Photography Compeition: Win RO 1,000 with Muriya

Below please find details of Muriya's Photography competition, any of you budding photographers could have a go, and stand to win some nice cash prizes.....

Muriya's Photography Competition 2011

To encourage the artistic talents and to reach out to the community, Muriya Tourism

Development is pleased to host a photography competition to all residents in the Sultanate to provide them with the opportunity to showcase their artistic talent, meanwhile highlighting the beauty, nature, architecture of Oman and capturing the progress of our Developments in the Sultanate. The photography will be mainly focused in the area of "Jebel Sifah" project.

Themes of the competition:

Theme 1: Jebel Sifah Project

This theme is dedicated to capturing the company's project "Jebel Sifah" in the region of Muscat. The aim is to capture beautiful shots of the project in terms of architecture and the waterfront, walkways, Illuminations and all aesthetics elements linked to the mentioned project.

Theme 2: The natural beauty of Sifah

This theme is dedicated to highlighting the beauty of the landscape and nature of Sifah village, Muscat at various times and locations of marine and mountains. Hoping the photographer demonstrates his/her creative energies in capturing great views of the village of Sifah.

Terms of the competition:

-The competition is open to all photographers residing in the Sultanate.

- Participants need to fill out the entry form and submit it to the Photography Club located in Athaiba no later than Monday April 4, 2011.

- In collaboration with Muriya, we will inform the participants the set dates for photography. Photographs taken before or after the date specified will not be accepted.

- Photographers must submit their own work for the competition.

- Participants must submit photographs captured by a professional digital camera; we will not accept photos taken with compact camera phones.

- The participants are allowed to provide 5 five images within each theme of the contest.

- Participants are to submit photographs on a CD-ROM quality 300 OBI should not be less than 2000 pixels.

- Deadline for submitting is Thursday May 5, 2011 at the Photography Club in Athaiba, we will

not accept any submission after this date.

- Winning images to be owned by Muriya Tourism Development Company.

- Muriya has the right to use all images of the participants in the competition; however the owner of the photographs still has the right of their own work.

- A committee will be formed to judge the photograph and select the winners accordingly and the results of the competition will be announced at an honoring ceremony.

Competition Awards:

Theme 1:

First prize: 1,000 OMR

Second prize: 750 OMR

Third prize: 500 OMR

Two appreciation prizes value of each prize is 100 OMR

Theme 2:

First prize: 1,000 OMR

Second prize: 750 OMR

Third prize: 500 OMR

Two appreciation prizes value of each prize is 100 OMR

For inquiries about the competition please contact Mr. Ahmed AI Busaidi supervisor of

Photography Club: ahmed3138@gmail.com

Bon Chance!

le fin.

MRFC Family fun day & A fund raiser for New Zealand

 

This Thursday evening, there is an earthquake fund raiser being held at the Club for the victims of Christchurch, NZ. There will be a generous selection of raffles, and a an art auction as well. Its on Thursday night so why not come on down and help support a good cause. All door entry charges (RO 2 for non members) will be donated to NZ Red Cross earthquake appeal.

This Friday there is a family fun day being held at the Muscat Rugby Club's grounds from 1pm.

There will be multiple game stations set up around the field and teams will compete against each other to see who can score the most points. There will be a BBQ and soft drink refreshments available at the field, and stronger drinks available in the club house for those that want them. For more information please contact John Passmore at john.passmore@petrogas.com.om

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A little reminder for all the Brits reading this.

This coming Sunday, the 3rd of April is Mothers Day in the UK. Quite why it is held on a different day to Mothers Day in pretty much the rest of the world (on May 8th this year) is lost on me. But there we go. So, if you forgot to get your mum a gift, you've got just about enough time to get on the phone and order some flowers for delivery!

PS Don't forget to enter into the free ticket give away for Westlife!

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Another MM giveaway! Westlife

The very kind people at Hi FM have once again given me two tickets to give away to the next concert to be held here in Muscat: Westlife.

Here are the details:

One lucky winner will receive 2 VIP tickets (that's entry to the Golden Circle)!

And all you need to do to be in the draw for this is either leave a comment below, or email me (email address is on top right of this blog) before Wednesday 6th April, and I will announce the winner here on the blog on Thursday the 7th of April.

Bon chance!

le fin.

Help raise money for Edna Adan Hospital in Hargeisa, Somaliland

I recently learned about a trip due to depart shortly to Somaliland to help with the Edna Adan Hospital in Hargeisa city. Now, I realise that helping a hospital in a distant country might not be the top of your list for helping things out (Japan is definitely in need of help too right now), but the people raising money to help this hotel are based here in Muscat, and this is their facebook page - go check it out.

They have been very generously donated with a number of Onyz Boox 60 e-readers. These things regularly retail for RO 150 (US $399) but they are on sale for RO 60 to help raise funds for the hospital. If you are interested, you can email v_balboa@hotmail.com for more information, I understand that there are quite a few for sale.

Doing some googling, I found a review of the device here and here. In short, the device works with all current formats of ebook (including .pdf) and has a wifi connection, mp3 player, internet browser and memory card slot.

So if you are looking for an ebook reader, you can get a nice one, for less than half the price, and also help out a hospital in Africa to boot.

le fin.

Vanessa Hudgens Inspired Makeup

Makeup Inspired my Vanessa Hudgens

Youtube Tutorial Coming Soon...

Love,

Onna x

What I love to eat :)

Breakfast: Mango & Rasberry Smoothie

Serves 2

150cals per portion(Roughly)

200-300ml Orange Juice

(Depending on How Thick you like it)

1 Large Banana

1 Handful of Frozen Raberries

1 Chunk of Mango (Chopped)

Whizz all together and viola! So simple and so tasty!

Snacks: 

50g Raisins 

(Roughly 130 cals)

40g Roasted Almonds

(Roughy 200cals)

Use raw almonds, fill an oven tray and use 1/2tsp of Olive Oil and 2 tsp of Salt (Depending on the size of the batch)then mix them all together. Roast in the over for roughly 20 minutes at around 200ºC (Keep an eye on it, cooking time varies) Leave to cool then portion up!

Remember dried fruits and nuts are very nutritous and filling but they contain a lot of calories so always portion control! 

Dinner: Chicken Tagine

Serves 2

I got this recipe from Kelly at Kelanjo19, it was one of her cooking videos but is no longer up there so I've written out my version of the recipe here:

Ingredients:

1 Large Chicken Breast (or two small ones)

1 Onion

1/2 Red Pepper

1 tsp Ginger

1 tsp of Mixed Spice

1 Handful of Dried Apricots

1/2 Handfuls of Raisins

1 Organic Chicken Stock Cube

Tin of Chopped Tomatoes 

(Mine were whole so I chopped them up)

1 Tsp Dried Oregano

1 Tsp of Chilli (Powder/fresh/Sauce)

1 tsp Honey

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Fried chicken for a few minutes

Add onions, peppers ginger and mixed spice, continue frying until softened (if chilli is powdered add in now)

Crumble in stock cube

Add tomato, small amount of water, salt, pepper, oregano, chilli and honey

Cook down on lowest heat with lid on for 30 minutes

Serve alone or with brown rice or wholegrain pittas

I'm hopefully going to try an brand new recipe tonight, so I shall try and be a good blogger and post the recipe. Let me know any type of meals you would like to see,

Love,

Onna x

Oman Forum back up

Just a small post to update those of you who are wondering what has happened to Oman Forum. A few days ago, the forum was hacked by an unknown person or group of people. Rather than your standard "ha ha we hacked you" bragging, it appears that the damage is much more significant, and so a lot of work has had to be done.

"Neo" the forum's chief administrator has been working over the weekend with his technician and the forum is now back up, pending a few further changes to the look and feel of the forum. Back to normal then!

le fin.

Today is Earth Hour, and paper waste here in Oman.

Firstly, this evening between 8.30 and 9.30 remember to turn off all electric appliances if you dont need them. Remember that TV's, phone chargers and hi-fi's still use a significant amount of power even when put on standby!

And secondly - a local blogger here in Oman has written a great article on recycling paper here in the Sultanate. Go and read all about it here. Maria Ocean is helping to spread the word about a paper recycling scheme, and she has some contact information for anyone with significant amounts of paper waste to call and have their paper picked up.

Finally - it seems the petrol situation is now resolved, Shell trucks appear to be delivering again.

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Just a quickie: Fuel being rationed

Just a quick item to share with you all this afternoon. It appears that the fuel truck drivers that deliver the fuel to all of the petrol stations here in Oman are on strike. As a result of this, fuel stations have already started rationing drivers to a maximum of RO 5.000 per visit.

No word on when this will be rectified, but I'll share more news when I get it.

Update: It seems so far to be limited to Shell stations only.

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Single people of Muscat, read this!

This weekend, on Thursday night, there is a Traffic Light Party being held at the Rugby Club in Al Khuwair.

The concept is simple: Green sticker = looking; Yellow = not looking, but single, Red = Not interested in anything other than socializing!

Lots of single girls and guys will be there, will you be?

le fin.

Are we skinny yet?

I know a lot of you ladies are joining in on my 4 week weight loss Challenge so firstly I just wanted to say a quick thank you to for all your support and positivity. Its so lovely to have lots of you wanting to join in and I can't wait to read your tweets and posts about your weight loss (Feel free to send me links via twitter)

I got a couple of people saying they were too nervous or self-concious to join in with the challenge, but please don't be! Feel free to just join in at anytime and not update me, I want everyone to get healthy and happy for summer.

Just wanted to say good luck and keep up the good work! Here's a few useful links so help you on your way:

Healthy Recipe Blog:

http://www.ohsheglows.com/

My Favourite Workout DVD:

Davina Super Body

Calculator for Calories burned during Exercise:

http://www.fitsense.co.uk/fit_article.php?id=43

Calories Counting:

http://www.fitsense.co.uk/fit_article.php?id=43

BMI Calculator:

http://www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/Healthyweightcalculator.aspx

Motivational Blog Post:

http://onnaslittleblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/i-cannot-wait.html

My Fitness Routine: As promised ;) 

Good Luck,


Onna

Local spotlight: Animal Adoption & Fostering Group

Recently, it came to my attention that this local group, AAF, are participating in the PDO International Fayre being held this Friday 25th March. They will be selling baked goods to help raise money for their charitable cause, feel free to contact them to offer your baking services should you want to offer them!

Below is some information about AAF from Helen Ingram:

Animal Adoption and Fostering has been running for several years as a casual group of local and expatriate volunteers.  The main activity has always been rehoming as it is always the most pressing. We have rehomed over 700 dogs over the last 5 years and have paid for the treatment of many stray animals. All animals that are rehomed are neutered (a procedure to stop them breeding) and we have in the past run a program for the catch-neuter-release of stray cats.

AAF does not have premises and the long term aim is to become recognised as a Charity/Society allowing us to raise funds for an Animal Rescue Centre. We try to place as many animals as possible into foster families as this is often the best stepping stone for animals to be rehomed. They become house trained and people friendly and therefore far easier to integrate into a permanent home. Foster families are few and far between and we are constantly trying to recruit anyone that is willing.

We get so many calls from residents that have issues with dogs or cats in their neighbourhood but we are unable to help due to limited funds and places to care for the animals. It is very sad at the moment having to turn down all the calls that still come through to us.

A sanctuary is really essential as it serves as a focal point and will allow us to serve the immediate need of stray and injured animals and will help serve as an education centre as well. Reducing the number of strays will help the residential community hugely. There are so many issues with stray dogs and cats that ranging from a general nuisance such as from cats in bins, to danger from packs of wild dogs. Many of the wild dogs that we see are actually pets or descendents of pets that have been thrown out or dumped. Having an avenue for dealing with these animals and programs to control the numbers would have a huge positive impact on this problem. These programmes do take time but we are not trying to reinvent the wheel - most other countries in the world run such programmes very successfully. Getting the stray dog population under control using humane methods will benefit both the animals and the community.


Below, meet three of AAF's rescued dogs that are up for adoption, if you are interested please contact the AAF here.

 

Bronson

Sparky

Delilah

Girl Crush: Mila Kunis

Source

Name: Milena (Mila) Kunis

Age: 27

Place of Birth: Chernivtsi, Ukraine 

Occupation: Actress

Best Known For: Family Guy, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, The Book of Eli, Black Swan

Source

Source

This lady had flawless hair and makeup! End of!

What do you think of her Emmy Makeup?

Onna x

March 26th, 2011 8:30-9:30pm = Earth Hour

This Saturday, the 26th March is the next global Earth Hour. This is an event that everyone, business large and small and individuals are requested to conserve energy for just 1 hour to highlight environmental concerns.

With a slight twist this year: People are being asked to continue their energy saving habits past the 1 hour mark and for as long as they can. You can check out the website here for more information about Earth Hour, but here's the gist of it:

Turn off all your lights and electrical equipment that you can live without, for an hour or more to help highlight environmental concerns.

I suggest doing one or more of the following activities during the hour:

1. Dinner by candle light
2. Going for a walk
3. Talking with friends
4. Take a nap!
5. Play hide in the dark!

Make sure you do your part!

le fin.

4 Week Weight Loss Challenge!

I havent done a weight loss post in ages, its about time I did! Was going to post this in video form but I have to get up at 6am so I don't have time. Most of you know (I blab on about it enough) that I lost around 2 and a half stone last year, but my weight recently has come to a complete plateau. I'm sick of feeling chubby and feelings sorry for myself so I thought I better do something about it! The best way to break a weight loss plateau is to shake things up! 

The Challenge is to lose 8lbs in 4 weeks, starting from tomorrow, monday morning. 

Each week I'm going to set myself three mini goals to help towards my weight loss. This week they are: 

Go running at least once

Avoid Coffee ALL week

Try one new healthy recipe and blog about it

At the end of each week I'll make a Vlog telling you how much weight I've lost and how that week has been. If you want to see these just go subscribe to my youtube channel. 

For anyone who wants to join me in my weight loss journey you can comment on any video or post, or just tweet me and let me know how you are doing... obviously blog posts and videos would be amazing!

I'm going to do a post tomorrow(while in college, teehee) my fitness plan for the month. I want to get as much cardio in as possible (without injuring myself) as add a lot of strength training to my routine so tone up for the bikini season. 

As for my diet as always I'm going to stick to around 1200-1500 calories but I'm going to try and experiment with foods and eat more vegetables. I'm going back to drinking 3 bottles of water a day as I have been slacking recently, and I'm going to try and drink more green tea. Let me know if you want any posts about my diet!

Good Luck,

Onna 

Westlife: Live in Muscat

The boys and girls at alive events have arranged another shin-dig! This time it's Westlife, on Wednesday 13th April, and it's an all age event. Tickets are RO 25 or RO 50 depending on how close to the stage you want to be. They go on sale at 6pm tomorrow, the 21st March at the usual outlets:

Bose Qurum, Al Ghazal Pub and the OUA store in MQ.

Enjoy!

le fin.

Just a quickie: RO 2 fee at UAE border now scrapped.

Just a quickie: It's now official - the RO 2.000 charge levied at the Wajajah border post for crossing into the UAE has now been removed as of yesterday - Saturday 19th March 2011. Regional news paper, Gulf News ran the story later yesterday afternoon.

The order was issued by Sayyid Fahd Bin Mahmoud Al Saeed, Deputy Prime Minister for the Council of Ministers, and was effective from yesterday. It's unclear whether expatriates will still be charged.

le fin.

One Day Maybe...

Source

*Sighs* A girl can dream...

Protesting about protesters.

So here we are, Saturday March 19th, 2011, and we are seeing the "rent a round about" crowd protesting everywhere.

Carillion Alawi, Al Ansari and Towell's are among the Contractors in town that have been hit with protests. Oman International Bank, PDO, InterCon, Al Bustan Palace, Shangri-la are among other local employers in town that have been hit by staff protesting for increased salaries. The list is long and I see no need to repeat it in full  here.

PDO made me smile, a lot of those guys make thousands of rials a month, I doubt many other nationals are going to have much sympathy for them.

As the Dragon over at Muscat Confidential blogged the other day, it is starting to smack of people throwing temper tantrums. No one is saying that the original protests were not well called for, but enough already - action has happened, the people protesting saying they want a RO 500/month minimum salary just simply do not know what they are asking for.

I for one am wondering when the Government are going to call time on all of these protests. On one hand I think the current tactic of waiting out the protesters holds water (the summer is, after all, knocking on our doors). But on the other side of things, people seem to have lost respect for due process (presumably because it was not working for them, or possibly because they feel this way gets results) and will possibly continue to ignore rules and regulations in other areas. It's a touchy subject I guess and one I'm glad I don't have to tackle.


So what is next? Does anyone care to guess what is going to happen? It apparently seems like it's open season here at the moment. Don't like your job? Fancy protesting instead of working? The nearest round about will do, lets go. I wonder when the ROP are going to start policing again, and how people here are going to react to that.

The real concern is of course - what if the blue suits start protesting? you know - those Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and so on - the ones that sweep the streets, wash the cars, deliver those goods to peoples houses, build the roads and buildings, keep the hotels running. We saw thousands of people protesting around the country demanding jobs. Except people don't just want any job, do they? Because if they did, they could be a maid, labourer, hotel cleaner, and so on. As these Omanized jobs filter into the population, the cost of doing business will rise, and so the cost of goods will rise, and those minimum wages will need to rise again - an endless cycle.

It does not get away from the core problem - people need to actually be educated properly, and graded properly in order to effect change. So my biggest question is this: When will we see an independent schools / college / university audit that has some real teeth so that when a teacher fails a student, the grade sticks, instead of being magically made into a pass, as I'm sure we all know happens far too often here. It is unfair to those students here who do actually study hard and earn their grades. There are many areas requiring change, but for me, this one is the single most important.

What do you think?

le fin.

Blogs I Love.

Another installment of my favourite bloggers. Click here to see the previous "Blogs I love." Post.

Michelle @ Daisy Butter

This girl is such an adorable, lovely person. I really like her 'ways to wear...' posts; she has a great wearable style and I love the way she writes.

Abby @ Abbzzw

I have to put Abby in here, she is my closest blogging friend and we always have such a giggle. My favourite part of her blog is her outfit posts, espcially this one! Absolutely gorgeous! 

Beth @ Tiny Baby Teef

Gorgeous. Lovely. Amazing Taste.

This girl deserves a million more followers!
What more can I say?

Zoe @ Schoee

Such a classic blog, and I'm sure you ALL follow her, but Zoe's blog will always be one of my favourites. So glad she is doing youtube videos again!

Finally one from Twitter...

Ella @ Ella Masters

Such a quirky, cute little blog that caught my attension as soon as I tweeted asking people to send links. Also she went to Falmouth Uni which makes me love her more, its close to where I live and I've just applied there.

I'll do another 'Blogs I love.' post next month and I'll ask for people to tweet me there links again, so people who want to get there blogs more 'out there' can :) 

Not that I think I have some huge blog or anything but every little helps right?

Onna x

Vodka and Caviar

Last week I did a blog post of the gorgeous Rosie Huntington Whiteley, and since then I've become a little obsessed Jessica Rabbit and that style of makeup. Actually I think my obsession started after watching the film Burlesque last month! Sadly I don't have to lips to pull this look off, but who cares?!?! I gave it a go anyway :)

What I'm wearing:

Witch Skin Clearing Primer

DiorSkin Forever Foundation in 010

M.A.C Studio Finish Concealer in NW20

No.7 Skin Illuminator in Pink

The Body Shop Blush in 02

Witch Pressed Powder

Stile e/s in Starlight

The Body Shop e/s in Taupe

Rimmel Matt e/s in Cocoa

Bourjois Felt Tip Liner in Noir

Bourjois Liner Effect Mascara 

M.A.C Lip Liner in Cherry

M.A.C Russian Red Lipstick

Nivea Caregloss and shine

What do you think?? Jessica Rabbit?... maybe not, but I like it!

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The Red Obsession continues...

Abby has me desperately wanting to purchase some OPI with her bloody OPI app! Vodka and Caviar will be mine! Its the perfect red!

Today's Vlog:

Burlesque Trailer... Such a cheesy film but loved the choreography!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! If I get any work done, I'll be sure to blog and youtube more! Don't forget to go subscribe to my channel if you want to see my face move/hear me talk :P oh and if you like my videos, leave some requests so I know what to film :)

Onna x