Friday night at Souq W@qif

I took my friend to Souq W@qif last Friday and my my was the souq vibrant with live music and there were so many people. It was almost like walking in one of the cerita P. Ramlee arab bazaar.

Souq waqif is one of the traditional markets (recently uplifted) here in Qtar. A typical Arab traditional market with many branches of little streets leading to more shops. Its almost like a maze. The walls in the old times are most likely made of clay. I suppose now its rebuild with plaster with uneven texture to make it look like clay. The doors are made of wood. If all of them are closed you would have to mark X to know which shop you went to earlier. he he. Teka macam cerita apa?

I have never really bought anything much here but seriously there are so many things to buy. Mostly house ornaments especially if you are looking for Arab feature. I think I might get one of those glazed glass lamps. They sell pistachios, nuts, raisins and the likes. Paintings and souveniers too. What makes it lively are the shisha and coffe shop in arab settings. And on certain days they have women selling things at the sidewalk. Some doing mehendi, traditional fabric, food and gold.

Last Friday we went, and the souq was at its most vibrant. There were live shows. I enjoyed it tremendously. I recorded one of the ghazal (?) show. Betul-betul best pada pendapat sayalah. Tapi panjang amat. About 8 minutes. Tapi the gendang, the music semua best betul. The best part is when some youth clapped to the rhythm of the music. Sharp shrilling loud clap. Rasa amat exciting bila dengar. Until of course we are asked to move to the ladies section. Oh sorry, I didn't know.