Creativity in a shot

Hello all!

I haven't blogged for a while, more than a year to be more exact! Too bad, I know! I just couldn't get myself back to the blogging mood and as you know, I dont post just for the sake of it! I post when I feel like it! LOL
Now that became a problem lately.....

Anyway, cutting a long story short... I am back! ;)
So stay tuned and keep on checking this shmexy blog...

The other day I felt like being creative and here is the outcome!

Gonu Gone?!!

UPDATED! July 8th 2007

Hi all. Yes I’m back and I’m still alive!

I didn’t want to write about the cyclone GONU at first. The cyclone hit my country OMAN on June 6^th, (06.06.07) But then I thought to myself that Going Banana is going international now. I have readers from outside the country & the region as well. Hence I wanted to give you a glimpse of what happened, my version of what happened.

I strongly believe that a picture is worth a thousand words. That being said, I here grant you access to exclusive and non-exclusive pictures of the effects of the cyclone on our beloved country Oman and it’s capital Muscat.

The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Bausher was flooded with water as well. The mosque was closed for maintenance and was only re-opened on July 5th

Our neighbors Infiniti SUV was pushed with the power of water and placed in the middle of the stream

People were rescued by boats in some areas

Seems like a Range Rover flipped up-side down

My favorite coffee shop, Second Cup was flooded too!

This is the spare tire of one of our vehicles covered with mud

Two of our cars almost covered with water

McDonalds!

A relative's Ford Mustang messed up!

Some mountains collapsed and blocked the flow of traffic

Thank god we all are safe, I and the family :) Some of our properties have been a bit affected though. Have a look!

House: Ground floor was flooded with muddy water. Most of the Ground floor furniture is replaced. The water was almost 1m high inside the house.

Cars: Three cars were flooded. Two Toyota camrys’ 2003 model and a Honda Accord 1997 Model. The dealer asked for 3200 OMR for repairs (8,250 US $) for one of the two camrys’ while we are still waiting for the quotation for the second one. The Honda was fixed in a garage but it still malfunctions every now and then.

One of the most busiest roads in Qurum, Muscat

This is how a village would look like after being flooded

Stuck in the middle!

A waterfall formed after whole portions of roads fell down

The challenge was just to begin. After the flooding struck most parts of Muscat, a number of roads were disconnected and some areas weren't reachable without a 4X4 vehicle. Some areas were suffering from having no water, while others suffered having no electricity! And of course there were some of the areas suffering both! We didn't have water in our house from Thursday June 7th till Monday July 11th. You can imagine how life is like without running water in your residence! No water in the bathrooms, in the kitchen nor for washing clothes!

On Thursday, June 7th the whole family gathered around the TV. Our eyes teared from the pictures showing the amount of destruction Muscat suffered. I couldn't sit at home on the next day, not when I know that volunteers are needed almost everywhere! This is how I started working as a volunteer.

This is the place which I and my friend went to, Oman Charitable Organization

A police patrol parked along with police personals to ensure that law and order in the place

A full truck of water donated by one of the sheikhes of Oman to the OCO

Volunteers were Omanis and non-Omanis. All working hand by hand

You can see the piles of water unloaded from the truck. Such a truck would take less than an hour to be unloaded

One of the most hard working volunteers I saw! He would work from early morning till almost late evening

This is what happens if you start ditributing the food and water directly to the public

This was one of the BOMBS! lol! A truck full with everything to be unloaded!

The main thing we had to do as volunteers is to unload the trucks coming to the main building of the Oman Charitable Organization as donations. The second step would be loading some other 4X4 trucks with a variety of food supplies and cartoons of water. Those four-wheel drives would be responsible for distributing the food and the water among the people of the affected areas. When we had time in the late afternoons and early evenings, we would classify the food supplies and put each sort of food together. This made our life much more easier when time comes for loading the trucks. In the first three days there was a huge shortage of bread and water in the whole area. I participated in distributing those two to the needy people coming to us. Moreover I personally went along with a couple of trucks to Southern Al Hail to distribute food supplies and water in the area. We arrived in the area at almost 8.30pm and ended at 12.30am! My other fellows who went to places severely affected by the floodings such as Aamrat and Quryiat took a whole day to finish up the task! Yes, I mean 24 hours by saying a whole day. This was mainly because the trip to reach these areas would take around 5 hours and another 5 hours to come back. The most difficult and tiring task was to reach the affected people and distribute the supplies.

And last and not least; I want to mention that many people are homeless while many others lost properties, cars and other stuff. The picture I am presenting to you here does not necessarily describe the reality. Many lost their lives in the cyclone. We pray for them that Allah grand them forgiveness and his paradise. Amin!

Cyclone hits Oman
for more pictures from BBC, check this out...

Gonu Relief Blog
Amjad, Sleepless in Muscat and other bloggers started a relief blog. Check it out!

Gonu in YouTube eyes
Many videos can be found on youtube.

Happy Birthday Sweetness!

Today, May 29th is the birthday of one of our own. A fellow blogger. Her nickname is sweetness and God she is super sweet! :D Many happy returns, dear! :) Enjoy your day to the fullest and keep rocking with your art.

S.O.S

I am back! Back to the blogging world. I just don't want to post about anything that I have no interest in talking about. I would like to keep the same quality in my posts and I believe I have done quite a good job so far. So please stay tuned. Updates will be coming up shortly. Thanks :)

On the other hand Help is needed over here! lol! This might sound silly but as they say:" A question might be a moment of humility but ignorance is eternal humility" ! My question is how can I put a title for my posts in blogger?!! If you have noticed, all my posts are without a title! That explains it! lol! Thank you in advance for your help :)

PS: If you read this post after someone has already mentioned how to do that, just have a laugh at my silly question and wish the lady a happy birthday ;)

A new star glowing up in the skies of the GCC

This young man who cannot even speak Arabic fluently has made his way to the super stars list. With his amazing voice and unique character you just cant take your eyes away from him and wonder how can he do it! However there are rumors that the well know singer Moh’d Abdoh has claimed copy rights after the new star sang one of Abdo’s songs without his permission on youtube. Watch the new star in action!

What was he thinking? I mean seriously! Lool!

If I was the real singer of the song, I would shoot myself once I see the video! :P

A new free service!

This was not the first time I watch this specific episode of Oprah’s show. Actually it was the second time but it still moved me and put a huge smile on my face the same way it did in the first time I watched it. A man waving a huge cartoon board with two words on it “Free Hugs”. The guy simply stands in the middle of the streets and lifts his sign up offering a free service, hugs that is! Crazy, huh? Some say creative while others call him an outcast! (By the way, I highly value crazy people and crazy ideas! And I am trying my best to be as much as crazy as I can be!)

The story is like the following… The guy Juan Mann (pronounced “one man”) who has been living over seas in the UK for a while and once he gets back home he finds that most of his friends and neighbors moved out. The guy feels quite lonely and starts thinking of something to cheer up the people around him. The first thing that strikes his mind is to offer free hugs!

It is really amazing how a simple thing like a hug can put a smile on a person’s face, regardless of the person giving the hug. A total stranger in this case... It can change the receiver’s mood and make him/her feel better. The customers of Juan are of all ages and from both genders. One shot that I cannot erase from my memory is the look on the face of this old lady (60 years old at least) while and after Juan gives her a hug. It was a calm smile that can fill any of your guys’ hearts with joy and serenity. Your eyes might tear up as well as you are watching Juan practicing his free of charge service.

The story of Juan reminded me of a discussion I had with a friend a while ago. He was telling me about this Khaliji(from the Arabian Gulf region) guy who was at the airport meeting up with his family. My friend was telling me how his children ran towards him and hugged and kissed him. That was quite a surprising scene for my friend since it is not quite common in his family. The question is why do Omanies in general find it difficult to show their love and affection towards their loved ones. Be it a wife or a child… a dear brother or a loving sister? I don’t want to discuss the issue of showing love in public as that’s not our subject here. I am discussing those families where a 6 year’s old boy shakes hands with his parent as they are leaving or arriving from abroad. And do we need to wait for the moment that we travel so that we can give a hug to our children, brothers or sisters?

Juan in ACTION!

Sensation, the writer

First of all I want to say "I'm back!"
I am better now, alhumdullah :) Thank you all for your kind comments and for asking about me in my SB :)

Why do I write? In other words, why do I blog for? I was asking myself this question over and over again. The thing that triggered the question is your requests guys asking me to update :)

Now that I have readers and fans out there who just can’t get enough of my writings, I feel obligated towards the nation… The poor and the homeless… loool
>>> That sounded more like a speech, eh? Talk about an inflated ego! :P

The question is: do I like it? i.e having somebody reading what I write… Ofcourse I do! But on the other hand it makes me think of them and try in a way or another to satisfy their tastes and keep them addicted to “Going Banana”

But you know what? That’s not me! It’s just not the way I am! I write whatever crosses my mind and I believe that what makes me unique in my writing style than the other bloggers. Currently I am staring at the screen not knowing what to add to this! :P

I think that’s it for today… Your views and comments are very much welcome :)

PS: Abs, I started using the letter size "Normal" instead of "Large"
I think one of the reasons that made my previous posts look quite lengthy is that I used to use the letter size "Large" I just felt that it was easier to read and more relaxing for my precious readers eyes ;)
Giving it a second thought, I find this font size which I am currently using quite readable too...

Breaking News!

Muscat, Reuters,

Wednesday, March 28th 2007

Sensation is sick! Apparently suffering from a cough and a headache all day long and feels like fever is on the way too! Due to the current medical situation Sensation will be spending the weekend in bed. “It’s not all bad, you know. At least this will force me to do some reading which has been pending for quite a while already!” Sensation disclosed.

Reporters say that Sensation, the director of one of the most famous Omani blogs titled “Going Banana” got the infection from a colleague at college. It all started when the sick colleague shared the same study table with Sensation and other colleagues while working on an assignment. Latest reports show that Sensation and another colleague caught the infection and felt ill only one day after the incident took place. Sensation wants to assure that his come back will be the bomb! New posts are expected to be published in the coming few months along with books reviews and much, much more!