Mean.net – We still hate everyone

Yesterday I went to the Qualifying for the races.  Oh, I went on a city tour as well. City tour was nice, seems to be building everywhere around here. Saw the new apartment complex called The Pearl, which will house about 45 000 people and the cheapest apartment goes for half a million US dollars. Nice to see that the two car dealers there were Ferrari and Rolls Royce.  Also saw the horse tracks, including the horse swimming pool. Seems to be a lot of money in that business. Then it was time for the races.  Checked in to the VIP facilities and got a beer and started watching the free practice.  Went for some pictures on the balcony by the pits. The GP bikes are insanely loud I realized, and really really fast.  My camera was a bit too slow unfortunately.  Met the Norwegian 125cc rider Sturla just before the qualifying, actually got to speak to his parents for a while during the Moto2 qualifying.  Really fun to see a guy from almost home doing well. He qualified at 16 position so hopefully he will get some points to night. Now it is time fore some relaxing bu the pool.

Today I went on some desert safari. Which meant that we took a Toyota Landcruiser and went into the desert riding some dunes. The driver was a crazy Qatarian guy that drove the usual safe Middle East or Asian way.  I is actually pretty impressive how much you can lean a Landcruiser before it rolls over. Went to see Saudi Arabia and then to the beach for some lunch. Now I am back at the hotel awaiting the dinner and then we are going to Losail to watch to nights free practice which I hope will be fun.

Left Asia this morning. I realized today that I am really traveling light. Everyone at the check-in in Kuala Lumpur seemed to have bought half the country with them back home. I think that I could have climbed down in some of the suitcases people were bringing.  So what is the conclusion about Asia then? Houses pretty much look the same, at least in Thailand and Vietnam, and also Korea my host in Malaysia said. The chaos is pretty similar. Malaysia actually felt more laid back than Vietnam and Thailand At least when comparing big cities, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh and Kuala Lumpur. People differs a bit of course. Am I going back soon, probably not.  I guess I will go somewhere else next time, like the US.  First impressions of Qatar seems nice. Taxi from airport to the hotel was a Jaguar, really nice. When booking everything I seemed to have missed arrival date in Qatar, so my hotel was booked from tomorrow. Well, it’s just money. This hotel could charge my credit card without pin number which is good. That means stuff will be expensive but I will be able to buy stuff. I will need to get some clothes washed I think. But I think I will treat this as my birthday present this year. Here is a photo from yesterdays trip downtown.

After a day of traveling I am now in Kuala Lumpur. Managed to get both Visa cards blocked in Saigon thanks to a broken machine at the restaurant and some Vietnamese people.  Thankfully I got some money wired here, cash, and I also got my third and last credit card. So tomorrow I will go collect my 400 EUR from the local Western Union office at the airport. Mostly because I need to pay my hosts at this bed and breakfast with cash and to get to the city and the airport.  This bed and breakfast is actually muche better than the hotels I stayed at during this trip except the 5 star in Bangkok. The only thing missing from this room is a TV but I am only staying for another night so it is ok. Things seem to be pretty cheap here, dinner cost 8 MYR, which translates to almost 2 EUR. Also finalized the VIP booking for the MotoGP races in Qatar which includes full paddock access and pitlane walk. Gonna be awsome!

Just 3 more days in Vietnam. It is actually going to be really nice to go somewhere else.  Went to a Vietnamese wedding today, which felt like karaoke night with a lot of food and beer and deafening volume on the stereo. Vietnamese seem obsessed by marriage and food. They eat almost constantly it feels like, and there is endless talks about ‘Shouldn’t you marry a nice Vietnamese girl?’. No I really don’t want to. But since No is somewhat unfamiliar to everyone here they keep on suggesting that. Yeah, and keep stuffing food on my plate. I think I will never eat chicken again after this trip.  Chicken, fish, duck and whatever small animal you are eating is always chopped like bread with the bones. Which means that there is bone splinters everywhere in  the meat. Cow and pig is to big for that treatment so there is usually no bones in beef dishes.  After a couple of days of thinking that my stomach was ok this morning it was not. Still same stats quo so I went for some antibiotics that the Lonely Planet guide recommended for travellers diarrhea since there seems to be much witch doctor over the hospital care here. My hosts seem very unwilling to go to the hospital, so I guess I will take care of that in Malaysia or Qatar if these Ciprofloxacin does not help.