I've realized that I'm waaaay behind. So I guess it's time to hit you over the head with multiple entries.
Thursday, June 16
It's only been the first day of the weekend, and already it seems so busy, compared to last weekend (that is, when all we did was sleep). Last night after work, Alison and I met up with Jill at the Muttrah Souk. Although we only went to get a feel of what the place was like, I had a great time, wandering through the labyrinth-like alleys of the souk. We didn't even get to explore the place to its full extent, but it was a lot of fun, walking past the booths and the stores and looking at all the colors and intricacies offered by the sellers of Muttrah. I found myself wishing that I knew how to tell all the salespeople that we were just looking in Arabic, although I doubt that would've deterred them much. There was one store where the shopkeeper made me promise to return, and I teased him that I would only if he would give us a discount, to which he replied that he would give us special deals. I wonder if he'll remember us.
This morning, we went to visit the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat with Alina, Jill, and Damien. Although it was hot out, the mosque itself and its surrounding gardens were beautiful, and definitely worth seeing. I find myself so fascinated by Islamic architecture, especially in comparison with the rest of the buildings in the city. Whenever I'm in the car, I can't help but notice that the mosques here in Oman are always the most beautiful buildings around - the design, the shape, the intricacies are all so beautiful compared to the basic structures that most other buildings have. While we were in the main "sanctuary", where what used to be the world's biggest carpet is located, Damien struck up a conversation with two of the guards, asking them about where different parts of the room had been made - the chandeliers, the carpet, the window panes, etc. Funnily enough, the conversation moved on to himself, and it turned out that the guards thought that we (myself, Alison, Alina, and Jill) were Damien's four wives! They must have thought that he was quite the man of diversity, haha.
In the evening, we went out for dinner with John, one of the guys that we met last week, and met up with his friend and some of his friends. We went to Pavo Real, a nice authentic Mexican restaurant with a live band which brought back much nostalgia and happiness with their tunes. After dinner and shisha, we went out to hit the clubs - Alison and my first time out! haha - and ended up at Safari, a club in the Grand Hyatt. They had a live band performing popular hits like Hot n Cold, Sexy Back, Disturbia, etc., and were pretty good, surprisingly, but I guess I always prefer to enjoy the show and appreciate the musicianship than dance when watching a good band perform... All in all, a fun night to end a fun day.
Because I owe you some pictures:
Souk photos:
In Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque:
Haha, couldn't resist getting a picture of this. Even the world's (second) largest carpet needs to be vacuumed regularly.
Thursday, June 16
It's only been the first day of the weekend, and already it seems so busy, compared to last weekend (that is, when all we did was sleep). Last night after work, Alison and I met up with Jill at the Muttrah Souk. Although we only went to get a feel of what the place was like, I had a great time, wandering through the labyrinth-like alleys of the souk. We didn't even get to explore the place to its full extent, but it was a lot of fun, walking past the booths and the stores and looking at all the colors and intricacies offered by the sellers of Muttrah. I found myself wishing that I knew how to tell all the salespeople that we were just looking in Arabic, although I doubt that would've deterred them much. There was one store where the shopkeeper made me promise to return, and I teased him that I would only if he would give us a discount, to which he replied that he would give us special deals. I wonder if he'll remember us.
This morning, we went to visit the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat with Alina, Jill, and Damien. Although it was hot out, the mosque itself and its surrounding gardens were beautiful, and definitely worth seeing. I find myself so fascinated by Islamic architecture, especially in comparison with the rest of the buildings in the city. Whenever I'm in the car, I can't help but notice that the mosques here in Oman are always the most beautiful buildings around - the design, the shape, the intricacies are all so beautiful compared to the basic structures that most other buildings have. While we were in the main "sanctuary", where what used to be the world's biggest carpet is located, Damien struck up a conversation with two of the guards, asking them about where different parts of the room had been made - the chandeliers, the carpet, the window panes, etc. Funnily enough, the conversation moved on to himself, and it turned out that the guards thought that we (myself, Alison, Alina, and Jill) were Damien's four wives! They must have thought that he was quite the man of diversity, haha.
In the evening, we went out for dinner with John, one of the guys that we met last week, and met up with his friend and some of his friends. We went to Pavo Real, a nice authentic Mexican restaurant with a live band which brought back much nostalgia and happiness with their tunes. After dinner and shisha, we went out to hit the clubs - Alison and my first time out! haha - and ended up at Safari, a club in the Grand Hyatt. They had a live band performing popular hits like Hot n Cold, Sexy Back, Disturbia, etc., and were pretty good, surprisingly, but I guess I always prefer to enjoy the show and appreciate the musicianship than dance when watching a good band perform... All in all, a fun night to end a fun day.
Because I owe you some pictures:
Souk photos:
In Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque:
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