At this time of the year, we all pretended we experienced spring in Jeddah 🙂 We’re supposed to see the flower festival in Yanbu but ended up north of Jeddah to eat grilled fish! Why? Because someone doesn’t want to drive that far!
Anyhow, instead of seeing flowers we see food (we ate SEAfood), it rhymes! HELLO!
And so my spring project started because of frustration. I started to learn how to do one stroke painting of a rose. Every time I tried, it didn’t look like a rose but certainly it looks like a flower to me and to my friends 🙂
a close up view
and my project has begun 🙂
A white top in which you can wear it according to your fashion sense 🙂 beautybeyondfifty can’t agree more (rolling my eyes up high! )
BEFORE
AFTER
I love flowers and I love spring season, unfortunately there’s not much to see in here, so let’s just imagine 🙂
Once again, I have the best moment to witness the 11th season of Serenata, courtesy of Mr. Gerard Cua. This is also the first time in 29 years, my big boss and I took time out from work to watch a concert. See ? This is really the best moment 🙂 We always took turn to attend to personal matter so as not to close the clinic but tonight was different, we went together to enjoy the concert and we did!
never mind his expression in this photo 🙂 he was amazed by the performance and even took out time to take photos and records some songs
One thing though, my camera didn’t work well so I ended up taking photos by iPhone.Good thing, our seat is in the 3rd row and because I wasn’t into taking pictures, I enjoyed the show better than as a guest rather than as a photographer 🙂
“into the woods”
“Spiderman”
opps..I missed the action!
“Chua Ay”
This a cappella rendition of “Chua Ay” is spectacular, though I didn’t understand the meaning, it was so amazing to watch. I guess this is an Igorot song (a northern tribe in the Philippines).As much as I enjoyed another folk song “Paruparung Bukid”,the performance of the Knight Movers was also breathtaking!
“Singkil” performed by The Knight Movers
The second part : Serenata String Orchestra
under the musical direction of Ms. Sylvia Delos Santos“La Cathedral” a solo guitar performance by Ms. Nadine Cua
Here’s a sample video of her performance 🙂
The finale
“Somewhere” a joint performance of Choir & String Orchestra with Ms. Precy Ann Cua (Soloist)
EATING is one of the common denominator we have in our group of friends. We enjoyed walking and at the same time we also enjoyed eating. Which one is more enjoyable? hmmm…I guess it’s the company that counts rather than the activities 🙂
We celebrated my friends’ 59th birthday at Ocean Basket in Khaledeyyah Business Centre at Sultan Street Jeddah. I thought it was a Chinese restaurant but after searching it from the web, I learned it’s a South African chain famous for fish and chips. We got interested and tried it last night.
The place is cozy in a relaxed atmosphere. The staffs are mostly Filipinos and very friendly.
Starter dish, oh I forgot to get the price list anyhow..this is good news, if you have Qitaff points from STC, this restaurant accepts and we were able to get a discount of SR 148.00. What a treat!
Main dishes …a seafood platter, a choice of either fried or grilled. Yummy and fresh! We love it!
side dishes sushi and sashimi
Of course, they entertained us with birthday lava cake with the singing waiters at the background 🙂 …What a great way to celebrate!
after dinner, we went to have coffee and ice cream, I told you so ..WE LOVE TO EAT 🙂
This restaurant opened four months ago in AL Rhawda square and I heard a good review about it, so I was excited and curious to know what it has to offer.
I thought the name “sura” was related to arabic word meaning “fast” but I was wrong..of course! it’s Korean lol! why would they name the restaurant with arabic name? 🙂
The restaurant has a unique design, for the family section you can choose to sit in a traditional Korean table or a regular restaurant table.
We were asked to remove our shoes before getting into Chabudai table (I thought only Japanese used this?),ladies..beware..the stones under the tables are cold, it is better to wear stockings or socks.
I am not so familiar with Korean cuisine, I only knew about barbecue and my Chef Kevin’s favourite side dish, Kimchi! And so we decided to order the Su:ra full course “SOO” and “HEE“, It’s probably about HE and SHE 🙂 full course. The course cost 200-250SR per person ,drinks not included. And while waiting, root tea and apple chips were served.
The first course on the set is Porridge and vegetable salad. Nothing special, just simple to taste.
Gujeolpan – platter of nine delicacies( doesn’t look like in their menu photo). The waiter told us, the two sets were combined. Huh! the picture in the menu is always appetizing and a lot more! The small white thin wrap taste like radish, I wonder ..oh what a big round radish it is! I like the sauce and the taste somewhat tangy and sweet combination.
Soegogi Chapssal-Mari – beef roll with glutinous rice. too small for a company of three 🙂
Mun-eo Samsap – parboiled Octopus and steamed beef slice serve with seasoned radish
Samsaek Jeon-Yu-Hwa pan-fried delicacies. it’s a combination of zucchini,egg,kimchi and crabmeat. I like the sauce better than the delicacies!
Jangeo Gui -grilled Eel
Sura Tangsu – deep fried mushroom and beef with sweet and sour sauce. I love the mushroom, so delicious!
Soegogi Japchae – stir -fried Glass Noodle with beef and vegetable. This is sweet noodle for me. I love the Mi-Goring of Indonesia better 🙂
Sura Galbi jjim – braised beef short ribs
Sura Hwa Bulgogi -charcoal fire grilled Bulgogi
oh yes, there’s a stone underneath the beef.
Soup with 5 side dishes.
and we ordered an extra soup with 5 dishes, just for comparison. I didn’t like any one of them.
The dessert with raspberry drink.
In the menu, there should be sherbet included with the course, but we didn’t bothered to ask why it was not serve. I would say the experience is definitely different , the place is clean and cool but my palate was not so pleased with the menu. I think the price is a bit expensive too. Would I come back? Maybe, if my friends would love to try the restaurant but most probably I would advise to order A la Carte, instead of the full course.Though the portion is good for dieters , the Eel and the beef is so fatty for my taste. I certainly would love to try the hot pot and barbecue just to have the experience 🙂 And who knows? maybe this time, I will like it.
Cheers,
Jamilamimi
The restaurant opens on Friday at 2pm. It is located at AR Rhawda square,Al Rhawdah Dist, Jeddah KSA.
Being a OFW (Overseas Filipino worker) we look forward to go home to Philippines every December to celebrate Christmas with our love ones, but there are few circumstances we can not.. for various reasons such as, company disapproved the leave,financially uptight etc. So for those, who are celebrating Christmas in Saudi Arabia, Jeddah in particular, we tried to gather every friends to be with us , decorated our home with Christmas tree and tried to make the atmosphere and food like Christmas. Oh how I miss the real Christmas celebration with family.
Yes, Santa is nowhere to be found 🙂 we decided to celebrate our Christmas eve at Sheraton Hotel. And of course, before we dine, we had some photo shoots at home (we anticipated we can not remove our abaya covering) and some few shots at the lobby of the hotel.
It’s a Seafood buffet at Sheraton Hotel, Jeddah KSA.. forget the Cholesterol and Uric acid.. here comes the Christmas celebration 🙂
After the sumptuous dinner, we strolled along Boulevard and enjoyed the ambience and the breezy air of the night. Oh! We miss going back home..the boneless lechon,puto bongbong, pancit palabok etc. well, we miss our family too! not only the food 🙂
For all expatriates here in Saudi Arabia, especially for those who set aside their own personal happiness in leu of Holiday festivities because of economic reasons to fulfil their obligations and responsibilities.. I salute you! Cheers for all the sacrifices you made and will still be making. You are not alone!
My recent trip to Los Angeles had introduced me to Uber app. My son said,” you have to learn how to use google map and use Uber to take a ride mom!” Yes my dear, I will! With his busy schedule, he tried hard to take me anywhere but I have to take a few trips here and there with Uber. I found it very easy and dependable. When I came back from holiday, to my amusement I found the apps working in Jeddah too!
Huh? since when? through my research Uber had become operational last April 2014 in Riyadh and expanded recently to Jeddah and Dammam. It attracts many woman passengers the most.Why? Women are not allowed to drive in the Kingdom. We are dependent to company driver, taxi and relatives to take us to work and to other places. In addition, women are not allowed to travel alone with a male driver who is not closely related, like he should be your husband,brother or close relatives. Imagine the difficulties expatriates ,women in particular are facing everyday!
photo taken from my iPhone screen shot
My brother used to take me to work everyday and now that he is on holiday , I have to take a taxi to go to work and shopping.:-) My co-worker at first recommends “Easy Taxi”, I tried and I found nothing special about it. It’s the same taxi you find on the street, you’re lucky to find a clean car but as usual there’s a bonus of smell..yes! I’ve been in the Kingdom for so long (29 yrs) and there’s only a few rides (a lucky day, i guess) that the driver has no smell. My first experience was not really good, the driver charged me 15SR which usually a 10SR trip. I rated him with a one star for dishonesty because I got my Easy Taxi receipt for only 10SR. He called me after the ride and why should I take the call? I don’t want to hear what he gonna say. Why should I use an Easy Taxi if I can find a lot of taxi on the road? Probably a bit cheaper and you can haggle with the fare? Maybe!
And so, I tried Uber!
photo credit: iPhone screen shot from the web
My first trip: I wrote my address in the app , but the research didn’t turn out well, so I used a different spelling and wallah it works! huh! arabic names is so confusing. I can see from the map that the driver is only a minute away but I can’t see him or can’t contact him so I waited and after 5 minutes, he cancelled my trip! What?
Suddenly, the car (Hyundai Tucson) was right infront of me, the driver was waving his hand, I look at the car and plate number, oh this is it! So I went in..so neat and no smell, good 🙂
Uber driver :”Es hada madame? ana tassel marah, mafi kalam” (What happened madame, I called you many times and you’re not answering)
Me: huh? really? The phone is in my hand.
Uber Driver: mafi kalam English.
Me: (to make my story short, I will translate the conversation in English 🙂 ) Just take me please to Thalia, I can’t find the address on the map.
I reached my work place in 18 minutes and I was charged twice 15SR and 17SR, what?? you are a thief ! more than Easy Taxi. So I was murmuring, I gonna write an email to the company and before I can do it, I received an email from Uber with a subj: Receipt for cancelled trip 🙂
“When a trip is cancelled more than five minutes after a driver accepts, or if the driver has to cancel after waiting more than five minutes at the pick up location, a Sr15 cancellation fee is charged.”
OMG! so it’s my mistake that the driver can’t find me?
” If you think this was mistake, please visit help.uber.com or tap HELP in the menu panel of the Uber app and we’ll make it right.”
and so when I tapped the menu, suddenly I remembered what the driver said .. I called many times..OMG ! I didn’t change my phone number, It’s my USA number 🙂 my mistake!
2nd trip: after changing my USA number to KSA number.
again, Hyundai, Santa Fe, clean car and driver (speaking English) with water and tissue at the back 🙂 This time I was charged 11Sr.
After riding 5 more trips, I choose Uber than Easy taxi. Though it’s a bit expensive than a normal taxi, I am happy I can sit quietly in the car without covering my nose and mouth 🙂
Ladies, this is not the only available rides connecting you to a driver on app, there are more i.e.. Mondo ride, Careem and Taxi Pixi. I haven’t tried yet, maybe soon. For now, I am satisfied with the Uber service. I choose to pay by credit card, although there are three choices: cash,master card and visa card.
TIPS:
better drop a pin on location, copy the address and save it!
check the correct spelling of the street before searching
use “estimate the fare”
Uber does not mandate a tip and driver do not drive expecting a tip, but you can 🙂
I was happy with my white sneaker from pull and bear, so comfy and so white but when I washed it, after using for a couple of weeks.. it turned to a messy grey and brown 😦
from white to this
so fabric paint to the rescue! and here’s the transition 🙂
When laziness comes there’s no excuses for a bulging tummy 🙂 yay! So I pushed myself to get up early morning to do stretching and hopefully get my butt into my routine exercise, not even my gold gym membership helps! no motivation? or just plain laziness? Call it whatever you like but there’s something that got my attention lately.
It is a solar-powered station where one can rent the bike, it says one hour is free and the succeeding per hour is 10 SR.
There will be four stations and the bike can be returned to any stations.
It seems a great idea to pump one’s body into active mood but I wonder where is the bike lane? The walkway is full of walkers and joggers enthusiast, to have bikers on the same place would be a menace if not disastrous.If you live in Jeddah for many years, you know what I am talking about.
I went out early for a walk and few people were also getting ready for morning exercise 🙂 Oh yes! Ladies are fully covered with abaya while walking. The walkway is the safest place for a lady to walk alone and hoping no bikers will be allowed in the area.
There’s even a box of cold water , no seller around ,just a small money box..if your honest you can slip in a riyal for a bottle 🙂 and tissue box for free!
Sad thing, there are people who can’t be bothered to throw their empty bottles into the trash can (there are thrash can everywhere) all you have to do is walk to the bin ! (you’re here anyway for that purpose) WALK!
So now,you know what i am talking about..we need DISCIPLINE..AWARENESS..RESPONSIBILITY!
I hope the bikers, will find their lane ..although as of this writing I haven’t seen a biker yet 🙂 thanks goodness!
Dr. Myriam- The Dental Aesthetic Clinic 
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