Life on the Spot! Life and Leisure in Doha, Qatar

It's exactly 56 days to go before Christmas. Not that it really matters here in the Gulf but we're lucky here in Qatar since celebrating Christmas here is not prohibited. It is going to be our first time to spend the holidays here. I'm just excited about it. It would really be nice to have the feeling that Christmas is just around the corner. I've been told that the malls will be filled with Christmas trimmings and just knowing that you're surrounded with things that remind you of the season gives you a happy feeling. It may be superficial but to me it means a great deal especially because we had spent 3 Christmases in Saudi. Back there, you see a lot of blinking lights in stores the whole year round.

Yesterday, I was just talking to my friend who's in Saudi. She told me that my godson, Enzo wanted to have a Christmas tree because he saw one while he was watching Barney. Too bad they won't find a single tree in Saudi. I remember we brought a small tree there from the Philippines. Our fiber optics tree was a gift to us and came from the US. Poor Enzo... but I'm sure his parents will find better ways to make Enzo feel the spirit of Christmas. For kids, I guess getting gifts is the best way.

By the way I found some tree decorating tips on the internet. Here it goes:

1. Lights

Start near the base and work from the inside out.

2. Garlands

3. Ornaments

Don't just hang ornaments on tips of branches. Place ornaments inside the tree to    add depth.

4. Filler Ornaments

Place filler ornaments (such as balls that come in wide range of colors that could help enhance     the decorating theme) evenly spaced around the tree. The ratio would be 20 fillers for every 2 feet of Christmas tree.

5. Special Themed/ Collectible Ornaments

Place one-of-a-kind special decor between the filler ornaments. Have at least 10 special ornaments for every 2 feet  of Christmas tree.

Have fun decorating!

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Xiane and I went looking for Christmas decors at Dream Shopping tonight. Tian felt too sleepy to drive us there. Thank God I can drive. Unfortunately though when we got there, I found out that they don't have Christmas lights yet. They already have decors but I was told that they'll have new stocks coming after a week. So I decided to hold off my decor shopping for a while. Instead Xiane and I just looked around the store, picking some items as we went from alley to alley. Later on, I realized that we needed a basket. I bought an alphabet exercise book, eraser, a notebook and a Disney Princess tin can for Xianelle. On the other hand I bought some cosmetic items and nail polish for me and a broom. I paid 60QR+ for everything. I guess that's what happens when you go to stores like Dream, Ramez and Al Rawnaq. You get so amused with everything that you see and you tend to keep getting items, thinking that they're cheap. Nevertheless, it was a nice to have bonded with Xiane tonight even if we didn't get to buy what we were planning to buy.

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I finally got the tree to replace the one that I busted. Thanks to my friend Dimple. This morning I decided to put it up with the help of my daughter. She was so happy to be helping me. She even sang Belle’s song in “Beauty and the Beast Christmas” as she spread the tree branches. This afternoon, after mass, I'll see if I can go to Dream Shopping to look for Christmas lights. I’m really excited to decorate the tree and I can’t wait to see the look on Xiane’s face once she sees her new tree all-decorated.

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We didn’t go to the zoo after all. Instead we decided to spend the day with our friends. The original plan was to bring the apple pie and banana cake that I baked there and leave for the zoo in the afternoon. But Xiane was already playing with her friend Princess and it would be a shame to leave just when they’re having fun. They haven’t seen each other for almost 2 weeks and I can tell that they really missed each other. We also thought that it would be more fun if we go to the zoo altogether, so might as well reschedule.

We had lunch there. After which, the little girls played some more, the daddies played NBA Live 2K6 on the X-Box and the mommies had a long chat. At 3 pm, Dimple (princess’ mom) and I helped the girls paint. After sometime, we decided to play table tennis with the daddies downstairs. Unfortunately for Dimple, her little boy Sean didn’t want to let go of mommy. So I teamed up with Nonoy while Tian and Sandro played together.

After tiring ourselves, we went upstairs and ate apple pie. I’m so glad that everybody liked the apple pie. I’m planning to bake some buko pie next time, upon our friend’s request. I hope I’d find a nice recipe for it. We left their place at past 8pm. We may not have gone to the zoo but nothing beats a day spent with friends.

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We have this Christmas tree which was a gift from Xianelle’s godfather back in Saudi. It is an almost 3 feet tall, fiber optics tree that doesn’t any décor and lights since it lights up and changes color every 5 seconds as soon as you plug it. Last Sunday, my husband decided to set it up. I just left for church and after being gone for 2 hours, voila, it was ready when I got home. I bet it took much longer to prepare the extension to which it would be plugged than setting up the tree.

Then yesterday, the most stupid thing happened. I literally blew up the tree! I decided to plug it without thinking that it actually uses 110 volts. It lit up and I thought what a lovely tree. The next thing I knew, it wasn’t working anymore, so I asked my husband if he turned it off. Just then he told me that I just messed up our tree, Xiane’s tree. I was so upset because it will be our first Christmas here in Doha. But I’m even more upset because it was my daughter’s Christmas tree and it is one of a kind.

But there’s nothing more I can do about it. So I apologized to my daughter, to which she replied “It’s ok mom, just don’t destroy our tree again.” To make up for my “grave” mistake, I am going to put up another tree for her. I called up my friend and asked her where I could find a tree, lights and decors. But she was kind enough to offer their old 5-foot tree, since she has a big one now which she put up this at the start of this month. I happily accepted the offer although she still has to find the stand. Hopefully she’ll be able to find it, if not I’ll just buy a new one. So this will be my project in the next 2 weeks. I hope my husband gives me the support that I need, most especially the proper funding.

This morning I was still sleeping when I overheard my daughter whispering to her “Baby Belle” (Beauty), “You know what Belle, my mommy destroyed the tree.” Now I’m really guilty of blowing up the tree but I’m looking forward to making up for it soon.

 

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