Life on the Spot

Takashi Murakami – EGO

xtian001 — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 18:52:13 +0000

I’m not sure how many people in Qatar can appreciate Art and Qatar Museum Authority’s work in bringing artists and their art here in Doha but I have to give it to them. For Art lovers, and even for those who are not, Qatar has been bringing some of the best exhibitions around the world. One of them is Takashi Murakami’s – EGO. We have been planning for the longest time to visit the Takashi Murakami – EGO Exhibition but we only found time last night.

The outside of Al-Riwaq Exhibition hall was enveloped by Murakami’s signature flowers and face so those passing Corniche would be able to get a glimpse of what the exhibit is going to offer. Upon going in, you’d be greeted by “Takashi Murakami” himself. Xianelle was so excited and was running around looking at the items displayed as the colors were so bright at lively. Children can enter free while adults have to pay QR25. I think students have some discounts as well. As I was going in, there were some teenagers trying to go in the main exhibit and were asked by the guards how old they were. One was 15 while the other was 16 and was told that they can just go in without paying so I guess their age limit is quite loose, which is good, so that more people can go and enjoy the exhibit. For QR35, you get a ticket to “Takeshi Murakami – EGO” at Al Riwaq as well as “Gifts of the Sultan” at Museum of Islamic Art (Temporary Exhibit Hall). You get a QR10 discount as the “Gifts of Sultan” entrance is supposed to be QR25. You can actually buy the tickets and go use them on another day so there was no pressure to see everything in one day.

I won’t go into details as I’d let you judge yourself by the meager number of photos we were able to take. The only gripe I have about the exhibition is you can’t take photos inside the main exhibit, which of course is not surprising. It’s just that the exhibit was so colorful and “kawaii” that you want to have a photo of each item you see inside. Still, I’d recommend going there. Well worth it!

Takashi Murakami – EGO

Where: ALRIWAQ Exhibition Space
When: 9 February – 24 June
How much: 25QR
Visit: http://www.qma.com.qa/exhibitions/ego/
In a sentence: It’s the single largest collection of work by the legendary Japanese artists ever displayed
in one location.

Murakami – Ego features over 70 monumental pieces from 1997 to the present. It’s the single largest collection of his work ever displayed in one location. It’s also a lot of fun – a technicolour world of anime, sculptures, circus tents and murals from one of the world’s most renowned artists. Make sure you check out the merchandise stand.

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Vodafone Qatar sucks!

xtian001 — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 13:34:37 +0000

I don’t really want to say a product or a service is bad until it gives me enough reasons to do so. I’ve been one of Vodafone’s 1st 1000 customers since they launched and after all the disappointments, I think it’s time to give up on their service.

I’ve subscribed to their Freedom plans when they launched and the service should auto recharge every month from my credit card. For the past 2+ years, aside from poor reception in several areas, I’ve had problems with their recharge service. This has happened more than 5 times now. Usually, if they can’t deduct from my credit card for reasons unknown to me, I would have to call them and they’d get the service back up in a day. Still, if you’re someone who relies on his phone a lot for important calls, you’d know how frustrating it is to not be able to make calls when you need to. What more if you can’t make calls for 3 days? What if there was an emergency?

Last Wednesday, Vodafone deducted the amount from my credit card to recharge my plan. It did push through as I got notification on my mobile about the transaction. However, I was barred from making calls and decided to call Vodafone about the issue. They said that it was a service error on their part but can’t pinpoint nor fix it easily. What was funny and irritating was that the person on the phone actually advised me to buy a recharge card for me to be able to make calls. What? Are you kidding me? The reason I took a Freedom Plan was for me not to be hassled with looking for a recharge card when I need to make calls. Isn’t that the main reason why people get a recharge service? so “Duh”…

After several more calls from Wednesday to Friday, and not having a way to make calls with a phone, I conclude that even having a great phone becomes useless when you can’t have a decent service from your mobile provider. I did get a message from their Twitter Rep that the service might return after 24 hours, meaning Saturday afternoon. But as Senator Miriam Santiagosaid, WAH! Imagine not having mobile service for 4 days? That is impossible to accept. Even friends who have commented on Facebook about my rant have commented how disappointed they are with Vodafone’s service and transferred to Qtel’s service. I can’t blame them.

So, goodbye Vodafone, hello Qtel.

Who wants a fancy number from Vodafone? Double 7 9 5 Triple 2 9 ? Call me.

More Pork products available at QDC

xtian001 — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:20:17 +0000

We’ve heard about Pork cuts being sold at Qatar Distribution Company (QDC) a month ago but since our bacon and sausage buying splurge we never got the chance to visit. A colleague went there the week after news came out about the pork cuts but went home disappointed. We decided to go visit QDC this afternoon as our bacon stock has run out and we’ve been planning on having pancakes, eggs and bacon on the weekend.

So, in addition to the Pork Sausages and Pork Bacon, it seems QDC has been slowly adding more Pork products. You now have Fresh Gammon Joints (200QR for 3 Kg), several Salami types (38-57QR), Honey Roasted Ham Shank (272QR), Parmaham (27QR), Mortadela (20QR), Italian Antipasti Selection (49QR), Prosciutto and more cold cuts. The Fresh Gammon Joints (fillet ends) look really good. Do take note that Gammon Joints are salted as they are usually roasted or boiled, you need to soak them in water before cooking.

We were able to ask some Filipinos who were buying the Gammon Joints if they were good and was told that they were quite tender. One Filipina was buying 3 Gammon Joints (3 kilos)at 200QR each as her daughter was going to celebrate her birthday. We didn’t buy the Gammon Joint as we deem it too expensive. If it was a different cut, we would probably have bought one.

Fresh Gammon Joints (200QR for 3 Kg)
Assorted Salami types (38-57QR)
Honey Roasted Ham Shank (272QR)
Parmaham (27QR), Mortadela (20QR)
Italian Antipasti Selection (49QR)

Fresh Gammon Joints and Salame (sic)

Honey Roasted Ham Shank, Parmaham, Mortadela, Prosciutto

Taste and Fun Food Festival 2012 – Recommendations

xtian001 — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:59:22 +0000

Qatar Taste and Fun Food Festival 2012

We just came home from visiting the Qatar Taste and Fun Food Festival 2012 being held at the Doha Exhibition Center which started last Feb. 8 and would end tomorrow (Feb. 11). Mavis and I were able to visit last night but decided to go back this afternoon as we wanted Xianelle to also experience the Qatar Food Festival. We had fun at last years’ 2nd Annual Doha Food Festival (as it was called then) so we didn’t want her to miss it this time.

The area provided by Qatar Tourism Authority has been made bigger and the layout is quite better for both visitors and those taking part in the food festival. Instead of the back-to-back layout of food stalls last year, they provided an open square layout where they placed some bouncing castles and play areas for kids. Food servings are still at 5-15QR. Anyway, as a whole, I’m sure anybody who goes there would enjoy the festival atmosphere. They could have provided more entertainment ( a concert or two), and more seats, but it is much recommended to go to this week.

Below are some food recommendations from the different stalls at the Qatar Taste and Fun Food Festival 2012

Intercontinental Doha

Paella Valencia w Seafood at Intercontinental Doha

Chili con Carne Basket

La Cigale Hotel

La Cigale Hotel

La Cigale's Beef Paillard w/ Mashed Potatoes & Gravy

Orxy Rotana

Oryx Rotana's Angus Beef Burger

Doha Sheraton

Doha Sheraton's South American Chicken Empanada

The Ritz-Carlton

The Ritz-Carlton's Marinated Salmon w Lemon Risotto Citrus Foam

Dana Club

Dana Club's Tempura Fish and Chips

Movenpick

Movenpick's Chocolate Ice Cream

Movenpick's Espresso Ice Cream

Movenpick's Pistachio Ice Cream

W Doha

W Doha's Sushi Rolls Cut on the Spot

Taste and Fun Food Festival 2012

xtian001 — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 04:44:13 +0000

The best chefs in the country will gather once again in the third annual Taste and Fun Food Festival, to be organized by the Qatar Tourism Authority, at the Doha Exhibition Center from February 8-11.

The entire exhibition floor space will be packed with food stalls. Chefs from a huge variety of restaurants will showcase their signature dishes, selling gourmet treats for QR 5-15 per plate.

It’s a great chance for the whole family to sample the vast and startling pantheon of Qatar cuisine from all around the world. Favourites from last year include Arabic, Thai, European and Indian. There will also be live music, games and a play area for children, plus raffles for cool prizes.