You can get the information from http://www.nationalday2009.com.
For those photog out there, take out your camera and show your skills..
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Around Qatar's National Day
Those who have free time and wanna join the people of The State of Qatar to celebrate their national day, you can join activities lined up throughout the week before the final countdown this Saturday, 18 December 2009.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Adha (Eid Mubarak)
Wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww......
It has been a very very long time since I last posted in this blog!! The last posting was in 19 September 2009 ie on last Eid. I find it is time again to start blogging.. After a long log 'rest'..
For a start, let me wish you Eid Mubarak. We doa our friends in Mekah will have "haji mabrur".
As for us in Doha, Eid day was celebrated "Sederhana Tetapi Meriah" yesterday with Malaysian Association of Qatar (MAQ) together with Malaysian Embassy organised a small scale qurban and aqiqah. We then organised a gotong royong to cook daging aqiqah at the home of one of the embassy's staffs, En Ahmad. Many thanks to Encik Ahmad and family for having us!!
In the run up to qurban, I actually visited the Animal Market 2 times. Once I brought Alisha along for her to get close and personal experience with the sheep. She loved the experience even she complained of the bad smell.. 
As usual, this Eid is also filled up with open houses! We had 3 yesterday excluding the session at En Ahmad's house. I missed one of them though as I was busy with qurban session. We will have another 3 open houses today and now tomorrow, so far...
Eid Mubarak to all our Muslim friends..
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Eid Mubarak
We would like to wish Eid Mubarak to our family and friends.. No matter where you are, please ensure we have a good celebration.
May Allah accept our ibadah especially for the last one month.
For this year, we celebrate Eid with our families in Malaysia. We foresee that we will celebrate Eid in Malaysia from next year onward. This is mainly due to the fact that Eid will fall during summer holidays. We celebrated Eid for the last two years with our friends in Qatar.
Selamat Hari Raya
Maaf Zahir Batin
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Exhition of The Year
Fanar Expo to dispel myths about Ka’aba
DOHA: To put an end to misconceptions about the Ka’aba in the holy city of Makkah, Fanar will showcase a model at least half the size of the original at the Fanar Expo 2009. The exhibition at Doha International Exhibition Center will run from November 19 to 23.
The cuboidal structure of the Ka’aba, the annual pilgrimage by millions of faithful and the city closed to non-Muslims have all aroused curiosity in people around the world. Some have disguised themselves as Muslims to enter the city of Makkah and then the Grand Mosque that houses the Ka’aba, to witness the pilgrims’ rituals.
“We will show people images of the beautiful, historic town and its details throughout the history of mankind,” said Mohammed Ali Al Ghamdi, General Director of Fanar.
“We will also take a unique step in showing the Ka’aba from the inside. Many people think that the Ka’aba is just a stone worshipped by the Muslims; others think that it contains graves or treasures or swords and shields. The model will show the details of the Ka’aba from outside and inside, to illustrate clearly that it is just an empty mosque.”
The height of the model will be seven metres, with its sides measuring six metres by seven metres. The actual dimensions of Ka’aba are 13.1m X 11.03m X 12.86m. Touch screens with information about the history of the Ka’aba and the history of the Prophets who made pilgrimages to it, charts and various maps will also be exhibited.
“We will present a panoramic view related to all aspects of Islam, in a modern, professional and attractive way. The aim is to cover the various issues of every visitor to the expo, be they from any community in the world. Separate areas have been designated to give information about Makkah, the Ka’aba, all of the Prophets, the holy books, arts, Islamic arts and other cultural activities through the eight departments of Fanar,” he said.
Apart from the Ka’aba and Makkah, the history of the Prophets mentioned in the Quran and their relationship with Islam, what Quran says about them and how Muslims value them will also be discussed.
Posters and charts on Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) will include his biography from his birth until the revelation of his mission, the glad tidings about him in earlier books, the humanitarian aspects of his mission, as well as the value that he preached.
Islam’s stand on the Testaments will also be showcased, showing the relationship between the Quran and earlier religious books and other prophets. The holiness of the Quran and its miraculous aspects will be highlighted in the expo.
“We will make a great show about architecture, decorations, ceramics, wood works, binding and other fine arts. It will contain a workshop by Ahmet Cocktan, an Ebro artist, and Obaidah Al Bankee, an international calligrapher, along with their masterpieces. Works of Muslim scientists and their contributions will also be shown,” Al Ghamdi said.
Qatari traditions will also be exhibited, showing the close relation the land has with the sea. “The sea and the desert, its importance to the region, the history of Qatar and its morals and culture will be shown through some motifs and traditional pieces from Qatar,” said Mohammed Ammar Al Boni, Executive Manager, Seqlia Exhibition Organisers, the main organisers of the event.
The expo will have a traditional souq, which will showcase traditions of Qatar such as making markook (traditional Qatari bread), pearl jewellery and wooden boat workshops. Visitors can also get an insight into Muslim prayers through live demonstrations.
A mosque and two majlis — one for men and another for ladies — will also be opened.
The expo will also have a theatre. The theater will be a venue for cultural and educational events conducted by a team form Britain and various Islamic organisations in Qatar.
THE PENINSULA
Note : The article was published in today's The Peninsula
DOHA: To put an end to misconceptions about the Ka’aba in the holy city of Makkah, Fanar will showcase a model at least half the size of the original at the Fanar Expo 2009. The exhibition at Doha International Exhibition Center will run from November 19 to 23.
The cuboidal structure of the Ka’aba, the annual pilgrimage by millions of faithful and the city closed to non-Muslims have all aroused curiosity in people around the world. Some have disguised themselves as Muslims to enter the city of Makkah and then the Grand Mosque that houses the Ka’aba, to witness the pilgrims’ rituals.
“We will show people images of the beautiful, historic town and its details throughout the history of mankind,” said Mohammed Ali Al Ghamdi, General Director of Fanar.
“We will also take a unique step in showing the Ka’aba from the inside. Many people think that the Ka’aba is just a stone worshipped by the Muslims; others think that it contains graves or treasures or swords and shields. The model will show the details of the Ka’aba from outside and inside, to illustrate clearly that it is just an empty mosque.”
The height of the model will be seven metres, with its sides measuring six metres by seven metres. The actual dimensions of Ka’aba are 13.1m X 11.03m X 12.86m. Touch screens with information about the history of the Ka’aba and the history of the Prophets who made pilgrimages to it, charts and various maps will also be exhibited.
“We will present a panoramic view related to all aspects of Islam, in a modern, professional and attractive way. The aim is to cover the various issues of every visitor to the expo, be they from any community in the world. Separate areas have been designated to give information about Makkah, the Ka’aba, all of the Prophets, the holy books, arts, Islamic arts and other cultural activities through the eight departments of Fanar,” he said.
Apart from the Ka’aba and Makkah, the history of the Prophets mentioned in the Quran and their relationship with Islam, what Quran says about them and how Muslims value them will also be discussed.
Posters and charts on Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) will include his biography from his birth until the revelation of his mission, the glad tidings about him in earlier books, the humanitarian aspects of his mission, as well as the value that he preached.
Islam’s stand on the Testaments will also be showcased, showing the relationship between the Quran and earlier religious books and other prophets. The holiness of the Quran and its miraculous aspects will be highlighted in the expo.
“We will make a great show about architecture, decorations, ceramics, wood works, binding and other fine arts. It will contain a workshop by Ahmet Cocktan, an Ebro artist, and Obaidah Al Bankee, an international calligrapher, along with their masterpieces. Works of Muslim scientists and their contributions will also be shown,” Al Ghamdi said.
Qatari traditions will also be exhibited, showing the close relation the land has with the sea. “The sea and the desert, its importance to the region, the history of Qatar and its morals and culture will be shown through some motifs and traditional pieces from Qatar,” said Mohammed Ammar Al Boni, Executive Manager, Seqlia Exhibition Organisers, the main organisers of the event.
The expo will have a traditional souq, which will showcase traditions of Qatar such as making markook (traditional Qatari bread), pearl jewellery and wooden boat workshops. Visitors can also get an insight into Muslim prayers through live demonstrations.
A mosque and two majlis — one for men and another for ladies — will also be opened.
The expo will also have a theatre. The theater will be a venue for cultural and educational events conducted by a team form Britain and various Islamic organisations in Qatar.
THE PENINSULA
Note : The article was published in today's The Peninsula
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Back to school
While people in Malaysia celebrating the country's 52nd Independent Day, Alisha was back in school again in Doha.It was her 1st day at new school on 31 August 2009. She is now in Grade 1. We enrolled her at The International School of Choueifat. This is school which is on my way to work. It will be easy for me to drop her off and head straight to office...
I took 2 days off to ensure she settled well in her new school. The 1st day proved to be non-event...sigh.. Everything went so smoothly. In fact, it felt like any other school days for her. There was no registration! We went straight to the class. It did not even take us 5 minutes to locate her classroom.. List of student names for each class were published outside the classroom. You juts need to know how to read to locate the class..hehe. Everything seemed very much in order.. In fact, the school already allocated the table for her as well. Every table had names on them. Students just needed to go to the allocated table and ready for the class!! Everything completed in 10 minutes, I would say.. Then we left..
At 1st, I thought the only reason you would notice it was 1st day of the term was because so may cars parked at the road sides. But again, when I came back for the 2nd day to send Alisha to school, I could still see fleets of cars parked by the road sides... I suppose it was daily affair, not only on 1st day of the term.
I could not imagine how smooth the process was! I still remember how havoc any 1st day at school during my school years especially for 1st year or standard one students.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Merdeka, Merdeka, Merdeka
We would like to convey our congratulation to all Malaysians for the country's 52nd Independent Day!Let's join together to instil the true spirit of Merdeka in ourselves....
1Malaysia. People First, Performance Now.
Congratulation Malaysia!!!
Friday, August 21, 2009
Ramadan Kareem
We would like to wish our families and friends around the globe, especially in Malaysia and Qatar, a very happy & blessed month of Ramadhan. May Allah accept our ibadah and reward us accordingly. To our friends in Qatar, Malaysian Association of Qatar (MAQ) will be organising Ramadhan Bazaar for 3 consecutive Fridays starting from 28 August 2009 at Hyatt Plaza's Food Court.
MAQ will also hold an Iftar Programme on 27 August 2009 at Al Arabi Sports Club.
Selamat Berpuasa.. See you there!!! God Bless..
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Happy Birthday To My Other Half...
This card was from me, obviously
This card presented by our lovely daughter, Alisha
A very happy birthday to my lovely wife.. She celebrated her birthday today..
We had earlier celebrated her birthday with our extended family in Doha sometime ago before Dilla Damanhuri went for her summer holiday.. It was a surprise party handled very well by Dilla... The ladies presented her with a very nice necklace. It was Tiffany & Co, mind you... I gave me a great challenge to match the present.. huh.. My wife was dreaming of having a PSP for her birthday..
And today, we just went out for a lunch at City Centre. Some adviced us to go to latest hotel in Doha, Grand Hyatt Hotel or Four Seasons..
A day earlier, we actually held a joint celebration with Meorfai's youngest daughter, Farhain at Bennigan's. Originally, I planned to give them a treat for the lunch.. At the end, Ms Exxon picked up the tap.. hehe. Thanks so much for the great lunch. Semoga murah rezeki, bole belanja lagi..
July seems to be a very busy month for us. We realised that so many people we knew were July born babies...
Happy Birthday, my love.. Let's pray for many happy returns, InsyaAllah.. As for the present.. It is for me to know and for you to find out.. Trust some of you out there already knew.. Consider that as privilege..hehe..
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
2 years & many happen returns.. Part II
I 1st wrote about it in on our 1st anniversary last year. If you recall, Alisha made a statement about the heat while we were resting by the pool at Ramada Hotel on our 1st day in Doha. Till now I could still remember her words… But today, she never utters the words again. My guess she has been acclimatized to the heat in Doha.
Let me summarize our personal experiences for the last two years…
1. The Challenges
I would rate the experience to get a driving licence as the most challenging thing in Qatar. It is now a breeze for newcomers. They can easily convert their Malaysian licences to Qatari licences. I still remembered all Malaysians complained about it. In fact, I wrote quite a long article on my driving licence’s experience…
The 2nd challenge came in the form of house hunting. Two years before, it was landlords’ market. You either take it or leave it. If you want the house, put your money as deposit immediately. The real issue was that the houses/apartment here do not come standard. Back home, if you pay RM1,000, you can almost certain what you get. In Doha, you really need to see to appreciate it. Standard varies not in line with the prices. Today, it is more of tenants’ market. House rental has come down and we can see a lot of empty apartments around. I suppose the economics slow down has some impact in Qatar.
2. The Achievement
Achievement? It is rather difficult to say.. I will not go into monetary. It will be too controversial..hehe
What I knew I lost 10kg from the peak of my ‘prosperous time’. It was rather difficult task. It required sheer persistent and moral support. Criticism from Alisha was really a push factor. I still remember her first few word commenting “Daddy gemuk” or “Daddy is fat” whenever she saw me lay down with my belly up. How I managed to shed 10kg? 1st of all, thanks to RLC Football team especially the coach, Ali Musa, for allowing me to join the trainings. From there on, I kept losing the weight with the help of reduced food intake. The challenge now is to maintain the size! It was hard to get there, it is even harder to stay slim..hehe.
The only drawback when you lose so much weight is that you need new wardrobe which can be costly.. Most of my t-shirts & jeans are now 1 or 2 sizes too big..
On my wife's achievement, she passed her exam for her specialist programme, Alhamdulillah... Mabrouk to her..
3. The Great Loss
My wife lost her grandmother in our 1st month in Doha. May her soul rest in peace, amin.
4. The People’s Movement
The last two years witnessed the movement of our friends. There were few of our Malaysian friends who left Doha for Malaysia. Two prominent figures were Abe Zu & Deen. Both left us for Malaysia. Both of them were the 1st few friends we met when we 1st arrived in Doha.
Deen happened to my junior at school, way way my junior but we knew through our alumni. He was the one who helped us with our search for house/apartment together with Rizal ‘Cupcake’ Hamdan. Deen was also responsible to make it customary for us to take our newly arrived close friends in Doha to have dinner at Turkish Central. The restaurant was the 1st restaurant outside Ramada Hotel we went to have dinner. That was the restaurant we met Aizal & Yeen (Myra was still in her mum’s tummy then), Zu & Diba (we actually 1st met Diba on our flight from KUL-DOH). Through Deen also we knew Shah & family, Nije & Sha and Khizmie. The rest was history. Those are people who stick around with us during bad & good times.
Abe Zu was also the person who came up with his company’s pick up truck to help us move from Al Bayyan.
May be we should also mention about Aizal, Yeen and Baby Myra who had left us for London but returned to Doha in less than 1 year. Surely, Doha is so tempting..hehe
We also welcomed few of my ex-colleagues from Vietnam Operation here in Doha. 5 of them are now in Doha. That made Vietnam Operation as having the most casualties due to oil price boom.
5. The regret
After two years on this land, I have not been able to speak Arabic, the language of Quran. I have failed somehow.. I consider it as my deepest regret.. It may change now. Having the ‘Qatari Twins’ whom I consider like brothers may help me to speed up my Arabic learning... Ali & Jassim, you better help me to learn Arabic.. Wish me luck..
6. The Common Encounters
For the last two years, people keep mistaken us with Filipinos. I don’t blame them. This is especially true when we go to the restaurants where most waiters/waitresses are Filipinos. They tend to greet us with “Kabayan” or “How are you, Pok”. We normally responded to the greeting in English with a smile. After all, we don’t understand what they are talking about anyway…hehe. At the same time, we do not want to offend them..
7. The wish
We continue to stay in this blessed land unless suddenly an irresistible offer lands on my table. This is a country where we feel safety & security are essential part of life. In some parts of the world, safety & security have become luxury items.
2 years & many happen returns!!! Mabrouk...
Let me summarize our personal experiences for the last two years…
1. The Challenges
I would rate the experience to get a driving licence as the most challenging thing in Qatar. It is now a breeze for newcomers. They can easily convert their Malaysian licences to Qatari licences. I still remembered all Malaysians complained about it. In fact, I wrote quite a long article on my driving licence’s experience…
The 2nd challenge came in the form of house hunting. Two years before, it was landlords’ market. You either take it or leave it. If you want the house, put your money as deposit immediately. The real issue was that the houses/apartment here do not come standard. Back home, if you pay RM1,000, you can almost certain what you get. In Doha, you really need to see to appreciate it. Standard varies not in line with the prices. Today, it is more of tenants’ market. House rental has come down and we can see a lot of empty apartments around. I suppose the economics slow down has some impact in Qatar.
2. The Achievement
Achievement? It is rather difficult to say.. I will not go into monetary. It will be too controversial..hehe
What I knew I lost 10kg from the peak of my ‘prosperous time’. It was rather difficult task. It required sheer persistent and moral support. Criticism from Alisha was really a push factor. I still remember her first few word commenting “Daddy gemuk” or “Daddy is fat” whenever she saw me lay down with my belly up. How I managed to shed 10kg? 1st of all, thanks to RLC Football team especially the coach, Ali Musa, for allowing me to join the trainings. From there on, I kept losing the weight with the help of reduced food intake. The challenge now is to maintain the size! It was hard to get there, it is even harder to stay slim..hehe.
The only drawback when you lose so much weight is that you need new wardrobe which can be costly.. Most of my t-shirts & jeans are now 1 or 2 sizes too big..
On my wife's achievement, she passed her exam for her specialist programme, Alhamdulillah... Mabrouk to her..
3. The Great Loss
My wife lost her grandmother in our 1st month in Doha. May her soul rest in peace, amin.
4. The People’s Movement
The last two years witnessed the movement of our friends. There were few of our Malaysian friends who left Doha for Malaysia. Two prominent figures were Abe Zu & Deen. Both left us for Malaysia. Both of them were the 1st few friends we met when we 1st arrived in Doha.
Deen happened to my junior at school, way way my junior but we knew through our alumni. He was the one who helped us with our search for house/apartment together with Rizal ‘Cupcake’ Hamdan. Deen was also responsible to make it customary for us to take our newly arrived close friends in Doha to have dinner at Turkish Central. The restaurant was the 1st restaurant outside Ramada Hotel we went to have dinner. That was the restaurant we met Aizal & Yeen (Myra was still in her mum’s tummy then), Zu & Diba (we actually 1st met Diba on our flight from KUL-DOH). Through Deen also we knew Shah & family, Nije & Sha and Khizmie. The rest was history. Those are people who stick around with us during bad & good times.
Abe Zu was also the person who came up with his company’s pick up truck to help us move from Al Bayyan.
May be we should also mention about Aizal, Yeen and Baby Myra who had left us for London but returned to Doha in less than 1 year. Surely, Doha is so tempting..hehe
We also welcomed few of my ex-colleagues from Vietnam Operation here in Doha. 5 of them are now in Doha. That made Vietnam Operation as having the most casualties due to oil price boom.
5. The regret
After two years on this land, I have not been able to speak Arabic, the language of Quran. I have failed somehow.. I consider it as my deepest regret.. It may change now. Having the ‘Qatari Twins’ whom I consider like brothers may help me to speed up my Arabic learning... Ali & Jassim, you better help me to learn Arabic.. Wish me luck..
6. The Common Encounters
For the last two years, people keep mistaken us with Filipinos. I don’t blame them. This is especially true when we go to the restaurants where most waiters/waitresses are Filipinos. They tend to greet us with “Kabayan” or “How are you, Pok”. We normally responded to the greeting in English with a smile. After all, we don’t understand what they are talking about anyway…hehe. At the same time, we do not want to offend them..
7. The wish
We continue to stay in this blessed land unless suddenly an irresistible offer lands on my table. This is a country where we feel safety & security are essential part of life. In some parts of the world, safety & security have become luxury items.
2 years & many happen returns!!! Mabrouk...
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
2 years and many happen returns..
We completed our 2nd year today! Some call it anniversary.. Some call it just another day, another year...
I will write more on this subject.. For now, many happy return...
I will write more on this subject.. For now, many happy return...
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Summer is here...
Officially summer season started on 21 June 2009. This is for the geographically fanatic people... You can read about it here...
Here in Doha, you just know that summer is here when :
1. you get up for Subuh prayer at 3.15am in the morning and sunrise is at around 4.45am..pergh so early ma...
2. your drive to work at 6am with temperature around 38C. That rules out Picnic@Corniche all together...
3. the mercury hits 45C on midday. Hold on.. during the peak of summer the temperature will reach 50C! You will sizzle.. So, 45C is still mild.. huhu
4. the locals & expats leave in drove to enjoy better weather outside the country ( wonder what I am doing here in this harsh weather..hehe)
5. roads are clear just like Kuala Lumpur during Eid holiday especially early in the morning on your way to work... hehe
6. tap water become unbearably hot without you switching on the water heater (I can not stand this!!!). Thing I hate most during summer time...
7. flight tickets to destinations get more expensive
8. the 1st question asked when you meet people is 'When are you going for your summer holiday?'. Honestly, I get pressured when every single soul I meet ask me the question.. I have to repeat my answer time & time again. Probably I should issue a press statement or tape it and play the tape when the question arises again.. haha
9. the wives aka queens of the houses stuck with the kids almost 24 hours cause the school holiday has already started. This requires a lot of patient.. God help them...
10. Qatar Football Association (QFA) organises Beach Football Tournament under the scorching heat of 43C. You need to be serious!! I mean serious determination to play in the heat. Even the spectators give up.. haha. The funny thing is that the beach football is actually organised in the middle of open field, not at the beach.
Here in Doha, you just know that summer is here when :
1. you get up for Subuh prayer at 3.15am in the morning and sunrise is at around 4.45am..pergh so early ma...
2. your drive to work at 6am with temperature around 38C. That rules out Picnic@Corniche all together...
3. the mercury hits 45C on midday. Hold on.. during the peak of summer the temperature will reach 50C! You will sizzle.. So, 45C is still mild.. huhu
4. the locals & expats leave in drove to enjoy better weather outside the country ( wonder what I am doing here in this harsh weather..hehe)
5. roads are clear just like Kuala Lumpur during Eid holiday especially early in the morning on your way to work... hehe
6. tap water become unbearably hot without you switching on the water heater (I can not stand this!!!). Thing I hate most during summer time...
7. flight tickets to destinations get more expensive
8. the 1st question asked when you meet people is 'When are you going for your summer holiday?'. Honestly, I get pressured when every single soul I meet ask me the question.. I have to repeat my answer time & time again. Probably I should issue a press statement or tape it and play the tape when the question arises again.. haha
9. the wives aka queens of the houses stuck with the kids almost 24 hours cause the school holiday has already started. This requires a lot of patient.. God help them...
10. Qatar Football Association (QFA) organises Beach Football Tournament under the scorching heat of 43C. You need to be serious!! I mean serious determination to play in the heat. Even the spectators give up.. haha. The funny thing is that the beach football is actually organised in the middle of open field, not at the beach.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
You are now FIVE!!! Let's celebrate
The Celebrant : Alisha Soffeya
The Venue : Cafe Ceramique, The Mall
The Date : Sometime in May 09
The Sponsor : Daddy & Mummy
The Profesional Photographer : Kharul Panjang
The Venue : Cafe Ceramique, The Mall
The Date : Sometime in May 09
The Sponsor : Daddy & Mummy
The Profesional Photographer : Kharul Panjang
Million thanks to those who spent time with us despite their tight schedules.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
My Angel.. You are now FIVE!!!
Alisha Soffeya... you are now FIVE years old.
Today was the day when we 1st saw you in this world. I still remembered the moment you opened your eyes when you heard your 1st athan from me. The moment I would never forget, the moment of joy for both of us, your parents...
Alisha's 1st 5th birthday wish came as early as 3.54am on 26 May 2009. It came in the form of SMS. Off course it was not from us, it was from her عم علي.
On her birthday, we took out Alisha to Chilli's. Mind you, she chose the restaurant. We just took her there to have the meal. While we were at Chilli's, we ordered desert and asked the waiters to put candle on it.
The best moment came when the staffs at Chilli's came with the desert on their hand and sang Happy Birthday. Alisha was panicking. She did not know what to do. We could tell from her eyes that she was a bit worried. Instead of smiling, she was upset... hehe. Probably she was overwhelm with emotion? She only overcame her fear when we asked her to blow the candle. She did it in split second. I did not even manage to capture it on camera.
Happy Birthday, darling. May you grow up and become the proud of your parents, insyaAllah.
Today was the day when we 1st saw you in this world. I still remembered the moment you opened your eyes when you heard your 1st athan from me. The moment I would never forget, the moment of joy for both of us, your parents...
Alisha's 1st 5th birthday wish came as early as 3.54am on 26 May 2009. It came in the form of SMS. Off course it was not from us, it was from her عم علي.
On her birthday, we took out Alisha to Chilli's. Mind you, she chose the restaurant. We just took her there to have the meal. While we were at Chilli's, we ordered desert and asked the waiters to put candle on it.
The best moment came when the staffs at Chilli's came with the desert on their hand and sang Happy Birthday. Alisha was panicking. She did not know what to do. We could tell from her eyes that she was a bit worried. Instead of smiling, she was upset... hehe. Probably she was overwhelm with emotion? She only overcame her fear when we asked her to blow the candle. She did it in split second. I did not even manage to capture it on camera.
Happy Birthday, darling. May you grow up and become the proud of your parents, insyaAllah.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
مبروك to RLC Football Team
Proud to announce the advance of RLC Football Team to the 2nd round of QP Chairman's Football Tournament 2009.
Not only had they qualified for the 2nd round, they also did it in style.. They beat Occidental Petroleum (OXY) 10-2. What a night to remember.. Players Of The Night were Ali Musa & Mohamed Juma. Both of them scored 4 each while Mohamed Harbi & Mohamed Derbali scored 1 each.
Unfortunately, all the achievements not without any drama.. On our previous game, we were beaten to the core. We lost 6-1 to Dolphin. I personally called it A 6-1 Night of Nightmare..
However, Allah must be on our side though.. HE rewarded us with our effort & surprised us with pleasant finding. We discovered that one of the players from Dolphin was actually a professional player who played in Qatar League under Qatar Football Federation. It was a breach of the tournament rule. Professional players could only be in the team if they were working with the Oil & Gas companies they represented but not as import players. For that reason, they were penalised & considered lost the game 3-0.
Once we had cleared Dolphin out of our way, the next hurdle was to take on OXY which we considered as an easy task. We knew that OXY lost miserably to Gas Operation (Ali's twin, Jassim played for this team) 16-1. Yes, they lost 16-1. You might think they played basketball... hehe. We managed to win 10-2..
The 2nd round will be a tough game as we will meet AMWAJ. AMWAJ has 2 supermen on its right wing. They run so fast & reach the goal before you can even blink... We had friendly game with them last time...
Whatever it is, hopefully the team will get through to semi-final... The next game will be on 24 May 09.. Will they bow out to pressure or stand tall?
If they sail through to semi-final, it will be the 1st time ever RLC goes to semi-final after 12 years of the tournament life.. Then we can celebrate..
Not only had they qualified for the 2nd round, they also did it in style.. They beat Occidental Petroleum (OXY) 10-2. What a night to remember.. Players Of The Night were Ali Musa & Mohamed Juma. Both of them scored 4 each while Mohamed Harbi & Mohamed Derbali scored 1 each.
Unfortunately, all the achievements not without any drama.. On our previous game, we were beaten to the core. We lost 6-1 to Dolphin. I personally called it A 6-1 Night of Nightmare..However, Allah must be on our side though.. HE rewarded us with our effort & surprised us with pleasant finding. We discovered that one of the players from Dolphin was actually a professional player who played in Qatar League under Qatar Football Federation. It was a breach of the tournament rule. Professional players could only be in the team if they were working with the Oil & Gas companies they represented but not as import players. For that reason, they were penalised & considered lost the game 3-0.
Once we had cleared Dolphin out of our way, the next hurdle was to take on OXY which we considered as an easy task. We knew that OXY lost miserably to Gas Operation (Ali's twin, Jassim played for this team) 16-1. Yes, they lost 16-1. You might think they played basketball... hehe. We managed to win 10-2..
The 2nd round will be a tough game as we will meet AMWAJ. AMWAJ has 2 supermen on its right wing. They run so fast & reach the goal before you can even blink... We had friendly game with them last time...
Whatever it is, hopefully the team will get through to semi-final... The next game will be on 24 May 09.. Will they bow out to pressure or stand tall?
If they sail through to semi-final, it will be the 1st time ever RLC goes to semi-final after 12 years of the tournament life.. Then we can celebrate..
Saturday, May 9, 2009
My Wallet, Qatar & me....
I wish I could never experience this moment in my life again...
I could not find it anywhere in the house. Occasionally, I left the wallet in the car. I tried to look for it in the car.. Nothing!! Then the panic started to kick in... Obviously I did not show it to my wife when I told her that I could not find my wallet. I just asked her if she saw it.. She started to drill me with all sort of questions. At that point I felt I was her patient... She asked as if she was taking the history of her patient.. Still I remained cool... At least I like to think I sounded cool to her...
Prior to that... That morning I drove around without any ID with me. No driving licence, no Qatar ID.. Luckily I had some cash with me.. hehe. Another habit of mine.. Keep money everywhere except in the wallet... In this occasion, it was proven that the habit helped. Otherwise I would go penniless..
When I still could not find the wallet. I realised something was not right. If we could not locate it in the house and in the car, it might be somewhere else.. The question was.. WHERE????
From my wife's interrogation, we concluded that I might have dropped or lost it when we were having dinner at Pendarosa with Asings & Kharul.. Scary thought!!!
At that point, I asked my wife if she ever received SMS from QNB for the usage of my credit card on that day... Over here in Qatar, the moment you charge your purchase to your card, you will be notified through SMS of your spending almost immediately.. Extremely super efficient SMS banking system we have in Qatar. My wife's mobile number was the official number the bank had for notification through SMS. The fact that no SMS came through to her was a big relief. It just meant that my wallet was out there and nobody used the ATM and credit cards for spending spree...
We decided to go back to Pendarosa to try our luck... I was a bit embarrass to ask the Manager On Duty. Certainly I did not want to look stupid (غبي)... To my surprise, the Manager On Duty admitted that his staff found one wallet under the table a night before. He did some simple check to confirm my identity.. I could not believe that I got my wallet back!!! I thanked Pendarosa staff for being honest.. Keep it up..
I was such a big relief to get my wallet back with EVERYTHING intact. Not a single Riyal missing from my wallet.. I told the Manager that if I were to lose my wallet in Malaysia, I would never see it again.. But here in Qatar, things are different. Hopefully it stays that way.... That also reminded me of Ali who always left his Lexus with engine running whenever he went into shops to buy something. I always told him that if he did that in Malaysia, he would never see his car again.. EVER..
Ironically... During the dinner that night, Asings talked about how he lost some money in Malaysia to email scam or better known as Phishing Scam. I was jokingly said that he needed to pay Zakat to 'clean' his money.. It must be very painful for him to lose the hard earned money to unscrupulous guy.... Here I was joking about it.. I sometime could be so insensitive...
For me, I considered myself lucky to have my wallet back, Alhamdulillah. I better be extra careful next time... I may not be that lucky next time..
For those who are still unaware of the phishing scam, be careful and don't fall into the trap... I copy this message from Maybank2U website..
Police alert!
NEVER respond to any phone call / SMS / email requesting your bank account details
NEVER reveal your bank account details / ATM PIN / Internet banking password to anyone
NEVER follow instructions from unknown parties to do banking transactions or make changes to your bank account details
NEVER be a victim of schemes that sound too good to be true
At 1st I thought I misplaced my wallet in the house. I took it easy.. It was just me. Took things for granted. Something that my wife always nag about.. hehe.
I could not find it anywhere in the house. Occasionally, I left the wallet in the car. I tried to look for it in the car.. Nothing!! Then the panic started to kick in... Obviously I did not show it to my wife when I told her that I could not find my wallet. I just asked her if she saw it.. She started to drill me with all sort of questions. At that point I felt I was her patient... She asked as if she was taking the history of her patient.. Still I remained cool... At least I like to think I sounded cool to her...
Prior to that... That morning I drove around without any ID with me. No driving licence, no Qatar ID.. Luckily I had some cash with me.. hehe. Another habit of mine.. Keep money everywhere except in the wallet... In this occasion, it was proven that the habit helped. Otherwise I would go penniless..
When I still could not find the wallet. I realised something was not right. If we could not locate it in the house and in the car, it might be somewhere else.. The question was.. WHERE????
From my wife's interrogation, we concluded that I might have dropped or lost it when we were having dinner at Pendarosa with Asings & Kharul.. Scary thought!!!
At that point, I asked my wife if she ever received SMS from QNB for the usage of my credit card on that day... Over here in Qatar, the moment you charge your purchase to your card, you will be notified through SMS of your spending almost immediately.. Extremely super efficient SMS banking system we have in Qatar. My wife's mobile number was the official number the bank had for notification through SMS. The fact that no SMS came through to her was a big relief. It just meant that my wallet was out there and nobody used the ATM and credit cards for spending spree...
We decided to go back to Pendarosa to try our luck... I was a bit embarrass to ask the Manager On Duty. Certainly I did not want to look stupid (غبي)... To my surprise, the Manager On Duty admitted that his staff found one wallet under the table a night before. He did some simple check to confirm my identity.. I could not believe that I got my wallet back!!! I thanked Pendarosa staff for being honest.. Keep it up..
I was such a big relief to get my wallet back with EVERYTHING intact. Not a single Riyal missing from my wallet.. I told the Manager that if I were to lose my wallet in Malaysia, I would never see it again.. But here in Qatar, things are different. Hopefully it stays that way.... That also reminded me of Ali who always left his Lexus with engine running whenever he went into shops to buy something. I always told him that if he did that in Malaysia, he would never see his car again.. EVER..
Ironically... During the dinner that night, Asings talked about how he lost some money in Malaysia to email scam or better known as Phishing Scam. I was jokingly said that he needed to pay Zakat to 'clean' his money.. It must be very painful for him to lose the hard earned money to unscrupulous guy.... Here I was joking about it.. I sometime could be so insensitive...
For me, I considered myself lucky to have my wallet back, Alhamdulillah. I better be extra careful next time... I may not be that lucky next time..
For those who are still unaware of the phishing scam, be careful and don't fall into the trap... I copy this message from Maybank2U website..
Police alert!
NEVER respond to any phone call / SMS / email requesting your bank account details
NEVER reveal your bank account details / ATM PIN / Internet banking password to anyone
NEVER follow instructions from unknown parties to do banking transactions or make changes to your bank account details
NEVER be a victim of schemes that sound too good to be true
Friday, May 1, 2009
RLC Team Made Its Debut
RLC means Ras Laffan Industrial City. It is for those who do not know what RLC stands for. It is where my office is..
The match was the 1st match after almost two months of training.. It was on 28 April 2009 ie last week.
Getting ready for the championship was not easy. What made it more challenging was to get the players who worked on shifts to attend the trainings. What made matter worse was that the coach, Ali was also a professional player who had commitment to his club. Even then, the coach seemed more committed & discipline than the players...hehe. I suppose it took a lot of discipline & hardwork to be a professional footballers. Else, everyone would be a professional footballers. I was very sure I would not be one.. haha. I could never play football.
The good thing about having involved with the training was that I had already lost 5kg, I still needed to trim 4kg more... With the tournament had been in full gear, I might not be able to fully participate in the trainings. The coach & players now concentrated more on tactics & strategy. I was really going for fitness.. I could still join them for early part of the training ie fitness part of it..
All the preparations were for QP Chairman Football Tournament 2009. It was officially launched on 22 April 2009. All Oil & Gas companies operating in Qatar had been invited to participate in the tournament.
On its 1st debut on 28 April 2009, RLC team fought hard till the end. At the end, they had to settle for a 3-2 lost to Gas Operation, Maiseed. It was an interesting game with RLC team controlled the 1st half of the game. Unfortunately, luck was not on RLC side on that night.They have two more games for the 1st round. Hopefully, they will win and qualify for 2nd round.
Thank you all..
What a pleasant surprise!!! Another birthday present arrived at the door today from Azerdills. Accompanying the present was a card that would keep me going for the next few years.. hehe. For this year's birthday, presents came at different times. The earliest was about 1 month before my birthday. It was from Alisha & my wife. The second came 1 week before my birthday from my brother..
Today's present was the latest, might not be the last..hehe.. I don't have to mention about my birthday present I bought for myself which arrived from Malaysia on my birthday itself.. Thanks to Kharul Panjang for being the excellent courier. Not fogetting the birthday present & luncheon hosted by Meorfai as well as the nice black tie presented by Naguib.
Thank you Dood for the present. It was rather unexpected... Sorry to miss the dinner last night... Duty call..haha. Otherwise, it would have been a grand present giving ceremony.
I just can not wait for the next birthday...
Monday, April 20, 2009
Wedding of a local boy..
Another opportunity to attend a wedding knocked at my door last night.. Ali invited me to his cousin's wedding... In fact, Ali mentioned to me about the wedding more than two weeks ago. I did not really think it would materialise as we never talked about it until yesterday morning. Then he reminded me about the wedding in the morning... As usual, I jumped at the opportunity.
I never wanted to miss the traditional sword dance again.. I missed the dance at the last wedding, remember? It was the wedding at The Diplomatic Club.. I was quite unlucky to miss it last time.
For this wedding, I took along my not-so-new camera. At first, I thought I would be bringing only my 50mm lens as I did not want to be seen as official cameraman for the wedding.. Honestly, I did not want to intimidate the official cameraman.. hehe.. Ali insisted that I must bring the camera with 24-70mm lens (I am sorry Kerel, I really need to mention about my lens. I am proud of it..hehe) for me take shots of the wedding..
Funny enough, I met the videoman from the wedding at The Diplomatic Club.. He recognised me! He still remembered my compact Canon A70 PowerShot I brought to the last wedding. He was trying to tell me that I came with small camera then. Now, I came with this huge camera. He spoke to me in Arabic. Rather unfortunate that I could not speak Arabic. I knew what he was trying to tell because he kept pointing at my camera... Ali was also next to me to be the translator..
It was the 1st time I tried to take photos of a wedding. I was nervous, obviously. I had to take 20 min crash course from Asings The Guru. As I was not sure of the venue, it made it harder. I had 50% chance of getting it right. It could be either in a hall or tent. As I was not sure what to expect, I had to borrow Kerel's speedlight. So, my crash course revolved around the use of speedlight SB900 ie the angle, the camera set up etc. After all the crash course, I just tawakkal..
For the wedding last night, I was not particularly alone. I meant, I was not the only one without thob unlike in my last experience where I was a complete stranger in the middle of the tent.. There were few guests came with office attire. I was fine.. That alone took a big load of my shoulder. The job for the night came 50% lighter...
The wedding went well. The guests congratulated the groom, took photo together for the memory.. Then came the most waited moment for me for the night-the sword dance... Apparently, they took few minutes rest in between the dances. I realised that the swords were actually heavy. Now I knew why the twins were sweating after each dance..
I stayed till the end of the wedding. The event after the wedding was also interesting. It was more of a send off event for the groom with few cars performed some kind of stunt with loud screeching sound. It was very loud with smoke & smell of burning tyres filled up the air..I reckoned it caused a massive traffic jam as well.. hehe
I never wanted to miss the traditional sword dance again.. I missed the dance at the last wedding, remember? It was the wedding at The Diplomatic Club.. I was quite unlucky to miss it last time.
For this wedding, I took along my not-so-new camera. At first, I thought I would be bringing only my 50mm lens as I did not want to be seen as official cameraman for the wedding.. Honestly, I did not want to intimidate the official cameraman.. hehe.. Ali insisted that I must bring the camera with 24-70mm lens (I am sorry Kerel, I really need to mention about my lens. I am proud of it..hehe) for me take shots of the wedding..
Funny enough, I met the videoman from the wedding at The Diplomatic Club.. He recognised me! He still remembered my compact Canon A70 PowerShot I brought to the last wedding. He was trying to tell me that I came with small camera then. Now, I came with this huge camera. He spoke to me in Arabic. Rather unfortunate that I could not speak Arabic. I knew what he was trying to tell because he kept pointing at my camera... Ali was also next to me to be the translator..
It was the 1st time I tried to take photos of a wedding. I was nervous, obviously. I had to take 20 min crash course from Asings The Guru. As I was not sure of the venue, it made it harder. I had 50% chance of getting it right. It could be either in a hall or tent. As I was not sure what to expect, I had to borrow Kerel's speedlight. So, my crash course revolved around the use of speedlight SB900 ie the angle, the camera set up etc. After all the crash course, I just tawakkal..
For the wedding last night, I was not particularly alone. I meant, I was not the only one without thob unlike in my last experience where I was a complete stranger in the middle of the tent.. There were few guests came with office attire. I was fine.. That alone took a big load of my shoulder. The job for the night came 50% lighter...
The wedding went well. The guests congratulated the groom, took photo together for the memory.. Then came the most waited moment for me for the night-the sword dance... Apparently, they took few minutes rest in between the dances. I realised that the swords were actually heavy. Now I knew why the twins were sweating after each dance..
I stayed till the end of the wedding. The event after the wedding was also interesting. It was more of a send off event for the groom with few cars performed some kind of stunt with loud screeching sound. It was very loud with smoke & smell of burning tyres filled up the air..I reckoned it caused a massive traffic jam as well.. hehe
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Strobist with the experts..
They call it STROBIST.. New term to me.. hehe. Nevertheless, it was interesting especially when you were with the experts. I wanted to ask many questions but I was to embarrass to prove my stupidity.. haha.We started the night with a dinner at Thai Smile. We bumped into Aizal, Khimie & Nije at the restaurant.. Marhaba to Aizal!! Welcome home!!
Then we headed straight to The Museum of Islamic Art, the location of our photography session for the night. Everybody took out their equipments and ready for action. For the session, we had 5 cameras, 3 speedlights and 2 tripods. The models were ourselves.. hehe.
It took a while before the session started as the gurus were busy setting up our cameras, the speedlights etc. Once it started, everything went well.. Only minor hiccups when the young models refused to pose.. They ran around outside the shooting area..
However, the night did not start without a drama.. When I reached Thai Smile, I could not take my car key out. I decided to keep the car key intact and went to the restaurant. What the heck.. After all, we are in Qatar. Not in Malaysia.. What worry me most was that the car boot was full with football equipments such as 15 balls of QR350 each, training cones & about 10 pairs of brand new football shoes of less than QR500 each.. I still could not take the key out when we reached Museum of Islamic Art... I just left the car by the road side and headed for our target location for the photo session.Only when I reached home I discovered the real reason behind the stucked key. Apparently, the gear did not fully disengage when I put it at P. Something stucked in between. I suspected it though. I could not do much as I was very excited to have my dinner and photo session. When I removed it, I managed to pull the car key out. What a relieve!
As you can see there were 3 speedlight SB900 in place to get the strobist effect..You can view few more photos from my flickr or Asings The Expert's or Kerel Let's Go Wide's or Kharul Panjang's.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
3 birthdays, 1 belated celebration...
Last Friday, our big extended family in Doha celebrated 3 belated birthdays for March borns.. I was one of them.. Che Le & Nije were the other two..
It was rather a surprise party organised at Che Le's villa. Surprise but no surprise. What surprise were you talking about when the party was organised almost 1 month after the birthdates? hehe... You knew it was coming.. You knew your family would never forget about your birthday.. The only question was WHEN? Then you needed to find out when everyone was available...
Thanks to Ija & others for taking the lead and made it happen..
To be honest, it was quite normal for us here in Doha to celebrate the birthdays much later than the actual dates. Reason being.... it was a challenge by itself to have everyone around! When you have big extended family members who are busy with their careers, it is next to impossible to have all of us around at the same time. This is very true when we have mix of professions in our family members... Few need to be on the air most of the times.. Some need to work on shifts. Some need to work on Saturday.. Only the lucky few (read me & Che Le) are available all the times. Aren't we lucky? Nevertheless, we try to have the all members to be present...
Somehow, the ladies had been very lucky to have their surprise parties organised on the date they were born.. We do treat our ladies extra special in that manner...
We started with 'fat yourself ceremony'... The curry noodle was good, honest!! We had two types of fried rice. One what we called Tounge Burning Fried Rice or Nasi Goreng Kampung and another one prepared by Nije & Sha for those with sensitive tounges.. haha.. Pengat Pisang prepared by Abe Zu & Kak Diba was also excellent!
Then came the surprise birthday cakes.. I shared the cake with Nije.. Che Le had one on his own.... Not fair! Luckily, our cake was a lot bigger.. As Nije's name was smudged, it looked like my personal birthday cake.. hehe. Sorry Nije..
It was rather a surprise party organised at Che Le's villa. Surprise but no surprise. What surprise were you talking about when the party was organised almost 1 month after the birthdates? hehe... You knew it was coming.. You knew your family would never forget about your birthday.. The only question was WHEN? Then you needed to find out when everyone was available...Thanks to Ija & others for taking the lead and made it happen..
To be honest, it was quite normal for us here in Doha to celebrate the birthdays much later than the actual dates. Reason being.... it was a challenge by itself to have everyone around! When you have big extended family members who are busy with their careers, it is next to impossible to have all of us around at the same time. This is very true when we have mix of professions in our family members... Few need to be on the air most of the times.. Some need to work on shifts. Some need to work on Saturday.. Only the lucky few (read me & Che Le) are available all the times. Aren't we lucky? Nevertheless, we try to have the all members to be present...
Somehow, the ladies had been very lucky to have their surprise parties organised on the date they were born.. We do treat our ladies extra special in that manner...
We started with 'fat yourself ceremony'... The curry noodle was good, honest!! We had two types of fried rice. One what we called Tounge Burning Fried Rice or Nasi Goreng Kampung and another one prepared by Nije & Sha for those with sensitive tounges.. haha.. Pengat Pisang prepared by Abe Zu & Kak Diba was also excellent!
Then came the surprise birthday cakes.. I shared the cake with Nije.. Che Le had one on his own.... Not fair! Luckily, our cake was a lot bigger.. As Nije's name was smudged, it looked like my personal birthday cake.. hehe. Sorry Nije..
We also took the opportunity to present Baby Amir Ashraf with his present. This was long overdue... He is now almost two months old... Since Baby Amir Ashraf could not make it that night, his big brother, Aidil accepted the present on his behalf...
Saturday, April 4, 2009
My 1st & 2nd outings...
This is my 1st & 2nd outings with the new toy.. Rather challenging due to the fact that I needed to take shots of football games.. I tried my best.. What else could I do? Luckily, there was not so much action on the 1st outing though due to the fact that Ali, who requested me to take the shots, did not play on that night..On the 1st outing, I realised that my lens was only sufficient for medium range photography...
The next day was real photography for me. This was the 2nd outing.. Lucky me, I managed to borrow a longer range lens for that night. Thanks to NKhairil79.
On that 2nd night of outing, the real challenge was to capture the best moments of the game.. It was rather difficult being a beginner! Trust me.. I did not manage to capture the moments when Ali scored two goals for his team. To begin with, I came late to the match.. hehe. I missed the 1st goal. He nearly scored three goals! He missed one goal. If he did not get cramped leg for the last 10 minutes of the match, he probably would have scored more... Well done to Ali & his team for winning the game hands down, 4-1!
I managed to capture his 2nd goal on video though. Could you imagine how busy I was that night? At points of time I needed to take photos & the other points I needed to record the game on videocam. A real challenge for me! They required skills and extra pairs of hand, definitely... I was very sure Ali was happy with the results of my skills.. Else he would not give me one of the medals presented to the players from Qatar Football Association (QFA).. تسلم.
There was actually official closing ceremony to mark the end of Season 08/09. All players were given a medal for being part of the tournament. Since they had extra medals, Ali took one and gave it to me. I hope we would not get into trouble with QFA.. hehe. I had yet to take photo of the medal.. Will do it soon and upload it here, InsyaAllah.
(As promised... here is the medal.. updated on 12 April 2009
The goal shown down here came from a free kick... At least I managed to get one shot for the goal.. Not bad for a beginner...
Still I need to learn a lot more... It will take more time & effort to get the best out of this camera.. Luckily, I have few friends who are ever willing to part with the knowledge and skills... Thank you, guys...
Still I need to learn a lot more... It will take more time & effort to get the best out of this camera.. Luckily, I have few friends who are ever willing to part with the knowledge and skills... Thank you, guys...Friday, April 3, 2009
I feel like home!!!!
What a feeling today... Got up in the morning ( was it really morning? hmmm..) to the sound of rainfall!! At first I could not believe it. The exact same thing happenned like last weekend. RAIN!!!
Indeed, it was raining again today. For Qatar standard, I would consider it as heavy rain. For Malaysian standard, it was probably nothing.... However, it was slightly heavier around solat Jumaat time..
In fact, there were deep pool of water everywhere especially near Al Bayyan Gardens where I normally go for solat Jumaat.. It was quite deep really. I was lucky. I did not get stucked in the pool of water. Else I would have spoiled my car engine..
Thanks to the rain... I also realised that my Skoda's windscreen was not fitted properly when they replaced the windscreen long time ago. Traces of water & wet interior clearly visible near the driver's side..At 1st I thought I forgot to wind up the driver's window last night. Then I realised that all windows were properly wound up.. A good reason for me to send the car to my Transport Department for service..
The rain did make me felt like home today. It would be perfect if the flash flood was also there, just like in Kuala Lumpur... hehe..
Indeed, it was raining again today. For Qatar standard, I would consider it as heavy rain. For Malaysian standard, it was probably nothing.... However, it was slightly heavier around solat Jumaat time..
In fact, there were deep pool of water everywhere especially near Al Bayyan Gardens where I normally go for solat Jumaat.. It was quite deep really. I was lucky. I did not get stucked in the pool of water. Else I would have spoiled my car engine..
Thanks to the rain... I also realised that my Skoda's windscreen was not fitted properly when they replaced the windscreen long time ago. Traces of water & wet interior clearly visible near the driver's side..At 1st I thought I forgot to wind up the driver's window last night. Then I realised that all windows were properly wound up.. A good reason for me to send the car to my Transport Department for service..
The rain did make me felt like home today. It would be perfect if the flash flood was also there, just like in Kuala Lumpur... hehe..
Saturday, March 28, 2009
One weekend, two birthdays
Finally, the weekend is here... Time for birthday celebration!!!
Somehow the celebration started yesterday. The celebration started off with lunch at Bennigan's yesterday. The only reason we celebrated it a day earlier was because someone had to earn a living today.. My wife is on call today on my birthday! It is not that bad considering I already received my birthday present 1 month in advance..hehe.
During the lunch at Bennigan's we asked Alisha what she had for me for my birthday... She spontaneously presented me with a bottle of root beer. It was so cute. She realised she did not have any money to buy me present. What she did was to give me the unopened bottle of root beer drink in front of us! How lovely... Thank you so much sweetie for being so thoughtful... It was at that point I realised the true meaning of the "Thought That Counts".. hehe. Alisha also presented to me a lovely birthday card... Thank you so much sweetie for being so thoughtful...
The mood was already also in the air yesterday because little Abdullah, Ali's son, celebrated his 1st birthday yesterday, 27 March 2009. For that, we presented him with a little present. It was only appropriate for me to continue with my own birthday celebration.. I always created reasons to celebrate anyway..hehe
Happy 1st Birthday, Abdullah. May you grow & become the proud of your parents. May you take care of your parents as much as they take care of you now.And today? Early in the morning I received fews sms wishing me Happy Birthday... It was as early as 6.54am! Thanks guys.. So thoughtful.. You people must be dying to wish me happy birthday.. muahaha.. It is also good to note that people do use technology nowadays to wish happy birthday. Gone are the days people send you card for birthdays. Now, Facebook replaces cards! With Facebook, many of our friends are forced to remember our birthdays.. hehe. Good or bad? Bad when they keep reminding us about our age..
Happy Birthday to me...Here are the presents that I received for my birthday on top of the doas from all of you. One of them, I actually bought for myself as my birthday present. I let you guess which one.. hehe. Thank you so much for the presents!! Thank you so much for the birthday lunch. I shall remember to return the favours when the times come, InsyaAllah.
During the birthday weekend, Allah The Almighty poured Qatar with rain. We seriously felt at home. It was heavy rain in the afternoon & at night... It must be the present from Allah for Abdullah, the people of Qatar and me... The rain actually started from Thusday morning till afternoon and continued over the weekend...
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