16 comment(s)

magudbe @ 10/22/2010 9:41 PM EST

The best Muufo and Isteek, Though one might think his neck of the wood restaurant
had the best Khamiir.. I think these ones were the best Khamiir rest.
in Mog... in my opinion..Hadafow.. at the intersection of Manaboliyo.. the building belonged to
the father of the famous artists,Amir Caamir (I know him and his brothers saciid and hussein).the rest. belonged to someone else.
It was common to see division One football(soccer) players in this joint..from Jimaale mohamed xaayow(AUN),
Shiekhalow(AUN).. The Younger Baani, Mohamed Ismaciil, Hassan Nero(AUN).. and the rest.
"Koogaar.. rest. near the Old parliment building or Sheikh Hassan Barsane secondary school
was a Khamiir haven... a rest. in Hotel pekin up in Howl wadaag was good one.
A cut above was Farafara at the intersection of Dabka,,, you were lucky if you get a seat in this good khamiir joint
down the road at Cinema Hodan was the joint of "INALILAAHI... the owner of the rest. will always say INALILAAHI..
ciyaalka xaafada ,then dubbed it INALILAAHI... very good khamiir indeed.
another upstart was the one next to the American Library in downtown Mog..
specially during the day.... As K'naan has said in Soo Bax.. "Mogadisho used to be
a place where the world would come to see"... I can attest to that.. I grew up near
Bar Fiat.. It was daily event to see tourist, NGO workers, consultants working with the Somali gov.
from western Europe and America, in that vicinity.. they use to frequent MING SING restuarant
The first and best Chinese Restaurant in Mog . It belonged Aden Dheere who bought it from a Chinese family
Aden Dheere hailed from Hargeisa.. down to earth man . I was a friend and class mate with his nephew,
Yusuf , who became the chef of the rest. latter... I knew his son too...Nice Chow Mein.. and the rest.
Down the road to Ex. Port you will have a very good rest. with Italian cuisine at Torino.
the owner lived half of his life in Torino in north Italy.(he hails from Puntland). going east on via Abdiaziz was
Peshcatore(the fisherman in Italian) good steak and sea food as well.. it belonged to the father
of mr. Suuleey(from Galmudug) he went to Geomatary Italian school , I believe he still lives in Virginia, then there was
Blue Marlin.. owned by Italian Family (am not so sure).. Another Fixture and good russian salad was the Rest. of ALI Americo,
the father of Mohamed Ali Americo the current Somali Ambassodor for Somalia in Kenya.. very good rest,
last but not least was the one that belonged to the Sakharan Family (from Las Canood) the best
pasta Saldaato ever, , I once met there, Mr. Abdiqasim Salad Hassan and family.He was a minister then,
Am friends with his younger brothers of bena hawaas, fiore, Hassan and saciid and of course Siraad his sister. (very large family).
Like I said in my previous posting I can go on all day... what a city .Mogadisho epitomized the essence of being a
Somali. I better stop now b4 I go bananas LOL.

momo519 @ 10/22/2010 6:31 PM EST

Andnowwhat,

Very true!

AndNowWhat! @ 10/22/2010 2:09 PM EST

It is ironic that many think that the war has saved Somalis from converting to Christianity when it is true we have more Somali Christians than ever in the West and inside Somalia. Instead of foreigners spreading Christianity in Somalia now you have Somalis alledgedly filling the gap. And that is what the Wahabis failed to foresee.
In 1995, I wondered where will Somalia be in 2010! Now I wonder where we will be in 2025. Let's hope for the best, inshaallah.

AndNowWhat! @ 10/22/2010 1:20 PM EST

nuunow @ 10/21/2010 7:20 PM EST

Momo519,

You wrote: "My friends, my family, my neighbours, and every Somalia Ive ever known have always been confident, safe, and loved Islam. The fear that the church may convert Somalis never crossed our minds and I've never even heard anyone utter such things. "

That is the most indisputable truth!

We had also full respect for our elders and for Wadaado, who were known to teach Islam and bring people close to almighty Allah. Wadaados were known to be peaceful fellows who never set bad example to people by fighting and killing each others.

Fiqicigaal,

"I tell you the reason, mogadisho lived up to its name, the capital of Somalia."

You got that right! It was heaven on earth to all of us indeed.

There are some PRICELESS things money can't buy and those moments are definitely some of them.

momo519 @ 10/21/2010 5:09 PM EST

Well, first I thank Peter, a genuine or fake. Eaither way the message is pure and real.

The sad truth is that there are those who are proud of the war and the fact that the likes of Peter and his church, and his nigh clubs and "naked" women are not in Mogadishu anymore!

I was porn and raised in Mogadishu and used to walk in front of Catholic churches daily.

As far as I was concerned, those churches in Mogadishu were old ugly buildings built by the Italians for the Italians and there was no connection to the Somalis.

My friends, my family, my neighbours, and every Somalia Ive ever known have always been confident, safe, and loved Islam.

The fear that the church may convert Somalis never crossed our minds and I've never even heard anyone utter such things.

Whites in Somalia, mostly Italians, were guests.

And we were raised to respect our guests ans neighbours.

What happened to that Somalia?

The Wahabis!

The Wahabis are intollerant cult that claims to be Islam.

Most wars in Muslim countries are fuelled by the filthy Wahabis using dirty oil money.

Poor naive Somalis are expolited and used to continue the suffering of Somalis by the Wahabis in Saudi Arabia.

As long as the Wahabis are present and have influence in Somalia, our former guests (like Peter) will never be safe in Somalia.

fiqicigaal @ 10/21/2010 2:12 PM EST

con...
Well until violent clan militia men led by greedy power thirsty warlords in that sad year of 1991 in their guest for clan domination destroyed every thing that stood on their way, humans, buildings, you name it and the rest is chaos.

fiqicigaal @ 10/21/2010 1:24 PM EST

The best busteyki and muufo I ever had, I have had it in xamar cadey and I miss every thing about that cosmopolitan city with its long beachs and its busy markets with variety of veg and fruits from ceylgaabta to the smallest tabakaanyo.

I remember my first visit to mogadisho when I came to stay with my auntie for the school holidays, for me as a young lad it was heaven on earth and rightly so because it was absolutely different from where I grow up, Hargeisa in every way you put it.

I don't really know why, but the years I spent in mogadisho stuck in my mind more than any time I lived any where else in Somalia, there has to be a reason to that.

I tell you the resaon, mogadisho lived up to its name, the capital of Somalia.

magudbe @ 10/20/2010 6:06 PM EST

Nuunoow.... am glad to be in your company too saxiib..... all we got now is the
sweet memories that inhibit in our sub-conscience.... I was born and bred in that
beautiful city...It just defies the logic that I cant even go back to it.!!!!.

JJ @ 10/20/2010 8:27 AM EST

Thank you Peter for your positive experience in Somalia and hope you become friends of Somalia.

There is no shorttage of people who tell you how Mogadishu was peaceful and beautiful.
Who to blame its destruction? Mooryaan and Aydidd alliances.

nuunow @ 10/19/2010 9:32 PM EST

Mr. Peter,

Thanks for sharing your good memories about Mogadishu - the best city in the world!

Magudbe lol,

You wrote: ".... I could go on all day.. what a city!!!..am being nostalgic..... man o man u bring back memories"

Sbx, that makes two of us!

magudbe @ 10/19/2010 3:56 PM EST

The Syrian guy's name was Abu Kheyr.. his Shawarma was made of delicious
goat meat... nice falaafal too...

magudbe @ 10/19/2010 2:49 PM EST

Too bad Mr.Peter, the current and former residents of this beautiful city and Country
do not think so.and by the way peace lover, where exactly did you lived.. Uffico governo..lol
sarta Unlaaye(shanemo xamar)or caffe nazionale, near Muridi dahable and caasha cuud,
Samantar book shop?.. jales pres... or near bank port saciid.. oo near the Syrian guy who use
to sell shawarma .. shingaani near cabdalla mista.... or maqaayada cali madoobe ,,Jirde hussein
building,bar gambar.. shareero studio, todaabatan iyo talo (Amino basbaas.. the best
sandwich and tea in all over Mogadisho).. I could go on all day.. what a city!!!..am being nostalgic..... man o man u bring back memories

fiqicigaal @ 10/19/2010 2:48 PM EST

Dear Peter,

Thanks for the good story for a change.

Yes, I have always been a reader, I have read at every stage of my life, and there has never been a time when reading was not my greatest joy except at present Somalia where all I read is death after death and it is heart breaking to see my country fall apart and disintegrate into small enclaves.

And yet I cannot pretend that the reading I have done in the last twenty odd years of Somali conflict do not match in its impact on my soul even the reading I did as a student in world history like the 1’st or the 2’nd WW or any other unimaginable atrocities that has been carried on innocent civilians by enemies of all kinds, it overrides any sad tragic of anything I read and heard

Never the less I still believe in stories, good inspiring stories like the one above, and so there is in me, always, a nostalgic yearning for the lost pleasure of reading good things about my beautiful Somalia. It is not a yearning that one ever expects to be fulfilled and how often have I lain beneath my duvet, thinking of home.

Stickorcarrot @ 10/19/2010 2:44 PM EST

I remember sometime ago another German who was born in Somalia
and posted his good memories about Mogadishu here at HOL. I think
with enough input from Somalis everywhere, we can bring our nation
back from the ashes. Force won't do the trick as we have seen 20+
years of continuous killing. We need to find a local solution to this
problem. I am giving the new PM a window of opportunity to change the
ways things were done and to bring new thinking to the table, if he
can't do that, then, he is just prolonging the misery of the people.
Conflict resolution was in his CV, it's time he put that into practice.

Peace_Lover @ 10/19/2010 11:41 AM EST

Well Peter, My Grandad used to tell me we can choose between right and wrong. Indeed Somalia was a Heaven country but we chose He11 instead. I was very young when the he11 broke loose in Somalia I didnt get much change to see the beauty of my homeland but, when a foreiger like you who lived in Somalia and saw the beauty of my home and reminds me Somalia wasnt always the sad country we see it now then I get happy and my hopes and dreams to see a peaceful Somalia goes even higher like a rocket.. I and my family lived opposite that big church and the Mosque near it was called Arbaca Rukun. It was beautiful area now everything in Somalia is destroyed.. I wish we never ever had war in Somalia but now that we have it I wish it ends as soon as possible. I miss home so much.. Thank you Peter for visiting Somalia I hope you can back again when we have a peace.. Insha'Allah

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