NY : Long last day...

It was our last day in NY. plan asal kan patut ada 3 hari kat NY, tp since first day tu abis perjalanan DC - NY and g outlet mall and hari ke 2 pun start lambat n bateri abis. so we planned to do all out for the final day, try utk keluar seawal blh n complete apa yg mampu pergi. and flight mlm tu, so mmg kena keluar pagi n check out terus and balik petang and ambik teksi ke airport pkl 7pm. and kena plan jugak supaya wheel chair tak abis bateri lagi... hehehe...

our first target was Statue of Liberty. sbb semua plan dah berubah and actually mmg takde proper plan sgt pun, aku br je baca pasal how to get to statue of liberty mlm sblm pergi sana. and according to the website kena g sana naik ferry and kena g awal sbb akan beratur panjang. we've decided utk pergi ke pulau tu instead of ambik free ferry ride to Staten Island mcm aku buat dulu, reason being, wifey on wheel chair nanti tgk org je bukan statue tu. and from the website tiket nak ke crown statue dah abis, but we didn't plan to go pun. we arrived at the ferry area jam 9am, naik teksi dr hotel. and good for us, queue yg patut ambik masa lebih 30 minit tu, kitaorg dpt potong, again sbb pakai wheelchair. we even cut the security check point. :-) (gambar bawah ni, org ramai beratur kat belakang tu, but we were given bench kat depan utk jadi yg first naik ferry)

perjalanan ke situ interesting lah... tp island yg ada statue tu x de apa sgt... nothing much there, boleh skip kalau korang dtg sini. takde stunning view pun. and it was too hot during summer ni. tp sbb ferry ride dia ada timing so nak tak nak spend jugak lah sejam 2 kat situ.

from there we went straight to main terminal and took a metro to get there... nope the metro not really handicapped friendly for newbie... dlm station tu, berpusing kitaorg nak cari lift utk keluar... as the metro station dia besar and complicated mmg agak membazir masa. we went to the main terminal ni sbb mmg byk scene movie kat sini, esp. wifey teringat series 1 ep. 1 gossip girl.. exactly like in the movie/show. and ingatkan nak lunch kat situ, but kitaorg decide beli je magnolia cupcakes and have lunch kat central park instead. :-) (bawah terminal and chrysler building as background)from terminal, g plak central park, sbb nak save battery, we took a teksi. mmg relaxing kat central park tu. aku g beli makanan halal kat street vendor. ada gyros and ada beriani. best! although panas tp dpt berteduh bawah pokok... we spent sejam dua jugak kat central park, relax, tgk org... makan2 sembang2 sebelum take a stroll at 5th avenue shopping area.

too bad for wifey, shopping ain't really enjoyable for her. tak blh nak try baju, nak maneuver wheelchair tu between the baju2 bukan senang, plus mata pun tak dpt nak tgk semua n takut langgar2 brg... ok, sorry ye.. next time kita dtg lagi... sorry jugak takde bajet nak beli brg2 best yg u nak tu... :-)and we stroll around until times square... sempat terjumpa naked cowboys buat show tepi jalan. last time aku nampak postcard dia... and kelakar sbb susah nak kona kona pakai wheelchair tu, tak leh nak mengelak, wifey jalan straight next to him... mmg close up hehehe... and from times square kitaorg buat last minute shopping kat macy's and by then dah pun pkl 6... very tiring...

we took a cab to the airport. and dgn 4 bag, wife pakai crutches mmg susah nak handle kat airport. luckily i had a gold card Qatar airways privilege card, semua jadi mudah. Qatar airways bg porter angkat beg mcm org keje hotel and one guy yg tolong bawakkan wheel chair and tolong semua process. dr check in, security check and masuk ke lounge and siap tolak sampai gate nak boarding. but disadvantage, tak sempat langsung nak jalan2 kat terminal JFK... ye... JFK yg besar tu aku tak sempat g... no picture at all... tp masa tu pun dah penat... not a perfect holiday but we made it almost perfect with the constraint we had... eventful, adventurous, spontaneous, wonderful trip indeed...

NY : Jalan-jalan handicapped style...

We were very tired due to the full day travelling semlm and plus dgn wifey yg sakit, agak slow pergerakan first day kitaorg kat NY. As said in previous entry, our pre-ordered wheel chair tak sampai ke hotel semlm, tp pg tu kitaorg dpt the wheel chair. cost us $110 for 3 days. mmg harga dia utk 3 hari even kalau kita pakai sehari je. aku ambik wheelchair yg mcm scooter, senang nak jalan instead of tolak tu, cepat penat. even dpt scooter ni, kita org keluar bilik pun dah tgh hari, siap brunch kat bilik, balance makanan kedai india semlm (aku beli byk giler makanan sbb sgt lapar n halal food hehehe).

due to kecederaan n ketidakselesaan jalan pakai scooter ni, we have to scrapped our earlier plan utk travel extensively so our target for that day pergi ke times square and naik atas rockefeller center. Dah 2 kali aku naik rockefeller center, although empire state building probably lagi famous, and lagi glamer utk naik and our hotel mmg dkt dgn empire state building. aku stick jugak dgn idea yg kalau kat atas tu, better ambik gambar empire state building yg cantik. jalan2 dgn handicapped ada byk advantage gak e.g. nak naik rockeffeller center tu kena queue panjang, tp sbb ada org berwheelchair, kitaorg potong line dpt terus ke concierge :-)....

oh... sebelum sampai ke rockerfeller center, kitaorg lalu across the times square... as expected mmg ramai org bersesak.. and as per my previous experience mmg terasa mcm kat dlm movie. tp sian wifey, dia pakai wheelchair, she didn't enjoy the view especially masa jalan2 kat tepi tu, dia kena berhati2 takut terlanggar kaki org, therefore, her view was bontot2 org yg kat depan je, sebab semua org yg kat situ sibuk pandang2 view atas, ramai yg terlanggar dia. sian... but we've decided to go the center area tempat panas yg tak ramai org, br lah sempat tgk view bangunan2 kat times square tu... :-) and sessi bergambar bermula...

on the way dr times square ke rockerfeller center, kitaorg pass by the radio city hall and saw promo Circue du soleil show br and pg tu dpt promo beli 2 tiket for $99. due to susah nak jalan sgt, we opt utk beli tiket tu. show for sure best... so we bought 2 tickets for the show at 2pm i.e. timing baik je lepas turun rockefeller center. and as expected mmg best.. one of the best experience we had while kat NY ni... tak rugi masuk... ni gambar2 nya... sebenarnya sarkis show je, cuma music best, equipment best, ada nyanyi, stunt best... cuma takde binatang je...

as walking around wasn't enjoyable sgt bila berwheel chair ni, so after the show we decided to queue for tickets for broadway. mmg antara plan asal aku utk tgk broadway kat NY. i remember my first experience dulu mmg best... and since jalan pun tak leh, broadway show waktu mlm mmg best lah. tp bila beratur kat tkts (tmpt jual tiket broadway yg murah skit) - ni pun beratur potong barisan sbb pakai wheel chair. kitaorg dpt tahu takde broadway show yg murah n available with good seats for handicapped. mostly semua broadway are not handicapped friendly :-( too bad... and at that time pun dah pkl 5-6pm mcm tu and show pkl 7pm takut tak sempat nak solat and we were too tired therefore we decided utk balik hotel, refresh solat n mlm br keluar.

mlm tu kitaorg keluar utk g times square, ingat nak cari makan n jln2 waktu malam... tetiba wheelchair mcm tak jalan... rupanya bateri habis n terlupa nak recharge masa rehat kat hotel. tried to recharge kat satu kedai ni, tp dia tak fully loaded and wifey mcm takde mood dah (konon kesian sbb aku kena tolak dia). so we ended the day early, and try nak tahan teksi. agak susah nak dptkan teksi yg wheelchair friendly, 20 minit jugak lah.. walau beribu teksi susah dpt yg blh bawak wheel chair. once dpt, we went back to hotel (2 block je dr tempat tu), then aku g cari dinner... a bit frustrated, tp apa nak buat... but still we had spent the night sembang2 and count our blessing... walaupun kecewa tak dpt jalan n explore NY ni, mcm tak sangka semua experience ni... and nasib baik dapat jugak merasa jalan :-)

DC - NY : The roadtrip...

wo hoo... aku tak pernah terfikir yg dlm trip kali ni aku berpeluang driving dr DC ke NY or in fact driving di US. apparently, mlm yg tak jadi travel (see the reason in previous entry) tu, aku br lah tgk2 internet n cari kereta yg bersesuaian. with limited time and with no experience aku pilih kereta and company. first criteria was kedai tu dekat dgn public transport n senang aku nak ambik kereta pagi2 sabtu and 2nd nak return kereta tak jauh dr hotel. *aku tak terfikir langsung naik train masa tu, tp dgn condition my wife, kesian dia nak lompat2 masuk train.

so i chosed the National Rental Car, sbb dia ada office kat Union Station i.e. the main train station kat DC and tempat return kereta 3 blocks away from hotel yg dah siap booked plus harga pun considered ok, not the cheapest but beza tak byk. but the 2nd factor tu sgt penting pada aku, sbb kalau blh aku nak hantar kereta on time utk sewa sehari n tak nak simpan kereta mlm tu. i've checked parking kat NY 1 mlm paling murah pun $40 tu pun ntah celah mana. tp aku kena bayar mahal skit sbb return kat NY bkn pulang balik ke DC. so total cost for 1 day rent ($60), pulang kat NY ($100++) for 1 day plus GPS ($12/day) and taxes was $219! ok lah...When you rent a car kat DC ni, based on experience aku depa akan offer few things. 1. whether kita nak bayar prepaid fuel i.e. masa pulangkan kereta tu, tak payah isi penuh minyak tu depa akan isi semula sampai penuh n kita dah byr siap. according to the person, rate dia murah dr fuel price kat luar. aku accept je sbb malas nak fikir. apparently it was a good decision sbb aku tak perasan kat NY tu (aku dok kat empire state building area) mana kedai petrol, luckily dah siap bayar or else, rate charge isi penuh lagi mahal.

2nd question, whether nak beli ezpass toll card, which aku ambik je, aku tak tahu berapa toll kena tp it was again another good decision. kitaorg mcm lalu dkt 10 toll pelbagai price... and queue for paying cash panjang gile. similar mcm msia, touch n go laju je... byr cash panjang gile. dah lah tu, each tol berbagai harga so kena tanya berapa n kalau tak cukup duit susah. but it really save our time. they also asked abt insurance, aku tak ingat aku ambik extra ke tak.

driving to NY from DC was pleasant. ikut highway je and mengambil masa lebih kurang 4-5 jam kalau direct... kitaorg tak masuk bandar cuma sekali je aku masuk pekan kecik sbb nak beli ubat for wife. we passed junction g baltimore and few other cities. hoping jugak ada kena masuk bandar so we could say we've been there. tp mostly we went around the city je... tp ada gak nampak city from far. and mostly kiri kanan pokok2 je... it was pleasant experience lah... we really enjoyed the outskirt scene. but wifey penat melawan mengantuk sbb painkiller tu kuat giler utk dia. oh... exactly lepas keluar DC nampak gak motel2 murah n kitaorg terfikir, next time kalau ada rezeki buat roadtrip boleh je dok kat motel2 ni... mmg mcm dlm movie.

we stop few a couple of times utk beli lunch and toilet break. traffic was really good and the takde sesat. another reason we opt for the car instead taking public transport sbb kitaorg nak kejar jugak plan asal nak g ke woodbury premium outlet. yg katanya outlet terbesar kat US and the best in NY. jarak dia jauh gak dr NY lebih kurang sejam perjalanan. mmg plan asal nak ke outlet ni, n ikut internet bas tiket $42 sorang so total $84 utk 2 org. so kiranya kitaorg save from paying that lah since dah ada kereta n beli pun blh byk sbb senang bawak. so this made our rental cost tu terasa berbaloi. tp setelah driving 4 jam dr DC and lagi 4-5km nak sampai outlet tu, tetiba traffic jam teruk... mmg kereta beratur for dunno what reason. kitaorg patut sampai outlet pkl 3++ end up for jarak 1km we spend dekat 40 minit. masa tu mmg jadi tak sabar dah lah highway mcm PLUS kat msia tu takde jalan potong. tp ntah mcm mana ada simpang ke kanan ikut jalan x berturap yg ada few people divert, tak byk kereta pusing situ, tp dr GPS aku ada nampak possibility utk sampai ke outlet mall kalau aku turun jalan tu (yg tak berturap tu part keluar dr highway ke jalan kampung je)... belasah je... yup, from there 10 minit je lalu jalan kecik mcm jalan kampung we reached the mall dah dkt pkl 5.sbb dah lewat and plan nak return kereta mlm tu jugak we gave ourselves 2 jam je kat outlet mall in fact the mall pun mmg tutup pkl 7. luckily depa ada sedia wheelchair for rent (mmg dah cek sblm dtg) and masih ada available. tp sbb office wheelchair tutup 30 minit awal dr kedai, mmg kitaorg punya masa terhad je kat situ. It was a good place to shop especially brand coach lah... n tempat tu mmg handicapped friendly and having the wheelchair jadi senang jugak bwk barang sbb mcm trolley jadinya... hehehe... it was enjoyable sbb ada brg2 situ yg mmg worth buying tp since the handicapped issue, agak terhad lah perjalanan.

we left the outlet mall around 7.30pm and dah gelap dah masa tu and it took us about an hour utk sampai ke tunnel utk ke manhattan island. ingatkan dpt pakai brooklyn bridge utk ke Manhattan tp rupanya pakai tunnel je... but anyway, aku ikut je GPS tu, tak berani nak venture out. lagipun nak kejar time nak pulangkan kereta. the view was fascinating... bila drive tu mmg gile excited nak masuk NY. hehehe... tp yg jadi kacau nya... GPS jadi kelam kabut bila keluar dr tunnel tu. panjang gak tunnel tu. keluar je, GPS tak leh locate kereta kat mana n tak blh bg direction... serious shit... aku tak tahu nak belok kanan or kiri cumanya dia ada tunjuk kena ambik route color purple yg dia tanda but at that point of time aku tak sure am heading north or south. tp aku tau skit2 orientation bandar so kena tgk no jalan lah.. n aku tgk2 mana direction ke empire state building. mmg agak panik. dah lah jalan semua sesak and byk giler kereta. like ko takde masa sgt nak tgk kiri kanan... n kereta sgt rapat. tp luckily jugak NY ni blok blok and mostly one way, if you were supposed to turn to right tp tak sempat tunggu lagi 2 block boleh pusing semula.... and ntah mcm mana, bila aku berjaya bawak kereta sampai ke purple route yg GPS tunjuk, barulah dia bersuara suruh turn kanan kiri.. but by then dah dekat dah ngan hotel.

managed to reached hotel tp tak jumpa plak parking tepi jalan. ada satu slot tak leh parking nearby aku letak kereta while wife tinggal kat dlm. i tried doing the check in, it went smoothly. and masa aku ambik kereta wifey cakap ada polis dtg suruh ubah kereta nasib baik tak kena saman sbb dia bg 10 minit n polis tu kata kalau dia pusing balik n ada kereta tu lagi, dia saman. sampai kat hotel aku letak je tepi jalan sementara angkat brg ke atas and wife kena melompat2 (pakai crutches) utk ke lift. luckily we have requested for handicapped room and it was available. handicapped room ada toilet yg besar n senang bawak wheelchair masuk. tp wheelchair yg kitaorg pre-order tak dihantar, sbb katanya credit card buat hal... and bila aku no credit card br, dia promise hantar esok.after wife settled and brg semua dah angkat (termasuk yg beli kat outlet)... aku hantar kereta sendiri. dlm GPS mmg dekat and balik tu aku takde map, n hafal2 simpang mana nak pusing. patut 2 block je dr hotel. tp masa driving tu since all one way sana sini, kena jalan pusing2 sebelum sampai return point. masa aku jalan kaki balik, aku dah confuse sesat. (as map above point A was our hotel, point B was the return point). dah lah aku tak ingat betul2 nombor jalan hotel... alamak... tp jalan jugak lah based on my intuation, nak tanya org takde plak sbb masa tu dah 11pm. jalan punya jalan sampai aku jumpa satu restaurant yg aku pernah makan dulu (masa first time kat NY in 2008), kedai makanan islam yg aku blh beli dinner (mmg lapar pun) n aku tanya direction. rupanya aku dah 2 block lepas hotel aku n aku berjalan tu divert skit... but it was not that difficult afterwards utk sampai hotel.

sampai hotel dah dekat midnight. wifey dah risay gile sbb sejam dah keluar but was happy and we had very good food for dinner... very tiring day. full of adventure and experience. and paling best bila aku tolak wife on wheelchair sambil berlari masa kat outlet mall sbb nak kejar time utk pulang kan wheel chair (dia suruh aku pusing jalan jauh, dah suruh tgk map, tp salah bg direction, berlari aku kejar time hehehe... *pastu kena marah skit hahaha).

DC : a week there...

ni cite lama ni... cite dah dekat nak setahun. lepas balik dr Delhi tahun lepas (mid May) kitaorg balik ke M'sia kejap... lepas settle balik Msia tu tetiba kena plak g DC, i.e. dlm bln 6. Alhamdulillah, berpeluang bawak wife g sana sekali lah... kena keje seminggu kat sana, fly ke sana during the weekends, so sempat jalan2 skit sebelum keje. tp on weekends kitaorg byk concentrate g mall yg jauh2 je... yg aku pernah g dulu n yg aku blm pergi. tp tak g ke Outlet Mall, sbb plan nak ke sana masa g NY. and aku ada lah tunjuk mana tempat aku jatuh masa nak beli hantaran kawin dulu sampai masuk hospital. kiranya mengenang kisah lama lah... hehehe

*tips: if you come to DC and nak g malls yg besar i.e. yg jauh - potomac mills or even outlet mall, g sewa kereta n drive sendiri for the weekend, sbb tempat2 tu jauh dr town n public transport, naik bas pun kena tukar byk kali. n beli brg lagi. so korang akan kena ambik teksi which will cost you sama or kalau mahal pun, mahal skit je dr teksi. driving kat out of DC mudah, traffic senang je. we took the taxi, mcm rugi, dah lah tak leh beli brg byk sbb lps tu nak naik bas etc pastu tak leh balik lewat sbb tempat2 tu takde byk teksi dtg.

tp nak jadi citer, trip ke DC ni berlaku setelah my wife br je sembuh sakit lutut sbb jatuh kat umah which lutut yg mmg tak fully recover dr jatuh masa main netball bulan 2 tahun lepas... so mmg lutut tu kurang stabil lah. so, during the weekdays kat DC tu takde lah jalan mana2 sangat except for the period lepas office hour. Compared to Delhi, wifey pun jarang keluar sendiri2 sbb nak jaga lutut. and plus, we put a plan nak g NY lepas keje siap. so nak jaga kaki for NY!!! (I took 3 days off (tak blh panjang) utk ke NY. If only lah blh cuti panjang, surely aku dok seminggu sana.) - we found this guy berkempen kat dpn white house.

Since, aku dah 3 kali dtg ke DC ni, most of the places yg patut pergi i.e. the good museums and stuff aku dah pergi. anyway, kat DC ni, mmg center of museums, mmg banyak museums yg best2 and besar2... but wifey tak lah excited sgt nak g masuk museum so dia g lah mana yg dia interested. Cumanya ada satu museum yg aku tak pernah g before so we went there, it's Newseum. museum yg citer pasal recent news - tp mostly american oriented news lah. big section on 9/11 dan Katrina. we went to the museum on the last day of our days kat DC. and supposedly mlm tu ambik bas ke NY. so mmg keje dah siap, beg dah siap, kitaorg pun g museum ni. pergi lepas keje, sempat lah g 2 jam. interesting for those minat journalistic issue, tp agak kureng sbb scope cover US je. and Newseum ni ada balcony yg blh nampak Capitol, so its good for taking pictures gak (see pic above yg atas skali tu). and bawah ni gambar antena of the WTC yg kena langgar tu. one of the exhibit kat Newseum.

but tragedy happened, sbb kan kitaorg dah lewat, we decided to skip few levels and took the lift utk ke ground floor sbb nak tgk photos of pullitzer prize winner - kiranya gambar2 terbaik 2010 lah and aku rasa that exhibit lagi best. while we were browsing through the pictures tetiba erk! kaki my wife twisted and cannot turn and she almost terjatuh, nasib baik aku terdengar dia beraduh n sempat catched her sebelum jatuh. and we stood for a while kat tepi and ada lah satu couple ni tolong carikan wheel chair. we stayed there for few minutes tried to plan what to do and assessed whether larat ke tak jalan lagi ni. so we straight ke George Washington Hospital, instead of call for ambulance which will cost us a bomb, we took a taxi.

sesampai je kat Emergency ward, kaki tu diperiksa n tgk if needed xray ke tak. tp takde cucuk painkiller pun, sbb aku tak nak jadi mcm kes aku dulu lah pasal aku kena doped dulu (u can read here) so berjaga2 lah... kesian wifey, dpt pill painkiller n ready to go. kena lah dia pakai crutches and doctor suspect cuma twisted and perlu rest. and terpaksalah kitaorg assessed balik samada nak teruskan g NY ke tak. and for sure takkan mampu nak naik bas tgh malam. sbb tak mampu nak jaga wife, tgk beg lagi, n nak kena naik public transport etc... and due to that the adventure begins... :-) roadtrip to NY!!!

Freezing doha...

2 minggu sudah kitaorg ingat doha dah nak masuk summer dah, sbb kat umah dah mula on aircond. tp mula hari khamis n jumaat minggu lepas, doha tetiba makin sejuk... katanya ada angin siberia sejuk yg bertiup sampai ke doha... tp kata pak arab kawan aku, nama season ni old lady weather, sebab cuaca sejuk senang dpt penyakit. tp aku tak tahu kaitan cuaca sejuk n org perempuan tua ni.

memang sejuk melampau... malam2 blh cecah bawah 10, kata wife, dia tgk dlm internet, ada harapan cecah 4degree... tu beku tu... anyway, from the news paper said:
DOHA: Qatar experienced the lowest temperature of the season yesterday, as a cold wave from Siberia that hit the country over the week end has left the whole country shivering.
People pulled out their woollens and took shelter indoors to protect themselves from the frosty winds that caused a sharp dip in mercury last evening.
The temperature was expected to dip below nine degrees Celsius inside the city and as low as five degrees in the open areas outside in the wee hours.
“I have been in Qatar for many years and for the first time I am experiencing such a low temperature. We went out in the evening and could not stay even for 15 minutes. It was so cold and windy,” was how an Indian professional, Mohammed Naushad explained the rare experience.
Another Doha resident, S Ataullah who chose to go for a picnic to the Al Khor beach with his family yesterday morning had a real tough time.
“It was a planned trip and there were three families in the group including six children. I advised others to cancel the trip due to the bad weather but they thought it would be fine since it was a sunny day. We spent about three hours in the beach and all the time we were struggling to protect ourselves from the cold, dusty winds,” said Ataullah.
He said one of the children in the group had breathing difficulties during the trip.
“He was an asthma patient. Luckily we had kept an inhaler with us,” said Ataullah.
Thanuja Jansz, a Sri Lankan insurance executive and a mom of a kid said: “I have even fallen sick because of this cold weather. So we decided to stay indoors otherwise the children too might fall sick and miss school.”
Shops reported brisk sales for blankets and sweaters yesterday, with reports about the cold spell spread by word of mouth. Rumours were also circulating about the temperature dipping to zero degrees due to some unknown phenomenon in Iraq or Iran.
The Meteorology Department has attributed the sharp fall in temperature to a cold wave coming all the way from Siberia. The cold spell is expected to prevail over the country until the end of this week but the strong northwesterly winds could subside by Tuesday, say weathermen.
The minimum temperature expected today is eight degrees while the maximum temperature could settle at 17 degrees, according to a forecast issued by the department last evening.

korang jgn terkejut, bila interview newspaper ni semua nya org south asia je... mmg gitu lah. besar lagi news cover region south asia dr qatar sendiri :-)

Keje kosong

Colleague aku cari extra staff. Very limited information aku blh bagi kat sini. So sesapa nak try keje kat sini and ada pengalaman dlm finance and especially budgetting, please send your resume to zals.blogspot@gmail.com. Jobscope - aku pun tak sure tp relating to budgetting (keje kat budget department). Gaji - hmm... ok lah kot, aku pun tak tanya. Experience - 7-8 years should be ok. Qualification - Certified would be better and kalau ada media industry lagi baik. Language - know arabic an added advantage, mmg serious, kalau tau arabic mmg blh pergi jauh.

Bina Badan

Nope... am not going to venture to Bina Badan, although aku mmg membina badan dgn lemak2... hehehe... but last weekend sempat aku menyaksikan pertandingan bina badan. Malaysia diwakili oleh 2 peserta, sazali samad n sapa ntah (gambar bawah). it was my first time tgk pertandingan bina badan ni. aku dtg lambat, so pertandingan dah start n tak sempat aku nak tahu negara2 yg masuk. tp aku dpt rasa mostly dr middle east sbb ni anjuran Qatar je bukan world level or mr universe.aku sempat tgk sazali samad beraksi sbb dia terpilih utk masuk pusingan kedua i.e. 15 peserta terbaik dr 30 peserta. agak kurang skit aku tgk sazali samad sbb badan dia kecik. probably sebelum2 ni dia menang dgn kategori ikut size or berat badan kot, sbb mostly dia ni tinggi bahu peserta lain je. so tak nampak menonjol lah. n dia nampak nya sgt baik, i.e. org lain bila kena suruh turun pentas, still gak beraksi skit2... dia ni, bila dah abis, terus turun. sgt polite hehehe...

setelah 15 org ni beraksi dipentas. pengacara, yg agak kelakar mengacarakan event ni, i.e. mcm pertandingan pakaian beragam sekolah rendah je cara dia conduct, akan panggil 5 peserta based on favourite each juri. apparently masa ni aku dah rasa sazali samad tak menang, sbb dr 9 (kot) juri, hanya sorang je yg panggil dia beraksi semula (flexed their muscle depan2 juri). mind you, whole event conducted in arabic, cuma skit2 english. ada lah peserta tak paham arab ni yg terpinga2 n tak ke depan bila dipanggil, mana lah depa nak paham.masa upacara pemberian hadiah lagi kelakar. mula2 depa bg kat juri... pastu bg kat penganjur... sgt tak formal n macam panggil2 tu pun tak prepare... dia siap suruh2 org naik pentas n org tu mcm segan2... ingat ni acara family day ke apa? then... siap panggil penyokong (ramai penyokong tunisia kat situ) hantar wakil ambik hadiah. n sorang tu bawak budak 1-2 tahun comel, so dia pun dpt hadiah... confuse... and then dia panggil 10 peserta hadiah saguhati... in arabic dia panggil n aku dpt detect dia panggil ikut turutan kedudukan...mcm kelakar... so tak surprise lah kan. hmm... and sazali was ranked 15/15... dpt hadiah saguhati.... QR5000. cukup lah tambang balik. anyway, it was my first experience tgk pertandingan ni. perhaps, mmg gitu cara nya. hmmm... aku dtg lambat, tak sempat ambik gambar ngan sazali mcm kawan2 aku ni.

all pictures taken without permission dr asings ombakpictures.. sorry!!! (kalau bro tak bg, tinggal comment, nanti saya remove pictures).

HIQ : Qatar Open 2012

minggu ni ada qatar open. ada nadal, federer etc etc turun main tennis. sapa rajin g, boleh tgk kat khalifa stadium. but kalau br plan nak beli tiket, rasanya tinggal vip seats or cheapest seats... kena plan awal2 kalau nak g tgk. aku tahun ni, malas plak nak g... plus ada member aku g tp tak ajak aku pun.. sob sob sob... :-p but aku heran, kenapa novak djokovic tak pernah dtg doha, dr dulu pun nadal n federer je wajib. kalau dulu, probably maybe sbb djokovic tu ranking jauh blakang depa dua org ni, but now, since djokovic no 1 dunia, apasal tak dijemput. or is it sbb dia serbian? hmmm.. ntah lah.


but as the weather is currently extremely good... 14 degree - 20 degree. sejuk with sunny sky. mmg best buat picnic... jalan2... lepak2 outdoor... mmg best. 2 minggu sudah aku dah g fuwairit mandi laut... minggu ni nak g mana ye??? let's see... enjoy your weekend!!!

Semangat...

Atas semangat tahun baru, kononnya nak start membaca... so first aim adalah nak tukar gambar kulit buku yg appear kat blog ni - The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East. mlm tadi aku buka lah buku tu, beli tahun 2008 or awal 2009 rasanya. tp since then ada lah baca 46 pages!!! hahaha... 46 muka surat je... and buku tu plak ada 1100 muka surat... after 2 years aku cuma baca tak sampai 4%... mcm mana nak abis baca ni.... buku tu agak berat skit lah - ketebalan and topik dia. mlm td sambung baca, larat la baca 3 pages, pastu dah mula gatal tgn tgk internet... mlm ni nak continue or nak cari buku lain plak lah.. :-)