Farm Alarm this Eid

So there are lots of events being held in town for Eid, and just so everyone knows, I understand bars will be open from Wednesday at the usual time (I have heard whisperings of some bars opening on Tuesday 30th at 7:00pm but not sure!).

Anyway, something with a twist: Farm Alarm

It's a party at a farm, surprisingly!

It's RO 5 for girls, RO 10 for guys and there is a free BBQ and drinks and shisha available to purchase. For more details call 9665 9666, 9289 9513 or 9676 7323.

le fin.

Muscat Rugby kids starting September 11th

With most schools starting up again on Monday 5th September, the highly successful kids babysitting rugby program will be commencing on Sunday 11th September at 5:00 pm at the Muscat Rugby Club ground, next to the ABA school in Al Khuwair. Last year over 150 kids were registered and it was very well attended by boys and girls.

More news on the Rugby Club soon.

le fin.

Muscat Grand Mall - store listing

As promised, here is some more information on Muscat Grand Mall's new stores. There are quite a few and I didn't bother listing out all the smaller stores but have made a list of most of the bigger stores.

So here we go, in no particular order (and of course some things may change):

Carrefour
H&M (Al Shaya)
Index
"Toy Store" (no idea, but perhaps Toy's R Us?)
Books Plus (Apparel Group)
Max (Landmark Group)
Emax (Landmark Group)
The Body Shop (Assarain)
VaVaVoom (Al Shaya)

Mango (Jawad Group)
K Corner
Oman Mobile
Chic Shoes
Charles & Keith (Apparel Group)
Vinici
Bread Talk (Bin Mirza)
Crocs
Ajmal
Lala Rose
Claires (Al Shaya)
Payless Shoes (Al Shaya)
Mothercare (Al Shaya)
ELC (Al Shaya)
4U
Jumbo
Okaidi
Gymboree
Yateem Opticals
Sunglasses Hut
Gulf Greetings
Centre Point
Capital Stores
Nawras
Costa Coffee (Jawad Group)
Clarks
Pinkberry (Al Shaya) (woohoo!)
Magrabi Opticals
Mona Lisa
Inglot
Spring (Apparel Group)
Totem
Nike
Adidas
Diadora
Tips & Toes
Nandos (Bin Mirza)
Finland Eye Centre
Marble Slab Creamery
Caribou Cafe
Gloria Jeans Coffee
Edible 2 Go
Nectar
Lalique
The Pizza Company
Chillis (Bin Lahej group)
Uno Chicago Grill
Dr Nutrition
Champion
Joe Bloggs
Reebok
Mom & Me
Hobby Land
McDonalds
DQ (Jawad Group)
Asmak
Subway
Burger King
City Cinema (3 screens)
Fun City (Landmark Group)

That's quite the selection, and obviously not set in stone, but it clears up the rumour that Al Tayer are not currently leasing units for their brands in the mall, but Al Shaya are. I wonder what the LuLu Mall people have to say about that?

I also heard that perhaps P.F. Changs would be coming to the mall too, but didnt see it confirmed yet.

The Mall is slated to open on October 25th, but from the information I've seen, I think it'll be December or possibly even later than that.

Personally I'm pretty happy Pinkberry is going to be closer to town :) I wonder if H&M will stock men's clothes?

So what do you think?

le fin.

New store open, and TGI Fridays opening date announced.

Firstly,

A fellow local blogger, Happily Married to a Biker, has recently blogged about the opening of a new store, USF. It's now open at the Zakher Mall, above the Omantel offices on the 1st floor (or 2nd floor if your from North America). The store has all sorts of clothes, bags and shoes for ladies looking for something a little different than the normal stuff carried in the large chain stores here. The opening times are 10-1 and 4-8 - go and check it out!

And a little update on TGI Fridays - They have announced on their Facebook group - opening on Thursday 15th September. Perhaps I'll see you there...

Enjoy the weekend!

le fin.

Eid Mubarak!

Well, just off the wire - Government Sector holidays have been declared by Royal Order!

That's a little odd because normally it is not announced via Royal Order, but this is the information I've received so here it is:

Monday (29th August) thru Sunday (4th September) are to be holidays, with a return to work on Monday 5th September.

I'll update this as more information comes in - if it's not accurate I apologize, and please comment if you have something to add!

Update: Private Sector holidays announced:
Tuesday 30th August thru Saturday 3rd September, returning to work on Sunday 4th September.

le fin.

Booksale tomorrow in Ghubra

There is a book sale (well, house sale, with books being the most predominant thing on sale) at a house in Ghubra tomorrow, on Tuesday 23rd August between 10:00 and 15:00. All the proceeds go towards an animal neutering program. I believe there is another fund-raising event to be held at the Dolphin Club in September as previously blogged about here.

Anyway, if you fancy getting some books, the place tomorrow is in Ghubra near to the Indian School. If you have the Indian school on your left (as if coming from the highway) - go straight until you come to a 4 way stop (not that anyone pays any attention to those) and go straight through the intersection, and then take your first left and the house is on that road. If you get lost you can call 9504 0189 for some better directions.

Happy shopping!

le fin.

Omani foods

Have you ever noticed, that when you buy Omani tomatoes (ones that have not been totally destroyed by the supermarket shelf stacking boys), they taste really, really good? Same with the cucumbers.

Well I have, and as a result I always try and buy local vegetables as much as possible. So when I was in the supermarket this weekend, I was pretty pleased to see an initiative to promote local products, especially during ramadan, when I suspect most people tend to eat more!

It is called Intajee and the initiative seems to cover vegetables, eggs & dairy products and also honey and dates and date-based stuff. Here's a couple of pictures:

It's nice to see more local produce initiatives like this. More domestic production of food means less imported goods, less dependance on other countries, more local jobs, more local revenues and less environmental impacts from not having to ship goods here! Anyway, I think it's a good thing, so next time you are in a supermarket, go check it out!

Oh, and does anyone know what Intajee actually means?

le fin.

Just a quickie: EID is announced as August 31st

It's been announced this year that Ramadan is to be 30 days, and that Eid will fall on August 31st (a Wednesday) this year. Oman's stepping away from it's normal tradition of a Moon Sighting Committee and going with Astronomical Calculations this year... a first apparently.

As for how long the holidays will last, that is still subject to rumors... but the first day will be Wednesday August 31st. The news was announced via Sabq, and presumably will be in the papers tomorrow.

le fin.

Public Prosecution seeking closure of a local paper

I was reading OmanForum last night and came across this thread about the Public Prosecution attempting to have local Arabic Daily paper Azzamn closed, apparently due to the papers insulting the Minister of Justice and his Undersecretary on May 14th, 2011 when an article was run about a MoJ employee who had written a letter of complaint saying that the Minister of Justice and his Undersecretary were intentionally delaying his Promotions.

Muscat Daily ran this story last Sunday, and I must admit I missed it then. It amazes me how petty this really is, and that these people actually have the time to go through court over something so.... pathetic. Freedom of the press is something that is touted and promoted here in Oman, yet then something as daft as this happens every now and then, which then scares all the news publishers back to publishing fluff and press releases again. I didnt read the article in question from May in the paper that has caused all of this but surely seeking the closure of a paper is just way over the top. If the article is indeed slanderous then sure the people affected can argue their case, but seeking closure of a publication over it? That seems a bit ridiculous to me, but then again I still don't really know what was said in the paper, or what the paper is actually like.

Anyway, I think the whole thing is stupid, these people should have more important things to be doing with their time. If anyone happens to know more information about this case, please share!

More tomorrow.

le fin.

TGI Fridays coming to Oman, and ESO quiz tonight

If you have been driving past the City Seasons hotel in Al Khuwair recently, you may have seen the notice that TGI Fridays is opening soon there. There is, as always these days, a facebook page for the launch, and you can find that by clicking here. Currently the actual launch date has not been shared, but one imagines that it will be on a Friday....

Tonight, the Environmental Society of Oman is having a quiz night at The Radisson Blu in Khuwair from 9:30pm - there are lots of prizes to be won and there is a fee of RO 3.000 per person to enter. It's for a good cause so if you are free tonight, why not go and check it out!

Have a good weekend everyone!

le fin.

Radio Wars: The results are in.

Well, firstly, thank you to all of you who voted in my most recent poll. It was quite the turn out. As originally promised, I have re-run the poll 2 months in from the launch of Merge 104.8 FM and the results are in.

Last time around, these were the results:

Hi FM took 48% of the vote (95 votes)
Merge 104.8 took 26% of the vote (53 votes)
Oman 90.4 took 9% of the vote (19 votes)
Ipods/Cd players too 15% of the vote (30 votes)

A total of 197 votes.

This time round, we have had a total of 266 votes, and I added a new option to the poll: Arabic stations, to gauge a bit more feedback from those of you kind, kind people who clicked for me :)

Radio Sultanate of Oman took 3.76% of the vote (10 votes)
Hi FM took 65.41% of the vote (174 votes)
Merge  took 16.54% of the vote (44 votes)
Arabic took 1.13% of the vote (3 votes)
CD/MP3 took 13.16% of the vote (35 votes)

It's not looking too good for Merge, at least as a reflection of what you all, readers of  ze blog, think. Merge have lost 10% of the vote, and even their volumes are down on increased voting numbers, while Hi FM have stormed off with 65% of the vote, an increase of 17% over last time. Also, less of you are listening to Radio Sultanate of Oman, and I note that Merge's Facebook "like" campaign has netted them 2,028 people, and Hi have 3,847 likers at the time of writing on their Facebook page.

 @o3mer's picture seems to sum things up nicely

So I wonder why people are not, well, those of you that voted, are choosing not to listen to Merge, and more people are listening to Hi FM. Care to share?

le fin.

Local bits and pieces.

Well, we're into the last day of voting for the Radio poll, and so far 252 votes have been cast - and if you have not voted yet, please do!

Over on English Girl in Oman's blog, she has recently blogged about a cause I fully support - The Oman Cat-astrophe. They have a Facebook group here, and you can read more about them there or on English Girl in Oman's blog. The group are a stray cat neutering and re-homing imitative and are having a fund-raising book-and other stuff sale at The Dolphin Club on September 13th. If you have items you want to donate for the cause, you can do so by contacting Lesley on 9291 4868 or Chris Barlow on 9504 0189.

Next up, another local Blogger has finally returned from his ridiculously long vacation - Andy in Oman is back from the 'pines and appears to have had quite the trip, worth stopping by his blog to read about it. I'm sure he'll be gloating about it more in the coming days, the voracious blogger that he is.

I was recently googling about Yolanda be Cool in Muscat and came across a fairly witty new local blog, The Camel Dodgers guide to Oman - if you're easily offended dont visit it. If you like a bit of wit, then take a look, the bedwin doesn't like to write a lot, so it wont take long to read his blogs to date!

More on the Muscat Grand Mall now, and as the news was broken yesterday by the Times of Oman, the new cinema there is to be 3 screens, totaling 300 seats, and both 3D and 4D technology. I presume that means 1 4D cinema and 2 3D cinemas. I have to admit I didn't know what 4D was, so I went to Wikipedia to find out. It seems essentially that it is a 3D presentation with additional effects, which are not guaranteed but could range from:

Vibrating seats, strobe lights, air and water sprays and even smells... It also seems not many main-stream movies are given the 4D treatment.... yet, but perhaps it will catch on like 3D has in recent years. Anyway good to know we're getting another cinema in town. more on MGM in the coming days.

le fin.

Muscat Daily pokes dodgy employers who still hold passports

In an unexpected outburst from Mohana Prabhakar today in the Muscat Daily paper, the headline reads: "Holding passports is illegal, but who cares"

Its good to see some unprovoked prodding, and questions being asked of employers as to why exactly they are continuing to demand people's passports when joining them. I noted the absence of a direct out and out question to law enforcement as to why more is not being done to crack down on these law breakers but its certainly helping to draw more attention to what is very rightly described as an "unpalatable truth".

You can read the story here, and I note that if you are an employee and have to surrender your passport, you can contact Muscat daily, confidentially, by emailing muscatdaily@apexmedia.co.om

What do you all think about it? Personally I'm one of the lucky ones and if someone tried to take my passport away from me for a job I am confident enough to say bollocks to that and go and find another job. But I know I'm in the minority on that one.

Tomorrow, the results for the latest Poll - if you haven't voted yet - there's less than 24 hours to do so!

le fin.

Giveaway & Sudocrem Skin Care Cream Review

I'm gonna get straight to the point with this review, when Sudocrem first sent me a sample of their skin care cream I was unimpressed by it. The only way I can describe their packaging is blah and the notion that its handbag size seems ridiculous to me; when would I ever reach into my bag for a tube of thick white cream to smoother over a full face of makeup? 
I was also scared to apply this to blemishes, in my head something which appears to be heavy and moisturising would only make my spots worse right? After being assured on twitter of its wonderful properties I braved applying it over one spot and to my surprised the spot almost disappeared completely over night. 

OK so as a spot treatment it really works, more so than most. I don't know how or why it works but I don't care because right now there isn't a blemish on my face :)
That still led me to question why would someone buy this over a different treatment that already works for them? Its £1.99 for 30g, my previous treatment of choice retails for around £4.40 or 15ml. An absolute bargain!

Remember the cream is heavy so you need to apply it very sparingly. If you put to much on it makes your skin look and feel greasy. One more thing I liked about this product is the fact that I can wear it under makeup. So many products claim to be 'invisable' but dry up and flake off leaving my makeup looking patchy. This sinks in a bit like a moisturiser so works great under a primer or foundation. 
If you buy this product you won't get a sense luxury and yes, the product occasionally gets stuck in the tube; but you will get a simple, effective treatment for your blemishes at a good price. What more could a girl ask for? 

Sudocrem were over generous to me, they sent me 3 tubes. Two will last me forever so I'm giving one away! To enter just leave a comment below telling me what your favourite spot treatment is! The contest will close on the 29st August and anyone can enter, I shall be posting the prize myself to please leave your twitter/email address in the comments so I can contact you if you win. 

Good Luck,

Onna

Tonight: Bank Muscat Charity Walk

Tonight, from 9pm, Bank Muscat are hosting a charity walk for the Al Noor Association for the Blind. The walk starts at the Bank Muscat HQ building in Airport Heights out near Ghala, and it is RO 3.000 to register for the walk. I understand you get a t-shirt and some other things when you register but I don't really know. Most of the information I've found on this has been in Arabic so I'm hoping someone that knows more can post a comment to give more information on this.

I found a Facebook group, EnVent that is promoting the event here.

More soon!

le fin.

FOTN: I turned 20! :)

So yesterday was my 20th birthday and to celebrate with my blogging friends I thought I'd show you a few snaps from my birthday party. Also thank you so much for all the "Happy Birthday's" on twitter! Made my day! I had the most amazing night and all my friends are little stars! We had pre-drinks at mine, including vodka jelly (yum) then proceeded to get even more drunk in town. I've been requested to make a video/blog post on what I got so I'll do that a little later on. 

Me and Emily

I really liked the way my makeup photographed so here's what I'm wearing:

Face

Lancome Tient Idole Foundation

Gosh Touch Up Concealer 02

Rimmel Translucent Powder

 Benefit high beam

 Sleek blush in pixie pink

 Clinique Bronzer

Eyes

Brown & Black e/s Sleek Original Palette

M.A.C Jest to Highlight

Maybelline Gel liner

Girls Aloud Kimberley Lashes

Hair

Curled using both my straighteners and my conical wand with lots of hair spray!

Oufit

Mustard Dress:New Look(Mila

(one of their concession brands)

Black Wedges: Primark

Navy Bag: Primark

Me and Chezzie

Jess and I dancing <3

Jenny, Chezzie, Sian, Emily

Jess, Tom, Brittany and some girl I dont know lol

Merge FM, 2 months on.

Well Merge have been transmitting live for just over 2 months now, and so I'm re-running the poll I ran before - what radio station are you listening to?

I'll run the poll for a week, just like last time :)

More tomorrow.

le fin.

It's official: Waitrose opening at The Wave

It has finally been confirmed: Waitrose will be opening at The Wave's retail area before the end of the year, and in the mean-time, a temporary Al Fair will be opening at The Wave. The most recent newsletter from the people at The Wave has confirmed this, as well as a few other retailers set to open up there.

I wonder what this will do to Markez Al Bhaja? Marks and Sparks is moving to MCC, Al Fair will surely become less frequented, the Coffee Bean & Tea leaf wil now be impacted by Costa Coffee, and lets face it, MAB mall is dying a death, I wonder if they'll get something new to bring in more shoppers?

In similar news, the Muscat Grand Mall (opposite Lulu in ghubra) is set to open "before the end of the year" (I've heard that one before) with Carrefour confirmed as the anchor store for the mall. It's a win-win for Majid Al Futtaim I guess, because they get to directly compete with LuLu's without having to build a location, I suspect they're rather pleased with themselves over their 4th store location in the Sultanate. 

So far I've not been able to get a retail map of the new mall, if you have one please share it with us!

More soon.

le fin.

The start of my latest nightmare: Moving house

It's been a time of change for me lately, and now I've also decided to change my house.

Essentially my land lord is a douche, and so after 4 years of living in one of his properties, enough is enough and we're moving out. We've found a new house to live in, not very far away, but I'm already expecting massive problems with moving our life there.

A cursory ten minute inspection of the Omantel website netted absolutely zero information about how to transfer services from one building to another. This should be enlightening. For those of you that have moved, can you make any suggestions? Warnings?

I've already decided to ignore OSN and just pay someone privately to come and move my dish to the new property - i've heard it can take weeks to get OSN to come and do it.

So, if any of you have any tips with regards to moving within Oman please do let me know!

le fin.

Chezza Hair

After watching Sara's Youtube Video on how to use velcro rollers, it reminded me how much I used to love mine, so on Saturday night I go out my straighteners and my rollers and created some massive hair! I straightened each piece before I put the rollers in so they would cool into a nice shape. I left them in for about an hour and my god did I get a lot of volume. I sometimes forget how thick my hair is.

If you're stuck for 'evening hair' ideas I'd definitely recommend velco rollers, they are so easy and they give you plenty of time to do your makeup and have a cheeky drink :)

Just a quick twitpic of how I place the rollers in my hair.

Hope you all had a good weekend,

Onna

And so it begins.

Last night the moon was spotted and so Ramadan began, personally I was having dinner at the Dolphin club and they came round with requests for last orders - thats how I found out!

These are my top 5 tips for surviving Ramadan as a non-muslim:

1. Expect very little to be done by any Government offices
2. Order your lunch to be delivered, or bring a pack lunch. I understand most restaurants will deliver during the day.
3. Get invited to the many house parties that take place during this month.
4. Do not drive, anywhere, at all, in the last 3 hours of daylight, your playing a rigged lottery and the odds are not in your favour.
5. Make sure you drink a lot of water before going to any meetings.

And, a little picture I posted last year at this time, I think it's fairly instructive:

le fin.