Ho hum

It was a pretty eventful weekend for me. Wednesday night was a nice relaxing evening at the fantastic PDO boat club watching the Exiles band play (the same band from the ANZO ball). Thursday evening was an eventful affair that ended up with a drunken bout of The Beatles Rock Band. I still managed to get high 90's. Ok it was on easy mode. The new band at the Safari bar, Oxygen, seemed ok. The two lead singers were wearing some pretty sexy outfits which seemed to pack the punters in, and the guitarist (from Norway, I think, or one of the Scandinavian countries) also demonstrated that he could actually play the guitar quite well.

Friday morning I woke up to find I'd won Tom Jones tickets in the recent prize draw over at Muscat Confidential - score! But seeing as I've already bought my tickets, I am giving them away to fellow blogger Delirious in the Desert.

And speaking of fellow bloggers, new girl on the scene English Girl in Oman has blogged again about life here, a dinner party this time. I wonder if anyone will comment with embarrassing dinner party stories. I hope they do because I find that sort of stuff really entertaining to read :)

Also, Reality in Oman has blogged twice in recent days. The first on haggling at the Muttrah Corniche (I so need her haggling skills when visiting the dodgy t-shirt guy in ruwi) and the second was an alarming commentary on the issues she is facing from her family for marrying an American "white boy". While one could argue that anyone marrying an American is cause for concern (because they're.... American?!) it is entirely dis-heartening to read what is happening to her and by extension, her immediate family as a result of her uncle's desire to be an asshole. An enlightening insight into the inner-workings of Omani family politics. My commiserations go out to her, but I'm sure in just a few short months when she is state-side, it'll be a distant memory.

The Jet Driver also blogged recently on the greed of some people in the 40th anniversary celebrations, worth a read because I think it's definitely something that rings true. I just wish he'd write more about the Basis Bus One because that had me in stitches of laughter.

In local regional news, I read with some amazement that the Qatari's have decided that they will now refuse to offer Visa's on arrival to European and North American passport holders. And rather bizarrely, one of Qatar's Diplomats caused a commotion on a United Airlines flight to the USA recently when he tried to sneak a quick smoke in the toilets. Obviously this set off alarms and then the guy joked that he was trying to set his shoes on fire. What a dick!

So, now, or after May 1st, in order to visit Qatar, if you are not on the magic Visa on Arrival list, you will need to obtain a visit visa ahead of time. That's really good for business that is. Suddenly Qatar is competing with the UAE to be more like Saudi. But understandable I guess. However, what really amazes me is that in order to get a visit visa, British nationals must now present bank statements of the last 3 months showing that they have at least $1300. That is a real corker! The Doha rugby club is a great venue and a great place, shame they are not going to be hosting many more games there because of this ruling!

Have a good week everyone.

le fin.