As I mentioned in the last post, we were looking to get away for Eid and my neighbours have booked us in to the Hilton Hotel at Ras Al Khaimah. There will be us and 3 other families going and all the kids get on well and its a package deal that includes breakfast and dinner each night. We're only going for 2 nights, but its great to get away and have a bit of a change of pace.
We'll be going on Saturday and Sunday nights and even at this stage (midday on Thursday at the end of the week), I still don't know when I will be back at work. Eid all falls on the sighting of the moon and it is "predicted" that we'll have Sunday, Monday and Tuesday off work because the moon should be seen on Saturday night, if for some reason it isnt and its seen on Sunday night, then technically you could have to work Sunday. Alternatively, if its seen on Friday night, then we will have to be back at work on Tuesday. So its not like in the west when the public holidays are diarised, it all falls down to the Muslim Clerics and their sighting of the moon.
Having said that, NO ONE is planning to be at work on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and locals here tell me that its always fortunate that the moon gets sighted to make the most of the weekend and public holidays. In other words, if the moon isnt actually sighted, someone will dangle a cardboard moon over the side of the Mosque and light it up with a flash light...
Last night we went to my companies Iftar Buffet at the Emirates Palace Hotel. It was an excellent night and Niki was able to meet some of my work colleagues and the kids were entertained by a magician and balloon animals etc. The food was excellent and there were some great prizes raffled away including 2 Etihad tickets to anywhere in the world (excl Australia and the US?!) and also a 3 day all expenses paid trip to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. Unfortunately, this black duck didnt win anything... :-(
But the night was excellent and a good time was had by all....
We'll be going on Saturday and Sunday nights and even at this stage (midday on Thursday at the end of the week), I still don't know when I will be back at work. Eid all falls on the sighting of the moon and it is "predicted" that we'll have Sunday, Monday and Tuesday off work because the moon should be seen on Saturday night, if for some reason it isnt and its seen on Sunday night, then technically you could have to work Sunday. Alternatively, if its seen on Friday night, then we will have to be back at work on Tuesday. So its not like in the west when the public holidays are diarised, it all falls down to the Muslim Clerics and their sighting of the moon.
Having said that, NO ONE is planning to be at work on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and locals here tell me that its always fortunate that the moon gets sighted to make the most of the weekend and public holidays. In other words, if the moon isnt actually sighted, someone will dangle a cardboard moon over the side of the Mosque and light it up with a flash light...
Last night we went to my companies Iftar Buffet at the Emirates Palace Hotel. It was an excellent night and Niki was able to meet some of my work colleagues and the kids were entertained by a magician and balloon animals etc. The food was excellent and there were some great prizes raffled away including 2 Etihad tickets to anywhere in the world (excl Australia and the US?!) and also a 3 day all expenses paid trip to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. Unfortunately, this black duck didnt win anything... :-(
But the night was excellent and a good time was had by all....
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