Read all about it!

Reading the newspapers these days really makes you feel depressed. I used to read the newspapers for their information and entertainment value. It kept me up to date with the latest around the world. It opened my eyes (though it wasn't always necessary the truth) to the outside of the shell that was home.

But now, more often than not, its telling you who's going bankrupt, who's dying from bombs or earthquakes and what you cannot eat. And that basically sums up the entire content.

China. What is going on there? How did it happen that this "up and coming super power" would stoop so low and wreck so much havoc in the food industry. With all the food scandals going on, I take longer to do my supermarket shopping now, making sure that I do not buy anything that is made in China. The milk and dairy thing was ridiculous but now I read in today's paper that eggs are no good too? The milk and eggs alone already make up 2/3 of my breakfast menu. I'll only be eating spoonfuls of strawberry jam for breakfast pretty soon if they found something wrong with the bread too. That is if they don't discover that the jam was actually a concoction of red paint and sugar first.

The financial crisis. So we're in another recession huh? Hell, I don't even know whats going on anymore. Who's going down. Who's paying who. Who wants their money back. Who got cheated. Who bought a house and couldn't afford the mortgage.

I don't read the papers anymore. I merely glance through them and then I chuck it into the corner and wait for the recycling guy to come pick them up.

The world has gone bonkers. And we only have ourselves to blame. Humans are really a virus that has infected the earth. Shitheads.

Another day, another conundrum

Ahhhhhhhh, nothing like a nice hot cup of earl grey tea to help you unwind after a long day at work. Of course, in Saudi Arabia, to fully enjoy hot tea without feeling like you're ingesting molten lava while sitting in the earth's core, I had to turn the air-conditioning down to about 15 degrees. I also had to take off my shirt. In fact, it was a necessity to take off my pants as well and sit down wearing only my boxers. And now, I come to realise that I have unwittingly revealed that I am sitting here in my underwear, typing this blog entry. Poo.

Well no matter, coz that can't be anywhere as weird as what happened at work today. Picture this; Its the tail-end of the check-in process. Only 2 passengers are in the check-in area, each served by a counter. The other counters are empty, as was my dedicated business class counter. This random guy (turns out he was a passenger traveling on Garuda) walks over to the business class counter and stops about 4 feet away from the check-in agent. He looks untidy and he's got some funky head gear on. Not quite a turban, but not the saudi head-scarf either. Lets call him Scrappy.

Scrappy then proceeds to tug at my business class carpet! He pulls it about 2 meters away and lays it at an angle. He then gets on it and starts to pray! WHAT THE HELL? I was dumbfounded. Flabbergasted. Gobsmacked. What is this nincompoop doing?? Well obviously he's praying... but on my check-in carpet?!?! I walked over, and I could see the ground staff supervisor walking over as well.

Darren: "Excuse me sir, please get off my carpet"
Scrappy: "No, is my. sha allah I pray"
Darren: "not on my carpet you're not"
Scrappy: "Where you carpet? no yours is my"

I calmly bent forward and pointed to the "business class" font, next to the familiar golden bird. "what do you think this says?"


At which he looked up at me, eyes wider than the dinner plates I have at home. Hell, it looked like alla himself had reached out and grabbed scrappy's balls. The ground staff supervisor then grunted something to scrappy in arabic and scrappy walked off looking defeated. "sorry boss, sometimes these people dunno." Abdullah said to me. "Oh boss I will be on leave from November to December. Going to sell samosa. ok?"

"uh.....ok.....?" I replied. Walking over to my check-in staff, I muttered, "Shit I'm going nuts, I thought I heard Abdullah telling me that he was taking leave to go sell samosas"

"oh yes, he opens a shop by the road for pilgrims to buy samosa when they go for hajj" he replied. By now, I had no expression on my face. There was just too much weirdness going on. "you're shitting me!" I said. "oh sorry boss, maybe its from the hummus and beans I ate a lot for lunch". At this point, I just walked off to seek solace in my office.

Going up!

Sorry if I've kept you waiting (Yes, all 3 of you who read my blog), but its been quite a hectic week for me. Well I'm here now so, here we go.

Moving on through the corridor by the dining area, you'll pass by a toilet, a closet and a store room.


Now, I would like to pause here for a moment and talk about God's sense of humor. See, back in MEL when I was holed up in that piegon hole of an apartment, I used to complain about how bad the design was coz there was practically no storage space. What that docklands apartment had were little holes placed randomly to keep your stuff in. And the lame excuse for a wardrobe didn't even fit my shirts coz it was too shallow! Whoever designed that apartment must've had hobbits with very little belongings in mind. I also used to lament about how having more than 1 toilet would be great for the days when Celine was taking a shower and I really needed to do a number 2.

So fast forward to Jeddah and guess what? My prayers were answered! In this house, I have 4 toilets, 3 of them equipped with showers. I have 2 giant wardrobes in the bedrooms and a walk-in wardrobe in the master. There are 2 store rooms which I don't use coz I dump all my stuff in the maid's room and heaps of shelves around the house for storing things. You ask for a wave and God gives you a tsunami.

Righto, heading up the stairs, you'll arrive at the landing that links the 3 bedrooms.The 2 smaller bedrooms are on the left, the master bedroom is on the right and we've got a bathroom right there in the center. So for my guests, whom I'll never get since there are no tourists allowed in SA, there are 2 bedrooms to choose from. Both equipped with a single bed, built-in robe and shelves. Finally, we then arrive at the master bedroom. Its got a king sized bed which is good since I like to sleep spread eagle, and pretty much everything you need to be comfortable.

So thats pretty much what I come home to everyday. Its comfy. No complaints here. Though it does get lonely and "empty" at times. Oh well... I should just be glad that I have food on my plate, roof over my head and a big comfy bed.

I'll leave you with a picture taken from the window of my bedroom. Till the next time...