With the doors opening on the 1st of December, I thought some people may appreciate a bit of a recap.

Qatar officially opened on Saturday its landmark Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, designed by Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei, amid fireworks and in the presense of a number of regional heads of state.

Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani and his consort Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al-Missned presided over the inauguration ceremony whose guests included Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa of, UAE president Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, Djibouti’s President Ismail Omar Guelleh and Kuwait’s Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Sabah and actor Robert de Niro.

In her address to the assembled guests, the Emir’s daughter Sheikha Mayssa, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Qatar Museums Authority, said: “We aspire, through this museum, to highlight the peaceful and sublime civilization of Islam, which continues to Read the rest of this entry »

Typical. You wash the car and it rains. When we were kids and it rained we’d chant a song in the school yard. ‘Zeeda wa irham abeeda’. Roughly translated it means, increase it and bless their worshippers. You’d chant this to God. In Islam we’re taught that you should only worship God, so the chant asks God to bless those who worship the rain as well.

The first few drops in Qatar are hot. There’s a warm humid air that seems to engulf every crevice. You don’t know whether it’s time to cheer or a time to worry about what other unsual weather occurance will come next.

In the days following rain, the weather usually increases in temperature. So it’ll be quite cold, rain, become hot (not by direct sunlight, it’s just the air around you.) That’s sign that the winter’s here. Any day now, the temperature will dip and everyone will be running to their closest electronics store for a heater.

Those that have waited and not bought theirs in time will end up paying a premium for some cheap chinese brand that’ll probably short out and turn your home into a flaming inferno. Hey at least you wont be cold anymore!

Only in Dubai, the country that arrested cross dressers in June (or was it July), would they go and bring George Michael to do a concert.

Oh the irony. What are they going to do? Deport him after the event? They’ve either had a change of heart, don’t know he’s gay yet, or haven’t factored that he wont get his visa approved.

I’ve got it! They’ll say they thought he was just ’happy’ and didn’t realize until it was too late… and their pockets have been filled!

Here are some photos of the new section of the Pearl.

Click here for more pics

It’s typical, you book a flight and then some great deals just drop from the sky… in this case, it might just be literal.

Qatar Airways are offering flights for $600 from the following departure countries:

Paris, Moscow, Rome, Frankfurt, Geneva, Istanbul, London, Madrid, Manchester, Munich, Milano, Stockholm, Berlin, Vienna, Zurich (it’s $900 for New York and Washington).

Sales Period: 12 November 2008 to 15 December 2008.

Travel to Qatar: from 01 Dec 2008 to 20 Dec 2008
Minimum Stay in Qatar: 05 Days
Latest Return Travel to Country of Origin: 10 Jan 2009

Better grab those seats before it’s too late.

It’s about time to select my all-time favourite blogs about Qatar. The best way to get down to earth views and comments is by reading what a blogger pours out onto his personal space.

1. Qatar Visitor – The owner of this blog is thorough as can be. His focus is with providing guides and insight on what goes on in Qatar. I’d say that if a blog was a person, this blog would be an all round nice guy who’d take you out on a date and give you a peck on the cheek.

2. Sybil & Kristi’s Qatari Adventure – I’ve shuffled through quite a lot of blogs and I just HAD to include this on my top 5. This is an up-beat, bubbly, and such a positive blog. Read about an American’s life in Qatar and how some funky music can make a blog sound read so much more interestingly.

3. Life on the Spot – Xtian from the Philipines does a good job of sharing his views and personal life. What appealed to me the most is that he shares his love for his family and how Qatar’s a great place for family life. Great job kabayan.

I know I said I’d mention the top 3, however here are some other blogs worth reading.

Doha Observer – This is a very nice blog. It didn’t make the top 5 for one main reason. It was not updated as frequently as I would have liked. It’s very critical however in a very constructive tone.

Tall & Ginger – Another not so updated blog, however the author always has a very unique, constructive and reasonable point of view. To be quite honest, I like this guy! (Woah woah, just as a friend of course.)

Indonesian Arab= This blog gave me a great view of the Indonesian perspective. It isn’t entirely about Qatar but rather of many different Arab nations, but it’s still a nice read!

Figs and Olives – This blog could be on to something very nice. Food, pictures, and observations. It’s all about the life of an American family. If only the post updated the blog a bit more often.

GBrew – What a great photographer. This guy takes some very interesting shots. I’d love it if he shared more on the ILQ forums.

Don’t have a blog? Start one! Sign up to www.iktib.com Oh and if you like Mr. Q, be sure to link to me!

Keep up the good work everyone and please leave me a post on this thread so that I can arrange a goodie bag to be sent out.

I want to take the time to show a bit of appreciation to my colleague Aasim. He’s been a great teacher and friend in my work place.

It’s very rare that you find someone that will guide you and give you proper advice and I appreciate sharing his insight. Just to give you a bit of a flavour as to his background. Aasim is a Doctor turned Lawyer turned Investment banker. You can’t become any more intelligent that that!

Next thing you know he’s going to end up becoming the a cosmic physicist.

I blog this because I want people to realize that it’s essential to always a good person and if you guide someone into a better path, do it!

Here’s a nice little highlight from ILQ News.

QTel are going to launch their new set of numbers tomorrow (Thursday 13th of Nov) at 3pm

Time to grab a nice number. Oh and buying to resell on the black market will result in a 1,000 QR fine.

http://iloveqatar.net/forum/read.php?28,4743

Oh how I despise the monopoly system. Those that know me and have been reading my blog will know that I’m pro competition. It develops, enhances, and improves companies and corporations.

I was suprised when I discovered that a certain company has an exclusive deal with the government with all outdoor media. That means that no other company can advertise outdoors, excluding certain situations. Let me give a few examples of how far this reaches.

1) You OWN a building and want to put an advert on the wall. You can’t. You have to contact the company, let them use your wall and take a cut. In essence, you take a percentage off of your own business.

2) You want to put a street sign up for adverts. You can’t. The company owns the rights to all street ads.

3) You want to put a small sign board arrow, pointing to your hidden shop because it’s in an alley way or behind a building. No you can’t. You have to call the company and ask them to do it. While you’re at it, you have to pay them.

Basically they’ve taken the place of what the Baladiya’s advertisement department should be doing.  They’ve become a mini-authority. *sighs*

If I was in thar particular company’s position and was offered such an exclusivity, I’d snatch it up! Who wouldn’t? But shouldn’t there be safe guards to cause preventative measures when it comes to the abuse of the market?

A few months ago, a company which was appointed by a lead minister and the Emir interviewed me. They asked me why not a lot of Qataris are doing business. My answer then remains unchanged today; “They wont give us the chance.”

I love Qatar and I see the potential within it. The country needs safeguards to prevent a negative affect. I personally would love to open an outdoor marketing company and I would introduce some state of the art technology which would beautify Qatar however as long as the company has the monopoly I guess there’s little I can do.