Golf in the Middle East

The World's Number one golfer and the Tiger that's chasing the top spot to reign as the king of the golf world again. Yes, that's right, I got to see Europe's and the PGA's best shoot out in the Middle East. Lee Westwood and Tiger Woods all in the same month.

The first one was the home course at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters. This one is special to us for a couple reasons. We were fortunate enough host a caddie for Michael Campbell. Unfortunately he didn't make the cut, but it was still pretty cool to have a bit of a connection to the tournament.

We were lucky enough to watch on Friday and Saturday. Unfortunately the final round fell on a Sunday and we weren't able to watch. We followed a number of players, including the Michael Campbell, Lee Westwood, and yes John Daly. His terrible pants and the incredibly huge golf swing were in fine form. He may be struggling, but his is still in command of a huge crowd. He carries himself around the course with the same following as Lee Westwood. The tournament finished up and we were getting ready to see the show move over to Dubai.

Now on to chase the Tiger by the tail. We went to Dubai for a few reasons. The most important one was to visit with J's Sister and Best Friend. The next to the most important was to see the Omega Dubai Desert Classic and Tiger Woods.

Now I know that most people will make fun of me as I am still cheering for Tiger, but let's face it, he is still the world's best golfer and ball striker. Even when he is having a bad day, most pros would still like to be in his place.

The rant is over and now time for some good stuff (I think). This is probably the first time in my life I have acted like a "fan". I was rushing around trying to get the best spot on the practice tee so I could take a couple pictures of the living legend. Then when that was done, we all rushed over to the first tee and waited four groups in order to see the start of the final round for Tiger and Sergio Garcia. If you can believe it, that was the pairing that we watched tee off. It was great to watch as they teed up, entered the pre-shot, and then fired their drives right down the pipe. The mob that followed was insane. Everyone was rushing and pushing to catch the next shot of the duo. We were a little more wise than that.

With our trusty course map, we located the best viewing point on the course. It was a place where we could watch a number of different groups pass by while at the same time following a single group. It was perfect. It got better. With all the luck in the world, we were able to fall upon Lee Westwood's group and noticed there wasn't a soul following him. This is very strange considering he is the world's number one golfer. The opportunity to follow so closely and see every blade of grass fly from every shot was too hard to pass up. So we followed Lee until the 18th grandstand where we perched and watched the final 8 groups come in.

We had a great time watching the players and the people that were at the golf course. It makes you realize just how good they really are. There were a couple times where I was so close to Tiger and Sergio that I could have taken their hats right off their heads. I don't think there are too many places in the world where we can pay less than $20 CND and be that close to the action.

I can't wait for the next one.

Dubai Adventures

Dubai is like Las Vegas...without the gambling and sex...but still full of the biggest, the best and the most over-the-top things you can think of!

L, Big C and I arrived within a few minutes of each other (but in different terminals...as a side note, the runway divides Terminal 1 & Terminal 2 so you have to take a taxi from one to the other...strange). We had to get retina scans to go with our visas, although I was sad to learn upon arrival that I actually didn't need a $310 visa. Apparently my Qatar work permit has a code on it (in Arabic) that is on a list of "reciprocal" professions in the GCC where an entry visa will be granted on arrival. Big C would have still needed one, which means that the UAE has priced themselves out of the vacation market. We went over and met up with L and then took a taxi to the apartment at Timeplace in Dubai Marina. The place was great, beautifully decorated and covered what we needed. A second shower might have helped but there were two toilets so that was good.

The landlady had kindly arranged for some breakfast food as well - which was much appreciated. We unpacked and crashed. Big C and I had the pullout, which was quite comfy! A few hours later, I woke up and went back to the airport to collect N. She arrived at 6:20 ish but by the time we made it back to the flat, it was 8:30 and so she decided to stay up. She and L amazed me - L only had 5 hours of sleep - but they both powered through to the end of the day (late!) and didn't look back. Take that jet lag!

The first day was the Big Bus Tour of Dubai. Big C forgot the camera (ha ha) at the apartment so we don't have too many pictures to show you! We were located right by a metro station which was really convienent and we made it to Mall of the Emirates to get a coffee and catch the tour in no time.

The audio tour was decent and we saw the sites...the horse racing track, Wafi (where there is an Iranian souq), Burj Khalifa (tallest building in the world), Emirates Towers, many other landmark buidings (like the World Trade Centre, Chamber of Commerce, Etisalat Telecom building). We also went by the gold souq (Dubai is famous for this), the beaches, the Mosque, the area called Madinat Jumeriah where the Burj Al Arab is (7 star hotel) along with a souq, many restaurants and gorgeous hotels. We wandered around Atlantis (hotel) on the man-made Palm Island.

We wandered the gold souq and ate a vegetarian Indian restaurant (total hole-in-the-wall but cheap and delicious).

We went to Carrefour and bought Arabic style appetizers and stirfry ingredients for the next night. We introduced N & L to labneh with zaatar and mutabel - along with a few old faves like humous and chick pea salad. We drank some wine (the UAE lets you buy and bring in at the airport) and then crashed.

The next we moved a bit slower and we did the bus tour again, along with a dhow cruise on Dubai creek. We also hit up the Heritage Village. We ate the stirfry and then we wandered the souq at Madinat Jumeirah before having some wine (the whole area is a "hotel" hence the liquor license).

We shopped Dubai Mall the next day and saw the massive aquarium inside. When I say we shopped, I mean a full day of shopping! Then we hit up the fun (but chilly - there was a fierce wind) Barasti Bar for dinner and entertainment) before coming back.

Sunday was the golf - and there will be a whole separate post on that! Then dinner at Nando's on Dubai Marina. Which is where we found Baskin Robbins and Spinney's. Spinney's is a grocery store...that sells a specific contraband meat (one that we had re-labelled and brought back with us!) We then went to Koubba Bar in the Al Qasr hotel.

Monday was more shopping at Mall of the Emirates where we checked out Ski Dubai (the indoor ski hill). It was even smaller than I thought it would be - but it was funny to see that they also have to rent winter jackets with the ski equipment!

Then we went to dinner at Dubai Mall and watched the fountain light show (think the Bellagio in Vegas) before N & L did "At The Top", where is where you go up the Burj Khalifa to the observation deck on the 124th floor!

Tuesday...it was breakfast, pack and then back to Doha...so we will pause the story here!

Total Shutdown

It is 3:00pm here and I spent the majority of the day in bed. It is a work day, which means I had to take a sick day - something I don't like doing mostly because my co-workers will all point out tomorrow that they have never taken a sick day in their lives. I am not sure if they want a prize for that or not.

My body needed to go into total shutdown. We had a great time with N & L but there was some work drama. Some serious work drama that has been building for about 4 months. The stress got to me and today it took over. Like I said, total shutdown.

However, Big C and I have a plan to get back on track...and a plan is forming in the back of my mind. It's coming...consider yourself warned!

Do you recognize this man?

Karma Police - The Better

It hasn't been all bad...just mostly of late.

We have had a couple of bright spots lately. Mostly they have to do with Big C, but that's ok. It's not a competition and when he is happy - I'm happy.

We were able to bring back his hockey equipment from Canada and he promptly got hooked up with a team here. He had to "try out" and everything! I didn't have any doubts in his abilities though, and he made a team in the "A" division (yay!). He's also started coaching Bantam aged kids for an hour each week. I love C when he is playing hockey, it makes him happy and it's his "thing" and a routine that we are both familiar with. Too bad the smelly equipment is back though!

I also went to "Girly Brunch" last weekend and got to hang out with 9 girls - some I have met before and others it was the first time, but again I was struck by how many amazing and talented ladies there are here in Doha and it felt sooo good to just hang with the girls and eat, drink bubbly, chat and have some giggles together. Fantastic.

We are also hosting a caddy this week. Wilks is the caddy for Michael Campbell and although we have hardly seen him - he is a really sweet Scottish fella. He was exceptionally kind and got us some passes to the Qatar Masters Tournament so we plan to be there on Friday and Saturday. Anyway, C is thrilled to have someone to chat "golf" with. :)

So, there are some bright spots and they keep us going!