Muscat - Day 1 and 2

November 22 (Tuesday):

Got up at 7:45 am.  Went for breakfast at 8:10am.  Had continental breakfast, including omelette.  Rested for a while in the room,  At 11:45 went to Iqbal's house.  Iqbal's wife had invited 2 other friends, and we all had Biryani together.

Back to the hotel.  Slept and rested; checked out at 4:00 (manager had extended our check out time).  Went to the Corniche souk and did some shopping.  Had dinner at a nice restaurant overlooking the harbour.  On our way back to the hotel, ran into the members of the Indian band from the night before, so went and listened to them for 1 hr.  The owner of the hotel happened to be there and gave us complimentary appetizers.

Took taxi to the airport at 10:00pm.

November 21 (Monday):

Alarm went off at 4:30am (clock was not working properly).  Back to sleep.  Got a wake up call (knock on the door) 6:30am.  Got ready, had continental breakfast - no omelette as the cook was not supposed to come in till 8:00am).

Tour guide came to pick us up at 8:00am, for a half-day City tour.  Drove around Muscat to the Hyatt to pick up 3 other passengers.  Drove around the various Embassies (very large, impressive and on the sea front) and Government buildings.  Went to see the Grand Mosque - huge and impressive.  Went to Muttrah (old city) - visited the fish market and the Muttrah Souk (market).  the Sultans' private yacht ( was as big as a cruise ship) was anchored in the harbor.  Visited the museum and then the Sultan's Palace - amazing, massive and perched on a cliff top. Were dropped off back to the Hotel at around 1:00pm.

Walked on the Corniche and ate at the waterfront (Chicken Reshmi) - so-so.  Went back to the hotel and slept for a while - the flight and travel was finally catching up on us.  Freshened up; walked around the Corniche; went to the Muttrah Souk; had Shawarma; walked lots.  Met a number of Indian people, working in Muscat, and one group insisted we join them for drinks.  Went to Mina Hotel for beer and to listen to a live Indian music group - our new friends insisted in paying for the drinks.  One gentleman (Iqbal) invited us for lunch (Biryani) at his house the next day.

Spent the night at Corniche Hotel.


ps.  most of the people in Muscat speak Hindi; Swahili and Arabic.  Hindi as a great many people here are from India on a working visa.  Swahili as Zanzibar and parts of East Africa were under Omani rule and so a large population has East African heritage - either was born there, had parents born there, or currently have family there.


On the flight in, we overheard some people speaking fluent swahili, so we started chatting - he was from Singida.  We met another person from Tabora.  We also met Kutchi speaking people from Sind.

Flight to Muscat, Oman

November 20  (Sunday):


Arrived Amsterdam at 9:05am instead of the scheduled 8:30am - 35 minutes late, although departure was delayed by 50 mins - made up some time on the flight.  Checked in at the departure gate, freshened up and went through security. Departed Amsterdam at 11:05, instead of 10:35am - 30 mins delay.


Arrived Abu Dhabi at 8:40pm.  Departed Abu Dhabi at 9:15pm.  Arrived in Muscat at 10:10pm.  Got the local currency - Omani Riel (US $1 = 2.75 OMR); got; Visa; went through customs.  Taxi driver greeted us and took us to Corniche Hotel (12 Riels).  It was a beautiful drive to the hotel (35 mins) - all the streets were lighted up as the the country had celebrated the Sultan's birthday just a couple of days ago.


Checked in at the hotel, unpacked and called it a night.


ps.  We were staying in Muttrah (Old City) in the Corniche (waterfront) area.  There were only 4 hotels (basic) hotels in this area.  Our hotel overlooked the waterfront, where the Sultan's yatch was moored.

November 19 (Saturday):

Left home at 7:40am.  Tahira drove us to the airport.  Checked in.

Departed Edmonton at 10:00am. Arrived Calgary at 10:40am.  Long wait in Calgary - had lunch at the airport.

Departure from Calgary was delayed by 50 mins.  Departed Calgary at 4:30pm instead of 3:40pm.  Were getting a little nervous as we had only a 2 hr window for our connecting flight in Amsterdam.  Good flight but long.

IIFA 2011 (Toronto) - IIFA Awards

June 25 (Saturday)

Today attended the main IIFA Awards show at Rogers Centre - just 5 minutes walk from Safraz s penthouse.  We had accommodation at the Marriott for June 24th and June 25th.

The Show was long (5 hours), but a unique experience ...............

The Show was long (5 hours), but a unique experience ...............

IIFA 2011 (Toronto) - IIFA ROCKS Show

June 24 (Friday)

Attended the IIFA Fashion Rocks Show at Ricoh Coliseum - a 15 minutes walk from Safraz s penthouse.  We had accommodation at the Marriott for June 24th and June 25th.

The Show was a memorable experience ...............

IIFA 2011 (Toronto) - With Safraz, Family and Friends

June 18 (Saturday) to June 23 (Thursday)

Departed Edmonton on June 18 (Saturday) just after midnight at 12:50am and arrived in Toronto at 6:25am.  Safraz picked us up in his new wheels.

For the next 6 days, leading up to the IIFA Awards, we stayed at Safraz`s penthouse overlooking Lake Ontario and the Toronto City skyline

Camy and I visited family and Friends each and every day, some of whom we had not met for a very long time.  We also made daily visits (only a 10mins walk from the penthouse) to Royal York Hotel, where the stars were staying, and everyday we got glimpses of different stars.

FIFA 2010 - Departure

June 19 - Awoke at 8:30am, packed and got ready. Mohammed came to pick us up at 10:15 am. When we were about to leave, we were surprised to see all the staff lined up to say goodbye to us - Dede (caretaker); Martha (cleaner)and her aide; and Rashidi (gardener). This was unusual as most of the guests come and go and there are no formal goodbyes. They all hugged us and Martha broke down in tears. Headed to the airport and departed at 1:40pm.

The World Cup fever continued on the plane as people got up and danced to "Waving the Flag" ....... and the vuvuzelas started blaring .... again!

Got to Nairobi at 6:45 pm. At the airport, Watched Cameroon v. Denmark (1-2) with a large crowd, some with vuvuzelas. Departed Nairobi at 11:45pm.

June 20 - Arrived London Heathrow at 6:45am. Transferred from terminal 1 to terminal 3, freshened up and secured our boarding passes for the next flight. Anil's brother-in-law picked us up and we went half-way and met up with my nephew, Arif, Lucy, Safia, Inara and Rafi. Spent some time with them, then went to Anil's b-i-l's house for a snack. Headed back to heathrow at boarded the plane at 3:15 pm. Arrived in Edmonton at 5:20 pm - with a 7 hr time difference.

This is the end of a memorable, fabulous and exciting trip.

FIFA 2010 - Day 7&8

June 17 - Having refreshed, walked to the local mall - 7 mins away. Had breakfast at a delightful bakery. French Toast, Fried Bananas and coffee for around $4. A 4 egg omellete was around $5. Walked to Sandton City and got the local bus to Soccer City ($7 return). Watched Argentina v. South Korea (4-1) - good game. Got back to Sandton and watched Nigeria v. Greece on the big screen (1-2) in the casino. There was tremendous fan excitement as all the locals were supporting Nigeria.

Walked back to the guest house, freshened up, got pizza for everyone, including Dede, and watched France v. Mexico (0-2).

June 18 - Slept in a little. Went for breakfast to the local pattisserie and had chocolate croissant, tea and fresh orange juice. Walked along 'Village Walk' and went to the FIFA ticket office. Went inside a highly secured diamond trading house that had an exquisite and large collection of diamonds. At 1:30pm, boarded the bus to Ellis Stadium. Due to some system problems, the driver was having some difficulty issuing tickets, causing delays, and the long line-up of fans was getting very irritated. I went over to help him and became his conductor, assisting passengers with their tickets. Got a loud cheer and a standing ovation from all the passengers as the bus finally left 40 mins later. Watched USA v. Slovenia (2-2) - a great game with a large number of loud US supporters.

After the game went to Marco Polo Casino to watch England v. Algeria (0-0) on the big screen. Great atmosphere and an exciting game. Later that night, being our last night, Brighton took us to another lively bar - Lebo.

Tomorrow we board the plane back to Canada, for a 2 day flight.