There’s a huge amount of events going on in Qatar for New Years eve! We’ve compiled a list of events, which you can find here, which we hope you’ll enjoy! Why not also give the Pearl a visit during christmas, I’m sure something will be going on.

However if you’re in the mood for getting down and partying the year away, try heading off to “The Circus” by Hed Kandi  which ILQ is sponsoring.

It’s an event at the Sheraton which will be hosted in 28 different countries simultaneously! Go on and enjoy!

Here’s a little video clip

Enjoyed some great food by the sea at Al Mourjan, smoked a bit of Shisha, watched the waves, chatted with good friends, and enjoyed a fantastic fireworks show.

Happy Holidays everyone.  Here’s an arabic version of Silent Night.

Last year, there wasn’t much going on for National Day in Qatar. In fact, there were more decorations for Christmas than there were for Eid or ND. It was that issue that sparked a lot of complaints from Qataris asking why nothing has been done. It was with that, Qatar decided to do a huge event this year. There are other factors included as well. Look at the launch of the Museum of Islamic Art, The Media Expo, Qatar Media Freedom Center, the involvement in Philipines resolutions, advancement in Human Rights, and the launch of other huge developments for example. Qatar’s definately in the spotlight and Doha will continue to shine bright as long as changes keep happening.

Why are Qataris so proud? Well we haven’t had that much to be proud of for a long time. Our Emir has brought so much change and development to Qatar that there’s something to almost brag about. A typical Qatari will gladly sacrafice a lot for his country. Look at ILQ for example. The company was formed as a way of making Qatar a better place. The Emir has done so much to make our lives better, so why don’t we lift the burden off of his shoulders a bit and try to help?

So whether you’re Qatari, American, British, Indian, Philipino, Japanese, Chinese or any other of the many diverse nationalities on this small Earth, please celebrate National Day with us! Let happiness run through you like a rush of energy. With each firework that goes off on the 18th of December, smile. Let it represent the sound of the country’s heartbeat.

One common question I’m asked is how can your National Day be changed? Well it’s not an independence day, so it’s never changed. National Day is the day of the country and has been changed to reflect a major change in Qatar. A new direction. A new day.

The list of events in Qatar seems infinite at the moment. There’s so much going on this month.

We’ve just had Eid celebrations, now comes National Day, Chrismas and New Years.

Just for those that aren’t aware of the Events in Qatar section of the forum here’s a few links to a bunch of event lists.

National Day Events List

New Years Events list

Hed Kandi’s World Circus - (a party in Qatar which will be happening in 28 countries simultaneously!)

Also, enjoy the National Day photos.

The Gulf Times has implied yet again that Qataris are immune to inflation, have too much money to care about save any, and don’t need any financial advice. Hey, some do. It’s tiring to have the same stereotypes repeated over and over again. Believe it or not, a lot of Qataris have to work hard to get to where they are.

The article starts off with, “EXPATRIATES planning to buy houses in Qatar, should wait for a while before committing themselves, according to an international property adviser. (Nick Witty)”. Source

Apparantly Qataris don’t need this advice and it’s only the expat community that needs to benefit. Why doesn’t the article start with ‘People’? Surely I’d like to save 10-15% on property prices too right?

I understand that an expat is likely to just be temporarily investing and is more likely to live in Qatar less that a Qatari would, however an investor is an investor right?

Ah well… time for me to make my daily phonecalls and claim back my inflation money. We’re immune remember?

I’m here at the villaggio with my trusty iPhone and I thought it would be move to give a bit of an update as time goes by. There are a huge amount of ILQers running around in search of puzzle pieces. Beleive it or not they’re quite hard to find! Finding a piece gets you a huge bag of goodies if your one of the lucky ones to win a prize in the draw.

They’re not putting them all out at once though so that everyone has a chance of winning one. The mall is packed right now and it’s great seeing so many smiling faces.

Update: 6:03 none of us found anything. People searching on bins, following people with voda hats, and trying to innocently look like they’re searching in general.

6.30 nothing yet. Had a few people ask me if they could join the Ilq search team. Everyone’s welcome.

7.00 one ilqer has found a puzzle piece. These things are very hard to find for 500! Met the CEO walking around. Everytime I see him I always think that he’s got a great positive personality.

7.30 It’s the end! There was a huge crowd and people cheering. It was a great turn out. It would have been nice if more ILQers could have won something, but alas twas not meant to be.

Congratulations everyone!!

Oh my God! Where did you go? Don’t fret. I’m still here on the 4th day of eid, toiling away behind the scenes at making ILQ a better place and hopefully with a few surprises up my sleeve. I’ve just updated the blog so it should be optimized better and load up faster, unified various sections on ILQ (although there’s still plenty to do), done a bit of shopping for ILQ’s new offices, added additional content, and set up a few promotions, including Barzan Digital’s promotion. See here.

I need to highlight that ILQ is supporting HedKandi’s International Circus on New Year’s Eve. It’s an event that is going to happen in 22 countries simultaneously at the Sheraton. I’ll post more one I get a bit of sleep! See here.

I thought that some people may find it interesting to know what goes on in a typical Qatari family Eid. 

The children wake up early in the morning. Excited. Playing. Waiting for the day to start. It’s Eid! The adults lay slumbering in their beds and wake up around 8-9 am. After a hearty breakfast which consists of eggs, olives, honey, cream cheese, bread, and tea, it’s off for a quick shower and everyone puts on their brand new clothes that were specifically bought for Eid.

Eid is about celebration and about looking your best for your family as well. 

It’s off to prayer before heading off to Baba Oad’s (Grand Father) house. All of the 50-60 cousins, 6 aunts and 6 uncles (as well as a huge amount of indirect relatives) arrive. The women go off to the sitting room, the men go off to their sitting room, and the children run around the house. 

The general banter is usually along the lines of, “When are you getting married?”, “Why haven’t you been visiting more often?”, “Are you working hard?”, and “What have you been doing these days?”. 

Children will come around and ask for Eidiya. This could be anything from 1 QR to 10 QR (more if you really like them ) and then go out to ‘Ayid’ to the neighbours by singing songs and getting a few riyals in return. It’s our form of caroling. 

When the children get back, they sit around and count their new found fortunes and plan what they’re going to buy. 

Soon enough, it’s time for the feast. We all sit around the floor and dig into a selected slaughter. It sounds kind of cruel to some, but it’s an animal that is killed the Halal way (the most humane method possible where the animal feels no pain). Rice, drinks, lamb or sheep and chit chat.

After washing our hands, we then return the sitting rooms where we have a nice cup of tea (mint, red, or saffron), and relax. 

The adults then slowly each return to their homes or go off to make their rounds to other close friends and relatives and wish them a prosperous future. Kil sina wa inta tayeb (every year and you are fine) is repeated from individual to individual.

What we did was head off to a coffee shop where myself and cousins chatted about memories and teased each other.

Eid. An Arabian Christmas.

A lot of people say, ‘wear a thobe and you’ll automatically get respected’. To be honest, I’ve felt it. If I wear a pair of jeans, people in shops will usually not give you as much attention as if you’re wearing a thobe.

When I went to the electronics section of carrefour to pay for an item there were some guys cuing on the left hand side, however they were the only ones there. I cued on the right which was the correct side. The woman pics up the guys stuff and puts it ‘behind’ my stuff. Just as I’m waiting for the guy in front of me to finish, she tries to grab my stuff. I quickly put my hand on it. “Sorry, these guys were before me”. I pointed to the Phlipino guy. She said, ‘oh really?’ and proceeded to scan his stuff. Of course with my luck he ended up having a faulty barcode and they had to go search for another one and I stood there for a good while. That’s an example of a situation where sometimes I’m given an advantage.

However it’s not a good thing sometimes. Yesterday my cousin, who was Read the rest of this entry »