so this is how carpets are weaved.. interesting.

so zack picked me up from work on wed and we went to Arab St. Was on our way to Concourse when we passed this shop selling carpets from Iran. What actually caught zack's eyes were these:-

SHISHA!

more correctly called 'Hookah'

shisha
n : an oriental tobacco pipe with a long flexible tube connected to a container where the smoke is cooled by passing through water.

these beautiful glass water pipe's original design came from India or Persia, but it was rather primitively made from a coconut shell. Its popularity spread to Iran and then the rest of the Arab world. But it was in Turkey that the water pipe completed its revolution and has hardly changed its style for the last few hundred years.

the shisha, which is the substance used in smoking a hookah, is a special blend of fresh, dark leaves, fruit pulp, honey or molasses, and glycerine. The shisha is available in a wide variety of flavors including double apple, strawberry, melon, pineapple, vanilla, pistachio, and rose. This blend contains only 0.5% nicotine and no tar. Ice, fruit juice, milk or wine can be added to water in the glass vase to change the taste, texture, or effect of the smoke.

there are rows of shisha cafes, lounges along Arab Street for chilling out with friends.. drink peppermint tea while smoking shisha (ahhh.. this is life) wanna plan something there soon! who is up for it?! the shops along the street selling all the knick knacks are really interesting too.. necklaces.. earrings.. shawls.. clothes.. the jewel-toned colors.. exotic clothes.. makes u feel like u've stepped into Aladdin's cave. I wanna go back there again and browse at my own leisure :D

This is the biggest shisha in the shop. The owner bought it for $450 in Iran.. see the little blue shisha on the right? thats ours :) Zack managed to bargain from $120 to $80.. very good buy. The shop owner was really nice.. he gave us some tobacco and charcoal free of charge and tobacco aint cheap at all!

this small amount can probably last 2 - 3 smokes. This flavour is double apple *yum yum* Prices of shisha tobacco from licensed dealers goes from like $80 for 100g. For non-licensed dealers (if u can find them *winks*) is only $40 for 250g! Buying from JB will of crse be a steal.

these are actually flaming red charcoal.. have no idea how it turned out purple in this shot.. ahaha. Basically, u put the tobacco in the plate (at the top of the shisha), cover it with aluminium foil (poke holes ard) and place the charcoals on top - it must be flaming red. The smoke will then pass through the water and out through the pipe.

it makes a lovely deco piece as well (might be the start of our new collection :P)... its just so pretty and exotic! oh.. and i wanna take up belly dancing! there's this place at Arab St which teaches belly dancing.. would be fun! anybody interested?

so yeah, we did managed to reach Concourse but the stalls were all closed by then. But its alright cos we're going back there this weekend to buy our Christmas tree!!!