Although I Tweeted about this a few days ago, I wasn’t able to blog right away about meeting Oman’s football hero, Ali Abdullah Harib Al Habsi.

Because of his stellar performance as the Oman National Team’s goalkeeper in last year’s Gulf Cup, he has since then earned the nickname “The Great Wall of Oman.” Professionally, he is currently playing in the Premier League for the Bolton Wanderers as a goalie.

I personally got to “meet and greet” the football superstar last Tuesday, 22 June 2010. I had my photo taken with him, of course, and was able to get an autographed picture of him as well. I was also able to get a candid photo of the Omani hero, who came clad in a simple white dishdasha.

Football Royalty! Me with Ali Al Habsi. He was such a gentleman.

An autographed picture of the Omani football hero. He signed this in person, right in front of yours truly.

A candid photo of Ali Al Habsi, seated, side view.

My impression of Ali Al Habsi? He is down-to-earth, humble and soft-spoken. He didn’t have a slew of bodyguards and personal assistants floating around him, unlike other famous people, although paparazzi couldn’t be kept away.

Try saying the title of this post really fast, at least five times. Yes, witness the birth of a Muscat tongue twister.

Cyclone Phet was first announced to be heading towards Oman last Wednesday, 2nd June, early in the day. There were whispers all around that this was going to be another Gonu. Fear was palpable in the air.

On Thursday, strong winds and significantly lower temperatures could be felt in Muscat. The skies were cloudy. A few drizzles here and there took place all over the capital city. Winds picked up speed early in the evening.

People started panicking around sundown, when practically everyone ran off to the nearest grocery store or foodstuff shop to stock up on essential provisions. Bread was on top of the list, it seems, as Muscat Bakery in my neighborhood had to produce their loaves and rotis triple time and seal these up in jumbo plastic packages for mass consumption.

Oman’s National Disaster Committee sent out advisories to residents via SMS, through the various telecommunication providers. The messages, in Arabic and English, advised people to exercise extreme caution and stay away from wadis (dry river beds) and the sea coast. Contact information of search and rescue services was likewise given.

Rainfall finally came at 11:00 PM, first in trickling drops, then steadily streaming showers. Heavier and thicker rains came at 1:00 AM Friday, 4th June, which lasted throughout the early morning hours.

Flood waters started rising then, quickly filling up the local wadis and spilling onto residential/commercial districts and access roads. Qurum, Ruwi and Azaiba were among the major districts to get flooded over.

Here are pictures of the Darsait and Ruwi areas around noontime Friday, taken by Oman-based blogger and journalist Kishor Cariappa. These roads are major thoroughfares, now overflowing with water.

Noora Al Meer has also shared two pictures of large streams of water rushing down the mountains surrounding Al Khuwair district. Since Muscat has very poor drainage systems, the water will simply spread itself over the cityscape and await for merciful evaporation once the sun comes up.

Here is a photo and a video of rain water completely filling up the wadi beside Qurum CCC and Sabco Center. The overflow will go directly into the surrounding business establishments, which have just recovered construction and profit-wise from Gonu.

Phet has already caused several fatalities in the Sultanate. As of today, 12 lives are reported to have been taken in the fury of the cyclone, consisting of nine Omanis and three expatriates. A few people have also gone missing in the wadis.

I woke up to a comparatively dry and sunny Saturday, a far cry from yesterday’s dark and wet weather. The only obvious sign of yesterday’s natural debacle was the floodwater spread out all over Muscat. The government has declared June 5th as a public holiday, saving most of us the trouble of fighting our way through the post-cyclone muck.

There are rumors circulating in the Internet that Phet is poised to deliver a second blow to the Sultanate. However, the cyclone seems to be headed towards Pakistan and is predicted to hit the Karachi area.