It was about time that ILQ did another ‘Busted’ article so this time we focused on Qtel vs Vodafone.

If you’re interested to see what the results are, click here.

I was pretty happy today to see ILQ in the newspaper

You can read the article here

http://iloveqatar.net/forum/list.php?5

I just had to post this, shukran coached.

1. Disrespectfully recline your seat:

I’m not a big fan of reclining chairs on planes as it is. Mostly because I don’t want to cramp up the person behind me. I think it’s inconsiderate. If, for some reason (like on a red eye flight) I really need to kick back, I prefer to ask the person behind me if they mind my reclining. I believe the person behind you should have a say in whether or not you recline. (Please take note, douchebag from Texas, who reclined his seat into mine without asking on the way to Frankfurt, and spilled my wine all over my lap).

2. Talk to your screaming child in a volume louder than their scream:

I’m no parent, but even I know that screaming at a kid doesn’t make them shut up. The only thing worse than a screaming kid on a plane is a parent screaming at a screaming kid.

3. Go to the bathroom when the flight attendants are serving:

You know, this is only going to lead to you waiting impatiently in the narrow corridor and them being even more frustrated because they don’t want to move their entire cart to one side of the plane just to let you through. I’m not saying to hold it if you’re in a desperate state during this time, but if you can hold it…well then…yeah. I think you should. Nothing other than urgency should come in between me and my mini bottle of Cabernet.

4. Make everyone wait for you to get your carry-on luggage:

Sure, some people get annoyed with those who are over-eager to get off the plane, who stand for minutes on end when the plane lands. And then there are those who wait, unwilling to get up before the aisle is clear for them to exit the plane.

Try to be in between these two kinds of people. There’s no reason to grab your overhead stuff 15 minutes early; but as a courtesy to others, make sure it’s in your hands before the aisle is clear for you to exit the plane. And with that said, don’t bring carry-on luggage that is too heavy for you to carry. It’s not anyone else’s job to assist you with the lifting of your luggage.

6. Talk to the person next to you if they are asleep, have headphones on, or seem disinterested in you:

Airplanes are not dating sites. We’re not fated to be in each other’s lives just because we were assigned seats next to each other. Period. If we’re both feeling chatty, then fine. There are no rules (yet) saying we’re not allowed to have a conversation. But there are rules of courtesy saying that if I’m obviously not paying attention to you, then you leave me the hell alone.

Avoiding these six annoying airplane habits will make the world a better place. I’m sure of it.

I’m not the type of guy who likes to plug in advertisements or commercials on his blog, but I just had to mention this awesome offer, only because a) one of ILQ’s goals is to help visitors save money and b) I wanted to show the power of competition.

Vodafone’s offering a special promotion where you can call ANYWHERE in the world for only 50 dirhams a minute! That’s amazing! That’s the same price as a local call!

More info here http://iloveqatar.net/forum/read.php?28,9001

http://www.themostamazingwebsiteontheinternet.com/

I just had to share this with everyone. I can type quite fast in english but I’m very slow when typing in arabic. On my mac there’s a great option to choose Arabic101 as a language and you can basically type in english and it translates the romanization to arabic.

Microsoft released MS Maren which does this for anything and is the equivelant to PinYin or Romaji. I remember wishing for something like this 8 years ago!

So if you type Salam Alaikum or Ta3al 9oub al barada, and it’ll show up in Arabic.

http://www.microsoft.com/middleeast/Egypt/CMIC/Maren/

I just wanted to share a quick story about my grandmother. What an awesome woman she was. She was actually quite famous in Qatar for her Achar (it’s a type of vinegared tomato and vegetables with chilis). It takes up to a month to get it right because you have to leave it on the rooftops out in the sun in a jar to get it just right.

I remember when I had graduated from highschool and had decided to become a lawyer. Everybody was so excited that I was going to England, and they had all parted with their own little pearls of wisdom.

Dad: “Don’t be afraid to try new things and don’t be suprised when you go buy a cucumber.” (I thought about that one myself and was suprised when I saw you buy half a cucumber in the shops for the price of a whole box here in Qatar. The message though was don’t be suprised by new cultures.)

Aunt: “If you find a nice girl. Don’t bring her home! I’ve got the one just for you.” (No thanks I answered, I pick who I want.)

Uncle: “Study hard and if you get a chance, travel around to see the world a bit.” (I did and I did.)

So here it came, the day of my travels. It was at 7 am and my father had his own business trips and the rest of my family were in Bahrain at the time. My aunt was sleeping and since I was leaving from Qatar I was staying at my grandfather’s house.

At 5 am I got up and got ready and expected to be heading on my journey with a sad feeling of lonliness. I walked into the kitchen and saw my grandmother sitting there. She had gotten up for me and made me breakfast. She told me stories of how she cried when each one of her sons had gone off to uni and how proud she was of me more than anyone. She also told me that she wouldn’t be crying for me because I’d be doing more good in the world that it would be a shame to waste tears.

“Are you really set on being a lawyer?”, she asked. “Yes why?”, I answered. “Can’t you be a doctor?”, she replied. At the time I didn’t really think of the reason she asked me that. I just casually said “I don’t like the sight of blood and I think law will challenge me.”. She smiled and didn’t say much after that.

She saw me off at the door and I went off to university. Two years later, my family didn’t tell me this because they didn’t want me to lose focus, but my grandmother was dieing of cancer. It hit me. No. It slapped me in the face. She wanted her grandson to be a doctor to cure her… What an idiot I was.

She came to London to the best hospital, but even they couldn’t help her. She asked for me, so I travelled to London to be by her side. What was once quite a healthy vibrant woman was so thin and stretched on the bed barely able to move. I went by her bedside and held her hand. A tear fell from her eye. I felt sorry for the person i saw in front of me, but no tears.

I didn’t cry going back. I didn’t cry for a few days actually. It was one random day when I was in Tesco (a supermarket) that the floodgates opened. I couldn’t control myself. The emotion just came at me like a tidal wave. I couldn’t stop until I remembered my grandmother’s words. She had done so much good in the world that it would be a shame to waste tears. God rest her soul.

Why am I sharing this? I wanted people to see an example of how the Qatari family reacts and wanted to share the memory of my grandmother.

For around a year and a half now ILQ’s been running a bit of a ‘charity’, where we wanted to show thanks to those labourers who’ve worked so hard to build Qatar.

It started when a bunch of us wanted to show our appreciation by doing something small.
So we took donations (link on the left side of the site) and we took 25% of any profit generated on ILQ and decided to buy shirts, wet towels, pocket radios, and some cold drinks.

So once a month, we pick a random work site and head off with our coolers. It’s great to see their satisfaction.

We also took it a step further with calling cards. These people make such low salaries that we decided to give them some calling cards so that they could call their families back home and let them know their fine.

If you’d like to donate, use the button on the left of the site to help them out!

So thanks to all those hard-working blue collar workers for making my country a country of the future.

Remember! If you don’t have the time or the means, just give them a smile! It’s nice to see a friendly face.