World’s Most Expensive Abaya : RM55 Million!

abaya is basically a black, loose robe-like dress worn by muslim women in most parts of the middle east.

this is the most expensive abaya ever made and has been dubbed the ‘red diamond abaya’ due to the usage of a very rare red diamond as the centerpiece. the designer is british debbie wingham who will showcase her selection of abaya soon. fancy a brit designing abaya for middle easterns, huh?

 

 

launched in march, it really does like any typical black abaya with beautiful red embroidery. look closer and you’ll see that it’s made of diamonds…

tengok laaaagi dekat, dah macam manik-manik labuci beli kat jalan kuala kangsor kat ipoh tu. huhu.

 

 

• it is adorned with hundreds of diamonds
• hand-stitched with white gold thread
• and of course, the tiny rare red diamond on the chest area
• the fact is that the red diamond is only found one in millions regular diamond, once in 50 years – that makes it so rare
• the abaya costs aed65 million or RM55 million, and that rare red diamond alone costs RM20 million

 

 

how could anyone even begin to WEAR this? beautiful and unique as it may seem, it defeats the purpose of the humble, demure abaya which should serve to cover the aurah and not attracting too much attention.

I hope it’s just for exhibition…

(pictures from google)

Hunting Abaya & Shawls @ Blue Souq, Sharjah

dubai has ‘naif’, sharjah has ‘blue souq’. also called the central souk or central market, the ‘blue souq’ is THE place in sharjah to get endless choices of abaya, shawls, carpets, rugs, antiques, jewellery – the list goes on. it’s a beautiful building with blue tiles – hence the name ‘blue souq’.

(sharjah is one of the 7 emirates in UAE. it’s right next to dubai)

there are two long buildings actually, connected by a pedestrian bridge. from outside, it looks like a beautiful 1950s train station with an islamic architecture-touch, complete with wind towers on top – a trademark of middle-east houses. a combo between traditional souk and modern shopping mall.

 

* * *

over 600 shops selling all things middle east and all over.

 

* * *

 

 

i was there looking for shawls.

you know what, mr. khairul is truly the luckiest husband. haha. i’m the kind of person who does not like to go from shop A, B, C, D, E, F and then goes back to C and then changed her mind, and goes back to the first shop, and ends up to last shop back again, and then decides to go to shop D again. or F again. or maybe just look for shop G, H, I and J…

so mr. khairul can just kick back and relax while i shop at one shop and then we can head home. and not drag him to hundreds of shops. hihi.

 

 

i went to shop A, found a good bargain, and just shopped there! yes, there we like hundreds of shops selling abayas and shawls, and i stayed in ONE shop and bought all i wanted from there, because i already found what i needed!

next time can come again and go to other shops lah! hihi.

i know sometimes it’s good to go to many, many shops before you settle on what you want to buy – you can compare prices, and when you look at other shops maybe they’ve got different designs from the previous shops, and maybe you can get the best deals of the best stuff after going round the whole place.

but i just don’t wanna go through all the hassle! haha. malas kan. lagipun dah jumpa apa yang dicari!

 

the inner syria cotton that i’ve been looking for! thanks to lin for the info *smile* – i bought like SO MANY colors, and still felt i didn’t get enough!

 

 

blue souq is the place to shop for abaya and shawls, AND the place where bargaining and tawar-menawar is to be expected, so sharpen your bargaining skills here! kadang-kadang belum tawar harga lagi, orang kedai tu dah siap-siap turunkan harga. haha.

the sharjah blue souk (central souk) opens from 9 am to 1 pm, closed for noon prayers, and opens again at 4 pm to 11 pm daily, except on friday. location sila google ye haha. malas jugak nak tulis. let’s just say it’s on the way to sharjah aquarium.

happy hunting!

Baju Raya? Jom Phulwani, Dubai!

dubai is a haven for kain. you want the latest, the affordables, the loveliest – dubai is the place to be, especially the area called ‘naif’. in fact before i got married, abah brought me and my sisters to dubai to buy cloths to make baju for my engagement and wedding.

one interesting shop in the midst of it all is phulwani, arguably THE most popular textile shop among malaysians.

how popular? you can see ‘selamat datang’ pasted on its entrance door. there are even pictures of malay wedding couples, as well as malaysian artistes on its walls. if you look closely under the glass on the table, you will see hundreds of business cards of malaysian government officers, airline crew or just another malaysian dropping by.

the friendly and helpful staff can speak bahasa malaysia very well, and are knowledgeable in malaysia kain pricing. masuk kedai tu, memang rasa macam kat kedai kain malaysia!

 

me like a kid in a candy store

 

phulwani is relatively big, but has narrow spaces. you’ll find yourself walking into L spaces when you’re in the shop.

upon entering, you’ll see a line of cloths for men’s suits and shirts first, before being greeted by a wondrous colorful selection of kain of all types and origin. i bought one korean silk myself. hihi.

there’s a whole section of a plain cloths selection to make men’s baju melayu, and another section just for laces. when i said i wanted to make kebaya, the staff was quick to suggest lace as a favorite choice to make kebaya, but i don’t want THAT kind of kebaya. lace-lace ni tak payah lah.

i’m going for simple but bright this year!

  

 

since phulwani is such a hit with malaysians, it’s not surprising to bump into my fellow countrymen here. while we were there, we met mr. khairul’s fellow biker dude sham who’s ordering a few baju melayu here; we also ran into bro hassanal, wife hazleen and their two boys – also browsing cloths for baju raya. two other malay couples were also looking for materials when we were about to leave.

really, most of their customers are malaysians!

 

me and hazleen going gaga over the many choices of kain

 

so what colors are you guys planning for baju raya theme this year?

my family? maybe dark brown. could be red. perhaps cream. or even dark green. haha. the thing is, these are the colors of the stripes, or leaf or flowers or the background of my baju kurung and kebaya this year. since it’s so easy to pick up a baju melayu, the boys will just follow MY colors, whatever it might be in the end.

…the perks of being the ONLY girl in the family…

 

 

so who picks the baju raya in YOUR family? selalunya the wife kan hihi. my mak used to just sew the baju raya for her 5 girls when we were younger. too bad i’m not as talented!

also, we’ve got a chinese tailor back in ipoh – and boy, we’ve been sending kain to her since forever. the chinese lady once said, (when she had to re-measured us after giving birth) that she has sewn our baju kurung when we were small, then teen, then married and now even as mothers. gile lama kitorang tempah baju kat ahso tu!

well, i bought a few kain at phulwani that day, with the help of mr. khairul. i love MOST of the kain design there, so i let mr. khairul pick and choose some kain that he likes to see on me. lagi bagus bila suami suka kain yang kita pilih kan?

we can of course just buy the kain, but i chose to let their in-house tailor make my baju kurung. he came to take my measurement. i could come back next few weeks to pick it up, and alter it there and then should there be any correction to the cutting.

this is my first time making baju kurang and kebaya with an old indian man! and he’s foreign! let’s see how well he does…

 

 

i guess i don’t need to give you the exact location of phulwani since it’s so popular already – but here’s a few pointers just in case. it’s situated in the area opposite the naif police station, surrounded by a few abaya shops. we parked in the dark building right in front – congested, low-ceiling, a claustrophonic-nightmare – but hey, this is the only choice we’ve got!

if you’re travelling without kiddos, you’re better off taking a cab. no parking hassle! also, come in the evening as it’s getting hotter in dubai right now so you’ll be shopping more comfortable after dark!

have fun!

Batoola : Traditional Arab Mask

ever seen anyone wearing their tudung with this kind of mask?

no, she’s not wearing a solar-powered face covering. and no, she’s not on her way to a mardi gras ball. and no, definitely not wearing that to stop her from nagging to her husband!

this is actually a traditional arab mask, called the ‘batoola’, or ‘batulla’ – normally worn by *bedouin women.

the bedouin (from the arabic badawī (بدوي), pl. badw) are a part of the predominantly desert-dwelling arab ethnic group…the term is now often applied in many ways either to arabs in general or to desert dwellers or nomads.

~ wikipedia

 

 

the first time i saw a makcik arab wearing it, i was quite taken aback. it was fascinating because i've never seen one. even in books, or pictures or documentaries on tv – never! it's said that this is a dying cultural practice, and still uphold by those traditional bedouin people.

 

the lady at the back wearing ‘batoola’ with her black tudung

 

i was remembered of this ‘batoola’ when we went to dubai global village few weeks back.

the dubai global village itself covers an extensive ground, but in a few corners you will see wooden tents. there are cooking stations in there – complete with hot frying pan, and the works. these are actually home-like stalls for beduoin women to sell freshly-prepared food for sale.

they will have all the ingredients in there. they will prepare the raw materials there. they will mix and stir and roll and knead dough – they will prepare the dishes from scratch, for tourists to see.

kuih yang macam cakoi ade. tapi cicah dengan madu. macam capati pun ada. roti telur macam kat mamak pun ada, tapi lain sikit. macam-macam makanan tradisi masyarakat beduin.

 

 

now, if you notice, the lady with the black tudung sitting at the back wore gold-color cardboard-like 'mask' to cover her face. this is the traditional veil called 'batoola', worn mostly by makcik-makcik and opah-opah arab, especially in the village.

fascinating!

* * *

i read a few wonderment about this ‘batoola’ over the net. many questions the actual purpose for the ‘batoola’ – is it JUST to cover the aurah? if so why is it gold colored, and shaped like so? why couldn’t they simply use a black cloth?

is it to display or enhance beauty? is it to protect these women's modesty or is it a symbol of status? some say that, because the voice of a woman is her aurah, so traditional arab women wear the ‘batoola’ to ‘cover’ their voice? really?

if you ask me – it’s just their tradition, the tradition of the beduoin women. and they wear it as part of their hijab (tudung). just like victorian ladies wear corset as part of their dresses, and men wear the skirt-like sampin as part of their baju melayu or the unnecessary ‘tie’ around their neck when they wear suits!

nobody questions those!

 

the many gold-colored batoola (image : google)

 

what is it made of? contrary to what you may think, it’s not made of shiny metal – it’s made of soft cardboard, and sometimes just cloth.

 

source : here

 

well, we all learned something today! eh, pernah nampak pelancong arab di malaysia pakai ni tak jalan-jalan kat klcc?

Character Day Parade : All Hail King Khaleef!

white bathrobe : 25aed
belt : 13aed
leather wrist band : 7aed

seeing your son's pride as King Khaleef? priceless.

 

 

khaleef’s school held a ‘literacy week’ where they had a lot of fun activities for the students, and parents can join in some of the activities :

• ‘book donation day’ – the kids bring new or second hand reading books to the school
• story telling sessions
• poetry writing
• drama sessions
• debate
• literacy quiz
• book fair
• ‘character day parade’ – little kids dress up as fairy tale characters, and older kids in their favorite book characters

 

* * *

 

i think i speak for all MOMS of the world, that when it comes to dressing up our kids for something like the ‘character day parade’, we are more excited than our children, kan? hihi.

i was cracking my head on what he can become – prince and kings are obvious picks, since he’s a boy, and it’s so easy to assemble. other fairy tale characters like peter pan, and the big bad wolf also came up!

mr. khairul went all semangat ketuanan melayu when he suggested khaleef came as hang tuah! just make a paper tanjak and keris, he’s good to go!

 

 

time was running out, so i settled for the typical ‘king’ look instead. i know A LOT of boys may come dressed up as kings and princes, so let’s make the crown really stands out! hihi.

i fashioned a crown from hard paper, wrapped it around with aluminium foil for the shiny effect, and to top it all – the huge diamond-shaped ‘gem stones’ made from candy wrappers.

the crown is big, bold and shiny. so even among the crowd of kiddos, it would be easy to spot khaleef!

 

* * *

 

 eager parents awaiting the ‘character day parade’ to start

 

there are so many interesting costumes! ben10 was a very popular choice among the boys; they had the green ben10 jacket, ben10 mask and even the ben10 alien characters. to me it’s practically cheating because the rule clearly said - ‘fairy tale characters’! ben10 bukan fairy tale. eee. main tipu. haha.

for girls, i can say that 90% went with either princess or fairies. pink, purple fluffy skirts, lacy tops and shiny crowns or silky wings. adorable!

here are the costumes which caught my eye :

 

   

an adorable indian prince, dashing zorro and this voluptuous little mermaid!

 

 

 this cool shrek boxy mask, ben10 heat blast, and the little red indian boy

 

another cool shrek – complete with green face paint and shrek clothings; a cute witch and little red riding hood!

 

* * *

 

and then it was time for khaleef’s class to strut their stuff in the parade! i recognized his school teacher, and the boy up front was from his class.

and then i saw the crown, bouncing out glimmer of the sun from the aluminium foil! haha.

 

 

his costume was so simple – black baju melayu, with belt and a leather wrist band to emphasize the look. i covered him with a bathrobe like a cloak, pinned together with a big ‘diamond’-studded butterfly brooch. armed with a ‘sword’, he was the coolest king ever!

 

ALL HAIL KING KHALEEF!

 

 

after the parade, classes resumed as usual, where a storytelling session will take place. how cute it is to have all sorts of characters sit around listening to stories.

khaleef went home by bus as usual, and surprisingly his flimsy crown is still in tact! i thought he would’ve left it in school, or it would be crushed while playing on the bus.

so i took a couple more pictures of king khaleef!

 

 

 

“He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home.” ~

If You’re NOT Arab, Don’t Dress Like One?

do you agree? yes, ade orang cadangkan supaya ban kan orang lain dari memakai pakaian kebangsaan orang arab ni! i’m sure more than one of my non-arab readers wear abaya!

let’s face it – the arab culture is sweeping our nation : malaysian ladies are wearing abaya, eating yemeni mandi rice and listening to maher zain. it’s obviously arab-mania!

i myself have never tried wearing abaya in malaysia, but here in dubai, it’s like part of my wardrobe! sending khaleef down to his bus, it’s so much easier to wear the abaya over my pajamas!

when i was pregnant with kazim, i practically wear abaya most of the time when we go out! airy, lots of space for my expanding tummy and of course, extremely comfy.

also, some malaysians i know wear abaya to avoid being mistaken as filipinos! sad to say, here in dubai there is an apparent double-standard when it comes to what your nationality is, so it’s best to wear the abaya proudly so as not to be mistaken as an indonesian maid, or a filipino retail staff!

but again, do you agree that if you’re not arab, then don’t dress like one?

* * *

this letter from a reader (a local, surely) was published in the local newspaper, and his/her message is loud and clear :

Sunday 9 Jan, 2011

As an Emirati I think that the wearing of local dress by other nationalities should be banned.

There are so many other nationalities who wear a *kandora and people think they are local and give us a bad name with there attitude!

Frustrated Emirati, Dubai

taken from 7days.

 

*kandora is the long white jubah worn by arab men.

 

in the lift of my apartment : me & my sisters had fun wearing abaya (when they were here dec 2009 when i was 8 month pregnant with kazim), complete with matching headscarves. it covers appropriately, it’s very comfy, the material needs no hassle of ironing and we look great haha – what’s wrong with that? are we insulting the arabs by doing so?

 

and this is another letter published that supported the reader’s opinion.

Respect Emiratis, and don't dress like them

Monday 10 Jan, 2011

Expats wearing national dress is insulting, says this reader

I fully agree with the letter from Frustrated Emirati - ‘If you’re not a local, don’t dress like one’ (Letters, Jan 9). The UAE National dress is something that should be worn with pride by Emiratis and is part of their culture. Having expats wear the national dress is insulting to many Emiratis I imagine.

..And for those people who dress like an Emiraiti out of choice .....why?

Granted, respect the culture and don’t dress like a street walker (men included). Cover up and dress sensibly - but dressing in UAE National dress should be for Emiratis only.

Fernando
Dubai

also from 7days.

 

do you agree with both these readers?

maybe the reader has had a bad experience with some expats who wore the abaya or kandora. however, it’s fair to say that some of us expats pun ada pengalaman yang tak best with orang tempatan yang berpakaian abaya dan kandora!

it’s just about people, not the dressing!

to go so far as to ask for a ban is going over the top. there are many reasons why non-arabs wear abaya, and not all of them will bring a bad name to this lovely attire.

and insulting? if an arab lady wore our traditional baju kurung, i would be more than happy; proud even! well, when my non-malay colleagues wore baju kurung to work, or when my non-malay schoolmates wore baju kurung to school, i felt nothing but pride. the baju kurung is an evergreen, elegant, yet demure attire and looks so lovely on anyone who wears it!

i remember during my eldest sister’s wedding, my sister’s chinese classmate actually bought a baju kurung specially to be worn for the kenduri. also my good friend erika who’s an indian, tailor-made a kebaya songket just so she could be my maid of honor on my wedding!

these non-malays show such good sport, and i welcome their enthusiasm over my traditional attire. they look so gorgeous wearing our (malay) traditional attire, why should i be insulted?

the only thing i agree about this issue is, if you dress like one, don't dress negatively. which, if you think about it – senang cerita, kalau pakai pakaian tradisional tu, perangai tu elok-elok la sikit! nama pun *tradisional*! hihi. mesejnya ialah, sila kontrol ayu kot!

 

malaysians wearing abaya! : mr. khairul’s mom & sis teh, me holding a 3 yr old khaleef in front of atlantis hotel on palm jumeirah island. next picture : my younger sisters azot & syidot, in front of the exquisite burj al-arab hotel.

comel pe malaysians pakai abaya! hihi

 

these are some of the replies from other readers after the 2 published letters. there are many, but these are the ones that i agree with!

COMMENT FOR THE 2 LETTERS

1. "..if this is the case, shouldn't all locals stop wearing baseball caps? after all they are american.." (some young arabs wear kandora with baseball caps, instead of the kain merah petak-petak tu)
2. "..so why do local ladies wear western clothing under their abayas instead of the traditional dress and suruwal - huh."
3. "..many countries including, yemen, syria, india, pakistan, iran, iraq and many other countries wear the abaya (in few different formats).."
4. "the abaya or the kandoora is not a national dress, it is worn by many people in parts of the islamic world.."
5. "..(i’m not local but) sooner or later i’m going to get marry to one emirati and before i met him i am already wearing hijab and abaya since i reverted to islam, no regret alhamdulillah.."
6. "..plenty of foreign women also married to local men and their husbands or in laws encourage them to wear abaya to fit in - so to speak...for e.g. sonia ghandi is italian but she adopted her husbands culture and wears saris.”
7. "..if i see that a person is someone that i hold in high esteem and someone that respects other cultures and nationalities, i would be proud to see him/her wear my national dress, whatever it might be - an abaya, a dish dash, a kimono, a sari, a shalwar kameez, whatever.."
8. "..i have so many friends from different nationalities who have been so happy to dress me up in many different traditional dresses, and would have been very happy, for example, if i attended their wedding ceremonies dressed as 'one of them'."

 

here’s us in front of a fort in oman : my sis-in-law tina in abaya, a pregnant me and my bro-in-law asrar in black kandora – doesn’t he look snappy!

 

i wear the abaya by choice – the 2nd letter asks why. well, here are my reasons!

WHY DO I WEAR ABAYA

• it’s a lovely dress – it’s beautiful black (which as everyone knows, gives the ‘slim’ illusion!) and the design is elegant – long, flowing with simple decorative beads or embroidery
• it doesn’t need ironing
• it’s easy to wear – just pull it over whatever you’re wearing; jeans, pajamas or baju kurung!
• it’s very comfy and airy
• it’s very modest and covers the aurat appropriately
• it’s black so it goes with ANYTHING! printed, or any colored tudung

 

and why do you wear abaya? would you like to wear one? *wink wink*

Wearing Baju Melayu to School

tomorrow, 2nd of december, united arab emirates (UAE) will celebrate its 39th national day. naturally, the school will be closed tomorrow, so today the kids are having national day activities today in school.

the kids are asked to wear “the national dress of any country especially UAE national dress.” if only khaleef has the white jubah and the red chequered cloth to wear on top of his head to look like one of the emiratis!

so instead, this morning khaleef went to school in baju melayu!

baju melayu is a traditional malay outfit for men. it consists of two main parts. the first being the baju (long sleeved shirt) itself which has a raised stiff collar known as the cekak musang collar. the second part is the trousers. a skirt-type adornment is also commonly worn with the baju melayu, which is either the kain samping made from songket, or just plain sarong. both are loops of fabric which are folded around the wearer's waist. a jet-black or dark coloured headgear called the songkok can also worn to complete the attire.

~ adapted from wikipedia

however, he didn’t wear his sampin and songkok. moms with young boys will know why! if khaleef goes to school with songkok and sampin, he definitely won’t be coming back from school with them! sure tertanggal and tertinggal! left and lost! hihi.

at first i was afraid that it will be too cold to wear a baju melayu, but this morning, the weather is chilly in a wonderful way. the cool breeze was just lovely.

sahil and khaleef

when khaleef’s schoolmate sahil came down, he was wearing his national dress as well – a ‘kurta pajamas’. he wore them complete with matching fancy aladdin shoes!

kurta pajamas is a traditional item of clothing worn in afghanistan, bangladesh, india, pakistan, sri lanka and nepal. it’s a loose-fitting shirt falling somewhere above of right

at the knee of the wearer. it can be worn with loose pajama bottom, or wrapped-around dhoti. these days you can even see them worn with jeans!

~ adapted from wikipedia

they both looked so cute sitting side by side that i had to take a picture!

but then – boys will be boys! dah pakai cantik-cantik pun nak golek-golek main kejar-kejar aci nyorok!

* * *

so what is the national clothing for the emiratis (people of the united arab emirates)?

the male wears the white kandoora, while the women wears the black abaya

(thanks nia for reminding me i need to add a bit on uae's national clothing as well!)

click here for more info on the traditional dress of the emiratis.

Unwanted Clothes : What To Do

saw this at a petrol station in dubai.

 

 

it says there i can contribute

• clothing
• abaya
• kandora
• bed clothes (blankets)
• hand bags
• paired shoes
• towels

*abaya and kandoora are both traditional arabic dresses – abaya for female, and kandoora for male. and ‘paired’ shoes – maybe there are those who threw away only the left side of their shoes? camne orang nak pakai ye? hihi.

i think i have a few old baju kurung that i am willing to part with. they’re old, but still in decent condition. it’ll definitely clear up a huge space in my wardrobe (and make space for new ones, hahaha!). however, i wonder whether they’re willing to wear a traditional dress from another country – to where ever they’re distributing the clothes to.

also, maybe i can bundle up a few of mr. khairul’s old t-shirts too. the boys’ clothes? boleh simpan lagi – kazim can still wear! haha.

 

..but they do not need

• soiled clothes
• pillow
• duvets (comforter cover)
• books
• hard toys
• rug
• carpet

hmm, no ‘hard’ toys – so soft toys as in teddy bears and such are okay? then i’m out of those. my boys’ toys are all tough, hard masculine-toys! haha. if you see any cute-sy stuffed animal lying around the house – it’s mine!