Riyadh Trip

I went to Riyadh on the 15th of March to renew my passport. In my almost a decade here in the Kingdom of the Sands, this is the first time that I ever visited the place. It’s not the first time that I renewed my passport here in the Kingdom but because of the sophisticated passport system that is currently in place, I have to be at the embassy. Previously, we only have to fill out the application form and attach our latest photo and send it to Riyadh and the people at our Riyadh Office will take care of everything from filing to claiming.

The train left Dammam at 12:20 P.M. and reached Riyadh at 5:20 P.M. I would have to say that I enjoyed the travel. It was fun riding the train for the first time. What I did not anticipate is that Riyadh was a lot colder than the Eastern Province. It’s probably because Riyadh is in the middle of the desert. I shivered the moment I disembarked from the train because of the light jacket that I wore.

Riyadh is an Arabic haven and taxi drivers there are mostly Saudis who do not speak English. It was so difficult for me because I can hardly speak Arabic. I ended up being overcharged by the taxi driver when I hired one to bring me to Batha.

The first impression I had when I stepped on Batha is ‘PANGIT’. I was not impressed at all by the series of old buildings surrounding the area. The streets are crowded and filthy. I don’t know if they have ‘Baladiyah’ but I’m sure they don’t have one. The only good thing with Batha is that they have several low cost hotels in the area. It’s low cost but not necessarily low standard because it’s clean and decent. I was met by my friend Niel who works as a supply in SABIC Riyadh Office. We went to his place and then checked in at the nearest hotel. I don’t want to bother him you know. After that, we went to a Thai restaurant and then naggala gala sa Batha.

Niel and I went to the Diplomatic Quarters where the Philippine Embassy is located the following day (16 March). We just took a cab going to Diplomatic Quarters. It’s located in the outskirts of Riyadh. You’ll feel that you’re in the desert or maybe it was just landscaped to look that way. The beauty with Diplomatic Quarter is that all the embassies from all over the world can be found there. So security wise, it’s the safest place in the Kingdom. I could also be wrong because it may also be the target of thugs and terrorist because everything else is there. We reached the Philippine Embassy at around 8:45 A.M. and finished our passport renewal at exactly 9:00 A.M. We were told that the releasing will be after 3-4 weeks from the day the passport is filed. They’re also high tech now because they’re posting the passports to be released in their website. So my passport renewal was stress free. I didn’t wait for a very long time and we were not in a queue.

To document our first ever trip to the Philippine Embassy at the Diplomatic Quarter, we had taken several photos inside the embassy. I felt very free when I was at the embassy. We took several shots but nobody even told us to stop. We were only stopped by the National Guards when we were outside taking photos of the Philippine Embassy emblem. I don’t know what the fuss was over the photos. They even checked my digital cam just to make sure.

We have all the morning to ourselves because we finished very early. Just to have the taste of what Riyadh was, we went to Riyadh Gallery. It’s a very huge mall with expensive shops. We just strolled all over the place but did not buy anything. We left the mall at around 1 PM and then went back to Batha to take our lunch at the Quiapo Restaurant. I’ve heard so much about it before but wasn’t impressed when I get to eat there. It’s old, dirty and bad selections of food. There was one rude food server, baka hindi napasahodan kaya masungit.

I bid my goodbye to my friend Niel at around 3:00 P.M. because my train to Dammam leaves at 4:20 P.M. What’s surprising is that I only paid SR. 15.00 by the taxi driver. So I confirmed that I was indeed overcharged by the old taxi driver when I arrived the day before. The train arrived in Dammam on schedule and I was in my place in Al Khobar at around 10:30 P.M.

I went to Riyadh on a weekday and was out of the office for a day and a half (PAID). I reached Al Khobar Wednesday night so I get to spend another 2 days weekend. It’s all thanks to my boss who never asked me to file a Leave Request Form. Not bad, right?