so this is one of them travel blogs.
the trip started off with one hell of an international flight, my very first, and that too in freaking business class. it rocks!!!! don't know how else to describe it. and this is thanks to the fact that economy is full of people who would usually travel the unreserved compartment in our trains. good enough reason for me though :) the first sight of the country i got form up there wasn't very pleasing, just desert stretched across with absolutely nothing to look at in particular. well, i knew right about then that that was something that i had to get used to. the scariest part when i reached the Riyadh airport were the announcements reiterating the death punishment for drug possession. creepy it was. and when i reached immigration, i kept thinking there would be some weed lying around in my bag somewhere. paranoia. anyway, there were no issues there, except for an extremely long line of ppl who didn't know how to fill out forms.
the taxi that waited for me brought me to my lavish villa in the diplomatic quarters. and once again, there was no scenery on the way. damn. now, lavish is the word for these villas. the entry is restricted by a freaking huge machine gun manned by scary terrorist looking arab dudes. and the guards are mostly mal.
they were happy to see me. the villa... man they're huge. our company;s got 3 of them rented for around 15 odd people. huge structures all set for one hell of a party that i could picture the second i saw them. so my drinking friends were anxiously awaiting my arrival with the hope that i would save them from the lack of alcohol. a short conversation with the mal guard gets me through to a bottle of charayam - arrack - made out of , guess what, dates. and all this happened real fast. had to make small talk with the guy though. 100 riyals for a bottle. 700 for johnny and everything else. saudi fucking arabia does have alcohol my friends. expensive alcohol. we were obviously slightly paranoid about consuming the said liquor though, thanks to the potential threats in drinking arrack and also due to the freaking country's stuck-up-ed-ness. but we go ahead nonetheless. it wasn't half bad. finished a huge plastic bottle by the evening and didnt feel much then. but we knew it was on its way. oh it was fun.
so we head over and play some pool. make complete fools of ourselves. by around 7 in the night, we decide, its time to hit the jacuzzi. woohoo. spent bloody 2 hours in it. heavenly is the word. adding to these, there's a tt table (played a bit today), a swimming pool, darts (!!!!), a sauna, bball court, football on the bball court, a tennis court and a gym that looks real fancy from outside. have to venture inside ASAP. cos the food scene here is a bit too good. a cook makes dinner and lunch. the fridges are stocked with juices and fattening material. tonight, i headed towards the city centre for dinner. saturated fat was consumed shamelessly. its scary when i think about all the weight i might put on if i sit on my arse and do nothing.
anyway, its 0030 now and i shd get some sleep. tomorrow, ya a saturday, is my first day at the bank. mornings are early here, have to leave by 8. damn.
hoping to stay alive and hang on to all my limbs and bodily organs till i return, which i think could be a month and a half later.
P.S. did i tell u the ex-pats stay in the villas around us which means a decent population of scantily clad women at the pool? well, at least that's what I'm hoping for.
the trip started off with one hell of an international flight, my very first, and that too in freaking business class. it rocks!!!! don't know how else to describe it. and this is thanks to the fact that economy is full of people who would usually travel the unreserved compartment in our trains. good enough reason for me though :) the first sight of the country i got form up there wasn't very pleasing, just desert stretched across with absolutely nothing to look at in particular. well, i knew right about then that that was something that i had to get used to. the scariest part when i reached the Riyadh airport were the announcements reiterating the death punishment for drug possession. creepy it was. and when i reached immigration, i kept thinking there would be some weed lying around in my bag somewhere. paranoia. anyway, there were no issues there, except for an extremely long line of ppl who didn't know how to fill out forms.
the taxi that waited for me brought me to my lavish villa in the diplomatic quarters. and once again, there was no scenery on the way. damn. now, lavish is the word for these villas. the entry is restricted by a freaking huge machine gun manned by scary terrorist looking arab dudes. and the guards are mostly mal.
they were happy to see me. the villa... man they're huge. our company;s got 3 of them rented for around 15 odd people. huge structures all set for one hell of a party that i could picture the second i saw them. so my drinking friends were anxiously awaiting my arrival with the hope that i would save them from the lack of alcohol. a short conversation with the mal guard gets me through to a bottle of charayam - arrack - made out of , guess what, dates. and all this happened real fast. had to make small talk with the guy though. 100 riyals for a bottle. 700 for johnny and everything else. saudi fucking arabia does have alcohol my friends. expensive alcohol. we were obviously slightly paranoid about consuming the said liquor though, thanks to the potential threats in drinking arrack and also due to the freaking country's stuck-up-ed-ness. but we go ahead nonetheless. it wasn't half bad. finished a huge plastic bottle by the evening and didnt feel much then. but we knew it was on its way. oh it was fun.
so we head over and play some pool. make complete fools of ourselves. by around 7 in the night, we decide, its time to hit the jacuzzi. woohoo. spent bloody 2 hours in it. heavenly is the word. adding to these, there's a tt table (played a bit today), a swimming pool, darts (!!!!), a sauna, bball court, football on the bball court, a tennis court and a gym that looks real fancy from outside. have to venture inside ASAP. cos the food scene here is a bit too good. a cook makes dinner and lunch. the fridges are stocked with juices and fattening material. tonight, i headed towards the city centre for dinner. saturated fat was consumed shamelessly. its scary when i think about all the weight i might put on if i sit on my arse and do nothing.
anyway, its 0030 now and i shd get some sleep. tomorrow, ya a saturday, is my first day at the bank. mornings are early here, have to leave by 8. damn.
hoping to stay alive and hang on to all my limbs and bodily organs till i return, which i think could be a month and a half later.
P.S. did i tell u the ex-pats stay in the villas around us which means a decent population of scantily clad women at the pool? well, at least that's what I'm hoping for.
