Doha, Qatar

Hello fellow bloggers, readers and those who have accidentally stumbled upon here. Time for a new update :)

And today's update starts with this card that Jean Pierre sent me some years ago from Qatar's capital.
On this card you can see the dallah monument on the Corniche in Doha.
A Dallah is a traditional Arabic coffee pot used for centuries to brew and serve Qawha (gahwa), an Arabic coffee or Gulf coffee made through a multi-step ritual, and Khaleeji, a spicy, bitter coffee traditionally served during feasts like Eid ul-Fitr.
The Dallah has a distinctive form, featuring a bulbous body that tapers to a "waistline" in the middle and flares out at the top, covered by a spire-shaped lid topped with a tall finial and held by a sinuous handle. The most distinctive feature is a long spout with a crescent-shaped beak. This beak may be covered with a metal flap to keep the coffee warmer, but traditionally it is open to view the coffee as it is poured out.
A Dallah can be made of brass, steel, silver and even 24K gold for special occasions or used by royalty.
The origins of the dallah are unclear. Among the earliest references to a dallah as a coffee boiler in the modern shape date to the mid-17th century.The dallah plays such an important role in the identity of Persian Gulf countries that it is featured in public artworks and on monetary coins (as is the case here).

Jean Pierre used two lovely stamps on the card. The one on the right was issued in 2010 in a set of 4 stamps representing Doha as the capital of the Arab culture, while the other stamp was issued in 1996 in a set of 6 stamps featuring Gazelles and Beira Antelope, where this stamp shows the Gazella dorcas pelzelni.

btw, seeing that Hallmark sign on a card from Qatar is not something I would really expect :)


Thank you very much Jean Pierre!!

Doha, Qatar

Well, I planned to make an update yesterday since I had a day off due to a National Holiday, meaning, an extended weekend...but I just got carried away with a bunch of other stuff...so here we are today, with a mix of old and new stuff... first comes the 'old' or more precisely a card I received in 2009...

my second written and stamped card from Qatar here, which to my wild guess, shows a scene in Doha...it just seems logical to me, for this to be Doha, without any intention to look down on any other city or place in Qatar...
the card shows an offshore drilling platform, which i guess is quite common here since Qatar is an oil producing country

did you know that just last week the Emir of Qatar was here for a visit? Yeah, it was quite the news, except that I didnt get the chance to see him...neither his son....neither at one moment i had the impression a guest of such rank was here....Im just really curious to know his impressions from here...I know he had visited the Old Bazaar (my absolutely favourite place in Skopje) and since the place has been in general influenced by the Ottoman architecture, and has a lot of mosques and hammams,  he might have felt like home....

on the side note, if you ever come here, the Old Bazaar is a must....if not, im gonna drag you there :)

the stamp is from a set of 20 insects' stamps issued in 1998. Again, under the address, it said 'via Itay' (I guess they meant 'Italy', though i dont know why via Italy? and it was added additionally by a postal worker,  not the sender...

Doha, Qatar

I had totally different plans for this card, and sort of saved if for that special purpose, but obviously I planned things too early...as the saying goes, dont count one's chickens before they're hatched....

But I so much wanted to count those chickens, and I had such solid ground to do so....and everything was going ok, and then all of a sudden, things just changed for 180°. I couldnt figure out what went wrong...all I know is that I was devastated and totally bummed. I still feel so.
And before it arises any confusion, im talking about the tennis tournament which took part in Doha last week....yeah, the whole fuss revolves around tennis....I know its stupid and childish, but thats how I react....when I support something, I support it 10000% and I feel with every single second of it.....if its a good result, i feel overwhelmed as if something terrific has happened to me personally....if its a bad result, i feel as its my own loss..i know im taking things too personally, but actually, thats what also brings the beauty of watching sports..the excitement is greater....but well....you win some, you lose some...
Im talking of the final here between Nadal and Davydenko....Nadal won the first set with 6:0....no one could've imagined that from then on, things will go downhill for him...i still cant figure it out if its Nadal who lost concentration and played badly, or if its Davydenko who resurrected.....it was a nail-bite in the second and the third set...Nadal had match points...couldnt make it....after all, it was some great and exciting tennis indeed, but I really really wish Nadal had won this one....just as much Davydenko deserved to win this title, so did Nadal....the next tournament is in Australia..so I guess I will be saving one for until then....which reminds me, I have an Abu Dhabi card left as well...Ill post it next time...to commemorate Nadal's win there last week.....

Btw, on the card you can see the Maritime Museum in Doha. For some reason, I couldnt really find some info about it...

Doha, Qatar

Lets start the day with showing off a new country in my collection...from where i actually now have 3 postcards, not just one...its insane, isnt it :) Though i wouldnt mind if for all my newly received countries, i end up getting one more postcard from there...i can never get enough of postcards in the first place.

i think i have a particular short story to share with you, when it comes to Qatar, but ill leave it for another Qatar postcard, since this one already depicts something particular, and i dont wanna bother you with information that dont really belong here, though its nothing surprising for me to do it :)The card shows "The Ardah" which is a traditional dance related to the Saudi Folk Music, performed by men on some festive occasion in Doha, the capital of Qatar, and they are also dressed in traditional clothes. The the thing they wear on the head is only used in Qatar, while other colours and designs are worn in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain.
As you may know, traditional dances and clothes have never really been my strong side, though i think that many of them are a real state of art and i really dont give them the credit they deserve to get. And probably if i start talking about them, i would just end up in some dead-end street due to my unfamiliarity with it...but now this makes me thing how i would like to actually put cards of this kind on my wishlist too...they surely get to teach you a lot!
I would like to show you some videos i came across regarding this...as you can see, the sword is the crucial element of this dance.















did you happen to notice some intruders in the videos?

and getting down to the stamp...which i have to say is some special sort of favourite to me, due to that 'missent' stamp on it :))  I know many of you may hate to get such a 'ruined' stamp but for some reason, it has a great value of me and makes it just unique :)
I dont know how my card managed to get to Indonesia first, there is not much of a resemblance between Macedonia and Indonesia, except for the last two letters, but i hope it has enjoyed its stay while being there...
The stamp was issued in 1998 and belongs to a set of 20 stamps, on the subject of Insects. This here is a Rufous Bombardier Beetle...