Nope! this is not a zoo, these are baboons at Al Hada, Taif of Saudi Arabia. Though there are many tourist attracted to these sight, a lot of locals complained about its existence because they destroys farms,trees and sometimes attack people when the food are scars, they are like scavengers,feeding themselves from the garbage or rely on the foods given mostly by the tourist around the city.
I am so scared to go down from the car but the clinging baby baboon got my attention! I took the shots through the window car 🙂
This is how close people get into the baboons!
This one caught my attention really hard, I realised the baby baboon has no life, it doesn’t move! And the mother won’t let go! how sad 😦
Living in Jeddah for so many years, we got accustomed to not having our Christmas Eve like in Philippines. We tried to celebrate wherever and whenever we can. Last night was a blast! Our Santa is made directly from Lebanon 🙂
It’s nice being a kid ..sometimes 🙂
Merry Christmas Everyone!
After all the photo shoot, I was so hungry and I forgot to take a photo of our dinner, but I manage to take my cheesecake for the Christmas 🙂
Palabok
Our favourite dish from our very own Chef Kelly 🙂
potato salad
Turkey Lebanese style
Cute mat-mat, he was born in Jeddah, his first time to know Santa and got scared, however towards the end, he gave us awesome smile!
Our special guest, Nanay (mother of my Bff ), welcome to Jeddah!!
Thank you Santa Nabil, It was nice of you to make our Christmas this year a memorable one!
I haven’t posted my Dubai trip last week yet, yes! I was out of Jeddah, KSA again..hurray! It is always a treat to be out of this shell, Oh how I wish it will be forever!
Anyhow, my friends and I were planing a weekend trip for a long time now, so even though I just came back from Dubai and needed a rest, I didn’t miss this happening! And I was right! This place is awesome as if we’re not in Saudi Arabia. And to be surrounded with friends is a bonus in itself!
We left Jeddah late at night and woke up early to catch the sunrise at the beach. I learned the coconut trees were taken from the Philippines, great!
The place is so serene, as if the place was reserve for us only. there was a couple of families fishing along the edge and a few women who are still wearing their abaya, strolling along the beach.
I was having headache all day and took medicine every 4 hrs., but still manage to enjoy the place and my friends company.
I know, my birthday was last week and I just turned fifty-five.. so this is the start of a life that’s full of excitement or forgetfulness ? hahaha well, I didn’t forget to post this but I got caught up with a busy schedule and celebrations!
It was a wonderful feeling to have friends who insisted to celebrate my bday (take note..I didn’t spend any halala) and it didn’t end up with one celebration but three! I’m a lucky lady!
First, joy-riding Jeddah ;-0 huh! touristic celebration ..we ended up having a drink and pizza at marina.The breezy night and the ambience made the feeling more wonderful.
nope, I didn’t ride in 😉
2nd celebration – Friday barbecue et.al courtesy of my friends once again. Without a family on my side, so happy to have my friends around. Thank you Lord!
Psst… no pictures got uploaded at their own request hehehe everyone was working to the max! No time to do make up for photo shoot 😉 So here’s some of the food we ready on my bday (2nd day)
3rd celebration: at work, with my consultant and staffs. Of course I baked my cheesecake 🙂
basbousa cheesecakebasbousa with cream cheese
a simple celebration at work with beautiful people who I work with for many years. what a day!
and my bff came in the morning too!
followed by my most charming and beautiful FA friend. Thank you for the baked mac!! yummy 😉
and lastly, the night ended with more beautiful people inside -out..You all made my bday complete!!! Thank you so much!
Ladies,
” One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood ”
– Lucius Annaues Seneca
Thank you so much my friends.
and at midnight receiving a call from my sons and read this message:
.. Thanks for everything. Thanks for being a great parent no matter how rebellious i become. I like to believe that your level of understanding is better than anyone. Your wisdom matches no other. Even my own. My “smart know it all” version. You have carried kuya and i’s dreams so far. I just wanted to let you know on this special day that. Youve known that i always hated the idea of looking up to someone. But i would like to let u know that you have set the example so high there is no one else other than you to look up to. I was never great at getting gifts for you so yea. Thanks for all the love and support. Even on your birthday i can only remember all the great gifts you have given me. I know i don’t show it much but thanks for being a great parent/friend. I hope all the people you have cared for through these years have given you one amazing day. Happy birthday and much love to you.—–
You bet..welling up till morning..so much happiness and blessings. Thank you Lord.
Last week, I blogged about 5’Os meeting 6’Os…what about if 2’Os to be.. meet double 5 ?? A mother and daughter bonding?
I wish! Well, having only two sons without a daughter is also fun… we enjoy travelling together, we share same interest like photography and food but it’s nothing like .. let’s go to salon…let’s pamper ourselves 🙂
So, I asked Kristine my daughters’ friend, she is like my daughter and one of the pioneer members of the “Kids Fun Club” I organised and handled from 2001-2010. Imagine.., she was only 6 yrs. old then..and now a blooming lovely lady. Yakks! I think I felt I am on my 60s!
#throwback I miss you all!
We went to ‘Eric Zemmour” a luxurious hair salon in Rawdah District, Jeddah KSA. To my surprise, this is the same staff in E-spa where I used to do my hair and my regular gym routine. Hmmm, I wonder what they gonna do with my membership? I believe they still owe me 2-3 months, Let’s wait and see 🙂
choosing nail polish
before haircut
what a beautiful hair
before
any similarity?
Anyhow, back to beauty regimen, I decided to have a new colour and Kristine choose to do her nails.
I choose a bit dark colour to cover my grey hair and trim down my hair. Well, another coincidence, my hair stylist name is also Meriam, She is from Morroco, her hand is soft which is good for my delicate scalp.
It’s friday and there were men still working outside the building, so I guess there was some water difficulty somewhere that they used cold mineral water to rinse my hair 🙂 I like it though, cool and the chair massage was on, so kind of tickly to my ear and back hahaha way to go!
front viewside view
Here’s before and after photo;
Well, what’s your verdict?… not bad for soon to be double 5!
And after salon, of course, we went to The Cheesecake factory, I ordered skinnylicious veggie burger unfortunately, it was not available, so it’s Friday..no diet… Enjoy! huh! I ate all the french fries on the side ( I was so engrossed to our conversation ) Excuses :-)… I know! Seriously, It was a beautiful night for two beautiful ladies…psst! we forego of cheesecake, Our tummy was already complaining so we ended the night with good smile and sweet memories.
Thank you Kristine, hope to see you more often while your still on holiday.
Ladies, my verdict? it’s ok! not bad…good experience at Eric Zemmour.
Did I mentioned the cost? 🙂 🙂 secret! oh well, the hair cut cost 150 SR and one hair colour cost SR380. Expensive??
What happened when the big 5’Os meet 6’Os? Well, either you run because you wanted to belong to the so young group (below fifty) or join the club and be one of the beauty beyond fifties rocking :-)hahaha I bet you’re smiling huh! just kidding!
One of my beautybeyondfiftiy ladies invited us for her husband 6…and counting bday get together. Of course, I readily looked at my fridge and think what flavour I should bake? I found Pomegranate, heaven! I like this fruit including the seeds 🙂
Pomegranate – one of my favourite fruits
I cut three pieces, hence I don’t have a juicer, I just boiled it with 3 tablespoon water and 1/4 cup sugar. And de-seeds it with a strainer then add 1 tsp of cornstarch. The puree is enough for one mini cheesecake only.
pomegranate pureeenough only for a mini cheesecake
I used Mascarpone (Italian cheese) so its fluffy and soft.
Flavour # 35 Pomegranate Mini Cheesecake
Some serving suggestion before the real b-day party 🙂
i made different sizes, I usually set aside..cup cake size for tastingi use fresh pomegranate for toppingheaven combination with a cup of espressoYummy sweet fluffy and soft cheesecakePhoto credit: Govs Villanueva
Thank you ladies and gentlemen for the wonderful evening. God bless!
I am so happy to savour the taste of Ramadan Iftar with my youngest son, Chef Kevin. He was here for short holiday before he goes to work as trainee at J.W Marquis Marriott Hotel in Dubai, UAE. Imagine how my tummy jumped with glee and my brain twisted for more calories and my heart was pumping with joy,suddenly…sadness comes when I can not zipped in my trouser 🙂 anymore! hahaha anyway, here’s some photos I took via iPhone 4 ! yes! say that again! still in iPhone 4? ! 🙂
1st stop – where else! of course at tito nabil’s house. He is a good lebanese cook! We ate with gusto every time! Hummos fattah, wara enab, yogurt hmmm so yummy!
palabok
wara enab, sambusak
2nd stop – Cheesecake Factory, it seems every table has its own service staff, the service and the food are both fantastic.
3rd stop – Texas Road house, well again and again, this is my favourite!
4th stop – Mugg and Bean, not so impressive but the conversation was superb!
5th stop – Romero – one of the best! If you love Mediterranean cuisine and a romantic place, this fine restaurant is highly recommended. From the starter to the main dish, we enjoyed it all!
6th stop – al ashami – Shawerma overload 😉
7th stop – of course, I also prepared some dish for my youngest chef!
8th stop – Pizza huh! a disaster, service is not good and the food is not even half italian in taste 😦
at the end before his flight to Dubai, we went to marble slab creamery, had a fresh mixed ice cream and a little show of catching the scooped ice cream, enjoy!
This is how close people get into the baboons!
I was having headache all day and took medicine every 4 hrs., but still manage to enjoy the place and my friends company.
Dr. Myriam- The Dental Aesthetic Clinic 
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