Charafantah's Cave

Here are some pictures i took while am here in KSA, with my comments at the bottom

Main two buildings in Riyadh, Al Mamlaka (at the back) and Al Faisalyah (the one we got robbed at )
There are no other high buildings, most buildings are less than 5 floors.

Al Saraya Turkish restaurant in Talatiny Al Olaya St. ثلاثين العليا
No comment many countries would get offended if i commented on that one

On my first days in Riyadh, i thought that tamwenat is a brand name for a chain of super markets….
Then i discovered that a supermarket is caled tamwenat here
Its very common here, they are eveywhere.

El 7′eyata el regaleya IT IS EVERYWHERE this is where they make the galabeyas and the shema3′
هنا بيفصلوا الجلاليب و الشماغ و الحاجات دى……مع أن الجلاليب كلها بيضاء…بس فى 100 نوع قماش و 100 نوع ياقة و 100 نوع جيب و زراير و حركات.
بس فى الأخربرضو, كله جلاليب

The worlds largest Plasma TV Panasonic 103 inch (HOLY CRAP!!! CAN YOU IMAGE THAT!)
And the price tag says: 270,000SR (yes, thats almost 72,000USD and 400,000EGP)
أكبر تليفزيون فى العالم ب 400,000 ألف جنيه بس,,,يا بلاش!!!! كنت حجيب 2, بس للأسف مفيش مكان فى الشنطة

Al Tahleya St. something like gam3et el dowal st in egypt its where all the youth gather and go out, a lot of shops etc…..except you don’t see anyone walking in the streets (that’s how it is in KSA) and you don’t see any females (damn it! i haven’t seen a girl for LOOOONGGG time now)

Me and Osama in Dr. Cafe, few minutes after this picture, we were thrown out, because prayer time came and they had to close.

The only thing you can do in Saudi Arabia, EATTTTTTT
i think i gained like 6-7 more kilo during my stay here. the pic was taken at Chilli’s

It was a slaughter, thats what remains from the chocolate fudge with ice cream (yummmmyyyyyyy)

Me and Rami, stuck in the elevator

At the Faisaleyah mall, it says Single men are not allowed. You can’t enter the mall on weekends if you’re a single man, families only!!!!!! (holy crap)!!
ممنوع دخول العزاب!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Juice center!!! no comment
مركز عصير!!!! و كمان ماما نوره؟

أبح!!! كان فى حاجات تانية مش لذيذة,,بس قولت بلاش فضايح عالنت

After breaking two teeth while am in Riyadh (i don’t know what the heck is wrong with me, is the food?) i could no longer take the pain, i also couldn’t eat anything, specially that each broken tooth is on a different side of the mouth.

I had to go to a dentist, after a few calls to the office, they gave me directions to a dental clinic they recommended, so i took a cab to there.

The place i must say is nice and clean, the girl at the reception greeted me and took my personal information (do not be surprised, YES she was a girl, but she was wearing the moving tent, and convering every inch of her body and face)

I waited for a few minutes, during this few minutes i looke at the price list…and OH OH!!!! am in deep $hit…prices are the same as the prices in Egypt (remember my previous post about dental care pricing?) just multiplied by 2 or maybe 3 so i was scared to death i’d end up paying 1000 Riyal to kill the pain…it would have caused pain in my walled and i cant support that one.

Anyway, i got in, the doctor was Syrian, he was friendly, i told him what happened, he examined my teeth and told me that the temp filling i asked for will probably not last until i come back to Egypt.

But well, knowing the prices, i insisted on the temp filling
I am much better now…i haven’t eaten anything since then…but i *REALLY* *REALLY* hope that when i eat nothing else will break, or the temp filling will fall.

A good solution is to live on glucose w محاليل بقى والكلام دة

This is the saudi version of my 2 cents.

I will just pinpoint a few things i noticed during my few days stay here in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia:

• Fun means: Drive in the car, go to “tahleya” st. and drink a coffee or coke
• Entertainment consists of ONLY the following two items: “eating” and “shopping”
• Being cool means: doing crazy acts with your car, driving a quad(a.k.a Beach buggy) or having a distinguished license plate
• Petrol is cheaper than water
• It is not gay to: have long silky hair under your “shema3′ “, holding hands (with other male) and chewing gums 
• Its very acceptable to sit bare feet at work, restaurants and public places
• It is also acceptable to touch your feets in public, and maybe even eat and shake hands
• Traffic is very organized, or so i thought until the traffic light was not working….let me tell you, it’s far worse than traffic in Cairo…HUGE mess
• Single men cannot go to the mall
• All restaurants have 2 sections, one for singles and one for families, you cant go to families section if you’re single, even if the single section is full.
• You cannot eat/shop or do anything during prayer times.
• If you’re already eating, you either go wait outside, or get locked inside.
• Internet is censored and monitored, many websites are blocked
• It is normal to get random messages on your mobile from bluetooth if you’re in a public place
• There are 2 types of photo shops…. “Women photoshop – مركز تصوير نسائى” and “Male photoshop – مركز تصوير رجالى”
• Even beggars have cars, its ok to find someone asking for money from his Hyundai Accent car
• There is actually a difference between “لبن” and “حليب”
• Its okay to be rude (am still not sure if thats the way they speak, or they actually mean it)

I am currently in Riyah….

No fun there at all….so boring…internet access in unbelielvably slow (I guess its a common problem and thats not always the case)

But anyway, i don’t have much time to blog now…but i will, later on….wish me luck…and pray for me to finish soon to come back home