TwentyOne

Day Two

2nd on the itinerary was to visit the Fish Market!




I've never seen a cleaner market in KL than this before!
It's a wet market but there's hardly any 'lecak'!




I don't quite know fishes - except for pomfret - but I know that, THAT is one huge-ass fish!!


Selling fishes in Oman must be stress-free, just look at this 'pakcik'!
If only a doughnut-peddlar in KL can have a stress-free life too...



Don't know why but this fishmonger (dya know that if it was a woman selling fishes, it is called fishwife?) looked like the most pleasant fishmonger in the market, to me.
He actually smiled when I snapped his picture! :)
Syukran, 'pakcik'


On the contrary, this fishmonger was upset that I took his picture whilst cutting up that fish!
I'm a friendly paparazza, Uncle, don't fret!



Like I said, I can't identify fishes - except for pomfret! - but Mom told me that is a garoupa!
OK, let me rephrase... that is one GIGANTIC garoupa, alright!




The signboard actually says:
WARNING! IT IS PROHIBITED TO SELL OR DEMONSTRATE FISH IN THE VEHICLES!

Tell me about 'tak faham bahasa', man! ;p

Twenty

Day Two In Oman - Monday, January 30th, 2011

Itinerary: to visit Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque.

The journey from Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah to the Mosque took about 45minutes.

Somehow, I was overwhelmingly excited to visit this mosque.
Perhaps, I read too much about it on TripAdvisor and some other sites online.

I was so eager to see this mosque that all the time prior to the visit, I had Turkey's Blue Mosque in my mind!

Booked a car to go around sightseeing for the day & got a 4WD, instead.
Tour guide's name: Hamood, a Bedouin.
He can speak English, moderately, but that was good enough.




Hamood leading the way into the Mosque.
If my memory serves me correctly (it usually doesn't!) the visiting hours for the Mosque starts from 8:00AM to 11:00AM for non-Muslims.
Of course, you're required to wear appropriately before you can enter the Mosque.






Women have to cover their heads before going into the mosque.
I siap-siap brought my own seledang from home.
Going into the moqsue pun mesti as presentable as you're going to a party, OK! :p

This is the praying room for ladies.





This is one happy lady to be at the Mosque that morning :)



This is the main praying room. Its capacity is about 20,000 pax, if I remember what Hamood told me correctly.


The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque has the world's second largest single piece hand-woven carpet & chandelier!
It took 4 years to finish the carpet that covers the whole main praying hall.

I couldn't help but to feel awed the moment I walked into the main hall! SubhanaAllah.







Hamood said the chandelier weighs 8 tonnes!






Although Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque isn't like Turkey's Blue Mosque, it had astonished me just the same!



Even before I board Oman Air, I had the niat.
I was so happy that I got to do it.




Thank you for the chance to visit this mosque.
Ya Allah, I sujud before you,humbled for everything that You have given me thus far.
All that You have given me, all that You didn't, all that You shall give and/or take in the future.
I am greatly thankful.

Nineteen

Every night at the Muscat Festival, it will end with the parade & fireworks show!

& be warned... they have really strange-looking creatures parading!









& yes, my CNY fireworks came early this year !

I was already thinking, that since I went to Oman - an Arab country - this year for CNY, I would surely miss seeing any sort of fireworks!
Oh, boy... was I wrong or was I wrong!

I thought HK CNY fireworks 2 years ago was one helluva burning money ceremony... and I was again wrong!
I wonder how much it costs the Omani government to burn money every single night, and for fireworks show longer that what HK had for CNY!

(Then again, these Omanis have lotsa oil moola to burn... so, OK-laa... )








Just before I left the Muscat Festival, I saw this:



Marah Land - that's somewhere I've been stuck in for a long time now.
There's still so much anger in me, it's frustrating.