iPhone 3G special offers !!!

I don’t know what’s so special about their offers? http://orange.jo/iphone_site/special_offers.php

I read a part of an interview with the CEO of Orange mobile, he said something like” Orange’s subscribers will be able to live the full experience of the iPhone 3G”. How will they be able to have such experience without using the 3G service itself*!

Now let’s forget about the 3G service, let’s think about the cheapest offer iGold 500, they will give you 500 minutes, 500 MB of data (not 3G speed of course) and a package of 250 SMS, all of that for 30 JDs and the iPhone 8GB itself for 299 JDs. Well 500 MB is nothing if you want to think about the iPhone Internet capability where it can load full web pages and play youtube videos, Watching such videos will certainly require more than 500 MB. Now let’s read the conditions of using the 500 MB

 

To ensure optimal quality of its voice and data service across the network and in order to make this service accessible to all, Orange reserves the right to suspend any service that comes with this package in the event of abuse of the service, such as:
The data service offered can only be accessed with your iPhone.
Use of the SIM in a modem.
Voice over IP
use of phone for transferring peer-to-peer files
Any other abuse suspected by Orange
Whenever Orange suspects that behavior of any kind listed above has occurred, Orange retains the right to make checks in order to protect its network.
In the event of any of the above-mentioned forms of abuse, Orange has the right to suspend at any time the service you are using.

 

You can’t use your 500 MB for VoIP, or connecting your laptop. What about UK? check this link http://www.o2.co.uk/iphone/paymonthly

pick the 35 pounds monthly plan , with this plan you will get unlimited Data and WiFi, 600 minutes and 500 SMS and the iPhone 8GB itself for 99 pounds.

In City Mall the iPhone display counter was empty (really empty when I passed by it few days ago) I think that shows the predicted number of people that are going to buy it from Orange!

 

* 3G service is not available in Jordan yet, we will possibly have it in 2009.

!

Everyday I face something that makes me hate the people more and more! Tonight I was in the car with my friend, my speed was about 60 km, I guess I was busy talking or something and I was driving on the rightmost side of Al-madeneh el tebyeh street. A guy in a white pickup behind me starting to use his lights to signal me. At first I though it was by mistake, an innocent mistake, but it wasn’t. Apparently the guy was trying to speed up and go to the left side of the street -which wasn’t empty btw- so he wanted me to speed up so he can go! I mean why the hell did they make three lanes on that street? If I want to go 60 on the rightmost side then it’s my business especially on a street where’s the speed limit is 80 Km. So this stupid guy wanted everyone on the street to drive on the speed that he wants.

Anyway he finally had the chance to go the the left side and when he crossed me he almost hit my car. I didn’t have the chance to take his number and my friend said you will gain nothing anyway.

If I wrote about every stupid and rude behavior that I encountered today or in the past year, my blog would be filled with such posts ! really people here need lots of work when it comes to manners and the way that they should behave, really irritating !

Now available in Tche Tche: Pasta with fresh worms

 

Time: last Thursday – after noon.

Place: Tche Tche –Amman-Swifieh

We ordered two pasta dishes with white sauce and vegetables; to tell you the truth it was good. If only I didn’t find a green worm cooked there it would have been a good meal, but there it was, lying there between the pasta pieces and covered with that delicious white sauce. First I though it was some kind of vegetable, but after further fork investigation it was clear to me that it was a soft fresh green worm. I asked the “shesha-man” to call the staff manager, but a waiter came and took a look, “mmm I think it came with the broccoli” he said, he wanted to take the dish but I told him not to, “do you want to take a picture of it?” he joked, well now I wish that I took that picture with Tche Tche red mark! Anyway the manager came and repeated the same thing about the broccoli, he looked sorry although he didn’t say it! He only offered me a new dish which I refused-of course- and I asked him to cancel my order. What amazes me the most that he didn’t apologies, as if it was normal for them to serve worms to people, maybe since it was fresh and green just like the broccoli, maybe that meant it wasn’t that bad deal after all, maybe I had to take a bite and taste the poor worm. I compared what happened to me in Tche Tche with what happened to me in a pizza restaurant couple of weeks ago, I only wrote a complain about the bad service that was offered and the inhospitality of the staff. And because of that complain the general manager of the Middle Eastern branch and other managers from the company and the merchandise contacted me and apologized and took all of my notes. But now I think I know why this company reacted this way while Tche Tche didn’t, it’s obvious! Because with the pizza story, I contacted the owner of the trade mark and it was an international foreign company that cared about the customers’ opinions and not an Arabic one.

Rest in peace TcheTche!

Note: Maybe I will try to email Tche Tche to see if someone in their management cares.

mosaic tag

the rules:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

The questions are:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your Flickr name.

http://royalflower.blogspot.com/2008/06/my-mosaic-tag.html

Samples of Jordanian practices

I’ve started a new hobby recently, taking photos of anything that irritates me, I thought about sharing them:

 

1- Common driving practice:

this is one of the most irritating stuff that you can encounter while driving, I was waiting for the green light (the second car or rectangle second from the right), when a car (to be accurate, the police vehicle which usually comes to investigate car accidents, who by the way should obey the law more than us, the drivers!). I hate this action the most, I mean we all there waiting for the green light, but someone from the back thinks that he’s so special, he’s the CEO of Google or Apple, and has no time to wait with these people for a minute or a half, so he crosses everybody and goes from the the back of the line to be the first one and closes half of the other side just to win a few seconds in his trip to buy a cup of tasteless coffee.

 

 

 

2- Common lack of something!

we can see two boxes where they collect money for Tekyt Om Ali and King Hussien Cancer Center, but some people thought that these boxes can be very useful doing something else, serve as garbage cans to throw ATM’s receipts and cinemas’ brochures.

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

15th of May

Year after year I watch news reports about 15^th of May, the same faces, same places; old man holding his grandson’s hand, telling the reporter that we will never forget, and we will go back to our homes in Palestine, if it wouldn’t be me, then it will be my son or his son or …

I keep remembering these snapshots of old men and women holding their old houses’ keys, big and black keys, not as big or as black as the tragedy itself. The tragedy of losing a country in two strikes.

We should always remember (if we have ever forgotten) that we still have the keys of our homes; we still tell our children that your father and your grandfather were born in yafa, hayfa…

We should tell them that somewhere there on some mountain, your grandfather had a land full of olive trees, trees that refused to be ripped off from the land of Palestine, just like the people who stayed or the people who refuse to forget Palestine no matter what they face.

Umniah vs Zain 2, with photos

Update on my last post, I took these shots from Rani, Umniah “replied” (2) on the last AD by Zain (1) , Umniah just edited the word “bebalash” (for free) so it’s now “bs balash” (get real!), really this is the first time that I see such war! I think newspapers are very happy with this war.

(1) last Ad, Zain

(2) Last Ad, Umniah

Previous Ads :

Zain and Umniah

If you read yesterday’s newspaper you would probably know what am talking about.

First Zain made this big offer; pay 1 JD every week and call 5 numbers (selected numbers or super) for free and its not unlimited but they give you a huge amount of minutes. they called the line Zain5, yesterday there was an AD in the newspaper from Umniah, مستحيل 10( impossible 10) in this AD Umniah compares “directly” its offer with Zain’s offer: we give you 10 free numbers to call and not 5 , you have to pay 1 JD every month and not every week, you can call everyone in Umniah’s network for 1 piaster not 5.

I thought that was it, the end of the story, but it was not! In  today’s newspaper  I found a new AD by Zain: خمسة باليد ولا عشرة على الشجرة

(Five birds In The Hand Is Worth ten In The Bush)

“شبكتنا الأقوى “مستحيل” ينقطع الخط”

(it is impossible that your call will be dropped in our network)

while Umniah focused on the price in its ADs Zain focused on the quality, so it’s quantity versus quality.

It’s really funny and interesting , I will wait for tomorrow maybe the war will continue

So what keeps me busy these days?

Recently I have started to feel like am a student again, studying and preparing for exams and stuff like that. When I graduated from the university the most important thing that I though I gained was that I don’t have to study anymore, yes I might read some work related books and articles, but that’s not like studying for an exam and not even close.

I think exams are overrated in our culture, for example no matter what you do all the people around you will make you believe that Tawjihi is like a gate to hell or heaven, when you go the university you can see some students that when they have an exam they freak out, starting drinking anything that has a caffeine in it. If they smoke they will call the cigarette company to make sure that they won’t run out of cigarette when they are practicing studying rituals. I lived with one of my friends who used to lock himself up with 3 or 4 packets of cigarette, coffee and papers and that’s it, you won’t see him till the day of the exam.

Yes I had some bad habits when it comes to exams and taking them, I can keep saying that I have an exam and I should study for it until there are 2 or 3 days left, and most of the times I end up finishing like 70% of the exam studying materials in the last day and last night. Till now I still have this problem where I almost can’t study for anything unless I had to, and even when I do I study in the last available time slot.

Nowadays I preparing for my TOEFL and GRE exams and I’ve just finished my 4^th Spanish course and going to start a new one after a couple of weeks. I couldn’t start studying for TOEFL for real if I wasn’t registered for it. So that’s why I booked my seat, just to make sure that I will study so I won’t lose my money that I paid “mn 3araq jbini”.

- Now you should say something like “good luck Raeef”

Dave Chappelle

I knew about Dave chappelle only  last year and I didn’t know that he was the comedian in the nutty professor but my friend gave me that piece of information. Since that time I started to look for shows and clips for that man, I found two long shows ” Killin’ Them Softly ” and “For What It’s Worth“, of course I become addicted to stand up comedy in general and to any clip by Chappelle. His way just can’t but drag you more and more in watching and focusing on those issues that he discuses in a funny and sometimes dirty way but still he manges to deliver the message and the sad picture hidden by that funny act.

 

Chappelle converted to Islam in 1998, and he once disappeared and went to south Africa and on that he said

I don’t normally talk about my religion publicly because I don’t want people to associate me and my flaws with this beautiful thing. And I believe it is a beautiful religion if you learn it the right way. It’s a lifelong effort. Your religion is your standard. Coming here I don’t have the distractions of fame. It quiets the ego down. I’m interested in the kind of person I’ve got to become. I want to be well rounded and the industry is a place of extremes. I want to be well balanced. I’ve got to check my intentions, man

I only wish if that one day we will have an Arabic comedian like this man. we really need someone who can talk about all the stacked issues in our society and still be popular and free.

 

anyway as Dave says long live chappelleS and those who try to change the world by words.

Not about Abu Raed but about watching it in a Jordanian theater !

I was excited to watch a Jordanian movie, one that is not 5 or 10 minutes long, so we went to Grand in City Mall, at the beginning it was just the two of us (me and my friend) but later on people started to come. Two young boys were seated next to me and one of them started counting the people in the theater, at first It was some how funny but he couldn’t stop !

Some people started to pre-translate the Arabic words to English and they were racing the written subtitle ! why? I mean all of us were Jordanian, no one asked for a live translation ! some started to enlighten us about Jordanian locations, this is abdali this is jabal amman blah blah, you can do that but lose the loud voice!

What always amazes me that some of our people really do not know how to watch a movie, they laugh when they are supposed to cry or at least be a little bit sad.

I think our nation needs a lot of education on how to act in certain places and situations.

Gaza and the UNSC

I watched a part of the UN security council in the emergency session that took place today, if you only heard what the Israeli representative said there! He really flipped everything 180 degrees, if someone who knows nothing about the situation in Palestine and particularly Gaza watched that acting, he will say ” oh poor Israelis ,look at these Israeli children who live in Sderot , they have disabilities in sleeping…” on the other hand over than 70 Palestinians in Gaza have died not by rockets or Israeli attacks but just because they cut off the electricity, children in Gaza can’t sleep not because they have a bad nightmare! but for more serious reasons like losing a father or being sick and left there without medication. the Israeli guy says that we should not mix between the “self defense” act that Israel is carrying against Gaza or Hamas and between what “Palestinian terrorists ” do! what kind of a world are we living in?

Azmi Bshara said that Israel has always said that they are going to attack Gaza in a massive way, and when Bush was here days ago, he said that US understands if Israel carried a massive attack against Gaza, and after that Bush visited many Arab countries and no one said anything about that !!

I really don’t expect that their representative will say anything that might be in the favor of Gaza’s people but the man managed to turn the situation to a self defense against Hamas, he didn’t say Palestinians but he wanted to focus on one thing that the Palestinians in Gaza elected Hamas and Hamas is the responsible for what is happening!

 

I don’t know what will the people of Gaza benefit from my anger or the anger of millions and millions of Muslims and Arabs! May Allah be with them.

A new movie by my friends…empty peanut

Headache…

I have an all day headache and the problem is that every single doctor that I visited gave me a different story, and till now they gave me nothing that helped. the latest “news” from the last doctor that my headache have no physical causes, but rather psychological and life style related causes. I don’t know if he made that up cause he couldn’t cure me or he just was telling me the truth. now I gave up, I don’t really think that I will know what causes me that constant headache. I think he thinks that he is my friend, many times I told him ” Headache, I don’t want to carry you anymore, friends don’t do that to each other, just find another head to (ache) ” .

the most annoying thing about having a 24 hours headache that what some people would say , like ” did you see a doctor? you might have sinus!” . really you genius! the first thing I started with is to check for any sinus related headache , but nah nothing there. Anyway , I am going to put a prize on the head of my headache, so if any one of you is interested just find me and you will find him.

I Am small but the world is big

4:30 am

It seems that am not going to sleep tonight -I don’t know why, I only drank hot chocolate! – So here are some thoughts that crossed my mind…

My friend said that he likes to fall in love and to be in a relation, knowing that he didn’t live in one; I figured out that I can’t blame him. Every one of us likes to try everything just for the sake of trying maybe…

Anyway I was thinking about some guys I knew, they changed their lives just because they met someone,Maybe I was this close(>  <)  to do the same thing but I think I really was lucky.… Just if she passed by you at that cretin moment she will change you simply it is not you anymore! A body, heart and an empty head, after that you start making plans, crazy plans that you really wouldn’t think about it if you had 1/4 of your mental health. But that’s it. Sometimes those plans work for you and in most cases they won’t.

I know this guy who used to say he will get married when he’s 27 or 28, few months later he got engaged! Don’t tell me he planned that. It just happened.

 

For such a generation -my generation- I believe that commitment should come after twenty 7 or at least in my case, because to tell you the truth till this moment I can’t make my mind about what I want to do In the upcoming years; to carry on with my studies, continue working in Jordan or catch the first opportunity to work somewhere else.

I Am small but the world is big (a phrase from a song), I know it’s simple but it’s true.