Company had me booked in on the flight from Dammam to Amsterdam then Amsterdam to Edinburgh, for arrival at Edinburgh for around 10.20am on Tuesday 14th April.................. Well that was the plan anyway. Got to the airport in fact early, which is not quite my normal way. Easy check in, safewrapped my suitcase (more of in a bit). Safewrapping is a great idea as they completely clingfilm your bags etc in havy duty plastic. That way its easy to see if anyone has tampered with it!! More places should offer the service as it only cost £2.75 or the equivalent for a large suitcase.
Easy departure through emigration where they signed me out on the computer, thats me now the only ways back in are on a business visit visa or a fresh IQAMA. Before i left the office i found i had a traffic violation of 500SAR, which i never did find out what for as i only knew of one recent one for 100SAR. (GRO should have paid it 2 months ago and didnt so its possibly added up with late payment chages.) So was one last little surprise for me, as if unpaid i couldnt have left the Kingdom!
Got on the plane to find a full flight as the plane had made one stop before Dammam. Flight was as usual boring and didnt get much sleep due to yanging babies and snoring from the guy next to me.
To be sure that the suitcase got across to my connecting flight, I had been put on a flight 3 hrs after arrival in Amsterdam. Had breakfast in the Irish Pub in Schipol.....£21 for a fried brekkie, coffee and a jack daniels is a wee bit over the top!!!
Finally got on the plane for the short hop to Edinburgh and promptly fell asleep... Woke up as we came into land........... Out the plane and straight to Luggage carousel and waited, and waited and waited............... everyone elses luggage came off except mine! Bleeding typical.... There was me with only the clothes on my back (which I had had on for 24hrs) and no suitcase.
Off to the taxi rank to find out that the taxi fare to home wasn't £50 but £109!!!!! So out of pocket by £59 against the pre-paid expenses and no sign of suitcase............ Airport Services sent chasers from both the Dammam end and the Edinburgh end. (48hrs later suitcase turned up by taxi at 10.30pm at night!)
On the day i left Saudi it was over 30C, when i arrived in Edinburgh it was 7C ENUFF SAID!
Wednesday, 22 April 2009
Monday, 13 April 2009
Last day in Saudi????
Well finally the day of Final Exit has arrived. Certainly have mixed feelings about leaving Saudi as all in all I have thoroughly enjoyed the last 2.5yrs here.
Definately a country of paradox's and contradictions. Apart from Japanese, the Saudi blackmarket is probably Johnny Walker Black Labels biggest market and yet it is totally illegal here and can lead to extreme measures by the authorities for anyone caught! At times it has felt that there is more of the "special fruit juice" here than water.
For a country with so much oil and little natural water (in comparison) is it a surprise that water is more expensive than petrol??? I can fill up the tank on my 4wd for around £7.50, whereas in the UK be more like £110. That is going to take some getting used to in the UK for sure. Though car washes etc are about the same price as in the UK. Until recently and the fall in the value in sterling it was far cheaper to buy cars (and better models) here in Saudi. Last year when sterling was at 7.4SAR to the £ a Ford Mondeo 2.0 Ghia was around £10,000 for the same vehicle approaching £20,000 in the UK. Even a full GRC Rally Spec Subaru was around £18,400 otr! Now with the £ crashing that same Subaru is £25,200 which is still far cheaper than in the UK.
Electronics and suchlike however are more expensive here than in the UK, from mobile phones to computers, from fridge-freezers to electric radiators. Even food shopping here especially for imported foods is far more expensive here. When we arrived a supermarket trolley load was around 600SAR (£81) now its more like 1200SAR with the now bad conversion rate is now £222!!!! So we get hit with a triple whammy here if you are paid in Sterling... the 10%+ annual inflation rate, the hit that the £ has taken and then the world-wide rise in prices and yet folks are going on about price deflation elsewhere?????? Cannot see it myself apart from maybe the house prices rapidly reducing in the UK.
Will be sad to say goodbye to the house...... Hazel made it a lovely home and we even fell for it enough to call it home, yep even here in Saudi. We had to get the almost mandatory house-boy but Afroze became part of the family. A pernickety member of the family at times as 16yr old daughter was wont to say a times. Think he will miss us as much as we miss him as he has been a damn good support to Hazel over the last 20 odd months for her.
In her time here, Hazel went through lots of highs and lows but she came through them superbly. Especially for her first posting as an expat wife overseas's. As i tell her everywhere after Saudi is a doddle (well maybe not but am not going to Nigeria!) Hazel like me feels at home here in the Middle East despite her very obvious misgivings at the beginning. She quickly established herself as one of the main entertainment organisors in the area and that helped her greatly to get to know people from all parts of this world of ours. As she says you never ever accept Saudi, more like you become acclimatised to the place. About the only thing she will miss is the wearing of the abaya (the long black cloak) She reckons if the fellas had to wear one, it wouldn't stay mandatory (ie society here frowns very heavily on non wearers, as do the religous police!!!!) for very long! Women are not allowed to drive here (apart from the fact that in the desert most saudi women are the main drivers herding the animals etc while the guys sit around drinking tea! Initially Hazel was most anti this but after experiencing the driving standards here and seeing myriads of accidents where people were killed she is pleased she doesn't drive here. There are strong rumours this will change in the next year, at least for some women. However they are going to have a tough time here when finally women are allowed to drive.
So yes it is with a heavy heart I leave today but a very loose translation of an arabic phrase translates as "you have to go away to come back again" and thats certainly how we feel about Saudi and the Middle East. We will be back "Insha'allah"
Definately a country of paradox's and contradictions. Apart from Japanese, the Saudi blackmarket is probably Johnny Walker Black Labels biggest market and yet it is totally illegal here and can lead to extreme measures by the authorities for anyone caught! At times it has felt that there is more of the "special fruit juice" here than water.
For a country with so much oil and little natural water (in comparison) is it a surprise that water is more expensive than petrol??? I can fill up the tank on my 4wd for around £7.50, whereas in the UK be more like £110. That is going to take some getting used to in the UK for sure. Though car washes etc are about the same price as in the UK. Until recently and the fall in the value in sterling it was far cheaper to buy cars (and better models) here in Saudi. Last year when sterling was at 7.4SAR to the £ a Ford Mondeo 2.0 Ghia was around £10,000 for the same vehicle approaching £20,000 in the UK. Even a full GRC Rally Spec Subaru was around £18,400 otr! Now with the £ crashing that same Subaru is £25,200 which is still far cheaper than in the UK.
Electronics and suchlike however are more expensive here than in the UK, from mobile phones to computers, from fridge-freezers to electric radiators. Even food shopping here especially for imported foods is far more expensive here. When we arrived a supermarket trolley load was around 600SAR (£81) now its more like 1200SAR with the now bad conversion rate is now £222!!!! So we get hit with a triple whammy here if you are paid in Sterling... the 10%+ annual inflation rate, the hit that the £ has taken and then the world-wide rise in prices and yet folks are going on about price deflation elsewhere?????? Cannot see it myself apart from maybe the house prices rapidly reducing in the UK.
Will be sad to say goodbye to the house...... Hazel made it a lovely home and we even fell for it enough to call it home, yep even here in Saudi. We had to get the almost mandatory house-boy but Afroze became part of the family. A pernickety member of the family at times as 16yr old daughter was wont to say a times. Think he will miss us as much as we miss him as he has been a damn good support to Hazel over the last 20 odd months for her.
So yes it is with a heavy heart I leave today but a very loose translation of an arabic phrase translates as "you have to go away to come back again" and thats certainly how we feel about Saudi and the Middle East. We will be back "Insha'allah"
Sunday, 12 April 2009
Last Night in Saudi
Well someone is annoyed about us leaving Saudi............ there has been a violent storm tonight, roads including motorways flooded, thunder virtually stationary over head and lightning bolts everywhere!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Absolutely madness out there and lots of the drivers just dont know how to handle the conditions.
:) Lots of the roads have become rivers as there are still not enough drains, despite the crash sewer building programme of the last 12 months here in Khobar. Its going to be bedlam in the morning getting into work, thank god I've got a big 4wd as can handle it.
The little Yaris's with a bit of luck wont be able to......................... Now those little Yaris's are evil wee cars. 160kms flat out and yet still they try to overtake on the fast lane of the motorway. One day I feel like hitting the button at 150kms an hour and letting the tailgate open automatically while i shout for him to drive in and I will take him there!! They drive flatout 4" from the rear bumper and want you to get out the way............. Toyota Camry drivers just as bad, just cause they found cruise control, they seem to take it as an afront to switch it off when they come up behind you doing 180kms an hour (Max speed here is 120kms an hour)
The driving skills here are atrocious and thousands die needlessly every year all because they cannot drive properly. Saudi has the worst drivers in the world, the standards are terrible!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've driven in Cairo, Mexico, Hong Kong, Athens even Bombay but have never seen it as bad as here............. I put all my managers in 4wds despite their complaints (cos they wanted BMW's etc) but its safer for them as if anything hits them (apart from a Mack Truck) the anything is gonna hurt not them!
Its the one thing I will not miss about Saudi!
:) Lots of the roads have become rivers as there are still not enough drains, despite the crash sewer building programme of the last 12 months here in Khobar. Its going to be bedlam in the morning getting into work, thank god I've got a big 4wd as can handle it.
The little Yaris's with a bit of luck wont be able to......................... Now those little Yaris's are evil wee cars. 160kms flat out and yet still they try to overtake on the fast lane of the motorway. One day I feel like hitting the button at 150kms an hour and letting the tailgate open automatically while i shout for him to drive in and I will take him there!! They drive flatout 4" from the rear bumper and want you to get out the way............. Toyota Camry drivers just as bad, just cause they found cruise control, they seem to take it as an afront to switch it off when they come up behind you doing 180kms an hour (Max speed here is 120kms an hour)
The driving skills here are atrocious and thousands die needlessly every year all because they cannot drive properly. Saudi has the worst drivers in the world, the standards are terrible!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've driven in Cairo, Mexico, Hong Kong, Athens even Bombay but have never seen it as bad as here............. I put all my managers in 4wds despite their complaints (cos they wanted BMW's etc) but its safer for them as if anything hits them (apart from a Mack Truck) the anything is gonna hurt not them!
Its the one thing I will not miss about Saudi!
The squad
Almost time for my departure from Saudi Arabia. My team decided we should have a night out to commiserate. Just back in from the Fish Market, a fish restaurant on the north corniche where you pick your fish and style of cooking. So at least you know its fresh!
Even the pillipini lads found stuff of their liking due to some of the cooks being fellow countrymen and not doubt will be back there again.
A good night, tho sad for all
Fresh Gulf Lobster done A-la Thermidor washed down with Saudi Champagne. Leaving in style if nothing else!!
Even the pillipini lads found stuff of their liking due to some of the cooks being fellow countrymen and not doubt will be back there again.
A good night, tho sad for all
Fresh Gulf Lobster done A-la Thermidor washed down with Saudi Champagne. Leaving in style if nothing else!!
Monday, 6 April 2009
Final Exit
In a little over 8 days thats me currently set for Final Exit from here in Saudi................... almost time to take stock. All in all its been a very enjoyable time here for the last 2.5 years. Yes the place has its issues with how to deal with the expats here but in reality not much more than most other places.
Would we come back here, most definately. Probably safer here than almost anywhere else in the world. Despite the restrictions which cause hassle in the day to day living, the ladies would like to come back too and after a week are really missing the place.
Disapointed to be leaving, yes but as they say you have to go away to come back again so who knows whats next!! A spell in the UK checking up on all thats going on back there is maybe needed. Spending time taking pics of all the places I meant to photograph....... tho still taking very good care not to include certain things like people too much etc. Its very easy to upset some folks here with using the cam which is a surprise with the amount of people using camera phones all over the place. Just another example tho minor of the weird standards here at times... More on this later
Saturday, 4 April 2009
360 Degree Wrap - No it isn't a sex position!
7 weeks since i had major surgery and haven't felt fitter for years. For over 10 years now I have suffered from extreme reflux which has been controlled by medication, tho not very successfully recently. For those that don't know what that is, well projectile vomitting in your sleep is a particularly messy side effect!
I have put off surgery for years as in the UK they did do it by opening you up and meant major time off work. Here in Saudi Arabia, they prefer to do it by keyhole surgery. So after a fair bit of pursuasion the fateful day for the Op approached. After the comedy of errors between the Cardiology and anaestheology departments got cleared up (and a week later) the fateful day came.
The operation was supposed to take about 1.5hrs but unfortunately complications set in and i was under general anaesthetic for 5hrs instead. Up and about later that day and was released from hospital the next day. Three weeks of recuperation and all that i'm, left with is 5 tiny scars on my stomach! Since the operation i have not needed any medication at all, no pain and no reflux! SO a definate result. I can even eat foods now that I have been unable to eat for years, though in smaller portions....... So if you have the opportunity to have the Operation TAKE IT!!
I have put off surgery for years as in the UK they did do it by opening you up and meant major time off work. Here in Saudi Arabia, they prefer to do it by keyhole surgery. So after a fair bit of pursuasion the fateful day for the Op approached. After the comedy of errors between the Cardiology and anaestheology departments got cleared up (and a week later) the fateful day came.
The operation was supposed to take about 1.5hrs but unfortunately complications set in and i was under general anaesthetic for 5hrs instead. Up and about later that day and was released from hospital the next day. Three weeks of recuperation and all that i'm, left with is 5 tiny scars on my stomach! Since the operation i have not needed any medication at all, no pain and no reflux! SO a definate result. I can even eat foods now that I have been unable to eat for years, though in smaller portions....... So if you have the opportunity to have the Operation TAKE IT!!
Hedonism II - Real or no?
Well after all the travelling, seeing the world and stuff we decided that we would book for Hedonism II in Jamaica.We did wonder if the hype was for real but thought would be something different. Let me say right now, if you get the chance to go and you are completely open minded..........THEN GET YER BUTT THERE!
Whatever you may have read about the place or seen on TV doesn't even come close. We found the place to be superb and more than we imagined (and thats saying summat). From the minute we arrived until we left, we couldn't have been looked after better. Food was good, top brand alchohol was freely available, staff couldn't do enough for you and facilities well worth the trip.
As for what we got upto there, lips sealed but we going again !!!!!
Friday, 3 April 2009
The beginning
Oh well soon to be time to head back to Scotland after being away for last 2.5yrs. Only coincidental that this is "Homecoming Year" but what the heck nice timing!
Wonder what the change of scene and climate will bring............. it will be good to catch up with friends and family as it has been a while for some.
Wonder what the change of scene and climate will bring............. it will be good to catch up with friends and family as it has been a while for some.
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