Food Court in the Hyatt Plaza

A food court is basically where there are a number of fast food restaurants that share tables where the customers can go and eat. The one in the Hyatt Plaza shopping centre (next to Villaggio, the one with the huge shopping trolley outside) is situated to the left hand side as you look at the building.

The food court is bright and clean and you can usually find a table to eat your food quite easily. Most of the usual big chain outlets are there including McDonalds, Burger King, KFC etc. There is also a stall that sells frozen yoghurt that I enjoy going to too.

Next door to this food court is an indoor amusement park where your children can burn off some of their energy too.

Bice Restaurant on the Pearl Doha

The Pearl is a man made island beyond West Bay in Doha. At the present time (summer 2011) quite a bit of the Pearl is still under construction. However the BICE restaurant in the main area straight over from the bridge to the island (to your right) is open.

We went there for a very enjoyable meal one warm afternoon in the winter and were well served as well as a great view. As we were there before sunset and stayed after this, the view changed from light to dark and was pretty spectacular both times. We sat outside on the terrace but of course you can sit inside too.

The food was pretty good and was well served. The bill was a bit on the expensive side as well.

However worth a visit if you like Italian style food.

A review at Dining In Doha Website

Fancy a walk try Aspire Park

Aspire Park is an oasis of green behind Villaggio and Hyatt Shopping Malls. There is ample parking nearby. It is the place in Doha (along with the Corniche) to go for a walk or let your children off the leash for a while and hopefully burn off some excess energy.

It has a walking track, childrens play area, restaurant, cafe, as well as football fields. In the right weather it is the place to go.

Aspire Park is also a place to go to after sunset as well as some of it is illuminated.

I have only been there once and it was good to get some exercise, however the numerous security guards around and police in golf carts was not great for me but maybe others will see this as comforting.

Aspire Park also has its own Facebook Page

Talking Matters Toastmasters Meeting-Monday 11 July 2011 at 6.45pm

Talking Matters Toastmasters Club meets every second and fourth Monday of each month. Toastmasters is a worldwide organisation that give people the opportunity to speak in public. It is also a great place to make friends.

Talking Matters next meeting will be:

Monday 11 July 2011 at 6.45pm at

The Oryx Rotana Hotel

Please ask at reception for the appropriate meeting room.

The first half of the meeting is speeches that have been prepared by members. The second half is the evaluation of the speeches and the lively table topics session. Everyone is encouraged to take part and all feedback is positively given.

As a guest your entry is free and there will be snacks at the interval too.

Please come along for a fun filled evening, make some new friends and join up too!!!

A Long Weekend Trip to Abu Dhabi

While you are in Qatar it is nice to explore the area, and Abu Dhabi is an ideal location for a long weekend as the flight is less than an hour from Doha.

When we went we stayed at the Rotana Beach Hotel that was great, nice place with good service. Tell them it is your wedding anniversary or birthday and they will lay on special service for you (it genuinely was our wedding anniversary when we went). Attached to the hotel is a shopping mall.

Abu Dhabi is laid out in a grid and is quite easy to get around, there are also lots of taxis.

Places to visit while you are there: the big mosque on the outskirts of town (this is only open in the mornings for visitors I think); the Abu Dhabi Palace Hotel that is on the waterfront of the Corniche, as well as the Yas Marina Motor Racing Circuit (that has a Ferrarri world place attached now, it was not finished when we were there).

Rotana Beach Hotel Website

Villa or Apartment in Doha?

The issue for me is that during the summer months in Doha the villa option requires a bit of thought!

We had an apartment on the 12th floor in Dubai (out of a 25 storey building) and this was fine. However there were no apartments in the area we wanted to live in Doha so we opted for a villa, that is good too.

However there are a couple of issues you should be aware of in the summer. Firstly the water storage tanks are situated on the roof. Therefore in the summer the water from both taps is very hot. This has the advantage that you can turn off your immersion heaters (and save some cash) but the disadvantage is that the water is generally much too hot for the first couple of minutes. You have to let the water flow through before it drops to just hot from too hot! Everything reverts to normal during the winter months.

Also, as the villas are generally flat roofed the bedrooms become very hot. From our experience, what we do is turn the AC unit on about half an hour before we want to go to bed (with the door shut). Then when we go to bed we turn off the AC but we turn on a big fan (this cost us about 100 Riyals and was a great investment) in the bedroom for the duration of the night. This keeps the room bearable without the need to put the AC on again (when you will wake up an hour later freezing cold).

A couple of matters to consider/overcome about villas.

Talking Matters Toastmasters Club Meeting Monday 11 July 2011 at 6.45pm

Talking Matters Toastmasters Club meets every second and fourth Monday of each month. Toastmasters is a worldwide organisation that give people the opportunity to speak in public. It is also a great place to make friends.

Talking Matters next meeting will be:

Monday 11 July 2011 at 6.45pm at

The Oryx Rotana Hotel

Please ask at reception for the appropriate meeting room.

The first half of the meeting is speeches that have been prepared by members. The second half is the evaluation of the speeches and the lively table topics session. Everyone is encouraged to take part and all feedback is positively given.

As a guest your entry is free and there will be snacks at the interval too.

Please come along for a fun filled evening, make some new friends and join up too!!!