2008 Dec-2009 Jan - Doha(Qatar)

Let me see. I think I flew off to Doha beginning of December to spend my summer holidays with family. I also got to see Doha for the first time. Doha is the capital city of Qatar and I think they do host a couple big events here from time to time. As a foreigner, we also have to respect the culture over there eg dress accordingly. We are not supposed to expose too much skin and yeah I understand that having growing up among variety of culture.

Some days, I stayed at home in the air-conditioning house. The gym was a minute walk from the house in the compound so I exercised daily. It was practically empty during mid-afternoons. Visited a couple of shopping malls while we were there too. They are huge and good to explore. I can't remember if I did lots of shopping though.

We also visited the sand dunes, I think it is about an hour and half drive away from where we were staying. Other than that, it was family time or catching up with other families to eat, either with the families living in the same residential compound or drive to the other residential compound where the other families lived.

I think visiting the middle east does open up my eyes a lot and made me appreciate things that I have which some others don't have.

Confusion

Seems like things have quieten down too. Or is it because I check the blog too much? Hmm.. could it be that the server was down and the internet going crazy at the moment around the world that everything just freezes? Maybe I should stick to offline mode more often.

I mentioned that Ivy went to watch Twilight  in city centre shopping mall. I browsed around the shops. Hmm.. mostly around the make up department. One of the salesgirl or should I say woman came up to me and ask if I was from the Phillippines or Indonesia and started showing me the liquid eye shadow colours. The brand is from Paris, so of course expensive, I tried to get away but she continued to show me more, thus flooding my hands with colours. Even he noticed them. Hahaha..

Managed to take a photo from inside the car when we were on our way back. It's not that nice, I know to take from inside the car but it's the least that I can do so you can see something, right?

Sneek peak

Finally, I can blog. Server has been down and the internet here is quite slow. Just today, news about why the internet was slow came out. Apparently, some cable wires underneath the sea was cut off because of a ship anchor. Internet is still going to be slow for the next few days.

I just thought I let u a sneek peek into what the souq in Qatar is like. =) There are more places to see, I should think but we just didn't walk for long. We all took pictures with the people who are in costumes and  those pretending not to move and also in costumes. Do I make sense? I think I don't. Hmm.. nevermind.

This lamp is really big and full of shiny 'diamonds'. Rub harder and you will get your wish come true. Hahaha..

Yesterday, the movie Twilight came out in Qatar. Yup, both sisters went to watch. Three siblings of the Fungs' family also went to watch. The adults and I just walked aroud the mall. I decided to save the money to buy something else. It cost about Riyals35 to watch a movie. So I thought I will just wait until the DVD comes out. =)

Souq + Beach

Monday mid-noon, the Fungs' family and us decided to go to the souq to see some sort of celebration. Then, we met other families friends as well and walked around, there were a few people dressing in costumes. Photos here.

I don't have to intro right?

Oh yea, I saw this oil lamp thingy and joked that I could get a wish from a genie. Hehehe.. =P Hmm.. what would I wish for?

Then, Tuesday morning, we went to the Sealine beach, South of Qatar. We were joined with another family. The kid, (actually he's not a kid, I think he's my age) is a childhood friend and has grown so tall. =)

It was so hot during the day and I think most of us were sun-burnt. We watched someone fishing and he actually caught a few fishes. It was awesome. =) Then, I think we sat down by the sane beside a tent, hiding from the sun for a while before heading back.

Yup, on our way back, we saw people and camels and decide to stop to watch. In the end, we went for a ride on the camels. It was an experience to sit on the camel though it is scary. It was actually quite high and I was holding on to the stick in front of Sherp even though she was sitting in front of me. I was actually trying to hold her instead of holding on to the stick when the camel stood upright, I couldn't move in case I fall. I was actually screaming, it wasn't that loud. Hmm.. maybe it was loud in Sherp's ears because my mouth was at her ear. Ooops.. hehehe.. Halfway, we started singing the song, Low so we wouldn't be scared. I think I was saying, when are we getting down. Yea, I think I was really scared in case I fall. I was telling myself, don't give up holding the stick otherwise I would fall.