Sudah Berlesen...

Alhamdulillah...

My wife dah dpt lesen... ni approval n signature yg dia dah passed test... kind of assisted test jugak lah, no preparation and tak sempat nak nervous pun. so now she already licensed to drive around lah...

Travel Report - MLE : Day 5 (HM)

so the lovely holiday now came to its end... pagi tu sempat lah berkayak... and mandi laut again... lovely weather... alhamdulillah... and by noon kitaorg pun g ke jetty utk ke Male the capital city of maldives. as the flight only departed at night, around midnight rasanya. so kitaorg ada lah mcm half day kat Male.

a very small town... indeed and apparently kat male ni senang cari tour guide. org hotel kitaorg dah set dah tour guide. and those guide ni free of charge, tp pandai2 lah bg tips. and kitaorg nampak mmg ramai org2 mcm tour guide ni kat jetty. mmg blh je sesapa ambik depa ni and semua free and earned based on tips... tp aku rasa for sure lah souvenir2 yg kitaorg beli tu, depa dpt gak commision... actually not bad lah tour guide ni, at least u know a bit about the place plus tak lah sesat, although pekan ni kecik...

kitaorg sempat singgah kat the 'biggest' park kat male (hehehe... kecik je pun), tgk the oldest masjid (oh... maldives ni 99% muslim, so makanan senang lah), then tgk palace lama yg tak leh masuk pun... and the interesting one, g ke pasar basah i.e. for sayur2 (banyak pisang n kelapa) and ikan (mostly tuna). of course lah singgah kedai souvenir and restaurant utk late lunch. sebelum balik ke airport. nak ke male dr airport (vice versa) kena naik bot gak...even local pun naik boat, cost us USD1 per boat ride...
airport dia pun kecik je... bye bye maldives... i won't come back.. hehehe... :-)

Travel Report - MLE : Day 4 (HM)

it was back to lovely weather on our 4th day... back with blue sky and bright sun... good to end our stay kat maldives... and today, mmg plan nak ambik gambar... aku buat idea bengong skit masa sebelum dtg sini... since we (not we, but wifey) spent a lot to buy baju nikah... why not bawak baju nikah masa holiday ni, n berangan buat outdoor shooting... pakai baju nikah and ambik gambar... hehehe... ambik gambar pakai tripod je pun... segan siot... kitaorg bergambar sekitar villa je, tak jadi g tepi beach... hehehe...(gambar2 lain ada kat fb hehehe)
and kitaorg pun mmg dah book for massage ptg tu. we chose their special massage... quite good... tp kalau sapa pilih thai massage, tempat massage nya kat tgh2 laut mcm gambar kat bawah ni... since that night was the final night, lepas massage tu kitaorg g makan thai food kat resort sebelah kitaorg punya resort. ada boat kecik connected the 2 resort (bwh same management so the 5 minutes boat ride was free). seriously recommendable thai food tu... sedap and tak lah mahal sgt (compared to other restaurant kat sini). tp pengalaman nak ke restaurant tu lah yg menarik... it was raining with very strong wind... and restaurant tu ke tengah laut mcm tempat massage thai bawah ni... so nak menyampai kan ke restaurant tu kena lalu jambatan dlm 30 meter, angin kuat gila macam boleh je jatuh ke dalam laut... nasib baik selamat... and the food was excellent... nice treat to end the holiday... lepas hujan berhenti br kitaorg balik...
oh... as we picked the pakej org lepas kawin.. one of the night lepas dinner, kitaorg tgk katil dah dihias with rose petals... was a surprise provided by the resort. dia buat masa room service waktu petang, apa ke term nya room service petang ni...
not only the bed... the bath pun depa sedia kan with rose petals...
............... and the rest is history..... hiks...

Travel Report - MLE : Day 3 (HM)

One of our advantage masa booking/travel ke maldives was travel period tu hujung2 low season. reason for low season tu sbb bulan2 yg hujan kat maldives. this low season ni from ntah bila sampai end of september. so sapa dtg 1 october, harga hotel at least 20% more than harga on 30 september. so our trip ni mmg planned to end hujung september... demi mengejar low season. Tp low season pun, ramai gak org...

so... since this is low season... mmg lah hujan... so second day tu mendung since morning. and kitaorg plak dah book for snorkelling trip. tp elok jugak lah, kalau weather mcm hari sebelum nya, mmg terbakar gak kulit... so masa mendung ni, tak lah kena sunburnt dok tgh2 laut... snorkelling was so-so... nothing to shout out. maybe tempat kitaorg g tu tak best. tp ok lah...

so the rest of the afternoon tu hujan... dok je lah kat villa... petang2 skit br blh keluar... oh, ni toilet open concept villa kitaorg... kalau ada org naik kayak ke, boat ke... blh lah nampak org mandi... and we had chosen the sunset view...

Travel Report - MLE : Day 2 (HM)

The resort was lovely... seriously a good choice. we chose to stay kat villa over the water suite... yeah, agak mahal... but as said earlier, for once in my life... 2nd day kat maldives, did nothing much but enjoying the place je... went around the island and planned for activities throughout our stay there... here are some pictures of the resort...
apparently mmg takde benda nak buat kat sana... so mmg tempat ni sgt sesuai utk rehat2... kalau mcm resort ni, among all, dia bg option utk visit some kampung, g tgk dolphin, tangkap ikan or snorkelling & diving. aku malas g tgk kg, my wife malas tgk dolphin, kitaorg plan nak g tangkap ikan but tak lah fancy sgt, we do not know how to dive, and snorkelling dah masuk dlm pakej. so kitaorg cuma g snorkelling. lagi satu ada spa treatment, tu pun masuk dlm pakej. so settle with apa yg dah berbayar. (hehehe.. mahal siot kalau nak buat outdoor activity, so buat activity dalaman je lah... hik hik)maldives ni terdiri dr cluster of pulau2... so kalau dah pilih satu resort ni, maknanya mmg the whole holiday period tu dok kat pulau ni lah... breakfast, lunch n dinner semua atas pulau ni, or any adjacent pulau yg blh g... tp tak byk yg gitu. so kalau dok kat resort yg restaurant dia mahal or tak sedap, mmg nasib lah... (or perhaps ni experience aku je kot, so kalau resort lain or pulau lain tak mcm ni). n kalau berangan nak g pulau lain, mcm resort aku, dia charge USD50 per person utk naik boat. and semua pulau2 ni jauh gak lah dr Male, the capital city, so nak ke sana kena lah bayar extra. so sesapa nak g sini, dinasihatkan cari lah resort2 yg dpt good recommendation on the restaurant and cari lah tempat yg restaurant tak mahal. anyway, kalau berjimat cermat pun, aku rasa USD100 per person per day utk makan kena masuk dlm bajet.
and we had chosen the over the water villa. seriously best... we had our own private deck and mmg privacy, yup u have to pay for the privacy ni. below is the view from our deck. mmg tak nampak dr chalet tepi2 tu and takde boat lalu kat belakang villa. and kalau nak mandi laut, blh turun tangga kat tepi tu... bliss...

Travel Report - MLE : Day 1 (HM)

I'm seriously thinking about going for holiday... then aku kira2 balik, bukan nya lama sgt aku tak g holiday... sesaja je mengada... hehehe... anyway, br teringat, aku tak cite lagi pasal aku punya holiday lepas kawin aritu... here you go... (sorry cite dah basi).

After several discussions ngan wifey (masa tu bakal wife lah) kitaorg decide utk splurge for a decent holiday after kawin. dia suggested nak g ke Maldives, little did she know, aku mmg teringin gak nak g maldives lps kawin (tp tak lah cite direct...) so after several hunting for hotel to stay, kira2 bajet, gaduh skit2, kira2 bajet lagi, hunting2 hotel n pakej, gaduh2 lagi, then kira bajet semula, gaduh2 lagi, gaduh2 tak abis, then kira balik bajet... baru lah decide utk g ke sana and stay at Anantara Dhigu Resort and set to fly from KL instead of Doha. 2 weeks after kawin.

masa cek2 timing flight semua, mcm tak best je fly dr KL or even singapore, from ASEAN countries most of the flight are due to arrive kat maldives malam... so sesapa g maldives tu, kena lah bayar for the hotel for that night when we only arrive almost midnite. ye lah, dah bayar mahal, nak lah the most optimum time blh spend kat sana kan... tp apa nak buat. and apparently kalau flight from middle east, mostly arrive before 12 noon... kira the best timing la kan.

so there u go.. we flew to Maldives dr malaysia naik MAS. we had slight glitch pasal flight schedule, masa book kata fly out pkl 8pm. without any notice, jadual flight berubah jadi 10pm... punya lah bengong... kitaorg terpaksa lah dok kat airport tu for 4 hours... and since flight dah makin lewat, makin lewat lah kitaorg tiba kat Maldives... tp since tak nak lah ruin the mood, so redha je lah...
as scheduled, arrived at maldives somewhere around 11.30 to midnight then ada boat terus menuju ke resort... ada lah main2 kompang and welcome drink yg best, tp agak penat dgn travelling. terus malas. gambar pun tak ambik sgt. (hmmm.... dulu konon nya nak complain gak kat MAS, tp sampai skarang tak de lodge complain pun... hehehe... malas)

Year end... holiday time...

it's end of the year... org mula lah bercuti sakan... mula nya aku nak gak gi holiday... tp sbb last minute, tiket pun dah mahal... so susah nak bajet lah... tahun lepas ada plan nak g travel by road ke jordan ngan syria masa ujung tahun ni... tp tak g plak... hmm...

anyway, for those yg berkesempatan nak g holiday... these are my suggestions... my top 5 pick for at least 4 days holiday... my pick ni based on the idea, these places are more unique and mmg susah skit nak g kalau kita dtg dr M'sia... meaning jordan, cairo, dubai and syria mmg tak masuk list lah... plus these are places yg blh sampai in 3 hours fly from Doha... so europe tak masuk list...1. Always on my top list... Muscat, Oman.... been there dah 3 kali dah... still adore the place and dont mind going there again... tp salalah aku tak g lagi lah... u can read abt my experience in Muscat in from here, here and here...

2. Beirut, Lebanon... go end of the year, if u get lucky boleh tgk snow cap or in fact g skiing... nice people, nice place, good food... went there in early 2009... u can read my opinion abt the places there here... tempat ni pun aku mmg nak plan g lagi... 3. visit Sanaa, Yemen... aku dah gi the capital city je, if you have more time, go visit Shibam Hadramawt, the manhattan of the east. mmg lain dr lain Sanaa ni. but be careful, i've heard kalau dah pernah g yemen, ada potensi susah dpt visa US. so kalau tak de visa US and plan nak g sana, probably u have to avoid this place... read my experience here...

4. Sharm Al Shaikh... I've never been here... heard this is a good place for diving and beach activities but a bit pricey. mostly trip org malaysia g egypt depa akan bawak ke Cairo and Luxor but not this place... insyaAllah one day, will go there..

5. the top in this list... mmg dah lama berangan nak g sini... never been here... but teringin sgt nak g... Dizin, Iran. I wanna go skiing... heard this is one of the cheapest place for skiing... insyaAllah one day will go here...

hmm... terasa mcm lama gile aku tak gi holiday ni... have to plan for something in first quarter next year ni... cepat kira2 bajet... :-)

Headlines...

3 hari berturut-turut.... bangga seketika :-)


The Peninsula... front page and page 3 (17.12.2010)

Qatar Tribune... front page - nation section (18.12.2010)

Gulf Times - 2nd page (19.12.2010)

National Day fireworks...

ooh tadi sempat tgk fireworks sempena national day.... tgk dr qatar bowling center je... a nice and byk... mcm ada music sambil fireworks... tak dengar sgt music... next year aku plan nak tgk kat corniche lah... here some photos (ambik guna phone je)
and here clips aku jumpa kat youtube...


tapi aku rasa 2009 punya lagi best, or probably the editing of the video yg buat lagi best kot...

Darb al saii...

CONGRATS QATAR!!!

sempena your national day.... :-)

asalnya... since aku dah sibuk baca2 website national day ni, bersemangat lah nak g tgk national day parade and events... but ended up, malas bgn pagi, tido je... hehehe... tgk kat tv...

but pergi jugak lah ke satu tempat ni, named Darb Al Saii... mcm cultural village... apa yg menyebabkan aku nak sgt ke situ, sbb katanya ada race anjing... hmm... mcm tak jive anjing dan muslim (maybe sbb kita ni org melayu, agak sceptical pasal anjing ni and associated with islam). then aku tahu ada some hunting event (with falcon) and camel parade... so kitaorg pergilah...tp seperti biasa... no clear information on jadual and event... kitaorg dtg nampak lah few dogs and ada lah pertandingan falcon (probably ratu cantik falcon) sbb ntah apa ntah... tunjuk itu ini ada 3 judge then sudah... seriously, takde information pun... too bad... we can't really enjoy the event, nampak very family oriented i.e. mcm upacara family day je... anyway, congrats qatar!!!

National day quiz..

Sempena Qatar National Day 18 Disember ni, MOI (kementerian dalam negara) Qatar will organise pertandingan quiz peringkat kebangsaan... they named it National Day Quiz for Non-Arab expatriate... mmg mcm tergesa2 je plan penganjuran pertandingan, sbb lambat notification, tak sempat pun nak cari peserta, bg short notice je kat malaysians yg nak masuk. and tak semena2 aku plak yg kena sbb tak cukup org.

MOI ni jemput 10 negara (india, pakistan, bangladesh, sri lanka, nepal, indonesia, malaysia, singapore, phillipines, nigeria) utk menghantar pasukan. each pasukan diwakili oleh 10 org. kenapa team2 tu yg terpilih, aku tak tahulah. although macam 'chokia' tp bear in mind, negara ni largely run by pakistanis and indians ni. and depa ni dah dok sini since born kot... well versed ngan selok belok sejarah negara ni.

so, sbb late notification, a day before the quiz (16 hb quiz day) br lah sebok2 aku nak membaca. we were told, yg perlu baca... website MOI, MOFA, National day dan Emiri Diwan. so aku concentrate kat website tu je lah.. in fact tak jugak. aku tak buka pun MOI and MOFA, hoping org lain baca. and for this year since national day ni depa nak angkat nama Jassim bin Mohammed al thani (following the path of the founder), sejarah org ni mmg kena lah tahu betul.... (but the funny thing was, the more you baca sejarah depa ni, the more u rasa mcm, hmmm... betul ke ni? mcm re-write je..., go read cerita mamat jassim ni, mcm hebat giler!!!)

as expected, mmg nampak sgt kuiz ni not really well planned. first, depa blh tak expect ada participant perempuan, malaysia hantar 4 drp 10 participant tu, perempuan... agak kacau jugak masa penyertaan.. tp tu settle... then come with the question and mcm mana nak jawab, kelam kabut and totally not prepared... tp takpe lah, relax je kan. since dah ramai org dr negara2 yg suka complain, we remained silent most of the time, wakil2 negara lain lg byk tak puas hati ngan cara quiz tu... so i let them complained :-) (btw, aku tetiba dilantik jadi team captain hehehe).

in short, quiz tu mcm ni. first sessi jawapan bertulis (24 soalan). soalan diajukan, kita kena tulis jawapan dan serah kat volunteer quiz. pastu bila keluar jawapan, n compare ngan jawapan kita. since geng2 organiser ni tak prepare, agak kelam kabut lah. pastu second round plak, verbal... style sama, tp specific soalan diberikan kat specific team. so nasib lah dpt soalan senang ke susah... kalau tak dpt jawab, soalan tu di pass kat specific team i.e. since it goes by alphabetical order, pass kat negara ikut abjad... agak tak adil, but ikut je lah...

antara soalan... the first five were about mamat jassim tu lah... pretty simple sbb semua org baca bab dia... then come to history section, arts, current affairs, MOI, general info, sports and etc... antara soalan killer yg takde org betul... apakah nama pearl paling luxurios and valuable... (jawapan al-jiwan... malaysia jwb hessa), apa nama dhow yg digunakan utk diving pearl (apa ntah jawapan nya), slogan hari lalulintas 2010 (ntah apa ntah jawapannya), bila first time national anthem qatar dinyanyikan (17th GCC summit, kita jawab GCC summit and tak tepat, dpt 0 markah)... and many more soalan...

then... came the results...

sebelum start 2nd round, diumumkan team Malaysia was leading by 5 points... (56points) India second 51 points, Indon 3rd 50 points.... then masuk second round... serious india mmg nampak berusaha gigih... kitaorg selamba je lah... jawab apa tahu... second round yg patut semua team dpt 4 soalan terpaksa diberhentikan awal, sampai 3 soalan each je... and both of us, india and our team manage to answer 2 out of the 3 questions given to us... which means.... we have won.. yup yeah... Malaysia menjuarai pertandingan Quiz Qatar National Day... :-) (lega... nasib baik tak kalah... seriously, agak pressure gak memikirkan kalau kalah ngan nepal or nigeria hehehe...) hadiah nya QR5000 not sorang QR5000, tp share 10 org.. jadilah... dpt gak 500.

oklah abt organisation ni mmg boleh diimprove... tp for sure, makanan dia bg masa break mmg superb hehehe... very nice roti n sandwich, mana depa dpt ni? kedai mana ntah... tp sedap and banyak!!!

hmm.. kena interview tadi ngan Qatar tribune, tak sabar nak tgk news masuk surat khabar... :-)

Dinner with Agong... Sultan Mizan

Agong is in town!!! yes, DYMM Yang Dipertuan Agong Sultan Mizan.... dan isteri Raja Permaisuri Agong dtg visit Doha this few days... and semalam baginda menjemput 250 malaysians kat Qatar to have dinner with him... and apparently, masa event ni lah byk aku nampak muka2 org lama kat doha ni. (utk hadir, semua kena cepat2 RSVP, mmg cepat betul, in 2 hours habis semua seats)

it was a simple dinner... and kesempatan bersalaman tu gave a different experience. tak sangka plak kitaorg tetiba panic skit sebelum bersalam. ye lah, with the protocol merafak sembah, and salam n where to go after salam buat rasa takut2 masa beratur tu. tp since the Agong and wifey were pretty down to earth and relax, takde benda sangat lah... :-)

tp yg kesian nya, food was not up to the standard... the starter and soup and the dessert were ok and no complain sgt lah... but the main course was a bit tasteless and tak kena ngan selera... chicken breast with salty sauce... hmmm... kalau bg lauk kenduri pun ok je hehehe...

and lepas majlis, semua dpt hadiah dr istana. aku rasa aku lambat berebut, sampai hadiah utk lelaki habis. patut lelaki dpt cufflinks and tie pin yg cantik, tp end up kitaorg dpt 2 hadiah perempuan, handbag holder. so lepas ni, sesapa dtg umah aku for dinner, blh lah sangkut handbag kat tepi meja ye :-)
Daulat Tuanku... (hmm, kitaorg tak sempat nak posing sebelah menyebelah dgn tuanku, nanti kena tulah plak kalau posing sebelah2 hehehe)

Cooler each day

Doha weather is getting cooler each day... since hujan masa time around raya haji (mid nov), winter sudah menjelma di Doha ni... tahun ni aku rasa cepat plak winter...

so bersempena winter... dan 3 bulan post-marriage effect i.e. peningkatan berat badan secara mendadak (4kg in 3 months!!!) aku ngan wifey pun plan utk jogging starting this week :-) cool weather ni best, jog for 30 minutes a day for 2-3 times a week kat corniche...

tgk doha city center while jogging... above tu, doha still berkabus, ni jam 6.30 pg ni... (18 degree)

so this is one of many 2011 resolutions, to consistently exercise, bg mengelakkan pemboroian mendadak berlaku... dan mengekalkan stamina dan kesihatan jantung hehehe... plus, jogging n exercise ni, at least bg ruang utk aku makan n continue makan, terasa kurang bersalah skit :-p

Road party...

hehehe... all roads were jammed up during the weekend especially along the corniche... qataris celebrated the announcement of WC2022... happy n meriah betul...

jalan penuh ngan org2 muda... kalau kita kat malaysia bila tau jalan tu busy n jammed kita akan g cari jalan lain... or balik... depa ni tidak... lagi suka... joined the celebration (but me being malaysian, cepat cari jalan pulang je... malas aku) kereta hon hon... diri atas kereta... menari2... benda merata... malam2 pun jual bendera... siap cat2 kereta (or shall i say conteng kereta)... great atmosphere...

pictures taken using handphone.. buruk skit.. (wifey cakap, dok dlm jammed pun blh jadi best tgk gelagat depa ni)

The time is NOW!!!

CONGRATS Q A T A R!!!!

congrats qatar for the chance to hold the world cup... aku tgk kat office je... memang aku sendiri rasa berdebar and berderap jantung bila pengumuman kata Qatar dapat WC2022... i dont know why but i'm as joyful as any qatari... wifey cakap, sebenci2 dia kat negara ni (so far...) dia pun naik excited bila dpt berita... siap tgk live kat tv tu (hmm.. surely tunggu muka anak emir :-p)

seriously big congrats to the country... u deserved it... you can do it... hopefully byk lah pemodenan and although takkan takde inflasi, but harap2 gaji naik lah when inflasi naik :-) and harap2 wifey dpt keje hehehe...

Qatar big day...

Tomorrow is the day when the future of Qatar will be set... at least for the next 12 years... good luck Qatar... berdebar plak tunggu... plus byk coverage kat AJE ni... aku plak tak sabar2..

anyway, hari ni Qatar buat final presentation... salute HH Sheikha Mozah for her speech... best... :-) (harap2 esok dpt lah kat Qatar) for those yg tak tgk lagi presentation... watch here: especially for those yg nak target anak emir tu.. :-p

tp kalau nak lompat terus ke speech sheikha mozah... watch this clip:


more presentation video:



p/s harap2 rental yg dijangka naik tu, tak lah terus mendadak naik...

p/s kalau dpt... adakah aku akan dok sini sampai 12 tahun lagi??? lama tu!!