Iran earthquake felt in Oman

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A major earthquake struck a region near the Iran-Pakistan border today, less than a week after a quake in Iran killed at least 37 people. The U.S. Geological Survey said the 7.8 quake struck the slightly populated region.

The tremors were felt as far away as New Delhi and Gulf cities of Muscat, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Doha. The USGS report said Tuesday’s quake was at a depth of 15.2 kilometers.

Meanwhile, officials in Oman have confirmed that a 3.8 magnitude quake shook Oman for a few seconds. They ruled out tsunami as it was an inland quake.

Residents and employees were seen running out of their homes and offices at 2.45 pm (Oman local time) as tremors were felt across Muscat and other major places in the Sultanate. According to some reports, as a precautionary measure, some companies declared holiday for their employees for the day.

Ramesh Kumar, a resident of Ruwi said he was watching television when he felt the tremors and within seconds heard people in the building running out. “All the residents of the building gathered outside and returned back after 20 minutes,” he said.

Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter were abuzz with updates on tremors from various parts of Muscat and near by places.

People rushing out of their workplaces in CBD today. (Photo source: Muscat Daily)

People rushing out of their workplaces in CBD today. (Photo source: Muscat Daily)

Restaurant review: PAUL Bakery and Restaurant

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It was a weekend afternoon that we decided to try out PAUL Bakery and Restaurant, the newest addition to Muscat’s restaurant scene. With its ‘countryisque’ interiors and seating, the restaurant is upbeat and vibrant. Since the place was full, we had to wait for a few minutes before we were led to a table.

The restaurant offers a wide selection of authentic French breads, gourmet pastries, salads, soups, sandwiches and main courses. A little bit of reading tells me PAUL’s signature breads are baked the traditional hand-crafted way to ensure consistent fresh quality and customer satisfaction.

Another interesting feature of the restaurant is the bakery, customers can actually witness the process of the bread making as they eat their lunch or dinner. The glass window provides for this view.

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Coming back to the food, we ordered Chicken Fritture (kids meal which comes with a glass of orange juice and a scoop of ice cream), Paul Mix (a concoction of fresh kiwi and strawberry juice), closed sandwich Poulet Pesto (marinated grilled chicken breast slices in pesto sauce, mayonnaise, fresh tomatoes and served in a bread) and open sandwich Tartine au poulet (grilled chicken strips with paprika, mushrooms and cheddar cheese in a bread).

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I must confess except for Chicken Fritture (which is nuggets basically), I had a bite of everything and found it extremely delicious and well made. The marinated chicken, with its tangy lemonish tinge, was enough to tickle and soothe my taste bud. The Paul Mix was fresh and nice.

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A free breadbasket is served with some butter, and the soft bread of the lot is quite tasty. It is as fluffy as a cake. For dessert, we tried strawberry cake (I can’t recall the exact name), and it was delicious. Our bill for the meal came up to RO 18.500 (including taxes) and I thought it was money well spent on quality experience and fresh food.

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The best part of the meal was superb customer service by the restaurant staff. At one point, we asked a waiter to suggest if the macaroni was a good choice for the dessert. Honestly he confessed, “I have not tried out, sir.” That is the kind of honesty that floors a customer and adds value to the restaurant.

On the whole, PAUL manages to bring a little taste of France to Muscat. Their food is fresh and authentic. Highly recommended if you’ve not been there yet. PAUL is located in Muscat Grand Mall, and can be contacted at 2200 9583.

Muscat boy fakes kidnapping to beat exam blues

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A report says in Gulf News says:

The Muscat schoolboy who was feared abducted after he went missing for 26 hours last Friday has confessed to the Royal Oman Police (ROP) that he staged the whole drama out of the fear that his father would punish him if he scored low marks in his 10th grade examinations.

“In his initial statement, the boy had told us that three people had kidnapped him but his version had a lot of contradictions, so we continued asking him and finally he confessed that he had run away and was not kidnapped,” Sulaiman Al Rashidi, head of criminal investigations at the Ruwi police station, said in a statement sent to Gulf News.

“There was no one involved in the boy’s disappearance, he staged his own escape,” Al Rashidi said, adding that the boy confessed to the police that he had feared that his father would punish him if he failed to get good grades in the 10th standard examinations. The boy had admitted that he got out of the car and climbed the mountains behind the hypermarket, the official said.

There is no doubt that this incident is a slap on the face of Indians in Muscat who had voiced their concern over the abduction and safety of fellow Indian kids in Oman over the last few days. This is also some good news for Wadi Kabir, which has been in news for negative reasons over repeated theft incidents for sometime.

The real concern is next time a genuine kidnapping takes place (god forbid), many of the fellow Indians who sympathised, supported the boy’s family, prayed and voiced their opinion against ‘dastardly crime’ will be extremely careful in their approach. Newspapers will think twice in highlighting such incidents too, and a genuine case will find less takers.

Finally, who will take the blame for the above incident? The boy who was pressurised to perform well in exams or his parents who pressurised the boy to score high marks? Thanks to the Indian system of education, we are nowhere close to sort this mess anytime soon.

Entertainment just got bigger

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Shah Rukh Khan in Muscat.

Shah Rukh Khan in Muscat

Shah Rukh Khan. Akon. Justin Bieber. Yanni. In a welcome break from the past, Muscat is hosting some high-profile shows in 2013. Entertainment just got bigger in the year when many local companies posted not so great profits in 2012, thanks to rise in manufacturing costs and hike in salaries.

Save for banks, telecoms and some auto brands, a majority of companies just managed to stay afloat. It should be remembered these are the very companies, which used to sponsor local entertainment events over the years large heartedly.

With no luxury of monster marketing budgets anymore, I wonder how the event management companies are taking the risk of organising big shows.

With the prevalent free-pass-culture in Oman, does this mean that bank and telecoms will take the burden of sponsoring biggie events henceforth by buying tickets in bulk and handing it over to their clients? The cost of a VVIP ticket for Shah Rukh Khan’s concert was priced at OMR 500. Forget individuals, how many corporates are in a position to buy these tickets anymore under prevailing circumstances?

What am I upto…

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I am guilty of neglecting my blog for a longtime now. Thanks to Twitter and Facebook, which keep me occupied like it has done for prolific bloggers in Oman and elsewhere. Also, I don’t get that kind of time anymore these days to sit and compose a decent blog post (this is a flimsy reason, I know) and I am unable to write about anything and everything in Oman like I used to do earlier.

So what am I up to these days? Well, here are the things that keep me busy:

1.    Plan, develop and implement social media strategies for brands in Oman – from auto to retail to manufacturing – in platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and the likes. Yes, we have executed some kick-ass Facebook contests for global brands and created a real buzz for their business in the social media world.

2.    Website development for local businesses. From static websites to CMS-powered websites, we have executed projects that are technologically superior in this market. Yes, we do content development for websites where clients are keen on quality writing.

3.    We have been providing public relations services for local companies in terms of media coverage and branding. Our team of professional writers, with journalism experience, churn out good copies, both in English and Arabic. We do PR as per a plan, and not just for the sake of random media coverage.

4.    Going into the next level, where life revolves around mobile phones and tablets, we are coming up with mobile apps for local brands – both for Apple, Android and BlackBerry devices.

This is a summary of my activities, and along with that I still try to keep the foodie in me active by visiting new restaurants in town regularly. Unfortunately, I have been not able to post the reviews on the blog. I am hope make a comeback into active and serious blogging soon.

Wish me good luck!