Arabian Days : Day 4

Today was THE day. Not only was it my birthday, but also it had the perfect balance of ALL the must-see and must-do of any holiday – local culture, exotic local food, shopping, and time with loved ones!

M had taken leave today, and after a lazy breakfast and talking to Ma-Baba back home (I was missing them!) and checking my birthday emails and cards (thanks guys!!!) we set off for LuLu, a hypermarket on the lines of Carrefour (Huge assortment of goods – food, toys, dresses, shoes, electronic stuff, cosmetics – you name it and its there – with several brands in each category!) LuLu is a chain of hypermarkets with presence largely in the Middle East. And what’s really remarkable is that it’s owned by an Indian – a Mallu! After nearly 3 hours of shopping (yes – I lost my shop-like-there’s-no-tomorrow virginity today!) across 2 floors, we headed home to a Thai green curry-and-rice lunch – the Thai curry was courtesy M and a readymade spice paste. Simple and yummy. :)

In the afternoon, we set off to the newly-opened Museum of Islamic Art. This spectacular building is located at one end of the Corniche and has some amazing sweeping views of the skyline as well of the sea.



Inside, the architecture gets even more superb – the lobby leads to a HUGE atrium over which 4 floors of the museum look down. There is a pair of curving staircases which form a complete circle that echoes the circular ornamental fixture suspended above the atrium.



The opposite wall has wide, floor-to-ceiling (yes, 4 floors high!) glass windows which give spectacular views of the towers-and-turrets of downtown Doha across the sea. And the artefacts! Wow. The layout of the museum, the arrangement of the pieces, and most especially the lighting of the display rooms - all are excellent. The rooms have subdued lighting and dark walls and floors with soft focussed lights on the artefacts themselves, so that each objet d’art basks in is own lustre. Beautiful! AND they allow photography – so you can imagine my excitement! (I personally think allowing visitors to share pictures of old artefacts increases awareness about them and increases their life in people’s memory. Which is the point of museums. But whatever) My only grouse is that there is not too much information about the relics. Agreed it is an art museum, not a history museum, but had there been a just a bit of the history of each piece or the salient features of the place/time it was from (rather than just the place and era), the visit would be greatly enriched. Apparently there is a multimedia guide you can hire (an audio file which details each piece – you choose which artefact you want to know more about as you look at it), but I still think the cards should have carried more info. But apart from this small complaint, the museum was wonderful! Glorious pottery, jewellery, metal craftsmanship, paintings, copies of the Quran – painstakingly collected and maintained in prime condition.



After much oohing-and-aahing, we spent a pleasant half hour sipping masala chai at the Al Bidda Park, a landscaped garden facing the sea. There are play areas for kids, manicured lawns, an amphitheatre – all with gorgeous views of the sea and the glittering skyline.



Pleasantly tired, we headed home and kicked off my birthday celebrations! There was cake-cutting, toasting me with red wine and a lovely hour of listening to a Shiv-Hari jugalbandi (complete with muted lighting and ‘mahaul’) while sipping on our drinks.Dinner was as different from this idyllic refined setting as chalk from cheese – we went to Turkey Central, a Turkish restaurant. The décor was kind of like an Irani restaurant back home – only with pleasanter pastel yellow walls. All the tables were taken and groaning under the weight of kebabs, fluffly Turkish bread, salads, juices and dips.We pigged out on:

1. Zahthar and Labneh pies – little scrolls of bread stuffed with zahthar (a fragrant herb mix) and labneh (a Lebanese/Turkish cream cheese) and grilled till crisp.

2. Humous and Mutabbal - chickpea dip and creamy dip with a hint of roasted brinjal respectively. (This was the first time I liked hummous!)

3. Sheesh taouk - amazingly succulent and remarkably low-on-spice grilled chicken kebabs

4. A yummy spicy tomato and onion salad (like salsa in consistency but not taste)

5. Soft fluffy Turkish bread with sesame seeds (on the house!)

6. Fresh muskmelon and pomegranate juices

Groan!! But this did not stop us from stopping at TCBY for frozen yoghurt. I had my first taste of candy floss flavoured icecream (ok, frozen yoghurt – but it tastes just like ice cream!) Buddhi ke Baal ice cream was too surreal. :)

This trip is rapidly proving to be a foodie holiday!