Tag Archives: Starbucks

Middle East 2024 Day 1 – Qatar

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We flew from New York with Qatar airways. The flight is 12 hours, and it was definitely a pro move to get an aisle seat that has extra leg room, and is in the baby bunker area. Also, Qatar airways meals are pretty good, and they serve you unlimited whisky and Prosecco for free!

We arrived at DOH airport at 6am. For US citizens there is a $20 USD fee to enter. Also, they do xray all carry bags, and they randomly have people pull aside for extra screening (that happened to me, but the extra screening was just scanning my luggage tag).

We tried to call our hotel to see if we can check in early, but they did not answer, so we took a taxi (Uber does exist in Qatar, but not around the airport).

When we arrived at the hotel, called the Al Najada near Souq Waqif, it was 7:30am, and our room was not ready yet, so we decided to get the continental breakfast. The selection was great (really enjoyed the shrimp curry).

At around 8:30am they had our room ready. So took a 5 hour nap.

After a nap, headed over to the Lusail region, where we first checked out the Place Vendome mall. The mall is known for its dancing fountain (will say wayyy under impressed… a 3 minutes show only, and Bellagio fountains are way better). The mall did have a bunch of high end stores, and lots of American and European ones (ended up getting star bucks and Dairy Queen at the mall). I will say, the courtyard of the mail really looked very Vegas like, and I thought the sky in it was fake (it is real).

After the mall, got a quick double Makers whisky drink at a sports bar called The GOAT in a hotel (Le Royal Meridien) was attached to the mall (liquor in Qatar is VERY strict, and only really expensive restaurant serve it. You also need your passport as ID).

After, Ubered 6 minutes the Lusail Night Market. It is basically food and nothing else (would say I recommend it). However the Fairmont hotel was near by, and that was epic to check out (it basically looks like the eye of Soran). Next time would definitely try out one of the restaurants in that hotel.

We then proceeded to the Katara Cultural Village, where lots of outdoor art pieces are( and a gold mosque). We also ate a restaurant called Mamig. Here are the details:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2024/11/26/mamig/

After we ended up going back to the hotel to sleep for 9 hours.

Japan 2022 Day 4 – Kyoto / Tokyo

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We started off the day by checking out the Starbucks at the Gino District, where you can drink / eat Japanese style (ie sitting down on the floor). Here are the details :

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2022/11/25/starbucks-gion-district/

We the taxied it back to Kyoto Station, where again I did get some McDonalds, and then caught the Shinkansen train to Tokyo (Shinagawa station). The train was 2.5 hours. I felt a bit nauseous at first, but got used to the high speed.

After getting to Shinagawa station, took one of the JR trains to Shibuya station. Our hotel is actually connected to the station (as the name, JR East Mets Shibuya, would suggest).

After getting settled in, we went to a close by conveyor belt sushi place in Shibuya (which was very close to the Shibuya scramble, which was super busy, as pictured below).

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2022/11/26/katsumidori-seibu-shibuya/

After, we headed towards Shinjuku for some nightlife fun. First stopped by Golden Gai (so I could compare it to the burning man experience). Lol, the bars there are super tiny, but really fun. We went to one where the owner made a really good music video about Shinjuku.

Then we checked out Shinjuku Nichome. Basically you go to the local convenient stores (7 eleven, Lawson, etc), drink some seltzer or hard liquor, and then bar hop. We went Arty Farty, Dragon Men, and King.

Ended the night taxiing it back to the hotel.