I DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU, but I go for a morning walk everyday - between 4.30 and 6 a.m. - much before the daylight begins to creep from behind the hillocks (or the mountains behind the Grand Mosque). With my two-year old Zack (Lhasa Apso breed) and better half in tow, I trot at a brisk pace between Athaibah round about and the Al Maha filling station adjacent to the Ministry of Tourism offices situated in Al Ghubrah.

The only halt is at the Al Maha filling station where I get my hot cuppa and two cup cakes daily. Invariably I bump into the young lad - who rhetorically asks: “one coffee, one tea and newspaper?” I nod and collect the same. We have been interacting for more than two months by now, but it never occurred to me to ask his name. Nor has he asked what I do or where I work. An ever-smiling face. Every Saturday morning, he wants to know where I had been the previous day because on Fridays - no, I don’t give up morning walks - my route is different for a change. Nothing else. But one thing is common: I visit another Oman Oil filling station for my morning ritual of one tea, one coffee and two cup cakes. And, of course, a few newspapers!

My morning walk routine has not changed for several years. Until my family joined me in Muscat, I used to go for walks at 3 a.m. as well. Well-lit roads, constant flow of traffic and no fear of getting mugged were the primary reasons for such early walk-outs. I pick a stretch of say 4-5 kilometres with a petrol filling station somewhere on this route! After a brisk walk and sweat running down the spine, who does not need a good cuppa? However at the height of summer with the mercury in the near vicinity of 50 degree Celsius, I go for plain chilled bottled water!

Petrol filling stations have their own social role to play, I presume. There were occasions when I had noticed a small bunch of youngsters playing and singing Arabic songs at those early hours, unmindful of glances from passers-by, on the lawns of petrol stations. Again, I had seen youths drinking Mountain Dew from chilled cans while seated on the hoods of their respective cars and cutting/cracking jokes and laughing loud – again under the canopy of Shell, Al Maha and Oman Oil.

In terms of look and feel, Shell Select is my favourite. So also what it offers. Somehow, I am fascinated by the Yellow and Red combo of its décor. Next certainly is Oman Oil’s futuristic bluish tint. I admire this outlet as well. Eight out of ten times, I would steer my sayarati into a Shell petrol pump for my ‘refill’. There were occasions when I had been denied of my morning cuppa because the machine had broken down. Those were my heart-breaking moments as well. I may not buy a lot of stuff, but no visit to any retail outlet attached to the petrol filling station would be complete without myself conducting a simple guard of honour: nothing special, but a visit row-by-row! How about you?

THIS column originally appeared in OMAN TRIBUNE, dated 16 January 2009