Rock and Roll with Bedsores

Ah Bahrain you are my baby, we drove the causeway on Thursday evening and what is normally a very tedious journey turned into a Saudi take on Fast and Furious whilst in a stationary position, we were surrounded on all sides by muscle cars, oh the noise was like music to my ears, the alloys on those bad boys were goosebumpingly phoarrr, my favourite was the Bumblebee that went flashing past, so no photo of that one then, but I got some great snaps of others and most especially the Shelby GT500 oh she was a beauty, beautifully demure in blue with two go faster beeyatch stripes front to back.

We sat smiling whilst surrounded by muscle and the journey didnt seem so bad, well until you try and unfold yourself at your destination only to find from the neck down your body is sleeping, once again I had to slide down the side of the Tahoe to reach the floor, and then just wait for the life to return to my feet....

We rushed in changed and rushed out again taking Bing with us as she was also going out so we shared a taxi, we were dropped first to the Ritz Carlton and Trader Vics where we entertained ourselves watching Polynesian waitresses with beautiful floor length dresses, and Arabian Arabs in their very own floor length attire.


Whilst out we made a decision to call upon some friends and ask them across for Brunch the next day at the Golden Tulip, a venue they had told us about previously, so our weekend was organised and after a very nice evening in colourful clothing with not a hint of black we headed home, well back to Fred and Stela's, which is becoming more like our weekend retreat (I feel sorry for them having us for family).

We woke refreshed but only just and organised taxi's to take us to meet the crowd, we arrived first and headed for a bank, unlucky for us there are quite a few banks in Bahrain that do not like UK cards so no cash was given, we had no choice but to walk away from the cash machine with empty wallets and hope we could get at the hotel, which we didn't by the way.

Lunch began at 12 and lasted right through till 4pm during which time, wine flowed, beer was poured and food was eaten, I have never seen such a beautiful spread of food like it, this was the king of buffets, we had so much to choose from like lobster cooked to order, fillet, ribeye and pork, chicken, prawns and crabs, you name it they had it, from cooked to order to salads to hot dishes and cold, the Japanese section tickled my fancy but that actually could have been the wasabi I washed my sushi down with, I do love a bit of heat, I decided to give the curries a miss because I think I will be living on them for the next couple of weeks, yaahooo can't wait - Goa is calling my name and Tuesday I will be answering.

We had a crazy afternoon all bar one of us was drinking and the craziest of all was the none drinker, we laughed and laughed and had a fantastically good time, the band played throughout dinner and even though we were next to the speaker it did not interfere with our chitter chatter, the Karaoke capers reminded me of the reasons I don't sing in public, the uniqueness of my extraordinary voice are loved only by my hairbrush. The nutty balloon man kept us entertained with his ballon hats made especially for us, but I really wanted the pink panther a young girl had but could think of no valid reason to steal it from her that wouldn't get me barred or at the very least sent back to Saudi.

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I took photos of so much food, but they will have to be viewed on facebook, we left the hotel and were driven home by the sober Aussie and then everyone sat around chatting and laughing at Jannusen Avenue, Stela came home and introductions were made, and of all things Sari and Stela share a mutual friend in Saudi Arabia in Zamil compound, as I have said before the world just keeps getting smaller.

When goodbyes were said my beloved and I decided to head to bed as we really were tired, 8.30pm and we slept right the way through till 8.30 the next morning, hence the bedsores......WE ARE ROCK AND ROLL PERSONIFIED!

Dirty Dog

Poor Stitch is beginning to think he now lives with the lovely gentleman from doggie day care, he has been in and out more times than my ten hour curry I cooked for five..... the only down side is he now smells like a dog, no longer does he have the baby powder smell I keep spraying over him when his back is turned, no longer do his feet smell fresh and cheese free so this morning regardless of the fact that tomorrow he is back in again I bathed that bad boy, but really what is it with him drinking his bath water.  So now pupdog smells of wet dog and shampoo, nice.

Getting back to the ten hour but only cooked for five curry, well let me tell you it was another feat of culinary engineering on my part, I browned it, I threw it about the pot doused it with spices and sealed the lid before trying to work out how best to speed up the slow cook, in the end I settled for an increase in heat and a five hour reduction in time, the resulting dish did not disappoint and if I was not going away this weekend I would have been trying it for ten hours just for the hell of it.

Friday morning we took pupdog for a walk along the corniche, his first trip into town and it was lovely, if a little breezy which is ideal when you carry a tent on your shoulders and modesty stops you lifting the edges to air your legs, we met lots of families and they all wanted to say hello to Stitch who would only let the children get about a foot into his space and then hide behind my legs, but at least we know now that walking with Stitch on his lead in the centre of Khobar is not going to be an issue he may very well get another walk along the corniche in the not to distant future, I don't think I would subject him to being closer to the roads though, sea front it is for this hound, because I have a feeling he would be sitting on my head rather than walking with the craziness that passes for driving on the roads of Al Khobar.


link to an exceptional recipe for lamb

http://www.greatcurryrecipes.net/2013/09/17/10-hour-spicy-roast-shoulder-of-lamb/

Game Over

Three hours from home to the in-laws a journey of only 72km, most of the three stuck on this baby

It all went Pete Tong soon after
 these two babies were introduced to our system

Thursday night was spent in the company of family at the Rugby club, I have since decided that Rugby is a very dangerous sport, even when you are not playing and are just participating in the after game sport of drinking..... I remember going, I remember the middle, but the end is a blur, now I know I got home but how that occurred apart from maybe by the use of the word 'Abracadabra'  is beyond me.

So Friday morning came too early and carrying a hammer! My beloved also had his morning shattered not only by a hammer but a cement mixer which had been placed inside his tummy, he did try and shut it down with greasy crisps, but this turned out not to be one of his better ideas, as his stomach continued to churn all the way around the Bahrain City Mall, I ignored him as I had my own issues going on. 

I am not sure if I have mentioned before but I have a pet hate for all things flip flop, I could actually vomit every time I try and put that toe post between my toes, not a good look in a shoe shop but I do keep trying, and today I found a pair of Gelato flip flops that don't make me vomit, not even nauseous, so now I am the proud owner of a pair of Gelato flip flops, my beloved nearly had a hairy fit when he had to pay the equivalent of £17 for them, I just looked him in the eye and said sweetly 'but I am worth it'......

We eventually checked into our hotel which took us a good hour to find as we kept travelling past it on the motorway, then had to turn around, get back on the correct side of the motorway again, and try, and try, and try again, eventually by pure luck I happened to see the sign on top of the building for our hotel, not my fault I was looking for a tall building, so although I was looking up at the skyline, I wasn't looking low enough....we arrived at the Intercontinental and checked in, we were upgraded to a very nice club suite, and decided to spend the evening at the hotel as there were so many venues to pick from.

We began our evening in Downtowns, then took a tour of the numerous restaurants before finally settling on Legends Steakhouse, obviously we are now part owners of the restaurant because there is no way we paid that much and don't have some kind of ownership, and don't get me wrong the meal was stupendous, from start to finish each dish was a delight, the waiter and waitress were great fun, and even understood our English humour, but we really must remember not to over order as what we left in the way of sides could have fed a small nation for at least two days...either that or make sure we check what actually comes with our meals before we order sides.

Prawn in pasty

Crispy Skin pork, oh my what a feast

Aberdeen Angus

Surf and Turf

After dinner we headed back to Downtown where the band was playing and a few drinks later it was time to head upstairs to the most comfortable bed in the world, slipping between the sheets was like being wrapped in a hug and coddled all night long, I don't think I have ever slept in such a comfortable bed in my life, in fact when I did wake at one point through the night, I swear I heard the bed whisper, there, there, shhhhhh as I nodded off back to dreamland......

The King is Back

So Saturday night Stitch was returned to his rightful place, and I don't know why I worried as he was so excited to see us, he was running on superhero juice, back and forth between the two of us, when we took him for a walk I swear he had a little spring in his step, I think our boy had a thoroughly good weekend away from home.

So this week apart from the gym I have done very little, although yesterday I had an episode with some eggs and an Egyptian brunch, and what a lovely brunch it was too, we all took something to add to the brunch, I made breakfast eggs, 6 eggs later and waiting for them to cool I managed to throw them on the floor, 6 more eggs and the last one into the bowl was bloody so they were thrown in the bin there is a lesson there somewhere, 6 more eggs and I decided to put these in little cases this time in the hope that I would not throw them on the floor as I was quickly running out of eggs, phew eggs were made and I threw my haggis T-towel over the top and walked quickly to the rec centre to meet the other ladies all without disaster thankfully. The trouble with the cases became noticeable when I took an egg and tried to peel it out of the case, tasty but awkward to retrieve. I think next time I wake up feeling groggy from lack of sleep I will just stay in bed regardless of where I am meant to be.....But the very best thing about nice Brunches are the ladies and their food, getting to know the different foods is great fun, yesterday I discovered some greens which look a little like large rocket leaves, I see all these things in the stores but never know what to do with them, the falafel dish was a tasty delight, golden brown on the outside and coriander green on the inside, the fava bean dishes were all tasty, and if I remember is known as Egyptian Fool.

Yesterday evening I decided to make a dessert I had been told about, now you have to understand my beloved will eat most anything, but if it has a slimy texture you can forget it, won't eat cooked spinach, but he eats it every time I make his favourite Chicken Khorai using it, he hates aubergine, but when I grill them to a crispy texture he eats them, so when after supper he decided to have a shower that was when I set about making him a chocolate mousse with another one of his least favourite ingredients, sometimes being married is just like having children, you gotta stay one step ahead.... so whilst my beloved was in the shower I took the ingredient mashed it up, added cocoa powder and honey to taste, threw in some home made almond granola and few blueberries and voila Chocolate mousse, I sat him down and whilst I was trying to keep a straight face as I know he hates AVOCADO he began to pick out the ingredients from the tastes, the last and most important ingredient stumped him completely, but as he said it was delicious... I let him in on the avocado and the first thing out of his mouth was 'I don't like avocado', I just said 'YES DEAR' and we continued to eat our lovely, tasty yummy dessert.

I will get lashed!!

I decided to take a trip to downtown and do a little exploring, I have been meaning to do it for a while and as the weather is only 30 degrees I thought I would take advantage of the cool streets!! 

So I took the compound bus to King Khaled Street checked the time of pick up and off I went, firstly I headed towards Suwaket Street, as I was looking for a specific spice and oil store which I never found did find mainly because I found so many other pretty things to look at. I found one store for Abayas and entered only to be met by a friendly gentleman whose demeanour helped with getting over my nerves of actually being out alone on the streets of Saudi, it's one thing being in a big old mall, but it's quite another walking around downtown on your own, I chatted and then I left the shop, he followed!! he turned around and invited me into his other shop which happened to be next door and had a bigger display of Abayas, again we chatted and then I left only to find he had a third shop again next door, and as I found out the higher up the street the higher the price, I found a very nice Abaya which wasn't see through, I asked him when it was going to snow as I was wilting inside the store with no air con and apparently it's winter so they leave the air con off...we chatted about modesty and fancy abayas he encouraged me to take the abaya I liked outside and see what it looked like in the sun, I pointed out that should I do this I would blind half the drivers and cause a massive pile up in the road with the reflection from the bling sewn into the neck we laughed and then it was time to say goodbye, but not before we had a giggle about the fact I will end up getting lashed as I keep  forgetting I'm not allowed to snog my beloved in the street.  Oh and one day I will find that spice store, just not this particular day as I ran out of time and had to leg it back to meet the bus.

So our hotel was booked for Bahrain we would be staying overnight in the Intercontinental on the Thursday and with family on the Friday, 'the greatest laid plans of mice and men', passports were still away getting the green light for Goa, no one informed us that the Indian embassy would be on a two day holiday!!! So we waited and waited, and just as we decided to change our weekend and everything was in place including the date changes our passports were flown down from Riyadh and back to our grubby little hands, Oh well nothing for it but to stay home and let the changes remain, well apart from one, our boy Stitch was booked out for a weekend sleepover with a work friend of my beloved's and because said friend was very excited to be taking him for the weekend we thought it rude to disappoint her and her family, so Thursday night my boy Stitch was collected with his sleepover bag of treats and poo bags and toys and headed off the compound for the weekend, he didn't even look back much to my dismay!

We had a lovely weekend, getting up late as no pup dog to let out, we headed to the gym, we did grocery shopping and then we spent a lovely evening with friends at Soul Kitchen a sushi/fusion restaurant on Pepsi Road, the food was wonderful and I enjoyed watching the plates as they were delivered, no pictures I'm afraid as I didn't like to as we were in company, but my Eastern Maza starter was delicious as was the maki/sashimi I shared with my beloved for a main course. But what I really enjoyed after the company and food of course was my favourite of all past times - people watching, the ladies in their Abayas the men some in traditional clothing some not, the screened areas where ladies and gentlemen sat where I presume the ladies were able to remove their face coverings as they can get pretty messy I would imagine whilst trying to eat a Tom Yum soup!!!! The children squirming as parents waited for tables to free up, and the waiting staff, who went about their business quietly and quickly making their way around a very busy restaurant with the poise of a ninja. 

Saturday was Al Rashid, and somehow we managed to go through three prayer times, and two rounds of coffee before leaving, still I have not figured out the layout of this Mall, it makes absolutely no sense to me at all, and I have a fantastic sense of direction - just not in Al Rashid Mall, there is definitely a ploy there to keep you locked in, because I know I haven't seen all the shops yet, but trying to figure out where the one's you have seen are after leaving them is an impossibility.....

Al Rashid Mall

The Labour of Love

Another week has passed and I still don't have my passport, I am keeping everything crossed we will get it back this week, especially as we have booked a weekend in Bahrain, just to get in some practice for when we meet the family in Goa, going into Goa without practice would be very bad for ones health.....

My Beloved had a work free weekend, well he didn't have to sit at his computer much, but the usual phone calls continued, it's quite funny when I get to listen to the whole conversation in the car, and a Saudi gentleman has to translate for an Indian gentleman so my gentleman can understand, it really is quite amusing.  

Stitch had a nice long walk out of the pound on Friday we took him and Dina the young girl from across the street out to the top of our road and gave them a walk around, Dina collected shells and Stitch chased his ball, the only trouble was the sand, there have been many storms over the last few days or so and that stuff just gets everywhere, even with contacts in my eyes were gritty, and don't even get me started with the hair, I much prefer my salt spritz to getting sand blasted thats for sure.

We had a lovely Valentines spent at home, we both cooked and I was on starter and sweet this year and my beloved was on the main course, so we had Gobi Manchurian for starter which was adapted for our Paleo eating, I halved the recipe as we were not wanting to eat to much, unfortunately I forgot to half the chillies and to say it was fiery would be an understatement, luckily we both love the spice, phew...... then my beloved prepared King Prawns with garlic and Beef Fillet with cabernet sauce with mushrooms, with a side of carrot Latkes, the dish was a delight and we decided to rest before dessert, oh and did I mention that we both dressed up for the occasion, my beloved wore his wedding suit and I wore an outfit I purchased in 2006 for a very special birthday evening in New York, we both looked rather spiffing if I say so myself, when we had rested a while it was time for dessert a sweet potato brownie with coconut cream and blueberries all in the shape of a heart, we decided to give ourselves 10/10 for effort this year, and now we have to really push the boat out next year, can't wait.

Stitch is banished from the kitchen, my beloved has decided he will no longer be fed in the kitchen as he is driving him round the twist, fridge opens there he is, turn around there he is, sniff, sniff, I blame my beloved who wholeheartedly denies the fact that this is actually his fault, so now our poor baby is banished from the kitchen forever, although I think it will take him a little while to get the hint........

 

Short Break

Why is it when things can go wrong they will go wrong, but really!! does it have to be the weekend, so my beloved spent most of Saturday working, after taking me to the mall, we made a few purchases then prayer time began, so we waited in a coffee shop for it to finish unfortunately the call came in (not the prayer call) and that was the end of the shopping expedition.  So we headed home and back to the works computer, myself I headed into the kitchen and played around with a Latke recipe I had found, and the result of my efforts was a dish that was beyond amazing, I swapped out the potato for carrot, and instead of frying I baked the dish in the oven, lets just say that those Latkes will be a regular in our house from now on.

Over the last week or so I have drank coffee, drank more coffee, and on occasions .... drank coffee, how very odd that life used to revolve around drink, and now it still revolves around drink just not the drunken kind.  When I first arrived in Saudi I had a terrible urge for alcohol, how very odd it was too, as when in Bahrain I really only had three/four nights I think out of the whole month, and those included Christmas and New Year but once I stepped on Saudi soil and someone else was dictating what I could and could not drink that was me, like an alcoholic in rehab, I had a need.... thankfully that passed and I'm back to thinking drink is the devil, well until Goa that is....

Our passports are once again out of our care, they are now in the care of the Indian embassy, hopefully getting visaed up and what it cost as a relative pointed out was actually about the price of a weekend away to Bahrain.

Stitch is getting quite the rascal just now, he knows when I sit down that he will not get on my lap unless invited, but my beloved well that is totally different, I'm not sure who I should be chastising first, the dog for presuming or my beloved for allowing his to presume, maybe I should just take a stick to both of them, a tickling stick obviously.

Currently I am making Chicken Biriyani for supper, a friend sent me the recipe (all Paleo too) so I decided to try it out, after a false start and asking the ladies on the compound for help as I had no garam masala, Saadia came to my rescue and gave me some from her tub and gave me some great tips on it's preparation too, and also told me where to get the best spices from in downtown Khobar.

I didn't realise until yesterday when having yet another coffee with friends how much of Dammam and Al Khobar I have seen, ok some of it just the malls and supermarkets and downtown, but when you have seen more than girls who have been here for at least a year thats when you know you get around, I can make a shopping trip into an excursion no bother, and it can be supermarket or clothes or even furniture, I like to browse, well I do it so well, really I only do it to give the dog a break, he gets sick of the sight of me......

I do, I do...

Mummies

Hooray, I am now resident with all the paperwork that entails, I can come and go as I choose, well at least for the next 6 months and then the multi entry visa will need a refresh..

What this actually means is I can now go to Bahrain and get a face like a rat should I so choose, mmm I could be getting that face very soon.

So the next thing we need to do is organise visa's for Goa, this too is a little tricky, we really must go to countries that do not require hoops to be jumped for entry purposes, we were considering Vietnam and Cambodia next year but I have yet to look at the visa requirements for those beauts.

My beloved and I have been walking the hound around the pound, the compound that is, and whilst out the other evening my beloved reminded Stitch that Mummies are not just for Christmas, Stitch just nodded and continued on his way, that dog knows which side his liver is buttered. Speaking of liver I have been experimenting with dog treats, our friend bought doggie treats in recently but they will not last long and we seem to be having trouble finding any in KSA, so I have been baking liver treats, and Stitch approves, every time the fridge is opened and then closed there he is sitting behind the door on the floor expectantly with his puppy dog eyes, my beloved gives in every time....

So far this week I have been shopping in the Mall, shopping Downtown and obviously supermarket shopping, there seems to be a theme here, I have also done coffee with the girls one of whom is from the UK and her husband used to work with Garry's uncle whom I stayed with over Christmas, have you noticed how small the world is becoming, you will always find someone with a connection to your life, we are after all just the same as our neighbours, separated sometimes by fences, often by walls, and occasionally by countries, but we are neighbours just the same.

Here's an old neighbour from my childhood whom I met
up with last year in Cyprus

Coffee, Dinner, and BBQ

So it has been a busy old week for me, less so for my beloved, well apart from the work side of things which appears to get busier with every trip of the sun.  

Thursday Morning was coffee morning with the Ladies from the compound, we each provided something tasty to eat, I personally made Brownies from a new recipe I was testing, all Paleo except the chocolate chips because I couldn't get he appropriate chips, but let me tell you they were the simplest things I have ever made and oh so delicious, in fact they were a 10/10 from my beloved as I had to save him some for when he came home, personally I don't think he is putting out enough if he can eat chocolate brownies before going to the gym........

I tasted so many nice things at the coffee morning that I was left with a real sugar rush headache for the rest of the afternoon, but it was good at the time.  I met lots of nice ladies and babies, oh I do love babies, and we have now another date pencilled into our diaries for February which is a birthday/valentine coffee morning.

So for my evening entertainment I was invited to a Ladies evening at another compound in the area, Haliburton Wives group laid on a lovely Arabic evening there was a disco and raffles and lots more food for me to taste, I avoided the sugar this time even though every dish looked like if you went face down in it you would arrive in heaven instantly.

Although I purchased raffle tickets the closest I got to winning was sitting next to a lovely lady with a winning ticket, never been good with raffles. No photos were allowed to be taken other than in the designated photo area as some of the ladies were Muslim and because this was a Ladies only evening they removed their outer layers kept on for modesty purposes, even the catering was undertaken by ladies, this allowed complete freedom for the Muslim ladies for their evening of entertainment, thus the no photography rule.  The dresses worn by the ladies were beautiful, it was so nice to see so many dresses, trousers were for once in the minority, the bling was out and the heels were on, myself I kept the flats on, the foot is still a little dodgy after tying myself up with the bedspread so no dainty shoes for this clod hopper. I people watched, I danced, I met some lovely girls, from all corners of the world, we chatted about children, and husbands, countries and customs, I had a lovely evening, and not a drop of alcohol touched my lips.

Friday was gym time again, and then it was a quick shop and a bake as I was again making the Brownies, this time they were for a BBQ at yet another compound, when we eventually arrived after getting lost due to road works, it wasn't so much being lost as being unable to get where we were going, we were introduced and proceeded to eat our way through a mountain of food, there was homemade bread, and sides, there was salads and obviously the meat cooked beautifully on the BBQ by an Aussie, well if an Aussie can't get the meat right no one can, then there was cake, Sari our host had a birthday and after the birthday song was finished the cake was cut, oh me, I have never had boiling icing before and it was so tasty, and light which was quite unexpected, I wonder if I can make that into a paleo dish???

Stitch got a longer walk over the weekend but I have to say with him chasing his ball at crazy quick speed he tires very quickly in the 30' heat we are experiencing just now, I think by summer he will sticking his paws up and saying ' you go and tell me how it was'.....

Thank God for Drugs

Only the legal kind, anti-inflammatories and pain killers, along with the ice as soon as I went over the ankle gave me a great nights sleep and the foot felt brilliant in the morning HOORAY.....

My poor beloved received an unexpected gift when pulling in to take a photo for me, a screw in the tyre, luckily he left it in place and we continued on our way, praying we would get home, and then having reached home, praying that it would get my beloved to work in the morning so some nice man could help him get the tyre sorted. It turned out to be an excessively long screw that was gifted to him, so glad we left it in place, I remember seeing a movie or two and if you have something sticking out of your body that should not be there you are best to leave it in place and seek the appropriate attention, I can report this is the best course of action for a tyre too....

On Monday night I decided to make a Chicken Biriyani, now as you know we don't eat rice, so I replaced it with grated cauliflower, and it was superb, wetter that your usual Biriyani but equally as tasty, and oh so very hot, the spices were from a mix I found in the one of the stores, they know how to do a spice rack here, well apart from Thai 7 spice that is, thankfully we had Schwartz delivered from the UK along with smoked sea salt and dog treats and toys.

I didn't make the spa presentation after all, so after going out on a limb and throwing caution to the wind, my Iqama let me down, well the fact that I don't have it yet that is, no Iqama no get into the compound the spa presentation was being held on, next time it is then.

Poor old Stitch had to go to the vet on Monday evening, before leaving Cyprus we had to give him another rabies injection to make sure he had enough of those antibodies coursing through his system, the trouble is that meant we could not get a blood test done on him to check that he had the right levels to be able to travel without any delays or imprisonments, so on Monday the poor little fellow had his leg shaved and blood taken, the test has to be sent away to Europe which is why is cost more than a flight home to Scotland, in 90 days time he will be fit to fly, not that we want him getting too excited cos he ain't going nowhere soon..........but in 90 days at least he would be able should we decide to give him a holiday.

Last night we went for a meal at this wonderful venue, the food was delicious, the company delightful but the water more than a touch overpriced, who cares the food was delicious the company delightful......... 

Dangerous Bed

Thursday was Ladies Coffee morning at the compound, and I met some of the girls that live here, and some of their children too, I also got to eat pecans from South Carolina via a cookie from Karen who hails from that neck of the woods. Having joined the Whatsapp for the compound there are invites being offered and I have taken myself in hand, gone right out of my comfort zone, so far out I not sure I know myself and I am going to be engaging in an Arabic night on 29th at Zamil village, as long as I don't think about it my comfort zone doesn't get a touch of stage fright or make me sick..... I have also excepted another invitation to the Aramco compound for a Thalion Spa presentation, I did ask my beloved what an SPA was as I read it like so S.P.A doh, so tomorrow I will be heading off just after 8am for my SPA presentation, comfort zone, comfort zone why have you forsaken me.......

My beloved arrived home in the early hours of Friday Morning, bringing with him the news of the passing of the Saudi Arabian King, and so Long live the new King. 

I left my beloved to sleep whilst I went to the gym then organised the house, he eventually woke and I fed him and we caught up on his news from Tunisia and how he managed to get ten tins of Harrisa through the airport at Doha, hooray! Been a while since we had proper Harrisa

We went out yesterday after our gym visit and were delighted to find quite a few stores open, so one of the stores we discovered was City and a lovely store it was too, all kinds of household goods oh and a Costa coffee tucked away in the corner, not my favourite coffee usually but the Arabic coffee is so not to my liking I thought surely the Italian coffee can't be so bad, and I was pleasantly surprised to find my Americano delightful to the palette, I really am becoming multicultural with my coffees. From here we headed to Homecentre and my beloved almost fell in a dead faint when we purchased our new bedding, a fitted sheet, a flat sheet, a duvet cover for summer and a bedspread for now, plus four pillows, how mucccccch he breathed from his semi upright position, I reminded him had he been in the UK it would have cost a lot more than our SAR for the same bed sets.... So we now have a lovely set for our bedroom and the colour is not my usual choice either, it's somewhere between English mustard and baby poop and I love it..

We took a trip downtown and again were pleasantly surprised to find some of the stores were open, we found all sorts of stores from bedding to Abaya's to shoe stores and food, and had a ball walking in and out of the little alleyways of streets not knowing what was around the corner, when 4pm arrived the noise on the streets increased with the street hawkers shouting out their wares. 

It turns out that our bed is a very dangerous place to be, and I'm not talking about the sleeping arrangement, whilst making the oversized bed which doesn't fit our lovely bedding we received as a wedding gift hence the new extra large bedding, I got caught up in the bedspread and crunch! thats the ankle buggered, I have been icing it ever since with ice wrapped in a tea towel, when the dog isn't stealing my ice that is...

 

Home Alone

Thank you to the lovely company that allowed us to have a long weekend for my first weekend in KSA, we shopped for food, household items and just generally browsed, So far Al Khobar and Dammam appear quite flat which is fine for me, because it actually means I can get my bearings easily, well as long as the weather is such that the view is not obstructed by mist/fog or haze, the lovely water tower that sits on the edge of The Corniche can be seen from our compound when it's clear, which gives me a great idea of where I am in the countryside, My Beloved on the other hand probably hasn't noticed that it can be seen from home, and is still using waze to get from A to B, not sure it is looking after him so well as he was on the way to his work, and whilst daydreaming he missed his turning on the motorway, and waze told him in 94km you can U turn, so my beloved decided completely out of character to go off road and find another route back, which turned out to be far less than 94km, maybe my off road don't care if I'm lost nature is rubbing off on him.

I have now joined the facebook group for our compound and Whatsapp keeps me up to date with the ladies and what is going on, I have the bus timetable thanks to an email from Pamela and on Monday I took my first solo adventure into KSA, admittedly it was just to Lulu's one of the large supermarkets, but it's a start.  

So in Lulu's I found lots of nice Abaya's and after traipsing back and forth between the Abaya section and the changing room I made the decision to buy two rather big black numbers, well there is no way you could call them a little black number... I have been informed that most of the shops don't have changing rooms which means you have to purchase and take home any items of clothing you buy, which must be why when I went to the ladies room in Dhahran Mall there were whole rows of ladies cubicles for trying on clothes, now I wish I could remember what the sign said as at the time I thought to myself that must be the sit down toilets!!!! but no it was the changing rooms, quite a clever idea as so far I have noticed the shops display signs which say 3 days for returns, and some sales are only one day for returns offft.

My Beloved has left me, not even a week and he has flown out leaving the hound and I alone and in charge of the house, I don't even get to keep the car, as we all know I can't drive it outside the compound, and I can't see Stitch enjoying cruising the compound half as much as running the paths, even if I did crank the music up for him with a little track blasting WHO LET THE DOGS OUT, WOOF!!!!! So Stitch and I have been walking 
around our little compound getting acquainted with everyone we meet, the gentleman at the shop the other evening said 'wow he sits outside and waits for you??',  'of course he does' I informed him (but only because he is tied to the post), he would only have to sniff eau de cat and he would be goneeeeeeeee.

So I have been trying to sort out my VPN over the last few days, and talk about frustrating, I have internet drops, password issues and DSN what the hell is that all about, so now I have emailed said VPN provider and told them to please help little old me, as I haven't had a decent boost of Netflix for quite some time, I await their response.........

Poked, Prodded and drained

Going back the way, before leaving Cyprus my beloved had to get a full work medical this involved multiple tests, ECG, auditory and all manner of blood, urine and the obligatory drug tests, these tests allowed him to begin work in KSA, then we both flew back to the UK for more medicals for our Iqama which involved for myself a little bleed, a little pee and a few questions, my beloved had pretty much the same, then he jetted back to Saudi for his last leg of the Iqama residency process.  So fast forward 2 and a half months to January and I am now in country and beginning my own Iqama process and more medicals.  My medical involved a very nice lady taking a picture of my chest, another lady taking a gallon of blood from my arm, a pee sample being passed and exchanged for a piece of paper, think I was the lucky one in that exchange, and then ...(apologies in advance) poop sample..... I don't know about you but I cannot poop on command, so I had to take the little pot with the red lid home until nature called.  I have been trying to figure out why anyone would need a poop sample for a residency visa, but mine is not to wonder why so they say. Oh yeah and I just remembered whilst we were waiting for the chest x-ray we were given fig roll biscuits, maybe they were hoping that would help with the nature on demand business, well it might had I eaten them, but hell no, I definitely don't eat that kind of carbs, we graciously excepted them and put them in my bag.....had they offered carrot cake I would have been compelled to eat it as it would have been just plain rude to refuse carrot cake.

Look at this baby I have been after one of these since forever, well at least since my beloved and I have been together

My beautiful new food processor

The courgettes I used for practice

and finally I purchased it, after much deliberating I settled on the brand I required and then headed to the supermarket for some food to chop. 

We have taken Stitch for a walk along the sea front, throwing his lead for him to chase, Stitch has three favourite toys, one orange ball found at Limassol beach probably dropped but a young child or baby and the other two are not even toys they are leads wrapped into knots that he just loves to chase, he will also carry them where ever he goes should the fancy take him, so today we threw his lead for him and he raced off to fetch it, occasionally having his head turned by a butterfly that past his line of vision, and then he would chase that too.

We have had our first visitors too (well since I arrived), a couple of old buddies from way back when, one Sheila and Jockess and a very pleasant evening unfolded with the visitors amusing Stitch and Stitch returning the compliment, he really is so much better with people now, in fact he even has young children knocking at the door for him to go out and play now....

Found this fella in the towel department 

His

Hers, not that I will be driving anytime soon