ColOman

Alive and traveling

2011-05-07T10:09:00.003+04:00

I just dont feel like writing anymore but I sure want to put my photos up

Silent Day Announcement

2010-02-16T15:15:00.000+04:00

Indonesia: Silence Please, the show is about to start

2009-12-05T17:14:00.006+04:00

Religious ceremony

Before joining my new job, my friend from overseas and I, we decided to take 6 days off and go somewhere where we haven’t been. After a bit of research, Bali, Indonesia was our choice since there were direct flights to go there. For 2 guys wanting to hang out, this seemed like the natural choice. It has it all, trekking, diving, surfing, white water rafting, its cheap and off course a reputation for partying.

Offerings to the Gods

Being men, we did everything the last minute and we did not really coordinate or gave it much thought since we were sure we can find our way around any city in the world once we got there. So I got there a day early or should I say he came a day late. We stayed in the ‘rowdier’ side of Bali to be close to the action and as close as we can to the beach.

My perception of Bali was that it will resemble Phuket, Thailand. However the place is much, much bigger, more organized, and neater in certain areas. The party scene was a lot more subdued and smaller. The beach was great for surfing, but not as scenic as Phuket. So we lounged around the first couple of days and had great plans for white water rafting, trekking and off course surfing on for the 3rd,4th & 5th day.

A memorial monument for the people who died in the Bali nightclub bombing

However, we found there was a Silent Day religious festival!!! Which we had no clue what it was, until we got a brochure telling us we are not allowed to walk on the streets, drive a car, turn on the lights, put on music or even leave our rooms for a full 24 hours!!! When they said Silent they meant Silent!!

Dress up for the Holy days

We had to cancel our plans and look for a plan B. Plan B was to get out Bali since Silent Day applied to Bali only and not all of Indonesia, so we booked a ferry to the next island Lombok. The island hardly had any entertainment for tourist. Barely 5 large footstall /restraints and half a decent bar/food joint. The weird thing about it was that the Indonesians were Muslims, unlike Bali who are hindu, but many were form Arab, Yemeni origin! Some even spoke some Arabic!!! Some even dressed like Arabs to sway the public opinion to vote for them.

Lombok style elections

From a scenic point of view, Lombok was very pretty and hand some chilled out resorts, but besides trekking and some diving there was not much more, so we had to improvise, and decided to have a early start the next day and figure out what to do. The next day, our Lonely Plant Guidebook said the super tiny Gili Island was the place to be. It’s a very short distance form Lombok and it had a great reputation for parties, restaurants, diving and its was exceptionally beautiful.

Fishing Indonesian style

Transport to Gili was arranged for late afternoon and we had decided to kill time by learning to drive scooters! There were no teachers, just some dudes standing by the street side and we cut a deal with them to teach us for 2 hours and we will pay them. We felt like 2 kids learning to ride bicycles in a park, literally. It was fun for one hour but after that it got old and we did not dare go on the roads.

The 3 Gili islands in the distance

Getting to Gili in a local boat was an adventure in itself, especially when the boat was having trouble starting and we encounter a weather change on the way, which made the journey rough but interesting. By the time we arrived in Gili, it was clear and the island was truly paradise.

Gili Style Transport

There were no cars allowed. You had to walk, rent a bicycle, or ride a horse. The island was around 2 kilometres long, hedonistic, no police on the island, the 250 or so locals were all Muslims who liked to party, dive and took matters super easy. The restaurants were simple but amazing, the wooden cafes were so chilled out, it was a dream. We hit the jackpot. We had such a relaxing time there but we had time constrains and spent less than 48 hours there before heading back to Bali.

Blessed and protected car

I guess having Bali shut down for a day helped Gili become extra lively, but if it wasn’t for the Silent Day Festival we would have never encountered this awesome experience. Sometimes it a blessing in disguise for plan A to be abandoned.

Things that make you hmmmmmmmmmm around the Nile

2009-09-12T02:54:00.017+04:00

What the hell is a Television Camera????

What’s with home made stickers on a national landmark signboard, and why the hell would a visitor bring along a Commercial TV?

Football editon Toyota!

Tip me people, not just the crew

The translation in arabic "Belt Area'

That is one heavy door, but we want your business, really

Start measuring where you can set up shop, boy!

Check out the Haj's last name!

Do you need a sign for ‘Don’t put your kids on the escalator's hand rails’!!!

If there is fire on the wing, don't open the door!! The door handle might be too hot

Safety is our priority

Only in Egypt

This toilet is for ladis with buns only

href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6sUEH0s6qlI/SqrX2IrbAHI/AAAAAAAAA7s/XY_CwJDPo8M/s1600-h/5.jpg">
This toilet is not for Males its for refined Gentlemen

What!

I thought these monuments were 3000 years old

Buffet sign.... Yummy how appetizing... can I have a stinker with it

Now that's a first!

The other side of Egypt

2009-08-22T19:51:00.023+04:00

A tip of the iceberg

Plan B

Before I go into the subject, I just want to apologize for not writing for while, not sure what is wrong with me but I have not been doing any of the stuff I like, I am not depressed or anything like that but I have been spending time web serving, playing video games, doing the plans for the house we are going to build and off course lots of my time is consumed with my baby girl.

You don't know what your missing

This post is long overdue and it should have been posted 5 months ago when I went to Egypt. I was there for work again and I went to Hurghada, and the trip happened to also be my last trip with my ex-company. This time though it was different, I wanted to see the touristy side of Egypt and I got an added bonus by having a night with some local flavor. This trip changed the way I viewed Egypt, which was not my cup of tea, coffee or juice. Cairo is polluted, dirty, and overcrowded, with pushy people, the pyramids are over hyped, even though they are impressive, and although Cairo has improved dramatically from the late 90’s in terms of corruption, pushiness and people trying to take you for a ride, I never liked it at all. Saying that, I found the upper Nile part of Egypt, completely different, with the people easy going and it had magnificent historic sites which are mind boggling by any stretch of the imagination.

Working hard for the money

My cousin joined me on my last day of work day in Egypt, and the holiday started by asking a local friend to show us the night life, the typical reaction was to take us to a couple of western night clubs, which were fine but not what we wanted to experience, we wanted to see where the everyday average Mo hangs out and that’s what we got.

The grand entrance

They even mummified crocodiles

It was a belly dancer joint in the back alleys of some dingy building by the sea. The joint was run down and shabby, but lively and loud. We arrived around 1:30 a.m. and the club was happening. We saw a man with his wife and his 7 year old daughter and their infant, in a crib. The 7 year old was dancing away with the belly dancer till 3 am, while the baby slept through all the noise and smoke. People were rolling joints and smoking hashish openly, every time you ‘sprayed’ the dancer with small note of money, the band will call your name throughout the song and if you did it long enough the band leader and dancer will force you on to the dance floor. We stayed there till around 5:30 a.m. and then we had to leave, the ride to the hotel was another 45 minutes long and we had shuttle to catch at 7 am. We would have stayed longer had it not been for that.

Cruise ships as far as eye can see

The 4 hour shuttle ride to get to our Nile Cruse was scenic apparently but we were hurting and snoozing off as much as we can. The interesting part, beside all the pretty villages saw were the number of police check points along the way. There were many towers, concrete blocks, barricades which forced us to slow down every 20 minutes or so. The police hardly asked much but would take a look inside and at times ask for our papers.

Take a balloon ride if you don't like cruise ships

The cruise ship was tacky, and old although it was a 5 star cruise, not sure how they rate their hotels in Egypt since the 5 star is equivalent to 3 star here in Oman, but to be fair we did not pay much for it. Food and board was included but no drinks and I don’t mean booze when I say drinks, they only offered us coffee not even water!!!

The lock before closing

The ship was going in zigzags all along the trip cause the there areas where the Nile was very shallow, it was very interesting to see how the Captain knew his way around the Nile in the 4 day trip. Another, interesting part was using the lock to get elevated to the higher side of the river, I have never experienced being enclosed in an area, closing the gate , having it flooded, then opening the gate to pass to the higher side of the river.

Hawckers

Eating breakfast on the top and collecting trash in the bottom

Another memorable sight was when the boat hawker tied their boats to the cruise ship and started throwing their merchandise, with great precision, through the room windows, even into the 4th floor rooms and onto the upper deck, whether you like it or not, you were going have things thrown at you to inspect, when your done inspecting chuck it back, or throw them money back with the bag they threw along. They took the chance that you might take the merchandise and disappear or that their product might bounce back and fall in the river, if they missed target. This scene happened a few times along the trip and it was amusing as well as annoying after sometime.

Everything pales in comparison

The most famous of them all

With regards to the historic sights, words can not describe the wonders we saw, the mammoth scale and details of these temples will only make you wonder how could this progressive civilization 2-5 thousand year old advance so far, only to disappear without transferring their knowledge to others? How did they advance so far much so long ago? Scientist are still puzzled and can’t find out how they constructed these monuments. One wacky theory was that the Pharaohs were extraterrestrials, however after seeing these landmarks that withstood so many millenniums, I can now I say its not so wacky at all.

These are a fraction of buses we saw that day

Obviously, tourist from all around the world were there, even though there was a financial crisis around the globe. Thousands of them and hundreds of cruise ships where going up and down the Nile. The Egyptian guides were fascinating, speaking in any language you imagine. Their knowledge of history was questionable at times but only because their civilization's history was so rich with lots of details, no matter how long you stayed in the temples there were thousands of questions you could ask.

Private strolls

Our final part of the journey was going to the Aswan's High Dam and the biggest man made lake in the world, Lake Nasser. The dam that turned the Egyptians, and later the Arabs, against the west because they back out of funding them and made them turn to the Soviet Union. Even though the dam supplies electricity to Egypt and controls the floods and droughts, it destroyed and wiped out many of the Nubian heritage and historic monuments, their people, over 60,000 people were dispersed forever. There were other environmental effects caused by the dam, for example , many of the minerals and sands were trapped behind the dam causing some problems with farming , even the Mediterranean fishing industry was affected due to the reduction of minerals carried by the Nile to the sea.

The land is still fertile, but not as much

The temples and people of Upper Egypt were a fascinating experience that made me change my perception 180 degrees about this great country, so take my word, don’t judge Egypt by your Cairo experience…. there is a whole different world waiting on the other side Egypt.

A new stage in my life

2009-05-16T04:44:00.010+04:00

First of all I have to apologize to everyone for not writing for so long and especially Lirun, who kept asking me to blog. There is has been a lot of things happening in my life, my pc kept crashing and I lost my photo software which I use to resize photos for blogging. The PC crashed more than once. Then I could not find software to resize photos that are simple to use, I finally got something.

A journey into the storm

I was traveling for work in Egypt and then took a few days for holidays and went on the famous Nile cruise. While on holiday I got a call informing me that all is clear and should come and sign an employment contract with a firm I applied for a few months ago.

Egypt

I got back home resigned from my job and decided to take a short break before joining the new job. The day before I was supposed to travel, I had an allergic reaction to something I ate that nearly killed me. I have never had any kind of allergic reaction before, and having nearly chocked to death, from eating something in a buffet at a restaurant, got me paranoid since I did not know what triggered the reaction.

I had to take a detour on my break and do some medical check ups which came out negative and I still don’t know the cause of my allergic reaction. The doctor said I could develop allergies any time, so I need to test everything I eat. I have to walk around with an Epi Pen and make sure there is a medical center next to me, in case I need it, till date I don’t know what triggered it but I'm less paranoid since I have been testing all kinds of food.

Which way to go?

Another big event was my old dog was dying and seeing him in that state broke my heart, he would not eat or move but if I called him, he tried his best to get up, but when he finally wobbled and fell, I knew it was time. I was helpless and although I had taken him to the vet a few times that week, and he was looking better, he would kept relapsing very fast and get from bad to worse.

The vet told me that the dog is really old and I should expect him to die if he went into surgery. There was something showing the X-ray but one vet did not want to take the risk while the other one said it worth opening him up and finding out if there is something they can treat. I basically told them, at this stage you might as well take all kind of risks because he was dying. Shockingly, they found a 4-5 kilo tumor in him that was pressing on all his organs. The tumor was nearly 15% of his weight. They basically opened him up from one end to the other.

compare the size of finger vs. the size of the tumor

The dog is much better now but we had to take lots of care of him and had to feed him special food several times a day, make sure he is not acting funny, tablets, putting cream on his wound …..

Work has been very hectic but enjoyable and on a final note I am about to be a dad in a few weeks and we have been going around doing all the shopping needed, going back and forth to Dubai on weekends…. and I have checkout all the baby shops in Oman by now and my wife is finally satisfied with the stuff we bought

Things that make you say hmmmm in South Beach

2009-02-18T06:04:00.014+04:00

A rooster riding a bike..... you don't see that everyday

Manikins with huge boobs & full lips

Nothing like bikini & high heels posing on some steps for a modeling shoot

No music instruments, no problem, I got kitchen music

Talk about a clean freak

Graffiti burger

I guess you can call it a classic smart key

I am in the wrong business

Who needs and SUV when they have a multipurpose sports car

And that is called a ???

South Beach, Miami: Scarface R.I.P.

2009-02-05T21:43:00.011+04:00

Scarface, my favorite movie of all times, influenced audiences around the world forever about Miami in the way Jaws did to audiences about sharks. The movie which took place in South Beach was about crime, poverty, drugs living the in the fast lane, money, power, women and the American dream, is nothing but distant mirage now.

South Beach is now a fancy, fashionable, cool and expensive place to live in. Crime is nearly non existent and people are friendly, beautiful, sexy and hot. This place is part of Latin America that happens to be in the USA. People speak to you in Spanish first and then give you a weird look if you respond in English. People here are flashy, colorful and loud. The Art Deco style the area has is unique and gives you a sense that you are stuck in time yet you are in 21st century.

I personally loved it, but I know of people who think its pretentious but if you look visit Dubai & California, then these guys are humble in comparison. I would move there if I had a good opportunity, but I love Oman too much to leave again. Along with the hot people comes plastic surgery and funnily, I have seen more boob jobs in South Beach than anywhere else in the world. These people put Lebanon to shame when it comes to plastic surgery. Scarface had an amazing face lift.

A crime against language, elementary school teachers and Neanderthals:

2009-01-30T17:16:00.006+04:00

I don’t what to say………………………. and they want to make a buck from the show in Oman.... the sad thing is they were Arabs

Ok so his first language is not English, so we forgive them

Why waste time translating

What is that word mean................... oh its 'In the'

NYC Break Dancing Santas

2009-01-30T08:41:00.007+04:00

This is what is great about NYC, you can't walk 3 blocks without seeing street performers and what is more authentic then Break Dancing

Things that make you say hmmmm in NYC

2009-01-24T21:08:00.013+04:00

Bullet proof shitting vest

Only in NYC… a portable hotdog stand

I like the security device on this asset... read the remark

Who knew that heaven on earth for women is a store in NYC

Forget Chucky Cheese.... its attack of the Killer rat....

What a way to promote your company’s image… contact number, graffiti and a bad paint cover up

So what time is it around the world

Blog Facelift

2009-01-23T13:56:00.004+04:00

Out with old and in with the not so new

Yes its taken me a couple of years to do this but I didn’t mean to have it change this much, I pressed the upgrade button, not knowing that I will lose all my old sidebars. Now I am scrambling to give the original touch.

Sorry, I have been wanting to blog but my pc router is not working for last 10 days…………. I will blog using my laptop but I need a USB to transfer some pics …………….. I am off to get a USB.

New York: The city finally takes a siesta

2009-01-02T13:21:00.012+04:00

Big Ben, NYC style

Being insomniac can not be healthy……so finally the New York that never sleeps takes a siesta after 73 years… the since Great Recession in 1929.

Make use of the land you to the max

I have always loved the energy the city has, all the options it provides, the entrainment it provides, but the city is a shadow of its past….. many shops are for sale or rent. You can see that on every corner, discounts are steep in all retail stores and on top of every sale you get an extra 20% to 50% discount if you buy on that day as an extra enticement. These are crazy times for this great city. The recession has hit hard and it visible even in this mighty city.

Spare no expense on the details

I recall first going to NYC in the mid 90’s when it was rough and crime was ramped. There were homeless people and drug peddlers everywhere, I recall a street hustler offering me anything I wanted from drugs to a Green Card to a Social Security Card to a driving license. When we wanted to go an after hour night club at 4 a.m. We ended up going gambling din with heavily armed people by mistake.. . It was just like the movies. I later went in the late 90’s and I was shocked to see how Giuliani has cleaned up the place, he did a great job, his zero tolerance policy did wonders.

It wouldn't be NY without Graffti
10 years later, the city is still safe and clean, the homeless have returned but they are harmless and don’t bother you. The metro is clean and graffiti is a thing of the past. For now the city is taking a breather but they will come back and there is not stopping that.

NYC & Miami: Here we come

2008-12-05T00:58:00.003+04:00

Don't even start; I know this isn't the best time to visit, but it just happened. Yes you read it right, it just happened! We were heading to Reunion, Mauritius and Seychelles for 2 weeks, taking advantage of Eid holidays, it did not work out for several reasons so we booked one week in Thailand, all set to go, the protestors blocked the airport and it would not finish so we canceled......

We were running out of time so we decided to go Malaysia and Singapore but the flights were booked and we had to be on waiting list and take a long route for a short holiday, it was not worth it, plus we just got back from there this summer.

What do we do? My wife wanted us to head to London, oh no, please not again, I find it boring, sorry if I offend anyone, but London is not for me. We kept going back and forth and then……….. it dawned on me, we have visas to America and there are direct flights to New York plus we have not been there together. We got friends and family in both cities and they are amazing places to visit for entertainment for short time.

So yes it all happened in the last 5 days, we are booked and ready to go folks…

Sail Oman: Marketing Oman Strategically

2008-12-03T08:27:00.011+04:00

The official Logo

There are many ways of selling your product and one of them is positioning. Using sailing boats to compete in races globally is spot on. Associating a country with this kind of sport is excellent in my opinion.

A model of real sailing boat presented to the honorary guest

In terms of investment, it’s cheaper than throwing money on TV ads or pulling a crazy publicity stunt by building a structure that costs billions of dollars. Sailing is associated with folks with cash and that is what we want as country in terms of tourism. If you recall, Rolex, UBS Private Banking and the likes always try to associate with competitive sailing because these are the hobbies of their target market.

They had two real sailing boat in the water and two on land

Oman now has its own sailing boats and they are investing in having Omanis man the boats and compete in races around the world. In the presentation officially launching the sail boats, I was truly dazzled with the idea. The female world record holder for sailing around the world solo,Shirley Robertson, gave a speech and we saw video clips of her extraordinary journey.

The band played music while we feasted

I later went into the Bustan Palace Hotel for the first time after its renovation and I have to say, I was very impressed. They no longer have the tacky loud shouting colored furniture; they have done it this time with elegance.

Shirley Robertson telling us her story

Double Mabrook on the great jobs Oman.

Egyptian Arabic

2008-11-30T14:30:00.007+04:00

They call it 'Aswaq' not even Souq for one shop, mama mia

Wow, I didn't know that was an Arabic word

Check out the word for Bus

Wow that is Arabic

Cityscape Dubai: Look at me, I also got real estate to sell

2008-11-28T11:30:00.009+04:00

Shiekh Mo gracing the exhibition

Wow, someone actually trying to sell real estate

I was in Dubai for Cityscape, supposedly the biggest real exhibition in the world, this was the final glimmer of hope for the world in the real estate market, if this succeeds, the real estate market could take a breather, well we all know what happened next.
The Bubble show

VIP room with real grass at the entrance

Being there I was in astonished, not at the weird building being presented, crazy concepts of architecture, number of exhibitors, visitors but at the amount of beautiful women being flown in from around the world as models and the bizarre gimmicks the developers were using to attract attention to their stand.
Neon Violin

The gimmicks had nothing to do with development, but then again having hot babes in skanky cloths selling sports cars and perfumes, has not to do with the product they are selling. Saying that there were some really attention- grabbing exhibition stands, besides development models with scales unseen before with lights and smoke, there were some exhibitors with a cinema room with drinks and snacks, another with a bar setting with funky night club dressed sales people, one had a coffee shop with an espresso machine and Starbucks feel to it, another had sales ladies wearing hijabs, one even had a real grass pitch with VIP room that needed a password to get into and the list continues.
The Table Lady

But some even went further, with a table lady, the bubble musician, the dancing ‘Moulin Rouge’ dressed models, and the Chllo player. All in all it’s an entertaining spectacle worth a watch even if your not interested in buying real estate.

Bangladesh Night in Oman

2008-11-24T08:39:00.004+04:00

With 700 albums to her name, she is a legend in Bangladesh

I get call on Wednesday and I was invited to go to Bangladesh Night in Oman in Qurum Amphitheater the next day. It’s a night that showcases Bengali musical talent. I am not a fan of that type of Music but I was obliged to go since I was given a VIP card and special access card from the main sponsor, Oman International Exchange.
With 16,000 songs published, I figured it would take her over 43.5 years if she recorded a song a day! Now that’s quality, Not!

Getting there was an eye opener as security was tight, thousands of people waiting, in the parking area, crowds pushing each other to get closer to the gate, riot police in full gear, TV crews, journalist, cameramen. What is happening? This is much bigger event that I thought it was.
Front raw, VIP's only please.

Getting in through the crowds with ease, because of the access card and going into the VIP lounge, was a treat. No less than 20 ambassadors and many other diplomats and dignitaries were waiting for the show to start. Wow, what am I doing here, I am neither of the above.
The lucky few who got in first

When we were told to head to the concert and sit in the designated area for VIP’s, I was in shock at the amount of people in the amphitheater and the crowds who were trying to get in and being turned back even though they have tickets, this was crazy, this was equivalent to watching Madonna in concert for Bangladeshis in Oman.
Bangali Rock Star

Bangali Idols

The show was different to what I am used to for a concert. There were many famous Bengali celebrities, singing a song and then leavening the stage to have another singer sing one song. Most interestingly, I met the owner, who happens to be Bangladeshi to my surprise, of the world renowned nightclub of Dubai ‘ Cyclone’.

Things that make you say hmmmmmmmmmmm in Egypt

2008-11-19T08:09:00.011+04:00

The 2008 Mummy edition, he travels by plane too

Ramp it boy, no climbing around here

Check out the sexy lips and piano fingers

No anchoring or fish feeding buddy

So you don't get scammed by the famous hustlers

The sign on the Shuttle from the plane to the airport? What is that? Who will have french fries or ice cream coming of a plane?

Who needs a goverment issued plate number when you can make one at home

Egypt: Senses overload

2008-11-16T18:32:00.006+04:00

The view from our hotel

Kayos, overwhelmed, cluster phobia, overcrowded, pollution, mayhem is my impression of Cairo, the city that never sleeps. This place is not a place to go and relax and chill, it’s a place were your senses get overloaded with a million of things happening at the same time.

El Gouna, picture perfect

We attended a wedding, which was great fun, so we were mostly consumed by that, but we also took some time off and went Hurghada and El Gouna, which was at a chilled out pace and normal.

Egypt's landmark

You never get to see the Sphinx's tail for somereason

Sadly we only got to see the pyramids form a historic sense, the good news was this country has improved tremendously in terms of order as I did not get harassed by corrupt cops, hustlers and vendors on the street like the first time I visited in 1999. My aim is to go the Valley of Kings one day and see the wonders the place has.

Swamped!

2008-11-09T03:33:00.004+04:00

My affectionate Jebal dog

Life has been super hectic for me with lot of stuff happening. Good things mostly but not adventures or outdoorish. I need some time off.

After the operation, sedated and in pain

I have been working super long hours, taking work home, lots of pressure, traveled to Egypt and the UAE for work for a few days, I have sorted out getting my car permit, which I imported from US through Dubai and was not allowed into Oman, after months of running up and down, my boat keeps breaking down and sorting out the parts are not always easy, my pet fish of 10 years died of old age, my dog had a lump and operation was done to remove it, my brother is getting married, my Aunt & uncle and a few cousins have come from South America and Europe to stay with us for the wedding and end of the year season, we moved houses again and we settled in, we have fumigated the out side of the house a few times after finding scorpions and snakes around the yard and we waiting for furniture we ordered to arrive, my camera broke

The Tumor from my dog

So I am distracted from blogging but I hope things will settle down in the next couple of weeks.

Syria, here we come.....no, yes....no, NO

2008-09-29T16:13:00.001+04:00

We have wanted to go to Syria for sometime; I personally am fascinated with Damascus’ history. To me its one of the last real authentic cities left in Arabia, or at least I think so and I am about to find out.

So we are all prepared to go during Eid and then a bomb goes off near the old town……….its random and it kills 17 people. We change plans and decide to go to Greece, I run around to get the visa documents only to find the visa will not be ready on time, so we decide what the heck, lets go to Syria another bomb wont happen again, then BAM, a bomb in Tripoli, Lebanon.

Was it in retaliation? Was it Random? Whatever it is, we dropped the idea, and we need to figure out what to do for Eid.

Majlis Al Jinn: The Last Decent

2008-09-26T00:17:00.022+04:00

Were you lucky to see this?

Many people have not heard of the 2nd biggest cave chamber in the world which is 3 hours drive from Muscat, Oman. I am referring to people locally, regionally and internationally. I can't blame the though, the road to get there is rough and really steep, and once you get there, you don't get to see anything except 2 holes which are not clear and you cant tell how deep or big the place is.

Why should anyone travel up the rough steep road to see this?

The place was originaly called Muqandely, but in 1984 or so a westerner descent into it for the time and announced to world the size of the chamber. People in Oman made up stories and the myth started rolling and the new name came about ‘Majlis Al Jinn’ which means literally the sprits seating area or the spirits hangout. Creepy, scary for most but when we were told that we can decent into it, I jumped on the wagon. How can I miss such a chance, what a feat! An adventure that I will always remember.

Can you see the climber?

Well it was not that easy descending into 160m chamber, because it also meant coming up and that was equivalent to one and half hour of squads! So it’s not only learning the robs, but also being fit, which I am not. I had my thoughts and wanted to pull out because of my fitness level, but my friends told me that we are the last batch of people allowed to go down, the ministry has banned it due the irresponsible act of very few people who were throwing trash into this sensitive eco system that has not been touched by man for millions of years. Less the 200 have been down this cave only according to our guide. Knowing that made me determined to go down and I pushed myself physically for this adventure and learned the robs.

Going into the the unkown........... the dark world

When we got to Majlis Al Jin early in the day I was asked to go down first, there was a batch that went the day before. It was scary by all means, I can not see where I am going down to, I have to go down a tight hole for 15m to 20m, I do not have a guide with me helping or showing the way going down, there was however a guide waiting all the way at the bottom.

Can you see the six guys in the bottom?

So I start decenting knowing that I have to trust the robs and what I learned in the past couple of weeks, it was scary going down the first 20m but after I passed the tight hole, I saw this massive chamber, I was dazzled, in a state of shock, afraid, my adrenalin shot up even more, all alone in massive chamber which is 4 million cubic meter large, I could not describe the feeling since I have never encountered such a thing. My first instinct was to look for the guide below, but he was no where to be found, I freaked out and started shouting asking him to stop messing around and wait for me, but I could hear or see no one.

Ghost or scarifies ?

All I can see is the biggest ‘room’ I have ever seen in my life and I was all alone, I could not go up, the robs were too tricky to handle and adjust, and I needed to go down, slowly or I might mess up the devices that could overheat if went down too fast and if that happened it would not function and it would give way. I shouted and shouted but could hardly hear or see anything, all I can see is some white tissue at the end of the rob.

We ain't in the Ocean this is the Spirts Hangout

I descended slowly looking for the guide and listing to my echo, the lower I went the more I hear a faint noise, no it never crossed my mind it was the sprits, I knew it was the guide but why was he hiding and messing with me, I kept going down and after 15 minutes I saw the white tissue moving and the voice of the guide getting clearer, holy moly, the tissue was the guide’s helmet and he was so far away that I could not see him. How big is this place? Wow by now I have calmed down a bit, and it was time to take photos and get down less nervous…………

The rockallites from another planet

When I got down, my legs were numb from the straps around my legs and robs, it took me 15 minutes to get my circulation back to normal , I walked around cave amazed, flabbergast, stunned at the size and sight of it. The 2 cave openings that were emitting light as if it was a spaceship, I could see carcasses of animals that were scarified for the spirits, with their legs tied up, I saw a few crystallites or should I say ‘rockallites’ that looked as if I was in another plant, I also saw coral ! am I on still earth.

Can you see the people at the bottom trying to pose by the beam?

What can I say? I made it all the way down, I waited for my friends who come down one by one and we took some photos, now it was time to do the start the squads and go up, the boring part, the difficult part but having gone down the 2nd biggest chamber in the world and knowing that this was the final decent for anyone into the 2nd biggest chamber in the world, gave me a satisfaction like no other.

Brunei: The Gulf Cooperation Councils’ 7th the state

2008-06-27T11:19:00.015+04:00

Only in Brunei will you find this much peace in a country's capital

Happy, friendly people

Most people have hard time pin pointing where Brunei is on the map of the world. Even if you look for it, it’s not easy to find this tiny sultanate. Ironically, it’s famous for prince Jeffery’s wild spending antics, including giving a waiter a tip of over $ 150,000/-.

The main and only theater in down town

The main Down Town Shopping Mall area During the week without a single person around

This rich little state should ideally be in the Arabian Gulf, but somehow, millions of years ago, when continents were moving, it was pushed far away from us. Everything about it, resemble our states, it’s a carbon copy of the GCC, from its small population size( population estimated at 350,000 only), to its economy which is depend on oil and gas, to its judicial system (which is loosely based on Islam), to the amount of power its royal family has, to its tax free economy to even the heavily state subsidies perks its people get.

Water fall in the Capital

Architecture Bernie Style

Brunei is lush green and its capital Bander Seri Bhagwan, is tiny and dies out completely by 8 p.m. The place is so peaceful and safe. You really forget that you are in a county’s capital. The floating village, housing constructed by the government, is a major highlight of the country and I found it amazing how a capital in this day and age exist with most of its population living on water! Adding its calmness is sighting monkeys walking around its capital, without fear of getting harmed. People in Brunei are nice, with a great sense of pride, good natured, and with big smiles.

Brunei style mosque

Down Town

The country’s roads, parks and basic facilities are in immaculate condition. And just like GCC countries, Brunei has is its own white elephants from its free, non-functioning, amusement park, to its Empire Hotel, a dazzling, mind boggling empty hotel. This country is pleasant but unless you have a couple of days to spare and want to do something for the sake of doing it, I would not recommend stopping here.

Thing that make you say hmmmmmmmmmmmmm in the Philippines

2008-06-12T19:13:00.017+04:00

So what’s the name of your resort again?

All this in a one room with one table and no one manning it !!!

Filipino Five “O”

Now this kind of exclusive store is a first for me!!

So who’s store is it?

How do you know that your fork and spoon are clean in the Philippines?

What was the last sentence there !!!!!!!!!!!

Is that saying what I think???

Baywatch Filipino style

No the laundry lady is not naked or hot or has a room !!!!

!!!!!

Skinny dipping anyone

Ferrari Filipino style

Philippines: Great food, abundance of homosexuals and lots of burping!

2008-06-06T11:26:00.009+04:00

Manila form the sky

My headline is not meant to offend but to give people my perception of what I thought was unusual about the country. I apologize if I offend people with my perception. Now into the topic.

The city from the sea

My perception of Manila was it will be run down with poor infrastructure. To my surprise Makati, in Manila, boots some world class commercial centers with great, up scale leisure areas. The Filipino food is amazing, and I can have it over and over, even though it is very smelly and I won’t try cooking it at home again. I am surprised that the Filipino cuisine is not famous!
The offical Center Point of the Philippines

The shopping was great, but finding my cloths size was not always easy. In Makati several mall are attached to one another through skywalks making it an endless shopping experience. Funnily, there are police and metal detectors at the entrance of each mall, every skywalk and hotels, but they hardly do anything and you can pass it with a nuclear bomb the size of horse and they would not ask you anything. Interestingly, all of Makati is owned by one family!!
A church in the old city

On the historic side, sadly most monuments or the old city has been destroyed during World War II. However, you can get a glimpse of how great and massive the old city was. Some Spanish and American monuments still stand and testament to this great city. Other attraction include walking around the 0 kilometer post, all distances in the Philippines are measured from this point, is a must as there are lots of attractions around it, like the main parade area, the flag commemorate the independence of the Philippines, status with their founding fathers, their heroes, massive gardens, the lovers lane and the Ocean Park.

The founding fathers.

The eye opener for me was that burping is common and not forbidden in public or at work. So you can be having a massage, eating dinner or in the hotel talking to the staff and suddenly you hear a burp and no one would pay any attention. I was disgusted, although I do burp but not in these kind of situations.

The original hero, Lapu Lapu who killed the Magellan.

As for the homosexuals, the Philippines even tops San Francisco, they are everywhere and I guess its more common to see them because it’s acceptable. I was even told they have their own lingo too. In the Philippines it seemed that there is something wrong if half an hours passes by and you don’t see a gay person! This is not like Thailand, with some transvestites and transsexuals, the Filipinos gays are being them themselves, without the costumes and all the flare. This seemed unusual.

The National hero, in his last moments

Overall, the Philippines is a great place travel and even better for English speakers, since the whole country speaks it, however, if the roads out of Manila were paved between cities and town, it would be worth while spending at least 2 months looking around this beautiful country. Otherwise you would be spending most of your time in a bumpy car rid or a boat instead of sight seeing.

Back on the travel wagon

2008-05-03T09:42:00.001+04:00

After 6 months of moving to Oman and settling in, we are going to start traveling again. I have been on plane and ‘traveled’ but I don’t think Bahrain, Salalah and UAE really count as traveling since they are a stone’s throw away.

We are heading to new territory that we have not chartered yet. The Philippines and Brunei. We are also going to Malaysia, but we have been there before.

The disappointing thing about the Philippines is that although they have over 7,000 islands and there are unlimited opportunities to see magnificent things such the great caves of Palawan, the rice fields which are considered to be the 8th wonder of the world, great dive wrecks from WWII, great cultures and lots unspoiled beaches, its very hard to commute between most towns and islands. A 120 km road could take you up to 8 to travel. This makes matter unfeasible and restrict what we can visit, disappointingly, I changed the all the arrangements after I have read extensively on the attractions we must visit since transportation was big issue. We are now going to Manila the capital and Boracay the resort Island. None the less, being in South East Asia and being able to speak English to everyone is going to be odd and visiting Marcos many white elephants will be interesting.

Brunei on the other hand, came across by chance since we wanted to see something new and the best connection to Malaysia is Brunei. This Oil rich country, seems to be running in an eccentric way, with the ruler building a theme park as gift for his people on the occasion his of birthday. Sadly, since the cost of running was not feasible charges for using it were introduced later. More oddly is a marvelous hotel built to dazzle only. Apparently even if occupancy was full for 100 years it won’t cover the cost of building this monument !!! Moreover, the stories of the ruler’s brother’s spending patterns of wasting $ 16 billion of the country money adds to its eccentricity.

With regards to Malaysia we are going there for a friends wedding.

So long everyone and blog to you soon.

The Empty Quarters: Yearning to go back

2008-03-22T14:49:00.008+04:00

The Empty Quarters or A’Rub A’Khali is like no other. This great desert, of barren land, which is inhospitable and harsh, grips you in a way words can not describe or do justice, the silence, the emptiness, the soft sands, even the mirages leaves an impression on your mind like a tattoo which will last. forever. Nothing is welcoming, but you still yearn to go back to it. Only those few who have been deep inside will understand this privilege.

To the Lost City of Ubar and Beyond

2008-03-14T19:20:00.012+04:00

We headed to Ubar, the lost city of Irem of the pillars, which was mentioned in the Quran, One Thousand and One Nights, The Atlantis of the Sands and in many other places. The City had 1,000 pillars at its might between 3000 B.C. to 100 A.D. but their people went against god's word and the prophet Hud/Hood in the Quran, or Eber/Heber in the bible, so a large storm covered the city and it was lost forever…

Chillin birds
The place was discovered using satellite scanners, from the sky and one from the ground. The one from the ground scanned upto a meter under ground while the top one zeroed in on the location after a few years of germen and British searching the place.

Ubar was discovered in the early 90's, however, they are not 100% sure it is Ubar since they do not have all the evidence to support its Ubar and the Saudis also claim they have their own Ubar (the Saudis claim everything is theirs anyway).

Sadly the Shsur, in Omani, is very badly maintained and not organized at all. There are a few signs but no explanation or guide to tell you much, just some bedu chilling around the little village of 70 inhabitants.

Its really not worth going to check Ubar out.

Ubar style toilet

Even in the middle of nowhere a satellite dish is needed to survive the harsh conditions!

Some Action in Muscat Festival

2008-03-10T08:36:00.011+04:00

Tranquility after the action

Blending colors….sea and beach

Things that make say hmmmm in Sydney, Australia

2008-03-02T08:16:00.015+04:00

Moonwalker passing…. Michael Jackson and friends only

?????

Nurses walk !!! Doctors not allowed!!

No wallets! No watches!But sunglasses are fine !!!!

Kangaroo and crocodile pizza

Crocodile Dundee 2008

Evil Eye

Its not 1707, it is in 2007 a lawyer going to court

The future of the Master, Dog, cat and even mouse

Sports car, truck or sedan?

Australia: Cosmopolitan yet relaxed

2008-01-15T08:17:00.011+04:00

These two words never go together, cosmopolitan and relaxed, yet when you’re in Sydney and Melbourne they're very relaxed for a big city and especially Melbourne and it seemed beer played an important role in most people's lives down under, which helped made them even more relaxed.

It’s amazing to see how much Australians love their beer. Its lunch time and loads of people are having a beer or two with their food and when its time to leave work it seemed the whole world was getting ready to drink, the surprising part was that they were not rowdy or loud.

I expected them to be tough, rough, noisy and looking for fight. This could be because of the stereotype I had in mind and what I know from their history about Australia being a place where criminals were sent, when it first started. I guess watching Australian rugby, Crocodile Dundee, The Crocodile Hunter and movies of Aborigines did influence me and gave me these stereotypes. The shock was when I found out that they are friendlier than people from big western cities.

When in Australia you should never miss, seeing the Opera house, its truly amazing and pictures don't do it justice at all, you should also try their Kangaroo and Crocodile pizza (Kangaroo tastes great but crocodile tastes like some bad smelly fish), you must also climb the Sydney bridge and go for a tour around the harbor.

I did not have enough time to see Australia beyond they two big cities and that is not in any way a fair reflection of what the country has to offer, I will make it a point to go around and see more the next time around after all, who doesn’t want to hang out with friendly people.

Back doing what I love

2007-12-21T18:49:00.000+04:00

One of the 90, five thousand year old tombs

Camp site around Wadi Dham

Chillin in BK

Bander Kayran

Cool rock formation

Rays over Wadi Dham

It been some time since I got back to Oman and I have been spending lots of time doing what I like, enjoying the outdoors. Since I got back 5 weeks ago I have been camping and trekking in the Wahiba desert, Jabal Shams, Wadi Deel, Wadi Dhum, Majlis Al Jin, the The 5 thousand years old Tombs and taking out the boat and enjoying Bander Khyran more than once.

I tried to go to Khor Garama near Sur but the spare engine on the boat could not be fixed, oh well I will have to plan it for another time. So far its been great

ColOman interviewed

2007-11-02T17:51:00.000+04:00

After two years exactly of starting my blog as an outlet to write and shares my thoughts and hobbies with ‘strangers’ on the web……the time has come for to reveal further information on myself…… I would have never thought I would ever do that when I started blogging, but things change and I am now really proud of this site.

Check out my interview on http://www.oman3d.com/features/hanimacki/

Winner On A Global Scale

2007-10-23T07:08:00.000+04:00

A panel of judges chose my photo to feature in HSBC Global Calendar… from over 5,000 photos only 13 got selected. The Global Calendar will be displayed in over 7000 offices of HSBC world wide and some of theirs clients will be given the calendar as complementary gifts. Yes ladies and gentlemen you are looking at an award winning photo on a global scale….with a $1000 tag on it…

So Long Everybody and Thanks For The Fish

2007-10-22T12:32:00.000+04:00

The time has come for me to return home to Oman…. Its been over 3 years in Dubai and I have seen the impossible in many aspects happen…. It was interesting times…. Las Vegas on Prozac is the best way to describe it, but I long for a simpler life... away from the rat race rush and traffic somewhere where I can enjoy the outdoors more and see my friends and family when I choose to.

I guess I finally answered the question I posted 2 years on my first post ever… and its freedom 100%.

Thank you Dubai, you have thought many things that I will never forget. I will always come and visit this place and keep in touch with some great friends I met. So long everybody and thanks for the fish.

Hawaii: Guaranteed Rainbows

2007-10-11T22:26:00.000+04:00

Can you recall how many rainbows you have seen in your life? Less than 10,20 or 50. Well, I hardly see rainbows and I don’t think I have seen more than 35 rainbows in all my life and the ones I saw do not have all the colors. Its novelty to see one, unless you go to the rainbow state, Hawaii.

At first I did not pay too much attention to the signs around me but after seeing 2-3 rainbows a day, I started to see rainbows used as trademarks everywhere on the Islands. I guess with the never changing weather, a combination of drizzle and sun your bound to see rainbows more than once a day.

Things that make you say hmmmm in Hawaii

2007-10-08T16:42:00.000+04:00

No trash

Walk on your own risk

No wondering around here

They ain't joking when they say its hot

Hawaii toilets

Cool mail box

Hawaii Five O

Can't read

Something is not adding up

Hawaii: The Prize at a Price

2007-10-06T18:24:00.000+04:00

Clear waters, relaxed laid back atmosphere, unique marine life, delicious Asian cuisine, lush green, exotic looking people, a friendly and safe place, perfect temperature that never changes, advanced facilities, great service, daily drizzle, rainbows seen daily, waterfalls, great entertainment…. sounds like paradise? Well not quite, you always need to read the fine print in the advertisement.

All this come at a price, a very high price, so high that the Hawaiian natives can not afford and they are moving to main land USA. A sad reality for natives, but a great life for the wealthy. The real estate price is beyond reach of normal people and the one’s who do own a land move to the main land and buy 2-3 house from the proceeds of selling their land in Hawaii.

I was told by a Hawaiian, ‘The white man moves into our houses and we move into their houses’. How bizarre is that? The land of guaranteed rainbows is only for the ones who can afford to pay the price for paradise. The Prize comes at a Price.

Grand Canyon: Tranquil & Surreal

2007-08-21T17:53:00.000+04:00

Grand Canyon… is truly grand with amazing scenery. Imagine a river with rapid currents, high mountains all around, a rocky desert all over, yet some areas are fertile by the river, cool breeze in some areas while its scorching in others areas yet very dry, its a wired feeling, heat with no humidity, unlike nothing from this part of the world, and to top it all a new skywalk, a bridge made of glass over the Canyon. Bizarre in many ways yet tranquil.

I remember talking to muscati about going to Vegas and he told me the Grand Canyon is a must see ‘what is so special about a Canyon’. I asked, ‘It’s a Canyon with a river, like Jabal Shams I Oman, what’s the big deal? ’ I said naively. He looked at me as if I have lost my mind…’How can you compare the two?’

I am glad I took his advice, the helicopter ride, Hoover Damn, Lake Meed, meeting the Native Americans, seeing Las Vegas from a birds eye view and experiencing the majestic canyon was all truly rewarding.

Believe it or not this was the first time I have ever met a Native American, even though I’ve lived in the US for more than 7 years. They were kind and very friendly. We talked about their people, how their territories are effectively a country within a country, since they have their own laws and about the bridge, which is made of glass and how people are subjected to go through a metal detector because they kept throwing and dropping stuff into the canyon.

The Canyon is truly grand.

Things that make you say hmmmm in Georgia

2007-08-07T18:07:00.000+04:00

All clear to walk... how many signs can you count on this empty street?

Heavey duty house keys?

The year 2099

Van was

Extra boost for the speeder

I have never seen sheep swim!

A beautiful Mind

Georgia: Visit Without Prejudice

2007-07-29T00:26:00.000+04:00

No I am not referring to the state of Georgia in the US; but to the Republic of Georgia in East Europe. OK what’s in Georgia to go and see? These were my thoughts, but a friend of mine, who has a company there, told me it was really worth going to.

This got me interested as I was already going to Azerbaijan anyway, and Georgia would be one hour away by plane. However, all I knew about this ex-Soviet state was that they are in bad terms with Russia. Call me ignorant or close minded, but that's the truth. I was a bit nervous going there due to safety concerns and the language barrier. Yes I was stereotyping thinking that its mafia infested; and after visiting Azerbaijan, I was expecting the same topography.

The airport was a breeze, no hassles, no visa, no questions about what am I doing in Georgia or where am I staying, they just stamped my passport as if I was Georgian!!
The driver, also my guide, picks me up and he speaks ‘Zero’ English’. This only adds to my nervousness and raises the question what am I going to do for next few days? Luckyly he picks up his daughter from University who is fluent in English.

As we approach Tbilisi, the capital, I felt as if I am going into a modern medieval city, with interesting and unique architecture. The topography is nothing like Baku in Azerbaijan, with high mountains, churches everywhere, a river that runs through the city, then as we approach the city center, it feels and looks like any western European city, with great Victorian buildings everywhere.

The people are kind, deeply devoted christen who give respect to every church they pass, by crossing themselves, women enter church only if they wear a scarf. Georgian are proud of their heritage and culture which is very rich and unique. Their food is also unique and Georgian pride themselves in inventing wine and spreading to the world through the Silk Route. The stone city of Uplistsikhe is like no other. This city that dates back to thousands of years has a few remains that are still impressive by any measure. Georgia is truly breathtaking and their only downfall is the language barrier. Ironically I was told, the country has less than 100 tourists at any give time, and all foreigners are there on business, even more Ironic is that we all know the most famous Georgian, the man who changed history forever, Joseph Staline.

All I can say is to visit this country without any prejudice.

The Parking Lot Effect On Palm Island Seabed

2007-07-10T19:40:00.000+04:00

So here I am yesterday on my small boat with some friends trying to escape the heat of Dubai and we stopped between the Royal Mirage hotel beach and the Palm Island. As soon as the boat stopped I jumped in to cool off, only to feel even hotter in the water!!How can that be? Water is supposed to cool you off not feel like a Jacuzzi, but hey it could be something with water being trapped between the beach and the Palm Island.

So we decided to move on and pulled the anchor of boat only to find it’s full of cement on it, not sand!!!That when a friend said “this is the parking lot effect, the asphalt on the seabed produces heat instead of the sand absorbing the heat.”

I hope this is a temporary effect. The long term effects are going to be devastating with all these new projects.

The Miseducated Lauryn Hill

2007-07-07T15:05:00.000+04:00

Songs of abuse, greed and brain washing done by people who oppressed her people was a theme in most of her songs. The artistes who sold millions of records on her first and only album produced by the Fugees and then sold a few more millions from her solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was here in Dubai and I had to go and see her in concert.

Her voice is like no other and I wanted to be as close as possible to listen to this amazing instrument of nature, so I bought front row tickets, even though she was going sing for around one hour only, starting at 9 p.m.

Before she started Karl Wolf was going to sing and although I have seen his name around in the local papers I have never heard him sing. All I know is he made a music video in Oman and the song he remixed used parts form the song Africa.

Although we arrive at 8:20 it took us nearly 40 minutes to get in, even though we had tickets due to the unorganized event management. So here we are rushing in only to find out that Karl Wolf is coming on in 15 minutes. To be fair he was amazing and really impressed the audience with his Arabic influence music. He surly won me as a fan.

After Karl Wolf the DJ came on and would not stop mixing. People started to complain and he kept saying that Lauryn Hill was coming in a few minutes which seemed forever… when people started booing, we thought of leaving because it was already midnight.

Just before she came on the DJ announces that Lauryn Hill was in Italy the day before, she nearly missed her flight because of over booking and she has a soar throat but she still deiced to go ahead and put a show for Dubai, before heading to France, so ‘ lets give it up for her’

All I can say is ‘I gave up on her’. She should change her album from Miseducation of Lauryn Hill to the Misedcuated Laurtn Hill and she should be ashamed of singing songs of abuse and brain wash since she did the same to her fans because of her greed for money. We left after she sang 2 songs only since she sounded like broken car muffler.

My Photography: One Year Later

2007-06-19T21:19:00.000+04:00

After selling a few photos here and there HSBC, one of the biggest financial multinationals in world, chose one my photos to launch their Premier propositions as they struggled to find something from Oman that combines tradition and status.

http://www.oman.hsbc.com/hsbc/oman_hom

Exactly last year this time, I wrote a post about turning my photography hobby into a profession. Sad to say I did not dedicate enough time to it, but the good news is that I am now confident that my photos are taken seriously even with large institutions.

http://www.oman.hsbc.com/hsbc/oman_per/hsbcpremier?WT.ac=OMN_CAM0_2007_ACC01

I need to sit down and plan it out, should do an exhibition, a book, or just approach advertising and art agencies. But one this is for sure, I need to do something.

Things that make you say hmmmm in Azerbaijan

2007-05-28T23:03:00.000+04:00

The road sign is not exaggerating the danger

No thanks buddy... I'll pass on your offer

And you thought Burj Al Arab had it all

Who needs a truck?

I still can’t figure the this electricity pole out !

Gulf News chooses my blog, www.coloman.blogspot.com as one of the BEST IN THE WORLD

2007-05-25T08:25:00.000+04:00

What a surprise I didn’t even know that my blog was chosen as one of the best blogs in the UAE/Region/The World until 4 days later when I am checking my web statistic and how do people visit my blog, when I notice that I am getting several hits being directed from Gulf News.

Interestingly, they edited some of my blog…. But it’s OK since they made my day voting my blog one of the BEST IN THE WORLD.

Blogosphere: May 21, 2007
http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/07/05/21/10126813.html
05/21/2007 06:52 PM Gulf News web report

The Gulf News Web team delve daily into the blogosphere to bring you the best of blogging in the UAE, the region and even the world
Why don’t you… So here I am in Dubai airport heading to Oman on Friday and I suddenly pass by a man and woman who are walking while I use the automatic walk way. I look back again and tell myself, that’s ‘Jermaine Jackson” so I take few seconds to stare and then build up the courage to ask and he reply’s “yes’ with a smile. Wow, this man used to be in one of the biggest selling and best known bands in the world, The Jackson Five. Women used to go crazy over him. His brother Michael Jackson is the best selling artist of all times while his sister Janet Jackson is also one of the best selling female artists in the music industry. Here he is walking in major international airport and not a single person recognizes him, except me. He seemed happy that a fans still remembered him. http://www.coloman.blogspot.com/

Azerbaijan: The Land Of Fire, Oil and Caviar

2007-05-20T07:43:00.000+04:00

Imagine seeing fire coming out of the sea 5000 years ago! What would your reaction be? Its no surprise to me that people started praying to fire, before Islam, Christianity or Judaism were around. Fast forward a few millennium and humans discover it was oil coming out of the sea. This country supplied half of the world’s oil in the early1900’s. People became rich over night and many billionaires were created. These Billionaires build mansions and many monuments, which can rival any kings’ palaces. This sudden wealth attracted the Russians and later the Soviets.

The Soviets came and wrecked havoc and destroyed many monuments during the USSR period. The environmental disaster they left behind is on catastrophic scale and can still felt and seen clearly today. The war they had with Russia and Armenia in the late 1980’s and 1990’s has left them licking their wounds, but beside all this you can still and feel the great potential they have with the great oil wealth which hasn’t been fully utilized.

The silk route passed through Baku, the capital and the only cosmopolitan city in Azerbaijan. This old city was destroyed time and again by various invaders and only small parts of it survived. This part of town, and its surrounding area which includes the parliament, many old mansions and buildings form Baku’s golden era are truly charming and worth a visit.

The people, although, they are technically European seemed to me 100% Middle Eastern in mannerism, looks and attitude. They appeared to be a mix between the Persians and Turks, however, they associate themselves with the Turks due to the language similarities and the common interest they have against Armenia. The Azeris even adopted the new alphabet and grammar that was introduced by the Turkish leader Ataturk, who abandoned the Arabic script to distance Turkey from Islam and the Middle East. They major difference with Turkey is that they are religious, the majority of them are shia, and they do not have an Islamic phobia like Turkey does. The country is safe and the people are very helpful, but are a bit cold.

The area outsides of Baku are small towns and villages and although modern facilities are available, they lack any source of entertainment or luxury. Only Azeri restaurants are found and they serve a very limited menu which are mainly kebabs or ‘lule’ kebabs, which are yummy. Their fruits and vegetables are amazing and very tasty since they are natural and they are not genetic modification, don’t use pesticide or any other chemicals and preservatives.

The scenery around Azerbaijan beautiful, except for the abandoned mammoth factories left by the Soviets. The mountain peaks are covered by snow, while rivers cross most towns and villages we visited and most areas are covered by a blanket of green vegetation. Unlike what I had in mind, the country is safe and the people are very helpful, but are a bit cold. Although, you can see the Soviet influence in the building towns the Azeri influence is more predominate. However, if you’ve seen Turkey and Iran before, Azerbaijan won’t make a great impression on you.

Jermaine Jackson: ‘I’m your biggest fan’

2007-05-15T01:43:00.000+04:00

So here I am in Dubai airport heading to Oman on Friday and I suddenly pass by a man and woman who are walking while I use the automatic walk way. I look back again and tell myself, that’s ‘Jermaine Jackson” so I take few seconds to stare and then build up the courage to ask and he reply’s “yes’ with a smile.

Wow, this man used to be in one of the biggest selling and best known bands in the world, The Jackson Five. Women used to go crazy over him. His brother Michael Jackson is the best selling artist of all times while his sister Janet Jackson is also one of the best selling female artists in the music industry.

Here he is walking in major international airport and not a single person recognizes him, except me. He seemed happy that a fans still remembered him. Jermaine was really nice and went into some details about what he was doing here, he had a project in Abu Dhabi. I thanked him and walked off…. A few minutes later, I asked if can take his photo, while we were riding the escalator. He was more than happy and said, let’s take photo together.

We spoke a little about his bro Mike being in Oman and we parted ways…………… as I sang ‘why don’t you do what you do….”

.... and the winner is....

2007-04-28T08:07:00.000+04:00

‘I love you all’… these should have been my words when I won the 2 tickets with 5 days hotel accommodation to Malaysia. The cherry on top was the 5 days is considered work.

I was over the moon, winning a prize which has to do with travel, alhamed lillah, just what I like to do as a hobby, travel, and to top it, getting paid to have to do it.

I talked to the travel agent and arranged with work to change the destination and I’ll pay the difference and they agreed. So having been in Malaysia before, I wanted to see a new place(s) so I deiced to head to Azerbaijan and Georgia.

We have a friend in Azerbaijan and we plan to meet in Baku then head to Xinaliq, Guba ,Sheki and Laza. A few days later go to Tiblisi, Georgia then to Mtskheta, Kazbegi, vardzia and Davit Gareja.

It would be my first time in that region and although I have been to Turkey before, this should be different. Turkey was the Middle East, Azerbaijan and Gerogia are in East Europe/ Middle East there might be some similarities but I am sure the Soviet, Christen/ Muslim and European influence, will make this destination unique.

We Came, We Saw, We Conquered…. At least we tried

2007-04-19T07:04:00.000+04:00

If you look hard enough you will see us resting on the bottom right

Its been a bit boring and slow for me the last few months, so when my friends told me they are going to “ Via Ferrata” ( cross wadis and mountains using robs) I jumped on the opportunity. I had no prior training but I am willing to give everything a try. After all, it’s doing something outdoor in Oman, Wadi bani Auf to be exact, the other side of Wadi Guolh, I was in for a good time, no matter what.

I was told I need to be fit, but heck, if others can do it, so can I. Well I was right; it wasn’t hard to learn. It was great fun, but I had no stamina to even complete a ¼ of the course. I was huffing and buffing like a dog on rabies and my hands just gave in, they could not support me after 25-35 min.

I need to get into shape and try this again. I don’t have enough upper body strength to carry myself. I wonder if I could ever finish the whole course, but I am sure I will give it another try.

Dubai World Cup

2007-03-30T18:25:00.000+04:00

No I am not into horse racing but when my friends insisted I check it out last year, I became a fan. It’s a big party with a horses racing in the background. Great entertainment, music, good food, drinks and everyone is decked out in their funky attire.

Hope this Saturday is going to be as much fun as last year.

Trucks

2007-03-28T16:40:00.000+04:00

I have been fascinated with trucks for the last two to three years. When I say trucks, I don’t mean your everyday ‘construction’ truck. I am getting into the luxury trucks such as the Escalade, Avalanche, Hummer H2, Ford F-150 trucks and the Titan.

These cars have changed the concept of trucks from a rugged, tough and rough ride to a mixture of comfort and ruggedness. It seems more and more people are getting into it these luxury trucks in the GCC. I was especially surprised when I saw a few of them in Oman.

Who knows, I might be the next one in town driving a luxury truck.

Interesting Signs

2007-02-14T01:00:00.000+04:00

For some reason I have developed an interest in seeing ‘road’ signs. These are some I saw from my travels.

Cambodia: A Glorious Cruel Past

2007-02-07T18:34:00.000+04:00

Words fail to explain what man has done to Cambodia. The Cambodians defeated logic over 1000 years ago and did again 30 years ago. They created the largest man made structure dedicated to God 800 years ago and then disappeared from the face of the earth without a trace. Hundreds for mammoth size temples remain even after the Khmer Rouge destroyed a large number of them.

The Cambodians made headlines around the world 30 years ago, again, but this time because Pol Pot, Brother Number one, the countries leader, who killed a quarter of his own people because they were educated and they could read! Anyone wearing glasses was qualified as educated and was killed ! All the relatives of the educated person, were also killed brutally by hacking or by grapping infants from their feet and smashing their heads on a tree branch to avoid wasting bullets!

Nothing escaped the destruction, the central bank, all religious, medical and educational building were destroyed and everyone was forced to work in the fields. The most Ironic thing about the whole massacre was that Pol Pot was himself highly educated in France and worked as a lawyer.

Today Cambodia is recovering from their miserable past and the country lives in peace. Starting from year Zero, like Pol Pot wanted to achieve, it will take decades to recover, but Angkor Watt is truly magical and the 400 square kilometers of scattered temples will blow your mind away, metaphorically speaking. So if you lover history and want to see how far humans can get to, check out the Khmer Land.

Tuk-Tuks form around the world

2007-01-14T19:00:00.000+04:00

While Thailand was the first country I came across a Tuk-Tuk, I got to see many more and now I am fascinated by the many Tuk-Tuk versions I have seen around the world.

Thailand: Photo from http://www.into-asia.com/bangkok/tuktuk/

Cambodia: These guys have all kinds of Tuk-Tuk versions

Cambodia Tuk Tuk Truck

Mozambique

Vietnam: Manual Tuk-Tuk

Cuba: They call it Coco Taxi

UK: Even the UK have started selling Tuk-Tuks. Photo from http://www.tuk-tukimportsuk.co.uk/

Salsa in Mozambique

2007-01-13T06:50:00.000+04:00

Althoguh not on most people's radar, Mozambique with its amazing diving and just 2 hours drive from Kruger Park, South Africa, we just had to checkout this little visited country. After all Maputo, the capital, is the only Latin influenced capital in Africa. Imagine being in Africa and dancing salsa! Speaking Portuguese in Africa! Sound interesting enough to me to go and check out.

I searched and searched the internet and barely found anything and that should have been a clue that Maputo has nothing to offer!! But I thought it was due to the language barrier, Portuguese, that I wasn't be able to Google most websites!

Although extremely poor, the country is a lot safer than South Africa and the people are not pushy at all. I knew the country came out of civil war but I did not know that the country is sleepy all week long and only comes to life on the weekend. As luck has it, we got there on Monday and everything was closed! People don’t hang out at all during the week and to make matters worse, because it was summer time in Africa, many of the restaurants and club owners close shop for the whole summer and go on vacation!

Even the diving was poor,of Inhaca island, with massive swells and hardly any fish, but the visibility was great. For the first time in 18 years I got sea sick, because of the massive swells. All other tourist attractions are pretty much impossible to get to by car because of the horrible road conditions. A 100 km drive to Cosa de ‘Oro and dive town by the South African boarder would have taken us 4 hours and the hotels were of poor quality so we had to scratch that idea out of the agenda.

The country has enormous natural potential and lots of people are getting rich as there are plenty of opportunities with hardly any competition and there are many multinationals jumping in, to get a slice of the action. The seafood is also amazing but besides that, its not time salsa in Mozambique, yet.

South Africa and Jaws

2006-11-15T08:07:00.000+04:00

The movie ‘Jaws’ created such a scare in the 1970’s beach goers were suddenly afraid to swim in the sea and many beaches were deserted. The music from the movie is legendary and people know it instantly and immediately think of great white shark, Jaws.

The great white was always around but suddenly after the movie was out; there was no greater danger to humans than Jaws, we were his favorite dish! People till date are afraid of the sea because of Jaws.

The truth is you are more likely by 1000 time to die from a car accident than by the great white. The great white sharks do not target humans and very rarely attack humans, and if they do it because they mistake humans for seals, their favorite dish. Moreover, if they do attack they are most likely to let the human go. Bull sharks do attack more often but the possibility of that happening is still very remote.

While in South Africa we had to do cage diving with the great white shark. We wanted to see Jaws. We had the impression it will be attacking the cage violently, instead we saw a shark moving slowly with grace trying to nibble on the moving bait.

It was disappointing and the scariest and most shocking part of it is getting into the freezing cold water. Interestingly, many people do snorkel around that area, frequently, looking for abalone knowing that there are a large amount of great white sharks looking for seals in the bay.

That’s why attacks happen.

Cuba: The Truman Show, October 2005

2006-10-06T23:33:00.000+04:00

How amazing would it be to go to a place that is stuck in time? In the 1950’s to be exact. A place where everyone was financially equal, where there is no crime and everyone’s life expectancy is the highest in the world, where people are highly educated and live on a beautiful island surrounded by crystal clear water?

Sounds like a fairy tale from a romantic book. It was a dream come true for me. The land that made the legendary Che Guevara, famous. I was going to see the last real communist country in the world. This was going to be a piece of history that I will tell generations to come about it, because most likely it will all be gone after the Comendante Fidel Castro is gone.

Fairy tales are fairy tales and this great propaganda came to a crashing end soon after I landed. It could be argued that that the American embargo made things deteriorate the way they have in Cuba, and I am sure there is truth to it but what I saw was a tragic piece of history.

Yes the country was safe, everyone was financially equally poor, the Cuban health and education system was advanced and the country is blessed with natural beauty, but I have never seen or imagined to see a whole nation without ambition or motivation! Imagine waking up everyday knowing that things can’t get better, nothing will change drastically no matter how hard you worked! You will get a cretin amount of fixed allowance, fixed amount of food, and live in the same beat up apartment for the rest of your life.

People live in old collapsing houses and everything in ‘stores’ and restaurants were super expensive. Cubans could not afford to buy anything more than the bare minimum to live on, but it must be said the government dose provide some bare essentials in the form of ‘rations’ to its people. Eating meat is a rare occasion for Cubans and to do so they need to save up for it. . The grocery stores had few items and people didn’t drive around because they couldn’t afford to so!

Havana looked like a living museum, an old beat up museum that needed to be restored badly. Seeing the old cars from the 1950’s cruising the streets was amazing but it was also sad to see people having to use them as an everyday car to earn extra money to survive. No one is allowed to own cars in Cuba, except people who owned cars before the 1950’s; all other cars are owned by the government.

I remember feeling as if I was in The Truman Show in Varadero, the top tourist resort attraction. Imagine stepping out on the street and not seeing any shops, street vendor, cars or people! Even the ‘perfect up to date’ hotels were weird. The clocks at the hotel receptions were all not working because no one was bothered to fill out the government forms to request for batteries. The place looked perfectly clean and neat but Cubans had no reason to come to the area since hotels were off limits to them unless they worked there!

Imagine seeing all these new ‘modern’ comfortable hotels being built everywhere while you live in a dump. Imagine seeing all your people serving tourist as if you were a higher species while you could not afford to go to a proper restaurants in your own country. Imagine not being able to buy bottled water!

The hotel packages, all inclusive were dirt cheap, but as soon as you asked for anything extra it was super expensive. I remember a small bottle of water costing around $3! I remember not seeing any form of advertisement for 10 days! I remember people hitchhiking all along the road and it was totally safe to pick them up along the way. I remember women not being obsessed with being skinny and wanting to look like Vogue models. I remember a country with 2 currencies, one for Cubans and one for tourist! A currency that could not be exchanged even in Cuba!

I will always remember how blessed I am for not living in Cuba and for having the opportunity to hope for a better tomorrow.

South Africa

2006-10-05T11:34:00.000+04:00

Its been quite messy trying arrange the trip to South Africa and Madagascar. We had to cancel Madagascar, because of the flight connections and the time constrains, we are even cutting our trip short 4 days because its proving too hard to arrange.

While is South Africa is quite developed, hotel prices are either extremely expensive and of great quality or absolutely cheap and of no quality. There seems to be hardly nothing in between!! Moreover, most hotels/lodges/ B&B do not have an internet payment system, making matters harder to arrange.

The plan is to go Cape Town for 3 days drive around the Garden Route 5 days and then head to Kruger National Park. Sun City was fully booked so we had to cross that out.

Now I am left 4 free days and I might return to work early.

Africa here we come

2006-09-26T20:03:00.000+04:00

Its time to head to swim with the Great White Sharks, in a cage off course, and visit the big game reserves of South Africa.

Its going to be the first time I visit a real African country, since North Africa, is considered part of Arabia and not the real Africa. Even when I went to Sudan, it was to the north of it and I never got to see animals in the wild, which the south of Sudan is famous for.

The only drag is all the vaccines we need to take, especially if we end up going to Madagascar. Initially, we wanted to visit Namibia, but it appeared to lack some drastic ‘wow’ so we looked in to Mozambique, Botswana, Zimbabwe and even Reunion but when we saw Madagascar, we were convinced that we should consider it.

The country might be under developed but it appears amazing and we need to do some research to conclude how and what to see.

I have my fingers crossed since we are short on time.

Ramadan Coming

2006-09-21T07:26:00.000+04:00

I have been super busy at work but I hope to have some free time to wirte in Ramadan.

Braces and Emiraties

2006-08-31T19:03:00.001+04:00

I recall telling a colleague at work that another colleague should be in a tooth paste commercial cause she has the perfect teeth. A few weeks later, she comes to the office with braces on her upper set of teeth.

Shocked, we ask her why she would do such a thing and she hesitantly replied ‘ I didn’t like my front teeth’! She told us her doctor was refusing to put the braces on, till she threatened to do it somewhere else.

Later in the day she told me, she put the braces on to loose weight and because its in FASHION! She told me she was going to put another set, with different colors on her lower set of teeth, but these won’t be medical just for fashion.

Why would anyone invent in fashionable braces! I guess young UAE nationals are going to a new extreme for the sake of fashions.

Plate Number 1

2006-08-24T23:38:00.001+04:00

Its amazing how much attention you get when your car’s plate number is Number ‘1’. That’s the first thing I noticed when we got picked up by our tour operator in Yemen. As we were on the road, all kinds of people kept pointing their fingers at the plate number and cars were peeping their horn and people were signaling number one with their hands to us.

The driver told, he has tourist taking pictures of the car all the time. I guess I finally understand why people in Dubai pay millions of Dirhams to buy fancy plate numbers.

Yemen: The Land of Plenty that is full of contrast

2006-08-24T13:32:00.000+04:00

Just got back from Yemen and all I can say WOW. What a beautiful country and what great hospitable people. The land is full of contrast, located in the middle blazing summer heat of Arabia yet Sana’a was cool, full of weapons yet peaceful, rich in culture yet economically poor, conservative people yet everyone is addicted to qat, delicious food yet severed in lousy ‘restaurants’ and amazing historical site with barely any tourist.

All we ever get to hear from Yemen in the news is negative, even though we are neighbors, my impression of the country was that it is unsafe, yet when I went there, I felt totally safe even thought many people outside of Sana’a carried machine guns. These weapons are a symbol of ‘manhood’ and everyone we met, no matter how poor they were, and when I say poor I mean no electricity or running water in their houses’, invited us to eat at their house.

Everyday, people get killed in America yet we all consider the country safe, you only need one kidnapping in Yemen and we consider the whole country unsafe and a no go area. How bizarre is that?

For anyone thinking of going to Yemen, I would tell them, its an amazing country and a must go but if you are looking to be pampered, then I would say good luck. The Moevenpick Hotel is the only ‘real’ 5 star facility in Sana’a. All other restaurants are hotels around Mareb, Kokaban, Thala, Al-Hajra , Manjah and Wadi Dhaher are basic but you will be dazzled by the countries beauty.

I am definitely heading back there again soon.

Plan C and D

2006-08-12T19:01:00.000+04:00

We have to beat the clock so we decide to check out Moscow and see the Kremlin and the Red Square. For a 3rd time, I buy the Lonely Planet book; and after reading it, we decide it’s a great place to check out and the weather is great. So I book the flights and after some research we decide to stay at the Holiday Inn and all that is left is the visa.

Well that’s when you find out that you are dealing with ex-communist country. No one at the embassy or consulate picks the phone, when they do, it’s someone who hardly speaks English. During my search on the internet I find out that we need a ‘travel voucher’ which basically means that we need someone to sponsor us. I needed to know more about it and no one can me you over the phone even worse the Russian Consulate, visa section is open for 2 hours a day only, its location is in Diera, Dubai where its practically impossible to get to and to find parking is another obstacle.

Time is running out and we need to get the ‘travel voucher’ pronto. My travel agent advises me to take and Emirates Airline holiday and I said ‘sure why not’ only to find out the average cost would be around $1,000 a day! This is way beyond my budget and getting the travel voucher through other means would take us some time.

Plan D, where is somewhere close and different, with nice weather with least amount of hassle. Even thought Yemen has been on the list for sometime, due to the heat I would not consider at this time of the year but then I find out that in Sana’a the maximum temperature is 77 F/25 c and minimum is 60F/16c and no visa required. Done deal tickets are bought and hotel is paid for, over the net.

4 days night seem too long and many people are shocked at our decision to go there, but I have not heard anything but praise about it, if you are looking for a cultural experience and rich history.

So let the good time roll, baby.

Plan A and B

2006-08-10T00:14:00.000+04:00

Monday the 21st, is holiday so we decided to make the best out of and travel. We took Saturday and Sunday off work and clubbed it with the Thursday and Friday weekend, which gave us 5 days.

We initially wanted to go to Cambodia and see Angkor Wat, this has been on the agenda for some time but things keep coming up. This time we fixed everything up, until it was time pay and then, by luck, I found out it was monsoon season and it was super humid at this time of the year.

So we had to come with plan B. I had to think of somewhere close and interesting, somewhere we had not been before and Athens, Greece was the kind of place that would be perfect for 5 days. It’s close and rich of history and culture. So I get the holy book of travel ‘The Lonely Planet’ and start reading and I run into a paragraph that says its peak tourist season, and it great if you want to on the islands partying and sun bathing, however, Athens’ temperature is around 40 degrees and its humid. That set off an alarm and my friend, who went where 2 years ago, also confirmed that its not pleasant if you are outdoors in Athens in August.

So we had to come with plan C.

The Sink Hole becomes the Stink Hole

2006-08-05T22:11:00.000+04:00

One of the most magnificent places in Oman and one of the greatest natural spots of our country, is ‘Habitat Al- Najem” or “ Bait Al-Afreet” or as the English speakers called the Sink Hole, in Dhabab is turning into a Stink Hole, if it not regulated properly.

The municipality in its effort to woe tourist to this amazing wonder has built a park around it, sadly even before the park has started, trash is starting to accumulate. I wonder what will happen to this area when the park is fully open.

I hope, they would be wise enough not to let anyone bring food or drinks into the park or they might just be asking to destroy the delicate habitat.

Yes we are equal, obviously our vote counts!

2006-07-31T19:27:00.000+04:00

Democracy at its best! 3 countries against the world, and they still force their ways. This gives us a clue why people become 'terrorist' and 'radicals'!

Casablanca Airport: Morocco

2006-07-28T18:16:00.000+04:00

During the rush and chaos of leaving Casablanca airport, handing over the rent a car, taking our luggage through security and boarding the plane, I lost my camera. The camera with the couple of lenses are valued at around $1,500/-, but most importantly the 600 photos I took while in Morocco, were all gone.

We only noticed that the camera was missing when the plane landed in Tunis. That’s when I went nuts; I was mad at myself and really upset. How can I do such a stupid thing and forget a bulky camera case, which is always with me in all my travels.

There was nothing we could do about it, it was gone, but out of desperations we tried to remember when we saw it last and all I can remember was putting it through the X-ray machine, at the airport. So we started calling Morocco, trying to get the number for the airport, it was a lost case, but it I was desperate and willing to do anything to get it back.

After a few phone calls and getting passed around, a police officer from the ‘Lost & Found Department’ confirmed having the camera. I could no believe my ears; I called him twice again asking for the description of the camera and while the officer was getting annoyed from my calls I was jumping with joy.

His words “this is an Ammanh’ the camera is safe with us and it be here for you to collect. I loved Morocco, the people were friendly, nice, the country was beautiful, interesting, rich in culture and safe, but the camera incident just made me greater respect for them.

The police officers in 3rd world countries like Morocco are paid peanuts and many of them hassle you for bribes, even the couple of times I was caught speeding, the policemen, who were about to fine me, cut me some slack after I talked to them. This would be their best opportunity to extort money from us, but I guess I was either lucky and stumbled into honest cops or the corrupt cops stories are a myth of the passed.

More Tunisian Arabic

2006-07-25T22:48:00.000+04:00

Skip Tunisia

2006-07-24T07:55:00.000+04:00

I know I am going to get some flak for this but this is my experience and how I felt.

I got back from Tunisia a couple of weeks back and went there although my friends told me to avoid it. I was told the people were ‘rough’ (I am being e politically correct here) and there isn’t much to see because it’s ‘kinda run down’.

I thought these different friends, who went at different times and different places in Tunisia, were unlucky or did not enjoy the culture and history of the country we hear so much about. I did the mistake of buying the ticket first and then starting and reading about the country. I was impressed to know they had 6 international airports and was fascinated to read about their numerous historic monuments that are scattered around the Tunisia, but when I wanted to book the hotels, I started having 2nd thoughts.

The tourism industry is geared towards Europeans who want some sun ONLY. I searched for days for hotels and things to do around their historic sites but there was hardly anything. So I decided to book the hotels along the beach, which I don’t really care for, since I live by the beach in a sunny country.

Generally I try to avoid staying in 5 star hotels because I never make use of the hotel facilities, but since all the 4 hotels looked beat up and were more like 2 star hotel, I decide to go for the 5 star hotels.

As soon as I arrived to Tunisia I felt the people were ‘cold’ at the airport and the taxi stands, but I was did not think much of it. When we got the hotel at night the receptionists was very pleasant and helpful, but that was last encounter with a courteous person for a few days!

This might sound picky, but the hotel is rated officially 5 star and I paid money to get a 5 star hotel. The hotels would not pass for 4 stars in our side of the world and in Europe I am sure it would get 2.5 to 3 star rating, if that. On the web, the hotels I stayed in Mercure Diar El Andalous and Corinthia Khamsa Hotel, looked like five star hotels but when you get there the quality of the facilities and the service were not. So don’t be deceived by the nice photos.

Back to topic, the people we met for the next five days were mostly ‘super cold’ and if not, they were ‘rough’ and we were totally shocked and puzzled at their attitudes. How is it possible for a country that depends on tourism to be like that?

The beaches and the sea were not that great either, cause of the sea weeds and rough sand , but if you are from Europe and don’t care about the service or culture and have one goal on your vacation, to get some sun while paying the least amount of money, then Tunisia is right for you.

If you are looking for any of the following: entertainment, shopping, adventure, good restaurants, culture, arts, clubs or a night life, this is the wrong country. Even if you are into history you be disappointed that after driving for hours to see these amazing monuments, because there are hardly any restaurants, hotels or shops in the driving vicinity. There historic monuments are like disregarded treasures.

Saying all that the country was very safe, the small district of Sidi Bu Saeed in Tunis was really beautiful. So unless your a history or sunbathing freak, I would advise you to give Tunisia a skip. Their neighbor’s in Morocco have a lot more to offer with better facilities and friendlier people.

But if you must go for some reason, I would advise you to stay at the Sheraton Hotel in Tunis, they were all professional, nice,the hotel was a real 5 star and you would get your money's worth.

Tunisian Arabic

2006-07-12T01:37:00.000+04:00

Moroccan Arabic

2006-07-11T01:13:00.000+04:00

It was interesting to see how some words are spelled in Morocco and the use of alternative words to describe things. Unlike English, all words in Arabic are spelled the same, expect nouns that are translated from a different language into Arabic.

Road Signs for cities in Tunisia

2006-07-09T20:20:00.000+04:00

We just got back from our holiday, for now enjoy the roads signs in Tunis and if you don't know Arabic, please ask a person from the Arabian Gulf "Khaleejis" to translate the meaning of the cities we visited in Tunis.

Is the World Cup taking a toll on you?

2006-06-21T17:56:00.000+04:00

I was reading an article on how employee's productivity is expected to drop during the World Cup in the UAE, it must be true. The streets in Dubai and Sharjah are empty in comparison to the normal rush hour, because people are going to nearest place that shows the games.

Personally, I have been staying up late watching the games and my time has been revolving around the matches and where to watch them. If you think I’m bad, my friend has a story that I will remember for a long time. He had to get married as his future in-laws were loosing patients with him so he agreed 2 weeks before the World Cup, on one condition, that the honey moon would be after the World Cup is over.

Now beat that for a World Cup fanatic.

Turning a hobby into a profession

2006-06-16T23:20:00.000+04:00

How cool would that be? Turning something you like doing as a hobby into something that would make you money. That must be the ultimate dream of everyone. After 3 years of deciding to buy a proper camera to take better photos, I am now taking my hobby of photography one step further.

My habit of sharing some of my photos by email, has got some good responses from my friends, but I always took that lightly, because I thought they are being nice to me when they complemented me.

This changed after one of my friends sent my photos to an advertising agency in Dubai and they approached me after a business dinner to talk to me about the photos, I started to have 2nd thoughts.A few months later, a couple of people from work approached me and wanted to buy some photos, that’s when I decided its time take this matter more seriously.

So I got my photos enlarged and printed, and I was able to sell 5 photos the very next day to a new start up company. They initially wanted 9 of them, but had a change of mind when it was time to pay. But hey, who's is complaining, it’s my hobby and I recovered the cost of enlarging and printing all the photos. I am now in the process of making an album to enable me to approach some art galleries and see how far I can take this hobby.

So if you know anyone who wants to buy photos from Oman, Iran, Vietnam, Colombia, Cuba or underwater than please direct them to me and we can do some business.

San Andres, Colombia: Fantasy Island

2006-06-09T11:07:00.000+04:00

A fantasy island by Nicaragua, lush green, protected by a huge coral reef, where diving is perfect all year long, no mosquitoes, where the weather temperature never changes, where Henry Morgan ,the pirate, hid his treasure, an island who’s inhabitants speak English as their first language and Spanish is the official language, where people are laid back and don’t consider themselves Colombian or Latin, for that matter but, Caribbean, this is the tiny island of San Andres.

I know it sounds like a commercial but it felt like fantasy when we were there last September. Everything looked like a fantasy; the hotel, the bar, the tranquil crystals clear waters, even their history and music instruments.

I hope these simple photos above can illustrate this fantasy Island. I was amazed with a band that used a horse’s jaw as a music instrument to make nice rattling noises and used a big bucket to make a deep base sound. It was really great fun and I would recommend everyone to check this island out.

Nets Kill Turtles in a Nature Reserve

2006-06-04T22:00:00.000+04:00

The Daymaniyat Islands, in Oman, are one of the best dives spots I have ever been too. I have dived in the Red Sea, Cuba, Thailand, Thailand and the UAE but I am yet to see such large quantities of fish and marine life like I do when I dive in the Daymaniyat Islands.

This UNESCO nature reserve is supposedly protected by the rangers and fishing is prohibited. Sadly the enforcement is levels are weak and fishermen fish in these water using nets that destroy the vegetation and kill many marine animals.

Last week divers found a dead turtle stuck in the nets left behind by the fishermen. This senseless death could have been avoided if fishermen are penalized for hanging around the area and fishermen are made aware of the problems they cause when using such nets.

A feast for the beasts

2006-06-03T00:45:00.000+04:00

It was my friend’s birthday and he wanted to have lunch at the Park Hyatt Hotel, Dubai. The lunch in the Thai Kitchen turned to into a rowdy feast, when two girls stated daring each other if they would can drink their wine with red pepper.

Matters got worse when one of the guys said he would give one of the girls a bottle of Champaign if they drank the bottle of vinegar…. it all went down hill from there….but the food was good I must say.

Don Omar, Van Morrison, Eminem and Prince

2006-05-30T23:06:00.000+04:00

Its been over 2 years since I bought a CD. I got an I pod last year and hardly used it. Not sure why although I have love music and have over 600 CDs.

It could be that I now live in Dubai and get to listen to the all these radio channels unlike in when I was in Oman, which has one English radio channel, or it could be that in the back of my mind, I still believe that I will use the I pod one day and get to download music for free.

My love for music was revived when my dad asked me to buy him some CDs from Virgin Mega store, in Mall of the Emirates. While looking for his CDs I bought myself for the 3rd time Van Morrison's 'Days like This' to listen to my favorite song 'Ancient Highway'. I seem to be loosing this CD everytime I buy it.

I also got myself Prince's new album 3121 based on Muscati's recommendation, which I thought had two good songs only, Emimen's Curtain Call, which is quite good and best of all Don Omar's 'Reggaeton Latino'.

Let's hope the love for music stay alive.

When in Vietnam, do as the Vietnamese do?

2006-05-29T06:19:00.000+04:00

We were in Vietnam last month around Hanoi, Sapa, Nah Trang and Saigon or Ho Chi Min City. The country is fabulous, safe and best of all cheap. Vietnam is also blessed with a diverse geography and is rich with culture. This makes it a great destination to visit.

When we travel, we do our best to try new things and in Hanoi it was drinking the cheapest beer in the world, Bia Hoi, which costs 10 cents for a large cup. (Think about it, with $3 and you can have a party with friends)

What’s even more interesting is that in the west you get peanuts to munch on with your beer, in Hanoi you have spicy squid! It was a great experience sitting in an ally way and drinking Bia Hoi with hundreds of people. These 'bars' pop around 4 p.m. everyday and most close around 8p.m. to 9 p.m. if I recall correctly. There are a few that stayed open till much later.

The other Vietnamese memorable thing I did in Saigon was having a fried scorpion and a stewed snake. The snake tasted fine but it was very bony, the scorpion dish on the other hand, tasted like shrimps, but did not look as appealing.

There was a dish that I could not bring myself to eat, a field rat, (as oppose to street or urban rat). Other items on the menu were crickets, turtles and pigeons.

The history of Blog

2006-05-26T10:45:00.000+04:00

OK Boy & Girls its time to educate you about the History of blogging.

So please start taking notes.

Q- " what is a blog you ask?'

A- Its a " Personal online journal" with a little twist. Its not private, its public.

Q- When did it start?

A-Its hard to say but it appears it have started in 1997 by Jorn Barger, when he called 'Weblog' according to the The Economist.

Q - But where did the word 'Blog' come from?

A- A friend of Jorn was messing around and said ' We blog", and the word cought on.

Some blogging terms to help you appear infomred from Wikipedia:

"Spam blog
A blog which is composed of spam. A Spam blog or "any blog whose creator doesn't add any written value." aka Muscati blog.

Bloggies
One of the most popular blog awards.

Blogsnob
A person who refuses to respond to comments on their blog from people outside their circle of friends.

Ping
The alert in the TrackBack system that notifies the original poster of a blog post when someone else writes an entry concerning the original post.
Blooger
A blogger who exhibits adolescent tendencies and lacks basic social graces or good manners." example muscati

Class is over, no more questions.

Prince: Fallen from Grace

2006-05-26T02:47:00.000+04:00

Prince, The Artist or that funny looking Symbol he once wanted to use as his name, the man who had endless hits in the 80s and in the beginning of the 90s, has made to the top again.

Its not his new album 3121 or anything to do with his music! He was voted the sexiest vegetarian for 2006.

I guess Muscati has something new to cheer about.

Going on holiday

2006-05-23T07:14:00.000+04:00

So, its summer time and we are taking some time off to go to Lebanon, Morocco and Tunis. We are very excited although its a month from now. I finished the hotel arrangements from Lebanon but I need to sort out the rest.

Car insurance needed to enter Dubai

2006-05-20T22:55:00.000+04:00

Dubai removed the boarder with Oman a few years ago and did not require cars from Oman to have insurance for the UAE if you entered from Dubai boarder point, while all other boarder point with the UAE required insurance.

We always had some trouble if we exited using other boarder points as we were not registered in the country.

Well things have changed 2 years ago and now there is check point across the boarder and today they put up a sign that says starting June UAE insurance will be needed to get into the UAE.

I feel the Dh 20 charge, that Oman charges, will introduced in the Dubai boarder soon too.

The new weekend in the UAE

2006-05-17T17:44:00.000+04:00

AT last it official after years of rumors, Friday and Saturday will be the official holiday for the government and schools in the UAE instead of Thursday and Friday? When will Oman and the rest of the GCC do the same? Why does it take years to do so?

Qatar decided and did it in 3 months. Its that easy.

Cover up

2006-05-16T17:09:00.000+04:00

I guess someone in Emirates Bank knows their geography. Check out how they changed the flags in the newspapers ADs today.

Priceless by Emirates Bank

2006-05-15T23:20:00.000+04:00

Forget being part of this kind of action. I don't want to 'Win" with Emirates Bank and end up in Antarctica instead of Germany for the Football World Cup.

Emirates Bank needs be give the Red Card and fire their Marketing team and Advertising Agency. How can the biggest bank in the UAE use Iran and Mexico's flags and think they are using Italy's and Ghana!

Ad: $ 3000
Model: $ 250
Mess Up: Priceless

OTE taking you for a 'Ride'

2006-05-15T20:55:00.000+04:00

We bought a new car from OTE in Oman and we were so happy with it. It was a good deal and we got the car cheaper than in the UAE.

A small sticker on the window says 'MUST service at 1,000 km'. The car's warranty is covered all over the Gulf, which is a great thing and it's one of the main reasons we bought it. Fast forward and the car is done 1,000 km, and I am in Dubai and decide to take it for service, the agent in Dubai tells me, 'Why do you want to service it at 1,000 km ? Do you mean 10,000 km ?

I am not sure how to answer him and confirm to him that there is a sticker in the car that says I have to service it at 1,000 km. The agent tells me, want us to take your money, then come down now and we will, but it's not needed till the 10,000 km.!!

I check with OTE in Oman and I was told, its not a MUST, but OTE wants to ensure the car is good condition? and making sure would cost us $ 80 when it should be free!

Even worse the warranty says, if not serviced every 5,000 km the warranty is not covered, but the same car in Dubai needs sevice every 10,000 KM. How much money will that cost us over the years?

I guess OTE did not give us a good deal after all and they are taking everyone in Oman for a 'ride' !

Post Lumbar Headache

2005-12-03T19:11:00.000+04:00

It was time for me to take care of this small bump on my foot that keeps going and coming and causes me some discomfort for over a year or so. I took it a bit more seriously when it got bigger and went to see the doctor in July.

The doctor said that he would recommend a small half an hour surgery to remove and check what it is but its most likely nothing serious. I was a bit reluctant about doing a surgery since local anesthetics was not an option.

But heck, if I have to do it sooner or later I deiced to it on November. Just before the surgery I was told I can do a spinal Anastasia instead of a general one. So I went for the spinal which is apparently safer. 'Big Fuckin Mistake'

While doing the surgery the spinal, to the astonishment of all, did not work at all so they gave me a general one. After surgery my foot was fine but my head felt as if a truck was parked on it and every time I moved someone with a bat was hitting me. The good news was this awful pain was not 'suppose' to happen but it would gradually stop after 24 hours, well it didn't and they said wait for another agonising 48 hours, 72 hours…… I have never felt so much pain for such a long time in my life. Apparently I had Post Lumbar Headache and it happens to 1% of people but for 24 hours.

I was an extreme case and the cure was not recommended as there could be complications. Any way after more than 10 days of laying down with hardly any movement and seeing a neurologist I am feeling better but still not fully back to normal.

Reading this article didn't help my moral much either
http://www.medhelp.org/forums/neuro/archive/8188.html

I hope no one ever goes through this kind of torment and don't you ever agree to a spinal.

The Real Champion

2005-11-19T17:39:00.000+04:00

Yes, I am alive and kickin. I made around the Burj in 15:11 minutes, while my brother made it in 17:30 minutes and my friend in 26:55 minutes. Looking back at 1.1 kilometre event, I think we did a good job for bunch of couch potatoes wanna be athletes.

The fasts swimmer did in approximately 8 and half minutes which means he was doing less than 50 sec, per 100 meter. That's absolutely awesome. But the real winner is the man pictured next to the person dressed in the 'Juha' costume, above. He actually pulled a man dressed in a cartoon character, in a tube, around Bur Al Arab and came in the top 25 swimmer in approximately 12 minutes, now that is a real fit athlete.

Swimming around Burj Al Arab

2005-11-17T09:03:00.000+04:00

The big day I have been preparing since last week is approaching and I am yet to get into the sea to prepare for 1.1 k.m. swim aound Burj Al Arab. My brother a friend and I will attempt to swim around the Burj tomorrow. Luckily I am in a better position than them since I have been training at the pool. All they did was swim twice in the sea.

The swim is for a charity called Médecins Sans Frontières http://www.msfuae.ae/en/files/about/what.asp and I have managed to collect over 2,000 Dirham so far from kind people at work and hope to raise more today through friends.

If don't updated my blog again, then you can safely assume that I never made out the sea.

Irony Again

2005-11-12T16:08:00.000+04:00

The man who brought Islam to big screen in Hollywood, died yesterday at the hands of Islamic extremist. How ironic is that?

Mustafa Al Akkad was famous for his 3 movies: The Message, Lion of the Desert and Halloween, died form injuries he sustained from the hotel bombing in Jordan, carried out by extremist.

R.I.P.

Pride over life

2005-11-11T13:57:00.000+04:00

Six months ago a Sudanese colleague of mine at the bank, who used to work in the translation department, took the biggest leap of faith. He applied for a job in Iraq as the Operation Manager and got it.

The risks were extremely high, but he was willing to take the sacrifice as he saw it as golden opportunity to move up in the bank. Moving from a dead end job of translation into the top management ranks of banking, with a great salary and six return tickets to Dubai or Sudan a year its a dream comes true to him!

We all thought he is really gutsy if not crazy, after all he had a wife and son in Dubai and going to Iraq during these hard times could get him killed easily. He would have to wear a bullet proof vest and carry a gun at all times. He would be transported in an armored van with high security around it everyday to work, he would also not be allowed to leave his house at any time, except for work.

I asked him is worth risking your life? You’re Sudanese and you would stick out like sour thumb in Iraq and would be targeted by extremist for sure. He told me that he was not worried at all and this is a once in a life time chance that he is happily taking.

After an intensive 3 months program in operational banking matters, he left Dubai to Iraq. I saw him once in between and he told all is well in Iraq but it’s a bit stressful as he had to always be alert incase something happens.

Ironically, he quit the job last week! It was not because the security situation or because the money was not enough. Neither was it because his family did not want him in Iraq or because he did not have any freedom to move around on his spear time. Nor was it because was under too much stress. He quit because his pride was hurt!

His boss was rude and did not talk to him nicely and he had could not take it anymore. He was willing to risk his life but not willing to get insulted by his boss. His pride was more important than his life.

Funny how the world is. That is the one thing I always told everyone about my visit to Sudan 3 years ago. The Sudanese people would die of hunger before begging. I hardly saw any beggars in Sudan although it’s extremely poor but their pride would not allow them to beg.

Once again, I got to see pride having a higher value than life.

Camping at Wadi B (Baiya)

2005-11-05T08:04:00.000+04:00

Finally we get to Wadi Al-Baiya in the mountains of Musandum, after 207 k.m. drive from Dubai. The drive is amazing on the unpaved road between the mountains and the wadis, but when we got to the camping site at 2 p.m. it was full of people, some even got there in their small 2 wheel drive sedans. The best sites were taken and many cars were passing by looking for a place to camp. Luckily I took my car off the track into a rocky area and found a really nice quite spot.

We set up camp and after 2 hours a car stopped not too far away from our camp site. We kept waiting to see if another car would follow, but none did and only one man came out of the car to camp.

We were in disbelieve, camping alone! None of us has seen that before. How much fun can that be? Is the man a big looser or just antisocial? Would I do that? I don't think so. But I really do admire the fact the he is comfortable going alone camping. It takes a lot to be at ease with yourself that you can enjoy camping alone.

Would you camp alone?

When is Eid?

2005-11-02T19:18:00.000+04:00

Why can't we decide when Eid is astronomically?

Going To Musandum

2005-10-28T20:42:00.000+04:00

Can't wait to go camping in Musandum again . Its been a long time since I have been camping. I guess coming to Dubai has changed me even though I did not want to change. I don't spend my time doing things I enjoy like I did in Oman.
Is worth it? I like my job but I don't get to do things outdoors anymore. Am I selling my freedom and joy for a better a pay?