Amarant's Track

Mazda 6 Ultra Review

2011-06-15T06:24:00.000-07:00

All cars reviews are sponsored by Omanternity.

If you are above 18 and you were interested in cars 10 years ago, you would probably remember what the name “Mazda” used to mean back then. It was at the bottom of the cars food chain. Nissan, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Subaru, any Japanese name would be better than Mazda. Omanis used to call Mazdas two things: “Mozooh” (as in banana) and “one-year visa” because it expires after that. I believe the 180 degrees turn started when the Mazda 6 was introduced back in 2002 (was it the year Ford increased its shares in Mazda to 34 %?). Passing other milestones like the Mazda 3 and the CX-9, Mazda started building a new reputation: a Japanese manufacturer that offers top-of-the-notch stylish cars that are reliable in terms of performance and life span.

Looks:

The new Mazda 6 brought up a revolutionary look and futuristic design concepts. Since looks are subjective, I won’t hesitate to say that the Mazda 6 is on top when it comes to exterior design. I like its design much more than any of its competitors. It is indeed “6 and the city” as AutoWeek mentioned. However, I honestly think that the changes made in the Ultra version made it look worse. The headlights are so narrow and the tailpipes are a little bit oversized. If I am to express the differences in emoticons language, the normal Mazda 6 is the (-_-) and the Ultra is the (>_<) and I am personally a (-_-) fan. That is simply my humble opinion as I’m sure there are many Ninja-style fans out there. Ugly orange reflectors on the front fenders are not helping the design either.

Interior:

This is where the Ultra shows its muscles in front of the normal Mazda. It offers one of the most accommodating cabins of any midsize sedan. The nice leather and wood trim gives you the chill of entering a car with nice materials. The Ultra also comes with rear passengers ACs which is a big plus in our country. Smart key-less start is the trend these days and Mazda didn’t fall behind because it is available. The nice far away display is very useful to get info like: time, temperature, average consumption and kilometers range. Other standard features include: 10 speakers BOSE system, AUX port, steering wheel stereo controls and cruise control. Something I didn’t like about the interior is the 2-tone trim. It is something nice to have if the colors were Black & Red, Black & Blue or even Black & Yellow. But having it as Black & Beige in a luxury-feel car doesn’t seem right to me.

Driving:

So far, whatever I wrote above were stuff I checked while the car was sitting in the showroom. So if you’re a person who would like a car based on its looks and interior, I would say: ignore this section and go for the Mazda 6 Ultra (providing that it’s in your budget). The first driving test was the launch from stop. The car burns so much rubber even if the TC was on! I expected something like that when you give a 275 hp car a front-wheel drive. I head to the highway to tryout the performance of the 3.7L V6 Powerplant with a question floating in my mind: are those 275 horses under the hood Japanese or American? (Because I know that sometimes the Japanese HPs are slightly overrated). That’s when I realized that Mazda shouldn’t have used the word Ultra for this model. The Acceleration is really good but I have driven 200 hp cars which were faster. I didn’t really reach high speeds but if the car still didn’t show its power till the 4th gear, then when? Perhaps the high expectations I had got me disappointed easily. Taking the car through corners wasn’t pleasant either. Massive understeer and unbalanced ride when going through steep corners tells you this is “power without control” (and believe me no Pirelli tires would fix that). Don’t take from what I said that the new Ultra is bad on the road, it is only less than what I expected.

Specifications:

Engine Type, 3.7L V6
Horsepower @ RPM, 275 @ 6000
Torque @ RPM, 365 Nm @ 4250
Drivetrain, Front Wheel Drive
Transmission Type, 6-speed auto
0-100, 6.2 seconds
Average fuel consumption, 11.2L/100 km
Weight, 1500 kg

Pros:

Futuristic design.
Roomy interior and a big boot.
Advanced technology

Cons:

Not so fun to drive.
Acceleration is not impressive.

Price:

Around 11,350 Rials.

Verdict:

A nice sport sedan that isn’t extremely sporty but has everything else.

[Photography] Roxy and Co. Photoshoot

2011-06-15T06:00:00.000-07:00

Roxy, a Z4 s-Drive35i, and an MK6 GTI

Back

2011-06-14T21:55:00.000-07:00

Haven't been blogging lately. Not that I'm that busy but I need to get into the "mood". And I don't want to write shitty posts.

So hopefully I will continue blogging again, even though the last few posts haven't been read at all =P

2 more posts catagories that I will probably add: Photography and Office drama. Stay tuned!

tc. Ciao

End of Blog Entry ...

The Revolution of Libya

2011-03-06T23:25:00.000-08:00

Following Tunisia and Egypt, Libya became the 3rd North African country to start a revolution this year.

Gaddafi has been their ruler for 40 years. 40 years of depression that is.

on February 17th, the Libyan people started their revolution (it started a day earlier in Benghazi, the 2nd largest town in Libya)

As I expected, this revolution is going to be tougher than Tunisia's and Egypt's. That's because of a simple reason: Gaddafi doesn't give a shit about his people, and he wouldn't mind killing every single one of them in order to stay the ruler. Probably every single member here knows how crazy Gaddafi is.

A low move by the dictator was hiring mercenaries from other African countries to kill the protesters!

Another problem with the Libyan revolution: there is not enough media coverage. All the news agencies have been kept away and prohibited from covering the revolution. In the 1st few days, the only sure news were the ones made by direct phone calls and facebook/twitter updates by individuals.

The revolution is in its 20th day and the number of martyrs is estimated at 8,000+

Here are some interesting videos:

Videos worth watching (either interesting or hilarious)

Libya uprising:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MSWS88t0rE

Saif Al Islam speech:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2IURKh9lTc&feature=player_embedded#at=19

Gaddafi's "umbrella" speech:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7z_I3CxCwY

And a remix

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVa8buPrysQ

heated conversation between Kreshan from Aljazeera and the undersecretary of foreign affairs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8h9SV9MJuc

CNN's "Daffy Gaddafi" video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSBCmRkUkq8

I pray for Libyans to get their freedom, and may Allah have mercy on the martyrs.

Who to blame? MHD or Land Rover?

2010-11-20T23:51:00.000-08:00

Over the past few weeks, I've been visiting MHD (Land Rover service center) a lot. I never left that place satisfied. As always, I like to list down points so that my point is clear to all readers.

- Warranty on my father's LR3 ended on September 2010.

- Before the warranty ended, we had numerous complaints about the suspension and transmission, and the dealer fixed some but refused to acknowledge others.

- In these 2 months (Sep to Nov 2010): all these parts got defects: Rear axle/differential, A/C blower, Air suspension compressor, Transmission, and control arm bush. A total amount of R.O 2,300 after discount.

- The dealership stated that Land Rover UK doesn't have goodwill in their policy (huh?!)

- The service manager's reply to our dissatisfaction was: "This is unfortunate, but we can't do anything about it."

I really feel like going to the showroom and make a scene in front of the customers.

End of blog post.

Marriage stories Chapter 5: Persistence.

2010-10-04T04:38:00.000-07:00

Many of my friends/relatives are getting married but it's either a really traditional marriage or I don't have enough details. So this will be my last marriage story till further notice. It's not really interesting but worth mentioning.

I couldn't find photos/drawings/cartoons that suit the story so I'm just gonna throw 2 random funny ones the start telling the story:

Our character in this story is T. S. Al-A. We shall call him T.

I did not live the story with T. He just gave me all the details few weeks before his wedding.

Sheikh T was in his 3rd year in SQU. for the past 2.5 years he has been studying/working closely with one of his female colleagues. He liked her from the beginning but kept his feelings inside. He thought he would get closer then bring up the million Rials question. He later told me that it was a big mistake to follow that approach.

========================================================

Place: Lab 101

Time: 5.05 pm. Right after the lab session was over.

T and his lab partner made a breakthrough in one of the experiments and got the appreciation from the instructor. After everyone left T thought this was the right moment to pop the question. T didn't go into the details but he gave me "El zibda"*. He told the girl that he really likes her and that he's interested in her. She rejected him. Again, T didn't tell me how she did, what she said or even why she rejected him.

=========================================================

T was shocked. I can't imagine how he felt but he said that even he didn't know how he felt exactly. Frustrated? Sad? Disappointed? All of the forth mentioned? All of that and a million ideas went through his head at the same time. Following "the incident", T got a bad taste in his mouth and marriage was something he neither believed in, nor wanted to talk about. He saw marriage as a negative thing. He even saw women as a negative thing. The insensible man inside him kept telling him "If she rejected you, then who would say yes. everything was perfect with her. she gave you all the positive vibes". I met T during that period. I absolutely HATED him because he was always rude to girls. He would insult guys and girls in public if he sees them talking to each other. He was the guy that would publicly tell you that you are doing a wrong thing, and even if everyone knows it's not wrong, the way he says it makes it sound wrong.

My approach with T was "ib3ed 3an el sharr oo '3aneelah"**. I would keep my distant and in any encounter with him, whatever comment he throws at me, I would laugh and walk away. I didn't even pay attention to what he says and would keep doing what I'm doing.

===========================================================

Months passed, activities/events were organized, and as our big annual exhibition was approaching, me and T were getting closer because of all the work we had to do together. I also started noticing that he became a better person. Could it be because he started knowing me better and maybe that made him realize that people usually have good intentions? As much as I wanted to flatter myself, I felt there was something else affecting him. After 2 years of meeting T (That's 4 years after "the incident") we became good friends.

Ok I guess to understand the story; we need to go back 1 year. T's close friend who's married never gave up on him. He kept telling T how marriage is a good thing once you find the right person and how you can't see the word in one way because of ONE bad experience. He finally convinced T to consider marriage again. T friend's wife had a friend who she really admires. The married couple thought of playing cupid and hooking up T with that girl. As much as hesitant T was, he thought he'd give it a try just to please his friend.

T thought the girl was interesting based on what he heard from his friend. There were couple of phone calls here and there and the frosting on the cake was a photo of the girl :P

What do you know? They liked each other! A lot.

===============================================================

T was determined. He told his parents and they were happy about it. They decided to go to the girl's family house to propose. They were from different town and it would take them 3.5 hours by car to reach her house.

Nothing is perfect in this life. Nothing.

T was rejected again. This time it was the family. however, it was no surprise to him.

The girl told him her family is the type that will only let the women marry their cousins, no one else, not even relatives that are not direct cousins.

That didn't stop T from trying. His family went again, and again, and again. They were rejected 4 times. T never listened to the people telling him "Why this girl? there are many out there, all of them would agree from the first time". T said: "I want that girl, and I will marry that girl". To go propose the 5th time, T didn't just ask his family to accompany him, he also asked people from other close families. This time they were more than 25 men. All dressed up in full traditional clothes, including the Khanjars*** and the Khaizarans****. They all went to her family's house. They got the approval.

=============================================================

"Wow. I never thought that proposing more than once would actually change people's mind. Specially the families that only believe in cousins' marriage" I said commenting on T's story with a dorky smile on my face. T said the only thought going through his head was marrying that girl. "No" was not an option for him.

T is now married and has a beautiful daughter.

End of Blog Entry...

========================================================

Note: If some of the events don't make sense, it's either because I skipped some details or because I don't remember all the details.

Glossary:

*Zibda: Butter. It's used as "conclusion" in this context.

** a proverb means stay away from problems

***Khanjar: Dagger

**** Khaizaran: A stick made of bamboo wood.

Dealerships criticism part 1: MHD

2010-10-03T06:07:00.000-07:00

New Series. (I always start a series but then stop posting about it).

I decided to be like any other frustrated Omani in the Sabla and start bitching about the crappy cars dealerships here in Oman. I used to take it because I didn't face big problems but it reached a limit where I have to speak about it. I will mention my own experience with the dealerships and the bad things I've been through.

I will start the series with an average post about Mohsin Haidar Darweesh (MHD), which is the dealership for Land Rover, Volvo and Jaguar. (God I thought this was going to be a short post. It's not!)

Encounter one: Volvo S40 accident.

My sister got into a small accident in her Volvo S40. So I took it to MHD get an estimate of the total damage and a quotation of the needed parts/labor for the job.

- I went twice without the ability to meet the concerned person. One time because I went at 5.25 PM and they close at 5.30. The other time because he had a meeting and nobody knew when he was gonna finish.

- After I met the concerned person, I had to wait for around a week to get the quotation. And that is with me pushing them to finish it. They never called to update me. I had to call every single time to check whether it was done or not.

- Once I got the quotation, it was so high I didn't even want to bargain about the price, even though the omani employee wanted to set me a meeting with the body shop manager to discuss the quotation.

- Parts were expensive as hell. and I thought BMW parts were expensive. A really tiny piece of plastic (the hook cover, 5x5 cm) costs around 16 rials.

- They told me it will take 2 days to get the part. it took them 2 weeks to get it (and I'm not exaggerating).

=====================================================

Encounter 2: Jaguar XF test drive.

- Simply put: I took the XF for a test drive and I couldn't start it in the morning because it had a gear fault. The salesman was so cold and after the dealer truck took the car, I never heard from him again.

=============================================================

Encounter 3: Land Rover LR3 technical issues.

- Any person with a good amount of general cars knowledge knows that Land Rovers (including the Range Rover) are cars that suffer from technical problems.They would be the most amazing SUVs if it wasn't for these problems because everything else is great about them.

I won't write every single problem we had with MHD regarding the LR3 because they are endless. The staff there know us well but still the treatment wasn't good. They are always late, the car goes in for the same problem several times, and only 2 out of the thousand times our LR3 went there, we got a courtesy car.

The MHD staff we know are very helpful. I really don't know who to blame for all of these problems.

End of Blog Entry...

New blog design.

2010-09-15T23:30:00.000-07:00

Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3.

I can't seem to find the blog design that I REALLY want. Maybe cuz I'm not bothered.

This one seems ok. The flickr slide show is out of the box but I'm kinda liking it.

This will probably stick for a while till i find a better alternative.

end of blog entry ...

Roxy (L)

2010-09-08T02:48:00.000-07:00

Exactly a year ago (or the 1st day of Eid Al Fitr last year) I gave my baby a nice welcome back photoshoot.

She's looking fab.

I love her so much <3

End of blog entry.

Masjid's reviews

2010-08-30T01:13:00.000-07:00

Masjids I prayed Taraweeh in

Almost three weeks passed since Ramadan started. Wow, feels like everything is passing by so fast.

Here are couple of Masjids (Mosques) I've been to so far this Ramadan and my opinions about them.

1. Assalam Mosque, Al Khwair 33:

- Small mosque
- Closest mosque to my house.
- Women's Praying area: Don't know
- The recitation wasn't that good.
- Time to finish taraweeh prayers: Average
- Heat/atmosphere: Normal
- Parking: crowded

2. Al Rawahi Mosque, Shatti Al Qurm:

- Small mosque.
- Women's praying area: none
- Good recitation.
- Time to finish taraweeh: slightly short.
- Heat/atmosphere: It was kinda hot.
- Parking: crowded

3. Al Salmi mosque, Al Khwair:

- Small-Medium mosque.
- Women's praying area: available but small.
- Very crowded.
- Recitation is ok.
- Time to finish taraweeh: long
- Heat/atmosphere: normal
- Parking: Crowded

===================================================

4. Fatima Al Zahraa, Hayy Al Rahba, MSQ: (My recommendation)

- Big mosque
- Women's praying area: available, very good.
- EXCELLENT recitation (Al Sulaimani is amazing. The other Imam who prays on weekends is also good)
- Time to finish taraweeh: short-medium
- Heat/atmosphere: Excellent. good, cold tempreture and quite atmosphere.
- Parking: plenty available.

===================================================

5. Al Muhallab Mosque, Ilam city:

- Big Mosque.
- Women's praying area: none
- Recitation: good
- Time to finish taraweeh: short
- Heat/atmosphere: great
- Parking: plenty.
- Note: Al Muhallab starts Ishaa prayers early and it's short So you would need to be at least 5 minutes earlier than other mosques.

6. The small mosque near Pizza Hut MSQ:

- very small mosque
- Women's praying area: don't know
- Recitation: really bad
- Time to finish taraweeh: short
- Heat/atmosphere: tempreture is good but the mosque needs more care.
- Parking: almost none. You need to park in Al Fair or Pizza Hut parking.

End of Blog Entry...

The E92 M3

2010-08-03T22:41:00.000-07:00

(I couldn't find a photo of a black vorsteiner M3 so this will do)

I 1st saw the new E92 M3 around 2-3 years ago. The car is a master piece and a legend following its predecessors.

Time passed and I saw many M3s on the street. Now whenever I see one I would have a look at it, I like it, aka7al 3aini, and smile, nothing more than that.

Around 2 days ago. I was waiting for my friend in this parking lot when this M3 with a Dubai license plate came driving my way. I noticed there is something different about it and I was lucky the guy pulled right next to me so I can have a better look at the car.

Black exterior, reflective tint and black interior. Those colors might sound normal but on an M3 they were GREAT.The guy left the car so I had my chance to have a closer look at it.

WOW. This was no ordinary M3.

It had a vorsteiner front bumper. I love the look of the standard M3 bumper but this bumper definitely adds a nice touch. Kinda like a hot girl wearing aviators. Looking a bit more inside made me admire the car more. The owner got rid of the luxury black leather seats and replaced them with sporty, light-weight Recaro seats. It's easy for a car to look nice with the normal black seats and they are definitely better for daily use but those recaro seats were awesome. The car was also carrying a high-tech GPS/timer/drag numbers device. I know that device cuz I've seen it somewhere online. That system shows that the owner is well-updated with new technology.

Now are the above modifications the reason I got goosebumps when I saw that M3? Absolutely not.

It's true those modification might have attracted my attention, but they were just sparks that ignited the fire inside me and reminded me why I loved the M3 in the 1st place: why I get goosebumps whenever I hear its sound, why i would get in a better mood if I see one driving by and why I feel proud whenever I see it winning an award or a trophy. The S65 engine which is the beating heart of this car. That Big, beautiful engine which runs this car and the 100 million-info-per-second computer that control the car makes driving this car so sweet. The car charms you with the way it talks to you. Those 2 parts combined were the reason why I like the M3 so much. What's the point of a good-looking car if it doesn't pleases you when you drive it/talk to it??

I wrote this blog post because I felt that M3 needs to be appreciated, and because I needed to let it out. Yes, even though I don't own it, I liked that M3 A LOT.

End of Blog Entry...

Turkey Randoms part III: Ankara

2010-07-29T01:33:00.001-07:00

Many people have told us never to visit Ankara on our trip to Turkey because it's not a good "touristic" city. I'm glad we didn't listen to them ...

Views from the highest tower :

The grand Masjid

Middle East University Park:

The following photos are of a dumpster that was turned into one beautiful natural park:

End of Blog entry ...

Infiniti EX35 Review

2010-07-05T04:33:00.000-07:00

All car reviews are sponsored by: Omanternity.com

When the 1st official pictures of the EX35 were published, we all got the same idea: it’s the product of an Infiniti FX sleeping with a G35 (or was that only me??). I really didn’t understand where this car fits into the market. The closest cars I could think of are the BMW X3, the Mercedes GLK, and the X6 (which way more expensive, but still a crossover SUV). As many people (including me) thought that this was a mini-FX35, it clearly turned out more of a large G35 after testing it. Final line is: it seems like the EX35 has its own place that works fine for it.

Looks:

Mentioned above, the car had a weird combination of the FX and the G. when you see it in front of you, you feel like it’s a slightly larger G35 with no trunk. I wouldn’t call it Infiniti’s best moment in the design area.

Interior:

Now THIS is something to look at. The car is really high-tech inside. It’s the 1st Infiniti to feature the new 360 degrees cameras system; which I think is very creative and innovative compared to the competition (yah that one is for you Lexus). The EX35 interior features a contemporary, high-quality material and design; which flows around the driver in soft effect. 6-CD changer, Navigation screen, and AUX socket are also nice things to have in your EX35. The thing with high-tech cars is that you really can’t figure out every technology used in a test drive. I spent couple of minutes checking the trivial stuff, while my friend was messing around with the rest of the air-craft-like tech. The real obvious downside of the interior is the small space in the rear seats; which was rather a disappointment to me.

Driving:

Call me a car newbie, but driving the EX35 was almost exactly like driving the G35. There are however some obvious differences. The EX Uses an AWD instead of the FWD in the G. There is somehow a sportier feel in the G35. The EX35 is missing the paddle shifters (why? Why? WHY didn’t they include them?). In the straight-line performance, the EX35 was neck to neck with the G35, except for a slow launch (and believe me that came out of experience, just don’t ask how). The car has a weird way of launching from a stop (can’t explain it but a proper launch was almost impossible). Now that we are finished with the downside, let me just say: the car offers energetic handling with brilliant dynamics. And being close in size to the G35, the ride quality is rigid but comfy.

Specifications:

• Engine Type: 3.5L V6
• Horsepower @ RPM: 297 @ 5850
• Torque @ RPM: 253 lb-ft @ 4,800 rpm
• Drivetrain: All Wheel Drive
• Transmission Type: 5-speed auto
• 0-100: 6.3 seconds (est)
• Average Fuel Consumption: 13L/ 100 km
• Weight: 1,829 kg

Pros:
• G35 engine and G35 weight, so it’s fast.
• Very advanced 360 degrees cameras system.
• G35 interior.

Cons:
• No paddle shifters.
• Ugly design.
• High price

Price:
Around 16,000 Rials.

Verdict:
A 16,000 Rials, high-tech, fast Hatchback.

And that's how I resigned

2010-06-24T22:22:00.000-07:00

A 6 months-old post.

Following the shut down of the 1st company I used to work for, I accepted a job offer in a company that works in the same exact field (which is why they needed me). The Managing Director promised us that this company has bright future and that the team is one of the best in the country bla bla bla. Since the company was new and established few weeks before I join, they were still finalizing the budgeting and offer letters. I got a very basic salary and accepted it after the Director told me that he will get me a much better salary later on.

I got a better position in this new company and that gave me comfort in my future even though the work load was humongous and I took big responsibilities.

Slowly I started feeling That I'm doing my job + 3 other jobs at the same time! I don't mind working hard but I don't like doing work that is not mine. My direct boss was also getting all the credit for what I do while I get all the blame for his mistakes.

After 2 months of working (well, when I got my monthyl check to be precise) I noticed that My salary stayed the same. I, then, realized that this is going to drag and started doubting that the management will raise my salary so I decided to pay a visit to the Director's office. I entered the office and went straight to the point. He surprised me by telling me that he is not planning to give me a salary that is higher than my previous job's salary! It didn't make sense to me as I was handling bigger and more responsibilities than my previous job. "I'm not in the business of making friends" is what he told me. "It's not about making friends, but about being fair" was my reply. After a long discussion I was honest with him and told him that I need to evaluate my options in the job market.

The next day the director called me to his office and told me that he checked my salary and that he recognized that I should be paid more. That was a good sign but I needed to see the raise myself before pulling my hopes up.

I was called to the Chairman's office and he informed me that i will be getting 54% increment in my salary + a car for me to use. I knew this wasn't just talk since this guy respects me a lot because he worked with my family before.

I got my new car keys and soon after that I received my revised paycheck.

Was i satisfied? Absolutely not. I suddenly realized that the car and increment cannot buy me comfort. What's the point of all that if I'm still going to be facing the same drama I had before?

A week later I submitted my resignation letter with 10 days notice period. Even though the director didn't seem like he minded it. He asked the chairman to talk me out of it. I got the congratulations and best wishes from my colleagues and left =)

I started my new job around 4 weeks after I resigned. 3rd job in less than 2 years won't look that good on my CV but that's life :P

And that was my "breakout" story.

End of Blog entry...

Turkey Randoms part II : Izmir

2010-06-15T23:05:00.001-07:00

Even though we spent only 2 days at Izmir, it was a really nice town to visit.

Our room view :

History Museum:

Theme park + Zoo:

End of Blog Entry ...

A new member in the next generation

2010-06-08T01:36:00.001-07:00

This is kinda a late post but oh well.

Alhamdulillah my brother was blessed with a new baby boy. I am officially an Uncle ! =D

Sheikh Sultan bin Saif Al Kindi is around 3 months old now. He is the 1st Kindi boy in the new generation in our extended family ;)

It's an amazing feeling being an uncle. It's really hard not to spoil Sultan when he has 4 uncles all above 20. Other than being the 1st nephew, he came after a period of 14 years of not having babies in our house. We are still trying our best to raise him well to be a great and tough man =)

Here are some photos of him
(his mom was pissed because we shaved his head without informing her xD)

Gaza

2010-06-01T00:27:00.000-07:00

What happened (and still happening) to the Freedom flotilla is beyond my words to describe.

It just keeps getting worse and worse everyday. It's like Israel keeps trying to do inhuman actions and tests how far it can go without being stopped.

It can't get any worse than this can it? A ship that is filled with food, medications and learning materials gets attacked by Israel Military. Cowards.

I pray to Allah that this terrorist country get what it deserves. Yes. They are the terrorists, not people who are trying to defend themselves.

An Omani journalist was on board and alhamdulilah the news back is that he is fine.

I admire the courage of the Turks and all the people who participated in this noble action.

Let us all pray for all of the Martyrs to reach the highest levels in heaven and for the rest to be back home safe.

End of Blog post.

Turkey Randoms part I : Antalya

2010-05-19T05:40:00.001-07:00

Probably the 2nd best place we went to after Istanbul. Magical

I will leave you with the photos:

Our room (suits us)

Randoms from the resort:

A nice restaurant on the top of a mountain:

(Don't get excited it's just orange juice)

Antalya:

End of Blog Entry...

ta'3yoora (التغيورة)

2010-05-12T06:03:00.001-07:00

(Click for larger view)

Every Omani picks his/her ta'3yoora please.

ُ

Thailand randoms

2010-05-12T05:37:00.001-07:00

Couple of photos I took back in 2008 in my medical trip to Thailand

Marriage Stories Chapter 4: Typical

2010-05-09T23:46:00.000-07:00

Back to marriage stories!

This time it's my friend: K Al -H (we'll call him KH)

================================

Step one: enter SQU.
Step 2: Graduate from SQU.
Step 3: Work in a respectful company.
Step 4: 1 year later, you have enough money to get married, and your family picks your cousin as a candidate. you agree.

This is probably the shortest, most typical marriage story I will post, but to spice it up I will mention couple of related incidents.

=================================

KH was (and still is) one of my closest SQU friends. He is the guy who kept all of us 2008 CCE graduates together and in contact. He arranged Bowling night every Sunday/Tuesday. and he is the guy who keeps sending messages to everyone reminding them when we have a special occasion (malka, 3aza, dinner, etc)

=================================

One typical Sunday, I got a message from KH: "Hi 2008 graduates. we expect you today in the apartment for a small snack. Hope you guys can make it"

Now I've been getting almost the same message every Sunday for months. The only difference in this one is the "small snack". I Didn't pay attention and replied: "Sure. will be there after Maghrib".

We all met at the apartment and were surprised that KH have arranged "Fuwalah*" for us. very unusual as we would usually head straight to the bowling ally. Everyone was sking: esh el munasaba*?

and he answered: "I got engaged!"

It is funny how the guys are prepared to be silly and throw jokes like saying: "allah ya36eek 5airha oo yekfeek sharha*" or "mink el flooooooos oo minha el 9'3ayreen*" or "la wallah? i never thought you would ever find someone who would like you" etc etc etc...

then we started giving hugs and hard-slapping him on the back like it was some sort of competition lol.

================================
Incident one: asking THE question:

"I will be honest with you KH. I know that the dowry in your hometown is sky-high. How is it in your case??" I asked to initiate a conversation.

KH: "well, first of all, I'm getting married to my cousin. That itself will make her family understand my situation and not ask for a big amount. Secondly, people started realizing that there is nothing good coming from the idea of a high dowry. Most of them even suffered from it so they don't want the next generation to suffer as well."

Me: "Interesting. So you saved enough or you are taking a loan?"

KH: "Dude we studied finance. I'm not doing the old Omani way and have loans for the rest of my life. that's why I'm living in an apartment with 4 other guys! and bought a used 2004 car!""

Me: "lol good to hear that"

=================================

2nd incident:

3 weeks later, on another typical Sunday, we had the Fuwalah again.

"Esh el munasabah? already engaged to the 2nd? :P" <<< lol he got this comment from like half of the guys there.

KH: "What?? I can't invite you guys just to meet up and talk?"

*pause*

*Moment of silent*

"Ummmm no you don't do that" we all answered.

Seeing that he's not gonna answer us, his close roommate answered for him: "ok ok everyone KH decided to be shy now. I will tell you what's the occasion!"

there were few seconds before KH drops the knife in the kitchen, runs towards his friend to jump on him to stop him for saying what he was going to say,,,

but it was too late....

"HE GOT HER PHONE NUMBER YESTERDAY!!!!"

"aaaaahhhhhhhhhhh" we all said at the same time. then started giving him winks just to make it worse =P

"Hold on hold on!" <<< that was me.
"Are you telling me that you got her phone number 3 weeks after getting engaged?!!"

KH: "yes :$"

Me: " hahaha wallah ma3raf* how you were able to hold yourself that long. And how come you only tell your roommate this huh?? -__-"

Roommate: "He didn't tell me. I just found out when I saw the phone stuck to his ear all night =P"

========================================

KH has been married for almost 6 months now.

End of blog entry...

*
Fuwalah: a combination of fruits, sweets and coffee offered by Omanis to their guests.
Esh el munasaba: What's the occasion?
allah ya36eek 5airha oo yekfeek sharha: prayers that are said if someone gets anything new.
mink el floos oo minha al 9'3ayreen: prayers said to a person getting married.
wallah ma3raf: seriously don't know

Omanternity SpringFest 2010

2010-05-02T23:08:00.000-07:00

: The dynamic team behind Omanternity.com is holding a charity event benefiting the National Association for Cancer Awareness :.

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ENTRY : 4 Rials per ticket

BRIEF PROGRAM & ACTIVITIES:-
- Opening ceremony: Under the auspices of His Highness Alsayyid Faisal Bin Turki Al-Said.

- Musical concert: Rock-music themed concert performed by 5 local bands.

- Charity Bazar: The charity bazar will make possible for businesses & home businesses to promote themselves and make their products available for sale on the day.

- Video Game Tournament: Knock-out tournament of Pro Evolution Soccer 2010, the winner of which will receive a gift.

- Raffle Draw: Done after the concert. Electronic, dinner vouchers, air tickets, and more are provided as prizes.

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.: THE EVENT :. will focus on promoting young Omani talents in different sectors and give them local exposure as well as promoting the local home businesses and introducing them to the community by showing off their products during the event. Proceeds raised in the event will go to the National Association for Cancer Awareness.

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.: WHAT IS OMANTERNITY.COM? :.

We are a collective of young Omani individuals centered around a local interest and community website which we run called Omanternity.com. Our website aims to cover and promote local happenings and matters of local interest in Oman. We also run discussion boards where you can share your thoughts on any given matter, a wiki-type database of information, and a classifieds website.

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.: DO YOU RUN A HOME BUSINESS? DO YOU KNOW SOMEBODY WHO DOES? IF YES, THEN THIS IS FOR YOU!! :.

The charity bazar as described earlier is aimed towards making it possible for businesses and home businesses to have a stall to display, expose, promote and make available their work & products for purchase on the day. It will also make possible for businesses to expose and promote their brands, speak about them, share thoughts and ideas with attendees (potential customers), and conduct market research about which of your products are popular to whom, and attract attention.

There will be press coverage from major publications; this will be a good time to encourage them to feature your brands. Our website will also be conducting interviews for a feature on home businesses on the day, if you are interested in speaking with them to be displayed on our website, this can be arranged. Not to forget, that your participation will help a worthwhile cause!

Check out the Event's dedicated website here.

IF YOU'RE INTERESTED, PLEASE DON'T HESITATE TO CONTACT ME!

Abala Cafe review

2010-04-18T06:07:00.001-07:00

All Restaurant reviews are sponsored by Omanternity.com

A new Omani café that got a lot of attention. Owned by a young Omani and located in Bareeq Alshatti, the new hot spot in Shatti Al Qurum. I got some good feedback and some bad feedback about people who have been there, so it came to a time where we should give it a try.
Mohammed Al Raisi asked us to have an OT team meeting and suggested we try it.

Atmosphere:

The atmosphere is ……… well I don’t know how to describe it. Maybe it’s a mix of modern style and with some Omani touches (the paintings on the wall). It’s not my cup of tea but I guess some people like it.

Food:

We ordered a variety of meals. The order didn’t take that long to be served (unlike the last time I have been there). I personally had the Hareera soup and the Swiss burger. I liked the Hareera but hated the Burger big time. Ali Ordered Arabiatta Pasta which he liked but said it was too spicy. Mohammed tried out the “Faris Burger” which was some sort of a competition. Abala Café challenges its costumers to finish up this burger. If a customer was able to do that, he/she would get it for free. Mohammed was able to finish up the burger but turns out there was a hidden rule: you must finish it in 20 minutes or the deal is off. Basically what they are saying is that you need to treat your body as a trash can and just throw the burger inside. Our friend ordered an Italian burger and he liked it. Their Shawarma and Pasta are good overall. I never heard anyone complaining about that and I have tried both myself.

Italian Burger

Chicken Burger

Swiss Burger

The famous "Faris" burger

Arabiatta pasta

Spaghetti Bolognese

Drinks:

I had cherry coke which was ok but nothing special. Ali had the worst experience when he ordered a fresh watermelon juice which he returned to the kitchen twice. Their Lemon and mint drink was better though. My other friend ordered a cherry temple (7-up + cherry syrup if I'm not mistaken) and said it was great.

Cherry Coke

Cherry temple

The horror Ali went through, Fresh Watermelon juice

In conclusion:

Abala has a variety of good meals but can be found elsewhere. I would go to B+F if I wanted a burger. I would go to Pizza Express or Pane Caldo if I wanted Pasta. To be fair: I don’t think we should judge Abala as a restaurant, but as a café. The positive feedback I got was from people who went there to have dessert and drinks, not from the people who had a meal there.

Location

Bareeq Al Shatti

Type of food:

 Arabic/continental

Average price for a person:

 5-6 Rials.

Jaguar XF review

2010-04-17T23:21:00.000-07:00

All car reviews are sponsored by Omanternity.com

There has been a lot of fuzz and buzz about the new Jaguar XF. Mainly because jaguar doesn’t introduce new models that often and this is supposed to be the start for new generation of Jags. To be honest, I’m not a big fan of Jaguar but I thought this one was interesting and my good friend recommended test driving it. I’m going to be honest again and say: when I checked the XF in the showroom, it reminded me of the Ocean’s eleven movie. The movie starts and you can’t help but to notice that a movie star pops up every couple of seconds. The Jaguar gives you the feeling that it has all the stars in one movie.

Looks:

Along with the XK, those are the only two jaguars that I like their design. Jaguar dumped the old classic look and finally realized that most people got bored from the old designs and want other people to know that they have a 2009 model instead of 1909. Wavy design with an aggressive front definitely catches the eyes on the street. Some may say that in profile, the XF looks like the Lexus GS. Overall, an Aston Martin-ish design has to be good. That’s like George Clooney; the sexy man standing in the front line of the gang.

Interior:

So Jaguar spent around 10 year developing the XF? That’s the time span between introducing the S-type and the XF. What I think is they spent most of these years developing the interior features. I really think that this is the best part about the car (or at least the sexiest thing). Kinda like Brad Pitt in a movie. Jaguar has succeeded to combine luxury with technology. Jaguar now seeks to combine old rituals with the latest fashion and technology. Starting from the start button and the cool gear lever, passing through the navigation screen and AC/Radio controls and ending with the “Jag sense” features like the interior lights and the touch-sensitive glove box. You can’t help but to smile when you enter the cabin and look at all those luxury gadgets. The tilting AC vents are very Transformers-ish. The rear-view mirror and the rear seats headroom are somehow small to accompany the coupe style. However, the XF cabin gets a grade A for both its look and overall function. If you have seen the brochure pictures then let me tell you this: they don’t give the car justice. “Charming” is a word I would use to describe the cabin in general. Just be sure that you are getting the “Premium” XF to enjoy all those features.

Interior features movie

Driving:

Here is the part where I expected the car to disappoint me. Unfortunately, it didn’t. The heavy sedan with 6 cylinders engine was not as slow as I thought. The paddle shifters on the wheels had a good response. Acceleration is not bad at all. It is, in fact, fast for a 6 cylinder luxury saloon. The engine had a really sweet tone. Just when I thought Jaguars are going to be dull again, they didn’t. The XF shares a lot with its sportier sister, the XK. Going through corners was a pleasure because of precise handling, responsive steering wheel and comfy ride. The level of communication between me and the car when cornering is exciting. Just be sure not to be getting out of a BMW 530i or an AUDI A6 right before you drive the XF because then, you would notice that the grip can still be improved.

A crappy ending to a great movie:

I got home totally satisfied with the Jaguar. I didn’t even get enough of it so I decided to go for a spin and a photo shoot after dawn. I switch on the car put it on reverse and suddenly this message appears: “Gearbox Fault” and the car shut down by itself. I tried switching it on but it wouldn’t. The gear seems to be stuck on reverse so the car won’t start till it’s on P mode. I tried couple of times on 3 different time periods but it seems like the car would not want to start. My thought is that Jaguar has too much technology for it to handle. I called the dealer and asked them to come pick the car from my house. I’m writing this review 3 weeks after that day, and I still haven’t got a call from the dealer. I won’t blame them cause I won’t be calling after such an embarrassing situation.

movie of the fault

Specifications:

Engine Type: 3.0L V6
Horsepower @ RPM: 238 @ 6800
Torque lb.ft @ RPM: 216 @ 4100
Drivetrain: rear Wheel Drive
Transmission Type: 6-speed auto
0-100: 8.3 seconds (est)
Average fuel consumption: 10.5/100 km
Weight: 1,690 kg

Pros:
- Aston Martin rear design. 
- Class A interior.
 - Nice exhaust tone.
 - Comfy ride.
Cons:
- Still not as sporty as the A6 or the 5-series. 
- Front design is nice but slightly off.
 - Too much technology for a jaguar to handle.

Price: Luxury starts at 16,000, Premium starts at 19,000 (for V6 models, there is also V8 and Supercharged V8).

Verdict: Jaguar got back some of its lost reputation with this car. A great bargain but scary technology.

Tagged!

2010-04-11T04:38:00.000-07:00

I was tagged by Faith and G-chan

*BIG Deja Vu moment*

ok so here are 7 facts about me:

1- I was the super quite student till 8th grade, when I became somehow a troublemaker, and reached my peak on the 11th grade.

2- I never believed in Blackberry devices till I got one (I got it for work purposes)

3- I was very close to get a new 135i a year ago but backed off in the last minute.

4- I love stationary. Like REALLY love stationary.

5- Sometimes (well, most of the time) I become like the character "Monk" from the TV series. I like to see things very well-organized. (sometimes I see a pen opened on my friend's desk and can't stop myself from putting the cover back on).

6- I have a SERIOUS forgetting problem.

7- I switched between 3 jobs in 18 months.

now I tag (Damn everyone is tagged already):
- Amjad
- Muggle
- Lil me
- Toxic

End of blog entry ...

I'm 26

2010-03-20T23:04:00.000-07:00

Happy 26 !!! (Warning: post is long and can get boring)

10/03/2010

I have completed 26 years of my life. I am officially closer to 30 than I am to 20 ! (oh wait, that happened last year).

Anyway I thought my last birthday was so special. It was my silver jubilee, I got nice presents, a party at my office, etc ...

to be honest, I didn't make plans for this birthday, I even remembered only 1 week earlier only because my cousin reminded me. However, this birthday was the most special birthday I ever had. That's why I felt it deserves a nice story-like post in my blog.

===================================
11.15 pm: 45 minutes before my birthday, I was tired and was on my bed BBM-ing. like every tiring day, I sleep without noticing.

11.35 pm: I was awaken by My BB classic ringing tone. "Taz. Mustang GT" was displayed on the phone. (I tend to write nicknames for family/friends and in the "company" field, I would insert their car name). and here is how the call went:
me: "Aloooooo" (my typical phone answer for close people)Taz: "assalamu alaikum. Esh inta nayem?!!!!" with a surprising, loud tone he asked. me: "laaaaa wallah ma nayem"
Taz: "Inzain qoom oo inzel ta7t, ana qiddam el bait"
me: "really? ma sama3t 9ot sayyartak"
VROOOOM VROOOOOM *08 Mustang with Bassani Mufflers sound*
Taz: "Sama3t taw???"
me: "yaaaaa ya, taw gai"

I went down in my jalabiyya, shook Taz's hand, he congratulated me and gave me my birthday card/present.

"inside the card are the names of everyone who participated in this, even 7udhaifa did! I'm just the messenger"

"Thanks. it looks really nice. I like the color" looking at the Timberland watch they got me.
I went back to my bed, took a photo of the watch and shared it in the family's BB group. I thanked everyone who participated.

11.45 pm: a call from my colleague.
colleague:"kil 3am wenta b5aaaaaaaaaaair!!! a3raf you only expect calls after midnight bas ta3ban oo feeni noom"
me: "haha la 3adi 7atta ma lazem phone call. wenta b5air oo 3uqbalak"

I was getting REALLY tired and honestly felt like sleeping and keeping my phone on silent. thank god my bros/sister were chatting with me about Blackberries/cars so that took the sleep away.

12.00 am: My brother hands me a bag that has 3 presents: Porsche design cologne, Diesel Watch and a nice Arabic oud. I knew that was my sister's idea since girls are the ones making a big deal out of birthdays. I thanked them all and quickly put my phone on silent.

==============================
5.15 am: I wake up for 9alat al Fajr. After the prayers, I check both my phones and find several BBMs, SMS, emails all between 12.10 am and 12.30 am congratulating me on my birthday. Seems like people think that if you are more than half an hour late, then it's better to send in the morning :P

I went to work wearing the watch my cousins got me. it was a normal day except couple of calls congratulating me.

12.00 pm My ex-colleague calls:
him: "7ayyaaaaaaaaaaak Amarant. kil 3am wenta b5aaair!"
me: "wenta b5aaaaaaair oo 3uqbalak! oops sorry forgot you are 32 already xD"
him: "hewa ya5i shayyabna. Inzain aqool, tara ana ma gebtlak hadiyya, bas since you have a new office, I will take you to pick stationary!"
as funny as it sounded, it was a nice idea.
we went to Al Fikr and started picking stuff. both of us completely forgot it's my birthday and just tried to pick the useful, not fancy, stuff. post-it notes, paper clips, tape, pins, pens stand and a blueberry sanitizer (that was from sultan center though).

1.00 pm: went with couple of friends to RBG grill for lunch. I ordered the lamb shack and my friends ordered burgers. The food there was good!

After lunch my friends gave me the presents: Porsche Design cologne (ANOTHER one! :P), swiss knife, Lens cover, candy and one of my friends got me a certificate saying "Employee of the year" xD I liked how random the presents were ;)

2.00 pm: My friend calls me asking where I am. I told her that I am in RBG and she said she'll be there in 2 minutes. She shows up in a 2010 E90 323i. Don't get excited because that wasn't my present. She got me a test drive for the whole day! =D
This is a perfect example of a gift that is not expensive but very thoughtful. that was probably the best gift I got! I loved the 323i driving. (I didn't even know they bring 323i here in Oman)

5.00 pm: My aunt sends an SMS to all the family inviting us for a BBQ dinner. It's not my birthday dinner but it was nice to have it on the same day.

8.00 pm: After enjoying the 323i driving, I returned it to the dealer and went to my aunt's house. Everyone there congratulated me and almost 90% of the family were asking "ha kaif? mata el zawag?? you are 26 now!" -__-

Nothing special happened after that. The next day I got 2 cakes from Baskin Robin's and the whole family tried them after lunch ;)

Thanks to all who participated in my birthday. It was different and special in many ways. Definitely my best Birthday so far *thumbs up*

End of Blog Entry. . .

Marriage stories Chapter 3: N.S. Al-A: Depression followed by a relief.

2010-03-06T05:07:00.000-08:00

The story of NA was one of the most depressing marriage stories (which ended happily) I ever encountered with one of my friends.

NA was a very close friend of mine during my middle years at uni. We were in the same student group, took classes together, car pooled and spent most of the day together. It was easy for me to notice when he started liking one of the girls in our students group. Why wouldn't he like her? She was a smart, pretty girl and they fit in perfectly. You would know that because NA never tried impressing that girl and he was just being himself and she liked him for who he was and vice vera.

Two years after meeting the girl, NA confronted her telling her that he wants her to be more than just a class mate and a friend. He was also completely honest with her and asked her if she has any,,,,,,,,,, what's the word to use here? ummmm "confliction" in her roots? meaning her ancestors were "byaser*" or "5adam*". She assured him that she is not and that it's his right to ask around and check it through friends/family/hometown people. After talking to his parents and they were sure she didn't have any of the mentioned above in her roots, NA called her brother to meet. The meeting went fine, they had a small meal and the brother knew his sister is going to be in good hands.

One day one of NA father's friends was having dinner with them and NA's father asked him about the girl's family. The friend's reply was rather surprising. "Yes! they are Bayaser! everyone knows that! you don't want her for NA!"

Till now I still didn't figure out why would someone do that. Was it envy? hatred? trying to show-off with his tribe knowledge? or just being an ass? Because it was clearly a lie since NA's family have already made a background check on the girl's family. And what was even more surprising was NA father's reaction. He told NA that everything is off and that he can't marry the girl ! NA spent days (and I remember them like they were yesterday) trying to convince his father that he should not just take the words of 1 person against everyone else but his father would not even think about it.

I remember that the days that followed were very tense and I didn't even dare to ask NA about what's going on. One day he called me and I was in a lecture @ uni:

"NA: Amarant come pick me up from home I need to go to the bank.
me: Ummmm NA I am in a lecture. Can I pick you up in an hour?
NA: no I need you to pick me up now. I will tell you about it later.
me: ok I'm on my way."

I excused myself and went straight away to his house. He had a suitcase packed with clothes and important stuff.
"me: "what happened?"
NA: things are bad. They went beyond the marriage problem. I can't stay a single second in this house.
me: ???!!!!!!"

I didn't even dare to ask but I know that his father was doing all sort of stuff to make NA do exactly what he wants him to do. An example was an incident that happened in Uni which made us get interrogated for a whole week but I would rather not mention it here. His father was very influential and that wasn't in NA's advantage.

I went with NA to the bank where he opened a new account so that his family (everyone except his father) could send money to help him.

I can't remember exactly what happened after that except that after living several months on his own, NA was convinced by his family to settle things with his father. He did exactly what his father wanted and married a girl his father picked. I remember he used to tell me how much he hated his wife and how much did she hate him. 3 months after being married they both told each other that they were forced by their parents and NA divorced his wife. This time his father was 100% with NA because he knew it was his mistake and not NA's.

for around a year and a half, NA's idea about marriage was negative. He returned to be the funny guy he used to be but he would also throw comments like "why do you need marriage? enjoy your life, play around as much as you can then get married when you are 40 or something".

Later on, NA became a religious guy, graduated and started working at a big, respectful company. His father job was shifted to somewhere else so he rented out the house and NA had to find a place to stay. He was looking for a small apartment but it was not easy to find a cheap-but-decent one. He was then guided to this old guy who owns a building with an apartment that fits NA's criteria perfectly. That old guy refused to lease him the apartment because he wanted to keep it for his 12 years-old son when he gets married. After a long, tiring discussion the old guy agreed to lease the apartment to NA with a promise from NA that he would: 1. help the son in his studies. 2. Help the old man manage the building and 3. move out from the apartment when the son turns 20 (in 8 years). Two months after that, NA asked for the old man daughter's hands. I remember him calling me and saying: "I found a lady that is perfect for me: religious, educated and mature".

NA has been happily married for around 3 years now and has a 1 year-old son =)

I always wonder: what happened to the uni girl? The last time I spoke to NA he told me this: "What my father did was unfair but i was able to move on and live happily. I hope it's the same with her"

*Bayaser: People who used to be owned by someone else.
*5adam: Slaves

End Of Blog Entry.

Restaurant review: Darcy's Kitchen

2010-02-11T22:29:00.000-08:00

Restaurant reviews are sponsored by: Omanternity

Darcy’s kitchen is a unique type of restaurants. There are no other similar places in Oman. It has its own style and way. It is also a nice place to have breakfast. The atmosphere is cozy and the interior design makes you feel like you are in a house rather than a restaurant (specially the one in MQ). The waiters are friendly and they always serve with a smile. This is the favorite dining place for many foreigners, and sometimes you would be surprised to see it filled with them on a weekday afternoon.

====================
Food:
Food served at Darcy’s varies from simple salads to burgers and specially-cooked steaks. They have a wide range of side dishes, soups and starters. Last time I ordered a chicken breast with some white sauce on it (forgot the name of the meal). My friend ordered his favorite “Beef Hanooni sandwich”. I honestly liked the beef hanooni more (and no, it’s not because the other side is always greener). Both meals cost around 7 rials, which isn’t bad for a place like darcy’s.

====================
Location:
Jawharat Al Shatti, MQ (next to Al Fair).

====================
Type:
Continental Food

====================
Price Range:
3 – 4 Rials

End of blog entry...

Marriage stories – Chapter 2: the young shock!

2010-02-10T13:33:00.000-08:00

A. S. Al-W (let’s call him AW):

AW was one of my friends in school (G11 and G12 to be more precise). He was the funny kind that has a strong personality. He was also a troublemaker. Ok this doesn’t give him justice. He was ONE HELL OF A TROUBLEMAKER. Other than: alcohol, drugs and women, AW has been in every bad situation you can imagine. The only teachers that were able to stand him were his personal tutors. he was more like the Omani version of Bart Simpson. I don’t even want to mention the troubles he made me go through =P

Let’s say his grades were a little bit below-average. He graduated with a grade that won’t grant him a scholarship even in a small local collage. Not that he was interested anyway. He started working right after he graduated.

Around 3-4 months after we graduated from grade 12, I got an SMS from AW: “Yusharrifuni da3watukum le7u’9oor 3aqd qirani etc etc” (it’s an honor for me to invite you to my wedding etc etc).

Wth ?? Is he kidding?? AW was the last person I expect to get married! So I sent him a reply asking: “You’re joking right?” and he replied: “laaaa wallah ma galis amza7!” (noo I swear I’m not joking!)

So I figured it must be one of his relatives and they are the kind that are hooked to their cousins since they were born.

I went to the malka with my school mates. When the Sheikh mentioned the girl’s name, it was a different last name than his. “Okay, maybe she’s a cousin with a different last name” I thought to myself.

I couldn’t stop myself from going to his best friend (who is also his neighbor) and asking him if she was related to him. I got a reply I never expected: “No, she’s not related to him. It’s not even an arranged marriage. He met her at work”

I cannot describe to you readers how surprised I was that moment. AW was the kind you would expect to get married when he reaches 30 or 28 if he was in a rush. It seems that the forces of love were strong enough to speed the process and he got married when he was 18. I know I know, it sounds cheesy but seriously that is what I was thinking about that night.

I met AW few months ago in a high school reunion. He has a really beautiful 2-years old daughter mashallah. Too adorable to be the daughter of this trouble maker =P

End of blog entry…

Volvo XC90 review

2010-01-06T01:00:00.000-08:00

sooooooo a new series I'm starting: Car reviews.

all car reviews are sponsored by: Omanternity.com

Volvo is respected car manufacturer, once crowned as the “World’s Safest Car”, offers a variety of multi-use cars, well-known to have innovative interior designs, and world-class engines. However, Volvo unfortunately is underrated here in Oman; nobody really knows the car unless they buy one.
In Arabic there is a famous proverb that says: “Rubba Dharaten nafi’a”, which means “Some bad stuff lead to other good stuff”. This proverb explains how I got the opportunity to drive the amazing XC90, which was a courtesy car we got when our LR3 had some air-suspension problems. I would say that this test drive was like a blind date. I never knew the girl I was going to go out with, but some of my friends said good things about her.

====================================================================

Looks:

Okay, so we are off to a bad start. The car didn’t really give a good 1st impression with its looks. It Looks like a stretched up Volvo sedan that got a jeep suspension. In my opinion, the only thing I liked about the exterior were some of the nice rims options the car had.

====================================================================

Interior:

WAIT! Before getting into the car, the moment you open the door, you understand why this car is rated as one of the safest cars in the world. The door is so heavy (yet so smooth when opened).
Getting inside the car gives you a whole new perspective about the car. It’s like its making up for the messed up 1st date. The materials used feel so elegant, the buttons and switches are organized well so that the driver has no problem using them. The gauges are stylish and practical. You can’t argue that Volvo spends time designing their interiors.

====================================================================

Driving:

Now this is the 3rd date. In most of my test drive, I test how the car goes when you floor its paddles badly. How fast can it go? How does it handles at high speeds? How good are the brakes?
For some reason I still don’t know, I didn’t do that with the XC90, I just wanted to drive slowly and cruise around the quite area of Shatti (in the afternoon). Maybe the remarkably calm cabin was it. I switched on the radio and “breathe” by Angels & Airwaves was playing, a perfect song for my quite/calm mood. I left the quite area and headed to the empty highway. I drove at normal speed on the highway for some time, enough time for me to know that car is going to be a good partner in long trips. As I was on my way back on the highway, the radio started playing “Breath” by Breaking Benjamin (a totally different song but the names are very close) (bas tashabuh asmaía). As the song progressed, I couldn’t keep my foot off the acceleration paddle, till I reached a point where I NEEDED to floor the car. I switched to manual mode on the tiptronic gear box, shifted to 2nd gear, and floored it. Now I don’t know if the song had its affect on the car, but the massive torque surprised me, and before waking up, the car hit the rev limiter. I changed to 3rd and the car literally throws my head on the headrest. I honestly didn’t expect a big, heavy SUV to perform like that. The acceleration is pretty amazing, and it gets better at higher speeds. The brakes also perform really great and the car doesn’t throw you on the steering wheel in hard stops.
Now we all know that SUV cars like this, the X5, the Cayenne are not real off-roaders, but wont harm to try out the Volvo in the dunes (wouldn’t do it if it was my car though). The car didn’t really make it to the places where the Jeeps and the land rovers did, but it went high enough because of the torque it has. So yeah, it is true when people say that things get crazy on the 3rd date.

====================================================================

Specifications:

Engine Type: 4.4L V8

Power: 311 Horsepower @ 5850 RPM

Torque: 325 @ 3900 RPM

Transmission Type: Tiptronic

0-100 kmph in: 7.3 seconds (estimated)

Average fuel consumption:

-City: 16.3 L/100 km

-Highway: 10.7 L/100 km

Weight: 2389 kg.

====================================================================

Pros:

- The driving is amazing and smooth; you really don’t feel like you’re driving a 2+ tons car.
- The power and torque is way over what I expected, mind you this car is heavier than other cars in its category.
- The sound system is great and clear, 6 CD changer, steering wheel control.
- The interior is a Volvo interior, enough said.
- It’s a sleeper (not so many people know its power).

====================================================================

Cons:

- The design isn’t that good, that’s my opinion at least.
- Heavy weight.
- When using the tiptronic, the car doesn’t change gears before red line, it revs.
- The response of the manual mode in the tiptronic is slow; you have to change the gear about 1.5 seconds before you want the car to shift.
- Mirrors don’t tilt downwards when you’re in reverse.

====================================================================

Verdict:

The XC90 is a family-friendly SUV with a comfortable interior, adequate performance and an excellent safety record.

====================================================================

List of kills:

- Nissan Armada.
- GMC YUKON.
- Infiniti FX35.

We did some accelerating videos as well:

Volvo XC90 from 20 – 130 KM/H.

Volvo XC90 from 40 – 170 KM/H.

Volvo XC90 from 130/210 KM/H.

End of blog entry...

Marriage stories – Chapter 1:

2009-12-30T13:46:00.000-08:00

Ok I know this post sounds like a typical girl's post, but honestly I find it interesting how each one of my friends has his own marriage story. I will try to write a story or 2 in each post (hopefully). Don’t hate me if I write this one then stop =P

Friend one: A. T. Al-H:

A.T. loved a girl who was with him in collage so much that he proposed when he was in his 3rd year! Off course the girl's family asked him to wait till the girl graduates then propose again.

A year later, the girl's father passed away (Allah yra7moh). In his well, he mentioned that he wants his daughter to marry her cousin. The girl felt torn between her family and the man she loves. She couldn’t go against her family and chose her cousin. A.T. was devastated but respected the girl’s choice.

During the last 2 years in collage, A.T. came across many girls inside and outside collage, but none of them was even close to his lost love. Till one day, he participated in this exhibition arranged by the university. He was struck by this girl he worked with. Beautiful, sweet but have a strong personality and ambitious. Knowing that she and his cousin study in the same department, he started his investigation. She turns out to be the girl of his dreams. He liked everything about her, and she was a far relative. He told his parents and they promised him to think about it and proceed with it later on.

I met A.T. on his graduation day. His father was there to attend and we had this small conversation:

- Me: Assalamu Alaikum Abu Salim. Kaif el 7al? esh el a5bar? 6aybeen? Etc.
(Hi Abu Salim. How are you? Hope you are great, etc)

- The father: al7amdulilah, ma nishki baas, ma shay 3loom min 9obkum?
(replying to my questions and asking me the same)

- Me: el laila lailet A.T. mashallah 5ireej. 3uqbal el zoga el 9al7a.
(tonight is A.T’s night. He is a graduate. Next thing he gets a good wife).

- The father: inshallah. A. hadiyyat ta5arrujak fil bait. La tit2a5ar
(If Allah wishes.*Turns to his son* A, your graduation gift is at home. Don’t be late)

- A.T: Inshallah Aboy (Ok Father).

2 days later, A.T. Called me and told me that his wedding gift was that his family were all prepared to go to his fiancé-to-be family’s house to ask for her hand the day after he graduated =D

He is now happily married and have a 1 year-old son ;)

Next are the marriage stories of:
- A.S. Al-W: the young shock!
- N.S. Al-A: Depression followed by a relief.
- K.S. Al-H: typical.
- T.S. Al-A: persistence.

End of Blog entry.

Bureaucracy

2009-11-01T04:34:00.000-08:00

I have been hearing this word a lot but I never found myself dealing with it till recently.

Ever since we took over this new project, 80% of the time we spend is in dealing with bureaucracy issues because they are the main reason the project is WAY behind schedule. it exists to make whatever possible impossible.

no matter how much I explain, you guys won't understand how bureaucracy is involved in every single aspect we deal with. I once read this quote about bureaucracy which was funny but somehow true (Sharr Al Baliyyah ma yu'97ik)
“I bought a doughnut and they gave me a receipt for the doughtnut... I don't need a receipt for the doughnut. I give you money and you give me the doughnut, end of transaction. We don't need to bring ink and paper into this. I can't imagine a scenario that I would have to prove that I bought a doughnut. To some skeptical friend, 'Don't even act like I didn't get that doughnut, I've got the documentation right here... It's in my file at home. ...Under "D".

you think that's funny, here is a story that happened at work yesterday. We occupied a new office space and we are sharing it with 2 other companies. I was really tired and stressed and needed some tea to straighten up my mind. I call the tea boy to ask him to make me tea and this is his reply: "Sorry sir, I can't make you tea without my boss's permission, I need you to submit a letter requesting my service and it needs the signature from the project manager and must be signed by the developer"

Blank...

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.
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.
.
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Still in shock...

.
.
.
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.

having a "WTF" moment.

.
.
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.
.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!!!!!!!

I used to get tea everyday when I used to be a visitor. now that I'm an employee, I can't?! Anyway my colleague handled it the old cowboy way: "no need for any letter, you bring us tea and whatever we require and if your boss has a problem let him deal with me"

The reason why this project came back to life after a messy state is because our CEO is the biggest enemy of bureaucracy. he follows a simple way of dealing with it:" I would rather apologize later than ask for permission."

I'm sure many of you deal with bureaucracy everyday in work and school. you know that when "paper work increases as you spend more and more time reporting on the less and less you are doing." <<< Gotta love that quote.

End Of Blog Entry...

R.E.O shuts down operations

2009-10-17T11:02:00.000-07:00

I’m back! (but maybe not for a long while)

I have been super busy lately. I feel I have no life anymore xD

For months I and my colleagues got the vibe that the company is not doing well. After getting this big project 4 months ago we forgot how bad the situation is and got caught up in work.

September 16, 2009: early Eid gift: The Mexican resigns after giving up on the directors in Dubai. They have been so unsupportive, so negative, so stingy, and worst thing: they keep lying over and over again.

September 26, 2009: The board of directors gets into a very long meeting discussing the resignation of the Mexican and the situation of the company. 3 possible solutions were proposed:

Appointing the COO to be the new CEO.

Appointing a new CEO from Dubai.

Closing down the company.

(Last option is the most likely option they will pick)

October 3, 2009: The directors send an auditor to check all company’s accounts and files. (can it get any more obvious??)

October 4, 2009: CFO flies down from Dubai to give us the hit: R.E.O decides to shut down all its operation due to negative liquidity and insufficient funds. This means that all employees are to be terminated from their jobs!

The news of the company shutting down operations wasn’t as shocking as the fact that the board decided to give us a pity amount as compensation. To be thrown in the streets jobless with so little money isn’t pleasant at all …

Thank god I saved enough money to survive and I have my family to back me up, but what about the others?? Some of my colleagues support 3 families, have couple of loans, and are struggling after the salaries cut. Is it humane to throw them in the street with only a month notice?

October 10, 2009: Chairman Sh. A.M. is back in Oman after a long business trip, TOTALLY unsatisfied with the compensation the directors gave to the employees. He got them to pay us 3 times what they previously promised us. I (and I’m sure all the employees) can’t thank him enough for his support =)

October 10, 2009 – present: Serving my notice period of 1 month, finalizing everything.

I think I can start a whole blog about this closure, probably make a movie out of it, but just wanted to share this part with whoever reads this blog.

I have already received 2 job offers that I need to study and will hopefully start by beginning of November.

End of blog entry…

and I was called "David"

2009-08-21T00:01:00.000-07:00

another post related to my recent work change.

There was this somehow-old couple who were inspecting their new house before moving in. They have spent nearly 19 years Oman and the guy could even speak Omani (yup, not just arabic, but the Omani accent of it).

They were very pleased with the amount of work done in the last month, and being the only guy with construction group wearing a Dishdasha , the two were very friendly and the guy spoke with me in Arabic.

I was wondering around with my camera taking several photos here and there, and they asked me politely to take couple of photos of the house and the view in general.

a month later, the wife came with a friend to inspect another house, and the 1st thing she said when she arrived was: "Oh I can see you still have your camera with you"
"Always", I replied being Formal and friendly at the same time.

During the 1st couple of minutes of inspection, she referred to me as "Camera guy".
"What do you think, camera guy?"
"beautiful view isnt it, camera guy?"

she never asked for my name, and for some reason, I never gave my name either.

I think after a while, she felt like she doesnt want to call me "camera guy" anymore, but she never asked for my name. She decided to call me "David", like the famous photographer. ;)

in the rest hour or so of the inspection, she would refer to me as "David". She asked me if I mind that and I told her I don't.

The inspection was done, and we got an "Ok, Thank you Carl, Thank you Marry, and thank you David for your time, hope to see you all soon".

"Who's David??" asked Carl, the troubleshooter with a REALLY BIG question mark over his cowboy hat that he wears 24/7. (which was soooo typical of him, he gets so busy with his work he looses touch with the surroundings. That's why he never noticed that the lady was calling me David this past hour.)

"Oh I called him David, like the famous photographer"

now every now and then Carl would call me "David", along with "Buddy", "difficult", "MTV omani" and couple of other names he has for me :P

The funny thing is, I had couple of conversations, emails, SMS's with the lady's husband regarding financing/payments issues, but I don't think he and her know that I am "David" xD

So that's how I was called David.

End of Blog Entry ...

People are so different

2009-08-10T22:58:00.000-07:00

Throughout my job, and being around one of my friends, I got to meet many homeowners from different backgrounds, different personalities, different perspectives, etc.

It’s really interesting in so many ways. I met people who had lousy jobs but inherited lots of money. Some started from scratch and now have become millionaires and some started normally, found a connection, and then built their empire based on that connection.

People are also different in how they treat each other. We met some people who seem to be born with stand-up comedians' character, and some that are just too cold you would yawn in the middle of the day just talking to them.

I'm not being biased here, but honestly, amongst the many homeowners that i have met, the Arabs were the best (generally). I'm not saying all the non-Arabs were bad and the Arabs were great, but that's in general. Most of them were very understanding, talk politely and they were open and easy going.

I will post some good and bad examples.

Special features in the house
- Good: one guy was really upset that he ordered some extra stuff for his house but they weren’t there. He just asked the construction manager politely to check if those stuff can be added or not. A second after that he was throwing jokes about his assistant having an iPhone which is "a joke" to him.
- Bad: one guy found out that he does not have a big back-yard (even though its size is standard in that complex) and kept bitching about it for the whole hour of inspection! :S

Material used in toilets:
- Good: one guy was complaining that the material used in toilets were bad in quality, but when he was told that the same material used in all the houses, he accepted it.
- Bad: one guy replied saying: "well I don't care if all the other owners were dumb enough to accept these materials, I'm not paying till you change them all"

Treating the workers:
- Good: one guy shock hands with all the construction workers and at the end apologized to them if he have taken some of their time during the inspection.
- Bad: one guy told one of the workers: hey, stop what you are doing and leave the house, and he asked the construction manager to take all the workers to wait outside (in the sun) during his inspection (which lasted a little bit over an hour).

I can go on and on but these are just few examples of how people can be so different.

It makes me wonder, those owners must be dealing with many companies and have several properties, so how do they view us (or view me). Sometimes it's easy when you get a pat in the shoulder and a "great job" said to you, or maybe get an email that says that. However, most of the time, people don't show that.

I think giving a little bit of time and thought while doing your work (which is not a very hard thing to do), gives you some comfort that at least other people appreciate you and know that your better than most of the other people they have dealt with.

Let us all make that small extra effort to be better than "most" people ;)

(or you can follow what this poster says) xD

A man I admired

2009-07-08T00:27:00.000-07:00

I was with one of my friends who is working in a big residential project.

It was a day where one of the units owner is coming to check his house for final touches before the handover.
Neither I nor my friend have seen the owner. We just knew he is a wealthy businessman from Jordan. I expected to see a guy with an Armani suit, long hair styled with lots of gel.

When the guy came, we were all shocked. We saw a guy with a slightly-over-average beard wearing a normal short jalabiya (Arabic dress men wear in Jordan) and a simple red cap. We greeted each other and exchanged names. He was walking around the house and admiring the finishes, the material used and the design. All the workers there were appraised for their work. He was always smiling and had a simple, very polite way of talking to everyone. Even when there were some obvious flaws, he asked the supervisor to correct them without showing any sign of ingratitude or un-satisfaction.

Just when I thought I can’t admire him more, I was proven wrong. He was discussing the rental agreement (that his house will be rented by a hotel for 11 months, and he’ll be using it for 1 month). The agreement states that when the hotel rents the room for him, he gets 60% of the profit and the hotel gets 40%. He then asked an interesting question: “will these 60% applies only to the room charges? Or will I also get profit from the food and beverages (F&B) the guests order? “

Now I thought that he asked because if the profit includes the F&B, he’ll make more profit. It turns out; he doesn’t want to get profit from the F&B because he doesn’t want to make profit if the guests orders alcohol or pork. Then I admired him even more for having such way of thinking =)

God bless him, his family and may we have more people like him.

End of Blog entry.

Why Dubai??

2009-06-22T04:02:00.000-07:00

wow been a long time since I last posted.

and while checking other people's blogs, i though of posting something.

but what???

hmmmmmm

Cars! (i soooo saw that coming)

no I'm actually going to talk in general about why people go to Dubai for shopping.

there are many reasons, but for me, they can be included in these points:
- Prices of goods (unfortunately that's not always the case these days)
- availability of goods (big time)
- variety of options.
- DESCENT malls and shops.

sometimes I wounder why we dont have some of the goods that are sold in Dubai, even though the demand for them is high here.

Both City Centers here (Muscat & Qurm) get soooo crowded during the weekend, couple of extra malls will surely make profit if they open.

I Cant wait for the new malls to open, specially Muscat Grand Mall (because it's goin to be big and close to home)

===================================

ok since i'm talking about Dubai, i'm going to represent a counter argument by giving an example of a trip to dubai, a FAILURE trip if i may say.

I went with my brothers to Dubai for 2 reasons:
- get myself new tires
- Get my bro's Audi TT from the garage it's getting fixed at.

I checked around 7 tires shops, they were either closed or didnt have the tires i wanted -__-
In the end, i found the tires at the dealer, but for a price that needs at least 2 months' salaries =)

my bro went to get his car and went into a huge storm of switching from place to place, everyone blaming the other and nobody knows what's its problem.
I call it: "The curious case of Ayz's TT" -__-

and throughout this Dubai trip, my shirt was stolen at Wild Wadi (who the hell steals a sweaty shirt??) and I lost my new Ray Ban shades that i got from my father =(

BAD trip indeed.

End of blog entry ...

My 1st lecture!

2009-05-31T06:06:00.000-07:00

I gave my 1st lecture :D

Date: May 6th, 10 am
students: CEO, COO, Marketing manager.
Subject: Simple interest, compound interest, and their calculations.

the lecture lasted for around 45 mins, and included:
- introduction to interest: definition and history.
- simple interest: definition and calculations.
- compound interest: definition and calculations.

I was nervous at the beginning, you know when you feel like: "SHITT! I cant remember all the slides! the presentation is not set well! is my zipper open??!! (oh wait im wearing a dishdasha)

but as soon as i started talking, everything was going as planned ;)

the above post is not that interesting, what was important to me is the feedback i got from the students :P

since it's I-M-P-O-S-S-I-B-L-E for the CEO to compliment me in my face, he just said: well done Amarant, good lecture"

BUT (and it's A BIG HUGE BUT, kinda like the kung fu panda butt)

Oops, BACK TO TOPIC:

our marketing manager came to me after the lecture and told me what the CEO told her after the lecture, and here it is:

" I was surprised, the lecture was really good and Amarant went way above my expectations. He is smart (mashallah) and he knows what he's doing, I cant wait for his next lecture"

it was a nice start of the coming weekend =D

end of blog entry.

I Really don’t understand Mexicans.

2009-05-19T05:58:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009: Officially the worst day I ever had at work (yet).

A day before, the CEO asked me for some numbers to be submitted, and I did my analysis, calculations, got him the numbers, and I also gave him the formula on how to get the numbers next time.
This was his reply: Great job Amarant! More than what I expected, and the numbers now explain the analysis ;)

His words lifted me up a little.

The next day (May 5th):
CEO calls me to his office, and gave me the longest, rudest lecture I have ever got during my working life!

It seems he was upset for some reason, because whatever he was saying, was not making sense at all (he does that when he’s upset).

- He mentioned the days that I didn’t stay late in the office (which are few), and forgot how many weekends/extra hours I have spent in the office.

- He used one example of me not doing my work, and forgot, that SINGLE analysis was not done because they forgot to bring me the data I had to work on (even though I told him it was not my mistake, laken la 7ayat lee man tunadi) he was not listening.

- He read an email I sent him 4 times asking me to find my mistake, and in that 3 pages email, my ONLY mistake is that I wrote “we should” instead of “should we”! WTH?? (Even though I got positive responses from the directors in Dubai).

I can’t really write all what he said, but here are 2 quotes from his lecture:

“If any employee gets laid off from this company, I want YOU to feel guilty, because you should!”

“Please, never again tell me that you were sick, because here’s something you should know, I DON’T CARE! I want work done whenever I want to!”

I don’t know if he did what he did to motivate me, but it was wrong, rude, inappropriate, and defiantly had the opposite effect. I couldn’t work for the next couple of hours as I was completely in a shock, felt so demotivated and not in a mood to work at all. The rest of my day was crappy because I was still affected by what happened and couldn’t take my mind off it.

Anyway, don’t want to bore you all with the details of that horrible day, but Alhamdulilah things were better later on.

End of Blog Entry.

THE new office

2009-04-29T04:35:00.000-07:00

Finally!

we've been hearing about this office for god knows how long.

Here are the Advantages and disadvantages of the new office:

ADVANTAGES:
- I GOT MY OWN OFFICE! with a nice desk, cupboard, and my OWN A/C.
- Better Location.
- Better view.
- It has the office feel (not working in a villa anymore)
- Moooooore cars parking.
- 1 floor less than the old office =P

DISADVANTAGES:
- Less Rooms and less toilets (aham shay el toilets).
- The parking is not shaded.
- Smaller kitchen (no more birthday parties).
- It has the office feel (yes this is an advantage and a disadvantage).
- Still no wireless internet connection.
- No "afternoon-nap" room.

I will start bringing my camera to take pictures of cars crossing the red light xD

Is it the Evil eye??

2009-04-19T03:12:00.001-07:00

Yes i do believe in 7asad (the Envy/Evil eye) but i'm not the kind that would relate anything bad happening to me to the envy eye. (Some people do)

here is what happened to me in the past 2 weeks: I got pretty good comments on my baby Roxy couple of times in those 2 weeks.

but what happened right after these comments? here it goes:
1. I hit another car's rim slightly, which resulted in a small dent in my front bumper =(

2. For some reason, my car started hitting every road bump i go over (and I'm sure it's not the lowering springs since my car was going through those bumps smoothly a month ago. Something is wrong under the car)

3. I hit a small side walk and my rear left rim got a scratch.

4. friday morning, the construction workers on our house roof spilled some LIQUID CEMENT on my Roxy!!!!!! WTH??!!!! :@ :@

I cant believe all of that happened in such a short period, I'm sooo pissed off right now, will take Roxy to get poilished tomorrow, then dropping her at the service center to check what's wrong under.

Is it the Envy eye? maybe yes, maybe no, but i hate all of this ...

End of Blog Entry.

Product Review: Sony Ericsson G900

2009-04-06T00:03:00.000-07:00

I got this phone when i started working, for business purposes.

I needed something a little bit more sophisticated than normal phones and a little bit less complicated than an I-mate or a Nokia communicator.

I got it when it was first launched for 215 Rials ($560) and it was a really good price as other places asked for at least 10-15 rials more. (and i got a free 1 GB Card for free)

I got the phone, and really really liked it, it was better than what I expected.

easy to use, very elegant, all applications are a touch away.

here are the pros/cons:

PROS:
- MANY shortcuts.

- Comes with a nice hands-free set. (i love the fact that if you press "answer" in the phone, you use the phone speaker, and if you press answer in the headset, you use the headset)

- easy to use.

- Track ID is so awesome!

- sleek design and light-weight.

- Loving the idea that you can choose between using the buttons and the touchscreen for almost everything.

CONS:
- Not for people who dont like touchscreen phones xD

- the MMS takes a long time and sometimes get stuck.

- Arabic handwriting-recognition is AWEFUL, and something is wrong with the arabic language, i cant type arabic words unless i use the hand recognition.

- BAD resale value. (SE + touchscreen = bad). -__-

the phone had a strange problem, where it would suddenly stop recieving messages and phone calls (and the problem is, sometimes you get the message, but it doesnt give you ANY sign or notification that you got a new message)

and because it's the phone i use for work, i couldnt tolerate this problem and had to sell it eventually =(

End of blog entry...

Devilish Me

2009-03-31T00:10:00.000-07:00

I found out a side of me i never knew it existed.

Yesterday at work something really bad happened and pissed me off BIG TIME.

I was not angry at anybody, I was just angry at the whole situation.

I left work, went home really pissed, and i was so close to get into 2 accidents on the way...

I did stuff I never knew i would ever do (that includes yelling at people who has nothing to do with work,hit a tree so hard and so many time i let my hands bleed, and walking for around 5 km with no idea where i'm heading).

a simple way of explaining it is: I became someone else that i dont know, and couldnt control ...

the "Devilish me" if I may say...

i got a call from one of the guys at work explaining stuff to me and promising me that things will get fixed tomorrow.

now this is the normal me talking, Devilish me doesnt even know how to blog =p

-----

the Lyrics of this AMAZING song by 3 days grace: "Animal i have become" are PERFECT to talk about me yesterday ;)

I can't escape this hell
So many times i've tried
But i'm still caged inside
Somebody get me through this nightmare
I can't control myself

So what if you can see the dark inside of me
No one will ever change this animal I have become
Help me believe it's not the real me
Somebody help me tame this animal

I can't escape myself
So many times i've lied
But there's still rage inside
Somebody get me through this nightmare
I can't control myself

Somebody wake me from this nightmare
I can't escape this hell...

End of Blog Entry...

we got Tiesto-ed !

2009-03-29T00:00:00.000-07:00

i've been trying to attend a concert by a great DJ for a long time, but there's always something that stops me: work, short-notice, or special family occassions...

this time i did it!

i tagged along with Mike and his friends to attend Tiesto's Concert in Dubai, March 13th, 2009 =D

- left in the morning, arrived at around 1 PM, we went for a cruise till the hotel check in finishes.

- we had our nap (we needed it to attend a 6 hrs concert =P)

- lunch at Emarates mall, and then we went straight to Festival city, where the concert it.

- we arrived early, and got there beform the warm up starts (by DJ fredlux).

- I cant remember when was the last time i enjoyed my time THAT much!!! the music was amazing, the beats were great, and Tiesto didnt even start!

- at 12 am, Tiesto entered the stage!! wohooooo people couldnt stop screaming his name and dancing at the same time xD

- The opening song was by Rank 1, which we all LOVED (mike downloaded it later).

- my favorite during the concert were: Dance 4 life, Traffic, Elements of life, he's a pirate, and off course Just Be (where all the crowd started singing with it) =D

- one-hell of an experience!!!

- Concert ended at 3.30, we had dinner at BK, went to the hotel, and slept at 4.30 am.

- i woke up at 7, got ready, picked my family and went straight to muscat, Work -__-

End of blog entry...

Weekend in Sohar

2009-03-25T05:08:00.000-07:00

Thanks Ayz For arranging the Trip =D

having an extra day off 2 weeks ago, My Brother booked us 3 rooms in Crowne Plaza hotel, Sohar.

I like these trips we have with our cousins when there are only guys, and we make our own schedual and activities plan ;)

The hotel is really nice, it's new and have many facilities.

most of the time we were in the swimming pool and at the ping pong tables :P

bowling, softball and Sona were also nice to experience ;)

the only problem was that the hotel is isolated from the city, we have to drive around 40 km just to be in the center of Sohar.

it was an unforgetable, enjoyable weekend ;)

here are some pics taken there:

End of blog entry . . .

My Silver Jubilee

2009-03-16T04:17:00.000-07:00

This post is kind of late :P

I completed 25 years of my life last tuesday (wow i feel old), and it was a really nice experience.

here how it went:

- 2 days before my actual birthday, i started getting birthday wishes from some of my friends(thank you facebook -__-).

- on the night before my birthday, ppl were giving me wishes throughout facebook, MSN, and a thread was opened on ES (thanks MissKindy!) :D

- some of my friends called me at EXACTLY at 12 am (that's so sweet, they didnt sleep till they wished me a happy birthday) =D

- got few texts from my friends/cousins.

- I had a nice lunch with one of my friends (which wasnt about my birthday but he just got lucky xD)

- after lunch, i went back to work, and found out that the employees organized a SURPRISE BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!!! :O
that was shocking, everyone was there, even the CEO.
and the cake was SO YUMMY (Thanks Maryam).

- I left work, went home, and there i had another birthday cake made by my friend.
I shared the cake with my brothers and cousins, and it was REALLY REALLY great (Thanks kaza) =D

- i had dinner with my brothers and cousins in b+f in Bareeq Al Shatti.
and my bro told them it was my birthday, so the staff brought some chocolate pudding with vanilla ice cream, and sang "happy birthday" for me, GOD it was embaressing as everyone was looking at me -__-.

- i had a nice BOSS wallet and key chain from my Friend =D

and that's it, went to sleep early as i was going to Sohar the next day.

- my parents wished me a happy birthday 4 days later -__-

here are some "cropped" pics from the party at work :P

end of blog entry...

Eat, Sleep and Jeep

2009-03-07T23:35:00.000-08:00

lol i see that quote written on many Jeeps.

So here it goes:

My 2 cousins bought 2 wrangles last week, and everyone is so excited about that cuz now we have off-road cars on call whenever we need them :P

so last Thursday their Jeeps were put to the test for the 1st time.

and the result was amaaazing, it's really nice to see how easy those 2 Jeeps climb up the sand dunes, like it's a walk in the park.

sweeeeeet!

the Sahara Edition also has nice features inside, navigation/DVD screen, USB reader, AUX port, and a 20GB hard disk to put songs in.

and the soft top is a nice feature as well ;)

Mabroooooookeeeen Cousins, allah ya36eekum el 5air oo yekfeekum el sharr =D

here are some pics i took:

End of Blog Entry...

1 Down, 3 to go!

2009-03-01T02:40:00.000-08:00

My older brother had his wedding yesterday! =D

ohhhhh after a hectic month, finally the ceremony came, and it was nice! =D

i never felt how big this thing is, till I entered the hall with my bro, the feeling was priceless!! (and it wasnt even my wedding xD)

we walked and the guests gave us a path and started clapping (sometimes it's nice to be the center of attention)

and i couldnt stop smiling cuz in that place at that time, all the family was happy.
i cant remember when was the last time I saw my grani that happy =D

the photographer took like a thousand pics of us, then we had a small meal before heading home.

Congratulations Bro! el 3aroos lel 3arees oo el baqi lel mata3ees (aka us xD)

(oh and Congrats Mike for having your own room now :P)

(everyone was shouting at me: ur next Amarant!!) =$

1 out of the 4 of us got married, 3 more to go ;)

End of blog entry

My photos (part 1)

2009-02-23T10:55:00.001-08:00

new series in my Blog =D

will post pictures i took every now and then, they can be pictures of anything xD

here is part 1, some pics I took at the car show happened few months ago:

Roxy Goes alllll Black & White

2009-02-22T09:17:00.000-08:00

I know I know,

I know I said I'm going to have a small break from Modifying my Baby Roxy.

But I didn’t plan for this step, the circumstances (refer to this blog entry) gave me and my bro an idea of what we can do for Roxy next.

I'm going to follow a Black/White theme with Roxy.

So right now, Roxy has these colors on her: White, Black, Silver, Chrome and Red.

I decided to take the Silver and Chrome out (since I still want my taillights to look clean)

Here is what I wanted the Garage paint specialist to do for me:
- Fix & paint the front bumper (since it was damaged).
- Paint the Rims in Gloss black color.
- Paint the rear Spoiler in Gloss black.
- Paint the front kidney grill in Matt black.

It took the Garage around a week to finish up the job, and I LOVED it =D

Here are pics of Roxy AFTER the paint job:

End of Blog Entry...

Product Review: Nokia N95

2009-02-21T12:02:00.000-08:00

so i have this idea of starting a series of reviews of products that i have tested, or even better, owned...

i wont waste time talking about all the features this phone has, just the general, simple ones which i used:

- 5 mpix camera.

- stereo speakers.

- 1 GB card included (i switched to 2).

- Wi-Fi.

- DVD Quality video recording.

now here's what i think of the phone:

B-R-I-L-L-I-A-N-T !!!!

- it's so practical, long lasting, easy to use, and pro phone.

- i had to format it once, because it had software problems.

- it fell from me around 4 times.

- it ate dust when i had it in my pocket while riding an ATV bike.

- i used the camera so many times in so many places, and it is a nice camera.

I have owned many phones, but this was the 1st to complete a full year with me (actually 18 months so far).

End of blog entry...

BMW Nizwa Drive

2009-02-21T05:17:00.000-08:00

ANOTHER car event!!!!

this event was to celebrate a whole year since oman bimmer club was launched.

we met next to Burj Al Sahwa.

left to Nizwa in 5 teams:
team 1: BMWs lead by Omran Al Muqbali
team 2: classic bikes
team 3: BMWs lead by Amarant Coral
team 4: Super bikes
Team 5: BMWs lead by (dont remember xD)

I really liked my team, consists of cars that i really like:
- My baby Roxy (alpine White)
- E82 135i (Crimson Red)
- E92 335i (Electric red)
- E46 M3 (pheonix yellow)
- 2 nicely modefied E39 540i (Dark Blue)
- 1 nicely modefied E36 325i (Dark Blue)

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

in this event, the number of cameras used exceeded the number of members xD

everyone was taking pictures, and the photography effort by our Captain and Mr.Salim Al Wardi were much more then any other event (including rolling shots, shots from the bridge, videos, etc)

we arrived at Nizwa, after stopping in Izki.

Nizwa members were so kind to invite us to have lunch in the Sabla in Wadi al Ain, Mandiiiiiiiiiii :P

after lunch, Uncle Saif had the honor to cut the cake,and we all ate .

we arranged ourselves, and head to Nizwa Suq, to take group pics there.

we left Nizwa at around 5 pm.

the drive was nice, and we couldnt stop chatting about everything! xD

Here are some pics from the Event (taken by Salim Al Wardi)

End of blog entry

Graduation and the rehersals

2009-02-15T02:15:00.000-08:00

Our Graduation took place last November.

So 6 months after we graduated from SQU, it's time for the graduation ceremony!!!!

now im sure anyone who has been to SQU, realize that it's more of a military place, the an academic place xD

there were all these rules on how to look in the ceremony, the timing, the rehersals (you wont be allowed to enter the ceremony if you havent done the rehersals)

the rehersal was nice, very informal, and we got a nice dinner meal after it was done (lucky us CCE guys, we were the 1st collage so we were the 1st to attack the food) =p

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

now time for the big deal, the ACTUAL GRADUATION.

i got there at around 3.30, took my pics.

was at the stage at around 4 (they told us we MUST be there at 4, or we would not enter)

**what disappointed me the most, is that i didnt give any of my relatives/friends tickets to come, since i didnt want them to stay for 4.5 hrs there, and later i found out that some visitors entered the place at around 6.15!!) that really pissed me off...**

other than that, it was an amazing day, meeting my friends, joking around, getting the certificate =D

time for me to stop being a consumption machine, and start producing ;)

wish everyone all the best with thier studies...

end of blog entry...

A Race to remember

2009-02-09T06:57:00.000-08:00

Date: 2 weeks ago
Time: around 9 pm
Place: Share3 al shabab
Event: Stage II GTI VS. Stock EVO X

VS.

for the people following my blog, you all know that my bro went to Dubai to get the REVO software for his car: (mentioned here)

around 2 weeks ago, a guy with a new EVO X wanted to measure the difference in acceleration between his car and a stage II GTI, and he arranged the race with my bro.

Here are the specs of the 2 cars:

- EVO X: 2.0L Turbo, I4, 295 hp, All-Wheels drive.
- GTI stage II: 2.0L, Turbo, I4, ~285 hp, Front-wheels drive.

Race starting from 60 km/h

Honk, Honk, Honk

and GO !!!!!!!

the 2 cars were neck to neck at the beginning, but the GTI pulls away slowly,,,,,, by the end of the race, the GTI had the EVO by a small distance!

GTI FTW !!!!!! The Turbo Bunny Had some Rice and Sushi for dinner!

i never thought the GTI would win, but i'm glad i was proven wrong =D

this race will be remembered, when few modifications on a normal sport car has beaten a built-up race car, that costs double the price ;)

End of blog entry...

Envy?? Hatered?? or some people just like being a**holes??

2009-01-30T22:50:00.000-08:00

this happened around 3 weeks ago.

i parked my car in front of our house coming from work, and entered the house.

around 2 hours later, my bro comes rushing in asking:" Amarant!!!! What happened to your plate number???!!!!"

and I was: huh??? What?? :S

i went out, and this is what i saw:

Some A**hole took off my number plate, and threw it in front of the car!!!! WTH??!!!!!

now i wanted to believe that the number plate fell by itself, but i'm sure it didnt, for these reasons:
- Whenever I park my car, I ALWAYS check it, have a last look at it before walking away, and the number plate was there when i left it this time.

- The screws in the number plate were tilted, which shows that there was some force trying to take off the number plate, which tilted the screws during the process.

- There were few scratches and big holes in the front bumper, which resulted from the number plate being moved left and right, in order to take it off...

I tried hard to figure out what could be the reason for someone to do such thing,,,, but i really couldnt find out...

ma aqool ella: la illah ella allah, mohammad rasool allah, wa la 7awl wala qowwa ella be allah.

anyway, looking at the damage with my bro, we figured out what would be the next mod for Roxy ;)

End of blog entry

Tagged!

2009-01-24T03:10:00.000-08:00

I was tagged by Mr.French

1. List down 5 things people probably didn't know about you
2. Tag at least three people

hmmmm, ok those 5 things i'm going to mention are random, and they are just what i came up with just now.

- I was considering other cars before getting my baby bimmer (because i never thought my dad would buy it for me), and Roxy is my 4th car.

- I have faced A LOT of hard times in my life, but i always hide it under my funny charectar.

- My dad was my role model in life, but not anymore.

- I spent 7 years in the university instead of 5. i took so long for academic/health/laziness/carelessness reasons.

- I NEVER cheated in any test in school, but i did that 2 times in SQU: one in C++ programming course, and the other was in Oman history and civilization (EAT THAT Dr.Al Ghilani!!!) :P

i tag those (unless they have already been tagged):
- Faith
- Ayna
- G-chan
- Amjad

VW Drive to Seefah:

2009-01-14T00:35:00.000-08:00

after the incident with the police early in the morning, we went to enjoy our time with the VW guys.

everyone was disappointed that Mike didnt bring his Turbo bunny, since everyone wanted to see the 1st Stage 2 GTI in Oman.

the Drive was really nice, the road was beautiful, and i tried to be creative with pics =p

the weather wasnt bad, but it was sooooooo sunny and no shade whatsoever, so we got some sun burns here n there =p.

had a photoshoot, then drove back home (passed by matrah on our way back).

end of blog entry.

Japingo CURSED!!!

2009-01-14T00:26:00.000-08:00

This happened to me and my cuzns on our first day of Eid.

we picked Japingo to have dinner there, and it was really CROWDED.

we were waiting for our table(s) to be set,,,,

the employess were moving the tables and CRAAAAACK!!!!!! the glass on one table broke into shadders !!!
that was weird!!!

There were girls who came few minutes after us, and they were waiting for their tables to be set as well.
The employees were arranging their tables, and CRAAAAAACK!!! The glass on one table broke!!!! Exactly the same scenario!!!!

Us and the girls were sooooooooooo =/ and =O

The girls were seated at another table, thank god it didn’t break, and we were waiting.

The employees were arranging our tables and CRAAAAAAACK!!!!! The glass broke!!!!
WHAT ………………. THE ……………………. HELL !!!!!!!!!

3 times!!!! There must be some sort of curse here!!! We were all speechless!

After around an hour later, they were able to arrange 2 tables for us without breaking them.

It was an enjoyable dinner, even though everyone was scared the table might break any second xD

End of blog entry

New Generation 3-series (E90 replacement)

2009-01-12T01:13:00.000-08:00

i knew this day was gonna come.

Here's BMW Strategy with intruducing new models:
Year 0: new model is introduced.
Year 4: the facelift Hits the market.
Year 7: replace the current model with a new one.

(during these 7 years, few slight changes accure)

The E90 was introduced in late 2005, and got its facelift this year (2009), Which means that it will be changed completely in late 2012.

But the spy shots are already hitting the web =(

is it possible that they want to change it in 2011, or even 2010 ?!!!!!

i was ok with the facelift, since the changes are minor, bas when the new models comes out, Roxy will feel soo old =(

let me just wait and see....

End of Blog entry

Horrible start of a nice day:

2009-01-05T22:12:00.000-08:00

me and Mike were on our way to meet the VW club guys for our Friday event.

somehow we saw 2 police ladies kinda stalking us, in their brand new Mercedes S-class...

they stopped us, asked my bro for his license + registration.

now i heard lots of people talking about how rude those ladies are, but never witnessed it myself.

GOD!!! they are worse than what i expected.

la 6areeqa wala i7teram, wala osloob.

she was asking my bro questions, and before he answers, she would ask another, and another, and another, in an offensive way. She also accused him of speeding and risking the life of others on the road. WTF?? the road was EMPTY and we were driving at a speed of 80 km/h !!!! (cuz we didnt want to catch up with them).

they left us in the police cars yard, the car was to stay the night there, and for what?? for having a black hood (cuz it causes threat to people's safety on the road)

what kind of system is this? and what kind of police force is this??!!!

we had to call our brother (who was in bed with bad flu) EARLY in the morning to come pick us up.

End of blog entry.

a Credit must be Given

2009-01-05T21:33:00.000-08:00

To Mr.Salim Al Wardi, Who was with the BMW Club in 3 Events, a great photographer...

i posted some of my pics during the Drive+dinner event in the last entry,,,, but here are some from his side, HDR Shots (the effect is kinda overdone,but they still look great)

enjoy...

BMW Drive + Dinner

2009-01-04T21:03:00.000-08:00

FINALLY

after a loooooooong wait, Oman Bimmers Club are having an event!

this time it's gonna be:
- meeting at al maha petrol station, next to The Wave
- Drive in the cost road
- Dinner near the beach, by the cost.

the event had a new face, the amazing photographer: Salim Al Wardi.

and we also had the participation of the super bikes team, was a nice add to the event.

i took few pics on my own, but not as pro as Mr.Salim.

here are few pics:

End of Blog Entry...

Save Gaza

2008-12-29T21:30:00.000-08:00

it's really horrible and sad. What happened in Ghaza 2 days ago.

i wish i can express my feelings in words, but i cant.

i have all those deep feelings of sarrow, seeing all these innocent people dead.

Allah be with them, and may he take revenge from the Evil.

Going to leave you with the design below (not by me), please spread it around.

Eid Mubarak =D

2008-12-24T00:17:00.000-08:00

Damn im late!!!!

kil 3am oo el jamee3 b5air, Eid Mubarak to all =D

i've been speaking to many of my friends before Eid, and to most of them, it's boring or it's good as few days off xD

Eid spirit has dropped over the years, but im glad my family still keep the same tridtions from the old days, Eid is still the "Day of the year" to us =D

we spend the 1st day at our Grani house, and people visit us, then we have lunch.

at night it's Cuzn's night out, this is when 12+ of us gather and decide to have dinner at some place (which is difficult always, hard to find a table for 12 guys xD)

2nd day is picnic/BBQ day, we pick a place to have our lunch with our families, sometimes it's my Uncle's farm, and sometimes it's in a mountain/valley.

3rd Day is Nizwa Day!! or more likely, Shwa Day!!! we all LOVE the lunch made in Nizwa, that's the main reason to go there, we usually visit relatives, have lunch, go to the Suq, then head Back to Muscat.

That's our usuall Eid schedual, we've been doing the same thing for more than 15 yrs now =)

(BTW, the images displayed show: 3rd day, 2nd, and finally 1st xD)

end of blog entry

BACK!!

2008-12-24T00:14:00.000-08:00

back!!!

was away for a while, i usually stay kinda away from the net during Eid..

I’ll be showering my blog with sooooooo many entries in the next few days, just sit, wait, and you will witness!!!!

end of blog entry...

Busy bee

2008-12-02T10:57:00.000-08:00

so the last week of work before graduation was a REALLY busy week.

i got a call from the company's CEO on friday night, telling me that an urgent Project analysis must be done, like, NOW!!!

i didnt mind, these are the stuff that i can do since im still not married and not comitted to anything...

so i went to the office, at 9 pm, friday night, and started working....

i got a little bit tired, so went home, to complete the work,..

and imagine this, i slep on my laptop xD

i woke up at fajr, saw 2 miss calls from the CEO.

i sent him a msg with the updates, ate a light meal before athan el fajr (was gonna fast), had a shower, then went to the office to finish up my work ;)

the analysis was needed at 11 am, and alhamdulilah i finished it at 10 am ;)

at 5.30 pm, i was having my Iftar in the company's kitchen, and the CEO walks in, this convo took place:

- CEO: Amarant!!! where have you been? i've been searching for you all over the place!
- Me: im fasting, and maghrib athan will start in few mins.
- CEO: oh ok, i just wanted to come and say: Congratulations! (taps me in the back), you have done a world-class work yesterday and today!!! keep it up!
- Thank you Sir ;)

all that hard work n not sleeping well and taking time from my weekend, were worth those few recognition words ;)

end of blog entry ....

Last mod, need a break.

2008-11-13T22:04:00.000-08:00

for the past couple of months, i've been pampring my baby bimmer: Roxy.

i spent quite a good amount on her and she went into some serious changes.

I think it's time for a break, no more modifications, i want to enjoy the car with this looks for a while, till the "Mod bug" stings again ;)

last mod i've done, were my H&R TRAK+ wheels spacers, those are designed to push the rear wheels a little bit outside the body, to give the car a Wide/Mean look. (check the pic, the wheels are SLIGHTLY out of the body).

it might not be noticeble to most people, but it is to me, my cousins, and friends.

i must say: my 2 favorite letters for the last couple of months were: H&R.

Thanks to:
- Redline motor works
- UPS
- ARAMEX

and special thanks to my bro: Mike, for ordering the spacers.

Time for a photoshoot!!!

End of blog Entry...

the Devil holds a remote

2008-11-03T03:51:00.000-08:00

Story happened few days ago.

My Young sis praciticed her favorite hobby: Spilling stuff.

she spilled some juice on the table, remote controller, and on the floor.

we tried to minimize the damage as much as we could, and we dried everyhing out.

few moments later, the remote started working on its own!!!!

and guess what?? the remote was pressing the number "6" frequently!

it kept changing channels between: 6, 66 and 666 :-

No other button would work, and we cant stop the 6 from being "pressed by Satan"

ok so this is silly, it's just some spilled juice that messed up the electrical circuit.

but if i were in a superstecious Family, we would've probably burnt the remote =)

Enemies as partners

2008-11-02T13:13:00.000-08:00

this also car material, but interesting and understandable to everyone =P

Sooooooooooooo all the news these days are about Big Mergers, aquisitions, joint ventures between Auto Giants...

im not very updated with these news as i look at the cars more than the corporations...

but it's really interesting, how can the biggest enemies, be partners,,,, business world is such a tough world that forces long-time Rivals to be friends (or let's keep it as partners)

- GM and Chrysler!!! what a shock, i've never seen a single car released from one of these 2 companies, that didnt have a competitor from the other, now there are some Rumors that they might work together.

- BMW and Mercedes: now this shocked me even more!!! Being a BMW fan, never thought that they would think of partnering with Mercedes!!!

When the Rumor was 1st out, everyone expected BMW to use Mercedes's big V12 engines, and Mercedes to use BMW's mini engines....
But the 1st sign was kinda different, BMW is gonna give Mercedes it's newly Devloped V12 to use (for which car? i dont know)

i must say that this time is business time, and you have to do what you need to do to survive.

bottom line: i still think each car will have its own charecter, even if it uses engine, base, transmission from another company...
That's why i care about the cars, not the corporations ;)

End of Blog entry

The beast Unleashed!!!! (cars freaks stuff)

2008-11-02T13:05:00.000-08:00

Me and My bro went to Dubai last week for 2 reasons:
- Gitex (total dissapointment, wont talk about it)

- Upgrade my Bro's car into Stage 2, by T.A.M auto engineering (REVO dealers)

the T.bunny used to give around 12 psi in boost before the tune, now it gives around 22 psi!!!!

WHAT AN AMAZING POWER!!!

when he floores it, my head hits the headrest from the pull!!!

i like how he planned his project very well, he installed the downpipe and CAI first, then went straight to stage 2 (cool!)

car is getting better and better everyday...

Watch out for a candy white GTI on the streets!

Comedy at the office

2008-10-26T21:59:00.000-07:00

this happened yesterday, October 26th, 2008 at the office, it was more like a comedy series scene xD

Charecters:
- Me
- Kaza: co-worker
- Marry: co-worker
- Alya: co-worker
- Fiona: new secretary just joined (that everybody hates lol)

and,,,

ACTION!

we were gathering at Kaza's office, having some falafel sandwitches she brought from Birut restaurant (very yummy)

each one had his sandwitch, and Marry had an extra sandwitch not eaten.

Fiona walks in, and this convo happens:

- Fiona: heeeey guys, what are you having for lunch??

- Kaza: those are falafel sandwishes -__-

- Fiona: what's falafel??

- Kaza: ????? dunno what's it called in english. -__-

- Fiona: lemme see it,,,,,,,,,,,, oh that looks really nice, is the restaurant near by??

- Alya: nah it's kinda far, and traffic is too much.

- Fiona: ohhhh that's too bad, im really hungry and this looks nice (hint hint), then i guess im gonna have it tomorrow.

(everyone looks at each other)

- Marry: take this extra one, i dont need it.

- Fiona: naaaah i cant do that, it's your lunch.

- Kaza: no no take it, it's ok, Marry needs to loose weight anyway =p

- Fiona: nah it's ok i'll have something from subway.

- Kaza: nooooo take it take it, seriously it's ok, Marry had her 1st sandwich.

- Fiona: sure??

- Kaza+Marry+Alya: yaaaah sure, YOU HAVE TO TAKE IT!!! TAKE IT !!!

- Fiona: thaaanks guys i owe you wallah.

- Kaza+Marry+Alya: naaah it's nothing ^_^

(Fiona takes the sandwitch and leaves the room)

- Kaza: someone please kill Fiona!!!!

- Marry: yah seriously!!! I just cant stand her!!!

- Alya: thanks god! i thought she'd never leave!

- me: hahahaha wallah you guys are such hypocrites xD

lol i think i've seen this scene in "friends" or some other comedy show =p

End of blog entry....

Deja Vu

2008-10-22T16:22:00.000-07:00

inspired by C-chan's post...

this post includes:
- Deja Vu definition
- Deja Vu interpretations
- Deja Vu drama in our family

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

Definition:

Deja Vu is a well-known phenomena and in a simple way, it's the feeling that you have seen something before when you really havent.

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

Interpretations:

here are 2 interpretations of the phenomena:

- the Baby sees its whole life infront of it before it was born...

- there's a certain area in the brain that links past events to sight, so it tells you if you have seen this before.
sometimes that area miss-functions and tells you: you have seen this before, even though in Reality, you havent...

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

Drama:

for some wierd reason, my father and uncles dont believe in Deja Vu. They say that we "think" it's there cuz we watch too much movies...

i was surprised cuz i thought everyone experiences it.

they would make fun of us, the young people, for believing it.

anyway once, they asked: oh what's that thing you always have? Deja Vu ??
my Cuzn replied: yah it's something you foget about when you are older than 40 years old!

haha they werent very happy with that xD
-------------------------------------------------------------

End of blog entry ...

how far would you go ??

2008-10-19T01:43:00.000-07:00

an incident happened to me During my last year in SQU

it was a nice monday afternoon, and had to study for my Multinational Finance test.

when the sun came down, i started feeling sick...

couldnt study, couldnt even hold a book.

i though of sleeping early, waking up early n go to study, but i couldnt sleep.

then i accepted reality, im sick, im gonna go to the health center tomorrow, get my meds, and will be excused from the test.

at around 5 am, i started feeling better (too late) =O

and i was getting more sleepy by the minute, and what does that mean?? It means im gonna wake up feeling good, and so i cant go to the health center feeling good, i would be a liar,

after gathering my thoughts, i got a way out! it was crazy, might not work, but i got nothing more to loose.

I HAVE TO STAY AWAKE! if i dont sleep for around 36 hrs, i would be dead in the morning, sick.

so my plan was put to action: i need caffaine!!! this was the list of things i had:
- 2 cans of power Gold drink
- 1 can of redbull drink
- 2 coffee mugs
- 1 cappucino mug

did it work??
.
.
.

HELL YAH IT DID ! kept me :- till 9 am, i felt like thw rold is spinning, my stomach is making hurricanes inside.

went to the health center, got my meds, went home and slept

and had a make-up exam the next week.

it was crazy, but it worked
(i dont think im gonna do it ever again)

Doing good at work? or keep your friends?

2008-10-19T01:07:00.000-07:00

(names in Blog are changes to keep the privacy of the people involved)

Charecters:
- Me
- jack: CEO
- nick: My boss
- Ron: Vice president of operations
- Mike: CEO of financial services

the Drama happened in our company last week.

Nick is my boss, he taught me ALOT, had a big part in making me who i am now.
He went to the U.S to solve some family problems.

a Rumor was out saying he's not coming back, so i went to check with the CEO, Jack, and had this conversation:

- Me: sir when is Nick coming back?

- Jack: we will figure it out later, why asking?

- Me: cuz i need him.

- Jack: why need him?

- Me: cuz he's my teacher

- Jack: i can be your teacher.

- Jack: Amarant, i have been looking at your work and analysis, your doing a really good job, i dont think we need Nick anymore.

- Me: !!!!!!!!!!!!!! =O

- Me: Sir when we start to do big stuff, im gonna need him!

- Jack: Big stuff are just small stuff gathered, if you can handle small, you can handle big.

- Me: i still think we need Nick back

- Jack (pissed off): Do you know where i got my Finance degree?!

- Me: yes sir, Harvard

- Jack: you think i cant handle this?!

- Me: no i didnt say that.

- Jack: and your work is really good, so we can work this out, take Nick out of your mind.

(left his office)

----

Today: Ron came from Dubai, when he saw me he was really happy and said: "ohhhhhhhhh Amarant we heard alot about you, the company has given birth to an astonishing Financial Analyst!"

"Mike come meet Amarant, he's the one Jack was talking about, the future of the company's financial development!"

I did feel flattered, and it's good to be appreciated, by the top people of the company,

BUT,

I used the knowledge i got from Nick, to be this good, and this made Jack thinks we dont need him anymore.

me being good at my job made me loose my boss, my teacher, my friend.

is feeling guilty a normal thing??

08 (Ramadan) VW/Audi club meet in DXB

2008-09-29T16:33:00.000-07:00

for the 2nd year in a raw, we go to this meet in Dubai.

4 cars drove all the way from Muscat to Dubai:

- Abdallah's Turbo bunny GTI (Candy white)
- Hammam's Gol"D" GTI (Shadow blue)
- Mulham's R32 (Riflex Silver)
- Said's Carbon R32 (Laser blue)

was a nice trip, did some "Cars shopping", and met the guys from Dubai

and had a unique opportunity to check this car: 1st GT-R in the UAE, with Stigg (guy from top gear) helmet =P

(pic is coming soon)

Financial Iftar

2008-09-23T14:57:00.000-07:00

so finally i got to invite my Uni friends to have Iftar at our place.

attendance:
- Number: 15 persons.
- timing: from 5.55 pm till 6.20 pm (yah some came after Athan).
- Location: Our basement.

meals:
- Iftar: dates, Laban, malt soup, luqaimat with kairi cheese, ma9anef.
- Dinner: Qabooli Chicken, Macaroni with bashamelle.

Extras:
- Coffee and tea
- Juices
- Salad

the gathering ended at around 7.15 pm when the guys left to pray...

a memorable day, forst gathering with the guys since last month...

Kahlijis and thier "oil money"

2008-09-14T00:16:00.000-07:00

A post in Muggle's blog inspired me to post this, funny comments and silly ones, about the Western perception of us khalijis and our "money"

check this out:

My bro in UK, Leeds: (he always makes fun of these perceptions)
- a British guy asked my bro: is it true that behind each khaliji house there's an oil well ???
my bro answered: not true, we have an oil well behind our house, but Sulaiman (his friend) has 2 wells, since they live in a mountain ...

- he tells them that he didnt buy a ferrari, but a GMC, cuz it consumes much petrol (some believed him)

Car Forums:
- a race between an Audi R8 and a corvette Z06: a member commented: "that's what arabs do when we pay our money for thier oil"

- a Qatari guy was complaining that BMW prices are very high these days, an american guy responded: "what's wrong?? oil isnt paying you??"

- I posted a pic of my car in my uncle house, a guy commented: "ok so we've seen the BMW, where do you hide your ferraris and Lambos?? cuz it's hard to believe that a guy living in this house owns a normal 320i"

- I posted a pic of my car, with a minor accident, a guy commented: "no need to fix it, just buy another one and send me this one as a gift"

Random western comment:
- "is it true that Islam approved multi-marriages cuz it want its people to spend thier money on wives, which is better than playing around with it??"

Weekly Update

2008-09-13T23:35:00.000-07:00

Ok it's been a while since i posted here, let me see if there was anything interesting that happened in the past week.

- Cars: My bro installed AWE downpipe in his Turbo Bunny, sounds much meaner now, and the (naq3a) is louder, Thumbs up mike.

- Food: Ramadan with its many many meals, i had a nice chocolate cake for su7oor today.

- Work: was an "ok" week, finally did my presentation on wednesday, but the GM talked more than i did -_-

- Family: yesterday was a family gathering at home, was nice till an electric fuse "naqa3" and part of the house electricity went off.

- Life: my Gym subscribtion ended on 9/11, i tried to convince them i wasnt part of the attack on the WTC but they didnt believe me.

that's all Folks !

The turning from "Scarlet" to "Roxy"

2008-08-27T13:36:00.000-07:00

after my 320i (stock) evolved into Scarlet (spoiler, chrome grill, blackline)

she has grown up, this time to get more hot n mean so,

she got black roof/mirrors, and now she's lowered on H&R sport springs...

she evolved into "Roxy" here are before/after pics:

Check check!!

2008-08-27T13:16:00.000-07:00

check check

can you hear me??

ok cool.

Soooooooooooooooo I started a blog

wohoo! exciting!!

NOTTTT

but it will get exciting, soon enough