I´ve been in Malaysia more than a week now...so far so good...had spent time with my family and it´s great...it´s wonderful to be home. It´s school holiday and I spent a lot of times with my nieces, we went bowling, movies, shopping, eating etc...it was a great feeling to be able to make other people happy.
So far, I managed to catch up with some friends like Zaida, Rusiah, Illa, Fadzillah, Maria, Lin, Roslim, Dato´ Arif (my God father - Pa) and Kim. What´s new about them?? Zaida is getting married on 8-July at Gouman PD with Raja Aris finally. I´m happy for you babe...some people are happy and some had gone through tough time. Illa had gone through a messy divorce but now she´s fine. Fadzillah and I plan to go to Bali on 22nd till 25th July...it´s gonna be fun. Dato´ Arif had retired from MDC and enjoying life now...Lin is still busy with her business and belly-dancing thing...
I´m packing my luggage and tomorrow afternoon I´m flying to Jakarta...will stay with Ibu Nurul for one night. Then we´ll fly to Surabaya to visit Umi. From there we´ll proceed to Semarang to look around the furniture shops...then to Solo to visit the batik factory...then back to Jakarta to visit some old friends and do some shopping. I love shopping in Jakarta...it´s far more attractive and cheap. My last trip to Jakarta was Oct 2005. I´m back in KL on 20th.
It´s already late now, I need to get some rest...nite, nite...
Hundred years ago Qatar was a desert...but today everything´s changed, a lot of investments have been done and still in progress...
I was amazed with the development going on here...juz three months being here, I see so much growth in term of transportation system, road system and construction works...a lot of high-rise buildings growing up, stadiums, houses and apartments coming up at the same times.
here are some pictures described everything...
sooo...after 3 months being here, it´s time to get away for a while...it´s time to escape from a hot summer and being home again. I´m flying off to KL tomorrow evening (31-May)...ohhh I can´t wait to be home with my family and friends...I miss those seafoods, natural beaches, KLCC, mild weather and rain and and and...KL, here I come!!!...
I´m missing my friends in Germany who I used to roll around with for breakfast, lunch, coffee, movie and shopping....
this is one of the last pictures we took during breakfast at our favourite cafe Sax. From left Norma, myself, Montha and Julia...I miss u guys!!!
Over here in Qatar I´ve started joining the monthly morning coffee with the German Ladies, some of them are living here quite a long time already...just trying to make some new friends and I found some.
from left: Gabi, Elisabeth, myself, Anette and Heidi...we are actually neighbours except Heidi. This was in March.
this was taken in April, on my left is Heidi & on my right is Anette...some new faces were there. I only go when Anette goes because we are sharing a driver. We always go shopping or coffee together two to three times a week.
hey guys!!! sorry for not blogging lately...I have problem with the internet connection and you know...when things are not going right, you just get fed-up and leave it completely...
Life in Qatar isn´t so bad actually, I get to know some new friends...my neighbour is Thai and married to German man...she´s really kind.
Let me tell you where I live in Qatar by showing you guys some pictures...
the name of this compound is Samrya Garden.
this is my apartment on the first floor (B129)
this is Samrya Garden´s Club House
we can´t really swim in the pool or at least I think so...it´s too cold in winter and it´s too hot in summer...unless they´d install heater there.
this is the area where we can have party and BBQ.
this is their gym...I try to work out 3-4 times a week...try harder actually...
I hope this would be helpful for you guys to imagine where I live at the moment...Qatar is beautiful at night...I´ll show you in the next post.
yuuhuu...after some time didn´t blog there´s some changes here, not so familiar with the new format.
Anyway, I´m in Qatar now since 3 weeks and life is a little bit different here. We only have weekend on Friday but for government sector they have Friday and Saturday as their weekend. Work can be hectic here and the weather can be really hot in Summer. At the moment is still winter but not as cold as in Germany. It´s a little bit windy in the evening and cool...dust has been a phenomenal problem here. We can´t even open the window the whole day...maybe a short while in the morning but after that you´ll see the floor and the furniture is dusty. At least we have to mop the floor every alternate day otherwise you are running around with the dust and black feet. Good that I have a cleaning lady who comes 3 times a week to clean the apartment. To be honest, I love cooking but I don´t like to clean the house. Of coz cleanliness is important to me but if I have to do myself everyday then I´ll go bonkers. In Germany I had no choice but to do myself at least once in a week.
The roads here are wide with three lanes and many roundabouts...similar to the highway system. The Qatari drivers are a bit aggressive and you have to be carefull with them...this country isn´t meant for walking, you need a car to move around. And talking about driving, I´m glad to announce that I´ve made my German driver´s license in Germany despite the bad weather on the day of my test. My instructor made a comment that: "on this bad weather you´ve done really good"...you know why? because everytime I had my driving class, I made always new mistakes and I discovered new things each time. I´m happy that I juz spent 15 hours for the class and for the beginners usually 30 to 40 hours. I felt sorry for the other girls who did 40 hours and didn´t make it. Now I have German and International driver´s license, meaning I can drive in Qatar as well and not juz in Europe.
I got to go now...
Schools start again today after a long holidays in Germany...people get back to work and the morning traffic begins...but I´m still sitting at home thinking what to do then, shall I go to the city? I was feeling low the whole weekend...nothing´s done, juz tried some new recipes and watch movies...the new year has juz started and everyone has new year´s resolutions...I can´t really tell mine, everything´s put on hold...the forwarder will come on the 20th to collect the boxes but so far I haven´t got any boxes yet, how to pack them all. And my visa will take longer than expected , due to the long holiday in Qatar (Idul Adha). The earl ier plan is to leave the country by 25th but now I have to stay a bit longer...my tel. line & TV´s pay-programme& nbsp;juz till end of this month. Things don´t go as planned...it´s not really a choice but I have to make do with it...life moves on...the best is to enjoy every moment I have now with the charming people I rolled around with...hope the plan for breakfast tomorrow will happen...so far none is replying my email...sigh...
Anyway, my driving class is progressing well despite the snow and cold weather....last two weeks we really had 15-20cm snow and now the road is clear again with a short time sunny-day....thank God!!!
taken on 25-Dec-06.
my next driving class is tomorrow afternoon at 3pm...so far I´ve done 9 hours and this week will be the last week for driving class and next Tuesday (17th) will be my practical driving test. Basically, I have no problem with driving except that the rules are different here...you really have to pay attention to the pedestrians, cyclists and buses...unlike in Malaysia, they have priorities in any case here, furthermore you drive cars with left-steering-wheel on right-hand-side of the road...that requires you to think ahead...
Thank God I passed the test...all my effort hv been paid for...I got one mistake...deep inside me I´m not satisfied...I was careless not too read the answer carefully, it´s a simple question...those difficult questions I got all correct...anyway...the bottom line is I don´t have to repeat the test. and now I can close the chapter and concentrate on other things etc. packings, clear my errands, cleaning...I´ve not been doing nothing since weeks...my apartment is in a mess...
yesterday I had a great day, after the test I met a Russian friend, Julia for a breakfast at Sax, my favourite cafe...then I saw another Indonesian friend there whom I supposed to meet on Wed...huh, she asked me if I do nothing afterwards, so since I stayed with Julia till 12noon, I hanged with her in the city and it´s snowing the whole afternoon...we saw Santa Claus around the crowd...it´s beautiful day. We went for shopping, for lunch and then coffee...that´s a pleasure catching up with her...I came back home around 7pm and I was damn tired...but it was a great day for me.
Today I went to visit a Thai friend who´s just got a baby girl 3 weeks ago...her baby´s name is Sandra...she is so cute...once I´ve download the pic I´ll upload here ok.
I´ve been wanting to announce earlier but everytime while I was thinking what to write I kept on postponing. Actually I´ll be moving to Qatar in about a month´s time from now. Those who don´t know where is Qatar...it´s actually under United Arab Emirates country (UAE) close to Abu Dhabi, Dubai & Bahrain. I was there three weeks ago to look for an apartment around. The possibilities are there but with the limited choices. Qatar´s scenario is similar to Dubai except that Dubai is much more developed...at least I´m closer to home then.
So I don´t really have much time left...but I´ve started with my German driver´s license which I´ve been procrastinating since a year. I´ve stopped my German course since more than a month...it makes no sense to continue anyway because I have to concentrate on my license thingy. I´ve been learning the driving theory really hard...I have 60 sets of tests to study, each set contains 30 questions...so altogether are 1800 questions. My theory test will be on Monday 19-Dec at 7.00am, if you live on this side of the world you could imagine how cold and dark at this hour while some are still in bed...so 6.45am I have to be there and I have to wake up at 5.00am...argghhhh I hope I won´t oversleep...
besides the license, I´ve been busy busy uprooting...with packings, sorting out which one should be packed, basically I need only summer clothes...in the beginning I was a bit sad to the fact that I have to move...after about two years living here and get to know some nice people and then you have to leave again...and to start all over again in another country...but on the other hand I´m excited to learn about other new lifestyles and cultures...it´s a mixed-feeling actually. Anyway...2 years isn´t that long...time runs really fast nowadays and you won´t feel it when you enjoy it...it´s only too long if you don´t enjoy it...so enjoy your time while you can!
Two weeks ago I was in Switzerland where all muslims celebrating Aidil Fitri (1st Syawal of Islamic calender). Usually, the same like Chinese New Year, Christmas, Deepavali and all other main cele brations, no matter where you are in the world, on these particular Festivals you are back to your family. But this year Syawal I was away from home...it´s sad but it´s true...
Anyhow, the trip to Swiss wasn´t so bad, at least I didn´t feel too much homesick then. I wanted to be a little bit more adventure by driving down started from Schaffhausen to Zurich, Rapperswil, Schwyz, Altdorf and Luzern checked around the lakes and the mountains there. There´re superb panorama of the mountains and lakes during my whole trip.
it´s at Rheinfall (Schaffhausen), a small version of Niagarafall...amazing to see the water never stopped flowing, where´s the strong power come from?
this was in Zurich, behind me is St. Peter Church. other famous churches are Grossmünster & Fraumünster Church. Zurich is very compact city, tram bus is the main public transportation there but you could cover the city centre by foot...
the Opera house in Zurich...it´s nothing compared to the famous Semperoper in Dresden/Germany.
another view of the lake & mountain in Zurich...on my way to Luzern.
take a break in Rapperswil...this small town on the northern bank of Zurich´s lake is in the canton of St. Gallen.
beautiful lake in Rapperswil full of swans and ducks...it´s 30min by train from Zurich but it´s a more scenic lakeside trip.
on the way to Schwyz you could see from far the beautiful one of the mountains (Mythen). When the evening bel ls ring out from St. Martin´s beneath the twin peaks of the Mythen (1898m and 1811m), Schwyz feels like an archetypal Swiss village - straight from Hollywood central casting.
in Altdorf, that´s the statue of Wilhelm Tell who is reputed to have performed his apple-shooting stunt.
this was on Chapel Bridge in Luzern (Lucerne in English, or `the city of lights). Legend has it that an angel with a light showed Luzern´s first settlers where to build a chapel, and even an atheist might describe the city´s location as heaven-sent. Lapped by a scenic lake, surrounded by mountains of myth - a picture of this once small fishing village and its wooden Chapel Bridge is enough to connote the very essence of Switzerland.
that´s Ols Swiss House, one the best restaurants offer original local foods. I love to eat, shopping, to see the panorama & fancy nice architectures but I´m not the "museums type". There´re so many museums you can visit in Luzern e.g. Naturhistorisches Museum, Richard Wagner Museum & Picasso Museum.
this is the Lion Monument (Löwendenkmal) is dedicated to the Swiss soldiers who died in 1792 defending King Louis XVI and family during the French Revolution.
that´s all for now...some more news is coming soon!
Since I got back to Germany, I was very occupied. My intensive course kept me busy all day & I studied very hard as well to keep up with the ohters. So I didn´t seem to find time to update my blog either. This time around there were so many people from Rusia, most of them are very young and working as "Aupair Mädchen" (Nanny) in Germany. Unlike last Semester, the class were less fun, people´re not so friendly...I sometimes found it quite bored and the enviroment wasn´t so conducive as before. Yesterday was the last day and we´re starting an Autumn-break for a week. I have about a week to think about as to whether joining the next course or not.
This year Ramadhan for me it´s very challenging. Aidil Fitri is just around the corner...sadly this year I´m not coming back home to celebrate the day. this is my first time celebrate raya abroad...over here people don´t even celebrate like in Malaysia, what a pity!!! anyway I´ve sent my mom, my nephew & nieces some "duit raya" already. This coming Tuesday I´ll be driving down to Switzerland; be a bit more adventure. I´ll make a tour starting from Schaffhausen along Rhein River, down to Zurich then to Luzern, checking the lakes and the mountains around the area. Back home next weekend, that´s how I´ll spend my raya this year.
The weather here lately isn´t so bad...between 15-21°C and sunny with some foggy in the morning. And this weekend they will change back the time to one hour backward. So it´ll be 7 hours different between Germany and Malaysia instead of 6 hours. So sunset will be earlier by one hour.
To all Muslims: "Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri"& Maaf zahir batin,
and to my Indian friends: "Happy Deepavali" ahead.
the name of this compound is Samrya Garden.
this is my apartment on the first floor (B129)
this is Samrya Garden´s Club House
we can´t really swim in the pool or at least I think so...it´s too cold in winter and it´s too hot in summer...unless they´d install heater there.
this is the area where we can have party and BBQ.
this is their gym...I try to work out 3-4 times a week...try harder actually...
I hope this would be helpful for you guys to imagine where I live at the moment...Qatar is beautiful at night...I´ll show you in the next post.
