Toasty

It’s been a little warm over the last few days. The temperature reached 44C today and the heat index at the moment is 46C. According to Weather Underground (see 'current temperature' link) the maximum temperature on record for today is 45C, so we’re getting near record levels. The forecast is for 46C on Monday. Add another 10-15C to obtain the temperature inside my tin car after work. Deduct about two degrees from this total to get the temperature on arrival at the house after a 45 minute drive with the ineffective air conditioning on full blast sucking all of the power out of the engine.

These temperatures are exceeding those in our new oven, which is so pants it won’t even bring a pan of water to the boil. It’s on the developers’s to-do list.

House update

Sarah got into a bit of a tizzy yesterday morning regarding her perceived lack of progress in turning the house into a home. With nothing better to do, I spent the entire weekend fixing over thirty pictures around the house and there is still a pile leaning up against a wall somewhere. A cluster of six Japanese prints took several hours wrestling with templates, rulers, tape measures, a spirit level and a keen cartographic eye to ensure the arrangement was within a tolerance of +/- 1mm.

The neighbourhood is expanding as more houses are finished each week. The level of sand and dust is also increasing and Sarah spends much of her day tutting and rubbing the floor with her Vileda mop (which makes a good surfboard for the kitten). To be fair, Sarah’s doing a grand job of creating a home within my ‘you’re not spending any more money’ restrictions.

Meanwhile the previous landlord has just phoned to ask how the watering system works as all the plants are dying. I mentioned to him months ago that there was a leak in the system which caused the pressure to drop throughout the day forcing the pump to activate with teeth-shattering brusqueness. Combined with the regular power cuts which reset the controlling computer, he’s beginning to realise he might have to spend a bit of the obscene amount of rent he has accumulated over the last three-and-a-half years.

Back on line

Never said this before and probably won’t say it again, but I’m quite impressed with Omantel. It's taken a bit of badgering, but after only one week we have a new account and phone number with ADSL on what is still a building site. Well done.

Japengo Café

There’s rarely such a thing as bad sushi (with the exception of the Marjan in the Hyatt which was dismal) so we decided to try the Japengo Café located on ‘Love Road’ (yes, really) near the Crowne Plaza.

The moment we arrived something was bugging me – the name seemed familiar. The restaurant is part of a chain with several branches in Dubai serving Japanese dishes fused with everything from pizza to Lebanese cuisine. I would normally sell my children for a spot of sushi, but sadly the sushi prices seemed extraordinarily high. The four of us plumbed for Nasi Goreng, Sin Chow Noodles and a curious stir fry in a basket thingy – all good. A nice stylish place with good service and good food for most tastes. Probably not worth re-visiting, for the sushi anyway.......ooh, I feel a need for a trip to the sushi night at the Sheraton Qurum Beach.

So where have I seen this before? Now I remember, La Jolla in San Diego. Same name, same style. Apparently, Bin Hindi enterprises claim to have created the Japengo Cafe concept. I can only conclude that they must be connected with the San Diego branch because it’s awfully, awfully similar.

Omantel.....efficiency?

I pulled off the highway at precisely 7.00am as instructed by the lady at Omantel to confirm the appointment for the telephone engineer today. No reply. Tried again. Still no reply. I continued my plod to work when the Omantel lady called me from the office (at 07.10am?) to remind me to speak to the engineers. ‘I have tried, but there’s no reply.’ ’Don’t worry, I know someone there, I will call for you to confirm the appointment,’ she said confidently and she gave me the engineer’s number.

A few hours later, with no apparent action at the house, I called the guy and quickly realised that we did not share a common language. I think I ascertained that someone would be at the house today. Sure enough, a few hours later, Sarah informed me that someone was digging up the drive and playing with bits of wire.

When I returned home the Echo fell into the hole left by relocated paving stones and bits of pipe. A swift call to the engineer provided reassurance that ‘phone connect tomorrow’. It was all going very well.

Out with the old

We checked the inventory with the landlord, who seemed quite chuffed that we were leaving the dishwasher (even though he bought it). Finally, we reversed out of the drive for the last time after three-and-a-half happy years to start afresh in the less sophisticated environs of the city.

Light entertainment

Two men turned up today with a small bag of spanners to plumb in the new satellite dish. Half an hour later, I was channel-hopping to find out what Showtime had to offer before losing the will to live in the realms of the free-to-air channels. Sadly no more comedy from 'Fux News' or MSNBC's 'stupid things that Fux News did today'. On the bright side we now have Comedy Central's Daily Show with Jon Stewart and the Colbert Report, the Antiques Roadshow for the lady of the house, and quite a bit of footie. Nothing too challenging there.

I smell of lemon Jiff

Although worker ants in blue overalls were crawling over the compound for at least half an hour beforehand, the sound of drilling, grinding and reversing lorries did not commence until precisely 6.00am. Considering that many of them were working into the night and probably had about as much sleep as me, it’s a wonder they have the energy to climb their wobbly scaffolding and repaint an entire side of a house in two colours in a morning.

In Azaibah and in spite of the landlord’s statement that we ‘didn’t need to clean the house’ we cleaned the house. I don’t know why. It’s still not finished so we’ll have to come back again tomorrow to do the cupboards and dig up a few more plants. Sigh. Back in Al Hail and suffering from complete exhaustion, we dined heartily on our fist meal in the new house: haricots en sauce tomate sur pain grillé.

Out of Azaibah

The sound of tape being stretched around large boxes echoed around the slowly emptying house. The cats were hiding under the car while Abbey the kitten had been locked in a room with a sign declaring that entry was forbidden (like the vicious bunny). The crew’s (token) driver napped on the sofa while the rest of his colleagues worked their arses off. The lorry was bursting at the seams like a Richard Scarry cartoon jumbo jet (held together by a snake you may recall) causing the boss to declare that they would have to make two trips. I looked after the old house while Sarah directed traffic in the new.

Meanwhile my quest for something to eat produced scrambled egg cooked in a cup, Branston pickle and a can of beer. Yummy. I entertained Abbey while waiting for the movers to return. Two hours and lunch later, the chaps finished packing and the house contained only scraps of paper and the landlord’s hideous furniture. As darkness fell I drove to Al Hail to spend my first night in our new home.

Moving the Hanging Gardens

This morning we went to the new house for the initial inspection before being handed the keys. Apart from the usual scratches and blemishes, we were drawn to one particular feature – the bathroom mirror lights. In an otherwise tastefully equipped and decorated house, the developer must have popped down to Ramez for a bulk consignment of the most hideously nasty light fittings which have, wait for it, flashing red, green and blue lights at each end of the fluorescent tube. We unloaded a few boxes from the car and headed back to Azaibah to continue packing and to wait for the gardeners.

They arrived at 3 pm but had to go away again because they forgot the truck. A short while later, the chaps returned with a suave guy with nice hair and a tight tee-shirt who, along with his driver, watched the gardeners load the truck in outrageous heat and humidity. With all the plants loaded, we drove (very slowly) to Al Hail leaving the front garden looking like an empty petrol forecourt as it did three-and-a-half years ago. I still think the landlord thinks we’re leaving the plants.....it will be a nice surprise.

At the new house, there was chaos as the truck reversed into the drive where a team of men were trying to erect a car port. There was visible horror on face of the man with the nice hair as he realised that the gardeners were nowhere to be seen. His moment of panic ended as they arrived to unload the truck, watched, once again by the driver who must have exhausted himself driving all that way. To be fair, the main with the nice hair did pull the pots to the back of the truck, but I don’t think he broke sweat. The site workers looked on with amazement as the contents of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were placed around the edge of the new garden....or perhaps it was the site of a woman working. The driver departed as soon as the truck was unloaded, leaving the gardeners to finish the job. It was time for tea.

We sat under the super-efficient air conditioning unit with camping cups of PG Tips before showering and heading back to Azaibah via City Centre. The staff of the Noodle House weren’t exactly rushed off their feet as they served us and the only other couple in the entire shopping centre. We took on more than enough carbohydrates for tomorrow.

Moving on

Sadly, the time has finally arrived for us to move away from Azaibah to a new house in a compound approximately 20km west of Azaibah in Al Hail. Most of the arrangements have been made and if the house is finished (more on this later) we should be moving on Tuesday. Sarah and I are slowly packing things into boxes while trying to be quite ruthless as we know that we have accumulated a considerable amount in Oman (particularly ladies' shoes) on top of our original allowance.

We drove to the satellite TV shop to disconnect our current service and start a new contract with something that can’t be any worse than ‘Leading the Way’ Orbit. The incompetence of the woman that served us contrasted nicely with super-efficiency of her boss who rescued the situation before the bruises on our foreheads became too large. We departed with full confidence that the hopeless lady would inform the engineers not to come before Wednesday.

Kitten for adoption

The kitten has developed into an incredible source of entertainment over the last few days. She is climbing, running, nibbling, eating and drinking heartily and performing the inevitable results at the other end in her cat tray.

Sadly we must put her up for adoption as we cannot accommodate any more animals. She will make a superb cat for the right family. If you are interested, please email the address in the 'question or comment' section.