FAQ: How to renew passport in Doha...

My passport dah penuh... aku plak kena renew RP, dan tak de tempat nak taruh RP baru. (hehehe... dah 3 tahun aku kat sini) ooh aku pun br tahu, yg kat dlm passport tu, kalau ada kesan cop i.e. sbb terkena cop page lagi satu, mmg consider page tu dah digunakan. page tu tak kira kosong, so visa or RP tak leh nak tampal kat situ.

RP aku expired masa aku cuti nanti... (yup aku akan balik malaysia raya ni hehehe..). since aku cuma ada approximately 19 days je (since balik dari afghanistan ari tu) utk buat RP, aku mmg mengharap sangat semua ikut flow and set timing.. any hiccups akan buat kan aku delay flight.

dari doha, kita blh dpt new passport within 14 days. kita blh apply through embassy yg akan hantar application ke Jeddah. what do u need:

1. Gambar with background biru

2. copy of current passport

3. copy of Kad Pengenalan

4. Saudi Riyal 330 passport fee

5. QR265!!! utk courier (siap bg tahu takde resit)

6. isi form yg embassy bagi


pas semua ni ke embassy, u'll get ur passport ready in 14 days... insyaAllah...

aku submit application aku 24/8/09 and am still waiting for my passport, harap2 dapat isnin depan...

(update: 7/9/09 aku dah dapat passport baru (versi lama), dgn duit SR12 dan QR100 balance dr duit aku bayar upfront)

FAQ : Help!!!

Aku rasa elok juga aku taruh soalan2 (dan jawapan) yg di post kat yahoo group org malaysia kat Qatar kat dalam blog ni... untuk kegunaan aku dan sesapa kat Qatar later... (check my FAQ)

hope this helps...

1 - Lesen Memandu
a. Lesen memandu Malaysia expired
b. Obtaining License (part 1)

2. Mana nak cari kedai tayar

for those yg tanya soalan dan bg jawapan... harap2 tak saman aku... ni jawapan2 ni takde right reserved kan.. so kiranya boleh lah republish ye.. :-)

Lesed memandu Malaysia expired...

Q : lesen memandu qatar memerlukan lesen memandu malaysia..lesen memandu saya dah 'expired' dan tidak sah kata mereka..ada sesiapa yg boleh beri pendapat utk selesaikan masalah ni..saya perlu membuat lesen memandu qatar secepat yg mungkin

A1 : Ini masalah besar, tanpa lesen memandu yang valid,kenalah masuk sekolah memandu dan belajar semula dari abc...z. One proposal: send the lesen back to Msia and someonehelp it renewed for u.Then follow the qatar procedureto get the lesen in Qatar.

A2 : Rasanya lesen mesia x laku disini, dan tidak membantu apa2 untuk mendapatkan lesen qatar, dan untuk mendapatkan lesen memandu qatar, haruslah mengharungi pahit getir yang teramat sangat. Itulah yg telah saya alami, dan ramai lagi telah alami. Factor luck amat lah berharga, dimana sekiranya terlalu lucky, kamu mngkin dapat convert lesen qatar dalam 15minit. Sekiranya sangat tidak lucky, mungkin kamu give up after 6 mth. Kita ada kenkawan yg sudah 2 tahun masih gagal test lesen disini ...

A3 : saya dulu dia org tak tya pun pasal lesen msia.......terus apply utk wat lesen qatar jer...camtu klu org tak penah ader lesen camna nk wat lesen kat sini.....confuse....

A4 : tapi kalau dah expired (for too long) dan tak boleh renew....tiadapilihan lain.... but to take full course and test offerred by localdriving schools...

A5 : law baru qatar kena ada lesen negara asal..kalau xde kena buat full course..law ni baru je apply (14 April 2008)

A6 : Woaaa ... that is really hurting you man ... have to go full driving lesson ... but you already bawa kereta 5-10-15-20 years ... better wait, go back to mesia get mesia license revalidated/renew ... then apply here ... where you need only 5 days only (full course 26 days I think, and to go to / coming back from drv school is really time wasting & leceh)

A7 : My sponsor cakap kalau ada lesen memandu Europe atau America yang dah expired boleh convert terus. Dia bagi lesen Qatari.

A8 : maaf mencelah. setahu saya, UAE or any GCC licence boleh tukar terus. sama dengan licence UK or US or South africa

A9 : convert direct dr M'sian Lic. to Qatari Lic. adalah faktor nasib pada warga M'sia..... bila cuba untuk diri sendiri dan juga isteri (awal 2008) : both gagal! hahaha. tapi saya sendiri ada jumpa rakyat M'sia (bukan pemandu kapalterbang QA) yang dapat terus tukar.... rezeki masing-masing lah.

tak ada M'sian Lic., no prob. bedanya cuma kena masuk banyak kelas memandu lah. kalau ada M'sian Lic. tu, kalau ikut sekolah memandu "United", bolehlah ambil kelas 12 jam (on paper, selalunya lepas 8 kelas dah boleh mintak test). kalau tak ada M'sian Lic. tu... rasanya kena ambil kelas sebulan....

fee tu kalau di United, masa saya (~2 bulan lalu) = QR 950. Tapi this month pulak = QR1,100 (merika ikut kadar inflasi agaknya!).... btw... itu tak masuk duit kopi nak kena hulur pada warga kerala / lankan yang banyak membantu semasa hari ujian (parking guna kereta yang kita guna masa latihan!)...

Mana Nak Cari Kedai Tayar???

Q : Sesapa tau kat mana ada kedai tayar utk tampal/replace tayar in/around the city area?

A1 : On B-Ring, coming from Jaidah flyover, make U-turn atAl Muntazah signal. it will be the first tire shop onthe right.(if you are some where in that vicinity)

A2 : Across the Home Centre (near Jaidah flyover) ada kedai tayar. I tampal my tayar once.............

A3 : ada deret kedai2 tayar di airport road arah ke wakrah sebelah kanan

A4 : ader kedai baru kat sebelah shop rite......dpn airport...leh wat balancing n alignment skali...kedai tu computerized mcm kat msia...std kita la.....

A5 : Sebelah shoprite airport ada satu kedai tayar ( Falken Tire )
Atau kat area Bin Mahmoud ada banyak kedai tayar....buka sampai lewat malam tapi banyak tayar cap ayam lah...

A6 : Dekat rumah saya ada sebuah kedai tayar. Sebaris dengan Rameez di jalan Airport. Tak pun kedai tayar di Al-Waab petrol station.

Obtaining driving license... (part 1)

At 4.50am this morning, aku dah memang terjaga dr lelap, tp aku malas bangun sbb alarm aku tak berbunyi lagi :-) tp tetiba aku dengar hp aku berdering tp bukan ring tone alarm. It was a singaporean, flatmate-officemate yang call aku. i tot she is still in s'pore... apasal lak call jam 4.50am... bukannya dia pregnant nak beranak pun. rupanya dia call sbb her personal driver tak bangun tidor n tak muncul-muncul utk hantar dia g buat driving test. janji nak datang at 4.30am... tp tak muncul2... so dia woke me up, minta tolong hantar ke driving school...

yeah.... it's 5am... and mmg giler, buat ujian memandu masa matahari pun belum terbit... but lucky me... aku tak perlu melalui semua benda ni.. :-) alhamdulillah...

but for those yg nak tahu pasal obtaining driving license in Qatar... ni ada keratan email yg aku dapat thru yahoo groups Malaysian @Qatar... (since aku tak de real experience aku bg tahu org lain punya experience lah)

I heard United should be good. Alternate pls
go to Karwa ... also good, sbb Karwa ada ajar road etica, slide show driving at
qatar, defensive driving. Karwa very professional, kereta baru,
a/con, customer dimuliakan, trainer pakai uniform & tie lagi, dan kalau
kao nasib baik, dapat trainer Indon ... Kawra can 5 days or 7 or 12 days
...

I've finally enrolled myself in United Driving School
yesterday...Early in the morning yesterday i went to Traffic Dept at Medinat
Khalifa...go to the Drivers License Section...Go to one of the ladies at the
counter and ask for direct converstion but obviously i can't due to malaysian
license or maybe due to i'm not speaking to her boss/director...after checking
my docs,she asked me to go to driving school...I said i've gone but i need the
Traffic Dept endorsement that my license is validated so that i can take the
short course...then she said."Driving School has Traffic Dept...", But then i
mentioned that it's only open during the weekdays and it will already be closed
by the time i reach Doha from Ras Laffan...after much hesitation and thought,
she takes out the Traffic Dept Stamp and stamp it on all my documents
with a note in arabic on frontpage...then i just say thank you
and left...

Later i went to United Driving (behind thursday friday
market, market R/A off salwa road) and show my docs and asked that
reception guy to interpret what the lady immigration has written in
arabic...Obviously he can't understand also so he asked his boss, the boss told
me the note said that "License verified, recommend direct test"...haha!! So
i kindly reject the direct test becoz it's like 95% chances i'll fail
(after hearing some horrible stories from malaysians who've done direct
test)...so he enrolled me to the half course...12 hours including 1 test for
QR900...so waiting list is about 3 weeks...so just have to wait for the call for
my 1st lesson...

many Malaysians andsone Indo had bad experience with
Doha Drivg Schooland Al-Rayya Drvg School.

you cannot convert mesia license here, and we hope in
the near future can convert. You can go to Karwa or United driving
school, take short lesson, 5,7,12 days, and the fee is around
QR1200

To start just register personally at the drv school, and I
know Karwa is very good customer service. Dont ever try to call any
of the drv school, as your call willl not likely be answered
Yes, there
are long queue al ALL drv school ... so, if you can take the lesson during
office hours, then you can beat the queue, and start learning
immediately. This is due to many people here can only take drv
lesson after work, so ada bottleneck lah

you can drive & rent car as long as you dont get the
RP, once you get RP approved, then your mesia & intl drv license =
worthless.

FYI - a few guys got their Msian licence
fullyconverted at Madinat Khalifa Police Station by talkingto the director
there. You may try your luck bytelling good reasons for the conversion. Some
peoplegot partial conversion (test on road only).

ni baru first part i.e. mcm mana nak register utk masuk kelas memandu... nanti aku tulis, macam mana experience org masa test plak...

FAQ 5 : Kerja di Qatar

All these berdasarkan my own opinion...

For those yg sedang mencari kerja kat Qatar (and Middle East mungkin kena gak lah kot) ni ada beberapa perkara yg kena consider dalam your offer or things yg you need to consider...

1. Cost of living... boleh kata berbanding di Malaysia, cost of living (food and living expenses) lebih kurang je lah... cuma food tu ada benda2 yg murah kat Malaysia kat sini blh katakan double... some indications on prices, lebih kurang lah (based on today's date - 2/5/08 - Exchange rate RM0.87 = QR1)
- Minyak petrol (yg ni murah) QR0.70 Regular, QR0.80 Super
- Air Mineral Sebotol 500ml QR1
- Ayam sekg - QR13 (Frozen - QR11 - QR14)
- Telur sepapan (36 biji?) - QR16
- Serai / Daun Pandan sekg - QR40 - QR60
there's a theory pasal cost of living ni... yg katanya we compare based on price of McValue Meal (Big Mac)... so kalau kat Malaysia harga nya (i think) RM9... sini QR18..

2. Belanja paling mahal setiap bulan adalah sewa rumah... for a simple 2 bedroom fully furnished apartment area Doha paling murah pun QR7000 - QR8000. Ok, u can get lucky if you get the same price for 3 bedroom apartment. Villa 3 - 4 bilik lebih kurang QR11k to max... so make sure dapatkan accomodation provided by the company. Kadang2 you have to sign up for 1 year rental agreement... so kalau buat sendiri kena lah stay sini at least for 1 year...

3. Benda yg you can spend on... kereta... roughly kereta kat sini 50% cheaper than kat Malaysia sebab tak de tax... so blh lah sakan berkereta... for those Malaysian yg gaji besar normally drives 4wd kat sini (aku drive Tiida sedan je.... so gaji aku kecik) its good to have 4wd ni.. boleh buat sand dune and yg best nye tak ragu-ragu kalau ada plan nak buat road trip g umrah :-)

4. another thing yg aku rasa n dengarnya mahal... school fees utk anak-anak... make sure include dalam pakej (ni aku tak leh nak komen banyak sbb aku tak de anak)

5. kalau sesapa blh include tiket balik ke Malaysia lebih dari sekali pun ok jugak..

(nanti aku tambah lagi benda-benda yg perlu consider :-) for now ni je)

FAQ 6 : How to apply Letter of Good Conduct

Reproduced from an email from Perwakilan Malaysia, Qatar

Fellow Malaysians,


Please be informed that effective from 3rd March, 2008, application for certificate of good conduct from Malaysian citizen would be processed by the Embassy. The certificate could be issued on the same day or at the latest by the following day.

The application for certificate of good conduct must be accompanied with a statutory declaration attested by a commissioner of oath. In addition the following particulars are required from the applicant.

a. two (2) copies of the duly completed application form for the certificate of good conduct. The application form could be obtained at the counter of the consular division of the Embassy. Alternatively, it could also be downloaded
from the Ministry of Foreign Affair’s website: http://www.kln.gov.my;

b. two (2) recent passport size photographs;

c. two (2) certified copies of identification card; and

d. two (2) certified copies of passport namely pages that contain details of the applicant (front page and last pages)

FAQ 4 : Macam mana cuaca kat sana???

As compared to Malaysia, kat sini ada lah perubahan cuaca, bukan lah hujan dan lembap dan panas sepanjang tahun. Perubahan cuaca di sini agak ketara. tapi kata org, selalunya petanda perubahan cuaca adalah apabila turun nya hujan. Samada dari cuaca sejuk kepada panas atau sebalik nya...

Aku tak mengalami cuaca panas kat sini lagi, sebab masa aku tiba dulu baru sahaja selesai musim panas.... namun sekarang dah mula cuaca sejuk...

- Mid Sept - Mid May - kurang panas
- Mid May - Mid September - sangat panas

ok... bulan September - Oktober dan April - May kiranya masih panas lah berbanding November - Mac... dan bulan July dan Ogos ada lah bulan-bulan kepanasan memuncak...

FAQ 3 : Mana nak jalan

Pada sesapa yang bercadang nak datang Qatar, mestilah terfikir2 apa ada kat sini kan... so as travelling is purely my interest... and apa2 ajer yg blh membantu korang nak dtg sini... let me know...

anyway.... these are places yang i have been to give you some ideas where to go when u r in Qatar....

Wakra Beach

Souqs, Souqs (re-visit)

Dukhan

Messaied

Shamal Road...

• Fuwairit & Madinat Shamal
• Fort Zubara
• Barzan Tower??

Aktivities...

Crabbing

Sand Dune

List nih akan diupdate everytime i go jalan2.... u can check the updated list from the FAQs

FAQ 2 : Macammana keje???

Entry kali nih penuh ngan gambar ajer... hehehehe.... :)

the heart of the office....

Centre of AJI.... a clearer pic

dua gambar kat bawah nih diambil dr tpt yg sama, first pic... gambar office AJI... 2nd pic.. gambar villa tpt my dept... kalau jalan kaki between the 2, rasanyer 10 minit kot... but panas kena lah ambil driver.... hehehe

rasa nyer by end of the year atau early next year akan pindah ke tempat baru... so tak dok villa nih lagi.... but kat sini....

sebagai perbandingan.... yg kat bawah nih office kat dalam vila tu.. my seat kat dlm bilik tu exactly belakang pintu.. ada 8 og duduk kat dlm bilik tu....

tp kalau i dok kat programme dept kat bangunan baru... this is the working area... jauh lagi best kan... hehehe

So what actually aku buat sampai ada dua office/station nih.... aku buat reporting for budget and costing bg programme dept... so kena lah deal ngan production manager, editor dll org operation dlm nak buat budgeting dan control dia punya expenses supaya tak lebih dr budget... sebelum tak der sapa buat keje nih.. so aku kena lah sediakan template dan reporting format utk standardise kan suma report dr production.. nih termasuk report dr broadcast centre yg lain i.e. london, KL and Washington... bilalah berpeluang nak ke sana plak yer.... :)

fyi, aku sorang je Malaysia kat office nih... kalau tgk komposisi kaum (wah std nyer bahasa) kat my dept... mainly org mid east and south asia and northern africa... but kalau keje kat operation mainly europen esp english... sounds interesting kan.... :)

FAQ 1 : Best tak kat Doha???

antara soalan2 wajib yg ditanya oleh org2 yg aku jumpa....
"ok tak kat D0ha??" "best tak D0ha" "amacam D0ha" so aku cipta lah entry FAQ 1 nih...

entry nih bukanlah bermaksud yg aku tak suka org tanya soalan2 macam tu... cuma sekadar skrip jawapan utk citer ajer lah, sumber rujukan aku... supaya aku tak der lah tinggal fakta2 penting pasal D0ha (based on my experience and opinion and observation)... antara fakta n citer yg aku tulis kat sini mungkin ada yg not factually correct... consider those as my humble opinion... btw... this is my blog... bukannyer ensiklopedia utk jd bahan rujukan... hehehe...

sebelum nak citer lanjut pasal D0ha nih... lebih baik ler kita tgk map bandar dia nih... D0ha nih tak der lah besar sgt... rasanyer dlm 30 minit naik kereta (dlm keadaan traffic yg lancar) blh sampai dr hujung ke hujung...

taken from: explore-qatar.com/html/dohamap.htm

(bg sesapa yg rajin nak cari selidik mana aku tinggal n mana pulak letak nyer office AJI.... klik lah pada link tu... tempat aku tinggal berhampiran dengan Gulf Cinema traffic lights (traffic light no 2) manakala office aku kat Roundabout no 9 i.e. TV roundabout... so bayangkan lah dr umah ke office umpama melalui 1/2 bandar D0ha nih... )

kalau bukan dtg utk bekerja mmg bandar nih rasanyer tak der aper2 lah sgt... nak kata shopping heaven pon tak... nak kata happening masa mlm2 pon tak jugak... byk bazaar or souq pon tak ler sgt2 hebat... tp apa yg ada memadai lah bg sesapa yg nak singgah sini sehari dua... (hmmm... bukan bermaksud nak halang org dtg D0ha nih utk lawatan... kalau nak ziarah aku pon apa salahnyer... hehehe... melayan kerenah aku, bandar bosan pon jadi hap'pening'... hahahaha)

ok.. central bg bandar nih adalah corniche nye... or dlm bahasa melayu.. teluk (kalau tak salah ler) kalau tgk peta atas tu yg bentuk C kat tepi laut... situ lah pemandangan yg cantik di siang hari... and kat situ lah tempat best nak jalan2 atau jogging atau sembang2 waktu malam (kalau cuaca mengizinkan lah). Rasanye tgk seluruh bandar dr arah laut mungkin lebih cantik, boleh sewa sejenis bot (apa ntah namanyer) utk menikmatinyer... tak sure berapa RM, sbb aku pon belum naik lagi... hehehe....

ini lah Corniche di malam hari...

(i think i would cover pasal tempat2 menarik kat dalam FAQ lain lah... cukup ler citer pasal tpt plg utama kat sini, Corniche,.... citer pasal benda lain plak...)

makanan? hmm... rasa nyer mudah nak dpt makanan kat sini... blh kata semua fast food ada kat sini... incl Chill!s... pizza hat... tp rasanyer tak nampak lak Hart Rok dan plenet Holiwood... but selain drp fast food or wester food... byk jugak makanan dr seluruh dunia... mid east and south asian food mmg lah berlambak... termasuk lah Turkey grill, Beriani (yg sedap ya amat), nan etc... italian restaurant ada, argentina ada, japanese ada, korean ada, pinoy ada... pelbagai lah kiranyer... namun, kebanyakan nyer slightly mahal dr Malaysia tp agak berbaloi sbb portion dia besar... tp... portion utk fast food sama jugak ler... like MekD dan KFSee harga nyer blh katakan double lah compare dr kat Malaysia... but still... ok ler blh makan sbb semua halal kan... insyaAllah...

(org melayu nih... mmg first thing to decide whether tpt tu best ker tak... makanan... hehehe... since aku blh telan apa jenis makanan pon... best lah kat sini)

aktiviti... selain drp g shopping complex di siang hari rasanyer tak blh buat aper sgt sbb panas... cuma mlm ajer org2 kat sini aktif... on transportation... kurang public transport except taxi... driving kat sini... hmm... i think ada masanyer blh katakan worst than Key El lah kot... org arab nih.. mcm depa ajer yg betul... hehehe...

apa lagi nak tahu pasal D0ha... post lah soalan kat komen.... nanti aku taruh jawapan di FAQ yg lebih specific...

p/s - if i can survive hidup sendiri kat Ipoh 2 tahun, insyaAllah kat D0ha blh jugak.. :)