Yesterday was .......

September 30th 2006
Budaiya

Yesterday was.......
a lazy friday
but I spent a good deal of it chatting with a friend.
The internet connection was playing up again and it was slow
to even open up a page, and we would lose connection intermittently.
Anyway, I managed to cook something for iftar.
I have been thinking about making the glutinous rice balls for a while and
decided to try them yesterday. Luckily they turned out okay and the chocolate filling was really nice.Normally the traditional recipes would use red beans or green beans paste, coconut or just brown sugar.
For dinner i had rice with prawns sambal, fried chicken wings, egg and vege salads.
The apricot juice was a bit too sweet for my liking.
And as usual, my favourite tea to round it off.

That was yesterday.
But this morning,on the way to the office, I am bracing myself for a hard day ahead.

ooops.......my little secrets.......

September 28th 2006
Budaiya

Two secrets.......!

This morning......
I set my alarm clock at 3am for my syahur.
The alarm went off dutifully, but I turned it off and wanted another few winks. I thought to myself...its still early, after all I just need to make a cup of tea.
Then I lulled back to sleep...and when I woke up again...I thought..it was just half hour later, that I must wake up and make my tea...
Then suddenly I saw the window so bright...the sun was already up and it was 5.30am
There goes my syahur...! Somehow I feel that I am going to have many more mornings like it during this Ramadhan.
So the whole day I was feeling a bit hungry but managed to sustain it till adzan sounded and the canon was fired. Saved.
For iftar I had dates and figs, followed by a dinner of rice with some dhall curry, my stock of sambal tumis and chicken wings and cucumber.
A simple fare.

Now ... the other story...
I met a new friend on the eve of Ramadhan. Something that touched my heart.
Is that a good omen ?
I will keep you posted.

Its time for my comfort food now.
Tea.......glorious tea.
After a nice mug of hot tea.......my head can think straight again.
Ah.......life.......we never know what tomorrow brings !

I have been critiqued by billymac

September 28th 2006
Budaiya

Ammoontie

http://www.ammoontie.blogspot.com/


Ammoontie brings us this afternoons blog. Tidy and well maintained. Interesting perspectives from another country.

posted by Billy Mac @ 9/27/2006 0 comments

Thanks Billymac for visiting my blog.
I have just changed the background theme only recently, and I like this one better
since it gives me the clean pleasant look and I love the ochre colour.
It sorts of brightens my day... adding a speckle of gold to my life...!

Another day trip

September 26th 2006
Budaiya
Was in Qatar again yesterday.I guess these day trips will be a part of my routine for the next two months.
These are the pics of the building that I was talking about. It is the Lagoon Plaza, which is still under construction. It will be a nice development, no doubt about it. Its wavy form will make them stands out from the rest of the tall towers.
On the way back, I noticed the view of both Doha and Bahrain, and it looked so beautiful from above, with all the lights, looking like a fairy land. Couldnt help remembering those places that I have frequented before, where we used to spend evenings on the beach.When you can remember something without having any feelings any more, but with just a smile in your mind... that means you had let it go.

Ramadhan Kareem

September 23rd 2006
Budaiya

An exerpt from Bahrain Tribune:

Ramadan Kareem
The Ministry of Islamic Affairs last night announced the advent of Ramadan beginning today. Since no moon-sighting reports were received from Bahrain, the moon-sighting panel in the Kingdom followed Saudi Arabia and declared Saturday as the first day of Ramadan. Bahrain Tribune extends its warmest greetings to His Majesty the King, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the Prime Minister, Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Commander-in-Chief of the BDF, Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, and its esteemed readers for the holy month.

Last nite, after my late dinner, a colleague called to inform me that Ramadhan starts tomorrow. Oh boy...that means I had to syahur tonite and I got nothing much prepared. I thought Ramadhan would start on sunday. Anyway I was glad and pleased as well. No matter what day it falls on, it is a blessing.

It is going to be a long day today, the first day of Ramadhan is always tough, and then it eases into the system, and I'll be fine. Officially we work until 2pm, but that is not going to happen, since we have a lot of work to finish. But with the blessings of Ramadhan, I hope I will survived it all.

Ramadhan Kareem to all Muslim friends.......

Mooncakes .......

September 22nd 2006
Budaiya

A busy week that was...mooncakes...and all...!

The past seven days have been hectic, with all the projects going on
at the same time.Since this is the first time that I am handling a project,I need to ask a lot of questions, learn every bit,try to be nice to everyone...and learn...and learn...
Was in Qatar last wednesday and visited the heritage library.
They have a good collection of books, manuscripts, maps and antiques. The guys are very passionate about their works. When their new building is ready, we will see a good collection of Qatari Heritage on display.It opens up our minds with all that we have since the beginning of time. I remember some from our history lessons in school.
I havent touch the history books for decades, and it just reminded me of how much I have missed about history.Perhaps this is a good time that I brushed up on my history lessons again.
We had a full schedule that wednesday, but managed to squeezed in a good breakfast of chapatti/curry and chai.That was a good start..since we had the 6am flight from here.
Our next meal was at 3pm and luckily I managed to change my flight and came back the same evening.
The airport was and is always crowded, but it looks much better than before. Hopefully by the year end, they would finish all construction works and we'll have a beautiful airport.I can imagine how crowded it will be, during the Asean Games.
The sports city is coming up beautifully and noticed that most of the buildings are very modern in design. Near the Ritz Carlton, there is a new development, two towers that are looking like curves, the guys thought that the contractors were drunk, thats why the buildings are not straight.But I should say that it is an interesting design and it may be an icon in the future.
Apart from the trip to Qatar, we had some gatherings at a collegue's house.We enjoyed the mee rebus and the grilled seafoods. Fresh seafoods like shrimps, fish, crabs and vegetables when grilled are lovely. We were served with a special drinks of lime with basil seeds which taste interesting. Must go and buy those drinks which is specially good for breaking fasts in Ramadhan.

We had some mooncakes too...
This is the eight month of Chinese Lunar calendar, and they are celebrating the Mooncake festival.
Our colleagues from Singapore brought over bags of moonkaces... so we are able to taste some.It is rich in taste, with egg yolks in the middle.

Lets see what the rest of my friday brings...

Que Sera Sera .......

Amarantine

September 15th 2006
Budaiya

A nice friday here, the weather is a little cooler.
The harleys are back on the road, could hear them revving it up.
My normal friday chores were done. And cooked some sambal tumis, a whole big kuali of it, and gave some to my colleagues. I overate at lunch...
And spent the whole afternoon watching music videos.
What a day... anyway... found this lovely song by Enya... Amarantine.

The atrium

The new water feature with 7 balls, not really a complete piece yet, there will be a central rotating globe to be added.

Earlier on when we were testing it, a cat was trapped inside it and dared not come out for more than a day. Luckily we managed to coax the poor cat out.

All we need now is scented candles to create the mood... and lets hope it will not be spoilt by all the cigarette smokes.

Up and away .......

September 12th 2006
Budaiya

First day in the new office and managed to tidy up 99% of the unpacking.I am getting a headache...!!It is much nicer and quieter here and I like it. At first I thought I was thrown out at the end of the world, but it works out fine,at this side of the office are all the sober people.The guys downstairs are having the time of their lives when I am not sitting in that department. I believe they will have a party tonight to celebrate. The minute I left they turned on their music so loud that it could be heard from the second floor. Suddenly they become so alive. When you look down from the atrium, you get the impression that you are at the disco.That certainly doesnt work for me, I'd much prefer a quiter environment, a nice soft music would do just fine. But not a blasting noise which they call musics. To each his own anyway.
I still have a few more things to sort out though. One of them is the 'no smoking sign' at the door.

nine eleven

September 11th 2006
Budaiya

My pre nine eleven was a mixed up feelings. I knew it was coming and oh boy... was I right.
I was getting a transfer to another department. It is called Special Projects Department.
In all my 'negativity' it was created because they do not know where to put me...!
I am being exiled to another room far away, a room without a view.
I have to vacate the new office that I have designed. A nice place, overlooking the water feature with seven small fountains ( 7 being my lucky number) a double volume atrium and all its glory.
It is kinda sad leaving my nice place behind.
But with my departure, it certainly will make some people happy. So when they are happy they can work better and produce the most excellent design proposals.

I shall take my new path, take it all in my strides. It wont be easy and the Boss expectation is very high and I couldnt afford to fumble. I have to overcome all glitches along the way.
Deliver I must and maintaining a high standard of output.

It is a very big challenge and it is scary and I couldnt eat and sleep last night.
I am still scared infact.
But with all the promised help and assistance pledged by my close allies, I hope I can overcome all obstacles.

In fact I have been wishing for things like this to happen and it finally did. With it comes a huge responsibilities and that is scary. Infact I should not be scared, but I should actually pray harder so that everything will go smoothly.
It is all for my own good and benefit. So I shall preservere and learn and put in a lot of hard work.
Well..wish me luck in my new venture.

ninth nine zero six

September 9th 2006
Budaiya

When something went wrong... everything goes wrong.

Bad luck comes in pairs...or more...!!As if its not enough that the network is down, the freelance designer's PC is also down. And I need all the works by tomorrow evening.He sent his drawings via handphone and the resolutions were low and I was not able to print them to A3 size. And he couldnt do the amendments either since his other Pc is slow. Anyway managed to salvage the situation.
Wish that things had been different.

Friday september 8th

September 8th 2006
Budaiya

Another working friday here. It is good to be busy or need to act busy.Or the 'observers' may think that you are notdoing your job.The idea is to act very busy and make a lot of noise. Ruffle a few feathers and stab some peoples back or shoot some poison arrows.Whatever it is, this seems the time to create that ripples, better still create a tsunami.Yesterday and most days of late had not been that pleasant. Some of us had been given the "brushings"
Everyone's stress level are high and we may have to tread very carefully, lest you step on land-mines.The lava is brewing, the volcano may erupt.
This gives me an extra dosage of worries. I am still running for the antidotes.

September 7th 2006
Budaiya

Reality Check

September 5th 2006
Budaiya

Reality check.

Yesterday was not really a pleasant day. I have noticed the under current and realised that many poison arrows would be flying from everywhere.Right now I need to rush for the antidotes. But it would be really nice if all the poison arrows could be returned to senders. Like a boomerang, you throw it and it will come back to you.Reality. Reality of it all.

Power: Power changes a person.
Confidence: Confidence changes a person.
Conceit: Think one knows it all.

These days one cannot be only an observer on the side lines. They think you are dumb. You need to make a lot of noise. Doesnt matter if it is viable, noise it must be. At the very least you contribute the noise.
So you must make yourself 'heard'.
So you must make yourself 'visible'If you've got it ... flaunt it ... !

Gone are the days where... 'silence is golden'
Silence means you are not capable.

On a quieter note:
Today you can brag that you have it all.But nobody knows what tomorrow brings.You could have a memory lapse and forget everything, even your own name.

Why am I being misunderstood ?

September 3rd 2006
Budaiya

Why am I being misunderstood ?

As what most people would always say, human management is difficult. Not everyone has the X factor, to be able to handle and please everybody at the same time.This morning, when the guys were playing their music loudly in the office, too loud we couldnt even have a discussion, I asked him nicely to please lower down the volume just a litle bit. He got offended and turned off the music totally.
As I have said earlier, I do not mind if they want to listen to some musics while working, but just please have it at a pleasant level. That means whatever musics they are playing, please do not make it too loud.This is still an office and not your private bodouir. One thing is that not everyone would like to listen to your favourite kind of loud musics or your native songs all the time.

So what do we do with such character ?

I didnt ask him to turn off the music... only to lower down the volume a little bit.Everything has a limit and we should respect someone else's space. How could you talk to a client over the phone, or discuss something with another colleague, when the music is blasting out loud ?As much as I tried to tolerate and be nice, I think everyone should know the office etiquette. Even if it is not a big corporation or conglomerate, a person should be able to differentiate between an office and a home. No matter how informal the office is.

I wish they could understand simple plain english and not misinterprete anything and everything.

First day at the new office

September 02 2006
Budaiya

This morning we moved to our new office after two months renovation period. We had to move in at the stipulated time following the fung shui reading. Hopefully we will have better luck and can nurture some good relationship for everyone. Like turning a new chapter.It is nicer, more spacious but the lighting is not conducive. Really bad for the eyes. Must change the lightings or I will have a severe headache.