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 :)