Wig party at the Hyatt next weekend

Next Thursday, 18th April at the Marjan at the Grand Hyatt (the restaurant by the swimming pool) there is a pretty great party planned: House music with unlimited drinks for RO 25, all you need is a wig, in Muscats first ever Wig party.

I've seen a few wigs in Ramez, a few more in Daiso (mind you unless they restock I think they're gone pretty soon) and there's the opportunity to buy a wig on the door as well for RO 6.

Here's the Facebook event page for more information. It kicks off at 7pm and runs till 10pm, before moving up to the John Barry bar for the after party which will run till midnight.

More later!

le fin.

Liquor Licenses still not available

UPDATE - 2/2/13

New Books now available :) 


Well I've been getting emails from some of you for about a month now - it appears that the lovely chaps down in the Ruwi Police station have run out of blue booze books.

As recently as this morning, it is confirmed that they still do not have any in stock. The little room's door is locked and there is a sign saying to call this number for more information: 2470 4666

Thats all!

le fin.

O'Malley's turns 1 this Wednesday

Back to my usual stock in trade today.... The Irish bar, O'Malley's over at the Radission Blu in Khuwair are having their 1st birthday celebrations this Wednesday.

There are discounts on drinks all night, and rather amusingly, unlimited shepherds pie between 7 and 10 - I wonder how that's going to work? Just grab a spoon?! :)

Live music from 50 Degrees from 8:30 onwards as well.

More soon!

le fin.

Brown Beer at A&E

Just a quick one before lunch... for those who enjoy Brown Beer, A&E are having a sale... Marstons Pedigree, Burton Bitter and Hobgoblin cases of beer down from RO 19.7 a case to RO 14.9 a case... sale is on now while stocks last!

le fin.

Just a quickie: Tonight is Amarula Night

Tonight at the Safari Pub, there is a special Amarula promotion. Basically they are dishing out free shots of Amarula between 11pm and 1am tonight at the Safari, after then, it's RO 2.5 a shot. For those that don't know, Amarula is basically Baileys. Seeing as most people have holidays on Tuesday, that really only leaves 1 working day to battle through should you be hungover.....

Dont forget your drinking hats!

le fin.

Buying alcohol in Oman

Apologies for the tarnished example, my book gets a work-out!

Another installment in the irregular series of posts: MM Guide to Oman, here's the low down on booze in the Sultanate.

There are bars all over the country that are licensed to sell liquor to anyone of age (including Omani's - the of-age here in Oman is 21). These licenses are almost exclusively held by hotels, but there are a few exceptions dotted around the place, albeit lately these seem to be dying out. Alcohol, like Pork products, are available here, but there is a 100% tax levy in place on these products, making the cost quite high, but still what I'd call reasonable. I won't go into a list of all the bars in Muscat here because I'll still be typing it days from now, and well basically, I can't be bothered to do it at the moment.

In addition to the hotels / bars scene, there are also a number of licensed retail outlets that sell alcohol products in the country. I'm only going to focus on the Muscat area because thats what I know, so if you live somewhere else in the country and have something to share, please do so.

In order to purchase alcohol at these retail outlets, you must have a valid ROP Liquor Permit. These permits can be obtained from the ROP, and in Muscat, you have to go to the special office at the Ruwi Police Station. In order to get the permit, you need the following:

Copy of passport & labor card
2 passport sized photos
No objection letter from your employer
Labor card application in original - copy returned after issuing labor card. This is to confirm basic salary as registered with the Ministry of Manpower
Employment contract attested by the Ministry of Manpower to confirm employment and eligibility to apply for a permit
Completed permit application (Which you can get there)
If you are renewing your permit, bring your old permit with you.

This is my 3rd permit, I've found RO 100 is a good amount

Now, you are technically allowed to purchase a license up to a value of 10% of your basic salary. So essentially, if you have a basic salary of 1000 rials a month, you can purchase a liquor license of up to RO 100 a month in retail purchases. The permit lasts for 24 months, and the cost of it is calculated on 0.4% of the value of the license on a monthly basis, payable in full at the time of application, so a RO 100 monthly permit will cost you RO 96 (100x0.04x24) and it will last you for 2 years.

The typical cost for a case of 24 bottles of Heineken is around RO 13, with most cases of beer coming in at around that price point - RO 10 - 15 a case. Bottles of spirits and wine are also in abundant supply, with even bottles of Verve Cliquot bubbly available for RO 30 a pop. Bottles of wine (and boxes for that matter) start in price around RO 3 and range upwards, with some special bottles going for upwards of RO 20 a bottle. A bottle of branded Vodka for example, will run you around RO 7. So that should give you an idea of roughly how much of a permit value you will want to purchase.

So now that you have your permit, it's time to go shopping! There are essentially 5 major retailers here in the Sultanate:

African & Eastern (A&E)
Oman United Agencies (OUA)
Desert Trading Company (DTC)
Marketing & Services Company (MASE)
Gulf Supply Services (GSS)

Now there are little branches of these 5 chains dotted around all over the city - and I'm sure I've missed a few out, but here's my quick list of where to find them, I've just put the localities where they are, it's a game for you to find them :) :

A&E - MQ, Al Khuwair, Sohar
OUA - MQ, Ruwi
DTC - MQ, Al Khuwair, Wadi Kabir
MASE - Qurum, Ruwi, Rusayl, Salalah
GSS - Wadi Kabir, MQ, Gala, Seeb, Sohar

The opening times are approximately 09:00-13:00 and 16:00-20:00 Saturday to Thursday. During Ramadan the shops remain closed, so stock up before.

Also, you can bring alcohol into the country with you when you fly. You are allowed to carry either 24 cans, or 2 bottles (2 liters max) of wine / spirits - and of course you must be at least 21 years old to do so. One final thing to mention is that it is illegal to transport alcohol in Oman unless you are bringing it home from the store, or the airport - and even then make sure you have the receipt and the permit with you. That said, in 5 years of living here, I've never been stopped by the ROP when driving around town, although once I was stopped at a check point in the interior of the country, and the only question they asked me was: Do you have any whiskey for us?

Regardless, you've been warned. There is also a thriving black market here for booze, but I advise to steer clear of it, not worth the trouble it can cause, and the market is more geared towards laborers who want a RO 3 bottle of brandy to shut-out their problems for a night.

le fin.

An update on the phone / jail thing, and some free bubbly for the ladies

Firstly, an update to yesterdays post about the story in the Times of Oman stating that if you were busted using your phone while driving, you'd get a 10 day all-inclusive stay in the naughty-boys club, courtesy of Muscat's finest. The people at Merge 104.8 had someone from the ROP join them during their afternoon show who then announced that these rules were not actually finished being implemented and researched yet. Of course not, we'll just pretend that the initiative announced in the Times of Oman yesterday said the dates were May 1st to June 30th were actually just made up. In true ToO fashion, the Times of Oman have pulled the story from their website (the link I posted yesterday now points to another, unrelated story). heh.

Today, the Times have run a story that the ROP have now said this 10 day thing is actually not true. They also ran it in their arabic daily paper, Al Shabiba, which was spotted by Salalah's best blogger, Dhofari Gucci. I find it rather amusing that the ToO didn't apologize to it's readers for reporting information that had not been verified.... on it's front page... just 24 hours before. Ahh, such a literary treat reading the ToO.

Moving on!

Now, if you are a lady and fancy some free bubbly - the newest Irish bar in town, O'Malley's is taking a page out of the Hyatt's book and now offering free bubbly to women in the bar every Monday evening between 8 & 11pm. Sláinte!

le fin.

Liverpool FC Fan Club @ the Habana Sports Bar

Those of you who like over-paid actors soccer, and in particular Liverpool, may be excited to discover that tonight the new Anfield Road lounge is launching in partnership with the Grand Hyatt and Standard Chartered. At 7pm, Liverpool kick off against Wigan, and you can win some cool Liverpool bits and pieces, signed by 80's super-icon Ian Rush (owner of an impressive 'tash as well).

But wait, there is more - to get a free drink, all you have to do is "like" the Standard Chartered Oman facebook page et voila, the very kind people at the Habana will furnish you with a free drink. Not too shabby, free is, after all, my favorite price!

Have a good week everyone!

le fin.

St Patricks Day

Happy St Patricks day, its the day everyone is Irish.

It's also Super Saturday, the final 3 games of the 6 Nations rugby cup are being played today, and, if that was not enough, Canadian Super-Comic, Russell Peters, is playing to a packed Qurum Amphitheater tonight. Not a bad way to start the week off I'd say.

And tomorrow there is the first F1 race of the season as well. Pretty nice.

So: If you want to watch the 6 nations, then you can either go to the Rugby Club adoptive home, The Habana bar at the Hyatt, or you could go to the very nice new Irish bar at the Radisson, O'Malleys. In The Habana bar, pints of Guinness and Killkenny are RO 2.000, and a pitcher of green beer is RO 6. On top of that, there is Irish stew & Soda bread and a bunch of other Irish food specialties for RO 4.500.

Over at O'Malleys, there is of course all the live 6 nations action starting from 4:30pm along with a free buffet spread put on before the England Ireland game at 9pm. Chris Fisher will be overseeing proceedings to finish off the night. O'Malleys new signature drink, the Baby Guinness will also be o sale.

The last 3 games of the 2012 Six Nations: Italy v Scotland at 4:30pm, Wales v France at 6:45pm and England v Ireland at 9:00pm

Also tonight, there is of course the sold-out show with Russell Peters at the Qurum Amphitheater presented by Hi FM and Alive Events which starts at 8:00pm with the gates opening at 6. I remember seeing Russell Peters with Mrs Sythe in Yuk Yuk's in Toronto in early 2004.... before he made it big - he was super funny then and I expect him to bring the house down tonight too :)

Have a great day, more tomorrow on a special competition to win flights to Bangkok by watching F1 at the Crowne Plaza!

le fin.

O'Malley's Irish bar at the Radisson Blu

On Friday the 6th of January, the new Irish bar named O'Malley's replacing The Cellar at the Radisson Blu hotel in Al Khuwair started trading in what is being called a soft opening.

No word yet on pricing I popped in there for a quick pint tonight - RO 2.7 for a pint of Stella. It sure does look pretty, here's another snap:

Well it certainly looks nice, no word yet on the menu or the bar pricing - if you've been, please comment and share your experiences with the rest of us! I'd say it'll be busy this weekend...

le fin.

Free sundowners for women!

When one door closes, another one opens! Pavo's recently (and perhaps only temporarily) has stopped selling booze (and thus their margaritas), but the good people at the Hyatt have decided to add to their already good 40% off happy hour at Safari Bar between 6-10pm each night by allowing women to have a free martini either at the Safari Bar, or the (and perhaps my favorite) John Barry bar - every night of the week, between 6 and 10pm.

Free cocktails are always fun, women who drink free cocktails can also be fun too ;)

Also, tonight at 7:00pm MRFC will be playing HMS St Albans, and then retiring to the Habanna Sports bar at the Hyatt for post match celebrations!

Have a good weekend everyone.

le fin.

Confirmed: Pavo Real is now dry

Quite a few people have been in touch with me to let me know that Pavo's is not allowed to sell any booze at the moment. I've now been and confirmed this as true - since October 1st, Pavo's has not had a license to sell booze. The current line out of the mexican restaurants camp is that they are awaiting the renewal of the license any day now. I guess the people at UpTown are waiting too.

First, dancing was stopped at Pavo's (temporarily apparently, but that never got re-started), and now the booze selling has been stopped. Local business magnate, Pankaj Khimji, who has an interest in Pavo's will have to flex his wasta muscles to see if he can get the booze license lifted. Perhaps he can threaten to cut off all Phillip Morris International products to Oman for a while (PMI own the Marlboro brand of cigarettes amongst other smoke brands)! It has been rumored that PK was told that if he sold the restaurant, he would not be able to sell the liquor license either, so perhaps the days were numbered anyway.

Time will tell, but there are also reports of the Golden Oryx having lost it's liquor license too. Why are the hotels allowed to have alcohol but not restaurants? O Sole Mio and Passage to India are also reportedly on the chopping block as well. If tourism is such an important deal for Oman, one does wonder why this ridiculousness is going on. Oh well, not a lot I can do about it. Given the rent that is charged for the location, I wonder if Pavo's will remain open for much longer if there are no over-priced strong margarita sales augmenting profits?

One side note to make: Mumtaz Mahal and Left Bank are on Government Owned land are leased, and they are allowed to keep their liquor license. Heh, so that's fair then.

le fin.

Traffic Light Party tonight!

Ahh, Wednesday, you beauty. I've been waiting for you all week!

Tonight, at local nightclub, Zouk, there is a traffic light party. The Rugby Club ran one of these successfully earlier in the year, and there's no reason why tonight's party will not be a lot of fun too! You essentially wear one of three colours:

Green - single and looking
Yellow - not single but looking(!)
Red - not looking

There is a door cover charge in effect:

Free entry before 10:00pm
RO 10 for single men, which can be fully redeemed at the bar for food and drinks.
RO 20 for couples, which can be fully redeemed at the bar for food and drinks.
Single ladies enter with no cover all night.

Have a nice weekend!

le fin.

The Lazy Lizard at the Radisson Blu

Last Friday, I had the pleasure of relaxing at the Lazy Lizard @ the Radisson Blu after a hard lunch-time effort in the bar watching New Zealand kick off the 2011 IRB Rugby World cup against Tonga (the All Blacks won, naturally). I was a little surprised to see Merge 104.8's wonder boy, Chris Fisher there, but still managed to poke him and say hello. I think. I'm not really too sure on the details.

But I would say that this Friday chill in the pool, with a big screen showing matches and plenty of tipples on offer is currently a well-kept secret - it was really nice and, um, chilled. Well worth a look if you are looking for a way to while away a long Friday afternoon in the coming winter months.

The Radisson Blu is in Al Khuwair at the large oval-bout, near to Automatic, and the institution of late night munchies, Istanboly.

More tomorrow!

le fin.

Watering holes

Well I hope you all had a nice long weekend, I know I did. I'm still stuffed from all the Turkey and cake. I see a Turkey ruby murray in my near future.

Today's post is all about the new poll here on MM. It's about bars. I had to draw the line somewhere, and so I've done the following:

1. They are all Muscat based bars
2. They are all publicly accessible (eg not PDO, Civil Aviation, OHI Club, Royal Flight, golf clubs)
3. I've not included bars in predominantly restaurants (eg: Blue Marlin, O Solé Mio, Up Town, The Pub/Tokyo Taro, Pavo Real etc)

Now I know there are the Wadi Kabir bars, but I dont even know what they're called so I didn't add them in. Same with the Majan hotel bars. If you think I missed a worthy bar out, please let me know and I'll add it to the list for next time (as soon as someone votes on the Poll I can't edit it).

Vote for all that you like, we shall see if there is a clear winner!

le fin.

Just a quickie: Bubbly Brunch at the Radisson BLU

Just a quick little blog to draw attention to any bubbly drinkers:

The Radisson Blu are running just 2 more bubbly brunches before the summer break. Having personally attended one of these brunches, I can give it my stamp of approval, and because this particular blog post is aimed at non-Muslims, there is also a lovely pork roast they usually put on too, all part of the price :)

RO 17.500 and it runs from 12:30 until 3:00pm. It's worth going if you've never been before.

Enjoy the weekend!

le fin.

It's the day that everyone is Irish - Happy St Patricks Day!

And how convenient that it has fallen on a Thursday this year! Pretty much every single bar and club in town is doing something green-themed. The Irish Society ball was sold out ages ago, but for some Irish fun and games, you can check out Feeneys down at the Qurum Beach Resort which has no cover entrance, and I understand there is a raffle with proceeds going to charity.

Enjoy the weekend, more on the protests next week.

le fin.