Holy Crap!!

Once in a while I visit this place called Old Airport Area .... its mostly empty .... only a bunch of people here and there ... having huqqa , taking a walk etc. Its very peaceful there ....

It was very hectic today at work .... I had to go there .... so I was listening to the radio and just reclining in the seat and relaxing in the light breeze .... when I felt need for a smoke .... but I didnt have a lighter neither does my car lighter work .....

Seeing a car at a driving distance, I thought why not ask its owner .... It was a little dark there .... so I couldnt see clearly .... only a person squatting near the hood ..... I very slowly drove close to his car ... the man was staring at me all this time .. motionless .... then he flinched and did something with his hands in a quick motion .. . what was he doing? the guy was taking a shit!!

I moved onwithout coming to a complete stop.

'AL BAIK' Naam hi Kafi Hai !

1 extra thoom (garlic sauce) please .....

This is my line whenever I receive my take-out order, u just cant get enough of it. If you are dining in you can have as many as you want. And now they have introduced a cocktail sauce for shrimp orders ... have u tried it yet? its awesome..

Of the major cities in Saudi Arabia only Jeddah has been blessed with this gift. Sometimes I wonder what have we (the Jeddans) done, to deserve it.... and the CEO of this food chain company Mr Rami Abu Ghazaleh does not intend to launch any branch other than these few Western Region cities... its gives me a strange joy to know this....

I can say with utmost certainty that Al Baik serves the best (yet economical) spicy fried chicken in the world. You will see the elite class and the labor class standing in a single line for the order.
and the kids... its normal to see few tables occupied by 5 to 12 year olds ... how often do you see that .... The price is only one of the allurements which Al Baik provides....

For instance... well... the omnipresence !.... you cannot drive in the city for .. i would say 10 minutes ... without glancing at one of its outlets. There is one on Tahlia St, beside which there is a KFC .... and u can prominently see the difference ... I have seen hardly more than two people there whenever I have passed by.... why is KFC even operating in Jeddah !!

Talk about fast food .... Your number will come within 15 minutes even if there are 40 people ahead of you .. 38 to be precise ... so on average 2.53 customers get served per minute.... isn't that something .... its just a great spectacle to watch those Bengalis maneuver their hands and arms so fast at work .. it reminds you of those kids building cup pyramids in a flash.

Then there is the aroma.... you can just fall in love with it... it will seduce you like a sensuous evil lady... I call it evil cuz .... u have to admit it ... it does not save you from getting obese ... its all cholestrol man! ...

It is one of those things you will severely miss when you're abroad, honestly. I can go on and on.... but I should stop here lest you take me for a marketing rep of Al Baik, not that it needs any.

Busted!

It was Thursday and I was driving my dad's car to work, 100 km from my home in Jeddah. In the weekdays, I always take the company van but on some Thursdays I take either my own or my dad's car. The motive behind it was that I could bunk the last few hours and would not have to wait for the van (i know "bunk" does not go here, but u get the point). For the sake of the story, it is very necessary for you to know that I own a white 1990 Toyota Cressida and my dad own's a golden 2006 Honda Accord.

My dad had expressed his resentment when I asked to take his or for that matter, even my car. He said its a useless risk to take your car when the company van is available. I took his car anyway.

It was all going very smooth, the first checkpoint had passed. I was driving at a modest speed .... ok...i might have touched 130 kph while overtaking. I've gotto tell u its hard to resist overspeeding in this car. Anyway, i slowly approached the 2nd checkpoint, when i noticed the On Duty Shurta (Arabic for Cop) draw his attention towards me. I must have overspeeded and the radar must have caught it. He signalled me to stop .... and he went:

Shurta: "rukhsa wa istamara" license and vehicle registartion

Me: "na'm indi" yes, i have it

I took out my license and handed it to him... when he told me to park my car aside , as I was blocking the cars behind me, and bring the rest i.e. vehicle ownership and registration docs.

Thats when it occurred to me... I had forgotten to switch my Istamara!! I was carrying papers (actually two cards) of my own car ... what to do now ... what to do .... Now my main concern was not over-speeding but inavailabilty of mandatory documents - which is an even bigger crime ...... I had no other choice, I got out of my car and gave him the papers.. and this is what happenend:

Shurta: "kam mashi" how fast were you

Me: "mia o ashreen" 120

Shurta: "la mia o khamseen" no 150

Me: "la ya rajil, wallah al azeem ana mashi be mia o ashreen" no man, swear to god i was driving at 120 (swearing on god is common here so i tried to convince him his way)

All this time his eyes were on the istamara or on my car.... needless to mention all the details on the paper were for my old but hefty Cressida and a brand new Honda was staring at him. Even the colors didnt match. And I was like .. Oh God just keep doing whatever u r doing....

After almost a minute of silence during which he was still looking at the papers....

Shurta: "yallah roh" ok u can go

Me: "Allah yateek al afia" God bless you (like a thanks... only better)

Me: "Tujh say bara jahil nahe dekha main nay" well .. i didnt say it out loud

I came to know later that I was saved from some really deep deep shit!

Moral: Obey your parents