An insight on Couch Surfing .. What is CS ?

Have you ever heard the term "couch surfing" and wondered what's that all about ?

 Well according to CouchSurfing team it's a global network of travellers, adventure seekers and lifelong learners. We value trust among strangers and are dedicated to sharing our cultures, hospitality and authentic experiences –whether we’re on the road or in our hometowns. There are millions of us in 91,694 cities, and we’re making the world friendlier and smaller, one life-changing CouchSurfing experience at a time.

So how does one use it ?

First step log onto www.couchsurfing.org, Click on Sign Up & register yourself.
Set up your profile by writing about yourself, hobbies, interests, experiences, and personality. This will help other members see you better & clearer as a host or a surfer that people would have an experience with. Upload your awesome pictures that explains you.

Second thing you can do is start hosting, As a host, you can maintain the adventure and sense of discovery without leaving your home by hosting friends from every corner of the earth. You’ll learn about new cultures and reignite your love for your city by constantly seeing it through fresh eyes.

And no. You do not have to host. CouchSurfers can engage with the community in whichever way works for them. Hosting is a great way to make friends and gain references before your next surfing experience, but it’s certainly not the only way. You can also meet fellow CouchSurfers by attending CouchSurfing activities in your city. Check out the activities happeining around you in the city.

Is it safe ?

Trust is the main platform of giving & sharing for any couchsurfer, Over the years CouchSurfing team have developed a system to help members be safe. The most important part of it is the 'reference' system which is a public review that members leave for each others after any kind of in-person meeting, they can rate their experiences as positive, negative, or neutral. The more details of the experience itself the better so that others can get a better picture before agreeing to host, surf or just meet.

There is another feature called 'vouching', which I think is great where members publicly declare trust in each other. And it's more sophisticated than the reference feature because one have to acquire 3 vouches in order to start vouching others. Members are encouraged to vouch those who really earned their trust & will publicly declare it to others.

More over, there is the 'verification' system that confirms member's names & addresses, those who verify their profiles get a green check mark icon and are featured higher up in the search results.

All three features help your experience to be safer, easier, and better. Use them wisely!

Tips for you surfers

1. Choose the suitable host for you

Make an effort to choose your host wisely, Make sure you read profiles during the selection process, the more you know about your host before your surfing experience the better your trip will be, strip up a conversation with your host some time suitable before your arrival, always address the host by their names when requesting a couch. Spam requests is the worst, it will often make you look disrespectful, Do better & read your host profile, know what's about them better, check their interests/hobbies you might find something in common that you can talk about & share your thoughts on it.

When you write your couch request, make sure it's respectful, friendly , and personal. Direct to the host & not a general request. Its a good way of filtering out the dedicated surfers from the hundreds of requests  received everyday. Then all that's left to do is enjoy your stay and embrace yourself for a great surfing experience.

2. Arriving to your host's place

Make sure you get an exact address with directions if possible, after all you are a foreigner on a first day with no knowledge of how to get to local places, one of the awesome things I love about couchsurfing is the local experience, your host can tell you the cheapest and safest way to get to their house so you could avoid the usual overpriced taxis & scams at the airport. A good practise is to buy a local sim card to have an easier option to contact your host or other travellers in the city.

Be a nice surfer, before arriving be sure to give an estimated time of arrival, your host might be generous enough to offer to pick you up. Lucky you ;)

Some surfers bring a souvenir from their home land to wherever they go & give away to their hosts or other couchsurfers whom they meet on the way, Honestly it's a great habit & I'd recommend it. It creates a better & more personal relationships.

You should never bring back strangers to your host's house without permission, nor disclose their address. Sleeping away is something disrespectful & not cool, your host place is not a hotel where you can freely check in & check out. If your host pass you an extra key, don't lose it & always check with them what is the best time to get back so you won't disrupt their plans.

3. Adapt quickly

Experience has taught me that a warm roof, clean drinking water and a safe place are the most crucial concerns. Anything more is great as a bonus. Be considerate of the expenses we take for granted, Remember that your host is paying the bills. Adapt well to your surroundings and get familiar with the neighbourhood area, Listen attentively to their advice & be sure to have a contact in case you get lost,Keep your area clean & offer to help your hosts with any household chores. I always find cooking one of our traditional recipes a great offer towards my host's hospitality. All of these approaches will create a smoother, better, and a long lasting friendship with your host and will probably get you a nice positive reference on your profile.

4. Become a social bee wherever you go...

I think it's a nice approach to post a greeting message on the city's or country's group on the website, Introduce yourself to the local members & other travellers in the area, even suggest a meeting. Last time I did so I received an overwhelming couch invitations & alot of people offered to show me around the city by day & night. The sooner you post the more time you will have to coordinate your plans with others, There is always other travellers in town ready to get out there & have fun. It's awesome, think of it! you basically have a 'friend' wherever you go, You can quickly meet friends & have great experiences. Locals know the best places to discover & not the "lonely planet everyone knows sites", T hey know cheap places to visit, eat and enjoy.

 Make it count, make it unique...

Find a way to make your presence there count, how to stand out from the crowd? Your host has probably hosted & will host others. I always like to do something with my surfers & my host to keep some good memories, take pictures & have a great time together. Keep in touch, get connected over emails/facebook or anything that works out for you. It all serves you well in the end, and trust me it's such a small world you never know you might see each other again someday.

So what are you waiting for ? Get involved, travel around the world Meet, Explore, Share.

References:

Couch Surfing website: http://www.couchsurfing.org

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CouchSurfing

Traveller's blogs & articles

• http://journals.worldnomads.com/travel-tips/post/31925.aspx
• http://www.theexpeditioner.com/2010/03/04/what-you-need-to-know-about-couchsurfing/
• http://www.europeandme.eu/9legs/462-couchsurfing-stories?start=4

My dear Diary

Fact happened in this summer 09
flashback: Nabil Amer, my uncle, and the eldest among my father's siblings... I met him 2 times, once when we visited him in Germany, and the other time when he came to Egypt with his daughter Yasmin. But since he passed away, may he R.I.P, I oftenly dreamed about him, you know like a normal dream.. He never talked to me, just like I see him in my dreams that's all... Through the years after he passed away, somehow, my parents talked less about Yasmin and his family in US..and I was questoning that, but never opened this topic, cause I know that they won't tell me unless if they want me to know. This is how we deal together.. But when I grew up, I started wondering,if we aren't talking to them.. why aren't they talking to us, or anyone else in my family, like my other uncles or something.. I didn't really know about that.. But even though days goes on, the topic oftenly floated on my mind attention.
Let me tell you about the amazing thing that happened to me that summer.. One day, I was checking out my father's old phone looking for a number of a friend of mine , when I came to see Uncle Nabil's number.. and I asked my mum if that's their current number, She said that she doesn't know and wondered why I am asking. Later I skipped that, and continued looking for whatever I was doing.. and at night when I was sleeping, Umo Nabil came to my dream and talked to me for the first time.. and so far I remember the same conversation..
Umo Nabil: Ahmed ezayek 3amel eih?
me: ana alhamdullah ya umo.. wa7esny gedan walahy..kan nefsy ashofak we netkalem sawa abl matetwafa.. mesh enta kont nawy tegy masr?
Umo Nabil: Aiwa, kont nawy.. kont nawy agy a3od fi masr :) bas el hamdollah.. Kol el yegebo Rabena Kowyes..
then he continued...
Bas enta lazm tegy tezorny ya Ahmed.. we lazm tes2al 3ala benty we ahly..
I said: Bas homa 3omrohom masa2lo 3alaya bardo, we ba3deen ana kont soghair abl kda, hakalmhom ezay ya3ny!
umo Nabil: Enta kebert delwa2t we ba2eet regl.. ew3dny enak hadawar 3alihom, we tes2al 3ala benty yasmin, heya me7tagalko! ew3dny ya Ahmed..
I said: aw3edak ya 3amy..
And as soon I finished my last word, he was gone with a big smile on his face..
Next morning, I knew exactly what I am gonna do... But I had to check,was that a imaginative dream or was it a "ro2ya" like a message, because it is stated in our religion hat the late may come into ones dreams and talk to them too. So I asked my mum.. she was stunned by what I said, and told me to follow the dream, So I talked to my dad, and told him the whole story over the phone because he is staying in UAE. He told me that I can do anything to find them and talk to them, but he didn't mention that he'll help. I understanded he's feelings, maybe there's something that he doesn't wana do.
Anyway... I opened the internet and started searching for any clue that will help me find Yasmin Nabil Amer... or her mum Ingrid Amer...
To be honest, I didn't know how to spell their names, cause I didn't have any previous info. Is it Yasmine or Jasmin or Jasmine or Yasmeen...??? It was complicated and confusing, so I searched the facebook, mysapce, even friendster for days searching for my cousin... I even asked all my other cousins if they still have any contact with her even if rare. I knew I had to fulfill my promise.
Till one day, I told my friend Sara Zanaty :) that I'm flying to the US in next December to find them after I lost hope in finding them on Internet and that it would be an adventure :D
credits to her, she tried to help. and she told me to search them in the US yellow Pages database... and so I did, with the first try of the name Ingrid Amer..I found them, I remember before that she had a hair saloon, and when I saw it on the searh result.. I knew right away it was her. And by that, I took their address that was written underneath the name. and wrote a handwritten mail to them, telling them about the whole thing, confused: are they gonna read this, what if they think that I am after something else, what if they don't want to contact us anymore.. what if, what if... lots of ideas came rushing into my mind.. what if the address was wrong simply.. It would define a new stage. It will make the gap bigger between them and us. But I told myself what if they were waiting for this for so long/or short... what if uncle Nabil say was right, that they need us.. This mail would be a new begining to a new age..
"Forgetting the past and beiginnig from the scratch" was one of my lines that I wrote.. to build a new history between me and my cousin even if it was only us.
I enclosed the letter stamp; went to the post office, putted it into the mail box, and I was told that it will be delivered in min. 2 weeks.
That was two weeks before I leave returning back to UTP. during those 2 weeks, I wanted to remember her face and her age, and imagine how does she look like now.. I came to remeber the days when she visted us. when we "me and Tarek" were young, and we couldn't communicate cause she couldn't speak arabic & neither one of us can speak english or deutch.. But it was funny.
3 weeks later, I am sitting in my room, checking my email everyday, waiting for the brightstar that will show me her email... few days passed, I started to loose hope, and deny the dream, and wonder why did I do so.. And the "what if ?" questions came flooding again into my thoughts...
30/7/08 1:22 am, Luckily I was still awake because I am used to sleep late at night... I opened my email,hoplessly waiting, when I just saw her name in the inbox... WooooooooooooooooW
what a surprise!! I was so happy! so happy to the limit I can't decribe.. I read her emal and was relieved by it's content. And I called my father, and Sara Zanaty and told them..
Alhamdullah finally.
Later, me and Yasmin talked on skype about everything, and I got the chance to explain for her about why I did so, and that I was trying to find her for years but didn't get the courage to do so, only that the dream that made me do it.. Had a long talk about everything about me and her.. and I was happy doing so, and till now, I get happier when I talk to her.. Since then, we talk or chat on daily basis :)
Yasmine, if you are reading this.. I want to tell you that I loved you before and I love you now, and always my cousin.. daughter of my beloved Uncle... and congratz on your marriage, Can't wait to see :)

A Friend in need is a friend Indeed! UTPians Please help

Greetings to All,


On the 2nd of September a sad incident occurred to one of the international students in UTP, his name is MOHAMMED MOUNES SADEK. a door made of thick glass broke while he was near to it, unfortunately one big glass fracture hit his wrist and cut almost all the veins in it, thanks and praises to god he made a sugary and all the veins were re-attached successfully as the doctor said and hopefully his hand will be back to normal within two months.


the tragic part is that the operation costs 23,180.00 RM that is due by Monday (5/9/2011). and the insurance won't cover it, as we all know that this amount of money is too much


(if not impossible) to be paid by one student in this short period of time. Taking in consideration that MOUNES is the only undergraduate student from Syria in UTP.


if you happen to know MOHAMED MOUNES as a friend of yours it would make you sure that he is the type of guys who wouldn’t delay or reject helping others in their hard times. So now that this is his hard time, the ISC is calling all UTP students to help in completing the surgery’s cost.


written below is his personal CIMB account number for those who are willing to share any amount of money taking in consideration that any amount will be so much appreciated by god ,and mounes him self.


account no. : 08070001717200


Name in the card : Mohammed Mounes


Regards and be safe.

The Final before Internship

It is so much fun to know you are finally getting out of this ghetto for 7 months.
"Take a pause for the cause"
I feel like I am in a desert and the lake is just on the eye sight! Metaphorically! The desert is UTP, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS. Nowadays we're in the middle of our study week and the finals are close to the door, only a week ahead. The lake represents my life style I always dreamed of in Kuala Lumpur.


So, 1 more final exam to go and then off to apartment hunt in KL. It must have all the good criteria to be a project. We're calling it Project KL and will hash tag it later.


Starting 3 October I will change my occupation from just a student to a student working in one of the best anti-virus company's in the world! Which is F-Secure, Bangsar South, Kuala Lumpur office. A very good looking office btw.


As a Networker and a - getting to be a - PUA plus being an Intern in F-Secure. Project KL must poses many criteria's and characteristics. 


It must be:
1-Comfy, 2-home-like, 3-inviting, 4-a place that stays sit and drink and have fun with the owner, 5-meeting point, 6-a place for education, 7-a V-cell area, 8-PUA(s) lair, 9- open environment for all kinds of stuff, 10-Must have games PS or Xbox or something!10- A nice cozy bed(s), 11-Leather or pillow sofa, 12-LCD or TV, 13- A nice balcony view, 14-Food available all the time hmm Dominos


These are the basics, later will add some stuff that may enhance it better as my  lair ;)

I took a nap before I finished this blog post. It's time to have a shower and off to eat before studying! 


Wish me luck :)
xoxo

Dear blog I am sorry

Hello blog


I don't know what to say to you, I am so sorry I wasn't in touch for the past few months but I was always visiting and checking you out. You wana know how? Well I know you've had couple of visitors from Canada, USA, and amazingly New Zealand. I wish I can be a better owner than this, but I don't have much to say.


If it was another person, with a nice phone, I can always tweet and blog but I don't have that either.


I know you are in a pretty better place than me, while I am sitting here reading Malaysian studies lecture notes. You are sitting among your brothers and sisters in Google's lap and in the midst of Internet enthusiasts. My only wish is to fill you up with all the tags and internet hooks that will drive more attention to you buddy.


With love and care, your owner and master.
Mimo
xoxo

Picture of the day :D

Doesn't RayBan make you freakin cool ?

This semester RULES

I cant stop wondering that this semester is both glorious and doomed! Doomed in terms of academics nevertheless it's still ALOT better than last semester. And glorious in anything other than academics :D

I mean seriously, Egypt has been liberated from Mubark's regime, our people did the best revolution in the century, everyone was once again looking us in the eye as leader for most of the 3rd region countries and those who have dictator leaders at their home. It's great and I wish all countries will have the same feeling. feeling of freedom, feeling of knowing & deciding your future.

Furthermore, business couldn't go better, bit slow some times but still going well. And joined couple of business on the side, I want to be a millionaire and financially free by the age of 35.

Hold the Project Manager post of International Culture Night for the year 2011 version, you can read all about it below in previous post.

Love life, hmm.. well better than nothing.. I am known not to stick more than a month and here I am doing great and completing a whole semester :D a better version of mimo don't you think?

Thinking to start a series of my traveling experience! I want to document my outgoings, videos & pictures and maybe I'll make a book out of it one day if I traveled around the world. BTW one of my life long dreams is to buy a private jet, learn how to fly, and tour around the world with my wife.

So here we are, at the end of January 2011 semester! our first trisem experience.. hate it? I think it's too short, if only the subjects curriculum would be shorter it would be perfect.

My classmates and batch mates are going for internship but I decided to stay one semester behind to finish all the lagging & lame subject so that I can have free time in my final year. smart eh? :D

but seriously I will miss them a lot, I grew more to connect with those guys and I feel I belong with ICTians.. ICTians rocks :D and BIS too because well we were one team in foundy so I will give you this one.. but other courses suck :P I am sure they don't the same lovely spirit among them like we do. :)

One more paper left, Network Security, the subject that we rarely learned anything simply because our lecturer didn't show up much :D and I hold my prayers for everyone to score in the finals. remember ‎80% of the final exam will be based on the one lecture you missed and the one chapter you didn't read. true story.

Thank you for reading

Stay tunned.....