drinks at the ramada

last thursday (has it been a week already?!?) i went with some coworkers for drinks at the ramada to kick off our weekend. qatar has really strict liquor laws and only expats are allowed to drink. the only places that can serve alcohol is hotels. to get in we had to show our passport with a valid visa, which they scanned and kept our photo in their file. when we arrived caitlin, jocelyn and i were pretty much the only females there. more came later and we noticed the trend of younger filipino ladies with older men. we all grabbed a corner booth and enjoyed the cover band. and the mojitos.

jocelyn, me & caitlyn

marcus, arthur & tp

we also had a good laugh over this lady's t-shirt:

unfortunately i couldn't get a picture (and not from a lack of trying!) but it said "who's your baghdaddy?" :)

shots from around doha

it has surprised me how my surroundings have never really felt foriegn to me, especially considering that i really had no clue what it would look like. when i stop to really take in what's around me it really does look a lot different than home. there is so much construction going on throughout the city and sections of vacant land that is just sand. in some parts there is some grass however when i saw workers rolling it up, i realized that some is actually astroturf! to give you an idea of what it's like here, here are some pictures i have taken from the car, mostly between my office and villagio.

my new house...

a much better view from the roof because at street level it's partially obstructed by the surrounding wall

 i wish! there is a door from the studio out onto part of the roof of our office building, which gives you a fantastic view of this house which is being built across the street. here are some other shots of the area i work in from the roof:

if you look closely, you can see the downtown skyline

we back onto a residential area

aspire zone

doha is made up of different areas and since they don't really use street signs, this is how you give directions and find your way around. the aspire area is where the villagio mall and aspire park are. it also has sports city, a huge recreational complex as well as aspire tower and khalifa stadium which will be used as the main stadium for the asian cup. here are some of my photos of these landmarks.

aspire tower & khalifa stadium - the ball with rings around it that you see in front of the stadium holds the flame from the asian games

khalifa stadium

aspire tower - that's a pool sticking out of the building!

my neighbourhood

i have come to realize how lucky i am to live where i do in doha. there are lots of shops and restaraunts within walking distance of my flat which as it turns out, isn't all that common. here are a few shots i took during my first day out. i will have to take some more next time i am out!

the store on the left with the yellow sign is the food palace where i have gone food shopping

this is the street my building is on, but this view is a few blocks from my place. on the left you might notice the pink sign of baskin robbins. it's within walking distance, but i haven't visited it... yet ;)

the corniche

the corniche is the waterfront park area in doha that has a wide walking path along it and is a popular spot for joggers. last friday, i checked out part of it before going to the museum of islamic art which is at one end of it. i went out on a point that had boat docks along it filled with realy interesting boats.

that's the museum in the background

from the end of the point, there was a view across the bay to the downtown area of doha.

the pyramid like building on the right is the sheraton hotel and that is where the corniche starts and runs to the left around the bay to where i was. i hope to get back to explore the rest of the corniche!

the souque wakif

this past friday i took advantage of my day off and one of the places i visited was the souque wakif. souque is the word for market here and the souque wakif is one of the oldest ones in the city. it has recently been rebuilt to look like its old self, but more structurally sound. there is a main road through it:

 along which there are many tourist and antique shops as well as cafes and shisha bars:

colourful shisha pipes

a few stores sold some really unique home decor pieces:

including these lights which i LOVED:

off topic - do you think it would work if i bought 3 or 5 in similar colours but of varying size and hung them in a cluster above my dining room table? i'm just waiting for mike to come to figure out if it could all get wired ok and then i'll bargain away!

so pretty!

beyond the main street are tons of back alleys filled with shops:

the qataris really love their flag

similar shops seemed to be grouped together and we saw stores selling everything from fabric, to perfumes to vacuums. one of the first sections we found was stores selling spices and candies:

they were all jam packed and like mini bulk barns. the most surprising section of the souque was the pet section:

this lady was buying herself some birds

there were all sorts of died chicks being sold as pets! (hot pink and bright yellow here)
i wonder if this is how the rooster ended up across the street?

amanda would have loved this section (ha!) - there were hundreds of bird cages filled with all sorts of birds. i found it really noisey and a bit overwhelming. caitlin and jocelyn loved it because they also sold kittens. they were all the super fluffy white ones like what you see in the toilet paper commercials.

we spent a few hours wandering the souque and didn't even get through it all. eventually we got hungry and so stopped for some fondue!

i'm very excited for the chocolate!

yum!

my green "cocktail" is a traditional drink that i've been introduced to: mint lemonade. it's so good! i really enjoyed wandering the souque and definitely want to go back before i leave.

qatari engrish

anyone for a faheta? how about a hot doog?

we stopped at a cafe the other day for lunch and this was the menu we were given. we didn't stay. :)

the grand joud or proof that i've tried local food

i don't think i've mentioned them yet, but i have two new girlfriends here in qatar! caitlin and jocelyn are both from ontario and work in the business side of the company that i am working for. they are friends from home and share a flat around the corner from mine. caitlin normally works out of the barrie office, but has come to be a project manager for the asian games and arrived two weeks before me. caitlin convinced jocelyn to move here and she arrived a few days after me to work as a controller on a one year contract. i am so glad that they are here as we have been having lots of fun discovering doha together.

tonight after work and a stop for groceries at mega mart, caitlin and i took jocelyn to the traditional restaurant we went to my first night here. i should be honest and say that we tried to go yesterday, but couldn't find it, got lost and ended up at chili's. today they got directions and so off we went to the grand joud:

the restaurant is on two floors and all the windows are sliding glass doors which open up.

jocelyn, caitlin & i

we ordered a bunch of dishes for us all to try and share. the first time we were here i was so happy to have caitlin with me, especially since i found out she's scared of weird food too :) tonight we decided that from now on jocelyn can be our taste tester and approve things for us. here's what we ordered:

bread, tabbouleh and grilled halloumi

the bread at the grand joud is so tasty with little bits of cinnamon in it. i really enjoy the tabbouleh salad, it has such a unique flavour. it's all very finely chopped and i think it has parsley, vinegar, lemon and a bit of mint in it. halloumi is the type of cheese that squeaks when you chew it, but very yummy.

under this mound of food is some chicken that has a really nice flavour, especially when dipped in the garlic mayo that comes with it. in the back is zaatar which was almost like a thin crust pizza covered with some combination of very mild herbs and sesame seeds. the colour was weird but i'm glad it tried it because it was really good!

views from my flat

the nice thing about being on the fourth floor (even though they call it 3 because the ground is considered 0 here) is that i have a bit of a view of the area around me. want to see?

straight out my window

to the right

to the left

across the street

 let's zoom in to that last picture and see what we find:

yup that's a rooster. i think he might be a bit confused as to when he's supposed to do his call because he usually starts around midnight and goes for a good part of the night. let's just say i wouldn't be sad if he became somebody's dinner anytime soon.