In my previous blog where I gushed about how much I adored London, I forgot all about one of the most important parts of the trip... Heathrow airpot.
After an 8 hour layover at Doha International Airport and some extremely uncomfortable chairs, definitely not designed for sleeping, we jumped on our 6-hour flight to London. I managed to fit in the 3 Twilight movies on the way (I hadn't seen them before and after watching them, I will wait till the next one is available on some longhaul flight before I watch it). We were actually ahead of schedule when we arrived above London but Heathrow being what it is, the Captain announced that we'd have a 10 minute delay. No problem, we're early anyway so what the hey!
So we began circling and it was actually quite interesting to check out the countryside, until the captain came over the speaker with 'Sorry folks, we've just had word that that it'll be another 20 minutes before we can land'. Sigh...
By this time we could see 2 or 3 other planes also following us or we were following them - who knows!
But wait, there was yet another delay!
In the end we circled for about 50 minutes in total, which actually meant we landed at our originally scheduled time. Not bad really, considering how busy Heathrow actually is.
I am getting used to standing in line now, waiting for my passport to be stamped. The officer we got at Heathrow was a big lovely guy, who is a regular to Australia which definitely made the process a whole lot smoother. We chatted about where we were from in Oz and were shortly on our way to collect our baggage.
The return trip however was a whole other experience...
Monday, November 29, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
I left my heart in London
It’s nearly been a week since returning from a flying trip to London and I wish I could go back. I had a great time there; it was exactly like I expected – the accents, the weather, the people, the architecture... MP and I spent only 3 and a half days there but we managed to pack a whole lot of touristy stuff in there!
Photo: The view from our hotel
After nearly 24 hours travel (there was an 8 hour layover at Doha International Airport) we finally arrived at Heathrow, worked out how to navigate the tube and checked into our hotel. From there we went to see the Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden – something that I really wanted to do. The theatre itself was absolutely beautiful! There is nothing even remotely similar in Australia – the balconies, the lighting, the beautiful red curtain! It’s a pity the ballet didn’t live up to the theatre… It was ‘Sylvia’ so I don’t know if the actually ballet itself added to how bad it was (that’s the first time I’ve seen it performed), but there were many almost drops of the lead (who didn’t really have any stage presence), there were mistakes from the most of the cast, unison was just no where to be seen… I expected more from this company. I should however say that the dancer who played Eros was fabulous as were the couple who danced the Goat duo. Oh and the sets! Wow!
Photo: The Royal Opera House curtain
The funniest part of the show however was the guy sitting behind us, with his girlfriend. He was talking about ‘…checking the finances to see if it’s a good investment…’ and then ‘…asking Mummy to pay for it…’! MP called him a preppy – I so have to agree!
Anyway, we did a lot of touristy things like the Tower of London, the London Tombs (scary!), Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, St Peter’s Basilica, the Natural History Museum, the Thames, etc, etc, etc. Lots of walking around everywhere, taking the tube everywhere, the sort of thing that you do when you are in London. All of which was great and added to the whole London experience, but that’s not what I loved the most about the trip.
Firstly, people spoke English and better yet, they understood when I spoke English to them!! And because of this, the entire trip was a whole lot easier. Plus, everyone was so very polite! On one day, there was a runaway train due to leaves on the track which caused severe delays on some of the other lines. Anyway, the day after this there were notices up at the tube stations apologising for the delays! MP also saw at one station, the platform officer help an elderly lady onto the train. He then radioed the next station so that the next platform officer could help the same lady off the train!
Oh and don’t get me started on the accents! We have an English friend here in Oman and he was talking about all the different accents people have there before we went over. It was so funny to hear them; it really is exactly like it is on TV. And the kids of the many private schools speak so well; concise and intelligent – and these are kids of say ages 9 to 12. At the ‘Britain at War’ museum, I heard one girl of about 10 say how ‘…ingenious…’ the cardboard cake was (made like that during the war due to the lack of availability of ingredients).
I think though, the big thing for me was that it was so easy and so normal, I could relate to everyone around me. I felt safe, I felt like I could actually do things and not need MP to do it for me or speak for me or whatever. It was so far from where I currently live and I liked it. I (briefly) had some of my freedom back. It didn’t hurt that there were so many Australians there also! Every single tourist group we were in had at least one other group of Australians in it.
The only time I didn’t feel completely comfortable was our final night there. We went to West End to see a play called ‘Ghost Stories’ (if you get a chance to see this play, do! It’s exactly what the title suggests, but I made a promise – like all members of the audience – that I would keep the secrets of the play, so that is all I can tell you…). Anyway, on the way to the theatre, a random guy walked passed us and whispered to MP “Marijuana? Pills?” It wasn’t scary, it was actually quite funny, but still puts you slightly on edge. It was on the way home that I felt…unsettled. Of course, this may have had something to do with the fact that I just watched a scary play! You know how you get a vibe from some people? I had that with this one particular guy who we walked passed on our way to the tube station. Stupid really, we were on a street full of people and really, that’s the same sort of thing I have experienced in Australia.
It was also nice to be able to go to a pub or a restaurant and have a glass of wine with dinner without having to hide in a 4 or 5 star hotel or behind curtains and closed doors. I definitely made sure I enjoyed this every night! Plus the ‘normal’ foods (if I never have to taste or smell cumin ever again, it will be too soon).
Photo: The Thames
But now that we are back I’m feeling quite homesick. As a friend just emailed to me, it’s the closest I have been to Oz since moving overseas. It’s nearly Christmas, something that is not celebrated here but it was all over London, so it’s been a crash back to reality here. There are National Day celebrations here in a few days, so there are red, green and white lights up all over the place – I’m trying to delude myself into thinking it’s for Christmas! Coincidentally, the Queen will be here in a day or so for the celebrations…
There were two not so great things about London though; it was all coming up roses! The pollution there is pretty bad. It’s the worst that I have experienced so far. I first noticed it whilst we were circling over the city on our delayed landing, that brown smudge across the sky. I didn’t pay too much attention to it initially, there is usually a haze here due to the dust cloud, it wasn’t until we were on the ground walking around it in that it really hit home. Each night we’d come home with a film of grim covering any exposed skin, collecting around our fingernails and nose. I wonder if in cities like this, whether there is a higher rate of respiratory disease?
But the other more shocking thing was the bad coffee!! Wow… So very, very bad. I was warned by the Yeoman guide we had that the coffee in London was bad but I didn’t listen! The first morning I had one and nearly gagged, but thought maybe it was because it was filter coffee. So the next time I got a cappuccino on board the Thames cruise – hideous! But again, I figured this was because it was made on a boat that didn’t really have the facilities for making a decent cup. Finally on our last morning, I had a lovely latte at a café on Portobello Road but it was made by a Frenchmen!! No wonder it was decent!
When I lived in Oz, I never really had any desire to visit London because so many Australian’s go there. Now however, I see why they flock there and I cannot wait to go back to explore some more!
Photo: The view from our hotel
After nearly 24 hours travel (there was an 8 hour layover at Doha International Airport) we finally arrived at Heathrow, worked out how to navigate the tube and checked into our hotel. From there we went to see the Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden – something that I really wanted to do. The theatre itself was absolutely beautiful! There is nothing even remotely similar in Australia – the balconies, the lighting, the beautiful red curtain! It’s a pity the ballet didn’t live up to the theatre… It was ‘Sylvia’ so I don’t know if the actually ballet itself added to how bad it was (that’s the first time I’ve seen it performed), but there were many almost drops of the lead (who didn’t really have any stage presence), there were mistakes from the most of the cast, unison was just no where to be seen… I expected more from this company. I should however say that the dancer who played Eros was fabulous as were the couple who danced the Goat duo. Oh and the sets! Wow!
Photo: The Royal Opera House curtain
The funniest part of the show however was the guy sitting behind us, with his girlfriend. He was talking about ‘…checking the finances to see if it’s a good investment…’ and then ‘…asking Mummy to pay for it…’! MP called him a preppy – I so have to agree!
Anyway, we did a lot of touristy things like the Tower of London, the London Tombs (scary!), Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, St Peter’s Basilica, the Natural History Museum, the Thames, etc, etc, etc. Lots of walking around everywhere, taking the tube everywhere, the sort of thing that you do when you are in London. All of which was great and added to the whole London experience, but that’s not what I loved the most about the trip.
Firstly, people spoke English and better yet, they understood when I spoke English to them!! And because of this, the entire trip was a whole lot easier. Plus, everyone was so very polite! On one day, there was a runaway train due to leaves on the track which caused severe delays on some of the other lines. Anyway, the day after this there were notices up at the tube stations apologising for the delays! MP also saw at one station, the platform officer help an elderly lady onto the train. He then radioed the next station so that the next platform officer could help the same lady off the train!
Oh and don’t get me started on the accents! We have an English friend here in Oman and he was talking about all the different accents people have there before we went over. It was so funny to hear them; it really is exactly like it is on TV. And the kids of the many private schools speak so well; concise and intelligent – and these are kids of say ages 9 to 12. At the ‘Britain at War’ museum, I heard one girl of about 10 say how ‘…ingenious…’ the cardboard cake was (made like that during the war due to the lack of availability of ingredients).
I think though, the big thing for me was that it was so easy and so normal, I could relate to everyone around me. I felt safe, I felt like I could actually do things and not need MP to do it for me or speak for me or whatever. It was so far from where I currently live and I liked it. I (briefly) had some of my freedom back. It didn’t hurt that there were so many Australians there also! Every single tourist group we were in had at least one other group of Australians in it.
The only time I didn’t feel completely comfortable was our final night there. We went to West End to see a play called ‘Ghost Stories’ (if you get a chance to see this play, do! It’s exactly what the title suggests, but I made a promise – like all members of the audience – that I would keep the secrets of the play, so that is all I can tell you…). Anyway, on the way to the theatre, a random guy walked passed us and whispered to MP “Marijuana? Pills?” It wasn’t scary, it was actually quite funny, but still puts you slightly on edge. It was on the way home that I felt…unsettled. Of course, this may have had something to do with the fact that I just watched a scary play! You know how you get a vibe from some people? I had that with this one particular guy who we walked passed on our way to the tube station. Stupid really, we were on a street full of people and really, that’s the same sort of thing I have experienced in Australia.
It was also nice to be able to go to a pub or a restaurant and have a glass of wine with dinner without having to hide in a 4 or 5 star hotel or behind curtains and closed doors. I definitely made sure I enjoyed this every night! Plus the ‘normal’ foods (if I never have to taste or smell cumin ever again, it will be too soon).
Photo: The Thames
But now that we are back I’m feeling quite homesick. As a friend just emailed to me, it’s the closest I have been to Oz since moving overseas. It’s nearly Christmas, something that is not celebrated here but it was all over London, so it’s been a crash back to reality here. There are National Day celebrations here in a few days, so there are red, green and white lights up all over the place – I’m trying to delude myself into thinking it’s for Christmas! Coincidentally, the Queen will be here in a day or so for the celebrations…
There were two not so great things about London though; it was all coming up roses! The pollution there is pretty bad. It’s the worst that I have experienced so far. I first noticed it whilst we were circling over the city on our delayed landing, that brown smudge across the sky. I didn’t pay too much attention to it initially, there is usually a haze here due to the dust cloud, it wasn’t until we were on the ground walking around it in that it really hit home. Each night we’d come home with a film of grim covering any exposed skin, collecting around our fingernails and nose. I wonder if in cities like this, whether there is a higher rate of respiratory disease?
But the other more shocking thing was the bad coffee!! Wow… So very, very bad. I was warned by the Yeoman guide we had that the coffee in London was bad but I didn’t listen! The first morning I had one and nearly gagged, but thought maybe it was because it was filter coffee. So the next time I got a cappuccino on board the Thames cruise – hideous! But again, I figured this was because it was made on a boat that didn’t really have the facilities for making a decent cup. Finally on our last morning, I had a lovely latte at a café on Portobello Road but it was made by a Frenchmen!! No wonder it was decent!
When I lived in Oz, I never really had any desire to visit London because so many Australian’s go there. Now however, I see why they flock there and I cannot wait to go back to explore some more!
Friday, November 12, 2010
Innocence or naivety?
I wanted to share something with you all that I just read. It goes hand-in-hand with my previous post, so thought it relevant here.
This is from the free magazine The Week that is published in Muscat...
"We [The Week] carried out an opinion poll...recently on how you would deal with a drug addict. We didn't know whether to laugh or cry at some of the answers. One said if he found his friend or family member adicted, first he would give him a 'good beating'. Then he would try and explain the harmful effects of drug use. Right. Thrash someone and that would put him/her in a receptive mood to listen to you pontificate about the harmful effects of drug use.
Reporting an addict to the police was an option that some chose, while one [respondent] clarified that...he would take the offender to his place and not inform the authorities or his parents as this would worry them. Another said that a drug culture could never take root here because the people are all peace-loving.
...One respondent distinguished between under-25 and over-25 drug addicts. The former...deserves to be talked to and made aware and the latter should just be reported to the police as they are 'mature enough to take responsibility for their actions.' So give the child a driving licence at 18, but he is not mature enough to understand he is doing something wrong.
And finally, my favourite one: if this person saw a drug deal happening, he would approach the dealer and try and tell him not to induldge in such activities.
These are all real people and this is what they believe."
(Mohana Prabhakar, author)
All I could do when I read this article was shake my head. Like Mohana has said in the article, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. My favourite is the one where the person who thinks telling the drug dealer to stop dealing because it is bad, will actually have an affect!
Disbelief!
This is from the free magazine The Week that is published in Muscat...
"We [The Week] carried out an opinion poll...recently on how you would deal with a drug addict. We didn't know whether to laugh or cry at some of the answers. One said if he found his friend or family member adicted, first he would give him a 'good beating'. Then he would try and explain the harmful effects of drug use. Right. Thrash someone and that would put him/her in a receptive mood to listen to you pontificate about the harmful effects of drug use.
Reporting an addict to the police was an option that some chose, while one [respondent] clarified that...he would take the offender to his place and not inform the authorities or his parents as this would worry them. Another said that a drug culture could never take root here because the people are all peace-loving.
...One respondent distinguished between under-25 and over-25 drug addicts. The former...deserves to be talked to and made aware and the latter should just be reported to the police as they are 'mature enough to take responsibility for their actions.' So give the child a driving licence at 18, but he is not mature enough to understand he is doing something wrong.
And finally, my favourite one: if this person saw a drug deal happening, he would approach the dealer and try and tell him not to induldge in such activities.
These are all real people and this is what they believe."
(Mohana Prabhakar, author)
All I could do when I read this article was shake my head. Like Mohana has said in the article, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. My favourite is the one where the person who thinks telling the drug dealer to stop dealing because it is bad, will actually have an affect!
Disbelief!
My Boiling Point
Have you ever been in that angry/frustrated state-of-mind where you just wanted to cry out of shear exasperation? That is me as I write this. So really, I probably shouldn’t be writing this, should really wait till I cool off a little – but hey, what the hell. I won’t use swear words, might get censored…
My mood has been building over the passed couple of weeks and tonight has just been the straw that broke the camels back (actually quite apt for this place).
I’m watching Season 6 of So You Think You Can Dance (America), I missed it when it was on in Oz so am kind of glad it is on here - no spoilers please! Anyway, there was this beautiful contemporary piece on and, as I was a contemporary dancer and choreographer, I will always watch and love this type of dance. Anyway, whilst watching this piece they continued to cut to shots of the choreographer or the audience or the judges and I suddenly realised that this wasn’t done by the actually show, this had been done post production by the geniuses who monitor television in the Middle East. It was at this point that my blood began to boil.
I cannot believe that people are so damn prudish that they cannot deal with watching two stunning dancers perform a piece that wasn’t in anyway explicit (it was about old loves, for crying out loud). The dancers rolled on the ground and I saw another bit where the female dancer launched herself into the guys arms and well, that is about all I can tell you because they allowed maybe 15 seconds of the dance to air. I’m so angry I can barely express how I feel. Seriously??? It’s DANCE. I am so disappointed and disgusted all wrapped up into a little ball of fury that settled into the middle of my chest.
So far I don’t think I have watched a show that hasn’t been edited in some way… Nope, can’t think of one. Everything is tainted by the almighty censorship people. Even a scene in ‘Shrek’ in which Shrek and Fiona kiss was deleted!!! What the…?
I should clarify here that the satellite channels here are also aired in Yemen and Saudi and they are far more rigid, closeted, uptight (etc, etc, etc) then Oman.
MP and I had a discussion about how people get their sex education here. It’s not taught in schools, the longest kiss on TV is a peck between married (and only married) couples for about 2 to 3 seconds– any longer and it’s edited – all birth-related scenes are completely removed (think Rachel in ‘Friends’) – even the famous quote from ‘Kindergarten Cop’ was edited to “Boys have a bleep, girls have a bleep”. So that leaves the home, BUT sex is a taboo subject at the best of times. How on earth does this society manage to function? It’s no wonder that when I walk down the road to my local post office with my head uncovered, that I get stared at to the point I feel unsafe. And what is so frustrating about that is that if some man did approach me and behaved inappropriately, I am not able to tell him where to go because I would be the one who would get into trouble with the police! Backward doesn’t even begin to describe it.
Oh and the fashion (and I mean normal fashion, not abayas) is so hideous! We are going to London in a few days so I have been trying to find a few decent pieces of clothing that I can wear to the theatre, etc. Ohmygod, the tops are just revolting – floral prints that I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy. Think shopping at the dodgiest secondhand stores that you find in some country towns and you’ll start to understand what I am up against.
I cannot wait for some civilisation… And this is not just me, from the look of all the fully booked flights leaving Muscat during the upcoming holidays, all the expats in town are fleeing like rats on a sinking ship.
I wonder how the Omani’s who are educated overseas feel when they return to their homeland. Do they feel oppressed? Do they long to be able to make their own decisions about what they want to watch on television? Do they miss the freedoms they had with the friends they made in their overseas homes? Or do they want to return to the simple life in which everything is mapped out for them till they day they die?
These are the people I would love to talk to, if I was allowed…
I used to think that Australia was an immature country that had a lot of growing up to do; I have since re-evaluated this position.
My mood has been building over the passed couple of weeks and tonight has just been the straw that broke the camels back (actually quite apt for this place).
I’m watching Season 6 of So You Think You Can Dance (America), I missed it when it was on in Oz so am kind of glad it is on here - no spoilers please! Anyway, there was this beautiful contemporary piece on and, as I was a contemporary dancer and choreographer, I will always watch and love this type of dance. Anyway, whilst watching this piece they continued to cut to shots of the choreographer or the audience or the judges and I suddenly realised that this wasn’t done by the actually show, this had been done post production by the geniuses who monitor television in the Middle East. It was at this point that my blood began to boil.
I cannot believe that people are so damn prudish that they cannot deal with watching two stunning dancers perform a piece that wasn’t in anyway explicit (it was about old loves, for crying out loud). The dancers rolled on the ground and I saw another bit where the female dancer launched herself into the guys arms and well, that is about all I can tell you because they allowed maybe 15 seconds of the dance to air. I’m so angry I can barely express how I feel. Seriously??? It’s DANCE. I am so disappointed and disgusted all wrapped up into a little ball of fury that settled into the middle of my chest.
So far I don’t think I have watched a show that hasn’t been edited in some way… Nope, can’t think of one. Everything is tainted by the almighty censorship people. Even a scene in ‘Shrek’ in which Shrek and Fiona kiss was deleted!!! What the…?
I should clarify here that the satellite channels here are also aired in Yemen and Saudi and they are far more rigid, closeted, uptight (etc, etc, etc) then Oman.
MP and I had a discussion about how people get their sex education here. It’s not taught in schools, the longest kiss on TV is a peck between married (and only married) couples for about 2 to 3 seconds– any longer and it’s edited – all birth-related scenes are completely removed (think Rachel in ‘Friends’) – even the famous quote from ‘Kindergarten Cop’ was edited to “Boys have a bleep, girls have a bleep”. So that leaves the home, BUT sex is a taboo subject at the best of times. How on earth does this society manage to function? It’s no wonder that when I walk down the road to my local post office with my head uncovered, that I get stared at to the point I feel unsafe. And what is so frustrating about that is that if some man did approach me and behaved inappropriately, I am not able to tell him where to go because I would be the one who would get into trouble with the police! Backward doesn’t even begin to describe it.
Oh and the fashion (and I mean normal fashion, not abayas) is so hideous! We are going to London in a few days so I have been trying to find a few decent pieces of clothing that I can wear to the theatre, etc. Ohmygod, the tops are just revolting – floral prints that I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy. Think shopping at the dodgiest secondhand stores that you find in some country towns and you’ll start to understand what I am up against.
I cannot wait for some civilisation… And this is not just me, from the look of all the fully booked flights leaving Muscat during the upcoming holidays, all the expats in town are fleeing like rats on a sinking ship.
I wonder how the Omani’s who are educated overseas feel when they return to their homeland. Do they feel oppressed? Do they long to be able to make their own decisions about what they want to watch on television? Do they miss the freedoms they had with the friends they made in their overseas homes? Or do they want to return to the simple life in which everything is mapped out for them till they day they die?
These are the people I would love to talk to, if I was allowed…
I used to think that Australia was an immature country that had a lot of growing up to do; I have since re-evaluated this position.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)