Qatar - Hamad International Airport / The Corniche, Doha

Assalamualaikum. مرحبا.

Akhirnya tamat entry Cambodia (here). To those yang tanya pasal accommodations we stayed at during the trip, tunggu sampai aku sort out pictures of the hostels first ok. Ntah folder mana aku taruk gambar tu semua. Suka sangat asing-asingkan folder, padanlah muka.

Anyway, back to tujuan asal. Early Apr haritu, I flew out to Turkiye. A country where two continents meet. Seriously, ni memang out of my wish-list. Yes betul; sebelum ni memang ada berangan mau jejak Istanbul but that's only it. Ndak pernah pasang angan-angan untuk sampai sana in the near future. But perancangan Allah mengatasi segala-galanya. Alhamdulillah for the opportunity.

I was hunting for a cheap promo flight ticket to Athens, Greece sometime in September last year. I came across one super dirt cheap fare yet unfortunately the timing was wrong. Penyakit betul! Masa tu memang pasrah jaklah. Then klik sana, klik situ suddenly jumpa tiket murah to Istanbul, Turkey. Albeit not as cheap as to Athens. And macam biasa, next thing I knew aku dapat email confirmation of ticket purchased from Expedia.

First time oii book ticket via expedia. First time juga bakalan naik airline luar. Harus excited luar kotak! Ok fine! Before ni pernah naik Eastarjet (Korea) & Easyjet (British) tapi tu kategori budget airlines. Ni premium airlines! Pasal tu perangai darat menonjol. Paling penting, makan & luggage adalah included. Sobs betul perangai.

4 April 2015

Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Sepang

Aku dari Double K city jam 730pm. So memang tiada kejadian marathon kali ni. Turun pun memang di KLIA. Sampai KLIA, terus pi wrapped anak gajah. Then proceed pi kaunter untuk drop bag. Lega ok ndak payah angkut beg sementara tunggu waktu berlepas. Aku queue di Fast Lane / First & Business Class. Gitulah tumpang glamour First Class, walhal drop bag jak pun. Sudah settle semua, suddenly dengar orang panggil nama aku. Pelik sebab Err tu bukan common name. So aku pun menoleh. Rupanya kawan aku si Fatmah. Bertuah kan kami. Almost everyday whatsapp tanya pasal flight, tapi ndak tau pun kami same flight. Hampagas! Flight & transit airport kami sama, cuma destinasi berbeza. She's going to Casablanca, Morocco. Minah tu mati-matilah ingat flight aku lagi seminggu after hers. 

Aku joined Fatmah check-in. Sungguh-sungguh minah tu bawa 2 luggage AF. Demi isi barang belian sepanjang trip gitu. Memang truly was my lucky day. Untung Fatmah perasan & terus seru nama aku. Sebab kalau harap aku untuk melilau tengok orang...memang tidak akan! Juga nasib baik aku menoleh masa dengar nama diseru. Else, menantilah seorang diri layan blues for the next 5 hours di airport tu. 

# Lepak lounge gitu while tunggu flight pi Doha. Scheduled to depart at 0330am. Untunglah jumpa kawan yang ada Enrich gold card. Bolehlah menumpang masuk lounge.

# Flight was delayed for nearly an hour. Tapi sebab aku bukan rushing, so aku ndak risau apa pun.

# Courtesy of Qatar Airways. Aku cuma tapau bungkusan kanan tu. Ada sleeping kit.

4 April 2015

Hamad International Airport, Doha

# After almost 8 hours on board, we arrived Doha International Airport at 6am (local time). Fyi, Doha is 5 hours behind Malaysia time. 

Airport ni baru. Unlike the old airport where FA akan distribute colored cards prior arrival, yet at this new airport, we didn't receive any card. Upon descending from the plane, we took the shuttle bus & were told to alight at the same arrival point. Regardless transit or tidak. Once masuk main building, barulah ikut signage. Those yang transit & do not wish to go out from the airport, bolehlah ikut signage transit. As for me, yang purposely chose to transit for 9 hours di Doha; I folloed the Arrivals signage. Masa ni lah berpisah sama Fatmah as she only has 4 hours transit time in Doha. Mula tu mau juga dia ikut aku ronda-ronda Doha but after second thought, she cancelled her plan. Buatnya ndak sempat, memang penyakit lah kan tinggal flight segala. Lepas hugs-muax, we parted ways. 

For Malaysian who wish to enter Qatar; u will need a visa. Aku ndak apply visa prior the trip because I know I can apply for Visa on Arrival (VOA) at the counter. Immigration officer tu pun macam tau aku mau apply VOA sebab dia ndak tanya pun mana visa aku. After he stamped my passport, dia just tanya "Card". Mau apply VOA, harus bayar guna card sahaja. CASH is not accepted. Visa fee is ~RM 100.00.

# Arrival Floor. 

Settled urusan visa, I made my move to the arrival hall. Masa ni belum adjust sepenuhnya biological clock. Half mamai perhaps? Jam tunjuk pukul 0730am. Departed from KLIA at 0415am. Kalau ikut kiraan jam macam 3 hours(+) journey jak kan. Walhal aku atas plane nearly 9 hours. Haruslah jet-lag minta penampar. First thing I did upon exiting the arrival terminal, masuk toilet & 'sucikan diri'. Bagi wangi-wangi sikit ndaklah bau kepam liur basi segala kan. Then, lepak duduk lepas 'lelah' kejap. Ntah apa penyebab lelah, macamlah baru lepas angkat plane dari Malaysia. Around 8am macam tu, agak-agak otak sudah kembali waras & dapat terima hakikat aku bukan lagi di Malaysia...aku pun berjalan pi arah taxi stand. 

# Barisan teksi outside the arrival hall. 

# On the way to Doha city. Tu payung-payung parking depan airport.

# The taxi driver is from the Philippines. Sangat friendly & ndak kedekut tips. 

Journey from the airport to the city center took about merely 15 minutes. On the way tu, mata aku memang ndak lepas tengok meter yang berjalan. Menangis tengok tambang mahal mau pengsan! Untuk perjalanan yang less than 30 minutes tu pun aku bayar dekat RM 50.00. 

First place yang mau diterjah adalah Doha Museum of Islamic Art. Unfortunately, museum belum buka masa ni. Siaplah guard tu cakap cannot enter. Aku memang tau pun opening hours tu tapi ndak tau lah pula ndak boleh masuk perkarangan muzium just to take picture. Jadinya, si Err pasrah ambil gambar muzium dari kejauhan. Lawa gila building ni. Ngam lagi masa tu matahari pagi sedang elok menyinari. Gitu ayat! Sebab ndak dapat masuk, I decided to just kill time berjalan menyusuri The Corniche. Mau pi Souq Waqif...tengok jam, masih awal. Unless ada kedai aku di sana, bolehlah terjah awal kan? 

So marilah cuci mata tepi laut jak. Sambil angin bertiup sepoi-sepoi bahasa. Tapi! Memang terasa bahang panas ah. By the time I reached the Doha Pearl fountain; which is merely 5 minutes walk from the museum...muka aku sudah berpeluh & berminyak. Kalau taruk ikan masin atas pipi, confirm masak ikan tu.

The Corniche, Doha

# View of Museum of Islamic Art, Doha

# Cuci mata along The Corniche

# Qatar Islamic Center (FANAR)

# Dhow Harbour 

# The Oyster-and-Pearl statue.

Jalan di waktu pagi hari Sabtu, memanglah ndak banyak yang aku boleh cuci mata. Apart from mat-minah salleh yang berjogging. And of course labor workers. Doha ni sedang sibuk developing; maka sana sini memang nampak construction. 

The view would have been nicer if I come in the evening. Masa lampu semua sudah terpasang. Next time kalau ada rezeki, aku akan pilih untuk transit waktu malam. 

# Modern buildings seen along The Corniche

Initial plan was to go over there (berwalkertapaki that is) after breakfast at Souq Waqif. Tapi kepanasan & kemalasan yang berlipatkaliganda, hence I cancelled my plan. Ambil gambar dari jauh jaklah. Mau naik teksi tapi takut mahal melantun.

# Masa ni matahari sudah separa naik. Panas terik tapi ntahlah kenapa gambar ni terlebih blue-green hue pula.

# Doha Grand Mosque across the street.

Paling ralat bila aku dapat tau kewujudan Grand Mosque & the Clock Tower after I reached Istanbul later that night. Bingai bukan kepalang. Inilah akibat kalau buat kerja separuh-mahu. Sibuk mau jejak kaki untuk tengok all the modern buildings also Souq Waqif (market lah kan didulukan!), sampai langsung ndak ambil tau other attractions. Sesal sekarang tiada gunanya Bie. Pasal tu laju aku buat azam, next transit! *cough* Ndak mau stay for a night, aku rasa cukuplah transit for few hours. Insha Allah sempat cover apa yang patut. 

Lepas jalan-jalan cuci mata, aku pun tanya orang cara pi Souq Waqif yang hanyalah di seberang jalan sana. I've read somewhere; ada underground passage to reach the traditional market. Tu yang gigih tanya orang. Because crossing the road is too mainstream? Ayat bikin muntah. Sekian. Alaaa, aku pun mau lah poyo kan try jalan bawah tanah. Plus, sinaran matahari masa ni memang boleh tahan mengigit kulit. Sangat rasa terbakar. Tambah lagi dengan haba air laut dari man-made island tu. Double triple panas. 

Souq Waqif is next after The Corniche. Tapi sebab entri ni pun macam berjela panjang, I think I shall stop here first. Will continue soon! Sambil doa banyak-banyak hormon R akan senantiasa berada dalam sistem. 

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