Souq Sikkah, Moursi, Kushari, and the Muhammads.

Exam's finally over.



It was hard, very very hard. Can't say that I'm confident I'll pass this time around.




But it was a very memorable semester for me, made lots of new friends, be it Malaysian, Egyptian or Saudian.




This is the Paediatrics Hospital. In layman terms, "pediatrics" mean childhood. This is were most of our clinical classes are held. The OSCE exam is held here as well.




A typical day at the hospital. Look at all these people waiting to get consulted by the doctor. Imagine how busy life as a doctor is.




I love this picture. Took it on my way home from the exam. If I were to show only one picture to describe Mansoura, it'll be this.




Its summer now.




Took this while having breakfast. It is inside an Egyptian restaurant at 6 AM in the morning. The sun's already shining.

Morsi’s the new President of Egypt. He has a huge burden on his shoulder. Not only are the citizens watching him closely, but the whole world as well. But I believe he can succeed, he’s an intelligent man.

A random fact; do you know that he used to work for NASA as a rocket engineer?

Hopefully the people gives him a chance to prove himself.

It's watermelon season now. They are everywhere. Never bought them here though because they are full of seeds.




A yellow Mini. This caught my eye.




A staple Egyptian dish, called Kushari. Its an acquired taste though. I personally love it.




Had a walk to souq Sikkah the other day. Its essentially an open air marketplace. If Cairo is famous with Khan el-Khalili, Mansoura is famous with Sikkah. It is not as big or well known of course.




The open air atmosphere makes for a very unconditional atmosphere. The shops set up canvases to prevent from direct sunlight. This picture came out very underexposed due to to me messing up the exposure dial on my camera. Sorry.

I was taken aback when I was called out by a seller on the lower left of the picture. Turns out he wants me to take his picture.




His name is Muhammad.




Though I don't live in KL, it reminds me of Chow Kit Road, except a lot more noisier. I'm not sure which is cheaper. But compared to Hussein, many people say that Sikkah is cheaper, especially clothes. Must be because Mansoura is not full of tourist.




Had these water container at home. Summer is so hot that I can drink up to 3 litres of water per day. It's easy to get dehydrated in the summer.




A common sight here.




Scarfs are cheap. One thing I noticed is how happy and cooperative the Egyptians are when a camera is flashed at them. This person's name is Muhammad also.




If you are a good bargainer, you can get some very good deals.



Colorful isn't it? Not sure what these are.




It seems like you can find everything here. One thing of note is how close the souq is to the Police Station. Thus, there are polices everywhere. Most of the time you will get called out by the policemen if they saw you walking around with a camera. They will check the picture you took and will ask you to delete them. It's understandably for security reasons.

Thankfully that doesn't happen to me today.




They are selling knives out in the open.




The guy in pink is also named Muhammad. See a pattern here? There's too many people named Ahmad and Mohammad here that in the university - we are required to write our full name up until the name of our grandfather.




One of the many, many shops selling Galabia. It costs between 100 - 250 EGP depending on the quality and design. Most of them are made from Egypt so it's a nice gift to be given to relatives.




Carpets are quite cheap. Bought one for my family 2 years ago during the summer holiday.




There's no large scale shopping complex here in Mansoura, thus souq is the place where people go to get their materials. Not for me though, I can count with one finger the times I went here. It's too crowded for me to go on a weekly basis.




Many workers here are young.




Stopped by the juice store after 2 hours of walking non-stop. I ordered a glass of sugarcane juice. Noticed how yellowish the juice looks? It tastes totally different from the one we normally have in Malaysia.

I prefer the one here in Egypt, it tastes more milky if that makes any senses. Sometimes I asks the seller to add some lemon to the juice. Lemon and sugarcane mixes very well together.




As much as I hate how sometimes the Egyptian blatantly take advantage of how fickle the Malaysian students are....




You can tell how we are now becoming a small part of their community. It's a positive cycle, we contribute to their economy, while they in turn, can slowly see the way of the Malaysians. We also have lots to learn from them as well.




Can't wait to get back home.