This year, instead of taking an agonizingly long plane ride back home to a cloudy winter wonderland in upstate New York (I did this in 2022), I ended up taking an agonizingly long plane ride to a sunny and dry winter wonderland in the Middle East.

This was my first time visiting this part of the world. Initially, I didn’t really have any Christmas holiday plans. What brought me here (or, more accurately, who brought me here) was my good friend that I met while living in Shanghai. In a video chat back some time in late October, he informed me that he had just moved to Doha, Qatar, for a job. Later on (towards the end of November, I think), he mentioned that he would have time off from work during the Christmas holiday and that he wanted me to visit. Since I hadn’t seen him in 1.5 years since moving (OK, fleeing) from Shanghai to Tokyo, I thought this would be an opportunity to see him, as well as a chance to see the Middle East for the first time.

As part of this trip, I initially thought about other places to see while here, such as Dubai and/or Abu Dhabi. However, I thought it would also be a good time for both of us to visit some place that neither of us has been to before. We (OK, I) settled on the idea of visiting Oman. My trip consisted of visiting my friend in Qatar, followed by us visiting Oman for four days, then returning to Qatar.

(*The Oman portion of the trip will be its own separate posts.)

Before arriving, my friend and I did a video chat where he showed me his apartment and the view of the surrounding area. It looked like a luxury apartment. This was made even more apparent with the view overlooking the bay area and the collection of boats behind the building, along with being told that there are two other high-end hotels on both sides. Even though it is his employer that is covering the rent and utilities, he says that it feels weird living like this at his age.

After taking a grueling 13-hour direct flight at midnight (arriving at 6:50 a.m. to Doha), I arrived feeling confused by the signage inside the airport. It listed only “transfers” and “baggage,” but nothing about immigration. I have always seen signs for “immigration” when taking international flights since that is often the biggest (and longest) process upon going through the airport. I asked where to go and was told to follow signs for “baggage.”

So I did, but I still felt confused, and I eventually asked someone standing at an independent insurance kiosk just before the escalator. Upon asking which should I go to first (immigration or baggage?), I was met with a brief stare, followed by the man asking me, “What do you think?” I was caught off guard by this, and in my sleep-deprived stupor, I replied that I didn’t know. He said something else that I can’t remember, then finished in a dismissive tone, “downstairs” (without looking at me), as he quickly returned to playing on his phone. This did not sit well with me, and I walked off toward the escalator while repeatedly cursing him out under my breath. This colored the rest of my arrival experience.

Only after I went down and continued following the signs did I finally see a sign for immigration and the que. While waiting, I noticed a number of small children who were screaming and crying, and some of their parents didn’t seem all that responsive. I could see that each of the immigration staff members was a woman, and all of them were wearing a traditional hijab. I also saw that they all had a sullen look on their faces. I suppose this is understandable since it was early in the morning, and I’m sure this job feels much like being on an assembly line. However, seeing this did not help my initial feelings upon entering the country. 

I was a bit unsure about whether to buy a SIM card, as I knew my friend would be coming to get me and that I would be staying at his place with Wi-Fi. I was becoming nervous and impatient while waiting for him to arrive (even though I was only there for maybe five minutes, and he said that no matter what, he was going to arrive at 7:30 a.m.).

Finally, I saw him arrive, and I felt relief. He told me that he had arrived in an Uber and that it was waiting for us. However, as we got closer to the parking lot area, he saw that the driver was now gone, so we had to head back toward the taxi area. As we were walking toward the taxis, I saw the drivers and what looked to be their boss standing in a line, awaiting customers. As we got closer, I overheard the tail end of the boss saying something about “you and you. Seriously, what is the problem?” This didn’t seem very professional, and it too did not help me feel good about my arrival. Luckily, the ride to my friend’s apartment was fine. 

Since I was so tired, I wasn’t in the mood to go galivanting about. As I unpacked my things and set up my toiletries in the spare bathroom, he walked around and commented that he liked seeing “other creatures” living there. I’m glad that my dwelling there made him happy. The only thing I had any energy for was eating and visiting a nearby beach, so we first went to the beach. It wasn’t particularly amazing, but then again, I didn’t have high expectations, so it didn’t matter.

We went into the water, which was unpleasantly cold (but it still had a nice color). It was also interesting to see the contrast in bathing attire between the western visitors showing more skin versus the locals (and visiting Muslims), who tended to be noticeably more covered up. My friend noted that he thought the sand at beaches in Dubai was nicer and finer than here. Eventually, we got used to it and mostly just waded around and then walked along the shore. We didn’t spend that much time there, but we got a bit of sun, and standing in the water and sand did help to recharge my battery a bit.

After we went back home to change, he took me to one of the malls for a late lunch. At the mall, I saw plenty of foreign-brand stores and restaurants, as well as a Carrefour grocery store. We ended up eating at an Outback Steak House. My friend said that this was his first time going to a steak house, but he wasn’t that impressed with his meal. We followed this up by getting some items from Carrefour.

The next morning, he and I took turns making breakfast. However, I was still suffering from jet lag and did not get much sleep. This resulted in us just spending the rest of the morning and early afternoon lying in bed. Eventually, we went out to the mall again for some food and to exchange some money for the upcoming trip to Oman. We ended up having several filling snacks from an Indian food shop.

I usually don’t indulge in eating ice cream or donuts, but upon seeing a Krispy Kreme, I couldn’t resist trying one of their Twix candy bar-filled donuts. My friend settled for a lighter, regular donut. I was surprised by the heft of my donut, as was my friend. I’m sure it packed an extra 600 or so calories (at least), but I figured I deserved it after my long trip.

Later, he took me to see some other sites, which included a “souq” (market) at the port. 

While walking around, it felt like quite a touristy area, with the many restaurants, tea shops, souvenir shops, and other shops selling things that you could get at a regular store. There were some aspects that felt authentic, such as walking through the market alleyways and seeing several men carrying falcons with them, as well as seeing a few men and women smoking shisha. I wanted to take more photos, but my friend said to be careful when taking photos of locals (especially the women). So, I just took several photos here and there. Although there were mainly locals (at least I assumed they were locals), I did see foreign tourists, even a few tour groups going by.

We then took an Uber to see different food stalls and other areas around the port. There, I tried some karak (spiced black tea) for the first time, and it was delicious. At a food stall, my friend got some kind of wrap along with saffron-infused karak, while I just got some karak (mine was infused with ginger and cardamom). I tried his, but I liked my karak more.

We continued walking through the alleys (seeing some more mainstream-looking shops) toward the main area, where we could see one of the cruise ships docked. I noticed some of the artwork painted on some of the buildings that I thought looked cool.

We made it to a spot that overlooked the bay area facing the city skyline, which was full of bright lights beaming across the water.

The next day, before flying out to Oman, we went out for breakfast. This was followed by accompanying my friend to his doctor’s appointment. While I waited, I used the bathroom and noticed how chic they like to make things here. I also noticed that the smaller button on the wall to flush wasn’t working and that neither of the urinals were working. As I tried to sit on the round toilet bowl, I also noticed that there seemed to be a preference for style over functionality. When I talked about this with my friend, he agreed. This also reminded me of whenever we had to cross the road and needed to rely on the main traffic lights instead of the crosswalk lights since, as I later experienced, even some of the crosswalk lights didn’t actually function properly.

We then hurried back to the apartment to gather our things and head to the airport. While going through security, we were both instructed to go toward the e-gates, but after trying to scan my passport several times, I was told to go back over to the regular security checkpoint. Once we made it to where our gate was, my friend explained that for some reason they have people wait outside of the main seating area of the gates, and that only when it’s time for boarding do they let people into the main seating area. When it was time to be called to board, I saw that the seating areas were divided by zones. This actually seems like a more organized way to seat passengers to ensure people are actually boarding according to their zone.

The plane ended up being smaller than I thought it would be for an international flight (but then again, the flight was less than two hours). When we found our seats, there was an older woman dressed in a black burqa. I’m not sure if it’s still considered a burqa since there was no mesh covering the eye area. Maybe modern-day burqas no longer have the mesh covering, and instead, the eye area is fully exposed? She was sitting in the window seat, even though the window and middle seats were assigned to us. I didn’t really think so and decided to take the middle seat (I usually prefer the aisle, but this was a short trip, so I didn’t mind).

My friend told me later on that she may have taken that seat because she didn’t want to risk being touched by men, even by accident. Throughout the flight, she kept muttering to herself. Perhaps she was saying some kind prayer. She was also leaning forward while the plane was taking off and again upon landing.

Since I will discuss our time in Oman in other posts, I will end with this part of the trip.

Upon Returning from Oman

After arriving back in Doha and unpacking, we headed to the National Museum of Qatar. It’s a combination of exhibits about native wild life and history. Seeing older artifacts and traditional outfits helped me to understand that Qatar is actually more than just an OPEC nation indulging in its oil money; it also has a long history, including a long tradition of pearl harvesting.

We both enjoyed seeing the newest exhibit about the history of coffee related to Qatar (and Indonesia).

While walking, my friend kept asking me what I thought of the place, as he thought highly of it (recommending it more than seeing the Museum of Muslim Art). I was still tired, and I had mentioned that museums often make me feel sleepy, regardless of the exhibits, and the low lighting throughout didn’t help this. Still, I thought the most interesting exhibits were the ones showing different outfits and jewels. It’s too bad that my tiredness and naturally stern-looking face didn’t show this. I think he felt a bit disappointed that I wasn’t as enthusiastic about it as he was.

For dinner, we went back to the mall for food. We found a Thai food stall, but we clearly underestimated the spiciness of our orders, as neither of us could finish them. We had to remedy this, but not with fruit like some Thai people do. This required gelato.

Overall, I’m still not sure if I would want to live and work here. I know that many of the Persian Gulf nations tend to offer decent job packages, but something about the bougie vibe here makes me feel a bit weird. As it is, I have difficulty dealing with children who don’t have much (if any) parental supervision and are often left to do (and say) whatever they want with no consequences. I can’t imagine dealing with kids who are even more used to being spoiled and undisciplined (at least as far as I can see). Maybe I’m overgeneralizing, but after a few days of being there, this is the feeling I got repeatedly.

However, I am definitely glad that I got to visit my friend after a long hiatus, especially considering the circumstances in which I left (in case any reader is unfamiliar with my posts during my time in Shanghai, I’m referring to the summer of 2022, after the Shanghai lockdowns ended).

As my friend accompanied me at 4:30 a.m. down to where the Uber ride would arrive to take me to the airport, it felt like we had come full circle. The last time we were together, it was me leaving in a hurry to the airport to flee the country while looking tearfully at the site of my friend getting smaller and smaller in the rear window of the taxi. This time, I waved goodbye through the passenger window (haha), and we were both smiling. I think we both needed this trip to happen so that we could both get some emotional closure as well as have another chance for some adventure together. I sincerely hope he enjoys his time in Doha, and hopefully we’ll be able to meet up again for another adventure.

Join me for the next post where I’ll discuss our time in Oman.