HOME WORKOUT IN ARMY STYLE

                                 A NEW STYLE ARMY WORKOUT

With the new year well under way, u may already find urself struggling to keep up with ur usual gym workout routine. As you try to keep up with the pace of everyday life, u may feel like it's mission impossible to spare an hour to hit the gym. It might be time to look 4 an alternate solution.


A home military-style workout is the perfect thing to get you in shape fast without eating up what little free time u have.
Who better to advise you on how to go about creating a top-notch, fat-burning and muscle-building workout than one of the fittest army soldiers? SSG Sarvis has just won one of the toughest challenges in the Army: the U.S. Army Drill Sergeant of the Year award.


Now he's revealing some of his precise training techniques that he's used to whip his body into top shape, so that you too can get your body in top form.

Continue Reading..

Oman-USA FTA being tested.

Now, this is interesting. Do any of you remember the story earlier this year about US-based investor Adel al Tamimi? In a nut shell, this guy (who is based in Boston) had two of his companies (Emrock and SFOH) enter into 2 25 year lease agreements with state-owned Oman Mining Company back in 2006 to develop a quarry in the Jebel Wasa region (very close to the UAE border, between Buraimi and Hatta). Anyway, so the story goes: al Tamimi spent a lot of money on infrastructure at the site including access roads and accommodation as well as plant equipment purchases and hires in 2007. Come 2009 he was arrested and thrown in jail for 3 months for the theft of rocks & sand and violations of environmental regulations(!), and of course his mining operations were shut down. In June 2010, he was acquitted of all charges, but not before his mining operation was confiscated and sold off! The land was taken back by the government, the equipment was sold to competitors and workers were dispersed thus effectively destroying his ability to conduct his business.

Quite understandably, al Tamimi was a little bit hacked off that all his investments had been flogged by Oman Mining Company and so in April of this year he formally filed notice to request international arbitration (a very firm part of the Free Trade Agreement between Oman and the USA) to resolve his dispute with Oman Mining Company. Now the process seems to work with a 90 day notice, and then the case if not agreed is allowed to be referred to an international arbitrator who will make a final ruling. Emphasis on international. Anyway, Muscat Daily today reported that al Tamimi's lawyers formally filed last Friday a request for arbitration. The amount in dispute is considerable: US$ 560m

Now this is interesting because on the face of this story, it looks like Oman Mining Company failed to hold up it's end of the agreement and did not secure the appropriate permits and licenses to conduct the works. If the arbitrator rules in favour of al Tamimi, it'll be very interesting to see how Oman reacts - if they don't pay up, the investing world will surely notice. First the debacle with Blue Circus City, and now this, another half billion dollar snub by Omani companies.

I look forward to hearing the outcome of the arbitration, hopefully it'll be reported on locally - and good job to Muscat Daily for covering this today.

le fin.

Whose line is it anyway?

Well it seems that whose line is it anyway is back again this Wednesday night from 8pm. I went to the last one and had a great time - I especially enjoyed the complete-the-sentence game :) Anyway, here's the details ripped from the Facebook event page:

Muscat sees the return of this hilarious show of improvised comedy - it is the only show of its kind to cross quick witted improvised comedy with a game show.

Steven Frost, Steve Steen, Andy Smart and Ian Coppinger from the official British TV show create characters, s cenes and songs on the spot, based on audience suggestions. These comedians have been making people laugh all over the world with their very own brand of improvised comedy. You shout it out, they act it out, no safety nets, fast, furious and funny! Watch the comedy unfold before your eyes with this truly amazing comedy TV show brought to life on stage.

All comedians are regulars at the Edinburgh and Glastonbury festivals and have just returned from a sell out tour in New York – these comedians are not to be missed.

The doors open at 8pm (show 9pm).

Tickets are available at Crowne Plaza Muscat and OUA retail outlet in MQ at OMR15 each or for more information call 95555699.


More soon!


le fin.

Tim Hortons in Oman, and a few other things

As blogged excitedly by Nadia over on Dhofari Gucci, and detailed in The Times of Oman by Canadian journo, Sarah Macdonald today, Tim Hortons are looking to open up it's first branch in Oman in early 2012. I would point out that I blogged about this all the way back on February 5th earlier this year so it's not exactly new news, but exciting all the same that things seem to be gathering speed. Originally Timmies were supposed to be opening a location in Muscat City Centre, but that specific location in MCC where that was pegged to happen now has been occupied by another store.So it's good that there are still solid plans afoot to punt their coffee & baked goods here.

Above is a picture I snapped at Toronto's airport on arrival, its just part of the immigration procedures: Welcome home, here's your double double, you can collect your honey cruller from pickup aisle G (for great!) :) Tim Hortons in Oman should be opening an outlet at the Muscat Grand Mall next year when the mall opens. I remember being assured by the leasing agent for MGM in September that the Mall would absolutely be open by November, guaranteed. I thought then he was in dream-land then, and am sad to see I was right as we're into December and still no opening on the radar for the mall. Hopefully it'll happen in Q1 next year, it is definitely a very nice mall on the inside, I can assure you all of that!

In other news, Oman and Saudi have signed an agreement for Galfar to build a border crossing point in the Empty Quarter. I can imagine that getting posted to that location would be fairly un-appeasing to any of Oman's finest. Presumably this will speed up the movement of goods between KSA and Oman, as well as allow more people to drive between the two countries without the need to transit via the UAE. Dhofar may see increased tourism as a result, which I guess is a good thing.

Now some of you, I hope, will remember my outburst about Melamine in local meats back in October. I chased this up with the local representative of the WHO (World Health Organization) and this was their response:

"Reference is made to your below email regarding Melamine in local meats, please note that we have forwarded your concern to the Director General of Health Affairs, Ministry of Health. Unfortunately we have not received any reply till now."

Now the amusing thing is, the WHO representative's office here in Oman is actually inside the Ministry of Health's offices here in Muscat. Heh. I'm guessing we won't hear a reply either, ever. It just beggars belief that this information has not been made public. More on this if I hear anything.

More soon.

le fin.

The Wave's new Golf Course: Al Mouj Golf

Well, as local blogger Andy in Oman already posted his pictures from his visit to the links style PGA championship Al Mouj Golf course earlier this week, I thought I'd add a few more pictures to the mix, and share some more information about the golf course with you all. The pictures are not mine....

The first 9 holes are now open for business, with the following 9 holes anticipated to be completed by "Q2 2012" - but no exact date yet (one could say that this was "par for the course", heh). The 9 holes that are open currently are Par 37, with a length of 3,695 yards. The full 18 hole golf course is 7,342 yards, Par 72. There is also an open and functioning clubhouse with a bar and restaurant (not yet licensed - but operated by Oman Air in the interim) at the venue.

Click to make this bigger

In the image above, you will see the membership price list for various types of members. The standard price is RO 1,750 for an individual golfer, but if you live at The Wave, or own there, the price is RO 1,575. Now this is for serious golfers only, as its obviously a significant sum - there is also a joining fee of RO 600, which is waived for the first 100 applicants this month only. I understand that a large majority of the 100 free waivers have already been granted, meaning that if your serious about your golf, and interested in joining Al Mouj golf club, you better get your skates on if you want to avoid the RO 600 joining fee.

If, like me, golf is more about the beer cart and corporate golf days, you can just pay green fees of RO 37 (or RO 34 for Wave residents) on the weekends, or RO 31 (or RO 28) in the week. The cost includes rental of the golf buggy. Clubs and shoes are available to rent, as well as purchase from the Pro Shop as well.

Access to just the driving range is just RO 2.500 with a bucket of 50 balls, which I think is pretty good value, and the course & range are open until 10pm with flood lights.

More soon!

le fin.

The Slider Station.

Good morning everyone.

While I was away on my super-fantastic month long vacation (I had never done that before, and I can highly recommend it to everyone!) a new burger joint opened: The Slider Station opened on Friday 25th at 7 p.m. at Oasis by the Sea, Shatti Al Qurum.

Early reports from friends that have been is that it's good. I found an amusing blog post from a brand new local blogger, Shaykh G who apparently slayed the beast (image below, it appears to be a RO 10.000 monster-burger).

The Mighty Beast, perfect for elevenses

It certainly looks like a work out! Prices range from about RO 3.750 to RO 6.000, with the exception of the monster above, which is RO 10.000.

They have a facebook group here, and a website here (which at the time of writing seemed to be fairly incomplete - no menu or information).

Have you been? What do you think?

More soon.

le fin.

I'm back... and the drama about the Royal Opera House

Hello everyone,

Just a little post to say that I'm back from my month long vacation, and so will get back to blogging shortly!

I'm sure those of you that are regular readers of Oman based blogs will have already heard about the on-going drama caused by His Eminence the Grand Mufti of Oman, Sheikh Ahmed bin Hamad Al Khalili's comments regarding the new Opera House in Qurum.

For those that don't know, I've copied the transcript so helpfully provided by Nadia on her blog Dhofari Gucci :

Question: My Mother, may God grant her health and long life, wants to visit the newly opened Royal Opera House to admire the architecture and beautiful designs. Is this acceptable, given the fact that such venues host musical events known to the world as 'opera'. This is the main purpose of the venue.

Mufti: since the dedicated purpose of this venue is music and dance, then visiting it is not acceptable. As for the architecture and designs, they're not exclusive to this location only and can be found at other locations, and Allah knows best.

Now, Dhofari Gucci, Lino and Balqis have all blogged about this topic so I wont spend too much time discussing it, but I will say that it's worth reading all three of these bloggers comments about this. As a non-Muslim I'm not really too involved in these discussions but it does appear evident that music is not allowed in Islam, which I find rather amusing seeing as most calls to prayer I hear the person is usually singing, but lets not get into that.

I think the Opera House is a timeless classic that will outlast every single one of you that is reading this. It's beautiful and is something I think people should be proud of. I think that saying that people can not go to the ROH because it "hosts musical events" is totally ridiculous and narrow minded. One could extend this concept further and say people should not have mobile phones because they are capable of playing music, or watch TV because there might be some music played on it, or drive cars because they have stereo's in them. I'm being pedantic but hopefully you get what I'm saying, and to be fair, Dhofari Gucci said the same thing, to quote her, "if you want to instill sound Islamic beliefs in the new (and coming) generations of Omanis, religious leaders must make their teachings relevant".

And before the haters weigh in: No I'm not anti-Islam, I'm just bemused amazed by this particular situation.

More posts coming soon!

le fin.