for the past three years that i have been in and out of riyadh, ksa i have nothing but good experiences to tell-from the people, the culture, the weather and other expats living and working here .. but just recently, i indirectly encountered some sort of discrimination (not from a saudi local but from an egyptian-i think-).

my husband and i took the kids to jarir bookstore, the kingdom's number one chain of bookstore (in the Philippines it's counterpart is National Bookstore), to shop for school supplies. we always go to jarir to buy office stuffs and we even bought our laptops there .. so i can say i'm well at ease with the place. as we stepped foot at the second floor, the kids and i headed towards the children's section while my husband split from us yet he still had his eye on us. little did i know that we were being followed by this male sales associate and really gawking at us meticulously (as what my husband observed) .. i didn't notice it 'cause i was too busy with the kids. when my husband approached me he told me what he saw .. i tried to keep my cool since we really need to get some supplies. then again, this SA was there, observing us. my husband wasn't able to control himself and approached the guy. he spoke to him in english but it seems like the SA doesn't know how to converse in english so he called a fellow SA who is a filipino .. my husband told him what happend and the filipino SA tried to explain that maybe the egyptian SA was training the newbie.my husband told him the discriminating gestures of the egyptian SA and later apologised. now why did my husband and i (later on) feel so bad and diminished? because SAs in jarir are there to assist customers but they would never be near them unless asked .. that's the SOP there .. so why in the world would this guy follow us and look at us as if we're going to shoplift? i really felt like crying that night .. sigh .. i just keep telling myself that these things really do happen, not just to us-to some, even worse .. oh well .. when will we ever have equality? = (

pic: me inside jarir bookstore (malaz) way back 2008

we're all in this together...

back in riyadh, ksa..but this time i brought all kids with me unlike before when i only tag along our youngest..imagine me at the airport with three kids in tow..thank heavens i was assisted by an airline personnel right from paying the travel tax up to the time we got to the terminal..at our flight transfer in Hong Kong i was fetched by another airline personnel so that we wouldn't have to go through the usual long lines..the kids and i were led to another immigration booth where only us were inspected then off we went to the terminal to wait for our flight..i always make sure i'm prepared when travelling with the kids so i brought pens and paper for them to while away time while waiting for our flight.. good thing my kids cooperated quite well..we were met by my husband at King Khaled airport =)

our house is always noisy now, hehe..but i'm not complaining..atleast this time no one was left behind...

first pic: wearing the abaya..
second pic: my two older kids running at IKEA parking lot

of thinking too much...

why is it that happiness is superficial? why do i oftentimes see my life as sad when everything is in its right place? why is it easy for me to be so affected? can't i just live my life without thinking of other people? can i just don't mind them?

come to think of it, you cannot please everybody..even the kindest of the kindest will always have people against them or those who are being friendly friends with them but say bad things once they turn their backs.

oh well, life is too short to worry and to defend yourself from a battle which hasn't started yet..

ok, i'll let it slide and not dwell on negativity anymore...besides, it's time for me to think about what hassles might happen in our flight next week..TOINK!!!

IN THE PHOTO: my youngest 4 years ago..i wish i'm like that now..he seems so carefree and happy!!! =)