PDO Camp Oman - Before/After Photos

In case you haven't been through Ras Al Hamra lately, PDO is in the process of developing a new residential complex for their employees; it's probably about time. The construction of the project started about two years ago and the results are quite elegant.

PDO CAMP (apologies for the margin overage)
Old	New
	2014 - New villas
Something's low key and relaxing about the old styles; some with view of sea - private outside entrances	2014 - Modern, attractive completed housing - you can see who's home from the main drag
	2014 - New street with housing
New flats under construction	2014 - Almost completed
Ras Al Hamra-1960s when it was a 'camp'	New housing  2014 - Mosque leading into the brand-new development
Existing rec club	2014 -Behind the fence - a new golf course

Omani students give zakat in honour of His Majesty

Omani students of wilayet samail wishing for HM a speedy recovery

Sifah Oman Before/After Photos

Coming along.....

Sifah is a beautiful place with road access issues and lack of basic amenities such as there is no petrol station within 50 km (as in back in Muscat). Golf course is supposedly coming soon in 2015.  Villas are being completed now. Major landscaping and signage improvements have been filled out since 2013. Intense marketing efforts with festivals and movies by the sea are planned, but there's not much activity except for the Sifaway Hotel guests. Apartments are being rented out by the night and a dive shop has opened by the marina.

Sifa (apologies for the margin overage)
Before	After
2011-12	2014
2013	2014 - Attractive row of villas
2011	2014
Marketing material	Reality
2012	2014 - Sprinkler system
2012 - 'the fisherman' - 'also a branch in Salalah'	2014 - 'over-priced, reheated fish with soggy hummus in a relaxing wood shack amidst a great seascape.'
2012	2013 - Construction Weekly

Dates in Nizwa, Omani Tortured @ UAE, Protest in Adam & Shark @ Saham

1, Today, begins the date festival in Niswa which runs for four days. There are over 60 exhibitors. Go to the tents near the sook. A very cultural activity to attend.

omandaily.om

omandaily.om

Types of Dates

2, An Omani gentleman Mr Mohammed Jumma Al Yaqobi was returning from the UAE to Oman and was stopped by Emirati police upon inspection of his passport at Al Matheef border near Al Ain. According to his account in a letter to His Majesty, he was arrested without being told any reason and later accused of helping Syrian opposition. He was taken to an investigation centre and interrogated and tortured for two days. He was cuffed and head covered with a sack and the UAE police took away his phone.

He denied all allegations. He was beaten and hung with face put in water barrel. They insulted him and said Oman could not help him. Later, he was released, and they (UAE authorities) said Mr Yaqobi had been mixed up with another. He posted his letter on social media, and a twitter hash called #'undignified arrest of Omani in UAE was spread. Locals are calling for the Omani government to interfere to stop these practices against Omanis. This happened around September 12. He tells his story in the video (in Arabic). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWTG3oPE1wA&feature=youtu.be

Also in Al Watan (masri) newspaper: click here

One one hand, I guess its good the UAE is looking out for 'enemies'; but, on the other hand, the carelessness with the way they dealt with this guy and violation of human rights and dignity is scary.


3,  Yesterday, a protest took place near Adam in Al Zahyah, Oman (interior) regarding the displacement of residents for petrol interests. Natural gas was found near their area. The locals were well-compensated for their homes and lands and will be given new abodes. However, some still remained upset and refused to leave.

dont mess with texas.....oman

4, A large shark was caught and sold in Saham.

250 OMR

'Game over - 'B'aul Le Guen' Oman vs Costa Rica

Yesterday, during the 'friendly' between the Oman football team and Costa Rica in Sohar some local fans sported this banner:

Arabic: "Game over - Paul Le Guen."  Mr Le Guen has been the Omani manager since 2011. His winnings record with Oman is 41.07% (Wiki)

It's been reported these fans were investigated and their banner confiscated (perhaps - a bit of an over reaction).  Although Oman won the Gulf Cup and few years back; recently, their record has not been as impressive. Costa Rica defeated Oman 4-3 in this game. Oman put up a decent fight.

Omani coach at a local shop

Step-by-Step Omani Tea for 'foreigners'

This is a basic way Omanis make tea. This tea (with cardamom) is traditionally drunk in the earlier hours.

Supplies:
Lipton black tea bags
Evaporated Milk
Cardamom powder
Sugar
Water - use bottled water or distilled. The type of water affects the flavour.
(Ginger)

Everything above is sold at Lulu's or any major hypermarket. Cardamom is called 'heel' in Arabic, الهيل in case you need to ask. Rainbow company makes the dehydrated milk. It comes is original, cardamom or 'light' flavours. You need 'black' tea; the popular choice is from Lipton. There's no need to measure exactly but gauge by taste and experience.

Instructions:

On the stove method

Step 1: Boil water in a pot. Then, lower heat to just below boiling.
Step 2: Now, add sugar and tea bags. Start with 1/4 cup - you can 'sugar' to taste later on. Add two to three tea bags per litre water.
Step 3: Add one small can evaporated milk per litre water. If you use cardamom flavoured milk, then it may not be necessary to add cardamom powder.
Step 4: Reheat water to boiling point and then let simmer for at least 5 minutes.
Step 5: Add about 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder. (You can add the powder at anytime). Optional: Add fresh ginger (not powdered).
Step 6: Manipulate tea bags up and down until nice frothy caramel colour is reached.
Step 7: Serve hot.

In the thermos method

The use of thermoses or flasks is widely popular in Oman. Tea is mixed in the thermos and kept hot for many hours for drinking.

Pour the boiling water in the flask, but leave room for a can of milk and the sugar. Add the tea bags (before the milk as the milk cools the water too much). You may want to dunk them a few times to release the tea, but then leave the cords just outside the flask with the bags inside. Now, add the sugar and cardamom powder. Finally, add the milk. Stir if needed. Seal the flask with the tea bags inside with the cords hanging out. The tea will stay warm for several hours.

Instant method

A premixed product of milk tea with cardamom is sold. Add appropriate amount of water, mix, and serve.

Thermos - a must have in Oman. 

Traditional  'dallah' coffee pot. Omanisilver.com

Lipton black tea. Yellow Label found outside UK.

Colour of cardamom tea.

Dehydrated milk with cardamom

Original dehydrated milk

A Typical Omani Eid

Briefly, I wanted to mention what happens during a typical Omani Eid in a village. Each family or village celebrates a bit differently, so this is a general overview. There are two major Eids, Eid Fitr and Eid Adha which are religious-based occasions. During Eid, most Omanis return to their tribal villages. Omanis call their hometowns 'balad' which also means country.

Most Omanis buy new outfits, tubans, kumas, candoras for Eid. The women's condoras are hand-tailored and in bright jewel-like colours with 'blingy' embroidered embellishments.  Early in the morning the family greets each other and then they go to the mosque for prayer. During the day, Omanis visit all their relatives in the village. At each house, ample food is provided. Fresh fruits, helwa and Omani coffee and dates are traditionally always available.

A typical house has a male and female majlis (sitting room). Sometimes, they visit the village 'Majlis' to greet everyone if the village still has one. Greetings is very important in the culture especially for elders. On the second day, sometimes, the first day of Eid (if an Omani is married to a girl from outside his village) he will take her to visit her village and relatives, Visiting of relatives can last late into the night and be exhausting but uplifting. Children can expect to be given candy and small amounts of money during Eid.

Also, on Eid food is prepared and animals are slaughtered. Most Omanis still have knowledge of animal husbandry and keep goats and cows on their farms. The animals are slaughtered in a halal way to minimize suffering on the animals part, generally, either in the late afternoon or early in the morning by men in the village. It takes four to five men to prepare the cow. The whole family is involved in readying the meat- the men clean the animal and the women 'chop' and cook.

In the afternoons, some towns still have traditional music & dance and horse racing. After lunch, a nap is practical. Some of the Eid traditions are slowly becoming obsolete. Omanis still have strong tribal bonds and a part of their sense of identity springs from their tribe. I apologize if I failed to cover some aspects, but I wanted to keeps this brief and it's already getting long. Happy Eid to all.

Common greetings on Eid Adha:

كل عام وانتم بخير
Kul Aam wa antum Boukair


عيدك مبارك

eidak Mubarak

Adopt a pet in Oman

'The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.'

Mohandas Gandhi

In the spirit of helping animals, please refer to Adopt a pet in Oman,
http://adoptapetinoman.wordpress.com/. The listings for September are quite active. I have always hoped there would be some sort of official pet/animal rescue organization in Oman. As it is now, most groups are purely self-started and volunteer with lack of proper funding. The vets around town have been known to provide free or discounted care. Certain individuals in the Omani government have given support to environmental and wildlife causes.

Each year, I see some lost wadi puppy roaming around away from his or her pack or a kitten in the trash dumpster Or, an injured dog that needs some care.  There are harrowing stories of police shooting dogs but not finishing off the job leaving them to wander around and suffer until infection or dehydration does it. Truly, my heart sinks when seeing or hearing about these things. Y-magazine put out an article about it last year, https://www.y-oman.com/2013/06/animal-tragedy/. It's a tearjerker. Then, there is the wadi dog that does get adopted but then is either abandoned or returned to foster care.

Many wadi dog packs roam in populated neighborhoods. In Hamriya sometimes they overwhelm the street. There is concern from residents about the wandering dogs.

wadi puppies near muscat

Fresh 10 Omani Rials found @ Texas ranch

I was perusing Gulf News the other day and came upon this story, US politician sees Isil 'threat' in Oman currency. Basically, a candidate for US Senate travelled to Texas to get a 'boots on the ground' feel for the border problems. While there, a rancher's daughter found a paper which turned out to be 'freshly printed currency note from the Bank of Oman'. The politician held it in his hand and was very concerned about its 'freshness' and everyone was worried for the safety of the rancher's family after discovering the 10 OMR on the property.  

At first, I thought it may be a parody, but indeed it is a real conversation. Mr. Wade, the candidate, spoke about it on a US radio channel. I'm uploading the relevant part of the radio clip which I can not describe properly in words, but the full version can be found here: http://wgmd.com/delaware-u-s-candidate-kevin-wade-uncovers-oman-currency-at-mexican-border/. Honestly, I couldn't help but laugh through parts of the clip due to how absurd it sounded, but some people obviously take it seriously. This might be considered negligent fear-mongering by some standards. If only, the security issue on the border, were finding legitimate, 'unspoiled' Omani currency.
------------------------------
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/oman/us-politician-sees-isil-threat-in-oman-currency-1.1383881

'A US Senate contender, who discovered Omani currency on American soil, has raised an alarm about the threat of Islamist militancy in his country.

Kevin Wade, a Republican businessman running for a Senate seat for the state of Delaware, recently travelled to the southern border with Mexico to assess for himself some of the problems the “broken border” faces.

Among the issues that caught his attention was the presence of Middle Eastern currency. The aspiring politician took a picture of the 10-rial Omani note, and tweeted: “Omani rials at Rio Grande. Border secure? #DoNothingSenate where is ISIS now?” referring to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group that has overrun large parts of Syria and Iraq and beheaded two American journalists in recent weeks.

Referring to the note, he added: “I held it. It’s the real deal.

Omani Student Arrested in Colorado, USA ....

Here is the link to the American news reporting:

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/cu-student-from-oman-arrested-on-child-porn-charges

CU student from Oman arrested on child porn charges

N Al  faces sexual exploitation charges

BOULDER, Colo. - A University of Colorado student was arrested Thursday after investigators said they found evidence of child pornography and lewd conversations on his phone and computer.......

--------------------------------

Welcome to America.  Apparently, the police were investigating him for weeks.  It sounds bad from this article, but we do not know all the facts such as how old the girl was or how this Omani became associated with her.  It almost sounds like a honeypot trap.  At least in the USA, you are innocent until proven guilty even if this accusation would be quite shameful for his relations in Oman considering his face is posted on the nightly news. 

Oman  probably needs to hook him up with a good defense lawyer.  He is 19 years old according to reports. He seems like a normal Omani shab on his facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/nasser.alfoori.9 not a pedafile type, but I could be wrong.  In 2006, Mr Turki, also an Arab (Saudi) student in Colorado (again, Colorado),  received a 28 year jail sentence for sexual assaulting his Indonesian housemaid, forced labour and more. Colorado, by the way, is the first state to legalise Marijuana. 

In his defense, I could totally see how a teenage Omani male 'set free' from the Omani conservative society while studying overseas would be naive in how to try to 'meet' girls leading to such an outcome. Considering how much lewd material and 'passes' at women take place  each day in the USA (especially in college fraternity houses); it seems an inordinate amount of police resources (weeks of investigation and search teams) were spent in targeting this teen.   Again, I am unsure of all the facts, if it turns out the girl is like 10 years old, then, it's a total different story. 

.

An evening with...Football Legends, Oct 2 @ Shangri-La

Aramex - Shop & Ship Current Offer

I am pasting Shop & Ship's current offer below.  Shop & Ship is a mail forwarder 'powered' by Aramex. You can have several address around the world, and then the mail/packages are forwarded to you in Oman. The rates are more reasonable than most other mail forwarders; however, the local customer service is sometimes lacking. For those of you turned off by their normal lifetime membership fee of $45, it is now $10 for a limited time according to this offer.

http://www.shopandship.com/en/home

Current Offer

Now and for a limited time only, save 35 dollars by using the new coupon ONLYUSD10 to get your lifetime membership with Shop and Ship for 10 dollars instead of 45 dollars.