DOHA DIARIES: MY WEEK IN THE DESERT #14

Another week in Doha has flown by. It's hard to believe tomorrow we enter March - seriously, where did February go? January too for that matter! I can't keep up.

The week started off with a day in bed, nursing a migraine which thankfully passed by the end of the day, and I woke up feeling good on Monday. I was so pleased, as Matt and I had dinner reservations at the Anvil Rooms for Restaurant Week (the good news is they have extended this until 7th March, so hurry and book yourself in!)

Haven't heard of Restaurant Week? It's a great concept originating from the States, where participating restaurants showcase their menu for a set price - in this instance, three courses at just under 140 QR.

Check out Rosalyn's post about Restaurant Week at the Anvil rooms over on Dream Days as her pics do it so much more justice than mine - I challenge you not to want to make a booking!

The highlight of the night for me was the Millionaire Sundae, which was a concoction of all of my favourite naughty things (salted caramel ice cream, need I say more?!) which I am hoping that they will add to their regular menu so that that I can look forward to that as much as their epic bread basket.

A thing of beauty.

If I could have got my head in the glass, I totally would have licked the whole thing clean, but I remained civilised and did my best with my long spoon!

I had a very chilled day off on Tuesday, one of those 'getting things done' kind of days. My delivery of juices from Raw ME for my two day juice cleanse arrived, and then I hopped in a cab to Glow to have my hair done and have a good old catch up with the wonderful Jennifer.

I emerged two and a half hours later a very happy girl with super blonde hair!

Marion and I embraced our inner tennis professionals and had another fun session at the St Regis courts on Tuesday night, distracted slightly when two annoying guys in a Ferarri pulled up beside us and decided to sit and watch our game, and shout about how they wanted to join in...only in Doha!

Wednesday was day one of my juice cleanse. By the time I got home from work, I was so hungry that I settled down to bed early and tried to distract myself with plans to explore Europe when I return to the UK.

Matt and I had a lovely relaxing day down at the St Regis pool on Thursday, swimming and sunbathing, before heading off to the mall for some lunch and to do some grocery shopping.

When we got home, it was finally time for me to remove the absolutely stunning red roses he bought me for Valentines day. They were by far the most beautiful, vibrant roses I have ever seen, and they lasted for ages. I was sad to have to throw them away!

We went our separate ways for the evening, him out with his friends, whilst myself and the girls ended up having a very impromptu and very late drink at Vintage at the St Regis, where we ran into many familiar faces. Doha really is the smallest place ever.

Friday was an absolutely manic day in the office that didn't stop when I got home. I called it a day at around 9pm, and focused my energies on a blogging project that I am so excited to be involved with (reviewing some really amazing beauty products for a fab company, my dream project! I'll explain more soon) before making a start on a post for my own blog, and then heading to Matt's for an episode of 24. I don't even know how many seasons in we are now but I'm really not too sure how Jack Bauer is still going!

And now we come to Saturday, the end of another week in the sandpit. Home from work, I'm currently curled up on the sofa blogging, before a few more episodes of 24 tonight.

How was your week? Hope you had a good one, wherever in the world you are :)

REVIEW: RAW ME JUICE CLEANSE

For ages, I have been mulling over trying the juice cleanse from Qatar-based health food brand Raw ME.

When people think of juice cleanses, I think they would normally associate these with weight loss, however for myself, weight loss wasn't my goal. I wanted to give my body a break from all of the badness (mainly chocolate!) that I put into it on a daily basis, and instead treat myself to some much needed nutrients, so the Raw ME juice cleanse has been on my mind for a while.

When I spotted a 'buy one day, get one day free' voucher in my Entertainer app, I knew this was the perfect opportunity to take the plunge.

Ordering my juices was incredibly simple - I went onto the website, selected my cleanse of preference ('Level One - New Obsession'), and hit 'Order Now' - simple!

Their customer service is great - within an hour I had received an email to confirm my delivery details, and I went back to them with several queries (mostly about the Entertainer app and how it would work), and to specify a delivery time frame as I had plans in the afternoon of the delivery date. The team came back to all of my questions quickly, and were super friendly.

On the day of delivery, I received a call from the Raw ME driver saying that he would be about 30 minutes, and asked if this was okay. When he arrived, he was the friendliest guy, and paying with my Entertainer app was ridiculously easy. I entered my code, he entered his, and I paid only for the first day of my two day juice cleanse.

Your juice comes with this snazzy little cool-box, the perfect size to house all six of your juices for the day (I have since been using this as a lunch box, so it certainly hasn't gone to waste even after my juice cleanse!)

Each 500ml juice bottle is numbered, and the idea is to drink them in order throughout the day.

Let's start at the beginning....

NUMBER ONE: GREEN JUNKIE
Ingredients: Apple, cucumber, lemon, romaine lettuce, parsley, spinach

Day one of my cleanse kicked off with this nutrient-packed number, which to me seemed like the healthiest juice of the bunch, and also the most filling. If you like the taste of cucumber, then you will like the taste of this, as cucumber is the strongest flavour that comes through.

I had this for my breakfast, half at home, and the rest at around 10am at work in place of my usual bowl of cereal. So far, so good.

NUMBER TWO: COOL CRUSH
Ingredients: Apple, pineapple, mint

This tasted amazing! I could happily drink this all the time - it is so refreshing and delicious. I had this at 12:00 midday, after coming to the conclusion that drinking one juice every two hours would take me right through until 8pm, the time that I would normally finish dinner.

NUMBER THREE: GREEN JUNKIE
My second Green Junkie of the day. By this time, my boss had started to tease me a little bit, asking me if I wanted anything from the canteen, 'but, oh wait...you have your green juice'!
Now it was 2pm and I was feeling hungry. Normally I would have lunch at around 1pm, maybe an omelette with salad, so although my lunch at work would normally be healthy, I was already feeling the absence of eating solid food.

NUMBER FOUR: RADICAL ROOTS
Ingredients: Apple, beetroot, carrot, ginger, lemon

By 4pm, I was getting a bit grouchy (I get like this when I don't eat, Matt will vouch for that as he has been present during many of my food strops!), so I wasn't really in the mood for this juice, and less so when I tasted it. I don't really enjoy beetroot anyway, and this tasted very strongly of it. I still managed to drink it, but a lot more slowly than the rest.

NUMBER FIVE: SUCKER PUNCH
Ingredients: Agave, cayenne, lemon, filtered water

Sucker punch was amazing! Whilst it did nothing to help to curb my grumbling stomach, it was beautifully refreshing and tasted so good. Not as good as the chocolate my colleague was nibbling across the office probably did, but still very good!

NUMBER SIX: GO NUTS
Ingredients: Cashew, cinnamon, dates, vanilla bean, filtered water

By 8pm, my stomach was rumbling so much that I'm sure my parents could hear it from the UK. I watched in absolute food envy as Jemma ate her delicious looking dinner, and I tried to sip the last of my juices for the day. Emphasis on tried. I thought I would love this, as it sounded like a real sweet treat to round off the day, but I didn't like it at all, and as much as I wanted to as I was so close to completing the full day of juices, I just couldn't finish it.

THE VERDICT?

You are probably thinking 'what happened to day two of your juice cleanse?' and that would be a very good question. I did drink all but two of the juices for day two, but I teamed this with food throughout the day.

I must admit, I was a real wimp about the whole thing, and probably complained a lot more than I should have! A day is completely manageable, but come the evening I was starting to develop a headache, and realised that to do this for a second day probably wouldn't end up making me feel very well. I did, however, wake up the next day feeling good...and very excited for a bowl of cereal! These juices are very thin, even the 'Go Nuts' which I thought would have a slightly thicker consistency, so if you are familiar with a filling smoothie, this juice cleanse is a little different.

I would definitely do the juice cleanse again, but again only for a day at a time, and I would select the 'Create your Own' option, to be sure I was selecting only the juices from the above that I know I like, so that nothing goes to waste.

I like the thought that so much goodness went in to my body that day, so it is something that absolutely can't hurt to do once in a while.

My one concern with the Raw ME juice cleanse is the price. A one day juice cleanse (six x 500ml bottles) will set you back 250 QR (about £45!) which is a huge amount of money to pay for one day of sustenance. I still have two vouchers left with the Entertainer to use towards Raw ME, but I would be very hesitant to pay full price for the cleanse as it is so much money.

Overall, a very positive experience with Raw ME, and I would definitely recommend them. Good luck to you if you manage more than a day!

Have you tried the products from Raw ME, or a similar juice cleanse? Is a juice cleanse something you would try?