Clarke

And a giant takes his leave of us. The last of the Big Three of Science Fiction (Along with Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein), Arthur C. Clarke died yesterday aged ninety, having left his touch felt by everyone not just readers of SciFi. A pioneer of Hard Science Fiction, a departure from the Flash Gordon style of adventure SciFi and into the realm of tangible physical possibilities, he wrote such classics like "Rendezvous with Rama" and "Childhood's End". Yet he is perhaps best known as the author of the book (and movie, filmed simultaneously by Stanley Kubrick) "2001: A Space Odyssey", an exploratory and prophetic journey into the destiny of Man in space. Both book and movie were not only ahead of their time, predicting space stations and moon landings, they remain untouchable iconic figures in the genre, much like the mysterious black monoliths of Space Odyssey themselves. Space Odyssey was so influential that forever now will the image of space be connected to Strauss' "Thus Spake Zarathustra" echoing the movie's famous musical motif.





But Arthur C. Clarke was more than just a SciFi writer. Trained as a physicist he was also a visionary and a futurist. In 1945, when humanity was just taking its first baby steps into space, he published a paper called "Extra-Terrestrial Relays - Can Rocket Stations Give Worldwide Radio Coverage?" in Wired Magazine. In it, he put the groundwork into what was to become the geosynchronous communication satellite. He used to joke that he would've made millions had he thought of patenting the idea. The orbit that the satellites that give us modern day essentials such as TV, internet and cross continental communication is named after him, the Clarke Orbit. He is also known for popularizing the idea of the Space Elevator, now a fixture in most SciFi and the target of much real research.

Farewell Arthur. You've left the world a better place.

1. When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
2. The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
3. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

- Arthur C. Clarke's Three Laws of Prediction.

Back in the Sandcrawler

It feels good to be behind the driving wheel of the Sandcrawler again. Wow was this place ever dusty. Can't believe how long it's been since my last post. You know the drill; life and work got a whole lot busy ... yadda yadda. My rapidly encroaching wedding day didn't help things either (if you listen carefully you can hear the death throes of my bachelorhood). Anyway, I somehow managed to pull enough energy into updating again. And like they say in Saudi Arabia: "If you're going to steal, steal a camel." Well I'm not into stealing livestock (and certainly not camels, those beasts scare me), so I thought I'd come back with a visual bang. Updating the look of this blog to something a bit more original than a default blogspot template has been one of those things I had filed in the "for later" department, and since nothing gets the blood flowing again like dirtying your hand with some work I went forth and done it.

I hope you like the new look. Be sure to visit again since I'm adamant that I'm going to keep a more or less regular updating schedule.

See you guys in a few...

More on the Red Arrows

I wrote previously about the Red Arrows visiting Jeddah. I'm afraid I wasn't able to escape the cubicle farm to attend, but Alex Sykes did and was kind enough to provide me with a picture. Thanks Alex!

The Holy Saudi Cows

I'm fuming. Who wouldn't after reading this pretty piece of news (BBC News). And here's an alternate source (Arab News). And another (Al Arabiya).

A lawyer for a gang-rape victim in Saudi Arabia who was sentenced to 200 lashes and six-months in jail says the punishment contravenes Islamic law.

Lovely. The poor girl gets gang raped fourteen times, and all the towel heads with big beards can think of was the girl breaking the taboo of Saudi sexual segregation. What about the rapists?

The sentences for the seven rapists ranged from 10 months to five years in prison.

To put things into perspective; a few months ago a man accused of raping a boy was sentenced to death. But of course the girl was somehow guilty for being an object of lust. She went out with unrelated man after all. She must be a slut! The poor rapists. How could they resist the temptation?

The Saudi society and its hypocrisy make me sick sometimes.

Oh and it gets better. This appeals court had actually doubled the girl's sentence from the last time the case went into court.

A source at the Qatif General Court said that the judges had informed the rape victim that the reason behind doubling her punishment was “her attempt to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media.”

How dare she speak against the most Holy of Holy Cows? Their words come directly from God after all? Oh, and her lawyer. He was behind all of this. Burn the Heretic!

Judge Soliman Al-Muhanna from the Qatif court told the lawyer (Al-Lahem) that the judicial committee had decided to suspend him from the case. They also confiscated his license which is granted to Saudi lawyers by the Ministry of Justice. To Al-Lahem’s surprise he received a call from the Judicial Investigation Department of the Ministry of Justice to inform him of a disciplinary session he should attend on 25th of the Hijra month.

The thing is, we've come to expect this kind of injustice from our esteemed justices. But what really really makes me want to pick up a chainsaw and go medieval and people's asses is the reaction from many people in the Saudi society. Most would just shrug it away citing that their Holinesses know best. Some even have the audacity to change the question into "Yeah, but what was she doing with that guy in the first place?". Seems everything can be forgiven in Saudi Arabia, except for going out with strangers. That and speaking out against Judge Dredd.

Book Review: "The Difference Engine" by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling

Scifi fans revere the name William Gibson. His classic book Neuromancer single-handedly started the cyberpunk genre, and introduced the word cyberspace. Films like The Matrix and Ghost in the Shell all trace their lineage to Gibson's vision of a bleak, dystopian, computer run world. And while I'm not too familiar with his work, Bruce Sterling is another cyberpunk author of some renown. So what are the two doing writing a book set in Victorian London?

Starting a new Scifi genre, that's what.

You see back in the 19th century, English mathematician Charles Babbage designed what is probably the first programmable computer. Made from gears and mechanical parts, Babbage's analytical engine was ahead of its time. Too ahead. Babbage died before his vision could be completed. But, what if Babbage had perfected his design? What if the computer revolution came a full century ahead of its time? Perfectly coinciding with the Industrial Revolution?

Say hello to Steampunk, where the 19th century is re-imagined into a more high-tech world.

Gibson and Sterling paint a wonderfully detailed world where the Engines have touched every facet of everyday life. From mechanized animated displays, to automated factories, to gargantuan government engines that store data about everyone in the realm. In this world three people, unrelated at first, have their lives changed and intertwined when a mysterious set of punch-cards, a computer program, makes its appearance. Shady characters stalk them and will do anything to get their hands on the cards. In the background, unrest boils as the rampant industrialization and the pollution it brings takes its toll on London.

Unfortunately, despite the teasingly good premise, the book fails to deliver. As typical of Gibson the world is vivid with detail, however the storytelling suffers. The book is basically a collection of three novellas, each covering one of the three major characters, and a small collection of short stories at the end. All three novellas end somewhat anti-climatically, and the characters failed to grip my attention and were quite forgettable actually. By the end of the novellas very little is achieved and many tantalizing questions are left unanswered. The book also had the chance to explore the effects of 2oth century tech on a 19th century world and values, but does very little of that.

Ironically, it was the last part of the book that I enjoyed the most. The short stories and news bites that compromise the book's final pages do a good job of fleshing out the world of The Difference Engine and go a long way into providing the book with actual closure. A somewhat chilling ending that is typical of Gibson. If only the whole book was in this format. Overall, The Difference Engine feels like an interesting exercise in speculative thought that found itself, clumsily, turning into a novel.

The RAF Red Arrows in Jeddah

Just got the news. The Red Arrows, the acrobatic team belonging the British RAF (don't you find it rather amusing that the Brits don't feel the need to explicitly say that it's the British Royalty they're talking about, it's just Royal this or that), will be conducting one of their famous air shows here in Jeddah. The show will be tomorrow (November 7th) at 3:00 pm and held in the Corniche near Al Nawras roundabout.

I have to question the timing though. I understand the need for having plenty of daylight for the show (hence the rather inconvenient 3:00 pm timing), but couldn't they have held it on Thursday?

Whether I'll actually attend is yet to be seen since I finish work at five, but if I can squirm away from work tomorrow I'll try to bring my camera with me to take a few shots.

The Power of Names

"What's your last name?"

It may seem silly, but I dread this question. I dread questions that would lead to a long and involved answer which is something I don't like to partake of, especially when the interrogator is a (friendly) stranger. You see I don't exactly have what you might call a traditional Jawa last name. Not technically anyway but I'll expand on that bit in a sec. So what is a traditional Jawa last name? In 99% of Jawas in this country you can tell where they come from simply from knowing their last names. Indonesians and Malays in general don't have surnames in the Saudi sense. So when they migrate to the magic kingdom most of them use their point of origin as the surname. Felimban, Kalantan and Banjar are amongst the most wide spread. While most of us Jawas have very tenuous links with our ancestral homes, we still carry the old monikers.

I don't have one of those. Or rather I do but they're not on my identification papers. Long story short: when my father was naturalized some government regulation made him drop the surname (Or maybe dad just dropped it on his own. I don't know. He's not around anymore for me to ask) so we're using my great grand dad's name as a family name (which is actually more in accordance to how it's done in the old country). I have to go through that whole explanation every time someone asks about my surname and getting confused about it. Gets annoying and tedious after a while.

Recently however, I noticed my little brother using our long forgotten Jawa name whenever he could. Always identifying himself as an Ampenan. He also hinted to me once that he would like to make it our official surname.

While I didn't explicitly agree (didn't explicitly reject either), I could understand where he was coming from. Names have power. They tell you who you are, where you come from. Gives you a sense of identity and history, and anchors you firmly on solid ground. It says you belong, are part of something larger. Especially in a country like Saudi Arabia where tribal law still rules the community. "Who are you?" is almost always followed by "Who are your people?" in this land. I've learned through the years not to let it bother me much. Yet still, like an itch that longs to be scratched, the longing is there.

More on the Eid Crescent

As I wrote in an earlier entry many people have been distressed about the fact that it was astronomically impossible for Eid to be on the 12th of October, but now it seems it isn't just us crazy immoral liberals who have taken note. Several Saudi religious scholars lead by Abdullah Al Munaie (member of the Grand Council of Ulema) have made clear their suspicions. "Blindly accepting that the views astronomers are invalid puts the whole community on the Judiciary Council's conscience." Al Munaie wrote. "Even if we assume that astronomers are a bunch of dissolutes whose testimonies should be investigated first, that does not mean we have the right to completely not hear them." he continues.

But of course this is Saudi Arabia. The head of the Judiciary Council stated that "astronomy remains an inaccurate discipline" preferring the use of the naked eye to a science that is older than the pyramids. "How are we to ignore the testimonies of eyewitnesses and listen to a a man calculating in his home?" he adds. Like my dear departed father used to say: "They still think science is some kind of djinn operated magic."

Still, the fact that there is a rift between the high ranking Saudi ulema over the matter gives one hope that maybe sometime in the (hopefully) not too distant future we can stop being the laughing stock of the world.

For a full article over the matter (in Arabic) visit Al Arabiya

Craving Burgers

There's something about hamburgers that is just so damn addictive. Every day during Ramadan I'd spend the day light hours craving burgers, promising myself a quick trip to the nearest McDonald's as soon as the sun sets. Yet, like most stuff I crave during fasting, I change my mind when night comes (stomach still groaning from the traditional Ramadan breakfast) and postpone my date with patty for a later date.

So now it's Shawwal, and nothing was getting in between me and my burger. Ah but since I was in Jeddah now during the day and not fasting I thought I'd have a special burger. While I like fast food style burgers just fine, I adore the burgers made by local chain Capo Grillo (Don't you just love sites that use the Comic Sans MS font? *gouges out eyes*). What I like about Capo's burgers is that they both look and taste like they were freshly made, as opposed to the frozen stuff you get in most fast food joints. And they cost just as much as their fast food cousins. Win-win in my book.

So there I was at Capo Grillo's licking my chops, bringing a friend along (I hate eating alone), waxing poetic about how good their burgers are, when the friendly cashier lets loose the bad news. Capo have switched to frozen burgers. A whole month craving the damn thing. For nothing. I ended up having a grilled chicken breast sandwich (which was pretty good, and healthy), leaving my burger addiction unanswered. Guess I'll just have to pony up the cash and visit Fuddruckers. At least I still know their burgers are still good. I hope so anyway.

The Eid Crescent Controversy

For people who have been following the new crescent debate (whether Ramadan and other Hijri months should be determined astronomically) this Eid has presented a rather delicate situation. You see, Saudi Arabia and Libya are the only countries to have sighted the new moon on Thursday (and thus had Eid on Friday). Many Muslims, including me, have chosen to follow that edict for conformity's sake. The problem stems from the unarguable fact that it is astronomically impossible for the new moon to have been born on Thursday. The fact that people from the majority of the other countries started Eid on Saturday only strengthens the already overwhelming pile of evidence. It's this sort of problems that give strength to the case of switching over to the more scientific method of moon sighting, rather than on the faulty vagrancies of human vision.

Eid Mubarak

كل عام و أنتم بخير

Happy Eid

Selamat Hari Raya Idul Fitri