Another hectic week

The first hectic week is followed by another hectic (last one in doha) week of gatherings and farewells - meetings with singaporeans, deevapali gathering at friend's place, meetups with qatari, meetups with church friends etc...

Glad to make some good friends and contacts over here. Hope to be able to keep in contact with them. : )

Hectic week and Return Flight to Singapore

Really... It has been a hectic week. with all the activities going concurrently - selling car, packing and shipping household items back, work issues, deciding on which site to go to upon return to Singapore.. finally, now things are more settled.

Well, it is also confirmed that we will return to Singapore for good. The return flight is confirmed and it is EK432 9 nov sun 1940hrs at T1.

See you till then..!

Cell group in Doha

Hi, I believed I mentioned in some of my earlier posts that I attended a cg in doha. However, it is closed after a few months. Here is a picture of the hosts and the cg. It is nice of the hosts - Victor (in green) and Clementine (in pink) - to arrange a farewell gathering for us. Clementine is nice enough to prepare most of the food and drinks. We had a great time catching up and bidding farewell... Think will miss them also..

Selling my car now...

again, it is kind of troublesome and stressful to own a car. Trying to sell it now.. but sad that I accidentally scratched it while trying to park.. think will affect the value again. so far, I have been reducing the advertised price (in qatarliving.com - http://www.qatarliving.com/node/227350) so that the "max sellable price" can be identified and done deal. Guess the price will be somewhere from 82k qr to 75k qr.. Let's see how it goes at the mean time.. another viewing 5 mins later..

BBQ at my colleague place

A few days ago, we are invited to my colleague's place for a BBQ dinner. It is at the villa right next to mine actually. A Filipino couple is there as well - Chris and Mavis and their little girl. Now Chris happens to maintain a blog as well - and guess what, we are now featured in one of his articles. Check out the link below for our pictures.

http://lifeonthespot.com/blog/2008/10/sleep_over_part_1_1.php

Did you see the jelly? It is prepared by my wife as dessert. :)

BBQ at our place

We recently had a bbq at our place - but only for the 2 of us.. : ) kind of suggested by my wife. I guess she is trying to make full use of the house and garden as we should be leaving this place pretty soon.. Here are some pictures. Had quite a good time as the weather is now much better at night time.

In love with another cute cat?

Hi, as usual, my wife tends to have a soft spot for animals. Here is another cat which is kind of cute and fat.. that's why we call it fatty.. : ). Fatty has a round face and is easy to cuddle. He doesn't struggle like Cookie when you carries him.

Can the 2 cats stay under 1 roof? well, not too well. Cookie is afraid of Fatty. Anyway, Fatty likes to roam around outside.. He just comes here for food..

Celebrating our 8th wedding anni

Well, this is the first time we celebrate our wedding anni overseas. Different environment but the same love! Bought her flowers (a bit ex here tho) but she said "how come no present leh??" : ) hee.. anyway, I think the flowers did the magic already.. In the evening, we went to the Doha Intercontinental Hotel and had our dinner buffet there. Quite nice and my wife loved it. As for me, I think I should have eaten more sashimi..see the pictures below..er..if you wondering where the sashimi are, they are in my stomach already..hee.

NDP 08 photos in Doha

Hi all, Some mentioned to me that they cant see the photos in the ndp link. I have extracted some here for your viewing...

Some photos of Tanzania (East Africa)

Hi, my boss just came back from Tanzania, after climbing (or rather treking) Mt Kilimanjaro (the highest mountain which can be treked to the summit). He also visited the wild safari (Manyara National Park) where you can come in close contact with wild animals..

see album if interested.
http://picasaweb.google.com/dquekch/AfricaKiliSafari

NDP ceremony held in Doha

Hi, it did take a while, but the pictures for the NDP ceremony held in Doha is finally out... Check them out here.. http://gallery.me.com/sanasiddiqui#100021

All singaporeans and PRs are invited to the ceremony. quite well attended with about 300 guests.

Can you spot me and my wife there?
: )

Internet is down intermittently

Oh no.. Internet in my place is going down intermittently. sometimes, I cant access yahoo, google and blogger. This is bad. Internet has been my entertainment, work and social life. Cant imagine my life here with internet...ahhhhh..

Getting a bit busier

Nowadays, seems to get a bit busier at work. could be due to the shorter working hours with same things to be accomplished...

Anyway, if you are reading this, do put up a prayer for us on whether we shd continue with our stay in Qatar. The offer has not come yet. If it does, we can either take it up or not. Also, in recent days, it becomes known to me that there is another outstation opportunity available in my existing company.. as for the place, it is in the middle eastern region or Brunei (hmm.. not too good a place for Brunei, right?).

So, do keep us in prayer.. Thanks a lot. : )

Switzerland photos (All)

Hi guys,





You can see all the Switzerland photos in http://picasaweb.google.com/andrewhmk

Here are some which I placed in slideshows..





Special Feature : Can you identify the gospel stories in each of these cravings?

Switzerland photos for Bern and Fribourg

Hi,

got some of the photos ready. My wife is still doing the captions for the rest. You can see them below or through the url below.



http://picasaweb.google.com/andrewhmk/SwitzerlandBern28Aug2008#

enjoy!

Special Feature on a Shabby Dog we met. It seems lost and my wife has so much compassion on it that she almost brought it back...

Today is the First time I cook for my wife.

Hee, guess what I cook...

Maggie Mee..

ok ok. I can imagine all your reactions..

The swiss photos are coming..

Back from Swiss/Istanbul trip into Ramadan.

Hi guys, sorry for not updating the blog frequent enough. Someone has complained already.. hee.

We touched down from Swiss/Istanbul to Doha on 3 Sep 1am. Had 3 hrs of sleep and zoomed straight to work at 3 Sep 6am. siong hor.. My wife said that I have to avoid this type of arrangement at all cost in future.. hee. no choice lah - the peak season is right before the start of Ramadan (1 Sep). Everyone (Arabs) is rushing back to go through Ramadan with their families. As such, air tickets are much cheaper right after the start of Ramadan.

Turkish Airlines

Talking about flying back, my advice to you is to avoid Turkish Airlines at all cost if possible. It is not very good. why?
1. did not get their manifest right when departing from Doha to Istanbul. As the flight came from Bahrain before that, some passengers departed the flight which remain unaccounted for to Doha airport crew. as a result, the flight is not allowed to depart on time. Everyone has to surrender their air ticket stubs for the crew to match and find out who is missing!

By the time we departed, the flight has to make a pre-arranged technical stopover in Bahrain again. We reached Istanbul just in time for our connecting flight to Zurich. We made it, but our luggages did not!

So, we have to make a report in Zurich. First time in my life tho. Going to make a claim on the travel insurance now.. btw, the luggages arrived the next day (1st one) and the following day (2nd one). Luckily we stayed in Zurich for 2 nights. If not, the luggages will be trying to catch up with us..

2. no individual inflight entertainment. ok.. still can bear with it. but no movie shown throughout 3 out of 4 flights - only some ads i think. Luckily, they redeemed themselves on the last flight with the latest installment of Indiana Jones.

3. bad service from the stewardesses..
Stewardess : "Chicken or Pasta?"
Karen : "What is in the Pasta? Cream sauce or Tomato?"
Stewardess : "I dun know. Chicken or Pasta?"
Karen : $%@&^&%$#&*%^*&^#$...

ha, no lah. my wife did not curse her. Just have to answer Chicken or Pasta..

4. Somehow, flights get delayed and made longer..On the last flight to Doha, the flight has to circle round Doha airport due to high traffic in Doha airport.. delayed for 1 hr. can see that some passengers were quite anxious for the landing.. When the plane finally landed, a number of passengers cheered and clapped hands..

Switzerland and Istanbul trip

Of course, one has requested for the photos of the swiss trip. My wife is arranging and selecting them now.. During the trip, I thought of a few ways to highlight our trip experience to you guys. of course, there will be the photos. But, I thought of a few themes which i will be rolling out one at a time. so, keep watch ok?

Ramadan has started

Well, I am not sure about Singapore side. But Ramadan has started here - targeted from 1 Sep till 30 Sep. The dates are never fixed in advance. Over here, it is based on the sightings of the moon. So, the end of Ramadan is targeted on 30 Sep so far. During Ramadan, there are a few lifestyle changes:
1. No food and water will be sold in all outlets (except hotels) from sunrise (abt 3am plus) to sunset (abt 5.50pm). So, we have to settle our own bf and lunches at home. My wife has been doing a good job in these preparations.. Thanks Dear..
2. Most of the services opened in the am, but close in the pm (right after 1pm). Quite boring tho. However, they will open again in the eve (about 7pm after break fast till as late as 12am or 1am for some).
You will see the crowds and traffic in the evenings. Most people who are fasting, will probably choose to sleep in the pm..
3. All are not just bad. Work hrs are changed also - for me, it is now 9am till 2pm. for my wife, it is 8am till 2pm. The reduction in hrs allowed people who fast to come to work later as most of their activities are done in the evening. at times, way into the early ams.
4. At the end of Ramadan, there will be a 3-5 days eid holidays. Good to go for another short trip..

So, if you have a choice, will you want to go through Ramadan here? : )
cheers.

About Cars

Hi guys, just a thought today about cars. Wonder why somehow people like to own cars.. Here are what cars bring along:
1. Car loan.
2. Occasional puncture of tyres causing inconvenience. sometimes, 2 at a time.
3. Occasional traffic fines. talking abt that. i think i may been getting one soon. kena flashed at the traffic signal while trying to do a U turn. now praying that the camera did not capture my plate number since i just just braked after the line... aiyah...worry for nothing. pray for me also, ok?
4. road tax.
5. need to go servicing. now my 15k mileage is up.
6. need to buy insurance.
7. need to do technical inspection after 3 years.
8. need to go car wash at times. 10qr or 4 sing per time.
9. kena horn at times.

so, why do we still own a car? guess it is the pride of man if not for the need sake. : )

Cookie Cat

Hi, someone asked me to blog more about my cat in Doha. Here are some more pictures of him (ya, we discovered that Cookie is actually a boy.. cant tell clearly when he is young). Doesn't he look cute? But he is also quite violent now and loves to bite and scratch.

For scratching, we have bought a scratch board for him. for biting, what else can we do but to beat him? Wife said using a loud voice or hand clap to discipline him - but dont seems to be working.. think my beating and confinement (in toilet for eg) still work best..

Summer Festival in Doha

at least something to visit and look see here. if not, during summer time, most of our friends (singaporean mostly) are currently back in singapore, eating their bak chok mee. We went for the summer festival opening ceremony last tuesday.

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=230306&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16

It is pretty interesting - just like an exhibition, but all words are in arabic. there are mascots walking around and magicians to entertain childrens. see the pictures.

Drinks at work

Over in middle east working culture, there is this concept of tea boys for every department - no tea lady or auntie. The tea boys are mainly from india, pakistan etc. They are pretty low paid - 200 to 400 sing per mth with food and lodging provided. Basically, at work, you can order as many drinks as you like for free. But the catch is that only those which they have
- arabic drinks - arabic coffee, turkish coffee (super not nice), arabic tea (super sweet, no wonder 1 in 4 qataris is dabietic), zatar (arabic herbal tea - worth drinking).
- fruit drinks - orange juice, cranberry juice, no apple or water melon or mango juice..
- plain water.

as for me, most of the time, i had orange juice and cranberry juice. per day. hee. dun think such treatment will happen in singapore.

Indian dinner

Last friday, we had a dinner with an indian couple, Vince and wife. Vince has been a very nice brother in christ to me. In my initial months, he has helped me a lot - fetched me to his indian church every friday am and offered to provide transport to me whenever i needed them. I have gave him and his wife dinner treats once or twice. Last friday, he gave myself and my wife a north indian treat. nice of them. .. but got some stomach problems the next day tho... : ) too sweet and spicy..

Making use of the Dust

Ha, guess a picture says a thousand words.. to my wife especially.. : ) sometimes, small things can make our lives more interesting and loving.. also, hmm...maybe this is a new way to avoid doing hsework.. can write the same words on floor, dusty tv screen, dusty table top, ... so no need to clean them off.. haa. but cant avoid washing dishes..

PS : this post is not applicable to David. Other guys will agree 100%.

Get Ready to be Dusty

well based on the satellite picture and the current situation, it seems that qatar will be dusty for the next few days. The actual look here is a bit like the haze back in singapore where visibility will drop a lot. well, precaution is to stay indoor more before you get sick for no good reason..

Where shd i tithe to?

btw, wife is ok and back to work now.

regarding this issue of tithing, had some discussions with my wife some days back. ideally, one shd tithe where he worships. in short, he shd tithe where he "eats grass" - i mean wherever he gets his spiritual food. however, i am kind of inclined to tithe a portion back to vfc or even, bethel assembly (an indian church here).

why?
1. the expat (mainly ang mo) church which i am attending now has lots of expats. the church has sufficient resources - in fact, she is rich.
2. I tend to see a greater need in vfc (esp in regards to non-stop missions, buildings and offerings...) and bethel assembly (this is a church servicing mainly indians. the building is pretty rundown and we all sit on the floor.) which i attended before.

one way of argument is that i am still in contact with friends and my dear AM in vfc - so in this sense, i am still getting spiritual food from vfc and this allows me to save the money till i return to tithe. a portion can be reserved for this.

as for bethel, i can attend their evening service once a mth or 2 mths. this allows me to tithe there as well. again, a portion for this.

the problem with tithing to vfc is that the money has to be "kept aside and accumulated" - this may not be healthy (as the tithe must be given first) and it gets "slightly more and more difficult" to give when the amt is getting big.

what do people in vfc think?

Wife sick

well, my wife took some minor medicine but turns out worse after it - because she is allergic to sth inside there. as a result, her eyes swell - really swell i mean, till you cannot see her eyes..! as it is on a sat, all govt clinics are closed. btw, it has to be a govt one because the company only recognizes govt clinics or hospital. so, we have to go to the a&e dept in the govt hospital here.

a bit messy there. poor signages. asked my wife to go down and register first while i parked the car. but i lost her somehow. also, mistakenly, my hp is left with her. i tried to ask around for the right place/reception but in vain. over here, sometimes, people just anyhow give directions to "get rid" of you. directions come before you finish asking..that's how you know that you need to ask another. anyway, got so frustrated that i drove home so that i can call my wife from the home phone.

anyway, good that i am back home as she needs to wait for a while. in total, she spent about 3 hrs in the hospital. her feedback is that the service is quite delicate and up to standard - with proper examinations and diligence to ensure that things are ok. all in all, 3 doctors seen her. and here is the best part- the entire treatment costs only qr3!! which is abt 1.2 sing dollars. superbly heavily subsidized..

who wants to come here for treatment?

Interesting observation

Qatar's Qtel is buying over Singapore's Temasek Holdings' shares of Indosat, an Indonesian telecommunication company. For this deal, Indonesian VP suddenly come out to support...hmm... well, not for Singapore's one. maybe, someone gave a call...

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=224515&version=1&template_id=57&parent_id=56

However, you got to give credit to Temasek this time as the sale is 3 times the bought price about 5 year ago. not too bad for an investment..

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/352992/1/.html

2 "I miss U" drawings

Both are pasted on the corridor as well. The first one is from Jervis and the second is from Jerdel (younger boy) - Both are my nephews in law. Really nice and cute of them to draw these for us. Make us remember home definitely. : )

somehow, seems to miss singapore more since return from mid term trip. maybe because of the weather or probably more because of you guys back in sing - after a short and good catchup with you all! being to miss again..

2 Favourite photos

Both taken with my nephews. Arent they cute and adorable?
Left is my sister son and right is my brother in law son..
Left is Rayne Rayne and right is Solomon baby.
Currently both pictures are along our corridor. so will see them everytime.. : )

Smelly cat song by the Friends

After watching my previous post on my new found kitten, someone brought up a funny video about cats... from Friends apparantly.. Just for some silly fun.

New kitten in the house

Recently, my wife picked up a kitten and brought her (could be a boy anyway. cant really tell now) back. Think she cant resist herself to keep a pet. The kitten is cute indeed at about 3 wks old. It seems lost at the time when she found her in the wholesale market.

We have yet to give her a name. any suggestion? just leave a comment.

The problem now is - how to depart and leave her in qatar after spending abt half a year with her?? especially difficult for my wife. Bringing her back will cost a bomb - about 1k sing...

Some More videos on Jordan

Hi guys, some more jordan videos.

Wadi Mujib.
This is a canyon with a river still running inside. We trekked against the river in order to reach the endpoint which has a waterfall. See videos below.





Old Church in Madaba. This is a famous church in Madaba which has some historical mosaic floorings.



Roman ruins in Jerash.



Drive along a road in Karak

More Jordan videos

Approaching The Treasury, Petra (famous site from the movie :Indiania Jones and the last Crusade).
If you have watched the movie before, just imagine that you are indiania jones approaching the site. It is a spectacular view and experience. Petra is an ancient city built before and during the times of Christ. Full of pagan worships tho. It is one of the world wonders.



Closeup view of one of the tombs in Petra.
Did you see my wife resting on one of the chairs at the entrance? Lots of walking and climbing in Petra..



Viewing the promised land from Mount Nebo - just like how Moses saw it.
From this mountain, you can see the most of Israel - however, it may not be too clear from this video. Jericho and the Dead Sea (on the left) can be seen clearly from this spot.



Complex tunnels found in Karak Castle - built by the Crusaders in est AD1000.
Just a small section of the entire castle. tunnels can be found within the castle structure. btw, it is also very cooling when you get down to the tunnels as compared to the heat outside.



Demo on how to float on the Dead Sea.
For those who have been trying to visualize how floating on the Dead Sea is like, here is a demo by my wife. On the exterior, the Dead Sea looks the same as any other seas. I have tried to taste the sea water. It is simply extreme salt. So, going down there with a small cut is not a good idea. : )

Someone forgot to turn off the heater!

Well, I am referring to the weather here. Once out of the airport in doha, a wave of dry heat will just engulf you.. it is 38C at night. Well, at daytime, it can hit 40 - 45C nowadays. according to the arabs here, this early summer seems to be too early... thank God that today seems to be cooler - less than 40C. But strangely, we rarely sweat even though there are such high temperatures - a few reasons i guess-- 1. due to the extreme heat, we rarely stand around and chit chat in the sun. so what happens is people dashing in and out, to and from air con buildings and cars.. 2. the environment is dry, not humid like in singapore where you can feel sticky after walking for 15 mins (or at times, immediately after bathing!).. 3. due to the extreme heat, exercising is reduced (or eliminated? oh no.. it is really uncomfortable to jog in this kind of weather even at night.)

well, enough said. to better experience this, you have to come here to take a "feel". any takers? It will get hotter soon.. Most people are starting to plan their leave already...

Back from Jordan and Singapore

Hi guys,

been busy since our return from Singapore and Jordan. It has truly been a good refreshing time (but more busy than qatar) when back in Singapore - basically, gathering gathering gathering daily..

Right after our Singapore stay, we went for our 1 week trip to Jordan. The photos are now ready - myself and wife have chosen 80 plus photos for your viewing pleasure since we know that you guys are too busy to view all the hundreds of them.... if you want some more of a particular location , eg. Dead Sea or Petra, pls let me know ok?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9499143@N04/sets/72157605175346084/

Also, I have selected about 20 videos to show you all how Jordan looks like. But have yet to have a good and fast way to resize and upload them. Until then, check out the 1 below uploaded to YouTube..


Notice the Israel flag is just right across the river. a bit weird since the river is now reduced to a "less than 5m" wide stream.. this is considered a military zone. we are allowed to stay for 1 hr max.

This is HARD to believe..

did you guys see this in Straits Times newspaper?
http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/pdf/20080422/HOW.pdf

Does your car's tyres puncture 2 at a time?

Well, it just happen to me the day before yesterday. Literally, it renders you helpless (maybe we shd start having 2 spare tyres on cars..). Thank God that I am not in the "no man" desert when this happens. Apparently, for small punctures, you wont notice them until you stop the car for a while - it can still sustain for a while when in motion. That is what happen - we discovered that 2 tyres on the same side of the car are punctured by the time we finished our dinner.

Dont have any breakdown service number with me to call. So, end up calling the whole world. Called honda servicing for help or at least to get a number to follow on. A gives me B's number, B gives me C, C gives me D, D gives me E. Thank God that it stops at E. Well, this is the kind of customer service you can expect in Qatar... I am sure my wife and I would be more torrent with customer services when back in Singapore.

So, E said that he will arrive in 20 mins. 30 mins later, I called and he said he will arrive in 10 times time. In total, he came after est 40-50 mins. It is a tow service. The price is reasonable - 100qr or 40 sing. Thought I will be held ransom in such situations.

When we reached the auto repair shop, the guy said that no new tyre would be given, and that mine would be repaired instead. and he kind of stick a "thread toothpaste" into the identified holes. Both punctures happen on the same side of the tyres. Hope the repairs can last.. if not, 1 tyre costs about 250qr or 100sing.

Recalling about such incidents. This is the 3rd time I have punctured tyres and it seems like it always happen 2 at a time... On the 2nd experience, I made a mistake of "dragging" the car along with a punctured tyre in states after changing 1 to spare tyre.. nearly cant get insurance to pay.. Well, learnt my lesson this time round and some others also.. : ) will share more when we meet again..

Coming back Singapore SOON!

well, finally, we are coming back. if you are not sure of the dates again - here they are again - 25 apr pm till 8 may night. flying off on 8 may thur past midnight.

for those faithful ones who have been checking my blog, sorry that i have not posted for a while. have been busy booking flights and making arrangements for my jordan trip right after my stay in singapore. pretty excited to be able to visit petra - the site used by indiania jones of the last crusade movie. Petra is one of the wonders of the world as well.

Summer has arrived here and we have started to use the pool in our club house. see some of pictures below...


see you soon in singapore.