Taking care of our (not so) hot bodies

Some months ago, I had decided to try and make an effort to exercise. I decided to buy a couple of dumb bells. I ended up buying the fixed, rubberized kind - for some reason, Oman sports shops weren't selling the modular bar and individual plates. They usually have these weights by the set and I wasn't really planning to start lifting cars anytime in the future. In any case, I made do with it and it was a good starting point anyway.

Sometime after, me and a pinoy buddy found out about BSM's after school open badminton sessions - open meaning open to anyone and everyone; kids and adults. Needless to say my first night of play (after several years of not) was a lesson in breathing or lack thereof. After a few weeks, I was able to slowly get back on track -which just means I am back to how I was playing years ago, which wasn't so great to begin with but at least now I don't get winded as fast as before.

The timing of all this was great since as you may have read previously, we recently moved apartments. The new apartment was now on the third floor. By noon of moving day, I had lost count of the number of times I went up and down those stairs. It was a tiring day but it was good exercise. About a week after moving in, the whole family agreed to spending some time in the evening for walk around the neighborhood after dinner. The previous apartment's location wasn't so conducive.... especially during the night.

So slowly but surely... we're getting into a groove of consciously making an effort to exercise. The wife does a lot of physical stuff, what with chores and stuff at home, but a routine exercise has its own reward. She recently bought an exercise mat for herself - which I haven't actually seen her use yet but I think she's secretly doing her routines during the mornings while she has the house to herself... I was surprised to see several pilates videos saved on one of our thumbdrives (which we use for watching in the home theatre system)

Fancy Dress Disco

BSM's annual Fancy Dress Party (aka Halloween Party) was held in the main hall of the school. This year the little girl excitedly agreed to be a cat... a tabby cat! We had expected the event to be like last year's but BSM had a different plan this time. They went disco! If the Year 1's timeslot was any indication then the disco theme was a success. Hosted and led by a DJ on an elevated platform, the kids danced, sang and just basically had a blast with their friends.

The quick kiddie meal afterwards was a welcome treat for the little girl - even though she wanted seconds and each kid was only allowed one turn. We scooted off for a more filling dinner right after.

movie time: HSM3

The much awaited third installment of the little-big girl 's fave is now showing in muscat. Thursday, first day we went early to al shatti to get tickets for us and our friends, unfortunately all scheduled screening times for that day were sold out except for a few front seats near the screen. They were selling for the next day so we bought tickets in advance. Vivian wasn't disappointed at all watching it the next day maybe because she was with me in the ticket booth and she heard and saw the situation and her mom trying really hard to get tickets with guaranteed best seats in the house. The next day, she kept asking, "mum, is it time for the movie?" i don't remember the number of times she said that. Finally we were in the movie theatre waiting for our friends and their kids. As soon as the movie started she was watching and admiring all the songs and dance steps. Vivian enjoyed the movie same as the previous two. The previous two movies, we watched with her lots and lots of times, playing the soundtracks even in the car over and over again and dancing all the moves. All of them are entertaining and this final installment did not disappoint the avid young followers. GO WILDCATS!

our new place

After a year and a half we decided to scout for a new place to stay. We found a one-year-old, two-bedroom apartment located at the 3rd floor of the building with a nice view. After processing some papers, we all packed our things and set to transfer. We contracted movers to help us. It was a long day of loading and unloading of boxes and appliances, disassembling and reassembling of furniture with some minor scratches and three broken decorative glasses (which was replaced after a week). Good thing it was the Eid holidays, we were able to stay up late to unpack and fix our new place. Things started to go back to normal with the TV cable, phone line and ADSL were reconnected after more than a week (with a lot of follow up calls).

The apartment is smaller than our previous one but it's enough for a family like ours. For our furniture and appliances that's another story. They occupied a lot of space in the house so we decided to sell some furniture to give way to our new planned interior design (future post).

the main door of the apartment

the view from veranda

all packed up...

...and ready to go

movie time: The Dark Knight

The movie was quite long…but not unbearably. The story and script I thought were creative enough to keep Joker’s beginnings vague enough to warrant some explanation in some other movie (perhaps) but still able to lead audiences (well at least us) to believe and accept that this Joker is truly someone insane, damaged, demented and incredibly smart. Dent’s evolvement into Two-Face was brilliantly orchestrated to make the Batman somewhat answerable to Dent’s pain of losing Rachel… and Joker’s culpability, only a far second.. Gordon’s death and re-birth, I didn’t expect at all. A lot of people have commented on the Bat’s vocalizations… truly, it does sound too unworldly and quite over the top, even for a Hollywood flick.

star awards

A month into school, Vivian gets her first 'I am a star.' Happy to see her kicking the year off well, crossing fingers and toes that she will keep it up!

Pri-Orities

School started some time back. So now, we go back to our normal routine of drop off /pick-up at school; lunch at home, et al. One not-so-fine-day last week though, the wife had some back problems and so was unable to do her normal tasks like cleaning and cooking.

Once Vivian and I got home, we told the little girl that her mom's back was hurting so we have to take care of her. The hungry little girl's quick reply was, 'So, who's going to cook?' She was genuinely worried.

Lost ... in Dubai

Before the school year started, the Us and the Vs decided for one last break. We drove up (on separate vehicles) to Dubai for a two-day stay. Left Muscat at about 4am and crossed the UAE border well into 8am. Once we crossed over, our first stop was to buy the Salik cards (an RFID based toll system) so we can freely move about Dubai. After that, we proceeded to get lost in Dubai...literally. All of our trips took more time than it should because we mostly missed a turn or two. Thank all the lords for technology...and I was able to justify one more time my N95 and its GPS...without it, we would still driving around like headless chickens.

We stopped over in IKEA, Festival City first for breakfast. We then checked-in Holiday Inn Safa Park. After changing into our swimwear and a bit of rest, everybody jumped into Scabbers and we all drove off to Wild Wadi. The place is unbelievable! You can opt to lounge around and have a quiet trip around on a salbabida or have yourself thrown around like on white water rapids. The various rides and slides are amazing especially to a five-year old. She was scared at first (as usual) but by the evening, she couldn't get enough of the rides. After cleaning up back at the hotel, we rushed to the Mall of the Emirates for a quick dinner and a slow walk around the massive mall.

After our evening snooze and a heavy breakfast, we checked out and decided to spend the rest of the day back at IKEA for some serious shopping. Several shopping carts and a very late lunch (or an early dinner) later, we decided (grudgingly) it was time to drive back. Filled-up our cars tanks and drove for the border and started making plans for the next Dubai trip.

V08 Scrapbook