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.