Saudi Sexpat Stories: Tales from the Kingdom

Yesterday, 29 September, was doubly special for us as it was the 4^th birthday of our dearest niece, Alyssa, and the Feast Day of our two boys, Luigi and Rafa. 

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Alyssa (aka “Bambina”, “Bina”, “Carmela-liit”, “Lesles”), is the “unica hija” of my brother, Monty, and my still-sexy sis-in-law, Millie. We were overjoyed when Alyssa was born (btw, her full name is Alessandra Nicole Almanzor Veguillas) as she was the first girl “apo” in our family.   

Through her 4 years, Alyssa has managed to endear herself to us even more with her childish pranks and antics.  For one, she has this penchant for “low-waist” outfits since she doesn’t want anything to get in the way of her healthy tum-tum. The down side of this, however, is that her backside (“butt crack” or “sliced pork”, as my mischievous sons call it) has this nasty habit of making a “surprise appearance”.  O diba, “fashion na fashion”? Hahaha! J To remedy this, during our last home leave, Alyssa and I have worked out a special code such that when I say, “Alyssa, the ‘secret’ is showing once again!” in my silly sing-song voice, she would immediately put her pants up to “hide the secret” again. J I never thought she would take to this so quickly until the day she herself approached me and proudly declared: “Ninang, the secret’s not showing anymore!” also in her distinctly raspy, sing-song tone. Cute, diba? And so smart pa (manang-mana sa mga Ninang!)… 

For her 4^th birthday, Monty and Millie treated her to a birthday party in her play school.  It was a Dora-themed Jollibee party (How did Dora and Jollibee ever get together? Well, Alyssa loves them both to pieces!!!).  From the pictures Millie posted, looks like she had loads of fun! 

Happy Birthday, our dear Lesles (or “Ati”, as Marga puts it – God knows where she got the Bisaya accent! :D)! We miss you very much! 

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Moving on to the other celebration.   

Our two sons, Luigi (Gabriel Luis), and Rafa (Rafael Inigo), were named after two of the three more well-known Archangels (in fact, if Marga turned out to be yet another boy, she would’ve been named “Miguel” - para kumpleto na ang set!).  We fervently pray (and like to think) that they are growing up to be as “holy” as their namesakes yet there are definitely times when I have serious doubts! As I have said before, boys will be boys! I guess I better charge their adrenaline-charged antics and adventures to growing up so that I don’t lose my mind! Hahaha! :D  

So far, tops on my list of crazy antics was the time Luigi dipped his yaya’s phone in my parents’ pool just to see if it would float! You guessed it: the phone got busted and yaya got a new phone courtesy of her alaga’s savings account! Well, a lesson has to be learned, right? ; ) 

Rafa, on the other hand, needs a lot of help in the “weight gain” department as both his cousins Alyssa and Ira (4 and 3, respectively) are even heavier than him (and he’s now 7!).  Since all his health tests turned out normal naman, Keith and I are just praying that his “potential for growth” would be more evident soon (after all, both his parents have exhibited this “growth potential” naman so we better not get worried –  kanino pa naman siya magmamana, diba? Hahaha!).

Seriously, though, despite their bursts of naughtiness and “self-expression”, we are very proud of how our two older angels have turned out to be.  Both are still straight A students at IS and are doting and responsible kuyas to Marga.  They are both very creative, thoughtful and adept at computer and electronic games (think Pokemon and Tamagotchi so you know what I’m talking about!).  With proper guidance and discipline (and lots of prayers too!), I am sure they will both turn out even better.  We celebrate you, Luigi and Rafa, and thank God for letting us be your parents!  

For more on the boys, check out my post on them in my former home. J O diba, plugging! 

-o- 

I would like to end this blog with prayers to the Archangels that I lifted from one of the internet sites: 

A Prayer to Saint Michael
Saint Michael, Archangel, defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness
and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
And do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host,
by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all the other evil spirits who prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.– Pope Leo XIII

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Saint Gabriel
Blessed Saint Gabriel, Archangel
We beseech thee to intercede for us at the throne of divine mercy:
As thou didst announce to Mary the mystery of the Incarnation,
so through thy prayers may we receive strength of faith and
courage of spirit, and thus find favor with God and redemption through Christ Our Lord.
May we sing the praise of God our Savior with the angels and saints in heaven
forever and ever. Amen.

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Saint Raphael
Blessed Saint Raphael, Archangel,
We beseech thee to help us in all our needs and trials of this life,
as thou, through the power of God, didst restore sight and give guidance to young Tobit.
We humbly seek thine aid and intercession,
that our souls may be healed,
our bodies protected from all ills,
and that through divine grace we may be made fit
to dwell in the eternal Glory of God in heaven. Amen. 

A blessed day ahead!

My first foray into experiencing Indian food was on a holiday in Thailand in 2003 where our good friend Iza introduced us to the different kinds of curry (red, yellow, green), the delicious nan (Indian flat bread usually served with curry) and the equally refreshing yogurt-based drink whose name I regretfully forget now (pagpasensyahan na ang naka-tatlong C-section!).

Since then, my “curry” encounters have been limited to the times when we would cook our “Flipinized” chicken curry at home in Manila or later, when I tagged-along with my classmates when they craved Indian food while I was studying in the UK for a short course in 2004.

Perhaps, it was the presentation of the curries that kinda’ put me off eating it for quite a while (they all look the same - save for the color of the sauce!) or the fact that neither Keith nor myself couldn’t bring ourselves to eat curry more than once in a month!  There’s something about the richness of the sauce that satiates your tastebuds and makes your tummy go squeamish if you have it once too often.

Here in the Kingdom, probably due to the great number of Indian and Pakistani migrants, there seems to be quite a proliferation of Indian restaurants.  It took a while before Keith and I had the nerve to try them out (medyo di kasi appealing ang ambience e!)  as there were admittedly other cuisines which we would much rather taste first.

Finally, two weeks ago, Keith brought me to this Indian restaurant (about a few notches higher than our local “carinderias” in terms of ambience) near our house.  At first, I was skeptic because of how the place looked but when I tasted what they served (we ordered two kinds of chicken curry - Black Pepper Chicken for Keith and Chicken Nandi for me), I became a fan!

The red-sweetish yet mildly hot flavor of my dish blended well with the delicious nan they served.  Keith’s order, though a bit spicier than mine, and with a darker brown sauce, was equally delectable. Though I must’ve drank gallons and gallons of water to put off the “heat”, it was a gastronomic adventure nonetheless!

In fact, I requested Keith to take out our dinner from the same resto again last night - yum-o! This time, he ordered two kinds of curry (chicken-based again, of course), one done the Indian way (what they term “karahi” in this part of the world) and the other done the Pakistani way.  Though they looked perfectly the same in their reddish-orange sauce, it was surprising that they tasted differently.  The Indian one was spicier while the Pakistani one was again “sweetishly” hot. I must’ve looked like I was enjoying myself a lot as Keith even joked that I better make sure that I put on “Secret” after consuming all that curry  - baka daw kasi lumabas na sa pores ko yung mga spices! What can I say? My hubby is “grossingly sweet”! Hahaha!

Anyway, the “secret” is out and I can say that it has all been totally “Curry-fic”!

Egged on by the “fishy” success stories of some of our Pinoy friends here in the Kingdom, and probably due to the upside-down hours we keep here during Ramadan season (i.e., all stores, malls and restos are closed practically the whole day – while there is still daylight – in deference to the Moslem practice of fasting - and open only from around 8 pm until 3 am the following morning – can you believe that?!?), Keith and I, together with the Megas, bought our very first fishing gear nearly a week ago.  We literally were so into the fishing adventure that we bit into it (pardon the pun) “hook, line and sinker”! 

The intention was simple: Do something productive during the “dead hours” and possibly be able to contribute a “fishy success story” of our own… After all, who wouldn’t want to be able to say that the fish we ate for dinner is guaranteed fresh (since kami mismo ang nanghuli!). Diba “nature na nature” ang dating? Something we never ever would have thought of had we stayed in Manila (where the closest we got to fishing is the “pseudo-fishing” we did at Island Cove in Bacoor, Cavite!).  Simple enough, right?  Or so we thought! 

Where we fish - the Dammam Corniche

Since Dammam is practically a coastal city, we are blessed to be able to drive off to the corniche in as little as 10 minutes from where we live, and throw our fishing lines to the Arabian Gulf.  So this is what happened the first time we ventured out.  We were full of high hopes and thoughts of catching 3 or 4 tilapia danced in our heads.  Three to four hours later, after our hooks being snagged on the rocks countless times and our lines getting tangled for the umpteenth time, and NO FISH BITING, we decided to call it a night.  So much for our fishy dreams!  Well, “charge it to experience”, we thought… Maybe the next time would be better… 

So, yesterday evening, we tried our luck again.  This time, we drove a little farther… to the neighboring town of Al Khobar (about 30 minutes drive from our place), since most of the Pinoys we knew apparently caught a lot of fish there.  Though a bit more skeptical, we were buoyed by the hope that probably the location would turn the tide for us.  We were the third party to arrive at the sandy sea side (the first two being fellow “kabayans” who already hauled in their catch of fish and crab) and we just felt the fish would bite this time. After all, Bro Cuz and fam even bought live bait this time (the squid stank like anything but what the heck! Anything for a bite, right?).  So, casting our lines, we found it promising that the fish were at least nibbling on our bait (though, for some reason, they were wise enough not to take the deadly bite!). Konti na lang, may huli na! We just felt it would be our lucky night! Anticipation mounted and we waited… and waited… and waited… AND WAITED… Heck, there was even a fish brave enough to jump at the water’s surface near our lines and yet nothing was biting! What gives??? Alas, three long hours after, as we shook off the sand from our shoes and bodies and tried to wash off the scent of the stinky squid bait from our hands, we again gave the dream up. We still were going home empty-handed.  Our hopes for a fresh fish dinner were doused and we had to settle for chicken shawarma on our way home.  Ano ba yan???  

Well, to look at the bright side, at least I got to know the Pinoy terms for the different fish that our other kabayans caught… Never thought that a “batotoy” would grow up to be a “bakokok” (then into a “bakekang”? Hahaha!)… or that you could actually eat “pagi” (ray) with coconut milk.  Too bad that all we got from our trip were little nuggets of trivia such as these and not actual “fish nuggets” (boohoohoo!). 

Well, better luck next time (again), I guess… We’re not giving up on the dream, though…  I’d like to be optimistic about this whole experience and think that when we were “gone fishing”, the fish were actually gone (on vacation, perhaps?) too! Bet when they come back soon, we would be ready for them… Till then, we look forward to the day when we can finally say, “Huli ka!”

Just made the informed switch too:  “Bye-bye 360, hello Word Press!”

Welcome to my new home! Here’s looking forward to swapping stories with all of you soon…

To view my old posts, please visit my former home at Yahoo 360.