Happy Halloween

Friday Brunch

Decided to go the Grand Hyatt Hotel for Thai Brunch on Friday - its all you can eat and all the alcohol you can drink, and I think I got my money's worth for sure (in alcohol) . They make the best Thai Whiskey Cocktails...

The Doha Tribeca Film Festival is on at the moment and these cars were outside the hotel - they were transporting people to and from the festival, so I was hoping I might see a celebrity or two - but alas no!!!!

A selection of the food that we had to eat - it really is the best Thai food.

One of the lounge areas in the Hotel.

One big football in the middle of a roundabout - Qatar is one of the bidding nations in the 2022 world cup.

A very odd looking house being built

These camels were in the middle of the city - they had obviously been gathered here for a tourist attraction for the people attending the Doha Tribeca Film Festival

Smile for the camera

The Sheraton Hotel

A mosque with a twist

The sun setting in the pit..

Tennis

The WTA Ladies Tennis Tournament is here in Doha for the last time this year - it is being held in Istanbul for the next three years , so we bought tickets to go - and then we were given tickets to every night of the tournament. But we did not end up going as we decided to have a nice leisurely Thai Brunch at one of the hotels here, we made sure we got our moneys worth in alcohol before we left!!!!!

Unfortunately the Williams sister's were not playing in the tournament due to injury - they are quite incredible to watch in person. So that was a bit disappointing. Some of the other players were Kim Clijsters, Australian Samantha Stosur, World No 1 Caroline Wozniacki, Elena Dementieva and Vera Zvonereva..

Look forward to the mens tennis which usually comes here around January.

Something Else to Visit

The new cultural village in Doha is now open. There will be restaurants, arts and crafts of different countries from all over the world. It will also be Qatar's focal point for international musical, arts and cultural festivals throughout the year.

The entrance to the Cultural Village

Persian carpet paintings on all the surrounding walls - I do have to admit I did go and have a feel just incase they were real - as anything goes in Qatar.

A beautiful looking mosque

Not to sure about these but they represent the islamic type of architecture seen at cultural sites around the middle east

The surrounding walls of a huge amphitheatre - they were busy setting up for the Doha Tribeca Film Festival.

Restaurants - of which not many are open yet.

And yes thats right in a cultural village a public beach where you can strip down to your bikini and bare your body for all the locals who have come for the 'cultural' experience...

Not sure how long this will last.

You know when you go for a walk along the waterfront at a beach and you like to sit on the wall and just gaze out to sea - well this is the wall where you are not allowed to do just that - why???? because security said so!!!!!

Seriously......

The beach even comes with its own ice cream shop - which just happened to be closed on this busy hot day - but it was Friday so I'll let this one go...

And here we are at The Pearl just next door - admiring all the huge boats!!!!

Love this one...

And its huge backside....

GMT or MMT

Just in time for Ramadan the new clock tower built in Islam's holiest city - Mecca begun to tick.

The clock has four faces which are each 151ft in diameter.

The clock will run on Arabia Standard Time which is 3hrs ahead of GMT - but Islamic scholars hope the clocks influence will spread further than Saudi Arabia as the plan is for Mecca to eclipse the Greenwich Observatory as the true centre of the earth!!!!

The clock faces will be illuminated by 2 million LED lights along with a arabic script which reads "In the Name Of Allah"

When the spire is added and topped with the crescent which symbolises Islam it will stand 2000ft, which will make it the world's second tallest building.

Five times a day 21,000 green and white lights will flash to remind residents of Mecca when it is time to pray. These lights will be visible at a distance of 28kms.

The clocks four faces will each be covered with 98million pieces of glass mosaics.