开罗下雨了。这是我抵达开罗两个多月后的第一场雨。听当地的朋友说，开罗一年下来下不到十余次的雨。而且这雨往往下得细细的也维持没多久时间。可是今天这场雨下得还真不小。仿佛在反映我内心的惆怅。奕云今天凌晨搭机回新加坡，结束她短暂的逗留。如果我的心当初有随着我的身子来到开罗的话，这次它肯定一同和奕云飞回家去了。
这次安排奕云来开罗是为了让她熟悉一下这里的环境，看看房子也顺便到较偏远的西瓦綠洲度二次蜜月享受一下二人世界。毕竟，等三月带着年幼的乐乐来开罗正式上任后，我们就不可能去到那么远的乡村地方了。虽然只是短短的六天，我们享受了地中海的微风轻吹，綠洲的清幽还有大沙漠无边无境的壮观景致。这短短的聚会也增进我们的感情，重新点燃遭生育过程冲击的激情与热恋。
转眼瞬间，时光飞逝。奕云回了，回到乐乐的身边。我有千万不舍也还是不希望他们母子分隔太久。在机场目送弈云步入门禁，我的心是灰色的。眼泪虽在眼圈里打了个专却也没有滴下来。在一个多月我们就能一家团聚了。我是这么安慰自己。老天却忍不住泪水，让开罗下雨了。
During my recent break from my Arabic studies, I arranged for Irene to visit Cairo. The trip was meant to be a familiarisation trip for her so that she can cope better when we return to Cairo in Mar 08 with our young boy. Besides walking about our office's neighbourhood, I also brought her to City Stars, Maadi and the Coptic Cairo. We also did some house hunting and found two suitable apartments. Negotiation is in progress and hopefully we can seal the lease even before we arrive in Mar 08.
As this may be the only chance we can get together with our boy in the good care of my mother-in-law, we went on our second honeymoon to the Siwa Oasis in the far-flung corner of Egypt near to the Libya border. It took us 10 hours on the bus to get there. To break the long journey, we stayed a night each at Marsa Matrouh, a beach resort on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea six hours away from Cairo. As it was winter time, the little town was quite asleep and the beaches were deserted. The view was magnificent and the Beau Site Hotel we stayed in was quite good. We thoroughly enjoyed the quiet time together.
It took us another four hours on the bus to get to the Siwa Oasis. The rustic oasis was quite busy as winter is the peak season for tourists. Naturally, tourists were abound but due to its remoteness, the place was not overcrowded. The hotel we stayed in, Siwa Safari Paradise Hotel, was not full. On the first day, we rented bicycles and visited the various tourist spots in the oasis - Shali, Cleopatra Bath, Temple of Amun and the Temple of the Oracle, which Alexander the Great visited in 331 BC to seek divine recognition as the son of Amun. On the next day, we got a 4x4 landcruiser and a driver-guide for a full day safari desert trip deep into the Great Sand Sea. The honeymoon was great!
Click here to see the photo album.
