Dubai: Bath & Body Works and Dubai Mall

Bath & Body Works in Dubai Mall!!!!  This was super exciting since I'm addicted to their lotion, the "HandiBac."  They only had 3 scents of it though and the price was a bit high.......

After, I walked around some more...

Bloomingdales and the designer shops

Burberry

Dubai: Alserkal Avenue

Alserkal Avenue is a cool place in the industrial area of Dubai where there are a lot art galleries all bunched together.  I stopped in this gallery and hope to see the other galleries in the area next time.

Dubai: Lunch at The Lime Tree

I met N for a quick lunch of zucchini quiche, couscous, and chocolate brownie cake at this cute cafe, called the Lime Tree.  The food was quite nice and a European atmosphere.  Also, the guy working at the counter was a (cute) young (around our age) guy with blonde hair and blue eyes who sounded like he was from the UK.  What a crazy sight to see here that is so normal in the US!

Dubai: Adventures on the Metro

I've been to Dubai several times now but I had yet to try the metro there.  I figured this day was a good one for it since I had some spare time.  So I was at the Dubai Mall, and there is a metro stop called, "Buj Khalifa/Dubai Mall," so I figured that would be pretty easy.  Wow, I was wrong.  It was a 30 minute confusing walk from the mall, in the heat, with nothing (like somewhere to buy water) on the way.  I was dripped with sweat once I finally saw the metro stop in the distance.

Buying a ticket was easy enough although I think I accidently bought one for further than I needed so watch out for that.

The ride to the stop where I was going was a pleasant 5 minute ride.  Yup, just 5 minutes.  Then I was at my destination to meet N for lunch.  However, the cafe was quite far from the metro stop so I had to take a taxi for 20 minutes.  So.... how efficient was that metro?  I walked 30 minutes in the heat, rode for 5, and then still had to take a taxi for 20 minutes.  I could have taken a taxi directly from the mall and it would have taken 25 minutes and the price would have been about the same.............

It was an interesting experience and I got some nice photos but I probably won't use the metro next time....

Wizard of Oz Musical

The Doha Players put on the musical, The Wizard of Oz, at the Doha British School Theatre.

It was a great production and the talent was simply spectacular!

They used a real dog for Toto who barked at just the right moments.  Really adorable.

AnimeQtr Event - Qatar's First Anime Con?

The first anime con (or third but the first two weren't so successful I was told) took place at Virginia Commonwealth University in Education City on March 28, 2012 from 4pm.

There was a huge turn out with hundreds of anime fans.  Even the Japanese ambassador was there and he gave a short speech.

The ambassador was also sporting a "World Cosplay Summit" t-shirt.

Lots of activities including a models gallery, Artist Alley, and Dealers table.

And of course lots of cosplay!!!  What an exciting event!!

Gold and Chocolate Cupcake

Yes, that is real gold on top of the chocolate madness.  I liked the red velvet cupcake better.  This one was too heavy.

Nowruz

We had lunch at N's place where she had the Nowruz items arranged.  Everything begins with "S" in Farsi.

Nowruz (Persian: نوروز‎) is the name of the Iranian New Year in Iranian calendars and the corresponding traditional celebrations. Nowruz is also widely referred to as the "Persian New Year". 


Haft Sîn (Persian: هفت سین‎) or the seven 'S's is a major traditional table setting of Nowruz, the traditional Iranian spring celebration. The haft sin table includes seven items starting with the letter 'S' or Sīn (س) in the Persian alphabet. 


The "Haft Chin" items are: 

•  1. Mirror - symbolizing Sky 
•  2. Apple - symbolizing Earth 
•  3. Candles - symbolizing Fire 
•  4. Golab - rose water symbolizing Water 
•  5. Sabzeh - wheat, or barley sprouts symbolizing Plants 
•  6. Goldfish - symbolizing Animals 
•  7. Painted Eggs - symbolizing Humans and Fertility

Mohamad Al-Dosari Zoo and Game Reserve

After visiting the camels and trying again to visit the oryx farm, we learned about the nearby Mohamad Al-Dosari Zoo and Game Reserve which they promised us had some oryx!

They were right!

There were so many animals as well including zebra, camels, ostriches, foxes, dogs, goats, and even elands!  (An eland is apparently a type of antelope from Africa.)

eland

The farm is located just north of the camel races.  Map below:

View Mohammed Ad-Dosari Farm in a larger map