Driving License At Last

At last, I have got my driving license.

It took me two years and one month after I first step in to the driving school, 3 enrollments, 8 driving tests and substantial amount of money and time.

The 2 years includes a year of waiting for nothing as my immediate boss at that time promised to assist me to resolve my driving license. Hopeful that they will be able to pull some string to get me a license, I waited patiently. Unfortunately, after a year of waiting, I was told that it is not worth to give in to the demands of their contact, I was advised to enroll again and patiently pass the driving test. Their contact was asking for QAR10,000 grease money, as our Administration Manager put it, it is a Mafia business here.

Our Administration Manager promised me that he can help me if I can provide him a Philippine driving license. He will just convert it for me. But the problem is, I’ve been away too long from my motherland, how do you expect me to have a driving license back home.

I called my sister to look for me someone who can fix my license and I am willing to pay. She returned to me, that my father have contacted someone who can fix my license for PHP 10,000, however, it is not the original thing, it is from Recto. I declined, I cannot spend PHP 10,000 for something made in Recto.

Desperate, and had failed six times already, I tried to find someone who can help. Someone who know somebody inside the school and just pay it. But my wife is coming to join me in a few months and I need the license urgently. I end up enrolling again for the third time and paying QAR 2,300.

I thought I will pass on my seventh try, check what happened in my other post.

On my 8th try, my wife asked me to just relax. She must be right. I tend to be more focused and know what’s happening around me, I know my actions. I realized during my last seven tries, I was always nervous once I sat down on the driver’s seat with the traffic police on the passenger seat and at the end of the test I always wonder if I did it right, have I checked the mirrors? turn on the signal in every turn? did I put on my seat belt? and so on....

I nailed it this time, I can now drive my wife around and outside Doha. Hopefully that she will like it more here and decides to stay with me.

Upon hearing that I passed, our driver relayed it to our Administration Manager, “Sir, Mr. Lopez has got his driving license”. “What?, really?, are you sure? Oh come?, our Administration Manager responded with disbelief, as if I can never have a driving license, not in this lifetime….Make no mistake, our Administration Manager is a joker.

And so, I went later to see our Administration Manager.

“Good afternoon Mr. Gabriel, do you know why I came to see you?”

“Why?”

“Someone has promised to declare a holiday if I passed the driving test” referring to him.

He laughed and said “Well, you can go home now, it is your holiday you must celebrate”.

“But the most expensive driving license has no use if I have no car.”, I said.

“OK Mr. Lopez, I will give you a car and consider it done, just give me two days and some sweets later.” gesturing a treat and smiling.

“Having the most expensive driving license, I have nothing to buy sweets, unless you give me my salary now.”

“I can wait for a few days for the sweets. In the meantime, give me a copy of your license and we will announce to everyone that you have passed the driving test.” Mr. Gabriel said jokingly.

I went out of Mr. Gabriel's office hoping that I will have my car in two days. Only then, I can use my driving license.

Wondering what type of car he will give....guessing....

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First Time In Saudi Arabia (Part 2)

Curious and nervous I am ready to embark and discover what really lies within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

February 5, 2010, my journey to the infamous Kingdom of Saudi Arabia starts on a morning flight from Doha to Bahrain. Surprisingly, as the plane shuts its door, the cabin crew starts distributing boxes of light snack, or should I say breakfast. Inside were chicken sandwich, orange juice and slice fruits. Then everyone start opening the boxes and start consuming the contents.

Then I said to myself, “Aren’t we suppose to take off and reach the cruising altitude before we take these snacks?”

But before I knew it, the cabin crew is already collecting back the boxes as soon as the plane starts taxing to the runway. “What?”. I haven’t drunk my orange juice.

Like a choreographed dance, just in time the cabin crew finish collecting all the left-over, the plane is ready to take off.

Fifteen to twenty minutes upon reaching the cruising altitude of 23,000ft above sea level, I thought I can have a quick nap. But before I can recline my seat, the Captain announced that we are about to descend. Then the cabin crew starts checking everyone’s seats and windows for landing procedures. “Sir, please upright your seat”, said the crew. Obedient as a gentleman, I upright my seat. But whispering to myself “But I want to take a nap”.

We land at Bahrain safely and I realized that the flight just took forty minutes. Sooner than my wife’s night shower in a summer.

Checking on my ticket, I will be stopping-over at Bahrain for five long lonely hours. Though, there are places you can visit around in Bahrain airport, five hours is just too long to wait. My company said that this is only the flight they can get in order for me to catch up the start of our seminar / workshop on Saturday morning (February 6, 2010). To me it doesn’t serve the purpose of taking a plane at all. Doha to Riyadh by land would take you about six hours. Just before I board my plane from Bahrain to Riyadh, I could have reached Riyadh by then via land.

Good thing there are free internet access at the airport. Somehow I can kill the time without feeling the drag. I log-in to my facebook and wah-lah, I‘m chatting now with my wife. I also managed to get in touch to a friend back in Singapore who is now in Riyadh. At least I have arranged someone, and willing, to show me Riyadh around.

My friend asked me if I brought with me my lap top, external drives, flash drive or digital camera, anything where you can save files. He advised me to make sure that nothing “funny” inside these gadgets, otherwise I will land into trouble.

Good thing I left my laptop, not because there are “funny” things inside, but to be safe from all the troubles. With me are only a flash drive and a digital camera. I have nothing to worry on my flush drive. And to be 100% sure, I deleted everything in my digital camera.

One thing I noticed at Bahrain airport, which to me is peculiar amongst the airport I have been. They have there staffs walking around calling for passengers, shouting at restaurants and shopping entrances, “Riyadh”, “Doha”, “Beirut”, “Jeddah”, and so on. They even wake up people sleeping to tell that flight so and so is about to depart. Very annoying and irritating.

Checking on the flight information, we are to board at gate 13 in half-an-hour. Funny, we were told earlier to wait at gate 16. Me and my colleague rushed to gate 13, just in time the queue has started when we arrived.

The flight to Riyadh from Bahrain is about an hour, and so I thought I will quickly finish my snack this time to have time for a short nap. But I was wrong, the snack was served after take off. By the time we finished the snacks, we are already preparing for landing.

Naps are really elusive when you needed it most.

Excited and curious, I am about to see for myself what is it in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Only then I can tell, if what I’ve been hearing about are true or just a plain urban legends.

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My First Time In Saudi Arabia (Part 1)

After a month of planning and preparations, my scheduled seminar / workshop in our Head Office in Saudi Arabia have finally pushed through, and it would be my first time in Saudi Arabia.

A month ago, it was postponed due to unavailability of a qualified trainer. And it was actually a blessing in disguise as our visa would have not been ready should the original schedule had push through.

I have been hearing about Saudi Arabia a lot of things, on the positive side as well as the negative side of it. But on my “second-hand” information, mostly are on the negative side. February 6, 2010 would be the day that I would be able to judge it myself.

My colleagues and friends who have been to Saudi Arabia are in chorus swearing that given a choice they will never go back to Saudi Arabia. The one and only reason in going back to the Islamic Country is obviously the economic benefit one can reap.

Stories of rampant arrogance, discrimination and backwardness of the locals are intolerable. If any chance that you find yourself in a police station, whatever the reasons, likely will be your fault, not the locals.

If a car, driven by a local, hit you on the road. Most likely it would be your fault, simply because if you did not come to their country you wouldn’t be run-over by them.

You will earn for yourself a trip, “Go To Jail”, simply by staring a woman or talking to a woman. I read an article about a woman who was jailed because she was caught by the religious police talking to a man, not related to her, over lunch in a public restaurant. Though, the reason for the encounter was to close a business deal over lunch in a “Public” restaurant. Obviously no malice whatsoever was intended, but then the two were jailed.

A camel is more valuable than an expat. To prove this, try to run-over a camel.

No such thing as rape. They called it seduction, so it is the fault of the woman not the man, as the word suggests. How can you argue about it? Unless the woman can bring four male witnesses that she was raped. Thus gives you an idea if “gang-rape” exists in this part of the world.

Stories about males being raped. Stories had it that when in police custody, rapes happen. If it happen to males, what more to a woman? Tell it to the marines.

Blaring calls for prayer is quite usual and the country stand still during this time. Shop is close, office works stops, streets are emptied, and so on…

If caught by the religious police roaming around during prayer time, you will be asked to join in prayer in the mosque or get jailed. Isn’t the religious police should be praying during prayer time? I wonder how he catches somebody roaming around during prayer time.

I was told that they actual search your luggage even it passes through the x-ray machine. I asked myself what’s the use of the x-ray machine after all.

I was also told that taking pictures in public, especially when capturing women in abaya, is prohibited. Abaya, by the way, is the women’s black dress designed to cover a woman and to conceal the woman’s feminine figure in order not to solicit lustful stares from men.

My expectations in Saudi Arabia, putting aside my principal purpose on visiting the desert country, are as follow;

1. I am expecting a desert / rural environment.

2. Strict Islamic Culture

3. Backward mentality

4. Unaccommodating and arrogant Saudis

5. Not seeing a woman for the next seven days

Curious and nervous I am ready to embark and discover what really lies within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

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For The Seventh Time

It has been more than two years since I started securing a driving license here in Doha.

Yesterday was my seventh try. Yes, you read it right. For seventh time.

As it was been my previous tests, I started having butterflies on my stomach the day before I took each and every time I have my driving test.

All I have to do now is to pass the road test, the last part of the series of test in order to have that elusive license. The bummer would be, you cannot move on to the next stage if you fail the first stage and if you fail, you need to wait at least 30 days before you can try again.

It begins with the test on Traffic Signs. The test start at 5:00am as it shows from your schedule. Everyone is queuing to the small window by the office of the test committee. Inside the room is the examiner sitting by his table with a chart of all the traffic signs on it. Then he will start pointing on the chart and you are supposed to answer what does the sign means as quickly as possible. Just a few signs, five the most, and it’s done. I passed this the first try.

Then the L-parking, where you turn to your left and up the ramp and park. The car must not move backward or the engine turns off when you start your car forward further up the ramp then reversing it back down the ramp to your right. I failed this once and passed on the second try.

Then the notorious Pocket Parking, 90% who failed must have failed at this stage. Some says, if you pass the Pocket Parking, is as good as having your license already. It was actually a reverse parallel parking, where the parking lot was just enough to fit the car. I failed this twice and made it on my third try.

Then the last part and is supposed to be the easiest, the road test. I failed 3 times prior to my seventh try. The fist time I failed the road test was that I did not notice the road hump and it was too late to put on the brakes, screeeeetchh, the traffic police is shaking his head. The second time was that I was the last person for the road test, that means I need to bring the car back to the school, the longer I drive, the more opportunity the traffic police find fault on my driving. The third time I failed the road test is that, the person I was next to, park on an uneven inclined road shoulder, when I released the hand brake, the car rolled back, and the traffic police was not happy.

Yesterday was my seventh try and fourth on the road test. I get in the car. Adjust my seat. Check the side view mirrors and the rear view mirror. Put on my seatbelt. Turn on the signal light. Shifted to first gear. Released the hand brake. Check on oncoming vehicles then drive. I was quite happy the car went on smoothly, I shifted to second gear without any jerking. I was asked to turn right. Signal on, then turn. Then I was asked to park. Signal on. Stop. Hand Brake. Hazard. Finished without a glitch.

But before me, there was this Arab guy, who at first gear the engine turns off twice. He drives with his left wheel on the road center line. When he turns left, he cut two lanes toward his left.

Now guess who passed……

The Arab guy passed and I failed. Incredible…..It’s a feat….Manny Pacquiao and me has now something in common. He holds the record of having seven title in as many divisions in boxing while I hold the record of failing a driving test for the seventh time.

Now my dream of driving my dream car remains just a dream………

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