Sleep, work, fires and change

The good news is that I have developed the ability to sleep in over here in Doha. The bad news is this requires me to sprint for the bus in the mornings. Sprinting even the short distance to the bus from my door step hurts in 38-40 degree heat. That'll teach me for using the snooze button!

I've been working back late over the last week (09:00-22:30). Voluntarily as there's really not much to do once you get home from work. Maybe go visiting but then most of the people I know are either still at work or live at other accommodation places. I also find that I'm much more productive at night just because it seems cooler and quieter all round. Weird since much of our work happens at night due to the heat so it really shouldn't be that much quieter but it feels like it is. I'll definitely be home at my finish time of 19:00 on Saturday though because I'll have someone to come home to! (Can't wait till you get here babe!)

Yesterday the Carrefour at Villagio (the one closest to my work) caught on fire. Apparently they haven't had a good run since they opened. They had a bomb scare last week and this week well... there was a smokey haze in the sky all night. Not sure how much of it was affected by the fire but we're fairly sure we're going to need to find a different supermarket (say the one just across the road which is so-so for range) for awhile.

I got my first candy-instead-of-coins change the other day when I was at Landmark.


Well, I was amused.

Discovery Day

It's 22:58 in Doha, 05:58 in Melbourne and in either location I'd usually be tucked into bed with my eyes closed in some semblance of sleep. Not so tonight! I just got home from work about fifteen minutes ago and it would seem that 10 minutes (and two rounds of Mum's sock) of knitting just doesn't quite cut it as a wind down from a busy day at work.

I'm currently 58 rounds into the 198 round sock and there still another one to go! I'm really amazed that it's taken me this long. I used to knit a sock per night. Admittedly I've been "distracted" by a job that I love that's taken me to the desert but still!

I'd actually like to thank anyone who's left a message/commented on my blog. All comments are greatly appreciated and make me smile. So thank you.

Today I've learnt many things. Workwise I've ingrained the safe work method statements of forklifts (both smooth and rough terrain), scissor lifts (both electric and diesel) and diesel knuckle booms. I've also discovered that I can't spell when I'm tired (I kept spelling diesel "diesal") and I can't type either (I kept typing "exhause" instead of "exhaust"). That's all work related though.

On a non-work related learning curve I discovered the difference between temperature and apparent temperature (which is I think what the weather man should probably give us if he doesn't already). Temperature is well the temperature of air (from what I understand and recall). Apparent temperature is the air temperature combined with the effect that the humidity (among other things) has on our experience. So while it may be 37 degrees celcius in Doha, with a humidity of 57% that makes us experience an apparent temperature of something between 50-57 degrees celcius or something to that effect. The charts for Doha differ to the ones for Melbourne but it's all making sense now. I was really confused as to how 37 degrees here seemed so much hotter than 37 degrees in Melbourne. That's the humidity for you! Very interesting read though. Bureau of Meterology website is pretty cool. Discovered it while working at M2006 as we used to watch the weather charts to make sure we knew if any storms or strong winds were headed our way. I still like watching them if I have nothing better to do. Ah yes, a world of weather geekiness!

So the apparent temperature got up to 56 degrees celcius today. While the air temperature was at 37 degrees. I think I'm going to comment purely on the apparent temperature from now on as it gives a more accurate picture of the weather here. For example, the five day forecast for the temperature is 37 degrees celcius every day. The apparent temperature fluctuates from 48-54 degrees celcius for the same forecast. Never though I'd say this but I'm looking forward to the 48 degree day!

I chatted to Dad online tonight which was great. Being the point of contact in the office can get a bit quiet sometimes and I don't really see my housemates because I've been staying back at work to try and get some of my paperwork done. My brain works better at night in most countries and Qatar is no exception. The cooler conditions at night help too. I am however grateful that I have housemates and would happily share them with Naomi if I could because they're pretty awesome housemates!

06:15 Melbourne time and I probably should get to bed (23:15 Doha time). I'll inevitably wake up at 05:20 like I do most mornings as the sun rises at around 05:12 in Doha. When I say rise it shoots up in the sky and is almost at the peak of its arc by 08:45 when I usually arrive in the office. It does stay there for quite awhile only setting at around 18:00. As quickly as it rises it drops out of sight. Quite literally in a matter of minutes. You have to be fast with your camera if you want to catch it. It's a gorgeous giant red sunset too most days.

It really has been a day of discoveries, small but it all adds up right? Okay it probably has to do with my vocabulary dying down in order to allow me to stay up longer.

Now what was that I said about bedtime?

No cows, no feeding them at dawn

Landmark Shopping Mall was today's excursion. I arrived at the early hour of 14:00 having "slept" in until 11:00. Anyone who's known me for a while will tell you that I love my sleep. However it seems in Doha that I can't really sleep in.

Anyhow, Landmark well deserves its reputation for having good shopping. The Mega Mart supermarket brought back memories of home as I browsed the food items there as there were quite a few imported goods that I recognised. They also have much better looking meat and dairy than Carrefour. The downside is that it's a bit of a hike relative to Carrefour.

I did come home with a small digital bedside clock so that I can tell the time without squinting at my watch while half asleep. Other exciting purchases include a pair of jeans. The ones that I'd bought for the trip over are ultra skinny and a little too painted-on-denim for my taste. I'm donating it to the charity bin at work. A couple of cotton shirts as they were AU$20 and even the 15%nylon/spandex/anything acrylic really makes a difference if you're out and about.

One of my more exciting purchases is a book with Arabic sayings, their literal translations and English equivalents, hence the title of this blog. For those of you playing at home it's their equivalent of every cloud has a silver lining. The book is called Unload Your Own Donkey. I'll leave you to work out what that one means.

I must admit I'm amazed at the winter wear that's coming out now (especially given they're still in Summer over here). There are fully lined 100% pure wool coats, some even lined with polar fleece. Puffy down-filled jackets and warm woolen jumpers/cardigans/vests are lining the shops. Anyone who's into fashion would be loving the cost of clothes from designer stores MNG, Miss Sixty Six etc which are retailing at about a third of the price of items in Australia. The aforementioned wool coats are retailing at approx AU$110-130. I'm definitely shopping at Landmark before we head to the UK or France at the end of the year!

The Lonely Plant's Guide to the Arabian Penninsula suggest purchases local goods to support their economy and I'm all for that. For example I bought local fruit juice (ultra sweet but with a dash of water perfect), bread (again with the sweetness). While following this purchasing theory I have however ended up with Magic Tissues which are, I believe, the love-child of lavender scented tissues and kitchen towelling. Scandalous I know. Good for all purpose cleaning but a little harsh on the nose.

I've also learnt that, as I mentioned earlier, even the smallest hint of non-natural fibers seems to make a difference. Not just in the heat but the natural fibres actually protect you better from the sun. I base this on general reading as well as getting mild sunburn through my white shirt the other day. I've since taken to wearing a light sunscreen all over even when I'm fully covered. By light sunscreen I mean SPF 4. Who'da thunk it but they sell that over here for people who are acclimatised to extended periods in the sun. I was just so used to buying sunscreen in Australia where it's SPF 15 as a minimum that I didn't read the bottle properly. Happily we have excellent sunscreen at work.

The weather today hasn't been too bad really. I mean it's still hot but it's bearable as long as you're not exerting yourself too much. I'm gradually trying to spend more time outside and with less airconditioning so that it's less of a shock everytime I leave the house.

As they say, if your head is made of wax, do not walk in the sun. (Oh come on that's an easy one!)

Sunny Doha

Today in Doha we are expecting a sunny day with a forecast maximum for Doha is 48° C. The current temperature is 47° C with a wind chill factor of 37° C. Looking at the five day forecast we are expecting fine weather until Sunday when we may experience some light cloud with the temperature between 38-39° C with lows of 32° C.

It's my day off and I'm well and truly staying inside until 13:30 when the shops open. Then I'm going to get some more fruit and then hide before the masses of people arrive after their Friday prayers at around 16:00.

As you can imagine fruit doesn't last long here (even if it's a vegetable). I feel like I'm at the shops far too often but then again there's not much to do when you come home from work and with shops open till late... There's so much food to try!

There are some crazy people swimming in the pool in the sun. I heard that they had to get the pool people to turn off the pool heating...

Well, I'm off to finish off my washing. Doing laundry here is pretty good. It's guaranteed to be dried in a few hours. It is weird though setting the wash cycle to cool water and having your washing come out warm!

Yours with a ibuprofen free headache (I miss my ibuprofen on days like these),
Sarah

Bags... bags... and more bags!

It seems that when I'm not at work or at the Villa I seem to be at Carrefour. This may change when I make an excursion to Landmark (another shopping place) some time in the next week but who knows!

Still, shopping is still an endless source of amusment and amazement alike. Today we were getting some supplies for the office (we've just moved to the stadium - how cool!) and when we were at the check out the guy who packs the bag paid more attention to staring at Lisa and I than he did packing. As a result we ended up with a bag for almost every individual item despite us saying "no really you can put the cheese in with the other food!" Funny. I can count ten bags next to me and another two that under the table... I've been told if you really want to confuse them to take your bags back and recycle them. I miss green bags!

A new discovery at Carrefour today was uber-cheap triplus pens by Staedler (sp?) any way they cost the same here in riyals (23) as they do in dollars except that 23 riyals is about $7! Orders anyone? I certainly plan to ship some back home before I go!

Postage seems to be pretty cheap here. AU$1 to post a letter home. It's pretty good consider the lack of postal system here. I'm going to look into FedEx etc rates so I can send some of the cool cheap stuff home. Don't worry Dad I promise not to fill your house with too many random purchases!

Nothing else to report really. It's hot! Yet people still seem to go running - albeit late at night - bearing in mind it's still at least 35 degrees even with the sun down and almost 60% humidity. I think their nuts. We'll see if tomorrow is pool day for me...

Carrefour - City Centre

Wow. I though the shopping centre that's being constructed near the new Carrefour where we went on Saturday night was big. Tonight I got Mr G (one of the drivers who knows where our villas, office and major shopping centres are) to take me grocery shopping after my rather shoddy attempt on Saturday. City Centre's Carrefour was probably the same size if not marginally smaller but this time I had to navigate a live shopping centre (the other one is still under construction like most of Doha).

The drive there was like most of the drives I've been on here. In essence half build roads with no road rules and "assertive" drivers. I've decided to hold on to my drivers license unless they desperately need me to drive somewhere and even then I'll be strongly considering my options. As I may have mentioned earlier Doha feels like someone started a game of Sim City and currently the whole city is under construction.

I was in for my DAE induction (which has half the length of the M2006 one and to be honest more useful) and they mentioned several reasons that traffic is a bit chaotic. Firstly Doha is growing really rapidly. Doha also lacks a public transport system. Everyone seems to get around by ute. In fact the only buses I've seen are the work ones that shuttle us about and some run down American tv show school buses that ferry the labourers to their various work camps around the city. Walking is completely out of the question unless it's a very short distance and at night because (that's right) it's hot. So with the city rapidly growing and no transport there are more and more cars on the roads.

Did I mention the roads are still under construction? One day you can be travelling down the road and the next day it could be closed off. This is another reason I don't particularly want to drive. I've also noticed that if you miss your exit you're likely to have to drive a fair way in the wrong direction before cutting across several lanes of traffic while beeping your car horn in order to turn back in the correct direction.

Roundabouts deserve the half page paragraph in the guide to Doha that I read. The number of lanes changes at random as do the drivers trying to exit. Imagine the Wheel of Death (in Melbourne) as the standard round about. All in all it still doesn't feel quite as crazy as Malaysia but it's not far behind!

Anyhow I digress. My grocery shopping was far more successful this time. Armed with a list I managed to get everything on it (except for the mince because they ran out). I also managed to find a few gems like Mi Goreng (complete with Arabic labels) and Fox Glacier mints. A few pain au chocolate and a couple of kids picture books in French (because they were cheap and one of them's about penguins). Don't worry Mum & Dad, I did buy some healthy food too like fruits and bread etc. A possible point of interest, durians cost about AU$7 each. They still smell bad.

Well I think I've posted plenty for today. Time for bed.

Google in Qatar

Google

It can be very hard to look up things over here as the Google site always reverts back to the Qatari site... Reminds me I need to learn some Arabic!

Pre-work Post

I'm soooo happy that I've worked out the Internet at home! Well, okay I've half worked it out.. for some reason I can't send group emails and the only person I've successfully emailed is Dad so far. Not that I'm complaining but I'd like to let everyone know what my mailing address is and I just can't send the stupid email. Anyhow, that's a problem for tonight.

Right now it's 07:49 and I'm eating my breakfast while typing this. Anyone who's lived with me would be shocked and horrified that I'm up early in the morning and eating breakfast. It's amazing what a couple of days in the desert can do!

Being here has also highlighted the glories of natural fibre clothing. I can't stress enough how good it is in this kind of climate.

Current Temperature: 34 degrees celcius
Humidity: 75%

Note: the five day forecast is for 32 degrees celcius each day. I think it's lying! Interestingly 34 degrees isn't too bad here... as long as you don't have to stay out.

Okay. Going to work now.

Showing Off

Well, I'm slowly finding my feet here. Worked out the Villa's internet connection (yay) so here's a quick post to show off my super comfy room...



... and the view from my room



Yay!

Doha Days

Right now I'm struggling for a way to start this post. I’m struggling with a few things really. Things like what day it is (Sunday I think), why I’m awake but my brain is not (jet lag), what day is it (oh hang on we've already done that) which brings me back to why my brain is like mush. This is my round-about way of apologising for any incoherent writing ahead.

Doha is pretty amazing. There’s a construction site everywhere you turn. There’s a lot of development happening here and I’m fairly sure it’s not just because of the upcoming Games

I’ve only been here two days and I’m still loving it. The weather isn’t too problematic for me as more often than not I’m in air-conditioning. It’s just when you step outside and have to stand there for more than five minutes that it starts to hurt. We’ve got a buddy system going where you don’t go anywhere by yourself because the heat can get to you really quickly. I must admit there’s still something odd about having a chart on the back of the toilet door that rates the colour of your urine from good to dehydrated. I’m probably sharing a little much but I felt it was necessary

The villa that I’m staying at is fabulous! Gene, you’ll be happy to know that they have gas stoves in the kitchen. My bedroom is a comfortable size and my bed even more so. A queen bed for such a small girl is such a wonderful luxury! I love my air-conditioner in the room. It makes it possible to sleep without being stifled by the heat. I really couldn’t be much happier with the accommodation! By the sounds of things Gene will be staying two villas down the road from me which is wonderful considering he could have ended up in one of the other two apartment/villa complexes. I’m looking forward to seeing him again in a week and a half, although I do
feel like I should explore the compound a little more so that I have some inkling of what’s about! There’s a pool here and apparently a gym as well. I really should get up early for a swim but having fallen asleep at about 02:00 last night and having to be at work at 09:00 I felt that I could be slack on my first day. We’ll see how I do tomorrow!

My first day of work yesterday was a whirlwind of information, as first days are. Today was better although I found my cotton-candy-brain frustrating. The air-conditioning is both a blessing and a curse. Without it you melt and sweat profusely, with it on it sucks all the moisture from your body. I don’t think I’ve drunk this much water since I did the Murray Marathon many years ago!

Yesterday being my first day in Doha I settled into my room and then headed to work (voluntarily, they did say I could stay at home but why would you when there are people to meet and catch up with!). After work AG took Mel and I shopping for supplies. As soon as we reached the Carrefour (imagine a big supermarket with a hint of k-mart and deli) my jet lag kicked in. Mel had a list. I had a sliver of an inkling that I should get some food to cook for dinner. I decided to work from Mel’s list figuring that she’d been here for a day or two more than I had so she knew where it was at. Sadly
that didn’t help me spend less than her or buy milk to eat my cereal with. On the latter observation, I even watched her pick which milk to buy and offered a non-committal opinion. Stupid brain! After a few hours of dodging trolleys, small children and getting lost we made it home with a variety of items including vegies, bananas for less than AU$1/kg, baklava, soy bread, vegemite (because as an Australian you have to buy it), beach towels, pegs and Aussie grown carrots. We also realised that we had enough food to cook about 1-2 meals.

So it was Nando's for dinner as none of us wanted to cook dinner. The food was good (as usual) but the hot tea with mint afterwards was odd but pleasant enough.

One thing I have noticed here is that many of the locals think that I’m Philippino. This is not a huge concern to me but it does mean that I’m right at the bottom of the expat pecking order. Unfortunately this doesn’t mean that I’m exempt from random men trying to pick me up. Apparently the faux wedding band trick doesn’t work so well without a guy there. Shopping was still fun though and I’m looking forward to braving it again when I’ve
settled in a bit more.

My sense of direction is completely lost here. I’ve been to the office
twice now by two different routes and back to the villas by three different routes. I’m just glad I don’t have to drive here because the roads are a little unfinished and lack street signs. Luckily there’s an hourly shuttle to the office.

Well, I’m absolutely zonked. It’s only quarter to eight in the evening but I think it’s time to curl up in bed with a good book.

In Transit

I have an hour left until boarding commences for the final leg of my journey. Naturally I have gravitated to the nearest Internet access point to blog. I think it's a comfort thing.

The flight was uneventful. Largely because I slept for more than half of it. I tried to stay up as late as possible to help adjust to the time difference. So I ended up watching three episodes of House, two episodes of Boston Legal and listening to the 1987 Original London Cast recording before dozing off.

I must admit I was impressed with the cabin lighting (in a geeky kind of way). I liked that it changed gradually over time from a tequila sunrise orange on the ceiling and deep sky blue on the sides to include a twinkling starscape on the ceiling. As the flight progressed the orange became blue and then all the lights dimmed leaving nothing but the "stars". Cute.

The lady sitting next to me was going to the World Equestrian Games and we had a great time watching the take off and landing on the monitors in front of us. The plane had cameras mounted on the side and under-carriage (if that's the right word) of the plane. For most of the journey there was nothing to see. A lot of black followed by more black. Thirty-five minutes from Dubai we caught our first glimpse of sunlight and we knew we were close.

When the announcement was made that it was 33 degrees in Dubai there was a bit of a stir in the cabin. When they followed that with rising to a top of 45 there was an unanimous groan.

The only thing I'd change about my flight over here is finding the footrest. It truly sucks to be short. My feet couldn't touch the ground while seated (ha ha ha) and the person in front had reclined their seat fully so I couldn't actually see much of the feet area. Happily I have located the footrest for future reference.

I seem to be a fan of buying bags and as such have increased my handbag to a small case so that I don't lose my new jacket (from Gene), A Short History of Nearly Everything (from Dad) or my other items in my handbag. Dad was right, I should and could have carried something larger. Problem fixed though!

From what I gather I won't have enough time to worry about my footrest on the flight to Doha. Not long to go now! Yay!

Passing Time

Well it's almost packing up my laptop time. As soon as I finish copying The Day My Bum Went Psycho onto my iPod to keep me company on the 14 hour journey I'll start rolling cables.

I'm at home with Zeus & Clio (the pugs) and Herman (the rat who needs a minder for a couple of weeks in September if anyone is interested) and it's pretty quiet now that everyone's at work. The sounds of snoring dogs, the dryer and my laptop fan is not surprisingly unsoothing.

My 55L travel pack is fairly full with my other carry bag keeping my travel pillow enclosed along with the ever popular mini-sharpies and lollies. Everyone should have a mini-sharpie. Happily my luggage is weighing in at under 20kg so I should still be able to do some shopping while I'm overseas :)

Dad & I have discovered (thanks to Fi) Skype which as he mentions on his blog should allow us to talk for free until he gets to China where Internet access could be a bit shady. Naturally we tested this yesterday. It's kinda funny hearing your laptop ring and answering. I'm still amused!

Last night we went to Dragon Boat for a delicious meal consisting of all my favourite dishes (salted egg chicken, salted fish tofu chicken hot pot, abalone mushroom, char siew). It would seem that I was craving salty food when I think about it. I promise the dishes taste much better than they sound.

I'm now just passing time until we leave for the airport in a few hours. Want to make sure I'm ready to check in early with all the delays that seem to be popping up lately.

Well, I'm up to the last disc of the five and this means it's time to double check all my packing! I don't think I've been this excited since I went to Japan!

Lists

Flight details have been received and I think it's starting to sink in a little just how much packing I possibly should have done by now!

Lists are being re-written in an attempt not to forget things.

Today's list includes vaccinations (scary twin barrelled needles... icky) and a hat for modesty's sake.

I depart Melbourne at 2130 and will arrive at 0540 on Saturday (Qatar Time). Then I'm off to my first day of work! Eeek!

Okay, have to run and do stuff. More later because I'm excited. Yay!

Early Morning Manicure

It's 7:21am. The scent of freshly baked bread is in the air. Zeus & Clio are snuggled up together in their soft basket, full from an early breakfast, slightly puzzled as to their early awakening. I woke up at 5am this morning having fallen asleep sometime around two. I think I'm a little excited and stressed about Friday. Not sure what I'm stressed about. Everything's going smoothly. Definitely excited though. It'll be good practice for the long days ahead I guess!

So with nothing else to occupy my time until 9am, I figured I'd do my nails (as girls do). I've decided to go with a French manicure because it's simple and subtle.

base coat dried, begin French ivory tips

I always wondered what made women pay what is sometimes a lot of money for a manicure. I mean you can do it at home (as I'm currently demonstrating). It serves no practical purpose other than suggesting that you pay attention to your grooming which, I'll admit, has it's benefits.

touch up French ivory tips having smudged a couple

A couple of few years ago my Mum treated me to a manicure at the hairdressers. It was such a pleasant experience! There I was sitting in the hairdressers with someone fixing my hair and someone polishing my nails. I felt like a pampered princess, which was wonderful after long hours of studying. Manicures have since become "me time". Particularly the ones I do myself at home. It's a self-indulgent activity which renders me useless (if it requires working with my hands) for as long as it takes for my nails to dry. There's plenty of time to ponder life, the universe and everything when you're waiting for your nails to dry!

On a completely different and non-nail related note, I can hear the sighs of relief from any boys/men reading this, it's amazing the things you discover when you're up early. Today I have discovered that sitting at my usual spot in the living room at the dining table early in the morning is a great place to work on your tan and be blinded.

first coat of French blush (pink) polish

Hmmm... what to write?

...

...

Oh that's right! I just uploaded some of the Brisbane pics the other day. Here's a few highlights.

Cancel that, Zoto are upgrading their servers so the pictures will have to wait. Sorry.

second coat of French blush polish

I have a dilemma. I'm about to go away for four months (eek!) and I don't have a book to take. Careful research has suggested that there are only two bookshops in Doha that sell English books and that it's best to bring your own. It's not that I'm not currently reading anything. It's more that I read quickly and need something that's not too challenging but something that will last. I usually take Stardust with me but, as Nick & Gene will attest to, I finished that on the flight back from Brisbane. It's a bit of a comfort read for me. Not too hard, not too light and it's funny. That's usually what I want after a long day at work.

brief moment of panic as a dog hair is discovered sitting on a freshly painted nail

I toyed with the idea of taking Lord of the Rings with me last night as it's something I've been meaning to read for years now. It would be optimistic though to think that I could get through it. I'd probably just end up writing more in my journal!

At the moment I'm reading The Eyre Affair which is great but I'm flying through it so it's not really an option. Something like Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell would be perfect.

So here I am. Departing in two days with no book to accompany me and only a day to watch season 2 of Battlestar Galactica with Mum & Gene. Life's hard isn't it? :)

top coat

Today I'm going to start packing. No really I am. I've already been mentally working out how I want to pack my stuff into my brand new red travel-pack. It's soooo pretty! It has a million straps to allow a customised fit and compression of your clothes. There's a wet stuff pocket for towels etc. There's even a camera section at the top so you have a safe water resistant place to keep it while hiking. The front section is detachable so you can use it as a day pack. It's just so well designed! Excellent harness too. Fits like a glove and has a 55L capacity. Dad got a black one with a 65L capacity. I figured that I'd go with the smaller one because I'm better off having a smaller pack that I can carry than a bigger pack that gives me back pain.

Packing is hard! It's going to be pretty warm while I'm in Doha. We miss the cool season by a month so it'll be 25 degrees celcius at the end of our trip. We are however considering going to Europe for a quick holiday after Doha. It's going to be cold in Europe. This could be problematic!

Well, my nails are done and it's time for me to get ready to go for my check up so I'll finish here for now. Thank you for keeping me company during my manicure!

Done and Doing

While I was planning on tidying paperwork today, I have instead completed a futher 10 rows of my Mum's sock instead. It's currently looking like she'll have one hand-knit sock to see her through to the new year at this rate.

Preparations for the upcoming trip are travelling well, if a little slowly, as I spent today purchasing more modest, loose fitting, natural fibre clothing with Mum. I now have an excellent selection of shirts, mainly white to help with the heat and a new pair of jeans to replace the pair that died in Brisbane.

My itinerary is likely to arrive some time tonight to give me a rough idea of what time to show up at the airport on Friday which is great. More details when I receive it.

Still can't quite believe I'll be in another country in four days time. It's a little mind boggling. I guess that's why I'm having trouble with the preparations today.

All that's left to do is:
- pack
- travel insurance
- osteo if possible
- tetanus shot (icky)
- notify the embassy
- procure a non-dodgy-looking hat for modesty
- leave contact details for friends/family

So far I've achieved:
- certified copies of my passport
- adding a pair of clocks to my blog so that I can see the time in Doha and Melbourne
- read the Qatar & culture sections in the Lonely Planet Guide
- added a blog subscription service so that people can still get email updates of my blog without necessarily having to check blogger regularly (if anyone does read this regularly)
- getting a conservative haircut/colour to fit in

Other good news is that Gene's joining me in two weeks time! Yay!
Okay must go make lists of things not to forget on my palm.

Ahhhh! :)

Wong Place

I'd like to welcome my Dad to the world of blogging. You can find him at Wong Place. Check it out and be supportive!

Flying Friday

I'm really not sure where to start this post. So much has happened since I last posted on the 9th August.

Thursday I sent off my resume, Friday I had a phone interview and today I received the exciting news that I might be flying to Doha this Friday. It's all happening really.

I'm really excited. So much so that I've moved past girly squealing stage and gone straight to shock. Tomorrow's going to be the start of a big day of planning. I've got paperwork to do, friends to catch up with and dancing to try and fit in too. Not to mention getting some QT with Gene.

Today I got my copy of the Lonely Planet's Guide to the Arabian Peninsula. It's full of useful information on Qatar and most importantly the culture. The Middle East is not really a place that I want to offend people. Not that I go places aiming to offend! I just want to get the most out of my experience there!

Looking forward to the food although it will be interesting to be in a culture where I can't go out without a male to escort me.

I'm so excited and shocked at how quickly this is happening that I can't even find the words to explain it. I've never flown this far away to a non-Asian country. It's also my first solo international travel adventure and I can't wait for it to start. I know I'm going to miss my friends and family. The great thing about this happening so quickly is that I don't have the time to think too hard about how much I'm going to miss everyone and the sights of Melbourne. I have a feeling that will make the farewell at the airport harder but I'm not going to let that get in the way of a great adventure! I'm also lucky because I'll know some of the people when I get over there.

Gene may also be coming to Doha which is wonderful for many reasons, mainly because I'd get to share an awesome experience with him!

So to all my friends that I haven't caught up with yet, give me a call in the next couple of days if you're free. If not I'll see you some time next year!

I may post in the next few days or I'll just sit at my laptop having lost the ability to post like I have since I first received word that Doha was a possibility.

Ahhhh!!

Grumblings

We're back in Melbourne and I'm marveling at how quickly we've settled back into life here.

Gene's back to juggling work shifts and I'm back to the job hunt. I think I might do some temp work while I sort out various jobs that may require some travel. It would be nice to know what the next few months hold for me but at the moment I'm happy just exploring my options.

I'm currently trying out blogging software called ecto and it's working well so far. I'm enjoying the templates and the WYSIWYG features. I also love that it supports multiple blog posts and it's just unfortunate that MySpace don't have remote blog posting capabilities. I've spent the last hour trying to find out info on how I can make this work for MySpace as well and even considered emailing MySpace about it but after my last run in with them regarding the Advanced Editor error messages that seemed to be inconsistent with my experiences, I decided against it. I was happy and disappointed all at once that someone else had tried to ask a question of the team and all they received was "how to change your email address" responses. Happy that it's not just me and disappointed for the same reason.

Aside from that there's nothing new to report. I've got a gig lined up at the start of September but nothing until Fringe after that. I'm still trying to work out what I've got in storage and what I've stashed in Mum & Dad's place... Mainly regarding the various yarns for knitting/crochet purposes (of course) but it'd be nice to know where other things are.

Pictures from our Briz Vegas trip are ready for uploading. That will happen soon I promise.

The Puppet Strings, Fruits and Vegetables Tour of QLD

Hello little blog, did you miss me?

I've been neglecting you I know, but I've had many intentions of updating you but never found the words to start.

Right now I'm tucked up on the couch in the villa that we've rented in Noosa. The boys, Gene & Nick, are off hiking in the Noosa National Park while I've chosen to nurse my cold today in the hopes of making the flight home tomorrow more pleasant.

I can't believe we're going home tomorrow! The last month has just flown past. The Fringe Festival was a great experience and we've made many new friends who are promising to come and crash on our couch soon. (Guess we'd better get our act together and get a couch for them to crash on!) The wrap party was at the Spiegeltent (of course) and it was a good night for all. Belgian beer flowed freely into our hands and stomachs. We danced "puppet string" style to ensure the rest of the festival was certain that we were the crazy Fringe crew until 01:30 when I called it a night (as they seemed to be kicking the last of us out of the tent). Gene stayed on until some much later hour as it turned out that they weren't kicking the stragglers out at all.

The day after the Brisbane Festival wrapped up we slept like there was no tomorrow and that took up most of the day. Once we were feeling guilty enough at having achieved nothing that day we went on a greasy chicken hunt (my bad). We were unsuccessful at finding greasy chicken in China Town, go figure, but had a great meal while the surrounding trees threw their seed pods at Nick. We've since been told that these trees are "Leopard Trees". I also discovered that the seed pods rattle when you shake them. Ah yes, still easily amused.

Speaking of which, that evening over a meal of instant noodles and pork balls someone posed the question, is pumpkin or chilli a fruit? I discovered some time last year that pumpkins are berries and yet I considered pumpkins to be vegetables. This was the start of our entire holiday’s conversation. We spent much of the night drinking wine and vodka drinks while discussing the classification of various fruits and vegetables. In short, a chilli is a fruit which we often eat as a spice. Pumpkins are berries and are technically fruits eaten as vegetables. Interestingly a banana is a berry (therefore a fruit) that comes from a herb plant (as it lacks a true stem, I think). Fruits seem to be able to be vegetables as well being fruits (eg. tomatoes are fruits eaten more often than not with/as vegetables) as vegetables can be non-sweet fruits. Nuts are technically fruit except for peanuts which are legumes. I think legumes are in their own category. It’s hard to say. Now I’m not saying this is totally correct, it’s just what our research and discussion has led us to. What would we do without internet cafés and Google?

On Wednesday we departed the world of backpacker hostels to visit the land of four star self-contained villas. So far we like this land. We’re staying at the Ivory Palms Resort in Noosa and it’s gorgeous. There’s something to be said for having your own kitchen and bathroom. Particularly when you keep strange hours. The first thing we did upon arrival was head to the supermarket for supplies. Okay, I lied, the first thing we did was check out the heated pool and spa so we knew where to find it, then we went to get supplies. We headed to the town of Tewantin where we had roast chicken for lunch before heading to the supermarket. I also managed to find the one craft shop in the area and have some pretty shiny beads to show for it.

All in all our days have been spent in the sunshine, poolside, in the spa or playing tennis. Nick’s the reigning tennis champ of our lot while Gene’s forte is pool. I seem to do well at Yahtzee. It just goes to show that everyone has their niche.

We went to the Eumundi Markets yesterday. It was a pleasant mix of tourist and local goods, leaning more towards the local arts and craft. There was a surprising lack of fisherman’s pants and juggling balls being sold, a market staple back home, instead there was an unusually high number of tie-dye and art stalls. I returned with a brown top, some black wrap pants and a hemp scarf. Gene bought me the funkiest pair of silver earrings which look almost impossible to put on but are actually really easy to wear. They’re just a simple silver wire twisted into a spiral with a straight bit down the middle. It’s hard to explain.

After the markets we went to the Ginger (Fun) Factory which was much less fun than it was made out to be. We did find Coulson Road though so we’ve got a few pictures of Nick under his road sign.

Today the boys played tennis and had a swim while I tried to sleep off my cold. They’re armed with a camera to take some pictures of the park which we visited long enough for me to take photos of a koala in a tree yesterday. I couldn’t help it, everyone else was taking a picture of it. I at least had the courtesy not to use a flash and scare the poor thing. It was pretty cute.

Tomorrow we’re going to pick up our bikes and have lunch with Mel before jumping on our plane home. I’ve got a job interview on Tuesday although I may have a potential job offer overseas so who knows where I’ll be in a months time! Life’s pretty exciting at the moment. For once I’m not worried about work and you know what? That’s a great feeling!