Speed posting due to poor battery life

What a Christmas! After the long hours spent in Dubai airport we arrived in France's Charles De Gaulle airport and waited in the long queue to get through passport control. There was a loud cheer as another officer joined the sole person who had been processing the plane load of passengers.

All of our luggage arrived safely with us and we were off to catch the RER B train to Gare du Nord which is our closest train station. The Hotel Magenta where we're staying is about a block away from the station and we rapidly discovered that even with our culling of random luggage we've still got too much stuff...

We had our first meal at Hippopotamus which is like a French fast restaurant chain (Sizzler without the buffet). The wine was lovely.

Christmas day was spent with some of Lisa's friends who kindly took us in, fed us and allowed us to share in their Christmas meal.

Yesterday my post-show blues/cold sank in. That was less good but was helped by my brand new lined boots which are much warmer than my other shoes and Gene's purchase of cold/flu tablets for me today. We also checked out Montemarte, Sacre Cour and Notre Dame. Plenty of pictures taken. Mulled wine is a definite favourite over here.

Tonight we'll visit the Champes Elysees and enjoy dinner with Lisa again.

Must run as my laptop is running out of battery rapidly... must fix that at some stage. Off to bed to rest a little before re-packing gear for our train trip to London tomorrow.

Gene's Aunt Jackie has kindly offered to put us up in a place in Guildford which is where we'll be basing ourselves for the coming weeks until we journey to Norway & southern France.

A bientot!

Three Ships

I saw three ships a sailing...



and I was glad. It meant that the show was going on! I was lucky enough to see the show from the field and watch the final fireworks with Gene beside me.

The load out went well despite the rain. I've decided that rain is a definite event during a load out. Interestingly the bin-liners lasted longer as rain protection than the plastic rain jackets that we'd bought by the hundreds.

Several nights of celebration have since passed and before I knew it I was sitting outside an Irish pub with Gene & Nick in Dubai airport wondering how to pass the seven hours before our flight. Blogging, shopping and looking up accommodation for the UK. Not sure when we're going to be there yet but figured it'd be good to start looking anyhow. Wish the exchange rate was a little friendlier but hey, who's counting... ahem.

It was a little crazy today. Doing the final packing up of our villa and saying goodbye to Fred (after the character in Angel) the cat who'd started to call our villa home. We picked up our tickets for our final return leg today at the Emirates office before having dinner in the Old Souq. Then it was back to the villa to pass an hour before the car came to pick us up. At the airport we bumped into the last of the skilled crew who were on their way home that night. There were hugs and kisses and then we were off.

So now we're in Dubai airport. I've picked up my Christmas shopping for Gene & Nick and now we're just passing time until it's time to board our flight to Paris. It hasn't even come up on the departures list yet...

I had grand plans for a well thought out and written post but it would seem that last night's final hurrah at Garvey's has taken more out of me than I expected... there was much whiskey & beer had by all.

There is one more thing that I will say though and that is that Doha has been an amazing experience and I've met some incredible people and learnt more than I could have imagined. Today while we were at the Souq a guy came up to me and asked if I'd been working at Khalifa. He was one of the many hundreds of local crew who we'd been working with over the past few weeks just wanting to wish me a safe travel as he'd finished working with us. Experiences like that are just the tip of the iceberg of how amazing this experience this has been.

It's going to take me awhile to remember to introduce myself as "Sarah" and not "Swong" because that's how it's been for the last four and a half months. Can't wait till the next one :)

Stopping this post now before I fall asleep typing. May join in the game of uno going on beside me. I'm sure that Nick & Gene say hi...

Catch you all from France!

Almost There

I'd like to think that I've adjusted to night shift but in reality I think I've just adjusted to shorter sleeping hours and more adrenalin.

For those of you who might not know the Closing Ceremony is tomorrow night for us here in Doha. December really has flown past. I have no idea where the time has gone. Admittedly I'm strugging to remember what day of the week it is so that doesn't help! I love the nightshift. It suits my nocturnal habits and general love of darkness. It does make it hard to track time though because you arrive in the evening, finish work in the morning and come back the same day you finished. I love it!

Off to do a coffee and biscuit run while there's time. Anyone in Oz who wants to check out the show should tune into SBS on Saturday at 1300 (1pm).

Not long to go until it's all over and I wander about the world feeling lost until the next show... at least I'll be wandering about in a new place with two of my best friends :)

Shows

Last night I headed down to the Corniche with Amy to watch the multimedia show at Fisherman's Harbour. After an interesting detour from our cab driver we made it there late but the show started about 20 minutes late.

It was an interesting idea doing a laser show on the harbour as the wind blew away half the smoke but luckily the pyro produced enough to keep up the effects. While the story was a little lacking (they stopped telling it for about a third of the show and then picked it up again at random) and nothing seemed to be in time it was a pretty good deal for the 10QR (AU$3) ticket price.

After the show we went for dinner at one of the nearby restaurants and had fresh hommus and lebanese mixed grill. It was good :)

All Naomi's talk of swing dancing reminds me that I should post the picture that the lovely Rick Dobbie sent me yesterday of Gene & I swing dancing in the 40 degree Doha morning. It seems like an age has passed since the picture was taken!

A Scattered Update

Finally made it to the Corniche yesterday. It's only taken me four months! Even managed to find the Old Souqs. Well, okay, I was driven there but that's not the point...

There were some lovely tea houses along the way and it was a pleasant walk (about 3.5km). I must say that they know how to make a good cup of tea here.

Along the Corniche there were some boats that ferried you across the harbour if you didn't want to walk. There was also a pyro and laser light display on Palm Tree Island. They do love their lasers here too :)

I'd also like to clarify that Palm Tree Island has one tree on it. It's more like an elongated sand bank. The tree (from a distance) appears to be dead. It's a little Six Feet Under really. Still very beautiful though.

Back to the Corniche, there was an exhibition set up called The Corniche Experience which had some food stalls and four rooms set up for all the senses except sound. "Taste" was a little lacking in terms of only being able to do it through smoking a shisha pipe. For some reason there was a treadmill at the end of it for you to run 100m and check your time on. Not sure what that had to do with taste. Anyhow, "Scent" was awesome. They had a series of covered pipes with test tubes of scents in them and you had to guess what you were smelling. I think I guessed one, "rose". I failled miserably on "equestrian", "running track" and "parquet". It was a little overwhelming though to have smelled so many frangrances at once so we moved on to "touch". This was pretty awesome too. Lots of things in dark boxes that you had to stick your hand in and work out what was there. I wasn't a fan of the falcon feathers. At the end of the "touch" exhibit they had a whole heap of string hanging down that you had to make your way through. Again I failled and walked straight into the black flats at the end. Yeah, I was a little tired. Sight was pretty with lights and a projection against the city buildings. Still, I think my favourites were touch and scent because they were the most interactive.

Apologies if this post is a bit scattered. I proceeded to follow up my long walk yesterday with returnig home to sit up watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets until 0400. The 1030 bus was a little painful to catch.

So as always I'm vowing for a quiet and somewhat early night tonight. I'm contemplating seeing some sport just for something different but they events that I want to see (kayaking) aren't on until the 11th when I'm fairly sure I'll be frantic again... Something about a show on the 15th?

Oh and wish me luck. I have 23 days to learn how to juggle three balls and I'll have kept all my resolutions for the year... should probably go get myself some juggling balls...

Hope you're all well!

Trundling

Eight days to go until the Closing Ceremony and I can't believe how much rain has fallen. After all we are in the desert... we're only meant to have half an inch of rain this month according to the averages. We had that alone on the 1st & 2nd December! The forecast for the next week is looking much the same. Hopefully it will clear up by the end of the week!

Life is trundling along. The usual work, with reduced hours for the next few days before we do it all over again. There have been some lovely gatherings which have meant better quality sleep but less of it. Can't win them all eh?

My copy of the Stardust audio book (narrated by the author and unabridged) arrived the day before yesterday which was wonderful. I love hearing authors read their own work because you get to hear their inflections on their words. I guess I imagine it's like hearing how it should go in their mind. Love it! Nick's copy of Fragile Things arrived with it but I haven't managed to catch him to give it to him. Belated birthday/early Christmas pressie.

Nothing is new aside from that! Getting ready to start knitting again. After all the weather is perfect for it. Planning to make Lisa a pair of socks. Hopefully that will go faster than the pair I'm making for Mum. (One sock's complete though Mum, I'm getting there!).

Okay going to go be productive now. Or dance in the rain. It's hard to tell...

Middle Ground

One down, one to go.

The Opening Ceremony went well despite the inclement weather. It rained for much of the day of the show and proceeded to drizzle and rain through most of the night. The show still looked amazing from the few parts that I was able to watch. Nura looked amazing on the huge LED screen and the fireworks, well they were pretty too! Photos from the night are mainly centred around City of the Future because that's when I was on the field. Nick took some great shots of the final fireworks display. There's going to be the usual trading of pictures among workmates and I'll be sure to bring them all home.

I was lucky enough to work the first overnight shift of the bump-out (transition to sport) which we were expecting to get rather wet in the rain. We were not surprised to find this the case. What did surprise us was the golf-ball sized hail that fell in the wee hours of the morning. Talk about random desert weather! We've officially seen it all in terms of weather in Doha. From extreme heat to ice. What can I say? That's Doha for you.

After leaving work in the morning I headed back to work that night and was happy to find it no longer raining. The temperature however had dropped to a cool 16˚C. I was very grateful at having left my QR55 100% PVC Matrix-esque jacket at work from the night before.

That was yesterday morning I think. Today I've been given a luxurious day off and I'm struggling a little. After all I've had a decent amount of sleep albeit at the wrong end of the day. I'm moving back into a slightly more day-oriented shift now. My brain has no idea what to do with itself.

The day started with the sound of running water. By running water I mean gushing water. The pipe to the bidet downstairs had burst and the downstairs bathroom had started to flood into the stairwell and was making a good effort towards the front door. Gene got up and helped me move the beer out of the water flow and then the cleaners and maintenance guys came and fixed the pipe. I knew it was going to be a good day. So far so good. A bit of shopping for tomorrow and a quiet evening at home hanging out with Nick. It's just like being in Melbourne only not.

Tomorrow's looking to be a pretty good day too. Lisa & Dave have given me a half day and then there's the party at Bayti which has proved an excellent night in the past. I doubt the party will help me reset my body clock but at least it will be fun! I'm baking cookies to bring as promised in the wee hours of the transition.

I doubt I'll recognise the stadium tomorrow when I get into work. There will be grass there. Crazy sporting event. In fact, I doubt I'll be allowed near the stadium during the sports so it'll be a good day of paperwork.

My willpower is a little lacking today. I think I'll have a quick nap before Nick arrives to hang out.

Foilled! Or saved depending on which way you look at it. Nick's here so I'm going to run off and be sociable.

Soon

It's 3:52am and I'm just waiting for the next bus home. The Opening Ceremony is in just over two days time and I doubt I'll get a chance to post for a while as we'll be flat out.

The days have been a bit up and down. I think it's just my body's way of settling into a different rhythmn. Happily I've settled down a bit. Admittedly the weather has changed quite a bit in Doha. Gone are the 30 degree days. Instead we've had 20-25 degree days and light rain.

Monday was a luxurious day off for some of us. Laundry was gratefully cleaned while we stocked up on groceries and other items. Gene, Nick & I spent our day at City Centre where we enjoyed a variety of take away foods for lunch and purchased the odd piece of clothing for the upcoming Europe trip. Gene bought me a watch as I think he finds the Baby G a bit big on me and also because he's been wanting to buy me a watch for a while at least until we get home. He also got a G-Shock watch of his own which he loves.

I'm having trouble getting to sleep at the moment. Again I think it's to do with the different rhythmns and also just the excitement of the ceremony being so soon.

It's interesting to note that 8 months to the day on the Closing Ceremony of the Asian Games, we were Opening Melbourne's.

See you all on the other side of the Ceremony!

Ways to Wait

Currently waiting for our booking confirmation for our tour of Norway in late January. I discovered that up in Tromso they have the Northern Light Festival from 22nd January for about a week. I was pretty excited so I’m hoping we’ll get to spend at least two days of our tour exploring the festival before heading back down to France.

Things are getting busier at work (if that’s at all possible) but it’s going well.

I’m amazed that we’ve managed to stay on top of our laundry needs during this period. I tend to bake cookies and have dinner while waiting for the washing machine to finish it’s 35 minute wash cycle before hanging it out and passing out in bed. At least I have clean clothes and cookies. Add a cup of tea into that mixture and anything is possible!

A serenade, bandages & the unexpected

What a surreal and fantastic 24 hours have just passed!

Last night as I was readying myself to head home I was called over to a seat near the quartermaster's store and serenaded by one of the crew members. Rob (the aforementioned crew members) sang Just the Way You Are as he'd been singing it in our site shed one night after Anneke had the song stuck in her head. Rob then said he needed to work on the song a bit and I suggested a repeat performance one night. So last night it was. Complete with backing track! Then Play that Funky Music resounded over the system and the crew, locals, workshop and general passersby in the compound alike, danced for the duration of the song. It was great to see people smiling as they went past!

I headed home and drew myself a nice hot bath to try and ease my sore shoulder and back muscles. I'm currently waiting to find out if the osteopath that is recommended has enough time to see me. I hope so! There's a little point just to the right side of my spine between my shoulder blades that hurts. I can feel the pressure there... I just can't seem to ease it though. Anyhow, I did that and listened to the soothing sounds of the Baraka soundtrack.

Twenty minutes of meditation finished my relaxation for the night and I crawled in to bed and dozed off within seconds. Can I just say that I've never had so much trouble focusing on one thing for twenty minutes before? I think the meditation is a good thing. I've woken up feeling really good this morning.

Speaking of waking up... I woke up this morning, rolled over to give Gene a hug and was shocked to see a huge, okay rather large, bandage on his left hand. It held his middle and ring finger together and went down across his palm to his wrist. He was asleep though so I didn't want to wake him up but I was alarmed never the less. I went to open a packet of tissues and woke him up doing so and he explained that it wasn't as bad as it looked (typical boy style I thought). His finger (middle) had gotten caught between two bits of steel and there was a cut and some bruising but he didn't think it was broken (he can still move it). Apparently he woke the nurse up so he thinks that's how he ended up with the large bandage instead of the bandaid he was after. Phew! Shall monitor it just incase he is just being a boy about it, but I think he'll be fine.

This brings me to the unexpected part of the twenty-four hours. After fussing over Gene while trying to get ready for work I realised I was going to need to run for the shuttle (nothing new there). I trooped off down the stairs and opened the front door to see... rain. I was stunned. I watched it for a moment with the grin of a cheshire cat on my face before heading upstairs to get a cardigan/jackety thing to cover up so that I didn't have to sit in the office with damp clothes all day. The rain was light but it was actual rain as opposed to the odd drop of water. It's starting to ease now but it's possibly going to continue lightly through the day.

I love it!

Really

Today was the first day in a few weeks that I was at work at 0900. It's funny how you know that you need to be awake "early" the next day and yet the night before you just can't seem to convince yourself to be asleep any earlier, even if you try.

So in an attempt to relax and have a clear head ready for bed I listened to the Learn to Meditate podcast that I'd downloaded recently. There were two things that I really loved about it. Firstly it was a podcast from the Meditation Society of Australia which meant that there were Australian voices narrating. I've forgotten the second... clearly it wasn't that important to me... It was really good though. Certainly cleared my head and made me ready for bed. They advise you not to lie down while meditating as you're more likely to fall asleep. Good advice!

Gene & I played tag at the front door this morning. He ended up working about 14.5 hours last night. Just as I was reaching for my keys to open the front door from inside the villa he opened it. A quick hug and kiss and it was time for him to go to bed and me to run for the shuttle bus. (Well, walk quickly, haven't had to run for a while).

The temperature has cooled in Doha to a pleasant sounding 23-26 degrees at the moment. I say "pleasant sounding" because in all our minds it should be pleasant. However having been in 40-50 degree heat for the last few months, 23-26 degrees seems a little on the cool side. A few jumpers and sweaters have come out of the wardrobe/suit cases and a couple of jackets too.

Everything's relative really...

Able to Fly

Flights have been booked! We’ll be departing Doha on the 23rd December to arrive at around midday at Charles De Gaulle airport on Christmas Eve. What a Christmas present! I’m feeling much happier about the trip knowing that we’re actually going to get there (and back again) and that it’s all confirmed. That’s one less thing to keep me up at night. Now all that remains is finding time with both the lads to talk Eurail passes while they’re still on sale... getting our youth cards organised etc

Gene’s still trying to find time to call his French family but due to work hours and time zones it’s pretty tricky!

Life is stressful at the moment but I’ve discovered the joys of video podcasts. Now I can enjoy some relaxing meditation & yoga in the half hour before I fall asleep at night. I am definitely a bit fan of the audio book as it means that I can keep my eyes closed and still enjoy the story. I’ve always loved being read to. There’s just so much out there! I love my iPod 

Confirmations

Accommodation for the last two weeks in Europe as been booked. Just about to pay the deposit and we're all set for the end of the trip!

Didn't get much sleep last night. Not much of an appetite today either. Busy day though which is good. Will definitely try and make my bus tonight and get some sleep. Am finding it a little hard as the only person in the villa who's not on night shift. C'est la vie.

Four Seasons booking confirmation came through today too which was great. I can't wait :)

Progress

First booking for the Big Trip (working title) has been made. I appear to be working backwards. Our one night of luxury in the Four Seasons Doha in a Standard Room is all set for the 8th-9th February. I think it will be a much appreciated treat after our whirlwind tour of Europe.

Actually I'm in the process of trying to make it a little less whirlwind to make sure that we come home with something in our pockets! As such I've made a booking enquiry for our final European destination in the South of France and we'll try and stay there for two weeks. It looks like an amazing house (I may have posted the link earlier, if not I'll do so when we get confirmation of the booking). It's a great price for the accommodation as well as being in a great place... Here's hoping we can get the booking!

I took a video today of the view from the shuttle to work just for kicks and it was a perfect day to do so. Our bus went almost all the way to the stadium to discover that the road to the stadium had been closed so we drove almost two thirds of the way back to the accommodation before we could get on to the other road to work. Fab! Not to mention the off-road coach driving. Every day has a little excitement in Doha :)

We received word today that SBS will be broadcasting the Opening Ceremony at 3pm EST in Australia so any of you who are interested should be able to watch it!

Okay, must running away to do stuff now.

It's oh so quiet

Weekends are funny things. If indeed they are things at all. Back at home a weekend is Saturday and Sunday. They're days that the majority of people (apparently) don't work. Working in the jobs that we do, Gene & I don't really have weekends as such. We have Monday which is our pseudo-weekend because that's the day when there's generally no shows on. We still refer to Saturday & Sundays as weekends because that's what everyone else does.

In Qatar, the weekend is Friday and Saturday which is a little confusing. To add to the confusion Friday is the holy day which makes it a little like Sunday back at home - shops opening shorter more random hours etc.

So I get easily confused when it's Saturday or Sunday and cyberspace is quiet because I forget that everyone back home is off doing fun and exciting weekend things while I'm at work wondering why there's not even much junk email in my inbox. I'm an easily confuzzled girl when I think about it.

Work is pretty much my life at the moment with brief moments of time with Gene (and now Nick). It's good though. It really makes me appreciate more the time I do get to spend with Gene. It's still hard not to talk shop during these times but I guess that's to be expected when we're at work for most of our waking hours.

Novel is not going well at all. Knitting is doing better though. Accomplished nothing on either of them last night as I got home at 2130 and went straight (literally) to bed. Tried to listen to the first chapter of Abarat but didn't make it through... Shall try again tonight!

A Cool Doha Night

Last night the temperature dropped to 25 degrees Celsius with a cool (probably 23-24 degree) breeze and I kid you not some of the locals had jackets and beanies on. I must admit that it did actually feel cool to us as the maximum temperature that day had been 31 degrees. (Although I would swear that it was warmer)

As I was on the bus on the way home, Under the Milky Way started playing on my iPod. That song triggers a myriad of feelings and thoughts when it comes on. So much so that I can't really find words outside of my head to describe them accurately. I'll always see ballerina's flying in the air with pyro wands and silver trial bikes dancing with them. I still remember how wonderful it was to know that my friends were watching what I was watching and that I had my family in the stadium with me sharing the moment. It also makes me think of home. Not as in Melbourne, but home as in where my friends and family are. I actually think of my friends as a bit of an extended family because like my family they're always there for me. I can't see the Milky Way here in Doha. The light pollution is worsened by the dust and sand that's always in the air and as such there aren't that many stars that can be seen from the city. For the first time since I left Melbourne in mid-August I missed home.

With perfect timing as always, Nick C will be arriving in Doha in the morning. I called yesterday to let him know that I'll be buddying him and meeting him at the airport. I managed to catch him just after Matt's show finished and it was really good to hear both their voices even with the ridiculous delay. There's something wonderful about being able to say to a friend from home, I'll see you on Saturday. It's not something that I've done for awhile!

I've got a long day of work ahead of me but I know that it's going to fly by because I'm working with great people and it's an amazing environment that I'm working in. Gene's at home tucked in bed, apparently not sleeping which is bad because he starts work in seven hours, and well for all who've asked. He sends his love to you all, but in a more, Gene-manner than I've managed to pass on.

We're both really busy and it's kind of strange being in the same place, sharing the same house and not seeing each other. I really should be used to it by now but it still gets me everytime :)

This post sounds more melancholy than I expected it to. I suppose I should stop listening to The Happy Prince just before bed because the story always makes me sad!

Hope you're all well and thanks for the emails. They make this busy, restless and exciting period easier to work through!

PS. The cold is much better. Sleep is a wonderful thing. Novel is doing less well. Completely stuck and have returned to knitting Mum's socks while procrastinating.

Improving

Things are looking up today. I've had 12 almost solid hours sleep. Woke about at the 6 hour mark in a panic because I thought I was late for work, turned out it was only 3:43am. Still sitting on just under 2,500 words of novel but I'm still pretty happy with that considering my workload and recent cold.

Happily the cold has subsided quite a bit after my good long sleep so I'm sipping on my raspberry & echinacea tea having just had my vitamin C, spirulina and garlic oil capsules and I'm feeling fine! :)

Gene & I are both very excited at Nick's impending arrival in Doha and look forward to welcoming him to the glories of desert life (tee hee). No, it'll be fine Nick! No really! You can trust us. :)

I've already bumped into one of the girls I went to uni with over here who's here to followspot. It's always nice to see a familiar face when you're abroad.

Totally stuck on my novel. Have contemplated re-starting but am trying to fight that urge. Next year I'm going to have a plot outline I swear.

iPod is still going well and I'm happily (or tearily) falling asleep to "The Happy Prince" and other stories by Oscar Wilde. I always cry when I hear that story. Not sure why I decided to listen to it before bed.

Okay, running away to be busy now. Can't wait to show you all pictures of Doha when I get back!

Argh. I repeat - Argh.

Keep meaning to post but have a feeling this won't be happening much in the next thirty or so days...

Monday's news:
- iPod finally arrived. YAY! Music all synchronised and have tried all the games. Podcasts are my bedtime stories.

Tuesday's news:
I never thought I'd be so excited about PPE (personal protective equipment for those with more normal jobs) - Gene Hedley

Our brand new Petzl hard hats arrived. Red so that they go faster?

Mail from Melbourne arrived as well. Mainly bills for me. *sigh*

Wednesday's news:
Started handwriting first 300 or so words of novel. Doubt it's going to get far but I think I'm doing better than last year already. Will remember to bring laptop home tonight instead of locking it up at work. Still loving my iPod. V. Busy.

Thursday's news:
ARGH.

Girly Work Day

It occurs to me that I've been rather more girly at work today than usual. Rather out of character I've let a chipped nail bother me (stupid thing keeps catching on stuff and I don't have a file to fix it. No wait... I love my leatherman!). I've discovered that the scent of diesel will follow you around as soon as you look at a fuel tank. To top it all off I've eaten copious amounts of chocolate failing to make up for a missed lunch. Even now that I've eaten dinner I still want more chocolate! *sigh*

Just one of those days I think. Day off tomorrow though so yay :)

Maybe, just maybe if I'm a good girl, I might have an iPod on Tuesday and then I'll stop whinging about not having it...

A Good Night's Rest

Sometimes it's best to just go with the flow and deal with the consequences later. Last night I had a fantastic time at Al Bayti where some of the crew are staying. I'll only go for an hour or so because I have to be at work this morning somehow turned into oh is that the time... I have get up for work in just over four hours if I want to make my shuttle bus. It was all worth it though. I had one of the best, if shortest, nights of sleep and feel fairly refreshed!

It was also good to see Gene last night (while we were both awake). I hung around work catching up on my filing until the 00:30 shuttle to Al Waab, where we live, to change out of the day's clothes. Jack kindly gave us (and Rick) a lift to the party where there was the perfect mixture of music, beer, dancing, cocktails and, most importantly, conversation that didn't revolve around work.

I must admit it was particularly wonderful to put faces to the voices and names that I'd heard on radio. It's amazing how different people can look without a high vis vest and hard hat too...

All in all a good night was had by all. Gene & Jye arrived at our house around 07:30 talking rather loudly. I ended up trotting downstairs and making "please keep it down" motions in a half state of consciousness before heading back upstairs to make the most of my last hour of sleep.

It's gatherings like this that you end up remembering after the shows long over. I was originally planning to head home for another attempt at a good night's sleep. I'm glad I didn't. I don't think I would have slept as well as I did and I would have missed out on a great party. It's funny being social outside of work can be almost as refreshing as a night in when you're working. I look forward to doing it again some time :)

Tick Tock

Dozing on the bus to work today I discovered the name of a character for my (probably not so good) attempt at a novel to commence in four day. I figured that my number of blog posts in February and March were pretty good so maybe I'll hit the quarter-way mark this year. We'll see. :)

I had a wonderful time reading six word short stories yesterday. It would seem that my online entertainment springs from reading the blogs listed on the right and perhaps the Age website for a bit of entertainment. Anything email is a bonus!

We seem to have made it through the bulk of the holiday season in Doha which is a relief. Everything can crawl back to normality now.

The intersection that I was excited to discover had opened a few weeks ago (meaning a 5-10 minute travel to and from work) has been closed again extending travel times to 15-25 minutes. It's important not to miss your turn off in Doha... you may have to travel a fair way until the next roundabout or place where a frustrated driver has managed to move the concrete blocks and barricades.

My dislike of fluorescent lights inspired a desk lamp purchasing trip to Carrefour the other day. I returned with two "duck lamps" (Dave's is called Edward, and Lisa's is Lucy) and one ummm.... curvy metal stick with a folded bit of material. It's prettier than it sounds (and nameless). Perhaps I should try and build this into my story...

Gene's managed to get in touch with his French family so they know we'll be over there soon. Hopefully we'll be able to give them a call soon. By "we" I mean Gene. I think it'll be a Monday thing because of the time difference and the shifts he's working.

The tracking information from Australia Post tells me daily that it was cleared for dispatch from Sydney on 18th October. I wish it would give me some new information. I suppose it's still in transit? Until now I thought I was a patient person. Perhaps I need to start knitting more... that always helped distract me!

Rough plans

Alarm clocks are evil. Alarm clocks going off behind locked doors more so. Grumpy this morning much. Still not sleeping well and slept in an odd position on my sore shoulder and well, it's sore!

Anyhow, it's not all grumpy grumping today. Last night I decided to cheer myself up I started working out a rough itinerary for our Europe trip so that I could leave it on the pillow for Gene to look at when he got home this morning. Wow! What a trip :)

As a rough guide, the first week will be spent in France, Paris for Christmas and visiting friends and family. The start of the second week sees us travelling South to Toulouse to connect with our train/bus to Andorra La Vella. We'll spend a couple of days there before heading to Spain to live it up in Barcelona and then possibly Ibiza (costs allowing) and then Valencia before we fly up to Britain. A week or so in England doing the family, museum, theatre thing before we start our whirlwind tour of Wales, Ireland and Scotland. From Scotland we fly to Norway where we're heading north to the Arctic Circle to see the Northern Lights. Once we've frozen ourselves we'll travel south to the The Netherlands, possibly Germany but we may not have time or cash and then a quick stop in Belgium before relaxing back in France for a few days seeing friends and family again. After we'll be on our home stretch heading back to Doha, then Singapore and then Melbourne!

This activity turned out to be a bad idea because instead of wearing out my brain it just got me excited about the trip which is possibly only 58 days away! Eek!

Detailled itinerary to follow in the next few days as we start to make bookings. We're in the process of contacting various people to arrange visits :)

Awake

Well, so much for the daily writing eh! In my defense I did write in my journal, I just didn't blog.

Monday is my new day off and it feels much more normal. It was weird having Saturday as the start of a new week. At least Mondays is the theatre "weekend".

Much like our last day off together we didn't do much. In fact I think we did even less than we did last time. I carefully avoided the coffee table by spending most of the time in bed asleep or, in braver moments, mere centimetres away from it on the couch. The most productive part of the day involved making brownies (pecan fudge) which we proceeded to not eat because we weren't feeling well. We think that the gastro bug that's going around may have finally come to visit us.

Yesterday was shabby. Very shabby. I totally missed the shuttle bus and ended up calling a car to take me into work. We stopped by the supermarket so that I could get some yoghurt to try and settle my stomach and actually have something for breakfast as we didn't manage to stomach dinner the previous night. Happily the symptoms eased during the day. Well, mine did. Gene still wasn't 100% at dinner but he made a good go of it!

My dreams are full on spreadsheets and whiteboard markers at the moment. While it means that I'm sleeping in short bursts it means that I'm awake for a quick chat with Gene before he drifts off to sleep and I leave for work.

Plans for our Europe trip are slowly taking shape...

It's looking like we'll stay in a 3 star apartment about 20 minutes from central Paris when we arrive. Apparently the Metro is really close and Gene's confident he can get us around as he's had experience so I'll be making the booking soon. It allows us to stay in/near Paris for longer.

So far our Paris activities and London activities have had the most thought. We're planning to see Wicked, Cabaret and Spamalot while we're in London. It's probably going to cost us a fortune but I'm sure it'll be worth it!

More details are likely to follow on Monday when we've had some time to think about it a bit more and discuss. Gene got our copy of Europe on a shoestring back from his old villa so we'll be reading that a bit more in the next coming weeks for ideas!

Less thinking more sleeping for now!

Recurring Dream

My recurring bad dream of not having graduated from highschool is back. This generally spells a few days of poor sleep *sigh*. I call it a bad dream because it usually doesn't bother me too much. Last night's was almost a nightmare. I woke up feeling all stressed this morning and couldn't get back to sleep. Odd really because I had a really productive day at work and rounded off the day with a nice light meal and the last 6 chapters of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Actually there were somethings which usually make me realise it's just a dream but for some reason I didn't pick up on them so I kept dreaming/stressing. Things like the name of my maths teacher being wrong (for some reason I'm always stressed about maths. I think it's a repressed regret that I didn't drop higher maths and go to maths methods because I enjoyed the challenge). Other more obvious things like my highschool not being attached to a venue like the Victorian Arts Centre in reality... or the $7 self-service bar (stocked with all standard spirits and beers) in the back of the maths classroom. That was $7 for all the drinks you wanted in the 75 minute lesson of course. Oddly the maths class involved flicking through knitting books as well but I was really stressed about having to get good grades and pass with a really high score. Makes me wonder what's going on in my subconscious.

Yesterday I was really excited because when I checked the pidgeon holes at work there was a hand-addressed envelope with my name on it. Funny how little things like that light up your day. On closer inspection I realised that I didn't know anyone who lived at the return address... Anyhow, it turned out to be an invoice for work. On other postal related news my iPod was cleared for despatch from Sydney on Thursday. This makes me happy and frustrated all at once. After all I paid for it and the funds should have all been cleared by the end of last week. Monday at latest after the seller gave me the wrong details for the additional postage. Still, it only cleared Sydney this Thursday. I like to think of myself as a patient person but it's now been close to a week and a half since I paid for the item and the 4-5 working days that the courier is likely to take is going to be extended into at least a week if not more because Eid (three day public holiday to celebrate the end of Ramadan I think) is likely to start on Monday. Then there's another two public holidays (not sure what for) on Friday and Saturday. I'm beginning to think I should have paid the extra dosh to get Apple to send it to me...

Looking over my post today and the last few days it does occur to me that I'm a bit grumpy. I'm really not that grumpy. At least I'm quite happy about most things in my day. Just not the iPod. Or lack of sleep last night.

On a brighter note, Gene & I are about to book our flights to Paris. I just need to confirm some details at work and we should be all good. Our return to Oz from Doha has been booked. We depart Doha on 9th February and connect in Dubai for a Singapore-bound flight. We'll stay in Singapore for a few days to say hi to the folks and dream about spending money shopping there and eating all the local foods (no stomach flu for me this time!). On the 13th February we'll depart Singapore for Melbourne where we'll get to see our friends and family at some point shortly after that! Well, that's the theory anyway. My guess is that we'll land on the 14th February in which case I think we'll have a quiet Valentines day unpacking, sleeping and reacquainting ourselves with Herman.

I must admit 2006 has been an amazing year. For years I'd been saying that I wanted to head overseas to work, go to Europe etc. This year I've been lucky enough to work on two major events, one overseas and I'll be spending Christmas in Paris! What a year!

Well, I think I've managed to succeed with one New Year's resolution this year. This year certainly seems to be an improvement on last year (not that last year was terrible or anything). Now I've got 70 days to learn how to juggle three balls and I'll have completed all resolutions... :)

More ranting than expected

I was browsing through the Age website today, as I often do on my day off, and was immediately drawn to the two articles on cosmetic whitening creams in Asia. While I have no real opinion on the findings they presented in terms of mercury and chromium traces in the creams, I was surprised that "white is the new tan" in Asia. It really isn't that new when you think about it. Just take a look at any Chinese or Japanese illustrations and you'll see pale skin instead of olive skin. I understand that the title of the article is just something to catch the attention of the reader (worked for me) but a little consistancy in the reporting would have been nice. One of the articles finished with a comment about reverting back to old methods of temporary whitening like yoghurt.

It is true though, the love of fair skin among Asian communities. Browsing the cosmetics and skin care isle at Carrefour over here there's a miriad of products that can give you a perfect porcelain complexion. There are even capsules that you can take daily to assist with this complexion. Face wipes, soaps, masks... anything to keep the skin fair. At school I had a friend who stayed indoors/out of the sun for a couple of months because she had to go to a wedding and didn't want to be tanned. It's crazy but I guess we the grass is always greener. At least foot binding doesn't seem to have come back into fashion...

Speaking of fashion... as a small tiny person I was a little alarmed and disappointed when I read an article and saw a news snippet that said that some bra manufacturers were planning to stop making A & B cup sizes in their bra. This really sucks. I'm small enough to be able to fit into size 12 Australian kids clothes. (Pretty funky clothes out there for twelve year olds let me just say!) I can't buy off the rack pants for ladies without having to hack at least 20cm off the bottom of them. Shoes are a nightmare. I buy virtually any shoe that fits me that I like because I don't come across them often. Now to hear that I might not be able to get a bra that fits with any great ease really pisses me off. Grrr. Small frustrated person right here. I don't mind wearing kids clothes, they're often comfortable and it's highly unlikely I'll end up at a party in the same frock as someone else. I think that when I start having trouble buying underwear that fits I'll quite possibly lose it. Sorry, that was probably sharing a bit much but it's frustrating being small sometimes! (I know that there are people even smaller than me and I shouldn't whinge but I'm selfish that way. Besides, I think they should have access to clothing that fits well too).

Now that that's out of my system... the article in the Age on fried coke also caught my mind. All you'd need to do is add some chicken and fries and you'd almost have a fast food meal on a stick.

I've been thinking about the time difference between Melbourne and Doha and I've decided it's not so bad. When I'm eating lunch in Doha is roughly when I'd be eating dinner in Melbourne. I'm not really having much dinner, just a light snack when I get home which is roughly what happens late at night in Melbourne and breakfast in Doha is lunch.

Sorry that was a bit random.

In other news my iPod has finally been dispatched from Sydney. Hopefully it will arrive on Sunday or Monday. I say hopefully because there's a huge backlog of freight at the airport apparently because there's some event happening here in December...

Well, I'm going to curl up on the couch and hitchhike the galaxy a bit.

Sad Panda

I'm trying to prepare for November's daily writing. Even got some plot ideas sketched out. Not sure which I'll go with but figure if I have at least a small idea it'll be a start.

Anyhoo...

Last night's trip to the doctor's was an adventure as predicted. My driver got lost on the way to the X-ray place which was fun. I had no idea where I was... I think I may have been in the industrial area. Anyhow, after an hour we found the place. I got my x-ray and then went back to the doctor. He wasn't in so I waited for the other doctor but through inattention missed my number which caused a commotion. Once that was sorted out he looked at my x-ray, poked and prodded and then wrote me a referral to the hospital's accident and emergency. To cut the long story a litle shorter, I ended up not going to the hospital and instead letting the nurses at work look at it. After the nurses looked at the x-ray this morning they advised that I should just rest the arm (no rotation & no lifting etc) and the pain will go away over the next few weeks. If I have fractured it (which is what the doctor seemed to think) then there's not much I can do. Nothing's splintered (which is good) so it's just a matter of rest and managing the symptoms, maybe a few stretches in the coming weeks. Yay!

Sadly Gene & I no longer have a day off together. So I'm really not sure what I'll do tomorrow. Most of the people I see are either working or have gone to Oman for the weekend. *sigh* Maybe I'll try and nut out a plot for next month... More likely I'll be curled up on the couch with The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Sad panda because there's still no iPod in the mail for me. Stupid backlog of stuff at the airport.

Tick Tock

I had today off to rest my shoulder before heading out for an X-Ray tonight. With any luck it'll be nothing more than muscle damage and I'll just keep up the pain killers and anti-inflammatories. It still hurts to lift or put weight on my shoulder so I've been pathetically avoiding anything requiring me to use both arms. I should be less wimpy I know but then I wouldn't be me... maybe.

Gene's now working at Khalifa on night shift which means that he starts work about an hour or two before I leave. Still, it's good to see him around! He took me to the supermarket today to get some food so that I can have dinner tonight and didn't let me carry anything. I'm a lucky girl and don't I know it!

Mr G will be around to pick me up in an hour and I'm struggling to pass the time. Our housemate is watching Arabic TV and my Arabic is not so good. We were previously watching BBC World so I can understand the urge to change the channel.

We did see a story on Spamalot which is now on our list of things to see while in London. So far it's that, the Natural Science Museum and possibly the London Eye (might be aliens). I should probably start booking that though. I hear there's a long wait list.

Well, I'm off to make some dinner and maybe read a bit while I wait. Just wanted to blather on a bit here first. Probably post again later if anything exciting comes from the X-ray visit. I'm going to need to direct the driver so it could be a bit of an adventure!

Trundling Along

November is really not the best month for me in terms of NaNoWriMo. After last year's dismal attempt I figure I can't possibly do worse... Big words...

Anyhow, life is trundling along slowly. I'm eternally grateful that I'm right handed as my left arm is giving me grief from last weekend's blow to the shoulder blade. I've been on anti-inflammatories for the last four days and at night have something to try and relax the muscles but the ache is still there. If it's still there tomorrow I've been told to get Xrays. The doctor didn't look impressed when I mentioned that I kept swing dancing after the accident... Probably should have thought about that a bit really...

Aside from that nothing is new. Last night was the best sleep I've had since Saturday. I managed a whole 4 hours before waking up. I'm averaging three because that's about as long as I can sleep before I want to toss and turn.

Gene's working over at Khalifa now so I got to see him today while we were both awake! Very exciting. It was brief though. To be accurate I saw him twice but the second time we were being introduced and I was giving him his crew. Hehe we shook hands like it was the first time we'd met. :)

I have possibly mentioned this before but I'll say it again. A big thank you to those of you who write somewhat regularly in your blogs and anyone who emails. You're my only link to what's going on back home and I check all the blogs religiously in the mornings (Doha mornings that is...)

After finishing working on the Commonwealth Games with no pictures of my own I've made an effort to take pictures every day of what's happening on site. It's been really good because it gets me out of the office and reminds me of what we're moving towards. Naturally I can't post the pictures of the site but I do have some photos of some butterflies that Amy & I spotted in the shrubby plants onsite. I even got a picture of a little flower too. I love my macro photography setting on the camera.

It's almost dinner time... they had creme caramel for dessert. MMMMMMMM...

Ramadan at the Ritz

What more can I say? The Ramadan tent at the Ritz Carlton in Doha has a reputation for being the best in the city and I'm glad it was my first. The staff were friendly and helpful and happy to explain what the different foods and drinks were and how to eat them.

The wonderful Amy organised and booked us a table. All we had to do was turn up and enjoy the evening.

Food was plentiful and the Ramadan juices were fairly special too. I've never had date juice (with rose syrup, pistachios and some random leafy bits) before. Certainly not served from a large meter long pitcher that was being carried around the room. We tried our best to sample a little of everything but I failed fairly miserably, only managing one main sampler and one desesrt sampler.



Baklava heaven. Each piece that I took looked different and had different ingredients. Much of it didn't look like baklava as I knew it. I think I had 5 different pieces. There was a dessert that looked like mini churros soaked in sugar syrup. It just melted in your mouth. I was amazed that my teeth didn't fall out last night with the amount of sugar in the desserts!

There was a live band playing Arabic music while we were there. In between sets there was a man with an amazing skirt (really heavy fabric, I've been told this is something they do in Turkey as well) who spun around on the spot to music get faster and slower and then faster again until he came to a sudden stop (some five minutes later) and you could hear the fabric as it collected into one swirl around him. Now that's what I call flowing!

If you're ever in Doha during Ramadan I highly recommend heading to the Ritz for a feast. It was amazing!

Mr Postman look and see...

Sadly no iPod has appeared yet and is unlikely to appear until, at best, Tuesday. I should probably stop obsessively checking the pidgeon holes for it until then but I'm optimistic!

I had a fabulous weekend with my gorgeous man. We spent Friday night relaxing and discussing our post-Games holiday. We've nutted out some dates and are aiming for our return flight to Melbourne on the 9th February (I guess arriving on the 10th, but we'll have to wait and see). Now all that remains are flight & accommodation bookings and much saving.

Yesterday, after sleeping in until the luxurious hour of 11am, we had beef(?) kuftas for breakfast and then asked ourselves what do you do when it's 38 degrees celcius and humid? Naturally the answer to that question is swing dance! So we set up my speakers and danced in our carport to the amusement of the neighbours passing us on the way to the pool (probably a more sensible option). Photos were taken but I've yet to see them. If they're not too terrible they may even get posted :)

After a brief altercation between my shoulder blade and the corner of the coffee table (the coffee table won. ouch!) we decided to rest for awhile and program a few slower songs to dance to while I nursed my injury with a packet of frozen mash potato. As soon as the aromatic garlic and herbs in the mash potatoes started to permeate the air we decided it was time to return my "ice pack" to the freezer for a bit and keep on dancing. By this stage our carport was in full sun and to be honest we were melting! Plenty of ice tea helped us through the next few hours as we tried to practice our moves and I'm fairly sure we made up some moves too! We're really missing our swing dancing classes here but I think we were doing okay.

The sun faded from our carport and that was our cue to finish for the day. (We're sensible people really). Gene had a haircut in Mel's carport (Mel & Dobbie's Barber Shop) and then it was time for us to head inside and consider dinner.

While considering dinner we started playing the Sims 2. This delayed dinner considerably. We ended up having corned beef, eggs and rice while continuing our game. Our Sims live in "Melbourne". I think it's a joke because it's always raining in the game. Still miss the rain by the way.

The hours (both simulated and actual) flew past us and before I knew it there were just seven hours left until I had to get on the shuttle bus for work. Whoops. Pumpkin time. We lay in bed and chatted about random things. Mainly PS2 related and then roughly five and a half hours before I needed to be on the bus I finally fell asleep.

Suprisingly I was on the bus about 10 minutes earlier than I usually am this morning. I even had time to polish my boots and have a quick breakfast before I had to leave the house. Amazing what a short sleep can do for me. So it's the start of another week and as the Carpenters karaoke DVD (complete with typos) serenaded me on the way to work I thought about when my iPod was going to arrive so that I could listen to my audiobooks and music on the way to work. I was briefly distracted by the image of Singapore's Underwater World during Mr Postman but that soon passed.

Tonight I'm going to the Ramadan tent at the Ritz Carlton with Amy & PC. I can sleep later. There's too much to see and do in Doha!

Mannerisms

I've migrated my blog to Blogger Beta and I'm really enjoying the new functions (the layout tool is MUCH easier for scripting-beginners like me). Sadly I can't comment on anyone's blog who hasn't upgraded... or at least that's why I think my comment didn't make it onto Naomi's blog... *sigh*

I've bought a new iPod and it's currently being couriered from Sydney. Ebay is a beautiful thing. With any luck it should arrive in the next 2-4 working days... I may get it as early as Saturday or Sunday in that case!

This means I can go back to enjoying my new Fabienne Delsol album "No Time For Sorrows" which I was enjoying on my ride home from work until the iPod was no more. Favourite songs include Laisser Tomber Les Filles and Don't Fall In Love With Me. Richard Ashcroft Live From London is pretty awesome too.

My parents have arrived home from their 25 day tour of China. I was starting to get a little worried when I hadn't heard from them on Sunday which is when I was expecting them to have arrived back in Melbourne. They were back a little late because of a typhoon in Japan. This highlighted to me how little I know about what's going on outside of Doha. It sounds like they had a great time but I think they're happy to be home too.

It's funny how when you get older you end up a bit like your parents. Well it's not surprising really because they're the ones who probably spent the most time with you in your formative years. I've noticed that I tend to get a bit snippy when I don't get an "I've arrived safely" or "I'll be home later than expected" message many hours after I was expecting my family to be home. Ah yes, the tables have turned. I've also noticed that my once legible signature has now turned into something much closer to my Dad's. Before I know it I'll have a couple of pugs running around the house and a great home theatre system... :)

Retiring Grumpus

In my defence I have been meaning to post a new blog during the last week and a half but it's been getting rather busy here in Doha with plenty of things to see and do... most of them work related so unblogable (if that's a word).

Our new villa is wonderful, albeit identical the the one that I moved out of, and we've met our housemate Nevine who is also wonderful. Gene & I are in the master bedroom which is larger than our flat in Footscray was and a little smaller than our place in Brunswick East, perhaps two thirds of the size. We bought our own sheets and they are the most gorgeous cotton sheets that I've ever owned. Soft as soft stuff as Gene would say. Most importantly they're not white. This is the view from just in front of the bedroom window. The little alcove where you can see the mirror leads to our ensuite.


The view from our villa is essentially the same as the view from my last villa with a different villa number on the door.

Most excitingly since my last post it has started to cool down in Doha. The evening breezes are actually cool! Apparently even the spa-temperature-pool has cooled down. Some of the local crew have assured me that "madam will need a jacket soon!", I hope they're right.

Aside from that there's not much to report. I made choc-chip cookies and dolmades over the last week or so. I failled miserably at biryani (planning to try again with different meat and less dairy products). My work hours have changed from a day shift to a late morning-evening shift which is more productive than the day shift was. This does mean that I tend to get up in the mid-morning and run for the shuttle. The evening sees me coming home, eating, doing logic puzzles and then falling asleep before the mid-morning hits again. Less time for blogging as Opening gets closer. 54 days to go!

On the food front, Amy cooked a wonderful laksa for us on Friday night. While I'm not usually one to order a laksa at home, this was one tasty meal! She made plenty of chocolate brownies for dessert as well... I may have eaten too much again. Seems to be what I do on Fridays... eat too much... This coming weekend we're planning to try the Ramadan tent at the Ritz Carlton. It's meant to be the best tent although I've heard the Arabic music can get a bit much.

Another reason that I haven't posted recently is that Grumpus took over for awhile and peaked yesterday when I'd planned to respond to Nai, Nick & Deb's comments. Many things were making me grumpy. One of the biggest things that made me grumpy was my iPod completely dying. It's cactus. It's telling me to see the iPod support site. I did that. I tried to restore the iPod. Failled. Tried to initialise it (like the site told me to). Failled. So now I'm going to get a new one from eBay. It's brand new in a box and should be Fed-Exed to me in about three days time. For now I'm carting my laptop around with me and there's no music on the way to work.

Not wanting to finish on a grumpy note... I should mention that yesterday I received my first Arabic love letter... well it's more of a note... Nevine taught Gene how to write our names in Arabic yesterday so he's written Sarah heart Gene (read from right to left of course). How romantic :)

Speaking of which, this is the view from outside the reception of the office at dusk.

Hazzar!

Hazzar! Gene & I will be sharing accommodation as of Saturday. Even better still we get to stay at Al Waab which is where the bulk of the people I know are staying. Now all I need to do is work out when the dry cleaners are open (for sheets etc) and how to get there!

Notes

One thing I've discovered, in Doha, is that I can only send emails via a web-based email page. This is rather frustrating when just wanting to say a quick hello to someone who hasn't sent you an email in a while. So I've decided to do a few notes to people instead based on the assumption that if they don't read the blog someone who knows them will pass the message on if they read it. Did that make sense?

In no particular order...

Nick C, if you find time to check out Fringe, say hi to Sara & the gang for me. Anyone else reading this should feel free to say hi to Sara for me as well, but as I know that Nick actually knows who I'm talking about I thought it might be easier for him to do so.

Mum & Dad hope the China trip is still going well. Keep off the local food Mum! Enjoy your desert experience.

Fi, how's the new place? Hope you're settling in well. Miss having a place to call home! It's a little weird not to have one. Say hi to Mark for me and give Tori (Tory?) a hug.

Naomi, I can't believe you're back in Melbourne in just under two weeks. Seems like ages since I saw you last after swing dancing. Enjoy the last of your time in Indonesia and have lots of fun! Even with the 4am wake ups :)

Tanya, Apricots Tomorrow will be on its way probably next week along with The Son of A Duck Is A Floater, I'm just waiting on the later to be in stock.

Matt, hope rehearsals are going well, send photos or something? Really wish I could be there to see it as everything you work on is always amazing. Don't stress, all will be well!

Philby, hope everything went to plan for you last week! It was good to hear from you. You missed out on a tasty brunch! Maybe after Ramadan eh? :)

Lisa, Paris still sounds amazing. Can't wait to catch up with you! The airline better be giving you lots stuff to make up for your luggage shmozzle.

Nic, all the best with your show. Look forward to hearing about it!

Paul & Deb, always great to hear from you both. Some excellent names in that email! How's the house going? (I seem to ask this a lot)

Rami & Caroline, love reading your blog. Wish I could make it for one of the meals! Maybe you'll still be going when we get back! All the best for the thesis Rami.

That's all for now, if I haven't left a "note" for you, I haven't forgotten you, I've probably been in contact with you recently. Miss you all!

A brief pause

You can't half tell that this is the week that Gene's on night shift can you? I guess that's why I posted so much in Melbourne in between work. Gives me something to keep me busy.

Well, that and it gives me a brief pause from my obsessive email checking. As there's nothing of note I find myself checking it quite often. Don't get me wrong, there's usually five or so emails each day. Arts Hub, fun things to do in Melbourne, discount holidays from Melbourne and even better... my internet bill for the service that I'm currently not using. My email's fascinating and personal!

I've taken to reading The Age everyday as a source of news from Oz. Largely because I had the weather page bookmarked from when I was in Melbourne. I sigh wistfully at the 20 degree fine weather that I see all too often lately.

It's 35 degrees and "smoke" according to Weather Underground as of 41 minutes ago.

For those of you who are still in Melbourne please go and see lots of Fringe Shows or at the very least spend a night or two at the Festival Club Bar at the North Melbourne Town Hall. I'm really quite sad that I miss out on Fringe this year as it's been a highlight of my year for the last three or so years. It looks like there's plenty to see and it opens tomorrow night.

Snoooooooze

They say that sleep deprivation can have a similar effect to being drunk in terms of impairment of your body’s ability to function.

As I may have mentioned in an earlier post I’ve started to make friends with the snooze button on my alarm. In fact we go way back to the days of sprinting out the door to get to anywhere I needed to be early in the morning. We interacted several times this morning. Enough to have me sprinting out of the house to be blinded by the sunlight. I knew I’d forgotten something… left my sunnies at work as usual. Stumbled a little towards the bus stop, cursed my lack of coordination for anything other than pushing the snooze button, then discovered that said shuttle bus wasn’t there yet. I was a little early. I have a feeling it’s going to take me a bit to settle into the day.

Ramadan has started and we’re doing our best to adjust to the different cultural etiquette that comes into play during the next lunar cycle. Us girls have to cover our shoulders and preferably our elbows but luckily don’t need to worry about a headscarf or anything like that. We can wear skirts as long as they cover the knees (even while sitting) but pants are preferable. The boys are lucky because they get to wear t-shirts (they have to keep their shoulders covered too) and they even get to wear shorts at work. In public they have to be wearing long pants. Eating & drinking in public during the day is a no-no. Water is okay if you’re working in the sun. Chewing gum is not allowed either. Aside from those courtesies and horrible traffic at around 6pm when everyone rushes to the mosques to pray and break their fast after the final prayer, I haven’t really seen much else of the celebration.

This Friday I’m going to try and go to the Corniche to check out some of the Ramadan tents. They’re meant to be amazing.

Four Seasons In One Day

My computer (obviously not the one I'm on now) has thrown a hissy fit. IT are onto it but I figure I have a couple of minutes for a quick update.

Antibiotics are doing wonders. Can't possibly forget to take them as I start getting vague and dizzy when I forget. Missed today's check up though... whoops. Maybe on Wednesday when the doctors are in again...

The weather lately has been wonderful. The since Friday the weather has been a pleasant 32˚C during the day. Sometimes there was even a breeze that was cooler than the air temperature! I have a feeling the dust was blocking out the sun a bit and that's what caused the cooler days. Today the sky was rather clear and we were back to 38˚C. Happily our evenings are sitting on 28˚C so we get some respite from the heat.

Over the weekend I took Gene shopping at Landmark so that we could get some decent fruits & vegetables. Naturally the only fruit we ended up bringing home were dried cranberries, a necessity for life. Gene even got roped into installing Age of Empires II on the spice/nut seller's computer at the supermarket. Not sure how he ended up doing that... Gene reckons it was his glasses that made him look like a computer geek. It was a fairly successful shopping trip otherwise. We found a watch for Gene with visible clockwork that's self-charging.

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Well, I started this post five days ago and I figured it's time to finish it now.

Yesterday was our weekend making today is the start of a new week. All in all it was a good week last week!

Gene, Anneke, Mel and I made our first journey to the Souqs on Sunday. I think we ended up in the textile souqs but I can't be 100% sure. I base that thought solely on the large number of fabric shops that we passed by. It was a fairly successful shopping trip for me, although I'm far too short to wear the dresses that I was after (circle dress mentioned in a previous post). I think I'm going to get one made before I leave. I also found a dress that looked (depending on your point of view) a little like the dress the kid in Final Fantasy X wears (Gene reckons it looked Jedi). It had long bell sleeves and a hood. It was awesome! Sadly the small sizes were meant for people with a better build than I have. Again I may yet get this one made for me.

I ended up with a couple of wraps (100% cotton, I'm ready for Ramadan!) a top which is essentially a square folded in half diagonally and seamed to give it "sleeves" and an abaya which has a gorgeous domino pattern on the gauze-like material it's made of. The plan is to convert it into an overdress (which is not unlike its actual purpose). Beautiful fabric & made.

Speaking of Ramadan, there is every possibility tonight will be the first night! How exciting :) We're looking forward to checking out the Ramadan Tents at night to join in the festivities. "Chrismas everyday for 30 days" is the description we've had so far. Should be fun!

With only 69 days to go until the Opening Ceremony things are starting to get a little busier at which is always good! I like keeping busy, it's more fun that way and means that I'll get more done on my day off!

Yesterday was a fantastic day in every sense of the word. The lovely Amy Wee organised for us to have brunch at the Four Seasons and it was amazing. There's no way to really know how amazing that brunch is unless you go there but let's just say that the dessert room with a chocolate fountain you can smell from the lobby just made me the happiest girl in the hotel. I made it through about 7 courses, wait... make that 8 courses (five buffet and three dessert). There was a tasty selection of seafood, crayfish, oysters, salmon etc, freshly prepared sushi & sashimi, a caesar salad bar... and then there was dessert. We had a designated dessert time so that we'd actually eat some proper food before gorging ourselves on sweets. With an hour left of brunch after two hours of eating we got down to business. Amy enjoyed some chocolate covered prawns and cray tails among other more common dishes (there are photos). I must say that the fresh waffles were possibly the best that I've had. The drinking chocolate was good too... it went well with the chocolate fondue. The creme brulee was tasty although there wasn't much of a caramel top. Having eaten ourselves silly some headed off to the day spa while others headed home for a siesta. We decided to sit by the pool/beach outdoor bar and enjoy a drink before heading home. It was a big day!

Needless to say we skipped dinner and instead went home to relax on the couch while discussing how much exercise we'd need to do to recover from brunch. Something about exercise being 90% mental kept coming up...

Gene & I "exercised" by jumping into a taxi and shopping for a good deal on a PS2 so that we can play DVDs and, of course, games in our spare time. Gene figured that as we may end up moving it would be a good idea. Plus it's something that we've been talking about for a bit and they're quite small and cheap right now. So we ended up with a PS2 that came with 10 (well we got 11 somehow) games, two controller and a memory card. We chose to buy an additional game "Steambot" which we've been enjoying so far. It's a sandbox game and we get to play a blonde boy called "Vanilla". It's pretty funny. We're fairly sure he's got the hots for a girl called "Coriander". It appears everyone is a herb or a spice in the game. Good fun. Unfortunately as Gene's on night shift and I'm on day, it'll be about a week before we get to play it again as we're planning to play it together.

Okay well my backup has finished now so off to work. I can't believe I've been here for five weeks already!

Is there a doctor in the house?

It all started yesterday when I finally admitted that I should probably see a doctor as three days at home had yet to cure whatever was ailing me. So I spoke to Anneke who investigated the best way to get to a decent doctor in Doha. My guess is that she in turn spoke to the nurse at work and before I knew it she was calling me back with the names of two doctors, directions and some handy hints about what to expect. Armed with information and a dizzy disposition I called for Mr G and waited for my ride.

Things were going well really. We managed to find the HMC Medical Clinic, also known as the Omar Clinic or the "something that I've yet to understand" hospital with only one stop and additional call for directions. I was directed to the female entrance by the helpful driver and went to "registration". I asked for the two doctors that I'd been given the names of and was told that I needed to be on the men's side for that. The lady then moved away from the counter and went back to her conversation. I stood there making vain attempts to attract their attention through the glass to find out how exactly it was that I was meant to get to the men's side. It wasn't going so well. So I figured if I wandered down the corridor which led to the x-ray room (well, the "beware radiation room" anyway) that it might eventually curve around. That's how I ended up in the men's section of the clinic. Needless to say there were stares-a-plenty. Not to mention a total lack of queuing. The men queued vaguely with the other men. I was just non-existant in the queue unless it was to be stared at. Yup. I love going to the doctor most days. This just makes it more fun! Eventually I got to the front of the queue to be served by the same woman as before. At least I'm 99% sure it was the same woman, she was veilled so I can't be 100% but the voice sounded the same. I was then told that I'd have to come back later as neither of the doctors were in. Some people might wonder why this information wasn't shared earlier. I chose not to wonder anything and call Mr G again and go home to bed where my head would hopefully spin less.

It being Doha the clinic closed at noon so I ended up sitting outside the clinic - luckily it was only about 45˚ yesterday - waiting for the taxi. 20 minutes in the sun sucks. I forgot the golden rule about carrying a bottle of water while travelling too. Well, that's not entirely true. I considered carrying a bottle of water but figured I'd either be in a car or in the medical centre. Silly Sarah! On the bright side I spent the rest of the day drinking plenty of water to make up for it.

I considered getting back in a taxi at 16:00 when the clinic reopened but having spent QR40 and achieved nothing but feeling equally if not more dizzy. I decided to give up for the day and try again the next day. This is largely because I found out that the nurse generally takes you there and explains what's happening.

Today I bounded out of bed and jumped on the shuttle to work for the first time in a couple of days and it felt good. By bounded I mean I slid out of bed and held onto the furniture as I made my way to the door for added stability. By jumped on the shuttle I meant that I dragged myself up the steps and chose a somewhat reclined seat on the bus. Still, it was good to see Anneke, Mel & Hugh Jackman on the bus. Kelsey Grammar was there too, if a little blue and furry. I must say that X-Men 3 is a way that I could start my mornings, even though I didn't like it as much as the first two.

I forgot that there was a Ramadan presentation today so that it was good that I arrived when I did. It gave us pointers on what to expect and how to behave during Ramadan. It also advised us when the QDC (giant bottle shop) closed. You'd think that we liked to have a drink or something...

My day passed with a couple of spreadsheets, I'm a bit of an Excel convert, and life was good. I'd even managed to bring my own lunch to work today.

At 16:45 I met up with the nurse who said my ears looked pretty clear so it probably was a good idea to see the doctor. She then took me to the clinic while enroute to the hospital with a couple of other people (possible broken thumb etc).

Mary, the nurse, kindly walked me in the men's entrance and explained the colour coded numbering system and how it didn't always work. There's no waiting between patients. You just walk straight in after the person in front of you comes out. You have to keep an eye on your number because the guys tend to just walk in ahead of their number if you're not paying attention. The cards were colour coded to each doctor so you knew where to go. Even though they had our numbering system on one side, it was Arabic on the back. I really wished that I'd payed more attention to the Arabic numbers section in my Simple Arabic Writing book as most people had the Arabic numbers visible. After she was sure that I'd be right she headed back to the car to the other waiting passengers.

I waited... then number 23 went in... then I waited some more... number 23 exited and I made a run for the door (I had number 24). The Dr Ibrahim was very lovely and asked me which order my cold, dizziness and earache had started in. Pretty much that order I replied. Ah, he said while scribbling on a couple of pieces of paper. Take this page and go to your left and hand it to the lab and take this slip and give it to the nurse to the right then come back. I want to do some tests to find out what's wrong. I'll mark it as urgent and then you come back with the results. I must admit I wasn't really at my best thinking capacity so I nodded, smiled, reconfirmed directions and left. I decided to go to the lab first. Now, I'm not sure what I was expecting when I went to the lab. I'm really not sure why I was surprised when she took out a needle and asked me for my arm. Especially since that whole conversation followed my handing over a large piece of paper saying haematology. Suddenly this trip to the doctor was seeming more intense than usual. Apparently my blood sugar and red blood cell count was in question. While waiting for my results to come back I headed to the right of Dr Ibrahim's room to hand in my next slip. I knew this was to get my blood pressure checked. This was comforting as I wouldn't want to enter a room that says Vital Signs without knowing roughly what I was in for.

Happily all results came back normal. This meant that it was time to answer more questions, breathe deeply and say ahhhh. Apparently my ear drums are very clean. I think that was a compliment? Anyhow as nothing was visible he diagnosed me with an inner ear infection and prescribed some tablets for vertigo. Interestingly the little pamphelet inside the box of tablets states that they're not exactly sure physically how the chemicals seem to stop vertigo, just that they do and they have a hunch that it relaxes the capillaries nearby or something like that. Anyhow the medical system here seems to be excellent and exceedingly thorough!

Armed with my prescription medication and AU$20 less in my wallet I called for Mr G. I spent the next hour sitting outside the clinic singing Finn Brothers songs to myself for company. This was briefly interrupted by a man in a thobe trying to get me to get into his car so that he could drive me home. Taxi/limo drivers can be very insistant. At least they're polite and take no for an answer. Still, it was a little unsettling. Part way through Better Be Home Soon, harmonized with my iPod, my driver arrived and before I knew it I was sitting in traffic.

So here I am at home. Happy to be here. Still a little excited after my little adventure. Totally appreciating how much freedom I have back at home. Language is such a powerful thing.

That's the beauty of travel really. All these little experiences. Even simple things like grocery shopping, sending a letter or going to the doctor can turn into an adventure. I love it! I wish you all as many adventures in life as you can dream...

Dream or Death?

Which One of the Endless From Sandman are you?

Dream- you're Dream! you enjoy making friends, but sometimes you're very picky about who you're friends with. You are dedicated to your job sometimes, but this means you are a hard worker. your are a very classy person, thus making you very rare in this world.Take this quiz!



It would have been highly out of character for me to discover this quiz and not take it... Dream eh? I can live with that :)

Oh wait, apparently there's more than one quiz... I guess it depends on my mood!

Which Sandman Character are You?

You are Death! You are cheerful and pleasant, but you have a deeper meaning. You are optimistic, and can irritate people by this. However, you can also be firm and thoughtful. Take this quiz!

Enough geekiness for now. Must sleep.

Family

Home again today. Well at my villa anyway. Villa again today just doesn't have the same ring to it really. Tomorrow I'm going to the doctor (yes, it's finally time to admit that I'm not well and perhaps it's not just my allergies playing up). Nothing to worry about though, I think the pasta that I had for dinner last night may have been older than I remember. I should really watch that. It smelled okay though!

As Dad mentioned on his blog talk is really cheap. I had a grand ol' conversation with my folks at home while tucked up on the couch nursing my cold the other day. It cost me a total of $2.40 for the quick call home to get them online before our free 90 minute conversation. I love Skype for that reason alone!

When I was living in Ballarat I remember being tucked up in bed feeling like the world was ending all because I had the flu.(Did I mention that I don't cope well when I'm sick? I hate being sick). There's something more trying about being sick when you're not at home. I think it's mainly because you don't have all your comfort foods at your immediate disposal. Right now I'm feeling frustrated because I really want to be at work but instead I'm back on the couch not eating anything and being hungry. I realise there's a simple solution to the whole hunger problem but I assure you it's not that easy which is why I'm home in the first place.

Anyhow, whinging aside. Gene looked after me in the early afternoon before trundling off to work his night shift. This was after he called his Dad and had a chat with him on Skype and before we called Nick C for a quick catch up. In the true spirit of good timing he was catching up with Suze who I worked with at M2006 as well as the Comedy Festival this year! It was really good to speak to him today (or tonight in his case) because it feels like ages since we've spoken! I guess today's been about calling family and touching base. Gene & I called my parents as well to wish them a safe journey as they're about to embark on a 25 day tour of China tracing Marco Polo's journey. Sounds amazing!

Speaking to our families was a wonderful thing today. It certainly made me feel a bit better knowing that they were all safe and well.

I'm always amused by the way that I keep in touch with people better while I'm overseas than I do when I'm in the same city as them. It's almost like being at home when you speak to people back there! Family members are particularly good at "normal" conversation when you're overseas. There's nothing quite like hearing about the neighbours or the dogs when you're a quarter of the way around the planet!

It's almost 16:00 now and I've been awake for all of 4 hours but I think it's time to head back to bed for a cat-nap. I'm getting good at sleeping right now. The other night we had a bit of a party at the villa and I managed to sleep through it all. I meant to have a nap and get up and be social, figuring that the noise from the party would wake me up, apparently it was not to be!

Well, I should at the very least go and make my bed before I consider sleeping. I got some new bed sheets today for the handsome price of AU$27. I wish linen was that cheap back at home! I made sure that I didn't choose white sheets (there's something about white bedsheets that screams 'hotel') and they're cotton so they should be nice and cool. Pictures are likely to follow. I've been meaning to take more photos of Doha but have yet to work out where I can take photos. Want to make sure that I'm not going to get arrested for accidentally taking a photo of a strategic structure.

To bed!

Grumpus without a cause

I must admit that I've been a bit of a grumpus in the last couple of days. Not really sure why. After all I've got my lovely man here in Doha with me (working opposite shifts this week) and I'm loving the job. My current scapegoat for the grumpiness is my cold. I'm sticking with that for now!

Nothing to be grumpy about in the last couple of days. Had the exciting discovery of Rhinocort & Otravin at the City Centre pharmacy yesterday. I'm now on the road to being able to sleep and breathe at night!

Yesterday was pretty exciting really. I had my first brunch at at five star hotel. We spent a good three hours eating our way through as much of the buffet as possible. Okay, we spent most of the three hours eating the desserts but how could you pass up on a chocolate fountain and many many different cakes, creme brulee and creme caramel?

After that Gene & I headed to the City Centre shopping centre to find him some shorts for work. We ended up with 4 or 5 pairs of shorts for Gene and some daggy trackies for me for just over AU$30. Bargain! I also found plenty of Qatari dress shops which were just amazing! Let me just say that abayas are not cheap! They are really beautiful though, both in their construction and materials. I also found this great over-dress type thing which was a circle of fabric with a small wedge cut out of it to form a neckline and it just drapes around your neck halter style. Very cool! Haven't purchased it yet. That's for next week's outting! I figured that if I'm going to buy clothes that they should be fairly unique to this part of the world as I'm unlikely to come across them again anytime soon.

The phone that I'm using as a work phone is not liking the heat at all. It's started to freeze and is fairly inaccurate with it's call register. Hopefully it'll make it through the next few months!

Even though it's still hot over here the evenings are starting to be more bearable. It's beautiful outside between about 18:00 and 21:00. After that it starts getting humid and hot again. Still haven't gotten used to the concept of the temperature rising at night. Seems just a little wrong!

Tonight is grocery shopping night. I should probably be writing a list now of things I need to get but sadly the only thing I can remember is water. Luckily the supermarket will be open until midnight so if I get complete stuck I can just amble the isles and shop that way.

Traffic is crazy but my driver should be here soon so I'd best pack up and head off! I must remember to write about the "no trumpets" sign we saw the other day on the roads...

Dusty

You're all smart people so I'm going to assume that you can guess the current weather conditions in Doha.

I've seen a mini sand storm in the last day and today I could barely see the stadium from across the road. It's a little insane really! Dust allergies are not coping well at the moment and we've just been told that a dry cough is yet another sign of dehydration so yay for the feeling of having a cold constantly!

Gene & I may end up living together after all in two to four weeks. Our managers are looking into it for us so that would be GREAT! Like one of the guys at work put it, it's just like dating again - except we've been living together for the last three years.

My new local bank accounts have been set up and it's really quite novel to have to take money from one account an shift it to another before you can withdraw it. Novel and initially upsetting as you freak out because the atm's telling you have no money but really you do. So yet another piece of plastic fills my wallet.

Gene's feeling like he's been here for weeks already with the heat being a bit of a challenge. I keep hearing how wonderful the weather in Australia's been and I can't quite bring myself to keep up to date with that.

That said, Steve Irwin's accident was big news over here at work, being an Australian company with lots of Aussies over here. Sadly that's the only news from home that we've gotten. Feel free to let us know of other events!

This weekend (read Friday) we're going to have brunch at the Sheraton. We're still trying to work out transport but it should be a great day. We might even make it to the souks!

Well, time to make some Pocari Sweat up (good isotonic drink) to help combat the dehydration.

Happy Father's Day

Gene's landed safe and sound if somewhat jet-lagged and hot. It's his first day at work today and it's a scorching 46˚C today.

To be honest I'm looking forward to October as I hear it's going to be really gorgeous weather then. Until then we are happy to know that August is supposed to be the worst month of the year in terms of weather.

Today is actually a public holiday, Qatar's Independence Day if I'm not mistaken. So later tonight - provided I don't go home and fall asleep immediately (which is a promising idea) - we may head down to the Corniche and check out the celebrations. Fireworks and plenty of partying apparently!

Happy Father's day Dad! My best wishes from the desert!

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

Gene should have touched down in Doha now. I feel like it's Christmas day and I'm waiting for everyone else to get up so we can do presents.

Spent much of yesterday asleep as I may have mentioned but have gotten a fair way through my book. Also more than halfway through Mum's sock (literally a sock, not a pair yet).

Argh! Impatient much!

Oh and it's hazy today. Giving the impression of possible rain without the likelyhood of it ever happening. Most of the drivers don't remember the last time it rained and they've been here on average 10-11 years.

Parking in Doha

Happy Birthday Fi! I'm a day early here but it's technically the 2nd of September where you are now!

As Naomi mentioned in her blog, Gene is on his way to Doha tonight (well today for me because it's only 17:00 here). So what did I do with my day so far in preparation? Well, I slept in until 09:00 and believe me those two hours of extra undisturbed sleep were a beautiful thing. I then rolled over and dozed for another couple of hours after turning the air-con off until the warmth of the room woke me up and I turned it back on again. In the process I called Gene at the most inconvenient time of checking in to the plane. So I plodded downstairs to chat with my housemates who were off to brunch at the Sheraton (having brunch at a five star hotel is the done thing over here as you can buy alcohol and food at the same place, just like home!). I did my, now weekly, French manicure and read a bit more of A Short History of Nearly Everything before returning Gene's call and wishing him a safe flight. I think the best thing about our one minute and 13 second conversation was ending it with see you in the morning!

Life in Doha is plodding along. Or at least if feels like it's plodding along until I realise that I've been here for two weeks already and we're about 91 days from Opening.

Carrefour Villagio is operational again which made us all very happy at work even though Mega Mart seems to be the supermarket of choice. I've decided against shopping this weekend as I simply don't need anything other than fabric softener. You may be asking how I can need fabric softener and I give you that without it I will more than likely live. However with my skin still drier than ever before I am planning not to repeat the grazing that I gave myself while drying myself with my towel. (Apologies for the poorly constructed sentence. I could re-write but I'm lazy and short on computer battery life and the charger's at work).

With each night I have been getting more and more grateful that Dad got me A Short History of Nearly Everything. Sure it's not going to see me through to the end of the week but it's been a really entertaining read and it's re-sparked my interest in science. Not that I'm planning on a career change or anything I love my job! It's actually been kind of nice to know that I haven't completely forgotten all my science general knowledge. There are plenty of recognisable names and I am happy to say that I remember what the discovered or what was named for them before Bill Bryson explains. I go through moments in my life where I feel a little dull in the mind but this book has been pleasantly reassuring that I'm not completely away with the fairies.

Speaking of books, Gene was saying that at the airport he had to keep himself from buying books. I assured him that Jarir Bookstore had a fair number of English books and that it even included a selection of Sci-Fi/Fantasy which had Pratchett but no Gaiman. I guess I'll have to wait until we arrive in London to get a copy of Fragile Things.

I must admit there is an impressive amount of USB adaptors for sale over here in Doha. USB to just about anything. Even phoneline plugs (CAT something?). I found some great looking iShuffle speakers at Jarir which as I have an iPod I probably won't buy, but I did find some cool and comfy looking wireless iPod headphones going for QAR120 (about AU$43).

It looks a little overcast outside but it's not actually going to rain. It's amazing how it can still trick your brain into thinking it might be cool outside. It actually seems cooler today but the temperature's still 37˚C.

On a side note I'm so happy that I've found the degrees symbol on my laptop. It was getting boring typing out the word! For those of you wondering how I found it... did I look at the keyboard map? No. I went `¡™£¢∞§¶•ªº–≠œ∑´®†¥¨ˆøπ“‘«åß∂ƒ©˙∆˚ ahah! Found it!

I thought I'd finish off with an example of why you should be patient while driving and preferably stick to the roads. You can see Khalifa Stadium, where I work, in the background.



This was there all day and took a crane to rectify. No one was hurt but you've been warned!