Size Does Matter!!!

Hi folks!!!

My sincerely apology for not writing lately... A bit tight up with nothing really..haha.. In actual fact there is nothing interesting to write. Life has been very quiet lately. Not much activities except on weekend. Weekend filled with open houses. The same thing again this weekend. 3 more open houses already line dup for the weekend. Gosh.. the waist line seems to be getting to its original size before fasting month..

The good thing to mention here is that Azerdills has already moved to their new apartment which is bigger. Does size matter!!! It is not a myth... hmmm... From my observation, the living room can easily accomodate 30 people sitting comfortably. The number will definitely be around 100 if everybody is standing...hehe. There will be no reason not to hold house warming party. Size was always the reason given by Azerdills when MT, Zal & the gang requested for makan-makan at their place. Wonder what would be their answer now. Obviously no reason.

I somehow feel that house warming is just around the corner (..hint hint...)..We just need the party organiser to recover from retinal detachment operation & come back to Doha to continue the legacy of MT. Damn, we do miss your presence here, MT. Life is not the same without MT in Doha...

Olympics 2016 Bid

Qatar will officially launch her bid to host Olympics Game in 2016 today. The Corniche is fully geared up for the launch today of the logo and website of Doha Olympic 2016 as Doha is competing with six other cities to organise the international games.


Dazzling show: A rehearsal held at the Corniche yesterday for the spectacular launch ceremony of the Doha Olympic 2016 bid to be held today, 25 October 2007.

A poster of Qatari archer and rally car driver Nada Zeidan on a building near Abu Bakar Siddiqi mosque, in preparation for the Doha 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympics Games Applicant City ceremony today

Eat Out At Thai Snacks

It was a family eat out for Azerdills's family last night. Thai Snacks was the choice. As I had to wait for a friend & his family arriving from Kuala Lumpur, Alisha & I tagged along to kill the time. ( Someone had to work to earn a living while we enjoyed ourselves at the restaurant ). Dato' K The Photographer ( K=Khizmie ) was also there to enjoy the Thai Food with us. Thanks Dato' K for the the good shots..
Tomyam, Fried Kangkong aka Morning Glory & steamed fish were chosen. I decided to drink iced tea with milk only as I already had dinner at home. Surprising Alisha still had the appetite to eat. I bet it was due to stiff competition from Aidil!!! At the end both of them ate quite a fair amount of rice.

We nearly got some discount a the restaurant when the cashier mistakenly charged us for someone else's table which was cheaper...

At 9.45pm, we left the restaurant while the happy kids happily holding hands. Just a matter of 1 1/2 hours, kids can become like inseparable friends. Amazing!!!!

Welcome Home, TDM

Look what I found in Gulf Times today....

Published: Monday, 22 October, 2007, 02:38 AM Doha Time

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, 82, left hospital yesterday after heart surgery, ending about a month in intensive care.Mahathir, who still wields political influence in Malaysia after ruling for 22 years until 2003, underwent his second heart bypass operation last month but early prospects for a rapid recovery vanished after he contracted a chest infection. Doctors were forced to re-enter the elderly statesman’s chest a second time three weeks ago to cut away infected tissue.

Mahathir, smiling and looking relaxed in a maroon shirt and dark trousers, waved to dozens of well-wishers, photographers and reporters as he walked with his wife to their car. Some supporters surrounded him to make sure he was not jostled.“Dr Mahathir is expected to continue with physiotherapy exercises at home,” said Malaysia’s National Heart Institute, where he was treated. He would be required to return to the institute for regular check-ups, it said in a statement.

Mahathir, who had his first heart bypass in 1989, was a thorn in the side of his successor’s government until he recently began suffering renewed heart problems.After two heart attacks over 10 months, he elected to undergo a quadruple heart bypass.Mahathir has criticised Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for reversing some of his old policies and projects, accusing his hand-chosen successor of selling out national sovereignty.“He will be having a break for quite some time,” Mahathir’s aide said. - Reuters

A beginning of winter?

Guess what? We saw a few drops of rain today on our way back from breakfast. It is rather a rare sight in the Middle East.. It was like a personal achievement to catch the drops of rain here..haha.

Does it mean cold weather is around the corner? I would like to think so. Temperature has been dropping constantly lately. In any good day, early in the morning we can get as low as 28 degree C ...hmm. It is considered low when you compare with temperature of 50 degree C during peak summer.

It reminded me of the innocent comment made by our daughter on our 1st day in Doha when we went to the swimming pool in Ramada Hotel -"Daddy, hari ni panas skit la daddy". It was only 37 degree C then. Deep in my heart, I said "You wait till peak of summer when temperature is more than 50 degree C. Poor little girl ...". Summer came & summer went. We are still breathing... Alhamdulillah.

We are anxiously waiting for winter in the Middle East now. We start to enjoy it as we are able to do more things now like picnic & jog at Al-Corniche. That remind me of the invitation that we declined last night for a picnic at the park near Al-Corniche. Thanks Dills for remembering us. Unfortunately, someone got to work & earn a living this morning & too tired to join Azerdills & Rizal Kentz families..hehe. May be next time.. Keep us posted for future activities....

Watch out this space for more winter activities.. For that, we need Zals to come back to Doha ASAP...

More Pix of Princess Myra & Her Gifts

Raya Continues in Doha

Raya seems endless in Doha for us.. We visited two friends & an open house yesterday. What I can tell you, there are few more to come.

Here are our schedules for the next few days :

Today, 16 October ShahrinRG House (12-4pm)

17 October Mat Le (12-4pm)

18 October Dhukan's Malaysian Community (12-4pm)

19 October Julia & Zuraidin (12-4pm)

If some people think raya in Malaysia is more meriah, they will have to eat their words.....

A Stroller & Baby High Chair

Greetings all....

Just some update on what happened last nite during Aizal's open house..

Azer Dood was the chief of bbq and assisted by Rizal & me..

Late that nite ( lepas kekenyangan ), we presented the proud parents of Princess Myra with the much anticipated baby gifts. Yes, there were two gifts-a baby stroller & high chair. They were from the collection we made from our group. Both Aizal & Yeen expected the stroller but not the high chair. It was a pleasant surprise for them... The collection of money was more than enough for 1 big gift so we decided to present them with two.... Thank you guys for making it happen..

As Aizal & Yeen were new to the baby world, Rizal QK made it a point to assemble the stroller.. Thank you Rizal...

( we have yet to get the photos from Yati & Azerdills's camera ).

Azerdills's family also brought their nicely 'gubah' baby gifts - a basket filled with baby's start up package ie an album, towel, t-shirt etc. Dills can definitely be a 'mak andam' for those yang still single... Dato' K, you know I mean it fo you.. Oh yes, Zals included. Please book her in advance as she will be going for maternity leave in 6 months or so...

Open House, Open House & More Open House

Hi Folks...

Today is the third raya day in Doha. Yes, we celebrated Eid one day earlier than my home country, Malaysia..

Since it was rather unexpected, we did not plan for it. Originally, we planned to organise an open house on the first raya. We postponed it since we had not bought all the necessaries for the event. Seem everybody was taken by surprise in Doha. People filled up every supermarket in Doha rushing to buy things. We could feel that it was like a Declaration of Darurat or State or Emergency had just been announced!!!! phew.... We could also see the Arab ladies rushing around going into beauty saloons mainly to do some henna jobs on their hands.. It felt like every population of Doha was on the move that night..

First day of raya was a bit quiet for us. I went to the Embassy for solat Aidilfitri since it was held much later than any mosque in Doha. Over here, the mosques conducted the solat right after sunrise!!! Much too early for me..haha..

As for our open house, we made it on 2nd raya... The main menu were laksa Johor, nasi tomato & nasi impit (courtesy of Azerdills's family) with masak lodeh.....It was fun having friends around even at one point some of the guests had to sit next to door as our house was so full with guests.

Right after we received our final guests, ShahrinRG and family, we rushed to Rizal's house for his open house with nasi daging berlauk as main menu. Interestingly Yati also cooked bubur anak taugeh as dessert..hehe. Sorry, Yati The Chef..could not resist myself highlighting the delicious anak taugeh dessert...

Today will be Aizal's turn to organise his open house with satay as main menu...yummy!!!!!!! Hopefully he manages to find a bbq set.. else satay will only be a wild dream today..haha.

Eid Mubarak

Selamat Hari Raya. Maaf Zahir Batin

Eid Mubarak to everyone in Middle East especially Qatar!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, we celebrate the end of a month long Ramadan today, 12 October 2007. May we will be given the chance to meet another Ramadan next year, Insyaallah.

For those in Malaysia and balik kampung specially for raya ( you know who you are), please be patient. Eid will surely be with you on Saturday, 13 October 2007.

An extra day of fasting will not hurt..opps. Did I just say Maaf Zahir Batin just now??? ;-)

Selamat Hari Raya dan Maaf Zahir Batin.

Persiapan Raya Kami Yang Di Perantauan

Ni je la persiapan raya kami di Doha ni... Ni sume atas usaha murni Deen, Rizal & Aizal Production. Juga tak ketinggalan sume aktor & aktres dalam clip ni. Thank you for your time and effort to make this raya a memorable 1st raya in Doha.



Btw, all of the above were part of our photography session for our Salam Raya Dari Perantaun yang kami hantar ke suratkhabar. We spent almost 2 good hours to get the decent photo.. haha. That's the reason why I don't want to be a model..

Balik kampung

Balik kampung, balik kampung... hati girang.. masih lagi aku teringat lagu arwah Sudirman masa aku kecik-kecik lagi dulu. Tiap kali nak raya lagu tu la yg paling seronok nak dengar.. Tapi tahun ni, lagi tu lagi nak bermakna pasal aku tak balik kampung tahun ni setelah lebih 10 tahun tak pernah fail balik kampung untuk raya...uhuk...

Most of our single status friends have been heading for balik kampung since last weekend. One by one left leaving us behind to enjoy the raya with our own family. Off course, we need to plan to ensure our raya is as joyful as possible. So far we have been invited for an open house organised by fellow QP staffs in Dukhan. Hah..that will fill our long leave. Hopefully more invitation will be coming in the next few days. As for us, we plan to hold an open house for friends as well. It is an open house with close invitation..haha typical open house Malaysian style.

However, we managed to vidoe tape our Salam Aidilfitri before everbody left home for balik kampung... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Car6ywE4Dwc. Have fun watching... Thanks to Rizal, Deen & Aiyeen Production for the sweet memory.

Jom ke Bazaar Ramadan...

Hi Guys...

Let's go to Ramadan Bazaar in Malaysian Embassy!! Today is the 2nd and last time for the month of Ramadan 2007...uhuk. You can find almost everything there..

We went to the bazaar today. A bit late today. Not really late actually. We reached there at 2.05pm. There were already fleets of cars in front of the embassy. It seem there were more people from the 1st bazaar. During the 1st bazaar, we were involved with the bazaar. A group of us participated selling few Malay delicacies including bubur lambok, popia, nasi dagang, seri muka, bubur kacang etc. It was a total sell out within 1 hour.. All of us laughed all the way to the bank!!!

This 2nd Ramadan Bazaar was totally different ball game. We were there to spend, spend & spend... In fact, we had ordered few things in advance in case we could not get there on time. Just to be safe...hehe. Managed to grab cendol, laksa penang, laksa sarawak, kuih lopis, air soya & mee jawa.

First day at work..

It started with a single phone call from the secretary of the department requesting my wife to attend a meeting/briefing at 10.30am on 2 October 2007. It was then 9.10am.

Over here, commuting without a proper & early plan is a headache. I mean commuting with puclic transport. No way you can get Karwa at short notice. I mean if you try to book from the call centre. If you are willing to sweat it out, you may be lucky to find one by the roadside..hish. Not a good option during this fasting month especially in summer. You can simply dehydrate while waiting for the cab to come along...Anyway, a good friend of ours turn up to my wife's saviour. She gave my wife a lift to HMC. What a kind hearted girl. Amazing you can still find this kind of good people in this age... Thank you Noreen. We appreciate your help. Next time bole ler tolong lagi..

Anyway, that was yesterday. Today is the real work. Started early in the morning today to be in the same car as me & our little daughter. We drove off from our apartment at around 6.40am. Normally I go out to work slightly late. Just need to get out early cause I have got 2 drop off points and 1 pick up to do.. It was ok. Pity my wife as she had to be in HMC well before 7am when her duty only started at 8am. Again it was not confirmed!! She might just have to do afternoon shift.. True enough, she had been assigned to work in the afternoon shift. There we go again.. She has to endure the pain of getting a Karwa. Few minutes of waiting over the phone to Karwa proved to be of no hope. The earliest available would be at 3.30pm when she needed a transport at 1pm.

That's the first day at work. Nope nope not really at work. That's the first day to get to work more like it.. However, trust me it is worth it. You know what I mean.

Just a bit upset cause our plan to hold iftar has to be pospostoned indefinitely due to my wife's new working schedule.. We have only few more days before MBQ members and its affiliate members go back to Malaysia for hari raya.. Iftar at our home may never materialise after all...

New born in Doha..

Congratulation to Aizal & Yeen for the latest blessing in their live. A baby girl of 2.76kg was born on 2 Oct 2007 at Ah Ahli Hospital at 7.30am. Now, I am tasked to choose & buy a stroller for the baby as a present from MBQ members & its affiliate members. A duty which I religiously accept. It is not that hard to find a good stroller as our budget is considered 'reasonable' by standard of living in Doha.

Whatever it is, the uncles & aunties of the new born are all rich people working with QA, QP, Al-Jazeera, UEM, Kentz etc. Money is not really an issue here..hehe.

Hopefully I can accomplish the not so impossible mission before end of the week... Help me God..

Congrats again to the couple!!!!! You can tell from their smiles that they are the proud parents of Myra.

Parting is such sweet sorrow....

It started off with all of us gathered at Khizmie's apartment for a quick premier show of farewell video. No one has seen the video except the Aiyeen Production staffs ie Aizal & Yeen. Somehow, Rizal had the privilege to see it before us. Sungguh tak aci!!!!


Obviously, Aizal, Yeen & Rizal went all the way to ensure that little farewell gift surprise was smooth. It was a piece of good memory compiled. The interview was actually done few days before ie just enough time for Aizal to compile, edit etc. That was the time Aizal was busy almost 24 hours a day-THINKING!!!!! haha.

No gathering among us will be complete without the famous makan2. Thanks to abe n diba we were unfamished with their koay teow n mee kari. Oopps not forgetting the delicious karipap n kuih from yeen's mom.

There were moments of silence during the show..hmm were there? Most of the girls were trying to hide their feelings by making jokes on the videos. At the finale, few could not handle it anymore... sob sob. A tear for someone who will be going away for good.

After the premier showing of aiyeen's video production all of us packed the airport for live showing of goodbyes.

Uncle Deen.. Thank you for the memories and we will miss you definitely. Alisha will not have her uncle Deen around. And... She remembers when we pass through a certain big photo of a someone around town she will remark KING KONG. Hmm.. that's your doing..

Good luck all the best. Take care..

p/s Thank you for the early duit raya!!!!