Weekend with Qatar Living

This month I am already one and half years here in Qatar. It all seems just like yesterday. For the first year I really did not find many new friends because I just preferred to go home, open my laptop and surf the Internet to pass my time. But humans being social animals just could not stand solitary confinement and finds a way to socialize with others albeit not in the actual presence.

Like many others hooked on the Internet, I joined a social network. At first I was just a regular browser trying to find meaningful and useful information about Qatar. That is where I found Qatar Living or QL to many users which is the most useful website for practical and everyday things about Qatar. After several months of just browsing through it, I finally joined the forum as a regular member.

And early this year the site administrators launched the QL Forums which are basically focused forums on certain topics, interests and affiliation. There is the Social Group, the Movie Club and many other forums that have since been created or formed to cater to the many interests of the expatriates and local techno-junkies or even casual PC users here in the State of Qatar or even those just planning to go here.

Among the popular forums here is the Filipino Expatriates in Qatar. It has already more than 200 subscribers made up Filipinos and Expats who admire us Filipinos. And the subscriber base keeps growing everyday.

Last month I was made the manager of this group. Our first activity is to reorganize the group and then plan for a Christmas party. We also engaged with other members of the forum who are not members of the Filipino Group.

Over the weekend we were able to join the fishing trip organized by the Social Group. It was my first time to go fishing without using a fishing rod but fishing line on a wooden spool. My friend Mohammad lent me his fishing line and taught me how to put the bait and how to throw it into the water. Since the Wakrah wharf was rocky, my lead weight and bait hook got caught in the rocks twice and we had to cut the line. At first it was frustrating then it got exciting as we started to catch fish.

But the most exciting thing started when a fish that was latched on to my hook was bitten by a sword fish. I thought I got the bigger fish with it but at the last second it let go. It became my mission then to catch the swordfish that got away. Mohammad helped me change to a bigger hook and put a bigger bait for me. Several times the fish bit the bait, would wrestle with us and then let go at the last minute. Even the usually patient Mohammed gave up on the wily fish.

But then another friend, Monty, suggested trying smaller bait. So what did was hook on a fresh small fish bait and then cut its head so blood oozed out. Then I threw it into back into the sea. A few seconds after, I felt the line taut and tried to reel it in. But again the wily fish let go at the last second. Frustrated, I threw back the bait into the sea this time I changed my strategy.

As soon as I felt the line taut, I let go a few more meters. Then I slowly pulled back, then as it taut again I let go a few meters. With a quick jerk I pulled the line back and I saw the fish jump out of the water with the end of the line clearly going into its mouth. This is where it got exciting. It started jumping out and into the water moving sideways and trying to pull back the line as I was trying to pull him in. It thought to myself: “I got you now!” It was my first exciting catch and memories of reading “The Old Man and The Sea” came back to me. Now I understood the emotion that went to the Old Man as he caught the biggest catch of his life. I had never been able to relate to it until now. The wily fish tried to swallow my bait whole and it got stuck in its throat so it wasn't able to let go.

It was an exciting day. The pictures show our catch of the day.

The next day, we had our usual morning jog. But as I was going out of the house, a thick fog met me as I opened the door. This was going to be an interesting jogging day. I quickly went back to my room and grabbed my fleece shirt and my bonnet. This day was going to be colder than the other days.

As we reached the corniche, fog filled the surroundings. It was great jogging during the fog. The air was refreshing and the cold light wind provided a soothing chill on my back. (See pictures on the corniche with other joggers.)

Again we made it to 4000m marker and then on the return back we did a deliberate slow jog for 1000m after which it left our heart pounding away. We continued with a brisk walk until the 1500m marker and back to the slow jog for another 500m. This time we finished the 8km distance in 1hour 15 minutes.

This week a good week spent with friends. Next week we will be having our Christmas party but that is another story.

Winter in Doha

It has been a hectic month of November for me. We are already shorthanded and we are trying to hire additional personnel to help me and my present team on the growing number of client base that we have. Our team is tasked for post-sales support maintenance but we are also helping the pre-sales and implementation teams get their projects going. As such it was too hectic for me to even sit down and type down some of the thoughts that went into my mind the past month and put them into my blog.

While I was waiting for my customer who, as usual, requested me to come ‘first thing in the morning’ – only to find out that I have to wait for him for more than an hour because he has another appointment – I found the time to write in my thoughts for my blog.

As I was opening my laptop, I felt a chill down my back and I immediately checked the setting on the AC that was near me. I realized that the AC system wasn’t even set on cooling. It was just on ‘FAN’ setting. It was due to the weather here that caused the chill on the air blown over by the fan. Yes, it is winter here in Qatar and it is the season I enjoy most here.

Although winter is milder now and has come later compared last year, nevertheless I am really now enjoying the cool mornings and chilly evenings here in Doha. My early morning jogs on weekends and early evening walks are more enjoyable because the sun is not hot on the skin but just soothing warmth after a good run. Also the sun sets early in the afternoon so that 5:00 pm is already dim and a bit chilly. I even bought long sleeved fleece shirts which I wear to keep my arms warm and my body perspiring. I am thinking of buying thermal running gloves because the chill of the early morning breeze makes my hands numb until the sun rises.

There were days that the fog was thick in the morning and made traffic snarl all over the city (as shown on the pictures). Vehicles slowed down to avoid collisions or skids as the dew sets on the paved roads making them slippery.

I love winter time here in Qatar because there is no snow and it is a refreshing chill wind that permeates throughout the season. At the start of the season I also get to enjoy the thousands of migrating birds flying in formation across the blue sky. Most of all, it reminds of my time with my family in Baguio City back home which I think is really our family time together. I am bringing them now here with me to Qatar in January and I hope we get to enjoy together this refreshing season.