^ OK I'll dish out the goods later when I have time insha Allah, but I'll say for now that England is definitely nothing like Canada. IO: What do you do. A: I'm a QS blah blah IO: OK, any jos for planners over there. I did town and country planning. A: Not sure but maybe i you look around. IO: OK. We will allow him out now. Then the immigration officer came back and told me, "so, your friend is a quantity surveyor" and I thought he said "your friend is under constant surveillance" :eek: I just said "yeah, OK" without showing any fear and then he let me go P.S. Castro, I got lucky because I was sitting beside some 8 or 9 year old girl, so I just kept the armrest up for more space. Then on the flight back I was sitting by myself in comfort. Actually the seats on the plane were nowhere near as bad as the seats on the tube!!

My problem isn't exercise, I get lots of exercise at work, because there's a lot of walking, heavy lifting, going up and down stairs etc. My main problem is the food I eat, and how much of it I eat, and also what I do with my free time, which is not very much. I figure if I start hitting the gym again(which I did today) and eat better, and less, food, I should be good to go. SO far I'm pleased with the results.

I have to admit to all my London friends that met me while I was on vacation, that you saw me while I was the largest I've ever been. At 314 lbs., a regular bathroom scale wouldn't accomodate me. Over the course of 5 years working at a potato chips factory, I was taking my work home with me and also munching on crisps at work whenever I felt like it, leading me to gain 55 pounds since I started working there. I had tried to lose weight in the past, but it would ultimately end the next week or so, with me eating chips and fast food again. But my trip to London sort of revitalized me and for some reason I seem a lot more focused on my goals than I was before. It also helped that I was walking everywhere, so much so that I had blisters on my feet when I went home. Not to mention that I got away from eating crisps for 2 weeks. Like I said when I was there, I was also taking a vacation from my eating habits. I weighed myself when I got back to work and found that I had lost 7 pounds! I guess it doesn't take much to lose weight after all, since I was only there for 10 days. As it stands right now, I am at an even 300 pounds, which means that I have lost 14 pounds in 2 1/2 weeks. Not only am I extremely proud of myself, but I also feel motivated to get down to my ideal weight of 210 lbs., which I haven't been since I was 17 years old. So I'd like to ask for your support and du'as, and if this motivates you as well, come and join me! But I know most Somalis are the opposite of me, they're trying to gain weight Basically all I have done is stop eating chips and fast food, started eating fruits, and cooking instead of eating out, and also doing more with my free time than just surfing the internet. I used to be on the net for around 5-6 hours a day! Now I'm down to around 2 hours.

Now that I've been home for a while and all settled in, I can give you guys my report on my vacation. This was my first ever overseas trip anywhere, in fact it's only the 2nd time I had ever left Canada, the other time being a day trip to see some very distant relatives in upstate New York when I was 12 years old, so suffice it to say that I was pretty excited. The plane ride sucked, but I wasn't expecting anything luxurious about that, and at least they gave me the "Muslim meal" I asked for, but that was no good either. On the plane, they handed out little landing cards that we had to fill out to give to customs. There was a space where we had to write down the address where I was going to be staying, only problem was that I didn't know where I was going to be staying! Mr. Northerner, who was picking me up at the airport, didn't tell me that. Then my passport got confiscated at the customs desk while the guy called Norf, cleared everything up and gave me my stamp and set me on my merry way so I could have a cigarette for the first time in 10 hours. Other than that, the trip was great. I fell in love with East London with it's United Nations feel, as if it didn't belong to any particular group or ethnicity, but to each and every one. One thing I definitely noticed was the lack of fast food places like McDonald's, I only saw 2 McDonald's the whole time I was there, in their place were all the little halal takeaway places. I also noticed a close comparison in the cost of living between Calgary and London(that is, when converted to $CDN), the only major difference being the gas prices, which are way more expensive in London, and the rent, which is slightly higher in London. Before I came to London, I had never taken a subway in my entire life. By the end of the trip, I was taking the tube by myself, going wherever I wanted. At times, it was nice, but other times such as rush hour, it was like an experiment in how many sardines could be crammed into one tin, with me backed against the wall like I was being held up at gunpoint. I obviously didn't have much time to see tourist attractions as I was only there for 10 days, but I wasn't really interested in seeing all of them anyways. But I did see the O2, London Eye, London Tower, Tower Bridge, London Bridge, National Maritime Museum, Trafalgar Square, and more that I can't remember right now. Not to mention that I went to the Blue Ocean restaurant twice. Also I went to Leicester to see my mom's birthplace, that was more what I was expecting England to look like, rather than London, but that's what I get for being forced to watch Coronation Street growing up. And of course, I met lots of great friends. One of my main reasons for going to London was to meet as many friends as I could and each and every one of them is a great person. I already thanked all of you on Facebook, so I guess there's no need to repeat it here, but I do have to say thanks to Ngonge, who doesn't have Facebook. Ngonge is not the condescending old codger you know on SOL, in fact he's a really great guy, and funny as well, with a lot of stories to tell. If you ever meet him, ask him about the "Cadde Madowbe" story So there you have it, my trip to London was absolutely excellent and it was one of the best things I've ever done. I will definitely insha Allah be coming back next year.

Ibti, have you been having back problems for a long time, or is this something that started recently? Also, have you ever been in a car accident? I'm wondering if you don't have osteoarthritis. May Allah SWT relieve you of your pain and also grant you jannah as well as the rest of us, amiin.

A lady I work with actually used acupuncture to quit smoking. I wonder how that works...

Otrivin is the way to go.

Red Sea, I'd love to help but since you asked your question in af-soomaali, I don't really know what you're asking. From what I've gathered, you have this problem: You're about to get married, but another girl is threatening to kill herself if you don't marry her instead, and now you're thinking of marrying them both. Please correct me if I'm wrong. But if this is the case, then I would give you the same advice Layzie gave you:call her bluff. The only people who would kill themselves over a man or woman are those who are wax waalantahay or at the least have serious mental issues and you don't want to marry someone like that. Regardless, it's not your problem if she kills herself, she's just making an excuse to shift the blame for her problems on someone else. Even Allah SWT says in the Qur'an that we are all responsible for our own lives, not others. So don't let her try to lay the guilt trip on you.

^You know what? I forgot all about that!! Insha Allah I'll have that done tonight plus another topic I want to start about what I said in my post above about how I'm furthering myself, but I'm about to get out of the house pretty soon, got some things to do today, then it's off to work for probably 12 hours again.

^You've been there, have you?

Xalimopatra, the last thing I want is an argument, so let's just agree to disagree The fact of the matter is that I know what I want, and I won't settle for anything else. If that seems racist and disgusting, then so be it, but I don't see anything wrong with that. This trip to London has sort of revitalized me, I realize now that I'm back home that this vacation was something I really needed, and I am now taking steps to further myself and instead of dwelling on my negatives, I'm working on my positives. Chubacka, all these comments are useful and I'm taking heed. Thank you.

^LOL Be nice Castro, this is only the internet, good spelling is not necessary. Although I can certainly guess that she's not an English major Where have you been, man?

Originally posted by Xalimopatra: Could this be what other Somali females think of you?Straight from the horses mouth, perhaps a relationship with a caucasian male is not exactly our definition of interesting either?...That is if you switch up what you wrote and apply it to you. So really it's not about your children after all but really about your personal [albeit groundless & prejudiced] preference.Dont get me wrong you're entitled to choose who you want but to cut out a whole race [which you come from] and to generalise them like that is disgusting and downright racist, might I add unacceptable in Islam. Sorry but I couldn't help but comment on such a hypocritical post.You've basically answered your own question. You shouldn't limit yourself where Allah SWT hasn't.You should change your mentality and perhaps Allah SWT will bless you with a wonderful MUSLIM wife regardless of her race. XPatra. I appreciate your comment, but I have to respectfully disagree with some of what you've said. First of all, it is all about my children whether you believe it or not, because I could just move to Toronto at the drop of a hat if I wanted where there are apparently from what I've been told, Somali sisters looking for a white Muslim brother and nothing but. But the fact of the matter is that my responsibilities as a Muslim father dictate that I remain with them wherever they are until they get old enough to take care of themselves, being a father involves more than just paying child support. Besides, they are the most important part of my life and like I said before, insha Allah they will be the ones making du'a for me after I die and Allahu aclam, that may be the "make or break" factor on if I make it to jannah or not, you just never know. My older daughter Layla was heartbroken just from thinking about not seeing her best friend ever again when we were originally planning to move to Toronto. How then will she react when she realizes her father has moved miles away and is more concerned with remarrying than he is concerned about her? You'd better believe my children come first, for the sake of Allah SWT. Also, and I'm not singling you out on this, because I think others probably think the same way, but I wonder how likely it is that when a Somali man wants only a Somali wife, that he will be told that his preferences are "disgusting", "racist, "unacceptable in Islam", and "hypocritical"? I don't understand why I should get slagged for my preferences while it would be seemingly OK for someone else. I apologize if I'm wrong. It's kind of funny when I think that now that I've finally set a goal in life for myself, people are mad at me for it! Sheeko..... I truly enjoy Somali culture(most of it, anyway) and I put a lot of time and effort into learning it. It's not easy to learn how to eat rice and spaghetti with your hands, you know As a white Canadian who has adopted a new religion, I cannot just simply live like I did before, I had no choice but to adopt a new culture and since I have known Somalis since even before I became a Muslim, it was a no-brainer for me to sort of take the Somali way of life as my own.

For seome reason, it sounds like "gaalo town"....

Originally posted by J.a.c.a.y.l.b.a.r.o: MUUS Moose!!

^Just wait until you have kids of your own.

Actually, MJ is short for Mary Jane, which is slang for marijuana.

^That's a little too warm. It's 10 degrees and overcast at the moment here in Cowtown. Anyways, this was about music, wasn't it? Here's someone I like called Fartuun Birimo, not sure why I like this song, maybe because she gave me her CD for free for watching her kids Guess it doesn't matter if I have no idea what she's singing about.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5xKmxL8PtA

Good morning, Malika. It's still only 11 am here. Ibti, late by 10 minutes? That's it? Your friend must not be Somali then.

^You need to lighten your workload then. I may be a fat ba*stard with a horrible smoking habit, but at least I get 8 hours of sleep a day, so I guess I'm not completely careless about my health. Thanks as well, Ibti.

^Look at what happens when me and Northerner leave, it turns sunny!! :mad: Dammit, well at least i got to see a little sun on my last(extra) day. We've got typical London weather over here at the moment, rainy and overcast.

Nothing beats K'Naan.

Originally posted by Ibtisam: For the first time in ages, I slept, and slept some more, whole 8hours for two nights in a row Wow feels goooooooooooooood Do you not usually sleep well? It's recommended to get something like 7-8 hours of sleep a day. As for me, I must still be jet-lagged because I've been getting up after 2 hours to use the bathroom...

Is this Karaciin guy's team all Somalis? If so, that's great! Always good to see Somali people in the news for good things rather than bad.

What? Pictures of Ngonge? Where?