Maybe its just a Crush

I have been obsessed by Apple lately ... mostly due to the WWDC keynote address and that mac vs pc commercial with the funky Justin Long

My present laptop has been with me since 3 years now ... its a Toshiba Satellite ... but now I need some change ... People need change .. may be I should contact Obama .... Surfing thru some blogs forums etc. I found that there are very few distributors of Apple products who are selling at a very high profit margin ... like if I order from Amazon it will save me 700 to 1000 SAR (i am talking about macbooks) .... plus when u seek their technical assistance they are of little help, if any ...

The operating system "Leopard" ... i think is more fun more secure and as this site quotes "So aesthetically pleasing that it distracts users from countless technical gaffes" .. The book itself is sleek and light .... no wonder its called Macbook Air ... its so possessable ...

Now the iPhone ... this I will surely get .. when? ... I dont know ... its a whole different world man .... and I am not in it ... this site is really helpful especially for those who are living in Saudia ...

Borders of Shariah

Our project is in the closing stages ... Professors, students, administration staff etc have already started settling in ... the Campus area has been handed over to the proponent ... only some residential buildings are remaining ....

For those of you who dont know, "project" refers to King Abdullah University of Sciences and Technology (KAUST), a multi million dollar project near Jeddah .. at the shore of the Red Sea ...

Its a well known fact that Saudi Arabia is the only country, where strict Shariah Laws are applied ... the shops close during prayers, women have to wear hijab when in public, they are not allowed to drive (I dont know if its according to Shariah or not), the punishment for adultery or involvement in narcotics, in any way , is ultimately .. death.

But lets focus on the women and hijab part ... these rules do not apply inside the premises of KAUST ... and did I mention that it is the first co-ed institution in the Kingdom ... women can drive ... dress as they like ... it's a funny spectacle when a girl goes out for her morning jog in her shorts ... and the workers leave their work .. all gawking at her ...

Getting back to the subject .... this royal decree of "freedom" has created unrest in the clerical faction ... one of the clerics who openly opposed against co-ed has been relieved of his duties ...

I, like many others believe that soon a time will come when Saudia will be as open as (why go far) ... say UAE and this is just the beginning ...

Choose Your Words Carefully

Here are some of the words which mean differently in Arabic ....

1.) BANDAR ..... its a popular name in Saudi Arabia meaning "Beautiful" .... We even have a Prince Bandar Bin Talal ... lol

2.) GADA ..... it means "A Respectful Person" ... See how things could get messed up ...

3.) GANDOOR ....... its also a name ... a last name .... u can go "Hey Gandoo" and no one will frown or kill u :)

4.) KHASM ..... it means "To Discount or To Reduce" ... with us it means Spouse right!!

5.) NEK ..... First lets look at its Urdu meaning "A Virtuous Person" ... in arabic it means "To F***"

Yup .... so choose ur words carefully here ... I will add more of these ...

Taliban of Saudi Arabia

I met a friend yesterday after a month or so... I dont see a lot of him as his job requires him to travel to different cities ... Riyadh, Makkah, Madinah, Unaizah, Jizan and QASEEM.

When I asked him about his last trip to Qaseem, his first words to me were "I must have commited a big sin in my life .. thats why i was sent to Qaseem". Here's his story...

He is an RTU Commissioning Engineer and obviously it requires a lot of physical work and mental stress.. so at the end of the day he relaxes himself by "chic hunting".

First let me make it clear what "chic hunting" means here ... it just means to see a woman's head uncovered and to appreciate her curves that is if u find one ... thats all ... So the first day after work he went out for his sacred duty ... and what he finds ... first of all there werent many to look at ... among those who were in the market not a single woman's face was uncovered .... the only "skin" he saw was the thin line of uncovered eyes.

Then one day, he was driving around with a little music playing ... and Mutawas (religious police) stopped him and started searching his car ... he was told that Sound Systems weren't allowed ... he didnt have one as it was a company car.

Then one evening he tried to enter Geant Shopping Centre ... and he was denied entrance .. In Jeddah, singles arent allowed only on Fridays "Families Only" day. But in his case it was a normal working day.

Anyway, he is very relieved to return to Jeddah and now he is posted to the same project where I am.

Qaseem is known for its Radicalism.. Most of the Imams here are from this area ... and u r sure if an Imam is Qaseemi he will make long Duas against US and Israel not only in Friday prayers but also normal days in Fajr and Maghrib prayers ... just like they did during these recent Israel aggressions ... I am not against the Duas ... just to give u a clear picture..