18 November 2011 (Friday)
7.30pm
Board flight EK0347. Watched the final part of HP before falling asleep. Dinner had yet to arrive despite us being up on the air for probably 2 hours already. When food finally came, the air hostess took forever to clear the tray. Bad service. We wondered if it was because we were sitting at the last row.
10.30pm
Arrived in DXB. 4 hours transit. Had to get to the lounge via bus. The weather was warm. As it was rather late, we were tired and decided to take a break at Costa. Bought a small mug of hot chocolate (AED16). Left for boarding at about 1.45pm only to discover that it was the last call! We made a dash for the bus to head to the plane. Phew.
19 November 2011 (Saturday)
2.30pm
Arrived in Doha Airport. RnL were already waiting for us. We quickly paid for our visa (QR100) before looking for our luggage. I was disappointed to discover that the handle was broken and the plastic cover of m y tsa lock also came off.
It was a happy reunion for us. We were taken back to RnL's apartment in West Bay in our rented Citroen Picasso*. R was kind enough to inform us that Qatar is on alert and that if things get messy in the Mideast, we will need to fly back, all together. And while we were in his 28th floor apartment, he told us that sometimes he get paranoid about living so high from ground as desert sands are actually not suited for high-rise building. Great information there.
We chatted for awhile and had the puff L made before retiring to bed.
*Throughout our stay, R kept making funny remarks bout the 7-seater - hand brake at the dashboard and non-existence horn.
6.00am
I was up as soon as the sky became bright. L was surprised to see me up so early as she was preparing to leave for work at 6.45am. She told me I can walk to the city centre mall if I am bored but I chose to have a slow breakfast while reading "History of Arab". It was actually fun to just relax.
Gradually, the rest woke up and joined me for breakfast. L made us scrambled eggs and baked beans. We merely hang around till L came back from work. Her work finishes at 2.30pm (gosh!).
We left for Souq Waqif for sight-seeing and dinner. A bought an abaya, costing QR125. I bought 2 bottles of perfume (QR 40 and QR50 post-discount) as well as 1kg cashew nuts, 500g salted pistachios, 500g raisins and 500g dried figs. It was really heavy. We also tried the local crepe. Then we had dinner at Altawash, a Qatari Restaurant. The food was really good. We ordered halloumi, my favourite! The chicken was amazingly tender.
After dinner, we went for dessert at a road side stall. I ordered strawberry juice which was so delicious that it reminded me of the juice I had in Japan years ago. We had fun watching the shoppers.
Back at the apartment, we spent the night watching "Hantu Bonceng" which was really a funny ghost story. I didn't manage to finish the movie as I was very tired. Woke up too late.
20 November 2011 (Sunday)
7.00am
Woke up at a later time. L made fried rice from the leftover we brought home yesterday. Yummy!
10ish
R finally woke up. We headed to Salam for brunch at Farggi. I had a waffle with ice-cream which cost QR30++. Nice but too pricey for me. At that point, I was quite kan cheong already. SK had arrived but we were still waiting for our food! R said no worries as it was gonna take her some time to go through immigration and get her luggage. He is really taking it easy.
2.30pm
SK! I was so happy to spot her from afar. She was trying to read a book while waiting for us. I ran out to gave her a hug. We took her back to the apartment to freshen up. Our next stop (or rather first stop with SK) was the Museum of Islamic Art. The architecture of the building was boxy in an interesting way.
For dinner, we headed to ... actually I can't remember where we had dinner :(
Back at the apartment, R treated us to another movie night - Dalam Botol. Even though I didn't stay on to watch the ending, I was intrigued enough to finish the movie the next morning since I woke up early. Shared the inflatable bed with SK after warning her not to kick me.
21 November 2011 (Monday)
The day to drive out of Doha to the desert and visit Fort Zubarah. I was excited as it was gonna be the first time we are stepping out of the city. R bought a GPS just to ensure we can get there. It was a long drive. 45 minutes to close to an hour. L made us sandwiches for lunch.
It was a rather warm day. The temperature was reaching 32 degrees. Unfortunately, we arrived at the fort only to find that it was closed for restoration till next April. We managed to take some photos inside and signed the guest book. R told us that there was probably excavation going on as he heard some Danish were staying there 24/7.
On the ride back, we saw some camels inside a truck. The whole lot of us got really excited and started snapping photos of the happy camels. Seriously cute. R found it amusing.
Our next stop was Simaisma, a beachfront suitable for picnicking. We spotted a car parked nearby but chose to ignore. A dog walked past and it was really skinny. I have never seen a sadder dog. R drove into the road leading to the sea for better view of the sea. The road got narrower as we moved to the end. When we wanted to drive out, A thought R was gonna reverse all the way back but he had other ideas. He was gonna do a 3-point. A nearly screamed in the car...hehe.
We dropped by R's previous apartment, which was an interesting slanting building, before going back to West Bay to pick up L. Lunch was at Foodruckers. We all decided that we had enough of Arabic food.
When we got back , everyone was really tired. SK retired to bed to rest. It was when I tried to wake her up that I realised she was sick. Gastric. Nevertheless, she insisted on going out. We left for Katara Cultural Village to have dessert.
22 November 2011 (Tuesday)
It was SK's last day with us. She was still feeling unwell.
We visited Sheikh Faisal Museum today. It was about half an hour away from city. Our guide was an Egyptian who has been living in Doha for more than 10 years. The Sheikh has a very interesting personal collection. The museum felt personal. One of the photo on display had our guide in it when he was very young.
At about 1pm, L called to check on SK. She wanted to remind us to take lunch (after yesterday's experience). We had corned beef sandwich (A made this) outside the museum. It was a nice windy day.
After lunch, we decided to visit Dukhan, the first oilfield in Doha. We met with a mini sandstorm on the way there. R said we were lucky. Too bad photography not allowed inside Dukhan. We had a short break in the McDonald outlet before leaving for our next stop - camel-racing track. It was fun seeing rows of camels taking their walk. Last stop for the day was Fort Zekreet where part of transformers was filmed. Unfortunately, we couldn't find it*. We were lost!
As SK was not well, we had a short dinner break at an Arabian restaurant. She could only take soup and nothing else.
* Later, we found out that the fort was too small that we couldn't spot it. We probably missed it.
23 November 2011 (Wednesday)
6.00am
I woke up early to send SK out. L dropped SK off at the airport which was near her workplace. The weather had turned colder. It was kinda sad to see her off.
We spent the morning sightseeing. Lunch was at W Hotel in a 3-star Michelin restaurant. R encouraged me to try the Gulf Fish - Hammour. Set lunch cost QR85. I chose the fried calamari for appetiser (amazingly juicy and filling), grilled hammour in tomato sauce (so-so only) and chocolate cake for dessert. The restaurant was really packed. Good thing we made reservation.
We spent time at the Mushreb Enrichment Centre which is housed inside a ship docked at the Gulf. R wanted to show us the project Dohaland. The idea was impressive - a place where the people can interact, enjoy family time and still admire the architecture of the Middle East.
We ended the day with dinner at a seafood restaurant inside the Katara Cultural Village. We had fun choosing the seafood. Well, actually L decided everything. I was only there to eat. The salad spread was good. It was just a basket of vege. I almost finished the whole capsicum by myself. The grilled hammour was good, much better than the 3-star Michelin dish. Goes to show that sometimes even the best can make mistake.
24 November 2011 (Thursday)
It was gonna be a cold day. Fearing the chill from the dessert, we rushed to the nearest shopping centre to do some quick shopping. I managed to get a nice fleece jacket with hood with 25% from Dehenham. I ended up paying about RM270 which was a pretty good price.
Lunch was at the food court. Cheapest I ever paid for meal since I arrived in Doha. When we got back to the apartment, L was in the midst of preparing lunch for us to take along to the desert. Our driver was to pick us up at 2pm but we were running late.
By the time we were ready, we were almost half an hour late. Our driver, Brooke (???), was from Ethiopia. Each of us had a backpack. L and R brought a trolley bag (for his projector), Scrabble set, mat and comforter. We also added a pack of mineral water bottles plus snacks. Think B found us amusing with so much carry-ons. After all, it was just one night.
I crawled into the back of the 4-wheel drive, took a motion sickness pill and fell asleep almost immediately. By the time I woke up, our vehicle had stopped. B was letting air out of the tyres. Dune bashing was about to start. Initially, I was quite worried but after awhile, I found the whole journey really exciting. The ride up and down was similar to riding a roller coaster but without as much impact. I guessed B really went gentle since L threatened to throw up. I wouldn't have minded a rougher ride. Some of the most of exciting part of the journey involved riding down the sand dunes which was certainly tilting more than 45 degrees. Apparently, if you had the front view, you can really feel the impact. I held on tight as I could feel myself flung left and right, up and down whenever B had to speed up to avoid getting trapped in the sand.
The sun was up when we arrived at the Inland Sea, a huge inlet surrounded by giant rolling sand dunes. The view was mesmerising. Who would have thought there could be a "sea" in the middle of the desert. At close to 4pm, we arrived at our camp. It was awfully modern, beyond my expectation. There were 4-5 camps, each complete with aircon (for use in summer), mattresses, cushions, table and sleeping bags! The toilets were really clean but without water. I almost fell back the first time I tried to use one as the toilet was slanting backward due to the uneven terrain it was set upon.
Outside the camp, there were rows and rows of picnic tables and chairs, shaded by huge umbrellas. We chose one and started eating the fried kuey teow L made. It was really, really delicious. I was not hungry yet I took a second helping. At about 5pm, the sun was setting. I went out too late to catch some good photos. I never knew the sun could go down so fast. It felt was if it was running.
The evening was long. There wasn't much we could do except to take photos and chit chat since we couldn't get the 2-pin plug for the projector into the switch. Dinner was bbq. Wasn't great but bearable. Another group joined us for dinner but they were not staying overnight. A bonfire was lighted near our camp. The heat could never quite get to us somehow. The silence of the night was penetrated by the sound of the generator while the peace of the darkness was broken by the lights from the oilfield some distance away. The beach
It was probably around 9pm when we got the projector running. We skipped Mr Popper's Penguins, skipped Captain America and settled on Horrible Bosses. Most of us fell asleep halfway due to the very dark environment. I was inclined to attribute it to bad scripting. The movie ended around 11pm. R refused to let us go to sleep. We sat round the bonfire to talk. R asked some psychological questions. We took turns to answer.
There was another group of people having a party nearby. When we went to sleep, they were still playing their music loudly. L marched out to tell them to turn down the volume as we were trying to sleep. The guys had the cheek to invite her to join them but she declined. It was a good thing they were decent people and turned down the volume after all.
At about 3pm, I was awoken by loud voices and music. Another group had came to our camp to party. I was hoping someone will tell them off*. I tried to go back to sleep but I was shivering no matter how I tried to curl up to warm myself. It took me ages to fall back to sleep.
At 5am, I was awoken by A. Time to wait for sunset, which came only half an hour later. It was nice to feel the morning breeze. I took the opportunity to stroke one of the camel but it kept on opening its mouth as if trying to get a bite of my hand. We left the camp at about 8.30am after a western breakfast.
As soon as we got back to the apartment, we took turns to shower. It felt like I had not clean myself for weeks. I was surprised L had the energy to go for her belly dancing class later. Towards lunch time, we squeezed ourselves into R's mustang to fetch her and another friend for meals at an Afghanistan restaurant. The food was surprisingly good.
That was the grand finale to our trip in Doha. Next stop - Dubai
* The next morning, R told us he tried to wake up to tell off the people but he couldn't. In fact, it took him half an hour trying to wake up in the morning. R commented that he could hear my voice from the camp next door.
25 November 2011 (Friday)
I woke up the earliest as usual. Our hotel room in Novotel was really nice. There were two baths and a toilet. We had a mini living room separating the sofa bed and the double bed. I spent some time channel-surfing while waiting for SW and A to wake up while having croissant I bought the day before from the Mall of the Emirates. Ended up watching "The Suite Life on Deck" on Disney channel.
Spent the day visiting Atlantis and a nearby mall. Took a cruise* and ended up soaked due to the strong wave. Ended up going back to the hotel early. Skipped watching the fountain show at Dubai Mall. Guess I don't really have much luck with the show since the last time I was in Dubai, there was technical error leading to the cancellation of the show.
* Met a Penang lady on the boat. She strike a conversation with us when she overheard us speaking in bahasa.
26 November 2011 (Saturday)
Final day in Dubai. Spent most of the time in Dubai Mall. I managed to finish reading the latest wimpy kid book in the bookstore while waiting for SW and A to do their shopping.
Largely an uneventful day. Glad to be going home soon.
