How to get rich in Qatar ? Bring new flavors !

I think there is a great demand on restaurants , bakeries bringing new flavors to Doha .There are a lots of places offering Arabic , Indian ,Pinoy   dishes and there are some Italian , French , Japanese places  and more .

But what about some more authentic Arab flavors ? Like the tiny fish -market restaurant with a great cook representing some coastal area from Egypt .I am sure that there are more exciting regional cuisines in the Arab world whose flavors did not arrive to Doha yet .

Affordable restaurants with Spanish ,Hungarian ,Creole dishes would be a great hit among the middle class expats  and the locals who love exotic new dishes .

If you want to establish a restaurant here  do not forget that local Arab people and many well-to-do  expats love eating quality dishes .many of them have their own cook at home  -and not only the super rich .
( a shocking conversation I heard at the hospital  while a patient was chatting with a lovely nurse " Sister what is your favorite cuisine ? Indian , Arabic , Chinese ? " " Oh I really like all of them -our cook at home is just wonderful ")

Besides  many of the local and expats travel a lot -so they have experience on the world cuisine .

Cheese platter with red grapes posters by almawad
Browse more Cheese Posters at Zazzle

Why I like Ezdan Mall

Ezdan Mall is a new Mall near Landmark mall in Gharaffa area in Doha .It belongs to the Ezdan Groups which had built residential buildings ,compounds in Qatar .

After the Villaggio Fire I became fed up with malls .
Last summer we managed to avoid them .This year  after returning to Doha we started to visit this New Mall .And as more and more shops and facilities opened I started to like it .
Why ? Ezdan Mall at first glance is just like the other malls .HIgh-end boutiques selling clothes /supermarket /Fun Ville ,Food Court /Cafes...Somehow it is still different from the other malls .
- It is new
-It has a lots of benches /sofas /armchairs to sit down free of charge
-Turkish restaurant Mado is coming soon with traditional Turkish breakfasts and more
- At Slitti cafe kids can  make their own hot chocolate - they are served some hot milk and a cube of chocolate in a stick .They just dip this piece of chocolate into the foaming milk and watch how the chocolate melts
- At Cerutti cafe one is given an ipad to see the menu
- At Tim Horton  the doughnut is closer to our Hungarian Fank  than the ones other doughnut places in Qatar
- Fun Ville is brand new place for kids to play /it is clean and new and fun
- M& Co offers not only clothes for kids and ladies but special sizes as well  -yes they think about short people -there is petite size and they think about real people and they offer plus size as well  within one place most of their designs are  very attractive as well
-Neal's Yard Remedies offers organic essential oils !

2022 World Cup and the International Media

While the news in Qatar media concentrates on the Eid festival which is bigger  ,longer and better organised than ever  - the international media is full of attacks against Qatar and its rights to organize the  Football World Cup in 2022 summer .

It is very dissapointing . Have you ever heard of a country being attacked so much after a decision ?

They say : Qatar is too hot and football stadiums can not be cooled
The truth  : Qatar has long decades of experience in cooling public places -whenever I go out in summer to a mall I take a cardigan for the kids as it is rather cold inside . Besides   Qatar s most important trade partner Japan is ready to contribute with their technological  innovations . I expect that the Qatari  petro-dollars and  the Japanese innovations will bring  really cool events ......

They say : Even if the stadiums are cooled  the entertainment areas can not be cooled
 The truth : Cooling streets is not something new  - this exists at  various parts of the world  but expect indoor events at large areas  and the entertainment is solved

They say : Qatar must have won by bribing
 The Truth : Nobody ever could come up with proofs

I am not Qatari and I am not working for  any official place here  .I am simply an expat here who is just saddened by the attacks of the international media .
The Asian Games were held in Qatar in 2006 . The international media forgets to mention that fact . The international media did not mention the event then .Middle East on the western media is worth to mention only when it is about war /bombs / crime .

TV News Junkie T-shirt by TVGnus
View News T-Shirts online at zazzle

Monte Carlo Circus will be performing to September 15

You still have nearly a month to go to the Circus with your kids .The shows are fabulous - they say .Acrobats ,clowns , jugglers and dogs show .Kids can be photographed with baby tigers .

Venue : Monte Carlo Circus  Tent  near Qatar Sport Club 
Time for daily shows  :6:30  for the first show
                                      9 pm for the second show



Tickets :QR 25 -150

Tiger Cub Twins Print by CuteCritters
Browse through more Posters, Art & Prints at Zazzle.com

Souq Waqif Festival - Some More Days the Show is on

The show will be on two more days

They start at 5 :30 - to 7:45 pm
                    8;30  - to10:30 pm

Somewhere near the Gold Souq

Tickets : Qr25   QR 100

It is such a  lovely place - the Souq Waqif .As one of my friend told me years ago "As you were not in Qatar " She meant as you were not in Qatar where buildings around you are destroyed to make room for another new ones - cars everywhere  -no respect for pedestrians .Why we love Souq Waqif so much ? Perhaps because of its quiet ,traditional atmosphere .Where we can sit outside the cafes and have some real Middle Eastern feel ? What do you think ?

Meteors Shower expected After Midnight

Soon after midnight - so within some minutes-  meteor shower  can be expected . If you find a dark place - away from the city lights you get better chances to see this celestial events .The Perseid meteors are going to fill the sky with fire balls ... Do not miss it !

Vintage image of meteor on fire shower posters by InovArtS
Browse for more artwork prints

Eid programs in Qatar August 2013

Malls are going to offer fabulous programs every evening and afternoon  City Center , Lagoona Mall ,Hyatt Plaza ,Landmark ,Villaggio Mall   - expect parade shows ,Angry Birds shows ,Zuma -Zuma ,Rola -Rola  ,Snow White shows   rotated between these places
 from 8 Aug to 17  starting at 2 pm

Katara is going to have fire works displays ,laser show with water fountains and music  - every evening from the 8th of August to 11th of August from 7:30 to 10:30 pm

Museum of Islamic ART will be closed till the second day of the Eid

Aqua Park -  5 day Eidventure  - games ,fire dancers , DJ -s ,face painting ,balloon twisters an more

 Doha Exhibition Cente -  Wanasa Entertainment City , 150 shopping stands ,shows ,games

Souq Waqif From 9 to 14 August 2013, 
 Eid festival with  children's theatre ,soap field ,acrobatic shows ,carnival atmosphere

death and birth in the news

Death  : the 27 year old football player who just arrived a month ago from Ecuador died suddenly due to a stomach problem - he had some strong stomach pain first then he developed peritonitis and died .Shocking news  - but things like that happen all over the world .

Birth : the couple who lost their triplets in the Villaggio Fire  14 months ago -got twins  ... I was very happy to read that .They had enough energy  and courage to restart their lives .I hope that  the daily routine of two babies will fill their lives with pleasure and help to heal those terrible wounds that the loss of three toddlers cut into their soul .

Why nobody is ready to save the QAWS

 QAWS is the Qatar Animal Welfare society .

 I read the letters asking for money -asking for help ...but nobody seems to be ready to help
 No answer from this rich country . I wonder why .

 I have got my own reasons why I do not give them a riyal .

1 .   Whenever we called them that we found a lost pet -  they simply could not help .

2 . I only support no kill shelters - here they put down the sick animals - as in most of the shelters they do here

3 . They had all their  animals killed when a fire - due to a short circuit -broke out and they simply could not put it out ... so many animals died a terrible death ... after this I simply felt that  animals are better off  without them .

 These  are my reasons . But what are the reasons of the others ? I wish  they let the cat out  of the cages . That is not welfare for them at all .

Kitty Scream Poster by donnabellas
Look at The scream Posters online at Zazzle.com

Barney and Friends Show in Doha

Barney and friends live show coming to The Gate Mall 

Location: The Gate mall, West Bay Doha
First floor, Multipurpose Hall


Dates: 29th of July to 10th of August

Time of the shows

 during Ramadan 

Show #1: 9 PM 

Show #2: 10 PM

Show #3: 11 PM

during Eid

 

Show #1: 12PM

Show #2: 4 PM

Show #3: 7 PM

Show #4: 9 PM

Tickets : no need  -it is free

 It is a half -an -hour show  -mainly singing together popular songs . To have a chair and good view to the stage needs to arrive half an hour before the show .Popcorn ,pancake ,cotton candy on sale .

Sports and Ramadan 2013

 Did you know ?

 Aspire Dome can be used as a walking venue every day in Ramadan from 3:30pm to 5:30pm and 8pm to 11pm.

source

Garangao festival at Katara 2013 - review

It is always nice to walk around the Katara .  Last night  even the weather was nicer than usually . Not so  hot and humid as we were walking among  the buildings  with a  bag collecting sweets and nuts .

As we arrived to the first station of gift collecting  there was a big pushing  crowd made up of adults rather than kids . I was shocked  to see  that  wealthy looking people were ready to  go so low for  obtaining some free nuts and sweets .

 The organizers were scared themselves and they escaped back to a building behind them and locked the  doors .

  I think only kids  should be allowed to go for the gifts and they should have  waited in lines for their turn . It is clear like sun  that people  around  here should be trained  on  how to  form  lines  and wait in lines .

So it was a  suitable occasion to train my kids about it . We did not  join the pushing crowd . We walked on and soon we found another gift collecting  point with a few kids only . After they got their gifts and they wished to have a look at  them and  taste them .

So we sat at  the Karak  &Chapati restaurant and we were relaxing .We were served fast . That was something new there .

 After that I wished to see the exhibitions around us : we saw calligpraphy inspired paintings /antique Qu'ran exhibition and photo exhibition of the Qatar Photographic Society .

 Unexpected  , we got  a box of sweets there and a free professional quality photo of  our kids with Garangao baskets .That was so nice of them ! We did not even have to push in a crowd as only few people came into see the exhibition .

 A lots of pretty traditional  Qatari / other Arab folk costumes that the kids were wearing made this event more colorful . The dunes by the Katara were enlightened by star and crescent shaped lights .

All in all it was a nice experience ...

Squidoo let us down

    The woes  of an online  writer        From time to time I used to  edit /write pages at Squidoo . I heard  something that they are cracking down on spam / duplicate content etc . so I was not worried at all . I do not spam  -my pages are original and if they want less ads from our part - they can tell how many affiliate links were allowed .I can  reedit the page and that  is it .

then I got this  from them " A large number of "nofollowed" links pointing to this lens were found. Avoid linking from blogs or forums where links are nofollowed due to high rates of spam.

Because of the large number of suspicious inbound links on this lens we're locking it. Unfortunately there's no way to fix this problem so the lens will remain locked.

The best advice we can give about suspicious inbound links is to avoid linking from places like forums or blog comments where untrusted links are typically "nofollowed" due to high rates of spam.  "

 Large number of links  pointing to this site ! So far we were advised to leave few links at forums /blogs . Now they say it is not OK  .They close our pages .If I let some links  then they were not spam at all  - they all were related themed and only a few . Now it is called spam by them and our hard work is wasted .

It takes time to write /edit and update and promote those pages . It takes only a minute to delete them .

 Squidoo is in trouble . They lost their high Google ranks with the new algorythm of that big search engine  and they want to get it back .

 I can understand that they want to get rid of the spammy pages  but they are locking and deleting pages which were much praised previously by them .

 Now they write about my pages  "This lens appears to be too commercial, or otherwise low quality "

These lens are personal and original and full of practical information . They gave 100 % on it and wrote on it "Way to go pal !"  plus from time to time they got"blessed by an angel "   by their reviewing system . Now they are thrown out .

I made some money by earning commissions by my 
pages Ieft hundreds of dollars for them  -for they can use it  for charirty . Now they will not get that money . They  cause headache for me  but I will move on to other page where I can set up pages  with clear rules .Plus if any money is made by those pages they do not ask me to leave it with them 'for charity " .

 All of this happened to thousands of online writers . Squidoo you let us down !


Oops! No publishing allowed. This lens is currently locked for a violation of our Terms of Service, as per the email we sent you. You're welcome to a) Grab your content and take it elsewhere, if you'd rather not continue with Squidoo or b) Review your content and make edits here in the Workshop to improve the lens. But you won't be able to Publish the lens live until you can demonstrate that the violation has been addressed. Thanks.


 They say for pages which got 100 % score from them and Way  to go Pal !   Now it is called not original . This is about my own childhood  and my stories .

Marte Deborah Dalelv ordeal - raped ,sentenced , pardoned in Dubai

This story really made me feel sick .There was a young women from Norway ,Marte Deborah Dalelv working  for Al Mana Interiors  ,who was in Dubai for business meeting .She was raped by a co-worker . Then she was sentenced  for 16 months  jail while the attacker  only for 13 months .

 Now she was pardonned . As she had done something wrong .Pardonned !

What is the message of such stories ?  Shut up if you are raped ! Do not report it ! What a great news for sex offenders !

 I feel I must  quote a person who posted his advice in Dohanews

"Always keep your embassy emergency number on you. Thinking contacting the police or lets contact the local who knows people first is a mistake. When it's something very serious contact your embassy.

Keep in mind, in most places police are more keen on getting rid of you and your problem rather than helping you. In Dubai especially. This may have been their fifth rape case of the night. You hear of horror stories in happening Dubai. For them it is easier if they make both parties agree on conceptual sex then investigate a rape. They file a report and let the courts handle it and onto the filing the next report"

Garangao Night in Qatar 2013

As every year Garangao is celebrated in mid-Ramadan in Qatar . That will be the 23rd of July .

You can go to the Katara /Aspire park tent/Royal Plaza?City Center /Ezdan Mall /Landmark /Heritage Village to find activities and entertainment for children .

At the Katara you can show your kids some exhibitions as well .You can have some ice cream /cheap chapati and karak .Actually  they are expecting  thousands of visitors with handicraft corner, old traditional games,puppet theatre, reading corner, art workshop, short story writing . They start the programs at 7 pm with a concert  then a lots of activities will take place at building 12. At the Aspire tent various sport activities competitions /games are in focus .
At the Royal plaza kids can meet cartoon characters . Local children go from house to house of their relatives chanting rhymes and collecting sweets . Rarely other kids do the same -some years ago we had some African kids coming and chanting . We had some sweets for them and some small change .Nowadays they do not come .

Be careful when you let your kids out ! I saw at the weekend a little child rushed to the emergency -after playing outside /running and jumping too much in the heat . My kids were also exhausted -it is difficult to tell them that you should do only moderate activities when they are indoors for most of the time .

Qatar and helium

Helium  - you know this noble gas used for balloons and airships .Qatar has a lots of it as a byproduct of natural gas production .The second plant of helium production was launched some days ago and thus Qatar became the second most important helium producer in the world .
Besides inflating balloons  it is used in rockets /missile /nuclear power plants etc .

Helium Gas Storage: 1923 Posters by Photoblog
Browse more Helium Posters

Ramadan - Iftar competition

Would you like to win iftar dinner in a luxury hotel in Doha ? This Ramadan 11 hotel offers  free iftar for the winners  and some hotels offer more than  a meal for two . To enter the competition all you have to do is to answer a simple question about Ramadan /Iftar customs .

If you like dreaming and winning click here for more details . You can read which hotels are participating in the game . While browsing them you can find out about luxurious iftar dinners in town and their prices .At some hotel children up to 12 eat for free  -  in other ones  children bellow 6 do so .

numbers in Qatar 200 billion

200 billion US dollars planned to be spent  for soccer World Cup in 2022

2 million people lives in Qatar

out of them only 225 .000 are Qatari


source http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2013/07/11/why-qatar-is-spending-200-billion-on-soccer/

Ramadan started

 Ramadan started in Qatar ... It is very hot  and not drinking the whole day is a challenging thing .
 If you are not fasting remember that public eating and drinking is not allowed here during the fasting hours . Even if you suffer from a condition .

Many poor people eat for free for a whole month . Not only Muslims  but poor people of any faith are provided dinners in the evenings . These are usually excellent meals cooked at rich people's private kitchens .

After  sunset eating is allowed . Restaurants become overcrowded . If you wish to have dinner at a less crowded place then plan you dinner two hours after the sunset .

MY kids questions after returning from summer holidays

Mom - why can we find taxi so easily in Hungary and why is it so difficult in Qatar ,in the richest country in the world ?

Mom -  how comes that Budapest looks so wonderful and well organized full of taxis ,trams , buses ,trolleys when Hungary is a poor country compared to Qatar ?

Well , sweetie money does not buy everything  .

Many people in Hungary work for very little money but they still perform wonderfully though they feel that the  little salary they get is unjust .This is their country and they love it  - they give their experience  knowledge time for a country they love .

In Qatar most of the workers are coming from abroad .This is not their country they are not promised anything just the salary .

Mom -why   are there so many affordable summer camps in Hungary and why summer camps are sooooooooo expensive in Qatar ?

 They might expect the millionaires' kids  mainly ....