Dining in Doha: Khazana
“There’s this new Indian restaurant not to far from here,” said my good friend, Texas Grammy, as we left the Souk Waqif Hotel. “Let’s just walk around and see if we can find it.”
We always love walking around in the souks. We used to back when it was “off-limits”, considered a dangerous place for Western women to be. We always figured if we dressed modestly and kept kind of quiet, we wouldn’t have any problems – and we never did. We rarely saw other Western women down at the Souk Waqif then, but mostly we went early on the hot summer mornings, so we didn’t see much of anyone except the veiled and abaya’d women who shopped there regularly.
We walked around, noting the changes, but eventually had to admit defeat – we couldn’t find the restaurant. As we wandered, we started asking people. You know how once directions take more than like five turns, you can’t remember them all? So we would go one or two turns, then ask again. The last time, the sweet shopkeeper’s assistant walked us all the way there. It was actually only about a block from the hotel, but in the opposite direction from which we had walked.
It was worth the walk!
Khazana is a green oasis in the middle of a dusty souk area.
It’s built in one of the historical buildings, so they had to preserve all the original walls and windows. It means there is not one huge dining room, but several small, intimate dining areas:
We ordered fabulous foods, and most of them I didn’t get a chance to photograph; we were busy chatting and busy catching up and having such a good time! But the food is FABULOUS. Fresh. Tasty. Spiced just enough to capture your interest, not enough to blow your brains out.
The service was attentive and charming, without being overly intrusive. The tea was excellent. Everything about the meal was refined and delicious – the food, the setting, and the excellent service.
We were told that the restaurant was there because the Amir of Qatar wanted it there. He is a man of excellence, and he wants excellence for Qatar. We asked if he dined there, and the waiter looked around, and his eyes gleamed, and then he whispered “we are not allowed to say.” He had a great big smile on his face as he said it, full of pride.
I would dine there again, in a heartbeat. I am betting we will need reservations the next time. 🙂
3baid, Today’s Sweetheart
Have you seen the Friday Kuwait Times? If not, run right out and buy it now, or go to the blue link where it says Kuwait Times. There is a FULL PAGE story in the Friday Times on PaperDump, the eco-friendly blog where all kinds of menus, schedules, telephone numbers, etc. are stored, saving paper.
You can go to PaperDump by clicking on PaperDump, although most of you already have it stored on your blog favorites. I learned, reading the article, that they get 10,000 hits a DAY. Now that is public service.
Wooo HOOO, 3baid, you are getting just a small portion of the recognition you deserve for the great public service you are making, donating your time and energies to this valuable service. Woo HOOO!
Romantic Getaway in Doha
AdventureMan whisked me away to Doha for a weekend, to visit friends and the new Islamic Museum. There is a new boutique hotel in the restored market area, the Hotel Souk Waqif – and this area is THE place to be at night. The hotel is only 17 exquisite rooms, beautifully furnished, great customer service, and has promotional rates going right now at the best time of the year to visit. It is surrounded by great restaurants, and has great views in three directions. The rooms are lush and richly furnished.
Update: The website for the Souk Waqif Hotel is up and running here: Hotel Souq Waqif
View from hotel 1
View 3 from hotel
This sign always cracks me up – in a parking lot near Electricity Street (Sharaa Kharaba)
Question from Willy Q
“Does anyone know where I could go to get a camel ride in Kuwait?”
I have no idea, Willy Q, but maybe one of my readers out there in virtual Kuwait-land knows . . anyone? anyone? anyone?
Law and Order Disappears at Al Watan
When I was studying for my masters degree, one of the things we looked for were things that weren’t there. I’ts like watching for denials – a denial may point to a scandal that is about to erupt. Sometimes negative space is as significant as filled space – you have to learn to look for what is not there, as well as for what is there. I know, I know, it sounds sort of zen, but it makes sense when you think about it.
Here is an example. After months of having a Law and Order section on Al Watan, it has disappeared. I have no idea what it means. Maybe there was only one person every day who checked it (me!) and they dropped it because it wasn’t needed. Maybe there are fewer crimes happening in Kuwait? To me, it is possibly significant that it is NOT there.
Islamic Solution to Kuwait Unemployment: Women Stay Home
From today’s Kuwait Times:
Islamic system way to resolve unemployment
KUWAIT; Dr. Ahmad Aziz al Muzaini, the Secretary of the Shura and Salam group, said that following Islamic doctrine concerning work would be one solution to the problem of unemployment and the excessive numbers of expatriate workers.
Calling on women to take care of their own homes and families, rather than employing domestic staff, Dr. Al Muzaini said that by doing so millions of Kuwaiti Dinars transferred outside the country annually would be saved and invested in the local economy. If domestic workers proved to be essential, he said, local and other Arab people could do these jobs, rather than bringing in expatriates from thousands of miles away.
Dr. Al-Muzaini said that his group has also recommended a temporary suspension of the import of cars to Kuwait, saying that each household in the country currently owns several cars which is causing numerous accidents and traffic congestion.
He also recommended that more women be employed as taxi drivers catering to all-female clientele, which would be in female passengers interests and insure their safety.
There’s more. You can read it yourself in the Kuwait Times.
(Sigh) Where to start?
Did you know there is a law on the books in Kuwait that to have a driver’s license, a woman must have a college degree and/or be employed full time? When I asked our sponsor/fixer, he told me that “of course, madam, that doesn’t apply to you.”
But if Dr. Ahmad Aziz al Muzaini wants us to stay home, do you think he also prefers that the men hold responsible jobs rather than women? How do you think he feels about female Ministers? Does he think women should be restricted from driving as a solution to traffic congestion?
I have female Muslim friends who say that there is nothing un-Islamic about women going out to work, that on the contrary, women were encouraged to have their own businesses and were encouraged to seek education and knowledge in true Islam.
Why is it when things start going south, the ultra-religious start throwing restrictions on women?
Never Blow Your Nose When You Have a Cold
The Claim: Never Blow Your Nose When You Have a Cold
From The New York Times
By ANAHAD O’CONNOR
Published: February 9, 2009
THE FACTS
Blowing your nose to alleviate stuffiness may be second nature, but some people argue it does no good, reversing the flow of mucus into the sinuses and slowing the drainage.
Counterintuitive, perhaps, but research shows it to be true.
To test the notion, Dr. J. Owen Hendley and other pediatric infectious disease researchers at the University of Virginia conducted CT scans and other measurements as subjects coughed, sneezed and blew their noses. In some cases, the subjects had an opaque dye dripped into their rear nasal cavities.
Coughing and sneezing generated little if any pressure in the nasal cavities. But nose blowing generated enormous pressure — “equivalent to a person’s diastolic blood pressure reading,” Dr. Hendley said — and propelled mucus into the sinuses every time. Dr. Hendley said it was unclear whether this was harmful, but added that during sickness it could shoot viruses or bacteria into the sinuses, and possibly cause further infection.
The proper method is to blow one nostril at a time and to take decongestants, said Dr. Anil Kumar Lalwani, chairman of the department of otolaryngology at the New York University Langone Medical Center. This prevents a buildup of excess pressure.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
Blowing your nose can create a buildup of excess pressure in sinus cavities.
scitimes@nytimes.com
Better, Still Sandy
Once again, we have “light haze.” This is better than yesterday – we can see the shore – but this is not what I would call a light haze. Taken around 7:30 a.m.
There is a 20% chance of rain on Monday. We surely need rain to damp down all this new orange sand.
My sister, Sparkle, asked if people don’t wear gauze masks when the sand blows in like this. Yes, Sparkle, you see them everywhere, but most people who can, stay home, stay inside. Even inside, last night when it was time to go to sleep, it felt like breathing underwater, the air feels thick and heavy. It gives you a little headache after a while, trying to breathe.
This morning is a little better; maybe there has been some shift in atmospheric pressure. Even though the sun is up, you don’t see a lot of orange like yesterday, but the thick haze in front of my house is more a tangerine-tinged cream color.
Weirder still, there are two new layers of sand on the beach in front of our house, orange and oranger:
Light Haze at Noon
That light haze just keeps getting thicker and thicker and oranger and oranger. It is surprisingly cool and damp; I am used to most of the dust storms being HOT. A cool and damp dust storm means the orange dust is sticking to everything, to windows, to car windshields, to pavement. AdventureMan says it is piling up in drifts on some of the major roads. Be careful out there, my friends.
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