Oh man, Oman!

So dear reader if you are an avid follower of my social media sites, you will be aware that Hubby and i have just had 10 days away, enjoying an Arabian adventure. I say adventure very loosely as we stayed in 5* hotels and honestly the most adventurous thing we did was have more that 2 alcoholic drinks in one night!

The first four days were spent in Dubai, as you know this was emotional from last weeks post, but after I wept over the remains of my chicken dinner, we started to get excited about holiday part 2…..Oman.  When we arrived in Kuwait we had a little list of places, that we wanted to visit whilst in the region and Oman was fairly high on the list.  Well established desert friends had raved about it and last September we took the plunge and booked for the EID break, completely unaware of what this would really be like. 

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Your wish is my command

Today’s post is coming from the relative comfort (my back is still limiting my every move) of a sun bed at my beach club. The weather has just turned and we are enjoying beautiful sunshine days chilling on the beach or by the pool. Now before you stop reading due to my brazen promotion of my chilled day in the sun, this post is actually going to explore the service industry of the Middle East, as I was reminded this was something I wanted to post within seconds of me setting up my towels this morning. A member of the Food & Beverage Team had eagerly made himself available to be at my beck and call during my tanning session, when I realised this was no longer a novelty gesture which blew me away, but an expected occurrence.

In the U.K. customer service seems to be a dying art and one of my pet peeves. Numerous times I’ve stood at a cash point, where the cashier has barely looked up from her conversation about her latest social escapades, to even acknowledge me, the customer. As I hand over my money for the piece of clothing that is then thrown into a bag, she still hasn’t met my rather angry gaze. It makes my blood boil and more times than not you get little or no reaction from your protests. What happened to the customer is always right and simple manners?  Ugh I can feel a rant coming on, so I’ll withdraw from this scenario.

We’re not in Kansas anymore

This week, like many others, the need for retail therapy was calling me. For the last three weeks I have been laid up with a slipped disc, so when the earliest opportunity came, where I could walk again, albeit like a 80-year-old, I jumped for joy (not physically; the back wouldn’t allow it, but in my head it was a leap of elation) at the prospect of a girls trip to the mall. There isn’t a lot to do in Kuwait, but shopping is one of them and boy do they know how to do it.

Our day started early and we headed to The Avenues, 800+ stores all set in multiple themed areas to appease every shoppers need. The escalator took us down onto the palm tree lined boulevard, a perfectly brick paved road. Parisian street lamps buffer the beautiful store fronts, as they reach up to the glass roof flooding light onto to the glistening gold temple that is Harvey Nichs. Just like Dorothy catching a glimpse of the Emerald City, I felt my heart skip a beat the possibilities that lay ahead.

Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore