Qasaba and towers, delving into Arabic semantics at Al Baha, Saudi Arabia

Familiar with these terms from homework on this green region of Saudi Arabia, I set out pursuing my curiosity. The area with a 1000 small towers called "Qasaba" in Arabic, left me clambering to click away at these, not- so- tall towers dotting the mountainscape, pursuing them hoping to find one on any main road so I could go closer and enter. 

In over 2 hours' rounds, I found one approachable. Clearly, they are shaped like a tower, four slanting walls, narrowing at the top; a lookout window of sorts, and a drainage system for the roof. A walk around showed no entry door into it at all! My mind raced, inquisitiveness piqued, imagining myself having a discussion about it a local Arabic elder in my broken Arabic sentences. Was fun.

Besides, while I did see several on mountain tops, many were at road level too. So that beats the watchtower concept.

I did read that it could have been a granary...then why the window, and how did they get stuff inside? Looking to friends and interested folks to add in any which way they can; ideally, inputs from Arabic elders would be great.

Thanks.

When Nouns go missing in English

English spelling mistakes world over are most often hilarious, as we’ve all seen in forwards from friends on mail and FB, and while travelling in developing countries in non-English speaking areas. But missing out nouns in naming organization, shops, and institutes tops it all!

A Noun is imperative in naming someone, somewhere or something, and it becomes unique to that person, place or thing. Imagine if the Sahara Desert, Kalahari Desert, Arabian desert had been named with descriptors (Adjectives) instead of names, as, say, for example, ‘Deep’ desert, ‘wide’ desert, ‘vast’ desert- how would our children remember which is which, without a name like ‘Sahara’, ‘Kalahari’. Any desert can be deep, wide, vast!

Just hilarious thoughts- laugh for good health!

SMC- Specialized Medical Center

Ahem! Well, if I were to go to any medical center for checkup and treatment, they’d better be ‘specialized’! Adjectives replace Nouns.

Education International Schools

I thought all ‘schools’ are meant to provide ‘education’, huh?! What is the name of your organization? Common nouns replace Proper nouns.

So much for serious stuff, relax with the frequent fun-

Binrushed- poor guy, everybody, please let him chill! I understand it is the name in Arabic of a great person, but it doesn’t transliterate into English! Incidentally, Ibn Rushd is one of the most noteworthy Muslims; highly educated and wrote several books and summarized a lot of Greek literature for Muslim Caliphs.

TOI Restaurant- Move over ‘Times of India’ (TOI), we are the ‘Taste of India’ (TOI) in Arabia!

New Store opening- You know a new store is opening when you see limp, coloured plastics bubbling up, ballooned figure standing around and/or a roving light is sending circles into the air!

Faux Pas- Did you know sweets have IQ?! I didn't. Apostrophe upside down. And wrongly used- remember only one sweet has IQ, not the others!



Huh! As in, I can 'feel free' and help myself to any of the stuff in your store? Hey thanks!

Clearly, just funny rejoinders from a fun heart to make a few peoples' heads lighter.

No malice or any deliberate intention to hurt or defame anyone. Please take it as a joke, change if you want to make things better, but do definitely laugh!

A relaxed day and a happy kid later

The Riyadh Zoo was a real treat the other day when we relaxed there and came back feeling happy and satisfied that we had one really ecstatic and contended kid on hand. Of course, as an adult, I was happy I had included a few animal names to the kid's vocab.

The Riyad Zoo's conception and maintenance are indeed commendable. A large area with adequate parking, places to sit, an impressionable range of animals and birds to view. Some cages could be bigger and better is also a feeling that crept up through the day, but the effort and maintenance, except for the ignorance and throwing of plastics in the zoo by the less-informed visitors, is really good.

The zoo is best visited in winter months as viewing the entire area can take up to 2-3 hours to just identify and see the whole compound and is a simple way to introduce animals and birds to children.

Planning the visit becomes easy with the website, except for any unexpected, local functions/ occasions. http://www.zoo.com.sa/riyadhzoo/map/

A very impressive collection! A good, cool afternoon well spent: ideally 12 noon- Magrib. And we walk away contented with a thrilled child!

Savour, Enjoy!

A cool driving experience- Wadi Hanifah

Wadi Hanifa is largely accepted to be a lovely picnic spot. It was a sheer delight in discovering that it's a lovely driving trail too!

The pride of Riyadh and a project that has earned international recognition. Clearly, when driving along any elevated fast track roads of Riyadh if you see any long stretches of greenery, it's one or the other part of the Wadi Hanifa Project.

Snaking the Wadi Hanifa trail along its entire length

Driving along the Wadi trail was a real eye-opener; it's a full-length trail from the northwestern parts of Riyadh to its southern end, and except for a few sections where you need to use the modern high-speed roads, it's a delightful snaking along the water channel. This driving trail along the wadi runs a level lower than the main lifeline roads of Riyadh such as the King Fahad Road and the Ring Road.

Diriyah
The northwestern end, a lovely picnic spot and the historical area of Old Riyadh, Diriyah has a number of large date plantations which have been encouraged on by the project and the authorities. The Elb dam, open picnic area, public utility facilities and the old forts of the Kings of Saudi Arabia, and some old tenements are the star spots of Diriyah.

Irgah, Suwaidi, Sultana and Masane areas of Riyadh

Driving southwards from Diriyah, for a small section the modern roads need to be used after which, following the green Wadi Hanifa boards you can wind down back onto the road along the wadi into the Irgah area. A smaller dam directing the flow of water to the lower areas, wide picnic spots and the most amazing views of the parallel system of modern high-speed roads and bridges running above the wadi are the main attractions.

As you enjoy the cleaner, cooler air on this drive along the wadi, the green boards direct you onto subsequent areas of Riyadh- Suwaidi and then onto Sultana. Emerging out from the wadi trail onto the Sultana main road was a bolt from the modern world. The main road dotted with fast food joints and the massive Al Qasr Mall and widespread housing development, while a curiosity satisfier, leaves you wanting to quickly turn around and into the green bliss of the wadi channel!

Moving further southwards the wadi crosses the vast areas of Sultana and Masane, you can observe from popular landmarks above on the modern roads that the wadi has indeed gone past the Nasiriyah and Batha areas. The wadi developments, further greening, providing facilities seem to be ongoing in these southern areas.

At the end of a whole 3 hours of driving, discovering the routes and soaking in the wintry sun, the start of the Masane area allows joining into the Ring road close to exit 21 and return onto the concrete city. Along the entire length of the drive, the wadi roads allow for joining onto the main roads at regular intervals-close to The Carlton when you leave the Irgah area, close to Badiya area when you exit further down from Irgah, and onto the Ring road before Masane. Dotted with date plantations all along the way, surely there must be a lot more connections along the way.

The picnic spots in the southern end and the one in the northern Diriyah end are the popular places any taxi guy will direct you to as you ask for "Wadi Hanifa". Now, you know better!

A lovely drive along the entire length of Riyadh, and an alternative to the high-speed driving. Taking it slow, inhaling the fresher air, enjoying a milder, cooler clime by driving along the wadi roads, just beneath the modern highways of Riyadh, a pleasant satisfaction and tons of curiosity satisfied!