Mathaf: A pioneer journey to the corners of Doha’s most avant-garde art scene

Ari and myself in front of Mathaf #lifegoals

It was only when our cab driver took a right turn off the road and into the expansive sands of Doha, that I thought “this place really is off the grid.”

I had arrived in Doha, Qatar that morning, on a day jaunt with a friend from Dubai. Of course everyone had told us to the famous Museum of Islamic Art near the pier, but I was on a special mission.

I wanted to see Mathaf (pronounced Matt-hoff), the Arab Museum of Modern Art. . This place looked more avantgard than I expected for Qatar, and it was mostly run by young people – art students from the local community college. It seemed like a fascinating place to visit, and one that would be much more reflective of Doha art scene.

The museum’s website warned that it was hard to find (like everything in Doha), and that it was only accessible by taxi (like everything in Doha). I’m sure I even read something that said most taxi drivers won’t be familiar with it’s location or address. Thankfully, it is not so far off-the-grid that it doesn’t have a Google pin. When I had wifi in Dubai I pinned it on the map. As expected, our driver had no clue how to get there, so I sat in the back seat, staring at the moving blue dot on my iphone map, and telling the driver where and when to turn.

a typical view through the window of a taxi cab on the way to Mathaf

As we neared the museum we couldn’t find a road that would take us there. I asked t driver to pull over and showed him the map. The museum to the right of us, according to the map, though I couldn’t see it from the car window. There were no road visible on the map that lead there. And, looking out the window, there were no roads visible from the car either. Only a sandy pastier separates us from our destination, so the driver, no doubt annoyed and wanted to get us out of his car and to our destination as quickly as possible, turned the cab towards the pasture and drove through the sand until we spotted the driveway of the museum.

Once a curious white building came into view, I knew we had arrived at the right place. I timed our trip so that we would arrive 30 minutes before the scheduled special exhibition tour at noon.

We purchased our tickets first from two college-age women at the front counter. They wore the typical Qatar dress of a black abaya and black hijab. They spoke fluent English and were helpful.

There was plenty to do to keep us busy at that time. We browsed the gift shop, café, library, and student exhibition.

Even the bathroom signs are beautiful and uniquely Qatar, see the abaya

Note the dishdasha or shabaab and the keffiyeh

Cool lockers

Inside the library

Our guide, Ali, was a twenty-year-old student from the local community college. He had a gentle voice and spoke flawless English. Like the other young staff at the museum, he was not only interested in art, but also in different cultures. In particular, he wanted a chance to use English and meet people from all over the world. While casually conversing with him along the exhibit, I learned that he was soon planning to move to the United States to attend college. I asked him where he was going, and in a freakish coincidence, he said that he would be going to Portland, Oregon. I told him I was from Portland, and I asked him for the name of the college.As it turned out, he would be going to the same college where I worked!

Visitors now will not have to endure the hectic ordeal I had in getting to Mathaf. There is now a free shuttle bus that takes visitors from the easily accessible Museum of Islamic Art to Mathaf every hour of the day. However, at the time of writing this, it appears that construction is still obstructing the main road to the museum, so a detour is in use.

Drains of Osaka

Danbara Starbucks in Hiroshima

View at night

Every once in a while I find a place that leaves me with a deep impression, a place that is both the source and inspiration for many memories. One of those places I found in Hiroshima.

After moving an hour and a half away from Hiroshima, I would make monthly pilgrimages into the city for some urban renewal. I would take the bus on a Friday night after work, and come home by mid-afternoon on Sunday. For the first couple months I was simply finding my way. I would try different restaurant, browse café catalogs and go on hunts for the perfect place to write and sip a cup of coffee, but no experience was really worth repeating. It was not until the third time I made this pilgrimage that I found my way.

Starbucks was a regular place for me in Japan. I have already written extensively about the shortage of spacious, writer-friendly cafes in Japan.  With a few lucky exceptions, Starbucks continues to be the best option for most people who wish to spend a few hours on their laptops. Hiroshima has three major Starbucks branches. The Hon-Dori is the main, three-story café in the busy covered shopping center downtown. This one is great for people watching through the vast windows, but in peak times there is a line out the door, and seating is a precious commodity. I hated walking 30 minutes from my hostel only to find that it was too crowded to work from, so I gave up on that one. The second best-known branch is the Heiwa-Dori, at Peave Blvd. This one seems to be preferable for expats in the city, but the seating is even more limited, and the fact that it is located inside an NHK building makes me feel like I'm going to work at the office. My all-time favorite Starbucks, not just I Hiroshima but  in the world, has to be the third branch, the Danbara store.

Perched majestically in the Danbara neighborhood, a new upscale-housing development near the Mazda stadium, this sprawling, gorgeous Starbucks is the best one I have found in the world. At all hours there is plenty of seating, and I prefer the second floor. My prime choice is to sit outside, on the balcony facing the river. Form here I get a pleasant view of the pedestrian bridge and condominium across the river. If it’s too cold or if all the seat are taken on the balcony, I sit inside at one of the small tables.

This is certainly not the most architecturally remarkable Starbucks, nor does it break any other records in terms of uniqueness, but it has a youthful and local vibe. It is quiet but hip, comfortable but interesting. Since I found it, I made it a point to start and end my weekends in Hiroshima at this Starbucks. 

View at night facing the street

Lounge area on the second floor

Large dining table on the second floor

Interior view form the second floor

Dining room table on the second floor

View from the outside balcony

Outside balcony seating area

Daytime view

The drive-thru sign

Drains of Chugoku

Part of a collection of the many elaborate manhole covers in Japan. 

Hiroshima

Hiroshima

Okayama

Okayama

Onomichi

Drains of Kyushu

Part of a collection of the many elaborate manhole covers in Japan. 

Fukuoka

Fukuoka

Fukuoka

Nagasaki

Aquas Hamada Adventure

Back in 2010, I made a pilgrimage to Shimane prefecture to visit the great Izumo Taisha. While planning that adventure, I found a reputable aquarium, just 1.5 hours by train from Izumo, in a little-known town called Hamada. Although I was interested in exploring a rural Japanese aquarium, the schedule was too tight in 2010, and I never made it to Hamada that year, and I though I never would.

However, in a strange twist of fate, I got a new job and was sent back to Shimane prefecture in a small town 1.5 hours from Hamada by car. I thought for sure I would check out the aquarium one weekend, but I didn’t have to. One day, in another stranger coincidence, my boss asked me to accompany a group of Junior High school students to AQUAS in Hamada as part of their school trip. The trip was scheduled for exactly three years from the day I first ventured to Shimane.

When I first set foot in this isolated and beautiful prefecture in 2010, I never imagined that I would be back and leading a group of local school children around an obscure aquarium. Whether it was my destiny or a happenstance, this trip gave me unprecedented access to the behind-the-scenes workings of an aquarium.

The first half hour was spent on a guided tour of the aquarium, from the inside out. Upon entering backstage, we walked sideways through the narrow pathways between glass tanks. This was where they kept the extra fish, the “understudies” as I like to think of them. When one fish becomes ill, it is taken to a different tank out of public view. While the veterinarian are tending to the sick fish, another healthy one is put in its place in the show aquarium. These tanks were Spartan, lacking all decorations they were purely for utilitarian purposes. I felt like I was walking through the live seafood section of a market.

When we emerged from the maze of glass tanks, we found ourselves in an open room with a giant pool. The pool held sharks, stink rays, and other large sea animals. Beside the pool hung an extensive display of wetsuits, including one made entirely on chainmail. This was they wetsuit that staff wore to feed the shark.

We were allowed to walk over a narrow wooden plank and look down into the pool from above. Below us was the gloriously blue lagoon. We could see the outlines of the sharks and stingray just below our feet. Above us with an intricate web of pipes connecting the pool, with the mysterious world beyond the ceiling.

The tour concluded in the food preparation room. Here, old women were gutting raw squids and fishes to be fed to the animals. The food is then frozen stored in a cooler.

After the behind-the-scenes tour of the aquarium, we were allowed to wander the exhibit on our own. I got to see the fish and sharks perform in their staged tanks as they were meant to be viewed by visitors. I now appreciate aquariums much more now that I’ve had the chance to view the operation. For every tiny tank you see with one or two fish, there is another larger one behind it with many more fish, and a scary enablement of pipes connecting the tanks and the walls. When you are gazing through that little window into the fish’s life, you are only seeing a tiny part of it.

After viewing the fish tanks, I spent time observing the other animals in the aquarium. There was quite a large number of emperor penguins and seals, but the main attraction is the beluga whale, or “white dolphin,” as it is called in Japanese. AQUAS is the only aquarium in Japan with a beluga whale and they have regular showings each day.

Beluga whales are incredibly smart, and like dolphins, they can be trained to perform tricks. The beluga whale at AQUAS is famous for the “Bubble of Happiness,” which is the term they have made up to describe the beluga’s ability to blow bubbles in a ring shape out of his head. Yes, just like the smoking caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland.

The show was curiously revealing of culture. For example, at the end of an animal show in America, they always make the animals wave goodbye to the audience, mimicking the American gesture of waving. In Japan, the belugas bow, mimicking the Japanese gesture of bowing. I found this to be an interesting display of culture.

After a long day at the aquarium, we took the kids to a nearby park and had a picnic. I took this time to escape for a little snooze on the hammock. The perfect end to a long day at work.