QA: Wake up ... You are in the Gulf..

That is what you hear every morning if you tune to QBS English services.

D0ha is full of surprise and this morning, these are my surprises:


Right in from of the apartment building (in fact just outside my living room)Two giants next to the building

Thought they are going to keep this garage.. now, there is no shaded parking spots for tenants

The ONLY way in and out from the building...

Well... thats life in Doha... pay quite high rent (around QAR10k per unit), and what we get???? Constructions .... other people are paying around QAR8k - QAR9k for a luxury apartment.. [sigh.....]

~ MT @ Qatar
~~ Bin Mahmoud, D0ha

~ To Travel Is To Discover Oneself ~

QA: Have this ever happened to you?

When you are praying jamaah at the mosque (be it Friday prayer or otherdaily prayers), have you ever be in the saf next to someone who cannot stand still? Scratching here and there, moving his feet (sometimes step on yr toe), tilting his head left and right... and even worse, checking the handphone to see who is calling (?????)

This really disturbs me...

~ MT @ Qatar
~~ Bin Mahmoud, D0ha

~ To Travel Is To Discover Oneself ~

QA: Makan-Makan @ Dom's

Last night, another episode of stuffing ourselves - Makan-Makan Pot Luck style. The host, Dom took advantage of his house-mate trip to AUH and his girlfriend not flying by having a gathering at his villa.

About 20 of us turned up and the ladies were majority from the only 5-star airline in the Middle East. The event started at 7:30pm and ended around 11pm. As for me, Zal, NN and his girlfriend, Sha, we purposely planned to be fashionably late. We reached there around 8pm and they not even started yet. Hahahha.. so we were ON time.

Zal made his trademark triffle and ayam goreng madu while Sha brought bihun goreng and raspberry cheese-cake. Me ? I bawa perut je.. makan.. :-))

~ MT @ Qatar
~~ Bin Mahmoud, D0ha

~ To Travel Is To Discover Oneself ~

QA: Weekend...

It was a tiring weekend. My plan was to start on my assignments. I have been delaying the assignment for many moons now :-)

On Thursday, after work, I just stayed at home. Cleaned my kitchen. Hopefully cockroaches will not return. Then, around 10pm, friends started coming... it has been a routing to have a karaoke session on theweekend at my place. One thing special for the night was that we have new people joining us. Couples of cabin crew... at least we have real female voices :-) Also, it was a record for me. Not sleeping for nearly 24 hours. I woke up at 6am on Thursday and kept on going until 5:30am Friday.

Don't think it is something to be proud of, but at least, I prayed Subuh within the time :-) And how I wish there is a stall selling nasi lemak or at least mamak restaurant here. At around 4am, five of us - myself, Zal, NN, ZI and DK went for an earlybreakfast at a restaurant near the airport. For the first time ever I witnessed sun-rise in D0ha.. at 4:54am. Beautiful. I just love the weather in the morning.

Woke up 11:30am, just in time for Friday prayer. Thanks to Zal who woke me up. In the evening, Zal and myself were invited for a dinner at one of Malaysian family house, KK and family have been here for 3.5 years. It was a beautiful house or I would say a villa. 6+1 rooms and furnished with wooden furniture from Ind0nesia. Met few other Malaysian familys there too. Plenty of food, including Mrs KK specialty, bubur jagung.










After the dinner, went to Coffee Beanery to meet our Pin0y friend. He just got back from his hometown, Cebu and a vacation in Malaysia. It is nice of him to buy me a tee from Cebu. Thanks Jyerex.



Saturday morning, I have promised AAH to go apartment hunting. Picked him up at his temporary company housing. We started with my area and moved on to Bin Omran, Sadd and Mansoura. The cheapest we found for a 2-bedroom apartment is QAR7500 per month while the 3-bedroom fetches up to QAR10, 500 per month. He has yet to decide and hopefully he will find more choices to choose from.

Also, I heard a bad news from our dearest friend, KM. Two of his Suzuki Swift tyres have gone missing. Stolen right in front of his apartment. Poor him. Hopefully he managed to do the police report and get insurance claim (hmm... ada ke insurance tayar kereta?)

In the evening, I went to my boss villa for a dinner. Once a while, the boss organized "makan-makan" at his villa. A very nice villa indeed. The dinner was a Morroccan dish ordered from one of the most expensive Morroccan restaurants. A lamb stuffed with saffron rice and surrounded with cous-cous. The lamb alone costs QAR1500.

Then I called my parents. They are going back to my hometown on Sunday afternoon. My mum told me there is a saman for me. Committed on 25 June, 2007 at KM 6.2 Kuala Lumpur. That is what according to the letter. That's very helpful. KM6.2 can be anywhere in Kuala Lumpur.

Ended my day by having juices at Mandarin with Zal and NN.

That's wrapped up my weekend. Another week tomorrow...

~ MT @ Qatar
~~ Bin Mahmoud, D0ha

~ To Travel Is To Discover Oneself ~

QA: HaPpY BiRtHdAy

Happy Birthday BH..... dah tua ye.... :-))

Find Free Clipart at School Clip Art

Hope you like the present...

~ MT @ Qatar

~~ Bin Mahmoud, D0ha

~ To Travel Is To Discover Oneself ~

QA: Farewell Lunch

Three of my work colleagues are leaving Qatar for good. Today we had a farewell lunch for them at Assaha Lebanese Village Restaurant.

JR and LK are resigning and going back to graduate school. JM is rolling off the project. It has been great working with them and wishing them the very best in their future.

~ MT @ Qatar
~~ Sadd, D0ha

~ To Travel Is To Discover Oneself ~

QA: Bowling again...

The group went for another round of bowling last night. Looks like this will be a fortnight affair for us. Dom organized for a session to start at 8pm. As a person who take hate breaking promises, myself and Zal were that 8pm on the dot. Unfortunately, none of other members turned up on time. Ah.. I should have known this. We waited for 40 minutes before ZI and DK arrived.

Played two games and somehow Zal did not live up to the expectation. In fact, I over took him by one point. :-)

After bowling, went to our lepak place, Coffee Beanery @ Ramada Junction. Bumped into few QR crew. The ladies really dressed to kill... :-)) Ada sorang tu sampai terkeluar biji mata... and tak puas hati sebab Zal and myself know those crew... hehehehehe

Enjoy some photos of the bowling night....

~ MT @ Qatar
~~ Sadd, D0ha

~ To Travel Is To Discover Oneself ~

QA: PerF0rm

Had a short discussion on the interim review. As usual, my expectation is not met although I exceeded the expectation by the company/project. Being alone in a company where there is no one really back you up is not good. Not good in the sense that it is hard for you to have a clear path due to lack of sponsor.

The project supports me more than I expect, but my office isn't. However, I guess my office already fed up with me, so they will agree on whatever decision I want to make i.e., involved in global projects (supporting other market units) or go back to them and start developing business at home.

To tell the truth, I really got fed up with this. But I just can't make that ultimatum yet -> resign. I have not yet get any offer despite multiple interviews back home. I give myself three months (i.e. until Eid) for me to get the new job, else I might have to settle for some work in this Middle East region.

Pretty hard decision to make... and pretty hard to get a job with decent pay back home...

~ MT @ Qatar
~~ Sadd, D0ha

~ To Travel Is To Discover Oneself ~

QA: It has been a week...

It has been a week since my arrival into Doha. And my sore throat still there. Maybe I took wrong drug prescription. Wonder what is inside my body now.

Last night, bought dinner for my senior at college. AAH and his family arrived in Qatar two weeks ago and currently looking for a house. This was my first time meeting him. In fact, in college, I never met him. He is the pioneer batch while I am the fifth batch. I was told he is in Qatar in our alumni mailing list. Joining us for dinner were Zals, ZI, DK, AI and his wife MR. NZ and SS could not make it since SS pick up to work was at 10pm. SS was to fly to BKK or HKG last night. DK just touched down from CDG in the morning. Glad that she could make it.

We had dinner at favourite place, Turkey Central. Ordered 2 kg of mixed grilled and a medium size Arabic Maza. Food enough for the eigth of us.

Work wise, things moving pretty slow. The client suppose to be back from the US visiting the vendor. Yeap.. we sent them to see the vendor and to give them chances to go shopping in the US as well... ooppppsss.. I have should not say this :-)) We received mix review on their visit to the vendor from our work colleagues in the US office. Unfortunately, they were not briefed by their Project Manager on what they will see over there. So, the demo on the system turned out not as expected (only for one part of it). When they are back here, I guess a hectic discussion session will take place. Arrggh... I hate these people. They can change their mind in split second and deny everything we have agreed before.

ML has gone back to the US last week. Tuesday morning to be exact. Am suppose to have discussion with him before he left, unfortunately we didn't have time to sit down together since I got back. When I landed in Doha last Sunday, he was still in DXB, vacationing with his wife. He came into the office on Monday morning and called it a day after a few hours. And thats it. Luckily, he has settled few things that he took over from me before I left for holiday. And now, nothing much on my plate. Thanks ML.. hope to see you again one day.

~ MT @ Qatar
~~ Sadd, D0ha

~ To Travel Is To Discover Oneself ~

QA: Red Box?

For the past two nights, my apartment has been turned into "Red Box" by Zal and gang. Maybe it is not as happening as the Red Box in KL but it serves the purpose for MiME to practice for the first ever MiME Idol... hahahaha... [tu pun kalau ada...]


I brought back three new CDs - mostly songs from my era.. the eigthies :-) and at home, apparently SS (NZ's girlfriend) has bought few CDs and two new wireless microphone. Huh..apa lagi, lelaki-lelaki kesepian terus melonjak kegembiraan...

As for me, am not feeling very well and unable to stay until the end of the session.. A sign of getting old.... :-))

~ MT @ Qatar
~~ Bin Mahmoud, D0ha

~ To TravelIs To Discover Oneself ~

QA: Back to the dust

I reached the airport around 12.30am for my flight STD 0420. Took the last train from XKL at midnight.

At the airport, QR check in counters are at check in island J. MH ground staff man the counters since this is a code share flight with MH. When I checked in, there was not even one QR ground staff available. Although before this, while waiting the counter to open, I saw one QR ground staff over at KU counters. I overheard he said the flight was delay. When I asked the check in lady, she told me it will be on time, as per previous day.

I only have one luggage to check in and I got my requested seat. Went straight to the lounge for a quick/short nap. I was very tired adn the next morning, I have to work.

Time passes and it si nearly 4am. No announcement on boarding. Went to the lounge reception and was told that the flight was delayed for 20 minutes. Ah.. well... walk to the buffet area and they just started serving breakfast..Yum..yum.. Nasi Lemak Sambal Sotong.. unfortunately I didn't have appetite to eat.

By 4:20am, I walked to the gate. Surprisingly, no one boarded the aircraft yet. Then an announcement was made that the departure will be delayed for another 20 minutes. Now, it will be at 5am.

I was among the last to board and was greeted by CSD Shelyn and CCS Melissa. Hmm... Melissa looks familiar. She directed me tio my seat and yes.. I know Melissa. We had dinner together on her birthday at Marri0t D0ha two years back. She told me that I look familiar.. but she cannot remember me. An old friend... nice meeting you again...


Off the ground and the moment the seat belt sign was off, I reclined my seat only to wake up for breakfast. A good but not really comfortable sleep. One and a half hour before landing into Doha, I had mee goreng for breakfast.


Overall, the service was just so-so. The food quality yet to improved. Seat, argrhh... the oldest business class seat in the entire QR fleet I guess... wonder when they are going to phase out all these oldies... A300-600.

Arrived in Doha at 07:13am local time. Amazing.. the arrival terminal was empty. For the first time I experience this. Since my business visa expired, I entered the country with tourist visa for QAR100 and valid for a month.


Welcome back.... sore throat & flu... dizzy..dizzy..dizzy.. went straight home from the airport.. within one hour from the landing, i am actually at my apartment. Huh.. how efficient is that :-)) unpacked my stuff and by 9am, I was already in the office.... :-))


~ MT @ Qatar
~~ Sadd, D0ha

~ To Travel Is To Discover Oneself ~

MY: Dinner Tak Menjadi...

To RES, apologize for not able to meet up for dinner. I thought it was cancelled since nobody confirm with me. Anyway, insyaAllah we will meet again during my next trip home.

~ MT @ Malaysia
~~ Ampang, Selangor

~ To Travel Is To Discover Oneself ~

MY: A gift...

To Shah, thanks a lot for the "bird".. unfortunately, I was not able to bring it to Doha with me due to space constraint in my luggage...

Thank you very much.....

~ MT @ Malaysia

~~ Ampang, Selangor

~ To Travel Is To Discover Oneself ~

MY: PerForm and Chances

I am suppose to meet my boss on Wednesday. The plan was either he flies to KUL or I go down to SIN. Monday morning, I checked my email and saw the invitation to have a conference call instead. According to the SIN office, my boss' passport is with the Ministry for wrok permit renewal.

The conference call was held in the afternoon and the result -> hmm.. how shall I put it... I dont really like it but I did not raise it loud enough. Reason being - I have been raising teh issue for the last 1.5 years and nothing happen so far! So, that's it. I got fed up with it.

This Friday, I have an interview planned. At PBD. Actually, I don't know for what position and I not even aware that I have sent my CV to this company. I kept on sending emails to find out about the position, but no response. Cuak jugak!

Will be pretty busy for the whole week. Few appointments to attend (as you can see on the side bar calendar).

Let see how this week goes....

Take care

~ MT @ Malaysia
~ Ampang, Selangor

~ To Travel Is To Discover Oneself ~

MY: Trip Back

Reached CGK around 5pm. KLM departed from Terminal 2E at CGK. There were four counters for Economy class check in and all four have at least 4 passengers queuing at each counter.

There were six of us and it took the check in agent nearly 10 minutes to check all of us in. I wonder why it took so long. As far as I know, you just check the identity, print boarding pass and baggage tag, and walla, you are done!

CGK airport is a bit dim. Dull and IMHO, not enough lighting. I guess it is time to refurbish the airport. Once all of us were checked in, we proceeded to the airside. Since we were in 2E, we decided to go through the immigration over there. There are other immigration counters at 2D. At 2E, all the counters were empty and immigration was a breeze for all of us.


It was nearly 6pm and our bird was already there. I went to look for a surau for maghrib and according to staff there, the only surau at terminal 2 is all the way at 2D adjacent to the airline lounge. It was a good 10 minutes walk to the surau from the gate. They should build another one over at 2E.

Boarding started around 6:30pm and it was smooth. The flight was full and majority of passengers terminated at KUL. Only a handful of them continue the journey to AMS. As per my trip to CGK from KUL, the service on this sector was not worth talking about. Instead of bihun goreng, now we got mee goreng :-) One thing I noticed though was most of the Malaysians on board the aircraft did go to Bandung :-) You can see them either carrying Rumah Mode paper bag or Kartika Sari brownies. And couple of them has boxes of J. Co donuts with them :-))


Touched down at KUL at 9:40pm local time. Five minutes ahead of schedule. Baggage, as usual, has to wait for quite sometime. No issue with Custom since we don't have anything to declare.

Once outside, bid farewell to my younger brother since he as heading to CJ and BH to Dsara. My other family members took KLIA limo back home and we were in the comfort of our home around 11:30pm.

It was a good trip and my mum is now planning for the next trip.. arrghh.. this is contagious. Once you travel, you will always looking forward for another one.... :-))


~ MT @ Malaysia
~~ Ampang, Selangor

~ To Travel Is To Discover Oneself ~