Movenpick (Deluxe) Doha

... was a motley collection of oddly assorted animals from different continents. Ostriches and emus were in abundance. Then in the cages were such animals as: hyena, desert fox, Arabian wolf, African monkey, Baboon, pigeons, rabbits, a dalmation, "guard dogs" (that's what the sign said, it was three yappy terriors), a crow, hedgehog (spelled correctly), desert tortoise, two mixed breed dogs, a turtle, and another ...

... I asked the "parcel storage man" if he could find me a taxi. He was a bit surprised but said he could call a private taxi which he did. As I was waiting, we started talking and he said nobody goes anywhere without a car and that this mall was totally for expats and thus very expensive. geez, no kidding. <br> My taxi comes and it is Salthar, also from India, but he manages to take me to the right hotel to drop ...

... Q). Both were current A-level signing authorities and the minimum requirement for banking transaction approval is one A level and one B level signature. Unfortunately, due to the complexity of our relationship with U of C in Calgary, the bank required our VP of Finance to approve myself as a signatory. Not unreasonable but a bit of a pain because a faxed or scanned and emailed copy would not suffice. An original copy only was acceptable. <br><br>The request ...

... br><br>I don&#8217;t think Mr. M has the clout he thinks he has and he got one little guy (Mr. M is fairly tall) a wee bit angry at us when he blew him off as we passed by ignoring his calls to see my paperwork. I wanted to stop but Mr. M was having none of it. The little guy got a bigger guy (both in stature and rank) involved and I think Mr. M got his knuckles wrapped but after visits to several different offices we ...

... have been close to perfect, if it hadn't been for the slight glitch of missing my bag (feeling travelsickness coming on, it had stayed cosily in Frankfurt Airport). What's a couple of days living on the same clothes, hey? Lucky this time for me that I decided to include the lost bagage option for my travel insurance. It's time to buy some new underwear!

... our last sample of luxury for a while. Next day we woke up at around 10 am (what the heck, we partied all night in the Doha traffic!) and we dared to go out to buy something to eat at the nearby mall (during Ramadan, most food places are closed all day and you can eat out only after sunset). And that was our first contact with the Qatari sun: brutal. In a few minutes we were already melting and the short walk to the mall was becoming an endurance test ...

... to city to go to museum, but no busses, so start walking again. Along the way befriended by some Pakistani men also walking to the bus stop. Walk with them for several kilometres, finally get there (turns out it's just around the corner from my hostel anyway). Bus into Central Station, sitting next to Christian, a Filipino welder working on the Pearl project. He tells me about the poor working ...

... Again "can I cuddle" or worse still they grab Seth and just cuddle. I sit here and write this blog from inside the Oryx lounge. $26 each for Ann-Marie and I, the shower was worth every cent, then there's the food and internet connection. That fee gets you 6 hours in the lounge and right now a place for Seth to sleep whilst Ann-Marie and I finalise planning / preparation for the trip. As aiports go Doha is a bit like Brisbane, though set up better for families etc ...

... I visited do not know the name of the street of their office, amaging. They used to tell while guiding them to their office " Please go to "Akai Roundabout" than you will find our office". Doha is a small city so we were crisscrossing our own trails. We have circled the whole Amir palace, Passed by the parliament ( Yes, they have one), The Court Building, the souks (Old souks and Gold souks) etc. The most remarkable thing ...