Oman World Fireworks Championship 2010 – Day 1
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Oasis Club: Value for money
If you are in Salalah Free Zone area and hungry, look no further. The Oasis Club, managed by the Port of Salalah, is the place to be. The restaurant is overlooking the sea and has a stunning view. Last week, I got a chance to visit the club.
The place serves the best of international cuisine, and I am told it has the best steak in Salalah, exclusively sourced all the way from New Zealand. Being a working lunch, we ordered two starters (onion rings and fried calamari), three main course items and juices.
The starters were nice and crispy. For main course, I opted for grilled fish and chips, and it turned out to be delicious. The portions are huge and quite filling. For two starters, three main course dishes and three juices, our bill came up to close to RO 18. This is quite decent considering the quality of food and quantity.
Next time, I want to visit the restaurant leisurely and try out a few more delicacies, including desserts. Oh, well, the restaurant has a well stocked bar too.
Dear Oman Air, please don’t ignore domestic passengers
Oman Air’s service between Muscat-Salalah sector still needs a lot of improvement. I had blogged about my previous experience on this route a couple of years back. But, now, things are much better. A few days back, I was on a day’s trip to Salalah, and these are the things I noticed:
1. The passengers are pre-dominantly Omanis, so that means the airline needs to have Arabic speaking flight attendants servicing the economy class passengers. The supervisor is always an Omani, and he/she is always in the business class. With many Omanis finding it difficult to converse in English, the Filipino attendants have no clue when they are asked a question or two in Arabic.
2. Funnily, Salalah to Muscat flight serves only lamb and vegetarian sandwiches while Muscat to Salalah has chicken and vegetarian choices. I wonder what makes them think that people turn red meat eaters all of a sudden on their return journey. Many Omanis, who were seated in front of me refused to eat meat, and preferred veggie food, not by choice but due to lack of options. A Tanzanian genetleman sitting next to me said on a evening flight to Salalah he was offered only macaroni and when he asked for an alternative, he got a reply: “We have only this and nothing else.”
There is vast improvement in the quality of food being served. Two years back when I traveled with my family, we could not get veggie food, but now that is taken care. Also, the sandwiches are piping hot, and not cold like before.
On the return evening flight from Salalah, they serve kubs (Arabic bread) and it is hard, stale and cold. It takes a lot of courage to eat it with hummus. Another bewildering aspect is that Oman Air has tied-up with Omani brand Al Jabal Al Akhdar for mineral water while it offers Al Marai’s mixed fruit flavour. Why aren’t they promoting an Omani juice company as well?
3. Since I returned the same day to Muscat, the flight attendants were the same set that was part of the morning flight to Salalah. The ones, who were smiling and courteous in the morning, were grumpy and irritated in the evening. Not sure if they were overworked or totally bored. As a passenger, it is quite irritating to see an attendant sporting a disenchanted and a dazed look.
4. Both during the morning and evening, the flight was packed. This means the sector is doing well in terms of passenger movement. Why not put some more effort to take care of nitty-gritty things to pamper domestic travellers as well?
Oman Air, are you listening?
Who will bell the cat?
Restaurant review: Kurkum Restaurant
Kurkum Restaurant is the new kid on the block. Located in Muttrah corniche near BankMuscat, the restaurant serves Indian cuisine with a twist. Cooked with fresh ingredients it will suit palates from across the globe. The best part is unlike other restaurants in town, Kurkum doesn’t use colouring agents for their cooking. So you won’t get to see a deep orange-coloured paneer tikka or tandoori chicken in this place. The basic aim is to serve ‘genuine food’ and not formula fare.
The restaurant is themed white – from paints on the wall, cushions, seating, décor. Magical white is the buzzword. During evenings, the cornice area is full of colour and life, and diners can enjoy the interesting view by opting for the window-side seating.
For starters, we ordered paneer tikka with broccoli and Indian chicken dim sum with tamarind chutney. While waiting for the order, we had a round of lassis – apple, mint and mango – and fried okra (ladies finger) and potato fingers (complimentary items for diners).
Paneer tikka with broccoli (charcoal grilled cottage cheese served with fresh grilled broccoli) and Indian chicken dim sum (steamed chicken dumplings served with tomato and tamarind chutney) were superb. Cooked to perfection, both the starters had personalized touch and were indeed different. The paneer was soft and very delectable. Though not great dim sum fans, we now have a new opinion and that’s thanks to Kurkum.
For main course, we ordered fish biriyani. It had boneless hammour pieces and basmati rice cooked just right. It was not too dry nor too oily. Just right. The biriyani rocked as well. Sans aroma of strong spices and typical masala, we polished off the stuff in a flash with raitha (curd-based salad) for company. The hammour tasted divine and so was the fluffy rice coated with a thin layer of masala.
Since we were not too hungry, we decided not to order more main course items. Kaju kulfi as dessert was the icing on the cake. We loved the food and were impressed with the very personalized service by the friendly restaurant staff. Unlike other restaurants, the staff knew the food inside out which is a welcome sign in this part of the world.
We truly loved the food at Kurkum. It is tasty, very different and you feel at home with the food. Rating? On a scale of five, Kurkum gets 4.5.
And, of course quality comes with a price. Kurkum prices are a bit on the higher side, especially the main course items. For three lassis, mineral water, two starters, one main course and a dessert, our bill was RO 20.200. But still, it is value for money.
Kurkum is a small restaurant capacity wise. It has 32 covers inside and 12 outside. Only downside for the restaurant is the lack of parking space in front of the restaurant. Kurkum has dozens of dishes for veggies as well. Contact Kurkum at 2471 4114.
Oman ranked 60th on world’s best countries index
Newsweek magazine in a survey ranked Finland the best out of 100 countries to live in. Oman was ranked 60th. The survey measured five categories of national well being: education, health, quality of life, economic competitiveness and political environment.
Countries were also divided into groups based on size and income. Overall, Nordic countries did well in the ranking. Sweden was third, Norway fifth and Denmark 10th, all being small but wealthy. Switzerland was second, while the U.S. didn’t squeeze into the top 10 (ranking 11th). China came in at 59.
In the GCC, Kuwait topped the list at 40. UAE is ranked 43rd, Qatar 54th and Saudi Arabic is at 64th.
Today’s tweet in tomorrow’s newspaper
My tweet on the Bangalore murder was published in Bangalore Mirror newspaper on August 15, 2010. I came to know of it from one of my Twitter friends on that morning.
All I remember is this particular tweet was RT-ed (repeat in Twitter parlance) more than a dozen times and the next morning it landed in a newspaper. Power of social media.
Social media is the way forward
On my recent visit to India, a friend asked me: “How are big companies responding to social media in Oman?” Being a social media consultant, for once, I didn’t have a concrete reply. Then again I briefed him the scenario of 2010.
Well, social media in Oman is still in its nascent stage. People are talking about it, only a few companies are keen on adopting social media practice, and rest are ignoring it. A few banks were keen on Facebook, but developed cold feet at the last minute. Reason: they aren’t ready to accept honest feedback which might harm their reputation.
The primary reason for companies to shun social media in Oman is the transparency it gets into the scheme of things. Once you are in, you can’t dictate terms to the users unlike the traditional media which is more of a one-way communication. Businesses in Oman are so used to ‘dictate terms’ that they feel the moment social media is implemented, the privacy of the company is invaded and their reputation hurt by way of honest feedback. They will be answerable to everything and anything about their business and service. Well, they are not quite used to these things.
Companies here should realize that social media gets transparency into their business which is so vital in today’s world. They get to listen to honest feedback which can be used to improve their services and fine-tune products.
Social media is a cool and cost effective way to build a lasting relationship with customers and partners. Unlike the traditional advertising acquaintance, social media helps the company to talk to its customer, and this can help in building relationship for life.
Social media platforms are plenty like Corporate Blog, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and
Facebook. These are redefining how we talk and relate to one another.
Imagine this. A customer is having problem with his internet connection, and he contacts the telecom company using social networking tools. The company listens to his problem and solves it immediately. Isn’t he a happy customer? There is every possibility of him telling about his experience to his friends. Imagine the kind of goodwill the company generates. Similarly, banks, hotels, trading companies, fashion brands, stores, etc, can reap benefits by adopting social media.
Adopt new technology and embrace change as fast as you can. Be social in every way possible. That is the future.
Startup Weekend Oman
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to be part of a unique programme called ‘Startup Weekend Oman’. It is a platform to connect with other passionate and skilled individuals, and convert your idea into reality.
What is Startup Weekend?
Startup Weekend recruits a highly motivated group of developers, business managers, startup enthusiasts, marketing gurus, graphic artists and more to a 54 hour event that builds communities, companies and projects. It is an amazing opportunity to connect with other passionate and skilled individuals, and perhaps even find a co-founder or two to transform your idea into reality.
Startup Weekend is a non-profit organization based out of Seattle, WA USA. Startup Weekend is a small team of three along with community leaders around the world. Startup Weekend’s primary mission is to be the most valuable and influential organization in startup communities around the world.
Oman is the first nation in GCC and Arab world to organise this programme. I had an opportunity to talk to Donald Desantis, an internet junkie and a Startup Weekend facilitator who had come from US. The level of participation was heartwarming with more than 90 Omani folks registering for the 3-day event.
(Photos: Ali Nasser Mohammed Al Senaidi)
Free wireless Internet service at Muscat International Airport
A report says:
The new Wireless Internet Service (WiFi) at Muscat International Airport was launched by Oman Airports Management Company (OAMC) and Omantel during a small ceremony held at the airport terminal in the presence of George Bellew, Chief Executive Officer of OAMC and Adil Ismail AL Raisi, Vice President of Corporate Customers at Omantel.
Travelers and visitors to Muscat International Airport will be able to use the high speed WiFi service for free and take advantage of surfing the Internet, check personal e-mail’s, communicate with others and find out the latest news, events and developments in the world. The free wireless internet can be accessed by any hardware which supports WiFi technology such as Laptop Computers and Mobile Phones.