Wadi Arbeieen and sink hole, April 2015

So as previously mentioned in my other post, I have yet to make any friends. And in effort in improving that, I have decided to check out this website that connects expats all over the world with events and activities to join within your region (Internations.org). I actually joined this since I was in Kuwait, attended a few events which were pretty interesting and decided to continue on with the one in Muscat.

2 weeks after I arrived Muscat, I saw an event with regards to a trip to Wadi Arbeieen and the sink hole. I was so eager to go, mainly to get out of the apartment and see Muscat as well as perhaps be able to make friends or something. I begged and begged Daniel to come to Oman to join me to this trip and he agreed to it.

Initially we were meant to hitch a ride with one of the members who were attending the event, however I got into a bit of a huff with him in another event (that's another story) and so I decided to just screw the idea and just rent a car by myself. Picked up Daniel on the Thursday night at the airport and then went back to mine to rest for a bit before the trip tomorrow.

Because this whole trip is off the coast and is on some ziggy zaggy bumpy rocky roads, a 4WD is a MUST. We rented a car from Europcar, supposedly in the website we were meant to be given a Ford Explorer for a total of 75RO for 3 days. We ended up with a Nissan Pathfinder instead which stank horridly, was still in the 90s technology where it does not have one single USB port and still uses those cassette player. Anyhow, the car managed to survive and take us through the trip, so I guess that's what matters the most.

SO for the trip we left at 7:30am and met up with the others at wadi kabir roundabout around 8am before departing to our destination. There were 5 cars of us in total and we drove for about an hour plus before reaching the destination. The journey was pretty spectacular due to all the mountains and rocks near us. Its far different than when I was in Kuwait where everything was flat, dusty, messy and full of square shaped beige apartments.

Anyway, we arrived the location where we saw some bunch of small wadi's on the way to the main wadi, stopped for a short while to take photos before heading towards the main wadi.

Then we drove a little bit further up till the main host of the activity decided to just park the car and go do whatever you want for the next 2 and half hours.

We all split into 2 groups: 1 group to remain at the main wadi and just relax there for a bit and another group to hike up the small village and check out the waterfall which is about 6km away.
Daniel and I chose to remain the main wadi as we honestly couldn't be bothered to hike up in the heat that we were having (it was around 35 degrees Celsius at that time) and Daniel did not bring any proper hiking shoes with him either, he was wearing an Adidas shoe. Although hiking shoes is not really a mandatory thing, it would really help you a lot if you have one as going down to the wadi can bit a little bit rocky (preferably waterproof too). You would definitely need it if you decide to hike up at the village to see the waterfalls.

So Daniel and I spent some time hanging out at the main wadi. It wasn't as crowded, probably cause of the heat, however if you go into the water, the water cools you down and you don't really get affected as much from the heat.
The water was very cooling and there were small fishes around. I wouldn't say its like super clean that I would drink it as I did see some garbage thrown at the side of the wadi, however it was pretty clean enough that I didn't worry about getting rashes after coming back from swimming in it.

Daniel did not bring any swimming outfit or change of clothes so he chose to stay out of the water and just watch me swim. I swam a little bit only to realise my cheap goggles that I bought the previous day from Sultan centre (a supermarket) no longer has that rubber grip to seal the water from coming in. It COMPLETELY ruined my whole swimming experience as I am not able to swim without goggles and since I wear contact lens, it doesn't really help either.
Also if you have those swimming boots, those underwater boots, that would help big time as the rocks can be a little bit slippery and rough (depending on which surface you're stepping on).

After the whole oh-my-god-I-should-have-spent-more-on-proper-quality-goggles tantrum, Daniel and I have decided to just venture out to the nearby small village and see if there's anything interesting going on there. 

It isn't too bad really, just small housing area with buildings made out of bricks and small tiny Omani children going up to Daniel and this other white lady saying "How are you" and "I want eat" and "I need food". It kind of creeped us a little bit as they were sort of stalking us around and each time they said "I need food" Daniel would reply back with "me too!" which sort of cracked me up.

Then around 1pm, the first group gathered around and decided to just drive off to the sink hole and abandoned the other group as they did not come back on time and were unable to contact them =P

The sink hole, Najm Park was only about 30 minutes drive away. Wasn't too far really. I was a little bit skeptical about the whole park thing as when we arrived at the car park, it looked like the car park was about 80% full and they had the whole gate around the park, showing that that place has pretty much been a touristic area. I was a bit worried that the sink hole will be crowded and I will not be able to have some peace and tranquility while swimming in one.

However as we got closer to the sink hole (which btw, was really a HOLE in the middle of the ground. If it wasn't for the barriers, I wouldn't have noticed), there weren't really many people. I was able to change and dip myself into the sink hole while Daniel sat at the nearby rocks, looking out for me.

The water here in the sink hole was much more saltier as compared to the water in the Wadi. However the water felt much more smoother and cooler here, as if it's sort of purified or something.

After an hour or so, Daniel and I went back to our group, had a little BBQ and then headed back home. 

It was a fun experience. Something that is COMPLETELY different to what I had in Kuwait. I would go back there again when the weather is much cooler and perhaps this time Daniel would join me in the water and enjoy it as much as I did. Oh and will be bringing proper goggles too.

In terms of my relationship with Daniel, I saw him a different new light. I did not know till few days ago that the reason why he didn't go in the water was cause he didn't know how to swim. But the fact that he chose to remain under the scorching heat and accompany me to wherever I go just to make sure I'm safe, WITHOUT a single complain, made me love him even more. I appreciate him being there and accompanying me. 

How we stick it through

So some of you may wonder, how are things going on with me and Daniel, now that I'm in Oman?
The one thing that was a huge coincidence between Daniel and I was that both of us were planning to leave Kuwait when we first met.
Yes, pretty stupid with the fact that both Daniel and I decided to date other people with the idea of leaving the country in mind.

Even more coincidental was that both the times when we would be out of Kuwait would be about the same time!
He left Kuwait for training in the States around 3rd March and started working in Abu Dhabi around 22nd March.
I left Kuwait to tag along with him to the States around 11th March (I left a week later as had to wait for my Visa to the states) and started working in Muscat on the 28th March, so yeah, we practically left Kuwait to start our new life abroad around the same time.

Another coincidence is that as mentioned, Daniel is located in Abu Dhabi whereas I am located in Muscat. Although it is not within the same country, Abu Dhabi and Muscat is only about 4 hours drive or 45 minutes flight. Prior to leaving Kuwait, we both made a pact to see each other every weekend, either I fly to Abu Dhabi, he flies to Muscat to see me or we meet up in a new country together.

So far for the one month we've been apart from one another, he has flown to Muscat twice and I have flown to Abu Dhabi once. This coming weekend and after, I'll be going to Abu Dhabi to see him, followed by him coming to Muscat on the 14th May (and my best friend in Kuwait will be meeting up with us too!!).

That is how we've been doing it so far. Again, it has only just begun so we'll see how it goes within the next few weeks.

Till then!

How it all began.

So one of the reason I opened this blog up was to write about how it is being in an interracial relationship. I don't know why it is of any matter, but to me it was an eye opener and a completely different experience as to dating people from the same country as you.

How we met was a funny story really, something we probably won't be bragging about to our future children. It wasn't exactly a love story where we met at the bus stop waiting for the bus under the pouring rain, or getting lost somewhere in the woods and helped each other to find ways for survival. No no.
We met through the 21st century way.
The internet.
Through a mobile app in fact.

Yes yes, that whole swiping left if you think the guy is a douche or right if you think "hmm not bad" app. A pretty shallow app really as you judge whether you want to know that other person based on their looks and what they state on their profile.

To be honest, I went on it just for the sake of wasting time. I was back in Kuwait and thought to myself, huh, why don't I try this app out and meet random people, just so I can make Kuwait a little bit more entertaining perhaps?
After a few swipes and dinner dates with 2 random guys, I decided, ah F this. I honestly can't be bothered. Mostly cause I really just couldn't be bothered with the whole dating game, introducing myself, get to know the other and go through dramas and crap whatever. Also I thought I was being pretty shallow at this whole swiping thing. Just before I deleted the app, I saw a 'match' showing up in my profile and decided to just give my whatsapp number out to this American dude and tell him to just contact me through whatsapp cause I'm deleting the app and can no longer be bothered to 'tinder' anymore (matches is where if you both swipe right, both of you will get to message each other). 

Later that night he messaged me and we both got to know each other, merely through whatsapp. Not even a phone call or facebook message or whatever. Just whatsapp. 6 days after we first whatsapp, we finally decided to meet up. Coincidently we both live in the same area in Kuwait (Mahboula) and decided to try out this Thai restaurant half way to where we both live.

And that, ladies and gentleman is how I met Daniel. All thanks to a mobile dating app.

Our first date went pretty good although most of the time I was in tears as I wanted to challenge Daniel to see if he can handle spicy foods. Turns out, I was the sucker in this game and had to go to the toilet about 5 times throughout the whole dinner while Daniel munched the food down as if it had zero affect on him. We then decided to go for coffee nearby and chatted till the cafe was actually shutting down.

Next day, Daniel messaged me asking if I'd like to go for breakfast at a nearby mall. Since I didn't have any plans, I agreed to it. All went well, and we both had to head back as I had a birthday party to attend while Daniel had to go for a farewell party with his friends. Daniel then messaged me later that night, asking what I was doing and I just told him that I'm watching a movie at my friends and that he can join us if he wants to. He came over, met my friends and we all hung out till like 4am.

After that, it was all bed of roses mostly. We would meet up EVERY SINGLE DAY and hang out till early morning together. We were only parted when I had to fly to Muscat for my job interview (which by the way, happens to fall on my birthday AND valentines) and then we were back together again till mid-March.

Our first photo together, 6 days after we first met. Taken in a Chinese Restaurant, Kuwait

From Kuwait to Oman, a month and half later

So here I am, back to blogging again. 
Not too sure entirely as to why I'm writing all these but, felt like I need to jot down some of my memories as well as sharing my experience of living abroad while going through an interracial long distance relationship.

So I left Kuwait approximately a month ago. Last date in Kuwait was 11th March and then flew straight to South Carolina to meet up with my boyfriend's family. I hung out there for about a week before flying to Malaysia and then flew to Muscat a week later. So yes, today marks the 1 month anniversary of me being in Oman and the joy of finally being paid (and now I have to bayar all the hutangs I have with my credit card now I have to pay back all the debts I have with my credit card. Yay. Back to being poor again).

Anyway life here is fairly different to my life back in Kuwait. In Kuwait, I had friends. Plenty of them. One of which is super close to me that we share intimate stories together and even have the keys to each other's apartment. We even have a group that we hang out together consisting of around 6-8 of us, all from different nationalities. 

A surprise party for one of the girls. There's a bit more here in the photo as some were partners of the group. 

*man, I really miss them :'( *

Here in Muscat however, I have yet to really make friends with anyone. The work I'm doing now, I don't really have any colleagues. I work on my own really as I am focusing on a family here in Muscat (I'm a child behavioural therapist providing ABA therapies on children with special needs). I have a supervisor that supervise what I'm doing, however she is located in Dubai and we only communicate through Whatsapp or emails.

Anyway, I can't really justify much on how living in Muscat is as I yet to have any cars to transport me around. The family driver picks me up and sends me back whenever I'm having sessions, but otherwise, I'm mostly just at home. I'll comment further on my life in Muscat as I progress along in this blog. 

Till then!