How long u guys been living in Qatar?

16 years and counting. The changes that have taken place in the last 5 years is something. Prior to that the country was a peaceful one with minimal traffic and a laidback lifestyle.

The good old days.....

eeewwww dweller, is that so?

when city center came up, the center became a ghost town of its own because i had taken my hubby to check out that place as the previosuly famous joint for hangout. the cab guy told us, he will wait for us while we finish touring the shop and then take us to city centre because we will like it better.

oh i have been born and bred here alhamdullilah.

happy heart

drive safe because someone is waiting for you at home

The Mall is the one on the "D" Ring. The Centre was always The Centre and the only big shop apart from Salam on Al-Saad Street.

If you couldn't find anything we always went to Globe China, they always had it.

When the Caravan ran the catering in The Centre" I remember Paul Evison,(a teacher from Doha College and back there I believe) biting into a steak sandwich that crunched! There was a roach cooked on top of the steak

Center used to be i guess Called as "The Mall" at that time ..

and Souq Faleh City center for us, i never recall where we could ever get any branded item other than Center or Salam, which barely exist now .

Your Dad will remember what existed on the site of "The Mall" then.

It was the biggest shanty town I have seen in the Gulf.

All made with cardboard, corrugated iron and bits of wood.

He probably also remembers when customs confiscated pork and you could buy it back the day after at Al-Othmans.

Great times then.

good one dweller, i guess we dint have c ring road then :)) my dads been here for 35 plus years .. i guess i`d hv to ask him then. :)))

In 1982, if you lived outside the "C" ring road you were living out of town and in the sticks

:)) Born n brought up here, been here my whole life, 25 yrs now :)) oh .. 3 yrs i was out for studies .. so i still guess thas 22 years :)))

the ones with the asian games colours are cool

Around 13 years ;D

reppin' Doha! (:

Could you give us some more details please..? do you mean Arabic traditional..? in what kind of set-up..? theatre type, or cabaret(dare not to ask)? is that the only place... or are there others around..?

It is strange that there isn't a lot of Arabic influence in the hospitality industry; it is close to zero. Your first encounter with arabs is at the airport passport control, then weeks down the road at RP or fingerprinting locations and then at the dreaded Q-Tel offices. Anything in between is wall to wall Asian nationals from hotel reception desks to M'ds at hotel restaurants, to health spa desks, which is ok i guess, but one wonders why arabs are not interested in projecting their image in places visited by foreigners. At the Ritz, your ears are blasted with loud classic jazz... at the Sheraton, Antoine from Beyrouth sings songs of Edith Piaff, Aznavour and Adamo from the 60's (in French of course)...

Are there any Arabic entertainers here..? even if it is for the tourist... does anyone know?

Moudir

You haven't tried Live Traditional Music in Souq Waqif yet.

Yes, forgot about that, not been there in the past 2 years, yes the water there is very clear and clean.

Thx daiski. Has anyone been in Al-khor area north of Doha? There are supposed to be nice beaches there, and fancy waterfront houses, which are non-existant in metropolitan Doha area.

But i don't think you can beat the cleanliness of the water of the west coast.

Moudir

It's past the town. You drive along the water for a bit slowly because of the rocks (15-20 mins) until you hit the sandy areas then pick your spot. The further you go, the nicer it gets.

But the nice area, is it at the town of Zekreet, or past it (by how far in km +/- or minutes)

You can take a regular car or a small 4x4. It's just that the road is a little rocky so you have to be careful but you don't need so much clearance.

Do you need a 4x4 to go to Zeekreet, or the road comes close enough to the water.

Been there too ... very nice rock formation, but we did not see the ostrich :-(

Back to the topic of where to go and what to do, try going to the West Coast of Qatar. They call it Zikreet. You take the Dukhan Road to get there. It's only at hour or so away. The beaches are clean, water is pure and colorless. There are nice rock formations. A purple and orange crab crawled along the water at night. Take a fishing rod and a tent. In the morning, we saw ostriches and fed them watermelon. Sunset and rise were very nice.

I recommend it about as much as inland sea. Been here for 2 years.

dull grey.

Actually 10 years ago there was no Qatar Airways.

I thought the old paint scheme was nicer than the drab grey.

there was only the corniche and meesaid beach with no resort!!! not that other beaches were not there but most people prefered this one. And ofcourse there was no Qatar Airways but only Gulf Air!

hubby's ex boss, been here 22 yrs. 22 YEARS ????????

I love it Doha developing forward in some ways, but i found it after 5 yrs living cost here getting more expensive. Housing especially.

With my son starting school and activities, my day now living in the car. I do roughly 80 to 100 kms to ferrying him here and there. Too many cars on the road, with arrogant and rude driving, make you even more stressful behind the wheel.

10 yrs ago there was nothing here, just the Centre and Gulf Cinema. That's all. And Salam. Salam had a store and supermarket where Royal Plaza is now.

You were lucky if you stopped at a traffic light after 9 pm and there was another car.

Like curfew.

I can't imagine what it was like 10 years before that.

Bet u see alot of changes in 10 yrs. Wauw... 10 yrs? I can picture it i would be still here in 10 yrs :-(

Butterfly ... how long u plan to stay here?

About the driving in the dune, you need to drive regular there to know the act of sand dune driving. Hubby was useless for first time, but i think now he is quite good.

As for me ... i am happy to be a passenger :-)

Do not compare Inland Sea with your home country. Yes it is nice for somewhere to go ... but not as brilliant as your home country (in this case Indonesia / UK / Spain). I found it Qatar is a bit boring for places to go. Can't go anywhere by car in the weekend. Not much choices apart of mesaieed (Sealine) or inland sea or wakra beach.

10 years and counting.

Butterfly, it's not just about hiring a 4WD, you need to know how to drive it there.

letters are blue

and a double post

happens to most

Or we could always hire a land crusier for a day...

But the "problem" is the baby..

13 months - She just started to have tantrums and everything -little angel's, arent they?

Nah, I always run around with my little one, have noone to leave her with... so think the inland sea will have to wait...

Is it really beautiful?

I am faster poster :-) Btw, mind if i ask how long u been here?

Go with a tour company.

They do the driving.

Arrange it for you and a few friends. But your kid is a problem. Great age.

Butterfly, if you dont have a 4 wheeler, you can go through a tour company.

I have never been in Inland Sea? I would love to go , but don't have a four drive and find it scary to go with a 1 year old...

I have been here 1 year and 6 months or so. can't remeber :(