Public Beaches and Bikinis...

Well, I’ve been in every single beach out  there. From Shatti, to PDO, to the interior.  We always end up with the same issue.  A freak either sitting and staring, or taking pictures, or a video (or doing all of that at once). 

The first time I went to the beach in Oman was in Qantab.  I was wearing a dress, because we didn’t even plan to swim.  Some creep was taking pictures, and my mom automatically went to the guy, and forced him to delete the pictures.  She threatened him that she will break the camera if she sees him doing that again.

It didn’t take long for us to realize that public beaches and bikinis don’t match.  We’ve had people taking pictures all the time; we’ve had one group who literally sat there, behind us, staring at us the entire time even though we moved a bunch of times. Once my sister got so angry in shatti beach at a guy taking a picture of us, that she actually threw his phone in the sea! The guy had to go and pick up his phone and until now I am not sure if he had to buy a new one.  Yes so we have rage issues in the family… that is a whole different post I guess.

I debated for the longest time if it is worth paying to enjoy a private beach, and today I realized that it totally is.  I went to the Oman Dive Center, enjoyed an entire day sun tanning, and didn’t even get stared at once.

A Few Updates Here And There…

·         I broke my phone somehow, the speaker wasn’t working properly, and I decided to get it fixed in Zakher Mall.  It took them 3 attempts and 3 angry visits from me to get my phone “fixed”.   First they fucked up the screen, then they screwed up the keypad and 3 trips and a lot of shouting later, I now I have a phone that types Z instead of Y and vice versa. I am afraid If I go back to the same shop for the 4^th time, I will be blogging from a jail cell, so I decided to calm down before paying the fucktards another visit.

·         We found out that this weird guy is hanging out right outside our door in the middle of the night. I am not sure what he is doing there, but my dog isn’t too happy about it, so if I don’t end up jailed for killing the phone guy, I  am pretty sure I will be in a lawsuit after I let my dog loose on the dude outside the door.

·         Since I’ve been having a shit time in Muscat, we actually went to Jabal Shams for a camping trip last weekend. It was great and I highly recommend it.  Do try the trek once you are there.  I would actually go with Jabal Shams Resort (1, because they actually bother picking up their phone, 2, because they have an amazing service and a decent restaurant).  It was cold, so it almost felt like a winter vacation. Except for the fact that those kids bullied us into buying things we don’t need. Like rocks. Yes, they sell rocks there, and force you to buy them.

·         Talking about camping, I also highly recommend the Nando’s Peri Peri chicken marinade. It is freakin amazing, and I never knew chicken can actually taste that good! You can get it from Nando’s and from most supermarkets.

·          And since I am on the topic of food, I would have to say that I compared the fish and chips in O’Malley’s and Finneys, and Finneys wins (in my opinion).

·         On a different note, I can’t believe what I heard about the Opera this season. Apparently, during one of the Piano Recitals, people were REQUESTING SONGS.  If you freakin wana request songs, GO TO PAVO REAL AND KEEP SOME GOD DAMN CLASS IN THE OPERA HOUSE.

Dolphin Village… We Take Pride in Pissing You Off.

You know those nights when you picture yourself screaming your head off? I just had one of those nights in Dolphin Village.  First, no one bothered coming towards our table to take our order, we actually had to go get our own food menus, and once we were done picking, it didn’t look like anyone was coming our way to take the order, so we had to do it ourselves. I am glad they didn’t actually make us cook our own food too…

The food came an hour after we ordered it, which made no sense since we didn’t order anything that might take too long! It was a club sandwich and firkin bangers and mash!

As we were enjoying (yes, the food is great there) our food, the waiter finally decided to come our way, simply to put the bill on the table.  No explanation, not even an excuse me, you need to pay now because we are closing. 10 minutes later the other waiter came to take the bill. This is when we snapped.  The least thing they could do is actually explain that they are closing the kitchen! What if we wanted to order desserts!?  What if we wanted to order more food!?  What’s with the horrible attitude people have in restaurants here?! The worst part is we have those stupid coupons that we need to use up, so I am pretty sure someone is going to spit in my drink next time I am around there.

Annoying Phone Calls…

Well, this is about people who pick up calls in different companies. If you were made to pick up the damn phone of your company, I would expect a cheery answer, or at least a non attitudy one!  I get that most companies wouldn’t employ a specific call agenty, but I hate it when I call and all I get is “Aaaalooo” and I have to ask them if I got the right number because the person on the other end is completely silent.

Its like they are sitting in their pajamas, at home, filing their nails, and then when you call you get attitude because you interrupted the nail filing!

I also get annoyed when I ask more than 2 questions and start getting huffs and puffs. For fucks sake, your options are to a) answer, or b) transfer me to someone who can answer my questions!

This week two things pissed me off more than the rest.  The first one was when I called the Opera House to ask some questions, the girl actually gave me half an answer and said ok BYEE. she was about to hang up the line,  I had to scream WAIT IM NOT DONE.  

The second one is, I called the Marina Bandar Al Rawda to ask some questions, and the girl was so adamant on thinking that I want to berth my boat, that she wouldn’t listen to what I’m talking about.  What is berthing a boat anyway?! And why would I do it if I don’t have a boat!? And since they are advertising on  HI FM all the time, shouldn’t they at least put someone who can say more things than “you want to berth your boat?!”.

O'malley's!

Well, if you didn’t know before, there is a new Irish bar open here in Muscat called O’malley’s. It is located in Radisson Sas Hotel and has the typical Irish bar feel.  The pictures on the wall, the decorations all around and the general atmosphere of the place is really great.  The only bad thing about it was that I think the staff didn’t expect so many people to show up all at once, so the service was a bit slow; and catching the attention of the waiters was difficult. Then again, it is a general problem here in Oman.  I would definitely recommend you check it out if you like simple fuss free places! (also, prices are inclusive of taxes and service charge, so you dont get shocked by the end of the night when you are paying the bill, which is always great)

Having said that, I am still extremely attached to Finney’s (the Irish bar at Jawharat Al Shatti). it is one of the few places here in Oman that doesn’t leave me pissed off at the service! Ever!

First Hours Of The New Year.

Well, was it just me or was this new year so not a big deal ? every person I checked with had nothing special planned, and up until the day before, we had no clue what to do either. We ended up going to Park Inn, which wasn’t bad! Of course, a smooth night would be too much to ask for in my case.

At 3 in the morning, we were literally kicked out of park inn, because new years celebration was over. I remember when I was a child in Lebanon, I once came home at 6 AM with my family, after celebrating the new year IN A RESTAURANT. Not even a bar! But hey, a rule is a rule, and by that time no one was bothered moving on to another place.  I had to drop someone to Ghala that evening (or morning, I guess) and I spent the few first hours of the new year scared shitless, screaming and shouting in my car, and swearing at whoever is the smartass who designed those damn roads.

Somehow, I ended up in what I later found out was the Ghala industrial area.  Just so you know, if you ever decided to drive there, THERE ARE NO FUCKING LIGHTS ON THE ROAD. You just play pikaboo with the road, and hope that you don’t run into a tree, or a cat, or a car, or drive through a roundabout. Hey, who wouldn’t want a fucking adventure on new years day right?!

I somehow ended up in the parking lot of haya water, and my petrol sign started blinking. I started thinking. Option A, I just die here, in the dark, in my car. Option B, I get out of my car and start screaming for help. My GPS wasn’t even recognizing where I was and I felt hopeless.

Next thing I saw was 15 shit trucks heading out somewhere. So I followed them. My thought patter was at this point, I will just go where they are going, and I am pretty sure they are heading to Muscat this early in the morning. So there I was, in my tiny little car, between the shit trucks of Muscat, at 4 AM on new years.

My New Years Eve was saved by the shit trucks of Muscat. I will never rant about them again! As for those damn roads, seriously. Why the hell would anyone think designing them that way was a good idea?! And where in the world can you find a road with no lights in 2012!?

The Pre Visa Medical...In Badr Al Sama

Well, it was that time of the year, when I had to be dragged to do my medical checkup before they give me a residence visa.  I understand that they want to make sure that healthy people are being employed, but I am not sure where I stand on the whole invasion of privacy thing, and condemning someone to leave the country in case they have some illnesses such as Hepatitis. I mean, people deserve to live and work. They need to work even if they are living with an illness right? They are, after all, still living! But I guess that is an ongoing debate, and I totally understand that they don’t want any viruses to spread in Oman, I just wish there was another alternative rather than forcing someone to take tests and deporting them if they are unfit according to the pre set standards!

Apparently those medical checkups can only be made in a few hospitals in Oman, so I was send to Badr Al Sama (their motto: More than medical care… Human care…). If by human care they mean let’s try and kill you to end your misery, I  guess they are right!

When I reached there the place was full, and I got bounced from one counter to the other, until a woman saw the terror in my eyes and decided to direct me to the right place.  Once I gave in my passport (you need to take your original passport with you), I was sent to room 8 and 9.  I asked the guy which one do I go to first?! I get that 8 comes before 9, but hey, you never know how things work around there! I waited, and waited some more until it was my turn to do the blood test, and while I was waiting, I was counting endless health violations that happened right in front of me, and mind you, I am not a health and safety expert.

The nurses all had gloves on, and they all stayed with the same gloves going from one patient to another, touching the walls, touching their phones, injecting, checking on drips, opening and closing doors. All with the same damn gloves. When my turn came to do my blood test, I actually asked the nurse to change her gloves, she wore them on top of her used ones! I guess as soon as I leave she could take the kinda new ones off, and use the same old ones since they aren’t ripped?  And they inject you like you are a cow. I still have a bruise on my arm, probably because the woman was too angry I asked her to change the gloves!

Then time came to do a urine test. A compulsory pregnancy test. They gave me a cup smaller than my frikkin finger and expected me to pee in it. Whatever happened to the normal sized pee cups?! I am pretty sure it is the same thing they use to collect blood. That thing cannot possibly be made for people to pee in!  and when you enter the bathroom, you actually feel like you are stepping on pee.  The place was completely wet and it reeked of urine.  Generally speaking, the entire hospital didn’t really smell like a hospital. 

By the time I made it to the XRAY room, I was frustrated, and ready  to fight with anyone. I had to demand a new robe, because it isn’t a standard procedure. If you don’t ask, you end up wearing what 100 people before you wore. And the cherry on top of everything was me finding out that I still had to do a general checkup in another room. People try to shove themselves everywhere.  In occupied checkup rooms, in front of you when there is a queue, next to you when there is a whole empty bench RIGHT THERE.  I was sitting next to someone who was playing with his feet for fucks sake. I had to hold my mouth shut so I wouldn’t barf.

At my final stop, the doctor didn’t even seem bothered. She asked me to check my own weight, she assumed my eyesight was just fine, and she didn’t even check my heart beat.  Everything according to the paper she filled out was “normal” since I looked normal I guess. My other guess is that she had superpowers and didn’t really need to check anything.   It was the longest 3 hours of my life that I will never get back.