Pickles n' Tickles by JJ

I'M just hoping that I'd still have hair left on my head when I go back home for Christmas next month. Judging from the amount of fallen hair I collect after every wash, it doesn't look good at all. I'm beginning to think that if I kept every strand that's scattered around my house, I could probably make a wig out of it!  So yeah. Serious  hair loss is no fun. It's like watching someone you love ruin his life and there is nothing you can do about it. That's the kind of helplessness I'm experiencing right now. The cause? I've been told by the thousands, men and women, who've arrived here before me that it's the desalinated water which has damaging calcium and chlorine . The water that run in the taps in Qatar is basically processed sea water. Sea water is changed into drinkable water by taking out the salt and bacteria. Why? Obviously fresh water resources are limited here. Not like where I come from where we are blessed with hundreds of li...

I hear it's been raining cats and dogs back in Malaysia. Apparently the monsoon season this time around has been terrible and yet I can't imagine all that water pouring out of the sky. Over here,  I haven't experienced a single raindrop ever since I arrived last month. Not that I miss the rain and the traffic woe it brings to the city people + I love a bright sunny day any time but it's always refreshing after a shower. The sky is clearer and the air, cooler and maybe even cleaner. With or without a rainbow, it gives hope to a few more days of blue skies and sun.  Last night when I stood by the balcony in a star-gazing attempt, I was sorely disappointed. I had read somewhere that there'd be a rare meteor shower this week and I was hoping to catch a few falling stars. Unfortunately, it was an unnaturally cloudy night that had blocked away all the stars from me, crushing my wishes to wish upon a shooting star. The sky here is usually cloudless and when it's dar...

WHY is KFC such a big deal ? I don't get it. It's still a celebratory food among people from some cultures. Initially I thought it was just a Malaysian thing but apparently that's not the case. People literally light up at the mention of this fried chicken from Kentucky and look forward to an evening full of it! It's chicken for god's sake, not chocolate for it to be finger lickin' good, isn't it ?  Sorry folks. I've been hopeless on here the past few weeks. I've just moved to Qatar and still missing my family, friends and homeland rights and at the same time, the dusty new country has given me the bug so I've just been recovering and discovering the medical facilities and institutions here. Let's just say a trip to a clinic for sinusitis cost me six times more of what I usually paid back home and it involved a face x-ray + blood and urine tests = a bag full of pills. Worst, the doctor had no sense of humour so I ended up laughing at my ...