Khalassss

I'm in the midst of baking cuppies, which I suspect would be my last order for the summer, as more and more people are leaving the country. I doubt that anybody would want to organize a party with no guest?!
While looking at my sunyi home (yes, myra is in her nap), i got to think ; am i allowed to say that I'm finally settling in? I've got the RP (yipee), I've got the home furnished, and I've got the cargo boxes all gone! Well.. almost gone.. just another room to complete; the so-called 'office' room. But, the thing that confirmed my settling-in-position is the cracks all over my skin! My face, my hands, my legs was so kering, and it hurt so much. Hmm.. i guess this is welcome to Mid-East Summer! (How I miss London.. sobs!).
Oh yah, khalas means like.. abess.. finito..done!..or something like that ;)

Oh well, another day, another thing to wonder about.

What a night..

Last nite we gather again for yet another celebration, and this time for 4 beautiful gals; Diba, Liza, Ija and Hanny.. for the past, present and future birthdays. Actually everybody was invited for Diba's birthday, and no one knows the celebration was extended to Liza, Ija and Hanny (well, I have to know coz i bake-the-cake hiks). Reason being, the kind-hearted host; Dills n family dah nak balik Malaysia, so di kumpul-kumpulkan all the gals that birthday dah dekat and make the surprises. But the best part of the party was, not just the birthday gals dapat hadiah, but everybody ended up going home with a lil something; a simple party pack (yang by the way, dah tertinggal, sebab Myra asek main kluar masuk beg!! grrr).

Oh yess.. that's some sneek peek of the cuppies that i made specially for the party (and yes, it is in theme with the real present from all of us to Diba ;). Memang bertuah betul dieorang! hadiah sume yang canggih-manggih hiks ). Anyway, I had such a great time(despite kepale a bit weng pasal tak tido buat cuppies)...thanks again Dills for the wonderful party, and sorry again for the 'transport' issues of the cuppies.. i've learnt from mistake, and will figure out a way to avoid it in the future.

Transforming a house to home..

It's nearly 3 weeks now i'm in Doha. And alhamdulillah, lil bit more to finally settle down and have our own lil home sweet home. Our sofa has just arrived, it is wayyy more brilliant than I'd imagine it'd be. I feel like I'm walking to a cozy show room everytime I pass by my own living room.. hiks. But the best things about our sofa is, they are customed-made to perfection! (oh well, to us at least) . And more best things about it is, they are much cheaper than the retail brands here.. siap dapat free coffee table and a cushion tempat-duduk kecik for lil Myra hehehe. Memang berbaloi la meredah panas (yess it's 40degree plus+++ noW!!!) to go to Najma and made our order. They've done it in 4 days! Cekap, cepat and cantek! Don't believe me? here.. have a look and judge it yourself ;)

And they only cost QR2500 (including delivery), which by Qatar standard is dirt-cheap! Yeay! Me so laiki

Hepi father's day

To all great dad out there, specially my daddy, atok and tok di! Have a great day!



Love,
Lil Myra

As of now

The cargo has finally arrived! Should I be excited to see what sort of junks did we brought from UK? I think not.. the boxes appearence didn't look too promising.. apelaa kisahnye dengan pinggan mangkuks ku.. takut lak nak bukak tengok. Takut hancuss lebuss.. sob sob

But the first box that i opened (well, basically was already opened halfway, so i'm forced to check what's in; or in this case, what's left of it)... korek punye korek, alih-alih jumpe my fridge magneto collections! hurmm.. selamat.. bende paling ku sayang dalam banyak2 junks.. hehe seb baek! Tapi masalah saye sekarang, pintu atas peti aisku sudah penuh, pintu bawah tak dapat nak taruk, sebab ade si kenet yang also a big fan of things that sticks, let alone the one which looks like these!

Oh well.. nampak gaye next trip to somewhere, the f.magneto hafta go to the side of the fridge.. siannn.. Anyho, on another note, my cuppies are getting more n more attention! I've got orders coming everyday.. and yet i didn't quite know if i have enough oil-based colours.. sape boleh tolong kirim ke sini? hurmmm.. dillema lagi..

Take a peek

Will update more soon ;)

http://www.atemyrable-cuppies.blogspot.com/

Pasar Malam & Malam Berinai

Yes, another topic of makan!! hehe.. the more I tried to resist to write about food, the more events there is involving yet more foods..

It was Friday nite, the MAQ has organized some pasar malam event at the embassy. Siap masuk iklan lam paper! So, memang meriah la malam tu, ramai gile manusie.. makanannye cam tak setimpal ngan jumlah manusie yang datang.. so memang finish, licinnn..laku gile laa.. and I even test out the market, by selling a bouquet of cuppies. and two boxes of 4 cupcakes! hahaha cam kelaka je, orang jual gile-gile cam nak rak, kite jual seciput jek.. takpela.. tumpang meja je.. try-try. Even got an order of 36 pieces for this coming Tuesday.. okla tu.. buat suke-suke for fun ;)

Tapi like always, I didn't quite have the time to betul-betul browse through the Pasar Malam, coz i was busy chasing the lil one! dah la crowded, panas! pastu time tu jugak die nak mencelah-celah orang gi sane-sini..pantang lepa, dah zoom.. ilang.. adeh.. letih! But as heard from the conversations, and the newspaper,there were many stuff there besides food too. Among which are RO water machines, bracelets, abayas, tudungs and etc. Fuhh..bleh tahan, padahal kecik je compound tu.. takpe, next pasar malam nak try jual mainan cikai-cikai ke, belon-belon ke.. baru betul rase pasar malam! hehehe

Then, on Saturday nite, Ija's is hosting another event of makan-makan sempena menyambut pengantin baru Shafie & Hanny. The very cute couple.. comeyy je! Sirius! hiks.. Takde berinai pun, saje je buat topik hehe. There were nasik ayam delicious, plus Laksam, and many many sweet stuffs, including ABC! wahh.. rugi tak sempat jual ABC time pasar malam, reason being, coz ice tak sempat mengerasss... alahai, takpe, next time around ;)
The sweet couple even sempat nyanyi karaoke, best gak suare dieorg.. boleh menang ni, kalau ade competition. ;) Anyway, welcome to Doha, to the newly wed, hope you two will have a wonderful married life together forever and ever and ever.. ;)

P.s: some pic above were taken from facebook- thanks to Adam hiks.. and i really don't understand why people like to put p.s; what is it stand for?! hehe..

Qatar for Dummies part 2

Wait, I tot finger print s'pose to be for fingers.. then why the heck did they stamped the whole hand again?

Yes.. you've guessed it right, my medical result is fine, so I'm off to the next stage in the RP process; Finger printing... (so they called it)

The process is quit easy. We were took by the company's driver there, banyak jugak dah berubah, more rooms available, plus ade canopy with waiting chairs outside of the building. We were told to go to Room No 4, for Ladies finger print (said on the door: Crimical Record clearance! huuu.. scary). There were practically no crowds at all, and they have very good numbering system. Plus there's this lady who called out numbers, and place the people in order, so bile nombo naik, senang; terus bangun and buat finger print. The funny thing was, the displayed number is 61, but the lady dah advanced by 10! calling people with 71 and above.. (ingatkan die taktau sebut nombo in English.. rupe-rupenye memang die cepat), Anyway, yang penting lancar...

So, the process is all about scanning the jari-jemari one by one into the system, then tapak tangan, then the whole hand- both left and right (seb baek tak di suruh scan tapak kaki!!) . And good thing that they've upgraded to computerized system; it started like a week or so in the year I last arrived in Doha, erm.. was it 2006? (yes.. I'm so lucky takyah go through the messy finger print - the one which use black ink! so.. bayangkan jelaa sendiri dulu-dulu nye process camane! hehe) ..And, no.. your children don't have to scan theirs! ;)

Balik je from finger print, the company's driver took us back into the office. So, I then make use of the chance to see some of my old colleague there. Seb baek, they still remember me.. kalau tak malu jugak saye hehe.. I can't believe that I'm back to see them, after less than a year of our farewell party! Saw the old desk, no changes what so-ever.. Seeing the whole buildings, with friendly old colleagues are making me miss work a lil bit. But that's fine.. i'm a manager of my own house now, so lagi best ;)

After some brief catch up with them, i'm off to home sweet home. Another week to find out if I'm cleared of any criminal record and to finally granted the RP! Wish me luck~

Cupcakes dilema

Last nite I dragged my hubby and lil Myra to Royal Plaza, where one of Tavola's cawangan, the so called Doha's baking heaven shop is. There were many acuan and baking stuff in deed, but still not that great.. but bolehla utk standard piawaian Qatar, tapi yang paling frust tu, they only sell colours to their students! ''I'm sorry Mam, it's only reserved for student.'' I'm really confused. Why the double standard again? Hurm.. Oh well.. it's Qatar, nothing surprise me anymore.
On the 12th, there will be 'Pasar Malam' at the Embassy. My hubby and some friends are encouraging me to sell off some cuppies or kek lapis sarawak. But, I don't quite have everything yet.. plus the many other factors that kept me thinking, is it the right time to start? Is it now or never? First, there's this cargo issue... which has taken ages to arrive, then there's this limited colours and ingredients issues.. i have been scooping around, but the results aren't that satisfactory. If there is even similar product, I bet it'll cost twice or double. Hurm.. dilema betul.

Kopiying @The Pearl

It was Friday night. The Embassy is hosting a small celebration sempena Agong's birthday. Not many turns up.. means more food to eat!! yeaahhh.. But since it's a sort of formal celebs, para-para jemputan diwajibkan either wear batik, or formal clothes... Seb baik dah bawak bekal batik from Malaysie, bleh gak merase pakai dalam tengah panas ni.. hiks





After the brief makan-makan (told you the malays, well this time the Malaysian is all about Hidup-untuk-Makan thingy.. hehehe) we went to lepak at the Pearl. Bleh tahan la.. dulu before we left, it wasn't open to the public, sebab belom siap, sekarang ade la dalam 80% kot dah siap.. the shopping area banyak gak dah bukak kedai, siap dah ade sale (hmmmm..bahaye). Oh, talking about shopping, dari sumber yang boleh dipercayai, Gucci ere is having 50% sale! Tapi saye hanye mampu dengar jela kot.. dah tak keje, baik duduk diam-diam! hahaha


So, here are some of the pic taken while 'kopiying at the Pearl' (yeah rite, mane ade minum kopi pun.. minum mineral water jek.. hehehe). Lagipun the coffee booth takde mende sangat, not even ice!, sume abes.. what left are few can drinks that cost QR5 a piece, yang kononnye sejuklaa.. Tapi okla, stakat nak menikmati pemandangan, is highly recommended, parking pun best! So sape-sape yang sudi datang melawat Doha tu, sekarang banyak jugakla tempat menarik untuk dikunjungi as compared to before, takdela asek-asek Corniche jer.. hiks ;)

Oh yeah, as suggested by my dear hubby (which is my number one reader btw) he said I should put this pic of the Pearl, so people would then know and say, aaaahhh.. the Pearl.. ingat ape menatang la tadi..
Yup, like the Palm in Dubai, the Pearl ni pun man-made land.. sebab tu bleh suke-suke hati nak shape up cam ape-ape pun.

Qatar for dummies

I think I will no longer update on all the makan-makan session that we had or will have in Doha. Coz, I'm pretty sure it will be same old story;- the malays and their Hidup-untuk-Makan principe, memang tak boleh lari.. but the makan-makan session we had last Wednesday was a bit special, it is for Abe's farewell, sesi makan nasik kerabu plus nyanyian karaoke from the departee( wujud ke such word? hehe). I wish all the best to Abe; leaving Doha for good, after more than 5 years of services. Good to know you man! ;)

Pic: Abe is the guy in white shirt..

Anyho, I'm here to write more on the process(es) involve in starting off our life in Qatar. Before we even arrive, the sponsoring company has arranged for a visa, which will be valid for 3 months. Once here, we then have to go through the process to convert the visa to Resident Permit (RP), which will be valid for good two years, after which, they only need to renew, so makin senangla harapnye. Some company here would allow the employee and family to come together and sort all the Resident Permits processes all in one shots (how lucky). But, unfortunately, not for our company. Their policy is for the employee to arrive in Doha first, sort out his/her RP; THEN only bringing the family and sort their part of the RP. Menyampah kan? that's why it took 45 days for my hubby to finally get us here.. (anyway, still legelaa dah lepas)..

The first step to get the RP is to go for medical check up; which actually to get some blood sample and X-ray; which are only for adults, kids can be left at home. The only place to get this done is at Abu Hamour (which by the way, used to be my first port of accomodation when I first resides in Doha dulu.. sekarang Abu Hamour dah ade sedikit perubahan, jalan dah besar gile, and the chokia mini market area dah jadi bes gile, lengkap with all those pizza hut, kfcla to name-a-few; hurm untung sape yang still stay kat Cascade!). Anyway, back to the process, when I'm there, I was taken by the company's external affair personnel, Amal. She is a pleasant woman wearing a hijab and that thing that cover her face, so the only thing visible is her sexy pairs of black eyes (ape tah name die? i forgot already). I can't believe that she still recognize and remember me ;) She was the one who took care of my RP when I was here last time... But she was a bit shocked to see me with my new image, yup.. I'm now wearing a hijab too.. just started about 2weeks ago. And hopefully this time, will remain forever ;)
Amal basically knows every officer there, so dengan senang hati she pass me on to her friends there and off we go, cutting all the Q to payment and x-rays. Padahal ramai gile manusie time tu, kalau kene beratur like normal people, mau tahun depan baru siap? haha
Yang menakutkan experience time nak bayar, the lady was kind to me, but when she turn her self to face other people on the line, she changed to a fierce monster! I think because most of the guys there were indian workers, who arabs takes as the lowest possible kasta. (Tak baik kan? tapi nak buat camane, negare dieorang, suke hati laaa... ) Yang dasyat tu, the lady siap boleh pilih-pilih lak kalau taknak layan orang tu, terus jerit 'Yala! yala! NEXTT!!' . huuu.. seb baek laa i was taken by a rep.
After the payment, we (oh, yeah, there were two of us, me and another girl) were taken to the X-rays room. We were told to change to the standard clothing, removing all jewellery, anak dan mak baju. Pastu cam biase, di bawak potong Q, then off to the X-rays screen. Abes je X-rays trus gi bagi blood sample to a stick-no-facial-expression-like nurse. She was surfing the net when I was there, i think looking for a new handphone! Adehla.. cam takde time lain je nak carik?..
Lepas abes jer then Amal said, that's it. Will be in touch! So, kire-kire in less than an hour, I've finished the 'medical check-up'. Hopefully result okla, kalau ok, next week you'll find my entry on finger print laks! ;)

Doha el Qatar

I used to think that I had enough of Doha and his cranky old Arabs, who think big of themselves, who knows no respect for others, impatient, undeciplines, bla bla bla
But here I am, stepping my foot on it's land again, hoping to start off a new life, a complete opposite of the old hectic life in London, and hopefully making slighltly smarter choice from our previous experience in Doha. Truth is, when I compare the life that I used to have in Malaysia and abroad; we are no different than the arabs or any race in the world. They are just rage againts the pendatang, as our non-acceptance towards the pendatang in our country too. But the big different between us and them are, malays are culturally groomed to be sopan-santun, lemah-lembut budi bahase, so we won't show off our rage as much as them.
Physically, Doha is still the same; same old airport, same old road (but with many extension), same old heat, same old dusty air and same old friends. The same night that I arrived, we've been invited to makan Laksam at Ija's. Delicious as always. It's like old time, with the same old friends and the same non-agenda dine.

The thing that I admire the most is, how easy Myra is adjusting, maybe because she knew, this is her tanah-tumpah-darahku; she's finally home. At the airport, when she first saw her Daddy, she was a bit shy, she was speechless, cam tak percaye pun ade. Then once in the car, she kept laughing her heart out.. maybe she was really excited and happy, maybe her little heart even said ''Alhamdulillah, akhirnya I found Daddy''. I can really tell by her obvious little laughter; the one i never seen before. ;)

So.. here we go again! a whole new journey in the arab world.. lots of things to do; for a start, we are currently in our empty rented apartment, so hafta do lotss of furniture hunting!

Yup, some mite know that we used to get a furnished accomodation before, but this time, we are choosing wisely, we took the housing alowance instead, settling in what cozy enough for the three of us. No need for a big villa anymore. One thing that we learnt from our hard life in London is the value for money. We are lucky enough, being granted a second chance in life. I pray that this time around, we'll be smarter and off for a good life! Aminnnnnnnnnnnnnn