Located next to the Khalifa Stadium, this is a brand new and very impressive museum. Like many other things – it was eerily deserted – but is a definite recommendation.
Next stop: Mexico vs Poland.
Category Archives: Around the world
¡Nos vamos al Mundial!
It was a rough first day.
My flights were: AUS-DFW, DFW-LHR, LHR-DOH.
American Airlines was quick to mess with my plans by delaying the AUS-DFW flight. But only 10 minutes at a time so that I can’t look for alternatives before missing a connection. I made it to the gate of my connecting flight 3 minutes after it closed.
I was instead forced to stay the night in Dallas (not the airline’s fault of course, so hotel’s on me) and put on a flight that lands me in Doha with barely enough time to get to my first match with suitcase and all.
Thankfully, I went to the airport early and straight to beg to a really nice AA lady, using my best sad kitten eyes face 🥹. She got me on an earlier flight direct to Doha! That gave me enough time to go to the apartment, shower, eat, nap, then to the two matches! Sure, it was a middle seat all the way to the back in a 15 hour flight. But I was going to make it! No complaints.
I was impressed at the big and modern airport. And most impressed at the speed and efficiency of immigration. Wow! Will everything in Qatar be this fast and efficient? (Narrator: no, it won’t).
The apartment we got is in a small building that is definitely not new in some random Doha neighborhood. It absolutely demolished my expectations though. It is simple with no luxury, but perfect: Large, comfortable, newly renovated. Two bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms, kitchen, fridge, washing machine, TV. Everything looks fairly new. AC works like a champ. There’s several places to eat and buy groceries around it that are quite cheap. Everyone speaks serviceable English – probably better than Arabic.
USS Lexington
On a recent long weekend, the Kirsches from Austin went on a quick trip. Our goal was to stay within short driving distance. We decided on Corpus Christi because beach.
I had never visited Corpus Christi and didn’t know what to expect – I don’t think a Selena Shrine is a good enough reason to plan the trip.
But the USS Lexington is. I am embarrassed to admit I didn’t even know it was there. It’s an old WWII-era aircraft carrier turned into a museum and it’s just as cool as you would imagine.
Not only was it extremely interesting to learn about the history of the ship and see its insides and look at the planes… they even have an Escape Room. That’s right: an Escape Room inside a 70 year old aircraft carrier.
We couldn’t solve it though.
Galaxy’s Edge
There’s other things at Disneyworld, but the highlight is the new Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge section of Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
It is located in the village of Black Spire Outpost, on the wild frontier planet of Batuu at some point in time during the new trilogy. The attention to detail is mind blowing.
There are two main attractions: Rise of the Resistance and Smuggler’s Run. The first one is the biggest, most epic ride ever built. It is kind of surreal to step into the Millenium Falcon having been watching the movies for forty years.
Getting to ride Rise of the Resistance is tricky because of high demand and a new virtual queue system. Maybe I’ll write with tips on how to ensure your spot. If someone asks.
Photos follow. Consider this your spoiler alert.
The Great Wall (Addendum)
Back in the USA, I can now upload to YouTube at reasonable speeds.
You are taken up to the mountain on a ski lift.
And you get back down on a slide. If there was more distance between riders, then you could go faster and this would be an extraordinary amount of fun. As it is, you will often have to stop for slower riders in front of you making the experience only quite fun.
The Great Wall
I took a quick break from apartment hunting to visit the Great Wall of China in Beijing last weekend. I didn’t get to see the whole thing though as it happens to be on the larger side – only the Mutianyu section. This is one of those places I’ve been wanting to see since I was a little kid.
Whenever I get back home and have solid access to YouTube I will upload a video of the ski lift that takes you up and the longest slide ever that gets you back down.
Disneyland
We did a short trip to Los Angeles for Sarvi’s wedding last week. Which means I couldn’t resist hopping over to Disneyland Park.
I brought the family along, which slowed me down considerably (lesson learned!) but still managed to cover quite a bit:
- Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
- Star Tours
- Goofy’s Playhouse
- Haunted Mansion
- Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage
- it’s a small world
- Mickey’s House
- Pirate’s of the Caribbean
- Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin
- Star Wars Launch Bay
- Tiki Room
The original Disneyland is still the nicest! Next time I’ll plan it better and stay longer. I need to go back soon anyway, since Ari probably already forgot about it.
Monster Jam
Ilán has had a lifelong obsession with all things vehicle, so we headed out to San Antonio to check out Monster Jam at the Alamodome.
I don’t consider myself knowledgeable about Monster Trucks and I had never attended one of their shows. We got tickets to the pre-show which allowed us to go down to see the machines up-close and even meet the drivers and get their autographs.
Little did I know that these guys are celebrities. There were long lines of kids holding their $10 program ready to get an autograph from these superstars. Is the world of Monster Trucks big and somehow I’ve stayed unaware of it?
It was a great show, easily able to hold the attention of a 4 year-old kid for 2.5 hours. Just bring earplugs.
Russia photos
I’ve posted a lot of photos from the trip to the World Cup in the MKX® Photo Central.
Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines
We visited a small private collection of arcades from the Soviet era in Moscow. Given my field of work and the man years I spent playing video games, I found this interesting.
It was a stark contrast, these games and what was available in the western world. Games contemporary to the Sega Genesis era looked only marginally better than Pong.
Lots of mechanical, as in little moving parts, displays. This, instead of the raster graphics on CRT displays common at the time. I will have to look more into what kind of processors these things used and how capable they were.
Add terrible video games to the list of why it was crappy to grow up in the USSR.
