Swimming Lessons

For those that are staying in the heat of Riyadh and need a wet and cool outlet for yourself or your young boys, there is a very good swimming coach by the name of Noor Khan at the The Palms Golf and Country Club. This is located inside the Riyadh Inter-Continental Hotel.

Contact info:
Noor Khan
1-465-5000 ext. 4045
050-293-7162
email: recreation@icririyadh.com
http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/intercontinental/en/gb/locations/hotel-features/amenities-services/riyadh

Masha'Allah, he is very competent, patient and can teach you at whatever level you are at. He is very flexible with timings and takes all ages, also.

Shaheed

Eastern Region Photos

Ok, so these are not photos of Riyadh. However, you do have to get away from the big city sometimes. The Eastern region is a quick 3 to 4 hours away and offers many things to do. These are some photos, albeit not the best, of the east coast.

City Plaza

City Plaza's website
Check out the images that have been defaced (is that a word?). Riyadh is quickly changing, yet some store owners and and lots of individuals still monitor themselves and are very careful about transgressing bounds of the Religion.
According to the website there are over 30 outlets in 18 major KSA cities. This particular one is located right behind the Granada mall shown earlier and the traffic is horrendous here. Saying that, it has improved though.

Those "SALE" signs drive me crazy! Why? Because they mark-up the price to some ridiculous amount and then slash them 5o-75% and everybody and their mothers come to shop. MORE Traffic!

Time to Make the Bread or Was It Doughnuts?

This is a staple for people here in the Riyadh. For only 2 to 4 riyal you can get a piece of bread known as tamyeeze. Not far from the bread spot is another 'hole in the wall' where you can get various types of inexpensive foods, such as foule (beans and oil and spices) or addis (lentil beans oils and spices). We prefer the Sudani addis and tamyeeze with sesame seeds on top and processed cheese inside. That is what the last two peices of bread being put into the oven are.

Just like else where around the world, inflation has increased and it is evident in the grocery bills and rent as mentioned before. For more reading on this topic checkout this article: http://www.arabnews.com/?page=6&section=0&article=103335&d=8&m=11&y=2007

Updated Post on June 20th in archives

New post in archives, see June 20th, 2008 Let's Go Grocery Shopping!

Crackdown on Extremist Working

As mentioned earlier, the presence of more checkpoints is very noticeable and their efforts appreciated. This article is particularly relevant to us here in Riyadh. Enjoy!

Imams, preachers urged to help fight extremism

ref: http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=111524&d=5&m=7&y=2008

Minister of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Call and Guidance Saleh Al-Asheikh lauded the efforts made by the Ministry of Interior to round up deviants and terror suspects.

“The discovery of terror plots and pre-emptive strikes on militants by the Interior Ministry have succeeded in protecting people's lives and properties. The ministry`s action nipped in the bud terrorists` plan to create chaos," Al-Asheikh said in a statement commenting on the arrest of hundreds of Al-Qaeda cadres during the past several months who were plotting terror attacks on oil faci-lities and other vital installations.

The minister also emphasized the need for the society and religious establishments to join the fight against terrorism. He said not just the Kingdom but several other Muslim countries, were facing the problem.

“Some of our young people have taken to branding people, including religious leaders as heretics,” the minister said. “Their negative propaganda and undue criticism of religious leaders should be countered effectively. We should also protect our young people from the reach of the proponents of deviant ideologies before they are influenced by them.” The minister underlined the role of the society in countering extremism.

“The first responsibility lies with the family and then the imams at mosques,” he said. "It is the duty of the imams and preachers to revive the role of mosques in protecting the youth from deviant ideologies. The mosques should take up the task of neutralizing the extremist ideologies. Extremism is, undoubtedly, far removed from the teachings of Islam,” he said.

“The imams can protect the young people from being influenced by evil ideologies, and the preachers should take steps to guide them. The preachers should inform their parents, relatives and religious scholars about them so that they can be saved from the clutches of extremists. Our young people should love their Lord and obey Him and follow the Prophet (peace be upon him). They should adhere to the constructive social norms.” The minister also cited the examples of the early Muslims who kept themselves aloof from extremist tendencies and movements.

The grand mufti had on Thursday urged citizens and residents to take the Al-Qaeda threat seriously and join hands with the Kingdom`s security forces in defeating the group.

First Flat '03

These phots show our first apartment here in Riyadh. The bottom left apt was ours. If my memory servers me correctly I was paying 18k per year for it in 2003. The building to the right is a villa. Normally here villas are split down the middle into two halves or four quarters.

Riyadh's Night Life

http://www.riyadh-ksa.com

This is the Ministry of Interior building (commonly called the 'spaceship building'). Note: I would never take a photo of this building, whoever took it more than likely had permission to do so or were very brave or oblivious. Oblivious to the danger involved.

The campaign to capture extremist and terrorist elements is still going strong read here: http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=111493&d=4&m=7&y=2008. Therefore, Ministry and military post are a BIG no no to photograph. Surprise checkpoints are a normal happening, so your paperwork should be straight for both yourself and the vehicle you are driving. Falsaliyah

This is a photo of the huge white and green masjid featured previously across the street from McDonalds with the four palaces.

Bura'joon for women and children.
Royal Mall is one of the many malls of Riyadh. A new one seems to open every six months or so. It is as if shopping is a form of recreation here.
The Mamlikah, below, and the Fasililyah both have lights that change color at night.
Riyadh banks attractive ATM machine. My wife thinks this is funny for some odd reason. I like the picture, personally. :)
This is the historic Musmak, it has been converted to a museum.

Misc. Aspects of Home Life

Service or rather labor is dirt cheap here in Riyadh. But you know how the saying goes "you get what you pay for". It applies! There are no set rates so repairs and fixin' that gets done must be negotiated. For me this is somewhat stressful. Electricians are often the plumber, digger, mason or anything else you need at the moment. Some are competent and do decent jobs and others...well, you get the picture. Most leave whatever mess they created without attempting to clean it.

The 'harris' or keeper of my old apartment told me he was an electrician back in Indian for 20 years, yet he nearly fried his arm off tryin' to fix my lights. he had to go to the clinic around the corner and then tried to add his clinic visit fees on to my charges.

The 220 volts used in the UK and here is quite dangerous.

These are photos of our 'cooker' or rather stove. It is connected to gas as you will see. Yes, larger american and western manufactured electric stoves are available. This brand is made locally and is quite functional.



Ahhh! The AC.
Indispensable! (in my opinion) They can be purchased new for about 1000 to 1400 sar.

If you live on the first floor here chances are you have little friends that come out at night that live up underneath these drains. Yuck!

These things are heavy and I mean heavy. So every couple of months it must be disconnected and lugged to the gas spot and replace for 15 sar.


Some comfort food. Krispy Kreme is here now and you should see the women walking away carrying four five boxes leaning to one side they are so heavy.

I must admit I have had my share of 'Hot N Nows'. Nothing and I mean nothing beats a hot original krispy kreme doughnut rolling fresh of the conveyor belt. I think I have put on a pound jus' talkin' bout it.

My wife is gonna kill me again, if that's possible. These are photos of our kids room in the old apt. Yes, it is a little bare.

I have a theory and it states that it takes about two years or more to get settled down once moving from one country to another. So those first couple of transitional years can be quite stressful and full of adjusting, learning and acquiring new stuff.