Gharissa Ice Cream

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Indomie (Indonesian noodle) for 1.5 Rial I bought at Abdulla Ali Bumatar minimarket last night, finally accompanied my breakfast at Casper Hotel pantry. I was still reluctant to leave hotel, even though clock had fallen at eight, none other than because of cold air which succed to break my spirit.

At ten o’clock in the morning, I started to force my steps and then waited for Karwa Bus number 12 to go to Qubaa Street, then continue with Karwa Bus number 301 to Doha Sports City which has an area of not less than 250 hectares. This area is better known as Aspire Zone.

A hour journey, took me to my destination. I was dropped off at a bus stop at Al Furousiya Street. Soon, I would feel the coolness of Aspire Park which is part of Aspire Zone.

From Al Furousiya Street I turned right and entered Al Waab Street. A kilometer later I turned left to take Aspire Park Road. Well, this Aspire Park is on the left side of this road. While on the right side of road lies a modern shopping center which is famous in Qatar because there is a Venice-style gondola tour in it, this shopping center is called Villaggio Mall.

You who have children, let’s measure their height here!

Located in Baaya District in south of Qatar, this Aspire Park has a very long and comfortable running trail, some parts of this running trail even show a bouncing sensation when stepped on. Mileage indicator is also displayed at several points on the running trail.

I started my exploration from the southern part of park which features hilly contours. My goal is to see the whole garden from a height, of course it would look more beautiful. Right at base of hilly contours, a skateboard track facility was built, while at the top of hill, eight exercise bikes were provided. From above it looks so spacious and beautiful Aspire Park.

Descending the small hill towards north, I returned to lowlands and entered park area as a whole. You can see large trunked trees, shade roofs with giant cloth umbrellas are also visible everywhere, providing other options for shelter other than under the trees.

Meanwhile, the activities of residents seemed to start to get busy near noon. Several children were seen playing penalty kicks. The atmosphere of Qatari football was no less thick than my homeland football. Understandably Qatar is the winner of the 2009 AFC Asian Cup ago after beating defending champions Japan.

Meanwhile, visitors don’t need to worry if they want to just relax, enjoy the day in the park with a cup of coffee or other snacks. Several shops are scattered in the sand trail area. Gharissa Ice cream, Ard Canaan Restaurant, Mobsto Coffee Truck and a well-known Coffeeshop Company are ready to pamper visitors.

Set in the Aspire Tower or better known as Torch Doha as high as 300 meters, making Aspire Park as an artistic park. Seeing from all directions still beautiful, because of that, many people who visit this park.

I came to a view of an artificial lake with a blend of bridges crossing its middle. I could see the tip of fountain spraying towards the bridge from both sides, if this fountain is turned on it will definitely become an artistic hood which passes over visitor heads who passing through the bridge.

Meanwhile, on a side of Aspire Lake there is a statue of a horse pulling a loaded cart. This is the work of Sarah Lucas Perceval in 2006 which became an iconic spot for visitors to take pictures.

Then on the west side of the lake there is a playground area for children. This area is quite large and provides a variety of games. Making children feel at home for long in the park, also makes this park a favorite place to visit for families to spend their weekends or holidays.

Meanwhile in a part of park, a large pond is being built with a podium on its side. I didn’t know what was being made in this project. It appeared that this area was still closed and couldn’t be visited because construction activities were being carried out on a massive scale.

A few moments later, in north of park I was standing and preparing to end my visitation. Now I was getting ready to enter the Sports Zone, which seemed to be dominated by the existence of Khalifa International Stadium.

Let’s saw what was in this Sports Zone!.

Next Story—->

<—-Kisah Sebelumnya

Indomie seharga Rp. 6.000 yang kubeli di Abdulla Ali Bumatar minimarket semalam, akhirnya menemani santap pagiku di pantry Casper Hotel. Aku masih enggan keluar hotel, walau jarum jam telah jatuh di angka delapan, tak lain karena udara dingin yang berhasil mematahkan semangatku.

Tepat pukul sepuluh pagi, aku mulai memaksakan langkah dan kemudian menunggu Karwa Bus bernomor 12 menuju Qubaa Street, untuk kemudian bersambung dengan Karwa Bus bernomor 301 menuju Doha Sports City yang memiliki luas tak kurang dari 250 hektar. Area ini lebih dikenal dengan sebutan Aspire Zone.

Satu jam perjalanan, mengantarkanku sampai di tujuan. Aku diturunkan di sebuah halte bus di Al Furousiya Street. Tak akan lama lagi, aku akan merasakan kesejukan Aspire Park yang menjadi bagian dari Aspire Zone.

Dari Al Furousiya Street aku berbelok ke kanan dan memasuki Al Waab Street. Satu kilometer kemudian aku berbelok ke kiri untuk menapaki Aspire Park Road. Nah, Aspire Park ini berada di sisi kiri jalan ini. Sementara di sebelah kanan jalan terletaklah sebuah pusat perbelanjaan modern terkenal di Qatar karena terdapat wisata gondola ala Venice di dalamnya, pusat perbelanjaan ini dinamakan Villaggio Mall.

Yang punya anak, hayu ukur tinggi badannya disini !.

Terletak di Distrik Baaya di Selatan Qatar, Aspire Park ini memiliki running trail yang sangat panjang dan nyaman, beberapa bagian dari running trail ini bahkan menampilkan sensasi memantul ketika diinjak. Penunjuk jarak tempuh juga ditampilkan di beberapa titik di running trail.

Aku memulai eksplorasi dari bagian selatan taman yang menampilkan kontur berbukit. Tujuanku adalah melihat seisi taman dari ketinggian, tentu akan tampak lebih indah. Tepat di kaki bukit dibangun fasilitas skateboard track sedangkan di bagian puncak bukit di beri fasilitas delapan exercise bike. Dari atas tampak terlihat begitu luas dan indah suasana Aspire Park.

Menuruni bukit kecil menuju ke arah utara, aku kembali ke dataran rendah dan memasuki area taman secara keseluruhan. Tampak pepohonan berbatang besar, naungan beratapkan payung raksasa berbahan kain juga tampak dimana-mana, memberikan opsi lain untuk berteduh selain di bawah pepohonan.

Sementara aktivitas warga tampak mulai ramai menjelang tengah hari. Beberapa anak tampak bermain tendangan penalti. Atmosfer sepak bola Qatar memang tak kalah kental dari sepakbola tanah air kita. Maklum Qatar adalah pemenang Piala Asia 2009 silam setelah menundukkan juara bertahan Jepang.

Semantara para pengunjung tak perlu khawatir jika ingin sekedar bersantai, menikmati hari di taman dengan secangkir kopi atau snack lainnya. Beberapa kedai tersebar di area sand trail. Gharissa Ice cream, Ard Canaan Restaurant, Mobsto Coffee Truck dan satu kedai terkenal Coffeeshop Company siap memanjakan pengunjung.

Berlatarkan Aspire Tower atau yang lebih dikenal dengan sebutan The Torch Doha setinggi 300 meter, menjadikan Aspire Park sebagai taman yang artistik. Diambil dari segala penjuru tetap saja elok, tak hayal, banyakl orang yang mengunjungi taman ini.

Aku sampai pada sebuah tampilan danau buatan dengan paduan jembatan yang melintas di tengahnya. Tampak ujung penyembur air mancur menuju ke arah jembatan dari kedua sisi, jika air mancur ini dinyalakan pasti akan menjadi tudung artistik yang melintas di atas kepala pengunjung yang melewati jembatan itu.

Sementara di sisi Aspire Lake tampak patung kuda yang tengah menarik gerobak bermuatan. Inilah karya Sarah Lucas Perceval pada tahun 2006 yang menjadi spot ikonik untuk berfoto para pengunjung.

Kemudian di sisi barat danau terdapat area playground untuk anak-anak. Area ini cukup luas dan menyediakan beragam permainan. Membuat anak-anak betah berlama-lama di taman, juga menjadikan taman ini menjadi tempat favorit untuk tempat berkunjung bagi para keluarga untuk menghabiskan weekend atau hari libur mereka.

Sementara di sebuah bagian taman, sedang dibangun sebuah kolam besar dengan podium di sisinya. Saya tak tahu apa yang sedang dibuat dalam proyek ini. Tampak area ini masih tertutup dan tidak bisa dikunjungi karena kegiatan pembangunan sedang dilakukan secara masif.

Beberapa saat kemudian, di utara taman aku sudah berdiri dan bersiap mengakhiri kunjungan. Kini aku bersiap memasuku Sports Zone yang tampak di dominasi oleh keberadaan Khalifa International Stadium.

Yuk kita lihat ada apa saja di Sports Zone ini !.

Kisah Selanjutnya—->

Tag: Gharissa Ice Cream

Practicing Penalty Kick at Aspire Park

Berlatih Tendangan Pinalti di Aspire Park