Goodbye Muntazah - it's been a ball.

Paraglider has, this weekend, forever abandoned Muntazah (Doha, Qatar) for the greater delights of Bin Mahmoud (Doha, Qatar). And why? Did it have anything to do with the Park being 'closed for maintenance' for four years? ... where 'closed for maintenance' probably means 'if we keep the gates locked long enough people will forget the park exists, then we'll be able to build on it and make money'

Do your bit - take in a homeless cockroach

With the unprecedented orgy of demolition underway in Doha, one wonders what will become of the millions of neo-vagrant cockroaches and other bugs. Displaced people get rehoused, or herded off to labour camps, depending on their status. But nobody's rehousing the roaches, at least not intentionally, though I'm sure more than a few will have taken up residence unannounced, in the juice bars and

Oops - the New Friendly Face of Censorship in Qatar

Gone is the stark blue warning message. From today, happening on a prohibited site from Qatar brings up this child-friendly cartoon page instead. Only the wording is unchanged; they didn't even take the opportunity to amend the phrase "the content contains.." OK, what do we think - is Censorship by cartoon any less patronising than censorship by officialdom? And is anyone fooled?

Occasionally busty, but..

Never Titi. Eat your heart out Akhenaten. Your Great Royal Wife, or chief consort, has finally made her mark, heading up an abayat in sunny Doha. And in so doing she edges the Kharbash School of Motoring (Karama) out of number one faux pax shop sign position (until further notice).
It is the inevitable loss of gems like this that takes the edge off the Heart of Doha renovation project. Yes, it

Running out of neurons..

Flicking through the odd phone pics I took on my last Dubai trip, I came across this twin tower shot that has me flummoxed. It doesn't seem to be the Emirates Towers, but for the life of me I can't remember where they are. All I can say is that the snap before was at Paranormal and the one after was at Seaview, which suggests they are Bur Dubai-ish. Would anyone be able to enlighten me?

Double D-lights at the Para

The good thing about being an occasional visitor to Dubai is that the changes are more in evidence than perhaps they are for those living with them every day. So, the Metro wasn't open last visit, and this time it was, albeit not fully. And what a fantastic change that is. Cheap, fast, clean and efficient, it makes a move back to Dubai a far more attractive proposition.
Then there's the licensing