Catching Up

So April and May have been and almost gone without a peep from us on the blogging front…ooops.
In may ways it has been a time of lowering blood pressure and the stress of the first quarter of the year and getting on with life in general.
At the beginning of April we had the welcome distraction of a two week visit from my sister and her family. Whilst a lot of relaxing by the pool was on the cards, there was also the obligatory big trip. Temperatures had decidedly risen of late and, whilst desert trips and camping at the beach were considered, it was pretty apparent that even a veteran of the summer heat would be melting.
It was Becky however, that had come up with a cunning plan (considerably better looking than Baldric, I might add), a road trip to Dubai!! Not only would my sister’s family get to see this much talked about part of the Middle East, but also have the opportunity to meet up with a old friend, Julie, who had relocated there about a year ago. There would also be the chance for a little bit of shopping as well as fun for all at Wild Wadi and Ski Dubai, and also the chance to see how the global downturn had effected the place. 
The trip in two cars was around four and a half hours, a great way to see the enormous differences in landscape between Oman and the United Arab Emirates. The children were brilliant on such a long journey, although it must be said that they were plugged in to dvd players and gameboys for most of it.
It is not often realised that even though you have passed through the border post between the two countries, the road still dips in and out of Oman. It was at the final UAE army checkpoint that Oscar charmed the soldiers to such an extent that they wanted to get him out of the car for a play!

After such a prolonged journey it was only fair that our first port of call would be Wild Wadi.



Much fun was had by all and even Oscar had a go shooting the rapids in a big rubber ring, I can’t say that he was impressed by his parent’s judgement skills by the end of the ride. 

As the evening arrived we packed ourselves back into the cars for the short trip to our accommodation. After a little mix up, (regarding who was following who) and a few cross words, the GPS told me that we had reached our destination……. One slight problem, no Star Metro apartment block to be seen!
Tired and ratty is not a good mood to be in whilst navigating Dubai, but eventually, thanks to a very nice convenience store employee, we had a guide to take us to the front door of our rented apartment. It later transpired that the hotels website map was completely wrong!!!
This did not bode well, and it was definitely not the end to our problems. We had booked a three bedroom apartment with www.booking.com only to be shown two adjoining single bed apartments. It should be noted that it singularly impossible to argue with hotel staff when there are clearly only two bedrooms, yet they maintain there are in actual fact three (you are just too stupid to visualise the third).
The solution was for me to go into ballistic mode with a complete overdrive bad cop/good cop routine, with my brother in law Mark taking up the appeasing role.
Eventually the staff were bullied into action, wheeling in two additional beds and turning one living room into the mythical third bedroom.
Julie came up trumps, with delicious take away pizzas and a bottle of blue sapphire gin, cans of tonic and a bag of ice, soothing not only the angry stomachs but also the exhausted brains.
A good night was eventually had by all and the following days were a mixture of shopping, sledging (the snow variety) and a trip to the Über new, extravagant and expensive Atlantis Hotel. Just a quick hop up on the soap box, no matter what the marketing department might say, they are not helping the environment by incarcerating wild dolphins.

“The £950 million Atlantis hotel, which officially opens on Thursday, has been built by Sol Kerzner, a South African hotelier, on the Palm Jumeirah island in Dubai. 
It boasts that its dolphin facility – Dolphin Bay – will be the first rescue and rehabilitation centre for injured or stranded dolphins in Dubai. 
But the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) has claimed that 24 bottlenose dolphins, used to stock the pools, were bought from a dealer in the Solomon Islands. 
The WDCS claim that the dolphins, which had originally come from the waters surrounding the Solomon Islands, will now be used to entertain guests, who will be able to pay to swim with them. A 90-minute "shallow water interaction" experience with the dolphins costs visitors from around £75. 
The row follows an order issued last month by the government of the United Arab Emirates to free a 13ft whale shark from a huge tank in the lobby of the 1,539-room hotel, after an international outcry. 
Environmentalists claimed that the owners of the Atlantis hotel had disregarded international permit laws after capturing the shark in shallow waters off the Gulf coast in August and then used it as a display for hotel guests."

I was surprised by Dubai, not so much by the reduction in cars and people which must be said was a welcome relief, but the way business was carrying on regardless. Unlike Muscat, there didn’t appear to be any major sales, or price reductions, and the shops, restaurants and hotels seemed unbothered by the downturn in business.
In all honesty, the more I go to Dubai, the less I like it, and with Ikea announcing their immanent arrival in Muscat, I find there are fewer reasons to go. Now, if they would only build a Wild Wadi here, we would never need to go to Dubai again!
All said and done, it was good for my sisters family to see Julie as well as experience Dubai and we all had a lovely time just getting away from ‘it’ all.
Back in Muscat and after three and a half years of being resident here, we finally made it to the Grand Mosque, and it was well worth it.





The main prayer hall in particular is stunning with inlaid mosaic, gold and marble, as well as a chandelier that could have come out of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Flashbacks to Rodney, Del and granddad from Only Fools and Horses gave you a shiver down the spine.



The remainder of the holiday was taken up with trips to the pool with panic tanning for the adults and copious amounts of splashing around for the children (There was also great fun for all on the diving board – although I’m not allowed to show anyone). A quick trip to the Souk, a session with henna for the ladies and a couple of nights out and in the blink of an eye the two weeks were over.




For those of you who remember The Life of Brian, I would just like to say, “He’s not the Messiah, he’s just a very naughty boy!”
Farewell to the Evans for another year!

So I went back to work and the boys went back to school, but it was not long before Jacob and Oscar were off again.
It was Jacob that started it with a fever and a cough, a trip to the doctor followed and a throat infection identified with a course of steroids prescribed. Oscar’s turn next with an on again off again fever, laryngitis and a course of antibiotics. Back to Jacob again, raging fever and a sinus infection. Then just as Jacob had finished with his medication, he picked up a stomach virus(As a result, we suspect, from a trip to McD’s, as a treat after his medically induced incarceration). The poor mite had a raging fever and couldn’t keep down a glass of water. A good portion of Friday was spent at Muscat Private Hospital. As it was the weekend, I was on duty, which was a good thing given that they decided to take a blood test. Jacob has the same phobia of needles as Becky, but with the right coaching and jokes, he pulled through with only the smallest amount of tears. As a reward he got a Power Rangers communicator and some Battle Brawlers for being such a brave boy. 
Our one noteable night out (excluding a lovely dinner at a friend’s house) was at the Crown Plaza for the Craic Attack comedy night. As with all comedy, it is an acquired taste, Becky enjoyed herself immensely where as I found the second act more to my liking. The two points of interest was firstly the cost of beer (RO15 or £25 for six small bottles of Budwieser, criminal!) and that Becky got to meet and talk at some length with Nabil al Busaidi

“Nabil al Busaidi has become the first Omani to walk to the North Magnetic Pole. He wrote history when he reached the North Pole on April 29 at 7.45am Canadian time.

Nabil planted the Omani flag on top of the world with the following words: “My name is Nabil al Busaidi, I am the son of Riadh and Salma al Busaidi and I am calling from the North Pole. 

“I am the first Omani and the first GCC national to walk to the North Magnetic Pole. I want the sultanate to be proud of my achievement, so today my name is not Nabil, it is Shabab Oman.” The Oman North Pole Expedition team also won the entire Polar Race competing against four other strong teams. It was a close race, especially between Team Oman and its nearest rival. What made the marginal difference was sleep – or lack of sleep. 

The rival team stopped to get a few hours’ sleep, but Nabil and the Oman North Pole Expedition team kept going for 27 hours straight, only taking short breaks for food.

The lack of sleep resulted in Nabil and his two teammates, JP and Claire, hallucinating and literally falling asleep while walking, but they reached their ultimate goal and came in as number one. 

On his journey from Resolute Bay to the North Pole, Nabil walked over 650km, carrying 50kg of equipment with no support from skidoo, dogs or sledges. The weather conditions have been harsh, with temperatures down to -81°C and winds of up to 100km/h. Nabil fought polar bears, frostbite, large rubble fields and thin ice on his way. There were times when he was uncertain if he would make it back alive. But he conquered every challenge and is now writing history as the first Arab to walk to the North Magnetic Pole.”




Darren Short tried to take over the conversation but was suitably ignored!
So with that final note I would like to say congratulations to Nabil and bid you all adieu until next time.

Erase and Rewind

So what has been happening?
Well, for almost all of the last two months (since the company handed me my notice) our lives have been on hold and our emotions in turmoil. Now at the eleventh hour, the company withdraw the notice and I am employed again!!!
At first I had mixed feelings, but after a few days contemplation I feel happy with our lot and ready to tackle my work with gusto.
Back at the house, we have had the builders in, due to a major leak that flooded our housemaid’s room. To be honest it was perfect timing, now knowing that we are staying, it has taken us away from being self absorbed and focused our attention on another persons problems.
So Jenny came to tell me that there was an inch of water on the floor of her room and when I went to investigate it was obvious that there had been a long term problem that she had kept quiet about. Grrrr…. I can only fix a problem if I know about it, so speak up, it’s so frustrating!!!!
So, we called our landlord Ali, who is a very nice chap, and soon after the builders came around to fix the problems! Yes, more than one I’m afraid.
This involved gutting Jacob’s bathroom, fixing a hole in the roof slab, replacing a valve to the water tank and completely renovating Jenny’s room.
Like most builders here, they are cutting corners and playing silly buggers, as a result Becky, Jenny and myself are running a tag team for project management. On several occasions I have had to do an irate rant in order to get them doing their work properly. My favourite episode so far was when Becky rang me to say they had reinstalled the bath back to front. All works were stopped until I got home to drag the foreman over the coals. Imagine, a plug up yer bum at one end or a tap in the back at the other, quite frankly I am surprised they didn’t try and install it as a shower cubicle!
As a result, the promised six day programme has now entered its third week, Becky is frustrated as we have guests arriving soon and the house is in turmoil, Jenny just wants her room back, and I would just be happy if they bothered to turn up.
The weekend turned into one long list of jobs, partly because of the builders but also due to prior inactivity on my part. With the immanent arrival of my sisters family in early April, I had a list of jobs around the house and the fitting out of Jenny’s replacement furniture.
Over the two years that Jenny has been with us, we have come to realise that she is a chronic hoarder, I mean she keeps absolutely everything. Therefore with the remodelling of her room, we were resolved to provide as much storage space as possible and, so I organised some carpenters from a friendly contractor to spend their Friday building Jenny some seriously strong fitted shelving units.
Along with my jobs around the house, the last day of my weekend stretched into the night and concluded with varnishing by torch light.
Unfortunately, I expect next weekend to be just as busy.
Speaking of keeping yourself busy, by chance I read an article in the local free rag (the Week) about Aikido in Muscat and recognised one of the people. Actually, recognising people in the paper is like a local sport in a place as small as Muscat and, it is normally a surprise when you cannot identify at least one person.
A couple of phone calls later and I had committed myself to attend my first lesson.



So for the foreseeable future, I will be spending two evenings a week falling over on a regular basis. Oh, and if you were wondering that is not me in the photo, although I suspect if it were, I would be the person in mid air, but no where near as graceful as shown.

Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell

I’m not feeling well today.
With the change in the weather comes the colds, flu, aches & pains and of course my personal ailment, a sinus infection.
This is a tricky one to spot early as I normally think I have a headache. However, if I don’t it’ll trickle down into my lungs and give me a cough that will last and last and last. The best treatment I have found is unfortunately the least palatable (working on the old adage that medicine must taste bad for it to do you any good), Rhinomer is a sterile salt water solution that shoots up your nose, brings tears to your eyes and makes you gag. Whilst this could never be classed as a pleasant experience, it really does work and with no nasty medication to boot. So within a couple of days I should be as right as rain which beats having a hacking cough for the next month.
Unfortunately, it is that time of year in Muscat, Becky is convinced that Jacob has been coming down with something for the last fortnight and Oscar definitely has a cold. As I said, the trick is catching these things early, because if you let them take hold a trip to the doctors will invariably ensue and they will prescribe the Smarties of the medical world…..anti-biotics.
Oscar is trouble at the moment, but I think the underlying reason is his cold. Two weeks ago we moved him from his cot into a proper bed. You should have seen his face, happy as Larry and proud as punch to be considered a big boy like his brother. Then, a couple of nights ago he decided that it would be ok to repeatedly get out of bed and refuse to sleep!
So last night, after multiple warnings, he was returned to his cot. Well, you can imagine what he thought of that! Tough love, we will see if there is a repeat of these shenanigans tonight.
Jacob, Oscar and myself went out for our usual Friday cycle to the British Embassy and back and, whilst it didn’t seem any hotter, it was noticeably harder with Jacob lagging behind for a large proportion of it. I guess we will have one or two more outings before the bikes are packed away for the summer.

Oscar is in such a hurry to grow up and last week he started school! Becky had carefully checked out the available nurseries, as we didn’t want a repeat of Jacob’s nursery days, paying for a stimulating environment and finding him stuck in a room with a TV, broken toys and disinterested supervision.
Abu Adnams in MQ and Little Gems in Al Azaiber made it on to a short list (Of Two!) with LG offering a place immediately.
So, off he went with lunch box in hand (Becky’s hand really) for his first day of school, was he fazed by such a monumental event? Of course not, he’s a big boy now.

Talking Bluntly

Ok, so it has been a couple of weeks since I last wrote, but I think I could be forgiven due to the previous events on the job front. Even though I expected it, when the notice came it really knocked the wind from my sails.
Hunting for a new job in a depressed market is no fun, we have been though some major highs and lows and back again, with only a dim light at the end of the tunnel. But on the whole I am very positive about our prospects. As I have searched the feedback has been positive, if a little reserved, but definitely positive non the less. So touch wood, cross every available appendage and hopefully we will have some good news soon. Hedging my bets, I have put a couple of lines on the Euro lottery for this weekend.
We have to say a sad farewell to our neighbours, Winnie and Ramone today as Schlumberger (a big US oil company) has made him redundant. This is something I can’t get my head around, the oil is still there, it still needs to come out of the ground and be sold, so is this another example of corporate greed?
So on to brighter topics, last weekend we went and saw James Blunt in Concert at the Intercontinental Hotel gardens. It doesn’t matter if you love or hate his music, it is important to support the few concerts we have in Muscat, I for one enjoyed myself immensely.



As Muscat is a relatively small community, it is very hard to attract big acts to play here and as a result we are lucky to have two a year. However, if we all support them (whether we like them or not) by buying tickets and going for a ‘fun’ night out, then it will become more commercially viable and maybe, just maybe an act that you really want to see will come to town!
Becky and I arrived a little before eight and as with everyone else, we were subjected to an hour of Darren Short from Hi FM ‘working’ the crowd. Most of us did our best to ignore him.
James Blunt finally put us out of our misery and arrived on stage at nine and was surprisingly witty about his melancholic music. So rather than the caustic comments of lemmings jumping off cliffs, we had FUN!!!!

One person who sadly didn’t enjoy himself was our friend Andrew, recently having had an operation (technically known as Giveanecktome I believe), he is on a liquid diet and not the fun sort I’m afraid. However, on the positive side, he is loosing weight (admittedly much needed) and could soon be referred to as Buff (Wife terminology), though not be me I hasten to add. So chin up Andrew as it is all in a good cause.
Harking back to Hi FM and old Derwood, sorry Darren, why oh why did he have to style himself as a carbon copy of Dr Fox?




Surely one is more than enough for the planet, two of then just adds insult to injury! Becky is particually upset with him as he has hijacked the band Bare Naked Ladies as his ‘latest’ find….the cheek of it!!!
I personally gave up listening to the radio soon after arriving here. Fike on the mike was always fun to hear on Radio Sultanate of Oman but I was normally working at that time. My commute to work coincided with the Business Bulletin, which was always an unbelievably painful assault to the ears.
One show I do listen to is Andy Pyzer’s Friday broadcast, ‘The Retro Show’, don’t be put off by the spammy photo or the lame name.



Andy has put a great show together (if 70’s/80’s music is your thing). Unfortunately, no sorry I mean fortunately his normal witty repartee is toned down for public consumption.
If however, you like your dialogue a tad more colourful then I suggest a Monday night at Dukes Bar in the Crown Plaza, Andy’s Pub Quiz could be referred to as a mild introduction to Tourettes Syndrome, not for the easily offended.

Oh, and finally……..Oscar has had a proper haircut at long last, doesn’t he look grown up?

Ding! Ding! All Change Please!

Well it has been a busy couple of weeks in the Smith household and we are making the most of the winter weather. Last weekend we were invited to join friends at Sifa beach for a BBQ.
It was our first trip down there in a very long time and our first time on the new Qantab to Yitti road. We packed light, piled into the car and drove down through Ruwi to the Oman Dive Centre roundabout to join the new road. As we passed through Ruwi, I had wistful memories of the steep climb out, but it was time to move on and the new road proved to be smooth, straight and fast. Yitti arrived in the blink of an eye, although a good sense of direction is useful as they haven’t got around to installing signposts yet, maybe next year, in sh’allah.
The road beyond to Sifa remains unchanged, with it’s mountainous curves and spectacular views and I will be interested to see what changes the Municipality will make when the Muriya development becomes a reality.
So we arrived a short while later, parked up on the beach and joined our friends for a swim in beautifully clear, if a little chilly, waters. Yes, that’s right, NO RED TIDE!!!!!



To begin with Sifa was very quiet, but as the day progressed the beach became more and more crowded, I guess as a result of the new road.
When I say crowded, it is all relative, I don’t mean that we were tripping over one another and, if I had whacked a tennis ball as hard as possible with a bat, I would have struggled to hit another group of people. All the same, it was crowded by Sifa standards.





The boys had a whale of a time, in the sea on boogie boards, playing in the sand and knocking a ball around. The only downer was when Jacob got stung by a jellyfish. Fortunately a quick bit of first aid and he was as right as rain. Bloody typical though, months of red tide and with the first sight of clear seas, along come the jelly fish!

On the way home we stopped the car to take a photo of a dhow I had spotted on the way in. Jacob went off to explore whilst I snapped away and came back after a short while with a rock for ‘show and tell’ at school the following day.
Now that we have a decent camera I am determined to rediscover my photography and I would like your opinion as to which version you prefer. Jacob took a copy of the first photo to school in order to expand on his show and tell repertoire.





The bad news for last week, was that I have received notice from my new employers. Typically, only six months after leaving a perfectly secure position with my last company, I find myself job hunting through no fault of my own. So after a week of major highs and lows, I have been buoyed by the prospective opportunities in the market, as they say, keep your fingers crossed and watch this space.

Thursday afternoon we had to get the boys out of the house and Jacob was desperate to ride his bike, so we took a trip down to Shatti and a promenade along the sea front.
Earlier in the day, Becky and I had been out for our regular Thursday morning ‘adults only’ time and experienced a large dust storm enveloping Muscat. Whilst not the experience of Hollywood movies, it was an unusual sight to have such bad visibility with the dust blocking out the normal mountainous sights around the city.



Whilst it was forecast to last for a couple of days, it had fortunately abated somewhat by the afternoon and people were out and about enjoying the cool winter weather. After our walk, we sat outside at Darcy’s Kitchen where Jacob and Oscar had their dinner, before heading home to bed for the boys and off to a friend’s birthday for us grown ups.

The following day, Becky went off in the morning with Oscar for a neighbours baby’s birthday party. I drew the short straw (erhem!!) and took Jacob back to Shatti for another Bike ride. We cycled all the way from Costa Coffee to the British embassy and back over a period of an hour and twenty minutes. That’s a total of eight kilometers which I think is pretty amazing for a six year old that has only just learnt to ride a bike!

If you are into your cycling in a big way, then there is a new shop in town. MIG in Al Khuwair has big names (with some big prices), but is an oasis in the cycling desert of Muscat. Whilst it is only a small shop tucked down the side of an office furniture shop, it stocks high quality equipment including decent cycle helmets. Just take a trip out from the Turkish Mosque near the Radisson, along Street 49 towards Bausher and look out for the Dawood office furniture shop on the right hand side.

So the weekend ended with a trip over to the rugby club to watch Muscat Magpies face off against Dubai in Australian Rules Football. We didn’t get to see the end of the match due to two tired boys but Muscat were receiving a pretty painful mauling at the hands of a considerably younger Dubai team. There is a rematch in Dubai next month for the final, lets hope Muscat fares better then.

As for us, early night all round I think.

Wheely Good Fun

There have been lots of little snippets of info that I have been saving up for the last couple of weeks which I have not thought about writing about till now, mainly coz my mind has been elsewhere. So excuse me if this ‘Breaking News’ is not that new.

It’s rained! ………Several times now….. and the roof of the jeep has been up and down like the proverbial pair of knickers.
What is it about the rain? Well this is the first true downpour since Gonu, One and a Half Years!!!!! When you live in a hot, dry climate these rainstorms are the equivalent to a sunny day in England, so sorely missed when they don’t arrive.



So as the dark clouds loomed, an expectant shiver of excitement ran through the population and children went out in welly boots, hats, coats and brollies to splash around in the puddles.
As the skies clear, it is the time to look to the mountains. The rains have washed them clean of the accumulated dust and, the colours of the rock stands out so vibrantly that it is a joy to see and always brings a smile to my face.
Now that the new Qantab/Yitti road is complete, my favourite road out of the back end Ruwi is no longer in use, in fact I have been told that it has been closed off (I hope not). This is one of those roads that after the rain, the views and colours of the mountains can really take your breath away. I like it so much that Becky bought me a painting of the view for Christmas a few years back, that way I get to see it every time I come down the stairs!
As a result of the rains, we hopefully have seen the end of the Red Tide. From what I have heard, the phenomenon is believed to have arrived in the ballast tanks of ships from Korea. Whilst, our own red tide occurred and dispersed annually over the period of a few days, this one proved to be far more hardy (lasting a couple of months). The ministries had been monitoring it and calling in experts, doing tests etc. but appeared to be unable to fix the problem and had to let it take its natural course. We hope that Oman has seen the end of it, as it will have major consequences to the tourist industry if it proves to be an annual event.

So, after one and a half years Oscar finally got a haircut. What is it with mothers and their children’s hair?



I had been threatening to take my clippers to his hair for some time now, so Becky eventually succumbed to the inevitable before more drastic action was taken by me. Surprisingly, Becky said it wasn’t as short as she would have liked it.

Our big task this winter has been to get Jacob cycling without stabilisers and at times this has seemed like a mountain of a job to climb. Whilst the promise of a new bike has been Jacob’s incentive, it never really seemed to capture his imagination. We always knew he would be able to do it, what child can’t?, but Jacob always portrayed a negative side no matter what amount of cajoling, encouragement and out and out bullying we heaped upon him.
Due to our busy Christmas and New Years schedule, we hadn’t got any practice in for several weeks, so a quick trip to Ghubra Lake park was organised. Jacob surprised us both by cycling from the get go with very little assistance. We had set his goal at two laps of the circular flower bed near the entrance, and whilst one lap was rapidly covered the second seemed too much with cries of “I can’t do it”, so close and yet so far.
The following weekend we returned to the park, steeling ourselves for a repeat of the previous weekend. Jacob, surprised not only us but also himself, by immediately covering the required two laps but also many more! That afternoon (Friday to us, the equivalent of Sunday in the UK) we took on the formidable task of finding a new bike in Ruwi, surprisingly (and thankfully) all of the shops we open and many bikes were perused and scrutinized, but eventually we finished up with the perfect one from ToysRUs in Markaz Al Baja.
Fast forward to the following weekend, another trip to the park with a new bike and a new Jacob.
‘How about trying to start off yourself, Jacob?’….
‘I can’t do that!’ ….
‘Yes you can, just put the pedal here and push off’ …..
‘Oh…..I CAN DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’




Within minutes of our arrival Jacob was off cycling all over the park, stopping and starting as though he had been doing it all his life, and a grin stretching from one ear all the way to the other.
So this weekend we went down to the sea side at the British embassy, Jacob on his bike, Becky and I taking turns on mine and Oscar on his tricycle (All with cycle helmets) and we rode all the way to Shatti and back.



So much fun was had that we have decided to get Becky a bike so that at least for the next couple of months we can go out cycling as a family each weekend until it gets too hot.

Just one final note for the post, we had a bit of excitement at the office a couple of weeks ago, starting with a loud bang and the lights going out. After exiting the building (which to no surprise, failed to have any working emergency lights) I walked around to see this little bonfire.



It would appear that one of the oil filled transformers at our neighbouring Wadi Adai substation blew up (and fortunately for us the wind was in the opposite direction).



The fire brigade arrived and eventually got it under control, but put on a good show for the next hour. I would have got home earlier than usual, but unfortunately was stuck in traffic as the police had closed the highway to let the victorious Oman football team drive around Muscat in their coach. Ho hum.

Theorectically Speaking

I could survive for 1 minute, 13 seconds chained to a bunk bed with a velociraptor