Q&A Portion 12

Hi dear tarhas! How's January treating you? It's still cold in Riyadh and a Saudi officemate told us that it'll reach -7 degrees this weekend. Oh my! Let's all bundle up then! :) Anyway, we know we owe you a lot of entries and hopefully, we'll be able to recover from all those 'silent' weeks. You'll be hearing more from us in the next few days.

Orayt then, let's begin!

It's been a long time since we had the Q&A Portion. If you notice, we tend to create a series of entries and then ignore them. Like hello A Photo A Day, Collage Week, and Q&A Portion?! Where are you now? Haha. (We also forget to write entries, imagine?! Haha!) Yes, yes, we tend to write according to what we feel like writing and not go within a scope within a schedule. So, anyway, we'd like to revive the Q&A Portion and this time, we have a "Where Can I Find...?" edition. We've been asked by readers and likers in our FB page where we can find some stuff. Some blog readers might have not encountered the answers in our FB page so we're sharing them here too.


Where Can I Find...

1. An eye mask/sleeping mask

The easiest and most convenient place would have to be Claire's. They have this funky-designed eye masks suited for children and adults trying to be children. Sometimes, we see them in lingerie shops too. If you want it free, ask a stewardess for eye masks when you're flying to Saudi Arabia or anywhere. And nick keep them. We're sure they wouldn't miss it. Qatar Airways and Etihad Airlines give their passengers free loot bags with travel necessities in them. ;)

2. Jeffrey Campbell shoes/bags

There are no JC stores here in Riyadh. You can only buy them online. Shoegarfreeruby almost always go to Solestruck.com for her unusual shoe needs. Sometimes, we also use Envishoes and Nasty Gal. Sundrenched warns you against using the latter though because she didn't have a good experience shopping with them.

3. Kikay Camels

This is probably the most asked item in the blog. Where did we get these cute keychains? We got them from a bazaar in our workplace. The bazaar has long been gone so we don't know where they are now or if they have other branches in Riyadh. What we do know is these kikay camels, along with Saudi Arabia souvenirs (mugs, photo frames, magnets, etc.) are fairly easy to find. Gift shops in the city carry them. For example, there's a perfume/gift store carrying this near Al Rajhi Supermarket (beside the Military Hospital).

4. BB Creams

For those who are encountering this for the first time here, BB (Blemish Balm) creams are all the rage in Asia in 2011. They act as moisturizer and light foundation in one. There are a lot of BB creams brands in Korea and the Philippines but we haven't seen them here in Saudi Arabia. Maybe because it's not made for the Middle Eastern market. Remember that we have different types and colors of the skin so what works for Southeast Asians might not work for the Middle Easterners. A reader asked us about the Missha brand. It's not available here in Riyadh. Your best bet is online shopping, of course.

5. H&M Cosmetics

They're here in Riyadh! While not really known for their high quality makeup line (ala MAC), H&M carries very affordable cosmetics that are best for those who are just starting to build their kikay kit or those who just wants to add something new and versatile in their kits. Sundrenched hoarded their lip glosses and eyehadow palettes just because. Haha. The H&M branch in Granada Center carries them. (S haven't been to any other branches since she got back from my vacation in the Philippines.)

6. Organic Products

When we were trying the Master Cleanse (major fail for S), we scoured the city for organic stores that might carry pure maple syrup (not the ones we pour in our pancakes). We found Bio-Best in Olaya (across Al-Akaria Mall). We called them first to find out if they have the item we were looking for and good thing, they did. They offer a variety of organic foods, organic beauty products, and even natural supplements (herbal medicines). There are two more shops in Oruba Road that offer organic products but we failed to get their names. We usually pass them when we go to Tokyo Restaurant. In the Kingdom, there's Al Watania Agricultural Company, which uses organic fertilizers on their produce and natural feeding on their animals. Their products can be found in Tamimi and Azizia Hypermarkets. These huge supermarkets (also Lulu) also offer imported organic brands so be on the lookout on your next grocery shopping day.

7. Beauty Products and Salon Supplies

In the Philippines, we have Hortaleza or HBC for our salon products needs. In Riyadh, we have Nazih Trading in Olaya Road, just in between Centria Mall and Habitat. They offer a lot of beauty products  (hair care, skin care, makeup, nail treatments) and salon supplies in more affordable prices (as opposed to going to the salon and paying  SR150 for a hot oil treatment for instance). You can even buy salon furniture here if you want to build your own in-house parlor. Sosyal! We found O.P.I., one of the leading nail polish brands in the world, here.

Do you have other questions? Do you want to find anything ( we don't do missing passports or cellphones, okay?)? ASK us by commenting in the blog, visiting our Facebook page, tweeting your questions @thepinktarha, or emailing us at thepinktarha@gmail.com! :)