Life in Oman

194 posts and 6 days to go

2011-07-14T17:43:00.003+04:00

We have 6 more days in Oman before we left this wonderful country. The packers have been busy and doing a great job.

I've made 194 posts in this blog and will hopefully closed it with 200th posts.

Number 8 - one year delayed

2011-05-29T22:39:00.002+04:00

This should be posted on 1st Oct 2009. The only reason it is posted now is just to complete the previous post titled "number 7". This can go on until "number 11" but we have decided to shorten it to "number 9".

Number 7

2009-10-01T08:46:00.002+04:00

Parc de la Tete Dór - Lyon

2009-07-27T09:52:00.003+04:00

Full day outing in the park.

Summer 2009 - Europe 1

2009-07-26T11:56:00.003+04:00

We arrived in France on 22nd July for our summer vacation. We took delivery of the rental car in the CDG airport, it was a brand new merc B class. It took almost one hour to arrange the luggage in the car, at the end all fit wells.

The car is with automatic transmission and with GPS, driving is fun.

We made a couple of stop in the parking and service area along the road before we reach Lyon. Price of stuffs in these service area is at a premium; a small bottle of soft drinks is 12x the price in Oman.

View from one of the parking area.

Chili's in Muscat City Centre

2009-07-14T23:16:00.002+04:00

One of our favorite restaurant in Muscat.

Half portion Ribs with Fries

Grilled Salmon with Rice

Fresh strawberry with lemonade

More gears!

2009-07-10T09:17:00.003+04:00

Somehow before any vacations, I had to spend more on my photography gear. This time i bought 2 lens & GPS geotagging device.

During this coming summer vacation, we are planning to do a bit of traveling; so i bought a geotag device - Gisteq PhotoTrackr Lite. I've been experimenting using my Garmin and Nokia E71 for geotagging my photo but the process was time consuming. Maybe i'll do a post on this item later.

I've sold my EF-S 10 - 22 because i'm using 5D Mark II more often than the 30D, the choice for wide angle is between the 17 - 40 f/4 L or 16 - 35 f/2.8 L. Based on my expected usage, I've bought the 17 - 40. Actually the main factor was the price; it was almost half of the 16 - 35!

Photo at 17 mm

Rather than saving the difference on the price of the 1st lens, i spend it on a 50 mm prime. I've tried the 50 mm 1.2L and the 1.8 version and decided to get the 1.4 version.

Some photos taken in low light.

Our Egypt Vacation - Day 7 & 8 - Cairo

2009-06-22T14:25:00.003+04:00

On day 7, we were back in Cairo; visiting the Cairo Museum, where the high light were the King Tutankhamun treasures and the Mummies. No camera was allowed inside the museum although there were plenty of handphone camera.

We also did a quick walk about in Coptic Cairo before visiting Al Azhar Mosque and Khan Al Khalili.

Somehow the kids knew that we'll be flying on the next day and posing with the arms out!

Our Egypt Vacation - Day 6 - Karnak & Luxor Temple

2009-06-19T08:42:00.002+04:00

It was after mid-day that we checked out from the cruise boat. The kids were groaning when they heard about the next 2 places to be visited - more temples. They gladly stayed back in the van while we did a quick tour around the Karnak Temple.

After lunch, we visited the Luxor Temple. This time, the children agreed to walk around the temple and as usual it's all running around, finding secret door and some hip hop or is it kung fu dancing.

Our Egypt Vacation - Day 6 - Hot Air Ballon

2009-06-12T07:20:00.002+04:00

Day 6 started very early for everybody,it was for a hot air ballon trip. We were on the 2nd flight and our departure point depended on where the 1st flight landed. The weather was good and there was enough visibility to see the far away area.

The flight took approximately 45 minutes and we flew over the city and landed closed to a housing area. We drove back to the cruise boat for a breakfast and checked out in the afternoon.

Sleepy faces watching the hot air ballon

Plenty of ballons

Lift off

View of the Valley of the Kings

Luxor city view

My promo shot

Landed shot

Wrapped up

Our Egypt Vacation - Day 5 - Dancer

2009-05-31T21:21:00.003+04:00

On day 5, the cruise boat organized a show of Sufi dancing and belly dancing. The Sufi dancer was impressive with all those fast spinning moves.

Warming up

Some serious spinning

Super serious spinning

More serious spinning

Tourist from China with the belly dancer

Our Egypt Vacation - Day 5 - Temple of Hatshepsut

2009-05-26T02:00:00.004+04:00

After Valley of the Kings, we visited the Temple of Hatshepshut, the most famous female pharaoh in Egypt.

This is also where the 1997 Luxor Massacre took place. The tourist industry went down after that terrible incident and now an armed security guard will always accompanied most of the tourist group tour.

It was a hot day and a shade was always welcomed.

Around this area, there were plenty of alabaster factory. We visited one factory and unless you know the stuff, you wouldn't know if the price quoted is reasonable or not.

Qayyum trying the manual grinding of the raw material

Manual carving

Work area

Finish product

Group photo

Our Egypt Vacation - Day 5 - Valley of the Kings

2009-05-25T05:15:00.001+04:00

Day 5 was an early morning start to visit the Valley of the Kings.

No camera was allowed inside the tombs; the famous tomb of Tutankhamun has nothing interesting since all the items found in the tomb are now in Cairo Museum.

In total we visited 3 tombs, most of them have painted drawings along the corridor before reaching to the main room where the tomb was located.

There were still some excavation works going on in the area to search for more tombs.

Our Egypt Vacation - Day 4 - Esna Lock

2009-05-24T06:35:00.004+04:00

Before reaching Luxor, the cruise has to past through the Esna Lock. This is where the boat went from high side to the lower side of the Nile river.

The water inside the gate being pumped out to the low side.

Cruise boat slowly being lowered down.

Another gate was also available for the cruise boat moving up from Luxor to Esna side where the process was reversed, boat floated up by pumping water inside the gate.

While the boat waited for their turn, it's an opportunity for some trade.

The guy will qoute some low price, threw their merchandise then increased their price and the haggling started.

For the kids, it was another day in the pool.

Sunset with birds - right combination for nature shot.

Our Egypt Vacation - Day 4 - Edfu

2009-05-23T12:12:00.002+04:00

Day 4 started with a ride on a horse carriage to visit the Temple of Horus in Edfu.

Horus statue in the form of a falcon

Fisheye view of the 12 columns

The boat where all the offerings were put to their god.

Relief along the Passage of Victory

Outside view of the temple

Our Egypt Vacation - Day 3 - All Aboard

2009-05-22T18:30:00.003+04:00

Before boarding the cruise boat, we stopped by the oldest mosque in Aswan.

The cruise was one of the major highlight of this trip especially for the kids. After check-in, it was straight to the pool.

A felucca sailing past our cruise boat.

By evening, we stopped by Kom Ombo for a quick tour. The photo below is a relief showing the king being purified by the two gods.

Our Egypt Vacation - Day 3 - Nile Cruise

2009-05-21T19:23:00.004+04:00

We took a late night Egypt Air flight from Cairo to Aswan, our starting point for our Nile cruise.

Before boarding the cruise, we spent the morning visiting interesting areas in Aswan. The first stop was the Aswan Dam.

We then took a boat ride to the Philae Island, visiting the Temple of Isis.

Because of the dam, this temple was previously under water. This temple was rescued by removing the stone and reconstructing it in the higher ground.

One of the lens that i took with me was the Sigma 15 mm fisheye lens. It was worth buying for capturing all those landscape.

'

Our Egypt Vacation - Day 2 - Transport

2009-05-08T10:16:00.004+04:00

Apart from the standard tourist icon in Egypt, the different type of public transportation provided excellent photo opportunities. I was standing by the busy road and trying out the panning technique to capture their movements.

The mini bus with the door open for easier hop on-off or more ventilation or maybe the door was jammed in open position

Most of the taxis are old car and almost all have a roof rack.

Our Egypt Vacation - Day 2 - Papyrus Institute

2009-05-07T17:09:00.004+04:00

Before catching our flight to Aswan in the night, we visited a Papyrus Gallery. The gentleman demonstrated to us on the process of making this ancient paper.

First, demonstration on the strength of the Papyrus plant

The outer part of the plant was stripped off, leaving the inner part. It was then cut into strips.

The strips will then be place side by side and overlapping each other. It will then put under pressure to dry out and ready for use.

You may notice some of their works in the background of the photos; they even have logo of Barcelona F.C. It was quite impressive.

Our Egypt Vacation - Day 2 - Cairo

2009-05-06T17:17:00.004+04:00

The morning started with a visit to the remaining member of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the great pyramids of Giza. It was huge and it must have been some view during it’s time.

Qayyum with pyramid on his palm.

After lunch we visited a perfume shop where we were briefed on the benefits of different types of perfume and smell the different type. At the end, we bought a few of it. The next stop was Memphis, sort of an open air museum where the statue of Ramses II was located plus few other statues.

Nearby Memphis is Sakkara, where the step pyramid is located plus some other pyramid. From here we can actually see the other pyramids around Cairo. Around this area, there were plenty of Carpet factory, they actually called themselves as Carpet School. I’m not sure the meaning of the “school” part but we’ve noticed kids were weaving the carpets.

More photos here

Our Egypt Vacation - Day 1

2009-04-29T16:10:00.003+04:00

Ever since our stay in Oman from 2002, we’ve been planning to visit Egypt. We’ve even bought the guide book in 2003 but the trip never materialize until recently. In fact, we almost canceled the trip due to recent bombing in Khan Al Khalili in Feb. We adjusted our itinerary from spending full week just in Cairo to a week visiting major cities of Egypt, following the classical tour of Egypt.

We travelled with QS44 and made arrangement with a travel agent based in Egypt. All our transport, tour guide and hotels were arranged made with Mr. Maghrapy, the service was excellent and highly recommended.

We arrived in Cairo around midday and our program will only start on the next day. During the evening, we made arrangement to see the Pyramid light show. It was just a so-so show but it gives me opportunity to test the high ISO setting of the 5D Mark II. The photo below was taken with ISO 25,600 but has been clean up using Noise Ninja.

After the show, we bought some take-away from one of the popular Shawarma joint in Cairo.

Day 2 will be about pyramids and Cairo.

Vrijmarkt

2009-04-28T20:00:00.002+04:00

Today is a vrijmarkt in one of the street in the camp. This is part of the Queen's Day celebration (Queen of Netherlands).

Flag of Brunei

2009-04-24T22:51:00.004+04:00

During His Majesty, Sultan of Brunei visit to Oman, the flags of Brunei Darussalam were hoisted along the roads in Muscat. It started from the road around Mutrah Cornice, Mutrah Souk, Gate of Muscat until the Royal Palace. The following photos captured those moments:

Gate of Muscat

Mutrah Cornice

Mutrah Souk

Al-Ilam Palace

Once in a lifetime

2009-04-18T17:35:00.004+04:00

Original post

Once-in-a-lifetime experience for Bruneians in Oman

By Liza Mohd in Muscat, Oman

A Bruneian girls greets His Majesty

His Majesty being greeted by a Bruneian family.

Dyg Norhasnida (R) and her Omani husband greet the ruler.

His Majesty in a group photo with the Bruneian expats and families in Oman

A Bruneian family in a group photo with the senior goverment officials
Photos: Liza Mohd

More than 80 Bruneians and family members residing in the capital city of Oman were given the opportunity to greet His Majesty during the ruler's two-day State Visit to the sultanate.

At least 28 families based in Muscat and Sur - three hours' drive to Muscat - were given access inside the Al-Alam Palace for the first time to greet the monarch.
Despite His Majesty's hectic schedule, the 'junjung ziarah' from the Bruneians was slotted into His Majesty's programme and the Bruneians received the news with anticipation.

"There was unconfirmed information earlier that His Majesty would be stopping by Oman as part of his working visit to the Gulf states. We later come to know after watching the television news of His Majesty's State Visit to Kuwait," said Haji Zulane bin Haji Othman, the Senior Well Engineer working at Petroleum Development of Oman (PDO).

On Wednesday, when news of His Majesty's arrival surfaced, nearly 20 Bruneians gathered at Kalbooh Park in Mattrah and waved the national flag to catch a glimpse of His Majesty heading to the Al-Alam Palace.

For security reasons, the streets leading to the palace in the old town of Muscat were closed to traffic and some of the Bruneians did not make it to the gathering.
"We lined up along the date trees of Muscat and waved the Bruneian flag to catch His Majesty's attention when the motorcade passed through the road. We were excited to see His Majesty waving back," said Hajah Florinda binte Haji Mejenis, whose husband is also working at PDO.

It was only Thursday morning that a Bruneian Embassy representative notified the Bruneian families about the 'junjung ziarah' with His Majesty at the palace.
"It was overwhelming to be given access to enter the Al-Alam Palace. I have been staying in Muscat for over six years and the only part of the palace we were able to see was the entrance. We were happy to be able to pass beyond the palace gates for the first time," said Hjh Faridah binte Hj Johari.

Bruneians gathered at the Brunei Embassy in Shatti, Qurrum as early as 4pm local time (8pm Brunei time), and three government buses transported the group, accompanied by Bruneian and Omani government officials to the palace.
At the palace, they were subjected to security inspection and then led to the waiting lounge.

After an hour, the Bruneians were ushered to a palace hall where they lined up for the ruler's arrival.

Soon afterwards, His Majesty arrived, shook hands and queried about their stay in the country.

Most of the Bruneians are working at PDO and Oman LNG.

Some of them are also BSP/BLNG employees who are on cross-posting assignments.

"We are truly grateful to His Majesty for taking the time to mingle and ask about our welfare here. This shows the monarch's concern for his subjects outside of Brunei. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us and we hope His Majesty will drop by again in the future," said Awg Hairol Nizam bin Mokti, the Senior Drilling Engineer in PDO who has been in Muscat for over six years.

His Majesty had taken the time yesterday to receive the Bruneians, prior to a private dinner with Sultan Qaboos Thursday evening.

His Majesty left the Sultanate of Oman Thursday at about 12 midnight (4am Brunei time), marking the end of his State Visit to the Gulf state.

"Sultan meets Bruneians in Muscat"

2009-04-18T16:36:00.002+04:00

Original post

"Sultan meets Bruneians in Muscat
Text & photo by Liza Mohd

Bruneians residing in Muscat, Oman had a day to remember when His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam mingled with them in 'junjung ziarah' at Al-Alam Palace during His Majesty's State Visit to Oman."

Qayyum and Ameera featured in this photo.

Royal Visitor

2009-04-16T08:26:00.003+04:00

Yesterday was a special day for us, His Majesty the Sultan of Brunei arrived in the Sultanate of Oman for a state visit.

We were standing on the side of the road with one big flag of Brunei. In fact, we were the only people allowed there since all the rest of the people were asked to stand further back

The kids were with mini flags of Brunei, getting ready for the royal convoy.

The royal convoy were impressived, with helicopter flying above and Hummer H3 military vehicle ahead of the royal car.

Managed to capture the hand wave from His Majesty.

Visitor

2009-04-14T22:06:00.001+04:00

Last night the Bruneian community entertained PN who is here covering the Royal visit to Oman. The dinner was at Bin Atique Restaurant, which served Omani dishes.

Tomorrow will be proudest moment for us, Bruneian living in Oman with the visit of His Majesty, Sultan of Brunei to the Sultanate of Oman.

The arrival

2009-03-30T21:39:00.001+04:00

The last few days were hectic; sorting out visa for the coming holiday, shopping around for cheaper car insurance and trying out the new toy.

During the recent PMA show in Vegas, no announcement was made for a new Canon DSLR. Rumours were circulating for a replacement to the 1D Mark III, and then on 26th March, Canon announced the release of 500D and no news on the 1D or 1Ds. So it was decision time.

The difference in price between 1D Mark III against the recent 5D Mark II is not that much. For me the 1D Mark III will provide high frame per second and more focus points while the 5D Mark II will provide full frame and just been recently release. The 1Ds will provide all what I need from the 1D and 5D but its price is way above the budget.

At the end, considering on my requirement, the 5D Mark II will be a nice step up for me from the 30D. The two shots are the first few shots taken with the 5D Mark II and the subjects are the main reason for my interest in photography.

Thousand miles journey II

2009-03-27T21:14:00.002+04:00

Straight line distance is around 8200 miles. The package is now in Dubai. Tomorrow is the expected arrival time in Muscat.

View Larger Map

Thousand miles journey

2009-03-26T09:53:00.003+04:00

View Larger Map

Package status
Origin: New York.
Current location: Louisville, Kentucky.

Another Double

2009-03-14T22:42:00.003+04:00

What a week; double over Real Madrid and today another 4 goals to make it double over M4anchester Un1ted.

Click this link to see Fernando Torres celebrate his goal, he was not waving.

He is showing number 5. A class act !

Fashion Show

2009-03-13T10:34:00.002+04:00

Portraits of Oman 3

2009-03-04T19:27:00.002+04:00

Kids

Portraits of Oman 2

2009-03-03T20:27:00.003+04:00

Smile!

Potraits of Oman 1

2009-02-07T20:48:00.004+04:00

From 1st outing in Muscat Festival 2009. Click here for more.

Game On!

2009-02-01T23:17:00.002+04:00

No.9 doing the double over Chelsea!

Jabreen Castle

2009-01-27T22:10:00.001+04:00

Gong Xi Fa Chai

2009-01-25T19:10:00.001+04:00

Fireworks

2009-01-23T21:54:00.002+04:00

It's Muscat Festival time; time to practice taking fireworks photograph. This one is taken with 30 sec exposure.

Public Holiday today!

2009-01-18T10:12:00.002+04:00

By Royal Decree, Today is a public holiday to celebrate the Gulf Cup Champions. More photos from last night celebration:

Mabrouk Oman

2009-01-17T23:44:00.002+04:00

Oman - Gulf Cup Champion.

It's celebration time on all roads in Oman.

Jambo - From Brunei to the end of the world. (And Return)

2009-01-09T09:57:00.003+04:00

They are planning more adventures in 2009-2010. Start of journey in March 09. This time they are taking 2 passengers. Check out their website for more details.

Good luck to Harun & Norhayati.

Bargain Books

2008-12-10T11:28:00.003+04:00

These guys were prepared! Shopping trolley in a book exhibitions.

Visited the exhibition on the last day and apparently it's the first time they organized it in Oman. No wonder they have those trolleys, majority of the books were heavily discounted. The titles may not be the latest one but there are all good quality book.

We approximately saved 50% from the original price of the books.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Adha

2008-12-09T21:21:00.002+04:00

Oman celebrated Eid Al Adha on 9th Dec. Holiday started from 8th until 12th Dec.

Laundry

2008-12-06T21:24:00.004+04:00

Somebody must have been doing some heavy laundry last Friday, the beach was all foamy....

The past few weeks, it's all red tide and bad smell by the beach. Apparently the foam is coming from some sort of micro organism from the sea.

Survey, Numbers and Future

2008-12-04T19:55:00.003+04:00

This article from Brudirect highlight some interesting numbers:

75 per cent of oil and gas sector employees are locals.
4,379 staff out of which 3,203 are Brunei Citizens or PR.

A much more interesting article is about the SPE Salary survey:

In both North/Central Asia and Southeast Asia, the average base pay reported by non citizens is about four times greater than that of citizens.
Annual base pay for citizen is US$44k while non citizen is US$180k.

The standard explanation for the difference is because this non citizen has to pay for his commitment in his home country. This may be valid many years ago but now, I doubt it.

The SPE survey also mentioned "Yet in the US, Australia/New Zealand, Canada, and North Sea/North Atlantic, the differences between noncitizen and citizen pay are far smaller. and in the US and North Sea regions, the base pay for noncitizens is lower".

The gap between citizen/non citizen has been there for many years, probably since oil first discovered but what can we do to reduce the gap? The industry are paying the non citizen almost similar amount in all the regions.

It will be a shame if our future generation still has to face this situation and had to relocate to earn fair wages.

Time will tell, God willing changes will come.

Away Day

2008-11-30T19:30:00.003+04:00

The department organized an away day to Al-Sawadi Beach Resort - 100 km drive from office.

Hot Skill

2008-11-12T21:47:00.003+04:00

Mabrouk to the "hot skill" people back home; something positive but please do look at the big picture.

The young performers from Indonesia showing their dancing skills during the International market.

PDO International Market

2008-11-08T22:21:00.002+04:00

The annual event of PDO International Market.

Special guest

Direction

Candyman

Crowds

Crowds

Flying Time

2008-10-09T11:46:00.003+04:00

The flight from Heathrow to Muscat was smooth apart from the obvious traffic jam on the Heathrow runway; planes queuing to take off. Now, it's time to unpack the bags and processed all the holiday photos.

You'll never walk alone

2008-10-03T12:46:00.002+04:00

Hari Raya di Anfield, Liverpool Football Club

1 and 100 goals

2008-10-02T02:55:00.003+04:00

It was raining in Anfield but it's a good evening for Liverpool F.C. Robbie Keane opened his account by scoring his first goal while Steven Gerard scored his 100 goals for the club. Photos are taken by camera phone.

Getting ticket to the match is not easy for "Out Of Towners", the only way is by paying premium to Thomascooksport.com.

Eid Mubarak

2008-09-30T12:51:00.002+04:00

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Eid Mubarak, Maaf Zahir & Batin.

Two portrait photos taken at Hyde Park, London. The weather was nice from Saturday until Monday, temperature around 17 deg C. Today it's overcast and possibly some light shower. The holiday continues anyway.

Ramadhan

2008-09-19T09:21:00.004+04:00

It's been a while since the last post, now it's 3rd week of Ramadhan.

So what's new?

The weather's still hot and dusty.
School started.
English Premier league started.
Canon 5D Mark II released.
Holiday mood started.

15th July in Brunei

2008-07-17T04:16:00.003+04:00

These are the photos outside the Taman SOAS, Brunei during the Sultan of Brunei 62nd Birthday Celebration. All were taken with 10-22 lens, camera held above the head, at chest and knee level.

Summer holiday

2008-06-24T15:29:00.002+04:00

Our summer holiday started today, tonight we'll be boarding an Etihad flight to Jakarta. A few days in Jakarta and Bandung then off to Brunei. This year we give Singapore a miss, it's just too expensive especially with those hotel rates. We'll be spending some time in KL instead. By August, we'll be back in Oman and hopefully the weather will be much better.

DIY Carry On Camera Bag

2008-06-08T17:51:00.005+04:00

Normally during our holiday, I'll be taking all my photography gear for the trip home. The Lowepro backpack that I got can fit all the gear but it's quite heavy for the shoulder.

I started looking for a bag with rollers and found several good bag such as ThinkTank Airport International and Pelican 1514. The price tag including shipment will actually cut deep into the holiday budget.

I then started to look at my Lowepro backpack in details and figuring out the difference with the ordinary backpack. It's all about the padding!

So I decided to modify my carry on bag which already have 4 rollers and approved for carry on the flight.

I got some children foam mat and cut it to fit the bag to act as the first layer of padding.

Another camping foam mat was used on top to cover the metal part. Once the cover is zipped, the bag looks like an ordinary bag.

Another foam mattress was cut to fit the bag to act as another padding for the gear. I then use the backpack dividers for individual padding for each item. Another foam mattress is put on top of the gear to protect everything from the top.

Everything fit in place and the bag is filled up with the gear. Total cost = US$60 (bag) + US$20 (padding) = US$80.

That give me with some spare change - a 2nd body (new 5D) perhaps?

King of Fruit

2008-06-06T19:55:00.003+04:00

One disadvantage of living outside one home country is the unavailability of certain item.

One such thing is the king of fruit i.e Durian. The fresh durians are available in the supermarket but its seems never ripe and will turn bad after a few days.

While shopping in a Thai supermarket in Dubai, we found this:

Apparently a Thai company have started selling frozen durian. The taste is considerably much better than the fresh durian that we have here.

One way to enjoy Durian is by making Bubur kacang & durian. Kop Khun Kha to the Thai!

Sheikh Zayed Mosque - Part 5

2008-05-13T21:10:00.002+04:00

To end this series is by showing the image from outside the mosque.

For a complete gallery of the mosque, you can click here

Sheikh Zayed Mosque - Part 4 (Carpet)

2008-05-13T20:43:00.002+04:00

The patterns and colour of the carpets provide a nice background for some portrait shots.

Sheikh Zayed Mosque - Part 3 (People)

2008-05-06T18:31:00.003+04:00

The mosque is not 100% complete. These are some of the people responsible in creating this beautiful mosque.

Sheikh Zayed Mosque - Part 2

2008-05-05T19:56:00.002+04:00

This is the inside of the mosque, a HDR image from one raw file. Taken using a wide angle lens and post processed using Photomatix and Photoshop.

Sheikh Zayed Mosque - Part 1

2008-05-04T17:30:00.001+04:00

We made another trip to Abu Dhabi, a 500+ km road trip. The first stop was the magnificent Sheikh Zayed Mosque. I'll be posting the photos as soon as they are post processed.

Telematch

2008-04-27T19:37:00.003+04:00

Last weekend, we have something new organized for this year, a one day telematch among the Bruneian, Malaysian and Indonesian families.It was a fun day for the children, doing some colouring and running around in different events organized by the parents.

Photography notes: Because of poor lighting in the hall, I used flash and high ISO but still need improvement in focussing.

Hair cut

2008-04-25T18:40:00.002+04:00

Hair cut cost OMR 1 for adult or child in the standard barber shop. The set up is almost the same as in Brunei.

Olympic torch relay - Muscat

2008-04-16T21:27:00.004+04:00

On 14th April, the Olympic torch arrived in Muscat. Oman is the only country in Middle East that got this opportunity and in fact managed it quite well. Obviously this relay attracted some negative responses in other countries with all those protests.

The relay was from Al-Bustan round about to Qurum Park. Decided to go to Mutrah Souk and it was a good decision. Plenty of subjects to shoot with all the folks and students waiting for the torch to past by.

The olympic torch actually went past this road around 7 pm which meant poor lighting for taking any photos.

Road Trip - Al Ashkarah

2008-04-11T22:00:00.009+04:00

After office on Wednesday, we were on the road again, a 370 km drive from Musqat to Al Ashkarah. It took approx 4 hours with a stop at Ibra. Al Ashkarah is a fishing village with a long stretch of beach. We stayed for one night, driving back to Musqat after a satisfied but tiring day on the beach.

Sheikh Zayed Mosque

2008-04-04T11:33:00.003+04:00

On the way back, we stopped by Sheikh Zayed Mosque, which is still not 100% completed. The inside views are magnificent and taking photos inside the mosque is allowed. Another visit to the mosque is a must to capture the views.

Lazy Friday

2008-04-01T21:21:00.004+04:00

After staying overnight in Al Ain, we drove to Abu Dhabi, traffic was light all the way to the marina.

Happy camper?

2008-03-31T18:05:00.003+04:00

Al Ain Zoo

2008-03-30T22:06:00.005+04:00

Last Thursday, we drove from Muscat to Al-Ain via Buraimi. First stop was the Al-Ain Zoo, where the 70-200 f/2.8 L IS and the Canon extender EF 2x II are in full use.

With the set up of the zoo, one can imagine he is on a wild animals photography trip somewhere in Africa.

Maybe one day, we'll be on those trip but for now visiting the zoo is a good experience for the children.

寿司, 鮨, 鮓

2008-03-22T18:13:00.002+04:00

School's out

2008-03-19T22:58:00.003+04:00

Start of a short school break for Qayyum. The photos are from the recent school's open day, more can be found here.

Pattern

2008-03-16T22:17:00.001+04:00

Kids

2008-03-13T22:00:00.003+04:00

Cheesy banana

2008-03-11T23:06:00.003+04:00

Fry a few banana
Sprinkle some cheddar cheese and sweet condensed milk
Enjoy !

Dream cars Pt II

2008-03-03T19:22:00.004+04:00

The dream continues .....

Dream cars

2008-03-01T19:03:00.005+04:00

You got to have a dream in life ........

On that night

2008-02-29T09:48:00.003+04:00

A few more photos from the National Day celebration.

The night before

2008-02-28T16:55:00.008+04:00

Part of the Brunei's National day celebration here was a mass prayer held at the Ambassador's residence on 22nd Feb.

National Day Celebration

2008-02-25T23:05:00.002+04:00

More photos from the recent Brunei's 24th National Day celebration held in Muscat, Oman.

National day

2008-02-23T23:24:00.001+04:00

Happy 24th National Day to all Bruneian wherever you are.

Magic

2008-02-22T10:13:00.004+04:00

During the Muscat Festival, some of the famous world landmarks were temporarily moved to Muscat ....

The journey continues

2008-02-16T22:52:00.005+04:00

Jambo is back on the road, continuing it's journey back to Brunei Darussalam although it's still a long way home, surely the couple will have more great adventures along the way. Good luck to Norhayati and Harun.

Super Bruneian

2008-02-14T01:33:00.003+04:00

We celebrated special visitors to Oman, Norhayati & Harun, driving a Brunei registered land cruiser on their latest adventure, Asia Overland. Full stories of their adventure can be found here. A good example to all of Bruneian and hopefully will inspire us to succeed outside our comfort zones.

Good to see some sponsorship from major companies in Brunei, but where is Brunei major oil company?

Pirates of Ras Al Hamra

2008-02-12T22:15:00.000+04:00

Pirates are in town! Last monday, it was school's fun day for Qayyum. Dress up as pirates, he is having a good time.

Sajuk

2008-02-05T19:14:00.001+04:00

In all the 5 years living in Muscat, this week is the coldest week we've experienced. Noon temperature is around 18 deg C. With the strong wind, it drop a few more points. In the interior, it's been reported as low as 4 deg C. I'm sure up in the mountains, it may have reached sub zero temperature.

This blog got a mentioned here. The Daily Brunei Resources is full of information about Brunei that you would not get from any text book or other website. Check it out and you may learn interesting facts about Brunei.

Weekend ride

2008-01-27T17:32:00.000+04:00

Day 9 & 10 of 84

2008-01-13T21:03:00.000+04:00

Achieved my goal of clocking 60 km within 12 weeks, in fact finished it within 4 weeks. Now, need to set a more challenging goal.

Day 8 of 84

2008-01-12T16:55:00.000+04:00

1 hour of indoor football.

Day 7 of 84

2008-01-10T21:59:00.001+04:00

Workout in the gym 1930 hrs today. No body else was there. 7th consecutive day walking.

Day 6 of 84

2008-01-10T21:50:00.000+04:00

A short walk, late morning but still cold outside, maybe the impact from those snow in Iran.

Ma'al l Hijrah 1429

2008-01-09T09:18:00.000+04:00

Selamat menyambut tahun 1429 hijrah. Semoga tahun ini kita semua di berkati dan di rahmati oleh Allah SWT. Amin.

Day 5 of 84

2008-01-09T08:57:00.000+04:00

Longest distance - 7 km. Weather was windy & around 25 deg C.

Day 4 of 84

2008-01-07T21:13:00.001+04:00

Today exercises are leg press and leg extension. Followed by a 1 km walk. Tomorrow is not 1st Muharram. It will be a 3 day weekend from Wed until Fri.

Qayyum is 5 years old

2008-01-07T18:30:00.000+04:00

Today is

It's

birthday party.

Everybody singing Happy Birthday song.

Day 3 of 84

2008-01-06T22:56:00.000+04:00

Good workout (by my standard anyway).

Day 2 of 84 - The Plan

2008-01-05T21:13:00.000+04:00

Day 1 was 6 km jog.
Day 2 today was upper body workout followed by 2 km walk.

Not a good idea to workout straight after 4 pm, it's full house at the gym.

Day 1 of 84 - Going Public

2008-01-04T11:22:00.000+04:00

After hitting 100 kg mark, I'm embarking a 12 weeks plan to a healthy body. Previous attempts were all failure mainly due to own lack of commitments. Hopefully can stay motivated by blogging about it.

Body stats: Weight 99.5 kg, waist 43.5", chest 41", body fat 27.5%.

On the positive side, I'm halfway on my goal of running/walking 60 km in 12 weeks, so far 30 km in 2 and half weeks. Too conservative on the initial goal? Let's see when it's completed.

Feast

2007-12-20T18:19:00.000+04:00

Celebrating Aidil Adha in Muscat.

Roast Lamb

Sambal Belacan

Ayam goreng

Nenas

Terong bakar