TravelStream™ news feed for member kimande on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/kimande en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Mon, 20 Nov 2006 16:19:38 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimande/qatar2006/1158775980/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimande/qatar2006/1158775980/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimande/qatar2006/1158775980/tpod.html Mon, 20 Nov 2006 16:19:38 -0500 Life in the Desert!!!! Adventures in the Sand of Doha, Qatar.

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Doha, Qatar

Well as life goes on and on in Doha and as I am just about to hit the four month mark of being here I have come to the conclusion that we do make the most of our time living here in the sand.

Work is Work so I am not going to go into detail about that side of things, apart from that it is interesting. However, on the social side of things I Love It, I never did the whole university thing but I think if I did, it would have been a lot like the last few weeks in Doha.
PARTY, PARTY and a few more Parties. So each week since I returned from London there seems to have been something massive happening on the weekend here (Thursday night being the start of our weekend)

The last few weeks began with a follow up Pool Party at a friends Villa (the first one was had a month earlier where I think the whole expat community passed through the doors and was thrown in the pool. There were DJ's on decks, dancing around in bathers, lots of drinks and we wont go into detail about the few injuries and trips to the hospital that were also required (No not me just to clarify)slippery floors are not a good idea when there are tiles and concrete involved)

Anyway that was the beginning, this pool party was a bit tamer but still big. The week that followed was a long weekend over here, so as most people only found out a week earlier that we didn't need to work there was a mass exit out of the country with a lot of my friends off to Dubai and Bahrain for a bit of sight seeing.

Not Me though! as we only found out that we didn't have to work a week before it had been scheduled that we would be having Volunteer training on the Saturday, right in the middle of the days off!!!!!it was too late to change it, so I was stuck in Doha. I didn't really mind as was looking forward to having a few sleep ins and time to relax at home.

The weekend involved a lot of drinking and it was actually nice as so many people were away. Went to a roof top villa party on the Thursday night, the Villa is called "The Camel Toe" and they have random parties every month or so. They have a full Bar set up on the roof and everyone brings a donation to the bar and then can drink for the rest of the night, not to bad at all. I didn't have a big night as it was about 40degrees and 100% humidity on the roof, definitely not drinking weather.

The next day we had organized a group of people to all go out to an "All you can eat" champagne brunch at the top floor of the Sheraton hotel, which is located right on the Corniche overlooking the bay, fantastic view. Great group of people, food and drinks, we sat there all afternoon eating as much as possible then once it was finished went out to one of the few bars in Doha to finish off the night. For the rest of the weekend we stayed around our apartment building relaxing, eating and drinking and not much else. It was nice to have a few days off before getting back to work, because as of the following week we were working six days a week as standard!

So the following week was a bit of a change my Mum and Dad flew over to visit which was fantastic, picked them up at the airport and was so excited to show them around my new home here in Doha. The next few days was spend showing them the few sights that were on offer, the shopping centers, the Souks, the cornich, the beach, the fancy hotels, the Zoo (I finally got to see an Oryx which is the mascot for the games; looks kind of like a goat/antelope). We pretty much hung out, went out for dinners and caught up, which I loved. They met all my friends here and saw that it is a very interesting place (and also check up that I was looking after myself - I think I'm doing quiet well, hey mum??). After staying in Doha for 4 days, they then headed off to Dubai and had a ball doing all the touristy things, going on a desert safari and experiencing another part of the Middle East. Then it was back to Doha for a night and off to Bahrain for a few more (they covered more of the Middle East in 2 weeks than I have yet!) Bahrain they said was an experience with crazy taxi divers and not a great deal more, however they did make friends with an English Couple who lived in Saudi and learnt all about life over there and got shown around the market and bars as they had been there before.
After Bahrain they were back to visit me and again I was off to the airport, I think this 2 weeks made up for all the times they had taken me to the airport over the years. It was great to have them come back and forth, mixed it up a bit for them and I felt like I had then here for a long time then just a few days. It was very sad to see them go as it also made me a bit homesick as got use to having them around. It was also great to have them here as now when I talk to them they know who, where and what I am talking about.

In between mum and dad coming and going we still continued our crazy month of parties (on their last night including them in one of our famous karaoke parties in the lounge room! mum you loved it). Well, so in between the busy parent period (about 6 of my friend mums came over around the same time) the next party we had was Big Dogs School Disco!! My friend Michael (Aka Big Dog) was turning 25 so a group of his friend decided to get together form a committee and throw him a massive party in the theme of "SCHOOL DISCO". So after a few weeks of planning and a last minute chosen venue the party was a massive suscess. Everyone got in the spirt of the Dress up and the entire night was like a high school dance. We had people dressed up as school girls & Boys (some of the opposite gender)headmasters, sports teachers, bus drivers, lunch ladies and nurses just to name a few, very funny indeed check out some of the photos.

The following weekend we again a massive one, with one of my cloests friends Birthdays. Shay had been organising this Dessert Trip through a tour company for weeks and a small party in the Desert had slowly turned into a massive 160 people tour. This is what happend when you send out an email to your friends in Doha and tell them they can pass it on!
The tour company was great and had everything sorted, Cath had designed a comerative tshirts with a very cool looking camel with the slogan "Pimp My Camel".
So decked out in our tshirts and feather bowas (it was Shay's Birthday so we had to dress up for the occasion)So after the weeks of planning and slight headaches we were ready for the safari!

Thursday was not the most productive day as we were all really excited about the tour, we finished spot on 2 o'clock then a quick dash home to pick up supplies and get changed. Then to the meeting spot, so all 160 of us met at one central spot and piled into 30 Four Wheel Drives, as it was shay's bday we had the first car so we started the convoy. We drove 45 minutes out of Doha to the coast whrere we started half an hour of 4 wheel driving through the massive sand dunes it was fantastic, 5 girls in the car you could imagin the screaming as the car was pretty much vertical, it was so much fun but we had to stop as it was starting to get dark and we needed to get to out camp.

We arrived at camp and i was pretty impressed nestled in between sanddunce was an amazing set up of Arabric style tents in a semi circle around a wooden dance floor with DJ, it was fantastic. We all ran to the tents to located out sleeping spot for the night, well at least somewhere to leave our bags. The party then began the DJ pumped our music as we sat around drinking and smoking shisha to get the night started, then after a speach and signing of Happy Birthday to Shay the party went crazy with everyone
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimande/qatar2006/1156162980/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimande/qatar2006/1156162980/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimande/qatar2006/1156162980/tpod.html Wed, 20 Sep 2006 06:12:58 -0400 Life in the Desert!!!! Adventures in the Sand of Doha, Qatar.

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Doha, Qatar

You know you have lived in the Gulf too long when:

- You need a sweater when it's 80 degrees Fahrenheit

- Your idea of housework is leaving a list for the

houseboy

- You send friends a map instead of your address

- You believe that speed limits are only advisory

- Your definition of a nanosecond is the time interval between the time the light turns green and the time that the guy behind you begins to blow his horn

- You're not surprised when you see a goat in a pick up truck

- You can't buy anything without asking for a discount

- You expect all stores to stay open till midnight

- You make left turns from the far right lane

- You understand why huge 4x4s must slow down to a snail's pace whilst crossing a speed bump yet hurtle through a wadi at 100kph

- You think it perfectly normal to have a picnic in the middle of a roundabout at 11pm

- You know exactly how much alcohol allowance you have left for the month

- You have a moon phase predictor on your computer

- You never say Saturday instead of Thursday or Sunday instead of Friday

- You accept that there is no point in asking why you are not allowed to do something

- You expect queues to be 1 person deep and 40 people wide

- You realize that the black and white stripes in the road are not a zebra crossing, just bait to get tourists into the firing line

- You know what night is ladies night at every bar in town

- Seeing guys welcome each other with a kiss no longer disgusts you

- You carry 12 passport size photos around with you just in case

- You can tell the time by listening to the local mosque

- You think its a good night if there are fewer than 10 men for every woman in a bar

- Phrases like 'potato peeler', 'dish washer', and 'fly swatter' are no longer household items but job titles

- You start to say "Insha'allah" when you actually mean "No f**king chance!"

- You overtake a police car at 130km/hr

- A problem with your car AC is more serious to you than a problem with the brakes

- You smoke a shisha in public without expecting to be arrested

- You think only men should hold hands in public

- You expect to go to jail when a local hits the back of your car at a stop sign


I think I've been in the Gulf too long

;-)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimande/qatar2006/1155212400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimande/qatar2006/1155212400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimande/qatar2006/1155212400/tpod.html Wed, 20 Sep 2006 06:12:13 -0400 Life in the Desert!!!! Adventures in the Sand of Doha, Qatar.

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London, United Kingdom

I know it has been a while between entries so will fill you in on the last few weeks.

The big news is that I have been out of Doha for longer than two day!! As we are nearing "Games Time" here in Doha, we were told we had to take all our holiday prior to mid August otherwise not till the end of the Games. That was enough of an incentive for everyone in the company to get out of town for a while, DAGOC was let just say only half staffed for the months of July & August with most people taking off for their last bit of relaxation before being locked in.

So a few weeks before the deadline I booked my ticket and was ready to head off to London with a side trip to Nice in the South of France with my friend Justin who is living in London. In the lead up to the trip it was great to chat to everyone as people where coming and going every few days - Italy, France, Greece, The Maldives, Oz, Indonesia, The US, you name it someone was bound to be going.

With that said we defiantly still had time to party in Doha and the night before I flew out was no exception. My flat mate Cath was also heading back to the UK for a few days to celebrate her 30th Birthday so as she was going to be away we thought that a party prior to our departure was in order. In true Doha fashion we invited all our closest friend to a small get together in our apartment on Wednesday night. After spending the afternoon clearing out the house, decorating and making cakes the party kicked off with about 40 people coming and going over a few hours. Drinks were had and then, as our flat seems to be known for the sign star magically appeared! (Cath has a Playstaion game called Sign Star which is basically a Karaoke competition, it has had a work out in the last few months after a few drinks)

Have a look at the photo and you can see how a quiet get together can turn in to a major karaoke party; all in all it was a great night with everyone up dancing and singing way into the night, Cath had an absolute ball, I think it will be a Birthday to remember. It didn't really help me as I had to get up at 4am to make my flight but defiantly worth it.

So that was the start of my 10 days of holidays I did make it to the airport on time luckily and then I was on my way to the land of the cold weather and greenery. The flight was only 7 hours so after watching a few movies and trying to get a bit of sleep we descended in the Heathrow. It was great to look out the window and see grass, trees and building, not just sun and sand.

The day I flew into London just happened to be the day when terrorist threat occurred, so after having the captain announced that there were some "problems" in Heathrow I was a bit worried, however we were lucky and were able to land with only an hour delay on the tarmac. I met up with Justin at Heathrow, as he works there, and we headed in London. I was so excited to be back in London and out of Doha for a few days, I sat on the train & tube on the way back to his house staring out the window looking at all the sights I hadn't seen in so long (it has been 5 years since I lived there! Time flies)

After dumping my stuff and relaxing for a bit we headed out for dinner and drinks of course, in East London. It was great to be able to walk out the front door and into different bars again not full of people I recognized, and also the fact that it wasn't 40 degrees, I loved that I had to wear a jumper.

The next morning up early again and off to the Airport to catch a flight to France. Because of all the disruption the day before security was crazy at London City Airport and our flight was delayed which meant we had to postpone our connecting flight in Germany, so a 2 hour flight turned into the whole day. Not to mention the fact that we could not take any cabin luggage on, not even a book.

Anyway, we finally arrived into Nice late afternoon and after the 40 Euro cab ride to our hotel we were settled and ready to relax.

Nice was nice! very touristy but was great to be back in Europe again, we spent the weekend relaxing on the pebble beach, exploring the streets, eating at all the different restaurants, snacking on amazing cheese, ham and baguettes and drinking; All of my favorite things!

We also venture on a day trip to Monaco on the local bus, where we pretended to be rich for a day having an amazing lunch overlooking all the massive boats in the port. I did look for a rich husband but they just didn't seem to be hanging around!
Justin flew back to London after the weekend and I spent a few days on my own doing the backpacking thing, working on my tan, wondering the street, shopping and staying in dodgy hostel as I hadn't booked anything in peak season, yes a bit out of practice of backpacking.

After a few days of the Backpacking scene, I was ready to head back to London and do some sight seeing and shopping. The two days I had planned on spending there just really wasn't enough. Did a lot of sightseeing during the day, I visited all the things I didn't when I lived there took all the usually tourist photos, I really enjoyed being in a big city again, the weather was lovely as well, although it did rain but I hadn't seen rain for so long that I loved it. Ended up in the pub late afternoon into the night and time just seemed to go, (so didn't get a chance to catch up with anyone, sorry!)

I flew back to Doha on the Saturday night with a massive hangover which was not great as the lines in Heathrow were crazy still, we had to line up for 1hr just to go through security! My flight back from London was full of people from work all getting the last possible flight back into the country before our holidays were stopped. We arrived at 8am on Sunday morning and it was straight from the airport to work for a fun filled day, didn't really get much done just caught up with friends and tried to stay awake.

Being back in Europe had defiantly given me the travel bug back even more... So many places still to visit and now my mind is changing daily of where to head to after Doha.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimande/qatar2006/1151832420/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimande/qatar2006/1151832420/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimande/qatar2006/1151832420/tpod.html Mon, 24 Jul 2006 05:35:56 -0400 Life in the Desert!!!! Adventures in the Sand of Doha, Qatar.

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Manama, Bahrain

Hi Guys,

This is two entries in one with lots of photos to follow:

Living the Life in Doha

Since the "trauma" of our apartment nearly falling down and having to spend 7 nights in the 5 star grand Regency Hotel then moving into a new home in a great location, life in Doha has been going along splendidly.
Yes, it is hot however I am defiantly making the most of my time here. I don't mind the heat at all, mainly because whenever you are inside the air conditions is so cold you need to spend at least 10 minutes outside just to thaw out! So the two jumpers I brought over have come in handy.
I have been hear for 2 months now and time is flying, I'm getting use to the little differences you notice when you spend enough time in a country, some are great others a bit strange, so to keep you entertained I have listed my top ten things to look out for in Doha:

- Crazy Driving with no indicators whilst talking on the phone (police included)

- The fact that the 50 roundabouts in Doha take a bit of getting use to; 3 lanes of traffic into 2 lanes around the roundabout then back to 3 on the other side, again with no indicators.

- Drive up to the front of any takeaway food shop, juice bar or restaurant and honk your car horn continually until someone comes out to serve you!

- Go to an aerobics class at the gym and have 25 people start the class and after 5min have half the class leave, chat over the music or sit on the floor and talk on their mobile phones!

- Being able to sit at my desk and be bought Tea, Coffee or Iced Frappe's by our office 'tea boy' (they are so lovely)

- Having just about all types of food including Burger King delivered to you desk in the middle of the day!

- The fact that I have to apply for an "Alcohol permit" to be able to purchase alcohol from the one bottle shop/distribution centre in Doha (we make it a monthly trip and stock up, it's a bit different to dropping past the shop on your way home to get a bottle of wine, I'm on rations!)

- Swarmmes/kebabs in every food shop(I LOVE IT)

- Construction, Construction, Construction, Road Works, Road Works and more Road Works
And Lastly

- Paying 32 Ryial for a tank of petrol!!!!!!!!! that is about $11Aus

Everything else here is going really well am defiantly enjoying the experience although at time things can be frustrating, but that is all part of living in another country. So life outside of work has been hectic to say the least there is always something to do if you up for it, which is good and keeps me occupied.

The World Cup was pretty big as I'm sure it was in most places around the World, that filled in a few nights at the pub, i actually watched a few games and started to learn the rules (Sport and me that is something new, any excuse to go out really)but now that it is over i have gone back to my non-sporting ways until the next bandwagon i need to jump on!

The food hear is great there are so many different restaurants to try to, Im slowly making my way through those, also cooking up a storm in my kitchen, dinner parties are a weekly event in our apartment building.

A few house parties have been had as well with the most memorable a house warming Villa party with Mexican theme, lots of Tequlia and Karkore not always a good mix! but lots of fun. We have also been trying to venture to the few different bars they have hear and lets just say it can be quiet an experience, we are nearly out of new options but defiantly not bored yet. (See Photos)

That is life to the minute in Doha, so my next entries will be on my travels I have a few trips planned so I'm sure i will have some stories.......

***** Carzyness in Bahrain ******

13th - 15th July 2006#


Bahrain. Great way to spend a Birthday!

After nearly 2 months in Doha it was time to get out and see something new (for at least a weekend anyway) My friend Nanine decided for her Birthday she wanted to do something different, so why not head to Bahrain! After not much planning and lots of excited emailing back and forth to organize in a week, eight of us decided to help celebrate and make it a bit of party weekend in Bahrain.

Flights Booked (Check)... Hotel Booked (Check).... Work finished for the week (Check)... Thursday night and we were packed and ready to fly. The other six girls had caught an earlier flight so after a quiet drink at home Edwina and I headed off to the airport ready for the weekend ahead. After looking in the one duty free shop at Doha International Airport we boarded our flight and with an air time of about 29 minutes we arrived in Bahrain, it would have to have been the quickest flight I have ever been on, seems very odd to be on an international flight that last only 29 minutes! Takes me longer to get to work back home!!

I didn't realised how accustomed I had become to the sights and sounds of Doha until I arrived in Bahrain, driving from the airport to our hotel it took me a while to work out what was so different about this city. 1. NO CONSTRUCTION, every corner in Doha is in a bit of kaos with the new buildings going up, building coming down and the widening of roads, 2. TREES & GRASS, not everywhere, not even that much, but enough on the trip from the airport to notice. I like this place so far!

Whilst still trying to work out our money and how much we had taken out of the ATM we arrived at the lovely Sheraton Hotel (Damm the ONE hotel under minor construction) we paid the driver what he had asked for and hoped for the best. The Hotel was great, all the girls had settled in, been out for dinner, and were having a few champers to start the night off. So bags down, quick change (we didn't need to cover up hear so that was also a novelty) and a few cheeky Vodkas in the room after all it was Nanine's Birthday eve.

Note: if you are reading this to get a bit of a feel for Bahrain as a city and a place to visit as a tourist; culture, tourist attractions, history ect, you should probably stop reading hear.

The weekend consisted of a few quiet drinks in a number of local establishments around Bahrain, well maybe more than a few. We had been given a number of recommendations of place to visit while we were hear, all bars of course, so we wanted to tick as many off the list as possible, the main reason for this is after two months in Doha with, shall we say limited number of nightlife locations, it was fantastic to go out to new places and not know 90% of people in the bar.

The first place on the list was BJ's a traditional English pub/club, the minute we walked in all 8 sets of eyes lit up reading the sign "LADIES DRINK FOR FREE EVERY NIGHT except Thursday"
After realizing it was a Thursday, and being slightly disappointed, we continued on our night (Making a mental note of the 'every night but Thursday' for next time) The night went well into the morning with us ending up in a dance club called Liquid, techno music, strobe lighting and shots at the bar all getting a bit much when we hadn't been out for a while. So after stopping for food on the way home, as you do, Edwina and I gave up on the walking and hailed a cab waving to rest of the girls who were intent on walking the ten minutes home (Still at least 36 degree outside temp, walk not me!)

Saturday - The B'day
Sleeping well into the day to ward off the hangovers we all jumped out of bed ready for another day in Bahrain. As it was the day of Nan's Bday we had booked ourselves into the Crown Plaza for their 'Friday Champagne Brunch' now anything with an all you can eat buffet and endless supply of Champagne could not be bad, and we were not disappointed. Arriving at 12.30 we were like kids in a candy shop, the buffet was amazing everything you could think of and to top it off - BACON!!!!! & HAM!!!!!!! This might sound a bit sad but when it is the one food you cannot buy in Doha we all went a bit mad with it.

The day rolled on from there with endless plates of food and never empty glasses of champagne. We had an absolute ball, the place had a magic man who came to the table to entertain us with tricks and balloon animals, creating a very "interesting" monkey balloon hat that, as the bday girl Nanine had to wear for the remained of the day. We also discovered a face painter who was there to entertain the kids, US, so all got our faces painted we then continued our afternoon having a sign-along with the band man who was playing all our requests, what more could you want on your birthday?

After leaving when all the food had been cleared away and the singer was sick of signing for us, we spent the rest of the afternoon lazing/sleeping by the pool. Then it was out on the town again this time after some more food and drinks at an Irish Pub we headed to BJ's for OUR FREE DRINKS well sort of free. We each paid 2Drm which is 20Qatria Ryial, about $8 Aus so about 3Pound, for all sprits all night, not a bad deal at all. We didn't need to visit any others pub on our list. We spent the night dancing and having a ball till the lights came on at 2, then it was next door to the 'Traditional Chipper' for some late night chips while we waited for a taxi.

My last day in Bahrain was very productive! Sleep, eat, pool, tan, eat, fly! Sighseeing wise all i saw was the Palace on the way to the Airport, but didnt mind at all we knew we would be back. For our last meal we went straigt to the English pub for a drink and a meal just to top off the weekend, then it was back tot the Airport 2 hours prior to flying for our 29min flight home.
Sad and tired we arrived back in Doha, already working out when we could book our next trip!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimande/qatar2006/1154082480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimande/qatar2006/1154082480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimande/qatar2006/1154082480/tpod.html Mon, 24 Jul 2006 02:57:57 -0400 Life in the Desert!!!! Adventures in the Sand of Doha, Qatar.

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Doha, Qatar

The Apartment Saga!!!!

The Apartment Part 1

Living arrangement; the guest house we were staying in was nice but I was defiantly keen to get settled in my own new place. I had already organised to share an apartment with my friend Cath and the week before I arrived she had moved into the new DAGOC apartment block with about 140 other staff members, which was perfect timing (thanks Cath) as they had just been finished and were now full so I was lucky to have organised it before arriving. So after a few nights with all my new friends in the guest house I decided I was ready to get settled and move to my new home. Also two of my friend from the guest house, Jess and Alex had been allocated the last apartment in the new building so we were going to be neighbors which was great.

So on the Wednesday night of the first week I arrived we went and picked up our Doha hire car (lovely Green Renault Cleo!!! that will be our life saver for the next 6 month, not a fan of waiting in 40degree heat for a cab although they are really cheap) anyway Cath and I moved all my stuff from the guest house into my new home - The DAGOC Apartment II building.

The apartment was great massive 2 bedroom apartment with massive living area, kitchen and bathroom I was very impressed to say the least. So by the end of my first week I was sorted, had a great apartment, massive bedroom, hired a car between Cath and I so we could get around and made some great friends, All set for now (so I though)

So my transition to my new apartment was going very smoothly, we had started buying all our house stuff, getting organised and into a routine and also so many people I know were living in the same building so it was great going visiting to the other floors and being so close to everyone.

Alas...Life was not meant to be that easy

After being in my apartment only 10 days things were about to change. On the Sunday of my third week (The work week here is Sun - Thu, 7.30 - 2.30 still getting use to that one) I finished up work at 2.30, a few rumors had been floating around about our apartment building not thinking anything about it I headed out to do some running around after work, anyway 10min after I left work I got a phone call from my friend Shay "get home now we have to get out!" beep beep. Not too sure what was going on we headed back to the apartments and when we arrived there were people everywhere out the front of the building construction men and all, bags and car everything being packed, we asked the security at the entrance his comment "mama you can go up just take your valuables then head to the Grand Regency Hotel (across the road) Oh Shit! So the girls who live next door and I ran upstairs in a panic. There were people everywhere packing up their apartments: 70 apartments Crazy!! Ran into apartment and started packing all my things was going to take just a few things then thought stuff this I'm taking everything rumor was the place was going to fall down!!!. So 2 trips via the stairs to level 4 in 45 degree heat (not fun) my stuff was out and in the car.

We had to do a few car trips to the hotel so as I waited with some of the stuff it was quiet amusing watching everyone with suitcases, microwaves, doonas, pillows, etc, moving whilst the local builder men were putting up scaffolding and reinforcing bars in the car park to hold the building and to support god know what!!!(Metal poles will not make a difference if the building is going to collapse!!!) By this stage we had heard that the building needed to be inspected because of some swelling/cracks in the support beams or something along those lines so we had to be shipped out.

Anyway the company has moved us all into the lovely 5 star Grand Regency Hotel all expenses paid, while they work out where we are going to go next. All in all it keeps life interesting, I was thinking this move was all a bit too smooth.

So I began writing this entry from my lovely hotel suit in my robe and slippers, whilst waiting for the dinner buffet! From the hotel room we could see the apartment block and we watched closely to if it really did look like it was falling down! The rumor after the first night in the hotel was that apparently we were not going back to that one but the new one that was built behind it.

The Apartment Part 2

Ok, so after having fun in the hotel for the first two nights; relaxing watching cable TV, having our room cleaned, eating breakfast, lunch and dinner for free from the massive buffet, and generally living it up, it was getting a bit annoying and everyone was starting to crack. Mainly because we didn't know what was going on, we were sharing rooms, and we didn't know how long we would be there for (the other building was still standing!) So after a lot of bitching and moaning from way too many people we finally had some answers, via email!
About 20 of the boys were being moved to temporary accommodation in a hotel and the rest of us were being moved to a new apartment block about 5min down the road.
Being very excited that we had an answer we went to check out the new place. Very funny as we walked in and found that it was EXACTLY the same! Same tiles, same paint, same furniture, same pictures on the walls, everything was the same, only a little bit smaller! (somewhere must have had a sale!!)

So after a week in our luxury hotel again all of us moved all our stuff again from the hotel to the new place and got settled. The apartment Cath and I got is lovely just a bit smaller than our other one but we have a front facing view with massive windows which is really nice and the apartments is in a much better location. We are now a five minute walk to a street full of restaurants, supermarkets and shops (bit like Chapel St without the bars! But with the traffic) It now feels like home and it is great to be able to go out the front door and walk to places instead of having to drive everywhere. I am now officially a local!

That ends the Apartment saga, life is now back to normal and going by extremely quickly. (Stay tuned for my next adventure, if there is one!)
Love to you all. Kim xx
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimande/qatar2006/1150224480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimande/qatar2006/1150224480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimande/qatar2006/1150224480/tpod.html Mon, 17 Jul 2006 08:40:02 -0400 Life in the Desert!!!! Adventures in the Sand of Doha, Qatar.

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Doha - The new home, Qatar

Welcome to Doha -
1st Week
So I arrived 2weeks ago and I'm now classed as a local as each week more and more people are arriving. The flight over was fine, I arrived at Dubai airport and bumped into 2 people I knew who were also heading across to Doha, so defiantly wasn't on my own for too long. Arrived in Doha early in the morning and as we had to walk across the tarmac to get into the airport I had my first experience of the desert heat, which I didn't find too bad, that could have been because I had been freezing on the plane or maybe because it was only 8am in the morning.

A whole group of us (my instant new friends) were picked up at the airport and taken to a guest house where we were to spend the next week or so all paid for (now this was a novelty as usually when I arrive in a new city its a questions of "where is the Public Transport & what do I do now!!")
After dropping off my stuff in my new room, which was rather nice, the room was one of 3 private rooms in the apartment, so 3 of us had use of the communal area - kitchen, lounge room, dinning room etc, also the 2 others were from work (1 Aussie lady and a French girl more friends!)
I was now ready to explore, called my friend Cath who came to pick me up and take me out. Cath took myself and 2 other girls on a bit of a tour and to get us sorted with phones, cash etc. We headed off to 'City Centre' one of the main shopping centers in Doha, and can you believe it looks just like Chadstone (big shopping centre in Melbourne) apart from the Ice skating rink that is on the bottom level!!

The place was great everything you could need, defiantly no shortage of designer clothes and well known shops/brands. Got a local sim card for my phone so felt connect to the world again, we then relaxed and chatted over coffee in Starbucks (why is Starbucks everywhere!!), and by that stage I was already feeling settled in my new home.

First day of work - Sunday. A bus arrived at the guest house to take us 25 new starters to the DAGOC (Doha Asian Games Organising Committee - the company I work for) building we had a brief introduction with HR and then were whisked away to the Medical Centre for a health check (all part of the visa requirements.) The Health Check was interesting, we had been given a bit of a bad brief by one of the girls who had been here a while, but it was defiantly not a drama. Once we arrived we did a lot of standing around and waiting (same in every country really). The group was separated into males and females, our group of 15 girls walked from desk to desk getting our papers stamped told to go to the green area, then to the red area etc (its all a bit of a process and we had to follow the direction), blood test, wait, chest x-ray, wait, wait, wait then 'Halas' (we were finished) overall only about a 2 hour process.

The rest of the first week was spend pretty much in the same way, getting everything completed for our permits; induction session, fingerprints, city tour etc then finishing early each day giving us all time to explore the city and generally hangout, it felt like we were on holidays. All in all the first week was great. I finally got to meet my work team on the Wednesday, everyone seems really nice although no one is crazy busy like I was expecting, which was a bit of a surprise, but I'm sure the time will come when things get hectic, it is a nice change at the moment and gives me a chance to settle in to the Doha way of life.

Overall Doha is great, it is hot but bearable, at the moment, and there is everything you could need, not exactly what I first thought when I was coming here. The city is under major construction buildings going up and roads being made everywhere all hopefully in time for the Games in December, but give this place 5 years and it will be the next Dubai.

So since arriving I really feel like I haven't stopped, there is always something going on outside of work and with new people arriving each week and everyone trying to get settled life seems to be going pretty quickly. Quick run down of last 2 weeks activities (see photos attached)
·Dress-up roof party about 80 people on our roof till 4am,
·Shopping at the 6 different shopping centres around Doha,
·B'day dinners
·Night Boat outing to a sand island in the middle of the Gulf swimming, jetskiing and partying till all hours,
·Apartment dinner parties in various apartments
·Relaxing by the pool looking out at ocean on sunbeds being waited on at the local resort!

Yes life is tough in Doha.
Well that is enough news for one entry stayed tuned for more Doha updates and photos. xx
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimande/qatar2006/1147914660/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimande/qatar2006/1147914660/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/kimande/qatar2006/1147914660/tpod.html Tue, 11 Jul 2006 05:20:35 -0400 Life in the Desert!!!! Adventures in the Sand of Doha, Qatar.

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Melbourne (home), Australia

((2nd Draft as I just deleted my first entry. Yes great start!)

Hi all and welcome to my travellog/blog,

I am hoping to keep you all up to date with my Middle Eastern Adventure over the next 8+months using this website. With all my other travels around the UK, Europe and Canada I have tried to keep in contact with group emails, so thought this might be something different. It also means you guys can log on whenever you like not just every so often when I email, also means I can put lots of photos on it, which are always more exciting then long emails.

OK so I'm sure you are wondering why I am off to the dessert and how it all happened well I finished up work in Melbourne for the Commonwealth Games at the end of March then decided I deserved a long awaited break from any kind of work or brain activity so the first few weeks of being unemployed was fantastic, sleeping late, drinking lots, going out for breakfasts, lunches and dinners, catching up with friends who couldn't remember what I looked like due to being in Commonwealth Games hibernation for 4 months, all in all great fun.
Although after two weeks when I realized I couldn't live this lifestyle without some form of income (unfortunately I didn't meet a famous/rich athlete at the Games so the plan of being a kept woman went out the window) So being lazy and not too sure what I wanted to do next I decided to send my resume off to a few contacts I have been given for the Asian Games in a place called Doha. To be honest I didn't really give it a lot of though when I first applied as was not really sure if and when I would hear back, but after I sent it off I felt like I had at least applied for something which made me feel better about taking another few weeks off doing nothing!! (any excuse the bank account wasn't empty just yet)
So after only a few days I was very surprised to receive an email from one of the contact I had emailed asking when I would be available for a phone interview. Once I received this I was in a bit of shock and though I should really look into this a bit more as the prospect did sound appealing. Anyway long story short did some research, had two phone interviews over four days (wasn't sure how they went) then waited to see what would happened next. Within a week I had received an offer from the HR department and had to make the decision on if and when to go.
So after a bit of thought and another consideration of the offer $$, it wasn't much of a tough decision, a few of my friends from the Melbourne Games were already over there so after hearing from them and sussing everything out, how could I say no! So i am now the offical Leisure Services Coordinator for the Athletes Village - Doah Asian Games 2006.
Check out the website -


So here I am heading off to the desert in two days......
Madly packing trying to find suitable clothes (no I don't have to wear a Burka) apparently have to have my shoulders, cleavage and knees covered, and of course none of my cloths fit into all three categories. So we will just have to wait and see what awaits me in the desert.

There you have it a bit of an introduction and some background on how I ended up in the country of Qatar. Will continue to send emails to you all aswell as writing this, but will update this site with general bits and pieces and lots of photos. Hope you enjoy and don't forget to keep in touch.

I will miss you all terribly back in Melbourne but looking forward to a new adventure (I know you all said I wasn't really to settle down and you were right although this time I am getting paid which is always a bonus)

Lots of amazing places to explore and experience still in this world.
LET THE TRAVEL BEGIN.
Love and Hugs to you all.
Kim xx
(See the Map below to see where I am)

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