Our Holiday Schedule

Dec. 22 - Xtian takes Qatar Airways flight at 11:15 PM to Manila, Philippines. The trip is about 9 hours long! Dec. 23 - Xtian arrives in the Philippines at 1:30 PM (Philippine time: +5 hours from Doha). Mavis and Xiane would be waiting at the airport along with Xtian's sister and her daughter, Yiyi. Take a 2 hour trip north of Manila to Angeles City (Google Maps). Dec. 24 - Do some cooking and prepare the whole day for the gathering in the evening. Xtian's relatives and friends would be spending Christmas Eve in the his parents house. Dec. 25 - Wake up early for the trip to Manila to spend Christmas with Xtian's grandfather in Manila. Buy lechon (roasted pig) along the highway. Take part in a mini-program for the kids in the family compound. Later in the afternoon, check-in at Astoria Plaza Suites. Do some shopping in the evening. Dec. 26 - Do post-Christmas shopping and take Xiane to one of the Kiddie Parks inside a mall. Drive back to Angeles(2 hour drive). Dec. 29 - Take a 5 hour trip to the mountainous City of Baguio. Strawberries here we come!!! January 1 - New Year in Baguio! Jan. 3 - Take the 5 hour trip to go back to Angeles City.

It's almost D-Day

One more sleepless night and that's it for me. I'm going home. I'm going home to celebrate Christmas in the Philippines! After 2 years of not having a "real" Christmas in Saudi, we decided that this year would be different. We would be spending the holidays in the Philippines with our families (Christmas with my side of the family and New Year with Mavis' side of the family). So yes, I admit I'm excited. Plus, after 3 months being alone in Qatar, I get to see my wife and my daughter! I wonder how Xiane would react when she sees me. I'm not sure how we could update this blog while on vacation. Might go in a haitus for a while but hopefully, we could give you bits and pieces of our vacation. We'd all be back on the 20th of January so at least expect something after a day or two after that. In the meantime, I might publish our Year-end letter here before I go on vacation. I just finished it today and would be reviewed by Mavis tomorrow before we officially send it out. Since 2002, we've been writing a letter to our families and friends at end the year just to let them know how our year went and to update them with our lives. So let's see if Mavis approves the publication of our Year-End Letter. Still, D-Day is near!

The Kong and I

It was never my intention to watch King Kong until yesterday when I saw that it was showing in Grand Cinema Center and tried to see what critics had to say about the film. This is Peter Jackson's dream movie. Even before he finished the Lord of the Rings (LOTR), he had openly stated that he wanted to do a remake of King Kong. And so he did. What kept me from really wanting to see the movie is that I knew the outcome of the movie and the ending is something that I'm not too sure I'd want to see. But with the glowing reviews, I knew I had to see it. I took the 10:45 showing hoping that not a lot would wake up early on a weekend to see a movie about an ape. The seating arrangement in Cinema 6 was quite awkward as you had the middle area as an entrance. Either you choose to be on the left or on the right, missing on the really good seats on the middle. I'm sure whoever designed this cinema isn't a cineaste. I chose to be on the left side, about 4 (non-available) seats away from the real middle, as my dominant eye is my left (not too sure if it was that but I feel more comfortable sitting on the left side if given the choice between the right or left). After 3 hours watching the movie, I could say that Peter Jackson owned KingKong, or should I say, Andy Serkis owned KingKong. Serkis is the same guy Jackson asked to act out Gollum for LOTR. Both his characterization (through motion capture and facial expressions) of Kong was superb. Credit also goes to those who digitized Kong himself. The movie starts up flat in the beginning as it was more of long characterizations. The actual fun begins right after the first hour; engaging the audience with special effects and over-the-top sequences. I liked it and would recommend for anybody to watch it. But remind you though, it's not really for the kids. It's not comparable to LOTR or Harry Potter. Also, here are some tips that you may want to know to help you enjoy the film. 1. Make sure that when you watch the movie, know that this is fiction and try not to be one of those National Geographic guys dissecting the movie for its factual values. 2. Don't ask how Naiomi Watts survived being "Kong-handled". I'm sure a real person would have had broken her neck and most, if not all, of her bones broken the way Kong was holding her. 3. Don't ask how the men could've survived running with/under the stampeding brontausaurs with only 4 men lost throughout the whole 10+ minute sequence. 4. Don't ask how they got Kong onto the ship and where they placed him. Just know that they were able to take him to New York in one way or another (chop him to pieces to be able to carry him, fit him in the ship and reassemble him in New York). Again, this is a movie about King Kong. He never did exist nor is Skull Island real. So don't talk about the evolution, geology, biology and physics. Just enjoy the movie. p.s. I can't wait for Jackson's next project: HALO.

Jobs in the Gulf

A lot of people have been emailing me to help them find a job in the gulf. I am not a contractor nor employed in an employment agency so I really can't help you with that. However, let me tell you this. I got my first job in Saudi Arabia through the Internet. I found a post in jobisland.com in which an employer wanted someone with experience in graphics and web design to work as a consultant for another company. That was in 1999. I got my second job in the gulf in 2002 by searching the web and looking for company websites where my work would fit in. I was able to find an advertising agency in the gulf and directly sent the General Manager my resume. Their website didn't even post an opening but I still sent the GM mine. I got a call from them about 2 weeks later and on the interview, he asked me where I got his email address and I told him that I got it off the net. Plus points maybe? I applied for the job in Bahrain last year (November) as I was on vacation in the Philippines. A friend, Rico, found an opening on the internet for a company in Bahrain (Orbit). I went to their website, found the opening on the career section and sent them my resume. The day after I got back in Saudi, I got a call from their HR department asking me if I can go to Bahrain for an interview. Now, in my current job in Qatar, I sent my resume September or October last year. I googled the web for Oil and Gas companies and sent my resume to some of them. 6 months later, having moved from Saudi to Bahrain, I got an email from the company asking me if I was still interested in the position I applied for 6 months ago. And now I'm here. All the jobs I had for the past 6 years were brought about by using the Internet. I haven't sent a hardcopy of my resume since 1999 to apply for a job. And the thing is, I must have sent a hundred to 200 emails to potential employers in the span of 6 years. I did get more offers than the actual number of jobs that I held. I declined going to China, Hongkong, Egypt and Cyprus. I also missed joining a gaming company in the Carribean because of a wrong email address. So for people asking me to help them get jobs, be resourceful. If you were able get to our blog and emailed me to help you find a job, I'm sure you could email potential employers just the same. To help you out looking for jobs in the gulf, you could go to the following sites.

http://www.worldwideworker.com/

http://www.bayt.com/

http://www.gulfjobsites.com/

http://www.qp.com.qa/qp.nsf/jobs?openview

http://jobs.escapeartist.com/Openings/Middle_East/

http://www.jobsindubai.com/ You could also do a google search for the industry that you want to be employed in. For example, do a search in google for "hospitals + Saudi" (without quotes). Go to the specific hospital website, look for an opening and send them your resume. Heck, even if you don't see an opening, send them your resume. You'll loose nothing by pressing that send button. So, unless you are my relative, please do not ask me to help you out with finding a job.I do hope I've enlightened you and hope that my tips help you on your job search. Goodluck on your jobhunting! p.s. IF you're not a relative, please don't pretend to be my relative either.

And so it begins...AbobeMedia

Adobe has officially acquired Macromedia on Dec. 3, 2005. The whole deal was valued at about US$3.4 billion, all of which were stock-made transactions. Adobe would still be Adobe but Macromedia would be no more at the start of 2006. I first heard of Macromedia in 1995 when I was beginning my foray into the IT world. I never touched a PC before 1995 I think. My professor in animation would have Macromedia Director, Authorware, Freehand and Fontographer installed in his machine. I never did touch them as I didn't even have an idea how to create a Microsoft Word document then, how much more with those applications. Fast-forward to 1998: The internet internet boom was just starting in the Philippines and people were starting to be interested with webpage development. I got to know that there was a software called Dreamweaver that could easily create webpages for me and my clients. Then you had something called Flash that can create animated banners for you instead of using GIF animations. Surprisingly enough, both Flash and Dreamweaver were owned by Macromedia. Circa 2000 - 2005 Instead of trying to compete with Adobe in terms of graphics, publishing and video, Macromedia knew they hit a jackpot with the techonlogy they developed and cultured. Flash became an industry standard. Designers and Developers were using it everywhere; to create presentations, banners, interactive applications and webpages. Dreamweaver has been rated to be the top WYSIWYG HTML editor around and has helped developers carry their work more efficiently. Everybody in the business of Web Development and Multimedia knows Macromedia. The Future The announcement that came on the 2nd half of the year came as a surprise for me. Adobe Systems, a software company that provides graphics artists and video developers tools to do their thing, is acquiring Macromedia. It's a no-brainer that Adobe did try to enter the world that Macromedia was reigning on even before they acquired it, trying to see if the giant that it is, could dislodge Macromedia in its grip of the web development market. Adobe produced products like GoLive (HTML editor) and LiveMotion (Flash content development) which both failed miserably in the market. Then the annoucement. Why did Macromedia sell out? The question asked by those using Macromedia software is plain and simple. We know that no one can ever beat Photoshop, After Effects, Acrobat and Illustrator. But since they have acquired Macromedia, how are they going to handle the development of the products by Macromedia? Some say that it might be for the better since the products would now be intertwined with each other, making an almost seamless jump from one program to another when editing, importing or exporting. They'd get to settle their differences in their palette tools and interface schemes (in 2000, a lawsuit had Adobe claiming that Macromedia was infringing with the way they had "tabbed palettes" in their products - Adobe won the case). Never again would you be using an Adobe product to manipulate photos and then importing them to seperate Macromedia product. Now, it's a "roundtrip" development process. Build, develop, create any media using several products by one company, Adobe. Would it really be for the betterment of Macromedia products? It might not be.. well, for at least sometime, until Adobe has fully integrated their code and system to these Macromedia products. It might be that the first year would be a bout integrating their products to the products of Macromedia. Would that mean that Macromedia products would remain stagnant in development except for the integration? Adobe never did understand fully well the needs for web designers and developers. Hopefully, they won't bully the guys from Macromedia when it comes to decisions for the future of Flash and Dreamweaver. How would Adobe handle the development of Dreamweaver vis-a-vis their own GoLive product? In any case, no one can really say. Here's to hoping the the next iterations of these products would actually benefit the people using them and not just satisfy the Giants' need to have a share of the web. Would we be seeing AdobeMedia in the future? I don't think so.

At Home and at The Garden

Kutch, Sandro and Joel, of PinoyTechQatar, came to the apartment today to supposedly help me out in arranging the furniture as I asked for help at the start of the week. I also asked them to bring a drill so we could move the hanging lamp. They arrived at about 3:30 but instead of doing what were supposed to do, we ended up doing nothing. They just copied some MP3's and movies from the Xbox, watched satellite and ate. I ordered Pizza from Pizza Inn (current favorite: Chicken Fajita) and baked pasta to match. Since we were all, in one way or the other, "techies", we spent time discussing softwares, servers, emails and IT stuff. By the time we finished, we were all full and ready to burst. They left at about 5:45 PM but we plan to meet again next week to buy stuff we need to take home to the Philippines. Kutch and found out that we were taking the same flight on the 22nd a couple of weeks back. I shouldn't have eaten that much since I was also due to meet with a colleague at 7:30 for a small gathering to celebrate his employment with our company. He was hired as a contractor at first but eventually was taken in by the company, which was a reason to celebrate! We met at The Garden - The Great Indian Restaurant

click on Map to view full size - map by Maporama

The Garden has 3 floors in which the 1st floor served an all vegetarian menu. I'm not too sure what they serve on the the 2nd floor. The 3rd floor was called Royal Garden and served buffet. Since I was with 4 colleagues who were from India and know what good Indian food tastes like, I had them taste the food first. The reasoning is, I wouldn't have any idea what authentic Indian food tastes so I can't say that it's bad or good without a standard, right? The food got their seal of approval so I chomped away. The Hamour was good and so was the Chicken Tikka. The other viands were also tasty though I didn't get to memorize what they were called. The choices in the buffet were nice although we would have wanted more mutton viands. The place was classy, clean and neat. You also get good service and their starter drink was fantastic (better served chilled). You have to reserve if you plan to have a group eat on the Friday as a table might be difficult to get and the place is a bit cramped. It was packed with people and those who finished eating were easily replaced in a minute or two. It gets 4 out of 5 for me. The only thing not good about it was the space. So if you're in an adventure to try out Indian food, I recommend The Garden. Anyway, we got to talking about languages, dialects and accents, food, meat, being vegetarian, and work stuff. We had a great time! We parted ways at about 10:30 and planned to get together after Eid (January) to try out the vegetarian restaurant. P.S. Yeah, I know, I've eaten a lot today.

My HD Died on Me

Qatar - My 2 year-old Laptop Hard Disk (HD) died on me the other day. I tried to resuscitate it by running a defragmenter, doing a scan disk, formatting it and reinstalling Windows. Everything failed. The tried checking the physical blocks of the drive again and found Bad Sectors. Bad...really bad. I wasn't able to fix it so the only solution was to buy myself another laptop HD to replace the one I have and hope that I could still recover my files on the 2nd partition of the old laptop. So off I went to Sofitel trying to see what they have. I was looking for a 80 Gb, 5200 RPM (Revolution Per Minute - the higher, the faster, the better) drive... an update to my dead 60GB 4200RPM HD. I got to this store which was telling me they have one which was 7200 RPM! Almost too good to be true. And it was. They showed it to me and said that the drives before showed it clearly on their tags that they spun 7200 RPM. But right now, they don't show it as this are coming from a new batch of delivery. So I asked them if they're sure and was told "Yup, we're sure but we can not guarantee". That also meant I can't return it if I find out on the net that it is not running at the speed they were telling. But what the heck. I needed a drive so I bought it, took it home and installed it. I was not that dissapointed when i did find out that it's running at 4200 RPM. At least I got the laptop working again. As for my data files, I was able to recover so little but I'm still not giving up. I'm hoping I can still recover my "My Documents" folder. Arghhhhh.... Technology has its ups and downs. By the way, the HD that I got was a Toshiba 80 Gb for 420 but got an extra external USB case for 50QR only. I saw a 100GB selling for 630. Look around, prices are different for each store.

Quotes to ponder (part 1)

Xiane is our talkative 2 1/2 year old daughter who calls Cinderella "Abby Abby", is scared of ants, has a set of Faces (Happy Face, Sad Face , Surpised Face, Angry Face), loves Belle of Beauty and the Beast, and is a swimming junkie. While watching Cyndi Lauper sing with Elmo on DVD... Grammy: That's Cyndi Lauper (thinking that Xiane would say "ah just like Aunt Cindy")! Xiane: she sing too much While watching Oscar the Grouch on DVD Mavis: Don't be Grumpy coz you'll be like Oscar. Try to always smile. Will you show me your Happy Face? Xiane: (Emoting, making a Sad Face then shoving her head on her arm) I don't happy, I'm sad (acting). After spilling water from a basin in the kitchen... Mavis: What did you do? Why did you spill it? Xiane: I'm sorry mommy. I walked too much. Just a little bit ok? After watching a lady clean fresh fish on the market... Xiane: Poor fish, the lady cut it up. Wanting to touch the fish... Xiane: The fish won't bite, she's a good girl! (referring to the fish)

Car Pooling...Help ease the traffic in Doha

Qatar - The following has been originally posted at http://www.qatarliving.com Good news to everyone, I and some of my friends are in the process of developing a network for ride share.The idea is very simple, if you don't own a car or if you own a car but don't want to use it or sick of driving and you need someone to drive you to and from any place in the city of Doha all you have to do is just contact us, subscribe (IT IS TOTALLY FREEEEEEE) and we will hook you up with someone who will be your ride-share partner. Also if you are a car owner and you drive alone and you wish to do something good for this community, you wish to help other people and also help yourself by decreasing the load on the crowded city of Doha, just contact us,subscribe and we will hook you up with someone who will be your ride-share partner. For further info please send your full "real" name, contact number, the area you live in (not necessarily the exact address,for safety purposes) and your ride-share plan, for ex what time you go to work?? where is your work?? what time do you get off work?? If you have any special needs that you need special arrangements?? Please send all these info to dentical75@yahoo.com and we will contact you as soon as the project is complete. Please help us beat the traffic jam by reducing the number of moving cars on the roads, send this message to your friends, encourage them to contact us, and advertise for the idea, it's great and it worked in many places all around the world.If you have any ideas or suggestions you are most welcomed to contact us on dentical75@yahoo.com Best regards, Dentist

MAP: Sofitel & Computer Shops in Doha

Here's a map to the Sofitel Building to help you guys out if you want to buy PC peripherals in Doha. Click on the image to see the full size. Map provided by: Maporama

The Hype that is Xbox 360

I've always been fascinated with gaming. I've had an Atari console when it came out, playing Pac Man and Space Invaders. Aside from the several Game and Watch screens that I had, I also had several Nintendo Family Computers in which Mario and Luigi were made famous. Then Sony came out with Playstation which brought in the Final Fantasy Series and Metal Gear. But that was then and now what I have is the Big Black Console called Xbox. I love my Xbox. It's been 2 years since I got mine from the Philippines (though the unit was bought and brought from Hongkong) and had a 120 GB harddrive installed to it. Not only do I use the console for gaming but also for playing all media files that we want to watch on the big TV; JPG, AVI, MPG, MP3, RMVB, WMV, MOV, DAT for VCDs, and even our DVDs. You can even transfer the files from your PC/Laptop directly to the Xbox through ethernet connection. The only thing missing is for it to be a PVR (Personal Video Recorder) so we can copy TV show from our satellite feed directly to the Xbox harddisk. We've brought it to most of the hotels we've stayed in just for Xiane to be able to watch her cartoons and keep her happy. It's one of the first thing that I set up when moving to a new place (we've moved 6 times this year including our long hotel stays). So far, paying roughly US$380 for the console with 120GB has been worth it. Microsoft has just launched its new Xbox, named Xbox 360 for whatever reason. A Core version (Console, Composite AV plus wired controller) would set you back for 299 while the Premium System (Console, wireless controller, headset, ethernet cable, Component HD cable, and 20GB hard drive) would cost you US$399. That is if you can find one. He he he. People who were lucky enough to get one had sold theirs thru ebay, earning almost twice the amount of what they paid for. That's what hype makes people do, spend an unbelievable amount of money for that item or service. I have a friend who is not really a gamer but was fed the hype. He now is too excited to get an Xbox 360 just because he knows a lot of other people buying it. Amazon and other online retailers have them on their sites but most likely, your orders would arrive January or even February of 2006! But people are still ordering and other have been trying to track down those elusive boxes. Others have even resorted to stealing! I'm not sure why MS would hype the launch of their next gen console only to have limited numbers available to those who want it. A marketing ploy to salivate those who want it? Or, looking it at the other way, it might mean that they released so little for people to serve as product testers for the 360. A lot of owners have been complaining about errors, hangs, disc reading errors and disc scratching. MS says it's just 3% of 360 owners but I'm not too sure. Personally, I would not buy one just yet. I don't want to be a guinea pig for MS. I'd probably buy one after a year or two after 3-4 stable firmware versions have come out. Besides, my old yet trusty Xbox hasn't given me a problem in 2 years of use and abuse. Plus I can almost do anything the Xbox 360 can do (except play those not-so next gen games and output to HD) and more. I'm not in for the hype...which is good, so I can start saving for the High Definition TV that I'm going to buy once I decide to buy my 360! He he he he...

The World Challenge

The World Challenge is all about global involvement, casting a net for ideas from individuals or groups deserving recognition. In the process we also hope to inspire would-be entrepreneurs. I'm proud to be a Filipino especially when hearing news like this. Out of 12 finalists from the Global Community, Filipino agricultural engineer Justino Arboleda went back home to the Philippines $20,000 richer but more than that, bringing pride and glory to the Philippines by winning the First World Challenge sponsored by BBC World television in London. There had beeen 456 entries from 90 countries. His entry was the use of Coconet, waste coconut husk material developed to prevent landslides and soil erosion. Ingenious. With the Philippines being the no. 1 exporter of coconuts, what other better way to use such product than to use it to help prevent environmental disasters around the world. And not only that, the good thing about his Enterprise is that it also provides income and livelihood to the community. They now produce 30,000 square meters of this Coconet for distribution around the world. They also produce doormats, stuffing for car seats and mattresses, and fertilizer (made from coconut dust). Wow. All that from a coconut tree and a Filipino. The Finals is being shown on the BBC in a special program on Dec. 3 and 4 and be featured by Newsweek magazine in its Dec. 3 issue. Just click on the link and pick your country and the date to show you the TV listing for that day. Or you can view the Video about Coconet here... You can also view a local article about him here.

Sa Doha nAPO Sila...The APO Hiking Society Live in Concert!

Qatar - The Apo Hiking Society (APO) will hold a concert in Doha Cinema on 15th to 17th of December with guest performers Kyla and Bituin Escalante. Ticket info Nayong Filipino Restaurant (Mesaieed) Damascus Saloon (Souq Al Asiery) Romel 5818474, Roger 5423695 Fathima 5436577 Angelito Rivera (Alkhor) 5428119 History The APO HIKING SOCIETY first gained recognition in 1973 when they gave a farewell concert at the plush Meralco Auditorium in Metro Manila. Just out of college, the group was the talk of the Ateneo University and adjoining campuses for their music and humor. It was only when two of its four members were about to retire from the field of amateur music, however, that the APO, then known as the Apolinario Mabini Hiking Society, finally had a city-wide audience. One of them was scheduled to leave for Turkey as an exchange student. The other had a position waiting for him in his father's advertising firm. Why a talented young man of 21 would want to go to Turkey, every young man in the early seventies would probably understand. But what the APO could not understand was their fourth member's decision to leave the irresponsibility of being unemployed to join the ranks of the corporate world. The trip to Turkey did not materialize and the APO, now a tentative trio, pushed on steadily towards fame and fortune. Looking back, the APO members Danny Javier, Boboy Garrovillo, and Jim Paredes do not regret never having been regular wage earners. Their farewell concert, which had SRO audiences for two stormy nights, not unexpectedly became a hit record the following year. In the three decades since that "farewell" concert, the APO has made 22 record albums; hosted several television shows including their own noontime Sunday show "Sa Linggo nAPO Sila"; and launched hugely successful major solo concerts and countless provincial, dinner, and corporate shows. They have performed in over 50 cities in the United States, in Canada, Singapore, Indonesia, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Japan to bring Original Pilipino Music to Filipinos the world over. taken from: http://www.apohikingsociety.org/history.shtml

Sofas are here! or are they?

Qatar - I've been calling IDdesign early this November to ask what happend to the sofas we ordered last September and was told they got stuck in the customs but would be delivered on the 2nd or 3rd week of this month. So i got a call the other week from them telling me that the sofas are already in and they would deliver within the week. And they did! However, when they got to assembling the sofas in the living room, it seems to me that these were not the sofas we ordered. They were of different style and bigger. The thing is, I am not so sure anymore because it has been 3 months since we ordered them. I've been telling my wife this dillema but the thing is I can't show it to her since she has our camera back home. My phone is the cheapest Nokia phone you could find so no chance of taking a shot. So what I thought of was drawing the thing... Well now, she's not also sure if these were the sofas we ordered... By the way, we have to redo the whole living room area to accomodate these sofas as you don't have enough room between the center table and sofas. I'll wait till Mavis comes back so we can decide how to do rearrange everything.

Happy and Smiling

Qatar- I'm sure all of my colleagues were smiling happily when they left the office today... I was!

Small World of Blogging

I was chatting with a friend in Saudi this afternoon, talking about work and other friends when he suddenly asked me to forward him the URL of this blog since he hasn't seen it yet. I type it in the chat window for him to click on. He told me that he met this guy in Saudi and they got to talking. I'm not sure how the topic got where it was but my friend began telling the guy that he knew someone who worked in Khobar then moved to Jeddah and moved back to Khobar then moved to Bahrain. Now, the guy interrupts my friend and the whole situation kind of went like this (I'm not sure how it exactly went but this is my personal interpretation of what happened based on what my friend told me. If you're the guy who my friend was talking to, you can email me the exact details and I'll revise this) My Friend: Oh, I have a friend who was in Khobar then moved to Jeddah for a while, then moved back to Khobar, then moved to Bahrain this year. Guy: And he's in Qatar right now? My Friend: (surprised but nodding) Guy: He has a small kid? My Friend: Yes! Guy: His wife is currently on vacation in the Philippines? My Friend: (now starting to wonder and laugh) Yes! Do you know him? Guy: Yeah, I've read his blog. Small world.

Happy Birthday!

Cakes! Cakes! Cakes!

Xiane loves blowing candles on cakes.

It's moms' turn turn to blow the candles.

Xiane and Mavs

Mav's mom, my mom, Xiane, Mavis, and my sister Tin

Mavis celebrated her 29th birthday in the Philippines last Friday, Nov. 25. Her parents were also there as they were there to fetch them for their trip to Baguio the following day. I asked my dad the previous day if he could order for me a bouquet of flowers (Malaysian Mums - I've always given her Mums) and so he did. Mavis loved them although she wasn't able to take them to Baguio as the bouquet turned out to be a big setting that won't fit in the car. Anyway, they ate out in Lurings' (a bbq & grill restaurant) to celebrate. Happy Birthday baby!

Of Music and Whatever

I was doing some searching on Midi files for my dad-in-law when I came upon certain threads on the net that made me laugh. I can't believe that these were posted on 2001 and still being indexed! Anyway... Poster 1 : is liv styler (the girl in the movie "ARMAGGEDON") has a connection (sic) with the lead singer of aerosmith? Poster 2: si Liv Tyler?, wala, pero c Alicia Silverstone alam ko daughter ng lead vocalist nila (Liv Tyler? None, but I know that Alicia Silverstone is the daughter of their lead vocalist) Poster 3: liv tyler IS the daughter of the vocalist of aerosmith. ConfusedPoster: pls. explain the song MacArthurs Park. I really cannot see any logic why "someone left the cake out in the rain and I'd never have that recipe again"?

Ice Water!

It's gonna be December on Thursday and one thing that I hate about what it implies is that you get very cold water in the mornings and evenings. The past few days, I've been taking cold showers in the morning but the water was bearable. When I was in college and in Baguio (a mountainous region in the Philippnies which typically has about 13-18 degrees temperature in early mornings), I never bought myself a water heater. Water coming from the faucet would be like 8-10 degrees cold. I'd usually wet my hair with "ice water" first, then my arms and then I start jumping like crazy to prepare myself for the whole body splash. Once you get the thing going, you just continue with it till your body adjusts or till it becomes numb, whichever comes first. But I don't want to do the same routine again. So I woke up at 4 AM today and turned on the water heater for my 5:45 bath. It felt good to take the warm shower. I guess that's what I'll be doing for the next few weeks!

PinoytechQatar and Friday

Qatar - A few weeks back, I was invited through google to join an online group of Filipinos who are in Qatar. The group was composed of Filipinos in Information Technology. Last weeek we decided to meet for the first time and set a date on Friday. Anyway, our supposed to be group meeting became a meeting of 2, me and Kutch, as the others became tangled with other pressing matters. We met at Starbucks in City Centre at 4 and just talked about what we do, life in Qatar and stuff. We went around the mall looking at TVs, LCDs, Speakers and computer peripherals. By 6:30, we got hungry and decided to go to the Souk to eat in a Filipino restaurant. I got home at about 9:30 after driving him home in Salata. Although it was just the 2 of us, it was good to at least have met another Filipino who basically shares the same interest in IT. We're hoping that we'd have a good turn out next time. By the way, if you want to join the group, feel free to visit http://groups.google.com/group/pinoytechqatar .

Guns & Roses

When I was in 3rd year of my highschool life, Guns and Roses (GnR) were king in the Philippines. Axel Rose was more popular than Michael Jackson and Slash, his eyes covered with his curly long hair, was next to being a god being the mysterious guitar genuis that he was. Bon Jovi was getting killed ( I actually believed that it's lead singer was already dead when one frontman announced "Bon Jovi is Dead" while doing their gig). You'd walk in the school grounds and see a guy waving a guitar in every corner. I'm not too sure if it was GnR who inspired us to listen to rock songs as they had many contemporaries; Ludicris, Metallica, Poison, etc.. but more often than not, every guitar player knew the chords to "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (G-D-C) as re-popularized by GnR.

They were a hit. On that year, they launched a double album, Use your Illusions I & Use your Illusions II, which people lapped up. They took took the 1st and 2nd slots on Billboard. This has got to be one of the rarest in the industry. My dad even gave me a VHS copy of their tour in Japan which I watched over and over again. Yes, I was a fan and still a fan.

Last Friday, I went to rental shop and saw an original DVD of their Tokyo tour. I immediately asked the owner if he had one for rent. Sadly, he didn't have one and the copy I was holding was for sale. Well, I'm a fan but not too much of a fanatic to buy a QR120 DVD of GnR. He then told me that I can buy a copy for QR30. I gladly jumped on it and bought myself the 2-disc copy. I tried playing them last night but my Xbox wouldn't play them. Then I realized that they were copied on DVD+R discs which my box doesn't read. Too bad. I do hope I can get him to copy them on DVD-R discs....then I would be happy ;)

Xtian's Currents

Currently playing on the Xbox: Half Life 2 Far Cry Instincts Currently Watching on TV: Everwood (2nd Season) Miss Match (Alicia Silverstone TV Series) Currently watching on MTV: Wild Boyz Pimp my Ride Punk'd Viva La Bam Currently listening to: Don't Stop me Now - Queen (Greatest Hits) Forevermore - Side A (Live)

Current Favorite Music Video: My Humps (Black Eyed Peas) Don't Lie (Black Eyed Peas) Wake me up when September Comes (Green Day)

Current projects: www.annduranproductions.com/ann.htm

Macaroons

I don't know if it's just me, since I've been pinning for some months ago, or either they're really good but you must try the Macaroons in Lulu Hypermarket. I bought 1 box of about 25 pieces for 8.50. I've shared them with some officemates and they agree. Mavis and I saw these macaroons months ago in Lulu and I asked her to get some. When we got home, we found out that she took the wrong box. We had to settle to eating our baked breads instead of the macaroon I wanted. This time, when I saw them on the shelves, I didn't hesitate to get a box and try them out. As soon as I got in the car, parked in Lulu, I opened the box and ate one and IT TASTED GOOD! So you better watch out for these yummy coconut macaroons when you go to Lulu to do your groceries. I don't think you can get them any better than this. If you do, then send me your macaroons so I can compare and judge... he he he. I wonder if Lulu is going to send me another box for promoting their macaroons... hmmm.. i don't think so.

Freddie Mercury and Queen

Freddie Mercury. His name might not be a great as John Lennon's but I still consider him one of a few of his generation. He has a certain charisma that people love about him and made Queen an act to watch. They were supposedly the ones who started Glam Rock, somewhat of a show-off band that likes to include the audience in their performance. Anyone who was already 10 years old by the 1990's could probably chant "We Will Rock You", sing a piece of "We are the Champions" or clap their hands to "Radio Ga Ga". Who could forget the baselines of "Another one Bites the Dust", "Bicycle Race" and the David Bowie-Freddie Mercury collaboration, "Under Pressure" (whose baseline was used by Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby"). Their songs and lyrics are not typical; talking about mundane things (Bicycle Race, Radio Ga Ga) but something that people often forget. No one could ever create a song like Bohemian Rhapsody and pull it off like they did. Only Freddie Mercury and Queen. I still listen to them. In fact, I have them on my on-board cd and listen to Queen every morning as I go to work and listen to them again when I come home. It had stayed there for about a month now. My current favorite song would be a less popular one titled "Don't Stop Me Now". It's pretty upbeat even for Queen. Now, I need to burn me a copy of Guns & Roses' first 2 albums...

Am I Funny?

Abu Karbal Bookshop

Qatar - People in Doha usually get their serving of books from Jarir Bookstore which can be found near the Ramada Signal. They have some of the latest published books along with whatever you need in terms of office supplies, crafts, phones, computers and magazines. But this week, Jarir failed me. I was looking for Adobe Photoshop CS2 Classroom in a book for my team to use and called them up to see if they have it on their shelves. Alas, they didn't have it nor can they order it. Abu Karbal Technical Bookshop is not as big as Jarir's showroom. In fact, it probably occupies less than 1/4 of its showroom. However, if you're into technical books or anything related to computing, I guess it has a better and updated selection than what Jarir has. The bookshop itself is located in Marjab street. If you're coming from Al Sadd going to the Ramada Signal, you need to turn right just after Burger King (hhmm.. now I'm not sure if it's Burger King or Hardees - will look into it and update this). You'd see a green sign to your right that says "Marjab" once you enter the street itself. Now, go straight and pass 2 stoplights and slow down a bit. You'd find the shop to your right and if lucky enough, you can park your car just it front of it. Easy Peasy! You can also contact them and ask if they have the book you're looking for before you go there.

Abu Karbal Bookshop P.O. Box 10066Doha, QatarMiddle East Tel : 00974-368881 Fax : 00974-368880

Either you give them the title of the book or go to Amazon and look for the ISBN no. which makes it easier for them and to be sure that it is the book you're looking for. By the way, the Photoshop book costs QR200. Books here are quite expensive indeed.

2005 Vacation!

Qatar - Yes, I got my plane ticket the other day. I got a seat waiting for me on December 22 which would take me home, back to the Philippines, just in time for Christmas. I actually booked since September since Christmas flights are always full... and expensive! I had to pay QR3510 for this baby! When I bought my wife a ticket, it only cost QR3010, i think. But since it's peak season for the airlines, they bumped it to QR500 more. What a cheat. The only thing that explains this is that the airlines are taking advantage of people wanting to travel. I mean, I would understand if they charged more when there are less people flying since they still have to use the same amount of fuel for the plane with less people on it. But if flights are full, then there's no sense in charging more except if you want to take advantage of people like me. I wouldn't whine if my company is paying for my ticket but since I haven't really finished 6 months of work yet, I'm not yet entitled to the ticket but would be paid for the 19 weekdays that I'm allowed to have this year. That results to about 25 days in total including the 3 weekends that I have. Good enough, right? And next year, I'll be allowed 37 weekdays! Whoa! That results to about 51 days of vacation... and paid at that. So I'm excited to go home! I was also able to submit my leave application to my company and had it verbally approved by my supervisor and now waiting approval from my Manager. Just a month and a few days to go...

What's Showing on City Centre?

Qatar - You can follow this link to see what's showing on Doha City Centre Cinemas alongside with their schedules. You can even check what's showing in Bahrain! Or even better, this shows you all the movies and their schedules around the Gulf! You can check what's shoing on Cinema Land (Landmark Mall), Doha Cinema (Between C Ring Road and Najma Road), Grand CityCentre (City Centre), Gulf Cinema (Between C Ring Road and Najma Road), and the Mall Cinema (The Mall). No more late entrances and missing 30 minutes of the film! Be sure to add them to your Favorites and check weekly as they get updated as scheduled. Although it seems that Qatar is late in showing some of the good movies out there. Bahrain is already showing March of the Penguins. I wonder when they'll show Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire...mmm... hopefully early December. And I can't wait for the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, which I hope to catch in the Philippines while on vacation this January!

Of Viruses, Spywares, Adwares, Malwares and Dialers

5 years ago, computing people were just worried about their PC's getting viruses and the millenium bug. I think I've only seen 3 virus attacks from when I started my foray into computing till the year 2000. Just as long as you get yourself one of those anti-virus software, then you're almost sure that you're protected. But that was 5 years ago and the whole situation is now different. Viruses, dialers, spyware, adware, malware or any other wares that they'll develop, they now occupy your machines, dwelling on your hard drives and hiding within your system files. A virus is a virus but what are dialers, spywares and adwares? These are all malicious programs you might get from installing software or browsing internet pages that you surf to and attach themselves to your system without you knowing. A dialer might try to use your modem and dial a number that would charge you for your call. Spywares hide on your system, collect and get data and information from your machine and send these data invisibly to you. Adwares are much like spyware but the information they get is used to choke you with ads, pop-ups, and banners. I spent 2 days formating, installing, formating and reinstalling my OS on the laptop because I mistakenly turned off my antivirus and my antispyware softwares. I suddenly got these pop-ups appearing and knew by then that I got hit. Yeah, I've been hit before. Getting on the net would make my system slow down to a crawl. I did try to squash the spyware by deleting registry keys, DLLs and exe files, running antispyware and antivirus software. They did detect some infected files, deleted them, but never really got rid of the whole thing. The next step was to just format my drive C:/ . I've learned from experience to always split my physical drive to at least 2 partitions, drive C and D. Always keep your personal files on drive D and if you know how to, move your My Documents too. So I just formatted my drive C, installed my softwares and hoped that everything worked fine. But that was not the case. Apparently, one of the software I always install seems to have a spyware. After about 6-8 reformats, I decided to slowly build back my system, installing only the antivirus and antispyware software and some base drivers, and installing Windows SP2! I think that helped since I got it working without hitches again. And I'm back to blogging!

New Taxis in Bahrain

Bahrain - I got to ride the new white-orange taxis that roam the streets of Bahrain the other day. Before, the old taxis were colored orange-yellow. I got to talking to the driver and was told that all taxi drivers are now Bahrainis instead of the Pakistanis and Indians which drove them previously. I was telling him that their charges are now higher than what was being asked just 4 months ago. I could understand if they charge higher if gas prices are inflating, but in the Middle East, gas price inflation is rare. A bottled drinking water is even costlier than a liter of petrol/gas! He roughly earns 15-18BD (if he's lucky) a day but has to pay 5BD/day for car rent and 1.5BD/day for Taxi license and another 1.5 for gas. I was commenting that it was good that Bahrainis are now being given the more job opportunities but was told that although it was good, it could be better. He was saying that a lot of other nationalities have now been recruited to the Bahrain military and police force and being paid much more than the Bahrainis. He also didn't like being ordered upon and shouted at by these foreigners wearing his country's badge which is understandable. Why is this happening when the government can choose to train and employ Bahrainis instead of foreigners to do the policing and safeguarding their own country? The problem of Taxis in Bahrain is that a lot of people have their own cars and the expat community, which usually uses the Taxi, isn't as big as compared to Doha. That's why in Bahrain, you can hail a taxi in less than a minute. The supply is higher than the demand and taxi drivers spend more time roaming the streets than taking passengers to their destinations.

To Bahrain and Back

Yesterday was a really busy day for me. I was scheduled to have my ADSL connected in the morning so I had to wake up early as the guys who do the installation can come anytime. I called Qtel just to ask them if they knew what time their technicians would be coming but was told to just wait for their call. After a while, I got a SMS message confirming that I do have a scheduled appointment and I should call a number which apparently was the number of the technician. And so I called and told the guy that I had to have it installed as I had to leave the flat at 11:30 as I had a flight to catch. By 9:30 he was there and after 15 minutes of work, was out the door. How can such a simple installation take them a month and a week to schedule? By 11:40, I was on my way to the airport to catch my 1:15 PM flight to Bahrain. The whole flight takes just 28 minutes. You spend more time on the airport, waiting and looking for a seat, than on the plane itself. At exactly 2 PM, I was out of Bahrain customs, paying 100QR for a 2 day visa. Yousef, a friend and colleague from my previous company, fetched me from the airport and had wonderful lunch prepared by his wife at his flat. It's traditional Jordanian food which I forgot the name was; but it's basically round eggplants with rice, meat and spices in them and Zucchinis filled with the same and steamed. Delicious! We went to the office at exactly 3. Everybody was surprised to see me walk in and I too was surprised at how different yet comfy the office looks like. I spent the next 2 hours just talking to friends and getting to know what they've been up to the past months; I was told the of the "Web Director" incident which was really funny, of a friend who bought a QR15,000 computer, and of two guys from the same office bumping into each others car. It's just nice to feel welcome in your previous work place and knowing that you've made good friends with the people there. I wished I could have stayed longer but had to leave at 5 to catch the opening of the bank in Exhibition road to have my certificates encashed and my account closed. I also went to an Exchange office to have the money changed to US Dollars as the exchange rate from Bahraini Dinar (BD) to US Dollars is better than BD to Qatari Rials to US Dollars. By the way, the exchange rate for a Bahraini Dinar to the US dollar is .378. I was supposed to meet with Ricardo in Seef Mall at 5:45 PM but he called me up to say that he was caught in traffic at the Saudi-Bahrain Causeway and would take him another hour or so to get to Bahrain. I then realized that people could call me up on my mobile having a Qatari Sim (Automatic Roaming) but can't send or call using the same. Anyway, having that time to burn, I decided to go to an internet café so I could send Mavis SMS messages through Chikka. After an hour, I got inside a taxi and had the driver take me to Seef Mall. It was about a 10 minute ride which he charged me for 2BD. As I was passing Marks and Spencer, I decided to buy some long-sleeved shirts for the office. Rico and I met at Starbucks but ate in a pizzeria on the ground floor. He was bringing my Webby Awards Nomination plaque which I would love to display in the office…he he he. Miraculously, he was also bringing our DVD of House of the Flying Daggers which we've always asked him to give back to us. He just always forgets. It was nice to see him as it's been 5 months since we've seen each other. I've always invited him to Qatar but he can't seem to find time for it as he just moved to his new apartment in Saudi and trying to get everything settled again. We just talked about life, work, friends, his love life, family and stuff. He dropped me off the airport at 9 PM for my 10:15 flight. I had to pay 48QR for the 12-hour parking space (4 QR per hour!). I'm not too sure that if the airport or the airlines offer parking vouchers. In Bahrain, people can leave their cars for even a month in their parking without paying extra if your return flight is more than a week after your departure. I got home safely at about 11:15PM and was dead tired. My body was aching! At least I got to settle our accounts in the bank plus it was fun to see old friends and glad that I had the chance to visit them. So I got to visit Bahrain and back in less than 12 hours. Pretty busy day indeed.

The Da Vinci Code

I have just finished reading The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. It is a good read and intriguing at most. It writes about the Holy Grail, which it was believed, Christ used on his Last Supper and what secrets it was supposed to reveal. It has quite stirred a controversy and made Dan Brown a rich guy with millions of people buying the book to know what the controversy is about. What I want to emphasize to readers of the book is that it is fiction. What made it controversial is that the Author claims in the Acknowledgement that “All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate.” A lot of the supposed to be “accurate” descriptions have been rebuffed by a lot of historians, scholars and researchers stating that Brown is almost wrong in all his description of history and the facts that he stated in the book. You can visit these websites, here here here, just to get an idea of what Dan Brown presented and what the scholars are saying about his claims. Again, the book is fiction. But Brown’s statement the items he stated are accurate is really misleading. I wouldn’t have any qualms about the book aside from this (and the bland ending). If people buy the book because of the media coverage, I would hope that they also look into the truth behind these claims and do their own research especially if they believe that Brown’s facts are accurate as he state they are. For Brown, I’m sure that he doesn’t really care if people are being misled as long as they buy the book. A movie is even being made about the book which I’m also sure, made Brown’s some millions richer. So why should he care? The least he could do is remove that line that makes the book controversial. But again, that is what keeps people buying his book, right? By the way, Dan Brown is also being sued as some claim that he ripped off the ideas of other books and rehashed them to make The Da Vinci Code.

The Chosen One

I just watched the documentary found on the Star Wars III DVD and I was right! On the Documentaries and Featurettes section, The Chosen One documentary (about 3 minutes before the docu ends), George Lucas has just confirmed that indeed, Anakin was the Chosen One, the one who would bring balance to the Force. He was saying that even though he became Darth Vader, he was still the Chosen One and in the end, killing all the Sith; killing Darth Sidious/Palpatine and killing himself. A lot of Star Wars fans have been debating about Anakin being the Chosen One. Even Yoda says that the prophecy might have been misread meaning to say that Anakin might not have been the Chosen One at all. And at the end of Episode III, it didn’t look that he was. Some fans were saying that Luke Skywalker, his son, was the Chosen One as he managed to make his father realize that he still had good in him. Now, I’m going too have to watch the film commentary and see if he has anything to say about Darth Plagueis The Wise and how he fits into the puzzle. Update soon…

DVD Rental Updates

Here are some interesting DVD titles that City Video has at the moment: Desperate Housewives Season 1 24 Season 4 Star Wars Episode III Kung Fu Hustle Ring 2 Sin City Unleashed Batman Begins Land of the Dead

The Needed

Woke up at about 8:30 AM today to be able to do the needed; go to my travel agency in Lulu Hypermarket to have my ticket changed to the schedule I prefer, go to the Souk to send money to the Philippines and buy food for lunch. I SMSed Mavis in the Philippines before I left as they were supposed to go have a picnic with my family this morning (Philippines is ahead by 5 hours to Qatar) and was interested to know if they pushed through. I took a shower, went to Lulu and had my ticket exchanged. I was also able to drop the raffle tickets for a draw to win a Land Cruiser sponsored by Lulu. I was deciding if I should go to Al Sadd or to the Souk to send money home and decided it’s better to go to the Souk as I can pass by the City Video and see if there are any new DVDs I can rent. The remittance center that we go to was closed so I had to go to go to the other. They charged me 20 QR instead of the 10 which I pay in my usual remittance center. I also bought some Siopao (steamed dumplings) from the Filipino Bakery and drove home. Driving home, I thought of having a Hardees Burger meal. I like their burgers better than McDonalds as they are tastier and bigger. So that was how I spent half of my day. The other half was spent watching the Star Wars III DVD!

Western Union waives its fees to Pakistan

Qatar - Western Union has waived its processing fees for those wanting to send money to Pakistan. The promo is only till the 16th of November so if you have plans to send money, send them now! Western Union states that aside from earning from the processing fee, they also earn from currency exchange that happens when you send money home.

Eid Festivities

From Gulf Times - QATAR Tourism Authority’s Eid al-Fitr Festival kicks off tonight in a blaze of light and colour, spearheaded by two world-class events that will set the tone for five action-packed days of fun and entertainment. The festival will open to the world premier of a new edition of Aqua Fantasia at 7pm, the spectacular multi-media show that uses fireworks, laser lights, water screens, and music.

Start of the Holiday and “Spaghetti ng Kapitbahay”

It is the start of Eid today and the start of my long holiday. It would have been nice if my wife and daughter were here but sadly they’re not. I started my day baking banana bread. I then got about 3 batches of kids ringing my doorbell greeting me Eid Mubarak and expecting me to give them something in return like candies, chocolates and money. I didn’t have cholates nor candies and my banana bread is still in the oven, so I didn’t give them anything. I know, I know…my wife just called me Scrooge for not giving them anything as I told her while we were chatting. After the chat and feeling hungry, I cooked some pasta and made myself some Marinara. I bought Paul Newman’s Marinara sauce yesterday, which is real good. Well, it depends on where you’re coming from. Filipinos like spaghetti. They cook it whenever they want to celebrate especially if it’s a kid who is going to have his birthday. What we usually do is give neighbors home-cooked spaghetti in a platter instead of making a big celebration and having a party. Or if there is a party at all, they still give out the spaghetti platter to other neighbors who weren’t invited to the party (as they didn’t have kids or for whatever reason). This is what Mavis and I call “Spaghetti ng Kapitbahay” or Neighbors’ Spaghetti. Why? Filipinos like sweet food. We even have a McDonald’s burger that caters to the Filipino taste; sweet. Now, the spaghetti being distributed to neighbors apparently has sauce made up of more ketchup than you can imagine. Yup. Ketchup. The taste, I’m sure, the Italians would hate. Mavis and I don’t like it too. We got used to our families making spaghetti the right way, without ketchup (although we usually still add some sugar to the sauce). In my case, I like my spaghetti a bit sour so Mavis and I usually make a compromise when she cooks it; not too sweet and not too sour. If you get to travel to the Philippines or get to be invited in one of their celebrations, you might just get lucky and have your first taste of the Neighbor’s Spaghetti.

Going to Bahrain on the 8th

I just got back from Regency Travel Agency in LuLu Hypermarket to book my flight to Bahrain on the 8th of November. Imagine, the 25 minute flight costs 1020QR because I'm travelling on a weekday. If I go on a weekend (Thurs., Fri. , or Sat.), the ticket will just cost me 680QR! I'm leaving Doha at 1:15 PM as I need to be here in the morning for the Qtel guys to install my ADSL. Then, I was planning to leave Bahrain at 10:15 so that Rico and I can meet. We haven't seen each other since we watched Star Wars in Bahrain last April/May (?). But then I found out just a while ago that the 10:15PM flight was fully booked so I have to settle for the 8PM flight. I'm still not sure if he wants to come as he is coming from Saudi and would have to take a 1 hour trip just to get to Bahrain and see me for 2 hours.

Camel Jockeys of the Future

I'm sure you're wondering what this is. Well, it's supposed to be one of the the new Robot Camel Jockeys which would be used in Qatar of the Camel races. Here's an interesting article from http://www.wired.com/ about these jockeys from the future.

Eid Al-Fitr

The start of Eid Al-Fitr this year is going to be officially on the 3rd of November. Eid Al-Fitr is the Celebration of Breaking the Fast, which marks the end of Ramadan. Everybody was waiting for it to be announced tonight but it never came as the crescent-sighting committee at the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs who were tasked to it apparently didn’t see the moon cresent tonight. That’s how it is. They need to see the cresent of the moon for the holidays to start. That is also true for the start of Ramadan. We’re being given 4 days of leave excluding the weekends (Friday –Saturday) so that means holiday start on the 3rd and ends on the 8th. We resume offices on the 9th. Those in government offices are given 10 days! I think they’re going to resume office on the 13th. This is true for Qatar. I’m assuming that offices in Bahrain, Saudi or Dubai resume offices on the 7th as I’ve already asked my bank in Bahrain when they open. I’m hoping I could go there to settle some of our accounts on the 7th since it would still be holiday for us here in Qatar. I might also be able to see Rico, a friend from Saudi, if he decides to go over the bridge to meet me.

Computer Shops in Doha

The other week, I asked a friend of mine to take me to the building/area where shops sell computers and peripherals. I was planning to look for a WiFi card for my laptop. The area is called Sofitel area because of the Sofitel Hotel that was beside the building before. Now, the hotel is the Mercure Hotel but they still call the computer building Sofitel. The building has 2 floors full of computer shops. It is difficult to find parking in the area so if you find one 2 to 3 blocks away, better to get that parking and walk than go round and round looking a for parking near the area. Anyway, I found out that prices of most computer peripherals are quite expensive here. I guess that is true for the Middle East except for UAE as they have a duty-free port. Plus, most companies have their regional offices there. I was looking for a Wifi card for my laptop as I’m planning set up a wireless network at home once I get my ADSL connection (applied on 30/9 and got the schedule on the 8th of November… Argghhh). This means that Mavis and I can surf the net anywhere in the house without wires, that is if we use the laptops’ battery. I was able to buy a DLink DWL-G650 PCMCIA card for QR190 which is as comparable to cost in the US. Some shops were selling it between QR 200-230. The wireless router costs QR 290 which was quite high considering that it only costs between US$40-55. With most small items that you buy here, you only get limited warranty, usually 3 months. You can buy your usual stuff of web cameras, CD media, hard disks, MP3 players, networking items, laptops, desktop PCs, etc in this building. It can get real busy during the night and shops are filled with customers. If you want some high-end stuff, you can go to Jarir Bookstore near the Ramada signal as they also sell branded computers and peripherals.

Groceries

Here is a list of some grocery items I’ve bought the past 2 weeks and how much they cost. I’m also adding the cost of some basic commodities so you can compare it to the cost in your own country. Soda (Pepsi, Coke, etc) 2.25L = QR 3.50 1 can Soda = QR 1.00 Milk 1L = QR 3.50 Water 5 gal = QR 7.00 Eggs (6 pcs) = QR 2.75 Peanut Butter 340gm = QR 5.50 Butter Bread Loaf = QR 2.50 Sunwhite Rice 2kg = QR 5.75 Macaroni 500gm = QR 3.00 Chocolate Igloo Ice cream 1.1L = QR 6.50 White Beans 1k = QR 6.00 I’ll update this list as I can…

Satellite TV in the Gulf

There are 2 options for expats wanting to watch their favorite television shows and programs in the Middle East. Either you pay to subscribe to a Satellite Pay-TV service of your choice or get Free-to-Air Satellite and watch shows for free. If you’re on a budget and would note necessarily need the channels you’re paying for with the packaged set, your best bet is to get someone to install a satellite dish system for you. Some apartments in Doha already have satellite dishes installed on their rooftops, provided by the owner of the building. If you don’t have it in yours, you could get someone to install the whole system along with the dish for about 600-700QR. With this, you get the dish, 3 LNBs (Hotbird, Nilesat, Arabsat – these are the only satellite available in most of the middle east), cable, and the receiver. You can go to Mergab Street near Al-Sadd (near Doha Clinic) to look for the shops that install this for you. What channels are free-to-air (you can watch them without paying for subscription)? Well, for those wanting English shows/programs, you get the Middle East channels One, MBC 2, MBC 4 (they show some old and new seasons of Gilmore Girls, Smallville, Las Vegas, Survivor, House Swap, Extreme Make Over, Oprah, Martha, Friends, etc. along with English movies). Of course, most would be repeats after a day of watching or two. For news channels, you have BBC News, CNN, and Euronews. You also get Arirang from Korea, Fashion TV, and other channels that show bits and pieces of English programming like Bahrain 55 and Alrai. However, some shops and installers sell a “special” receiver in which you can view some subscription-based programs by inputting their code through the remote of the receiver. You can get new codes, if they change, on the internet. With this, you can watch European channels like Multivision 1-6* (see below for more info on codes) showing Western movies. You also get Eurosports 1,2 and Classic. You get channels from SF DRS and TSR which shows blockbuster movies, classic movies, newer seasons of western series (Lost, Desperate Housewives, Smallville etc.). You have to select the right audio channel to hear the original English track. Some shows don’t have it so you have to settle for French, German or Swede. You also get BBC Prime but not the other BBC channels. If you’re the one who wants to pay for such, here is a rundown of paid TV services. You can visit their website for more details. • Showtime – www.showtimearabia.com Depending on how much you really want to see some of the latest western TV series and shows, Showtime may be your answer. It might cause you an arm and a leg though! Their TOTAL PACKAGE would cost you QR2640 per year and their MOVIE PLUS for QR2388! However, it is fair to say that they have the best programming there is. They have E!, BBC Food, TV Land (24, Friends, CSI, Smallville, Alias, David Letterman, Nip/Tuck and even Desperate Housewives), Turner Classic Movies, Hallmark Channel, Disney Channel, Cartoon Network channel, etc. • Orbit – www.orbit.net “The Orbit Satellite Television and Radio Network is the world’s first fully digital, multi-channel, multi-lingual, pay television service”. Mid-priced subscription at QR150/month for their Mega Package. They have Super Movies, Cinema City, America Plus (Everwood, Nip/tuck, cold Case, Smallville, Dead Like Me, ER, Las Vegas, Carnivale), Orbit ESPN, Disney, History Channel,etc. They have Arabic channels like Al Riyadiyah, Cinema 1, Series, Fann, Alsafwa and Alyoum. They now have a Filipino package (PinoyPlus) with syndicated shows from GMA 7, Philippines! • Art – www.adduniverse.com This mostly caters to Asians (India, Pakistan, etc.) as they have exclusive channels for them and they have the cheapest packages too. They have the Firstnet, Art and Pehla bouquets. I’m not sure of what they have right now since I can’t access their site so you have to see for yourself on their website. • The Filipino Channel (TFC) They provide 6 exclusive Filipino channels from ABS-CBN, a media network in the Philippines. They have News Channels, Movie Channels and general entertainment channels packaged together. It is quite expensive and even Filipinos are complaining that for 6 local channels, QR2200++/ year is not worth it. But if you really want to catch Filipino shows, this is your only option. * Codes: For more info on codes, you can visit this forum or view the codes here. For Multivision, usually it requires a firmware/software upgrade for your receiver so check out this forum and see if your receiver supports the upgrade.