Q&A Portion 5

It's another weekend in Riyadh! Yey! The Pink Tarha is spending it by sifting through your questions in our Formsprng account. Keep 'em coming!

1. Hi there, I hope you still view your post. I just want to ask the contact info of Baher Villas and please inform me how much the rent of the room for over night. TY very much. Your utmost response is appreciated.

Unfortunately, when we went to Baher Villas, I didn't get the chance to take their contact numbers. We were also on just a day trip so we didn't make use of their rooms for an overnight stay. My family and I stayed in a hotel in the center of Al-Khobar and just drove to the Baher Villas for an afternoon swim. Entrance fee is at SR75 per person. There were talks that it's SR3,000 per night per room in Baher but I'm not sure. If that's true, that's expensive! (But it was also the peak season during that time coz it's the Eid vacay). I hope some expats in Al-Khobar who know about Baher can shed some light to the resort's rates. - Sundrenched

2. Hello again, ladies! I noticed Eyecandy has an abaya with an attached hood to it. Do you know where i could buy one like that? Thanks... Jeel =)

Hi Ms. Jeel! Deira and the Kuwaiti souq along King Fahd Road are your best bets when it comes to abayas with hoods. Although we must say that they're pretty rare nowadays. Designs are limited. If there's a seamstress in your neighborhood (usually found on ladies' salons too), you can also ask them to sew a hood to your abaya.

3. I have seen some stunning evening dresses from Jeddah. The label says M.A.G, and they are really beautiful. Is there a website that i can view and purchase them from?

Unfortunately, we couldn't find any information on M.A.G. If it is a local Jeddah clothing line, the chances of us knowing about it is very slim because we're in Riyadh and we haven't encountered it here. Sorry! We hope you find other alternatives though.

4. I thank Google for giving me the link to your blog. It gave me lots of tips on how to survive upon arrival to KSA. I'm Jin from Sydney and on the process of moving to the kingdom for work. Strange, I know. But thanks again and keep up the awesome work!

Thank you very much. We're glad to know that our blog has been helping Saudi Arabia-bound people like you. Good luck on your work and enjoy your stay (as weird as that may seem) in the land of sand. Please continue reading our blog.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend friends! If you have time, please be our fan in Facebook. And if you have questions, don't hesitate to ask. Shukran!

The House That Noodle Built

Lunchtime at The Pink Tarha office...

Sundrenched: What will we have for lunch?
Eyecandy: Hmmmm...
S: What?
E: The Noodle House! (said with much enthusiasm, it was scary)
S: You've been eating at The Noodle House for days. For DAYS!
E: Yeah, but I want their Pad Thai.
S: They don't deliver!
E: Let's call in our orders and I will go and get it!
S: You'll go alone, I'm busy. (ignoring her ridiculous suggestion)
E: Sure!
S: At Centria Mall which is 15 minutes away?! (looking at her with my "you're joking right?!" look)
E: Yes!
S: With an SR30 round-trip fare for your taxi? (looking incredulously at E because really, it is incredulous!)
E: YES!
S: Hmmmmn...
E: Hmmmmn...
(By this time, we're already perusing the online menu. Two minutes later, we're calling in our orders, 30 minutes later, we're eating my chicken satay and E's pad thai for some seriously late lunch.)

This is how crazy E is for The Noodle House!

Before that lunch, E has been gorging on Asian food from The Noodle House for a period of two three many weeks. Her craving (obsession?!) for The Noodle House is relentless and unwavering, like a fire that is too hot to handle... or extinguish.

I am also enthusiastic about The Noodle House, but not as unbelievably ENTHUSIASTIC as E. I volunteered to write this entry because I'm sure E won't be able to come up with an entry that will not use all the good English adjectives in the Dictionary to describe the gustatory delights you'll find in this restaurant. She'll be lamenting on the fact that even those descriptions are not enough. An intervention is needed for that woman's obsession! Lol.

Anyway, I couldn't also come up with paragraphs to chronicle our The Noodle House eaxperiences (because they're quite a few) so here's a photo entry of our The Noodle House affair.

Ordering is as simple as this Order Pad (note the cute "noodle" pens).

You just have to check what you like, tear the menu paper from the bundle, and give it to the waiter. Here's the downloadable version. The prices are rather steep for a portion good for 2 but dishes are delicious so we throw caution to the wind, every time.

Prawn Mango Rolls

Prawn Bags and Chili Sauce
Crystal Shrimp Dumplings
Black Scallop and Prawn Hacau

Fruit shakes
Sun Spot Orange, cranberry juices with melon syrup
Asian Four Season mango, pineapple, kiwi juices with strawberry puree
Frozen Punch mango, pineapple, orange juices with greandine and strawberry puree

Fruit shake and dimsum: a rather odd combination
Singapore Noodles with Chicken and Prawns

Pad Thai with Prawns, Tofu, and Ground Peanuts
Eyecandy's favorite!

Egg bits, peanuts, and chili flakes to compliment the Pad Thai

Yang Chow Fried Rice

Singaporean Black Pepper Beef

Crab Fried Rice with Soft-shell Crab

Singapore-Style Roasted Duck

Mu shu wrapper
A fun way to eat the roasted duck is to put duck pieces, a few veggie sticks, and a generous amount of the sauce in this warmed wrapper and roll them ala lumpia. Yummy!

The 4 condiments
We love these four little jars of green chili, red chili, garlic, and chili+ginger because we can customize our food according to our taste. E likes extra hot while I go for moderate.

Fried Ice Cream
Hot on the outside, cool in the inside. Perfect palate sensation!

I cannot find the perfect words to describe each but we love all the dishes!!! Thanks to the Indonesian chef of The Noodle House who really knows what he's cooking. You might wonder why there's less noodles in there when we're talking about "the house that noodles built." Well, they only have a few selection of wet noodles and wok-friend noodles and we like the "dry" noodles more. Also, hindi pa kami tapos! Lol. We have more photos! Second entry on The Noodle House is on its way!

Just a disclaimer, we didn't eat ALL of the dishes you see in this entry in one night. We came back again and again so uh, that's the reason why looking at their menu, we can already cross out most of the dishes offered. We've tried almost everything!

Also, we apologize for any craving that this post is creating in your stomach right now. What's for your lunch? :P

Family First for PEBA 2010

Man's basic instinct is survival. We bet that the Overseas Filipino Worker's basic instinct is survival... of their family.

Time and again, we shout out loud in this blog that we are products of people who ventured into the great desert circa 90s. Without them people whose basic instinct was to support us, feed us, send us to school, and give us a good present and an even better future, we will not be here. These are the people whose love for us weighs more than their needs and wants. These are the people we respect highly and love with all our hearts and souls. These are our parents. Without them, there will be no Pink Tarha. No us.

Most Overseas Filipino Workers we know are parents. Whether they are mothers or fathers, we know that the main reason they are working abroad is their children. But of course, there is no perfect way to go about this. Being away from your husband/wife and children puts the ab in a normal family life. As much as possible, to be a family and to raise a family means being close literally and figuratively. But we'd like to think that an OFW family is not abnormal. Just different.

Defying the distance.

This difference can somehow translate to difficulty. It is difficult to lead this kind of family life. We recognize that there are more factors affecting an OFW family. The physical distance measured in miles is nothing compared to the emotional and psychological distance created by the absence of OFW parents in their children's lives, and vice-versa. This distance, this absence destroyed many OFW families over the years. But it shouldn't be a trend. It shouldn't be THE trend. While the statistics are staggering, we'd like to believe that there are still many families out there who are working hard to keep theirs intact. That there are many fathers and mothers out there who are not just working hard literally but are also working hard to remain loyal and faithful to their roles in their homes - as husbands, wives, and parents (and of course, children who respect and understand their parents too). We'd like to believe that there are still many (like us) who think and feel that the family is still the most important thing in the world.

This year, the Philippine Expats/OFW Blog Award puts the spotlight on the FAMILY, the basic unit of the society.

In honor of the Filipino families all over the world, of Filipino families sharing their meals together, of Filipino families separated by migration and diaspora, of Filipino families surviving amid the trials of the times... the PEBA 2010 highlights the FAMILY, the HOME. PEBA 2010 opens its third season with the theme "Strengthening the OFW Families: Stronger Homes for A Stronger Nation."

PEBA has witnessed in real life the suffering and loneliness of the OFWs and their families and believes that strengthening the OFW families, strengthens the homes and the nation! Thus, this season’s theme of “Strengthening the OFW Families: Stronger Homes for a Stronger Nation” does not just momentarily fit the hour but is a timeless subject that cannot be bound by shackles so long as there are OFWs out there.

What can we do as bloggers? The PEBA 2010 Season opens with not just the OFWs and Pinoy expatriates writing about the OFW families but will be joining forces with local bloggers who, in one way or the other, have been influenced by an OFW in their lifetime. The support of the local bloggers who are sympathetic to the OFW cause will have that exponential effect of reaching even to the grassroots level.

PEBA calls on the bloggers to write and post about topics on strengthening the OFW families despite their being miles away from each other. Topics about communication, family gatherings, parent-child coaching and counseling, assistance and support in children’s homework and projects, conference meetings with family members, online contact with families, pointers on cheap communication, etc. PEBA calls on the bloggers to write about what they are doing to strengthen their families despite the distance and their absence from home. PEBA calls on the bloggers to share insights, ideas, pointers and how to express love for their spouses and children.

PEBA will not just be an organization that will give annual awards for exemplary blogs but it will proactively act on issues that will make difference in people's lives, especially the young children, and the OFW's and their families. [Read more...]

This year, PEBA gears up for this bigger, brighter and meaningful mission and the Pink Tarha encourages every OFW blogger and supporter to join PEBA 2010!

We really like the theme emphasizing families because we love ours. For us, whatever we do, wherever we may be in our lives right now... we always go back to our roots. We always go back to the basic unit of our lives... our families.

"Other things may change us, but we start and end with family."

A Photo A Day 11

For a while there we thought we gained our blogging mojo back. We were posting more often and we have a number of entries on our drafts. Then the sale season happened, and we got crazy lost in the shopping frenzy. We were updating our Facebook regularly and we sort of forgot that we have a blog. Lol. The sale season is winding down and while we wait for our hearts to go back to their normal rhythm, we'll be leaving you with another A Photo A Day entry.

You'd think that since we're in the desert we've already posted lots of pictures of this desert animal right here... but we haven't. So here's three in a row (Photos A Day!):

CAMELS, the desert's beast of burden

Taken in Thumamah, Riyadh

Riding off into the sunset...

No question here, just photos. :P

Answer to the last A Photo A Day is Thalateen Street (good job, leelou!) where you'll find the delicious jumbo shawarma and buttered hummus of Assaraya, the savory dishes and pastries of Saadeddin Restaurant, the yummy chocolates of Patchi, and the yummier cakes of Lenôtre. Speaking of Lenôtre, we enjoyed its macarons in Mary's birthday party last weekend. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARY!

This is it for now. When we come back, we're bringing you one good news from the award body that gave The Pink Tarha our first major award last year. We're excited! :)

The Pink Tarha MALL TOURS

Just in case you haven't "Like-d" our Facebook Fanpage just yet, this post is just to let you know that we have a new photo album called "The Pink Tarha MALL TOURS" and it will especially be highlighted during the sale season. Mall tours, yes, sounds celebrity-ish 'eh? In this case, it is literally a mall tour since the resident tandem lakwatseras of this blog, namely S and E along, with friends A and G, scoured the glistening marble halls of Granada Mall in Riyadh yesterday evening. Here are the photos to prove it:

Oh sweetie, we were BORN ready.

*Join us in our happy dance*

We palpitated, took a huge breath, dove in and conquered!!!

(S had amazing purchases!)

70 is the number you're looking for!

The Red Signs are calling.

Debenhams was also at 50% off (We're still anticipating their upcoming BOGO), Milano was also on SALE with most of their items on BOGO, Next had 50% off on everything. New Look, MNG and ZARA are on further reductions already. Terranova, Koton, Parfois, Stradivarius are also splattered in red! Suffice to say, it looks like there is blood everywhere. Tee Hee.

We hope to post our latest sale steals as soon as we're done photographing and watermarking them (yeah, we don't just snap and upload 'em folks...it helps to artsy!).

For now, you still got until this Friday to bug your husbands/uncles/brothers/designated drivers to take you to the mall. (We imagine them cursing under their breaths, lol)

Have a fun SALE SHOPPING weekend!