Luthan Spa

Ladies! I went to the Luthan Spa for the first time this week and it was more fabulous than I thought it would be and just had to share. I went with a very dear girlfriend of mine, which made it a lot of fun because we got to dissect the experience as it happened. Ok, so the first remark I have to make is that this spa was very nice. It had that mmmmm spa smell and it was decently decorated.


Here is the locker room where we took off our clothes and took pictures of each other. Now now, we had robes on. I know this might sound ridiculous to some of you, but my friend and I had a discussion on how much clothing we thought we should wear under our robes. In the end, it was no different than any other spa in the West.


The photo snapping came to an abrupt halt in the lounge area after we were told to put our cameras away, which I suppose should have been obvious. Due to my deep commitment to this blog and to you, my dear readers, I secretly took pictures anyway ha ha ha suckers. Check out the relaxation room! It had individual water beds where you could rest from all the hard spa work!


We got a tour of the facilities and there was an impressive collection of specialized treatment rooms for an array of therapies, like Ayurvedic treatments, Balinese massages, and Mermaid MRI. Ok, it wasn't a Mermaid MRI, it was a heated waterbed massage thingy, but the full body machine was in the shape of sparkly shell. I swear it on my life. They also had quite a selection of steam and sauna rooms in the pool area with different themes, like a Moroccan Hammam and an herbal sauna that smelled like heaven. None of the treatment rooms were set up for more than one person, so that's something to keep in mind if you go with a friend. You ain't gonna be yapping through your mud wraps unless you make good conversation with walls and ceilings (I admit this happens at home sometimes). You will also want to book in advance if you are getting a package done because even though the spa looked pretty dang empty when we got there, they insisted it was a busy day.

Anywho I had a wonderful massage there, a hair treatment, a facial, and a back mud wrap. They were all very nice, barring the painful bits during the facial, and it really was a wonderful day, made even better by the company I had with me!

Luthan Spa website

Walking in Riyadh *HONK*

For a number of reasons, Saudi is not a pedestrian friendly place. The most popular reason would be the brutal heat, which really does preclude walking anywhere in the daytime for a good five months out of the year. But another reason is simply a matter of urban planning - there is no consistent network of sidewalks in this region, so on any given road, you may be walking on sidewalk for a part of it, then the dirt part of a construction zone, then the road itself while you walk around construction barriers, and then back onto a sidewalk. Many of the smaller streets do not have sidewalks at all. Also with the exception of a few parks, a couple of nice streets, or walking around the souks, the lack of control in organizing the growth of the city has led to a disparate (read in: ugly) looking landscape that is not worth exploring on foot.

OK so for all the above reasons, there are pretty much no pedestrians walking around the city, and especially not the abaya-wearing delicate flowers known as women. But from time to time, you just can't avoid walking. Given all the information above though, any time a taxi driver sees a woman walking, they think "oh! she needs a ride. Why isn't she looking at me? I'm gonna let her know I'm here." *HONK* Then they slow down to see if you are looking, which causes all the cars behind the taxi to honk the taxi. *HONK* *HONK *HONK* You must make eye contact and shake your head or wave them away before they move on. Now this is the important part: repeat this fifty times, because THAT my friends, is what taking a walk in Riyadh is like!

Canada demolishes USA

OKAY folks, if you are Canadian, you know that hockey is not just a sport. It is THE sport. Yesterday's Olympic gold medal match was not just about winning another gold, it was about a long standing David and Goliath competition that has been going on for years now. It's not just that we won gold in a magnificent overtime goal by a god on skates, no, it was that we won it against the U.S. Don't get me wrong - the U.S. is our friend, our affectionate if not a bit opinionated big brother. But when it comes to hockey.... oooh boy, that is different. That is like the war of 1812 where we draw the line, stand our ground, and if need be, shoot you mofo's down and set fire to your White House.

The truth is, we know we are outmatched by our neighbour to the south in practically every way. They have more money, more people, more talent, more brainpower, more tanks and guns, more glitz and grandeur, more power, more everything than us. And now, even the NHL which was Canada's domain in the golden Gretzky years is dominated by American teams, and has been for a while. It makes Canadians sad. Most of us don't cry about it, but some of us get quite close. And if you are from Toronto, you know we are extra miserable about losing our chance at the Stanley Cup every frickin frackin fruckin season since 19-fr@#ing-'67 ARGHefhiIHF!!!

Now when we look at the Olympics, and take all our boys back from the American teams they've migrated to, and we compare which country is better, it feels good to know that yes indeed, we are still better at SOMEthing! Yes, it's a bit of an inferiority complex that fuels the rage and passion, but can you blame us? We are small, and yes we do have a rodent as a national symbol, but doggone it, we don't always want to be famous for poutine and peacekeeping.

Anyhow, for anyone curious, I stayed up to watch this game. My friends at home are probably snickering at this, because I'm not a sports person at all. But being an ex-pat makes you patriotic. My hubby and I also went to the Canadian Embassy tonight to watch the game again, with pizza and beer - a traditional Canadian meal. We all stood for the national anthem at the end of the game and sang together. It was so nice to feel like we were close to home, where they are probably all still celebrating.... Go Canada Go!!!!

p.s. not that it affects his ability to govern, but doesn't Stephen Harper look a bit pudgy in a jersey?

the maple leaf club

So this past weekend we attended the Terry Fox charity event at the Canadian embassy. It was a fun night. I always enjoy the Canadian embassy events because I love the set up of their parties with the dance floor out under the open sky, and the food is pretty good. As always, the crowd is polite and nice - and it is fun for people watching as I think singles gravitate towards them. Women are in such high demand that you could be wearing a garbage bag and still receive compliments and attention.

Unfortunately, the only way to get to these events is to know someone who works at the embassy, as the maple leaf club holds events only for embassy staff to help them adjust to the Riyadh environment. No point in calling and asking about these events or parties because you must be a personal invitee of an embassy employee to get invited, and each employee only has a certain number of tickets they are allowed to purchase for friends and family. There's no email list serve you can tack yourself onto, it's just plain and simply who you know. We only go when we're invited by friends and have no way of getting tickets ourselves, so let me pre-emptively apologize for not being able to help you, dear readers.

Where, you ask, are the events for all the Canadians who don't work for the embassy who need assistance adjusting to Riyadh? *shrug* ...do I hear crickets?? ha ha, listen people, if anyone decides to start throwing parties for Canadians, you just let me know and I'll help spread the word ;) I think it's a real shame that our embassy doesn't hold regular events for all Canadians. They have the space and they could make a lot of money, but they just don't have the staff, and I suspect they don't have the inclination to do it.

Riyadh Zoo vs. Wrist Slitting

Which one wins for being the more fun thing to do? You be the judge.

This past weekend turned out to be fantastic wonderful weather. Sun shining and tummies full from a buffet, we set out for our first visit to the Riyadh Zoo. It seemed like the perfect weekend diversion.

After the first few exhibits, it turned into a pity-fest for us. The orangutans were almost bald, and one of them was limping around on a wounded leg.


It's a bit of a shock for a westerner to see animals being liberally fed by the public. There is a good reason why you are not allowed to do so in any other zoo, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out that maybe junk food isn't good for animals (in much the same way it isn't good for humans) not to mention any of the psychosocial factors that weigh into having stuff pelted at them. Popcorn, chocolate bars, used napkins, empty bottles - you name it, it was thrown at an animal at some point. I'm sad to say that it wasn't just the children behind things like that. Makes you wonder whether the right animals have been locked up!

And then there were the curious exhibits that seemed to throw random animals together. See if the below picture makes any sense whatsoever to you. Enlighten me if this mimics any kind of natural habitat anywhere on the face of the earth, and where this mystical place might exist.


On the upside, we did get to see some beautiful animals. The white tigers were stunning and they seemed to be in good shape.


I suppose the whole idea of a zoo itself might be a remnant of our past. They originated before things like television, internet and digital cameras, and it would have been the only way people got to see anything exotic. It seems wrong these days to domesticate wild animals for entertainment value.

The thought of these poor things living through the sweltering heat of a Riyadh summer makes me feel terrible. I'm far from a crazed animal activist (see previous entry on cats), but even I regretted the visit simply on the grounds that humans shouldn't kick ostriches in the face when their child has just offered them a piece of garbage to chew on.

Seriously, what kind of sociopath does that?!

Seriously!

Now you've been warned, so visit at your own risk...

Red Sands Hash

This is one of the most memorable hashes I have been on. It's totally worth the effort to make it out to the desert. A good portion of the desert around Riyadh is rocky and dull, but these dunes were really beautiful. We got up to the top of one of the highest dunes in that area and were rewarded with incredible views. A couple pics here for ya. This first one is before we started the walk.



This next pic was taken just after climbing a huge dune. If you've never climbed up a steep dune before, I can tell you it's hard work. No one made it up the hill in one go - everyone, even the most fit people - had to stop to catch their breaths every ten steps or so. It is like doing the stairmaster on the highest setting and you literally inch up the hill because you sink down with each step. You can see in the distance a little cluster of people. That's everyone at the top trying to stuff their hearts back into their chest cavities.

Saudis at our house

Here's another old entry for ya!

So I'm still a bit surprised that we had a Saudi at our home last week, because it all happened so fast. A casual invitation turned into a serious one and a couple of Saudi men came over for a snack.

Ok, just a bit of background - Saudis and expats don't really mix socially very often - it happens, just it's not the most common thing. It's beyond a language barrier as many Saudis speak excellent English; it's a cultural divide. So, suffice it to say that I haven't really properly interacted with any Saudis here, especially not men. I was surprised to find myself fretting about the whole thing, and wondering the whole time what kinds of things would be rude to say, and what kinds of things would be halal. I worried about giving everyone a hearty handshake like I usually do in Canada. What kinds of cold cuts are on the platter? Would it be funny to say "mystery meat" to a Saudi?

I think the most interesting thing about this whole encounter was that the Saudis seemed a lot more comfortable with this visit than I did. It only took a few short months of zero contact with Saudi men to turn me into a bumbling jittery teenager around these men. It really makes me think about what it would be like to be born into this type of segregation. Does it make you think about it? Just think about it.

Red Sands hashing

Before I left Saudi, some friends of ours were kind enough to let us tag along with them for a nice walk out in the desert. I've blogged about hashing in the past, though I've never mentioned how many locations these people have staked out - I'm pretty sure it's in the hundreds. There are some real dedicated hashers out there committed to finding new spots, who really pour time into organizing. Some of them spend a whole day slicing fruit for the refreshment stations. You have bossy hashers, you have full time hashers, part time hashers, old hashers, young hashers...

I'm the kind that is very part time and very lazy. On a hash, there are usually varying levels of difficulty so that everyone is accommodated. There are difficult/long walks which go over hills, and there are easy/short walks that stay on flat terrain. This particular hash, I wimped out and did the short walk citing a cold (I was truly sick, but then again, I am also truly wimpy), and as I watched those suckers pile up those sandy dunes, I knew I made the right choice, even if 50 people went up the hill and only 6 walked the short one. Later on, I watched as a whole smate of the initially brave shuffled down the hills halfway through to take the rest of the way on the easy path. At least I have no delusions of grandeur.



I think one of the best parts of hashing is the relaxation part, where people sit around, start fires and have snacks. You may not know this about Saudis, but many of them are into the camping scene out in the desert. Saudis love a good campfire as much as Canadians. All the grocery stores have the necessary campfire accoutrements - the snazzy grilling gear, burners, and what not. The first time I saw that section in a grocery store I was utterly confused by where they were taking these items until Hubster explained it all to me. What would I do without Hubster talking in my ear all day? I'd just fall down and die of boredom.

leaving the Kingdom...and IKEA

Yes, it's true, I'm going back to my homeland, glorious and free, oh Canada, we stand on guard for theeee! Who was singing with me? Hmm? No takers? Don't recognize our anthem? Shame on you. Anyways, I've decided it won't be the end of my posting, as people seem to be visiting this blog regularly. I don't know who most of you strange people are, but I feel a weird affection for you, so I'll be going through my pics from the past couple of months and posting about all the things I forgot to post about, and whatever happens in Canada that reminds me of this place.

Well you might be wondering what I've been doing with my last week here. It has been a flurry of decorating as the hubster has a very quiet way of making me feel compelled to do things. He is a master manipulater disguised as a do-gooder, and I bow down to him. The majority of my time has been spent at IKEA, and alternatively, at home assembling things, and waiting for maintenance to show up to hang stuff on the walls and watching with interest as 5 men speaking different languages carried a huge TV cabinet down a flight of stairs. I can tell the maintenance receptionist is tired of hearing my voice on the phone.

IKEA tips in Riyadh:
1. Go in the morning before prayers at noon to avoid horrendous traffic later
2. Multiply your budget by three. IKEA is so cheap you suddenly find yourself needing more stuff and rationalize how inexepensive each item is. Your conscience is silenced by pretty colours and cute little bright things, and then you get the kiss of death at the cash register.
3. Bring a functioning credit card. If your credit card does not work, do not assume they can input another card manually, because they will look at you and say "no m'am." When you insist they try, every cashier will look at you and they will all shake their heads simultaneously at you.
4. Instead of cheap hotdogs, buy cheap schwarmas instead

German Embassy officially better than mine

Tonight my hubby and I went to the German Embassy for a concert by Karlsruher Konzert-Duo http://www.konzertduo.de/ and we had a wonderful time. We're not much into classical music, but I think they managed to pick interesting pieces that would appeal to novices as well as the more cerebral bunch. Our fave for the night was Hungarian Dance No.1 in G Minor - very moody and atmospheric music, and something about the sound of a cello really fills a room. The musicians were received so well at the very end that they did a couple of encores for us which was great. In the picture below, the cellist is wondering just how starved people are here for live music.



Besides the great music, this was our first time at the German embassy here in Riyadh, and while it's not big, it's somehow much nicer than everyone else's embassies. With rocky ponds worked into their landscaping, and a classy looking garden replete with a quiet fountain, it put the giant beaver sculpture in the Canadian embassy to shame. Let's face it, there's no way to make a beaver sculpture look elegant, is there?

They served hors d'oeuvres after the concert and I had missed dinner and had marshmallows for lunch (for reasons we won't go into), so I was dying for food. When I saw the first tray come out it was like something out of "When Animals Attack"...I know it's not rational, but when I'm really hungry at events like these, I believe in the bottom of my heart that they're going to run out of food, and that I have to have my fill before that happens. Well after about the 10th or 15th bitesized morsel had been digested, I was starting to feel a bit heavy, and then embarrassed because all the waiters had turned their antennae on and kept passing by me, smiling and offering more, telling me that they had been looking for me, or following me, or telling me to save room for dessert.

This event got a big thumbs up from me. I'm looking forward to more from the German Embassy.

Intercontinental Oasis

One of the nice parts of this city is the Intercontinental Hotel - it has a nice oasis-like atmosphere to it where you forget you are in Saudi Arabia. The grounds are lush and very well kept. They have a small driving range there that I like to go practice on during the day when it is empty. The most disheartening and distracting thing I find at driving ranges are children half your size sending those balls sailing 150 yards straight down the line. When you're doing really badly, you just want to snap their mini-golf clubs in two. Thankfully there's no little Tigers running around especially during the day at this hotel. Here are some pictures of the grounds. Hmm...I have to work on posting a picture of their sad little driving range. It doesn't bother me so much because I can only hit the balls a certain sad little distance.

embassy party

This past weekend the hubster and I went to a Canadian embassy party in the diplomatic quarter. Cameras were "haraam" so I have no pictures to post, but it was a fun. The dj played a wide array of music, ranging from icelandic sounding suicide music to hillbilly country at the end of the night. While making a request to the dj I made a general life observation that most dj's seem to be monumentally and unbelievably into themselves, no matter what nationality they are. I suppose I shouldn't complain, because they did play my song eventually ;D <-- yes it's an emoticon and I'm unashamed to use it in place of punctuation :) :)

I had my eye on the buffet stand all night waiting for it to open. When I went over to inquire about it the staff replied, "In about 15 minutes m'am, don't worry you'll be the first." I guffawed, but he was right, I was the first. And after proudly declaring this to the schwarma guy, I turned around and almost walked into a much older stern looking man, who said deadpan, "I am second." He then started laughing; and I was kind of embarrassed realizing that I had probably bragged too loudly to the schwarma man about being first. the food turned out to be great, and just the right amount, as I was able to come back for seconds. Yum!

We had a good time all in all - met some canadians and gawked at a gigantic poorly formed beaver statue. The hubster was more fun at this party than he normally is, which was a bonus. ;)

Hashing

Sorry I haven't written in a while - I have a backlog of things I want to post about, but one of the most interesting things that we have done here in KSA is hashing. This consists of a group of people going out into the desert and basically doing running or hiking and it usually involves some amount of juvenile singing at some point. Here is the website of an international group that has a chapter here in Riyadh: http://www.gthhh.com/

We did the long walk which was described as "difficult." Alternate words that came to mind during the walk were "dangerous" or "borderline insane." It was a LOT of fun. The terrain is actually nothing like I pictured, with an absence of sand and abundance of rocks. We were climbing up and down big hills that were full of loose, sharp rocks. It was a really great workout, but I couldn't stop to take any pictures on the hills because I was busy trying to keep up with everybody and focussed on not dying. It was a great workout, and even though I was huffing and puffing up the hills, the beauty of the scenery was not lost on me.

Here are some pics:

golf and other random stuff

I wanted to show you guys some pictures from our weekend. Yesterday we went to the Hotel Intercontinental to play some golf. Though I should not mislead you - I went to the driving range, and the *other* people went to play golf on the green. It was still a great time though. I caught up with the rest of the group once the range closed and took a few pictures. During Ramadan the golf course is empty at night, and it's extremely peaceful. It's almost like an oasis in the middle of the city. You would forget that you're in the middle east, except for the constant religious chanting coming from mosques around the hotel.


We were so disappointed yesterday with our performance that we went to another range today to see whether we could improve.


These are pictures from the Arizona compound, which boasts a driving range, golf course, and a ranch with horses and goats. Lots of goats.


The horse's name is Pearl. Pearl and I would have gotten to know each other a bit better, except when I extended my hand to say hello and give her a little sniff, She got this hungry look in her eye and almost snapped my fingers off. The chickens were eyeing me too, so it was a very short barnyard visit.


And switching gears now, I just wanted to show you an example of some censorship on the sale of an item in a Canadian Tire type store here in Riyadh. You can see the blonde woman is probably wearing some kind of scandalous bathing suit under the black marker. Shame on the Sauna Belt for producing such a lewd ad.

Our Weekend in Riyadh

So I'm not sure how many of you know this, but the weekend here in Saudi is Thursday and Friday rather than Saturday and Sunday. It takes some getting used to. Anyhow, we had a pretty interesting weekend. On Thursday morning my man and I went out to the pool to relax where we ate a big breakfast cooked by yours truly. We saw a familiar face by the pool and my man went into complaint mode with our new friend about his hair and teeth, while I swam in the baby section of the pool...we must seem a little batty. Thursday evening we had our first party at our house, which ended up being fairly well attended mainly due to some very friendly Americans, and we had all sorts of interesting people show up.

The next day, we ate leftovers and vegetated in front of the television in various states of sleep. By the time the late afternoon rolled around it was beginning to look like a pretty uneventful day until our Aussie friend a block away talked us into visiting a textile souk with him. We were shocked to find ourselves in an area of town teeming with south asians with virtually no arabs in sight. It reminded me of the massive blackout in the summer of 2003 in Toronto that caused utter chaos on the roads - everyone spilled into the streets downtown, milling around in confusion. At the souk, people were bartering for fresh fruits and vegetables, and frying peanuts. It was great! We went into a couple of suit shops - here is our friend's driver, modelling some fabric for us. He takes modelling very seriously:


In the evening, we went out for a fantastic steak dinner at a restaurant called Entrecote at the top of Faisaliah. Here is a photo of the mall section of Faisaliah. You are not mistaken, that is indeed a giant bee in the lower right hand corner. This is the kid's section of the mall, and what do kids love more than giant bees?


The Entrecote restaurant has a lot of atmosphere - it's like Panorama in Toronto, except a million times better with steak and no alcohol. And family sections. And plush leather menus. And security screenings with machine-gun toting guards. You know, it's really not like Panorama at all. Anyways, have a look at this beautiful view from the balcony:


While waiting for our driver to show up after dinner, I took a picture of Starbucks - It was 11:45pm and the Starbucks was still open. You can see some saudi men in traditional thobes.


Oh, and these are a couple of random pics I keep meaning to post. Here is a picture of the kids section in one of the malls - every single mall I have been to has one of these sections in it. Some have roller coasters inside. I just wanted to show you how elaborate these children's areas are because we generally don't have anything like it in Canadian malls. Because in Canada I guess we don't care if the kids are bored at the mall - that is their lot in life. We are adults, hear us roar.


And this is a touchscreen electronic map of the Hyatt mall, complete with a Saudi lady avatar that speaks to you. Nifty! Though I still got lost.....

Touring Dubai

We rode a double decker bus to explore Dubai. We had a great time seeing the sights, though the humidity in the air was a bit of a damper on our trip.


We skipped out on the Heritage Village and the Bastakia Quarter, which were deserted. I was content to snap pictures from the air conditioned bus. We stopped by the famous gold souk where we spotted a shirt made of gold. Very classy.


We did manage to step out onto the Jumeirah beach for about 60 seconds to see the famous 7 star hotel Burj Al Arab. For a city that is supposed to be part of the desert, there is a lot of water and greenery around. Apparently Dubai has one of the highest water consumption rates in the world. We stopped by the Mall of the Emirates to have a look at the indoor ski slope. It's actually quite big and you can only see the bottom of the slope from the windows inside the mall. For anyone who thinks this business venture sounds a little insane, I encourage you to count how many people have paid to go in and frolic in the snow:


We also purchased an abaya from the Saudi section of the mall. You would think that since this is a garment that is being worn by half the citizens of the country next door - many of whom end up flooding into Dubai for vacations - that it would be relatively easy to find this item in Dubai. But then you would be wrroooooong!! We managed to get a hold of one eventually. Trying on abayas was as fun as dropping acid in your eyes....

shopping in dubai

I visited the BurJaman mall today. It was breathtaking and everything inside was brutally expensive except for the schwarma. Which by the way was very good.

I went to the Emirates Towers and got my hair cut at Toni and Guy. The muslim woman who sat down beside me asked for a screen to be put up around her for privacy as she took off her head covering and abaya. I think my staring might have been a little obvious because the staff moved me to another chair shortly afterwards.

The temperature here is 41 degrees celsius today. The heat is actually not that bad - it's the humidity that's a killer. For this reason, the streets are totally deserted during the day. The only living things I could find on the street were these guys, and they seem to be having a fight:


Sorry it's a little blurry - I took the picture from a car window because I didn't want to get eaten.

Arrival in Dubai

I'm digesting a late night hamburger in my hotel room right now. The flight was great, as forecasted. The Emirates airplane had the most extensive movie selection and the most overhead storage I have ever seen on an airplane. This is also the first time I have received little extras like toiletries and wet towels in economy. On top of that the food was surprisingly good and above par for airplane grub. The pilot listed about 10 languages spoken by the staff on the airplane as we were taking off, including some languages I have never heard of.

The Dubai airport is enormous. It also contains a flying saucer as decoration inside. I was walking for a good 15-20 minutes at a good clip just to get to customs. The lady who checked my passport asked about the purpose of my journey and when I mentioned I have an extended stopover in Dubai before completing my trip to Riyadh, she shot me a look of disapproval mixed with pity and advised, "Take a nice vacation here before you go there." She also told me to go shopping with my man's credit card.

This is my first taste of censorship while surfing the web tonight. I was trying to view some Sesame Street pastry heads. Elmo and Big Bird heads, to be exact.


It's 2am here and 6:45pm Toronto time. My circadian rhythms are all confused by the time difference. I'm going to try to get back to sleep now =)