White party at The Hyatt this weekend!

This weekend the Grand Hyatt in Muscat kicks off it's 15th birthday celebrations with a themed 'White Party' and it promises to be quite an event!


Below is the promotional invite from the Hyatt. Entry is FREE if you are dressed in white, other wise it's 5 rials. An "all you can drink" promotion is available for 25 rials, if you are feeling thirsty..

Now to find a nice white outfit that not every other girl in Muscat is wearing.... Easier said than done... Maybe a new outfit is required here :-D




The details of the press release are below for other upcoming Birthday events:

• Kick starting the celebrations is the Crystal White party at the Marjan terrace on Thursday, 23 May. A beverage package of OMR 25 per person is available for unlimited selected drinks. This event is not to be missed. Come dressed in white to celebrate this significant milestone.

• A lavish Beverly Hills Brunch will be held at Mokha Café on Friday, 24 May. Only on this day, the price of buffet only (without drinks) is OMR 15.000++ per person. OMR 35 net for brunch and unlimited selected beverages and OMR 49 for brunch and free flowing bubbly.

• On Monday, 27 May Muscat Jazz Club (aka Copacabana) will feature Las Vegas singer Miss Avis Ellis for a live concert of songs made famous by America’s greatest divas. Entrance is priced at OMR 10 standing and OMR 20 VIP including a welcome drink.

Check the hotel’s Facebook page to find out what promotions are on offer every single day between 23 and 30 May.

For reservations or more information, visit the events section on Facebook.com/GrandHyattMuscat, call +968 2464 1234 or email muscat.dining@hyatt.com. 

Sssshhhhhh! Secret Party in Muscat

Last weekend I had the fun experience of attending my very first ever secret party. How fun is that? I've never been much good at keeping secrets so maybe I'm not the best person for secret parties?

Myself and a group of friends all met up in the bar before hand, afterall we didn't have a clue what kind of a party we were attending. Strength in numbers and all that ;) All we had was an invitation via Whats App, we could have been walking into anything...


There was no charge to enter the event and the only rule was "Don't invite anyone that you would not like hanging out with, because we probably wouldn't like hanging out with them either". This sounds like my kind of party!

That was pretty much all we knew or all the information that we had been allowed to know.

All dressed up and ready to go party!

Members of the party had to sign in at the door using the computers provided, entrance bands secured round our wrists and then make our way through the solid wooden door. Who knew what was going to be on the other side?!

Shhhh secret party....

Unfortunately I can't tell you anymore about the secret party because then that would be telling, wouldn't it?!

The girls at the event

It was alot of fun, with lots of dancing and we are told that there are plenty more to come through the summer. What might be next? I don't know because it's a secret but I'm hoping for an email soon to explain more!

That might be the most exciting thing to happen this summer, the temperature is heating up and my activities are dwindling...Boooo! 

Indoor Climbing wall in Al Khuwair

A few weeks ago I attended a charity event located at the indoor climbing wall in Al Khuwair. Doing my bit for charity and taking my brother along for an indoor activity to get away from the heat sounded like a good idea.

The place is run by the "Muscat Diving and Adventure Center", you can check out their website here for their full range of activities and adventures.



I had a real struggle to find this place and there were no helpful searches online to guide me and conflicting phone numbers so hopefully this post will help a little if you try to find it for yourself.

This is what the place looks like from the outside, the crab on the sign doesn't exactly scream "indoor climbing wall".

Basically, If you know where the Badr al Sama hotel or the Radisson Blu hotel (with O'Malleys bar) is in Al Khuwair then your on the right road. There is a strip of fast food joints with Dunkin' Donuts, Baskin Robbins, Papa Johns - look to the left of these and set back from the road is the building you are looking for.

The building is set back from the road across a dusty car park

This is the contact information that I found online, not that it was much use when I was actually driving up and down the street looking for it.

Mail: Info@holiday-in-oman.com
Tel: 24 484 559 Al Kuwair




Once we finally found the place it was a surprisingly good set up indoors with knowledgeable staff and good equipment.

We tried our hands at abseiling..

Graham enjoying the climbing wall...

We also tried the bouldering room where you could climb over the walls and ceiling to test your ability and strength. Check out the instructor who could maneuver his way around like a spider..

I'm not sure if this place is aimed more at children than adults but this price list was on the wall, it seems pretty steep at 8 OMR (£13.70) per hour for children under 14.

So we had a fun couple of hours at the charity event for "The Children of Jebel Shams" and hopefully they raised enough money to make a difference to these children and helping to educate them.

A final picture of me and my brother, Graham. We are so cute :)

The wanderer returns to Muscat

Well Bloglets, I've had a busy couple of weeks galavanting and now thankfully I am back in Muscat and trying to get back into my usual routine. Don't ask me what my usual routine is, it mostly consists of being lazy but maybe I'll blog about the day in the life of a house wife another day.

My latest adventure took me back home to the shores of "home" in Bonnie Scotland. It was a somewhat spontaneous journey as I didn't even have any flights booked until a couple of days before I left, this is not in my nature at all - I just love to plan things! My reason for a trip home was to sort some things out with our house back in the UK which kept me busy for most of my trip there.



The weather treated me well and most days were dry with some sunshine. It was nice to get away from the intense heat of the Middle East for a couple of weeks.

Things in the house took up almost every day of my trip home but I managed to fit in some visiting where possible, sacrificing sleeping and resting but at least I managed to get some fun in along the way. I'm lucky to have helpful inlaws who had already completed some chores for me which made life that bit easier.

A visit to see my family ended in me and Graham taking his mini motorbike out for a spin. He has had this thing since he was about 14 and we were surprised that it even still worked!

The view of Bennachie from my parents home was a welcome sight for sore, traveled eyes. It was so nice to see green grass & fields again instead of sand and rock!

I got to see my Dad again as the last time we saw each other was August before I left as he was travelling out to Houston for work. He was one of many people I didn't manage to catch a picture which I regret, Linda your another one I forgot. We were too busy gossiping as usual I totally forgot!

My second other main reason for making the trip home was to see my beautiful new nephew, Max. On my last trip home in February I was lucky enough to attend Samantha's baby shower, she is my oldest friend so I couldn't miss it. I hadn't planned to be home again until August meaning that he would be 4 months old before I met him so I was over the moon to get to see him at 4 weeks old. Being so far away from your friend when she has her first baby is a tough thing and I wished I could have been with her.

Beautiful baby Max <3

Me and Kay managed to find a dinosaur in Aberdeen! And even have a fish & chip supper mmmmm, thanks Kay! :)

Abby and I managed to find the bottom of a bottle of Grey Goose! It was so nice to see her as I hadn't seen her since the week before I left home in August. It was just like old times and hopefully I will see her here in the not too distant future.

It was lovely to see my sister and her two twin boys, Ben and Adam. I took the boys for ice cream and some fun at the play park where me & Graham ended up hogging the slide.. Big kids!

Towards the end of the trip the weather changed with rain clouds and dark skies, this is the Scotland I remember! 

All in all it was a reasonably successful trip, I managed to get most of the things done that I set out to do and managed to fit in some visiting along the way.

Sadly time ran out too fast and I didn't manage to see everyone or spend enough quality time with the people that I wanted to due to conflicting schedules and people having to work when I was free.  Hopefully they will understand that it's not personal and I was sent home with a purpose, any free time I had was just a bonus. 

Now time to catch up on some sleep and acclimatize to the heat again..

My first trip to Dubai

When I tell people that I haven't been to Dubai before they are genuinely shocked. "But you only live 4 hours drive away", yes that is true but I have only been in Oman for 8 months and I have been busy exploring my new home before I go venturing to the Las Vegas of the Middle East.

Last week Colin had to go to Dubai for a couple of days for a work course and he knew better than to leave me and my sulky face at home so he bought me a plane ticket so I could tag along. It's not often we go on a trip together and yes he was going to work but still, I appreciated that I wasn't left behind.  Good husband points to him!


We flew from Muscat to Dubai with Oman Air, you can pick up a return flight from 27 OMR/40 GBP if you book far enough in advance. With flight time of around 50 minutes it's so easy just to hope on a plane and visit Dubai.


With Colin at work I managed to spend two days in the Dubai mall - holy cow that is some place!  I've never been anywhere like the Dubai Mall before, We don't have places like that in Scotland!! After hours of walking around I still hadn't seen it all. To navigate my way around I had to use one of the maps that they hand out and still I was having to stop at one of the 11 information points for directions! 

Me at the Aqurium in the Dubai Mall. Such a Geek!

There are so many shops in this one mall that even I was overwhelmed by the choice and didn't buy as much as I usually would - probably much to Colin's relief I didn't melt his credit card too much.

On the second evening we had a meal at the terrace of 'Meat & Co' where we sat under the Burj Khalifa and watched the famous water fountain shows. Colin enjoyed tucking into his 700g steak. Perfect location and a lovely time with nice people.

The view of the famous Burj Khalifa from our evening meal. It is currently the tallest man made structure in the world at 829.8 m (2,722 ft). It is pretty mind blowing to think how tall that actually is. The weather was cloudy and overcast for the two days so hopefully next time it will be clearer and I can take the time up to the viewing point for a better look over Dubai.

Clockwise from left: View of the Burj from the road, Desert in the Cheesecake factory, Sharks at the Aquarium inside the mall, 700g Steak from the Meat & Co.

Dubai is an amazing place to visit with so much to see and do but after two days of shopping and eating too much I was exhausted and ready to head home. It is a bit too hectic for me, I like my 'quiet' life in Muscat.

One thing I will miss about Dubai - The Cheesecake Factory! Oh my goodness I was in heaven :)

So I'm home for now and heading off on another adventure in the very near future. No rest for the wicked!

An amazing meal at Left Bank, Muscat

You should know by now that I like to share my experiences of living in Muscat and all the places I like to frequent. One of the places where I have been hanging out recently is Left Bank bar & restaurant.

Apart from it being one of only a few stand alone bars that serve alcohol without being attached to a hotel, it is a really nice place to go and hang out with friends in the evenings. With the choice of sitting indoors in the funky bar or outside on the relaxed terrace it is the kind of place where you find yourself spending more time than you had planned.



Usually at the weekend I go there for some drinks and a laugh with the girls but last Thursday night me and hubby went along for a slap up meal. That is something we are generally pretty awesome at  doing - eating!


I have previously mentioned Left Bank in a post back in December 2012 called "Happy Birthday to meeeee" where Colin claimed his steak at Left Bank was the best steak he had ever had in his life. It would be rude not to let him try it for a second time..

This is what we ordered-

Starters:

Me - Chilli crusted prawns

Hubby - Crispy Duck & Hoisin won tons

Mains:

Me - Lamb Shank with caramelised onions, gravy and truffle mash

Hubby - Fillet steak 8oz with fries and steamed vegetables

Dessert-

Hubby - Sticky toffee pudding

Not the best photo of my chilli prawns but take my word for it, they are very good!

As Colin ate his steak there was barely an audible word from him, just noises of appreciation. From him, that is a very good reaction. He confirmed that once again Left Bank really do they best steak in town!

My lamb shank and truffle mash potato was so amazingly delicious that I don't even know if I can find words good enough to describe it to you. The meat was so perfectly cooked it just fell off the bone and was so easy to eat. My main memories of lamb as a child is that it was tough and hard to chew (sorry Mum..) but this lamb shank was the complete opposite. I am drooling just thinking about it!

This Shank is the best lamb I have ever tasted! Mmmm!

For desert Colin followed his meal up with his all time favorite, sticky toffee pudding! As the waitress placed down two spoons next to one plate of pudding he shot me the "don't you dare try and taste this" look. By this point I was far too full to eat anymore so I let him enjoy desert on his own. He was a very happy boy and I resembled a beach ball. I need to learn portion control!

So Left Bank if you are reading this, Thank you & I'll be back soon ;)

Red Bull 'BC One' break dancing competition in Muscat

When Red Bull advertised for Oman's finest B-Boys to come forward and display their finest power moves it was always going to be an event filled with talent. The term "B-Boy" comes from "Break-Boy" and refers to what is most commonly known as a Break Dancer but don't call them that to their face ;) They are much cooler than that..

I won't pretend to know alot about B-Boy'ing as it is wayyyy more technical than I understand but even with my untrained eye I can see how talented and strong these guys are to bend and hold their bodies in unnatural positions. These guys have skills!

The event was held at the beautiful Bait Al Zubair museum in Muttrah. The location was fantastic with seating surrounding the stage & spectators even enjoying the eagle eye view from the above balconies.

Judge and B-Boy Lilou taking to the stage at the Bait Al Zubair museum

2012 Winner B-Boy Dark attempting to retain his title

After a wide selection of incredible performances with high-energy moves, fast footwork and cutting-edge styles by the best B-Boys in the country, 

Abdullah Suleiman Abdullah Al Rawahi, was crowned the winner of the sensational showdown.

The self-taught Omani B-Boy, also known as B-Boy Engine, is now preparing to represent the Sultanate in the regional qualifier in Egypt later this year, in the hope of breaking into the Red Bull BC One World Final, which will be held in Seoul Korea. 

B-Boying for the past 12 years on the streets of Oman, B-Boy Engine is self-taught and says he enjoys the feeling he get performing on stage and feeling the energy of the crowd.

Practicing every day, he has developed a good flow with a mixed style combining a variety of maneuvers and tricks including slides and intricate footwork.

B-Boy Junior, look at the strength in that pose!

One of my favourites, B-Boy Kilwa working the crowd

The Oman qualifier was the first of 14 Middle Eastern & African stops in preparation for the Regional Finals.

Good luck to Oman's B-Boy Engine at the regional qualifier in Egypt later this year and hopefully beyond that!