Well the Olympics are over but it looks like a least one athlete has been reading my blog. Here I was saying that Taekwondo was kind of dull so the Cuban tae kwon do champ Angel Matos decided to liven things up a bit by kicking the referee in the head! Shame I missed that. Anyway he's been banned from the sport for life, can't say I blame the IOC for that call -- what referee would be willing to oversee a match with Matos after that.
With all the Olympics stuff going on I missed a really good story involving critical thinking. This has to do with that Bigfoot scam that happened in the States, where a couple of guys froze a gorilla suit in a block of ice and claimed it was Bigfoot. Even some major media outlets were reporting on it. Shock of all shocks, thanks to the media hype they sold the "body" to some pro-Bigfoot people for some undisclosed sum and by the time the buyer managed to thaw it out and discover it was a rubber suit the guys had skipped town.
I kind of feel bad for the buyer as they obviously let their enthusiasm for Bigfoot override their caution. When someone announces that they have found an hereto undiscovered new species of 7 foot primate that had been roaming North America without us discovering it until now verify it before putting money down.
So what do I think of Bigfoot? Sorry all you Bigfoot enthusiasts out there but I cannot believe that a species as large as Bigfoot, which apparently roams North America from Alaska all the way down to Alabama, could have escaped being captured and studied by now. How can a species with that big of range have escaped detection all these years?
Anyway for those of you are interested in such things Google the word "cryptozoology". This is about researching legendary animals, though I think most of those people are a little out there. Bigfoot, yeti, the Loch Ness monster, and so forth, there are people still trying to find them.
In local news the big stories are a Qatari student in the UK who was beaten to death by a gang, and a road rage incident in Qatar where one of the drivers pulled a gun and started shooting at the other car, causing an accident which killed the other driver. (Both drivers were Qataris) The gun incident is kind of concerning as that is the first time, that I know of, that has happened here. The guy with the gun is now in serious trouble of course but even if he had not killed anyone or shot the gun he was facing good jail time. Qatar takes unregistered guns very seriously, it was only a couple weeks ago that another Qatari had his car searched by the police where they discovered an unregistered rifle and some ammo. The guy got three years in prison! Ouch. That is some serious gun control laws.
Finally, a piece of trivia that you may have seen in the papers recently. The Collins Dictionary company recently announced what they believe is the most misspelled word in the English language. The result?
Supersede
Because it is not spelt "supercede". Collins believes we get it wrong because we are used to words like "precede" and "intercede". I was surprised because I definitely would have spelt it with a "c". I surveyed six people in the office and five of them thought it was spelt with a "c" and the sixth wasn't sure if it could be spelt either way. Oxford dictionary agrees with Collins. One of my co-workers suggested that maybe "supercede" is an acceptable North American spelling. If anyone has an American or Canadian dictionary who can verify it, please let me know.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
Birthday wishes
My niece's birthday was yesterday (at least it was yesterday my time, because she lives 11 time zones west of here it shouldn't be yesterday where she is) Happy birthday Karis!
Hopefully Mommy and Daddy took her out to a playground or somewhere else fun and then went home for cake! Or maybe stayed home and played, and then had cake! Anyway, hope you have (had?) a great day Karis, and cake. *kiss*
Hopefully Mommy and Daddy took her out to a playground or somewhere else fun and then went home for cake! Or maybe stayed home and played, and then had cake! Anyway, hope you have (had?) a great day Karis, and cake. *kiss*
More on Olympics
Apparently Canada has in the last four or five days acquired a nice haul of medals, which should at least allay fears that we were not going to win any. Of course Australia has a lot more so I'm sure there will be more moaning by Canadians once the initial rush has calmed down and the Olympics are over. Whatever.
I do like watching the Olympics possibly because it gives you the chance to see all sorts of sports that I would never usually see. So here is my take on some of the sports I had been watching:
Rowing -- pretty interesting to follow, races do not take a lot of time and they are usually quite close which adds to the excitement.
Volleyball -- decent amount of action, sometimes good drama, but I find the matches sometimes take too long
Boxing -- to me Olympic boxing is not as exciting as watching regular boxing (you know, 10 to 15 rounds, usually ends in a knockout). Knockouts are rare Olympic boxing and they do not fight many rounds.
Taekwondo -- not that exciting to watch unfortunately. A lot of time is spent with the fighters just moving a bit back and forth waiting for their opportunity.
Diving -- interesting for perhaps about 20 minutes then gets repetitive. I couldn't get caught up in the excitement.
Athletics -- I like watching it, even the more obscure ones like polevaulting. Except for speed walking, which I just find bizarre.
Gymnastics -- a lot of people really like watching it but I find myself kind of neutral about it, doesn't really grab me.
Water Polo -- actually not that bad. I happened to turn the TV on when one match was starting (Greece versus Germany) and watched the entire match. It will not be replacing hockey or soccer any time soon though.
Handball -- I don't really get it, rather watch water polo or basketball
Basketball -- the games featuring the United States have not been all that great because the US has been stomping over every opponent. Basketball is at its best when the game is close. I will still try to watch the gold medal game though.
Equestrian -- believe it or not I actually watched a large portion of the team competition and found it interesting. But I must confess it was interesting only in that I wanted to see just how badly some riders were going to screw this up. One horse refused to jump over a water hazard, and another almost managed to throw his rider. One horse seemed to make a career out of just crashing through the gates, which I found quite amusing. I also amused by how the Saudis had one "his Royal Highness" on the team (one of the hundreds of Saudi princes I assume) and he was the worst one on the team.
So enjoy the last few days of the Olympics, I'll try the catch what I can.
I do like watching the Olympics possibly because it gives you the chance to see all sorts of sports that I would never usually see. So here is my take on some of the sports I had been watching:
Rowing -- pretty interesting to follow, races do not take a lot of time and they are usually quite close which adds to the excitement.
Volleyball -- decent amount of action, sometimes good drama, but I find the matches sometimes take too long
Boxing -- to me Olympic boxing is not as exciting as watching regular boxing (you know, 10 to 15 rounds, usually ends in a knockout). Knockouts are rare Olympic boxing and they do not fight many rounds.
Taekwondo -- not that exciting to watch unfortunately. A lot of time is spent with the fighters just moving a bit back and forth waiting for their opportunity.
Diving -- interesting for perhaps about 20 minutes then gets repetitive. I couldn't get caught up in the excitement.
Athletics -- I like watching it, even the more obscure ones like polevaulting. Except for speed walking, which I just find bizarre.
Gymnastics -- a lot of people really like watching it but I find myself kind of neutral about it, doesn't really grab me.
Water Polo -- actually not that bad. I happened to turn the TV on when one match was starting (Greece versus Germany) and watched the entire match. It will not be replacing hockey or soccer any time soon though.
Handball -- I don't really get it, rather watch water polo or basketball
Basketball -- the games featuring the United States have not been all that great because the US has been stomping over every opponent. Basketball is at its best when the game is close. I will still try to watch the gold medal game though.
Equestrian -- believe it or not I actually watched a large portion of the team competition and found it interesting. But I must confess it was interesting only in that I wanted to see just how badly some riders were going to screw this up. One horse refused to jump over a water hazard, and another almost managed to throw his rider. One horse seemed to make a career out of just crashing through the gates, which I found quite amusing. I also amused by how the Saudis had one "his Royal Highness" on the team (one of the hundreds of Saudi princes I assume) and he was the worst one on the team.
So enjoy the last few days of the Olympics, I'll try the catch what I can.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Canada and the Olympics
So it is day number eight of the Olympics and I woke up this morning to see that Canada still had zero medals. [Update: by this afternoon we had 3 but I'm still going to rant anyway]. Now I know that Canada has never been a major Summer Olympics nation but even this was a little surprising to me as it usually doesn't take us eight days to get medals. Not surprising to me however was the inevitable news articles and editorials in Canada griping about our Olympics performance. So why wasn't I surprised?
Because this happens every Summer Olympics!
Canadians always seemed shocked when we don't wind up with 40+ medals so we start going through the excuses, the handwringing, the appeals to our politicians and sporting authorities to explain what happened, the angry letters to the editor. Comparisons to Australia are inevitably made. Comparisons to countries in the developing world who managed to get medals are inevitably made. And then one month later we forget about all that because it is time for hockey to start. Four years later the cycle will begin anew. As far as I can tell moaning about the Summer Olympics is a Canadian tradition.
So, in true Canadian-Olympic spirit, here are my gripes about the whole process:
1) Stop the comparisons with Australia
Yes, Canada and Australia have similar levels of wealth. Yes, both countries are large, sparsely-populated “Western” nations. Yes, men in both countries like to wrestle wild and dangerous animals (Australians: crocs, Canadians: Revenue Canada lawyers) but there is one key difference -- Australians happen to like some sports that offer a lot of medals, such as swimming, whereas we like sports that don't offer a lot of medals, such as hockey and curling. It is that simple. The most medals a country can win in hockey is 2. The most medals at country can win in curling is 2. The most medals a country can possibly win in swimming is probably something like 10,000 or so. That's just the way it is. If it bothers you that much that Australia has big Summer Olympics medals tallies than petition the IOC to include all of the NHL's Skills Competition events as separate medal items in the Winter Olympics. While you're at it, ask them to include relay versions of those same events. Canada will then triple its Winter Olympics medal tallies and you can sleep smugly.
2) The other 46 months between Olympics
One article I read really hit it on the head when they noted that we don't seem to care about almost any of the Summer Olympics events or the athletes competing in them for the 46 months between Summer Olympics. Only when the Olympics are upon us are we suddenly concerned with our rowers, wrestlers, gymnasts, and swimmers and demand that they perform and get medals. Is this really fair?
Why are we heaping these expectations upon them now? If we haven't been following gymnastics for these last four years it seems a little unfair to suddenly become concerned about our athletes performance in Beijing. While we spent 46 months ignoring the athletes they continued to train and compete, representing their country in the sports they loved. They certainly couldn't have been doing it for the money, and probably 98% of them are never recognized by people when they walk down the street. Local television usually doesn't even bother broadcasting their events because they know Canadians would rather watch something else. And a major endorsement deal is highly unlikely. So we don't embrace them for 46 months, then for two months demand medals. If I were a Canadian athlete slugging it out for four years in obscurity, then suddenly asked why I'm not in the top three, I'd be tempted to tell these people demanding medals where to go. Maybe Canadians should stop looking at medal counts and look at how they placed compared to expectations. Winding up in fifth place at an Olympics is pretty awesome when you are only ranked number 20 or so in the world. Yet for many of these athletes such achievements go unnoticed.
3) Stop the comparisons with developing countries
Whenever we start comparing our medal count to some country in the developing world the underlying implication is that only money gets medals. The worst offenders are those that state something along the lines of “EVEN country XYZ has medals” with country XYZ inevitably being either war-torn, destitute, in Africa, or all of the above.
Many Olympic events do not require a lot of technology or money to train athletes in. Athletics, boxing, weightlifting, in sports like these any country has the potential to create gifted competitors, and in many of these countries sporting success is the only hope these athletes have of earning a reasonable amount of money to support their families. So they train, and train hard. Their countrymen support them. I attended the weightlifting at the Asian Games the place was packed with Iranians, Arabs and people from other nationalities, who were loudly cheering for the athletes, many times chanting their names. Can you name one Canadian weightlifter? And many times these athletes are successful and rightfully earn Olympic medals. Good for them! Money doesn't mean everything in sport so stop acting too shocked when someone from a poor nation can actually outcompete “Western” athletes in some events.
In fact the Olympic events that annoy me are those that basically exclude the Developing World because of the costs involved to either participate in it, or to train people to excel at it. Could someone explain to me how most developing nations could have even a chance of competing in something like equestrian events? Or sailing? As far as I'm concerned the IOC should consider getting rid of most of these high-tech, high-expense events and focus on those that countries of any economic level have a realistic chance to participate in.
Okay rant over, time for me to go back and watch the Olympic coverage.
Because this happens every Summer Olympics!
Canadians always seemed shocked when we don't wind up with 40+ medals so we start going through the excuses, the handwringing, the appeals to our politicians and sporting authorities to explain what happened, the angry letters to the editor. Comparisons to Australia are inevitably made. Comparisons to countries in the developing world who managed to get medals are inevitably made. And then one month later we forget about all that because it is time for hockey to start. Four years later the cycle will begin anew. As far as I can tell moaning about the Summer Olympics is a Canadian tradition.
So, in true Canadian-Olympic spirit, here are my gripes about the whole process:
1) Stop the comparisons with Australia
Yes, Canada and Australia have similar levels of wealth. Yes, both countries are large, sparsely-populated “Western” nations. Yes, men in both countries like to wrestle wild and dangerous animals (Australians: crocs, Canadians: Revenue Canada lawyers) but there is one key difference -- Australians happen to like some sports that offer a lot of medals, such as swimming, whereas we like sports that don't offer a lot of medals, such as hockey and curling. It is that simple. The most medals a country can win in hockey is 2. The most medals at country can win in curling is 2. The most medals a country can possibly win in swimming is probably something like 10,000 or so. That's just the way it is. If it bothers you that much that Australia has big Summer Olympics medals tallies than petition the IOC to include all of the NHL's Skills Competition events as separate medal items in the Winter Olympics. While you're at it, ask them to include relay versions of those same events. Canada will then triple its Winter Olympics medal tallies and you can sleep smugly.
2) The other 46 months between Olympics
One article I read really hit it on the head when they noted that we don't seem to care about almost any of the Summer Olympics events or the athletes competing in them for the 46 months between Summer Olympics. Only when the Olympics are upon us are we suddenly concerned with our rowers, wrestlers, gymnasts, and swimmers and demand that they perform and get medals. Is this really fair?
Why are we heaping these expectations upon them now? If we haven't been following gymnastics for these last four years it seems a little unfair to suddenly become concerned about our athletes performance in Beijing. While we spent 46 months ignoring the athletes they continued to train and compete, representing their country in the sports they loved. They certainly couldn't have been doing it for the money, and probably 98% of them are never recognized by people when they walk down the street. Local television usually doesn't even bother broadcasting their events because they know Canadians would rather watch something else. And a major endorsement deal is highly unlikely. So we don't embrace them for 46 months, then for two months demand medals. If I were a Canadian athlete slugging it out for four years in obscurity, then suddenly asked why I'm not in the top three, I'd be tempted to tell these people demanding medals where to go. Maybe Canadians should stop looking at medal counts and look at how they placed compared to expectations. Winding up in fifth place at an Olympics is pretty awesome when you are only ranked number 20 or so in the world. Yet for many of these athletes such achievements go unnoticed.
3) Stop the comparisons with developing countries
Whenever we start comparing our medal count to some country in the developing world the underlying implication is that only money gets medals. The worst offenders are those that state something along the lines of “EVEN country XYZ has medals” with country XYZ inevitably being either war-torn, destitute, in Africa, or all of the above.
Many Olympic events do not require a lot of technology or money to train athletes in. Athletics, boxing, weightlifting, in sports like these any country has the potential to create gifted competitors, and in many of these countries sporting success is the only hope these athletes have of earning a reasonable amount of money to support their families. So they train, and train hard. Their countrymen support them. I attended the weightlifting at the Asian Games the place was packed with Iranians, Arabs and people from other nationalities, who were loudly cheering for the athletes, many times chanting their names. Can you name one Canadian weightlifter? And many times these athletes are successful and rightfully earn Olympic medals. Good for them! Money doesn't mean everything in sport so stop acting too shocked when someone from a poor nation can actually outcompete “Western” athletes in some events.
In fact the Olympic events that annoy me are those that basically exclude the Developing World because of the costs involved to either participate in it, or to train people to excel at it. Could someone explain to me how most developing nations could have even a chance of competing in something like equestrian events? Or sailing? As far as I'm concerned the IOC should consider getting rid of most of these high-tech, high-expense events and focus on those that countries of any economic level have a realistic chance to participate in.
Okay rant over, time for me to go back and watch the Olympic coverage.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Coinage
Coming back from my vacation I had a bit of coinage with me from the various countries that I've visited and immediately put it in my "coin drawer" and then realised that there were a lot of coins in there. So what do I have?
-- $1.36 Canadian, including two fifty-cent pieces (any Canadian remember those?)
-- £2.25
-- 500 Bahraini fils
-- 11.80 Euro (Christ that's a lot, better remember to bring it with me next time I am in Europe)
-- 1.60 Hong Kong dollars
-- 2 UAE dinar
-- 22 Czech crowns
-- 0.25 Caymanian dollar (where did that come from? I've never even been to the Cayman Islands)
-- 22 pence from the Isle of Man
-- 0.10 Turkish lira
-- 1.50 Macau dollars
-- $.40 of convertible Cuban peso (in Cuba this currency had a value on par with the US dollar but is worthless anywhere else)
-- unidentifiable coin, has "20" on one side and "confederatio Helvetica" on the other. I don't think it is Turkish.
-- unidentifiable coin, has the number "1" on one side and some sort of Oriental script on it which I think is Chinese. Maybe some kind of Chinese penny?
While I'm in the drawer I may as well list a few "souvenir bills" that I have kept over the years:
-- 10 million Zimbabwe dollars (was only worth about $.30 when I got it and the bill expires on June 30, 2008 so is worthless now)
-- 1 punt note from the Central bank of Ireland
-- a US two dollar bill
And of course I have some Canadian, US, British, Bahraini, UAE, and Euro notes for spending when I am next in those countries.
Looking back at all of this I now realise that different currencies are annoying. I think the Europeans have the right idea by trying to harmonise to just one currency. The Gulf countries may do the same in 2010 and have just one Gulf currency. Fine by me.
-- $1.36 Canadian, including two fifty-cent pieces (any Canadian remember those?)
-- £2.25
-- 500 Bahraini fils
-- 11.80 Euro (Christ that's a lot, better remember to bring it with me next time I am in Europe)
-- 1.60 Hong Kong dollars
-- 2 UAE dinar
-- 22 Czech crowns
-- 0.25 Caymanian dollar (where did that come from? I've never even been to the Cayman Islands)
-- 22 pence from the Isle of Man
-- 0.10 Turkish lira
-- 1.50 Macau dollars
-- $.40 of convertible Cuban peso (in Cuba this currency had a value on par with the US dollar but is worthless anywhere else)
-- unidentifiable coin, has "20" on one side and "confederatio Helvetica" on the other. I don't think it is Turkish.
-- unidentifiable coin, has the number "1" on one side and some sort of Oriental script on it which I think is Chinese. Maybe some kind of Chinese penny?
While I'm in the drawer I may as well list a few "souvenir bills" that I have kept over the years:
-- 10 million Zimbabwe dollars (was only worth about $.30 when I got it and the bill expires on June 30, 2008 so is worthless now)
-- 1 punt note from the Central bank of Ireland
-- a US two dollar bill
And of course I have some Canadian, US, British, Bahraini, UAE, and Euro notes for spending when I am next in those countries.
Looking back at all of this I now realise that different currencies are annoying. I think the Europeans have the right idea by trying to harmonise to just one currency. The Gulf countries may do the same in 2010 and have just one Gulf currency. Fine by me.
Saturday, August 09, 2008
I'm back
Okay -- I'm back!
Where have I been? On vacation in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and even a day trip to Vienna.
For those of you on my e-album list I'm starting to get all the pictures together to put into albums but it is going to take me a bit of time. Between my friend Zuzana and myself we had over 900 pictures. I'm thinking of splitting it up into three e-albums (of about 50-100 pics each, I'm not going to use them all) so that it is more manageable. Just be patient, 900 pictures is a lot to sort through.
So instead of going into detail about the trip I think I will use this post to discuss things that I experienced that can not be explained in pictures:
-- the Slovak and Czech languages, while they use the Latin alphabet, have of course different syllable stresses than English and certain letter combinations are pronounced differently then you would instinctively do in English. As a result I became very good at pronouncing most Slovak/Czech words that I saw incorrectly. I did improve a little as time went on but it is funny how as soon as you start reading a word it is very difficult to "override" your instinct for how it is pronounced in your native language. My friend explained that in Slovak the letters only have one sound, which makes it even less complicated than English where letters like 'c' or 'g' could be pronounced in different ways, but I never could quite get a handle on it.
-- beer is reasonably priced, in many cases the same price as a soda. I've never been to many places in the world where a beer was about the same price as a cola. Outside of the big cities a pint of beer was usually around US $1.30-$1.50. And Czezh/Slovak beers are quite nice too. I quickly learned that "pivo" means beer.
-- for you nondrinkers the cola of choice is not Coke or Pepsi but a local one called Kofola. In some restaurants it is even available on tap, much like draft beer. While it is very popular in Slovakia and the Czech Republic my friend told me she had never seen it anywhere else.
-- the border between Austria and Slovakia is open and you do not even have to stop your vehicle when crossing the border. Quite a change from when Slovakia was in the "Iron Curtain" and Austria was in the "West", and that was what, 20 years ago? It is sad to think that it was not so long ago that people could be arrested or even killed crossing that border.
-- The highway road quality is generally better in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The main highway from Prague to Brno (the second-largest city in the Czech Republic) was rough and bumpy while the moment that highway crossed into Slovakia it became a lot smoother. Unless the Czech Republic do some serious roadworks that highway is going to be a real mess in about three to four years.
-- in the Czech language "Prague" is actually spelt and pronounced "Praha". That kind of surprised me as I had no idea why English would convert Praha into Prague (why would English add a 'g'?). A Czech friend of mine figured that English took it from the German who also pronounce it "Prag". Perhaps to get even while we use "Vienna" in Austria the city's name is actually spelt "Wien". Bear this in mind if you're ever on a road trip through Czech Republic and Austria because if you start looking for road signs pointing you to "Prague" or "Vienna" you will not find them.
That is it for now, if I think of anything else I will post it. The e-albums should start arriving within the next week or so.
Where have I been? On vacation in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and even a day trip to Vienna.
For those of you on my e-album list I'm starting to get all the pictures together to put into albums but it is going to take me a bit of time. Between my friend Zuzana and myself we had over 900 pictures. I'm thinking of splitting it up into three e-albums (of about 50-100 pics each, I'm not going to use them all) so that it is more manageable. Just be patient, 900 pictures is a lot to sort through.
So instead of going into detail about the trip I think I will use this post to discuss things that I experienced that can not be explained in pictures:
-- the Slovak and Czech languages, while they use the Latin alphabet, have of course different syllable stresses than English and certain letter combinations are pronounced differently then you would instinctively do in English. As a result I became very good at pronouncing most Slovak/Czech words that I saw incorrectly. I did improve a little as time went on but it is funny how as soon as you start reading a word it is very difficult to "override" your instinct for how it is pronounced in your native language. My friend explained that in Slovak the letters only have one sound, which makes it even less complicated than English where letters like 'c' or 'g' could be pronounced in different ways, but I never could quite get a handle on it.
-- beer is reasonably priced, in many cases the same price as a soda. I've never been to many places in the world where a beer was about the same price as a cola. Outside of the big cities a pint of beer was usually around US $1.30-$1.50. And Czezh/Slovak beers are quite nice too. I quickly learned that "pivo" means beer.
-- for you nondrinkers the cola of choice is not Coke or Pepsi but a local one called Kofola. In some restaurants it is even available on tap, much like draft beer. While it is very popular in Slovakia and the Czech Republic my friend told me she had never seen it anywhere else.
-- the border between Austria and Slovakia is open and you do not even have to stop your vehicle when crossing the border. Quite a change from when Slovakia was in the "Iron Curtain" and Austria was in the "West", and that was what, 20 years ago? It is sad to think that it was not so long ago that people could be arrested or even killed crossing that border.
-- The highway road quality is generally better in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The main highway from Prague to Brno (the second-largest city in the Czech Republic) was rough and bumpy while the moment that highway crossed into Slovakia it became a lot smoother. Unless the Czech Republic do some serious roadworks that highway is going to be a real mess in about three to four years.
-- in the Czech language "Prague" is actually spelt and pronounced "Praha". That kind of surprised me as I had no idea why English would convert Praha into Prague (why would English add a 'g'?). A Czech friend of mine figured that English took it from the German who also pronounce it "Prag". Perhaps to get even while we use "Vienna" in Austria the city's name is actually spelt "Wien". Bear this in mind if you're ever on a road trip through Czech Republic and Austria because if you start looking for road signs pointing you to "Prague" or "Vienna" you will not find them.
That is it for now, if I think of anything else I will post it. The e-albums should start arriving within the next week or so.
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Oman
So I just got back from a five-day trip to Oman. It was a business trip that was only going to take two days but I loved my visit to Oman last year so I took some time off and extended the trip. My two colleagues who attended the business meetings with me did the same.
This time we really lucked out, the business hotels were offering rates of around $250 a night but one of my colleagues knew someone who worked at the Shangri-La resort there (one of the nicest resorts in Oman) and found out that they were having a special that was cheaper than the business hotels. So I booked myself four nights at the Shangri-La resort and had an awesome time. I won't get into the details of the amenities, if you're really interested you can look it up yourself online. Needless to say the only hotel I have ever stayed in that compares to it is the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi.
The organisation that we were meeting in Muscat were really gracious hosts. Despite the fact that we weren't even meeting them until the fourth day of my trip they provided us with a car and driver the whole time to take us around the city and into the countryside. We went down to the Souq in Muttrah one evening, where my colleagues and I went shopping for various Omani goods. Oman is historically famous for its silver jewellery and silversmithing so one of my colleagues picked up some silver jewellery for his wife, while another one of my colleagues started pricing out traditional Omani daggers. The daggers are not cheap, a real one generally costs around $500-$800, but it was interesting to look at them. My colleague plans to come back to Muscat with his wife later in the year so he will probably purchase a dagger then. He has to be careful though as some of the daggers have handles made of rhino horn so would likely be illegal to transport to the West. We also purchased some frankincense (Oman is where frankincense comes from) as well is a traditional Omani dessert called halwa. Halwa is difficult to describe, it is somewhat like a sticky pudding made with various items like sugar, dates, and rosewater. During our meetings our hosts also provided us with halwa to snack on so it is apparently a popular food in Oman.
On Sunday we did a day trip to the old capital Niswa to see the old fort there as well as visit the Al-hudda caves, one of the largest cave systems in Oman. Considering that Niswa is approximately 200 km away from Muscat it was really nice for our hosts to have provided a car and driver to take us all the way there and back. The trip didn't take as long as I expected as the driver was averaging around 150 km/hr the entire way, as is typical of highway driving in the Middle East. We visited the fort and toured the museum there. It was hot, around 40°, but as we were in the interior it was a dry heat as opposed to the humidity on the coast so it was bearable as long as you had some water with you. We then went to the caves which were not very busy as summer was the off-season. So my colleagues, the driver and I had our own guide to give us a tour around the caves. The caves were only 25°, which at first was quite refreshing, but it was quite humid in there so after a while it felt quite muggy. I think in the cave we walked close to 1 km so we were sweaty by the time we were done. At the end of the tour we were actually glad to be back out in the dry heat! It was a nice cave though and even had a lake with blind cave fish in it. Turned out that guide has a brother who is studying at the University of Toronto and he hoped to visit him one day in the winter so that he could see snow. I told him that winter in Canada is definitely an experience but that if he gets the chance to go Toronto to really prepare himself for the cold weather. Somehow I don't think most Arabs adequately prepare themselves for -20°.
As was typical of my first trip there Oman was clean and the people generally friendly, much more so than in other countries in the Middle East. I am sure I will go back there again for a vacation. Maybe next summer I will go to Salalah in the aouth, Omanis have told me that in July and August it is actually quite pleasant there as it is one of the only places in the Arabian peninsula that gets rain during the summer, helping to keep it cool. Hopefully I will find out myself.
This time we really lucked out, the business hotels were offering rates of around $250 a night but one of my colleagues knew someone who worked at the Shangri-La resort there (one of the nicest resorts in Oman) and found out that they were having a special that was cheaper than the business hotels. So I booked myself four nights at the Shangri-La resort and had an awesome time. I won't get into the details of the amenities, if you're really interested you can look it up yourself online. Needless to say the only hotel I have ever stayed in that compares to it is the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi.
The organisation that we were meeting in Muscat were really gracious hosts. Despite the fact that we weren't even meeting them until the fourth day of my trip they provided us with a car and driver the whole time to take us around the city and into the countryside. We went down to the Souq in Muttrah one evening, where my colleagues and I went shopping for various Omani goods. Oman is historically famous for its silver jewellery and silversmithing so one of my colleagues picked up some silver jewellery for his wife, while another one of my colleagues started pricing out traditional Omani daggers. The daggers are not cheap, a real one generally costs around $500-$800, but it was interesting to look at them. My colleague plans to come back to Muscat with his wife later in the year so he will probably purchase a dagger then. He has to be careful though as some of the daggers have handles made of rhino horn so would likely be illegal to transport to the West. We also purchased some frankincense (Oman is where frankincense comes from) as well is a traditional Omani dessert called halwa. Halwa is difficult to describe, it is somewhat like a sticky pudding made with various items like sugar, dates, and rosewater. During our meetings our hosts also provided us with halwa to snack on so it is apparently a popular food in Oman.
On Sunday we did a day trip to the old capital Niswa to see the old fort there as well as visit the Al-hudda caves, one of the largest cave systems in Oman. Considering that Niswa is approximately 200 km away from Muscat it was really nice for our hosts to have provided a car and driver to take us all the way there and back. The trip didn't take as long as I expected as the driver was averaging around 150 km/hr the entire way, as is typical of highway driving in the Middle East. We visited the fort and toured the museum there. It was hot, around 40°, but as we were in the interior it was a dry heat as opposed to the humidity on the coast so it was bearable as long as you had some water with you. We then went to the caves which were not very busy as summer was the off-season. So my colleagues, the driver and I had our own guide to give us a tour around the caves. The caves were only 25°, which at first was quite refreshing, but it was quite humid in there so after a while it felt quite muggy. I think in the cave we walked close to 1 km so we were sweaty by the time we were done. At the end of the tour we were actually glad to be back out in the dry heat! It was a nice cave though and even had a lake with blind cave fish in it. Turned out that guide has a brother who is studying at the University of Toronto and he hoped to visit him one day in the winter so that he could see snow. I told him that winter in Canada is definitely an experience but that if he gets the chance to go Toronto to really prepare himself for the cold weather. Somehow I don't think most Arabs adequately prepare themselves for -20°.
As was typical of my first trip there Oman was clean and the people generally friendly, much more so than in other countries in the Middle East. I am sure I will go back there again for a vacation. Maybe next summer I will go to Salalah in the aouth, Omanis have told me that in July and August it is actually quite pleasant there as it is one of the only places in the Arabian peninsula that gets rain during the summer, helping to keep it cool. Hopefully I will find out myself.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Travel, parties and Turkish soccer
Got back from a business trip in the United Arab Emirates on Thursday night. Was there for three days: one day into Abu Dhabi, two days in Dubai. The trip went smoothly enough but it was dusty much like the rest of the region. Took a taxi to get from Abu Dhabi to Dubai (about 160 km) which took us through all of the major developments in Dubai -- it is incredible to see just how much construction and development there is been in Dubai last few years. Tower after tower of residential and commercial development, and most of these buildings were an average 50 to 60 stories tall. Make Doha look like a minor construction zone. Traffic was bad as usual.
A coworker of mine is moving to Dubai soon and was looking at real estate prices. Two-bedroom apartments were sitting in the range of 2.6 million to 4.2 million dirham (~$720,000 to $1.15 million US). Isn't that crazy? How can people afford to live there with prices like that for an apartment? And yet people keep talking like the prices are going to go up 20 to 30% a year. I see it more as a team of hot potato -- speculators buy the apartments, flip it to someone else, who flips it to someone else when the prices have gone up enough, but eventually someone will get stuck holding the apartment when the price corrects itself and goes down.
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On Saturday night I hosted a small dinner party for some friends. It always seemed that I was eating over at other peoples places and never returning the favor so it was high time that I hosted an event myself. What made it slightly challenging is that some of my guests are vegetarian, two of them are vegan, and I am generally a lousy cook! So I planned ahead about a month in advance began experimenting with vegetarian chili recipes. It seemed like a decent way to go as you just add various vegetables and spices to a boiling pot of water and let simmer (and I was pretty sure I couldn't screw that up). Have crackers, cheese, chips and grapes for starter snacks, ice cream, strawberries and cherries for dessert, and you have a well-rounded all-vegetarian and mostly vegan meal. Friends of mine brought over a blender so we could make mango juice with freshly picked mint, which was really nice in the summer heat. Overall I'd say that went pretty good. It went so well that my friend’s 92-year-old mother-in-law told me that if she were a bit younger she’d make a play for me since I'm such a good cook. (cheeky lady! And what is a bit younger -- 75?)
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So did anyone catch that Turkey versus Croatia soccer game the other day? I watched it with my friend Serdar (a Turk, natch) and his family. What a crazy game! After the last shot at the end everyone was going absolutely nuts! If you don't know when talking about look up the game in online news. The entire country of Turkey must have partied all night.
A coworker of mine is moving to Dubai soon and was looking at real estate prices. Two-bedroom apartments were sitting in the range of 2.6 million to 4.2 million dirham (~$720,000 to $1.15 million US). Isn't that crazy? How can people afford to live there with prices like that for an apartment? And yet people keep talking like the prices are going to go up 20 to 30% a year. I see it more as a team of hot potato -- speculators buy the apartments, flip it to someone else, who flips it to someone else when the prices have gone up enough, but eventually someone will get stuck holding the apartment when the price corrects itself and goes down.
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On Saturday night I hosted a small dinner party for some friends. It always seemed that I was eating over at other peoples places and never returning the favor so it was high time that I hosted an event myself. What made it slightly challenging is that some of my guests are vegetarian, two of them are vegan, and I am generally a lousy cook! So I planned ahead about a month in advance began experimenting with vegetarian chili recipes. It seemed like a decent way to go as you just add various vegetables and spices to a boiling pot of water and let simmer (and I was pretty sure I couldn't screw that up). Have crackers, cheese, chips and grapes for starter snacks, ice cream, strawberries and cherries for dessert, and you have a well-rounded all-vegetarian and mostly vegan meal. Friends of mine brought over a blender so we could make mango juice with freshly picked mint, which was really nice in the summer heat. Overall I'd say that went pretty good. It went so well that my friend’s 92-year-old mother-in-law told me that if she were a bit younger she’d make a play for me since I'm such a good cook. (cheeky lady! And what is a bit younger -- 75?)
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So did anyone catch that Turkey versus Croatia soccer game the other day? I watched it with my friend Serdar (a Turk, natch) and his family. What a crazy game! After the last shot at the end everyone was going absolutely nuts! If you don't know when talking about look up the game in online news. The entire country of Turkey must have partied all night.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Olympics results - and vacation plans
So Doha did not make the shortlist for the Olympic Games. The IOC decided to shortlist 4 cities and Rio Chicago Madrid and Tokyo made the list. Shame. I'm still not sure why exactly they did not make the shortlist, I suppose that information will be forthcoming over the next few weeks. It looks like Qatar is big on hosting some major event -- a newspaper article mentioned that Doha might try to place a bid for the 2018 World Cup. Uh, I'm not sure if they have the infrastructure necessary to host an event like that, that requires having a lot of very large soccer stadiums.
My friend Byrun wants Rio to get the Olympics. I'd have to agree, it would be nice if South America could host the Olympics for once.
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Speaking of which, a friend Byrun has moved from Vancouver to Saskatoon to continue in university (so I guess I better update the link on the site for the new city). Good luck Byrun!
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Weather here has been a "cool" 40°, mostly because of all the dust is being blown around blocking out the sunlight. Weather reports noted that there's been a shamal wind in the last three or four days that has been kicking up a lot of dust from the deserts. I thought that shamal was an Arabic word referring to a specific type of weather phenomenon only to find out from my Qatari colleagues that shamal simply means "north". So, it looks like a north wind is kicking up a lot of dust.
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Summer vacation is almost booked! Looks like at the end of July I will be going to Slovakia and the Czech Republic for a couple weeks to visit some Czech and Slovak friends that I met in Bermuda. Initial plans are to go to Bratislava, Prague, Perdubice, and tour some of the Slovak countryside. Maybe I will even have time for a couple of days in Vienna. It should be a lot of fun.
My friend Byrun wants Rio to get the Olympics. I'd have to agree, it would be nice if South America could host the Olympics for once.
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Speaking of which, a friend Byrun has moved from Vancouver to Saskatoon to continue in university (so I guess I better update the link on the site for the new city). Good luck Byrun!
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Weather here has been a "cool" 40°, mostly because of all the dust is being blown around blocking out the sunlight. Weather reports noted that there's been a shamal wind in the last three or four days that has been kicking up a lot of dust from the deserts. I thought that shamal was an Arabic word referring to a specific type of weather phenomenon only to find out from my Qatari colleagues that shamal simply means "north". So, it looks like a north wind is kicking up a lot of dust.
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Summer vacation is almost booked! Looks like at the end of July I will be going to Slovakia and the Czech Republic for a couple weeks to visit some Czech and Slovak friends that I met in Bermuda. Initial plans are to go to Bratislava, Prague, Perdubice, and tour some of the Slovak countryside. Maybe I will even have time for a couple of days in Vienna. It should be a lot of fun.
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Olympics!
So tonight is it very important announcement for the country of Qatar -- the international Olympic Committee will be announcing a short list of candidates for the 2016 Olympics. Doha is one of the seven candidate cities vying for the 2016 Olympics (I think be others are Baku, Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, Madrid, Prague, and Tokyo) and tonight the IOC shortlists it down to four or five.
I hope Doha does make it onto the shortlist because it will be a key step to hosting the Olympics. Now I don't mean the 2016 Olympics, personally I don't think Doha realistically has a shot at that. But before any Qatari reading this gets all bent out of shape I have two reasons why I don't think they will get it:
1) almost no city ever gets awarded the Olympics on their first bid (in fact I was always under the assumption that no city gets it on the first bid, but it may have happened in the past such as Atlanta -- I haven't researched it though)
2) from a geographic perspective it is unlikely that the games will return to a country in Asia this quickly. The 2008 games are about to start in China, the 2012 games are in Europe. It seems unlikely to me that the 2016 games are going to go back to Asia to a first-bid city with a population of less than one million people.
My personal bet is on it going to one of the Americas.
So why am I hopeful that Doha makes it onto the shortlist? Because it is an important steppingstone for the 2020 Olympics -- that's the Olympics I think they really have a shot at! But it is important that they get onto the 2016 shortlist -- by making it onto the 2016 shortlist Doha will undergo further IOC review, they will point out the weaknesses in their application and give Doha time to remedy them for a solid 2020 bid.
Now others may disagree with my analysis, and deciding on which city gets the Olympics always has had a bit of a political element to it, but I just can't see that it would be Asia's turn again. 2020 -- strive for it Doha. Don't give up if the 2016 bid doesn't work out.
We'll find out tonight -- good luck Doha!
I hope Doha does make it onto the shortlist because it will be a key step to hosting the Olympics. Now I don't mean the 2016 Olympics, personally I don't think Doha realistically has a shot at that. But before any Qatari reading this gets all bent out of shape I have two reasons why I don't think they will get it:
1) almost no city ever gets awarded the Olympics on their first bid (in fact I was always under the assumption that no city gets it on the first bid, but it may have happened in the past such as Atlanta -- I haven't researched it though)
2) from a geographic perspective it is unlikely that the games will return to a country in Asia this quickly. The 2008 games are about to start in China, the 2012 games are in Europe. It seems unlikely to me that the 2016 games are going to go back to Asia to a first-bid city with a population of less than one million people.
My personal bet is on it going to one of the Americas.
So why am I hopeful that Doha makes it onto the shortlist? Because it is an important steppingstone for the 2020 Olympics -- that's the Olympics I think they really have a shot at! But it is important that they get onto the 2016 shortlist -- by making it onto the 2016 shortlist Doha will undergo further IOC review, they will point out the weaknesses in their application and give Doha time to remedy them for a solid 2020 bid.
Now others may disagree with my analysis, and deciding on which city gets the Olympics always has had a bit of a political element to it, but I just can't see that it would be Asia's turn again. 2020 -- strive for it Doha. Don't give up if the 2016 bid doesn't work out.
We'll find out tonight -- good luck Doha!
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Lazy Friday
I forgot to mention that my birthday was a little while ago. Not a big deal really, birthdays were never a big celebration in my family so I don't take my birthday that seriously (for us Christmas was the big family holiday). As we got older we would e-mail or otherwise send birthday wishes to one another, and if we were around take them out to dinner. Mom was the exception, her birthday was Christmas Day, and we would always make sure that she got separate birthday presents as well as Christmas presents, as well as a nice cake with candles at dinner. (As an aside, if you know someone who's birthday lies very close to Christmas, and you plan to get them a gift, I recommend not giving them a "combination" birthday/Christmas present.) Most times I don't even mention to people when my birthday is.
This year a few friends knew that it was my birthday so we decided to go out for dinner to Souq Waqif later in the week, a couple of days after my birthday. I never turn down a nice dinner! So I arrived at my friends' house earlier that afternoon to watch a movie when they surprised me -- their whole family came out of the kitchen with a chocolate cake, complete with candles, and a present! I was not expecting that at all and was completely taken aback, especially since my birthday had been a couple of days ago.
Wasn't that sweet of them? When I think about it I can't really remember the last time I had a birthday cake, certainly not in the last five or six years, and despite my earlier spiel about birthdays not being a big deal I felt grateful that they had taken the time to get a cake for me. I think there is an old saying along the lines of unexpected surprises being the most pleasant, and this was no exception.
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I know I just mentioned eating cake and going out for dinner but despite that I am actually on a diet. Really, honest! It turns out a few of the other guys in the office also wanted to lose some weight so we all agreed to sign up to the gym on the first floor of our office tower and go there every lunch hour. We started this week and so far so good as I went three lunch hours (missed one because I was supposed to be going to Dubai so I didn't bring my gym bag, see previous blog entry) and I plan to go all five lunch hours next week. Going to the gym to exercise is easier when there are other people expecting you to do it. Hopefully we can keep this up for at least a few months.
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In regards to my last post about countries requiring exit permits a friend of mine mentioned that he had looked into it and as far as he knows only Saudi Arabia and Qatar have exit permit requirements for foreign workers living there. I still bet that North Korea has some sort of exit permit system in place, it is just that they don't really have many foreign workers living there and many of those who are there were kidnapped by them back in the 70s, so I'm willing to bet they would need some kind of government permission to leave the country. Anyway, isn't it weird that there are probably only a handful of countries that still have this requirement?
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Nothing much else happening today, just another lazy Friday in Doha. I think the Rugby Club next door is having a barbecue this afternoon so I might go just to have one burger. Just one. After that I'll just hang around until the stores are open in the evening as I need some new dress shirts, as well as an extra towel and gym shorts for the above-mentioned workouts. Later.
This year a few friends knew that it was my birthday so we decided to go out for dinner to Souq Waqif later in the week, a couple of days after my birthday. I never turn down a nice dinner! So I arrived at my friends' house earlier that afternoon to watch a movie when they surprised me -- their whole family came out of the kitchen with a chocolate cake, complete with candles, and a present! I was not expecting that at all and was completely taken aback, especially since my birthday had been a couple of days ago.
Wasn't that sweet of them? When I think about it I can't really remember the last time I had a birthday cake, certainly not in the last five or six years, and despite my earlier spiel about birthdays not being a big deal I felt grateful that they had taken the time to get a cake for me. I think there is an old saying along the lines of unexpected surprises being the most pleasant, and this was no exception.
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I know I just mentioned eating cake and going out for dinner but despite that I am actually on a diet. Really, honest! It turns out a few of the other guys in the office also wanted to lose some weight so we all agreed to sign up to the gym on the first floor of our office tower and go there every lunch hour. We started this week and so far so good as I went three lunch hours (missed one because I was supposed to be going to Dubai so I didn't bring my gym bag, see previous blog entry) and I plan to go all five lunch hours next week. Going to the gym to exercise is easier when there are other people expecting you to do it. Hopefully we can keep this up for at least a few months.
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In regards to my last post about countries requiring exit permits a friend of mine mentioned that he had looked into it and as far as he knows only Saudi Arabia and Qatar have exit permit requirements for foreign workers living there. I still bet that North Korea has some sort of exit permit system in place, it is just that they don't really have many foreign workers living there and many of those who are there were kidnapped by them back in the 70s, so I'm willing to bet they would need some kind of government permission to leave the country. Anyway, isn't it weird that there are probably only a handful of countries that still have this requirement?
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Nothing much else happening today, just another lazy Friday in Doha. I think the Rugby Club next door is having a barbecue this afternoon so I might go just to have one burger. Just one. After that I'll just hang around until the stores are open in the evening as I need some new dress shirts, as well as an extra towel and gym shorts for the above-mentioned workouts. Later.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Exit permits
One thing about Qatar that most Westerners don't expect is the requirement for all foreigners who live in the country (at least, those who are not Arabs from the Gulf) to have an exit permit in order to leave the country. We are used to needing a visa to enter a country, but certainly not one to have to exit a country. Qatar is not unique in this regard, It is common in most of the region and I'm sure a few countries in the developing world have similar requirements. I'm guessing it is to prevent people from running off without paying their debts. It is also a good way to ensure that the only foreigners living here are those who have jobs or married to someone who has a job -- the exit permit is provided by your sponsor or employer. So if you or someone in your family doesn't have a job, no exit permit, and no leaving the country. This of course can cause problems for those who for some reason do not have an exit permit as they may then become stuck in the country with no way to leave. This can happen with workers who are in the country illegally. Recently, the United Arab Emirates granted a general amnesty for those people who needed to get a permit to leave the country without worrying about being arrested for being in the country illegally. Thousands turned up. I'm not sure if the UAE government was expecting the massive scale of illegal workers in the country.
So, why am I explaining exit permits to you? Because this week I was scheduled to go on a business trip to Dubai, went to the airport, went to immigration... and then was told that my exit permit had expired 5 days ago and that I was not allowed to leave the country! The HR department at work missed that my exit permit expired and forgot to renew it. (They did remember, however, to inform at least six of my colleagues that theirs is expiring and in need of renewal). So that was that -- I was not getting on that plane! Unfortunately we were not able to renew the exit permit until the following day by which time the forum that I was supposed to be attending was over. Needless to say that kind of sucked. I was not in a good mood that morning, but I eventually got over it. Mistakes happen. At least it didn't happen on a weekend when I was going on vacation, I would have been really screwed then. But it was then that I realised that the concept of exit permits is very annoying.
So, why am I explaining exit permits to you? Because this week I was scheduled to go on a business trip to Dubai, went to the airport, went to immigration... and then was told that my exit permit had expired 5 days ago and that I was not allowed to leave the country! The HR department at work missed that my exit permit expired and forgot to renew it. (They did remember, however, to inform at least six of my colleagues that theirs is expiring and in need of renewal). So that was that -- I was not getting on that plane! Unfortunately we were not able to renew the exit permit until the following day by which time the forum that I was supposed to be attending was over. Needless to say that kind of sucked. I was not in a good mood that morning, but I eventually got over it. Mistakes happen. At least it didn't happen on a weekend when I was going on vacation, I would have been really screwed then. But it was then that I realised that the concept of exit permits is very annoying.
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Massages
Last weekend I decided to do something different -- get a massage. A friend of mine informed me that a new barber/massage place and opened up in a strip mall near his home and it seemed that the prices were pretty reasonable so I decided to give it a try.
Now I have never had a massage in Qatar before. Generally the only massage places are in the big five-star hotels, and there they charge you an arm and a leg for a massage, around $100 or so. This place in the strip mall charges around $30 per hour which is more in line with my kind of spending budget. Of course there's one thing about it that you may not be expecting -- it is a male-only massage parlour.
Now in North America a male only massage parlour would certainly raise some eyebrows, but around here it is not that unexpected. Remember, this is a country with some stricter rules about gender segregation. I'm pretty sure that there is almost no such thing as a unisex salon here, there are salons only for women (in which case no men are allowed at all) or there are barbers for men. From what I've heard about the hotel spas they are similar, most if not all times a man goes to the spa he will get a masseur while ladies will get a masseuse and I know one example of a Thai massage place where they clearly state that you will only be massaged by someone of the same gender. So a male only massage parlour would actually be more than the norm here rather than the exception.
(That said, a couple of the Filipino guys in the massage parlour seemed pretty swishy to me, but the massage was okay and nothing untoward happened)
Otherwise, what else is new? Well, I just got over a cold, and the heat has built up to a point where it is getting uncomfortable to walk outside, but otherwise everything is fine. A friend of mine hosted a big barbecue on Friday night, and another buddy is arriving tomorrow and staying for a few days which should keep me socially active for a while.
Now I have never had a massage in Qatar before. Generally the only massage places are in the big five-star hotels, and there they charge you an arm and a leg for a massage, around $100 or so. This place in the strip mall charges around $30 per hour which is more in line with my kind of spending budget. Of course there's one thing about it that you may not be expecting -- it is a male-only massage parlour.
Now in North America a male only massage parlour would certainly raise some eyebrows, but around here it is not that unexpected. Remember, this is a country with some stricter rules about gender segregation. I'm pretty sure that there is almost no such thing as a unisex salon here, there are salons only for women (in which case no men are allowed at all) or there are barbers for men. From what I've heard about the hotel spas they are similar, most if not all times a man goes to the spa he will get a masseur while ladies will get a masseuse and I know one example of a Thai massage place where they clearly state that you will only be massaged by someone of the same gender. So a male only massage parlour would actually be more than the norm here rather than the exception.
(That said, a couple of the Filipino guys in the massage parlour seemed pretty swishy to me, but the massage was okay and nothing untoward happened)
Otherwise, what else is new? Well, I just got over a cold, and the heat has built up to a point where it is getting uncomfortable to walk outside, but otherwise everything is fine. A friend of mine hosted a big barbecue on Friday night, and another buddy is arriving tomorrow and staying for a few days which should keep me socially active for a while.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
I'm a millionaire!
On the weekend I met up with my friends Carrie and Khamal. Khamal just got back from Zimbabwe where he had been working on assignment for Al Jazeera. Now in Zimbabwe inflation is going crazy, at one estimate now at 165,000% a year, so prices are doubling on almost a daily basis. This makes it difficult for the government to keep up in terms of the value of currency, they keep reprinting currency with more and more zeros on it to keep up a price inflation. So as a gift Khamal gave me a $10 million Zimbabwe note.
I'm a millionaire!
So what is the note actually worth? Well, the official Zimbabwe government exchange rate is something like $300,000 to one US dollar , which is a rip off considering a can of Coke was $50 million (and that was a couple weeks ago, it's probably something like $125 million now). Kamal is saying that on the black market however the rate is much higher -- 100 US dollars will get you something like 5 1/2 billion dollars (yes, feel free to say it like Dr. Evil). So in reality my $10 million note is probably worth something like $.30, and perhaps $.15 by the end of the day.
Living in a country with such high inflation rate must be absolutely insane. Kamal tells me that in Zimbabwe if you get local currency you spend it immediately since its value is decreasing daily, but if you get foreign currency you hang onto it for as long as possible.
Despite the economic chaos people living in the rural regions are generally supportive of the government. Many of them received parcels of land from the government during the land seizures of a few years ago, for which they are quite grateful. And the rampant inflation does not affect subsistence farmers much since they do not deal with a lot of currency. They grow their food, and they eat it. The odd time that they earn some money they can to spend it immediately on what they need.
As for my $10 million I might get it framed as a souvenir.
As a side note, last Friday at "classic movies night" we watched the Mel Brooks comedy The Producers. Great film. We then briefly watched the more recent version with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick. While the modern version is pretty good I will have to say that Matthew Broderick does not hold a candle to Gene Wilder. Try to get hold of both movies and compare for yourself.
I'm a millionaire!
So what is the note actually worth? Well, the official Zimbabwe government exchange rate is something like $300,000 to one US dollar , which is a rip off considering a can of Coke was $50 million (and that was a couple weeks ago, it's probably something like $125 million now). Kamal is saying that on the black market however the rate is much higher -- 100 US dollars will get you something like 5 1/2 billion dollars (yes, feel free to say it like Dr. Evil). So in reality my $10 million note is probably worth something like $.30, and perhaps $.15 by the end of the day.
Living in a country with such high inflation rate must be absolutely insane. Kamal tells me that in Zimbabwe if you get local currency you spend it immediately since its value is decreasing daily, but if you get foreign currency you hang onto it for as long as possible.
Despite the economic chaos people living in the rural regions are generally supportive of the government. Many of them received parcels of land from the government during the land seizures of a few years ago, for which they are quite grateful. And the rampant inflation does not affect subsistence farmers much since they do not deal with a lot of currency. They grow their food, and they eat it. The odd time that they earn some money they can to spend it immediately on what they need.
As for my $10 million I might get it framed as a souvenir.
As a side note, last Friday at "classic movies night" we watched the Mel Brooks comedy The Producers. Great film. We then briefly watched the more recent version with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick. While the modern version is pretty good I will have to say that Matthew Broderick does not hold a candle to Gene Wilder. Try to get hold of both movies and compare for yourself.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Alcohol, dieting, and more...
Well, the heat is finally upon us. I have the AC on that pretty much 24 hours a day now and it isn't even the end of April. So, what's new?
It looks like in the last month or so the law changed regarding local Muslims and drinking alcohol. Before, any Arab in a thobe (that's the long white robes arabs wear) were not allowed to be served alcohol in hotels. Now, hotels are allowed to serve the so when you go to the bar you see a number of men in thobes having beer and whiskeys. While unusual for Qatar this is not unique to the Gulf region, Arabs can drink in Bahrain, Dubai and Oman. As for Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, alcohol is completely banned so I doubt there will be any change to the laws soon.
A friend of mine in my carpool group just got himself a new vehicle so today we drove in to work in a Nissan Armada. That had to be the biggest vehicle I've ever been in short of a bus or airplane. Absolutely huge! I guess that's the advantage of having gas at $.19 a liter, everyone can afford to drive these massive vehicles. I must admit it was a very luxurious ride especially since I'm driving a Honda city.
No trips planned for the near future though I might be heading to Dubai or Oman in the near future on business. Will keep you posted.
In other news, I have discovered a new way to ensure that my social calendar is filled up with plenty of lunches and dinners and invites to barbecues -- announcing you're on a diet! Seriously, I announced a few days ago that I was going on a diet to try to lose weight and in the last week I've gone out to four different lunches, three dinners, a barbecue, and will be going out to dinner on Saturday. Oh, and today we have a big staff lunch. Try this trick at home.
Later.
It looks like in the last month or so the law changed regarding local Muslims and drinking alcohol. Before, any Arab in a thobe (that's the long white robes arabs wear) were not allowed to be served alcohol in hotels. Now, hotels are allowed to serve the so when you go to the bar you see a number of men in thobes having beer and whiskeys. While unusual for Qatar this is not unique to the Gulf region, Arabs can drink in Bahrain, Dubai and Oman. As for Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, alcohol is completely banned so I doubt there will be any change to the laws soon.
A friend of mine in my carpool group just got himself a new vehicle so today we drove in to work in a Nissan Armada. That had to be the biggest vehicle I've ever been in short of a bus or airplane. Absolutely huge! I guess that's the advantage of having gas at $.19 a liter, everyone can afford to drive these massive vehicles. I must admit it was a very luxurious ride especially since I'm driving a Honda city.
No trips planned for the near future though I might be heading to Dubai or Oman in the near future on business. Will keep you posted.
In other news, I have discovered a new way to ensure that my social calendar is filled up with plenty of lunches and dinners and invites to barbecues -- announcing you're on a diet! Seriously, I announced a few days ago that I was going on a diet to try to lose weight and in the last week I've gone out to four different lunches, three dinners, a barbecue, and will be going out to dinner on Saturday. Oh, and today we have a big staff lunch. Try this trick at home.
Later.
Monday, April 07, 2008
Speech software!
Yesterday I received speech recognition software. I've been trying it out and so far it's been working really good. As an example, this entire posting was written using it and not making any edits. I was skeptical at first that this is a program would work well but I do because of my repetitive strain injury and decided I really had to try it out just to see if he could save me typing.
As you can see it is working very well. There are just a couple of edits need to be made every paragraph, that's not too bad. So now I should be able to put regular updates on my blog using the software.
So what is new? Well it is starting to get hotter here and I need to put the air conditioner on now at night. Temperatures are around 35°. But he is still cool enough to go out on the weekends and evenings so I've been going to the beach and doing other activities.
I will leave it for now but I'll be back more frequently with updates.
[not using software] not bad, eh?
As you can see it is working very well. There are just a couple of edits need to be made every paragraph, that's not too bad. So now I should be able to put regular updates on my blog using the software.
So what is new? Well it is starting to get hotter here and I need to put the air conditioner on now at night. Temperatures are around 35°. But he is still cool enough to go out on the weekends and evenings so I've been going to the beach and doing other activities.
I will leave it for now but I'll be back more frequently with updates.
[not using software] not bad, eh?
Monday, March 10, 2008
ups & downs
Guess it has been a while since I updated. I am still alive – honest!
The ups of downs of current life . . .
Down: hands got worse after coming back from vacation, but I have an MRI scheduled and I’m being more disciplined, such as wearing a wrist brace at work even if I’m feeling fine. It has helped and my hands are improving. Plans are to keep the brace on at work for at least 6 months, if only to keep reminding me to minimize unnecessary typing. Have speech recognition software on order as well.
Up: finished my Hep A & B vaccinations
Down: no travel plans until the summer
Up: but when I do go, it looks like great trips ahead. Possibilities are Turkey, Slovakia, Yemen. Maybe Italy or the Riviera? Egypt?
Up: McEwan’s Export ale, I tried it and liked it.
Down: McEwan’s Scotch Ale – gross stuff. Some Scots tried it and realized it was “sweetheart stout”, back in the day they used to give it to women in maternity wards. Don’t know how much of that is true but it certainly was not a good stout by my standards.
Up: pretty active socially: Natural History Group, then drinks at the Rugby Club next evening, followed next night by the Moto GP, followed the next night with comedy night at the Ramada and so on.
Down: Summer is approaching and a lot of activities will cease, gotta enjoy the cooler temperatures while I can.
Later.
The ups of downs of current life . . .
Down: hands got worse after coming back from vacation, but I have an MRI scheduled and I’m being more disciplined, such as wearing a wrist brace at work even if I’m feeling fine. It has helped and my hands are improving. Plans are to keep the brace on at work for at least 6 months, if only to keep reminding me to minimize unnecessary typing. Have speech recognition software on order as well.
Up: finished my Hep A & B vaccinations
Down: no travel plans until the summer
Up: but when I do go, it looks like great trips ahead. Possibilities are Turkey, Slovakia, Yemen. Maybe Italy or the Riviera? Egypt?
Up: McEwan’s Export ale, I tried it and liked it.
Down: McEwan’s Scotch Ale – gross stuff. Some Scots tried it and realized it was “sweetheart stout”, back in the day they used to give it to women in maternity wards. Don’t know how much of that is true but it certainly was not a good stout by my standards.
Up: pretty active socially: Natural History Group, then drinks at the Rugby Club next evening, followed next night by the Moto GP, followed the next night with comedy night at the Ramada and so on.
Down: Summer is approaching and a lot of activities will cease, gotta enjoy the cooler temperatures while I can.
Later.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Qatar Open women's tennis
Last night I went to the Qatar Open women’s tennis tournament. The tournament is now a Tier 1 WTP event, and has a serious prize pool (~$2.5 million) so almost all of the big names in women’s tennis were there.
I love tennis so to be able to watch pros of this level play, and for free, was incredible. (most tickets were free for the early matches, you just had to get there early to get them)
Unfortunately there was a dust storm yesterday so it made for poor conditions, cold (16 degrees), windy and dusty. Winds were so bad that play had to stop occasionally because of trash flying into the court. My friends and I didn’t bring thick enough jackets so we were cold/shivering throughout the evening. Didn’t stop us from leaving though! Where else could you see this line-up all in one evening at one court:
Ana Ivanovic (World #2, runner-up at recent Australian Open), followed by;
Maria Sharapova, followed by;
Venus Williams.
All in one evening. The Sharapova match was the best one, it went to three sets and her opponent really made a great effort in the first two. Great tennis.
I hope to see more before it ends, but as the tournament goes along it’ll be tougher to get the tickets.
I love tennis so to be able to watch pros of this level play, and for free, was incredible. (most tickets were free for the early matches, you just had to get there early to get them)
Unfortunately there was a dust storm yesterday so it made for poor conditions, cold (16 degrees), windy and dusty. Winds were so bad that play had to stop occasionally because of trash flying into the court. My friends and I didn’t bring thick enough jackets so we were cold/shivering throughout the evening. Didn’t stop us from leaving though! Where else could you see this line-up all in one evening at one court:
Ana Ivanovic (World #2, runner-up at recent Australian Open), followed by;
Maria Sharapova, followed by;
Venus Williams.
All in one evening. The Sharapova match was the best one, it went to three sets and her opponent really made a great effort in the first two. Great tennis.
I hope to see more before it ends, but as the tournament goes along it’ll be tougher to get the tickets.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
My tastes in music.
Let’s continue on a lighter note. Though I've had this blog for a year-andf-a-half I’ve never really described my taste in music before. I suppose it’s a little all over the place, some metal, alt-rock, 60’s, world, even a few classical CD’s. So I guess a good way to indicate my favourites would be to go through the collection and list the artists I have a number of CD’s of.
I own more than three CD’s of:
Beatles
Dandy Warhols
Foo Fighters
Muse
Nine Inch Nails
Pink Floyd
System of a Down
Skunk Anansie / Skin
Weezer
And I have two of the following but won’t rule out getting a third in the future (or when available)
Audioslave
Fall Out Boy
Gorillaz
Green Day
Linkin Park
My Chemical Romance
Scissor Sisters
Sloan
Veruca Salt
I also have two of the following but I doubt I’ll be getting a third one, for various reasons:
Black Sabbarh
Coldplay
Eels
Grapes of Wrath (anyone remember them?)
Placebo
Radiohead
Sonic Youth
They Might be Giants
Make of these lists what you will. . .
I own more than three CD’s of:
Beatles
Dandy Warhols
Foo Fighters
Muse
Nine Inch Nails
Pink Floyd
System of a Down
Skunk Anansie / Skin
Weezer
And I have two of the following but won’t rule out getting a third in the future (or when available)
Audioslave
Fall Out Boy
Gorillaz
Green Day
Linkin Park
My Chemical Romance
Scissor Sisters
Sloan
Veruca Salt
I also have two of the following but I doubt I’ll be getting a third one, for various reasons:
Black Sabbarh
Coldplay
Eels
Grapes of Wrath (anyone remember them?)
Placebo
Radiohead
Sonic Youth
They Might be Giants
Make of these lists what you will. . .
Monday, February 04, 2008
Crap - forgot to mention I was on vacation for three weeks!
Oops, looks like I forgot to post about my three week vacation in Canada so I wouldn't be blogging for the rest of January. Sorry about that.
I had a great time visiting a lot of family and friends. I hadn't been to Vancouver in like 4 years so it was surprising how much had changed. It was like entering a Twilight Zone version of Vancouver where things were similar enough to how they were - yet different in a number of ways. More buildings, people moved to other places, or maybe got married, or had kids, or changed jobs and so on.
I do miss Vancouver, it has a scene and laid-back vibe that places like Doha and Dubai cannot ever hope to match. Will I ever end up living there again? Or Canada for that matter? No plans to, but then again I never plan anything far in advance. All of my career and location moves have been fairly spur-of-the-moment, especially the move to Qatar. So who can say if I'll ever live in Canada again. Maybe I'll end up in Europe or something.
I had a great time visiting a lot of family and friends. I hadn't been to Vancouver in like 4 years so it was surprising how much had changed. It was like entering a Twilight Zone version of Vancouver where things were similar enough to how they were - yet different in a number of ways. More buildings, people moved to other places, or maybe got married, or had kids, or changed jobs and so on.
I do miss Vancouver, it has a scene and laid-back vibe that places like Doha and Dubai cannot ever hope to match. Will I ever end up living there again? Or Canada for that matter? No plans to, but then again I never plan anything far in advance. All of my career and location moves have been fairly spur-of-the-moment, especially the move to Qatar. So who can say if I'll ever live in Canada again. Maybe I'll end up in Europe or something.
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