MSN Arabia Promotes Casual Sex

I’m not sure why this is, but whenever I open Internet Explorer on my wife’s Toshiba Satellite, which I bought her last Christmas, the browser immediately gives me the latest news on MSN Arabia.  A lot of times it’s the common “buy this” or “buy that” advertising thrown in with news headlines around the world.

Today I was rather shocked by one of the articles on MSN Arabia titled, “Casual Sex Between Casual Friends” with a provocative pic of two young people poking out from under bedsheets as if they had just committed fornication. (This article is also listed on the side of the MSN website under “Don’t Miss” and “Most Commented“)  This is the kind of garbage I would expect from Canadian websites like “sympatico” when I’d sign out of hotmail.  I thought the Middle East was proud of their more conservatism and family values.

Here are some of the words from the article which clearly promote such a nasty lifestyle:

• ‘Friends with Benefits’ (FWBs) is probably the thing you’re looking for”
• “Because there is no commitment or responsibility, one is free from feelings of hurt, pain, etc. and this can be a very honest and practical way of going about in relationships.'”
• ” ‘Friends with Benefits’ is not a bad way to go about relationships.”
• “If, god willing, you fall in love at some point“…Imagine promoting such a sinful lifestyle and then putting “God” into the conversation. Blasphemous!
• “Remember, it’s about having an unspoken agreement between you and your friend to have occasional sex, leaving out the emotional baggage.”
• “Make sure the intimacy of this relationship is just between the two of you, without making it a public deal.”
• “Just enjoy the moments without fretting much.”

Shame on you MSN Arabia for promoting such a nasty, satanic “if-it-feels-good-just-do-it” lifestyle!  There are many people who are easily led astray by such “advice columns” and you may well have given young, impressionable people a green light to continue in the paths of unrighteousness.

Anyone else find this nasty or strange that MSN Arabia would promote “Friends with Benefits”?

Support Cancer Patients in Oman – Buy a Cookie!

October is “Breast Cancer Awareness month” throughout the world, including here in the Sultanate of Oman.  I immediately recognized the significance of the pink ribbon on these cookies for sale (800 baiza) at the cashier of Bread Talk in Bareeq Al Shatti Mall when paying for a few items to please our little cake-craving kiddo.

This is a lovely campaign by Break Talk Oman in association with Bin Mirza and the National Association for Cancer Awareness in Oman!  Here’s an interesting fact from the chairman of NACA: “All around the world, October is observed as breast cancer month and statistics show that breast cancer is the most prevalent type of cancer in Oman”. (quoted in the Oman Tribune)

The fineprint reads that “all profits will go to cancer patients“.  I wanted to know exactly how much of the 800 baisa would go towards this good cause as the customer has no idea how much of that would be “profit”.  The cashier assured me that the entire amount would go towards helping patients.  Sweet! (no pun intended!)

As much as we wish it would, cancer is not about to get cancer anytime soon and die so let’s think about contributing in one way or another.  If you happen to be in the Bareeq al Shatti Mall neighborhood, why not stop in and buy a few cookies to support a good cause?!

The SteakCompany in Bareeq Al Shatti Mall

Even though the SteakCompany has been open almost a year now, my family and I only recently tried it out for the first time.  We’re glad we did!  Normally we would head to Hot Pot and Grills (which my sister-in-law loves), Wasabi Sushi (which my wife loves) or Roadside Diner (which we all enjoy).  I think maybe it’s because it’s on the other end of the mall near the foodcourt that we have taken so long to work our way down there.

The menu is short and sweet at the SteakCompany which made ordering a piece of cake.  In some of the restaurants with pages and pages of options, my wife is known for taking quite a bit of time to decide on what to order. (Not a complaint. Just stating a known fact. 😉 )

My wife and I ordered the Soup of the Day which was Vegetable Soup.  It was really quite good.  It seemed like a homemade soup that you might expect your grandmother to prepare.  It was especially enjoyable with the garlic bread that came along with it.  So many restaurants serve hard and crusty garlic bread but this was garlic bread perfection.  Hard to believe it was only 1.5 OR.

The Calamari Rings (2.9 OR) were delicious!  My wife said that these were the best calamari rings she’s had so far in Muscat. (And trust me, folks, we’ve tried many!)

The Seafood Salad (3.9 OR) looks about as good here as it tasted.  All 3 of us thought this was a terrific dish.  We had to have half of it wrapped up to take with us because if we tried to finish this off we wouldn’t have had room for our main course.

My first instinct was to order the fish and chips but then I thought that I had better order a steak at a steakhouse!  My sister-in-law ordered the Fish and Chips (3.9 OR) though and she enjoyed it.  As you can see in the pic, it’s a decent sized meal so she had to have most of it “parcelled” (a Filipino expression that I still find odd to express the North American concept of “a doggy bag” :-))

To know my wife is to know she loves ribs!  Ordering the Short Ribs (11.9 OR), which is one of the restaurant’s signature dishes, was a no-brainer for her.  She loved her ribs and was forced to take most of them home with her as it is a 550 gram serving!

You are looking at a pic of the best steak I’ve enjoyed in a LONG time and quite easily the best steak I’ve had in Oman. Oz Rib Eye (13.9 OR).  Anyone who knows me knows that I’m quite easy to please when it comes to food.  “A steak is a steak“, I thought so why not give this place a try…well, as much as I’ve enjoyed my other steaks, I’ve never tasted steak as good as this.  Seriously! This steak was perfection! (And no I didn’t get offered a free meal or anything to review this restaurant.)  This meal was so fine that I was glad I was able to offer my compliments to the chef when he came out front just as we were leaving.  If you love steak, you’ve got to give this place a try.

We were really impressed with the food and service at the Steak Company on our first visit there.  We can’t recommend this place enough.  If you ever have an evening at the Royal Opera House Muscat, it is next door to this mall (about a 5 minute walk) and we believe the SteakCompany would make an excellent meal to accompany an evening at the Opera House.  If you do decide to go, make sure to make reservations at +968-2469-5903 as seating is limited.  I highly recommend sitting in one of the 3 booths (if available) as it’s much more comfortable than the other tables.

Our daughter, Naomi, really felt at home at the Steak Company! 🙂

In total, we ordered 2 soups of the day, calamari rings, seafood salad, fish and chips, short ribs, Oz rib eye, 1 cherry coke, 1 sprite, and 1 shirley temple for a total of 42.9 rials + 2.145 for municipal tax making a grand total of 45 rials for an incredible meal.

Have any of you been to the SteakCompany? If so, how was your experience?  Were you as impressed as we were? What’s your favorite place for steak in Muscat?