QA: Yeah... EvryoneCanFly

This morning, I booked our own "EvryoneCanFly" ticket for my return trip to the city from my hometown during this coming Raya Haji. All, the quoted fare was RM99.99. Half of the price that our national airlines going to charge me for the same route.

Since I did not want to use my credit card, I opted for direct debit. Everything was smooth until I clicked "Confirmed Payment".... then the system hanged!! No confirmation on my booking but the money has been deducted. Aarrgggghhhhhhh!!!!!!

I tried to check my booking by entering the details i.e., reference number, name, and also my account number (since I do not use credit card, I assumed the system accept the account number). But alas, it returned a failure message - my details did not match the PNR. What the fcuk?

Calling the guest centre was a nightmare. First call I was put on hold for 15 minutes and the second call I stopped after listening to sweet voice telling me to be patience.... Mind you I am calling from overseas.... (well, although I used Skype, that does not mean I can just burnt my money for nothing!)...

Tried again around 9pm Msian time - and it was successfull. Got confirmation on my flight but they were not able to send the confirmation via email - reason - email system down! Apa-apa je lah!

Sakit hati betul! Dah le selsema hari ni.... weather pulak sejuk... mind you last Tuesday, it was arnd 20 degrees celcius during early morning!

@^%#^&!(#&*!**)(#*!&^#^!&#

~ M T @ Q4t4r
~~ Ibn Mahmoud, Doha

~To Travel Is To Discover Oneself~

QA: Jalan-Jalan (2)

OK.. now I have decided where to spend my vacation for this year. The destination is B4li.. yes.. B4li Island, Ind0nesia.

Firstly, I decided to go H K G, however due to overwhelming responses by Malaysians, there is no seats available for me to book at all. Same goes to the hotels. So, there goes my first choice. Then, it is decided whether H K T or D P S. Since I have five days of vacation, I don't see any excitement to be on a small island such as H K T. Although D P S is also a small island, I believe there are more to do here.

So, yesterday the flight was book with EvryoneCanFly. Hope there will be no delay - since I will be arriving at night!


Current plan is to spend 2 or 3 nights at Ubud and the remaining at Seminy4k. At Ubood, probably settle with Ubood Village Hotel (its sister resort is over my budget) and at Seminy4k, am eyeing S0fitel - however may settle to less expensive but nice and comfy hotel.

Planned itinerary:

Day 1 - Land at D P S and transfer directly to hotel (need to find airport-hotel transfer since arriving at 1940hrs)
Day 2 - Jalan-Jalan Ubood
Day 3 - Jalan-Jalan or transfer to Seminy4k
Day 4 - Seminy4k/Legi4n/Kut4 area or transfer to Seminy4k
Day 5 - Seminy4k/Legi4n/Kut4 area
Day 6 - Balik K L

Hmmm.. what do you think?

~ M T @ Q4t4r
~~ Sadd, Doha

~ To Travel Is To Discover Oneself~

QA: Photo Blog (2)

Subject: My new office at S4dd building

Date: 26 November, 2006

Time: 0800hrs (8.00am)

Venue: Q C M P Project Room, S4dd Building

~ M T @ Q4t4r

~~ Sadd, Doha

~To Travel Is To Discover Oneself~

QA: Makan-Makan (3)

Friday morning, hosted a simple breakfast for a young Malaysian family and couple of friends. They did not attend the Makan-Makan (2) last time due to work committment. It was a simple affair - just nasi lemak, sambal tumis ikan bilis, ayam goreng, rendang dinding (left over from Makan-Makan (2)), and nasi himpit and kuah kacang (also left over from previous Makan-Makan (2)).



In the evening, I attended a belated Thanksgiving 'casual" dinner with my colleagues at my boss villa. A beautiful and huge villa in the diplomatic area (or West Bay area).


I was expecting a nice stuffed turkey, however, what I had was this...... hmmm... really casual dinner!


Previously on Thursday evening, bought two garoupa (I was told it is kerapu, betul ke?) at Corniche for QAR25 per kilogramme. Cooked Fried Garoupa in Sweet Sour and Thai style Steamed Garoupa. Not bad for first attemp!




~M T @ Q4t4r
~~ Ibn Mahmoud, Doha


~To Travel Is To Discover Oneself~

QA: Jalan-Jalan (1)

This year, I have to clear at least 4 days from my annual leaves entitlement. Altogether, at my level, I have 31 days - 20 days of annual leave and 11 days of "floating" public holidays. Am very grateful to my MD for allowing me to take a "floating" public holidays (there are 11 public holidays in Singapore this year - or is it 12?). Anyway, the maximum for me to carry forward to next year is 20 days of annual leave and no carry forward for the public holidays. So, since I have 14 days to carry forward and I still have nto taken 4 public holidays, I have decided to utilize my leave to go for a vacation.

Planning to go back to K U L first and take the vacation from there. I have 22/12 until 27/12 for my vacation before going back to my hometown for Raya Haji.

Here is the shortlisted list of places in mind (vacation spot must not exceed the flight time radius of 3-4 hours from K U L):

• Colomb0 (the flight availability fits perfectly with my schedule + I never been there before)


• B4li (have been there few years back and don't mind going back there again)


• Bandung (only if my parents decided to tag along... but probably no since theyhave some stuff to do at home before the Raya Haji :-))


• Vietn4m (don't really know what to do here.. and also worry about the food)


• Chi4ng M4i (hmm.... same as Vietn4m - don't really know what's available here and the food probably not that difficult..)

My ideal vacation is totally relaxation and more towards city vacation - nothing adventurous. Beach is not a must, however, if there is a nice hotel by the beach, why not.

Decision..decision...decision....

~M T @ Q4t4r
~~ Dafna, Doha

~To Travel Is To Discover Oneself~

QA: Thoughts..

1
I just completed my Level2 Arabic class last night. Next week will be revision week and early December is my test. According to the method used, by completing Level 2, I should be considered as a novice Ar4bic speaker... err...err...mmm...hm...dunno what to say...I can't really say I am good enough to use it in my daily conversation. Luckily for us Malaysians that we learned "Jawi" when we were at primary school, thus we can easily grasp the reading part. Since my classmates are from New Ze4land, Tur key and Ind0nesia -> I can show off a bit on my ability to read Ar4bic... :-))

Have not decided whether I want to continue to the next level. Altogether there are four levels and I have (or rather will be) completed half of it. It all depends on the availability of my current project. I am not really fond of continue with this project - sort of adverse effect on my career. If I plan to be here for the next three to six months, I may as well continue to the next level. At least I got somethingto bring back with me from my experience in this over-ambitous country.

2
Next week, am moving office to another client's building. My client occupies three buildings around the city. The one I am in now can be considered as an H Q - beautiful scenery of the Ar4bian Gulf and can view almost the whole stretch of the C0rniche. One of the buildings is going to be demolished as part of the city beautification project. The one I am moving in is nearer to my apartment. With this pleasant weather and given the short distance to my apartment, I was thinking of walking between the two buildings.

My new place will have no nice view as current one. Only one big window overlooking another part of the same building! Sometimes my inner part keeps telling me that the client does not like us and want to keep us out :-) which I personally think is true. The reason given is theyare hiring more people thusthey need space. Wonder why they have to take our space when there are more spaces on other floors...

I got two days to pack up my stuff into the boxes. Today and tomorow. Friday morning, plan to cook breakfast for some friends and in the evening I have to attend a belated Thanksgiving 'casual' dinner with my office colleagues.

3
Found a new word in the local newspaper today - "Ahmadinejadised" ;-))

~M T @ Q4t4r
~~ Dafna, Doha

~To Travel Is To Discover Oneself~

QA: Photo Blog (1)

Date: 20 November, 2006

Time: 1710hrs (5.10pm)

Venue: Parking Area, Q4t4r C0urt of Justice, D0ha

~ M T @ Q4t4r

~~ Dafna, Doha

~To Travel Is To Discover Oneself~

QA: Rain... Rain....

For the last two days, D0ha were cloaked with gloomy sky... A sign that rain would be coming anytime.. and yes, it was raining today!

According to the local beliefs, raining in Q4t4r means the weather is changing - from hot to cool or from cool to hot. In fact now, the weather is at its best. Early morning is the best time to take a walk - the weather is pleasant with its beautiful morning sun, not too hot and not too cold and in the evening, the wind chills the night. So, whoever coming to Q4t4r for the next four months, do bring sweater. The wind factor does make the difference to the weather, especially at night.

My friend's car.... at the client's parking lot..

On the way to lunch..

~ M T @ Q4t4r
~ Dafna, Doha

~To Travel Is To Discover Oneself~

QA: Makan-Makan (2)

Last night was the makan-makan nite. Overall, both Zals and I invited about 25 people, however only 15 people turned up. The fun still there.. ye lah..free food kan :-) The function supposed to start at 6pm, however, since most of our invitees works on Saturday, almost everybody arrived past 7pm.

The first to arrive was Yeen and family. Actually they got lost because they told the cab driver to turn left instead of right at the T0ys R Us. To make the matter worse, both of Yeen's handphones cannot be used. Her father in law from K L called Zals to tell that Yeen could not find my apartment! Amazing! 15 minutes to 6pm, Yeen managed to persuade a security guard to lend her the handphone to call Zals- in which she managed to contact us and I went to pick her up - 500 meters away from the apartment.

The function ended around 10.30pm.

Here's the list of the food/drink served:

• Popiah
• Ayam Masak Kurma
• Rendang Dinding
• Nasi Himpit and Kuah Kacang
• Mixed Veggies in Oyster Sauce
• Bihun Sup
• Lontong
• Pecal
• Nasi Planta
• Trifle
• Agar-agar
• Hot tea
• Guava juice
• Mixed Fruit juice

Overall, good response from our guests. And there were lots of left overs.. cukup nak makan for the whole week... :-)

~ MT @ Q4t4r
~ Ibn Mahmoud, D0ha

~To Travel Is To Discover Oneself~

QA: Asean Bazaar

Embassies from the South East Asia countries in D0ha joint hand together to organize the first ever Asean Bazaar. According to the newspaper, this was a brainchild of our ambassador, Datuk Ku Jaafar Ku Shaari. So, to play my part in promoting Visit Malaysia Year 2007 (although am hoping I get something from it...) - nampak sangat tak ikhlas.., I 'personally' disseminate the information via email to my friends in D0ha encouraging them to join me at the bazaar.

Alas.. indah khabar dari rupa! Brunei section can be considered empty, same goes to Thailand - suppose to be a country full of cottage industries / handicraft. Philippines comes third while Malaysia has some M A Q members selling soy bean drink for QR4 per glass and QR10 for four stick of satay, and a stall selling some clothing (probably half are Malaysia-made) and women's accessories. In my opinion, Indonesia appear as champion.. the most handicrafts on sale and some delicacies - bakso, air bandung and few more... No rep from other countries in S E A since their embassies are non-existence in the country.














On the way back, bumped into Bernama rep in D0ha, Ms. LL (if you read bernama.com, you will find news from D0ha on the happenings in the Middle East are all supplied/written by her). When I was an office-bearer with M A Q, I normally supply the press release to her for publication.

So far the best bazaar I have attended in Qatar was organized by Americ4n W0men Associ4tion. A lot of participations from vast comunities in Doha and received overwhelming response from the public.

Hopefully next year the organizer will notify the communities far in advance to able them to better prepare - more items promoting Malaysia and more participation from the communities, especially Malaysians. I pun nak rent one stall... :-) boleh jual keropok lekor and batik....


~ MT @ Q4t4r
~~ Rayyan, D0ha

~ To Travel Is To Discover Oneself~

QA: Makan-Makan (1)

Since Zals and I have planned to do some makan-makan on Saturday, we kicked off our Friday morning a bit early than usual. We went to the Family Food Centre - FFC (one of the two hypermarkets that sells most Asian stuff, another one is Lulu) to do some groceries and plan to continue to the wholesale market for some veggies.

Not knowing to me, Zals boiled the meat for Rendang Dinding and forgot to turn off the stove before we left. And he only realised it after we left FFC on the way to the veggie market! I punye le bengang (sorry Zals) since it was Friday and we already late - moreover, Friday prayer is at 11.30am and I hate being late to the mosque for Friday prayer!

On the way to the market, we picked up MR (AI's wife working with Zals at the broadcast company) and her parents. This is their first time to the market.

Quite surprise to see the price of veggies are not as cheap as I expected. They are at par with hypermarket prices - in fact some are more expensive! Must be the Asian Games ripple effect ni...











~ M T @ Q4t4r
~~ Ibn Mahmoud, Doha

~ To Travel Is To Discover Oneself ~

QA: Selamat Hari Raya..

yes.. you read it right.. selamat hari raya to me for the second time. Alhamdulillah, I completed my puasa enam syawal yesterday.

On Saturday, insyaAllah I will hold a makan-makan session for some of my friends. And thanks in advance to Zals who has volunteered to cook some of the food. A Malaysian flair...

Planned menu:
- Nasi himpit
- Kuah kacang
- Kurma Ayam
- Lontong or Bihun Sup
- Agar-agar
- Trifle
- Popiah

Let's see how it goes tomorrow....

~ MT @ Qatar
~~ Ibn Mahmoud, Doha

~ To Travel Is To Discover Oneself ~

QA: B B Q

Zals was invited by his U E M friend to go to the BBQ by the beach somewhere near the Diplomatic Club. I was reluctant to go, but since Zals insisted, I agreed to drive him there.

There were 11 of us and the area was full with Ar4b families and some Ar4b youngsters in 4WD... Wonder whether these youngsters have the driving licenses or not. They look so young, just like our lower secondary school kids....

We were expecting more people to turn up (according to the organizer) for the B B Q, however, due to the transportation issue, only us can made it there. Out of 11, only two girls there - both working at Gamud4 and two Filipino with K P M G Doha. Others were Malaysians....

Me, being more than two years in Doha, have not met any of these Malaysians... see how bad my PR skills are.. Just look at Zals, only being here for two months, his circle of friends expanding exponentially day by day :-) Well, good or him since he will be here longer than me..

Just enjoy the photos... more photos are in my fotopages.












~ MT @ Qatar
~ Ibn Mahmoud, Doha

~ To Travel Is To Discover Oneself ~

QA: Nite Out..

Last night, I went to the Pearl Lounge, Marriott - voted the most exclusive club in Doha. I have not been there for nearly half a year. Even the bouncer recognized me - as a member that under utilized the membership :-) Sorry, no photo - forgot to bring the camera.

Entrance is by membership only. Luckily I have secured Black membership for free during the opening of the club more than a year ago. Later, anyone applying for membership has to pay QR3000 and valid for 6 months. No worries, those payment can be used as a credit to buy drinks in the club.

There were 9 of us over there and I am the only one who did not consume alcohol. The damage for three hours of laughing, gossiping, and teasing totalled to QAR1500....

Worth it? errr.....

~ MT@Qatar
~~ Ibn Mahmoud, Doha

~ To Travel Is To Discover Oneself ~

QA: Falling In Love....

Have you ever fall in love on first sight? well... i did..

Isn't it beautiful?...........

There is something about this building that I like so much...

~ MT @ Qatar
~ Dafna, Doha

~ To Travel Is To Discover Oneself ~

QA: Weekend

Since Zals arrived in Doha, he has been very active in keeping in touch with other Malaysians here. He really practiced his PR skills... :-)) I have distanced myself a little bit, not that I hate it, but to avoid politics within the community. However, since Zals is new here and he is very eager to get to know Malaysians here, I believe it is good for me to rebond again with the community. After all, we are Malaysians... [maybe I should thank Zals for this...]

Friday
Friday afternoon, our friend KM (who Zals met during sembahyang raya at the embassy) came over and together with AI (another Malaysian who will be joining Zals at the broadcast company) we went for a lunch at Turkey Central restaurant. Turkey Central restaurant is a well known restaurant within the expatriate circles, especially Americans. The restaurant is listed in the introduction leaflets or CDs for expatriates. The price is very reasonable. We ordered a kilogram of mixed grill and cost us only QR70 (around RM73).

After lunch, err.. a late lunch, around 4pm, we drove to Wakrah beach, a small town south of Doha. This is a small fishermen town and only 15 minutes from Doha down town. We have only less than an hour to sample day light at the beach before the sun sets at 4.49pm...










The weather was nice and the beach was full with Keralites. Maybe their day out at the beach :-))

On the way back, stopped by at a local joint, Halul Cafe by the Corniche. Had some tea and a shisha. For dinner, Zals volunteered to cook. He cooked ayam masak kicap, telur bungkus and sayur kacang. That was gooood!

After dinner, we went to another local joint at Souq Waqif for a tea/juice and shisha (again.. second shisha within three hours). Stayed there until 11pm only since KM has to work on Saturday. Poor him :-)

15mins to 1am, sent AI to the broadcast company to join his wife (who was on night shift) before going back to their compound. I went back home for a short sleep - since the next morning I planned to attend this Thai Cooking class at Moevenpick Hotel.

Saturday
Woke up a bit late on Saturday morning. Took a mug of my usual ginseng coffee and drove to Moevenpick. What a dissapointment! The class cost QR105 and it looked like a demo. So, Zals and myself decided not to waste our money to watch a demo. We decided to find an Asian breakfast, however the Indonesian restaurant nearby did not open for breakfast. Drove to The Mall nearby and at the end, we had brunch at Chili's.

After brunch, balik apartment and relax...










It was a tiring weekend... need to go to work early next morning for a meeting! aarrghhh... Sunday blues....

~ MT@Qatar
~ Ibn Mahmoud, Doha

~ To Travel Is To Discover Oneself ~

QA: Embassy Open House

Malaysia Embassy in Qatar organized a combined Deepavali and Hari Raya open house at the Embassy compound. went there with Zals and his colleagues from AJI. About half of the attendees were Malaysians I have not met. That means either old timer no longer interested in joining the activities or there are now more Malaysians in Qatar as compared to two years ago or both!

There were also Malaysian Golf Team and Sailing Team. They were here for the Asian Games which is going to be opened in three weeks time. Good luck!










After stuffing our stomach with Malaysian/Indian food, we ushered to the Coffee Beanery near my place. It was organized by Zals and after few calls and SMSes, there were 15 of us there. And yes, we did conquered the cafe!

Went home at 2am....

~ MT@Qatar
~ Ibn Mahmoud, Doha

~ To Travel Is To Discover Oneself ~