Monthly Archives: January 2007

Gulf Cup kicks off

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Oman survived some tense moments towards the end to beat UAE in the Gulf Cup opener yesterday. I felt the Omani defence was shaky for most of the time, and it could be a deciding factor in the games to come, if not rectified. Anyways, Oman has a splendid goalkeeper in Ali Al Habsi, and I like his down-to-earth attitude.

I was following the soccer action in Oman TV as well as some of the Dubai channels. While Oman TV coverage looked ordinary, Dubai channels had a ‘World Cup’ feel in their coverage in terms of picture quality and camera angles.

Iraq is one of the participating teams, and you must give it to their determination for competing at the highest level in spite of turmoil back home. They were losing finalists in the Doha Asian Games.

Website blocked

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For Omantel, You Tube is a better evil than Google Video, and therefore the latter gets the chop! Among the networking sites, My Space is the baddy, while sites like Hi5, Friendster escape the axe for now. Like I’ve said always, when it comes to blocking, Omantel is large hearted than its Dubai counterpart — Etisalat.

All in the family

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This man and his five children were seen enjoying a game of soccer on a weekend in Ruwi. Location: empty space between apartments. The approach was quite professional with the father playing the dual role of a player as well as the referee. What impressed was the quality they had put into the game – jerseys, goal posts, side markings, throw-ins. When I asked the man whether I could click a photo, he politely agreed, and quipped, “This is my family.” I was impressed.
The family in action.
The colourful goal post.

Hotel renovation during peak season!

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Two of Oman’s well-known five star hotels –– Sheraton Oman and Al Bustan Palace –– have been closed for renovation till October/November this year. The 22-year-old Sheraton Oman is a landmark by itself, and is among the tallest buildings in Muscat. Al Bustan Palace is a superb beachfront property, known for grandeur and elegance. Ever since the launch of Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa last year, most of the five-star hotels in Muscat started feeling the heat. Most of the corporate events started taking place in Barr Al Jissha, and it became a standard benchmark for official functions and product launches.

Though renovation is unavoidable, I am quite flummoxed by the timing of closure. Traditionally till March-end it is considered a boom season for hotels, and with Muscat Festival still on, there could be non-availability of rooms in the 5-star category. There is also a buzz going around that the hotels are getting a facelift as a prelude to the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council meet to be held in Muscat in 2008.


The towering Sheraton Oman hotel in Ruwi.


Signboard at the entrance of Sheraton Oman hotel.

I am still guessing

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I get some 100 mails on an average daily to my official e-mail address. Out of which, 30 will be junk/spam mails, 10-12 press releases, 30 from readers, 20 personal mails and another 10-15 from unknown people world over. For starters, I am part of web operations of a leading media house in Oman. Over the past two years, I have received mails on these lines:

1. I am a football coach in Nigeria, and I want to contact abc football club in Oman for work. Please help me in finding contacts, or please forward this mail to the right people.

2. I was in Oman for five years, and all of a sudden my employer decided to sack me for some irregularities. I am in India now, and I want to know what kind of action can be taken against my employer. Can you please help me out?

3. Do you have any vacancies in Oman? I am a qualified graphic designer from Pakistan, and I have worked with xyz companies. Here are my profile and samples.

4. I am from Delhi. My company is starting up manufacturing operations in Oman, and I want to know more about the minimum basic pay for expats and locals. I would like to details of labour laws too.

5. My name is abc. I’ve heard that visa rules have been changed, and people can shift jobs easily without getting a two-year ban. Is it true? Do you have more details?

Although it is not my job, most of the times I try to give a decent reply, and in some cases, like in cases 2 and 5, I just keep mum because I am not the authority to speak on these “sensitive” subjects. What I’ve observed is, except for the job seekers, 90 percent of people do not have the basic courtesy to say a ‘thanks’ in reply to their mails from my side. I really don’t care for their ‘thanks’, but I trying to unlock their mindset. Is it bad manners, lack of etiquette, etc? I am still guessing…

Muscat Festival 2007

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These days all roads lead to Muscat Festival venues. The 2007 edition of the famous event got underway on January 1 and will go on till February 2, 2007. The festival is held in three venues: Qurum Natural Park, Festival Plaza, Azaiba, and Seeb Beach.

While Qurum showcases culture and heritage aspects, Azaiba offers shoppers and diners a plethora of options. Seeb beach is known for pure adventure and action. This is my third edition of Muscat Festival, and I must admit that Muscat Municipality does a great job in entertaining Omanis and expats for one full month.


The blue image at the center is the colourful logo of Muscat Festival. A host of Arab and Asian artistes converge on the venues to entertain the crowd. Next week, Kareena Kapoor and Sonu Nigam will be performing live at Qurum Amphitheatre.

One of the entrances to the main shopping stall. Products from Middle East, Asia and Africa are displayed. Since I visited on the second day, most of the stalls were vacant. If you are good in bargaining, then you can manage some cool buys.


This is the “Africa themed” entrance.


Handbags, slippers, clothes, jewellery, perfumes, toys are the major items on sale. This jewellery display is from a Yemeni shop.


All the eateries around the venue make a roaring business, thanks to the biting cold at this time of the year. From Indian to Pakistani to Lebanese to Turkish, the options are plenty for foodies.


Large crowds are seen in all the stalls.


This guy is preparing the delicious Omani halwa.


People from many nationalities set up stalls, and this person is from Syria.


There are enough and more amusement games for children and adults alike.


An Oman Television van at the venue. Events are telecast live during evening slots.


Jokers and cartoon characters entertain the crowd.


Cars are a big business in Oman. So it is not surprising they’ve landed up in the festival venue.

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New Year Ke Side Effects

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TV channels went berserk on reporting how Mallika Sherawat netted a cool Rs. 80 lacs for her New Year jig at Grand Hyatt in Mumbai. She has also done an item number in Mani Ratnam’s Guru, which is slated for release in mid-January. Quite an achievement this. Well, in the Hyatt bash, Mallika reportedly pulled a male dancer’s pants down, oops!