Funny picture

 

While driving to Fujairah (UAE), I ran into this hilarious passenger.

Camels are extremely respected in Oman. No wonder that the owner put a hat on it and covered it with comforters.

This little guy made my day !

Trip to IBRI

 

On March 27th, we went to Ibri. Our primary goal was to visit a wild cave but we got stopped on the way because a 4WD was required to access the entrance of the cave.

However, we had a good time climbing the mountain next to it. Our efforts were worthwhile since we had a great view on the stones desert and we found some marine life fossils on the way.

The weather was good : warm and slightly cloudy. When we reached the top of the mountain, it was very windy therefore we did not feel the heat that much. However, one of the Omani girl climbing with us passed out due to a heat stroke. I had to apply my emergency responder techniques to get her to feel better. I, too, felt dizzy on the way home due to the excess of heat. Hopefully, the headache and dizziness were gone the following morning.

 

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On the way to Ibri, some part of the highway through the desert is straight line and radar-free. I reached 189km/h with 4 persons inboard my brave Tida.

We could not play for long because the highway stopped with no warning sign. Can you imagine driving at 140-150km/h and the road ends with barriers?

Muscat Great Mosque (pictures)

 

One the major building you may find in Muscat is the Grand Mosque. It is devoted to the spirituality of the Oman people. Whether you pass by night or day, it is a architectural wonder made in the Middle East style of Mosques.

As it is a place of worship, non-Muslims may not enter as they will. However, guided tour are offered everyday from 8am to 11am.

Entrance of the Mosque

One of the gate with the golden globe

I'm sure my mom would love having such lights

The marble staircase in the northern entrance

Christmas Holiday in France

 

I went back to France for the new year holiday. I was not lucky because it was really freezing due to a cold wave over Europe. The temperatures were about -10°C !

 

Amiens Cathedral lightings for the Holiday season

Street lighting in Amiens

Christmas market in Lille

The car after the first day of snow

Amiens Library under the snow

 

Thais playing in the snow (she did not like it very much actually)

 

Chocolate waffle in Amiens

Frozen water fountain in Salouel (near Amiens)

Funny picture in a flower shop in Lille (Soleil means "Sun" in French).

On my way back, over the Alps

Funny road sign in Doha (Qatar)

 

Since I put up a message regarding the funny road sign in Oman, one of my friends who used to work in Doha (Qatar) sent me this quite interesting picture.

Thank you Fabien for sharing this one.

Roundabouts in Oman

 

Driving in Oman is straightforward (it is actually straight forward since most roads go straight through desert areas). However, on major highways, you may run into roundabouts (I know it seems strange to slow down for roundabout while driving at 120km/h). They are important benchmarks when asking for directions. In Muscat for instance, everybody uses Ruwi or Al Gubrah roundabout as useful starting point to give detailed directions.

They all have a name, I mean an official one, like "Barka roundabout". However, they are also widely known through they nickname : the "clocktower R/A" in A'Seeb or the "coffee pot R/A" in Fujairah (UAE). The nickname usually comes from the symbol erected in the center of the roundabout.

Some roundabouts are simply gorgeous. Here are few examples, these pictures were taken on the road from Barka to the border post with Sharjah (UAE):

 

Road sign in Oman

 

In Europe, we are used to seeing warning signs about cow or deer crossing the roads.

Here, it's quite different since you are more likely to run into a camel or a half-goat. Given the value of one camel, you should take this warning sign very seriously.

A funny road sign

And couple of kilometers later, on the same road :

Pedestrian and other amazing things on the Omani highways

 

One of the most surprising thing while driving in Oman is the number of pedestrians you may find running to cross the highway.

However, pedestrians are not the only hazard you may encounter on the road. So far, I have seen : civil works vehicles, bicycles driving on the right hand lane, ambulance taking the emergency lane the wrong way, different kinds of animals (camel, half-goat,...).

For information, the speed limit on the highway is 120km/h, thus crossing it on foot is quite dangerous.

Pedestrian next to the left lane

Pedestrian waiting for a taxi to stop

Pedestrian waiting to cross

How to make Papaya Salad ? (with pictures)

 

After our afternoon "fishing", Panadda and her friend invited me for a Thai lunch/dinner (for we had not had lunch). We went to Al Fair supermarket where you can find food from all over the world (including fresh bagels).

We bought groceries to make papaya salad and Pad Thai. Here is the recipe for the Papaya Salad (which was one of my favorite meal when I visited C. in Bangkok, so good when served with sticky rice) :

First, you have to shred a green papaya

Using a mortar, you mix green and red chili and garlic

One tablespoon of sugar

One small tablespoon of MSD (I have no clue of what is this powder)

A pinch of shrimp paste

Tomato and lime are then added

A splash of fish sauce

Last, the shredded papaya and then you mix everything

Here is the result : a wonderful meal ! If you like cashew nuts, you can top up your salad, it adds a crunchy taste

This recipe is quite easy and so good. It's spicy, sweet and sour at the same time. Actually, it was very spicy (I was with real Thai cooking real Thai food). Hopefully, I'm used to eating very spicy.

If I ever cook Tom Yam with my Thai friends, I will definitely post the recipe the same way.

Comments are welcome.

Picking up shells in Muscat

 

Thursday was off for me since I had worked the previous Friday.

Panadda had planned to go with her boyfriend and another friend to the beach to pick up shells. She asked me to come.

Al Bustan

We went to Al Bustan where there is one of the most luxurious palace in the world. We could not have a look inside since there is a GCC meeting this month and security has been strengthened. Therefore, we went to the nearby beach. It looked like Brittany with dark rocks all over the beach, which is funny because 100m from there you have white sand beaches.

  Al Bustan palace

It was very nice because I got to see many animals I'm not used to see on European beaches. While Panadda and friends were looking for seafood, I was taking pictures of this strange creatures.

Panadda trying to catch fish

It looks like a star fish but it's moving very fast

Urchins

This little guy was eating algae

Camille's friend

View from Al Bustan Beach

Al Gubrah

After one hour, we moved back to another beach to get another kind of shells. It was actually in Al Gubrah, near the Chedi !

This place seems popular for shells since many Asian families were there.

While my friends were searching the sand, I walked on the beach and picked up nice shells (empty ones !).

This hobby is quite surprising (I would not have the idea to pick up shells on Muscat beaches) but seems very popular in the Thai community. They actually do so to get very fresh seafood (compared to Carrefour or LuLu).

I spent a good time at the beach, relaxing and enjoying the nice weather. It also reminds me of the 'good old days' when we used to pick up seafood on Brittany's beaches. 

Thai party at Beach Hotel in Muscat

The Thai community of Muscat was throwing a party on December 5th.

It was actually for the King's Birthday. I got invited through my friend Panadda, it took place at the Beach Hotel pool (next to the Intercontinental) in Qurum.

There were dances, food and Thai people.

It was the first time such a party was organized (through some Thai organization from I understood). Thus, everything was not perfect but for a first time, it was not so bad.

Firstly there were some songs and anthem as well as a welcome speech.

The food was served as a buffet. The line was long before getting the food but it was worth the wait. The food was very good and not too spicy to accommodate westerner palates.  I had some samosas and green curry as well as yellow rice.

After meal, we enjoyed traditional Thai dances :

The dancer on the pictures above is Got, a Panadda's friend.

 

Look at the details of the costume :

After that, they play some disco (Thai) music and people started to chill.

Then, the Intercon had a Thai night so everybody went there. Bernard (who works with me) and I quickly became surrounded by Panadda's friends. Since they are mostly girls (there was a lady-boy though), I can tell you couple of guys out there were very jealous.

However, we took off quickly after because I had worked all day and we had to decline dancing all the time.

Just for fun, a picture with a Christmas tree :