Rashid mallWeekends here in Saudi Arabia is thursday and friday unlike in the Philippines its saturday and sunday.February 26 it was thursday a very beautiful and lucky day for me.You know what?because it was my day-off, no work for me until friday at four in the afternoon.
I got a great quantity and quality of sleep, almost ten hours.The weather was so fine not that hot not that cold and no sandstorm.What i did on thursday?clean my room, washed my clothes,cook,eat take a bath and prepare my self and went to Rashid mall in Khobar.It was the first prayer time in the evening when I arrived at the mall so all the stores and showrooms were closed and it will be open after 30 minutes.It was thursday so it was a family day and it means no bachelors are allowed to enter except expat like me?The security guard asked me
Secu:Inta kori?(are you korean?)
me:la(no)
me:la(no)
secu:Inta sini(are you chinese?)
me:la(no)
Secu:Inta min(and you are?)
me:filibini(filipino)
secu:wallah!!!mafi sem sem inta filibini.(really ,you look like not a Pilipino)
me:fih muskila sadiq?(any problem my friend)
secu:mafih muskila,yallah ro,filibini miya-miya.(no problem,come go inside,pilipino the best)
me:Shokran(thank you)
while walking going inside the mall at the back of my mind i was asking myself ano ba ang itsura ko anong lahi?,ay basta pinoy ako tapos lol.After 30 minutes the stores were open.The first store taht i visited is the sony to check if the bag and case for the sony dslr that i bought before is available sad to say again it was out of stock.Almost all of the stores were on sale.After an hour while i was fitting for a rubber shoes in reebok that was on 70% off that i bought i heard again the sound,the signal for prayer time for our muslim friends,the last one for that night so it mean to say all the stores again will be closed for another 30 minutes.Hay sarado na naman magaantay na naman bumukas.open sesame ayan bukas na.
Went to Jarir bookstore and purchased books i spend a lot of my time at the booksore.After that searched for the best buy for the other stores.I dont have the intention to buy a watch but i fell in love to the design at a very resonable price so i got one.Tired and hungry thats why i checked the newly open branch of Johnny Rockets in the kingdom i ordered one for take out beacause its now getting late and i dont want to eat it alone on that restaurant.Yes i did it all alone because all of my friends were all busy then.Home sweet home and shared the food with my roomate.Untill next day off lol.
9 comments:
Hi Dacz, my weekend starts midday of Thursdays when I declare at our conference room -"Happy Weekend to all!" and ends late afternoon of Fridays when I'm back at the maktabp to oversee that the shrimp harvest operations will go on smoothly without any glitches.
That time span, I call my own! It's the time to recharge everything - spirit, soul and body. Such precious time is sooo refreshing whether or not you spend a halala/riyal for enjoyment.
There are also a lot of kabayans who are not as lucky and as happy as you are during Thursdays.
Several times I hear this one - "Pucha naman pre, umorder sila ng todo sa restoran tapos hindi naman kinain. Pinabalot na lang nila ung pagkain dahil daw busog pa cla. Humingi ng load para daw makapagtext sa akin tapos nakita kong may kasama namang iba sa kabilang restoran...Waaah" And a great alaskador friend will say..."Hindi mo man lang nga nahawakan o nahipo ang mga kamay!"
Stories like these are often heard over and over again... Hindi pa rin natututo... Kelan pa kaya?
That was not a lucky Thursday for him and for his wife and baby(ies)back in Pinas!
Sorry po Dacz para na ring blog ano?
thanks for sharing how you had spent your day off.. it's really nice to know how you guys spent your day offs at your end..
1. Ibang-iba talaga ang set-up niyo dyan sa Saudi Arabia, Friday ang pinaka-day off! Naku, malaking adjustment sa circadian rhythm ng mga baguhang Pilipino diyan, di ba?! Seryoso ako, Mightydacz.
2. Speaking of Filipinos, wow! Nakakatuwa namang marinig ang comment ng Arabian guard ng mall! Sana hindi mo binago ang translation, ha. o",)
3. Galing naman, sana makapunta at makatira rin ako sa isang bansang may language bukod sa Filipino at English. Gusto ko ring matuto ng kahit na isang wika pa, tulad mo Mightydacz.
4. Talagang very religious, ano? Nagsasara talaga ang mga shops kapag prayer time. Huhmn. Abra kadabra, open sesame... Arab na Arab ang passwords natin, ah. Nalala ko sina Alibaba and the 40 Thieves.
5. Bagong watch! Dapat isinama ang photo rito. Naman.
6. At may bago ring DSLR camera, pangarap ko ring magkaroon nito, sana, sana... Wish ko... Sana makakita na naman ako ng bulalakaw! Seryoso ulit? Gusto ko talagang bumili ng DSLR camera.
7. Kapag magawi ako sa mga malls, matagal din ako sa mga bookstores.
Hehe, good thing you were able to enjoy yourself during the day off. If i were in a bookstore, i'd drool considering how i love books, i might want to buy everything! Hahah
Mabuti sa Khobar mas maluwag. Dito sa Riyadh, kahit expat ka, sisitahin ka ng guard pag walang kasamang "family" pag pasok ng Mall during weekends.
Kami rin Mall ang tungo pag weekend. Magastos dahil ang puntahan namin ay "rides" ng mga bata. Tapos kain sa "fastfood". At kung merong "sales" mas magastos si mrs.
@ modir NJ salamat sa pagbisita lol oo nga parang isang entry na sa blog ang comment nyo dito sa saudi mag iisip ka talaga kung ano gagawin sa day off hay nakakamiss ang mga sinehan lol.
@2l3bs ni hao ma?salamat po sa pagdalaw yan po ang kwento ng aking day off kahit papaano nag enjoy.
@ dockie RJ thanks a lot for the comment
1.malaki talga ang pinagbago yeah ur right about sa circadian rhytm mapapansin mo ang changes ung unang buwan dito kakaiba talaga parang isang addict na nagkakaroon ng withdrawal syndrome lol.
2.miya-miya kasi experssion ng mga arabs meaning the best ang miya kasi is number 100 kaya perfect score lol.
3.masarap matoto ng new language pero hindi ko pa rin kabisado lahat mga basic lang at iba rin ang pagsulat nila kaya no read no write ako sa arabic ung napapakinggan lang.
4.Very religious talaga sila sa isang araw 6 x sila nagdadasal 4am,6am,12nn,3pm,5pm and mga 7pm but the time varies minsan maaga minsan late depende ata sa moon movement kaya nga ako ang mobile phone ko may subscription ng prayer time,lol
5.sure dockie post ko photos sa nxt entry ko.
6.ung sony dslr mga 5months na sakin gift ko sa sarili ko nonng bday ko.
7.masarap magbabad sa bookstore lol
@sheng thanks for the visit sheng.
@ginoong henyo mr blogusvox salamat po.oo nga medyo mahigpit dyan sa riyadh nagkalat ang maga muttawa sa mall at sa kalsada lol.walang ibang mapuntahan no choice eh kung hindi sa mall mgastos nga lang lol
At nagdamdam ako dahil hindi mo ako tinawag...malapit lang kami sa Rashid Mall. Disin sana'y may nakahati ka sa Johnny Rockets. D ko p kc natry yan.
Ako naman tamad na tamad to go out on weekends. Lagi lang ako sa kwarto. Lalabas lang kapag bibili ng Panadol dahil masakit na ung ulo kapapanood ng tv o kaya katutulog.
Pero ung usual routine mo na clean, laundry, cook, ganung-ganun din ang weekend ko.
Natuwa ako dun sa Arabic. Semsem talaga...hehe.
Next time, just give me a buzz. I'm off on Thursdays and Fridays. Basta ikaw ang taya. Ganun!!!
haha! galing, bakit walang nagiinvite samin? last time nasa geant kami, sa dharan mall. Oi, agree ako kay blogusvox. nyehehe.
kelan tayo magmemeet with blogusvox at yung ibang taga eastern province na bloggers...nagiisip pa kami ni mrs. thoughtskoto.
wow shopping galore ka ah. pero parang hini ako mag eenjoy diyan open at close sesame palagi ang mga tindahan :)
ginamit mo na ba dslr camera mo? sample naman dyan oh.
Post a Comment