GinaM | ExpatWoman.com
 

GinaM

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EW GURU
Latest post on 23 June 2014 - 07:53
Check your lease but when leaving Qatar the law states that you have to pay one months rent as penalty...as we all the know the law can be interpreted quite differently here...I'd suggest just paying it and not worrying otherwise he might say that you have to give a months notice and pay a month on top of that months notice (and the law would probably support him on that).
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EW GURU
Latest post on 23 June 2014 - 07:49
I'm not sure how you go about replacing it (go to Immigration I guess) but you can enter the country without it. You will be charged for a replacement card as well.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 02 June 2014 - 11:31
Runway Removals - 55029247. We've used them a few times and have been happy.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 26 May 2014 - 10:34
Do you mean Hepatitis A Eleanor? The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people coming to Qatar be vaccinated for both Hepatitis A and Typhoid. Hepatitis (A, B and C) is quite prevalent in the middle east as far as I know.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 20 May 2014 - 22:23
You can go to Hamad Hospital on a visit visa and they will treat you for free (well they did for my brother in law a few years back).
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EW GURU
Latest post on 20 May 2014 - 22:22
Most leases do have a clause that covers terminating the lease due to leaving the country - with it being forfeit of one months rent (on top of the notice to vacate).
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EW GURU
Latest post on 11 May 2014 - 20:07
Apart from the standard recommended childhood vaccinations there are a number of extra ones recommended for Qatar - such as Hepatitis and Typhoid...we got our child vaccinated for those here quite a few years ago as when you come to visit you will realise that there is somewhat of a risk of coming across these diseases here (unless you plan to not venture out)...certainly much more of a risk than in most of our home countries and while our grown livers might recover from hepatitis a childs can be permanently damaged.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 11 May 2014 - 20:03
Hi Maltingcat, possibly not the kind of club that you are after but the Rugby Club is a great place for kids and adults - obviously not your standard "5 star club though". Its right near Doha College and has a good pool, ok gym, squash courts and if you do have kids and they are keen to play rugby its fantastic for them....very social and friendly. Its a bit rough and ready but then again its about a tenth of the cost in terms of membership costs of the hotels and really is much friendlier! :) If you are looking for more of a 5 star then probably the closest is Radission Blu but they have no pool. We joined the Intercont the first year we were here but found that with summer, winter (pool too cold to use) etc we really didn't get our monies worth...and that was 7 years ago before the membership figure was under 10K a year!
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EW GURU
Latest post on 20 March 2014 - 22:42
I've had two operations at Doha Clinic (both with Dr Amr)...I was very pleasantly suprised at how efficient etc they were. Overall a very good experience. My husband broke his hand last year playing rugby and had that operated on at Aspetar...that is a whole different ballpark! If I didn't love him I still would have gone in to visit him just to pinch the 5 star meals off his plate...wow...that is a fantastic hospital! (Not taking away from Doha Clinic who had edible meals...but fresh juice on demand, lattes on demand, 5 course meals....!) :)
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EW GURU
Latest post on 03 March 2014 - 20:38
Hollywood Fashion - 44412893. [email protected], www.hollygiftshop.com. They are quite well know here.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 03 March 2014 - 20:32
QR18000 isn't too bad for a villa around Al Waab - you will be able to get something nice and large for that but get in quick as prices are just starting to increase. I think utilities are similar to Dubai - fairly high - we live in a large 4 bedroom villa (QR18K a month) and it costs us around QR700 in winter and around QR1100 in summer per month...we have a backyard pool and a garden though so that increases our water costs. My mobile costs are about QR300 a month. Kids sports etc can be expensive but there are cheaper options around too - for example - you can do things as after school activities which are pretty cheap generally or soccer you can do the American School Saturday morning league which is QR300 for the season and great value (and also a great experience for the kids). If they play rugby the Rugby Club is a cheap club alternative and very friendly - it also offers subsidised trips within the Gulf for the kids to play in tournaments. <em>edited by GinaM on 03/03/2014</em>
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EW GURU
Latest post on 03 March 2014 - 20:25
I think you'll find that people are staying for longer and longer these days. We've been here for over 7 years and I haven't actually had to say goodbye to that many friends. Mums the Word disappeared years ago though. You'll probably find it much the same...traffic is worse, grocery shopping is better! :)
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EW GURU
Latest post on 13 February 2014 - 10:00
Oh - thanks Tamieg...just on my way over there now actually! :)
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EW GURU
Latest post on 12 February 2014 - 20:53
You can get both Yorkshire Tea (my husband is from Yorkshire! you can get both normal and strong) and PG Tips here quite easily...numerous places have them. Cards....I just don't send them anymore - firstly, if you are looking at giving them to people here most just don't bother as we all tend to agree that they are overpriced (both home and here!) and if you are looking at posting them back home don't bother - the mail here is awful and unless you send 3 months in advance (or give to someone to post when they are back home) there is no guarantee of them arriving in time! I just got some christmas cards 2 days ago that were posted early December from Australia. There really isn't anything that you can get in Dubai these days that you can't get here - in fact in the last year or so there isn't that much that you can't get here - Lulu Gharafa is great for imported grocery products at a reasonable price...mainly UK products but they are trying hard to accommodate a lot of different nationalities from what I can see, and for other imported stuff there is Megamart and Spinneys...bit more expensive though. The thing is though that for a lot of things the little bit extra that you pay here really isn't worth worry about for the hassel and stress of trying to bring over suitcases of stuff everytime you get on a plane...in my opinion...well other than the licorice that you just can't get here (although Lakeland does have red Australian licorice in at the moment!) ;)
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EW GURU
Latest post on 11 February 2014 - 20:12
We used to bank with HSBC and after 6 years finally gave in and moved - they were beyond bad...and in terms of an "international" bank completely useless as when you go to the UK they actually say to you "well we can't access your HSBC account as its not a UK account but a Qatar one" - they aren't even linked. We have moved to QNB - cheaper for fees, I have no issues re ATMS or using my CC overseas. I think you will have issues with every bank that you use here (and probably the same applies to banks anywhere in the world) but I would just say that HSBC drove us quite insane with their ineptitude! ETA - where are you sending money to? We send to Australia and QNB are linked to Westpac there - although I often send to other banks with no issues. I'm guessing that all the banks here have links with OS banks so I wouldn't worry about that side of it. I'd be looking at the quality of service that you get here...because you will have banking issues along the road! :/ <em>edited by GinaM on 11/02/2014</em>
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EW GURU
Latest post on 11 February 2014 - 20:06
Moth/clothing strips to hang in the cupboard - clothes get lots of little holes eaten in them if you don't use them here and the only ones you can buy here are rubbish. If you have electric toothbrushes bring supply of spare heads as it can be hit and miss buying them here. Food wise there isn't that much that you can't get here - it may be more expensive but then some things are less expensive and after a period of time you learn to adapt or just spend the money as filling up suitcases with food items that last a few months at most becomes painful. :) I would maybe chuck some good stock capsules in if I had room to spare - you can get them here but expensive. The only other things are worming tablets if you are bringing animals (expensive here) and football socks (if you have children who play as they are hard to find here in little sizes). Oh...and if you are an aussie like me (which I'm guessing you aren't!) nutrigrain and good aussie licorice! ;)
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EW GURU
Latest post on 28 January 2014 - 21:32
I had my RP renewed less than 2 weeks ago and got a new ID card.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 26 January 2014 - 12:44
I know a few people who have...everytime they go back home they say "this is it"...we all just say "ok, see you back here in a year or so" ;)
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EW GURU
Latest post on 26 January 2014 - 12:43
Cigar shop at Lagoona sell them - I bought one for my husband last month. I think they start at around QR450. The cigar shops supplier shop is also at the Pearl (can't remember the name of it) and you could go there as well.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 19 December 2013 - 17:37
Try calling her office direct - 4438 0169.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 19 December 2013 - 17:36
No it is not a public holiday because it isn't the Islamic new year. Some companies give their staff the day off, some make their staff take it as an annual leave day or as one of their three floating public holiday days, but it is not a public holiday per se.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 17 October 2013 - 09:11
Yes, you can buy trees and decorations here.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 08 October 2013 - 13:29
Try Nelson Park Property 55517567. They are good.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 08 October 2013 - 13:29
Either Qatar Living or Buy it, sell it, swap it Qatar on Facebook.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 08 October 2013 - 12:21
Yes, got to Madinat Khalifa. Just take your old driving licence and a credit card to pay the renewal fee and they give you the new one....one of the easiest things you will ever do in Qatar. No need for a new eye test or anything! In fact I even renewed my husbands licence for him!! :)
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EW GURU
Latest post on 17 September 2013 - 11:48
I don't think you can hire suits here anywhere - primarily because they are so cheap to get made or buy (if you go to Brands at The Centre they sell cheap suits - including tuxes).
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EW GURU
Latest post on 17 September 2013 - 11:47
We bought our son a world globe here a few years back which we will always keep as a memory of living here....they have got a black felt pen and blacked out a certain country (I'm sure you can all guess which)...hilarious - if you cross it out it doesn't exist??? ;)
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EW GURU
Latest post on 05 September 2013 - 12:09
DESS is back on Sunday. I believe that DESS, DC etc have all been granted permission to still start at the begining of next week as they are not technically SEC schools.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 27 June 2013 - 21:46
Phone 55029247 or 44431529.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 07 June 2013 - 09:32
My advice....change banks now and save yourself lots of heartache...we changed after six years and I have no idea why we didn't do it 5 years 11 months earlier when we saw the first signs of what was to come! :)
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EW GURU
Latest post on 16 May 2013 - 12:06
I would definitely be pulling out all stops to get your son into Reception somewhere as otherwise you will need to home school him to some extent or he will be behind when he starts 1st grade next year. By the end of reception here (remembering that for most children that is their second year of schooling in Qatar as they generally start at 3 years of age) they are reading and writing. Also, from my experience here, 1st grade is a HUGE step academically and emotionally from Reception so its a bit of a buffer for them if they already know the school and have friends there. The schooling system is a problem here but try and not worry too much - I don't know anyone who hasn't got their children into school...sometimes it just takes a little while, particularly to get them into your school of choice. Put in an application to DESS - its very hard to get into DESS but because of some high school issues over here at the moment I think you might find that some places come up there for the next academic year (and given the age of your children I'm guessing that high school options in Doha aren't a concern for you right now! ;) )
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EW GURU
Latest post on 16 May 2013 - 11:56
Grand Heritage is dry. Oryx is OK, food isn't the best in town but its ok - one of the cheaper ones. I really like the Four Seasons - great environment and they are very very attentive. Apparently the Renaissance is really good too (includes cocktails I think).
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EW GURU
Latest post on 09 May 2013 - 10:13
School fee increases in Doha have to have SEC approval and I could be wrong but I think that when the SEC approve fee increases it happens across the board. You might find that Sherbourne hasn't increased its fees because it is different to the other schools (DESS, DC etc) in that it is an SEC school whereas the others aren't. In light of that I don't think that DESS would be relying on increased school fees to cover the financial commitment that they have made to DC as they have no guarantee that any increase will be approved.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 09 May 2013 - 10:06
Call me skeptical but I think you've got 0% chance of the police doing anything about it....lets face it, wearing a selt belt is a legal requirement here but how often do you see people getting booked for not wearing one and to say that the number being fined for littering is decreasing does nothing for my confidence...every time I get in the car I see at least one person open their window and throw out rubbish (generally whilst not wearing a seat belt! ;) ). Rather than confront her in the first place and possible create a situation that you don't want to be in, why don't you slip a note under her door advising her that what she is doing is not only disgusting and lazy (how hard is it to walk past a garbage bin on your way out!) but illegal and that it will be reported to the police if it doesn't cease, and enclose a copy of Glorious Mornings article. You never know...she might be guilted into being less of a sloth!! <em>edited by GinaM on 09/05/2013</em>
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EW GURU
Latest post on 09 May 2013 - 09:52
I have a friend who was being prescribed HRT pills here from Dr Abdul Rahman at Doha clinic - no idea which ones there were but they are available. Maybe bring a supply to last till your first trip home so you find out if the ones that you want are available here in the meantime.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 09 May 2013 - 09:51
The majority of children from DESS go to Doha College (I'm not sure who told you that only a few go but that is wrong - around 60% do). I think a reasonably large proportion also go home to boarding school and/or their families figure that its time to head home. Other than that I would think that most of the rest go to either Parkhouse or Sherbourne.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 02 May 2013 - 09:35
We only flew with Emirates for years (other than a couple of dreadful trips with Etihad) and then about 2 years ago swapped to Qatar Airways and just overnighted in Melbourne before flying out the next day. We're swapping back to Emirates this year - either way you get jetlag but Emirates just works better for us (and is cheaper once you take into account the ridiculous cost of hotel rooms at Melbourne airport etc). I noticed not long ago that if you book a flight with Emirates where the layover in Dubai is more than 12 hours or so then they put you up in a hotel at no cost. Next time I book I'm going to try for that!
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EW GURU
Latest post on 01 May 2013 - 12:13
They are basically like the public service in the 80's...no one will take responsibility for anything, no one will make any decisions, including making payments. I know a lot of people who do/did work for them - they are fine as an employer - I think that the major issue that their staff face is frustration at not being able to get any decisions made/not being able to make decisions/dealing with people who are basically just going through the motions of turing up to work each day. I guess it depends on what you are looking for in a job. Someone famous was once quoted as saying something like "oil companies are the worst run organisations in the world but they still can't help but make money".
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EW GURU
Latest post on 01 May 2013 - 12:01
Sorry FrenchMomOf3 - contact Walter Serrao in the first instance... walter dot serrao at mannai dot com dot qa. He will confirm if its available and then put you in touch with Mr Surendran who was wonderful and did all the organising. We only had teachers in the dunk tank at our fair so the steps weren't an issue...they were big and mean enough to look after themselves. It is fairly full on and a few of them did get bruises from the seat but they all absolutely loved it and said that it was worth a few bruises! :)
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EW GURU
Latest post on 26 April 2013 - 00:02
Lol aussie182...I'm guessing that even if they hadn't noticed when it was rung up that the end bill at over 4k for groceries would have rung some bells! :) I have to say that megamart are great if something goes wrong. Ive gone in in the past and said ' I bought some whatever, here's the receipt ... I didn't being the product back cause it was off so I threw it away' and I've never had a problem.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 25 April 2013 - 23:46
Opps...sorry ... Just saw that original message was very old.frenchmomof3 - will try and post details back for you. :)
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EW GURU
Latest post on 25 April 2013 - 23:45
Hi Jill. Mannai own the dunk tank here. It is great fun and they are fantastic at helping out with it. They lent it to us for last years Dess fair and I couldn't sing their praises high enough. I've got the contact on my computer which I don't have here right now but I think we have mutual friends you can contact me through? If not I'll try and come back on here in the next day or two to drop off the contact details. :)
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EW GURU
Latest post on 21 April 2013 - 13:05
Why bother...as if you are ever going to be asked for it! ;) Seriously though, I'd just go down to Madinat Khalifa - they probably just print you out a new one - replacing an expired one is that easy!
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EW GURU
Latest post on 13 April 2013 - 20:43
I frequently have packages delivered for work Chizz and the differences in "fees" over the years has been maddening! :) Sometimes they say you have to pay customs taxes, sometimes they say you need a import number...there is no consistent logic. The best option is to get things delivered to you as a person (don't put the company name down)and just argue the case...eventually it gets delivered! :)
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EW GURU
Latest post on 13 April 2013 - 20:34
I don't live in either of those compounds or have a child at Sherbourne however given the locations of those compounds and where Sherbourne is (and I live further from those compounds to Sherbourne and one of my mates on my compound has children in Sherbourne and there is no way it takes her even close to an hour!)I think that you shouldn't worry too much. When you ask the time to get from one place to another in Doha you will get very varying responses. I live on Al Waab and my child goes to DESS - depending on the time of year (whether the arab schools are in or not, whether there has been an accident, whether the police have "kindly" decided to direct traffic around roundabouts and cause gridlock in the process ;) etc etc) my school drive can take from 15 minutes to 45 minutes. I don't think you will find anything anywhere near as nice as those two compounds closer but as I said...I have no personal experience of the compounds or the school so happy to be corrected on that! :)
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EW GURU
Latest post on 27 March 2013 - 20:40
I bought a really lovely one for my husband about 2 weeks ago at Blue Salon on C-ring. I was quite suprised as it was only around QR350 and is leather and has compartments. They had a black one (which my son picked out) and a more rustic brown one (which I prefered!).
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EW GURU
Latest post on 11 January 2013 - 13:34
Doha British school used to be Doha British Montessori school - I have no idea when they changes their name but I'm guessing it's because they were never an official Montessori school from what I've heard. I have no direct experience with them but have friends who have. They used to have a fairly average reputation but it seems to be improving. That said Doha College has a far far superior reputation - I would go with them personally. The two schools aren't that far away from each other and once you've got 2 kids into doha college you'll probably find that a spot comes up for the third after to too long.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 15 November 2012 - 10:10
I said on another thread that getting a new licence was the easiest thing you will ever do in Qatar...I could be wrong! :) I went and changed my licence plates this morning at 7.45am. Took a matter of minutes - into the prefab shed at the end, gave them my rego card, sat down for about 15 seconds then they said "go out to the car queue" (there are 3 or 4) went straight up to the guys putting on the plates, they put them on and I drove off! Too easy! In saying that I did turn up there at 11am the other morning to find out that they close from 10am to 1pm.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 14 November 2012 - 16:57
Its the easiest thing you will ever do in Doha - just take your old licence in to the Traffic Department at Madinat Khalifa along with your credit card and they will print you out a new one. No new photo, no eyesight test!! ETA - I even took my husbands in and renewed his for him! <em>edited by GinaM on 14/11/2012</em>
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EW GURU
Latest post on 23 October 2012 - 09:52
Do you live in a compound? Quite often the gate guys are very grateful for men's clothes.