Turkey Randoms part I : Antalya

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)

(Click for larger view)

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




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Thailand randoms

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

Marriage Stories Chapter 4: Typical

Back to marriage stories!

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

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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.

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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)

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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

: 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

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

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.