Umair Yasin, Founder- House of Duaa - Creating waterless diffusers and oils from Middle Eastern traditions designed to bring warmth, serenity, and elegance into everyday spaces.
Bird-Watching Adventure
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Saturday two friends from my local riding group and I carpooled up to Sunnyvale. Our parent club, Almaden Cycle Touring Club, had a bird-watching ride that looped from Sunnyvale over to the shoreline trail along San Francisco Bay, then past a special street in Mountain View next to the Google campus where egrets and herons nest. There were surprisingly few birds in the bay compared to other times I’ve been on the shoreline trail, but we had good luck seeing the nests and mama and half-grown baby egrets. It was all in all a very nice adventure.
Twenty five miles in about two and a half hoursSurprisingly hard work for a flat ride (Average heart 124, max 159), on my non-assisted upright. There was a headwind for a good bit of the ride.Pelicans on this slough next to San Francisco Bay
Blue Heron. Sorry it’s blurry
Now the path is next to south San Francisco BayThe Space-age looking building to the left is the most striking building of the Googleplex, with the rest of the campus to the right. Some nerd humor: Google’s name is a play on words on the word “googol”. A “googol” is 10 to the hundredth power. A”Googolplex” stands for ten to the power of a googol, an unimaginably large number. I don’t know what the dry area is in the foreground, possibly it’s a reclaimed former salt pond.Looking south from the same spot towards Nasa Ames and Moffett field. The large rounded building to the right is airship hanger 1 while the two large structures to the left are airship hangers 2 and 3. These hangers at Moffett Field date back to the 1930s. Lockheed P-3 Orion aircraft used to take off from Moffett routinely on long sub-detection missions. The noise of their turbopr takeoff was quite pronounced where we lived in Mountain View and Sunnyvale.The Googleplex up close. We came to see the Swallow’s nests under the balconyA baby peeking out of one of the nestsThis is on a road adjacent to the Google campus. The city of Mountain View blocked it off to motor vehicles when it was discovered that Egrets and Herons are nesting in the trees along this street.These are the Eucalyptus trees containing the nests. We saw a mama Egret feeding her babies but I didn’t catch it on camera. Our ride leader also saw a heron in its nest but I couldn’t spot it.My wife and I lived in these apartments in Mountain View- 45 years ago. The apartments look about the same, although they now have a fancier sign.
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I’m Umair Yasin , and for years, wherever I traveled—Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Qatar, Turkey, and beyond—I would return home with bags full of bakhoor, perfumes, candles, and air fresheners. Each scent carried a memory: the serenity of Madinah, the warmth of hospitality, the calm of a masjid, the quiet luxury of a five-star hotel lobby. I was deeply drawn to how fragrance could instantly transport you, shift your mood, and make a space feel alive and meaningful. But those moments were always temporary. Candles would fade. Sprays would disappear. Traditional bakhoor required time and intention. Eventually, a question stayed with me: why couldn’t this feeling live in our homes all day, every day, in a modern and effortless way? One day, while unpacking yet another collection of scents, my daughter Duaa asked a simple but profound question: “Why can’t we make this for everyone?” That question changed everything. House of Duaa was created as a father-daughter vision to bring the beauty o...
Home fragrance has evolved far beyond candles and basic sprays. Today, scent is part of how people design their living spaces—just like lighting, furniture, and color. The right fragrance can make a home feel calm, fresh, luxurious, or comforting within seconds. But with so many diffuser types available, it can be confusing to understand which one actually fits modern living best. The three most common options today are ultrasonic (water-based) diffusers, waterless diffusers, and reed diffusers. Each one works differently, and each creates a different kind of fragrance experience. Ultrasonic (Water-Based) Diffusers Ultrasonic diffusers are often the first type people encounter. They use water combined with essential oils and release a light mist into the air. They are popular because they are affordable, easy to use, and often come with LED lighting features. However, they also come with limitations. Because the fragrance is diluted in water, the scent throw is usually lighter an...
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