the end of the blog - well this one anyway

Hello all you interepid desktop travellers

I am now in my new office in Doha, Qatar! I got here yesterday evening and am in the office on Saturday....again.

Having just spent 2 weeks in old blighty I seem to have de-acclimatised and am sweating like a geordie doing a maths test yet again.

A quick whistle stop tour of my two weeks in the UK:

Friday 29th July: go home and asked Laura to marry me and she said yes

Monday 1st August: met up with Mum, Dad and Emma (sis) and her chap to celebrate the parents 35th Wedding Anniversary - stayed at Kings College overnight - very nice too

Tuesday 2nd August: chill out day with Emma

Wednesday 3rd August: took Ellie and Harry to Gym and played Tennis, Cricket, Basketball, Wall Climbing and swimming. Then back home to do a bit of work on holiday! Also dropped Laura off at work and picked her up and the evening we went for a meal with Laura's Mum and Dad, sister and kids.

Thursday 4th: dropped Laura off, picked kids up, gym for the same again and then home to do more work and then picked Laura up and then chilled out because Laura had come down with a dreadful cold and stomach bug etc...

Friday 5th: Luckily Laura had day off so we both took Ellie and Harry to the gym and then in the evening I went over to see Nathan and Lorraine and Ella bella

Saturday 6th: Picked up ring from Cellini's on Rose Crescent which had to be resized to fit Laura inordinately small fingers!!!!! AND CELLINI ARE CRAP - THE DAMADGED THE RING - DO NOT GO THERE AND TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW HOW CRAP THEY ARE PLEASE......then onto London for a meal in Covent Garden followed by a viewing of the Lion King which is increadible....go and see it...trust me you will love it

Sunday 7th: visited Dave, Julie and Daisy on their wedding anniversary and then home to chill

Monday 8th: full on house clearance and garage sort and stack. Laura came home to find the house quite allot emptier - the whole process of moving out here became a little more real for her at this point. Then over to Andy and Anna's for a wee drink.

Tuesday 9th: Another full on day of sorting - mostly paperwork etc but also built a base for a shed and some other bits and bobs to set the house up properly. Most importantly we got registered for marriage in the morning....the future Mrs Quig

Wednesday 10th: Laura had a day off and we met with a wedding co-ordinator at the chosen venue and paid our depositry....errr... deposit. Shed delivered and erected and began the final sort, stack and pack.

Thursday 11th: Laura worked the morning and I cracked on with packing which ended up taking all day. Left home at 7pm and got to parents for 8ish......a nice meal and a drink and off to bed for 10.30 ish and then....

Friday 12th: up at 5am - leaving at 6am...farewell to Laura.....off to Gatwick with Dad. Check in, 56kg excess baggage.......996 uk sterling later.....luckily covered by my company......through passport control.....rammed with people as it is the day after the Heathrow strikes.....baording time quoated as 9.45am.....10am and no gate number.....start getting concerned and then......gate 19......boarded.......4 seats to me......sat on runway waiting for slot for 45mins......6hrs10mins flight and then 2 hours waiting for baggage with 1,000,000 indians who has just arrived from Bombay!!!!!! arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Nick (the boss) then turned up an hour late at the airport and finally got to his villa at about 10pm exhausted.

So thats that......now you must visit:

http://dunclauraqatar.blogspot.com

Now....many of you are not commenting so you need not register....those who would like to continue posting comments please email me at duncan.quig@dtz.com and I will send you an invite

See ya over on the other blog then

the biggest update of all time

so I gets home after an epic ordeal of a day as outlined in the last blog....but I made it. At 7.30am (after a 1hours and 30mins waiting for luggage to arrive) I was with Laura. At 9.30am we were home and after a kip it was 5pm with the click of a finger.

Up we got and I had a cheese sandwich whilst professing to Laura how much I had missed real cheese. Mmmmm I said as I munched on the sandwich. I also studied the green green grass of home and declared what a wonderous sight for tired eyes it was. All of the this was a smokescreen.

At 6pm I suggested we might go for a meal at Pizza Express as we have done many times before. Primarily, Laura thought, this was to have a cheese pizza. I made a fake phone callhaving agreed to try and book for 8pm. Talking to a dial tone I had an imaginary conversatio with Pizza Express ensuring I was speaking sufficiently loud for Laura to hear from the front room. "oh, ok...hold on....Laura, is 7.30pm ok?'; 'yes thats fine came the reply' and the plans were set in motion.

We set off at 7pm and on the way in I suggested that instead of parking at Park Street Multi Storey as normal we should park over the river and walk across one of the green green commons on the way. We parked and made our way over the bridge. Walking along the path I then said, ooooh let me walk on the grass and I might take my shoes off.......the lovely Laura had no idea.

After droping to one knee I read a poem I had prepared. I then produced a ring and asked her to Marry me and the lady she says yes........yippppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

We had a random person take the above photo 30 seconds after our matrimonial agreement.

I then informed Laura that we were not going to Pizza Express but rather the Ancient Shepherds at Fen Ditton - the venue of our first ever date. We had champagne and ate lovely fair and then to Laura's suprise together with the rest of the pub a stretch turned up outside to take us home.

Congratulations to us.....29th July 2006 is the day folks - venue permitting

so long

so its 915pm as I begin typing on Wednesday the 27th July. I have been here since the 5th July and its been an increadible time. It feels like I have partly been on holiday despite the fact that I have worked very very hard and non-stop. On the one hand its gone really quickly and on the other its been an eternity. Really looking forward to getting back to see Laura and my sister especially but of course everyone else too.

I am in the office having been home and packed. I have bought another suitcase and so am leaving a packed suitcase here at the office for someone to bring to Doha in due course.

I will leave here in a minute and will go for a drink and a meal at the Burlington Club. Then home and check out (for the morning) , speak with Laura for the last time from the Seef residence - yipeee. Bedtime and then the long road home begins.

5am - get up and get ready

5.30am - depart Seef and drive to airport

6am - park up and return car to Budget (thank goodness for that)

6.20am check in

6.30/6.40am am through to airside

7ish board and play PS2 handheld for the duration of the flight

7.45am take off

8.30am land at Dubai (actually +1 gmt but lets ignore that)

9.30ish get cab to clients building in Dubai

10am - preparatory work for marketing meeting at 12pm

1pm - finish meeting and lunch with Ozzie gloater client (the Ashes)

2.30pm back to the office for a meeting with a lawyer

3.30pm finish, cab to airport

4.15 pm check in

4.45 pm airside

5pm + board

5.45 pm take off

6.30pm land at Bahrain

I then fly from Bahrain at 9.30sh and land at 10ish to Doha

Flight to Gatwick leaves at 00.25am, estimated a 6hours, landing at 6.25am, less 2 hours gmt is 4.25am and shortly thereafter I will be in my Laura's arms

So that'll be a 25h 25m day......bring it on. I might even sleep on the 6 hour flight if I can tear myself away from Tony Hawks.......I am still having to pinch myself really.....2 months ago I was wondering what I was going to do with myself and now I coudlnt be happier.....there's a lesson in this for all of you somewhere

YOUCAN ALL DO ANYTHING......just look at Spurs; Edgar Davids!

and on to today

so this is a picture from today; Kay is next to me and Imran is walking through the office and almost gets in the way....quite funny really.

Imran is a Property Manager from Pakistan but married to a Bahrain girl; nice guy.

Kay is the office manager and has been brilliant to me in terms of organising lots for me. Would have been a very different story if it wasnt for her. Over worked though she is......some things don't change in whatever part of the world your in it seems.....

So I have tonight, tomorrow night and then first thing on Thursday I go to Dubai and then back to Bahrain to get my flight to Doha and then on to the UK - phew.....its a rollercoaster ride......Tony Hawks on the PS2 handheld should get me through it. THE best toy I have evr had; increadible. The graphics are better than a PS2 itself! Hope your all well and I am lookng forward to all the re-invited people registering so we can get a few more comments going on

time to tell the truth

I have played a wee jokey on you.......I dont have to wear the head gear when I go to Qatar and I didnt actually send that complaint to AOL.

One thing that happened while I have been here that I couldnt tell you about is quite amazing. When I was working in Cambridge I worked for the Ashwell group providing advice and my client at Ashwells for a period of time was a guy called James Poole.

First day here I get a tap on the shoulder and its only James Poole!!!!!!! Small world eh.......he's accepted a job with DTZ Middle East and will be in Bahrain for a wee while before he joins me and Nick in Qatar....result eh. He played football and cricket for Savills and we had a few beers together so its like a ready made friend in Qatar....awseome

Right, I got into work today at 7.30am and its now 22.24pm! I'm off down to the Ritz to sing again before I sing for the office and others tomorrow night as a farewell

avanti

a bit of a quiet one

last night I stayed in and sorted a few bits. The photo is me at my desk during the day and then you have a picture of all my little purchases....check out the bag.....Givenchy man bag and pen for a small fortune...I would say but my Dad would have a heart attack

Photo of my Mum and Dad and Laura just before I left uk....stuck on my wall to make it a bit homey....

only mad dogs and Englishmen

The world phenomenon that is Duglan Quiglan (Bajan code name) took to the field of play for local club Awali. Danny from the office had played his first game of rugby union the night before and, whilst winning man of the match, he also got a little hurt and needed someone to step into his circketing shoes at 8am the next day. Reluctantly I agreed saying 'you owe me a beer Danny boy'. With heignsight I think he owes me 100 beers.

Its a desert pitch with an astro strip in the middle. Awali is mostly made up of 2nd generation indian and pakistani expats. What a day; they welcomed me with such open arms despite the fact I announced 'I am a cricket supporter but you can count on nothing more than a 12th man in terms of playing the game.

I was right to do so. These boys, the can all play maaaaaaan. Awali were put into bat first and the English lad who is in the picture above opened with an indian call aramamytongerdo wnyourthroata. The English lad plays u19 Middlesex by all accounts. Its so funny....when you watch the indians and the packistani's bat they are quite free and easy with their stance and strokes but in contrast an Englishman sticks out a mile - standing very straight and striking the ball with precision. Different horses different courses; different cultures different batting styles.

Anyhoo, the boys did ok for a while but then 4 qucik wickets and some agressive head bound bowling at 80mph ish saw the flavour of the game turn very competitive.

I went out in the last over at No.9; its a real shame I didn't get a pciture - padded up more than ever before I looked like a mitchelin man (because of the pads boys......stop it). I had a helmet with face gaurd, pads, gloves, a box, arms pads,thigh pads, side pads, a thong....errr....whoops......wasnt meant to tell you that.......anyway you et the picture. I had to drop a couple of boys of at the pool before I went out as well which delayed the game a few minutes.

On strike immediately; 1st ball goes through the gate which in Duglan's case is actually as big as the preverbial garage door that Nobby's been trying to find for 31 years now.....any updates on that front mate?

2nd ball, and bearing in mind only 5 balls left in the innings and a couple of fella's to come - the gorilla comes to town. A quick slow quick quick slow down the wicket and a hugely exagerated swing and miss later I think all of the players from both sides were in stiches. You no me, always happy to take the mickey out of myself - I told them all I was lulling them into a false sense of security. The ball actually beat the wicky with pace so we sneaked a single. Actually, I kinda of didn't sneak it because with all the gear on I was moving at a fair rate of nots not.

The other chap stayed on strike until the end and did no better than me (the one with the fag in his mouth and my arm around him) and the innings finsihed with a total of 229 off 25 overs. I declared to the field that it was my PB, 0 - not out and displayed the face of bat to the four corners of the ground and the non-existant crowd went crazy.

So onto the fielding and they asked if I could keep wicket. If there is one thing I can actually do it is keep wicket and I am sure some of you would agree. Catters may tell you a story about me heading a cricket ball in the annual Wig & Rod Trophy at Gonville & Cauis Cricket Ground back in 2001 but then I would argue that it was my first time at a reasonable cricket standard, I had him at first slip yabbering on at me all day long and breaking my concentration....and.....the bloke who was bowling was Guy 'Jenko' Jenkinson who used to open for the Army! Bit pacey sun if you ask me. Anyway it did knock me unconcious for a while but I soldiered on.......ha ha ha....I made a joke see........the army....soldiered on....ha ha ha, awful

So I accepted the invitaion to keep wicket and encapsulated that worldwide saying 'only mad dogs and englishman'. Trouble was the dogs that were there were all inside the clubhouse in the air con so I was very much alone on this one....woof woof

Been in Bahrain for under two weeks, not fully aclimatised, fat, unfit, stunning looking, dehydrated already probably from the mitchelin expereince and now I am standing in 46 degree heat at midday with the humidity climbing to circa 90%. It would have been hard enough just to stand in that for 2 hours......but no....Duglan Quiglan will not bow to even the weather maaaaaaaaaan.

First ball I barely saw but then I was standing far too close to the stumpys. I had kept for a few years for a chap called Tucky who had a bit of pasty in the old arms and I figured I would stand in a similar position to recieve these guys. HELLO.....GOODBYE.....REVISE YOUR PLAN. Gave myself another 4 meters and everything was hunky doory. In 7 overs I missed only 1 more ball and was quite pleased with myself but I began to feel very strange during the 5th over. I was drinking about half a litre of water every 2 overs and this water was going in and being absorbed almost instantaneously. I tapped the side of my head and it was so sore. Recognising this as dehydration I turned to the captain and said one more over man and I'm outta here.

So basically Dave I am a big girls blouse....yada yada yada.....but had a lucky escape. 3.5 litres, a shower, a chocolate bar, a lie down for 10 and 30 mins in the air con I was ok but I didnt go out to play again. Had a barby at the end and overall it was great fun.

nice wheels Cattars; yours are still bigger

how funny is this

this is the receptionsit at the Movenpick Hotel Doha...check out his name......I laughed for quite a while and luckily he found it funny too after I had explained.

Firoze, my colleague that I sit opposite is from Kerla in India and so is this guy. Firoze said theres a saying in Kerla that even if you went to the moon you'd find a person from Kerla.......I told this to Man U and he laughed allot. Oh, btw he upgraded me because I spoke in Arabic to him.....it opens doors speaking their language you know...you dont have to cos they can all speak English but they are so delighted if you put the effort in.

The Ritz.....no words required

It just gets better and better and better and better

Ok then, my day was full of meetings and viewings but I had time to take pcitures of where I was and what I was doing. The whole affair out here just gets better and better and better and better. Top two photos are of the Ritz Carlton Doha, then me and Marcel Desailly at the Intercontinetal to dicuss his new contract with my client....ok, I just bumped into him ok. The last one is of me first thing in the morning at my hotel. I stayed up unitl 2.30am talking to Laura after I had been at an Ozzy bar at the top of a skyscraper. Amazing building but full of ozzies. I did karaoke and went accapella with a little number know as 'rule brittania'. They were stunned at first but then kinda got the funny side. For goodness sake...put another one on the barby....its THE QUIGLAN effect Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan

OK.....this is me a week ago (Tuesday evening) having flown to Doha my soon to be home. This is my second visit so I knew the crack at the airport, got myself an Audi A4 which actually quite upset me because it was almost identical to my car (well, actually its not mine anymore - I sold it to Laura's Dad, boo hoo....my most favorite car ever. I think I will get another one out here. If your happy with something why change it? Answers on my blog please.

Whilst I am on that topic; it appears many of you have had difficulty becoming contributors. I understand that its something to do with the creation of a username. Choose an obscure username as this will have much more chance of not being an existing username and you should be ok....example would be quigy2345623

By now however your invite will have expired so I have to send you another invite. This is quite a hands on proceedure and some of those invited are not even looking at the log so.......those who are interested in becoming contributors please let me know and I will send you another invite....whallah...just like that as a great man used to say....two elephants walk of a cliff.....boom boom

The pictures are my hotel and the hallway at the hotel. They are reveting photo's dont you think. This hotel is like the worst in Doha......it is trully becoming a bind. Oh, and if you notice the chinny beard.....its because as a result of the cut throat shave I developed a bit of a spot problem (down Dave, down boy) and given I was meeting my client I wanted to cover them up. Turns out its a big + point with Arabs.......I cant do it (in a Paul Humphreys and DJ styleeee wandering around Thorley in the weeeee hours).

despite the best intentions

After my last blog you would be forgiven for questioning my effort on the weblog front. Its been over a week now and I'm only just getting round to updating. This is testament to how busy I am really. I reality then it is going to be a once a week update me thinks but then this blog is almost finished because I fly home on Thursday night and its Wednesday night now. I will be in Dubai on Thursday and will fly to Doha and then get a transfer to Gatwick from there.......can't wait to get home in all honesty and not because I dont like it here but rather I just miss my girl big time.

The picture of me looking rather dapper...yeah yeah I know, you still not sure which one (apart from Dave Mapple and Dave James who are still looking for that photo and can't believe it exists). The one with me standing is just outside the Burlington Club. Onyx is the chap and he plays piano and sings and they lady's name I forget but she does dedicate a song to Laura for me every night....ooohhh spooky.....I am listening to Chirs Moyles Breakfast Show and as I typed L A U R A that sScissor Sisters number came on!!!!!!!!!!!!! Errr, I......might go home now........

I have now sung at the Burlington with Onyx playing for me a few times........so there Messrs Mapple and Pillinger.....have some of that (you know Catters)

The other picture shows me at my new desk as Charles has returned and has rightfully claimed his seat. Firoze is an interesting guy....a gent infact

Finally time for some R & R

The big building is Seef Tower and the low rise building is the Seef Mall...apparently the best in Bahrain. After a very busy first week and a half followed by a day in the office to get this thing up to speed amoungst other personal stuff I finally had a day away from the office and for me.

I engaged in a singnificant amount of retail therapy and now have a PS2 handheld with Tony Hawks Skatebaording 4 for only 200 quid.

I also had a hair cut and a cut throat shave before havign a soothing massage.

I finished off my day at a little club thats starting to feel like home; the Burlington Club at the Ritz Carlton. Lovely little pub type bar (but very plush indeed) where they serve Guiness and have a piano player and a singer doing Sinatra type numbers.....nice, very nice

Unlikely to post an update tomorrow as today I have worked from 7am until 9pm and then spent an hour doing this....not sure that I will get a photo worth posting but we'll see

the 2nd tallest man and the smallest

blimey charlie o'reilly....there me doing a bit of shopping on my sunday at Seef Mall and look who I goes an bumps into....the big bloke is only 21.....sad really, he's unl;ikely to make it to 30 apparently.

Madness

ahhhhh....played ajoke on Laura

texted her yesterday saying that I was buying a dog (which is on the cards once we are in Doha) but it was only this little fella....I think the sun is getting to me.....woooooof

and now the really bad new....

it transpires that I am going to have to wear the traditional attire in order to work for the client!

I suppose it had to come but blimey. Not happy at all......

Business Etiquette

I am now reading widely around conducting business succesfully with Arabs. I have learnt today that to be found bragging about work being undertaken for Arab clients is THE cardinal sin. If found to be doing this is marks the end of a business relationship with that particular Arab and everyone in his sphere of influence. To this end, I have had to delete any referecne to any specific instructions that I may have. This seems very alien to me...well you know me....modesty as nver been my greatest asset but nonetheless if I am serious about making a success of myself here then I can no longer discuss business.

Shaklaam (Thankyou) for your understanding