,

Welcome to the Cape: Part II

,
Welcome to the Cape: Part II

Cape Town is a special city. A Dutch colonial outpost for trade with Asia, settlers brought slaves from modern day Indonesia in the 17th and 18th centuries. It was subsequently controlled by the British bringing a wave of Indian migration. These communities mixed with the Africans indigenous to the Cape and with people of European settler ancestry. The result is a vivid mix of race, culture and religion.

One of the main highlights was visiting the small neighbourhood of Bo-Kaap. Home to the ‘Cape-Malay’ community – it’s a small Muslim community dating back to early 1800s and comprises a mix of Indonesian, Indian and other ethnic communities settled in Cape Town by European settlers. Small tightly backed houses like the streets with each house proudly painted in bright colours.

,

Welcome to the Cape: Part I

,
Welcome to the Cape: Part I

The beauty of the Middle East is that most of the world is really accessible to you. When deciding where we want to travel, we literally open the map and start dreaming up possibilities.

And that’s how we thought of Cape Town. Although not particularly close to Doha, its much closer than from Canada. It also fit exactly what we were looking for: moderate weather, incredible natural beauty, a rich and incredible history and culturally vibrant.

Happy First Mother's Day

Happy First Mother's Day

I can’t even begin to describe how incredible, inspiring and supremely talented this new mother is. Its been only four young months into motherhood, but she has fully embraced it (despite her own protests that she doesn’t know what she is doing). She’s constantly thinking about Hayat, worried and eager to make life for her better each moment. But that’s not what makes me so proud.

,

The Lemonade Files 05: Shanghai Fabric District and Red Velvet Cake

,
The Lemonade Files 05: Shanghai Fabric District and Red Velvet Cake

There was a time when we were traipsing through Shanghai’s fabric district.  We stumbled upon this particular tie shop advertising ‘100% silk’ for $1 each.  Let’s just say that we stocked up that day 5 years ago and Ali still wears those ties.  His proudest possessions to date.