Muscat to have bus network in 5 years.

It appears that we are about to see the start of a Muscat bus network comparable to that of Dubai. The Oman National Transport Company has been existence for quite some time, and I'm sure many of you have seen the somewhat pointless bus-stops that are dotted around Muscat - it appears that the buses may finally be coming!

ONTC have been given the mandate to get the bus network up and running within 5 years, so expect to see some development on these bus stops soon. ONTC currently operate long-haul routes, but no local bus service here in Muscat. Most of the infrastructure is already there - roads, bus stops (even though more are needed I'm sure). I guess most of the work is to actually establish the routes, train the drivers, price the tickets and purchase the buses. The maintenance facility is existing (to service the long distance coaches) but I suspect that will need upgrading as well.

Rather disturbingly, statistics show that only 15% of the population in Muscat actually own a vehicle. 15%. That is set to grow as the population boom matures and we find more and more drivers on the roads. So really it makes perfect sense to get a bus network in place, and those lovely bus stops can finally be used!

The only fall-out I can think of is that the taxi drivers are not going to be very pleased about this development. The rest of us should be pretty pleased about it - no more high-speed swerve & stop manoeuvres being carried out by taxi's on the highway.... I hope.

Local blogger Andy in Oman recently blogged about the ONTC and their existing timetable and fleet here, a quick but fact-filled read. I also ripped his photograph of the ONTC logo - hope you don't mind!

le fin.

Congratulations

Thank you to all of you who entered, there were more of you than I expected!

Under the tried and tested method of asking a person to pick a number at random (with no knowledge of why they were doing this) lucky entrant "B" has won the 2 tickets to Bryan Adams this 18th December at the InterCon gardens.

Tickets are still on sale, and cost RO 25 each, you can get them at all the usual spots: OUA MQ, Bose in QCC, the Al Ghazal Pub and of course you can visit the Hi FM website for more details.

In other news, rumour has it that there may be a day or two's holiday called for the end of this week..... who knows though?

Thanks to everyone for taking part.... perhaps I'll give away a couple more tickets soon... ;)

le fin.

Weekend activities.

What a busy week it's been, catching up after the Eid al Adha holidays. Many thought we would be granted more day's off, but lets face it - it was nice to get even 1 day off in this amazing weather.

Tomorrow evening see's the arrival of the Queen Elizabeth here in Oman - for a 4 day (3 night) state visit to the Sultanate after a 2 day (1 night) state visit to the UAE. There are rumours floating around town that last weekend Prince William visited HM Qaboos in a private meeting - it's just a rumour though, nothing solid on that! You can see more on the planned itinerary on the official website of The British Monarchy here.

So, on with the blog. Here's a selection of things going on this weekend that you might be interested in:
1/ Harry Potter. Another instalment of this money printing press franchise has been released this week. It's on at the Shatti cinema at least 3 times a day - not sure if they are doing the 3D screening though. Please comment if you know if they are or not.... :)

2/ The Commitments. Irish Soul band... sort of - entertaining both musically and comedically - tickets are still available - RO 15 - doors open at 8pm tonight at the Copacabana in the Hyatt.
3/ The Muscat boy's are playing the Royal Navy's HMS Cumberland at the Muscat Rugby ground on Thursday at 6:30pm. It'll be a fun game and as usual there will be a bbq afterwards.
4/ On Friday, between 4-8pm there is the second chill-out session at the rugby club. Pay 10 rials, get 10 drinks (bottled beers or glasses of wine). There's a bbq on offer as well. It'll be a nice warm-up for the next item...

5/ Bollywood Friday's at Zouk. Starting this Friday at 8pm, a bit of fun - Bollywood nights at Zouk. I have high expectations of a group dancing around the club in synchronized perfection. Perhaps I've been watching too much Glee again.

Now don't forget to enter for the free tickets give-away to Bryan Adams next month - I'll randomly pick a name out of a hat on Friday afternoon, and depending on how my Friday goes, I'll either announce the winner on Friday evening or Saturday morning! Please remember to leave a way for me to contact you if you choose to leave a comment.
And lastly, a very warm welcome to the blogosphere to a new blogger: Ms Adventures of the hilarious new "local" blog - Misadventures in HR (not to be confused with "hoomin resource"). She's one seriously funny writer, who lives in "Sand Land" but I'm going to say she lives with us here in Oman, and if she doesn't, I will still say she does! Go and read her stuff. It had me in tears!

Enjoy another fantastic Omani winter weekend. Next week, something about buses. Stay tuned.

le fin.

The Commitments...

Now some of you might remember the surprise hit movie The Commitments from 1991. If you like musicals you'll probably like this movie, especially if you're Irish or like Soul music. 19 years on and the band is still playing it's soul music. And rather handily, they are playing at the Copacabana this Wednesday, doors opening at 8pm. I wonder if the Copacabana was chosen due to it's retro 90's interior decor? ;)

Don't forget - you can still enter the free prize draw for a pair of tickets to the Bryan Adam's concert here on the 18th December.

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Bryan Adams - Free tickets!

Unless you've been living in a hole recently, you will almost certainly know that Bryan Adams is coming to town on December 18th.

With special thanks to Darren from Hi FM, I am pleased to offer a pair of tickets for free (that's my favourite price by the way) to a lucky reader here on my blog.

You can enter by either leaving a comment, or by sending me an email. If you leave a comment, please leave a way for me to contact you, and if you are looking for my email - it's in the top right corner of this blog in my disclaimer. I'll announce the winner on Friday!

Tickets are selling very quickly, and if you would prefer to purchase your tickets, you can get them here: OUA (Madinat Qaboos), SCS (Azaiba), Bose (Qurum City Centre) or Al Ghazal (InterContinental Hotel). Better hurry though, they are running out!

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Muscat Private Hospital, and others.

Well that was a nice break - I hope you all enjoyed your Eid vacations.


This is a blog post that I've been trying to write on and off for quite some time. I've come to the conclusion that I cant prove anything as I'm obviously not a doctor, and can't get one to go on record (I haven't even tried) about anything that happens here in Oman at these health care facilities.

I was first approached by a reader half a year ago, and told to look into private hospitals that have been opening up around town (and even further afield these days). Over the months I've come across various stories that have left me shaking my head, and with a sole determination that should I or anyone close to me have an urgent need for medical healthcare here in Oman, we're going to a Government hospital.

Here are just two stories:

1. A married couple drove to the recently opened (well, late 2009) Al Raffah hospital in Ghubra late at night. The hospital boasts a 24hour ER facility (source - read the 5th sentence in the 3rd paragraph) and so they went there as it was the closest ER to them. Upon arriving at the ER, they were promptly told to go to the Royal hospital as they could not treat the man there. By the time this couple had gotten to the Royal, the husband had died of a heart attack and was DOA. Over the months I've heard similar stories of people being turned away by the "emergency room" at Raffah. Why are they allowed to continue to operate an Emergency Room?

2. Muscat Private Hospital and pregnancies. I am not joking about this - I have heard numerous alarming stories about problems that seem to occur with births at the MPH. On the one side, I'm no Doctor and a lot of these stories could be based on over-worrying parents who are not getting the information/confidence/communication they need when dealing with their new born children and the occasional issues babies have. However, it seems to me that the stories of problems are growing at MPH. I'm aware of 3 separate births in the last 2 months alone where there have been significant questions raised over the practices at MPH. I just feel that this is worth airing in public - where there's smoke, sometimes there's fire.

Now, I've no way to prove any of this, and so I've decided to let this story out and ask you all what your experiences have been with these "private hospitals". It appears that the Ministry of Health appears to grant licenses to these private institutions, but any sort of review or regulatory inspection seems to be a bit difficult to tie down. I'm left asking the question: Who's checking on these "hospitals" to make sure they are up to scratch? Who's regulating them? Self regulation is just something I don't think can happen when you're talking about people's lives.

So anyway - over to you, please share your experiences!

le fin

Lots of local news!

Well it's Wednesday already - where did the week go?!

There's lots of little bits and pieces I wanted to blog, so I'm going to lump them all into this post because I think it'll be easier. Please do feel free to email me or tweet me bits of news if you would like me to share with everyone.

Crime in Muscat.

Rising crime in Muscat. You've all read the papers, the letters to the Editor in The Week, and so on. It seems that crime, specifically robberies, are on the rise here in Muscat. And the ROP appear to be struggling a little with this significant up-swing in break-ins. One person who contacted me informed me he had to wait 3 days to get a police report in order to file an insurance claim - surely these things should be issued on the spot by the attending officer? Just this morning, the ROP were called to the Etihad offices in Ruwi for a break-in. Apparently some bright spark thought he could nick himself an A380 or something!

So be sure you are vigilant. Ensure your doors and windows are locked, ensure your sliding doors are secured in a way that they can't be easily forced open from the outside, and ensure you do not leave anything of value in display inside your cars.

Eid.

Eid holidays have now been called: a nice cool 3 day haul for the Government, and 4 days for the Private sector. It will be a nice long weekend for sure! I read with interest the letter to the editor published in this weeks The Week about expatriate government employees being discriminated against due to their race. I fully agree with the author of the letter, but we all know nothing will change on that front.

Tom Millward.


Tomorrow, the 11th November, sees Tom Millward start his ride for charity around Oman. 3000 KM's starting at Qurum City Centre, at 11:11am. Tom is raising money to assist the Association of Early Intervention for Children with Disability in Oman. During his cycle he is also hoping to raise awareness of Oman as a destination for Cycling to the wider community. The cycle ride will take between 2 and 3 months to complete and will cover all sorts of terrain and areas including the difficult and unpredictable interior.

If you require further information or would like to donate towards this charity, please contact omanbycycle@hotmail.com or GSM 9761 3342.

Fancy coins.

There are two commemorative coins being minted to mark the 40th anniversary of Oman as we know it today. One is gold, and the other is silver, and will contain the Oman coat of arms and a special 40th anniversary logo - so keep your eyes out for them.

Bryan Adams.

It's long been rumoured, and has finally been officially announced: Bryan's coming to town on December the 18th. Tickets are RO 25 and are on sale now in all the usual outlets. Stay tuned for a free ticket give-away right here on Muscat Mutterings soon.


War of the Djz Final - Thursday night

In new nightclub Nuts & Bolts, on Thursday night there is the final of the 2010 War of the Djz competition.


It should be a laugh, so check it out, the finalists are really good at their craft and it will be a great night of musical entertainment!

Zouk.
Tonight, the ever-trendy Zouk bar are having their very own VJ (Video Jockey) play some fun videos with crowd interaction, and of course their signature House music pumping all night long. Remember - you pay RO 20 at the door and then you get RO 20 worth of food and drinks inside.

Muscat Rugby & Aussie Rules


This Friday afternoon, from 1:30pm sees an afternoon of fun on the Rugby ground. At 1:30 the Muscat Magpies play the Dubai Dingo's, then at 3pm the Muscat Rugby Club's U12 group have a demonstration game, and at 3:30pm we have Muscat RFC Men's Vs the Dubai Exiles. There will be a music system in the stands for spectators, as well as a bbq and drinks (non alcoholic ON the rugby pitch), then down in the clubhouse there are special offers on food and drinks available (including alcohol of course). It will be a fantastic day for everyone, please do come on down and show your support for our local expatriate community.

Royal Opera

There have been reports that the Royal Opera people have been over-selling events to ensure packed nights, with the slight problem that some people who paid for their tickets do not get to have a seat. Reportedly nearly 30 people were left standing at the Monday night performance. So if you're planning on going to the Opera - make sure you get there early to get a seat!

UAE & Canada

It seems that the on-going spat between the UAE and Canada has gone to the next level: The UAE have now announced that as of January 2nd 2011, all Canadian passport holders visiting the UAE will have to apply for a visa before-hand, and pay the Visa fee (presumably RO 20 a time). One does wonder what the end result of all this diplomatic arguing will be, but it's routed in the fact that the UAE want more than 6 landing slots at Canadian airports each week for it's two airlines (Etihad and Emirates currently have to share the 6 slots). Having personally been on many Etihad flights to Toronto, I can assure you those flights are always jammed full, and more flights would be a good thing. But Air Canada don't want the competition. It would seem that the sound business solution would be to sell more landing slots to the UAE - why is a private company (Air Canada) dictating the Government of Canada's policies on this?

That's all for this week - have a fabulous weekend everyone.

le fin.

Eid holidays declared

The Eid holidays for the Government sector have been declared:

Monday 15th - Wednesday 17th, back to work on Saturday 20th.

Currently no announcement has been made for the Private sector, I'll update this when it is made, but speculation is that it'll be 15th-18th, back on the 20th.

Private sector holidays have now been confirmed - it's the 15th - 18th - back to work on the 20th. No official word on any further holidays in December.

le fin.

Saturday smile.

The big news over the weekend, as covered by the Undercover Dragon over at Muscat Confidential, was the UN report finding that Oman is the most improved country in the last 40 years.

You can read more about it here.

Other than that, he's a picture a friend snapped while out and about. It made me smile :)



le fin.

Friday fun

Those of you that enjoyed the British Corner at the Intercon over the summer will be pleased to hear that it's back!

Back by popular demand this Friday's brunch at the Intercontinental
Muscat will be focusing on a British corner with all the usual healthy
delights.

Also look out for the new executive Sous chef Neil Wilkinson and taste
his traditional slow roasted rib of beef with Yorkshire puddings.
Please book in advance if you're coming as its going to be busy.

It starts at 12:30 and costs RO 14.500 ++.

Also, there is a new night club in the Al Falaj hotel (where the fabulous Tokyo Taro is) that has opened recently called Nuts and Bolts. From what I understand, it's themed similarly to Jack Rabbit Slim's from the hit movie Pulp Fiction. They open at 8pm tonight, worth a look in.


Enjoy the weekend!

le fin.

Something fun for the weekend.

Tonight, as you will know from my previous blog, is the rugby team's fund raiser event: Comedy night. It costs RO 10, you get a complimentary drink, and it will help support local comedians and local rugby player (also arguably comedians). The last time this was done, it was a great night. You can buy tickets on the door, and call 9577 4018 for more info.

I was having lunch in a local restaurant in Al Khuwair recently, and snapped this amusing picture:
Points if you can tell me which restaurant the picture was taken in!

Now, long time Omani blog followers may remember Other Oman, and her post about Ken Block. Well, Ken's made another video. Man that guy can drive, he might even survive here on the mean streets of Muscat (assuming he can master the 1 wheel at a time over speed bumps thing).



le fin.