two days off

No work!

I will be enjoying two days of extended weekend because all the government offices were closed in lieu of the OPEC Leaders Summit. Security is tight along Olayah, Dabab, Sulaimainiah, Sitheen, and Fahad. Roads were closed and gee... I could see at least 10 helicopters hovering the area. This is not to mention police patrol cars every 100 meters, and military snippers stationed on tall buildings.

And you know what happened when I tried going to office this morning? I was greeted with sneers at the entrance and was asked to leave immediately. Hehehe... the guards were jittery and always at their edge. Perhaps, the pressure was really though because the meeting place was just 50 meters aways from our building.

Too early to go home, I decided to visit the office of my contract sponsor - Ejada - at Malaz. I was support to get my IQAMA ID at the HR/Admin, and then inquired about my salary (tsk tsk tsk.. I haven't receive any salary yet since Oct). When I arrive in the office, I didn't find the man in charge. Good thing, I saw the messenger who readily gave my IQAMA to me, otherwise, I would have wasted my effort in going there.

Went home home at around 3pm, then take a nap for an hour. Later in the afternoon, Dowin asked if I would be interested to visit Haraj. I readily dress up and go out with his family.

Haraj is large open market place for second hand items and factory-seconds. If you know how to haggle with the Pakistanis & Indians, you can bargain an item at dirt-prices. Just imagine a complete 9-seater sofa which cost SR1900 in Al Mutlaq Mall, can be bargained at SR1000 for the factory-second, and at SR200 for the slightly-used 2nd hand. You wouldn't know the difference between the mall display vs the factory-second. And for the second-hand, a little vacuum cleaning is required for the 2nd hand (because of exposure to dust), other than that, it's perfectly usable and comfortable. No-brain required, isn't it? I did go for the second hand!

Well, their is one drawback when purchasing at Haraj: shops don't offer free delivery. Hence for bulk items... you need large trucks to transport your purchases. Otherwise, you can go for free lance transport truck which can cost you SR40 including labor. Hmm... still not bad, eh!