I remember when I was young, my cousins and I would go to the small cold store and buy some fireworks. We’d all wait until the announcement of Eid and light them at night. There was the Bumble Bee, The Butterfly, The Snake Poo, Whizzer, Whistler, etc…
Many years later and that tradition hasn’t stopped. It was announced that Tuesday the 30th is September is Eid and Fireworks were lit all over Qatar. Here’s a photo from the corniche.
Here’s a nice tip by ILQ’s Asther that I thought I’d highlight.
When driving with Karwa (Taxi) always make sure to check the meters just in case you get a taxi man trying to be sneaky.
Just an FYI to others who relies on KARWA taxis as their means of transportation. Do check the meter codes when you get on a taxi. The meter code should be number 1 (inter-city meter charging) and NOT number “0″. The “0″ code is outside DOHA and the meter charge is much higher.
Two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey, they had an argument; and one friend slapped the other one in the face.
The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand:
TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE.
They kept on walking until they found an oasis where they decided to take a bath and cool down. The one who had slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him.
After he recovered from the near fatal drowning, he wrote on a stone:
‘TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE ‘.
The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, ‘After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand, and now you write it on stone, why?’
The friend replied ‘ When someone Hurts us, we should write it down in sand, where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it.’
Lear to write your hurts in the sand and to carve your benefits in stone.
They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but an entire lifetime to forget them.
Yet another example of how the Gulf Times should be called the India Times because they talk about issues as if only Indians are affected. Isn’t this supposed to be a newspaper about Qatar and EVERYONE within it?
Guess what? Inflation affects EVERYONE not just Indians. Guess what? The Brits, Americans, Qataris, and wait for it, EVERYONE, will suffer from a reduced amount of entertainment not just Indians.
*sighs*
Some of my best friend’s are Indians but this is getting ridiculous. Don’t get me wrong, if it WAS called the India Times I’d have different expectations from the newspaper, but for now… I feel like they aren’t doing their job fairly. It’s all about being just isn’t it?
I thought that his was cool.
As Eid is approaching near the end of Ramadan, there’s alot of celebration in the air.
Note: Eid holiday for government is 28th to 6th this month for 2008. Qatar Stock market closes from 25th. Individual work places will be different.
So what’s it all about? Quite simply, we have two Eids a year, they’re a Muslim person’s Christmas(s). This one is called Eid Al Fitr. After a long month’s fasting during Ramadan, it’s God’s gift of partying. Yep. He’s saying “Thanks for trying your best to understand how precious life is, now go party!”.
It lasts for 3 days and is usually filled with festivities. Children will go around from house to house, sing songs and get money, kids will also play and probably go a bit insane with their new found fortune and buy candy.
It’s also a time where inheritances are distributed and the, once children, and now adults, give to their parents in appreciation for all they’ve provided for when they were young.
Although a religious occassion, I guess that it’s ‘money’ thats in the air. I remember when I was younger, I’d get around 200-300 QR on the first day and be so excited! That’s alot!
Some places usually light up fireworks, there’s live entertainment, and usually plays and theatre shows to please the public.
Late at night, people would go out to simply go all out. Eid Al Fitr in Qatar.
Oh! Don’t forget to say “Eid Mubarak” on Eid! (That’s our Merry Christmas).
I just wanted to share one of the things that makes my life easy. Nope this isn’t an advert, but I found it really usefull, especially for the basics like looking at my statement, transfers, and so on.
QNB has this service called EAZYMobile. It’s an application for your mobile phone that lets you access all of your basics and online banking directly on your mobile. You can even pay off bills.
To request the service, customers have to send through SMS the word “mobile” to 2777. They will receive an SMS with detailed information on how to download the EAZYmobile application.
It’s apparantly completely secure due to high-level encryption using the latest security software.
EAZYmobile is available to all existing QNB customers immediately. Registration is simple.
Customers must have an EAZYinternet username and password which they can register on http:// ib.qnb.com.qa. Customers can log on using the same username and password they use for EAZYinternet.
Sounds good doesn’t it? Give it a go.
Here’s something I never imagined I’d have to do but here I am.
Always be weary of people you meet online. Anybody can be anybody You’ll find a lot of people who tend to try and give you a different person online. That’s the beauty of the cyber-screen isn’t it?
That’s not to say that everyone does it, however there are those that can be deceptive.
Be safe online.
Tomorrows the day to celebrate Garangao [Ga-ran-ga-oh] (or sometimes called Gir-ga-oon)
Garangao, celebrated on the 14th day of Ramadan, is special to the Gulf region , particularly Qatar, and is believed to have its roots in the pearl-diving tradition of the region. Over the years, the festival has gained more popularity with several expatriates joining the celebrations.
This evening, children, clad in their traditional clothes, will come out of their homes and knock on every door in their neighbourhood, which will be ready to receive them with sweets and nuts. They collect the goodies in the special cotton bags, hanging loosely from their necks. Kids will be seen wandering around the streets until late into the night singing the special Garangao song.
Now people are not just interested in buying the goodies, but they go for the specially designed packets and bags decorated with popular cartoon characters and other symbols dear to the children. So shops are vying to offer new and attractive designs. The prices of these packets range from QR5 to QR50, according to the size and varieties of the goodies.
Several Qatari clubs and organizations, which are instrumental in popularizing the festival, have come out with a variety of cultural events to mark the occasion, as in the previous years.
I remember when I was young, we’d all go around singing songs to the different homes and filling our bags with sweets! It was great! I encourage all nationalities to enjoy this festive occassion 
From http://iloveqatar.net/forum/read.php?8,3826
This has become an issue that I hope that the Ministry of Traffic will deal with. Where are the beautiful Traffic Police cars that the government recently invested in. You used to see the traffic police everywhere and they used to enforce the law. Nowadays, they’re more concerned with sitting in their cars and chatting.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve met police and some of my friends work in the police and I’m proud of them, but I think that it’s time to stir things up. Look at the Lekhwia. They’re supposed to be Qatar’s security force. Yet I notice that they’re doing the Traffic police’s job!
Look at this accident that happened at La Cigale the other day. An FJ crashed straight into the center of a restaurant (luckily it was empty at the time).
Who’s to blame? I dont want to point fingers but, the roads and streets don’t encourage people to slow down, people are getting licences too easily, there aren’t enough deterants, and the list goes on.
We need more of Qatar’s Traffic police roaming the streets and enforcing the law. Talking on the phone? Fine! Not signaling? Fine! Not leaving enough space between yuo and a car? Fine! Trying to jump a cue? Fine!
All of these basics need to be embedded into everyone.
I say we follow Dubai’s method and put the whole country on a year probation. People need to learn how to stay in their lanes, indicate properly, not to stick out half way on a round about etc…
Common dear Qatar, help the country before its too late.
Who’s with me?
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