Saturday, March 13, 2010
Kam sah haamneedah
Assalamu ‘Alaikum,
Kam sah haamneedah,
No,no that’s not the communist Malay lady that resided in Beijing or something like that. It’s thank you in Korean which I’m reacquanting myself with since my last visit in June last year. Yes Alhamdulillah the Zahid family are now in Seoul, Papa teaching Sukuk to the Koreans, Mama and the kids on holiday coinciding with the school holidays in March.
We had a bit of a scare earlier on when Korean Air overbooked for our Friday night flight but Malaysian Airlines saved the day but that means we have to fly a day earlier. That’s just fine as it means we have an extra day exploring Seoul before Papa starts teaching on Monday insyaAllah. Andrew have arranged for the Course to be conducted on the premises of a premier Bank in Seoul, and thoughtfully, our hotel not too far away ambushed by sparkling shopping complexes with kids zones. Today we tackled the Seoul subway system and didn’t come out too badly I think. Armed with brochures and subway maps from the hotel reception we successfully bought train tickets from the machines without asking for assistance from anyone. The signages were good, English translations everywhere. We decided to do Yongsan Family Park today adjcaent to the National Museum. The Park was beautiful and as expected the kids enjoyed it thoroughly. Actually the kids were expecting snow but it hasn’t happened yet although evidences of a recent heavy snowfall were everywhere. Never promised your kids what you can’t deliver although it became a good opportunity to teach them about du’a to Allah. In the meantime they had a palantheological tour round the Korean Museum with Mama teaching them about how ancient people fish and hunt. Papa put his feet up somewhere and enjoyed a Korean rest.
Next we target a visit to Itaewon mosque to do ‘Asr cum Dzuhur followed hopefully by a nice halal meal in the surrounding area. It has to be a taxi this time as subways means a lot more walking for the kids. To do that I had to get the ladies at the Museum Information Centre to write Itaewon Mosque in Han gul characters for the taxi driver to comprehend. They have no problems with Itaewon but mosque was a monumental challenge for me to explain. Mentioning every single house of worship known to man did not help; it got a nearby American tourist lady to whisper religion to get the girls nodding in understanding.
Armed with this invaluable piece of paper we made our way by taxi to Itaewon. The mosque was on top of a hill and on the way were all sorts of halal shops, groceries and restaurants. What striked us as we reached the mosque was that it was being visited by a lot of Korean teenagers taking pictures in the mosque compound, enthralled to find themselves in a bit of Arabia in the midst of Seoul. I suspected though that the interest wasn’t entirely architectural; a latent interest in Islam could also be pushing them there. The ‘Asr jemaah had an international mix with also a number of Koreans. We decided to try the Turkish restaurant we saw on the way up. Fully staffed by a Korean Muslim family, the shish kebab was authentically Turkish; probably Dad or partner was Turkish. Next was a visit to a halal grocer; we needed some cucumber and veggies to balance the decidedly protein stuff we brought from Malaysia. Tomorrow will be a ferry ride on the Han River insyaAllah. Zahir slept when we were at the Turkish restaurant; when he woke up he told Mama he dreamt of snow. Hmm, four more days to go, if it still doesn't snow I probably have to engineer a course in Dubai to see the permanent version. :)
Wassalam,
Zahid
Kam sah haamneedah,
No,no that’s not the communist Malay lady that resided in Beijing or something like that. It’s thank you in Korean which I’m reacquanting myself with since my last visit in June last year. Yes Alhamdulillah the Zahid family are now in Seoul, Papa teaching Sukuk to the Koreans, Mama and the kids on holiday coinciding with the school holidays in March.
We had a bit of a scare earlier on when Korean Air overbooked for our Friday night flight but Malaysian Airlines saved the day but that means we have to fly a day earlier. That’s just fine as it means we have an extra day exploring Seoul before Papa starts teaching on Monday insyaAllah. Andrew have arranged for the Course to be conducted on the premises of a premier Bank in Seoul, and thoughtfully, our hotel not too far away ambushed by sparkling shopping complexes with kids zones. Today we tackled the Seoul subway system and didn’t come out too badly I think. Armed with brochures and subway maps from the hotel reception we successfully bought train tickets from the machines without asking for assistance from anyone. The signages were good, English translations everywhere. We decided to do Yongsan Family Park today adjcaent to the National Museum. The Park was beautiful and as expected the kids enjoyed it thoroughly. Actually the kids were expecting snow but it hasn’t happened yet although evidences of a recent heavy snowfall were everywhere. Never promised your kids what you can’t deliver although it became a good opportunity to teach them about du’a to Allah. In the meantime they had a palantheological tour round the Korean Museum with Mama teaching them about how ancient people fish and hunt. Papa put his feet up somewhere and enjoyed a Korean rest.
Next we target a visit to Itaewon mosque to do ‘Asr cum Dzuhur followed hopefully by a nice halal meal in the surrounding area. It has to be a taxi this time as subways means a lot more walking for the kids. To do that I had to get the ladies at the Museum Information Centre to write Itaewon Mosque in Han gul characters for the taxi driver to comprehend. They have no problems with Itaewon but mosque was a monumental challenge for me to explain. Mentioning every single house of worship known to man did not help; it got a nearby American tourist lady to whisper religion to get the girls nodding in understanding.
Armed with this invaluable piece of paper we made our way by taxi to Itaewon. The mosque was on top of a hill and on the way were all sorts of halal shops, groceries and restaurants. What striked us as we reached the mosque was that it was being visited by a lot of Korean teenagers taking pictures in the mosque compound, enthralled to find themselves in a bit of Arabia in the midst of Seoul. I suspected though that the interest wasn’t entirely architectural; a latent interest in Islam could also be pushing them there. The ‘Asr jemaah had an international mix with also a number of Koreans. We decided to try the Turkish restaurant we saw on the way up. Fully staffed by a Korean Muslim family, the shish kebab was authentically Turkish; probably Dad or partner was Turkish. Next was a visit to a halal grocer; we needed some cucumber and veggies to balance the decidedly protein stuff we brought from Malaysia. Tomorrow will be a ferry ride on the Han River insyaAllah. Zahir slept when we were at the Turkish restaurant; when he woke up he told Mama he dreamt of snow. Hmm, four more days to go, if it still doesn't snow I probably have to engineer a course in Dubai to see the permanent version. :)
Wassalam,
Zahid
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