STORIES, STORIES

I was invited to Mohammad's sister Mawadda's surprise birthday dinner at this place called L'Odeon. It's French for "stupid, crappy, fake French restaurant". Don't ever go there.  -- Muwadda is the one on the left.  And I'm the one on the far left, not in picture, being socially awkward. 

We live in patterns. Mine are stripes and checkered shirts, blog posts at 3am, and polar opposites. What are yours?

We don't always know where our faith lies. Or even what it looks like. Or if it's ever enough to sustain us. We stumble around in our meaningless existence, with our gadgets and that endless babble of apps running in the background, straining against religion. "We are atheists!", we cry. Silently. We are not for the rigid walls of any religion, we don't subscribe to these restrictions, these violations on our freedom, these killings of our true selves. We are young, we are invincible. We are such strong people. We are so strong we refer to ourselves in the collective. There is no abstract idea that can break us, not words, not heartbreak, not betrayal, not fate nor any series of unfortunate events. Except maybe something so basic and so physical as literal, unbearable pain. And only then do we draw on our faith. "God SURELY wouldn't give me anything I wouldn't be able to handle. For He is All-Compassionate, He is Most Merciful." ...

On the heels of my previous post , I went to the other  Filipino market, the one on Khalediah, with Marj and her husband for a Filipino-food trip. If you're wondering what Filipino food is like, here's a tip. You know all that stuff we call Chinese food here in Jeddah? THAT is Filipino food.  Here's Filipino fast food: JOLLIBEE!!  -- We went to a restaurant behind the Khalediah market. It's called Wajbah and it's all Pinoy. Funny enough, I only saw ONE Filipino waiter here! The others were non-Filipino. This dish is called Sinigang na Baka , I think, and I really don't know what it is in English. (Marj, help?) -- And this one is so yummy but I don't know what it's called either. It's mini spring rolls minus vegetables, served with chili and sweet chili sauce. I had trololoads of fun. We three trolled each other. Just like the good old university days. <3

There is only one place (at least that I know of) to get what Sera and I consider the best Filipino food evarr, the Tocino. This place is popularly known as The Filipino Market, but among Filipinos, it's just called Sarawat (because that's its name). -- My parents tell me that this mall used to be the hottest, most popular mall in Jeddah back in the 70s and 80s. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that was probably because it was the only  mall back then? -- The Disco Ball in the waiting area. Now, the mall is a hub for Filipino expatriates. It's also a popular place to get your camera and electronic needs. 

" Well, this is the younger set. Starting their own traditions. Cycle of life. "                 - My dad, on the Saudi National Day and the celebrations on the streets. -- At Teayana, they had these flags as centerpieces.                                                                 -- Here be Souma , and her super cute mini-camera, flash and all. (And no, Souma and I aren't sisters. At least not biologically speaking. <3) -- And the game they played all night that was too much maths for me. Ya can't get any Saudi-er than this. OR CAN YOU?

I am neither a food critic nor a food photographer. But I like to talk about Shit We Eat . This at Piatto, an Italian restaurant on Malik, next to Steakhouse. If you go, don't order the Chicken Penne with Pine Nuts. I discovered that not only is it NOT vegetarian, it also doesn't have actual pine nuts (they were crushed into the sauce. Like, WHY?). Pros: ~ Good atmosphere, very family-oriented, so I assume they can accommodate our lot. There's even a playroom for childrens. ~ Comfy chairs. ~ They serve complimentary salad instead of just a bread basket.  ~ Not as expensive as it seems. 75 to 100 SR per person. ~ Service was prompt. Although the waiter interrupted me as I was ordering to ask me where I was from. MINUS 10 POINTS FOR YOU, BUDDY. Cons: ~ NO SMOKING. Hipsters. ~ Food was meh. ~ Not BSG boardgame-friendly. So, yeah. I'd go there again, no probs.

Helmy brought us some chocolates from his trip to Austria. -- Dee is a permanent fixture on my blog because I'm a permanent fixture on her Instagram.

We tried to surprise Helmy for his birthday this year, but it didn't work out very well. Doesn't mean it wasn't a happy birthday.  -- I love noodles! -- Helmy's Missus -- Dully I couldn't take many photos thanks to my erratic back. But there were many other photographers present, so that's hardly a problem.

Here's a small part of my bookshelf. I mostly practice indiscriminate reading. I don't have a favorite author, or a favorite book, and I don't go for a specific genre. A book is like a person, isn't it? It needs to be given a chance to prove itself, whatever its appearance, or the reviews on it, or what other people may have said about it.  Of course, as a result of being book open-minded, you will come across books that leave a bad taste in your mouth, horrible books, ugly, ugly books, extremely unfunny books.  But also, every once in a while, you come across a book that completely surprises you, that makes a good difference in your life. Just like people. So I CHALLANGE you, good readers. Give a book a chance. Practice indiscriminate reading, and tell me what you find. Also, add me on Goodreads . 

This has been my view for the last 5 days. Consistently. Here are some things about chronic lower-back pain that I've learned, that I'd also like to share with my friends so they can cope with me and my ills. 1 - Once you have it, you have it forever. You might get it once or twice a year, and it can last a minimum 5 days, up to 3 weeks, or even more. Chronic back pain isn't your regular back pain. It's the one where you can't do anything. LITERALLY. Even breathing hurts. Or lying down, or sitting, or standing, or ANYTHING. You can't do (or not do) anything for longer than a minute, because your back starts to hurt.  2 - It's not caused by the gym. I've been a gym-nut for the last 6 months, and we're all quick to point out that it's what causes my back pain - overdoing the exercise. IN FACT, if it weren't for my regular working out, I would be in 10x more pain. I've been working on strengthening my core (abs), my legs and...

It is, apparently, a well-guarded secret. Also, don't tell my dad I took a picture of him and posted it online.

Here's something from my childhood that I never outgrew. Ulker trumps 7alawa bagarah any day. 

I'm a smoker. I don't like tea. My mother's not a smoker. She likes tea. Therefore, A /= C.  U mad, mathfags?

My favorite lip balm, thanks to Soumz . I have no writing prowess whatsoever to speak of, therefore, here are some bullet points. * I've suffered a back injury and am quite literally incapacitated. This will be my excuse for any and all misbehaviour on my part, at least for the next 3 days. * Here are photos from my birthday on Sharifa's blog . I loved them. Such an awesome birthday. That is all.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by OF COURSE YOU KNOW WHO. This is the worst HP book I've read. Or maybe I'm just a fogey old bat. I didn't get into the book until well into the 500th page (and there's 900 pages of this). Am I the only one who thinks this is a filler episode of a book? The only people who would love it are true fans, of which I am not. 1 out of 5, sorry. Getting Over Mr Right by Chrissie Manby My first chick lit of the year. This is probably the kind of book that only women who have just been dumped (or are going through a horrid break-up) can enjoy. It's a funny book, but maybe only because it's so true: the insane things that women do, thinking that they are "making things work".  2 out of 5. And the one point I gave it is only for timeliness. And now, I must off and read more of the crappy books I've hoarded. You might add me on Goodreads , too, perhaps? 

It just occurred to me that elsewhere in the world, when women want to disguise themselves, they don a scarf and big bad-ass sunglasses. Here in Jeddah, it's all 3adi . OR IS IT?

They don't give us our own lockers at the gym. Instead, we can borrow a locker temporarily each day. I can understand that they wouldn't want to be stuck with a locker that's been stuffed with yucky gym clothes if the owner doesn't show up for weeks, but still. It's annoying. I'd like to have my own locker so I wouldn't have to lug my shit across Tahlia all the friggin' time. -- So hey. How about the Casper & Gambini name change? What you all think about that? It's now Uptown 966. I don't understand. WHY? They're in the middle of the change; their stuff still has Casper & Gambini's all over them. They still have the same food, same servers, same everything, just different colors now and a different name. Also, they now serve shisha .  I am against this. I will continue to call this place "Casper's" in defiance. Here, some photos.  -- Khayra 's cassette tape. NOT! It's her awesome, AWE...

Step 1 to learning: Admit you know nothing.

All my pictures look like this. That's because all I do is meet up with friends at restaurants that have wide tables to play the Battlestar Galactica board game on. For hours.  I shall not apologize for this. -- Nur 's ring.

I went to the beach running on zero sleep and a cup of coffee. Didn't do very badly, I must say. *adjusts monocle*

The only real time I can speak Arabic is at gunpoint. Here are pictures of Mohammad and my Arabic homework. -- And of course, what is homework if not written on a hipster Moleskine?

The thing is, I've only recently started getting the hang of using my PC as it *should* be used. Getting pulled out of what was beginning to be my comfort zone is.. uncomfortable. BUT. I will soldier on and slowly wean myself off my Vaio as I see no point in having two laptops, really. So, yeah, this is goodbye for my dear Olaf . I got it almost 3 years ago, and I feel bad neglecting it. I realize now how attached I've become to it; it has served me well, but it's mostly all sentimental, because I associate it with someone I thought I would spend the rest of my life with. Letting go of my Vaio feels to me like I'm letting go of a person I promised I would stick by no matter what, someone I said I would never give up on. But there is a time to move on. And that time is probably now-ish. With a better, faster machine.

I truly had the best burfday evar. I asked only for Champagne , and I got the Dom Perignon of birthdays. Of course it helps that I have awesome friends who pander to my cheap inside jokes and year-long obsessions. For instance, check out my birthday cakes. -- My Battlestar Galactica obsession. The Jeddah base star. (I love how it says "Yalla enjoy" on the bottom. Classic Cylon.) -- And I can now officially say it. MY BIRTHDAY CAKE WAS A LIE. But because it existed, it zero-ed itself out, and therefore, the cake was NOT a lie, but a really YUMMY home-made concoction from my extended family. <3 (My Portal videogame obsession.) And I also got an awesome Macbook to reward a whole year of my yapping on and on about Apple products. Can I have awesomer friends? I'm afraid not. (My white laptop obsession + my Dean Winchester obsession.) It's gonna be tough to top this one, so I'm getting to work from now for the ...

I got a Macbook from my friends for my birthday! WOO-FUCKING-HOO!! This of course means that my friends officially OWN ME NOW (more on this later). So here is the truth. I'm a dinosaur. I'm having such a hard time "adjusting" to my new machine. I feel for my dad now, and I'm sorry for all those times that I've been impatient with him for NOT GETTING IT. Coz right now, I don't really get it much. I still have my PC on, right next to me, just in case.. you know.. I need me some Windows. BITE ME. These are some things my mom has around her work area.