The 2014 FIFA World Cup Viewing at The Ritz-Carlton

SOCCER IS THE BIGGEST sport in Saudi Arabia and without a doubt, every true-blooded football fan will be glued to this historical sports event: The 2014 FIFA World Cup. It is quite the common practice here in the city that when a big game is happening, you can be assured that the streets are clear and that it’s trending on Twitter. The moment the game is over though, it is doomed to transform to a street party-ish frenzy – that is if the club that they are rooting for wins! So if you and your friends/family want to stay risk-free from all the havoc of teenage testosterone post-game-night, we suggest you stay away from the streets and head on over to The Ritz.

The Ritz-Carlton Football Lounge

Our experience of the opening games of the 2014 FIFA World Cup was not anywhere close to chaos or frenzy though. Instead, we were able to witness this grand event in the luxurious comforts of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, where they beautifully transformed their poolside area into a lush and relaxed viewing atmosphere complete with white couches and faux green grass for a true soccer-field feel. Though it’s not just the décor that will catch your attention -- upon arriving to the site, your eyes will automatically glaze over the 9x6 meters-long LED screen that’s showcasing the World Cup event itself. That television (if it even still classifies as one) is of majestic proportions! We lounged around as the countdown was at 6 minutes before the opening started and we were treated to some creative canapés from their hotel restaurant. Drinks also poured in (not the alcoholic type of course) and all we could do was mesmerize at that huge TV in front of us even though the commentators were speaking Arabic. 

Such a relaxing sight. 

Another winning top view.

A television bigger than life!

Finally the opening ceremonies commenced with the area fully packed. Admittedly though, the general feedback of the opening acts were that it was colorful but lackluster, with most visitors expecting a production number with more pizzazz considering that it is BRAZIL who is hosting this year. Nevertheless, who can complain seeing J. Lo perform? I bet the men in the audience couldn’t. :)

It's staaaarting!

Hey yo, J. Lo. 

Brazil fans!

Brazil eventually won the opening game against Croatia at 3-0. So did the Ritz, for hosting such a splendid viewing event. It was indeed, an elegant premiere of a sport that is well-loved in this country. What’s better is that the viewing at The Ritz-Carlton is open to women and families too! You can choose to watch it by the poolside or down by their very fancy bowling alley which are also equipped with big screen TVs for your viewing pleasure. It would be something different and fun for you and the girls to do on a night out (maybe even play some bowling or billiards yourself!). 

The cozy, Strike Bowling Alley.

Big couches and a big TV. Not to mention top-notch service. 

To watch the special viewing at The Ritz-Carlton, call 011-802-8020 to book your seats. Matches begin from 6:30 PM to 3:00 AM and there is a minimum fee per person of 285SAR (food and beverages included). 

Also, if you are going to take photos and upload them to your social media, don't forget to hashtag them with #RCMemories.  Smile and say, Ole Ola! 

(Professional photos were provided by The Ritz-Carlton Hotel's management)

xoxo,

Eyecandy

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Riyadh

T: 011-802-8020

Website: http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/Riyadh/Default.htm

Like them on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ritzcarltonriyadh

Renting in Riyadh

Hello Lovelies, SP here. As a newly-married couple, my hubby and I have been on the lookout for a new place to move into and I realized that it would be nice to share the experience to our readers who are thinking of bringing their families here in the Kingdom. I'll write about our house hunting experience as we go along. This will be a part of a series of post detailing our house-hunting adventures and renovations. So hop along our quest for the perfect nest!

One of the basic things you need to think about when relocating to Saudi Arabia is housing. While some expats are lucky enough to have their accommodations readily provided by their employers, there are those who get their housing allowances in cash and will therefore need to look for suitable apartment to live in on their own. This doubly important if you're planning on bringing your family to the kingdom. 

There are so many factors you have to consider when looking for a rental home in Saudi Arabia, such as the neighborhood, access to schools, groceries and malls, hospitals and to your work, as well as the cost of renting per year.

You can begin by checking Real Estate Agencies, also known as Aqaris, for available units around the area. They usually have offices around the areas they market. This way you can find out the rental rates around the area you're targeting.

 
Aside from Aqaris, you can also check online listings such as Expatriate.com and Dubizzle.com. Those websites are usually chock-full of ad posts for rental units available and even other items such as furniture, cars, etc. You can also try the services of relocation companies such as Move One to help you with your move to Saudi Arabia. 

These are some of the housing options available for expats in Riyadh:

Residential Compounds

Photo is from Al Hamra Oasis Village Website

Residential Compounds are large gated neighborhoods specifically designed and marketed for western expats in mind. Most of these compounds offer 2-3 bedroom furnished houses with beautiful gardens and the convenience of amenities such as mini grocers, restaurants, pools and recreation facilities, in house maintenance service and 24-hour security service. Al Hamra Oasis Village, for example, is a popular choice because of its proximity to the British School.  Of course, renting in a compound comes with a hefty rental rate, which is anywhere from 100,000 SAR to 300,000 SAR per year, depending on the compound.

Villa Rental

Villas are large houses with lots of rooms, usually with its own private yard and parking. Some villas also have their own private pools. These are usually privately owned by Saudi locals and are rented to the public through an Aqari. Rates are usually from 50,000 SAR and above, per year, depending on the facilities.

Flat Rental and Villa Portion Rental
Apartment buildings are very popular in Riyadh. These are 3-4 story buildings with independent flats. There’s usually one gate to the building and each flat have their own entrance. Usually flats come in 2-3 bedroom units, with hall, kitchen and bathrooms. Most of the time, there are no dedicated parking spaces so residents just park anywhere the building. These are offered by building owners or through the Aqari. Depending on the location and size, rents can range anywhere from 14,000 SAR to 40,000 SAR.

Furnished Apartments

As the name implies, these apartments are fully furnished. Most of the time these are 1 bedroom to 3 bedroom units. Priced around 12,000 SAR to 30,000 SAR per year depending on location and amenities provided.

Subletting

There’s also the option of sharing a large flat with other people, where you occupy only a room while the living room, kitchen and bath are shared areas. The rates are cheaper usually starting at 4800 SAR per year. These are usually offered to bachelors who only need bed spacing. Single ladies are usually provided accommodations by their employers and are not encouraged to rent on their own.

Again, I’d like to emphasize that these prices and electricity/water charges ranges vary considerably based on many factors, such as location, building type and size. There’s no fixed rate for these charges. There are some rents that already include electricity and water, and there are some units rented exclusive of those charges. Expect rents to be much higher along business centers such as Olaya and King Fahad. Also the price ranges stated in this post is as of press time. Rental rates change over time.

At the end of the day, the choice really boils down to your budget, space requirements and accessibility to your work area.

I hope this post has been helpful. My hubby and I are still in the process of looking for a suitable apartment and it’s a learning process indeed. Insha’Allah, next time I’ll write about our personal house-hunting experience.

Til' my next post,

Sampaguita Pride

Sponsored Video: Continue Helping A Child Reach 5

Everyone is worried about he MERS virus in Saudi Arabia and there’s a good reason for this fear. Most MERS patients have succumbed to it due to various infections and diseases that got worse when they contracted the virus. Since there’s no vaccine yet to cure it, our workplace has stressed on the importance of proper hygiene especially on washing our hands. This brings to mind the campaign that Lifebuoy launched last year. 

Last year, Lifebuoy adopted Thesgora, Inda by teaching healthy hand washing habits and reduced the incidents of diarrhea from 36% to 5%. The mission to help celebrate every child’s fifth birthday by stopping the spread of preventable diseases is still on! This year, Lifebuoy is adopting Bitobe, Indonesia where many children also lose their lives before their fifth birthday to diseases. 

Mothers in of Utari, Indonesia are doing their best for their children.

In Indonesia, a tree is planted every time a child is born. But with the many cases of children’s death before they reach 5 years of age, the tree is all that remains. It is a must to help children live with the trees that symbolize them. 

Lifebuoy’s Help A Child Reach 5 campaign aims to help this village through the active promotion of health and hygiene education. The campaign was conceived based on research that 1.7 million children failed to reach their fifth birthday every year because of preventable infections and promotes handwashing with soap as a simple action that can save 600,000 child lives each year. Lifebuoy is committed to change the handwashing behavior of a billion people by 2015. 

For more information, visit www.lifebuoy.com. Washing our hands properly will not only prevent us from contracting diarrhea but also other viruses that causes sickness. The act of proper hand washing with soap is, more than ever, very timely.

This post is sponsored by Lifebuoy.

Go Careem!

Options, options, options! 

This line from a popular Filipino movie came to mind when I was writing about the taxi apps a few months ago. Suddenly, we get more than our share of options in commuting in Riyadh! It's not easy and it's certainly not easy to let our "commuting in Riyadh is dangerous" mentality go because surely, we still have that heightened alertness when we're out in the public (commuting or not) but sometimes, it's not always true that we have no choice. We always have a choice. Sometimes, choiceS. And now, options are made available to us when our fathers, husbands, and brothers cannot drive us to places we want to go to. So at least our frustrations are kept to a minimum. Haha! So let's see, there's Easy Taxi and Smart Taxi which uses the regular cabs. And there's Uber that uses private cars and another... Careem, the online chaffeur-driven service in the Middle East.

The Careem website

I first knew of Careem when I was researching for the taxi apps article (remember that I mentioned it in this article?) but I didn't get the chance to try it before I went home to the Philippines for a two-month hiatus. I got back in the Kingdom two weeks ago and in one of those days, I got the chance to use the Careem app. 

The Careem mobile app (iOS)

The Careem mobile app is nicely designed mainly using an eye-popping color of yellow green and blue. Careem, a private car booking service, is available in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Karachi, Boston, San Francisco, and now... Riyadh. Customers can now book a car, track their rides in real-time, pay with credit card, and receive receipts online. 

So basically, Careem is like the taxi apps we've reviewed... with some perks. What sets Careem apart from others is the availability of booking a car beforehand, or at a certain hour when you need it. Also, you can book a car online, whenever you have an internet connection. No need to download the app. But, it's also good to have the app in handy. Anyway, I used the iphone app when I first used Careem. 

The Careem experience

Of course, I signed up first. Credit card is needed to use Careem. When I used my app, it opened to a panel that has four options: Book, Bookings, Rates, and Share. I clicked on Book and it took me to a page that defined my location. It tells me the number of Careem cars (34) within 10 km radius of where I am. Then it took me to a page where I can search the place where I want to go. But since I'm going to pick up my friend first, I decided to select the "I will guide the driver" option. The app then goes to find a Careem car. And finally, it does. It provides the driver's name, how far away he is in terms of distance and time, and the kind of car he's driving. No plate number though. There's an option to call the driver. Once the driver is near, I received a text message informing me that he's 1 minute away. And when he finally arrived, that's when the plate number is revealed. 

A black Lincoln car came to pick me up. I nearly burst out laughing... but not because of the car itself. After all, it was a luxury sedan. I found the car a bit funny because during that week I was obsessed in reading a series by writer Michael Connelly. It involved a defense attorney that works at the back of his... Lincoln car thus he was called the "Lincoln Lawyer"! Haha! Read the books when you have the chance, they're good reads. Anyway, coincidence aside, I entered the car and found it clean. The driver was friendly and he drives nicely. I had to click on the "Next" option. An option to rate the driver while the trip is still ongoing pops up. After picking up my friend who lives nearby, we decided to go to Kingdom Mall. I paid SR 58 for this trip.

Bye, Mr. Lincoln! :)

I find Careem a bit more expensive than the other private car taxi app I've ridden. I'm not sure what decides their fare because it doesn't provide a computation in their receipt but the fees are a bit higher. According to the website, their rates depend on distance and wait time. For example, from my house to my workplace, Careem charges me SR 40. The other taxi app only charges me SR 29. Also, after the experience I had above, I've tried Careem a few times already. While the cars look good outside, the insides are a bit shabby and old. The drivers are friendly though. One thing I like about Careem is that you can depend on their cars during rush hour. Whether it's a busy time or not, Careem seems to always have a free car that can be booked. So that's a major point. 

So here goes another promo code for you, Riyadhizens! If you're using Careem for the first time, try putting PT50 in the promo section during sign up and you'll receive SR 50 free credits! Woot right? 

Use PT50 when you sign up!

Here's what you have to do to avail of this promo code:
1. Visit the Careem website at www.careem.com and click on SIGN UP at the top of the page.
2. Add personal details and click on Have a Promotion Code,
3. Enter PT50 and click on Sign U. You will receive a 50 SR free credit.
4. Add credit card details.
5. In the driver's notes at the bottom, add PT50.
***Only the first 100 users would get this special offer.

It's the perfect ride to the mall now that the Riyadh Shopping and Entertainment Festival has started! Learn what stores are already on sale from The Pink Tarha Facebook page. Then go! Enjoy a comfy ride with Careem!

Isn't it a good thing that we have these options already? Of course we still advise that you take precautionary measures to ensure your safety... not just in Riyadh but anywhere you go. Enjoy the freedom, ladies! We all deserve it. ;) ~ Sundrenched

Q&A Portion 14 and some UPOU Updates

Hello, lovelies! 

First of all, I would like to thank our readers who read our first two UPOU posts! A year after I finished my Master's Degree in Development Communication course at UPOU, I’ve decided to finish my Professional Teaching Certification (PTC) course to qualify for the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET). So now, I’m just three units short of finishing PTC! Haha, I know aral na naman?! I guess I really enjoy Distance Learning. 

I also want to share some changes to UPOU since I graduated. 

UPOU's Student Portal

First is their Online University Registration System (OURSYS).   Now, everything is streamlined and completely online. Everything! Once you’re admitted to UPOU, you can request access to OURSYS to enroll and pay for your tuition online. You can access the OURSYS through the Student Portal during enrollment period. No need to send a hard copy of your registration form to UP! 

With the Student Portal, students can also check their grades, apply for course completion, drop subjects or apply for Leave of Absence with just a click of a button. This is so much better than before, when we had to email the registrar just to check if our professors already submitted our grades. 

Speaking of streamlined, UPOU's Moodle Site is also updated and now you can take the exam right inside Moodle. Before, if we need to take the exam online we had to schedule a webcam conference with a proctor. But now, we can take the exam online along with our classmates. No cheating issues as most Post Grad exams are in essay format. 

Another change would be the academic calendar shift from June to August! So we’ll be starting class on August/September like UP Diliman and would be applicants will have more time to prepare for their application. Also PTC is now a trimester course, which means you can finish the program faster.

Oh and we're still getting a lot of inquiries from our readers so I've compiled a new set of questions from readers about UPOU:

1. Is the entrance exam hard? 

For UPOU, the exams are called UGAT or Undergraduate Assessment Test, it is similar to UPCAT or other College Entrance Exams. I didn’t get to try this because I was applying for a Post-grad Program, admission to which is based on the TOR. I can't say whether it's hard or not, and that will ultimately depend from one person to another. Of course, you need to study before you take any kind of exam so good luck! 

2. Do you know if UPOU accepts down payment on the very first enrollment of a newly admitted student? 

As of now, UPOU only accepts full payment. But they recently launched their Online University Registration System (OURSYS) and you can choose to pay using a credit card.

3. How did you handle your studies well?

To be honest, I just paced myself well and really took time management seriously. I printed out blank calendars and at the beginning of the semester I would mark all my deadlines. I also signed up for online libraries like Questia.com to help me with my papers.

4. Can you give me some tips on how to shift grad programs? 

You’ll need to inform the registrar and re-apply for the new program. This means that you’ll have to fill out another form, pay for application fee and send in the documents before the application deadline. Just like before.

5. Was there ever a time throughout the 2 1/2 years where you had to personally go home for say a requirement?

For my course, everything was online. But for some courses like Master's Degree in Nursing (MAN), you have to do your OJT at Philippine General Hospital. I know that MAN students schedule their vacations around their OJT schedules.

6. Is the curriculum relevant and competitive to give the students an edge in their chosen field?

Yes, the curriculum is designed by the University of The Philippines.

7. Is UPOU a recognized educational institution abroad?

Yes, UPOU is a part of the University of the Philippines system and is recognized abroad.

 

8. Is the PTC program good to take if you want to teach in preschool?
PTC subjects are Education subjects with choice electives in Science Teaching and English Teaching. If you need to take the LET then taking the PTC is a good idea. But if you need specialization on Pre-school teaching, then you should look for early-childhood education courses.

9. I would really appreciate any recommendation for a reviewer.

You can try published reviewers for College Entrance Exams like MSA.

10. If my family back home in manila is the one sending my application, which fee should we pay?

You’ll have to pay for 100 USD even if the application package will be coming from the Philippines, since you are abroad. When I was based in the Philippines, I paid 500 Pesos. But when I was abroad, I paid 100 USD.

11. How do I start reviewing for the Entrance Exam?

You can try buying reviewers like MSA or you can join review classes in the Philippines. You can also try to check with Philippine Schools in Riyadh if they accommodate other students during their reviews. They usually hold UPCAT reviews 2 months before the UPCAT exam. (The operative word is try, since this is just an idea and I don't know if schools will actually let you. Still, no harm in trying.)

12. Can you advise which Masters Program I should take?

Only you can decide on that as you would need to consider what you plan to do with your degree. However, when choosing a post-grad course I was advised by my professor to choose something that is vertically aligned to my course since I planned to teach college. 

13. How long did it take for you to find out if you're accepted?

A: This depends per College but it's usually around 2-3 months. 

For specific inquiries, please email info@upou.edu.ph.

Cheers!

Sampaguita Pride