New Year (2)...

on the way balik dr office td, dlm perjalanan ke pintu keluar office, sambil turun tangga aku sembang ngan sorang mamat org putih ni, he's british, age dlm late 40's kot dan dia belum jadi muslim. aku tanya dia... so what's ur plan for new year?

dia jawab... dia tak sure... dia ada dapat invitation for party, but he doesn't feel like going... dengan apa terjadi kat gaza sekarang... dia tak rasa dia patut enjoy the celebration and go partying...

he asked plan aku... aku cakap aku mmg tak de plan n tak pernah ada apa2 plan pun utk new year... new year is like any other day of the year...

then... kita org pun berpisah... aku terus menuju ke pintu keluar then dia plak g ke edit suite.

2 things ada dalam kepala aku masa aku menuju ke kereta...

1. sejauh mana effect pada diri aku bila mana ada muslim lain kena oppress... kena bunuh... kena tindas... dekat negara lain... kenapa tak ada banyak rasa benci kat dalam diri aku... kenapa kurang sungguh aku rasa sedih atas apa berlaku... mcm tak de apa2 pun berlaku... and for certain people sejauh mana kita tahu pun apa yg berlaku kat gaza tu... and kalau lah berdebat dgn bukan islam n katanya gaza patut kena serang sbb dia lancarkan roket dulu, mampu tak ilmu kat dlm otak nak pertahan kan bahawa gaza mmg tak patut kena serang... pertahankan hak muslim di gaza? atau mmg tak tahu apa2 langsung pasal perang ni, and tak perlu ambil tahu.

2. aku jugak terfikir, kenapa kita kena tunggu new year utk buat resolusi... kenapa kena tunggu new year br nak berubah... bukan ke new year sekadar tukar tarikh calendar... it's just another day in ur life... kalau nak berubah kepada kebaikan... at any time berubah je lah... kenapa iltizam dan tekad tu taruh lepas new year... kalau tak sempat new year.. tinggal niat je lah...

so apa resolusi new year aku??? hmm... there's no specific for this year... and kalau aku terfikir nak buat benda baik or benda baru... aku buat je... tanpa menunggu tahun baru... insyaAllah...

New Year....

selamat tahun baru hijri and miladi...

am now tgh muhasabah diri... what have i done for the past one year... and what i should do for next year...

insyaAllah...

Roadtrip - Hari 6 - Hari 8

Hari 6

Hari ni fullday kitaorg ambil dhow trip cari dolphin... mmg cantik musanddam ni... nothing much to say about it... the pics say it all...
Lepas dhow trip, aku sempat g ke khor an najd which is 25 km away from hotel... dah petang masa tu, sempat gak sampai melalui jalan batu2. unik nya khor ni kerana this is the only khor yg blh sampai naik kereta....

mlm tu kitaorg nak buat impromptu BBQ... i can say it was the best BBQ ever kitaorg pernah buat.. one sbb we were somewhere but doha... second sbb mmg impromptu... third sepanjang perjalanan 6 hari kitaorg belum lg dpt duduk relax n sembang2 mcm kat doha... plus the whole day was really relaxing...

Hari 7

kitaorg balik semula ke Dubai... last stop sebelum balik semula ke Doha... Dubai as usual very hectic. sempat g ke ikea (festival city dubai), Dubai mall dan Global village... driving dlm kumpulan kat dubai... mmg memenatkan...

Hari 8

from dubai... kitaorg plan utk terus balik ke doha... cuma singgah sekejap kat Masjid Abu Dhabi... katanya masjid terbesar di dunia... Masya Allah...mmg cantik.. sampai aku rasa distracted, macam bukan dlm masjid plak...

we reached doha jam 11pm... driving back tak seteruk driving pergi hari tu... sekejap je rasanya dah lengkap 8 hari... when we left doha... semua mcm ragu2... jadi ke tak trip ni... alhamdulillah.. semua selamat... balik with no drama2... hahaha...

Roadtrip : Hari 3 - Hari 5...

Hari ketiga

Baru lah berkesempatan nak membuat lawatan.... tak de plan utk travel jauh2 except by petang nak ke Muscat which is 2 hours away from Nizwa.

First place nak pergi... Jabal Syams. approx. 3000meter above sea level... the highest point in Oman... and ada 2nd largest canyon in the world!!! dari jalan besar 38km je... nak ke jabal syams, kena tuju ke Al Hamra i.e. antara Bahla ngan Nizwa... from there ikut je lah jalan tu... ooopss... GPS tak de pun tunjuk camner nak ke sana.. so guna guide book je. On the way to go up to the peak, kitaorg nampak satu kampung tinggal kat wadi ghul. tak tahu kenapa kena tinggal... but the village is so unique... umah2 mcm dipahat dr batu bukit je...

dr 38km tu.. rasa nya 28km jalan tar... lagi 10km... jalan batu2... so 4x4 is recommendable... perjalanan dlm 1 jam je... tp ada various places cantik ambil gambar... so we spent almost 4 hours naik dan turun... view from above... Masya Allah... marvellous!!!

lepas turun dr Jabal Syams, kitaorg nak g ke Bahla Fort dan Jibrin Castle. Pekan Bahla ni famous for its pottery and fort, and fort ni consider the biggest in Middle East and now under restoration. it is also dibawah UNESCO preservation pun. selain tu, Bahla ni famous among arab2 as centre of Black Magic... apa yg magic nya aku pun tak tahu... tp mmg area ni byk jin kot.. and org yg jaga jin... :-)

tp bahla fort ni tak leh masuk pun, tgk dr luar je. but we managed utk masuk kat Jibrin Castle. said to be one of the finest castle yg masih preserve kat mid east. it's huge and beautiful... but similar with other old fort n castle kat qatar ni, there's no information kat area tu yg kita blh baca utk admire the place more... so dtg.. tgk buta2 je without info... ambil gambar n balik ;-)

around 4 kitaorg g terus ke Muscat... and what a good timing... abe, akak n kimi sampai ke muscat 30 min lepas kitaorg check in hotel. depa bertiga ni naik flight ke abu dhabi then br meet up kat muscat ni. depa tak dpt cuti awal, so lain skit plan nya... terus jadi havoc when depa join the group... and mlm tu kita org g corniche... ambil angin.

Hari 4

Sebelum bertolak dari Doha, we tot that hari ke empat ni, i.e. 8hb December ni hari raya haji. so we expect semua kedai tutup. and it is hari raya haji for orang2 kat Malaysia, kat Doha, kat UAE, kat Saudi... and almost for everyone all over the world. tp... Sultan Quboos kat Oman ni, tak declare raya haji for Oman, 9hb br Oman punya raya haji... katanya tak nampak anak bulan. So blh lah kitaorg g souq :-) and kedai2 pun buka :-)

Hari ni... concentrated on Muscat. I've been to Muscat before... so senang lah skit nak jalan2 around... basically i know some basic city orientation lah kan... in the morning, we had breakfast kat D'arcy cafe kat Qurm beach near inter-con hotel... lepas breakfast ambil gambar kat beach... biasa lah... tu je main activity... bergambar... bergambar... bergambar... non stop... tp abe dgn sukarela nya nak try buat stunt... and try buat lompatan dr tangga, dia tak bg pun org ambil gambar sbb katanya nak try je dulu... alih2 dia jatuh tergolek... dah lah gambar tak ambil sesia je stunt dia... tp dia bukan je jatuh tergolek, siap sakit kaki lagi.. at first we tot sekadar terpelecok, tergeliat some sort like that... tp bila petang g hospital rupanya tulang retak... tu lah bahana org tua yg masih ingat dia muda... hik hik hik...anyway, lepas Qurm beach we went for short and quick shopping kat Souq Muttrah... then pastu camwhoring kat depan Sultan Quboos Palace... kat situ je dah penat photographer kitaorg ambil gambar :-) then... pusing2 town sampai ke Bar Al-Jissah... and lepas dr abe diplaster kat policlinic, before balik hotel, we went to the Masjid Sultan Quboos. (for more pics of muscat, ada kat dlm my previous trip to Muscat :-) )

Hari 5

Another long journey today... we travelled to Musanddam dari Muscat... cover approximately 560km!!! took us about 10 jam... with 2 hours kat 2 borders... we have to cross Oman - UAE border kat Hatta.. then cross semula UAE - Oman kat Tibat.

Since hari ni hari raya haji in Oman... jalan agak lengang which is good for us lah... cumanya nak cari tempat breakfast lah susah skit.. hehehe... we end up had breakfast kat Sohar Beach Resort... :-)

Roadtrip : Hari 1 - Hari 2

2 hari pertama ni byk nya on the road... hari 1 - Doha - Dubai.... hari 2 - Dubai - Nizwa.

Hari 1 (5/12/2008)
Kitaorg bertolak seperti dirancang. Jam 2am dr Doha. Aku yg tak sempat tido sebelum bertolak, agak kepenatan utk drive. Plus my sis-in-law's sis plak ada kat Doha mlm tu. so bawak dia jalan2 kat souq sampai lewat mlm, then terus bersiap utk roadtrip.

it was a smooth ride, sampai few km nak sampai border when che le realised yg dia tak bawak ID, Lesen dan car registration card, definitely dia nak kena turn back. dia je patah balik, we all bawak slow sampai lah lepas border sehingga lebih kurang 40km sebelum border Saudi-UAE, kitaorg had breakfast dan tunggu che le sampai dia tiba situ. delay abt 3 hrs. no hal, sbb nothing to rush pun.

Border Qatar-Saudi agak senang, sbb tak perlu turun kereta. lepas satu post ke satu post follow je kaunter. except masa nak cek brg dlm kereta, itu pun kejap je. tp border Saudi - UAE agak leceh, kena keluar kereta, isi form then kena buat retina check, semua ni kat border UAE lah.

We all reached dubai at 4pm.. thats 14hours drive!!! actually, tak lah panjang mcm tu.
From Doha - Saudi Border - 1 hour (90km)
Saudi border to UAE border - 1 hour (120km)
UAE border to Abu Dhabi - 3 hours (350km)
Abu Dhabi to Dubai - 1.5 hours (140km)
At each border crossing - 1 hour so total 2 hours
Delay - 3 hours
Lain - lain... Toilet break - isi minyak - beli salik

talking abt beli Salik, masa beli tu pun aku telah mendelaykan group. the owner of the car i drove kata dah ada salik, tp bila aku cek mcm tak de... after few phone calls, aku decided utk beli je salik tu... it costs us AED100 - AED50 for the card AED50 top up.

btw, aku drive kereta kawan aku utk trip ni. a land cruiser. utk bawak kereta org lain cross border, what u need is to register kat muror (jabatan pengangkutan kot). dia akan keluar receipt kebenaran bw kereta org lain. it cost u QR5 je utk dpt kan resit ni.

sesampai kat Dubai, sebab dah petang/malam, tak sempat lah nak g wild wadi as planned. but we went to Mall of Emirates, for dinner... ada few plan nak main ski... tp mahal sgt... and disebabkan kepenatan driving, we went back to hotel and tido... end of day 1.

Hari 2 (6.12.08)
another long driving day... dari Dubai ke Nizwa. the road was uneventful. we left Dubai at around 9am. cross satu border kat al ain... yg tak puas hati nya, kita org kena caj AED65 sorang utk keluar dr UAE. based on my reading sepatutnya kena AED25 je... tp apa nak buat, we have to pay lah... utk masuk ke oman, kena bayar visa on arrival OR3 (QR30) kids are free.

we stop for lunch kat Ibri. surprisingly, makanan kat situ was delicious... or kitaorg je lapar kot... hehehe... mmg semua org berselera makan (except che le yg ter masuk ke toilet before makan... hik hik hik, terus hilang selera dia). we continued travelled after lunch. sampai kat bahla, nak singgah kat jibrin castle n bahla fort. the castle closed at 4pm, kitaorg lambat 5 minit... so we decided utk dtg semula the next day.

jam 5pm kitaorg sampai nizwa, check in hotel... then terus ke pekan nizwa... g pasar malam... n stroll around. again too tired to stay late... jam 9pm we went back to hotel... except for few yg singgah kat Pizza Hut for dinner :-)

Roadtrip : Highlights - the top ten...

Am back in Doha... safe and sound... alhamdulillah... the trip wen well and on schedule and very negligible hiccups.. :-)

aku akan tulis the whole trip itinerary... but before that... ni dia highlights of the trip... a quick write up sebelum aku bg detail citer with loads of photos...

10. the whole journey was approximately 3500km... covered in 8 days... melalui 4 negara... dalam tempoh 8 hari tu, ada 4 hari travelled for more than 7 hours which in average lebih 500km sehari!!! penat... but sebab teruja, tak terasa sangat... we travelled in 4 cars (plus 1 sedan g dtg later) alhamdulillah... kereta pun tak de masalah... cuma tayar kete che le je masuk skru, tu pun settle segera.

9. Hish... kawan nizam dr Malaysia... travelled all the way from KL utk join trip ni... yg best nya, since Hish ni g kelas phtography... n mmg ada camera bagus, kitaorg menggunakan skill dia utk tangkap gambar semua org... habis sumer posing maut... thanks Hish sbb jadi photographer sumer org!!!

8. Kadang2 terasa macam amazing race pun ada masa buat roadtrip ni... especially masa 2 groups bertembung kat muscat. first group dtg dr Doha driving (comprised of 13 adults) then the day before raya, ada 1 small group - kimi, abe n akak - join later. Due to good timing... they came 30 minutes after we arrived at the hotel... good timing... plus... masa kat UAE border, kitaorg terserempak ngan satu lagi group malaysian yg nak ke dubai... we passed the immigration first tp, since we drove ikut had laju (konon2 obedient lah), alih2 group lagi satu dengan selamba je memotong n tinggal kan kitaorg jauh... makan asap...

7. Since banyak travelling, we check out hotel selalunya lewat. although kitaorg ambil hotel semurah mungkin, but alhamdulillah... all hotels are good for their price :-) (for sure tak leh banding ngan harga kat malaysia lah..) and all hotels except kat muscat provided breakfast, so senang gak citer... makan byk2 utk cover long travelling hours. talking about food, we have very minimal complaints on the kedai2 yg kitaorg stop tepi jalan... delicious food!!!

6. Semua org mmg dapat rasakan yg Omani dan negara Oman.... sangat berbeza dr negara arab sekitar ni... baik UAE, Qatar or Saudi... Omani mmg baik... negara bersih... jalan baik... pemandangan pun cantik... sistem bagus... mmg berbeza!!! we all fall in love ngan Oman... cuma border je memisahkan dua tamadun... dengan melepasi sempadan terus dapat rasakan Omani Hospitality ni... (hehehe... we had 3 ex and current MH crews.. hehehe)

5. One of the highlights was the dhow trip to Musanddam (later entry baru ada pic). that's the most santai day of all the 8 days.... went for snorkelling... but mmg laut kat malaysia so much better... but masa kat dhow tu mmg santai n seronok borak2 relax...

4. apart from Musanddam, another place yg menakjubkan adalah Jabal Syams... aku sebenarnya tak plan nak ke situ until lah 2 hari sebelum berlepas. walaupun nak mendaki gunung tu mcm berbahaya... but the view from above mmg menakjubkan (more gambar2 in other post). selain Jabal Syams aku ada gak ke gunung near Khor An Najd... again fantastic view from above!!!

3. Che Le mmg raja patah balik... first dia tertinggal car registration card, ID dan lesen memandu when we have left doha 1 jam... so dia kena lah patah balik ke Doha in fact ke office dia... due to that kitaorg delay almost 3 hours... yg sedapnya, kitaorg tunggu sambil makan pratha ngna rendang daging... and sebabkan kitaorg tak nak further delay... we have not told che le kat situ ada pratha sedap :-) ooh bukan sekali... on the last day pun che le kena patah balik, dia kena reverse ke saudi sbb tak dpt cop clearance... hehehe

2. kesian kat abe... he joined us dlm 2nd group. on the first day kitaorg travel ngan dia... tp bak kata org... malang tak berbau... pepagi pertama dia nak join the travel... dia melompat sampai patah kaki... (not really patah lah.. ada hairline crack je) because of that kaki dia kena plaster... n semua visit dia tak enjoy... snorkelling tak leh.. jalan2 pun slow... sian abe....

1. anyway, sejauh mana pun kitaorg pergi... our main event is always makan2... and not to forget celebrate birthday... therefore... for me, my personal favourite was the night yg kitaorg buat impromptu BBQ kat beach kat musanddam... so impromptu, potong bawang buat air asam pun kat tepi beach... dgn ikan2 fresh... mmg sedap... and we sat down together... sembang2 sama2... abe kutuk che le pasal item 3 atas, che le kutuk abe pasal item 2 atas... we share stories... ulang2 pasal travel... like there's no tomorrow... walaupun penat... thats the time i saw everyone happy and satisfied... the makan2 always bring us together... :-) anyway, walau kat negara org yg bandarnya takde pun kedai kek, i managed to provide cake for our birthday boy that night... Happy Birthday Kimi.. :-) (sebenarnya ada gak budak kecik nya birthday on that same day, tp kitaorg tak celebrate... hahaha... sambut birthday budak tua je)

bergambar di pagi raya...

more pics and details in the next entry...

Roadtrip...

I'm now at the Mercedes Roundabout... berkumpul sebelum memulakan my first road trip from Doha. In fact, this is my first road trip yg aku pernah buat pun...

kitaorang akan singgah Dubai, UAE... Nizwa, Oman.... Muscat, Oman... Musanddam, Oman... Abu Dhabi, UAE... kiranya cover 2 negara + Saudi yg kitaorg terpaksa lalu... tp tak stop pun. Most of the tempat ni aku dah pernah pergi... but for me this roadtrip is not about the destination... but more on the journey itself.

Doakan aku selamat pergi dan pulang... InsyaAllah...

Saman!!!

Aku nak mengucapkan takziah dan kesian kat kawan aku yg baru kena saman sebab langgar lampu merah... mesti tak sengaja... but this case i.e. langgar lampu merah bukan nya perkara asing sangat... yes it is wrong... tp kenkadang kita tak sengaja...

but the cruel part is... saman kat doha ni giler nak mampus mahal!!! untuk langgar lampu merah dia kena saman QR6000 (RM5900) bengong!!! n jangan harap lah raya nanti dapat discount... kat malaysia ye lah kenkadang dapat discount... but seriously giler!!!

Lesson learnt, aku akan berhenti bila lampu hijau dah blink2... kalau kena langgar kat belakang pun, still blh claim insurance... kena saman, sapa nak tanggung??? (boleh ke lari je dr negara ni n tak bayar saman... hehehe)

btw, u can leave the country (balik cuti or business trip) even though dah kena saman. but not sure whether blh bawak kereta tu keluar ke tak... hmm...