Out And About: Someone's trash, Another's Treasure

Have you  ever heard the term "One man's Trash is another man's treasure".  Call it pre-loved, previously owned or thrifty whatever you want to call it, that term surely comes to life whenever you step into a second hand shop.

  But a second hand shop in Jeddah?? you might be wondering. Many of you may or may not know that Yes, there is a second hand shop in Jeddah. We first came to know about it a few years back. Why  haven't we posted about it?? There can be many reasons. The top most being ,we are really really lazy. Really sorry for that. We need to work on it. We know.

But we are in a groove these days so here is a post about this lovely lovely place. It is called Mawakeb Alajer. It is located on Khalidiyah behind Danube. Its timing are sat-thur 9am-8pm , fri 4pm-8pm. There instagram id is @mawakebalajer.

 Me being a mother and my sister being a teacher, we are always on a look out for books, toys and all sort of stuff that might be helpful in teaching aids. Plus have you seen the prices of books and kid's toys in stores???. I love coming here and finding books  and toys for 5sr which in the best of conditions and sometimes brand new.

 So, when we came to know about this place, it felt like a dream come true. The place is a great shopping experience. You can find books, antiques, designer clothing, bags and shoes,  kids toys, board games and home furniture and décor items. Anything under the moon, you will find there. The place is well organized with a good team who speaks good English plus they are really helpful. They have divided the things in different rooms. They even have a place for bridal gowns, which you can rent from there if you don't want to buy. The place is great to find costumes for kids on a good price. 

They also have a little refreshment area from where you can buy drinks and snacks, a good thing to have when you are spending hours digging for hidden treasures in the shop.

They occasionally have swings and slides as well for sale. Until they are not sold, free fun for my kids :)

The best of all about the place is that the proceeds go to help children in need. So you end up having double the fun. Find stuff at a bargain and help others in need. You can donate any of your stuff there as well.

Side Note: Such places are needed all over KSA. Especially Khobar so I don't have to wait till my visits to Jeddah :)

Old bookshops are a norm in Pakistan. We spend a good amount of revenue and time whenever we go back in these shops. I love the look of books stacked up from the floor to the ceiling, endless rows of books to choose from without having to break your bank. A good old book shop in Pakistan has a website. You can get new and old books from here. They do international shipping as well.

Chronicles from Jeddah----Forgotten Glorious Past

Finally the first thursday of June came along and we went to the Islamic Center where they were holding a Morroco day. I was really exicited about it as I mentioned in my earlier post that I would love to visit Morroco some day, so it was a sneak peek into the experienec waiting for me. But there was more than I was expecting, Morroco had taken a backdrop for there ongoign series "Why do we belive In....???". This time we were shown a short film and my GOD was I totally in AWWWWW. Please have a look at it.

This short film was made for an exibition held in London this January. It was quite a big Event organsied by a Saudi organization. At the exibition Islamic history is being presented in a marvellous way. It was so insightful not just for the western world who usually show a bleak picture of Islamic culture and call that era the dark ages but for us as well.

WE muslims need to know where our roots lie. Where we come from and how at one point in time we gave the world its latest discoveries and invention. I dont know what the curriculum in arabic schools in the KSA is, but growing up I certainly was not introduced to this period of muslim history as I should have been in my schools. I mean yes I knew some names, and yes I knew we did something but not to the extent I know about the western scitentist and their acheivements. Why this lack of expopsure to our own hisotry I cant understand. Maybe because in my schools the authorities are BLINDLY following the curriculum definetly not designed completley for us and adding information to it is too much work for them. And we as parents are relying too much on our schools to educate our kids. Why is that, that we dont have any heroes of our own? Why is that, that we dont have any Muslim scholar or scientist to look up to and follow? Why is that, that we are from the get go made a follower of the western civilization? I dont know. Maybe if we are shown and taught what great acheivers we were maybe we will replicate it. We did it once and we certainly can do it again.

Here you can get a little view of the exibition.

Please do share this with your friends, family, children of all ages so that they know alll about our great past. and for a change know the names of someone other then Elbert Einestein and be proud of what we are and our contributions to the modern world.

After the movie we had a discussion on the "Why have we forgotten where we came from?". We know the first message give to our Prophet Mohammed (P.B.U.H) was IQRA (read)....so being a muslim its our mission on earth to seek knowlegde, knowledge of everything and then to apply that knowlegdge for the goodness of mankind. Leaving a footprint in this world. Maing a mark. We dont know what an impact can it make. It can be as small as making someone smile or as big as changing someones outlook to life. The main goal of all this is that do somehting productive while we can, whether it be with your children, your family, people you know. start small. Seek out knowledge, share your knowledge, lets make this world a better place for you and for me,so that a few decades later we still have a remarkable past to look at.

Chronicles from Jeddah---Something to Ponder

A friend and I had a chance to go to the Islamic Education Center in Jeddah a few weeks ago. Its a really beautiful building with amazing islamic architecture situauted near Tariq Malik road. They offer many different courses, from languauge to islamic studies and classes for convert as well.

What took us there was a series of gatherings called "Why do we??" they have started on every first thursday of the month. They were discussing that why we(muslims) believe in Creation(Adam being created by God) vs Evolution ( monkey being my forefather). We were invited to watch a Documentary Scientific Adam. The documentary showed scientific proofs of us being connected to Adam and Eve. But still some parts of it were still a little confusing for me. Any how, after the documentary we were served some refreshments and a round of discussion started. My confusions were to some extent cleared in the second half of the session by Mrs. Asma. She explained the Adam and Eve thing and our creation with the help of scripture from quran. I loved the way she explained why we were created and what role should we play while we are here on the earth. An example she gave was of a pencil maker.

There used to be a pencil maker whoes pencils were sent to all parts of the world. One day he held one of his pencils and started talking to it. He told it 5 important things that would be imortant for it to be succcessful in its job.

1. He said to the pencil : You will be able to do great things,but only if you allow yourself to be in someone's hand.


2. You will experience a pianful sharpenig every now and then, but you will need it to be a better pencil.


3. You will be able to correct your mistakes.


4. The most important part of you is whats inside.


5. On every surface you are used, you must leave your mark.

We(Muslims) as a nation should also be leaving our marks(ina positive way not the suicding bomner kind of way) but if only we would allow oursleves to be held by ALLAH and agree to whatever He has deciede for us is the best for us.

NEXT month they are bringing mini Morroco in the islmaic center and we would get the chance to experience Morroco in the midst of Jeddah. Cant wait for it cause i am crazy for Morroco, It is placed quite high on my traveling wishlist. You also do try to go if u get the chance.

And please do watch the documentray and tell us your take on it.

Happy days

NO PHONE ZONE

I am a big big big fan of Oprah. Although, I think that she is not perfect and sometimes i do think she gets a little jugdmental but i like to see the bigger picture when it comes to Oprah.

I love what she does. Her job is sooooooooo fun And she gets to influence ppl to do the right. These days on MBC 4 she is campainging towards, NO PHONE ZONE. She is convincing ppl to take a plegde to not to text or talk on the phone while driving. Which i think is a comendable thing. I not only have seen but have practiced ( regretfully)in KSA and iin my homeland, ppl not giving a thought even a second before attending a phone or caling someone or even worse texting someone while driving.

What the worst part is that sometimes whole families are in the car. Its not just dangerous for our familiy but the other s on the road as well. Some peoplel i know even BRAG about their talent of multitasking. I on the other hand would not call it talent but IGNORANCE, which Oprah has taken a step towards to eleminate. If you have missed the programmes you can go to Oprah.com and get the whole stories. There is also a segment where an expert is telling about WHAT WE DONT SEE when we are driving and talking on the phone at the same time. This actually was an eye opener for me. Please do watch it.

30 April, In america is a National No phone Zone Day. But i would like to say lets make it Every Day No phone Zone day in our lives. For us, Our loved ones, And our fellow Humans. May Allah keep us all safe.

Its Official.....I am OLD

My husband sent me an email today which made me realize that i am getting old. I was no evil knivel in my days but i also was not that weak of heart as well. But seeing this email i seriously think that i have no fun spirit left in me. What makes me more scared is that my kids will consider these things FUN. Which is, i think, an excuse for doing evrything these days.

Personally i think FUN is overrated ( long discussion, will ramble on later)

Tell me what u think of these FUN activites.

GRAND CANYON SKY WALK


It doesnt look that scary, take a look at the second pic



WHAT do u think now????




would be fun to walk on it but Y temp NAture???

LAS VEGAS TRIPLE THRILL AMUSEMENT CENTER

Can u see where the park is? NO? let me give u clearer picture.

Can U see It NOW?????

Seriously Y tempt NAture????

Share with me new scares and worries for mothers all over the world on Mother's Day.

HAppy MOthers DAY.