Love LBC, 24/7!

ARE YOU ONE of those OFWs who like to hoard goodies here abroad and send them home to your families in the Philippines? The type who could fill up two or more boxes with anything, from powdered milk, rubber shoes to sugar packets? Admittedly, I have never gotten to the habit of using the so-called "balikbayan boxes" simply because in my case, my immediate family is here with me in Saudi Arabia. But I have noticed lately that my "pasalubong powers" are a bit lackluster compared to my other relatives who come home to our province during vacation time. And that's when it clicked that I may have to level up my game and bring home more than just chocolates to my aunties and grannies. I am going to start collecting the goodies every salary day so that come vacation time, they would have more to relish from my more than five years of being an OFW. 

Good thing that LBC, our Hari ng Padala! is now actively serving our kababayans here in Riyadh and all over Saudi Arabia for all of our sea and air cargo needs...24/7! Its first branch in Riyadh opened in December 2011 and has now served 30,000 OFWs and growing. LBC's branches in Jeddah and Al Khobar are now offering box pick-ups, while its slowly making its presence in Jubail in partnership with a box service provider. 

As you can see, LBC is making it more accessible for OFWs all over the Kingdom to bring home the bacon! (Or in our case, turkey bacon from KSA :P) And when I said, "more accessible," it couldn't be any more true especially with what they call their 24/7 ACCESS POINTS. 

The 24/7 Access Points will allow you to make requests for box delivery/pick-up, information and follow-ups on the status of your balikbayan boxes (so there's no excuse at all!) and there are two ways on which you could do this: 

* 24/7 Hotline: For STC users and landline subscribers, you may call their toll-free hotline 

   anytime of the day. Jot down the number: 800-8-110332. 

   For Mobily, Zain, Friendi or other network users, you may call the following numbers:

   Riyadh: 0547212962; 0536130643

   Jeddah: 0508199437; 0543291624

   AlKhobar: 0508213741; 0543407283

   Jubail: 0567540222

* LBC Live Talk: This is an online service that will allow you to chat with an LBC 

   Associate through the web. Just visit http://www.lbcexpress.com or visit the LBC Facebook Fan 

   Page and send in your message/request.  

   

So there you have it! Christmas is coming up soon and it's right about time to stock up on some gifts and pasalubongs to our loved ones as early as now. Especially since LBC is extending their Any Box Size Acceptance Promo up to September 30, 2013! So what are you waiting for? I'm packing my box already! To my aunties and grannies, I'm going to surprise you this year! :) 

Visit the LBC Branch here in Riyadh at:

14-16 Abi Alabass cor. Al Murshidi St.

(near Pinoy Supermarket) Batha

Note: Personal drop-off of your box or drum to the LBC branch here in Riyadh will get you a 15SR discount. Personal drop-offs in Jeddah, Khobar and Jubail are only entitled to the 15SR discount every Friday and Saturday, 7PM-11PM only. 

This entry is sponsored by LBC. All opinion are the writer's own. 

Eyecandy

Q&A Portion 7

Miss our question and answer portion? We've received questions over the weekend and two today that prompted us to publish our 7th compilation. Here yah go!

1. As a single female in Saudi with an iqama, if I want to fly to Riyadh, do I need to book transportation in advance? Will they let me out of the airport alone? Could you recommend a taxi driver? Great blog by the way.

Eyecandy traveled from Riyadh to Jeddah via Saudi Airlines before for a business trip and she did not have any problems so we're guessing you're allowed to do so. Only married women without their guardians (husbands) are probably questioned but if you're single and your iqama is that of an employee (not a dependent), then you're allowed to enter other KSA provinces and there's no interrogation counter in the airport to ask you. You will, however, go through a local customs stall for stuff you need to declare. There's a taxi service in the airport and you can just approach the concierge for your transpo needs. We also know of Hala, the taxi service used mostly by hospital employees but can also be used by visitors (or anyone in Riyadh). You can call them in advance at (01)442-7244. Thank you very much for reading our blog and we hope you enjoy your stay in Riyadh!

2. Hi! Mabrook! I love your blog. Keep it up! Anyway, I just want to ask you if you can suggest any affordable and nice flower shops in Riyadh. Thanks.

There are a lot of flower shops in Riyadh and most of them are found near hospitals (i.e. Military Hospital in Abu Bakr Ar Razi Street). A single long-stemmed rose from these flower shops go for SR5 each. A nice bouquet is SR50 and above. For imported and first class flowers, there's Gardenia (01-2166886). We happen to pass by the store in one of our forrays into Tahalia Street, the busiest, most popular cafe street in Riyadh. We got curious and went inside. The shop sells elegant black roses which go for SR60 a piece! (You also need to buy them in bulk.) The roses are so expensive but you get what you pay for. The roses are beautiful and exquisite. They also have tulips from Holland. For flower arrangements for events, try Unique Brothers (01-8101631). Thank you for reading our blog!

3. I am searching for Olay Regenerist Microdermabrasion Kit. Can you help me where to purchase it. I'm from Al-Kharj. Thanks.

We've seen a lot of Olay products in groceries and hypermarkets in Riyadh, particularly in Hyper Panda. There are also some in the nearby bakala (stores). But we haven't seen the Olay Regenerist Microdermabrasion Kit anywhere. Or maybe, we were not also looking hard enough because no one among us uses it. We also looked at the Olay Arabia site and the kit is not available there. To be sure, you may want to contact Olay Saudi Arabia's consumer service at 800-244-0039 or +966-2-657-4751 (Jeddah). Good luck! When we happen to not find in the Kingdom the beauty products or tools that work best on our skin, we ask friends who are going home to the Philippines to buy them for us and take the products with them back to Riyadh or... we just buy them in Ebay. Lol. Please keep reading our blog! :)

4. Hey, I love your blog. Do you know any tattoo artists in Riyadh? Good ones?

Hi there, thanks for liking our blog. Nope, sorry. We do not know of any tattoo artists in Riyadh. And we are not sure if tattoos are even permitted here. Most people who have them usually hide their tattoos because tattoos are frowned upon in this side of the world.

5. Hi Pink Tarha, I just moved to KSA from the land Down Under, Australia. I would like to get my acrylic nails done. Can you tell me where in Riyadh I can get this. Cheers! - Denise

Hi Denise! Hmn, we are not aware of any acrylic nails services but some beauty salons might offer them. Call Yibreen (01-4411115), Lavania (01-4429966), or Elle et Vous (01-2932002) beauty salons and ask if they offer this service. For nail products, visit Nazih Trading Co. along Olaya Road. It's beside Centria Mall and Habitat furniture store. They offer O.P.I nail polishes, hand and nail care sets, and beauty salon products like scrubs and facials.

6. Hello. I am staying in Jubail now. I am an Indian and looking for Indian beauty parlors in Jubail. Can you please help me out in this matter?

Hi, we really wish we can but the Pink Tarha ladies are living in Riyadh. We haven't been to Jubail (but we'd love to visit this industrial city soon). We'll be able to help if you're in Riyadh but since you're not, we can't vouch for any beauty salons there.To our readers in Jubail (if ever we have one), please recommend beauty salons you go to.

So that's it for our seventh installment of Q&As. We also answer questions from our readers in Facebook. Head on over to FB and like our The Pink Tarha page. Pretty please? Thank you very much! :)