Scandinavia Journey 2011

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A Day in Doha

A view of downtown Doha form the Museum of Islamic Art

Like anyone obsessed with traveling on two (sometimes three) vacation weeks a year, I try hard to see as many countries as possible in a short period of time. This doesn't always mean that I get to do each place a justice. Sometimes a day is all I have.
For some places, a day is enough, so I have heard.
I haven't found those places yet.

When I went to Scandinavia in 2011, I took a day trip to Helsinki and spent seven hours there in what I lovingly call "the seven hour scramble." I did see a lot of Helsinki, but the trip left me wanting more...like, a month more.

So this time when I was on the Arabian peninsula, spending a full week in Dubai, I could not resist the 1-hour $100 round trip flight to Doha, Qatar.

Admittingly, I would not have been so interested in Qatar if it were not for me being the only person in my office who had not been there. My previous employer had a relationship to Doha, and most of my colleagues when there annually....except for me.Their conversation filled me with wonder of things like the Museum of Islamic Art and the Souq Waqif, so I made a small list of things that could fill a day trip, and I set out to make the most of it.

Timing was important on this trip. We didn't want to go on a Friday because that is a Muslim holy day, so many things would be closed. My traveling buddy worked Sunday-Thursday though, so we were limited to just Saturday.

Here is how our day transpired.

9:15
We arrived at the Doha International Airport, and exchanged about $100 USD in to Qatari riyals.

9:30
We departed the airport in one of the many blue taxis which was waiting for us.

outside of the city, most of Doha looks like this

10:20
We arrived at the first stop on my list, the Villagio Mall, where I intended to go into the Starbucks and buy a Doha mug. I know, it's sad that we drove all this way for a mug, but there was no Starbucks in the center of the city, and the visit to the mall was very interesting. I immediately noticed that more Qatari women wear niqab (face-covering) in Doha than Emirati women do in Dubai.

During this time, we bought the mug at Starbucks, walked around the mall a bit, and enjoyed a latte.

just a regular day at Villagio Mall

11:00
We left the mall and took a cab to our next destination, Mathaf: The Arab Museum of Modern Art. I had come across this place accidentally on the internet, and it looked really cool and experimental.

11:30
After a wild cab ride ,we arrived at Mathaf. This museum was really the highlight of the day, and we were lucky that we arrived on a day when they do one of their scheduled guided tours. I will discuss Mathaf in detail in another post.

We spent about one hour walking around the open exhibits, then another hour on a guided tour, then raided the gift shop. I would say two hours does this place justice, but we hung out for three. 

outside sculpture at Mathaf

2:30
Got a ride into town from one of the Qatari English-speaking staff at Mathaf (thank you Abdul!). While he drove us, he shared many interesting stories about life in Qatar. He said that Doha has many visitors from Saudi Arabia, but police often pull over any car with a Saudi license plate and a woman driver, because they know it is illegal for women to drive in Saudi Arabia and therefore they do not have licenses. Qatar is much more easy going than Saudi Arabia, so it is a popular destination for tourists in the Arab peninsula.

Abdul took this picture of us at Mathaf

3:00
We arrived at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA). This place is a national treasure, but Abdul says he finds it boring and he prefers Mathaf, and not just because he works there. Honestly, I do too. The best thing about MIA is the building itself, which is an amazing architectural experiences. It is a place of astonishing beauty with hands-down the best views of the Doha waterfront. Inside, they have a large collection of art from many centuries, but it is mostly tapestries, pottery, and jewelry. For art, I prefer experimental, visually-challenging things, like what I saw at Mathaf.  However, MIA is definitely worth the visit, and it has a great little cafe as well.

The famous museum of Islamic Art

4:00
We leave MIA to walk to the Souq Waqif, which only took about ten minutes. Considering the fact that every other desitnation was a thirty minute drive we were releived at the close proximity fo the souq and museum.We spent about an hour walking around the souq at dusk until it was time for an early dinner.

shoppers at Souq Waqif

5:00
Eat at awesome dinner at a Malaysian restaurant at the Souq.

Our awesome dinner

6:00
We spent another hour witnessing the Souq after dark (yes, it is pitch black at 6:00 pm in Doha) which is an entirely different experience. Street vendor come out, and the place gets crowded.  I definitely recommend the Souq-after-dark experience. I wish I could have stayed longer, but we had a plane to catch!

Souq at night

7:00
Hailed a taxi and drove back to the Doha International Airport. This was no small feet because traffic was outrageous, and what should have been a five-minute cab ride took thirty!

7:30
We arrived at the airport and went through the check in process. This was especially laborious because we were flying on a U.S. airline, so check-in was tedious and full of intrusive questioning. 

9:15
Our plane departs for Dubai. Goodbye Doha!

I know there were a lot of things I did not get to see and experience in Doha while I was there. Mostly notably were the pearl, and downtown Doha.  These are things I plan to see when I go next time, and there will be a next time!

Japan Journey 2008

I took this trip to Japan nearly four years ago, but it was so awesome that it really needs a place here on this blog.

At that time, I had already been to Japan about five times, but only to Tokyo and my friend's hometown of Tsukuba (one hour away from Tokyo). At some point, when I was back in American, I noticed myself saying things like, "Oh I love Japan", "Japan is so....," "Japanese people are so...," BUT I hadn't even seen Japan outside of Tokyo!

That's like someone outside the U.S. only visiting New York City and then returning home saying, "I love America," "Americans are so..."

The rest of the US is vastly different from NYC. The culture, climate, and the food can change dramatically from one state to another. To get a good sense of America you've got to travel coast to coast, with some time in the Midwest and definitely the South.

So that is just what I did. I decided to explore as much of Japan as I could with a 30-day JR rail pass (back then it was about 100 yen to the dollar, so it was somewhat affordable). Traveling trough Japan is so much more feasible than trying to cross the U.S. by rail. Japan is a tiny country and the bullet trains are so fast,  I hardly felt like I spent much time on the train at all. Another benefit of traveling by train in Japan is the ability to sample delicious cuisine at  each station, known as ekiben. Let me also just say that this journey was made ten-thousand time easier by Hyperdia, the online timetable for all trains in Japan. Without this website,  my spontaneously-planned trip would not have been possible.

Let's begin!

First Stop: Tokyo

I was already very familiar with Tokyo by the time I made this trip, having been there several times. I spent over a week and a half in Tokyo when I arrived. Mostly, I wanted a chance to visit all of my friends and plan my journey. This is an image of the famous Shibuya Crossing. It never fails to impress tourists with thousands of pedestrians crossing every few minutes.

Second Stop: Osaka 

My next trip was a mere three hours south of Toyko, to the city of Osaka. I had been there once before, but only for a few days. My only memory of Osaka from that first trip was that it rained the entire time, so I never left the home of the family with whom I was staying. This time, I decided to give the city another shot, and really check it out. I stayed with a friend in a sleepy suburn about fourty minutes from the city center by local train.We visted all the typical sites like Amemura and Osaka castle.

My first impression after a week in the city was that, despite being the second largest city in Japan, it is no where near as urban as Tokyo. Writing this entry now, having been to Osaka several times, I have come to have many wonderful memories in this city, mostly because of the great friends I have made.

Third Stop: Hiroshima

I fell in love with Hiroshima from the moment I arrived. I thought this would be a dreary little town with a bomb museum, but oh I was so wrong. Everything wonderful is in Hiroshima. Only a week before I arrived I discovered I had a friend there. She was a former roommate of mine in Los Angeles, but she had since moved back to her hometown of Hiroshima, and was very keen to show me around. We attended a festival at Hiroshima castle, went to Miyajima, ate maple leaves and Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki.

I was so smitten with this city that I think one day I will have to write about it in more detail. It has the charm of a small town, but all the amenities of a big city. This has became my new favorite place in Japan.

Fourth Stop: Fukuoka

Fukuoka is the largest city on the main island of Kyushu, which is the most southern of the four main islands of Japan. Upon first impression, I felt that Fukuoka was a lot like southern California. Despite being October, it was hot and tropical. Palm trees lined both sides of the wide streets, and high rise condominiums looked out over white sandy beaches.

In Fukuoka, I ended up meeting my best friend and travel partner, Danny, from Australia. I will tell that story in another post someday, but the two of us shared many good memories in Fukuoka.

Fifth Stop: Imabari

Imabari is small town located on the northers edge of Shikoku, the second most southern of Japan's four main islands. Although large in size, Shikoku is sparsely populated and very rural. Japanese consider this whole island to be inaka (countryside). When I told my Japanese friends I was going to Shikoku the first question they ask is "why???" which is also accompanied by a look of confusion. I did't bother to tell them I was going to Imabari, because that would have elicited the response, "where's that?"

Well, this was my first real experience in the Japanese countryside. I had a good friend from Tokyo who moved to back to her hometown of Imabari to have a family. Imabari was a charming town, but there was no train or bus (at least that I saw), so we often had to take a taxi, which was inconvenient. Also, I had a difficult time understanding local residents (in Japanese - mind you), especially elderly ones, because they had strong accents.

Sixth Stop: Maizuru

Only a few minutes away from the city of Kyoto, Maizuru is probably also considered inaka by most Japanese. This is a small coastal town with a large port and many fish markets. Again, I would have probably never gone if it were not for a very good friend who lived there. I am truly lucky to have met Japanese people all over the world, and now I can visit them in their hometowns, and experience things many tourists don't get to experience.

Seventh Stop: Kyoto

Speaking of tourists, Kyoto was my second to last stop on this trip, and at this point I was getting really tired of traveling. Packing up my bulging suitcase every few days and moving to the next hostel got old quickly, and I was just not ready for the chaos that ensued in Kyoto.

This is the city that every foreigner imagines when they think of Japan. The temples, the shrines, the geisha, they are all here in Kyoto, along with the thousands of tourists that flock to see them. Seriously, there were more white people in Kyoto than at a suburban mall in Minnesota. Too many white people, if I may say so myself. I was so annoyed by these masses of tourists and their large, clumsy backpacks that I gave up walking on the main streets entirely, and took back roads as often as I could.

Also, the bus system was lousy and expensive in Kyoto. The sites are not very walkable, and I was in no mood to stand on a sweaty bus squeezed in between half the citizens of New Jersey just to take some cheesy photos near a temple. (Can you tell I was in a sour mood?) So I didn't end up seeing much in Kyoto. I mostly slept in the hostel during the day, and headed out a night. I did manage to see the Inari and an awesome cemetery though. 

Eighth Stop: Nagoya

This was the last stop of my journey before heading back to Tokyo to catch my flight home. Nagoya is right in the middle of Osaka and Tokyo, so it makes for a great stop if you really can't sit still on a train for 3 hours. I also had a friend in Nagoya, but at the time I was visiting, he was studying in the U.S., so I ended up hanging out with his mom. I was pretty nervous, because she does not speak  English, and my Japanese is nothing to brag about. Somehow, we managed to have a great time. I ate the famous eel dish, and we visited many of the main attractions in Nagoya.

In all, this whole trip was one of the most memorable I have had in Japan. I checked off three of the four major islands (Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu), and most of the major cities on each island.

Next stop, Hokkaido! (coming soon in 2013?)

Japan Journey 2010

My journey to Izumo was something I have been heavily documenting lately, but really it was just part of a larger trip I took to Japan in 2010.