Qatar - One More Day :)

Following my post on Qatar, as promised, I am writing more facts about this city state. 

With a population of more than 1.7 million (as of September 2011) and rich of oil and gas resources, Qatar's GDP in Q2 2011 is estimated at 153.73 billion Qatary Riyal, an increase of 41.8% YoY from Q2 2010. This resulted in the highest GDP per capita in the region.

Well, I saw it with my own eyes. Constructions were everywhere in Qatar. In fact, my friend told me when we drove passed the Dolphin Energy building that it was the only highrise building in that area in four years back. Look at it now, it is the shortest building in the middle of high rise jungle!

Gasoline is cheap at US$0.27 per liter. The government does not charge much for basic needs such as water, electricity and home phone lines. It is just really understandable why so many foreigners work there.  


It was almost winter and the afternoon weather was just nice. We have free time, and decided to see the Museum of Islamic Art. The museum was located just opposite of Souq Waqif and opens from 10am to 5pm everyday. Souq Waqif market was closed during lunch time and opened from 4pm. So, I took my time at the museum, waiting for this market to open.


The museum does not charge anything, it's free. We can even take pictures of its collection - something that unusual in any other part of the world - which was collected from countries including  Afghanistan, Mongolia, Iran, Iraq, India and Turkey.


The interior of the museum was beautiful. It has a circle stairs at the center of the atrium.

One of my favorite collection of this museum was calligraphic Arabic inlaid on an emerald! I definitely would not mind to receive it as a gift from anyone! :) 

I spent pretty much three hours, walking through all those three storey of collections. 


At last, we went for an early dinner or a very very very late lunch - whatever you name it - at Souq Waqif. The market is also located near the palace. So, that very evening we saw horse patrol at the market went back and forth near our chosen restaurant. We opted for Lebanese food. It was really yummy, or rather we were really hungry! But anyway, the meals were delicious with a very reasonable price.  Well - the meals were done in a couple of gulps and off I flew back to Singapore that night.

I'll see you again in another post!


-Lucky

Occupy Wall Street

In the summer of 1885 William R. Travers, prominent NYC businessman and builder of Saratoga Race Track, was vacationing in Newport, Rhode Island.He pointed out a long line of beautiful yachts tied up in the harbor. When he was informed that they all belonged to Wall Street brokers he simply asked, " Where are their clients' yachts?"


The above quote is legendary and has been made immortal by Fred's books "where are the customer's Yachts." Wall Street has always been a subject of scrutiny and as we enter the Day 27 of the Occupy Wall Street movement, I cannot help but wonder if it is a fad or lifestyle.

Is it the Arab Spring of the West? Is it a Hollywood remake of the Lokpal movement in India? What exactly is it? Well no one has the answers for sure.


Let me play the Devil's advocate for a while. Wall Street has been instrumental in generating wealth for many in the U.S. and across the world. America is what it is due to it's capitalistic structure. I do agree that Crony Capitalism is not healthy, However it also has its pros and not completely evil as being projected vide the Occupy Wall Street Movement.


I am not a prophet for Capitalism but Communism in its purist form has not moved mountains. Maoism has led China to the abyss of economic failure. It was Deng Xiaoping and his philosophy of " I don't care if its a white cat or black cat, It is a good cat as long as it catches the mice" that put China firmly on the road map to success and the results are here to show.


Freedom of speech is the greatest thing which happened to mankind , but the abuse of it is not warranted. 

I cannot help but feel that Occupy Wall Street movement does not have a proper agenda or a plan of action. The power of  social media is at its epitome and there is enough testimony to the fact that it can overturn governments and cause uprisings. However if the same medium is used to educate people i.e. make them more aware of the facts, it will help channelize the energy towards a better future for all.


Well, what happens next remains to be seen and maybe when I write my next blog on this topic the status might have changed to :


WALL STREET- OCCUPIED.


-Saurish

Qatar, an Oasis in the Desert

I was in the mood for adventure as soon as I learnt about my trip to Doha. I am frequent flier and over the last four years in the capacity of a business analyst, I have visited China, Vietnam, Japan, Bahrain, the Philippines, USA, Indonesia, Malaysia, and India to name a few. Some destinations i have frequented more than once in a year.

The first opportunity to tickle my curious/experimental bone fell into my lap when i learnt that my preferred airlines - Singapore Airlines - does not have route Singapore-Doha! and I had to choose Qatar Airways. I was a little hesitant at the start but I quickly brushed it off, telling myself that all will be fine, after all Qatar Airways has been declared as the World's Best Airline by Skytrax for two consecutive years. So here we go!


"Better" and "best" are two words that describe a comparison. Well, at least that was what my English teacher told me decades ago. So yes, I expected that I would have an extraordinary or the best experience during my flight. Sadly, I expected too much. The flight attendances were nice,their smiles were genuine and the distance between row was enough for my knee to be free. But the food was way far from being the "best," there were no ladies amenities in the toilet, the choice of movies was not as great as my favorite airlines, the cutlery was made from plastic, they served hot drinks in a paper cup, and the list went on and on and on. 


I landed in Doha early morning at about 5 am. Doha airport was also lagging in many aspects. There was no trunk connecting the plane to the building. So we went down the stairs and went on the bus. Consequently, I arrived at Ritz Carlton Doha a little over 6 am. 


So the Day 1 began with me staying in hotel for the whole day, fighting the time difference (Doha's time is five hours behind Singapore's time) and trying so hard to keep my eyes open. The room in Ritz was pretty, it smelled nice and welcoming.

There was a tiny balcony from which I took several pictures. I spent the afternoon time swimming at lagoon pool. The hotel had two swimming pools, one indoor and the other outdoor. The indoor pool was an Olympic size pool where you can comfortably do your laps and also time it(Phelps are you reading this...ha ha ha ).The outdoor pool was shaped like a lagoon with a water fall. It was a nice relaxing afternoon before I  headed to a welcome dinner in the night.


I'll be back  with more on the dinner and my city adventures in my future blogs. Till then, stay tuned!


-LN

INTRODUCTION TO THE BLOG AND BLOGGERS

Hello Friends,

Ever wondered how Starbucks keeps all you coffee addicts coming back to their store? What caused the great economic meltdown of 2008? How does Walmart manage its supply chain? Why do currencies fluctuate? What exactly CNBC channel tries to tell or sell by showing galaxy of numbers rolling endlessly on their screens? Or a very simple thing like why is the food court in a mall always located at one corner, away from the glamour showrooms of Louis Vuitton or Zarra?

Well, we bet such questions do come to your mind. However the information you seek is either very much scattered on the internet or simply non-existent.

With our blogs we will try to unravel some of the mysteries and create an interactive learning process that is much powerful than classroom lectures or any book for that matter.

No no, don’t get me wrong we are not going to preach, rather we will share our experiences with you, analyse the experience and in the process enrich our knowledge base. So the next time you hear jargons like Drum-Buffer-Rope or Brand Audit, not to get worried, you would have experienced it in our blogs.

Be it Retail Stores, Lifestyle Shopping Centres, Public Transport, Hotel Reviews, Airports , Current Affairs, Latest Technology, Politics, Economics, Nightlife etc. we will share it all and yes in a simplified format which will make reading fun and bring a smile on your face.

If you have noticed, we have mentioned our blog and not my blog, that’s because this will be a collaborative effort between two of us, Lucky & yours truly.

Lucky is a well known consultant in the Oil and Gas sector with over 18 years of experience in diverse fields which includes marketing, retail and forecasting using the latest statistical methods. A nuclear physicist by qualification, Lucky is now pursuing a Masters in Business Administration from S P Jain Singapore. She also has several entrepreneurial ventures under her belt and a very good exposure to the Asian and Middle Eastern Markets. She travels frequently to speak in conferences and seminars in both Asia and Middle East regions. 

Lucky is a voracious reader and also writes regulary in trade magazines. She lives out of the suitcase most of the time and being adventurous by nature she likes to experiment on various stuff including food, accomodation, etc. Her richness in experience will get transmitted to all the readers vide our blogs faster than H1N1.

 

As far as Saurish is concerned, he is a first class degree holder in Mechanical Engineering from Mumbai University, India and currently pursuing a Masters in Business Administration from S P Jain, Singapore. He also has a Diploma in Marine Purchasing and Supply Chain from the International Marine and Purchasing Association (IMPA)  and North West Kent College UK with an achievement award of  ”Graduate of the Year” for  having topped the entire world. A certificate in International Purchasing and Supply Chain from WTO, Geneva and Diploma in Import Export from Indian Merchant Chamber of Commerce are few of his other academic repetoire.

With more than eight years of experience in the Global Purchasing, Supply Chain & Business Development, he writes quite regularly for Marine Trader Magazine published by IMPA,UK and also speaks on various topic in conferences and seminars. He is also on the Expert Panel of Infollion Research, India and lead the team of Honorary Consultants for the National Geographic Store in Singapore.

Well, enough of the introduction, let’s get started. Follow this space for our blogs and have the experience of your life.

Regards,

Lucky & Saurish