Greetings from the Shangri-La's Bar Al Jissah Resort & Spa in Oman.

It's been a surreal 24 hours to say the least. My first Oman Air experience was - on the whole - quite positive. Last week it launched a 3-cabin service .. First, Business & Economy. It's no surprise then that I was the only passenger up front. There are just 6 beds (that go completely flat) ... with 23" television screens ... and everything you would expect "up front". The dinner & breakfast menus are very flash ... and include pots of caviare and 20 different types of tea! How I chuckled ...

The flight left Heathrow on time and 7 hours later (+ 4 hour time change) we arrived in Muscat. The weather in London was very, VERY poor so it was so lovely to arrive to warm sunshine.

It was a 30-minute drive from the airport to the hotel ... and we are staying in the Al Husn ... regarded as the best of the three properties that make up the resort. More on the resort in the week. We were met by the very sweet PR lady- Christina and the General Manager Arbind Shrestha - who I will be interviewing on Saturday.

The boys - Tim & Jim - are just up the corridor from me and very much appreciated an afternoon off before we start filming in earnest tomorrow.

I had a massage in the Chi Spa this afternoon ... and had 6 weeks of stress stroked out of my pathetic body by Irene ... masseuse extrordinaire ... !

OK - up at 0500 tomorrow - so bed for me!

Song of the Day: Rhythm Nation - Janet Jackson
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk7i_EPxTlY

Weather: Lovely! Lovely! Lovely! 30 degrees ... ahhhhh!


airline bed

caviare pot for starters!

yummy yummy

wide-awake for arrival

yousuf - our eyes & ears in Oman!

In the lounge at Terminal 3 at Heathrow Airport. Next stop Oman.

I am very pleased to get out of England as the weather has been ATROCIOUS! Land-slides, flooding ... and very wet sheep.

So - I am flying by Oman Air - a new experience for me. Check-in was painless and if the on-board service is as smooth as my journey through security and immigration, then I am in for a great flight!

The boys - Tim & wee-Jimmy are both happy ... and we are all looking forward to three weeks of fun ... and hard work!

"Just remember people - we are all in a talent pool ...." An idiot quote that made me laugh!

Song of the Day: Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp6-wG5LLqE

Weather: Experienced the Worst ... Expecting the Best!

ready to go ... overdressed for Oman (I hope)

THE BOYS are back on Tour (hmm ... well ....)

I am feeling almost 100%! That's terrific. Slept on the sofa with Mittens the Kitten last night ... she has nursed me back to health!

Insurance is paying up ... so new automobile for Xmas. Something practical ... ! Ha! Only joking!

This time tomorrow I will be sitting in an Oman Airlines cabin at the start of 3 weeks of filming. Am very excited as I woke up to see frost this morning ... day after tomorrow it will be sand & sun! Whoop-whoop!

December 1st! Wow! Where has the year gone?

Song of the Day: Saltwater - Julian Lennon
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzvjuMkAEEU

Weather: Cold & frosty ... no rain though! yay!

BE WARNED!!!!

I still can't shake this cold so spent most of the day in bed keeping warm and I am definitely under the influence of Anadin Extra.

It's been a GREAT day ... but after reading an article in today's London Evening Standard about the "wonderful" life of a luxury hotel magnate & his wife, I feel very sad. How can a company fire around two thousand employees and then allow an article showing-off about its wealthy owners be published. Unforgiveable & actually quite repulsive.

Two days until Oman.

Song of the Day: Pencil Full of Lead - Paolo Nutini
www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-xd3NuWQI0

Weather: Brrrrrrrrrrrrr outside .... mmmmmmmmmm in bed!

hungry snake eats his own tail! made me chuckle...

Have a wee cold - another side-effect from that H1N1 flu jab!

No car shopping today. Rental car STILL stinks!

So off to Oman on Wednesday ... at last I can pack "summer clothes" - linen - mmmm

Song of the Day: Empire State of Mind - Jay-Z (with Alicia Keys)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm61weFrK4c

Weather: I need to buy a boat ... hmmm ... I hear the QE2 is up for sale ... !

QE2 .. price tag - £100m?

Just home from a lovely dinner party. Because I leave for Oman & Thailand on Wednesday and finally return home on the 22nd ... I will not see anyone here to celebrate Xmas ... no parties ... no shopping ... and no Carol singing ... unless James, Tim & I do some Xmas karaoke in Bangkok.

So, one of my best buddies, who I shall call "Steve", came to visit me. He told me of his recent visit to Hong Kong. He was staying in a hotel (which shall remain nameless) and he got rather squiffy one night. He woke up in the middle of the night and stumbled through a door that he thought was the bathroom. In fact, he "woke up" in the main corridor on the 25th floor - stark naked ... with no room key! Ha! What fun he had trying to get a new key from reception! Anyway - the story made me smile and "Steve" if you are reading this ... thanks for sharing!

The other chuckle I had today was when I read a quote from the BBC's golf correspondent on the Tiger Woods news ... "the world of golf is in a "state of shock" by the news of Tiger Wood's accident" ... really? The whole world? State of shock? Hmm ... overkill before the facts I think ...

Tomorrow - new car shopping. Not fun ....

Song of the Day: Driving in My Car - Madness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYZNSyP9v9M

Weather: Appalling

I'm in a "state of shock" - Tiger Woods shaves!

So the games have begun! Car insurance - you pay through the nose for it and then the insurers give you stress when you need to make a claim! Rental cars suck!

Worrying news from Dubai. It seems that "Club Tropicana" is turning into "Hell on Earth". I have never been a huge fan of Dubai but it offers the luxury traveller excellent value for money, predictable weather and guaranteed fun & games. With the world's tallest skyscraper & a raft of hotels being opened soon - it's very difficult time for Dubai's travel industry ... let's hope it's just a blip ...

Next week I am off filming in Oman ... can't wait ...

Song of the Day: Hotel California - The Killers
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GofU7vDurk

Weather: Dubai's mood ... dark & angry

nearly there ...