LIFE LATELY / DOHA DIARIES #25

First and foremost, RAMADAN KAREEM! The Holy month of Ramadan is underway the world over so I wanted to extend my best wishes to all.

Secondly, it feels so good to be back in front of my laptop, typing up a blog post. I really do miss blogging when I am away from it for extended periods of time. I haven't really had too much time and energy for it as of late as I've been a bit of a busy bee. This post is a bit of a life update / Doha Diaries / catch up post combination to fill you in on what has been going on lately in the life of The Blonde...

Ps - please forgive the iPhone pictures!

BIG DECISIONS
Those of you who know me in person/follow me on social media will know that recently I made the decision to follow my head and my heart and put the motions in place to leave my adopted home of Doha and head back to the UK. I'll be touching down in London town on a permanent basis from September, so I still have a few months left to embrace life here in the sandpit. After a very rocky time here due to personal reasons, the lure of being closer to my family has been tugging at me for a very long time, so when my very talented boyfriend was offered a great job back in London, the decision to head home suddenly became very easy, as I would be heading home to all of my loved ones. That's not to say I won't be leaving behind people I am incredibly fond of - I really have made some very close friends for life here in Doha, but I know that once I leave I will be seeing them again!

COPA AMERICA 2015
We are covering the Copa America tournament at work until 4th July. We have two studios a day, and as a result the team are working every day with no days off. I'm on day 14 and already feel like I'm going a little stir crazy, but it has been fun looking after the guests that the producers have lined up for the Planet Chile lunchtime show - Chef Bojan, the executive chef from Toro Toro at the Kempinski Marsa Malaz came in and prepared some light dishes on air, a pair of Brazilian martial artists came in to demo their moves, a freestyle footballer taught the presenters some impressive ball skills, and an incredible Capoiera instructor wowed us with this graceful and strong martial arts/dance combination, all in our impressive Copa America studio.

GETTING GLASSES

I mentioned in one of my previous Doha Diaries posts that I was excited about getting my glasses - they finally arrived and I really like them, despite the fact that I can't decide if they suit me or not!

DATE NIGHT AT TORO TORO

Matt and I had a really great dinner date at the newly opened Toro Toro restaurant at the Kempinski Marsa Malaz hotel. Everything we ordered was amazing, from the scallops to the prawns to the desserts, which were very kindly complimentary from Chef Bojan. I will do a review post on this restaurant next time I'm there and armed with my proper camera rather than the grainy iPhone!

DATE NIGHT AT MYKONOS

As a final date night before we go our separate ways for Summer (Matt's off exploring the US and I am heading home to the UK before we join each other in London to head back to Doha), we decided to opt for Mykonos as our date night dining destination. Situated in the Intercontinental Doha, it is a stones throw from our apartments and one of my favourite restaurants largely due to how beautiful the setting is (in addition to the good food, of course). I have some very fond memories of dining here, such as the night my mum and Matt met properly for the first time, and also one of my favourite impromptu date nights. When the weather is cooler, dining on the terrace of Mykonos overlooking the beautiful pool, you could forgive yourself for thinking you had been transported to a Greek island.

PACKING!

As I mentioned, I'm jetting off to the UK to spend a few weeks with my family and friends before my final stretch of time in Doha. I'm currently in the process of packing for the trip as well as packing up as many of my belongings as possible to transport back to the UK this time around, so that I won't have quite as much to ship home come September. It really is amazing how many things one girl can accumulate in two years living abroad!!

I can't really say what my blogging habits will be once I'm home in England over the coming weeks, but I hope to post again soon. Thanks for continuing to support my blog even though I've been very irregular with posting!

As always, I hope you've had a fantastic couple of weeks, wherever in the world you are reading from.

DOHA DIARIES: MY WEEK IN THE DESERT #24

Another very quiet week in the sandpit this week! I was out of action for a good three days with one of the worst migraines I have had in a long time. In total it lasted for four days, and I was totally wiped out for two of them, so the beginning of my week basically consisted of me laying in bed with cold flannels on my head. Obviously not photo worthy! The rest of the week looked a little something like this...

LIFE ADMIN
I seem to be doing a lot of this lately. Trying to get on track with everything - I've started using my Filofax again to help to get myself organised (although very, very tempted to purchase an Erin Condren Rose Gold Life Planner when they are back in stock as they are so pretty) Very much looking forward to getting fixed plans in the diary with friends and family when I go back to England...only two weeks to go!

SHOPPING / BEING STALKED!
I took myself off to Landmark Mall once I had started to feel more human again towards the middle of the week. I like Landmark a lot - it's close by and as Doha goes it has a decent selection of shops. There was a sale on in Mango so I ended up buying a couple of cute oversized but really lightweight jumpers, perfect for the too hot outside / too cold inside scenario that I find myself in on a daily basis in this country! I spent ages browsing round the new Marks and Spencers, and it made me feel right at home. They even stock the stunning Rosie Huntington-Whiteley for Autograph range which is very good to know! I was having such a lovely shopping trip until I noticed that I was being followed around the whole of Marks and Spencers by a guy in a baseball cap, throughout each department I looked over and there he was. I clocked him again outside the shop, so I ducked in to Warehouse and really took my time in there, taking a few pieces into the changing rooms to try on. I must have been in there for a good ten minutes or so, and when I came outside there he was again, waiting. I moved on down to Bershka, had a look around and realised he had sat himself down on a bench outside the store. I quickly hurried down to the other exit and left that way, and made my way along to another shop. As I was coming out of the next shop, he walked past and looked in, saw me and stopped. By this point I was a bit freaked out so I hurried as fast as I could past him and didn't stop until I was way round the other side of the mall - luckily by this point I lost him. Not a nice experience at all and it made me so anxious that I was in a bit of a state for the rest of the day!

DINNER AT ANTICA PESA
Jemma and I headed off for dinner on Friday night to a restaurant we haven't tried before - Antica Pesa at the beautiful Kempinski Marsa Malaz hotel. I liked that this restaurant was in an entirely different part of the hotel to El Faro, where Matt and I have had dinner before. Antica Pesa is off to the left of the hotel, alongside Toro Toro (which I can't wait to try!) The restaurant is lovely and beautifully decorated, with a gorgeous view out over the water. If I was going to live anywhere else in Doha I would want to live in one of the apartments overlooking the Kempinski. We both opted for the gnocchi (surprise, surprise) and were both pretty disappointed with it to be honest. It was baked, which neither of us expected, and quite bland. Not a dish I would have again, but maybe it serves me right for not exploring a different pasta option for once! I would go back to Antica Pesa purely for the dessert alone - I opted for the Hazelnut Parfait and it was amazing! It was essentially Nutella icecream, with chocolate mousse on the side. Heaven! Jemma opted for the Rice Panna Cotta which she also enjoyed. After the meal, we were taken on a tour of the restaurant as we hadn't realised there was a bar upstairs, and back downstairs we waited for our driver beneath the celebrity photo wall - rows upon rows of photographs of the celebrity clientele who dine at the branches of Antica Pesa in Rome and New York.

Please forgive my blurry photographs - the humidity got to my camera lense when I stupidly decided to try and take some photos outside the restaurant and ruined my snapping abilities for the rest of the evening!

Afterwards, we poked our heads into Toro Toro, a Pan Latin restaurant that quite simply looks amazing. The restaurant was yet to open officially to the public (but it is now, so make yourselves a reservation!) and was open only for 'friends and family', but we were very kindly taken on a tour. The decor is stunning, and the atmosphere is buzzing. So excited to dine here!

A1 NIGHT AT THE GRAND HYATT
This club night is nothing new and has been running for ages, but this was the first time Jemma and I had been there. By day, the Grill restaurant in the Grand Hyatt plays host to brunch on a Friday, and by night it is entirely transformed into a very decent night club! We arrived at around 22:30, and there were hardly any people there. We headed to the bar for a drink and were joined by the very lovely Moufdi, the man behind A1 Nights. We had met Moufdi way back at the start of our time in Doha, at the Four Seasons beach party. He is such a lovely guy, and arranged complimentary drinks for us for the evening, regularly checking in on us to make sure we were enjoying ourselves. Within the hour, the club was absolutely packed from front to back! If R&B is your music of choice, this is the night out in Doha for you.

As always, I hope you've had a great week, wherever in the world you are reading from :)

DOHA DIARIES: MY WEEK IN THE DESSERT #23

I have to admit that this has been one really quiet week.

I've barely left the house except to go to work, so my evenings have mainly been spent...

LEARNING A LANGUAGE
I have been saying it for so long and it was on my list of New Years resolutions, but I really want to learn French so I have been getting home from work and launching myself into this. I have been using the 'Collins French with Paul Noble - Learn French the Natural Way, Part 1' audiobook that I downloaded from the app store onto my iPad. For me, his method of learning really works. He doesn't start off with the basics of hi, how are you, my name is, etc. He launches straight in to teaching you how to construct sentences with easy rules for adapting these sentences into different tenses. By teaching me to say 'I have prepared the coffee', I can also say 'I have decorated the house', as he explains that English words that end in 'ation' (preparation, decoration for example), are spelt the same in French, and can easily be changed to the past tense. As this is an audio book, I am also supporting my learning with '15 Minute French - Learn in just 12 weeks' which is a handy book that I picked up from the airport. This book covers a vast range of topics and has an English to French and French to English dictionary in the back so that I can always look up how to spell the words that I am learning from the audio book. I've actually loved spending my evenings this way and am really enjoying my language learning experience so far.

DATE NIGHT AT THE MOVIES
Matt and I went to see The Avengers: Age of Ultron. I think this is the first Marvel film that I have seen and I really enjoyed it! Really want to see the rest of them now. It was just an easy going action film so it was easy for someone like me, who hasn't seen any others, to follow the storyline.

GLASSES SHOPPING
Matt hated my RayBans (and maybe he's right, maybe they didn't suit my face but not many glasses do!) so he took me off to the mall to scout out a new pair. There was a Buy One Get One Free sale at one of the stores in the City Centre - he spotted a pair he wanted so encouraged me to also look for some, and I ended up walking away with these beauties from Gucci...

I have also ordered some glasses to use whilst I am on the computer at work, and on the laptop at home, as lately I am really feeling the strain on my eyes from staring at screens. These just help to take the glare away and give my eyes a little extra protection, so I am looking forward to picking these up next week.

GYM
My health and fitness has never been the best, but I am trying to keep on top of my diet and eat as healthily as I can. Mainly, this is being aware of not repeating my food groups too much (if I have a carb heavy lunch, go lighter for dinner and vice versa). It would not be realistic of me to say that I will cut out chocolate, that will never happen (especially because my boyfriend keeps sneaking bars of my favourite Lindt Cookies & Cream chocolate bars into the shopping bag!!) but a little treat every day can't hurt, surely. I have also been enjoying getting back into the gym. As you may remember from my post about anxiety, I don't always find it that easy to pluck up the courage to go, which is daft as it's two minutes downstairs in the lift. Lately, however, I have been trying to beat the fear and go, even if it does mean going after 9:30pm. It is my favourite time to be there, as it usually looks a little something like this...

Perfect for antisocial little old me!

As I say a pretty quiet week. I am trying to save my pennies as there is lots coming up over the coming months - various trips to save for, and a big old lifestyle change on it's way that I need to be financially stable for (that totally sounds like I am expecting a child, I assure you it isn't that!!!), but of course I'll update you all when the time is right :)

As always, I hope you had a great week, wherever in the world you are reading from!

DOHA DIARIES: MY WEEK IN THE DESERT #22

I'm not even going to apologise for the fact that it is now Tuesday and this should have been posted on Sunday...to heck with blogging rules!

Last week was a fairly busy one, kicking off with...

A SHELLAC MANICURE AT B/ATTITUDE SPA
At work on Sunday I looked down at my sad, sorry nails and decided that they needed a treat, so I called up B/ATTITUDE spa and booked myself in after work for a Shellac manicure. My nail tech, Olha, did a fantastic job of shaping my nails just how I like them, and perfectly applying my French Shellac. Over a week later and they are still completely intact with the exception of two minor casualties to the corners of two nails, but nothing that a dash of white polish hasn't been able to touch up! I always feel very 'put together' with a French manicure - it always looks so clean and elegant.

HOSTING OUR FIRST DINNER PARTY
Hard to believe we have lived in our apartment for over a year and a half and not yet hosted a dinner party! Our friends and colleagues Ade and Naz have hosted us twice at their villa, so it was high time we returned the favour. Jemma cooked up a delicious main course of pasta, chicken and salad, and I put together a chocolate torte for dessert (recipe coming soon to the blog!), whilst Marion did a super job of making the place look hospitable for our guests! It was a really lovely evening with lovely people, including Ade's girlfriend Jessica who will be moving to Doha in September.

DATE NIGHT AT THE ASTOR GRILL
We were due at date night and both of us fancied steak, so Matt and I chose the Astor Grill at the St Regis as our venue. We had been once before together and the steak was phenomenal, so we were hoping for more of the same. We weren't disappointed, and the Astor Grill is fast becoming one of my favourite restaurants. Our waitress was the very lovely Roselle for a second time, and we set about ordering half of the menu - wagyu steaks for us both, a side of roasted vegetables, wedges, and truffle mac'n' cheese (which I didn't even have room for and ended up taking for lunch the next day!) The Entertainer voucher makes restaurants like this so much more accessible, hence we both went for the Wagyu steaks, something we wouldn't normally do. The chef very kindly sent over a complimentary portion of the most amazing steak tartar and never ending freshly baked bread. All washed down with a bottle of red wine. A perfect date night.

DINNER AT NOBU WITH THE GIRLS
When it came to deciding where we should go for our girls dinner, Jemma's suggestion of Nobu was the perfect choice. This would be our last dinner all three of us until after Summer, as Marion is now away on a business trip for 3 weeks, then I go home for 3 weeks, and this also crosses over with Jemma and Marion going home for 3-4 weeks for their Summer holidays. Such a special restaurant was definitely fitting for this special dinner. After eagerly awaiting the opening of this restaurant for so long, it was exciting to see what all the hype has been about. The restaurant itself is stunning and atmospheric - huge high ceilings with gorgeous light installations (i'm a sucker for those), a busy open kitchen, and staff that shout 'welcome' in Japanese every time the hostess brings new guests to their table. The staff are incredibly knowledgeable about the menu, and more than eager to assist in making recommendations. We found the attentiveness of the staff a little overbearing, but that is all down to personal preference - they certainly give 100% to their customer service which is something that can't be knocked. As to be expected from the name of the restaurant, the prices are very steep, but the food was delicious and beautifully presented - even the vegetables! We ordered sushi to start, followed by cod for Jemma and I, and sea bass for Marion.

As a guide, for 3 mocktails, 3 portions of sushi rolls, 3 main dishes, 3 vegetable dishes, and a pot of tea to share, our meal came to 1,300 QR.

After our meal, we decided to explore. The entire restaurant is stunning - a waterfall flows from the top of the restaurant, right down through the middle, and the views from each level are fantastic. There is a stunning bar on the first floor, where of course we stopped for some photos. Outside on the first floor are tables with a fabulous view, ideal for a date night when the weather is cooler. On the roof, there is a fantastic lounge area that curves up to the highest point of the restaurant, where it meets an observation deck for photographing the Doha city skyline. The lounge area would be perfect for drinks and dinner with a big group of friends - but only if you can afford the incredibly steep 5,000 QR minimum spend, something that would unfortunately put us off spending an evening here.

A lovely evening to end a lovely week in the desert.

As always, I hope you've had a great week, wherever in the world you are reading from :)

DOHA DIARIES: MY WEEK IN THE DESERT #21

WINDING DOWN
A relatively quiet week after coming back from Dubai with Matt. The football season is nearly at an end so the first part of my week was spent at work, tying up loose ends from the season and awaiting news on the Copa America tournament that we will be covering over the Summer

BOOKING FAMILY TIME

I finally booked my flights home to the UK for June! I am so excited to be heading home for two and a half weeks - can't wait to be back with my family and to hopefully catch up with all of my friends who I didn't have a chance to see last time I was home.

TENNIS WEDNESDAYS

The girls and I played probably one of our final games of tennis until later in the year. It is SO HOT to be outside now, even in the evenings. Such a shame as I really liked the idea of setting aside Wednesdays for tennis - the psychiatrist I went to see for my anxiety suggested organising my week into a routine so I always know what day to expect certain events, and this week I know that Wednesday is our day for tennis so I can look forward to it rather than subconsciously worrying about it. Routine is something I will definitely adopt into my weeks going forward.

A MINI BREAK TO THE UAE

I went to join my mum and her friend in the UAE for a couple of days. It was so lovely to see my mum even if only briefly - but that is a blog post for another time :)

As always, I hope you had a great week, wherever in the world you are reading from!

DOHA DIARIES: A CATCH UP POST #20

I have been pretty inconsistent with my Doha Diaries posts over the past month or so, and as a result there are a couple of days/evenings out that I took pictures of but never blogged about, so I thought I'd include all of these in this weeks Doha Diaries post even though they aren't all necessarily from the week gone by...

DINNER WITH THE GIRLS

We had a lovely meal at Market one night after Jemma finished work, opting for a quiet meal instead of a night at a bar. I am so addicted to the sushi at Market, in particular the prawn tempura rolls which are seriously divine. I could eat these all day every day!

SWISS BRUNCH

Marion's friend Gloria was visiting from Germany, so a brunch was in order! We didn't actually realise that this was a themed brunch until the night before, so were a little disappointed to learn that it wasn't the usual spread that the Hyatt normally offer. That being said, there were still some some very lovely traditional dishes that I was able to try, and it was a paradise for cheese lovers with fondue and a whole station dedicated to cheese!

The Grand Hyatt are unbeatable with their themed brunches, even from the moment you enter the Grill, as there are always themed props for a photo opportunity! The general manager Christoph and his lovely family always lead from the front in their themed attire, and even the menu is tailored to whatever that weeks theme might be.

Fellas, please take note: If a group of girls ask you to take their picture...there really is no need to kneel down in the bushes to take the photo! From eye-level will be just fine ;)

ROOFTOP BAR AT THE ST REGIS

After brunch, we spent the early evening having drinks at the St Regis rooftop. It was the perfect evening to be outside. As is always the way with this tiny city, we ran into some of our colleagues and joined them for a few drinks before they set off to the Sundowners beach party at Sharq Village. The girls then went on to the Reggae beach party whilst I was in granny mode and went home for an early night!

DATE NIGHT AT PAPERMOON

I suggested a date night at Papermoon as Matt has never been. The food was delicious (can you guess what I had?!) and the staff were absolutely lovely. They had changed the menu since my last visit with Jemma, so the spinach gnocchi with Gorgonzola that I was looking forward to had been replaced by gnocchi in tomato sauce, but the chef very kindly made it up with a the Gorgonzola sauce for me anyway :) Matt opted for the light choice of sea bass with roasted vegetables, and we both decided on dessert. Not hard to guess who picked the chocolate lava cake with coconut ice cream and who picked the fruit sorbet...I really need to get to the gym more often!

SAYING GOODBYE

It was the funeral for my Auntie Jan on Friday. It was so hard to decide whether or not to travel home to attend, and in the end I decided that I would stay in Doha and mark the day in my own way, as I had travelled home to surprise her in April when it became clear just how poorly she was, and seeing her and saying goodbye in person was the most important thing. I bought a bouquet of lilies, tied with a white bow, and set these up in my bedroom with heart shaped candles, and attached my Cancer Research daffodil to the bouquet. It's still so hard to believe she's gone. My Dad and brother told me that the funeral service was really lovely and touching, and I wish so much that I had been there.

That brings us up to date, and I will try and be back on track with these weekly Doha Diaries posts going forward.

I hope that you had a lovely week, wherever in the world you are reading from :)