Al Dar frustrates the hell out of me and some of the other apartment owners. Not only is Zig Zag still not in the state that it was promised (underground parking has leaks and is filthy, ‘recreation’ area looks unfinished, the damn fire alarm still rings randomly, and elevator L1 is broken (door opens and shuts twice before allowing you to press the floor you want to go to), but now they think that they can do whatever they want in the building.

1) We’re supposed to vote for a new maintanence company and the owners/tenants still haven’t had a transfer yet (who wants to bet they want to try and keep the ownership? They’re making a fortune after all since they’re pocketing the money rather than actually spending it on the building).

2) They don’t do regular sweeps and companies keep putting their marking materials around

3) The security guards are just for show. They just sit there, allow cars to block the entrance and exits, and love just stare at you rather than greet you.

4) They cost cut at any chance they get! (all you have to freaking do is turn down the a/c by ONE degree Dar. ONE degree!

5) They think they actually have the right to tell owners how to live in the tower!

Let’s talk about my last point. I love rules that make sure that everyone’s happy but some of the things they do are ridiculous. I went to the pool today to be surprised at the fact that the filter isn’t on, the pool lights aren’t on (couldn’t find the switch), and was disgusted by the ugly flamingo peach walls they had painted as usual. On the door were a few notices by a company offering swimming lessons. At first I was annoyed that Dar allowed a company to advertise their services by sticking an A4 paper on the glass but then noticed another note by the same company. It was a list of rules for swimming in the pool. I agreed with many but a few just aggravated the hell out of me.

One rule said that guests had to get permission from the management before being allowed to use the pool. Wait what? I am expected to ask the management their permission if I have friends over? Screw that!

Another said that people with long hair (that’s relative but I’ll let it slide), have to wait bathing caps…

Another rule said that people were not allowed to swim solo…. So I guess if you’re living alone you’re pretty much screwed since you have to call the management and if they say no then the President has spoken.

Give us some damn seats to sit on by the pool! Give us some damn shade! Give us a tiny bit of quality!

Aha! So it’s Dar posing as another company? Did they set up another company just to make some MORE money by teaching swimming? PLUS they think that they own the pool? *sighs*

Anyway, I’m just biding me time. They’re not going to take over the building for another year. I’ll fight it with every bone in my body.

They already messed up a beautiful building and I can guarantee that I’ll never buy a property from Al Dar again. I advise you all not to either.

This is great news! Last December, ILQ was ranked as #8 on the Top Qatar sites. I had covered that in our ILQ Top 10 sites in Qatar.

Today we’re ranked #5! Thanks to all of the great supporters ^_^

Let’s hope we keep rising the ranks!

ILQ on XMarks

If you’re a BlackBerry user then you’ll want to quickly head on over to http://www.vodafone.com.qa/go/en/getstarted/blackberry and register!

They’re giving 1000 people the BB service for FREE until the end of May! Don’t say Mr. Q didn’t tell you!

I was pleased when Abode magazine contacted me because they wanted to hear what my views were on blogging and the blogosphere in Qatar. All I had really done was share my view (in English) so that people can read up on what one Qatari thinks.

Has this blog inspired you to become more vocal? Start up your own blog! Sign up to WordPress or Iktib.com !

Still prefer reading? Then pick up a copy of Abode magazine at a nearby store!

There’s quite a few people that drop me lines on how to import a pet into Qatar.

So I now present you with a great guide written by Nicky.

Click here for the Qatar Pet Import and Export Guide

Look, I know that this tower is going to end up being great. Tower A is looking fantastic, but this is getting rediculous. I’m planning on taking over as the building maintanence and service provider when we get the tenants voting for who they want to take care of this building (so remember to Vote for Khalifa Haroon!).

In the mean time, this is what I have to deal with, a huge section was taped off because it looks like there was a major leak.

Nope, that’s not a nice shiney floor. Oh and also just to make sure that you’re CONVINCED that Dar isn’t doing anything, here’s a bottle of piss right next to my car parking spot.

Well guys, I’m looking for someone. Someone special. Someone with that online ‘touch’.

Now pull your mind out of the gutter and think straight!

For those that don’t know, I’m the Manager of Online and Corporate Strategy over at Vodafone. (I shifted over from QNV seeing that Vodafone has a vested interested in iLoveQatar and they company is so passionate about change!).

I’m going to be focusing a lot more on VF/ILQ and will need to find someone to join the team and take on some of the load.

It’s a very fun environment I can assure you that, and my team is awesome. The people that work with us are carefully selected so if you don’t have a sense of humour or the right attitude, then please don’t apply!

The position if Online Marketing Manager. We need someone who’ll help maximise efficiency, who’ll be on top of analysing data provided by agencies, determining cost effectiveness, and generally a person who understands online more than life! (Ok the last part was a bit too much).

I would prefer it if you had both Arabic (Important to understand Qatari ‘tone’ in marketing promotions) and English skills (fluent in both); English is a MUST. If you’re Qatari, then great (we’ve got to comply with Qatarisation rules and I would like someone who understands the Qatari culture), but even if you’re not, it doesn’t matter since this role is open to everyone!

You’ll be working closely with myself and the Head of Online. We need YOU to be our right hand man/woman!

Click ‘Read the rest of this entry’ for more (if you don’t know how to do that, that’s the first sign that this job isn’t for you )

Read the rest of this entry »

I’m so excited whenever Apple wants to announce something. They hardly disappoint (except when they don’t actually announce something except for a software update). At the moment, Apple’s done a great deal of rumour mongering (whomever thinks that the rumours are not planned doesn’t know Apple’s game).

So what are people saying? Some are point to a touch screen device (a giant iPhone), some are saying that there’ll be a new iPhone announced, some are saying it’ll be just a 4.0 update announcement, some are saying they’ll be either adding something to iLife or updating it.

We’ve seen people using words like iSlate, iPad, and iTablet when refrencing this new device. Mainly because Apple registered all three words. My opinion is that it’s probably a decoy. I’m not saying there wont be a device, I’m just saying that there might be another name. iPad sounds too much like iPod, iTablet is a mouthful, and the Apple iSlate could be an inside joke ‘Apple is late’. Apple’s always been late in the game but they’ve always done something fantasmagoric.

Let’s see what happens in a week though when it’s time to announce it!

It’s funny. Walking in villaggio I spotted the anti human traffiking booth with a board for people to draw their flags and show unity against something so heinous. They hired some guy to wear a thobe and make sure that people know about what Qatar is doing to combat this aroun the world.

Sadly he was more concerned talking to girls. I walked up to him and asked for a marker so that my Japanese friend could write next to te Japanese flag (that’s what people were doing at first) he replies rudely “no it’s not allowed”. “What ? Were supposed to be representing our country in a positive way”, I replied not knowing he wasn’t Qatari at first.

He replied that she could draw her flag on a piece of pape of he wanted otherwise no.

“Where does the paper go?”. “In the picture.”. “Where is the picture being shown?”. He says Qatar foundation. “Where in the Qatar foundation?”. “The amiri diwan”, he says.

Now by now I’ve heard his accent and I know he’s not Qatari. I know he thinks I’m not Qatari because I wasn’t wearing a thobe and he said amiri diwan because he thinks if he mentions the goverment I’ll shut up.

“The amiri diwan is on the corniche and Qatar foundation is by rayyan” i tell him. “This is embarrasing” I follow up with. I look at his sternly and say “you’re embarassing my country”. I walk away.

Now here’s the question. If he really works at that department or mission or whatever it is, then is he an integral part or is he just doing it for a job? If he does care about this mission then shouldn’t he be polite?

Such a disappointment.

I for one liked the new colorful billboards around Qatar with something that had one word and then the website.

Now I’m the type of person that if I dont know what something is, it’s not my top priority to go and investigate. However the third time I saw the billboard I figured, ‘why not?’ and went to fuelyoursenses.qa

At first I tried with my iPhone (but since it doesn’t have flash support I had to wait until I got to my pc). To be honest most sites should always have an html alternative just in case. After entering the site it looks fun and colorful. Enter your name, and then it asks me if I want to use my ‘voice’ or ‘webcam’. I have to pass on that since I dont know what this is for.

After it finishes loading, I just see a count-down and little box that displays whatever I type in an animation. No explanation as to what to do. Clicking on Help says that this is top secret….

So… does anyone know what this is about? I know that .qa is only for government sites.