Dr. Myriam- The Dental Aesthetic Clinic

Category: Travel

Four days road trip – in search of Mt. Sinai ( Part 3) Jabal Al Lawz and Gulf of Aqaba

DAY 3 Sunday Sept. 3, 2017

I guess the photo says it all 🙂 are we going ahead with this trip? hahahaha Who can say no to madame Rhea! clap your hand and raise your feet 🙂 o la la …

Along the way, we have seen a lot of beautiful sceneries that no photos can justify our feelings at that moment. Ladies, you should do wonders to drag your husband to this trip, it is worth a try, trust me!

After a long travel to reach Mt Sinai, the road has ended with a barricade. Oh yeah, there was no sign what so ever that we can get through. So, we just took in the scenery with a sigh and relief that at last we have seen how difficult the survival was.

For a little trivia, Mt Sinai is the mountain at which the Ten commandments were given to Moses by God. It was found in Egypt but contested later on by historian that the actual location is in Saudi Arabia. Whichever is right, this road trip is worth a try, having seen the red sand dunes, the archaeological arts of rocks, oasis,gulf of aqaba and the tip of Mt. Sinai, indeed, this is the most memorable road trip ever.

Another contested trivia is the Red sea crossing of Israelites at the gulf of Aqaba. We headed to see the coastal view of Gulf of Aqaba, which could be seen or divided between four countries namely:Saudi Arabia,Jordan,Israel and Egypt.

A half sunken ship can be seen 55 km south from Haql city in Tabuk province. The water is crystal clear, which is good for swimming, unfortunately we were not ready for this 😦 The place is known as “Al mashee well”, I would call it as Haql Shipwreck beach 🙂 because literally the half sunken vessel is just along the shore and with the mountain backdrop and the crystal blue water, one can imagine that you’re in a movie set.

would you imagine these are your crews?

Would you be jumping with joy?

Or would you just walk away?

Whatever your answer is… keep it to yourself 🙂

to be continued…

Cheers,

Jamilamimi@beautybeyondfifty

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September 8, 2017
Four days road trip – in search of Mt. Sinai – Part 2 The Elephant Rock

DAY 2 Saturday Sept. 2, 2017

I can’t say it was a good night sleep but we woke up early to have a sunrise view at the elephant rock.

This photo was taken after a car driven by crazy “young adult” circled around , I guess they were showing off and created a big sand dust around us. However, it didn’t get into our nerves, we still went on 🙂 the mandatory jump shot!

Back to road and we just found out there is a better accommodation than the furnished apartment we have rented. The place is “Shaden Resort” hmmm we will come back for sure.

to be continued…

Cheers,

Jamilamimi@beautybeyondfifty

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September 6, 2017
Four Days Road Trip – in search of Mt. Sinai – Part 1

Seriously? Yep Four days!

I don’t know how we were able to… but here we are alive and kicking 🙂 My friend Rhea came from a two months holiday and a day after they arrived, we joined another groups of family to a road trip which we thought will just be an overnight thing, like two days and one night OMG!

DAY 1 Friday Sept. 1,2017

We left Jeddah at 4:30 am. not wasting time huh 🙂 considering I worked a day before, rhea just arrived and here we are, traveling early in the morning. Yep! you got it right..we are the “lakwatsera” wanderlust of Jeddah. Beautybeyondfifty is all smile 🙂

Anyhow, we stopped in Yanbu and had our breakfast .Yep! your guess is right again 🙂 we had “adobo and rice”.

Arrived in Al Ula around 12:30 noon, unfortunately, Arac Hotel was closed and we headed to find a furnished apartment. We had ” adobo and rice” again for lunch :-). At 3:30 pm we moved to see Madain Saleh. We’ve been here before but we were still excited to see the ancient Nabatean caravan city which is filled with desert tombs.

interesting to note, the plants are green

Oh by the way, You only need Iqama to get in, there’s no permit anymore and it is open until 6pm.

At the entrance is a replica of the old train and Al Hijaz railway station.

if you like to see more click Slow down Camel crossing…Road trip to Madaín Saleh

Hence, we’ve been here year 2012, we didn’t stay long. We went to Al Ula to enjoyed the sunset view at the peak of its plateau.

At last the wonderous group went hungry and nope no “adobo and rice” this time 🙂

We had lamb mandi for dinner! hurrah!

Z z z z z z z z z z z z what a day to remember!

to be continued…

Cheers,

Jamilamimi @beautybeyondfifty

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September 5, 2017
Red Sand Dunes – an NaFud Al KaBir Tabuk region

I came home from a four days road trip ,exhausted but happy and can’t stop looking at the photos I took. Hmmm can’t really decide upfront which one to upload first. I am fascinated by the red color of the sand dunes in Tabuk region. It’s a small area of the vast desert where you can see a red sand dunes.This place in An Nafud al kabir is a sight to behold and no photos can literally translate my feelings to see this beautiful nature. We didn’t mind the hot weather, I can feel the hotness, redness of my face but I didn’t back off taking photos.

What is more fascinating, the green grass has two shades of green!

I am giggling inside seeing this awesome scenery, I thank God for the creation.

Ladies, have time to enjoy the nature, look at beyond the beauty of nature.

It’s a wonderful feeling!

Cheers,

Jamilamimi @beautybeyondfifty

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September 4, 2017
Wordless Wednesday

almikwa ,al bahah, saudi arabia

August 23, 2017
Uber versus Careem: a review

photo grabs at careem website

It’s been quiet long time I wanted to write a review but I was caught up with a busy schedule (rolling my eyes…anything new? )

If you missed my blog about uber and easy taxi please click Uber or Easy taxi in Jeddah, my choice?

Did you hear about the fiasco in Philippines about Uber and taxi? in which Uber was suspended for a month for a violation done while there was investigation going on. What? What about those taxis who over charged, drivers who are rude, was there any suspension done immediately? NONE!

We all knew how Uber made our life easy especially here in Jeddah. I hesitated for a while to use careem for a reason that I got used using Uber. But one day, there was a problem with my credit card and I can not book a Uber to work. Careem has choices of payment… either you pay cash, card or top your bank card any amount to save it in your wallet or you can even use qitaf points (from stc) to pay your ride.

And my first ride was awesome! Lexus.. yes! that was the model of the car 🙂 and I was smiling from the inside because my ride was only 7SR (seven saudi riyals). If it was an ordinary taxi, I would still bargain to pay 10 riyals plus a filthy taxi and a smelly driver, though not in general, you can also find a clean taxi with a clean driver 🙂

And so my ride with careem is super! I was able to experienced different car models and drivers who are not only polite but speaks english too. I feel rich having a chauffeur with Lexus, BMW, Saab etc. I was tempted to ask why they do careem when they have this big luxury cars but you know, this is Jeddah, ladies are not supposed to be friendly with strangers 🙂

Today, I was lucky to ride with Mr Abduelah whose car is Hyundai Santa Fe, I forgot my eyeglass in his car and I contacted careem and it was an immediate communication to the Captain and wallah! my eyeglass was returned promptly! If this was an ordinary taxi, how could I ever retrieved my eyeglass?

So, I hope the Philippines gov’t should think about the system of Uber compared to the ordinary taxi. Taxi owners should compete fairly with the Uber, as what careem did to Uber. I think taxi in Philippines should have an improved and reliable system so the passengers are safe and not abused by an ordinary taxis.

Ladies, let me know your experience with Careem!

Cheers,

Jamilamimi (beautybeyondfifty)

August 21, 2017
The Amazing Flower Festival 2017-Yanbu, Saudi Arabia

Yanbu flower and garden festival started March 14 and will ends on April 7, 2017. We visited year 2015 and we had a chance to visit again last Friday, March 17,2017. There were a lot of visitors and I think it would be better to come as early as 4 pm to appreciate the flowers.

Timing: Sat-Thurs 8:30 – 5pm Friday 4 pm -11pm

Admission : Free .. but there’s a minimal fee to get up to the Flat form and see the areal view of the garden. Another fee to Yanbu Butterfly garden. Beware, it was a long queue. Sorry, I was not able to ask how much the entrance fees.

So, whats new?

The addition of the fountains, made the place more refreshing and you can have your ice cream yoghurt too 🙂 The weather was cool so we just passed it!

One new thing that I like the most is the addition of recycling items.

Do you know how long a plastic bottle decompose? 450 years! Omg!

See the white and blue? It is made of 41000 bottle caps which represent sea waves.

How about a rubber tires? It will take 50-80 years!

made from old tires

flowers are made from plastic bottles

made from papers

It’s amazing to see the flowers bloom in Yanbu, remember this is Saudi Arabia 🙂

If you got tired of walking, you can also catch the cho – cho train 🙂 hahaha and you will reach your destination in 2 hours, just kidding.

or maybe just sit down a bit 🙂

or when you got bored, you can always call FB 🙂 or play games?

or maybe after seeing all those flowers, you will feel the sweetness of your heart 🙂

If you are from Philippines, this is “Enrique” and you will know who he is 🙂

and of course our “Liza”

Ladies, relationship goal? the “lizqen” of jeddah 🙂

How sweeeeeet…. so what are you waiting for? smell the flowers, feels the breeze and fall in love..wow!

Cheers,

Jamilamimi

if you would like to see flower festival 2015 pls click The Amazing Flower Festival 2015 in Yanbu Saudi Arabia

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March 19, 2017
Mermaid’s Secret Haven – airbnb

Photo credit: Edge Suarez

AirbnB – stands for airbed and breakfast, but that was then …today you can actually rent the whole place and make your own breakfast. 🙂

I heard about airbnb from my two sons, the first time I was going to visit them in Los Angeles. It’s cheaper than hotel and it feels like your home, but I want to feel like I’m on vacation… I don’t want to cook my own meal, clean my place, I like to stay in a hotel.

Photo Credit: Edge Suarez

Try mom!

Alright! We stayed one week in Sta. Monica, the host is kind and the place is neat and clean, though I still think , hotel is way better but if you’re thinking to save some money for shopping 🙂 airbnb is a choice!

This is the second time I tried airbnb, this time in Hawaii for two weeks. My children would like to feel local, ok ladies, I am not rolling my eyes but my kind of holiday is like..staying in the hotel, spa,guided tours and shopping, I guess that’s my definition of a tourist. (in my own vocabulary)

Photo Credit: Edge Suarez

What is like being a tourist and a local at the same time?

One thing is to rent a house far away from where the tourist usually crowds. I rented “Mermaid’s Secret Haven” in Kaneohe,Hi. Indeed, the place is far from the airport and a car is a necessity . If you have used the airbnb app, the pictures are exactly what you can find at Katrina’s place. I find her very charming and polite host.

welcome treat from the host

It’s a one bedroom/bathroom apartment which is attached to the main house but has a separate entrance. It is complete with all the things you need while on vacation, plenty of different kinds of towels, even picnic basket,cooler and snorkelling gears are available.

Though the place is far from the centre, it is a few minutes drive from the malls and nice beaches around the island. Nearer to the North shore and Kailua beach.As the days passed, I really didn’t feel that was a far place.

I love the serenity of the place, the garden …though it was raining every now and then, I had the chance to enjoy my coffee outside and taste the sweetness of the freshly pick papaya every morning, it was heaven to my palate. Thanks Katrina!

Photo credit: Edge Suarez

This is our family photo on rainy days inside the Maiden’s secret haven. I love it!

I’m looking forward to another family holiday,another adventure.

Will I use another airbnb?

Hmmm… maybe yes..maybe no!

Cheers,

jamilamimi

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September 26, 2016
Al baha road trip (part 2)

(ancient ruins of 400 years old village) Dee Ayn Village

Al baha is a region in Saudi Arabia nestled between Mecca and Al abha. It is known as the region of 1001 towers,though we have seen several towers, which usually at the top of the mountain, mostly are not protected and inhabited either completely gone or partially ruined.

palm trees and banana trees can be seen around the tower

it is built on the top of a marble

neatly arranged slate of stones

On our way back home, we passed through a town called Al Mikhwah, looking for a restaurant to eat breakfast but everything was closed probably due to Eid holiday. So we continued on until we found a huge bridge with fresh water flowing from the nearby mountain.

Is it a river? lake? oasis?

We went down under the bridge and had our breakfast with the sound of fresh water and after around twenty minutes a herd of camels apparently the caretaker would like to have some rest too.

We supposed to pass by Al Leith hot spring but the weather was so hot to even attempt to pass by. 😦

Happy Eid to all!

Cheers,

Jamilamimi

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September 20, 2016
Dhi Ain Village – the marble village of al Baha KSA (part 1)

Dhi Ain Village (thi ain ancient village ) it is also known as Aqaba al-Baha. The 400 year old village was not easy to locate, we have to pass through 25 tunnels at 8,200 ft above sea level to get into al- baha. On top of that, due to numerous spellings we can’t google the place correctly. We have to go to Golden Tulip Hotel to asked for the direction. The scenery along the road was spectacular. There were few view deck along the area where you can stop and take pictures.

built 400 years ago on a small marble mountain

Before reaching this place, we have seen ruins of abandoned stones and slate towers along the way. It’s amazing to see how the stones were arranged.

We left our hotel early morning and we can’t just pass through without taking pictures. It was all foggy ,breezy but not so cold at this time.

It’s a long winding road but its worth seeing the place specially we have a week Eid holiday. Though we were not able to see forest garden, we have seen few green bushes, banana ,olive, flowers along the area.

Creativity at its best!

to be continued 🙂

Cheers,

Jamilamimi

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September 14, 2016