Mr Khairul in Saudi

mr. khairul just came back from saudi. he went to riyadh, then went on to visit jeddah. between business visits, factory trips and such, it's a shame if one doesn't take advantage of trying out local food and the wonders of a foreign country.

i'd like to share a few pictures and saudi anecdotes from him - my fav is about the weird mandi rice they have there. you'll see!

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classic shoplot. the picture with the blue signage is one of the oldest highrise in jeddah. so old that noone lives there now. ala, macam tourists yang gi penang or melaka, amik gamba kat shoplot lama, macam ni la jugak, right?

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this picture really got me staring for so long at the signage. really? makam hawa? no camera was allowed inside, and a guard was always on the alert, even as mr. khairul took out his handphone. the actual grave cannot be seen; it's not a rised tomb but a vast walled up clearing.

adam khabarnya di sri lanka, but it was not a tomb but a footprint or jejak adam; which is unusually large in size.

well, Allah knows best!

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for those tired of colonel sanders' chicken, try the local chicken meal at 'al-baik'. it's hugely popular and there's always a long line inside. so much so that they introduced the numbering system at the fast food restaurant!

mr. khairul actually bought a pack of chicken meal all the way to dubai for his beloved wife to try. hihi. the meal comes together with 'garlic sauce' which i didn't try. mr. khairul said if you ate it fresh, crispy and hot, it's really quite nice. oh, well. my verdict - macam ayam kunyit!

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now this was really something. mandi rice at riyadh. with noodles. i was like, ape yang macam spaghetti tu? mee lah, mr. khairul answered. he kinda likes the rice, but did away with the mee!

i remember in puasa month, mak would make the usual white rice and lauk, along with her simple fried bihun that we sisters love so much. for berbuka, we would definitely take the rice AND the bihun on one plate, and eat them together. so hey, come to think of it - rice and noodle combo is not such a far-fetched idea!

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it's always comforting to know that in a foreign land, there's at least one familiar face extending a warm welcome. former president of myUAE pro, pakpayne resides in jeddah now, and opened his doors for any wandering fellow malaysians.

he treated them with yummy mandi dinner (jealous!) and went to see what is arguably, the tallest water fountain in the world! i didn't know that it's in jeddah!


pakpayne, khairul thanks you for your great hospitality! (and pakpayne, i still can't believe you guys went swimming!)