Preparing to Come - Last minute questions

for christmas tree you may want to try to look at al naaz shop near sofitel hotel. they sale varius christmas ornaments; christmas trees, valuable greeting cards compare to greetings shop in the big mall.

Hey,

I didn't see any "good quality" xmas trees so you may want to bring one of them in with you.

I have NEVER in my life seen such an amazing range of spices in Carrefour and the Souks and various other small outlets and shops so I wouldn't worry too much about that and quite cheap e.g saffron is about 1 twelfth the price that it is in the UK.

I haven't had any problems with the convertors i have and they are really cheap. My apartment already had some in it maybe your accomodation will too? If its fully furnished ask your landord or real estate people.

Good luck with the move and feel free to PM me and ask anything.

Ree

A pig is a real garbage gut. It will eat anything including urine, excrement, dirt, decaying animal flesh, maggots, or decaying vegetables. They will even eat the cancerous growths off other pigs or animals.

The meat and fat of a pig absorbs toxins like a sponge. Their meat can be 30 times more toxic than beef or venison.

Pigs are often infested with trichina, parasitic roundworms. These roundworms are often passed on to humans when pork is not properly cooked. Trichina are found in the highest concentrations amongst animals in pigs and similar animals.

So conclusion, no matter how well you've cooked the pork, it can be still considered 'uncook'.

Cheers and love your health!

ctqatari.

Hi Flower,

you could get cheap spices from the local grocers. My Indian grocery shop have everything that you have mentioned, even in Carrefour they have it too. I bought a packet each (about 200g per packet) for less than 5 riyal. So now you could choose to bring or buy it from here..I'll choose the later..

so you mean pork should be avoided and not eaten.

and do you mind explaining some points that you have learnt.

[img_assist|nid=21285|title=.|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=|height=0]

I believe it's good for pork eaters to read up on the scientific facts of the effects of eating pork or bacon. Instead of reading up on the do's and don'ts of Muslim religion, in which I second to that though.

Hi Scarlett,

You've mentioned that spices are expensive there? How much do they cost? I'll be moving to Qatar beginning of next year and could bring some from home if it costs a lot there. Cloves, cardamoms, mustard seed, bay leaf, chili power, coriander these are the type of things I'd be looking for. It's really cheap here. But I'm worried about weight so don't want to bring unnecessary stuff.

What else should I bring?

i have made several trips to dubai to visit relative there and on the way back i bought some beacon, sousages and pork chops and i put in the bag on my carry on and so far they never stop me. i guess i am lucky??? so give a try and if they say no, just trow away in the bin in airport. simple.

Thanks for all the help! It's a bit overwhelming to move somewhere you've never been.

As for the pork product, no, it's not really a staple of our diet. LOL! However, my kids do love pepperoni pizza, so I was thinking of slipping some pepperoni in one of our bags.

I'm thinking for electrical stuff, I'll stick to bringing things that are just used for short spurts as opposed to things that you generally keep plugged in such as a tv, radio, etc.

Oh, what about slow cookers? Are they available there? My mother in law, who lives in Jordan, had never seen one before visiting me here.

Thanks for the tip of investigating Islam, Majnoon. Actually though, I am pretty familiar with it already. But I know that some countries are not as strict as others, i.e., in Jordan you can purchase alcohol and pork with no problem. So my question wasn't really about the religion, but the law and how strict the enforcement is of it.

Oh, and one more thing...I've seen mentioned several times about things being available at the base. Who is allowed to purchase things there and how does that work?

Thanks!

and an early welcome to doha!

First of all..ship the family favorites over..will save you a lot of looking for the products over here..and you'll have enough to tide you over until you get to visit back home and restock. What I've found..there is NO garlic granulated garlic powder..only the stuff that is fine as face powder..I had to have a lot sent to me from home. Mattress pads..anything over a double is difficult to find. Towels..darned expensive here! Bring your own!! Certain spices..the basic are mostly here.

Pork..only from the military bases is it sold. Majnoon...get real, with moving over here in a month, there is NO way they will have time to read up on Muslim religion. Take a look at the British teacher and the teddy bear...she was "read" up on the religion...good thing its much more relaxed over here.Just have your company brief you on what's offensive and what's not and use your common sense.

Personally, on the converters..buy ONE from home...see how you like it and then purchase one from here..that way you WILL have at least one the day you arrive instead of having to go searching for one before you can dry your hair!

Ahh Christmas tree...ornaments you can buy here, plus they are plastic to they don't break! They have hand painted ones too that you can collect all year long so you will have a beautiful tree, come next Christmas. The tree...the ones here are really a bit, sparse, so if you have room in your container, I say ship it over!

Pork...best way is a trip to Bahrain...eat it there, have a great weekend and come back. I wouldn't tempt fate trying to sneak it in..probably at most they will just confiscate it, but never can tell who might have had a bad morning that day you tried it..

Please feel free to PM me if you have any more questions...I'm still in the "finding things" phase myself, so its still fresh in my mind. Good luck and safe journey!!

that's because pork is forbidden, period. You might want to spend a little time reading up on the Muslim religion and what is acceptable and what is not. It will probably save you a lot of grief later. Converters are pretty safe but not guaranteed and you have to pay attention to what you are doing, I would bring as few 110ac stuff as possible and slowly purchase 220-240ac stuff when you get here.

It's just a question - because I'm from the UK and apart from enjoying a bacon 'n egg breakfast occasionally I don't think I rely on pork as the main ingredient of my diet.

Do you really NEED it?

Just being conversational, really ... :D

[img_assist|nid=57285|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=|height=0]

i heard from friends that they tried to bring pork into the country and had it confiscated, i would not recommend it as i don't know they actual conscequences

hey..

1. carrying tapes with you is fine...although it might take up alot of luggage space. There are VHS outlets available and u can rent videos as well as buy a video player.

2. converters sold in qatar are safe provided u buy them from the right outlet and they are definitely cheaper than the ones u found at Radio Shack.

3. U can bring anything in your shipment as long as it does not contain alcohol or pork.

4. I don't know if you can bring pork in..I haven't tried!!

5. You can get a christmas tree here and decorations...but u might want to bring a few nice ones along with you just to remind you of home!!!

hope u have a safe trip here...