Saudi Arabian Gossip about women driving: I heard it on the grapevine

You will not believe your ears. THE SAUDI ARABIAN GOVERNMENT IS MORE THAN WILLING TO LET SAUDI ARABIAN WOMEN DRIVE. Yes, you heard me. In fact, they do not even HAVE TO BE TESTED.

True that. Believe me folks, I found this out from the good women of Saudi Arabia themselves.

The girls (from the Kingdom) back West in our clique said, for a fee, Saudi Arabia will give them a full lisence without being tested and having NO EXPERIENCE whatsoever driving.

Hmmm, you say? Wouldn't that truly be dangerous?

Is this to prove once and for all that the religious idiots there were right, once and for all, that it is too dangerous for Saudi Arabian women to drive?

Nope. Just a classic contradiction based on corruption.

Women are not allowed to drive IN Saudi Arabia, but with no test or driving experience WHATSOEVER they are given international driving lisences for their country of study, ie Europe, Uk, US, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.

Nice huh.

GCC Airline Uniforms because... I think Oman's Balenciaga Designed ones are awfully G-L-A-M

1. Oman Air. Wins my vote for the chicest GCC uniforms because of the bright blue colour, and their designer.2. Emirates Air. My pick for 2nd place because I love the shape and style and red colour of the caps with the beige suit. + red lipstick and tres chique.3. Qatar Air. Because that is such a chic berry colour.
4. Bahrain's Gulf Air airline. Because of the way these girls pin their scarves to the suit lapel.

5. Abu Dhabi's Etihad Air. Last, only because the uniforms, are grey, and would be chicer in London and New York, than the GCC.6. Kuwait's Wataniya airline. I love the purple, really, but something about the style I am not in love with, I don't know why.

7. And the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia cannot place cuz i am not sure if the uniform pictured above is from a Saudi airline. A friend more jet set than I insists that it is but I don't know.

And, a cool fact that you might not know about one of the OPNOs, one of them can fly;p

UPDATE (old by now) for travelling to the UAE

If going to the UAE [KSA] from Oman please be aware your Blackberry instant messenger won't work and other internet services. Because UAE and the Saudi (family) claim it is a threat to national security. Yeah. OK.

Because if I were a terrorist I'd instant message the big O my terrorist plans (ripped from a Tom Clancy novel) from my blackberry in Dubai. Because....

Yeah.

Because I can't do that from my I-phone.

Oh no! I, the terrorist, shall have to change phones!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No!!!!!!!

Yes, you say?

But my pretty sparkly blackberry cover featuring hello kitty WON'T FIT on my I-phone!!!!!! Nooooooo!!!!! My cover will be SO blown.

Yeah.

Sources:
http://muscatjetdriver.blogspot.com/2010/08/dubai-take-another-evolutionary-leap.html (He broke the story and the Omani newspapers covered it the next day)

http://muscatconfidential.blogspot.com/2010/08/muscat-confidential-reaches-1000.html
(He added the links for what you can use instead:) thanks UD)

http://muscatmutterings.blogspot.com/2010/08/blackberrys-al-fair-hi-fm.html
(and he added the point that, hmmm, the business capital of the ME is blocking the most used business device-STUPIDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD beYOND belief).

And I of course added my AWESOME terrorist speech. Since I have encountered enough stupid anti-terrorism policies back in my home country (people often thought of one member of OPNO---Princess----(former window display designer that she was for a major fashion chain) as a potential terrorist, get that LOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLL:XD) to have thought, IF I WERE a terrorist, this is what I would do instead of the stupid, stupid, crap some idiots would think I'd be LAME ENOUGH to come up with. Ah well, UAE, I bet I can get my lil sis and my father a nice blackberry on sale now. That makes OPNO happy.

Wildlife in Oman---more than you'd think

I know people tend to think of Oman like a desert. They think camels, goats, scorpians, and snakes. But Oman is very biologically diverse, and has a wide range of large and small game. Here are some of my favourites. Oman is home to the Arabian Leopard, common to the mountains of Dhofar.
The nearly extinct but slowly reemerging Oryx. You can find them in Al Wusta region. They remind me of unicorns lol, so graceful.
Sandfoxes: I saw one driving home from a festival in Qurayat, it was soooooooooooo cute.

I saw this little guy camping once. Apparently he is called a 'yellow spotted agama'. The very famous endangered sea turtles in Sharqiyah where they sometimes nest.
Since I am a west coast girl this is no biggie for me, but Oman is quite famous for Dolphin and whale watching. Dolphins are here all year but humpback whales migrate through Omani waters so you can spot the gentle giants in the right season (k, they ARE impressive).A desert hare. Verrrrrrrrrrry fast. Yeah, something I TOTALLY didn't expect to see in Oman, but hey, at certain times of the year Oman is pretty rich in flamingoes:)
Camels, because you wanted to see them, not because they are anything you never expected. BTW, the bottom camel pictured with the Shiekh is a prize winning racing one:D My favourite animals in Oman (besides Bin Cats right R????) are the horses.

from Oman's longest running tourist: how to renew your tourist visa

If you are a tourist that has over-stayed your original visa (which OPNO did, like, a hundred times to the point that Sumaiya Al Busaidi at the renewal office knows her by name and passport number) you can head down to Seeb to renew it. You can even do so by taxi. I have saved the directions in Arabic on my mobile:

الاحو ال المدنية. الجو أزات. السيب. صقابل المطار.

Which has always worked for me (thank you A, whose text I saved because it looked similar to K's [who is infamously lazy] but was longer). I've never had a taxi that didn't understand it. It could say, this girl is an idiot, I am tired of helping her renew her visa, so your turn, and go here, for all I know (I can read Arabic letters but what the word vocabulary is limited). Give me another 40 extension and we'll see.

There, at the renewal headquarters, if you are a woman or a man, go the first building after the gate and get your paperwork. There is a charge for this between 2-6 rials but they stopped charging me a long time ago so I don't know what it is, I am sorry. Once you have your paperwork, for the men, head to the buidling directly opposite.

Women, carry on to the very back building along that winding sidewalk. There is a side door entrance for women, and this is a smallish room with some seats (the men's side doesn't have many seats) and two small wicket windows for ya'll to line up at. Do not be super nice. Head to the front. Women budge. There you pay six rials by credit card. And voila, finis, you have another 29 days.

Yeah.. this is about the best car rack use I have seen in Oman thus far

Isn't this the most efficient use of a car rack you have ever seen? (sarcasm). Only in Oman lol. Made my Omani friends laugh something terrible too.

from the infamous omani taxi to the ROP cruiser- Types of Vehicles you'll encounter in Oman

I LOOOOOOVED these cartoons sooooooooooo much I had to beg expat blogger Steve from http://www.livinginoman.com/ to let me borrow them from his cartoon posts page http://www.livinginoman.com/search/label/Cartoons. I promised my Omani friends to make a Canadian edition.

Driving in Oman (and yes, I know the cartoon isn't Omani)

Transportation in Oman pt 1

For those who want to travel in Oman, private car is the main way. Oman has many car rental offices [maybe I should list a few links?---when I have more time] and an international driver's liscense can get you a ride. For those staying a bit longer, most countries can easily convert an existing license into an Omani one. Check out the Oman ROP website [link I'll put here eventually]. If you don't have a lisence but want one you have to have a resident's card and then go down to your local ROP office for a learning guide. Then you hire an instructor (those are those white cars with the red and white strips---lol, no newbies, they are not taxis!!!!).

The next most common way is by private taxi. Taxis here are either shared (the fare will be thus reduced) or completely private. The fare is negotiated before you get in so don't be afraid to tell the driver what you want to pay and walk away if he doesn't agree for a cheaper taxi. Tip for women traveling alone (sit in the backseat). Taxis are generally white with orange on them and they are only driven by Omanis. You can wave down a taxi from the side of the road and there are taxi stands.

A more affordable option is the taxi bus, between one area and another, ie from Madinat Qaboos to Ghubra, the fair is only 100 baisa (R.O 0.100), which is shared between many people. Hit the door to let your driver know you want off or say stop here, but these buses may have set routes and stops so ask if they can take you to where you are going first.