Thursday, June 30, 2016

Gokulam Park Hotel - iftar dinner review

It was not the first time that I visited that restaurant . We have been there before for affordable week day lunch some years ago .This is rather a small ,modern restaurant on the first floor .

 This time we arrived 5 minutes before the sunset . The place was already noisy by the guests ,  the tinkling cutlery , the  excited but moderate way people were chatting .

We were welcomed by the staff kindly and seated at our table I had booked before .

There was not long queue  at the buffet table as most people had already served themselves when we heard the adan .



I started with some spring rolls and kebbe . The first one was quite good but I did not like the kebbe . At least it was not good idea the break the fast with it .

Two kinds of soup was offered . The traditional lentil soup  and the Chinese sounding hot and sour soup ! I chose that one  and though it did not taste to me Chinese but it was so perfectly done that I had filled my tummy  with that dish . It was some finely chopped cabbage with chicken in a  spicy  consommé . Even home made rye bread was offered and  it went very well with the soup .
 That was the best part of that dinner .

"A wide range of salads to get your fill of veggies!" was the slogan in their ads .

The salad bar was disappointing . Some  stale looking vegetables ,canned  and fresh ones .Two kinds of dressing and   some  mutabbal . 
 They promised the following main courses : " biryani, Mediterranean lamb chops, fish tagine, palak paneer, a range of pastas, green moon dal tadka and so much more!"
 I found biryani , some dal ,vegetables au gratin , only one kind of pasta ,potato lyonnaise  . There was no palak panir ,no lamb chops . I had some shish tawook which was spiced in an unusual way but it was still good .Lyonnaise potatoe was also a pleasure but the mixed  veggies au gratin were full of undercooked hard green peas . Fish in lemon sauce was good but the fish itself must have been some cheap white fish .

 The dessert   table was rather poor - some tiny brownies ,umm ali , dried and fresh fruit . Small kids were standing by and taking some of them then putting them back to the trays . I was disgusted by and nobody supervised  them . I had some umm-ali and a coffee .
 What they promised was

 "desserts like pastries, rice kheer, umm ali, payasam, a selection of fresh cut fruits and more!"

No rice kheer ,only one kind of pastry , no payasam was available .

  The atmosphere was very much annoying . The crowded restaurant was full of noisy and trouble making kids . Expat Arabs and Pakistanis .One can forgive the kids for being noisy  but some parents were even noisier than their offsprings . Nobody supervised the buffet tables  and the parents did not supervise their little kids . It was free for children under five - so there were a  lots of small kids touching with their hands whatever they managed to reach ...
At the end of the dinner feeling bored they started to climb on dangerous places , drumming with cutlery , throwing things  into the fish tank .

I arrived with kids as well . My kids are not perfect ,either but there is a limit for everything . I was shocked to see how  much some parents ignore their kids' wrong doings .

 I felt sorry that I chose the cheapest iftar offer  I found nearby.Many things were promised but not  on the buffet table .Some details were good or excellent but all in all it was not a  great gourmet dinner .

                   


Wednesday, June 29, 2016

New Route of Qatar Airways - Marrakech

Monday, June 27, 2016

Five day Eid celebrations 2016 July

 theme ‘Capture Joy"  Eid festival 

Family  entertainment and activities : Malls
  what to expect ? daily shows in every mall listed bellow + shows on rotation= free entertainment

 Alice in Wonderland (City Center Doha),

 Sleeping Beauty (Dar Al Salam),

 The Little Mermaid (Ezdan Mall),

Snow White (Lagoona Mall),

Iftah Ya Simsim (Hyatt Plaza)

Dora’s Friendship Fiesta (Al Khor Mall)

 You can expect parades as well  between 5 and 10 pm - drummers, walkabout birds parades , Koka stilt walkers and live statues .

  There will be  extra shows on rotation in the above mentioned malls :  Doctor Bubble, Equilibrium on the Reels, Comedy Show, Tanoura Performance, Ardha Traditional Dance, Oriental Dabke and Kids Magician.

Al Rayyan Theatre in Souq Waqif  


" The Hunter and the Pirates” play for kids

between 4.30 and 6.30pm

ticket prices ranging from QR30 to QR300

Katara – the Cultural Village 





live entertainment from 6 30 pm

fireworks  at 9.30pm

Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani Museum 




free tours






horse riding sessions at the Al Samariyah Equestrian Centre

The Qatar Air Sports Committee 
aerial paragliding tours at Sealine Beach


  The Pearl-Qatar ,Aspire Zone will also offer Eid programs .

Aqua Park:    three-day event with various entertaining activities  like mascot show ,Balloon Twisters, Cultural Dancers, Oudtar Musicians, and other games for kids (such as painting and drawing).
from  July 6-8 T from  10am

Al Dosari Park, Shahaniya  Sculpture Art Exhibition
Second day of Eid onwards
 3.30pm - 7 pm

July in Qatar - what to expect

Sunday, June 26, 2016

Qatari Goodwill Ambassador, conquering the world’s top 7 summits!


 Who is Mohammed Al Thani ?   Moe Al Thani is  an entrepreneur, mountaineer, adventurous traveller, and a passionate photographer - he is the son of the former Emir of Qatar and Sheikha Moza .

 What is top 7 summits ? The Seven Summits are the highest mountains of each of the seven continents.


Saturday, June 25, 2016

Olive International School students and others on International Yoga Day






Loydence Ayurveda Physical Therapy Center on Yoga day

MUHAMMAD ALI: TRIBUTE TO A LEGEND exhibition coming soon


Competition for graphic designers video makers - Mawaheb



 Qatari citizens only ! For age group  22 - 35 years .

Thursday, June 23, 2016

Crime and punishment in Qatar - the motorist that crashed into a shop

The accident caused the death of one person ! Another one was seriously injured !
 The driver mixed up the pedals and pushed the accelerator instead of the brake .

 He has to pay 10 000 QR ( 2700 usd )  fine .

He has to pay blood money for the victims family ! 200 thousand QR (54919.46 )

 And his driving licence is suspended for one single month ! 

source


         

Katara exhibition

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

O- blood donors wanted



 Please call 4439 1081

Sunday, June 19, 2016

Turtle eggs hatching season started in Qatar


 the new born turtles will drift far far away and they will return exactly to the same place where they were born  - 44 years later ! the eggs of the turtles are considered to be aphrodisiac by many so  they are highly wanted .  there is a ban on collecting turtle eggs  - Qatar is protecting its  marine life this way



Friday, June 17, 2016

Garangao in Qatar -2016



Royal Plaza

When : 21st June
What time : from 8 pm to 10
What to expect : craft for kids , sweets ,henna , face painting ,stilt walker

_________________________

Ezdan Mall Garangao

 When : 24th June
 from 8pm to 11
 Vodaphone area

 What to expect : walk around the mall and search gifts
______________

Katara - Cultural Village Garangao

  When :19th June
 What time : from 8pm to 11 pm
 What to expect : walking around and collecting sweets
 starting point : between building 12 -16

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Zaman restaurant in the UK caused death of a customer

 I was shocked to read  about this case  which happened in the UK . It was about a certain Indian dish that had peanut in it . The customer who knew about his allergy always asked  about the dish if it contained peanut or not . For long time the same dish had been prepared with almond power . But the company switched to peanut from almond  and they  not only failed to inform their customer but they lied him . They told him that it was peanut free !

Now the restaurant owner got six year  jail term ! A 38 year old man dies of  anaphylactic shock !

 Just because he ate peanuts !
____________________

 Now , why  am I writing about all this ?

  This can happen here as well - I think !

 Some years ago when I collected information about gluten free restaurants in Qatar a fellow expat  told me  that some waiters think it is only a kind of snobbery  that she does not want to eat gluten .
 The  restaurants staff is simply not well trained . They want to sell as much as possible . They simply do not understand that gluten , peanuts etc . can be fatal  for those who have allergies . They are not evil just ignorant .

Eating out can be risky !

Allergies are more and more common in the world !

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Arabian Nights at Hyatt Plaza





When : from the 1 st to 20 of Ramadan ( it means from the 6 to 25 June )

What time : 8 pm to 10 pm

Where : Hyat Plaza gate 2

What to expect :

story telling
kids workshop
traditional games
shadow puppet shows

Friday, June 10, 2016

Muhammad Ali visits Qatar -1971




Here is an archive video from 1971 .Muhammad Ali ,the world famous boxer visits Qatar and we can see some minutes of fighting .It is from Rayyan tvs news .

Thursday, June 09, 2016

blood donation campaign today at Ezdan Mall

Wednesday, June 08, 2016

200 iftar boxes daily - numbers in Qatar

200 snack boxes will be distributed during Ramadan fasting month . It will be available at traffic lights . For the motorists who are still on the roads at sunset .
To avoid sunset rush and low blood sugar .Drive safe during Ramadan .

Ezdan Mall Ramadan activities for kids


When : every Friday from the 17th June
What time : from 8pm to 11 pm
Where : basement -Vodafone area
Activities :cooking classes , story telling ,craft,planting workshop

garangao 24th June


Saturday, June 04, 2016

tragic news from home and from here

When my mom was calling on Skype I turned down that call . Ringing me after 8 pm means something bad . My father death was announced this way some years ago . Now it was the turn of my dad's siblings I thought .
I was not strong enough to hear about the loss of my uncles or aunts .At least not that night .

It was only  the day after I contacted her . It was not  about my uncles or aunts . It was a 30 year old  young lady who happened to be  the daughter of an old friend of mine .Some kind of cancer killed her -she was preparing  to her wedding ....

It was terrible to hear . I was watching old photos . She was cheerfully dancing at a birthday party - I recalled as she was walking to  school with her violin at the age of five ...

I was ruminating over this news when I got a call . It was from the school of my child . First I believed that it was about the reservation fee that we failed to pay...

then the person who called me mentioned my son's teacher' name and that she must say something sad ... She passed away last night in her home ... How absurd it is ! First I was relieved that it was not about us  then slowly I understood what happened . My son's much beloved teacher /the most loved person in the school / the woman who just gave a book on my son's birthday / who just received some flowers from his pupils on teacher's day / the woman who was worried as much about my son's education as me /  who was not only a teacher but a highly educated exceptional person /the fairy godmother of my child is not with us anymore ...

 To make things worse the school did not give out any information about the cause of death and the circumstances .How to deal with the teacher's death ? How to deal with the fairy's death ?

This topic was that I searched hopelessly on the net ...

She was a lively -young person in her thirties  who almost never missed a day from school .We had no clue  about what went tragically wrong  that night .Until some days ago when a teacher  told us that it was a heart attack that killed her . I googled again to find out the likelihood of an African American woman dying in heart attack so young . What I found terrified me ! Between the age of 20 and 50 nearly the half of them are already have heart disease! They have 20 times higher risk than other ethnic groups to get a stroke or heart attack ...yes -junk food , too much salt kills them...

All those eateries should be closed down all over the world . I never thought that it was so harmful ! How many more tragedy must happen ? How many more little child will loose his fairy godmother ? How can we all let it happen at all ?

Thursday, June 02, 2016

Birds of Qatar

Death at workers accommodation

11 killed , 12 injured at the fire that broke out on Wednesday night in Abu Samra , Qatar . They were working on Salwa Tourism Project .Their nationality was not released .

 source 

Qatar Airways new Atlanta route re-ignites open skies debate



expat Qatar