This weekend I got up to a bunch of little things here and there. I decided to check out the Cityscape-Doha exhibition to see what was up and coming in the world the Doha construction. Cityscape is a construction/developer exhibition that takes place in major Arabian cities throughout the year (I think Cityscape Dubai is the biggest one).
I went hoping to see proposals for new projects but instead saw projects that I knew about and that were already under construction: Barwa City, Al Waab City(pic 1), the Pearl, Doha Festival City(pic 2), and the Al Gharaffa Mall(pic 3).
Nothing really new, there wasn't even a display on the Lusail project or the Metro. A bit disappointing. There were of course other developers selling property in other countries like Oman, the UK, or Jordan but I didn't stop to look at any of those.
Since I wasn't there as long as I thought I would be I went from Cityscape to nearby Katara to have a quick wander around and see how it was coming along.
I walked along the shore and around the nearby buildings and happened to wander by a photography exhibition so I popped in to take a look. There were some fantastic photos of the Hajj pilgrimage that I really liked. Afterwards I stopped for a chapatti and karak before heading home.
Friday there was a dust storm so no wandering around outdoors. I did some errands and then decided for exercise to wander around Villagio Mall. I know, I know, Villagio Mall on a weekend night is a nightmare of crowds and no parking. Not sure what I was thinking, maybe because it was five o'clock I figured I would get there before most of the crowd. Wrong! Luckily just as I got in the parking lot a car left so I got a parking spot right away. I did three laps of the mall and had a coffee, as well as a low-cal dinner, before heading back.
I don't know what I'm going to do for exercise in the summer. Walking on a treadmill is really boring but trying to get to a mall is a real pain now. Qatar's population has almost doubled since I arrived here six years ago so parking is a nightmare and the malls are always heaving with people.
Saturday I wandered around trying to find a battery for my camera. Thanks to directions from a guy working the from the camera section of the department store I finally found the service center only to find it was closed for the weekend. It wasn't a total loss because my favorite breakfast place, J&G Sandwich Cellar, wasn't too far away so I went there for poached eggs on toast. Read in the newspaper there was Saluki racing the other day. Wish I'd known about that beforehand -- I'd have definitely gone.
Met up with a couple of buddies later and spent the evening at Souq Waqif. I'm pretty much a regular there now. Some of the waiters who stand out in front of the restaurants wave to me as I walk by.
Unfortunately it's so hot out now so it becomes a bit draining to wander around. Guess it'll be like this for the next five months so just got to put up with it.
3 comments:
Hey! Still loving the blog, I am a Canadian in Qatar as well. I saw you ar City Centre last week but was too shy to say hello. Maybe next time. :)
You don't need to be shy -- you wouldn't be the first person who's come up to me to mention my blog. It's happened a few times over the years.
You were with friends as well, I am pretty sure they were checking me out, lol!! Anyway, next time for sure. :)
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