Qasr Al Hosn Festival

Our friend told us that there is going to be a festival held at the historic Qasr al Hosn Fort from February 28 to March 9.

Apparently, Qasr al Hosn Festival is to celebrate the history of the oldest building in Abu Dhabi... and since got pple jio.. we go lor:)

Driving into Abu Dhabi.. we saw this MBS lookalike.. din know it is so worth copying:) wahahahaha.. BUT i think MBS still looks prettier:) Hehehehe...

After driving for a long while, finally reached the festival grounds... but was quite packed and so we decided to u turn and park across the street to walk over instead of parking inside cos gotta queue... heng we made tat decision cos we found a lot quite easily...

Saw this bright pink car in one of the lots.. piangz... why hyundai must do this sort of stunt...

We were quite lucky that day because there was also an air show and we got to sort of enjoy the airshow as well:) wahahaha

Free coffee anyone?

Apparently, arabic coffee is very much part of their hospitality ;) It is very very bitter and they do not add sugar. By right you are supposed to take this together with their dates.. that is why they dun add sugar :)

Then we saw women weaving clothe..

They even gave us a sample.. the cloth is very rough. I think they use it to make tentage and bags...

The next booth we visited was the face mask dyeing.. It is for those masks that they wear to cover their faces...

I have always wondered why the men's kandorra only have those few colours... and I finally got my answer. Apparently, they used natural dyes to dye the fabrics used to make their clothes and because there are only so much resources and so many types of colour dyes, therefore there are only kandorras in these colours...

They were showing this bird called the Houbara which is quite rare and unique to this area...
 But I think the picture in the poster is nicer..

The actual birds look quite sad.. maybe these are domesticated versions. I think they are flightless birds...

I did not know that they do alot of weaving too.. and using the fronds of the palm trees too! ;)

Actually, they have got workshops at different timings but need to sign up in advance... pity Ace did not get to sign up or do any workshops...

At the workshop timings, I noticed that many of the little girls are all dressed very colourfully. I found out later that the girls are all dressed in very nice colourful clothing and fake gold jewellery...
 I wonder if it is some special day or wat...

An old man guiding some young boys who were trying to climb a date tree with just a rope around the tree.. I asked Ace if he dare to try but he did not.. haah:)

There were alot of people who brought their falcons for people to pose for photos..  I noticed that most of the time they wear a "mask". I learn later that this is called a hood and is used to keep the falcons calm and also to get them used to the human world....

I think this one more tame.. so the uncle took off the hood so these little boys can take photos..

Immediately after taking photos, he put the hood back on..

Lots of photo opportunities as well...

Ace posing with a ADB Police..

We realized ca borrow the gun to pose also (i think fake one lah) and so Ace got to pose with it.. he says it is very heavy..

This little boy wanted to bring the gun home after posing with it:) wahahha

Apparently, guns are a big thing here. They sell alot of the toy guns and Ace kept wanting to buy one... but I refused to buy him lah.. it is totally useless.. cannot shoot cannot do anything. Just for show onli..

Then we remembered we had to buy the white clothe for his headgear.. cos Ace is performing in the Emirates Literature Festival.. Shopkeeper showed us how to tie it:)

Ace walkd around like that for a while.. but found it too warm after short while.. hahaha...

Interesting things sold at the market...

These are teapots with gold jewellery drawn on them...

Then we saw this japanese man planting artificial pearls. Apparently, they will cut shell up and make them into round balls to be the base. And then, after growing the clam for 2 years, it will be ready to make a pearl. They put in coloured meat with the ball into the clam and grow for another few years before it is harvested... the colour of the meat they put in determines the colour of the pearl...

I found out that they actually use FOOD COLOURING for the colour.. wow..

This is the box the pearl traders used to weigh, measure and sort out their pearls before selling them...

I find it amazing they even built like a POND or sorts so that they can put boats there for people to visit..

I think to create festive mood, they even have the miliatary band going around playing bagpipes.. yes, you heard me right. I also dunno why arabic bands always play bagpipes.. but I have seen it a few times. But I must say it sort of reminds me of those funeral bands we have in Singapore..

Then we came to this place where this man was shelling clams for pearls on the spot..

Yay! Success!

THis one works like a lucky draw. YOu paid 100 dirhams and then you give the man the voucher and he lets you choose a clam. He will open whichever one you choose and if you are lucky, you get a pearl and you get to keep it:) hahaha... clever way to sell off the low grade pearls. By the way, if your clam has no pearl.. then too bad for you lor..

Some are big.. some are small.. really is depend on your luck one...

They even had the zoo people there and they were showing off the birds..

This one looks like the bird is saying, "See wat see!?" wahahahah

These are the tools the fishermen will use.. the white thing is supposedly a wet suit they wear to dive for pearls...

This old man is weaving a fish net of sorts...

It is a trap that will only catch big fishes but let the small fishes go...

THere were some people building boats there too.. ut the wood put together with alot of lobang in between.. i wonder if the boat will float.. hahaha :)

Ace looked through the telescope... only to find...

A video... wahahahhaha:)

These are boats made from date tree leaves! Wow!

Saw some dried starfish and even pufferfish!

This is the Qasr Al Hosn Fort... Too bad though the guided tour was too late and so we din get to go in.

They also had a school section where you get to see how the schools were like. This is a playground in the "school"...

Toy truck made out of cans, screws and a oil can...

The children having a race:)

Classroom!

Ace of course also wants to join in the fun lah!:)

On the other side there was a pillow making class. I dunno why pillows are a big deal but seems like the women have to learn to make them..

Hehehe.. want to take photos with these eagles? Well, buy something then can take photo lor:) hahaha we were lucky someone bought something and we got ot snap a shot before they put the hoods on the eagles again..

Fake jewellery galore

The fort at night...

Ace saw this place with treasure hunt and wanted a go at it...

Found these things after searching for a while... Says he found that arabic people are kind cos there was an arabic boy who helped him.. he says it changed his mind about thinking that arabic boys are rude and mean (based on his bad experiences in the mall).

Then gotta write report.. must measure and draw the item you found..

Out of all the nice dresses the girls were wearing, me and max thinks this one looks the nicest. I finally can make sense of all the flowy dresses i see in global village and also, I think this is what most women wear under their abaya :)

Report completed!

Bye bye... till we see you again...

Then we drove to a Noodle Bowl Restaurant in Abu Dhabi.. it is inside a bowling centre.. and Ace said he wanted to bowl.. we said we will do that another day...

The day ended with us having a very full meal and driving home happily  ;)

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