ï»?/span>Zest for Kicks
Muscat shows all the symptoms of being bitten by the World Cup bug

Since June 9, people in Muscat have reported being hugged by total strangers while waiting for their turn outside restrooms at pubs and water-cooler conversations at work have centred around one topic. Ditto for most dinner-table chatter. Wives have accused husbands of neglect, and boss folk have complained of bleary-eyed sleepy colleagues reporting late to work.

If you haven't figured out what we are talking about, you would have to be from a different planet, one that is blissfully unaware of the FIFA World Cup currently underway in Germany.

It's the reason why Moham-mad Hanif is a happy man. Hanif's Jameel Sports Store has had people shop for replica team jerseys, shoes, bags, caps and so on. Understandably, it's Brazil's canary yellow and Argentina's blue and white striped jerseys that sell the most across Muscat.

The frenzy is all encompassing, irrespective of gender, sex and nationality. Dominic Myers, general manager of Matrah Cold Stores got himself four TV sets at home even before the World Cup began, pre-empting any battles for the remote control.

Muscat's homemakers have either sulked or gone with the flow. Heba Sayed says that for her husband, everything ceases to exist once the match is on. "That's not fair," she chuckles. Some like Jenna Clarkson have used the event to catch up with friends at the nearest pub screening the live matches.

Some like Charles Baquiran have let their creativity run wild. The 50-year-old maintenance engineer sent in 18 entries to TheWeek's Feverpitch Linesman contest. One of his four-line ver-ses was among the top five winning entries.

"It took me two days to come up with the verses, but then the World Cup happens only once in four years, so it was worth it," he says. The contest attracted more than 300 entries with everyone from schoolgirls to housewives sending in entries about their favourite teams.

It's easy to tell when Brazil is playing, judging from the numbers that throng live screenings of the match. Nearly 8,000 people turned up at the Qurm Natural Park to watch Ronaldinho and Co take on Croatia on June 13.

The celebrations will reach a crescendo on July 9 when the final is played at the Olympic stadium, Berlin. And if it is a Brazil - Argentina finale, expect nothing less than an absolute humdinger!

�span class="Title2">Fun times ‘off the record�
Britain's who's who gather in Muscat for the Institute of Travel and Tourism's (UK) annual conference

In a unique event hosted by the Ministry of Tourism in association with Gulf Air, Shangri La's Barr al Jissah Resort and Spa and Mark Tours, former Tory party chief Michael Howard insisted that he was 'off the record' in Muscat. Emceeing the show, BBC's royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell, politely intervened that Howard's opinions were very much 'on it.' A quizzical pause later, Howard continued, "All I am saying, on the record,
is that I'm off it!" Either way, Muscat had fun, and Oman was the winner.

But Howard and Witchell had their own act going. Having been an MP since 1983, Howard is a well-travelled personality. And his accounts proved that a politician and diplomat's life could be fun and games. "I came to chill out, sample exotic cuisine; a diplomat approaches every topic with an open mouth."

Addressing a 400-odd delegation of travel industry big shots, scribes, officials and delegates, Howard hoped the responsibility of the environment is taken more seriously by airlines, and agencies like the ITT. He proposed that bodies of ITT's standing could easily get airlines and agencies to become more environmentally responsible.

Tim Hames, assistant editor of Times Group (UK), enthralled the audience with his account of how China has become a big tourist destination. His thorough analysis of the country's boom, ended hilariously with his Chinese misadventures. By the end of the day, Howard's suggestions were met with approval, but Witchell had the final word in the discussion. "Environmental prot-ection would mean more tax. Would the Tory party really push this through?" he teased. "Yes" Howard replied, "David Cameron will push it, if not me," adding, for good measure, "now that's stri-ctly off the record.�/p>

ï»?span class="Title2">Aerial daredevils
The Red Arrows darted in and out of Muscat in a spectacular aerial show that enthralled all

Muscat was recently treated, for the third time, to a marvellous display of aerobatics by the Red Arrows of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force (RAF). The big day, May 25 at Shatti al Qurm beach, was choc-a-bloc. The Reds�22-minute cameo was power packed with no less than 13 formations. In a daredevil manoeuvre, two Red Arrows jousted with each other at more than 800km/hr, with just five feet separating them at the closest point.

“In seven months of training, everything is ironed out. We know exactly what to do, what everyone else is doing, and what we are supposed to do in an emergency,�explains Sqdrn Ldr Patounas. Surprisingly, the Red Arrows�engineering team has no contact with the daredevil pilots during a display. By the end of it all, the Red Arrows pilots were champions in the eyes of the gathered audience.

The sheer number of autograph seekers on the beach trying their luck at getting near the Reds more than told the success story.