Khaled rambles technology, tea/coffee, consumer rights and other interest from Saudi Arabia

February 14, 2011

#SaudiValentine and overreactions

Filed under: General — Tags: , — Khaled A. @ 12:16 pm

I really don’t care about Valentine. But I find the reaction to it in Saudi Arabia is excessive, on both sides.

The color red is banned and apparently Baskin Robbin’s Love Potion 31 icecream is also banned. On the other hand you got the people who think Valentine a big deal.

These reactions are interesting and being posted on twitter with the tag #SaudiValentine, make sure to share your tweets there.

It will be just another day, just don’t wear your red shomag (head gear).

Found image via Rami Taibah’s Blog.

December 17, 2010

Saudi man arrested for carrying snakes on a plane, and 2 parrots and a squirrel

Filed under: News — Tags: , , — Khaled A. @ 12:58 pm

A Saudi man was arrested in the UAE for carrying ****** snakes on a ****** plane! Hilarious! Thanks Ahmed Darweesh for the link!

Via The National:

Abu Dhabi // A passenger has been arrested at Abu Dhabi airport after spending more than eight hours with a bag of snakes on a plane.

The Saudi passenger was said to have been carrying four snakes, two parrots and a squirrel in his hand luggage.

He was caught at the first security checkpoint after arriving at Abu Dhabi International Airport on Etihad Airlines flight EY471 from Jakarta, which landed in the capital shortly before midnight on Thursday.

The animals were not licensed for international transport. They had no health certification, nor confirmation that they were not on any endangered list.

Abu Dhabi police officials expressed surprise that the passenger had cleared security at Jakarta with the animals.

Khamis al Marar, the acting director general of security affairs and ports in Abu Dhabi, stressed that carrying animals on board is strictly prohibited. In this case, other passengers’ safety was at risk, he said.

He added that licensed animals had to travel in specially designed boxes, which should be stored in the aircraft’s hold.

However, it is not the first time unauthorised reptiles have made their way into the passenger cabin of an Abu Dhabi-bound flight.

In August last year, a baby lizard caused panic on a flight from Cairo after it was found wandering along the aisle, having worked its way free of the bag in which it had been smuggled.

Some animal traffickers go even further. A man was arrested in February last year after flying from Dubai to Melbourne with two live pigeons stuffed inside his pants.

July 11, 2010

Knockoffs ad in a major newspaper

Filed under: General — Tags: , , — Khaled A. @ 6:00 pm

In Alriyadh newspaper, advertisement for fake knockoffs and stolen designs. So much for quality of service.

Photo by @SaudiLawyer was tweeted originally on Yfrog. He wonders what is the Ministry of Commerce doing. Apparently their site isn’t working.

June 12, 2010

Video: Coca Cola for families only

Filed under: Videos — Tags: , , , , — Khaled A. @ 11:11 pm

The family-only madness now reaches bottled soda. Imagine “family size” coke bottles restricted to families, no singles allowed to buy it. Enjoy the video:

Video by Malik Nejer. Thanks keloud for twittering it.

In case you don’t know, “family only” locations are popular in Saudi Arabia.

April 18, 2010

UAE suspend Lexus GX 460 sales, what about the Saudi distributor?

Filed under: News — Tags: , , , , — Khaled A. @ 8:28 pm

Apparently there is an issue with the Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) in the 2010 Lexus GX 460. The distributor of Lexus and Toyota in the UAE, Al Futtaim Motors has suspended sales of this SUV and are contacting all of their customers. As reported by Arabian Business.

The Lexus distributor in Saudi Arabia, Abdul Latif Jameel Co, hasn’t announced or did anything regarding these issues with the car until now.

What consumer rights? Why am I not surprised.

April 2, 2010

#OnlyInSaudi

Filed under: General — Tags: , , — Khaled A. @ 3:09 pm

#onlyinsaudi is a twitter hashtag for tracking everyone’s observations of us Saudis ;). contributions are accepted!

I will try to post them here at www.khaled.us/tag/onlyinsaudi.

Disclaimer: the info posted with #onlyinsaudi may be not 100% accurate or exclusive to Saudi Arabia. This is supposed to be fun. Ya hear me? FUN. Don’t take it seriously. Please!

March 20, 2010

Reckless Drifting videos

Filed under: Videos — Tags: , , , , , — Khaled A. @ 3:15 pm

Nothing is more annoying and dangerous than this “reckless drifting” (aka Tafheet تفحيط) craze in Saudi Arabia. As if bad driving wasn’t enough we add recklessness to the unstable mix.

Look at the following image: a BMW 745 parked sideways in the middle of King Abdullah road and most likely it was “drifting” recklessly. Notice the huge dent in the front.

I posted some videos I found that were taken in the same are of Riyadh: King Abdullah Road, in front of KSU entrance and near Raka’a Center (Here’s a Gowalla link)

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January 23, 2010

Only in Saudi Arabia: No singles allowed in this hotel

Filed under: General — Tags: , — Khaled A. @ 4:55 pm

Something interesting from Mövenpick Al Nawras in the fine city of Jeddah. This sign has been found on the Internet:

Translation: Single men absolutely cannot rent a room, no exceptions allowed. Families can rent a room only with an original family card (دفتر العائلة) no photocopies allowed. These are instructions from the Saudi MOI.

Apparently someone misused the services of the Mövenpick resort, so everyone else have to pay the price ;). But they should exclude all single men, not just us Saudis. I am sure single expatriate men won’t have this problem because that sign is in Arabic only. Also Mövenpick Al Nawras should have mentioned this on their website as well just to be fair.

Guess I can’t go unless I get married or borrow my father’s family card ;). If you know the cause for that policy then please share it!

January 12, 2010

Only in Saudi Arabia: Family Only Parking

Filed under: General — Tags: , — Khaled A. @ 1:28 am

Spotted by Hussain at Hyperpanda near Extra electronics store in Al-Khobar.

Only in Saudi Arabia we will see idiotic signs like these. Hey bachelors, you are not allowed to buy groceries.

Expect more “Only in Saudi Arabia” posts.

December 21, 2009

Dear Saudi Driver

Filed under: General — Tags: , — Khaled A. @ 11:19 pm

Notes from my friend, Waiel directed towards Saudi drivers. I personally agree with him:

1. The lane in the road is there to guide you though the road not to ZigZag between them. 2. Again the lanes in the road is to organize the way we drive so don’t squeeze yourself between cars or drive in 2 lanes. 3. You’re suppose to stop at the traffic light before the traffic light itself not in front of everyone to be the first. 4. please note that YOU DON’T OWN THE ROAD !!! 5. Please stop looking at accidents by slowing down or stopping next to it you’re only making the situation worst for everyone. 6. Driving on the left lane doesn’t give you the right to over speed. 7. Signals in the cars are there for a reason so make use of them (the right way). 8. Yellow traffic light means slowdown, It doesn’t mean step-over the gas so you can pass it before it becomes red! 9. Streets should not be used as racing tracks.

I totally agree! “Waiel Rambles” all rights reserved, @waiel.

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