Upcoming Malls in Qatar

Shopping malls are one of the busiest place in Qatar especially on weekends and holidays where people shop, mingle, eat, watch movies and sometimes just to ease the heat of the weather.

When I first arrived Doha in 2006, it has only Landmark, City Center, and The Mall after a year Villagio opened, and now there few malls recently opened its gate to the public, Ezdan is the most recent. No wonder kung gaano ka-shoppingeras and shoppinggeros ang mga local citizens dito, ay co-shoppers baka masabi nyo talaga kung tayo rin yon kahit maghapong magshopping :-). Late last year when Qatar opened the Doha Festival City (DFC) where you can find IKEA and this year the Ezdan and Al Dar Salam Mall. But it doesn't stop there, expect that new malls will sprout this year. Let me give you some dose of it.

Al Gharafa Mall or Gulf Mall

It will be linked to the Landmark mall via footbridge. This mall will be of traditional build with 13 screens cinema, children's play area and game zone, food courts, and basement parking of 1,600 cars and not to mention its retail space of 160,000 sq.meters.
O di ba bongga sa dami ng sinehan, ewan ko kung magsiksikan pa sa box office hit movie kapag nadagdagan ng another 13 screen, for sure Gulf Mall will be another weekend destination for families.

Barwa Commercial Avenue

If you happened to pass on Abu Hamoor road you can see that the construction of it is on going. Barwa Commercial Avenue is set to become a lively residential and lifestyle destination offering of 1,000,000 sq.m of state of the art facilities supported by the advanced network of infrastructure.
Comprising of five distinct yet interconnected zones. Facilities include shopping malls, pharmacy, groceries, food courts, medical center, entertainment venues, public spaces, and many more. It is considered to be the longest in its kind in the world. Project cost is QR7billion. I heard BAC will focus on home decor retail stores, pabor ito sa akin :-) i love home decors and hopefully pang-expats din ang price..hehehe

Msheireb Downtown Doha

It will be located in Central Doha. Its main purpose is to preserve and regenerate the historic "downtown area" It is an integrated masterplan of residential, commercial, hospitality and leisure attractions aimed at local residents and the growing number of visitors to Qatar. One of the later phases will include the construction of a purpose-built mall of 42,000 sq m over four levels with 100 stores, a supermarket, food court, a major department store and cinema. The project cost is QR20billion for five phase, 31 hectare.

So at least the next time you visit on that area aside from Souq Waqip surely you will enjoy this Msherib Downtown Doha.

Qanat Quartier

Qanat Quartier or the Little venice will open this year at The Pearl Qatar. The residential area consists of apartments and townhouses with architecture reminiscent of Venice and Amsterdam – pastel coloured, low-rise buildings complemented by piazzas, canals and a marina. There will also be 400,000 square feet of ‘festival’ shopping.

For sure even non residents of The Pearl will be seduced to visit even not to shop but to take a glimpse of the view.  So asahan na babaha ng mga picture na ang background is the Little Venice :-)

Mall of Qatar

 

UrbaCon General Contracting has announced the plans to build $824million (QR3billion) located at the intersection of Al Rayyan Highway and Celebration Road, close to Education City. The three storey mall is slated to open on September 2015, two years na lang mga shoppingeras - shoppingeros meron na namang place to shop. And another good news, the mall will be having its own Metro Station and parking for 7,000 cars, bongga di ba? siguro naman di na mapupuno yon sa isang araw.

Size wise it will be three times of Villagio but smaller than Doha Festival City. In terms of brands of retail offerings, it sounds similar in scope to Villagio, with a dedicated luxury retail wing and cafes and restaurants making use of what the designers call “an indoor streetscape.” A luxury hotel is also expected to be built onsite. So sa mga shoppers na napagod sa pagshoshopping at di na makapagdrive may hotel na, saan ka pa.

Every year the demand of Qatar in its facilities are increasing as its people get bigger as well and not to mention the expatriates. Anyhow upon opening or even in just constructing those new facilities is a great opportunity for the expatriates to work here. Likewise when those malls will fully opened, it will open great opportunity as well to our fellows to work here in Qatar.  

For us who's working here for so many years and mostly for some who spent half of their lives in staying in Qatar, progress in such kind is really a good news. I, myself is a witness how Qatar from 2006 until now restore, regenerate, and change its beauty.

New malls will not only benefits the shoppers - locals or expats but mostly those people who wants to establish their working career in here.

Hoping and praying for the best for Qatar. And not to forget today is another historic day for Qatar as Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani passed the power of leadership to his Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani,

First Visit at Ezdan Mall

One day off from work is enough if you used it right, that's my motto every weekend. Friday is the start of the weekend in almost all countries in the middle east and for some companies here like the company I'm engaged to we're entitled only for one day off so for almost 7 years I already used to have a single day out of the office. I make it sure to spend it wisely and it will be worthy.
After we had a baby shower for my cousin Peach, and since its only 7:30 p.m. nagkaayaang gumala, road trip lang ang peg ng mga lola nya and since full tank naman si Jeri (my cousin Les car) gora lang kahit hindi alam ang exact way. We ended up to the newly opened Ezdan Mall.

Ezdan Mall is located opposite Landmark in Al Shamal Road. It has 40,000 sq.m retail  space. Ezdan mall will have a focus on families and incorporates a private gardens inside.

I didn't take much photos of how does it looks like inside as there are still many vacant spaces around for more retailers. Honestly, one of the reason I want to visit Ezdan is to check Forever 21. I first knew Forever 21 when I visited in Dubai, bought some pieces that until now I'm keeping on my closet- in fairness naman talaga maganda yung quality ng mga clothes nila, although now there are so many Forever 21 outlet in Philippines, I never had a chance yet to visit them.

Welcome to FOREVER 21....

Wondering how they come up to their name :-)

Just a trivia before it became Forever 21 its started as Fashion 21. The store was founded in Los Angeles in 1984, as of 2011 they have 480 number of locations, guys locations pa lang yon not stores. Remember this brand sign XXI, the next time you see this its Forever 21.

Lets go and check what's inside....

Forever 21 offers clothing and accessories for women, men, teens and even for kids. What I love from their stores, their stuffs are organized according to class, color, and style. For on the go shopper, its important to be in the shop where everything is organize, well that's the reason maybe whey F21 doesn't that much sales ladies / men around like from the other stores.

Gold is everywhere! Its just like Christmas is just around the corner :-)

I'm not a fan of gold accessories feeling ko donya-donyahan ako kapag nakagold but when I see F21 collections pwede pala na hindi formal-formalan ang peg ni gold. Check their bangle's collection.

Looking for an accessories that go with your spring mood? Well you can never go wrong to their pastel colors necklaces paired with different kind of earrings - studs, chandelier, dangling, name it they have it!

Basic and Classic

Well if you want to be on the safe side in every outfit you'll have, go along with the basic and classic cream and gold. Satchel bag with bangle will surely compliment perfectly your street style outfit-of-the-day.

Accessories is a part of every outfit especially for the girls that's why I know ladies that like me you'll choose a cheap price yet standout, mas maraming mabibili kapag mura lang di ba. I think F21 is the right place to shop. The price of these earrings starts at 19.00QR only.

 Lately I just noticed when I am shopping halos pare-pareho na I mean wala na minsang trademark design yung mga shops like sa shoes, malalaman mo lang na yung pala yung brand kapag nakita mo sa sole aakalain mo yung isang brand yon kasi nga pareho na ng style, design and color. So as a shopper we know to check other shops din muna before buying especially if you're not in a hurry naman.

I heart this pair of earrings but I didn't buy it, it only cost 19QR in F21 and the same design as in exactly the same I saw in ALDO, and its 49QR

Oh my!!! what's the difference? only the board where the earrings are placed, but you'll not wear it with the paper board naman kaya. My dear co-shoppers be wise, even a single cents matters.

my cousins checking F21 fashionable rings

Looking for shoes, sandals and flip flops to complete your get up, they have it in here as well. Some of their sandals cost as low as 75QR only, they have so many styles and design that you can choose from.

 Looking for light and colorful clothes to complete your spring collections? they have it as well from colorful swim wears to shorts and pastel pants, and see how they arranged their stuffs - you don't need to think what to pair cos they will paired it for you.

Forever 21 is for every sizes. Ladies on the big frame or "bigger' frame will definitely can choose a stylish dress in here as well. They have "PLUS SIZE ++" corner to choose from, so worry no more.

  

They have DENIM section also where you can find classic collection of denim style of pants, shorts and even skirts.

F21 occupies bigger space compare the other shops in Ezdan but still not as big as they have in malls in Dubai yet the designs, styles and even how they arranged the shops itself is the same. I didn't take photos of men section I'll try to take on my next visit.

So what are you waiting for, shoppingeras and shoppingeros don't forget to write on your list the F21.

Other stores include Aeropostale, Tommy Hilfiger, Migato, Polo, CottonOn, and some shops that you can see in all other malls like ALDO, Charles and Keith. They have Carrefour also if you want to buy your groceries.

I got a pair of red shoes from C & K, may pagdayo pa ako ng Ezdan meron naman sa City Centre ..hehehe, why not they are on sale :-)

Ezdan has a big lobby and you can see chairs in the aisle, at least you can sit if get tired. They have customer service attendants too if you need to ask something. 

They have some fun rides also for kids but of course its not free, so mommy you can go to Ezdan with your baby but be sure you have someone with you to take care of him while your shopping. They have only few restaurants opened. 

We gave it a try to the famous Tim Hortons. 

Welcome to Tim Hortons...

Tim Hortons is a Canadian fast casual restaurants known for its coffee and doughnuts. Like any coffee houses they have also their signature coffee and they are selling coffee powder with their own brand too.

new career :-) Tim Hortons endorser

They have variety of flavors of doughnuts to choose from, they have also croissants, cinnamon rolls, and their bagels which we really enjoyed. Aside from bread product, they caters soup as well and other food that you can really enjoy even you're in a cafe.

Seeing that almost all of the crews in Tim Hortons makes me proud as Filipino again, it just means that more and more employers trust our race. Hooray to more Filipinos on the job!

And here's what we enjoyed...

Presenting the Tim Hortons :-)

 If you are a coffee lover or I must say drinker you can easily identify the taste of their coffee compare to others. Their brewed are really brewed, and yung lasang kape nya talaga winner hindi lasang creamer na hinaluan ng kape ..hehehe. Thumbs Up for Tim Hortons!
If others have frap, their version is their iced coffee. Yup literally coffee with ice cubes. Their doughnuts are not that sweet, for me its fine at least hindi nakakasuya. We chose cinnamon and chocolate glaze. I've tasted the soup ordered by my cousin and pasado rin. No wonder they are famous, in just simple and easy to prepared food mageenjoy ka.
Thanks to my cousin Les for the treat!

Happy Tummy, Happy Us!

If you want to visit Ezdan, I suggest to have your own car or car lift, I didn't see any taxi roaming around, maybe its because its still newly opened and so many stores are still close. But so far I can say its will be another place for family and friends to gather and to mingle. 

Like in any other malls where parking is one of the main concern, Ezdan can occupies 1,800 cars, in fairness ang laki naman talaga nung area nila halos palibot yata parking then may underground parking pa.

I'm looking forward for WH Bookstore to open :-) Hope it will be soon

New place, added to the list to visit and to shop not only for weekend but even when stressful day strikes. 

Retail Therapy Treatment Session

I spent my weekend, Friday just staying at home. I mean I was out in the morning to go to church but decided not to go out after due to heavy sandstorm.

For those of you guys who doesn't know what sandstorm is well  if rainstorm is to water then sandstorm is to sand, yup literally sand - free face powder,free shoe dye that you're black shoes will be instantly brown and sickness :-(

I was sick since Friday and was not able to come to office on Saturday. I spent those days in the room lying in my bed, with my laptop - thanks to Hillsong, Casting Crowns, Laura Story and others who've been my guests until I fell asleep. Thanks to Ate Cynthia too for the "hilot" (traditional massage) sobrang himbing ng tulog ko and to Tita Shiella for recommending the movie Life of Pi, such an inspiring story of faith.

I posted a status on my FB that its my 1st sick leave for this year and in few minutes almost all of them have one in common comments, well not "get well soon" but instead "shopping ang ang katapat" hahaha no wonder those ladies are all shoppingeras :-) - gusto ko man na mag-retail therapy pero hindi kaya ng katawan ko.

I used to have a "retail therapy" when I'm stressed, bored, disappointed and even I feel sad. Because of the RT I was able to learned to visit the mall by myself.  

Retail Therapy as per Wikepedia is shopping with the primary purpose of improving the buyer's mood or disposition. And item/s that were purchased refer as "comfort buys". Honestly I don't know that there's such a kind of therapy and not knowing that I'm treating myself with that until I read it way back 2000 in one of my Cosmo magazine.

When I'm still in the Philippines, I'm even going to SM or National Bookstore just to have small things like nail polish or colored pens, sometimes in a week I visited those stores 4 times.

Retail therapy according to psychologist is good. It really boosts the mood of a person, it makes someone happier. Treating yourself for something nice has a lasting impact. 

"Shopping is cheaper than a psychiatrist"

Personally, I have three reasons to shop - to indulge myself, to treat myself for a celebration, to have a therapy. 

Does retail therapy works?

Well for me its YES!  but I'm not recommending it to all but you can give it a try.  And here's my personal advice if you wanna try retail therapy:

1. Retail therapy is not shopping.  Retail means in small quantity only, meaning you can just buy one item, cheap item. Its not like shopping that seems that you want to hoard whatever you like or see.

2. When visiting to "hospital" which is the mall, tour yourself first around, do window shopping until you find the stuffs that you think you really like. It will save you as well to have a regret buys.

3. Don't ever use credit cards in purchasing any items when your goal is just to have a therapy. Using credit cards in shopping will lead you to shop more - mas madaling kumaskas kesa bumunot ng cash pero in the end good luck pag dumating ang statement of account mo baka instead na gumaling ka malula ka.

4. You are doing the retail therapy to boost you and not to down you. Do not go tho high end malls or shops if you want just a retail therapy especially if its not on your plan to have one but if you have a budget and intends to have on your hand its fine. Sometimes going to those shops will increase your frustrations and disappointments after not getting it.

5. You can have your retail therapy not only for malls. You can try to visit other shops outside like flea markets or tiangge, small boutiques or any place that you can purchase what you think that boost your mood.

The goal of having a retail therapy is a state of mind or emotions therapy, not physical. So guys don't make an excuse to have a retail therapy if you are physical sick like when you have fever or cough - you need a real medication, you need a real doctor and malls are not your hospital or clinic.

Yesterday, I'm back to work. I feel better than the other days, although I'm stressed, frustrated, ano pa bang pwedeng itawag, I even cried when I saw my desk full of documents even the monitor has some notes. Parang gusto ko na ulit umuwi ng bahay at magsick leave ulit, yung feeling na lahat ng naramdaman ko nung maysakit ako bumalik....kalma lang Jen. 

Thank you for I have some friends who comforted and pacified me. And still most of them advised me "shopping lang yan"  Without any plan and after a long discussion I'm with my sissy friends - Hazel and Genie at Centrepoint Al Sadd last night.

 The Happy Retailer, the HAPPY ME :-)

As I asked Hazel one of my friend who are with me last night on how is she now, as yesterday she feel lousy too she replied "ok na sis, effective". 

Retail therapy proven!

Oooppsss men retail therapy is not only for women, even you can have this. 

Try retail therapy it may be effective to you too ^_^

But remember as I'm always saying "Smart people knows to be practical"

Villagio Mall, An Italianate Experience

I can't remember when was the last time I visited Villagio. All I can remember is I was there the night before the fire tragedy happened, it was almost a year.

Last night I was there with friends. Villagio still maintains its beauty - the Italianate beauty of the themed mall is still there. There were no physical signs of tragedy although there's one part of it that will always reminds that innocents children were taken life because of the fire.

People might think that we are just new here in Doha and it's our first time in Villagio because we are taking pictures..well, we only missed the place.

WELCOME TO VILLAGIO!

Villagio is one of the shopping mall here in Doha. It was opened on 2006, most of the shops here included US, UK, Italian and German brands. After few years they made an extension and added high end brand shops like Louis Vuitton, Prada, Burberry, Ralph Lauren, etc and even Dean - Deluca.   

The ceilings are painted like a real sky. One part of the mall has a bright sky like in the morning while the other part is painted like a sky at night.

Aside from the Italianate theme, Villagio is also known on its 150 meter long indoor canal with gondolas. Well for almost 7 years here I never try to be in their gondolas "in water"...kakatakot baka hindi ako kayanin,tumaob pa ..hahaha

Because of its theme, Villagio become one of the most favorite shopping destination of expatriates and tourists.

What's New?

As I've said its been quite since I last visited here, aside from new shops (although I didn't check much) and new restaurants, this painting captured our attention. For me its new and I appreciated this work of art. Isa lang ang nasabi ko when I saw it "ang galing". The person or people behind this painting is really artistic! How great really God is for giving talents to each one of us.

 Ganda di ba? Artistic talaga ang nagpaint, 3D painting :) The painted wall is located near ZARA and MANGO shop. Pero be sure na kapag nagpapicture ka dito ay hindi bubukas ang pinto sa gitna :)

Picture Picture Picture ... 

 

At the back of this wall is another back drop....

Going to mall is one of my way to unwind, not necessarily to shop - sometimes just to be with friends for a few shops checking. I remember my colleagues before when I was working in the Philippines, at least 3 times a week we're going to SM or other department stores nearby the office and when someone asked us where we are going we are smilingly answered them "We're going to check our stocks in SM". You don't need to spend much money everytime you're visiting to malls, you can just eat with friends and catch up things.

There are people who are "afraid" of visiting or checking malls with high end shops, well guys nothing to be afraid in the first place there's nothing wrong in checking whether you'll buy their stuffs or not. Second, they will not check your wallet if you have money or not so why be afraid. Third, rich people do the same, you are not the only person who come and check but even shopaholics do it sometimes, just think that you're one of them too. You can dress up nearly the same us them so you're confidence will be boosted to enter in high end shops :)

So guys the next time you visit a mall, especially if its your first time to that don't hesitate to roam around and explore what they have.