Asalam-O-Alaiykom!
Kyhal falak? Howdy guys?
I almost forgot that I had blog!!! Finally, I realized that I was missing my scribbles and writing.So here I am ... back to my blog.
Two months have passed in Riyadh and lots of things happening here ... primary being Work.. God! Never thought I could work so hard ;) Guess Medhavi will be happy to know this :D Yeah.. putting in as much time as is required/demanded!
Football fever is catching up in the nation and my client is coming out with new packages for the football crazy citizens in the form of add on packages et al. And oh.. we are gonna watch the Argentina vs Germany match in a Bowling Complex this Saturday.. its good to take off on a working day right? That reminds me.. back in the previous project, we used to crib that we needed a break in the middle of the week.. am getting it here. Yeah.. Thursdays and Fridays are off for us and believe me I am still not getting used to it.. One thing is for sure though.. weeks fly by! So.. Rahul, Aditi and Riyaz.. its not so great having a weekend in the middle of the week guys!!
Okay.. breaking news: I HAVE LOST WEIGHT!!! Promise guys.. I have lost weight.. what the Suburban trains in Mumbai couldnt do has been quite spectacularly achieved by one and only Harini, my wife :D :D :D ( Need to hide the rolling pin today after I go home;) )Well.. not because she cooks bad.. she has transformed into my DIET POLICE! :'( No deep fries, no chips, no sweets and ... well ... the country forbids alcohol..) A bowl of All bran flakes and a constant stare from my wife is enough to lose weight I guess.. Devil!! Get married.. trust me.. this is the best weight loss program ever!!!
Jokes apart, I have lost weight coz finally I am getting to have home made food... more importantly, good food at the right time.. She cooks amazingly well.. a fact coz I invited two unsuspecting bachelors for dinner and they are still alive and kicking ;) Now, am trying to go for a walk in the morning.. I believe all we need to do is 15-20 mins of brisk walking.. and all the fat I so carefully and lovingly accumulated over a period of 4 years will melt in the bright white sun beating down on us. Mercury touched 53 deg C last week and now its hovering between 38-49 Deg C, a Natural Sauna...and if there is a sandstorm, thats a "sand-pack" scrubber thrown in for free!
As I type this, I can hear the imam calling out for the daily prayers.. Allah-ho-Akbar. La ila ha ill-Allah! Have learnt the salah (namaz) calls and rest assured, I have a job when I decide to leave IT for good!
Coming back, the country is HOT. It looks more like an American Colony though.. I love it when I see a Hummer H3, a Maserati, Lincoln Continental, an array of Dodges next to our office Cab.. WOW!! All the fuel guzzlers in the land of petrol.. amazing!! Any car ever produced on earth is available here (Will try to come out with an album sometime later) Only problem.. they drive like crazy!!! Its not unusual to see a dodge or a camry hit and left on the center of the road.. Have to be really careful when crossing the roads..Driving is left hand and the stores here are full of western costumes.. Every aspect of lifestyle is American... looks like being in the Wild Wild West (East?) with better infrastructure and ppl in black and white.. their Attire.
The Costume here is amazing.. the white dress the gents wear is called "Thobe" and they have a head band and red/white checkered head scarf to go with it as well. We have been warned that Saudi's do not like non-locals wearing their traditional costume.. but man.. I want to try it out.. dont be surprised to me in a thobe once back in India ;) The ladies have to wear the Abaya when in public. Thats all I know about them.
The week passes away pretty fast and its the weekends that are a big bore.. what can you do in a city where there is no Cinema, no music in public, no performing arts .. Answer is simple: Be guinea pigs in your wife's experiments with food! First, I seriously wish that someone bump off Sanjeev Kapoor and their likes.. they churn out un-prounouncable recepies and is tested on us!Ladies have access to the net and have become experts in trying out new varieties the chefs show.. the problem is compounded when there are atleast 7 families in the appartment and all of them are equally excited to try out new things!!
One thing is for sure.. East or West.. India is the best. Am seriously starting to miss the occasional vada pavs', the trains over flowing with people.... in short all the Chaos that we call 'Home'! Agreed, the job is exciting, money is good.. but there is that something missing in all of it... as the wife says 'its like the salt missing in sambhar' ;) (Rolling pin defintely needs to be thrown out!!!)
Sorry if this entry sounds a little broken up .. been some time since I wrote :)
Khuda Fiz.
Basement Al Saud {Basement The Saudi}
Kyhal falak? Howdy guys?
I almost forgot that I had blog!!! Finally, I realized that I was missing my scribbles and writing.So here I am ... back to my blog.
Two months have passed in Riyadh and lots of things happening here ... primary being Work.. God! Never thought I could work so hard ;) Guess Medhavi will be happy to know this :D Yeah.. putting in as much time as is required/demanded!
Football fever is catching up in the nation and my client is coming out with new packages for the football crazy citizens in the form of add on packages et al. And oh.. we are gonna watch the Argentina vs Germany match in a Bowling Complex this Saturday.. its good to take off on a working day right? That reminds me.. back in the previous project, we used to crib that we needed a break in the middle of the week.. am getting it here. Yeah.. Thursdays and Fridays are off for us and believe me I am still not getting used to it.. One thing is for sure though.. weeks fly by! So.. Rahul, Aditi and Riyaz.. its not so great having a weekend in the middle of the week guys!!
Okay.. breaking news: I HAVE LOST WEIGHT!!! Promise guys.. I have lost weight.. what the Suburban trains in Mumbai couldnt do has been quite spectacularly achieved by one and only Harini, my wife :D :D :D ( Need to hide the rolling pin today after I go home;) )Well.. not because she cooks bad.. she has transformed into my DIET POLICE! :'( No deep fries, no chips, no sweets and ... well ... the country forbids alcohol..) A bowl of All bran flakes and a constant stare from my wife is enough to lose weight I guess.. Devil!! Get married.. trust me.. this is the best weight loss program ever!!!
Jokes apart, I have lost weight coz finally I am getting to have home made food... more importantly, good food at the right time.. She cooks amazingly well.. a fact coz I invited two unsuspecting bachelors for dinner and they are still alive and kicking ;) Now, am trying to go for a walk in the morning.. I believe all we need to do is 15-20 mins of brisk walking.. and all the fat I so carefully and lovingly accumulated over a period of 4 years will melt in the bright white sun beating down on us. Mercury touched 53 deg C last week and now its hovering between 38-49 Deg C, a Natural Sauna...and if there is a sandstorm, thats a "sand-pack" scrubber thrown in for free!
As I type this, I can hear the imam calling out for the daily prayers.. Allah-ho-Akbar. La ila ha ill-Allah! Have learnt the salah (namaz) calls and rest assured, I have a job when I decide to leave IT for good!
Coming back, the country is HOT. It looks more like an American Colony though.. I love it when I see a Hummer H3, a Maserati, Lincoln Continental, an array of Dodges next to our office Cab.. WOW!! All the fuel guzzlers in the land of petrol.. amazing!! Any car ever produced on earth is available here (Will try to come out with an album sometime later) Only problem.. they drive like crazy!!! Its not unusual to see a dodge or a camry hit and left on the center of the road.. Have to be really careful when crossing the roads..Driving is left hand and the stores here are full of western costumes.. Every aspect of lifestyle is American... looks like being in the Wild Wild West (East?) with better infrastructure and ppl in black and white.. their Attire.
The Costume here is amazing.. the white dress the gents wear is called "Thobe" and they have a head band and red/white checkered head scarf to go with it as well. We have been warned that Saudi's do not like non-locals wearing their traditional costume.. but man.. I want to try it out.. dont be surprised to me in a thobe once back in India ;) The ladies have to wear the Abaya when in public. Thats all I know about them.
The week passes away pretty fast and its the weekends that are a big bore.. what can you do in a city where there is no Cinema, no music in public, no performing arts .. Answer is simple: Be guinea pigs in your wife's experiments with food! First, I seriously wish that someone bump off Sanjeev Kapoor and their likes.. they churn out un-prounouncable recepies and is tested on us!Ladies have access to the net and have become experts in trying out new varieties the chefs show.. the problem is compounded when there are atleast 7 families in the appartment and all of them are equally excited to try out new things!!
One thing is for sure.. East or West.. India is the best. Am seriously starting to miss the occasional vada pavs', the trains over flowing with people.... in short all the Chaos that we call 'Home'! Agreed, the job is exciting, money is good.. but there is that something missing in all of it... as the wife says 'its like the salt missing in sambhar' ;) (Rolling pin defintely needs to be thrown out!!!)
Sorry if this entry sounds a little broken up .. been some time since I wrote :)
Khuda Fiz.
Basement Al Saud {Basement The Saudi}
