Cola

It appears I may have been too hasty in blaming my cooking for my ill health.  After twice experiencing a burning sensation in my stomach I have given up coke cola and substituted it for flavoured milk and yoghurt.  As a consequence I'm feeling much better.  My guess is the local cola has a very high level of phosphoric acid and I may have done some damage to my stomach lining.  The milk and yoghurt are alkaline which might just be reversing the process.  A long term likely replacement for the cola is sparkling apple juice which is known locally as Saudi Champagne!  The strawberry flavoured non alcoholic beer can stay on the shelf!

Boredom set in yesterday so I took the free compound bus to the nearby Carrefour supermarket in Khurais Road where I bought another £20 7" android colour tablet

It's the same tablet that I bought two weeks ago from another Carrefour supermarket.  However this is an XTouch whilst the first tablet is a Nikai.  They are EXACTLY the same tablet but with different splash screens and labelling.  I haggled them into providing a case.  The interesting part was the payment system.

After attracting the attention of a saleman (difficult - note there are no sales ladies) and confirming the price,  he went off to a computer terminal and printed a docket.  Then he signed and stamped the docket. I then had to go to go and queue at a cashier where I presented my docket.  He placed it into a machine which printed some further information on the docket before taking my cash.  The cashier then signed the docket and stamped all four copies before returning the docket to me along with my change.  I then had to walk around the supermarket until I found the "Collection Point" counter.  This was staffed by two men.  One took my docket and went off to get the tablet.  On his return he stamped all four copies and then gave the tablet and docket to his colleague.  He checked the docket and tablet before also stamping all four copies of the docket.  I was then given the tablet and the top copy of the docket.  At the supermarket exit I had to show the tablet to the security guard who then stamped my docket for the last time.

What a great way to create employment.  five people involved in selling me an item.  I assume they learned this off the USSR!  The only Saudi who was involved in this process was the cashier.  I've noticed Saudi's are prepared to be a cashier, checkout chick or receptionist, but the actual working involved in sales, storage and security is done by an expat.  One the sales front they are usually Filipino, Malay or Indonesian whilst the security guard is normally from Africa.

Of course the docket has now gone in the rubbish!

Saudi Arabia must almost be the fast food capital of the world.  I've never seen so many well patronised outlets.  MacDonald's must make the bulk of its profits from Saudi Arabia.

Baskin Robbins is an ice cream parlour and you find outlets everywhere.

At least this fish and chip outlet was open.  But I abstained!

Perhaps you don't know what H&M looks like when written in Arabic

Now look at the NEXT store and it might be clearer

Remember Arabic is written from right to left.  So can you now make out the word NEXT from the Arabic when reading it from right to left........  No... Neither could I! :-)

All these malls are now looking very similar

The usual childrens play area at one end and the food hall at the other.  The only think that gives the building a slightly Islamic feeling is the ceiling where the skylights are made in a mosaic glass pattern.  Damned photo was blurred!

That Fish Pie

After feeling somewhat queezy yesterday I took a good look at the fish pie.  Even with my poor sense of smell and limited eyesight it appeared to be "a little off" and I reluctantly disposed of my next three meals.  The last portion of the frozen lasagna was crying out for attention.

I know...the photo is out of focus!

I've already forced myself to eat the previous three portions and whilst it doesn't smell that bad, I'm not overly fond of the green layer.  It tastes like finely cut lawn clippings.  My willpower wilted and I opted for the cheese and mushroom pizza.  I'm now four dinners short and will either have have to get more entrepreneurial with my culinary skills or do the weekly four-three diet.  This diet is based on thinking about food for four days and then gorging yourself for the following three!  One thing is for certain, I won't be buying any more of this frozen lasagna.  It came as a frozen brick. All I had available to cut it into portions was a cheap bread knife.  The knife wasn't up to the task, but eventually I managed to break up shatter the brick by repeatedly smashing it against any hard and sharp edge in the kitchen.  Now I'll have to explain the dents in the top lip of the stainless sink.

In the pantry there is a tin of Texas Strawberries, 2kg of flour and a dozen eggs.  I should be OK.  However my work colleagues might have a different opinion!  If I get really desperate I can walk to the local supermarket and buy fresh camel or goat.

 

Jewellery

I appear to have poisoned myself for a second time.  Yes, my culinary skills are obviously in need of improvement.  Or perhaps these days my stomach isn't as "cast iron" as in my youth!  The fish pie will have to be thrown out.  That's a nuisance because I was planning on eating the remains over the next three dinners (lazy cook syndrome).  As a boy my parents made me eat everything on my plate telling me "Think of the starving in Africa".  At times I wanted to send the food to Africa.  My parents loved broad beans and brussel sprouts.  I hate them!  You wouldn't believe how difficult it was to find and marry a girl who also hated broad beans and brussel sprouts. One consequence of this forced feeding regime is I hate wasting food!
No doubt I will have recovered my appetite by tonight and the the last of the frozen lasagna awaits dinner.  It's also looking slightly "tired" and the thought of the defrosted and coagulated lawn clippings isn't that appealing! Still, should I get desperate there is a half bag of chips in the freezer and pizza in the fridge. <burp>

Manuel the cleaner has finally made it to my office.  I've only been here four months!  He leisurely and haphazardly breast fed a small broom around the floor managing to push most of the dirt into the corners.  Then with a beaming smile he left.  I assume leaving the dirt ensures continued employment.  No doubt he will return in four months for a second attempt!

The office phone finally works.  But on my first attempted use there were no free lines.  It's one of those fancy new all singing and dancing phones that can do almost anything.... except cook fish pie!  Of course there was no accompanying user manual.  No doubt they have been carefully stored somewhere for future use and that location has been long forgotten.  Nevermind, after 30 minutes I discovered how to get an outside line.  There's no point in me making a local call as I don't speak Arabic.  But I do need to make several overseas calls to potential suppliers.  Each time I attempted to make a call a man would attempt to tell me something in Arabic.  Eventually I realised there is a bar on the phone making overseas calls.  It's as useful as a chocolate teapot.

One thing I noticed about the Middle East is that males were almost no jewellery.  I've never seen a male wear a chain around their neck.  However wearing a "clunky" looking ring (often made of silver or pewter)  with a large semi-precious stone (green opal?) appears fashionable.  Women do wear necklaces (most of them under the black abaya.  The jewellery shops are always full of locals so I can only assume the females have jewellery parties on alternate days to their dress parties!

I had been wondering how the men prevent their fundamentals from freezing when the cold wind off the desert races up their Thobe.  Then I noticed the white ends of a pair of woollen "long johns" around my drivers ankles.  They cheat!

Translation

This roughly follows on from yesterday's post

During a visit to Beijing a friend was given this brochure by the hotel.

Obviously, it has been translated directly, word for word from Mandarin to English.
 Getting There: 
Our representative will make you wait at the airport. The bus to the hotel runs along the lake shore. Soon you will feel pleasure in passing water. You will know that you are getting near the hotel, because you will go round the bend. The manager will await you in the entrance hall. He always tries to have intercourse with all new guests. 
  
The Hotel: 
This is a family hotel, so children are very welcome. We of course are always pleased to accept adultery. Highly skilled nurses are available in the evenings to put down your children. Guests are invited to conjugate in the bar and expose themselves to others. But please note that ladies are not allowed to have babies in the bar. We organize social games, so no guest is ever left alone to play with them self. 
  
The Restaurant: 
Our menus have been carefully chosen to be ordinary and unexciting. At dinner, our quartet will circulate from table to table, and fiddle with you. 
  
Your Room: 
Every room has excellent facilities for your private parts. In winter, every room is on heat. Each room has a balcony offering views of outstanding obscenity! .. You will not be disturbed by traffic noise, since the road between the hotel and the lake is used only by pederasts. 
  
Bed: 
Your bed has been made in accordance with local tradition. If you have any other ideas please ring for the chambermaid. Please take advantage of her. She will be very pleased to squash your shirts, blouses and underwear. If asked, she will also squeeze your trousers. 
  
Above All: 
When you leave us at the end of your holiday, you will have no hope. You will struggle to forget it.

One in the eye

My driver didn't collect me yesterday morning which had me slightly concerned he might have been involved in an accident.  Eventually another driver arrived making me only a few minutes late for work.  I went downstairs at the end of the day to find my usual driver waiting.  He then turned to look at me and I immediately noticed his very red and weeping left eye.  I think he has been poked in the eye over the weekend.  Despite his injury he managed to deliver me safely home and was then waiting for me at the usual time this morning.

The roadworks here are starting to become dreadful.  Heaven knows what the situation will be like when they start building the new metro train system.  There seems to be a habit of digging holes and then not filling them in after the work has been completed.  At one point on the journey there is a stretch where they have deep excavations on both sides of the road.  Moreover they are separate projects.  Even worse; further back they are starting to excavate a stretch of road that was only recently filled and sealed.

Of course all the excavating has created a traffic choke point.  Saudi Arabian drivers don't like choke points.

So here we are approaching the excavations where the road narrows from four lanes to two.  In anticipation  the traffic has already started to form eight lanes, with even more vehicles coming down the verge on the right to squeeze across.

Of course the traffic gets into a snarl to the musical accompaniment of many car horns.  The traffic gradually squeezes itself into two lanes in 'fits & starts'.

Further along we hit our third stretch of excavations.  This time it's for a new sewer main.

This last portion always amuses me.

Note the large sign in English "Tour Suites".  It should probably read "Holiday Apartments".  But these things happen when you use Google Translate :-).  No doubt the Arabic is correct!  Obviously you noticed the excavation out the front!

Price of Petrol

On one of my recent road trips we had to stop for fuel and whilst seated at the service station I managed to take a photo of the bowser.

0.45 Riyals per litre.  That’s slightly less than 7 pence or 15 cents Australian.

Now consider the Saudi’s have to extract, refine, transport and resell it for a profit.  Yet it only costs 6p?  How can the price of petrol cost approx. £1.36 or A$1.34?   It can’t be the additional cost of transporting it.

Local Time

Something was said to me yesterday by one of my local colleagues which reminded me of a conversation I'd had the previous week with an expat who has been here 7 years.

I was discussing training with my local colleague when he mentioned I shouldn't program any training to last longer than two hours each day.  He must have noticed my puzzled expression because he then attempted to expand and explain his original comment.  His English is better than my Arabic, but we did grapple with the meaning for several minutes until I realised he was trying to tell me that the locals don't have a very long attention span.  If we plan a working day longer than 2 hours the students will either loose interest; fall asleep, or wander off!

Then I remembered the earlier comments from the expat who works for a government department.  He told me the average Saudi isn't motivated and if he has to work then he wants a government clerical job.  The pay isn't as good as the private sector, but the hours you have to be at work are 8.00am to 1.30pm.  Moreover it's almost impossible to dismiss a public servant.  He went on to tell me the national telecommunications network struggles under the daily YouTube load! :-)

Apparently his office has now been fitted with a fingerprint recognition entrance/exit system.  If you arrive late; leave early; leave during business hours; the system automatically generates an email to you and your boss requiring you to explain your actions.  Of course the Saudi's can't be dismissed so they aren't worried.  It's the expats who are affected.

Another expat was telling me their office lighting is fitted with motion detectors as part of energy saving.  The lights turn off after 30 minutes without motion.  This includes the individual office lights.  Apparently he returned to work after an external meeting to find the building in darkness with the sound of many chainsaws running.  When he entered the main corridor the lights came on and that is when he noticed all the Saudi staff collapsed across their desks asleep.  He even managed to show me a photo!

The Saudi government has probably the highest expenditure on education per head of population of any country in the world.  But I do wonder how they are going to resolve the motivation issue?

More shopping

During the last couple of domestic flights I’ve noticed a number of males walking around in the white bath towels.  Usually one wrapped around the waist and another over the shoulders.  Initially I thought it might be something to do with dementia or an airport shower facility.  However I’ve now realised they are probably either arriving or returning pilgrims.  It’s rather a shock to see a male walking around bared legged and sometimes showing a bare midriff!

Yesterday I went to Al Faisaliyah shopping centre.  Mostly for something to do!  It was the usually ladies and children’s clothing stores, shies, watches, leather goods, etc.  Again I managed to hang on to all my money.  However at one stage I did get the feeling I was Bilbow Baggins surrounded by the Nazgul!  Particularly when they completely cover their heads rather than wearing the veil, which at least shows their eyes :-)

 The black oval is actually a fountain and pool

The shopping centre is linked to the Al Faisaliyah Tower.  I actually had to search for the link (corridor) between the shopping centre and the tower.  It’s in the 1^st Floor of the shopping centre.

 

The Al Faisaliyah Tower is sometimes known locally as the 'pen' because the globe three-quarters the way up gives it the appearance of a ballpoint pen.  It's the third highest skyscraper in Saudi Arabia.

 

 

Immediately below the globe is an open air viewing platform (access cost 40 Riyals) and the dome apparently contains a revolving revolting restaurant :-)  To reach the top of the tower requires a change in lift two thirds the way up.  At this intermediate stop you pay your fee and are directed to the second lift.  The attendant pushes the button and once at the viewing platform you can only return to the intermediate floor.  After walking around the viewing platform one Saudi photographer re-entered the lift and tried (unsuccessfully) to go higher. 

 

It was rather windy and cold on the external viewing platform and no one had bothered to clean the glass for some time so my photo’s look rather washed out.

 

You can see the "bottle opener"  Kingdom Tower at the opposite end of the commercial area

 

There is always so much dust in the air that visibility in Riyadh is always poor.  Despite some lovely architecture everything has a washed-out brown look about it!

Close-up photo of the globe

I've given up on shopping malls..........  At least it means I won't spend money!

Sleeping driver and the new visa

A 4.00amstart to the day as I needed to get to the border before the morning rush.  The decision to renew my visa a week early had been made by my boss.  It seemed a logical decision otherwise I’d need to return to Dammam the following week just for the visa.

So my driver collected me from the hotel whilst the sparrows were yawning and we headed south down empty roads.  When we reached the four lane motorway (freeway) there was only one car ahead of us.  We were following him at 120kmh when I noticed he was drifting into the lanes on either side.  My driver noticed the same thing and pulled forward beside the car.  The sole occupant had his chin on his chest and his eyes shut.  He was ‘micro-sleeping’ at 120kmh.  My driver also recognised the danger and accelerated forward before sounding his horn.  This woke up the driver of the other vehicle…… But for how long! We stayed ahead of him from this point until reaching the causeway road.

At the border it was the usual routine of passing through Customs and the Immigration.  Something was said at Immigration (my Arabic wasn’t good enough to understand).  Instead of doing the usual hard left turn and cutting down the alleyway to reach the inward side we headed towards Bahrain.  My driver explained that the Saudi immigration officer had told him I had to go to Bahrain and get a Bahraini entry and exit stamp in my visa. 

I noticed the Saudi immigration booth had a sign on it stating “Ladies Only”.  Now females can’t drive, so why would there be booths set aside for ladies?  I asked my driver.  He pointed out that we had actually gone to a booth on the passenger side of the car and females are required to show their face for identification purposes.  The question that immediately when through my mind was “How can some veiled females in the west claim their human rights are being abused if they are required to show their face.  Yet in probably to most conservative islamic country on earth they must show their faces when required?

On reaching Bahrain Immigration I had to pay 50 Riyals for a visa.  Then we did the hard left turn on the Bahrain side reaching Bahrain exit to get an exit stamp in my passport.  So I now have both an entry and exit stamp from Bahrain.  It was then a case of going back across the Saudi border.  I’m not that worried about paying for the visa as it is a refundable business expense. Neither did it take much longer to complete the border crossing to Bahrain.  All I can think of is that the Bahrain economy is suffering and the Saudi Immigration department has decided to assist them!

I was back at Dammam airport by 7.45am and with plenty of spare time decided to look for something to eat for breakfast.

Slightly blurred….. Would you eat a “Smashburger”?  Or would you ear at “Chicken Dorking”?

I opted to try the airport cafe for a hot chocolate (I don’t drink coffee).  Despite the signage “Sorry… no hot chocolate”!   I went to the other cafe “Sorry… no hot chocolate!”  “Bugger!”  It was going to be a thirsty morning. 

The aircraft for the flight back to Riyadh was an Airbus.  More leg room… Hurrah!  The problem occurred at the Riyadh terminal.  I couldn’t find my driver.  Imagine you have gone to the beach and there are thousands of white seagulls walking on the beach.  That’s what the arrival area at the airport looked like.  All the Saudi males dressed in a white thobe and wearing a read & white checked cloth on their head.  I couldn’t see my seagull in the flock!  I tried phoning his mobile and whilst I did make contact he only speaks Arabic and mine is very limited.  Well after 45 minutes we did finally meet and he took me back to my apartment.  I was feeling more than a little tired.  But the kitchen and bathroom needed cleaning. The hall and foyer needed to be mopped.  Then the laundry had to be done and the shirts ironed for next week.  Somehow I even found the time to bake another banana cake!  It didn’t fail to the same extent as my previous efforts so I guess I’m improving.

On the move

Another gap in the blog posts because I’ve again been away without the laptop.  At rather short notice I was asked to go to Dammam for a meeting with some people from our company’s overseas partner.

On the way to the airport I was finally able to take a few photos of a large complex adjacent to the airport road.  I’ve worked out that it is a large university campus for ladies

The accommodation blocks

The university mosque on the right with admin and lecture rooms in the large building to the left.

More of the admin complex with a large poster of the current and two previous kings.  These signs are everywhere.

Last building in the complex.

The university frontage must stretch for more than two kilometres and as the students can’t drive…. Oops… are not allowed to drive!  There must be a bus service to get them around the campus.  One wonders about the expense of educating females only to not allow them to have a career?  Perhaps there is a hidden motive on the part of some in authority knowing that one day this rule will change!

Of course no drive to the airport can be completed without passing the obligatory crash.  This time it was a taxi which looks like it ran off the road and hit a traffic sign.

Having observed the speed they do and the aggressive technique I’m not surprised that all taxi’s have signs of collision damage. 

Beer... glorious beer!

There I was walking the supermarket floor on one of my “hunter gather” mission when I saw it.

Yes you can buy beer in Saudi Arabia…… non alcoholic of course!  Then I noticed it is artfully flavoured.  You can have cherry, apple, pear, pomegranate and strawberry flavoured beer!  One of the locals has told me it’s not hard to make the beer alcoholic, you just need to add a pinch of yeast to the bottle and reseal it!  Cherry flavoured alcoholic beer……. Maybe not!

The following is a photo of my cheap (£20) 7” tablet that I bought in Carrefour, Granada Mall. 

 There is nothing on it to indicate the country of manufacture and on checking the website (www.nikai.com) the company appears to be based in the Middle East.  However a quick check on Google indicates a number of Indians also own them.  Not that any of this matters to me.  Whilst it is a “full blown” colour tablet with wifi etc, all I need it for is reading my ebooks.  The major difference between the tablet and a genuine eReader is the tablet has far less battery life.  The Nikai has to be recharged every day whereas my BeBook and Nook go for weeks between recharging.

Looks like I have another meeting in Dammam tomorrow and have been booked on Flynas (Local RyanAir).  I’m going to use the trip to renew my visa (again).  So it will be another early start to the day to reach the Saudi/Bahrain border before the usual weekend queue.  It will be the same quick trip through Saudi customs and immigration before doing the usual hard left turn to cut down the alleyway and arrive at the inwards Saudi customs and immigration control points.  I’ve also realised the “trap” with the visa.  It’s not a six month visa.  It’s for 180 days and it must be renewed every 30 days – not once per month!  That’s how people get caught!

Another shopping excursion

Well the eReader had died and I was seriously bored.  I decided to catch the free compound bus to Granada Mall which is in the north of Riyadh.  I climbed aboard to discover my harem waiting (ladies can’t drive remember).  They all fell quiet (as you would expect).  I got quite a ribbing for joining the ladies bus! (the men drive their own vehicles of course).  

My expectations of the mall were low but at least I knew I probably wasn’t going to be disappointed.  

Carrefour is a large, French owned supermarket chain (I think!)

We disembarked around the back of the mall and the crows fruitbats 'ladies in black' made a beeline towards the clothing shops.  Meanwhile; having decided I didn’t need a second backless, strapless and plunging front dress with sequins;  I wandered off to see if there were any “different” shops in this mall that might interest me.  

The mall was virtually deserted and, despite it being 10.30am, many of them were closed.

If you don’t know what Debenhams looks like when written in Arabic then the following photo will enlighten you.  I managed to fend off all the perfume boys at the entrance (remember ladies can’t be shop assistants).  

“Dear Victoria, your secrets will not be secret for long if you advertise them so openly!"

Blurred photo taken on the phone from some distance

The directory in the entrance to the shopping mall stated there was an "early learning centre".  The Saudi's are heavily into education and I was interested to see what type of training was being provided.

Now I know...... An "Early Learning Centre" is a toy shop!

It’s bloody hard doing nothing!  No doubt it takes Saudi’s years to acquire the art.  At the very far end of the mall was an “Extra” shop.  It would be similar to a Curry’s in the UK or Harvey Norman in Australia.  At least it had “stuff” that would interest a bloke……….  But it was closed! 

There was a Food Court and children's amusement centre on the top floor of the mall.

Closed of course!

At one point I thought my diet was going to undergo an exciting change

London fish & Chips..... But closed….. of course!

Last time I flew back from Dammam the aircraft arrived in Riyadh at 1.00am.  To my surprise I found the roads choked with traffic and the shops full of people.  Actually they were families with small children.  Only then did I realise that with the requirement to pray five times throughout the 24 hours, and the heat during the day, the Saudi sleeping and shopping routine is different to the west.

After wandering around for three hours and discovering there are no ebook readers in Saudi Arabia (I wonder why?) I discovered the Carrefour supermarket had a special offer on tablets.  I managed to buy a 7" colour tablet for £20.  It will suffice as a replacement eReader until I can get back to my Nook.

I joined my harem for the bus trip back to the compound noticing that almost all of them were heavily laden with purchases.  More ball gowns to try on tonight? :-)

Tut tut!

Another interesting day in the traffic on my way to work this morning.  I even managed to take a couple of photos as ‘evidence’.

There is a long, six lane, straight piece of road on the eastern ring road around Riyadh.  As we approached a major intersection the cars start ‘jockeying’ for ‘pole position’.  Mostly this is done by attempting to straddle the lane markings in an effort to block out the queue-jumpers.  The problem is that by straddling the lane marking you actually allow more lanes of traffic as cars squeeze alongside of yours.  The right two lanes are dedicated for right turning traffic only and a raised concrete median strip appears between lanes 4 and 5 about 200 metres short of the intersection.

However this doesn’t deter the queue-jumpers who will use lanes 5 & 6 down to the start of the median strip and then push across into lane 3 & 4.  Of course the vehicles in 3 & 4 try and block them or squeeze over against lanes 1 & 2.  It gets even worse as some vehicles wanting to get into lane 4 will form lanes 7 & 8 (driving on the verge) until they get to the start of the median strip.

 

The 4x4 is trying to block the car next to us squeezing in between it and the truck. He is also in lane 5 but wants to be in lane 4.

Today there was one idiot who arrived in lane 8 and actually forced (nudged, tooted, waved and honked) his way across all 7 lanes of traffic to reach lane 1 before the lights.  What a snarl-up.  It's not surprising that sometimes drivers resort to fighting.

 

Lanes 5 & 6 to the right of the median strip. Now the median strip is there it’s possible to see the few vehicles that really want to take the mandatory right turn.  Sometimes the median strip doesn’t deter the 4x4 drivers who simply drive over it when they reach the intersection.

So there we are at the intersection waiting on a red light.  Six lanes of vehicles squeezed into four lanes of roadway.  The lights turn green and all six lanes surge forward to the opposite side of the intersection where there are FOUR marked lanes.  More honking, hand waving and nudging as six lanes of traffic fight their way back into four. 

Now if everyone just kept to their lane and didn’t try and jump the queue the traffic would actually move much faster! 

Women can’t drive here.  Some westerns say that if women could drive in the country then the traffic wouldn’t be as aggressive.  I tend to disagree, and believe there would probably be twice as many aggressive drivers!

Mr Smelly

There we were at Jeddah airport with me dressed in the last set of clean clothes I’d bought with me for the two day trip that has turned into five days.  Once again it was a case of wandering around looking for our departure gate.  I needed to stay close to my Saudi colleague as he has MY e-ticket on his smartphone.  This wasn’t made easy because people don’t queue.  Wriggling to to front of the crowd is a national habit.  Well I suppose it’s the same at the traffic lights!

After making our way through the first scrum, clearing the pack with the judicious use of one’s elbows, we made our way onto the bus and were driven out to the aircraft.  No air-bridges at Jeddah airport!  My colleague had already boarded and with my luck the cabin crew wanted to see my ticket… which was on his phone!  He returned to the door when he realised I was missing, or was it the complaints from the passengers trapped behind me? 

This time I took charge ensuring we went down the correct isle.  I didn’t want to fight my way back to the front of the aircraft against the crowd like last time.  I had barely settled in my seat when my old e-reader decided to die!  It has been failing for the last 12 months and whilst I have a new e-reader I didn’t want to bring it to Saudi Arabia.  Just my luck for the damned thing to fail at the beginning of a two hour flight.  I was then forced to read the Arabic newspaper (well actually look at the few pictures).  It was one of the longest two hour flights I’ve had! 

On arrival in Dammam I was anticipating we would take a taxi for the 65km drive to the hotel.  But no; we were hiring a car.  Of course it hadn’t been pre-booked (surprise) and we jumped from rental car company booths looking for an available car.  That done, we headed for the hotel arriving around 8.00pm.  My first thought was to hand in some laundry to avoid being “Mr Smelly” the following day.  We arrived one hour too late for my laundry to be returned the following morning. <sniff… sniff>  Found the least smelly shirt for the next day, then requested an iron.  It didn’t arrive!  Another job for the morning.

We agreed to meet at 9.00am for breakfast.  I was up at my usual 6.00am managing to iron my “used” shirt and then get some work done on the laptop.  At 9.00am I headed to breakfast in an effort to quell the loud rumbling from my stomach.  The plan was to pick a table away from everyone and try to eat with my elbows pressed against my ribs.  If there were any complaints my plan was to look shocked and pretend it was another diner.  Of course my colleague was a “no show”. 

We arrived at the office exactly at 11.00am for our scheduled meeting.  The office was empty except for the tea-boy and IT manager.  People started to appear around 11.30am.  I’d love to work their office hours!

 

By 12.30 we were back at the hotel with work over for the day.  Except me; who carried on banging away on my laptop in the hotel. 

I did notice this restaurant from the car.

What would you name your restaurant the “Seagulls’ Catch”?  Surely they know seagulls are the rats of the ocean!

Dinner on my own!  But at exactly 6.00pm my laundry was returned.  Bliss… a clean shirt, smalls and socks!

Next morning 9.00am, breakfast on my own.  My colleague was tired!  I continued banging away at the keyboard until 1.00pm when we had agreed to meet in the hotel foyer prior to departing for Riyadh.   He turned up at 2.00pm and were were then joined by others for a work conference (in Arabic) which rather left me out.  At one stage I was asked if I knew anything about websites.  Dummy said “a little” and now I’m assisting in the review of the company website which is currently under development.  Oh well, I can do that in all my free time.

After 90 minutes I asked “When does the train leave for Riyadh?” and was then informed we were returning by car. Oh… that was nice to know!  Eventually we departed at 5.00pm and so I knew we wouldn’t get back to Riyadh until 9.30.

The sun started to set at 7.00pm and the car pulled over onto the verge.  I wondered what the problem was… A flat tyre?  No… it was prayer time!  I have to admire their devotion to their religion.

We arrived in Riyadh at 10.00pm and, after a delay, managed to get a taxi back to the compound. That’s when I discovered I couldn’t find the key to the apartment.  Now I had planned for this eventuality and hidden a duplicate key outside the door.  I’m not totally stupid!  Just look it!

I threw all the dirty laundry in the machine and made myself sardines on toast to eat for a late lunch/dinner.  Whilst the machine chugged away I stripped down the e-reader.

The screen has failed.  No chance of a repair so it’s into the bin.  Damned, the e-reader has been very useful and you can’t buy one in Saudi Arabia.  I don’t know why.

Jeddah

There has been quite a gap since my last post.  It wasn’t intentional, I’ve been away longer than anticipated.  The plan was to go to Jeddah for two days to meet with potential clients.  Jeddah is the major city on the west coast of Saudi Arabia and is reputably more ‘liberal’ than Riyadh. 

The flight took about 1hr 30mins which slightly surprised me as I hadn’t realised it was almost twice the distance from Riyadh to Jeddah compared to Riyadh to Dammam.  I had already put in a full day at work before we left in the early evening.  By comparison my local colleague arrived at work one hour before we left for the airport.  I guess that makes me the silly one!

It was after 10.00pm by the time we reached the hotel in Jeddah and I asked him if he would like to meet for breakfast.  He told me 9.00am at the hotel restaurant.  Well I was there at 9am but he never appeared.  In fact I never had any hotel meal with him for the duration of the trip.  Saudi Time!

Hotel lobby

Pulling back the curtains on the hotel room I got my first look at Jeddah.

Nothing unique here…. I could just as easily be in Riyadh….. or Cairo…. or  Tehran….. or Lima.  Except for the odd mosque!

Well I could be almost anywhere!

The first task for the day was to iron my crumpled shirts.  Fortunately the hotel room had and ironing board and iron.  The plug on the iron looked like this

And the wall sockets all looked like this

???????????? Talk about a square peg in a round hole.  Why the hell would the hotel leave an iron in each room that was incompatible with the wall sockets? 

We left for our first meeting at 10.30 and after driving around for 20 minutes I realised neither my colleague or taxi driver knew where we were going.  But we eventually got there.  The meeting took all of 15 minutes.  Most of it in Arabic and I only participated with a few words.  Well that was the work done for the day <huh!>  Back at the hotel I carried on with the work I started in the morning whilst my colleague went for a rest and to pray.  Later he decided to change hotels.  This one wasn’t ‘nice’!  I packed and we departed for the ‘better’ hotel using the same taxi driver.  “Would I like to see some of Jeddah?”  Well why not… I’m probably never going to return!  The drive actually turned out to be a search for a new hotel.  Apparently we didn’t have a booking and the afternoon was spent driving from major hotel to major hotel looking for two vacant rooms.  After six failed attempts I was starting to think we might be spending the night in the taxi.  Why couldn’t this have been done by internet or phone before checking out of the previous hotel?  I must admit to seeing a few interesting buildings whilst driving around.

I think the ‘stem’ is a lift to the globe….<maybe?>

I struggled to get a photo of the above building which is under construction.  the driver either kept turning away from it or another car obstructed the view.  Interesting to see the helicopter pad being built at the top.

We eventually reached the coast road where I was able to get glimpses of the Red Sea and the container port.

Notice how I managed to artfully include the rubbish bins!  Saudi Arabia has two major container ports (Jeddah & Dammam) on opposite sides of the country.  One of the major rail projects is to link both ports by a modern rail line. 

I though the blue and white fishing boat had run aground.  However when we got closer I realised it’s part of a children's playground!

Eventually we found two vacant rooms in a rather ‘tired’ looking hotel back in the industrial part of the city.  My colleague was pleased to tell me he had been able to arrange a ‘suite’ for each of us rather than the standard room.

Saudi’s are really into their beds and bathrooms.  Every bed I have seen is at least 6ft wide!

Having a ‘suite’ instead of a room didn’t particularly excite me.  However I did notice the room wasn’t all that clean.  When I had my evening shower the water ran black from the “stuff” I’d collected on the soles of my feet.

That evening I had dinner on my own (and breakfast in the morning).  After doing another four hours work on the laptop I phoned my colleague to ask when we were leaving.  “11.00am!” Of course I waited….. and waited, in the lobby before we headed to the next appointment.  Same taxi driver and again neither of them knew the address.  This time the meeting was even shorter and all of it was in Arabic.  I tried to ask a couple of questions as the meeting concluded but was bundled out the door.  On the way back to the hotel my colleague decided he needed a shave.  Now I shave myself, but over hear males don’t necessary shave every day (designer stubble?).  When they do shave, it appears they have this done at a barber shop.  Not my colleague; we go looking for a Health Spa in the taxi.

Eventually we find one and he disappears inside.

One thing I immediately noticed about construction standards here is that whilst the finish might look OK the underlying quality of work is frequently poor.  The steps into the Health Spa are just one example.

I was anticipating we would return to the hotel and then depart to the airport for our return to Riyadh.  However my freshly shaved and facial massaged colleague informed me there had been a change of plans and we were now going to Dammam for a the remainder of the week.  OK…. But I only bought clean clothes for two days………..

More tomorrow…..