Saudi Door Answering

Today I played computer games all morning while mum went to the dentist. Argh! I'm addicted!

After that we went to Rehabs house. Raeefa canceled her meeting with us.
Rehab is lovely. She has a 10 month old daughter who is a real cutie.
We had delivery Burger King for lunch @ her place. They have delivery everything here...in terms of food (well almost everything). Most restaurants deliver including the fast food ones. So you can get delivery KFC or maccas. No matter where you live they will deliver!! If it's a restaurant that does not deliver some ladies will pay a taxi driver to go get their food and bring it back to them.
Anyway, it's really funny watching the Saudi ladies answer the door. Because they wear normal clothes in their homes but are not allowed to show their face to men other then their husbands, brothers and fathers they will do the money/food exhange while they are behind the door hiding. Haha! Is quite funny. Even when we arrived to Rehabs house she opened the door and was behind it waiting for us to come in...just in case someone walked past the house and saw her.

Tonight we went to Arabian Homes Compound. Dad's boss lives in this compound so we went there for dinner with him and some other people. They have a restaurant on campus which we went to. Tonights menu was a Mexican buffet.

Computer Freaks!!

Today we did pilates again. It was the last session for a while. Mum joined up for a month n I will join for the rest of the time I am here. We saw them doing a class called AfroDance and it looked like heaps of fun. We are going to do that on Saturday night!!

Then we played on our laptops. Mum introduced me to the Zoo Game on Facebook and now I am hooked. We spend a lot of time on our laptops playing games. Quite sad really. I'm in the different country on the other side of the world n I stay home during the day to play computer games. What's happening to me!! :) We are turning into computer freaks!!

We taught Raeefa some more English today. I didn't teach her gaamin, it didn't come up. She was quite unwell actually and didn't have much of a voice.

Tonight we went to one of Dad's favourite restaurants...The Noodle House. They really like him there cause he goes every week. The food is really good.

Tomorrow we will see Raeefa again and mums other Saudi friend Rehab. Mum teaches her English and she teaches mum Arabic.

Crazy Driving and Road Rules

Today mum n I went to Riyadh Gallery with mums friend Sam. Sam lives in our compund but goes to London tomorrow for a break so we caught up with her for coffee. Riyadh Gallery is ok.

After that we went to a Saudi ladys house. Her name is Raeefa (Ray-fa). She is 22 and is married to a Sheikh (Sheek). I'm not sure what makes you a Sheikh apart from being very wealthy. Raeefa is so lovely. Mum is teaching her English because her and her husband go to London on Thursday. Her spoken English is about 6/10 but her comprehension of written material is only like 3. She is very cheeky and makes jokes to mum. It's really funny because when she does it she sticks out her tongue...all that's missing is her saying "Ah, gaamin!". I might teach her to say that :)

The driving here is pretty crazy. They have lanes but not a lot of people stay in them. They just cross over whenever and pull out in front of each other. The only reason anyone lets you in their lane or lets you through is because they don't want to get a ding in their car. There is no courtesy. The pushier you are the quicker you get through. Apparently when you crash, even just a small one, you have to wait for the police to come. Whatever lane you are in you just stay there and the traffic have to find a way around you. Same with the insurance company, you have to wait for them. Sometimes they can take hours to arrive.
Over here women are not supposed to drive but the boys can. I say boys because there is no starting driving age. If you can reach the pedals then you are allowed to drive. They also don't have to wear seatbelts or helmets or buckle their kids in. Most kids stand or sit on the middle console in between the front seats!! Apparently there are thousands of deaths a year over here from road accidents!!

There is lots of beeping here too. They beep for everything...beep! I'm coming to an intersection, beep! You pulled out in front of me, beep! Get out of my way, beep! The light is green and it's been .1 of a millisecond and you haven't moved yet! beep! beep! beep! The cab drivers beep at you if you are walking to say "I am free to take you".

Mum n I played squash again today. I am getting better. Mum beats me...Dad always says she's a boofhead when she plays because she doesn't play often but always has good shots...It's true!! She's older, not as fit or as fast as me but she wins. What the!? Haha, it's lots of fun though.
We played for like an hour and a half. I was sooooo buggered by the end. I had to lie down for a little while cause I felt sick.
Once I felt better, had a shower and something to eat we went up the road to Akaria Mall. It is only small and old looking. Has a couple of cool shops. Dad likes the crystal shops. He bought a couple of crystal bowls from there, they are pretty cheap.

Tomorrow we are going to do pilates again and teach Raeefa some more English.

The Angry Camel

Today mum n I went to her gym and did pilates then spin class. We went with her friend Yasmin, she's cool. The gym is very nice. It should be considering the cost to join. On special it costs about $350 per month.

After that we went out and about with Mr. Noor. That's dad's taxi driver. He took us half an hour out of town to the camel markets.
We got out of the car to look at the camels when this man came by riding on one and asked if we wanted to ride. Mum n I can't speak Arabic so Mr. Noor did all the wheeling and dealing for us.

We said yes and he sat the camel down when it started making angry noises on the way down and opening it's mouth like it was going to bite us!!

Then the man went to get off and the camel started kicking around and making angry noises again. The camel man almost tripped over. By this time I was freaked out by the camel. I didn't want to ride after seeing that. It was some random man with a random angry camel...not exactly a controlled environment.

Anyway, I decided to get a photo sitting on the camel (above left). Mum did too...she was also brave enough to allow the camel to stand with her on (left). Mr. Noor said the camel was making noise because the ground was too hot for it. I don't blame it for being angry then...it is very hot!!

Then we went to where they sell camel milk. We pulled over to one of the 10-15 men on the side of the road and Mr. Noor organised for us to try some fresh camel milk. They offered for us to milk the camel too but mum n I were both too chicken. I was really annoyed at myself afterwards cause I wanted to ride the camel and milk it. I will have to go back. I hate saying no to new, exciting things. Argh!

Anyway, it just tastes like normal milk. Kinda freaked me out cause it was so frothy...as you can see. I had a few sips then they bagged the rest up for us.
That was lots of fun. That's Mr. Noor holding the frothy milk :)

If anyone ever comes to Riyadh you will have to call Mr. Noor and ask him to take you on his "Camel Excursion". That's what we called it. He doesn't normally do that sort of thing but he likes mum n dad. He gets married in November in Pakistan and invited them.

Then we went to Localizer. A mall close to home and had a coffee and brief look around. Will have to go back and do some shopping. Woohoo!

Tonight we are going to AIC (Arab Investments Compund) to play tennis. That's another compound, bigger than ours.

Jet Lag Kicks In

So today I slept ALL day. I woke up around 9 feeling pretty groggy. I had a shower thinking that would make me feel better but it didn't. I had a bit of porridge for brekky then slept until 4pm.

When I got up I went sunbathing for a while, played a bit of squash with mum then we went out for dinner at this cool Chinese restaurant. It has booths throughout the whole restaurant that you sit in. Some for singles and some for families. Food was pretty good.
I tried their Saudi champagne (non alchoholic, they aren't allowed any alcohol in this part of the country) and it is just like the juice Elle makes. Apple juice with soda water, mint and apple. Was just missing the lime!


Tomorrow we will get out and about if I feel better.

Chill out day

Today we chilled all day.
Made a list of stuff to do while I'm here.
Not much else to report.

The picture on the left is the ruler of Dubai...Sheikh Mohammed. The Burj Khalifa (tallest building in the world) was his building and was originally called Burj Dubai however he ran out of money and the ruler of Abu Dhabi...Sheikh Khalifa...bought him out, hence the name change.

From Dubai to Riyadh

So today was our last day in Dubai.

This morning mum n I went to DIFC (Dubai International Finance Centre) which is the place where dad works when he comes to Dubai, their head office is here. We walked there, it's about 10-15mins walk from Novotel. Man it is so hot here. I was in jeans and a top cause we were going to Riyadh later and the abaya I had to wear does not button up all the way down so it tends to fly open. I definately don't recommend walking in hot clothes.

There are heaps of restaurants @ the DIFC. We had Sushi train...was mums first time ever having sushi train. Was fun. I tried raw salmon and tuna. I have tried it before and didn't like it that much but thought I would try again...still don't like it! :) I also tried eel - Yuck! I think the thought makes it worse, the taste wasn't horrible but I didn't like it.

We left for Riyadh in the arvo so I had to put an abaya on. I borrowed one of mums n it was a bit big so we are gonna buy me my own. They are ok. I actually don't mind wearing it. At least you don't have to think about what you are wearing or what your hair looks like.

Riyadh is also hot. Apparently it gets to 50 degrees here. One guy said the top the other day was 60. Woah!

Had a look around the compound, it's nice. In the picture I am standing at our front door. That is what is just outside. A water feature and tennis court and just past that there is a kids playground then a pool, a cafe, a lounge and a squash court.

Checked out Jazeera Shopping Centre just up the road which is like a supermarket and KMart all in one. The pez local shop.
Oh, by the way the plugs are different here so we bought an adaptor...yay!

Then we just chilled out by the pool all night.
Tomorrow we will probably just relax n come up with a list of stuff to do.