150 more taxis to Doha

  The growing population  of Qatar needs more taxis .
  Al -Ijarah company is going to add 150 more taxis soon .


 which in my view is just a drop in the  sea

thousands more taxis needed in fact  with family friendly public buses

MIA Park Bazaar

When : November 2/ 2013 afternoon and evening
 Where : Museum of Islamic Art Park
Event : bazaar - anybody can sell his/her craft work /art /old books /secondhand clothes /home made dishes, cookies
At least that was the thing that I saw there in April  .
The tables are free but they must be booked .
Ask for more info here if you wish to sell  there:

 miaparkbazaar@qma.org.qa

Numbers in Qatar nearly one milliard dollar on art

1000 000 000 = one thousand million  USD is the estimated  sum that Qatar spends on buying  western and modern or contemporary art per year 


source

New Supermarket in the West - Bay

New Supermarket is opening in Qatar  today .Monoprix is a is a major French retail chain .
 Its  outlet will be in the West- Bay between the twin Palm Towers also near the Tornado Tower . Will they offer better  prices than Carrefour ?  The French community is puzzled to see if their favorite gourmet food will  have a more affordable price there than at the Carrefour .

A horrifying example  -   a jar of  pickled gerkins  by Amora  costs in the Carrefour 32 QR (almost € 6.5!) 

 What a luck that I find more reasonable priced pickles at the Megamart  !

 The  made in Sri-lanka pickles  in sweet-sour- hot marinade is my favorite one  there ! Very similar to the Hungarian ones .

 For more info on Monoprix  in Qatar just visit them on the Facebook !

  Update : they are open   from 8 to 10 daily  on Fridays there is prayer time break between 11 h30 and 12 
parking : more chance to find parking inside the office building after 5 pm and on holidays   

Camping Season is Here

and it is the time for the first Qatar Camping Expo

 When : today and tomorrow /24 -25 th October
 Time ; 4 -10pm
 venue : Doha Exhibition Center
 What to expect : all kinds of items related to camping, barbecues, picnics, outdoor sports

 Till April the weather is nice for outdoor activities in Qatar .Camping in the desert is very popular among locals and expats as well . As there is no village tourism in Qatar ( almost no villages ) - this is the way one escapes from the city's noise around here .

Desert Scene Post Card by almawad
More Desert Postcards

Football themed sculpture in Doha

Coup de Tete, a sculpture by Algerian artist Adel Abdessemed, which shows the infamous headbutt by French player Zinedine Zidane on Italian Marco Materazzi during the 2006 FIFA World Cup final, is on permanent display at the Doha Corniche.

You can not see many sculpture in Qatar .This is something new -and it represents a moment which is engraved into the memory of soccer loving people .
Thank you  Doha Stadium Plus for the photo .

UPDATE : I was really shocked when I read that this sculpture was taken away from the Corniche - as some Islamic scientist claimed that it is idol worshiping so  it is  Unislamic .

Reading the comments  of the above linked site I can feel that many football fans are dissapointed  - Muslims and Arabs . This was a symbolic moment of the Arabs - the victory / the ability to strike back . 

A British teacher murdered in Doha

It was a terrible spot on the Eid celebrations that shocked all the community  .A young British Girl aged 24 found dead in Doha -most probably murdered /raped -brought to a wrong house -as her last text message said .The official news are not very clear . The rumor says she was found near la Cigale garbage /other claim she was thrown into the desert .
Some speaks about a local ex-boyfriend who escaped to Saudi Arabia -and about other local guy who tried to save her by beating a taxi driver .
All that seems sure now that she went to a night club then left with two men then she was found dead .

A young most probably naive girl  - I know this age well .It must be very hard to live so far from the family and making right decisions when one feels lone  in a city .She made a mistake when returning home she got into a taxi with two men and the male driver and she payed a horrifying price for it . She will be missed by  her family and at her work .And it is  terrible feeling for everyone who has heart /who has a child to read about this homicide .
I hope that the one who did it will be caught and he will pay price too on his turn .I hope also that the night taxi drivers who harass female passengers will be found and punished .

 It was just less than a year ago that  another  teacher-  an American one - was murdered in her own home by an African security guard .

Murders used to be uncommon in Qatar , A decade ago there was one murder per year .Now it is higher most probably still low by international standards .But even so  One is too much !

The rules for the girls of  travelling by taxi /hitch-hike  Do Not Enter any car with more than one male in .

It happened to me in Qatar that a stupid taxi driver picked up an extra passenger -a man  - without asking my permission .I left the car at once .They did not look dangerous to me but I always keep myself to this rule .Better safe than sorry ,. Girls  listen to your mothers !

UPDATE  - the COURT hearing :
 two local men are the accused ones  -no names are given ,no jobs ,no age .. while  every small details about the victim is published .. how sad ....
 the killers must be punished
but who are they ? the society should be informed about their identity I think .

Police Line stickers by PizzaRiia
Create your own sticker online at Zazzle.


More details about the night when this  naive young woman was killed - friend of her Lea Monet tells about it



The trial of the murder started  - two Qatari men is accused of the murder - for more details about the court hearing  click  here .

Popular Arab singer dies at age 92

Lebanese singer Wadih al-Safi, dubbed "Frank Sinatra of Middle East", dies at 92 .He was called the Voice of Lebanon as well . Very popular all over the Arab world .

Logos Hope in Qatar - review

Visiting Logos Hope in Qatar

It was a nice trip on Friday afternoon to visit this floating library . It was not very difficult to find the right parking near the port .We had to buy tickets and entering a tent to show our ID card and being checked . Then we were told to get on the bus and with this free service we got to the port right to the ship .

Logos Hope is a nice big ship with the world's biggest floating library on board .At least that was the thing that they claim . I found nothing else than a medium sized library packed with not too many interesting books .We arrived here to spend money and hoped to find treasures but we did not .
Some books for the kids and a cook book and a book about home remedies .All that we bought .

I saw a lots of books for Christians .We met lovely young people who are working there . They were happy to chat with us .A UK girl even recognised our language " Ertem minden " = Understand everything -she told us in our language .

There was a cafe and small exhibition .

Doha looked beautiful through the round windows of the ship . The ice coffee was really good The Germans know how to do it .

It was a bit like we left Doha .

So we did not feel so sorry that we went .Though at the Jareer you will find more books I think .

Looking back to the ship there was only one question on my mind ; What 's for this big ship ? It must be terribly expensive .To bring some books that you can find anyway here ?To bring some books for the Christians ? Would not it be cheaper just to send those books ?
And the ship which is large - we saw only a very little part of it .????

Workers right in Qatar

Workers right  in Qatar

The international media is full with accusations that Qatar enslaves the laborers to build this country .Who is a slave ? According to Oxford dictionary a person who is the legal property of another and is forced to obey them .

What is the truth ?

So many Nepali died this year -and it is very sad .

Working in Qatar's heat is a demanding task . I would not love to do it . I would die I think . Workers arriving from very poor places are coming to this country happily .But many of them are unfit physically for this type of work .Many of them are arriving malnourished .

I know that they are happy to come . This might be their only chance to break out from the poverty .But there are people in their country those middle men who  exploit them .They are taking from them recruiting fees and they are forced to pay .This way they are in a trap .When they arrive then they see that the work is very hard and when they want to go back then they can not .They have huge debts at  home .

When an accident happens at the constructions the firm must stop with the work for two weeks .That is a big fine for them  - so the companies try their bests  to avoid accidents .

Many workers think that escaping from a badly payed job is the solution .They run away from their employers  with the hopes that they can find job as a "free-lancer' this way until caught they can collect more money .

Working in Qatar 's heat as a laborer is  very though .In summer they   are not allowed to work during the hottest hours and the employer must provide them a shelter where they can take rest .

I am happy to read that Qatar will boost the workers' rights .

First of all I think  they should set up recruiting agencies abroad to avoid the middle men system and thus the debt-trap .The companies who delay the wages should pay compensation for that delay .Those things would be great steps .

I hope that this will be just the first step and Western- European countries will launch  a campaign for workers rights in Europe itself .
 When going home to Hungary I often hear about forced labor /unpaid wages as well .

Qatargas Chess Championship for children

Qatargas Chess Championship 

for children in the age group of 6-14 years (open to all residents of Qatar from both genders)

Venue : Crowne Plaza Hotel ( Airport Road )

Date ;from October 24 to 26, 2013

Registration :at the Crown Plaza Hotel on October 24 from 4 pm onwards

What to expect : Valuable prizes  to the participants

 Annual championships  in the future

Chess Tees by Brandless
Browse other Real T-Shirts

Lady taxi drivers for ladies only

8004488 is the number that you can call in case that you  would like to book a taxi with female taxi driver  . They have got a flat fee of QR 30 .  Many women do not feel comfortable when they have to travel with a male driver  alone especially at night .This is a new service in Doha - hope it will work .

Male female ratio in Qatar is very bad   4 male and one female ... when you live in a society like that you feel better with other women .

We will have our letters and parcels delivered soon

I can't believe it ! After so many years of living without letters popping into  our mailbox  we will have the joy of  reading our mails instantly .We had to go to the main post office so far  to check out the  our post box  for what we had to pay annual fee . It was so hard .Though we do not leave far from there but the traffic jam is so terrible . Otherwise I like the main post office in Doha  - go and  visit it in case you have never been there .It has some retro atmosphere with fountain inside /cafe inside /exhibitions inside .And the information is written in exotic languages besides English and Arabic like  Hindi /Tamil  - or at least I found it exotic when I arrived at Doha more than a decade ago :)

This service is so much wanted . I do have relatives and even friends who do not use the internet  and  it is much easier to keep in touch with the snail mail ! Coming soon within some months !

Home delivery of mail to become reality soon