Lights, action, feast
OmanToday Restaurant Awards 2006 launched with much fanfare

The sultanate’s biggest event in the hospitality world is officially under way with the OmanToday Restaurant Awards 2006, being launched at the Al Bandar hotel at Shangri-La’s Barr al Jissah Resort and Spa in July. The launch ceremony was attended by the biggest names in the hospitality industry in Oman. The evening served as the perfect platform where hoteliers from various strata of the hospitality industry could interact freely with each other.

Says Sean Hennessey, general manager, African and Eastern, which is supporting the awards this year, “The OmanToday Restaurant Awards has grown over the years to a stage now where it generates a lot of profile. For us, it is the perfect vehicle on which we can reach out to our customers and network with them, apart from the publicity we generate through our association with the event.”

The atmosphere at the launch, an event that is as much fun as work for the participants, also highlighted the bonhomie that the members of the industry share with each other. This year’s new rules, influenced by best practices across the world, will include the introduction of a round of judging that finalists, chosen by the public through voting, will undergo. A panel of three judges will review and select the best from the three finalists in each award category.

Multiple outlet restaurant chains competing with a single outlet on an even platform. “The total number of votes gathered by a multiple outlet chain will be divided by the number of outlets to arrive at an average,” explains Mohana Prabhakar, managing editor of Apex Press and Publishing. This new system is expected to take the advantage away from restaurant chains that could garner more votes from their many outlets.

World of music
Celebrated in 110 countries across the globe, World Music Day originated in France in 1982

Muscat sizzled in July to the tunes of the World Music Day. Sponsored by Tunes and Memories, organised by the French Embassy of Oman and the High Committee of Youth and Sports, the event strung together a mix of music forms, from Omani oud sessions to blues and Spanish flamenco. If the range on display was evident, so was
the crowd turnout. The Ruwi Children’s Theatre Auditorium was packed to capacity.

The line-up of gigs began with a traditional Omani rendition on the oud and tabla, before progressing to Indian fusion music by students from Indian School Muscat. It set the audience humming, before moving into hard rock mode. Benson Chacko’s ‘HetRock’, ably supplemented with typical rock star grunts and pumps, created a ripple with the youthful crowd. Up next, Filipino band Palayoc presented three pieces, a Billy Joel track being the catchiest. The next one, though, was one of the two performances of the evening that lingered on. Blues courtesy Khaled and Tarek was a rivetting act, a clear cut above the rest, rising like a rock amidst some of the pebbles. But the evening’s highlight was flamenco by the Los Amigos. Ending the proceedings was Thanae Pachiyannakis who sang a rhythm and blues song.

Playing by the sea
Presenting the first women’s beach volleyball team in the sultanate

For Habiba al Hinai, a former volleyball player, it was the strange realisation of a dream on July 15 on a plane bound for Amman, Jordan. The first ever Oman women’s beach volley ball team was headed for its first ever competition and Habiba was part of it, albeit in a different role.

“I’m glad that an Omani women’s beach volleyball team is finally here,” says Habiba, the head of the Oman delegation at the Arab Beach Volleyball Championship held at Amman from July 19-23. Oman fielded two two-member teams – Oman ‘A’ and Oman ‘B’ – at the competition. Oman ‘A’ comprises Manal al Busaidi and Layla al Hadrami while team ‘B’ has Badriya al Miqbaly and Shahira al Zadjali. The team is being coached by former national team player Hamoud al Harthy.

Three of the four are students at Sultan Qaboos University and have represented the university team at indoor volleyball events in the past.