in the veggie patch

The holiday was decided

So, a week before my visa expired in Doha, I was told I would not need to extend my stay.  So I thought, beauty, time to organise a holiday for a few weeks before returning to the Melbourne office.  There was much debating about where to go and what to do and how to do it and how much it would cost etc etc.  I was very keen to do a tour from Jordan to Egypt, but all the tours I found were booked out.  So in the end I decided to spend 3 weeks on holiday and to split the time between Egypt and Greece.

More blogs will follow with stories of my travels and photos, but for now here is where I decided to go ….

Flying from Doha to Abu Dhabi and then to Cairo I stayed the night at a rather interesting little hotel a block from the Nile.  I then had a day to myself before my Geckos tour started.  I opted for the 10 day Treasures of the Nile Tour, which took in all the sites (pyramids, temples, etc) and also a Nile cruise.  This trip was a definite adventure and eye-opener but alot of fun.  We had an amazing group that all got along and made the tour great.  Our guide was awesome too.

Following the tour, I hopped on a plane to Athens where I spent a night and an unscheduled extra day/night before I left for 10 days on the Greek Islands.  I did this part of the trip on my own, though I had it all pre-booked through a travel agent.  I visited 4 islands – Mykanos, Paros, Naxos and Santorini.  They are all different and all have their own good and bad points.  I ate lots of yummy Greek food, spent too much money, read two books and generally had a very relaxing time.  Although, I did find that it got a bit lonely after a while.

Anyway, overall the holiday was great, I spent too much money, got a nice tan and have lots of tales and photos.  These, of course, will follow in subsequent blogs ….

Time to start organising my next trip!

The Shopping Centres of Doha

Ok, so throughout Doha there are numerous shopping centres and Souqs, but I thought the two main ones deserved a mention.  They are Villagio Shopping Centre and City Centre Shopping Centre (which, ironically, is not in the city centre).  These two shopping centres deserve their own entry due to the extravagance that they hold.

So, first, City Centre, which I visited twice.  This shopping centre is massive, it is four stories and very long.  It contains some boutique stores selling jewellery and clothing (some dresses were thousands of dollars) as well as the normal average stores selling everything from books to sporting goods to toys and clothes.  They do tell me that there is a book shop there, but I was never able to find it.

City Centre is also home to an ice skating rink built on the ground floor right in the centre of the complex (you can see this in the photo).  As well as ice skating, the centre is home to a cinema and supermarket and numerous restaurants and cafes.  My visit to City Centre is where I learned that it was perfectly acceptable for people to smoke inside a shopping centre – I was amazed seeing men drinking coffee and smoking inside.

With the heat of Doha, air-conditioned shopping centres such as this become a refuge from the heat.  Because of this they have security at the entrances that do not allow groups of men entry.  Groups of women are fine, and men with families are fine, and Arab men are fine, but groups of non-Arab men are stopped and told not to come in.  I’m not sure if this is because they are afraid they will cause trouble, or because they think they just want entry to get into the cool and do not plan to shop ….

So, now for Villagio, and believe it or not, this photo is the inside of this shopping centre.  The whole lace is designed on a Venetian theme, complete with a canal and gondolas, oh, and an ice skating rink.  People pay the gondola operators for a trip up and down the canal.  Most of the people who seemed to take these trips were nannys and the kids they were minding.

Now Villagio, though it has some medium-range shops, seems to be the hub of brand-name designer shopping.  The whole place is very expensive and extravagant.  Though, it is home to a Virgin store and supermarket which makes it a popular option for shopping.

This shopping centre is definitely a must-see if visiting Doha.

Strange but good

Ok, so after 3 months overseas I have come back, weighed myself and I have lost almost 4 kgs. I have no idea how because I did little exercise and did not eat well.  Wonders will never cease!!

Hopefully its a sign that my body is ready for a change ….

The reasons why ….

So, lately I’ve been thinking about why I am fat.  I’ve come to realise something.  When I look in the mirror I see a disgusting ugly creature staring back at me.  I dream of being beautiful and happy, and for some reason my mind links that with being thin.  Deep down I believe that until I am thin I will not be happy or beautiful.  The scary thing is, and I’ve only just realised this, is that I am scared that once I lose weight I’ll still be ugly.  What if I am?  What if losing weight does not magically make me beautiful, what if I’m still the ugly duckling I am today.  It’s a scary thought – for me.  And, honestly I think it’s one of the things holding me back from transforming my body.  That and the deep down belief that I can’t do it and that I will fail.

Step by step I’m trying to work past these thoughts, but it isn’t easy, I wish it was!

The Qatari Desert

So, while I was in Qatar working I managed to get on a one day desert Safari with a local tour operator.  In one word I can discribe this day as fun!!  I was picked up around lunchtime by my Qatari driver in his Toyota Landcruiser and met the two other people I’d be sharing the car with for the day.  We then drove half an hour or so until we reached the desert (that’s the desert where they go do their dune bashing, as the desert is actually surrounding Doha).

Once we reached the desert, we had a potty break while the driver let the pressure out of the tyres and met up with the other cars in our tour.  Also, while waiting, we had the option of going on a camel ride for arouns QR 20, though I decided to give this a miss.

So, after about 15 minutes, all the cars had arrived, those interested had had their camel rides, the tyres were let down, and it was time to get into the desert.

The driver was incredibly skilled, operating the vehicles mostly one handed while speaking on the radio or phone with his other hand on careering up and down dunes.  It was amazing to see the dunes and the desert, we stopped often, getting out of the car and walking around.  The sand was so soft, nothing like beach sand.  We saw one falcon flying in front of our car and some flamingos from afar, but that’s the only wildlife we came across.

That photo there is of the chain dune, the driver said that all the dunes have names so that if a car gets stranded they can radio in and identify where they are.

Well, after a few hours of drive around and plummeting down the sides of dune (which was alot of fun), we got to the sea.  The water was freezing cold and we could see Saudi Arabia in the distance (on the other side of the sea).  The driver told us a number of stories about the Saudi border control officers getting a big to frisky with their guns and shooting some Qatari’s who were fishing a couple of years back.  So, I spose its lucky we didn’t get seen as nice targets.  We stayed in this area to watch the sunset, which was beautiful, across the desert.

Following the sunset, we left for the tour operator’s camping area we we had been promised a traditional Bedouin feast.  Of course, what we got was a traditional Nepalese dinner (because the cooks were Nepalese) following by some apple Sheisha.  It was still nice, even if it wasn’t as expected.

After dinner, it off for the trip back to Doha, stopping to put pressure back into the tyres one the way out of the desert and back onto the road.

All in all it was a fun day and I got to see something I’d never seen before.  If you ever get to Qatar I recommend spending the day out in the desert ….

The Beginnings ….

The Beginnings of the Veggie Garden

So, for years now I have dreamed of having my own veggie garden, growing my veggies chemically-free and naturally.

And, of course, since I became vegetarian, this dream has become more and more important to me.  So, mid last year when I was looking for a house to buy, one of my requirements was enough room in the backyard tohave my own veggie patch.  Well, when I stumbled upon the house I eventually bought, I hit jackpot.  In the backyard was an already built veggie garden, complete with wire cage to keep the birds out.

Once I bought my house and moved everything in and got settled, I started preparing for my veggie garden.  Now, knowing absolutely nothing about gardening, I didn’t really know where to start, so I simply popped down to Bunnings and bought lots of seeds, seedlings and organic soil/potting mix.   I didn’t think, at the time, about what season it was and what I should/shouldn’t be planting.

So, I got home, unpacked the car and got planting.  I planted radishes, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, snow peas, corn, eggplant, and much much more.  Once I finished planting them all and turned on the greywater system, my neighbour popped her head over the fence, introduced herself, and promptly told me that I had planted too early for the area and that nothing would grow as the soil was too cold still.  Great! I thought, what a waste of time and money.

But, trying to be positive, I tended the new seedlings and expectantly waited for my first home-grown veggies.  I battled bugs who decided to feast on my n

ew plants, experimenting with chemical-free remedies, like garlic and chilli spray and beer for the crawling bugs.  Eventually, after losing a number of plants, I picked some yummy radishes and broccoli (though I only harvested a couple of heads before they flowered).

Well, after a number of re-plantings and a few more months, I harvested my first capsicums, strawberries and eggplants (there are some photos attached).  While I’m away on my middle-eastern adventure, a friend is tending my veggie plot – here’s hoping that its flourishing when I get home.

Stay tuned for updates as I learn, explore and produce an amazingly green, flourishing, organic veggie garden.

Venturing into the Middle East

Marbaba!

So, for my first posting I thought I would share my experience so far of Qatar, a small country in the heart of the Middle East, right next to Saudi Arabia and UAE.  When I first asked to come to Qatar for work, my response was – where’s Qatar?  and can single women walk around unescorted there?  You could say I had little awareness of the Middle East, other than what most westerners think – that its a male-dominated fanatical muslim area of the world.

Well, since being here, I have completely changed my views on this area of the world.  I understand that Qatar is fairly westernised, and there are alot of freedoms here, and that I have been lucky in many respects that this is my experiece of the Middle East.  But it has only left me longing to see more of it!

While there is a distinct lack of greenery, and it is hot and dusty, the country is beautiful in its own way.  From the city of Doha with its contrast of new, modern, architecturally designed hotels and shopping centres and old, crumbling sand coloured houses and apartment buildings with the beautiful corniche looking out over the Gulf.  To the desert, only 15 minutes out of town, with towering sand dunes, little plant life, falcons sawing overhead and views of Saudi Arabia across the Inland Sea. 

And then there is the people, a mixing bowl of nationalities, from Arabs to Indians to Sri Lankans to Asians and Westerners, pretty much everyone is represented here.  But it is the Qatari’s and people from other Arab natons who stand out – the men in their elegant white shirt-dresses and white head-coverings, and the women in full black dresses and veils. 

With my work being all-consuming, I have ad little opportunity to explore this country yet.  What I have seen has included Doha’s corniche, the Museum of Islamic Art, the Souq Waqif, the Gold Souqs, a couple of shopping centre, and the desert on a one day desert safari.  The desert safari stands out, of course, which was a number of hours of ‘dune-bashing’ following by arabic food and sheisha.  The Souq Waqif also stands out – the traditional marketplace with winding and weaving aleeyways and hidden vendors, and the smell of spices, perfumes and sheisha.

Well, I’m going to leave it there for now.  Now that I have started to blog I will update this as I see new parts of this country and add more photos, InshaAllah.

Ma as-salaamah