Doha Hazard
I’m driving along, getting ready to get in the right turn lane, when all of a sudden ahead of me, I can see a change in grade: Roadworks. Only in my lane. Here is the hazard – I can get in the lane now, and bump along, or I can stay in my curent lane and switch later, but I don’t know how many other drivers are adopting that strategy, and if I don’t make the right turn, I have to go many blocks out of my way. I signal and get in the raw, bumpy lane.
There just isn’t any good time to do roadworks. Some of the roads have serious potholes, many of the side roads have other serious defects. They have to be fixed, but oh the mess, the inconvenience. It’s the same in Kuwait, it’s the same in Seattle. I think of the bureaucrats who have to raise the funds (at least in Kuwait and Doha, it’s not taxes!), hire the companies, make the decisions and bear the howling complaints of the inconvenienced while the necessary work takes place.
At least on this day traffic is flowing smoothly and drivers are making allowances for one another. Things could be a lot worse.
Vietnamese Salad Rolls (Woo HOO on ME!)
OK. They may not look like much to you, but these are my very first Vietnamese Salad Rolls, one of my favorite eats in the whole world.
And I am giving myself a BIG WOOO HOO for doing them.
You all think I am much braver and more experimental than I really am. I have loved these for probably 15 years, but on my own I could never figure out how to make them, and I really didn’t want to try. I told myself I couldn’t get all the ingredients, anyway.
“Oh yes!” said my French friend, mistress of the kitchen, nothing she couldn’t do, and she invited us for dinner and the first course was Vietnamese Salad Rolls, made in her own kitchen. “They have the rice wrappers at all the Phillipino stores in Kuwait.”
Who knew? My French friend knew ALL these little secrets.
She carefully explained how to make them, but my mind shut down when she said “There is one part that is a little tricky – the rice wrapper has to soak for ONE SECOND in a pan of hot water, but only one second!” To me, that sounded very scary and daunting.
Then she gave me two packages of the wrappers.
I took them out now and then and read the instructions and put them back in the cupboard. I even shipped them from Kuwait to Doha with me. I read detailed instructions on the internet. I printed some out.
Yesterday, I found more wrappers at the MegaMart and bought two packages and now, with plenty of back up and with an unanticipated energy and hopefulness, I thought “why not give it a try tonight?”
The secret to making these is to have everything ready in advance – a bowl of cooked shrimp, sliced in half down the spine (so both halves look like a shrimp), a bowl of basil leaves, a bowl of mint leaves, a bowl of chopped parsley, a bowl of thinly sliced lettuce, a bowl of julienned carrots, a package of the rice wrappers, the cooked vermicelli in a strainer (it stays flexible because these go together fairly fast) and a flat round pan of hot water to soften the rice wrappers.
Once you have the ingredients assembled, the assembly – which for some reason was the part that daunted me – goes fairly easily and rapidly. If you soak the thin, brittle wrapper for exactly one and a half seconds, and lay it on a cutting board, it becomes very flexible and exactly the right texture. I started 3 inches from the top with the shrimp, then lay the rest of the ingredients in a row vertically, but almost on top of each other. Then I pulled the bottom up over the ingredients and tucked it in – not too tightly, but very snugly, folded in the sides, then wrapped the top over the already-rolled up section, and wow – a salad roll!
Vietnamese Salad Rolls
INGREDIENTS
• 2 ounces rice vermicelli
• 8 rice wrappers (8.5 inch diameter)
• 8 large cooked shrimp – peeled, deveined and cut in half
• 1 1/3 tablespoons chopped fresh Thai basil
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 leaves lettuce, chopped
•
• 4 teaspoons fish sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic chili sauce
• 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped peanuts
DIRECTIONS
1. Bring a medium saucepan of water to boil. Boil rice vermicelli 3 to 5 minutes, or until al dente, and drain.
2. Fill a large bowl with warm water. Dip one wrapper into the hot water for 1 second to soften. Lay wrapper flat. In a row across the center, place 2 shrimp halves, a handful of vermicelli, basil, mint, cilantro and lettuce, leaving about 2 inches uncovered on each side. Fold uncovered sides inward, then tightly roll the wrapper, beginning at the end with the lettuce. Repeat with remaining ingredients.
3. In a small bowl, mix the fish sauce, water, lime juice, garlic, sugar and chili sauce.
4. In another small bowl, mix the hoisin sauce and peanuts.
5. Serve rolled spring rolls with the fish sauce and hoisin sauce mixtures.
FOOTNOTE
• The fish sauce, rice vermicelli, chili garlic sauce, hoisin sauce and rice wrappers can be found at Asian food markets.
These are so fresh-tasting and light, perfect for a hot summer evening, perfect for a special Ramadan breaking-the-fast appetizer. Once the rolls are made, seal them on a plate under a couple layers of saran-type wrap to keep the wrappers from drying out. You can make them a couple hours in advance and wrap them good and store them in the refrigerator; they keep well for a couple hours. Don’t make more than you can eat the same day; they don’t keep well overnight.
The recipe above uses a different sauce than we use. The Vietnamese in France use this sauce, which is more of a vinaigrette, but the Vietnamese in Seattle and in St. Petersburg, Florida, use a peanut sauce:
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 Tbs Thai sweet chili sauce (sometimes called chili pepper sauce for chicken) it is that thick, sticky sweet orange-y red sauce with pepper flakes in it)
2 Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs rice vinegar
1 Tbs sugar
1 Tsp finely chopped ginger
1 Tbs tahina
Cook one minute in microwave and stir until all the peanut butter is dissolved. Then add liquid – can be water or orange juice or pomegranate juice or chicken broth or sake (!) to thin to a thick salad dressing consistency.
AdventureMan was so amazed and delighted when he came home and saw I had been able to make these all by myself! I am so amazed and delighted that I can do it! Wooo HOOOOOOO! We didn’t eat them as an appetizer; we like them so much, we ate them as the main course, with some finger-food veggies – snow peas and carrots – as side dishes.
Stat Bump
There are a lot of factors in blogging that I don’t control. I have no control over the policies of the countries I live in. I have no control over who might like my posts and tell their friends. And I have no control over what posts might tickle interest among blog readers.
Kuwait has a lively, active blogging community, even in the face of competition from FaceBook and Twitter. Many bloggers have gone inactive, working in new areas, and have come back to blogging. Leaving Kuwait, moving to Doha, I lost about 300 – 500 regular viewers per day. I know, I know, some of you found the sunrise-over-the-Gulf daily photos SO so boring, but there were Kuwaitis all over the world who checked in just to see what Kuwait looked like each day, and having been in their position (I still check Seattle every day, and Pensacola) I know how they feel.
Some posts I consider “filler.” Maybe I can’t think of anything to say, so I share a piece of news that interests me. Or I ask a question. Posts I just tapped off and posted without giving it a lot of thought then take off, and over the months and years maintain a steady popularity. The posts I like the best are posts where my readers have stepped in, commented and we’ve all learned more about something.
At Halloween, I had my all time high stat bump – on an article I had written two years earlier. Last night, I watched the numbers climb irrationally on a news article on the Perseids – and oh, by the way, even though last night was the peak, they are still out there, and if you can find a quiet, light free spot, you are in for a thrill. I remember one year, AdventureMan and I headed for Clearwater Beach, and it was like Spring Break except it was dark, what a hoot! Everyone had blankets or beach loungers, laying out flat, looking up at the sky – with all their clothes on! It was night!
This is what I could see this morning:
Ah well, coming up are Friday and Saturday, the two worst-stat days of the week. Some days I don’t even bother blogging on Saturday!
Have you ever had an irrational stat bump? Did anyone in Kuwait or Doha go out last night to watch the Perseids? Any luck?
Where to Find the Perseids in 2009
I’m getting so many hits on my Perseids article today, that I thought I would tell you how to spot them. This is from earthsky.org, where you can learn a lot more about the night sky.
What is WAY cool is that they suggest a camp out as the best way to watch the Perseid showers. 🙂 No better place than the desert, so pack those tents and head out of town, away from the ambient light. One problem – moonlight.
With the 2009 Perseid meteor shower due to peak on the mornings of August 12 and 13, people are asking, How can I find this constellation in the night sky, so that I can see the meteors?
One note before the excitement starts to build. This year, there will be a waning moon in the sky during the peak hours for the Perseids. So 2009 is not the best possible year to see this shower. You might try watching for meteors in the early part of the night. Or you might see some Perseids in bright moonlight – in the peak hours between midnight and dawn – on the mornings of August 12 and 13.
Moonlight is just a local problem. The meteors will be raining down as always, even if moonlight drowns them from view. The Perseid meteor shower is named for the constellation Perseus the Hero. It’s from this part of the sky that the meteors will appear to radiate. Today’s chart shows Perseus ascending over the northeastern horizon around midnight. That’s why this meteor shower is better after midnight: because after midnight, the radiant point for the shower is above the horizon. Just remember, the glare of the waning gibbous moon will wash out some Perseid meteors during the peak hours of 2009.
Notice the W-shaped constellation Cassiopeia just above Perseus. The constellation Perseus is faint, but Cassiopeia is noticeable and can help you find it. If you do see a Perseid meteor in 2009, and trace its path backward, you will find that it radiated from a point in the sky within the boundaries of the constellation Perseus. When the moon is out of the way, a meteors are raining down in all parts of the sky, you don’t need to know the whereabouts of a shower’s radiant to enjoy the shower. But people always ask! So here you are.
Many people look forward each summer to the Perseids. This shower always peaks at this time of year, and it reliably produces 60 or more meteors per hour at its peak, or an average of about one a minute. It’s great fun to give meteor-watching a try! It’s a chance to go to a dark site with friends and family – a chance to see some stars and enjoy the night air – and see some meteors. The 2009 shower will be troubled by the moon, but there’s still fun to be had, if you and your friends and family want to try a camp-out on the peak nights.
WeatherUnderground has an entire section devoted to the night sky specific to YOUR area; this is what the one looks like for Doha, Qatar:
How cool is that?
You will see Perseus on this map in the bottom left sector.
I thought there was a night sky thingy on Google Earth, too, but I can’t find it. Anyone know how to do that?
Qatari Divorcees and Widows More Likely to Marry
This caught my eye for a couple reasons – one of which is that Qatar has the second largest divorce rate after Kuwait. Second, while it is mentioned in the article, it is not mentioned at the end that the women have other options in Kuwait and Qatar, are more able to care for themselves financially, and are not bound to stay in unhappy marriages for reasons of financial dependency.
It is delightful to think that one unhappy marriage while young will not doom a still-young woman to a life of celibacy. 🙂
More Qataris tying the knot with divorcees and widows
Web posted at: 8/11/2009 2:41:41
Source ::: The Peninsula / By MOHAMED SAEED
DOHA: Qatar has the second largest divorce rate in the Gulf region after Kuwait, but a welcome development has been that now an increasing number of citizens prefer to marry divorcees and young widows.
Qatar being a conservative society, marrying divorcees and widows has been a taboo of sorts.So, since the largest number of divorcees is in the age group of 20 to 29 years, their remarriage is a healthy sign.
In 1986, for example, divorcees under 20 years of age accounted for 15 percent of the total. Their proportion has been declining and was down to 6.4 percent in 2007.
Studies conducted by the Permanent Population Committee (PPC) show the number of marriages breaking up in the country has risen from just 308 in 1986 to nearly a 1,000 in 2007.
And although the population of locals has also gone up in this period, the rates of marriage and divorce have risen at a larger rate than the population increase.
It is also interesting to note that nearly 85 percent of weddings ending into divorce are first marriages. In other words, a husband taking a second, third or even fourth wife has never been the cause for a wedlock to end.
With women having increasing access to education and employment, the number of married Qatari females asking for divorce (‘khula’ in Arabic) has been on the rise. The share of such divorces in the total is on an average between 16 and 23 percent.
The studies note that financial independence of educated women has much to do with the rise in the phenomenon.
And as for male citizens marrying young divorcees and widows, the number of such marital knots had increased to nearly 300 in 2007 as compared to barely 29 in 1986.
Among the Arab countries, Egypt and Syria have the lowest divorce rates, suggest the studies.
They point to erosion of social values, modern living, fading influence of families, as the major factors behind the rising incidence of divorce in Qatar.
Qatar Sizzles: Record High
I’m not saying my temperature gauge is correct. It’s made by Sharper Image, and the little measuring thing is in the shade on my windowsill. But while the Qatari weather station measured a high of 50°C (122°F), mine shows 62°C (144°F). Two of our air conditioning units stopped functioning yesterday. I cannot begin to imagine what it must be like for those who have to work outdoors. The air conditioning men don’t come until after sunset, because they have to go on the roofs, and they can’t touch anything without getting burned until after the sun goes down.
Qatar sizzles in record high temperature
Web posted at: 8/11/2009 2:38:39
Source ::: THE PENINSULA
The temperature outdoors as recorded by instruments in many cars in Doha yesterday. QASSIM RAHMATULLAH
DOHA: The mercury touched a record high for the season during the past two days in Qatar, with the temperature reaching 48 degrees Celsius on Sunday and yesterday. The thermometers in vehicles posted the temperature still higher, at 50 degrees Celsius.
The country has been experiencing a steady increase in temperature for the past few days. The maximum temperature had been hovering around 45 degrees Celsius for the past couple of weeks before it shot up to 48 degrees on Sunday. The minimum temperature has also gone up substantially, reaching 35 degrees Celsius yesterday.
Labourers working outdoors and families alike complained that the dry and extremely hot weather had been unbearable during the last two days. Doctors have advised people to take precautions against the weather.
The labourers who used to spend their day break in the shade in open areas have been missing from the Corniche these days. Many of them are spending the time inside nearby air-conditioned shopping malls. “The heat wave was so intense that we could not stand it”, an Asian worker said.
Compared to the same period last year, the maximum temperature is high this time. The country recorded a maximum temperature of 40 degrees and 43 degrees Celsius on August 9 and 10, 2008, respectively, against the 48 degrees Celsius recorded this year. The minimum temperature is also higher this year.
The daily weather chart issued by the meteorological department yesterday forecast a maximum temperature of 46 degrees Celsius today. The minimum temperature is expected to be 34 degrees Celsius.
The Met department forecast hot conditions with dust blowing during the daytime today and moderate temperatures at night. North-westerly winds may blow at a speed of 15-20 knots, reaching 25 knots at mid-day and 15-25 knots offshore.
According to some weather portals, the temperature of Qatar’s territorial waters touched a high of 34 degrees Celsius these past days. Last year, when Qatar’s maximum temperature reached 48 degrees Celsius, the temperature of the sea water stood at 37 degrees Celsius.
Experts point out that any increase in the temperature of sea water above 35 degrees Celsius is “abnormal.”
The year 2006 also saw the temperature of Qatar’s territorial waters cross the 35 degrees mark (36.5 degrees Celsius), and massive quantities of fish and invertebrates, including endangered species of turtle, had washed up on Qatar’s shores.
Overbuilding Leads to Lower Rents in Doha
Rents to tank in two years, says expert
Web posted at: 8/10/2009 1:43:47
Source ::: The Peninsula / By MOBIN PANDIT
DOHA: One of Qatar’s most trusted real estate investment experts says he sees the rental market taking a massive beating over the next two years due to excessive housing supplies.
Currently, there are no less than 15,000 apartments ready for occupancy across Doha literally with no takers, says Nasser Mohamed Al Mansoory, CEO of Qatar Oman Investment Company, a listed entity.
And there are many housing projects in and around the city which are coming up and expected to be ready for uptake by next year, he told The Peninsula yesterday.
The population of the country, according to him, is already down from 1.9 million at the peak of the housing shortage recently, to around 1.6 million. “These are the latest figures. So, with so many people having left, where do you think the demand is going to come from,” wondered Al Mansoory.
Not only apartments, there are villas as well which are lying vacant all around. Little thinking has gone into these projects and that explains why there is suddenly a dearth of takers.
These are the units which are difficult to attract tenants on high rentals given the fact that supplies are excessive while the demand is limited. “We, therefore, expect the rents to come down,” said the CEO whose company actively invests in the real estate sectors in Qatar and Oman.
He said thoughtfully: “I wouldn’t be surprised if over the next two years (by 2010-11) you see the rents in Doha back to their previous levels to QR1,200 and QR1,400 monthly.” Already, two-bedroom apartments whose going rates were QR8,000 not too long ago, are now available for QR5,000.
“See the newspapers. Their classifieds are full of ads for all categories of vacant houses day in and day out, clearly signaling that supplies far exceed demand.”
Similar is the situation with office space, he said. Supplies are now abundant. The rates per square metre are sliding by the day. In the Old Airport area, next to a building where office space is available for QR250 per square metre, the going rate, for example, is QR160 per sq metre.
Finding the new Ponderosa Steakhouse in Doha
“Are you sure you know where it is?” AdventureMan asked.
“Well, pretty sure.” I answered, and God bless him, as hungry as he is and as tired as he is after a long day at work, he just sighs and trusts me.
“If this doesn’t work, we can always eat at Villagio,” he says, and I marvel at his equilibrium.
“The man at the other Ponderosa said you go three roundabouts from Ramada junction and it is on your right, and then he said something else but I didn’t understand.” I added.
We went three roundabouts, and then started taking the slip roads, an adventure in itself. We saw a lot of car repair places, some smaller Lebanese restaurants with all guys eating inside, and had to go back and forth, because sometimes the slip road ended, sometimes the shop roads ended. After another roundabout, and a long row of very modern, empty glass office-looking buildings on the right, there it was, clearly visible from the road, and I realize what the man had been telling me was that it was above the Pizza Hut.
This is what it looks like from Salwa:
This is what it looks like from the side road – “Ponderosa “steakhouse” in Arabic
Maybe about once every three months or so, when I really felt a need for some meat, we would brave the horrible road-trek at Cholesterol Corner, otherwise known as the Ramada Junction, to eat at Ponderosa. It isn’t fancy, but it truly is popular, with its buffet and inexpensive steaks. I really like their filet, just a little 6 oz. steak but they do it better than many of the big expensive hotel restaurants.
If this works, we have said to ourselves, it would be a real blessing for us, not to have to hassle with the traffic patterns of entrance and exits, not to mention the congestion.
When we get inside, the blessings just continue to pour forth – we learn that this is their first night open to the public (we didn’t know!) and that they had promotions going – the buffet was 29 QR – which is what the price was six years ago, before it started creeping up – and that every main entree on the menu included the buffet and tonight only was only 40 QR (around $11).
So for $11 each, AdventureMan ordered the fried fish, and I ordered the filet mignon. Taking a risk, I even ordered it MEDIUM RARE.
The Ponderosa Buffet is the Ponderosa Buffet. It has some American salads, some Arabic salads, and a taco bar, and a dessert bar and a soft ice-cream machine. It was all very very clean and well presented.
When my steak came and I bit into it – it was truly amazing – medium rare! AdventureMan said his fish was very lightly battered and very hot and fresh tasting.
I didn’t remember to take photos until about halfway through. I must be the absolute worst restaurant reviewer in the world. That’s where my filet steak used to be, LOL:
Yes. I used some A-1 Sauce. I love it on steak. But I tasted the steak first, and it was a great steak.
There used to be four pieces of this hot, delicious fried fish.
The dessert bar:
I had watermelon, AdventureMan had a lot of the fruits, but I could see most people were going for the chocolate pudding and the soft ice cream. 🙂
The Ponderosa is upstairs, over the Pizza Hut. You enter from the side road. Paved parking is limited – maybe 12 spots – but there is that hard rocky surface, lots and lots of it. This is supposed to be the biggest Ponderosa in Doha, and it may be – it is full of booths, all very private, several different areas.
We won’t go that often – we have other favorites – but we are really really glad this Ponderosa has gone in, and we don’t have to go down to C-ring anymore in that maze of mad motorists. We also think that with all the housing going farther and farther out of Doha, they chose a very smart location to attract those moving away from the center. And – I am impressed – my steak really was medium rare!
Think Pink Walk October 30th
This is what I love – advance planning and advance notification so I can mark my calendar now and look forward to the walk on October 30th. Not only that, I can tell all my friends, so they will be there, too. This is a grand event, a great way to exercise and show support for a worthy cause at the same time.
Women all over the world die because they are afraid to talk about breast cancer, afraid they will be shunned, afraid they will be treated as damaged or inferior. Fear can kill us. Silence can kill us. Supporting one another and encouraging one another can be part of the coping process and the healing process.
Please – mark your calendars, too. I want to see you there.
Breast cancer support group gears up for annual event
Web posted at: 8/9/2009 2:57:6
Source ::: THE PENINSULA
DOHA: Think Pink Qatar, a Doha-based support group for breast cancer patients and survivors, has set the ball rolling for upcoming events it will be organising.
Drawing approximately 30 volunteers to an organisational meeting yesterday, the group initiated the process for one of its major annual events, the Think Pink Breast Cancer Walk of Life. Due to take place on the evening of October 30 at the Corniche, volunteers have been mobilised to make the event as much of a success as last year’s event.
The recent meet will lead up to other events the support group will be undertaking in September and October include a Pink-Out Day at schools, the Think Pink Benefit Gala, a Pink Hijab Day, and Proctor and Gamble sponsorship. There will also be a Harley Davidson Women’s Ride for Life, organised by Margarita Zuniga, courtesy of the Harley Davidson’s Women’s club.
Due to growing interest from community members, Think Pink Qatar is organising its 1,000 plus volunteers and members into a coherent line-up in time for event. “Today’s meeting is to start organising for this event, as many have volunteered, and we have now found it necessary to devise teams, covering sponsorship, music, event planning,” said Karen Al Kharouf, Founder of Think Pink Qatar. “Because the group has grown from 200 to 1,000 members, there is the need for consistency and a centralized system.”
More volunteers are hoped for, to take the currently part-time organisation full–time, and to add to numerous out-reach programmes the group currently runs. This includes adding more to the survivors groups, and the Pink Candies, a group of older teenagers who provide morale support for breast cancer sufferers. Al Kharouf underlined the need to create greater awareness in Qatar, as many women dislike talking about the disease, hence its high death rate.
PS: I see Peninsula says the walk is on the 30th, Gulf Times says it is on the 31st. Hmmm. . . .
Beijing Restaurant near Ramada Hotel, Doha
When we were in Doha the last time, our favorite Chinese restaurant was the Gulf Royal, a quirky second floor restaurant that delivered, but first, you had to visit the restaurant and get in their book. The book was names and addresses of all the families in Doha who liked Chinese food – and maps to their houses. Total hoot! We drew our map, and then looked through, laughing at how many of the names we knew.
Gulf Royal disappeared during a huge street re-do back behind Al Saad, and now, a new building is there, maybe the fencing club, and the Gulf Royal is no longer.
Never mind. After searching through The Qaterliving.com website I knew that the place to go was the Beijing, a restaurant we had tried once or twice before, but somehow, had drifted on to others.
Get there before 7 is the first rule. If you get there after 7:30, all the tables are packed, all the parking spots taken. The restaurant if full and people are waiting to be seated.
We had an excellent chicken Kung Pao, and a good shrimps with black bean sauce. The shrimp were plentiful and perfectly cooked, we just prefer a little more black bean taste, but next time we will know to ask. And the Beijing DELIVERS!
This is how you get there:
Here are the hours:
And here is part of the menu – there is more!
The waiters and waitresses speak good English. One of our dishes, we got the wrong dish, and sent it back. The waitress came back and asked if we still wanted our original dish (the kitchen had gotten very busy) or if we wanted it taken off our order. By that point we were full, and asked to have it taken off our order.
We saw lots of delicious and sizzling dinners go by as we were waiting and as we were eating. We will be going back to try some of them, too.
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