QA: Rumours

Sekarang ni, banyak yang diperkatakan melalui email, SMS, newspaper berkenaan berita-berita sensasi atau lebih kepada rumours. Well, kat Qatar ni pun banyak rumours. Yang paling besar is about Asian Games. Ni extract dari The Peninsula newspaper (one of the two English newspaper in Qatar. Another one is Gulf Times).

"The Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has assured the completion of all the seven major road projects, well before the Asian Games.

Ashghal has undertaken the works of seven road projects, which are directly connected to the Asian Games. They include Airport Main Road, Suhaim bin Hamad Road, Ahmed bin Ali Street, Al Kafaji Street, the First Phase of North Road (Landmark), Al Wahada Street and Majlis Al Taaqan Street. All these projects will be completed before Asian Games.

Ashghal's assurance comes in the wake of widespread rumours that the works on the major arterial roads were on a snail pace and the delay in the work would hit the smooth conduct of Asian games, scheduled to be held in this year end.

"There is a widespread rumour among the natives and expatriates that Asian Games has been withdrawn from Qatar, due to the delay in the construction works of the major roads. But as days go by, people will realise that all those were mere rumours. The works are making headway. And all the projects will be completed well in advance of the game. No doubt, "Doha 2006", will be the greatest in the history of Asian Games", said Ashghal's in-house journal, quoting its roads projects manager, Jamal Shareeda Al Kabi.

According to Jamal Shareeda, the doubts regarding the completion of the projects arises mainly due to the wrong notion that road projects means just the removal of ground surface and paving a new surface. But the road projects undertaken by Ashghal include reconstruction and renewal of infrastructure such as drainage network, electricity and water networks and installation of a number of intersections. These works, which constitute almost 60 per cent of the project, could be completed only after ensuring the technical standards and other required specifications, he said. "

http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&month=July2006&file=Local_News200607277286.xml

Aku saje copy and paste sebab nanti when the time comes, there are chances this news tak boleh nak diakses lagi. Kekadang ni, susah nak percaya bila ada janji-janji macam ni. Contohnya main road kat my apartment. Dalam bulan April, ada news mentioned the stretch of C-Ring Road (Suhaim bin Hamad Road) from Ramada junction until Hamad hospital will be fully opened by first June. Realitinya sampai sekarang, tak fully open lagi.

Another example pasal dedicated terminal for First and Business class passengers at Doha International Airport (yang existing sekarang). Masa aku balik Malaysia, tak siap lagi. Three weeks later, still tak siap lagi. Dalam bulan May, article in newspaper mentioned that this dedicated terminal will be opened mid-June. Sekarang ni dah end July tak siap-siap jugak. Janji apa ke benda macam tu. Aku check balik press release kat Qatar Airways website pasal this terminal, dia orang dah wiped out the statement pasal bila nak open. Malu le tu!

Nyesal tak buat clipping news tu. Kalau tak, memang seronok hantar balik kat dia orang. Hehehehe

~ MT @ Qatar
~~ Dafna, Doha

~ To Travel Is To Discover Oneself ~

QA: Another day in paradise (?? err...)

Tajuk ni buat semalam... tapi tak sempat tulis sebab dah jam 5pm. Nak balik umah le... Lagipun kita orang kat sini share kereta. So, si JS dah nak gerak, akupun terpaksa le shut down my laptop and pack.

Hari Ahad first day working of the week. So ada team meeting, update on the project status so far. Nampaknya tak berapa bagus.. we are asking more money from the client, and I guess client tak nak bayar. Ye le.. project ni, masa sign agreement dulu dah value berbelas juta USD. Nak tambah lagi? Mesti tak nak... Nampak gaya, tak lama le aku kat Doha ni. Lagipun, bukannya best dok kat Doha ni.. Kat Abuja ke, Lagos ke baguskan hehehehehehe

Plan aku hari ni nak re-join gym kat Ramada tu. Unfortunately, Ramada dah tak offer temporary 3 or 6 months and now only offer yearly basis for QR5000. Malas aku nak join. Moreover, membership dah full, kena wait list. Hotel lain pun sama. Kalau ambil hotel lain, jauh lak nak gi. Ramada ni, jalan kaki je.

So, aku cuba nasib kat another gym, Al-Massa Active. Good machines, newer compare to Ramada's. Yang ni ada 3 and 6 months. The only drawback, this is a pure gym, no sauna, no steam room, no pool (bukannya nak guna sebab aku tak pandai berenang - cuma boleh guna untuk cuci mata je.. :-)) and no courts.

Aku dah teruja nak join so aku tanye le si JS. Si JS ni PMO Lead untuk project aku. Dia nasihatkan aku to postpone dulu, wait for another two or three days. Wait until we receive anything dari our management or client management pasal status project aku ni. Nak tak nak, terpaksa le aku tunggu..

Another boring day for me at home.......

Petang tu, nak panaskan nasi goreng yang aku masak dua hari lepas (masak sini, simpan seminggu :-)). Baru je nak goreng telur, api dapur tiba-tiba padam. Rupanya cyclinder gas aku dah habis. Panggil security guard, mintak spare. Selamba je dia cakap suruh tunggu guard shift malam sebab dia tak tahu nak call siapa. Siul, biul punye guard. Perut dah lapar, aku pergi ke Turkey Central, beli mixed grill. Habis QAR20. Terkejut aku boleh sapu licin segala-galanya, roti, the grilled & veggie. Selalunya aku makan meat je, roti tak pernah habis... Memang dah dasar kebulur hehehehe..

~ MT @ Qatar
~~ Dafna, Doha

~ To Travel Is To Discover Oneself ~

QA: Algerian Colleague Birthday

Semalam 21 Julai birthday my Algerian colleague. Kalau nak tengok gambar dia, go to my fotopages. Ada gambar dia sedang memasak :-))

Anyway, sebab dia bagitau lambat, tak sempat nak buat apa-apa plan. So, three of us went for dinner (very late dinner) kat Il Rustico, Rydges Hotel. It was around 10.15pm already and luckily the kitchen was still open. Ajak jugak member-member yang lain. Tapi sebab dah lambat, dia orang dah buat plan lain le.

Lepas dinner, we adjourned to the Pearl Lounge, the members only club at Marriott Doha. Hmm.. quite surprisingly not as crowded as it used to be on the weekend night. Mesti ramai yang bercuti. Rata-rata the crowd are mostly Lebanese/Syrian. Melompat-lompat kat Doha to the music and their countrymen/women melompat-lompat kat their country to zionist regime bombs!

So, happy 31st. birthday my friend. I know you don't read my blog, and if you read, bukannye faham sangat kan ? :-)

Sebelum keluar dinner tu, singgah jap kat apartment dia. Same building, cuma he is on the top floor and me on the ground floor. Masa kat apartment dia tu, dia ada bagi souvenir dari Algeria. It is the "Fatima Hand". See the photos below. Ini macam lucky charm for the Algerians. Kalau kat Egypt, ada "The Eyes". One of my colleagues ada pakai dulu, tapi majority commented that the design (TheEyes) looks like a cross. So she stopped wearing that. Design dia lebih kurang symbol yang penyanyi Prince guna dulu.

Here are the photos of the "Fatima Hand"





~ MT @ Qatar
~~ Ibn Mahmoud, Doha

~ ToTravel Is ToDiscover Oneself ~

QA: Lunch

Hari ni Jumaat yang kedua sejak aku balik Doha. Seperti biasa, boring je. Tambah pulak bising ngan construction depan apartment. Seven days a week kerja. Construction lain tak de le sampai tiap-tiap hari. Hari Jumaat cuti. Dah tu memekak je ngan soil grinding machine. Ye lah, tanah kat sini batu. Nak korek tak leh, kena hancur kan dulu.

Balik sembahyang Jumaat tadi, terus lunch. Selalu je lapar bila balik dari masjid. Today's lunch makan nuggets and chicken fillet with mixed veggie. Okay le nak kenyangkan perut. Makan ngan Maggi Extra Hot Chilli and Maggi Tomato. Sebenarnya tak berapa suka Extra Hot tu, suka yang biasa je. Tapi, the two main stores yangaku selalu pergi tak de stock pulak. Nyesal tak bawa dari Malaysia :-) Drink for today, Florida Pineapple and Orange Juice. Quite expensive, dalam RM15 sekotak. Terpaksa le sebab malas nak buat fresh juices sendiri. This is the closest can get to the actual juice.




Sekarang ni still cuti sekolah. So, not many people around in the city. Masjid tadi pun tak de le bersesak-sesak. Penuh tu memang penuh. Aku sampai 10 minit lepas masuk waktu still can park the car near to the mosque. Kalau bukan musim cuti, terpaksa le park jauh sikit.

Sebenarnya aku malas nak menaip. Malas nak connect internet. Sebab kalau aku connect ke internet, banyak le website aku nak surf.

Anyway, nak sambung study jap... lain kali aku tulis lagi ye...

~MT @ Qatar
~~ Ibn Mahmoud, Doha

~ To Travel Is To Discover Oneself ~

QA: Happy Birthday BH

Hari ni, birthday my best friend... really really best friend... a friend in need. Very nice person. I called my frined exactly midnight (Malaysian time) to wish "happy Birthday".. rupanya masa tu dia sedang jalan-jalan ala-ala catwalk kat Bukit Bintang ngan al-qatari CC... hehehe. Jam 3 pagi baru balik umah.. tak kisah lah kan, birthday dia... deserve to do whatever dia nak....

Actually I sent a birthday card last week dari sini.. Dah seminggu hantar, tapi tak sampai-sampai lagi kat Malaysia tu.. punye le lembab Qatar Post ni. Mahal pulak tu stamp... sampai QR5 (~RM5 lebih sikit). Kalau dari Malaysia ke sini, dalam seringgit dua je.

Aku suruh dia gi pamper diri sendiri ke spa yang eksklusif... tapi dia cakap tak nak... apa le.. bila lagi nak pamper diri sendiri kan.. Aku pun tak tahu apa dia buat on birthday dia...yang aku tahu dinner tadi dia makan kat Uptown.. hmm.. kari kepala ikan (kedai kat corner tu..). Hari ni dia cuti and dok kat umah je... well, I wish I could be there.. boleh teman dia kan. Tapi apa nak buat. Nak cari duit nak hidup - tak sempat nakpanjangkan cuti. Dah terpaksa datang balik ke negeri padang pasir ni.

Apa-apa hal pun, wishing you "Happy Birthday"!!!!!!

May Allah bless you life always and murahkan rezeki.

p/s: Bila mau kahwin? hehehehe

~ MT @ Qatar
~~ Dafna, Doha

~ To Travel Is To Discover Oneself ~

QA: Palm Island

Gambar kat bawah ni menunjukkan Palm Island, tempat santai during weekend kena demolished. Ntah apa yang dia orang nak buat ni. Bila hampir ngan Asia Games ni, banyak lak aku tengok reconstruction around Doha ni. Baru seminggu aku balik sini... tak banyak perubahan langsung. Macam mana nak organize Asia Games bulan Disember nanti.



The whole last week, Doha was blanketed by dust haze..kat Malaysia, haze resulted from burning forest over Sumatera.. kat sini, nak blame apa ye... My apartment penuh dust even though no windows are opened. Hopefully the dust haze will go away... very unhealthy to breath.. Masa lepak-lepak during lunch, yup..hari ni malas gi lunch sebab tak de orang nak gi ngan aku (lunch sorang-sorang kat Doha ni boring..), aku ambik gambar ni... u can see different shade of water in the gulf....




~ MT@Qatar
~~ Dafna, Doha

~ To Travel Is To Discover Oneself ~

MY: Melaka Renaissance

Entry ni kira entry past tense sebab dah berlaku hampir sebulan lalu. Ye lah, bila aku balik Malaysia, nakconnect internet ni tak de masa sangat. Banyak kerje nak buat. Tambah pulak kat umah aku tu, belum masuk broadband lagi. Jenuh nak connect using 56kbps dial up.

Pada Jun 22, aku and family ke Melaka. Kita orang dok kat Renaissance Melaka. Sewa dua bilik - satu for my parents and another for me and my brothers. Bilik kat tingkat 17 - entitled for access to Club Lounge. So here are the photos..... enjoy...

The outside view of Melaka City from my room and Club Lounge







The Club Lounge









The rooms

(Door connecting the two rooms)





Lift Lobby




~ MT @ Malaysia
~~ Renaisssance, Melaka

~~ To Travel Is To Discover Oneself ~~