This month has rather been busy with all the events related to Christmas, I have to beg off from blogging. 

It's been two weeks since the Pinoy Expats/ OFW Blog Awards night where my entry (here) landed a great and un-expected second place. Please allow me to copy my facebook note on it:

And to all my fellow nominees and all fellow OFW bloggers, congratulations too!

~~~~~

Merry, merry Christmas =)

I guess I'm getting used to the sandpit Christmas celebration, but of course I miss the Filipino tradition. Much unlike the Philippines, Christmas is more of a commercialized event here where malls are adorned with greens and reds of Christmas trees, Santa Claus and his rein-deers, BUT nothing of the Nativity, since of course it is a Muslim country. The essence then is a challenge for every Christian believer to find it in his/ her heart.

~~~~~

From us and the Gremlin, we wish everyone a blessed 2011. And may the Christmas spirit reign in us everyday =)

At the junction towards the view deck and the rock bed

Down the Wadi. Wadi (Arabic: وادي‎ wādī; also: Vadi) is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some cases, it may refer to a dry riverbed that contains water only during times of heavy rain or simply an intermittent stream.

The waterfalls from the view point

There are bees and dragonflies

Now, the waterfalls. Just a short one but for a place where oases are rare, these are treasured.

Clear water upstream

The husband checks the reservoir

I'm in awe how the walls have formed.

This hill-y and rock sight is a delight for us who's always on  Dubai's plains.

A jeepney with unfinished painting of the Philippine flag, it seems

Fujairah Trade Center where I first worked in the UAE, for an Egyptian who's into transporting Fujairah's crushed rocks to Kuwait and Dubai, among other places.

We were stuck in traffic heading back home in Khorfakkan as people celebrate UAE's 39th National Day on the streets.

I'm currently sorting 1400 photos we took in our 3.5 days Egypt tour and I dont know where to start sharing.

In a nutshell, it was a tiring but enriching trip. And:

- We like Egypt because of its traces of ancient civilization
- We like Egypt for the (cheap, they say) hot air balloon ride
- We like Luxor's Nefertiti Hotel's hospitality

- We like our Luxor guide and Egyptologist Aladdin. He's Luxor's lively walking encyclopedia. We have yet to tell Nefertiti though that their Cairo agent who guided us, was not as accommodating as Aladdin.

- We dislike Egypt for its people who see tourists as $$$$$$$$. Let them flag a taxi for you, or take a picture of them, or enter a toilet that says "Free entry", or any petty favor -- now spell trouble --  you're OBLIGED to PAY them. There's also obnoxious locals on the streets stretching their palms. You could either be expert at ignoring them, hand them $ or hand them a thing in your bag they'd ask for.
- We dislike the cunning Egyptians. Spell RIP-OFF boldly. There's overpricing or making up stories for fakes. Twice, the locals came over to us as if we were acquaintances insisting we spoke earlier and agreed to pay them for their services.  
- We dislike our first night hostel. Talk about mold-laden cups tray; hazy drinking glasses; room lights not working, bed linens that seemed un-washed for weeks, unkempt toilet
- We dislike Egypt for it's "multi-pricing". Tony, a Welsh who made Luxor his home said: "You pay EGP 65 while the Luxor resident pays EGP 2.
- We dislike Luxor McDonalds, rip-offs too. We attempted to save on our food, but weren't too careful to read the deceiving menu and did not confirm. I was expecting an EGP 60 meal for our EGP 99 bill.
- We dislike having to travel 12 hours by bus from Luxor to Cairo because the train was full.
- We dislike Egyptians who doesnt know the word QUE. They just come in front of you in the line. Once, our Cairo guide suggested we give a coin to be attended in priority.

Oh, oh, I'm being mean now, really mean =) . Please dont get me wrong, Egypt has must-see treasures that's why tourists flock by the countless buses. And I guess it'll take me 4 to 5 blog posts to share.

For now, here are random picks from my 1400 shoots:

The pyramid sides used to be smooth as the tip of this

Hatshepsut's mummification temple. Cant pronounce? Say Hot Chicken Soup =)

Egypt's First Class train

Sensored, sensored. But yeah, they make this in Luxor. Reminds me of my village's wood carving industry.

Much of land along Egypt's Nile River is green

Inside a Coptic Christian Church in Luxor

Inflating the balloon

Rooftops as seen from the balloon

Bread anyone? ... in Cairo

The Great Pyramid of Giza

Alexandria's fishermen

Alexandria

Citadel of Sultan Qait Bay in Alexandria

Please do come back for my individual posts on our experience. It's 2:25 am now, have to hit bed otherwise, would be too groggy for our Wadi Wurayah, Fujairah drive at sunrise =)

It's holiday in the Sandpit today. Happy 39th dear UAE!

Dubai - Falaj Al Moalla - Al Dhaid - Masafi - Dadna - Zubara - Al Bidiya - Khorfakkan - Fujairah

This house must feel so secured sitting on rocks in Masafi, Ras Al Khaimah

This was our sight for hours, but we loved it along with the curvy two way roads

Looking at these creations caught my interest in geography

There's no fancy food courts on the road. Either stock food in the car, buy corn and fruits from this vendor,  or eat at local restaurants which could be in the next 50 kms

Hungry after four hours drive, at last by 3:30 pm we found a perfect spot for our packed lunch

After a filling lunch, we let our tummy do good work while we wonder on the blue horizon

...while the Gremlin and his Dad worked on the sand.

Then here's Bidiya Mosque, believed to have been built in 1446 AD. It's the smallest mosque I've seen so far.

As the sun was about to set, we reached our destination after seven real good hours. Small water swamps are a sight on the roads after the rain of ice earlier.

I asked the husband to drive in this house that cradled my first sleep in the UAE -- in Fujairah.