Trip back to the States

Well 17 airports, 8 planes, and who knows how many hours of traveling and waiting in airports we completed our grand tour of the US. In a little less than 3 weeks we visited Houston, Seattle, Denver, Palisade, and Winnefield LA, not to mention the Gatwick to Heathrow commute in London or layover in Bahrain.

We got to see old friends from Houston and college and spent some time with family. Our good friend from college Tim got married in Seattle which is what kicked off the trip. After getting back we realized the only pictures we took were of the wedding in Seattle. You can see them on shutterfly http://connorsindoha.shutterfly.com/action/?a=0AbNGLFozaNWLr4&notag=1. It was great to see everyone and we were glad to be able to fit so much into one trip. . . however it will be awhile until we're that ambitious with our travel plans anytime soon.

The happyily married couple Tim(my) and Carolyn

Turtles

One of Steve's latest projects is assessing the impact of construction on certain beaches to the local turtle population. Who knew that they'd actually pay you to go out and see turtles. Right now it's hatching time so periodically the team has to go out and help the little guys make it to the sea.
I got to go out with the team a few days ago to help release turtles. It was dark by the time we saw any so these are pictures from previous visits out to the beach. No doubt about it - turtle hatching's are adorable (and tiny!)

FIVE YEARS!!

The desert just after sunset.
View of the hotel hidden in the mountain.
Night view from our room. The city lights below the pool is the city/emirate of Al Ain.

Yep - it's been 5 years since Steve and I got married. Since we're starting to run a little low on vacation (lot's more trips planned for this year) so we decided to celebrate by taking a weekend trip in the region. One of Steve's co-workers recommended the Jebel Hafeet Resort in the mountains outside of Abu Dhabi. We enjoyed a relaxing weekend with a little Dom Perrignon (courtesy of the duty free shop) and I came home with a sunburn and a new diamond ring with matching tennis bracelet. I think we're off to good start for the next 5!

Fish

So I finally figured out how to fish in Qatar. After talking to all kinds of "experts" I finally figured out the right formula: put a hook on the line, troll at 6 knots, and make sure you have a full cooler of beer. The correct recipe is to not pay attention, I find that usually draws them in. We have now hooked into Queen Fish, Hammour (local name for grouper), and barracuda. The problem now is that it is really getting too hot to keep the beer cold, I am going to have to figure something else out.

Here's the first Hammour (aka Brown Spotted Grouper) that's been caught. Hammour is the favorite fish here in all the restaurants. Our friend David has been fishing many times before but never actually caught a fish until this day (he's from the UK so we think that must be the reason).

Back to Muscat, Oman

My group at work did such a great job making money last year that management decided to send on an all expense paid weekend with families. We did justify the trip by working on Thursday but the rest of the time was spent enjoying the beautiful Shangri-La resort we stayed in. The location is spectacular but it was actually hotter and more humid than Doha.

This is our view from the room. The next picture is a view of the private beach (no kids allowed). We went snorkeling through the arch and the water was so warm even the fish tried to stay in the shade.

The final picture is the sunset cruise (team building) that we took.

Oman is at the top of our list of best places visited.

Weekend in Athens

I had another business trip to Barcelona. Rather then taking another trip to Spain we decided to use the layover to our advantage and spend an extra long weekend in Athens. (Pictured above is my co-worker Jen, who was on the same business trip to Barcelona, and her husband Shaun) We had beatiful weather, great food (including lots of pork), and some stunning architecture to admire. We loved our trip so much that we decided to go back in October and sail the Greek Isles.

One afternoon we took a sightseeing trip to the major island (Aegina) outside of Athens. We rented some scooters and cruised the island enjoying the scenery. In typical Connor fashion Steve managed to crash on the way down a beautiful hillside. Until that point we had managed to really enjoy the fresh air and ambiance. We managed to hit a patch of gravel on a hairpin turn, luckily Steve broke our fall (both mine and the scooters) and he managed to get a couple of new souvenirs on his knees and elbows.

All in all it was a great trip.

See more pictures at . . .

http://connorsindoha.shutterfly.com/action/?a=0AbNGLFozaNWLnI&notag=1

We found fish

So the going joke it that we've had a fishing boat for about a year now and have yet to catch a fish. Well that's all changed. We spent a beautiful day out on the water dropping lines in at various locations when we saw these fish jumping out of the water over a submerged reef island. They were amazing to watch and fun to catch. They were so acrobatic out of the water that the only one Steve got into the boat was hooked through the gills. We still don't know what the fish is called. It didn't have a lot of meat but we ate it anyway so that we could christen the boat as an honest fishing boat. Since then Steve has gone out and caught several Barracuda and Queen fish.

Hail???

This was a new one for us - ice coming from the sky in the middle of the desert. . . This picture doesn't quite capture it but the 2 minute hailstorm was the talk of the town. The biggest hail stones were a little smaller than marbles and the thermometer said it was 74 degrees out so they didn't last too long. My flowers haven't been the same since.

Much needed vacation in Oman

Anyone who's spent anytime here in Doha recommends a trip to Oman, so Steve and I decided to take a week vacation to see what all the fuss was about. We spent 4 days at a resort about 50 kms outside of Muscat. The scenery was beautiful with big rocks randomly jutting out of the ocean.

We also took a drive through the mountains which was amazing even for a couple who grew up in some of the prettiest mountains around. We spent a day in Muscat and found the city to be very memorable with it's steep cliffs and forts built on every high point available.

We then took a flight South and spent 3 days in Salalah. Most tour books show the area as green and luscious but our luck (and lack of research) put us there right at the peak of dry season. More desert and sand for us but the water was nice to swim in and the people were extremely nice.

Omani people have a reputation of being warm, friendly, and enjoyable and we got the feeling that there is a competition between them to see who can be the nicest . . . every street you walk down everyone says hi, we also had a few join us at meals just to chat. If you decided to make a trip over here you will definitely need to put Oman on your itinerary!

Steve tried something new by putting the pictures on shutterfly so follow this link to see them.

connorsindoha.shutterfly.com/action/?a=0AbNGLFozaNWLjY

Superbowl uh - Monday?

So what do a bunch of expats who haven't seen a single NFL season game think is a great idea . . . getting up at 2:00 am on Monday morning to watch the Superbowl! Fourtunatly, the game was good and kept almost everyone awake for the entire game. The game was broadcasted live in Doha but no commercials - we had to use our neighbors sling box to see those. I think the verdict was: 1st place Blockbuster mouse, 2nd place Bud Lite wedding, and 3rd place KFed fastfood. I'm glad it only happens once a year but I guess now I can say I've had chips, dip, hot dogs, and saurkraut for breakfast at 5 am (and we stuck to coffee and soda since we all had to go home, shower and head to work).

Happy Birthday Steve!

Steve is another year older so to celebrate we took a quick trip to Dubai to enjoy the shopping festival and see the Quidam show by Circ due Soliel. This was the 3rd time to Dubai and I think we have visited almost every major mall in the city and there's a lot of them! The last National Geographic had an article about Dubai and it said that there are more malls per capita in Dubai than any other city in the world. So, I guess we're going to have to find a new place for weekend getaways. The Circ due Soliel show was fun but not quite as impressive as the one we saw in Houston (Allegria). This time the tent and therefore the stage were much smaller. But we still enjoyed all the acrobats and contortionists.

New Years in Doha

Happy New Year! Eid Mubarak! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_Mubarak) My New Years Resolution to quit writing 06 when I mean 07 by February. . .

Steve and I had a fun night on the town, we got a dressed up and headed to the Ritz for 6 course chef’s special meal. Not 5 minutes into the event Steve accused me of setting up his demise (the first 2 courses were shellfish) but fortunately the chef was able to scrape up a little something extra for Steve.

Christmas in Doha

We had yet another delicious turkey dinner for Christmas. We rounded up the few lonely souls left in Doha and ate and drank too much all night. Steve made another excellent turkey but we he decided to cook it the conventional way – in the oven. He claimed the bird was too big for the rotisserie but I suspect he didn’t want to deal with another fire ball adventure so soon after the last one. If any of you experienced even a slight bit of dryness with your turkey we have figured how to make the best, juiciest turkey ever – you brine it for ~12 hours before cooking (soak it in a salt/sugar solution). The turkey comes out perfectly brown and juicy and the gravy from it is perfect. If this sounds interesting to you then check out the various recipes for brined turkey on foodnetork.com. Athena also had a great time entertaining the guests.

Teddy (pictured here), my co-workers son, favorite toy is a ball so he and Athena were peas in a pod all night. Mav and Athena also took a little time from the Christmas fun to admire the beautiful bouquet my mom sent us for Christmas – it was too big for the dinning room but just perfect for the coffee table. All in all it was a great night and a lot of fun.

We also went out to the "singing dunes" where the sand has the right physical characteristics to produce a harmonic sound when the wind passes over it. The weekend before Christmas there was a big bonfire and caroling event held here. There were at least 500 Ex-Pats from all over the world there having a good old time.

Asian Games

This entry is long over due but if your regular visitors to our sight then that won’t surprise you much. Doha was host to the 15th annual Asian Games which is basically the Olympics for everyone one on the east side of the globe. We’ve been hearing about these games ever since we arrived in Doha in April. The games were blamed for the awful construction which was to blame for the awful traffic; the delays at customs which meant sea and air shipments took longer then expected; employees were told to stock up on food in case there were shortages; schools were let out the last week of November so families could leave before they started; hotels were completely booked so the city had to bring in 3 cruise ships for the over flow; everyone was told to pack water and food in their vehicles in case they were stuck in traffic for hours – you get the idea, we were prepared to experience a minor apocalypse due to the games.

But it actually turned out to be very well planned and a lot of fun for the few of us who braved the potential chaos. Neither Steve nor I were ever stuck in traffic (that wasn’t already normal) the parking at events was easy and we even got tickets to a few events. The event that became the topic of conversations is called Sepaktrawa (sp?). It’s a cross between playing hackey sack, volleyball, and martial arts. If Bruce Lee had a sport it would be this (subtitles included). Same rules as volleyball, you serve to the other team, each team gets 3 hits to get it over the net but no hands – you can only use your feet, head, and back to volley the ball. It’s a great game to watch and the athletes are amazing – we got a few good pictures but if you ever come across the games I’d highly recommend watching it.

There was quite a bit of window dressing around the city as well. Here is a photo of the Emir's Palace with lights decorating it with the Qatar Flag. Kind of neat.

X-Mass Shopping In UAE

So Mariah had a business trip to Dubai recently followed by a conference in Abu Dhabi. I took a flight over the weekend to join her and make sure that she wasn't spending too much money X-Mas shopping. We had a good time hanging out at the bars with some of Mariah's colleagues. I did find it most intriguing that in a Muslim country, which most Westerners consider to be back woods and in-tolerant, we found more Christmas decorations than you would find in the US. I really got a kick out of the recent fuss in Seattle regarding X-Mas tress at the airport (http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_120906WABxmastreesEL.11b0d0cc.html). We see huge Christmas displays in all of the malls in the Middle East, yet people are constantly sued for such displays in the US. Really makes you think.