Here are a few pictures from my vacation to Oman. I only wish I had longer that two weeks! I traveled with my wife, my best friend Michael, as well as my sister and her husband. We visited Nizwa, Muttrah, the Grand Mosque, as well as friends and family. The following pictures were taken with my Nikon D3000. I’ve made minor edits like straightening, or converting images to black and white. Hope you enjoy the pictures!
This morning, I found out from my dad that there is a cyclone in Oman. At first he told me that there were heavy rains and I thought that was odd because it never rains in Oman this time of year. Then he said that it was due to a cyclone (that’s what hurricanes are called on that part of the world). Apparently Cyclone Gonu reached the strength of a Category Five hurricane while it was over the Indian Ocean. However, it only hit the Oman coast at a strength of 60%. But that was enough to cause widespread flooding. Apparently, the wadis (seasonal streams) are overflowing. I hope everyone in Muscat is ok. The Omani Army is on alert and schools have been converted into emergency shelters. No deaths have been reported so far. Omani authorities have asked everyone to stay indoors. The storm seems to be dying down although heavy showers are still expected.
Street or River?
Nandos Submerged
McDonalds Submerged
Update
Today (8th of June) I got a chance to look at the aftermath of Gonu. My parents called me last night and told me that things in Oman are pretty bad. They are staying put in Dubai at my uncle’s place. There was no way for them to get from Seeb airport to their house. The roads were flooded. Low-lying areas like Qurum were completely submerged. I saw the pictures of the aftermath today. Roads have completely caved in. Bridges and walkways are just gone. All of Qurum – it’s all gone. Completely damaged. I have no idea what they are going to do to those homes and all the shopping malls they have in the business district. There is so much water damage. The Omani roads weren’t built with to handle this kind of weather. It looks like the water washed away all the sediment underneath the roads, leading to cave-ins and craters.
I heard that places like Wadi-Kabir and Al-Ghubra experienced flooding too. I wonder how my school is doing. My parents’ house is fine. They live in a place that’s kind of high.
I don’t know if they have anything set up for international donations. Currently they have something that accepts donations from Omanis only. But please spread the world. These people need help.
Darsait Bridge
Love Road
Seeb Beach Road
Cars washed away
YouTube Vidoes
Cyclone Gonu, Oman, Muscat
Muttrah Rains
Images courtesy mindazi.com and Sleepless In Muscat
Also check out Sleepless In Muscat and My Dhaba
I’m in Oman right now. I feel a strange mix of emotions. I felt like this the last time I was here. “Bittersweet” would be the right word. It feels really nice to be back here – being with my parents and all. Although I wish my sister was here as well. It would be nice for the whole family to be together again in Oman. I feel really empty sometimes though. All my friends aren’t here. Actually, only one of them is here.
I went over some old ICQ conversations today. It made me feel happy, and very depressed at the same time. I used to talk to so many of my friends through ICQ on this very computer.
It was an amazing time; my last two years in high-school. All of us had so much fun. Reading those old ICQ transcripts brought back some old memories… old hopes… old loves… Towards the end, the transcripts got especially poignant. It was the part where we all said good-bye to each other – when we parted ways. I didn’t feel it as much then, as I do now.
Those transcripts are a time-capsule. I was looking at a younger “me”. Five years younger, to be exact. I don’t think I have changed much fundamentally. Perhaps wiser… a lot less naive… and a little cynical… even a little darker perhaps. Five years ago, I was a young lad setting out on the grand adventure known as “college”. Now I am a young man setting out on the grand adventure known as “The Real World”. Five years ago, my friends and I were just kids. Now most of us are employed. Some of us own houses… and some of us are married.
I wonder where I’ll be five years from now… More so, I wonder who I’ll be five years from now…
I am going to India and the Middle East for two months! Woohoo! I will be back on the 2nd of September. AT was fun. I might be getting a medal!
Happy New Year. I’m in Oman right now…I’m here till the 12th, after which I’ll be going back to India. I’ll be back in Arizona on the 21st of January. Oh, and my unit just got activated. Our MOB date is on the 30th of January… Don’t know where we are going yet…
Ah yes. You all are probably wondering where I went. I wasn’t anywhere near operating distance of a computer since May 17 and upto July 26. Why? Well, this is because I was at Fort Jackson, South Carolina undergoing Basic Combat Training to become a soldier in the US Army. You all are probably wondering if I am insane. No, not really. I did this because it really helps me with my college money. Keep getting good grades and they pay 75% of my tuition. Awesome eh? Anyways, it was quite an experience. One that I will never forget and one that in a strange and bizarre way, kind of enjoyed. I’m fitter than ever… and more confident that I have ever been. It was just absolutely amazing. Well, so now I’m back to my usual existence as a Computer Engineer. Not many changes on this page. I put in some JavaScript to check on screen resolution. You will be redirected to another page if your resolution is not 1024×768. I also updated the ISG Message Board link to point to a new one. CoolBoard shut down for some reason. The new one is EZBoard. The About Me section has also been updated. So if you care to be bored out of your mind, go ahead and take a look. That’s all…
Hey! Umm…I will be making some minor changes to the page. The Malaika section will be back up. I don’t have enough space for gcj and libgcj anyways so it really doesn’t matter. Oh and this silly page is showing up on search engines… wow… finally. I’m thinking of making changes to the menu format because it shows up all wierd on any resolution lesser than 1024×768. I’m still thinking about it so it’s not concrete. Anyways, that’s all… exams are up in a week and I think I am going to die. Alright then… take care you all! And thanks for doing something about the message board! =)
Alright people… how’s it going? Heheh… Napster is going to be up… at least for the time being! Ok, now onto more important stuff. I’ve got a new message board up. I’m not going to use the InsideTheWeb one anymore. I’ve got a CoolBoard one now. It’s much nicer and has many cool features. So all you ISG people from the class of 1998-’99 (12th grade) go check it out now and write something! What else… oh yeah… coming up… I’m making some updates on the About Me sections AND once I get to Arizona, I’ll put up pictures here… I promise! I know I’ve put it off for a while, but this time you’ll get the pictures! =). I’m not doing anything on the Links section just yet because all my cool toys (Adobe Photoshop, Paintshop pro…) are at home. Alrighty then! See you all later!
Hey everyone, how’s it going? I’m in California right now and I’m having loads of fun… yeah… it feels great to be away from that searing Arizona heat. I’m looking into creating a new message board which looks nicer and has a lot more stuff. Work on the webpage is going to be delayed (as usual =( ) because next semester looks to be a lot of work. Anyway, the main issue here is Napster. As you might already know, it is most probably going to be shut down at midnight on Friday. The issue here is how to keep it going… Well, there are many ways… first of all, there is a service called Napigator that’s available and it lets you connect to other servers. There are also other services like GNutella, ScourExchange and iMesh that allow peer-to-peer connection. The recording industry may have won the battle, but for all purposes, it has lost the war. There is no way it can stop services like GNutella because unlike Napster, GNutella is de-centralized and there is in effect, nothing to shut down. Well… I’m assuming that it’s going to be a while before the idiotic heads of record labels finally understand this. And as for Metallica, I’ve lost all respect for them… their “campaign” against Napster was nothing more than a publicity stunt. And Lars Ulrich can go to hell. Well, anyway, they pretty much destroyed themselves with Load and ReLoad… but oh well… I’m thinking that in a way, shutting Napster down will actually help this new technology… Alright then… time for me to go… cy’all later!
This is with reference to the Message Board. I’ve been having trouble accessing it lately and I wonder if you have as well. It’s probably something to do with their server and hopefully they should have it fixed soon. Well… I’m enjoying my freedom… it is absolutely cool! Heheheheh. Updates… hmmm… I have to see when I get some time… I’ll do SOMETHING. Don’t worry =). Alright then… I’m gonna go and sleep… gotta wake up tomorrow to go somewhere… Cya!
