My Latest Drool

Just after a weekend walking our feet bald in BKK, Angie and I found ourselves back in town yesterday (just over 12 hours after we landed at Changi Airport). We saw a couple of Dior gauchos we liked at the BKK airport. And so Angie wanted to check out the price difference in Singapore. We side tracked and walked into LV, LOEWE, Fendi and Dior. We resisted, walked away. As if by some strange pull of the "Paragon magnet" we walked out of Taka and headed straight into the Prada boutique. And the unthinkable happened - I saw a black flappy bag that was too sweet to resist. Slightly more than 3K I had to apply my shopping theory. I asked for it to be reserved for an hour while I thought hard over a cuppa upstairs. We finished coffee and I bravely whisked past the boutique and headed to Tangs where we parked. I gave it a MISS :-( I shall resist the temptation. Angie was a happy lady with a very pretty Nappa A Hobo, while I'm still sitting here, a day later, saddened by the "passing" of my pretty pretty Nappa S Satchel (apparently the LAST PIECE in store). Bawwwwwwwwwwwwwl!!!!!!

Farewell...

Local Tourists

I just realised that it's pretty fun checking out some of our local attractions - like a local tourist. A couple of weeks ago, we saw a huge banner (an interactive Mozart exhibition for kids) outside the National Musuem and decided to check it out. The refurbished musuem was beautiful inside. Terence and I thought it was like the old days where we could see the 'regular' exhibits for free. Of course, we were wrong. It costs $10 per adult and I think $6 per child. Due to Gideon's small build, we managed to get him through for free saying he's just turned 6! The Mozart exhibition was a hefty $16 per child!!! Is there any wonder why locals do not visit attractions such as the museum? It's simply too costly! Think how much one would have to pay for a family to visit Sentosa, for example. Perhaps we should consider lower charges for locals?

Nevertheless, we had a rather enjoyable afternoon. The exhibits were so-so but we tried to make it as educational for Gideon as possible. Not sure if he was disappointed 'cos when we asked him if he knew what a museum is, he confidently said "it's a place where you see the bones of a dinosaur!". Novus Cafe at the back of the museum was nice, though. It's a great place to sit down, relax and have a cuppa even if you don't intend to visit the exhibits - you can bride-watch as there was much photography action going on in there.


Fooling around at Novus Cafe's ultra comfy couch & the dancing chandeliers

So, if spending money visiting local attractions isn't your cup of tea, how about checking out our FREE attractions such as the Botanic Garden!? My first encounter with this beautiful place was last week when we met Rina and the ladies for lunch at Les Amis Cafe there. And this week, I suggested we went as a family and take a walk through the garden. It was good exercise and a good chance to take in the fresh air and see some monster trees :-) We will be going back again soon - this time for a nice morning picnic perhaps.


Lunch with the gals last week


Our 'roof' for the day & the Monster tree


Heading to Swan Lake to feed the swans


Waterfall Gideon

It's HOT in Doha

The Pearl Qatar at the Corniche, Doha (coastal causeway linking mainland Doha to the diplomatic area of West Bay)

For once the heat gush when the automatic doors opened at Changi Airport didn't hit me hard. In fact, I felt some relief. That was simply because I got back from a 45-degree (celcius!) weather in Doha, Qatar! Simply leave your face in front of a heated oven and that's what it feels like. And yet, the locals wrap themselves up in their khandura (for men) and black abaya (for the ladies) complete with a sheyla (head scarf that covers the face as well)! Despite the heat, don't forget a shawl when you're there 'cos the inside temperatures (where there's air-conditioning) are chilling to the bone. You just need to be in a shop for less than a minute to feel your brains freezing up - just like gulping 7-Eleven's Slurpee too quickly!

I was told that a holiday is declared when the temperature hits 50 degrees. So the government thermometer usually stops at 48 degrees - ha ha! Qatar is one of the richest nations in the world, with GDP per capita threatening to overtake Switzerland! With its abundance of oil and gas, is this any wonder?

My first encounter at the immigrations counter at the airport made me aware of how "forward" Qatar is. They accept ONLY credit card payments for Visas. And at the souq (market place), every shop accepted credit cards. In fact, I was told that at times, you are slapped with a "penalty" for paying cash!!! WOW!

And you know, they have a fetish for GLASS. All their buildings are clad in glass! Amidst the desert sand and heat, you can imagine keeping the glass buildings looking like... glass? But labour intensive tasks like cleaning of these buildings are not a problem. Qatar has a huge population of foreign workers (Indians, Indonesians etc) who are well-paid (supposedly) to do these tasks. We couldn't get off the car to take pictures so I got some of these beautiful buildings I saw, from the web. Will post the actual of Somerset West Bay, Doha when I get it from Andy :-)

The souq was an interesting place too. It is a marketplace filled with restaurants, cafes and shops, complete with a mosque and an art museum. We had a wonderful dinner at an Iranian restaurant which had the most gorgeous decor and yummy fresh breads and kebabs!

The Souq & The paper cone- like mosque in the middle of the Souq

Business centre services in a back alley at the Souq (in 45-degree heat!)

No back alley left wasted

Entrance to restaurant & Main hall of restaurant

The 'source' of our yummy bread...

Apart from the yucky flight to and from Qatar on Qatar Airways, my experience in Qatar was nothing short of amazing - the Heat, the skyscrapers, the $$$!