Tag: Qatar

Freebies from deuts.net

I should have posted this on the 1st of September. Nevertheless, better late than never.

Wallpaper cornicheDeuts.net offers you free wallpaper download featuring the deuts.net photography. For the September 2007, we have the photo I took of a boat in Corniche last May. Click on the image to view the larger image. Then, right-click on the image, save image/picture as on your local disk, then you know what to do.

This wallpaper was created using Big Huge Labs’ wallpaper maker and features a September 2007 calendar. It fits well in a 1280 x 800 screen resolution. You might want to adjust it if you’re using a different screen resolution (e.g., 1024×768 or 800×600).

A Testament at How Lousy Qtel Service Is

QtelThis entry serves as a testament at how lousy Qatar Telecom (Qtel) service is. In case you ever wonder how they are able to survive in this country (Qatar), it’s what you call monopoly. They are the sole provider of telecom and internet services in this place.

One of the most convenient form of paying your bills in Qtel is through phone using a credit card. However, to think of the fact that you’re already paying and they’re collecting money from you, you actually needs to wait at least 30 minutes on the phone before anyone picks it up to process your payment.

The lady in the recorded messages keeps on saying:

Please continue to hold and your call will be attended to shortly.

or….

Remember, while abroad, you may still be able to reach us at 974 438 0000. Your call is important to us, please continue to hold.

and…

Your call is important to us, please hold the line and your call will be attended to shortly.

You see, I really wonder how important someone’s call to them really is when they let one wait for more than 30 minutes. If this happens to someone paying his bills, what if you just want to inquire or needs technical support? Wait a little longer!

I guess they have a different meaning for the word “shortly“. Let’s go check out the Qtel dictionary!

Aha!

Shortly (shortlee) – in the near future; after you’ve cooked your food or wash the dishes, have done with your laundry

Whatdyathink?

While abroad, you can still reach them. Yeah, maybe after one hour of holding the line while you accumulate those overseas telephone bills!

Now, tell me, can PLDT or Globe or Smart or Bayantel beat that?

I’m looking forward to someday someone will introduce competition against Qtel. No, I’m not looking forward. I realized, I don’t care anymore! hehehe

Photo.net Blocked in Qatar

I can’t take this anymore. I couldn’t help myself anymore from denouncing the fact that photo.net is blocked in the internet here in Qatar. Can you believe it? Qtel, the sole internet provider in the State of Qatar, is blocking a very useful and informative site (at least to a photographer or enthusiast)? This is definitely ridiculous.

WTF!

deuts.net photography 103

We spent a long walk the other Friday along the Corniche area while lagging around my Canon EOS 30D.

Sheraton

Boat at the Corniche

After around 2 hours of walking, we found ourselves at the Salam Plaza, looking into more photography gears. I tried the Canon Speedlite 430ex into my camera and they were inseparable thereafter. The damage: QR 998 (US$ 268).

The results of my new found flash photography to be posted in future posts.

deuts.net photography 102

I was just exploring flickr, and I stumbled upon this stunning pictures taken of the Villagio Mall here in Doha.

Villagio Mall

Villagio Boat

Remember, I also once featured here in deuts.net the Villagio Mall:

Venice at the Heart of the Desert?

Venice at the Heart of the Desert

I’m wondering, how can this guy still can take more interesting pictures of the same place than I can? I guess, I still have a lot to learn in photography huh. The problem is, there’s not much interesting place here in Doha to practice my skills. Or maybe I just lacked the talent, to turn an uninteresting subject into an interesting one?

I need to find out, I have to go out this Friday to find out!

Hey Marky, wanna join me for a stroll this Friday? 🙂

deuts.net photography 101

I don’t think I still need to create a photoblog. Instead, I plan to retain the coppermine gallery, and anything related to deuts.net photography will be posted here.

(Note: This blog is using the lightbox plugin for images. Please wait for the whole page to load first before clicking on the images to activate the javascript lightbox properly. The images are grouped in the lightbox, so that you can click on the right-side of the image to view forward, and the left-side to view the previous image.

Betos Menu

All Meat

Betos Icecream

Betos Belt

Betos

Barista

Bar Starbucks

PS. The whole album can be found here.

Only in Qatar 101

In this post, and maybe some more in the future (that’s why the 101, because there might still be 102, 103, and so on), I would like to point out some singularities of living in Qatar. Some of these may not be particularly unique only to Qatar, but as it is different compared to my beloved Pilipinas – anyway, I’ve only lived in these two countries so far.

  1. Camels – being a desert country, I thought I would see a lot of camels around. However, this is not the case. Instead, you only see camels as exhibits in certain places. As a matter of fact, camels were already replaced by Land Cruisers on the road.
  2. Roundabouts – this country is just simply full of roundabouts. You’ll see them almost all over Doha, the capital. Did it help ease out traffic? Well maybe before, but not now with the volume level of cars and trucks swarming the city.
  3. Drainage System – obviously because of the scarcity of rain in this country, government failed or maybe just simply ignored provision for drainage system.
  4. Street Names – from the looks of it, every street has a name. However, if you ask people about the street names or mentioning the name to a taxi driver, they wouldn’t know. They’ll just give you a blank look. Obviously, they don’t know the names. Even the major roads like the C-Ring, D-Ring, etc., they are not familiar with. You’ll have to rely on the use of landmarks if you want to go from one place to another. By the way, all offices and houses have PO Boxes. That’s where postal mail will reach you.
  5. Construction Everywhere – wherever you go in the city, you’ll encounter construction going on. What’s annoying, though, is that in some cases it seems like eternity before construction is through. Just take for example the construction at the side of the road of the Toyota Tower (Al Abdulghani Tower), at the corner of C-Ring and Airport Road, since we arrived here more than 6 months ago, the construction is already going on. Until now it’s not yet finished. A friend even suggested before that it should have been finished before the start of the Asian Games, but now Asian Games is long way over, and it’s not yet done.
  6. Foreigners outnumbering the locals – going around the city, it won’t take long for you to realize that indeed foreigners outnumber the locals.
  7. Qtel – apparently they are the only telco in the country, providing telephone, mobile phone and internet connectivity. I’m just glad we already have our ADSL connection (at last!), at least I had a break from waiting long minutes over the phone for the customer service representative to pick-up, while you don’t really have a ground at which you can voice out your feedback about their service.

Well, so far those are my collection. If you are also in Qatar or maybe have been here and you want to add on the list above, just leave a comment below. More pecularities to follow as I encounter (and take note of) them in the future.

The Concert under Review

Went to the concert last Thursday. The performance was fine. No, it was great actually.

There were some problems, though, before the show started. The area was basically an open field, meaning people were coming from different directions. But the organizers didn’t anticipate that, or maybe they did anticipate but did nothing to bring the entrance of the audience to a complete coordination. Come 7:30 pm (the show was about to start at 8 pm), the absence of a queue was apparent.

Monoblock chairs (it was an open field, remember) for VVIP’s and VIP’s with tagged numbers at the back of the chairs supposed to correspond to ticket numbers. But some numbers were missing, while some chairs were not tagged, bringing the event to the verge of chaos.

The night was cold. No, it was very cold. It was obvious from the trembling voices of the performers. Sarah Geronimo I presume caught a cold after the show.

Thank God, it didn’t rain, though (yes, there is rain in Qatar, one that could really ruin your day. Look at the Opening Ceremony of the Doha Games 2006. You can read more about the rain in Qatar in Anthony’s blog. It’s a good read, I promise).

Yet, the numbers delivered by the performers, which comprised Sarah Geronimo, Rachelle Ann Go, Christian and Mark Bautista, and Randy Santiago, were for lack of words, marvelous… entertaining… great!

We were seated quite far from the stage, that’s why I didn’t get a good shot using my not-so-suited-for-low-light-photography lens, the EF-S 17-85mm f4-5.6IS USM (that’s why I hate Salam Plaza Photo Imaging Section.) Here’s one, though, for your viewing pleasure.