The weekend.

Well it's certainly been a busy week hasnt it?

The Egypt situation seems to be settling down now that Mr Mubarak has announced he will step down in September. I'm not going to get further into that here!

Oman came out on Sunday the 30th Jan and announced that it had busted a UAE spy network. This quickly got picked up by regular news sources and has not really been followed up. Of course, local blogger Undercover Dragon blogged about this in November last year. I understand that both Omani's and Emiraties were arrested, and that they will all be put on trial. I also understand that the penalty for treason is death by hanging.

A member of the local forum (Karim), Oman Forum, recently posted this comment relating to this story:

The first time I heard about this was months ago, something like 6 months I think, as it was summer and very humid and I was having a drink at one of the security apparatus beach front recreation clubs at North Azaiba Beach, if you follow my drift.

I couldn’t believe it at the time, and the person who told was half drunk any way. But over time, this issues started to snow ball in the virtual world and blogosphere, and then came the Omani government official statement, as yes, Oman vaunted security apparatus was infiltrated by the security agencies of Abu Dhabi, and that this breach went quite high in a number of security, military, economic and government departments, a very comprehensive rap sheet.

What bugged me, and still does, is Why? Why would MBZ (Mohammed Bin Zayed) spy on Oman?

MBZ is the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, and there is an interesting story about him and Oman. MBZ is the first born of late Sheikh Zayed from his favorite wife, Sheikha Fatima. MBZ and his full brothers make what is currently known as the fatmyds. These brothers are very powerful in Abu Dhabi, they literally control the Country. The then crown prince, and now president and ruler of Abu Dhabi, half brother to MBZ, is Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed, henceforth referred to as KBZ.

MBZ tried to overthrow his father Sheikh Zayed when he was in death bed. MBZ plan was to take over so that KBZ does not become ruler and president. Some in the know told me that it was Oman security agencies that uncovered the plot, and warned KBZ and some other elders in the Alnahyaan family about the plot. MBZ then fled the UAE, and was given shelter in Oman.

During MBZ exile, Oman worked out a solution that will allow for KBZ to become ruler, and MBZ crown prince. This seemed to have satisfied all parties.

As of late, MBZ seem to have come to know that Oman has played a pivotal role in delaying his path to the presidency, and wants to play the same trick on us, i.e., since Oman does not have a crown prince or heir apparent, who will be Sultan if god forbid His Majesty Sultan Qaboos passes away? And can MBZ influence or better still, pick the next Sultan?

MBZ plan goes way pas regime change, it goes as far as annexing Oman into an extended UAE, more than doubling its land, and quadrupling its people. MBZ is your typical megalomaniac, the sooner he is out of the picture, the better.

I think that's fairly interesting and worth sharing here. Perhaps this issue has been an ongoing one as opposed to one day of arrests. I say this because an un-named Omani official (quoted by Al Jazeera) said that this story refers to arrests made in November last year.

In other news, the ongoing Wikileaks issues states that 1 Emirati and 3 Qatari men are wanted by the US for their involvement in the 9/11 attacks in 2001. Hmmm.

As for local things - the Muscat Festival is ongoing and well worth a visit this weekend, I plan to go hunting for some nice pots!

Have a nice weekend everyone.

le fin.

Zouk review

Last night was the launch of the new club, Zouk (Official Facebook page here). Located on the grounds of the Crowne Plaza, it's just up the road from Rock Bottom and is a breath of fresh-air for the Muscat night club scene. The entrance is in the smaller car park - take a right when you drive into the hotel - there's a sign, you can't miss it.


I was impressed with the place - it's a very modern and nicely laid out lounge bar. There was lot of seating dotted around the place (something I find bars never have enough of) and the bar itself was split into two lengths either side of a column - a good 10-15 meters of bar space. Take a look at the pictures and see for yourself. I didn't take too many pictures because I was genuinely having a great time, free beer can do that to me, what can I say - it was a cool party ambience.

There is a large VIP section off to the right with many comfortable looking red couches - I didn't venture over there, but knowing how popular the VIP area is at the Copa, I'm sure people will flock to it. There was also another private bar in the VIP section too.

The VIP Section

The sound system was actually really very good - for the audiophiles out there, it's a Wharfdale professional system and the sound engineer was flown in from London. I had few problems hearing people when in conversation with them and enjoyed the music while having some great conversations. I have to say I'm rather jealous of the lady I was talking to that had a Ferrari California ordered and was expecting delivery in September - and I forgot to ask the colour - Red, or Yellow?




Watch out when you head to the toilets - there is a step-up into them from the corridor outside. Now I just had to take a picture of the toilet, it was great! I think that wins the award for best toilet in a bar in Oman! I don't think I've ever taken a picture of a toilet in a bar before, but I thought it was cool.

What a fancy toilet!
TV's in the back of the toilet doors!

Now, the hard facts:

The beer is all bottles, no draft. Bottles cost RO 2.5 (with some costing RO 2.7). Martini's and Cocktails cost between RO 3.3 and RO 4.5 per drink, and there is obviously also various spirits and wines available both by the measure and by the bottle. Soft drinks are fountain drinks - no cans that I saw (except Red Bull), and there is also a food menu as well.

The cost of entry is RO 20 per couple. This RO 20 is then credited to you in drinks which you can have in the club before paying more money - a great concept and one I hope proves successful. It's going to be a bit rough for those that do not drink, or just wanted to have one or two drinks - but I think it's a great idea, and time will tell if it's a popular one.

When you enter, you are given a smart card with RO 20 credit on it, when it's used up, you can then choose to buy more drinks, or not. For single ladies, there is no cover charge (but not smart card either) to enter the club. For groups of people, there is also no problem, but the RO 20 only applies to couples, it is unclear what a "third wheel" will have to pay, I imagine, either nothing with no smart card, RO 10, or RO 20 - I'm not sure. The focus of the club is for couples, not singles, but let's see how things go.

The doors open at 8.00 tonight, and close at 2.30.

Daz, hard at work

le fin.

ROP crack down on Road Safety "turns" blind eye to Retail concerns

What a nice weekend that turned out to be?!

I even went for a drive in Bertha down to Yiti. The old road is such a nice drive I find. Normally, on my frequent trips to Ruwi, I take Qurum heights road, as opposed to the other road via Hatat House. Seeing as I was heading for Hamriyah on the weekend, I figured I'd go via Wattayah. The road works are progressing at the Qurum wadi crossing, and now it looks like the final part of the bridge is being completed and hopefully the road works will be finished soon.

Imagine my shock when I saw the following sign (picture taken by a passenger!)



Click on the photo to make it bigger so you can really see what the sign is suggesting. Yes, that's right, some bright spark thought that it genuinely would be a good idea to have shoppers headed for The Sultan Centre (and the Al-Harthy Complex) to do a U-Turn on what is possibly the busiest stretch of highway in the country. That is staggeringly stupid. I wonder if ROP approval had to be given for this sign? Or whether ROP approval was even sought?

Now as I said, I do not regularly drive this route so have not much of an idea when this new route was made (and the subsequent kamikaze sign) but what on earth is going on there? Someone should take that sign down before a serious accident occurs.

le fin.

Local hotel's summer offers.

Summer is well and truly here. Summer's a funny time here, people tend to fly off to cooler climes in an effort to at least beat the heat for a little while. It's a scorcher of a summer globally, with Europe getting a good dose of sun, and those pasty white Brits are even experiencing sustained sunny periods of more than 42 minutes at a time. I'm told Ice Cream van's are having a fantastic season, and for once there wont be the stock story for a slow news day of the lollipop guy grumbling that his sales are low due to no sun. Even over the pond, in Toronto they are seeing temperatures exceeding 40'C this week. Sweaty stuff.

If you're like me, and actually work for a living and can't just slip off for the summer, then you might be considering a weekend at one of the lovely 5* hotels here in Oman. There's the Chedi, InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Al Bustan or the Shangri-la to choose from locally. Or you could avail yourself of one of Oman Air's summer vacation weekends down in Salalah at the new Mariott, or Crowne Plaza or Hilton.

Oman Air are offering return flights, 3 nights stay, breakfast (& dinners in some hotels) for RO 139/person until 13th July (and then it shoots up to RO 178/pp). That's not bad for a 3 day escape. Did I mention already that Saturday is a confirmed public holiday?

A little closer to home, the InterContinental Hotels Group (which controls the InterContinental, Crowne Plaza and Al Bustan here in Muscat) have a 3 for 2 offer running at all of their locations.

The Chedi have a few packages, but I've only included the two best ones here:

SUPERIOR ROOM - OMR 88.920 all in.
- breakfast for 2 in The Restaurant per night
- 10% discount on Food and Beverages in The Restaurant
- 25% discount on any Spa Treatments

CHEDI CLUB SUITE ROOM - OMR 169.650 all in.

- breakfast for 2 in The Restaurant per night
- 10% discount on Food and Beverages in The Restaurant
- 25% discount on any Spa Treatments
- Complimentary Cocktails & Canapés in the library
- Complimentary mini-bar, laundry and internet access

I'd highly recommend going for the Suite package. All of the rooms are great, but those suites... the tub takes an hour to fill!

And finally, the Shangri-la at the Barr al Jissah resort has two offers this summer:

For a minimum of two nights @ RO 110/ night you get breakfast and dinner in a standard room at Al Waha.

Or, if you only want to stay one night, you can get the 50% off published rate offer, and that means you can get a regular room in the Al Waha with breakfast and dinner for RO 90.


Now in order to actually get these deals, you must of course have your resident card to prove you are in fact a resident here - so don't forget to mention that when booking! I'm looking forward to a weekend at the Bustan in a few weeks - does anyone have any recommendations on which spa treatments to go for?!

Well done Holland! 3-2! What an awesome game! Now to just beat ze Germans!

Enjoy the long weekend everyone!

le fin.

News roundup: Muscat soon to be smoke free

Thanks for all the contributions towards the 24hr muscat post, it's interesting to know there are so many 24hr places here in Muscat, please do contribute towards it if you know of a 24hr place that isn't listed either in the main article or in the very helpful comments.

Many of the Omani bloggers wrote recently on the seemingly hilarious (but not funny for those effected) ruling in the UAE courts with relation to the Sheik Issa bin Zayed Al Nahyan's drug-fuelled bout of torture. It's like it's something out of a comedy show. My question to add to this on-going topic of discussion (mostly over at the Undercover Dragon's blog, but also noted Dhofari Gucci and Suburban's Other Oman) is this: So the guy was hocked up on drugs - why has he therefore not been charged with substance abuse? The laws in the UAE are so strict, that you don't even need to have taken them to be charged. Most famously, just having a trace of them, on your person, is enough to do some hard time (read the story of this poor guy who got sent down for 4 years for having 0.003g of cannabis on his shoe).

Then of course, there's the more recent story of a British muslim woman who was raped in the toilets by a staff member of The Address hotel. She reported the raping to the police, but all they were interested in was how frequently she had sex with her fiance. The authorities ended up charging her, and her fiancée for "illegal sex". Insanity. The British embassy had to intervene and specifically request that she at least be given proper medical care after the raping because the police had just locked her up in a cell. And the emirates are trying to be seen as a progressive state? Better try harder.

The repo market may just have arrived in Dubai. Barclays recently won the right to foreclose on a number of properties - this may prompt the start of a spate of foreclosures in the cash-strapped emirate, and thus maybe perhaps the cheap spin-off market of foreclosed properties being flogged off cheap in order to realise funds.

But now, the main story (courtesy of Muscat Daily).


Muscat Municipality is to ban smoking (and chewing / sniffing of tobacco) in commercial places from April 1st. Being somewhat cynical my first reaction was that it was an attempt at April Fools humour by the people at Muscat Daily, but it was only a fleeting thought as I realised that Muscat is being dragged into the 21st century.

This is to include:

Shopping malls, entertainment venues (read: bars), and other places of leisure (read: restaurants).

Having just given up smoking (again) on Jan 1st, I'm rather pleased about it. How about you?

I will be entertained to see what the following establishments (off the top of my head) are going to do about it: Al Ghazal, Copacabana, Safari, Al Falaj, RBG, All restaurants in malls, Feenies pub, and many more....

It's about time though, really. I wonder if it'll be enforced?

le fin.

A little bit more on the Emergency at the Airport/Wave

Recently, a lot of us left Muscat for the Eid vacation. A lot of us decided to jump on a plane and go somewhere. Whilst having a drink with a friend recently, he repeated to me a story so colourful I might as well share it here.

Is it true? Who knows? Have I confirmed it? Hell no.

So take it with a pinch of salt, but perhaps there are elements of truth in it.

The Emergency Response test that was conducted recently at the end of The Wave development and had tons of people scared that there had indeed been a plane crash (rather unfortunately timed with the broken news story of the entire Oman Air Traffic Control system going wrong due to a rather unfortunate "rookie error" of a junior IT technician installing an update incorrectly).

Apparently, according to an overheard conversation on a plane journey during Eid, the entire event was secretly filmed and screened for HM live. The first ROP officer on scene, rather amusingly, got out of his car, took a look at the fire, and then promptly got in his car and drove off! HAHA! A comment was made about that particular officer breaking rocks before the end of the day.

Props to Muscat Jet Driver for the above graphic!

It appeared that the people having the discussion on the plane worked for, or were linked to in some way, a consultancy firm assessing the abilities of the Sultanates emergency services. In direct contradiction to the press reports, it was noted in this overheard conversation that the tests were, in fact, a complete failure, and that "more tests will be carried out in the next 12 months".

A wild and crazy number of up to 20 'tests' are supposed to be carried out here in the next 12-24 months. I think that's a bit over the top, but perhaps we'll see more emergency response tests in the coming months. The next test is rumoured to be a bomb (not a real bomb) being let off somewhere in the region. I'd say a good spot to do a test would be somewhere in the Ministries area in Wizarat.

I guess if it happens, then the rumour will turn out to be true!

le fin.

The rain.

Well it's been raining the last few days as I'm sure we all know now. And I've finally found time to write a blog post, sorry about the month off!

The NCCD (National Committee for Civil Defence) even went to the lengths of sending out text messages warning people not to go into wadi's. The Ministry of Education decided to close all the schools on Sunday, and the Muscat Daily paper even ran a heart-wrenching story about a 16 year old boy that lost his dad and two of his dads colleagues in Al Amerat.

A panoramic shot of the Amerat road

A larger picture showing the destruction on the Amerat road

Official figures quoted in some of the papers have been hovering around the 10-20 deaths mark, however, I can reveal today that Contracting company NCC (National Construction Company) working on an access road to a housing development near Quriyat (in a bizarre twist of fate, the development was to replace houses lost in Gonu) have reported 30 men missing. They were working on the access road as a night shift on Saturday night. No trace of them can be found, which presumably means that they are either dead, or decided to do a runner from the Contractor. I believe at this moment in time they are presumed dead.

So, please everyone, make sure you're careful out there - but I think the worst of the rain has been and gone now!

I wonder if we'll get Saturday off as a holiday in light of the Islamic new year?

le fin.


Update:

Saturday is a holiday for both Public and Private Sectors :)

New Hijri Year – Holiday

The decision allowed employers and employees to agree on work arrangements if necessity arises.

Muscat, Dec 14 (ONA)--- Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser al Bakri, Manpower Minister today issued a ministerial decision ceasing work at private sector companies and establishments on Saturday December 19^th 2009, on the occasion of the Holy Prophet's Hijra Anniversary and the new Hijri year 1431 A.H.

All employees of the private sector extended their heartfelt greetings to His Majesty and wished him good health, happiness and a long life and the Omani people welfare and prosperity.

Cost of living in Muscat

Much like my Pork Shop post recently, I've decided to blog some information on the cost of living here in Muscat, Oman. It'd be really helpful if anyone can contribute their costs as well.

I live in a 3 bedroom penthouse apartment with a fairly sizeable terrace (great in the winter!). I own 2 cars and a land rover - the landy was bought for RO 925 cash, and one of the two cars is financed with HSBC loans which I chose to do over 12 months. I borrowed RO 4400 for a part-payment of the vehicle and my monthly repayments are RO 400 a month for that.

Now, to specifics:

• My rent is RO 600 a month.
• My Water bill each month (based on 2 people and lots of plant watering) is approximately RO 8 a month.
• Electricity is about RO 10 a month (including summer months with higher AC usage). Note that the Government heavily subsidises power here, and even more so in the Summer.
• I have an Omantel land-line (which I do not use to make any calls) and it costs me RO 4.900 a month.
• I have Omantel ADSL 512 Kbps connection and it costs me RO 12 a month + usage up to a maximum monthly amount of RO 42 a month.
• My loan payments total RO 700 a month (400 for one of the cars, 300 for a furniture loan).

We bought the following furniture: King size bed + mattress, end tables, coffee tables, TV table, 32" LCD, 42" Plasma, kettle, toaster, plates, knifes and forks and kitchen stuff, gas bottles, bbq, desk, chairs, 3+2+1 sofa set, rugs, artwork, dining room table, washing machine, Electric oven/ gas hob (try baking with a gas oven here... very difficult), 2 fridges and a chest freezer. All of this is serviced by the monthly loan we have (due to finish very soon...!). For those that are unsure of their length of stay here and want to factor in risk in purchasing furniture, there is an outfit in town that rents house-hold furniture, and even offers a rent to own mechanism too. Packages can start from about RO 128/month for a 3-bedroom house to be kitted out. The company is called Home Essentials.

We shop for groceries at a few different stores, but our average monthly spend is approximately RO 250 for the two of us. We're from the Western world and have what I'd imagine is a "Western" diet. We eat a lot of chicken and beef - but don't eat rice and daal very frequently. Fresh fruit and vegetables are high on our diet lists as well. We shop at the following stores: Carrefour, The Sultan Center, Al Fair (Unfair), LuLu's and Al Hamadi Fisheries (the fabulous pork place).

Car insurance is based upon (usually) 5% of the value of your car. For example, if your car is worth RO 10,000, your insurance premium will be approximately RO 500 a year - more or less. They do accept No-Claims bonus letters if you bring one from your home country - it will reduce your premiums.

For furniture here in Oman, you have a few options: There is The Home Center here which caters to the upper-market sector of people living here. A 3 piece sofa set can easily cost up to RO 700 and beyond. A 6 seater dining table easily around RO 400. And so on. We chose to drive to IKEA in Dubai and bought a bunch of stuff there (bed, tables, desk, chair, kitchen stuff) and drove it back. We bought a mattress here from Raha Oman and we're not overly happy with it, but it's been OK I guess. It only cost RO 70. There are other furniture places dotted around town that specialize in various types of furniture. A new comer to the furniture scene is Pan Furniture situated in Al Khuwair in the Zakher Mall. There is also ID Design, Fahmy Furniture, Khimjis Bait Al Ahlam amongst many others.

Satellite TV package costs RO 8-24 a month, depending on the provider and bouquet you choose. English speaking networks available are:

Orbit (Badr 25.5), Showtime (Nilesat), DSTV/Multichoice (Pan-am Sat) DSTV is not legally allowed to be received here. To get DSTV (Which has South African television - best sports coverage around) you will need a larger dish. Orbit and Showtime can be received with a simple small dish.

Cars in Oman.

There are basically four options: new, used, rented or taxi's.

New cars are, depending on the model, comparatively priced with the same brands accross the globe. Toyota's are king here, and tend to hold their value the best. You can buy a Toyota Yaris for approximately RO 4500 and sell it 3 years later for about RO 2500 - give or take. Buying used cars can be a difficult experience, and there's three main ways to go about it:

1 buy a used car from the dealer (eg MHD Landrover will have used Landy's for sale).

2 is to go to a used car dealer (best cars Oman is, in my opinion, a waste of time unless you want a used Toyota) - there are many used car dealers dotted around, but there's especially quite a few along the Sultan Qaboos highway in the Ghubra area. Be careful though, some of these dealers have a reputation for importing flood damaged cars from the USA and selling them for huge profits, buyer beware.

3 is the notice boards, Al Fair, The Sultan Center and a few other places have notice boards where people put up adverts of things to sell. Look at the ad, call the number, kick the tyres, strike a deal.

Cars can be rented here in Oman from approximately RO 150 a month. A reasonable price, for, say, a Mazda 6, is about RO 225 a month. If you want, you can even rent BMW's and Mercs, but obviously you will pay a lot for it!

Taxis come in 3 flavours: Blue and Red metered taxis (but they're only interested in taking you from your hotel to the airport or vice versa) and they are very expensive. You can flag down an orange and white taxi pretty much anywhere in Oman. I've often joked that if I were lost and stuck in the middle of the desert, I'd pretty much expect to find a taxi before long. They are literally everywhere. However, taxi's are not metered here, and prices are generally agreed upon before you start. At the risk of sounding racist here, if you look "Western" then you're going to pay significantly more than if you were of another racial group. Finally there are the Baiza buses which charge up and down Sultan Qaboos highway and have a general fee of 100bz per round about.

Alcohol in Oman.

When you come here and apply for your Resident Card, one thing you must mention is your religion. If you are a Muslim, you will not be eligible for the liquor license. Alcohol can be purchased in licensed bars by anyone - regardless of religion. The cost of a pint of beer ranges from 800bz at the PDO recreation club to RO 3.000 at most of the 5* hotels. A glass of wine can cost up to RO 3.000 for house brands and (a lot) more for others.

You can purchase, from the ROP, a blue liquor license booklet. You will pay an up-front fee for a license that lasts 24 months, and you may purchase alcohol from one of the alcohol supply shops dotted around. A case of beer ranges from RO 9 for a case of Castle, RO 12 for a case of Heineken and RO 15 for a case of Corona. A bottle of Smirnoff Red Vodka is about RO 6, and bottles of wine start at RO 3 and the price goes up from there. One thing to note is that the license you purchase will have a monthly spending limit, restricting you to only be able to purchase alcohol up to a maximum value in any given month (in the take-home shops). The higher your license value you can go is based on your salary. The one-time up-front fee is based on the value of your license. I'd suggest that if you like a few drinks, to get a higher license than you think you need - its purely up to you.

As a final point, I will note that in order to lead a comfortable life here as a "Western" expatriate where you are required to provide your own housing and transportation, a total monthly package should not be less than RO 2,500 a month. I am not a recruitment specialist and so can't advise you on what salary you should expect to get working here, so please don't ask me.

Hope this helps!

le fin