Monday, May 11, 2009

Our Weekly Weekend Update

First thing... I hope everyone had a great weekend and a wonderful Mother's Day!
I was able to call my mother from Qatar to wish her a Happy Mother's day. I also called my step mom to wish her a great day and was able to talk to my dad very shortly. We called Jon's mother but weren't able to get a hold of her. With this darn time difference (8 hours) it is so hard to reach people sometimes! Jon had to work yesterday so our Mother's Day consisted of me going to the gym, having lunch with Jon and spending the rest of the day trying to figure out how to use Photoshop Elements. It's so much more complicated than I thought it would be!

Our weekend actually started on Thursday evening. In Qatar businesses work Sunday through Thursday. So Thursday night Jon arrived back at the hotel and we decided to grab dinner at the Villaggio (one of the malls in Qatar) at a restaurant called The Butcher's Block. It's a great steak place and it really hit the spot, (a.k.a., I ate the entire meal and had to unbutton my pants afterward.)

Inside the mall the ceilings are painted to look like the sky and the stores are built to look like homes in Italy. There is also a canal in the center of the mall with gondola rides! I've posted about this in one of my first posts, but it's so beautiful I thought I'd post about it again.









Friday we headed out early to try to beat the heat; right now in Qatar temps reach to 100 degrees, and the humidity is so awful. We wanted to get an early start so we wouldn't be absolutely miserable in the sun. We checked out a new development in Doha, called the Pearl. It is a man made island built off of the coast of Qatar. From the internet, I found an aerial view of what the Pearl will look like with it is finished.

Here are a couple of pictures.

Here some pictures I took when we visited Friday morning.

The Pearl is a HUGE shopping center, (I saw Versace, Jimmy Choo, all the high end brands that you can think of,) and they are buildling luxury condos, apartments, townhouses and villas just behind the shopping area, making it Riviera style living. There will be an international yachting hub and three 5 star hotels including a Four Seasons on the island. This place is going to be AMAZING! I cannot wait to visit again when the Pearl is completely finished because it is going to be incredible! I mean come on, I CANNOT afford to shop in most of the stores, but I can look, wish and dream!

After seeing the Pearl we went to the City Center Mall where we grabbed lunch and went to the movies to see Wolverine. It was an excellent movie! Jon and I both agreed that it was a buyer!
After the movie we made our way toward the hotel but stopped to check out the book store down the street. I left my Living Dead in Dallas book at home on the coffee table when I had every intention of bringing it so I could read on this trip. So I was hoping they had this book, even though Jon really thought they wouldn't. I was pleasanlty surprised, they did have it, so I snagged it! Too bad I have two of the same book now, but I had brought the rest of the Sookie Stackhouse books with me and couldn't just skip the second book and keep reading without knowing what happened in the second! Yay for the Sookie Stackhouse novels!

(SARAH.... if you're reading, you should grab the first two books from my apartment and start reading! You'll LOVE them.)

Saturday we got up early in hopes of seeing the Museum of Islamic Art. Sadly it was closed for a special showing. Bummmmmer! Oh well, maybe next time. The museum building is beautiful! Jon told me that the architect of the Louvre came out of retirement to design this building for Qatar. Here are some pics of the museum that I took the last time we were here.

Due to the fact that it was only getting hotter outside, we thought the best thing to do would be to go see another movie! So we went and saw Star Trek. I am not a Trekkie, but if it means meeting Chris Pine, a.k.a. Captain Kirk,

I will become the biggest Trekkie of them all.

Seriously this guy is adorable! He is another movie we really loved called Bottle Shock, and he is equally adorable in that movie. But really, the movie was great, even though I have never seen a single episode of Star Trek, I really enjoyed it. I thought it was cool that they had the real Spock in the movie. Go see it!!

Now I am off to the gym to get my hiney in shape!

Have a great Monday ya'll!

19 comments:

New Girl on Post said...

I love seeing all the things and places you are going. How exciting!

LWLH said...

I ♥ that mall..what a cute idea! :)

~Mrs. Guru~ said...

Your pictures are so amazing that they almost look fake. I am not saying they are fake at all but wow! You could make some money off them!

Gleatie said...

I saw those books on the coffee table but for some reason I thought that the author's name was Sookie Stackhouse so I didn't think they were the ones that I was wanting to read! Now I will definitely grab them next time I stop by there to water the plants. With the way that it is raining here the outside plants are going to be set for awhile! It looks like y'all are seeing some really cool things! I know it gets boring during the day but hang in there! You are only there one more week!! I can't wait for y'all to get home!!

Crazy Shenanigans-JMO said...

Wow, I would never thought that Qutar was that beautiful, I always pictured it to be like Iraq or Iran....hmmm...I might have to add this to my places to visit.

Sookie Stackhouse...ok I wasn't impressed with her first book but I am curious to see how she continues it...so I might get the second book.

I too, saw Star Trek this weekend and I am by no means a treekie. I did think it was good though! I was pleasantly surprised! And yes....the dude playing Cpt. Kirk....hotness. He was also in The Princess Diaries 2 movie.

Megan said...

Wow, we certainly don't have malls like that around here! Glad you were able to talk to your mom on Mother's Day :-)

Kathy's Red Door Welcome said...

I'm sorry that I haven't commented for a while, I've just been so tired since started my new job. I come home from work and just crash. I should be at the gym like you. It will get easier and I'm sure I'll get my energy back, but for now I'm one lazy couch potatoe! Your trip to Quatar xounds interesting and your photos are fabulous, as always!

Unknown said...

Holy Hannah! Those are some awesome malls! I agree with the above post, you sure don't see malls like that around here! Visting places that like is pretty much out though. I talked to Robert about this just two nights ago and because of his three deployments he has no desire to revisit the land of sand and heat..Any land of sand and heat for that matter:p Hoping to convince him the Egypt would be different:p

d.a.r. said...

Oh my gosh your pictures are amazing!!!!

morewineplease said...

Holy Crap! That Pearl is amazing! Looks like they are close to completing too!
I must get me some Sookie!

katie + bret said...

I just love reading your blog - Super cute. That island looks INSANE! How great that you are getting to see things like that! Chris Pine was also in Princess Diaries 2. Yes, I am a super dork.

Emily said...

gosh how amazing are your pictures and the trip! I feel like i am with you guys there, by reading your updates! love it! Chris Pine is a hottie!

Lindsey said...

These pics are beyond amazing! I love seeing all the places you go, fun!!

msprimadonna67 said...

Your pictures are incredibly cool. I would love to visit there!

Simply Me said...

just found your blog- so cute!! Love all the pics
new follower

Abbie said...

Once again, your pictures don't disappoint! The mall looks exactly like the Venetian in Las Vegas! And I can't wait for you to go back when the Pearl is finished, that place looks like it's going to be amazing! How fortunate for you guys that you get to do all of this great traveling! You'll have so many exciting pictures, stories and memories to share with your kids! Keep the pictures coming!

April said...

Hey! I'm back! Got me a new computer...woo-hoo! Can't wait to get caught up....

Kelley said...

how wonderful of a trip! I never knew how beautiful Qatar would be!

Stefunkc said...

Chris Pine??? That might be the only thing in the world that would make me want to see a Star Trek movie!!