The Winners: Jay Sean & Shontelle

Congratulations to Formose Pereira for being the lucky winner of 2 free VIP tickets kindly donated by Hi FM and Alive Events for the Jay Sean and Shontelle concert at the InterCon gardens on Wednesday 9th November from 7:00pm.

Tickets are still available and cost RO 20 for general admission of RO 40 for VIP admission. You can get more information from the Facebook event page here. Tickets can be purchased at OUA MQ branch, Bose store in Qurum City Centre and Al Ghazal pub at the InterCon.

Thanks to everyone who entered!

le fin.

It's official: Private Sector work week now 5 days, EID holidays announced

Well it's been quite the morning so far.

The Public Sector has had significant amendments to the labour laws, here's my sumary:

1. Workers now get 30 days leave a year (it used to be 15 for the first year, and then 30)
2. Workers get 6 days emergency leave.
3. The working day is to be 9 hours a day, 45 hours a week. People can work up to 12 hours per day if they choose to, but for over-time to be paid it is base rate + 25%.
4. Women get 50 days maternity leave for up to 3 children during service, which can be taken before and after birth - 50 days max in total. No Maternity leave for men is mentioned.

Thats better than it was, so it's good to see strong development in the labour laws here, I'm sure there are a lot of happy campers out there today. And grumpy Contractors.

Now, Eid has been announced as Sunday 6th November, and holidays are as follows:

Government Sector: Saturday 5th - Wednesday 9th, returning to work on the 12th November
Private Sector: Saturday 5th - Tuesday 8th, returning to work on the 9th November

Now, there is also a rain cloud coming to Muscat, via Masirah (which is where it's at right now). Nothing to get excited about, its just going to rain and thunder a fair bit over the next few days.

Special thanks to @BaderHinai

Snake Gorge should be nice and full of water for the Eid holidays then. Result.

If you have not already, why not have a go at winning the 2 VIP tickets to JaySean / Shontelle concert on Wednesday November 9th that I'm giving away, click here for more details - it's free to enter and I don't give the email addresses to anyone.

One last question - does anyone know why Costa Coffee in MQ stinks like shit? It's really gross in there.

le fin.

FOTD: Me, my face and I

I've got into a rut with my makeup and all I wear right now is eyeliner... bring on Halloween so I can create something a little more interesting. Right now though, I am so in love with my Chanel Vita Lumiere Aqua Foundation - its ah-ma-zing! 


I love this nail varnish, its Vivid Purple by Barry M. The ring is from Primark and the bracelet is from H&M. 


I used my BaByliss Glamour Waves on my hair then slept on it and got this... it look alright I guess?


Hope you are all well,


Onna 

More Free Tickets! Jay Sean & Shontelle!

The ticket masters are being kind to me at the moment, and I'm very pleased to open the competition to win 2 free VIP tickets to the Jay Sean / Shontelle concert being held at the InterCon gardens on Wednesday 9th November from 7:00 pm.

Tickets are still available and cost RO 20 for general admission of RO 40 for VIP admission. You can get more information from the Facebook event page here. Tickets can be purchased at OUA MQ branch, Bose store in Qurum City Centre and Al Ghazal pub at t'InterCon.

As always, all you have to do is email me at mrsythe [at] gmail.com or leave a comment here - if you leave a comment please make sure there is a way for me to contact you should you win! I'll announce the winner next Tuesday evening!

Bon chance!

le fin.

Shaggy Free tickets: Winner!

Hi everyone!

So many of you entered for a chance to win the free tickets, I can tell that the gig is going to be really popular!

Tickets are still available from Costa Coffee (RO 20 General Admission) and Totem clothing (RO 35 Fan pit). I should note that this is an all age event, alcohol sales will be restricted to those wearing the correct wrist bands!

You can get more information by checking this facebook page.

Special congratulations go out to Reshmeika, you've been emailed with details on your free tickets!!

Thank you Meisan Events!

le fin.

Yum Yum

I <3 Cupcakes

Made these for everyone at work! 

xxx

The Steak Company

Opening soon at Bareeq al Shatti in the place of Abala Cafe, a new steakhouse, The Steak Company will be opening its doors. The Steak Company has exclusive rights to both South African Prime by Karan Beef, and Australian Prime Black Angus by Ralphs as well as the same Silverfern New Zealand beef used in many hotels here.

I was fortunate enough to be invited to go and sample their South African steak and I have to say it was delicious! The particular steak dinner I had is priced at RO 8.9 and I felt that was a good price for such an amazing steak. I know that once it opens I'll definitely be going back for more. My understanding is that they will be open by the end of the month.

For more information, The Steak Company has the following:

A Website
A Facebook page
And a Twitter account

More soon!

le fin.

The Oman Cat-astrophe Fur Ball

Those cat loving people are at it again with their fundraising with a Fur-Ball being held at the Costain Dolphin Club this November 24th. Tickets are RO 25 and cover food, some drink and music entertainment - all proceeds go towards the animal neutering program. Once a cat can't reproduce.... the cat "problem" is reduced - so please help them out!

You can more information from their facebook page. Have a nice week everyone!

le fin.

Work, Wardrobes and weirdness

This picture looks a bit weird to me, but I didn’t have time to faff about! My makeup is minimal as usual – loving my Maybelline Black Gel Liner atm!

Wanted to do an OOTD post today but this is what they made me wear to work! New Look can be such a fail sometimes!

Ombering my hair has totally wreaked it! Needs a cut and colour pronto but not sure what to do next? Any more bleach and my hair might fall off! Got an appointment booked for early November... Ideas anyone?

I love my wardrobe! I think it’s the thing I’ll miss the most when I finally move out of my parents house… somehow I doubt my budget will stretch to having a handbag wall :S Still saving and job searching...

Anyway hope you are all well!

Love,

Onna

Justin Bieber From Meet and Greet,ROCKEFELLER CENTER

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The weekend planner.

Wednesday you shady lady, hello!


Here's a selection of things going on this weekend you may want to check out.....

Tonight, there is of course, the Hi FM 80's party with Pat Sharp and crew - it starts at 9:00 and tickets are RO 15 on the door - it'll be a great laugh, and you may even see me in my awesome 80's outfit. May.

Before then though, you may want to warm up at The Safari Bar / or John Barry bar with 2 free Cosmo's for women and 40% off selected drinks (most as far as I can tell) at the bar between 6-10pm. Thats a pretty sweet deal. Canadian Super-band(!) Earth Beat will be playing live, as usual, from 9:00pm in the Safari Bar.

Alternatively, the people at the Radisson are also doing free cocktails at the Lazy Lizard between 7-10pm on both Wednesday and Thursday for women. It sure seems to be a good time to be a lady if you are one that likes free cocktails! Or you can check out the Al Ghazal happy hour, on between 6 and 7:30pm.

If kicking it 80's style tonight isn't your thing, then you may want to head over to Zouk tonight for the Corona Movida DJ contest tonight - good luck to DJ Just Click it, DJ Hash(!), DJ Mulham & DJ Static who will be battling it out back to back.

Alternatively, tonight at The Left Bank, between 8-10, there will be a Cuban cigar roller working away outside for those that like that sort of thing. I understand space is limited, so get there early to avoid disappointment.

Tomorrow, at the Park Inn Rooftop, Nikhil Chinapa is spinning his brand of house music from 9 till 3am, supported by local DJ, Dub Bass. Tickets cost RO 10 (or RO 5 if your a lady!), or RO 20 for VIP (separate bar and closer to the DJ's).

Friday brings the Rugby World Cup decider for 3rd and 4th place, kicking off at 11:30 between Wales and Australia. I hope the Daves take it, I don't think I could stand all the bragging from the Aussies. New home of the MRFC, Habanna bar, will be showing both this game, and the World Cup Final (Sunday at noon) live. On both days the Habanna bar will be open from 10:30, serving from noon, and affording a 40% discount on selected drinks from noon too.

However, by far the biggest event this Friday is of course, MRFC V Dubai Wasps at 4:00pm at the ABA Ground in Al Khuwair. Before hand, at 1:00 you can watch the Muscat Magpies (Aussie rules lot) run around against the Doha Kangaroos. MRFC have suffered in recent years from poor funding and support but the players have stepped it up and relentlessly trained all summer and this paid off last week when the boys gave Doha a slapping, so big things are expected against the Dubai Wasps this weekend. Come and support the guys as they front up to the Dubai guys. As usual, the after game celebrations will be held in the new home for Muscat Rugby - the Habana Bar at the Hyatt - all are welcome.

And people thought Muscat was boring!

Have a great weekend everyone. Make sure you enter my competition for free tickets to Shaggy on November 6th!

le fin.

Free Tickets! Shaggy in Muscat on November 6th

Isn't Muscat getting lucky in November? On the first day of Eid (Sunday November 6th) local event organizers, Meisan Events are throwing a concert at the InterCon gardens - Gates open at 6:30 and DJ Adam J from London will warm the crowd up until 8, when local artists SG & Sham open up for Shaggy until 8:30, when Shaggy's DJ takes over before Shaggy performs around 9.

Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at Costa Coffee outlets for General Admission (RO 20) or, for the fan pit (right next to the stage) you can pick up these for RO 35 from Totem clothing store. There is also an exclusive after-party that will be attended by Shaggy, for which tickets can be purchased (including access to the fan pit) for RO 60.

The guys at Meisan Event's have very kindly given me 2 fan pit tickets to give away to you lovely people! To enter, either email me at mrsythe [at] gmail.com or leave a comment here... if you leave a comment make sure there is a way for me to contact you! I'll announce the winners in a weeks time!

You can check out the Facebook event page here, and Meisan Event's facebook page for more details.

More soon.

le fin.

Justin Bieber From Meet and Greet,LIMA

4 more pics.....

Muscat Mole: Omanisation

Omanisation – the flawed policy

All of those who work in Muscat know that one of the biggest challenges facing any business is Omanisation. Whilst the government is right to want as many Omanis to get to work as possible (and to be there on time, at the same time, clogging up the roads – a debate for another blog) the policy is flawed.

It is a simple matter of maths. If a business wants to grow, it might work out that it needs 100 new people, and with an Omanisation requirement of 90%, 90 Omanis would be employed.

But perhaps that business, if it were allowed to employ people with the precise skills it wanted, could create 200 jobs, because it could expand better and quicker. If that business agreed that 50% of them would be Omani, it would actually create jobs for 100 Omanis - more than the previous example.

Business does not grow because it is told to do so by governments. It grows because it finds opportunity, and it needs people to execute its plans. And it must have the right people.

Here we find the other big issue. Those Omanis who have the right skills and are in the right jobs are now in big demand. Omanisation means that all businesses need their quota of Omanis, and some of these must be in management positions. The best Omani performers find that headhunters come knocking at their door.  And quite right – the cream will rise to the top.

The concern is that some may be over-promoted for the sake of statistics. This can undermine other corporate goals, and could create tensions with other workers.

Whatever nationality we are, we know we have certain inherent strengths and weaknesses. So do Omanis.  It is time to be realistic. The onsite labour market will always be dominated by expats largely from the Indian subcontinent. Trying to change this by putting round pegs in square holes will not work.

So come on, Ministries and all, we know that 63% of Omanis are under the age of 30 (National Geographic figures from July 2011) and that many of these citizens need jobs now and in the near future. Let’s look again at Omanisation, and get private business to lead the way by informing the government of its needs to expand in the best way. Forget the strict percentages, and move towards a world where jobs are filled by the most suitable candidates.

And all employees, from whatever nationality, need to be prepared to work, with a positive attitude to do their best.  And their best should be for both their company and the country.

-----



le fin.    

Chicken heavily contaminiated with Melamine in Oman

Recently, Muscat Daily published this story on melamine contamination in meats in Oman, but it seems no one has really quite "got" it and is taking this seriously. The results published are considerably alarming, especially when melamine levels found in chicken locally obtained from the market here have registered levels in the range of 25.6-73mg/kg. The accepted industry norm is 0.015mg/kg (according to the article) which means in certain cases, the melamine content was over 5000 times the accepted limit. In total, 50% of poultry products tested were contaminated with more than the maximum permitted limit of melamine.

The report in the Muscat Daily stated that meat products tested were from local, regional and international suppliers, but failed to name and shame the brands that had these potentially lethal levels of melamine. In 2008, there was a scandal in China that broke, resulting in 6 infant fatalities and over 850 babies hospitalized and a predicted 300,000 people affected by melamine contamination in food, but mainly milk. So it's a fairly big deal if you regularly eat chicken - if it's contaminated with melamine.

The report is fairly vague on solid facts though - are fresh chicken products safe to eat, are the contamination levels found mainly in frozen and processed products? It's not clear. The study conducted is not dated, and so it's not abundantly clear when these tests were carried out. However, most frustratingly, products and brands were not named and shamed in the report, leaving the reader (well at least me) thoroughly confused and unsure whether I should consider continuing to have chicken in my regular diet.

I contacted Muscat Daily to ask them which brands were the worst offenders, and which were the best, and the response back to me is that the journalist who wrote the article asked the very same question to the Ministry of Health, but they refused to give any details. W.T.F.

Food safety here in Oman has a long history of being abused - we all know stories of buying products only to find they are moldy, or even seeing clearly unfit to eat meat being presented at deli counters in the past. Fridges also are fairly commonly discussed as not cooling products to the correct temperature, and continual freezing, thawing and re-freezing of products is common place as well. One really does wonder whether these test results from SQU are accurate or not, and if so, why on earth nothing has been done by the authorities. 

If local suppliers of meat products don't like it, I would suggest they employed an impartial 3rd party to test and certify their products. What do you think?

le fin.

Justin Bieber From Meet and Greet,CHILE

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80's party free tickets winner

Thank you everyone that has entered for the free tickets to the Hi FM / Alive events 80's party this Wednesday at the Jabrin ballroom in the InterCon.

Congratulations go to Louise who has won 2 free tickets to the event.

There are still a few tickets available to purchase, they are just RO15 and going quickly!

Stay tuned for the next free ticket give-away for Jay Sean soon! I'll be giving away 2 VIP passes to that gig.

le fin.

Muscat RFC 45 - Doha RFC 27

Good afternoon everyone!

Just a quick post today - it's voting day for the A'Shura, and the day (now practically over) has been called as a public holiday for voting Omani's - and the roads have been really clear all day :)

Yesterday saw MRFC's 4th game of the season, and Gulf Conference league season opener against Doha - who crushed Muscat in their last encounter. MRFC took control of the game and won very convincingly.

Well done! MRFC have another match at home this coming Friday at 3:30pm against the Dubai Wasps.

le fin.

New Look Night Out...

On saturday I went for a girls night out with my trusty New Look ladies! We got a bit glammed up, had a few pre-drinks and off to town we went. It was the usually night out, but I thought I'd show you my outfit/makeup all the same. Sorry about the drunken blurry photos but hey ho! 


My black lacy dress was from Apricot and was so flattering and my tights were from Pretty Polly. Bangles and earrings were from New Look, as usual! As for makeup I went for darm plum lips and thick black liner. Might do a tutorial on it if I'm feeling productive tomorrow! 


I secretly want glasses so badly! I know that I'm being very ungrateful for my good vision but I just love glasses! 


P.S I finally have the good camera back, so going to do some more outfit and makeup posts! 


Much Love,
Onna