Visit to Fanateer and Khakheel Beach

Today being a Friday and a holiday, we decided to do a bit of exploring. Our (I and Mehul – a colleague at SABIC – and his family) plan was a drive to Fanateer (the posh area of Jubail and developed by the Royal Commission forJubail and Yanbu), Khakheel beach and then make a stopover at Jarir Bookstore on the way back to Jubail.

En route to Fanateer and the beach
This is the way to our office incidentally too.

Turning from the Port Road into Highway 6

Highway 6.. en route to Fanateer

The Royal Commission Building in Fanateer

Fanateer

The beach finally.. standing close to the water. No pictures of people though, you cannot photograph ladies in Saudi Arabia. I have taken extra care not to get into trouble.
Anyway, the beach was packed (you will have to take my word for it) and you could see families enjoying themselves at the beach. The weather being cool, we saw only one person swimming in the sea.

Another view of the beach

Yours truly.. not exactly beachwear.. but was my first trip here in any case…

Another view…

Warning.. according to this sign Children are prohibited from swimming
I gathered that this area is deep and risky

Kites at the beach

Leaving Kakheel beach…

Jarir Bookstore (www.jarirbookstore.com). This is the largest book and computer store in Jubail. It was amazing . All makes and all models of laptops were on display.

The most interesting find was a Fujitsu-Seimens for SR1690 running Linux. A full sized laptop for less than the price of a Acer Aspire 1. It also had the brilliant Fujitsu keyboard.

As it was nearing 6.30 PM, we decided to go back to Jubail and plan for a major outing next Thursday.

Jubail Industrial City…all these on the right are petrochemical complexes

Back to Jubail

Jubail….

Jubail

Some more pictures of Jubail…

View of the main street in Jubail, turning in from the boat circle

MacDonald sign towering over the city

Driving down the main drive in Jubail

Sameway Superstore (partially obscured).

This is where we buy our usual weekly requirements… food, veggies, juice and other bric-a-brac.

Another shot of the same street. Crossing is a bit tricky as cars drive at 100 kmph down the straight road.

I live behind the large building to the right of the picture. If you remember my earlier post, on the left you can see Samba Bank and Coco restaurant is to the right of the picture.

Jubail Center.. on Jeddah street

If you need any electronics and cameras here, you will get it around here

Today being Friday and a holiday, the streets are packed with people.

It is “the day out” for most people

Turning left on to Port Road.. this road leads to Highway 6, which again leads to Jubail Industrial City and the Royal Commission Area

Postcards from Jubail 2

Some more interesting pictures from Jubail.

Contrary to the popular idea, it is a real city and not a collection of tents and one does not have to live like a Bedouin.

Bangladeshi shop – advertising all that is necessary for Bangladeshis to flock here. This shop is less than a stone’s throw from where I live and get my cigarettes, juices and water from.

Took the trouble of going to one of the best restaurants in Jubail – called COCO – to pick up two Shawarmas for dinner (@ 4 SR each). They are large.. in fact very large (my cross pen is there for comparison). I thought I will have 2 for dinner since this is the start of the weekend. Have given up after just one.

It is loaded with roast lamb slices. It is brilliant. Hope it does not become a habit….

Jubail at night… 7.20 pm taken while I was waiting for my Shawarmas. There is a McDonald sign, that is barely visible behind the palms. The lighted area on the right is called the international market. The left is the Safeway Super Store. The spot from where the picture has been taken, is about a 30s walk from my main door.
Downtown Jubail. The other direction of the same road. The place till where the street lights are visible is the Jubail city center. The Nikon dealer for Saudi Arabia is on the right , about 50m away. The multi-coloured sign on the left is Samba Bank (Saudi American Bank).

A view of the roof of my flat. There, in the front you can see Samba Bank.

Postcards from Jubail 1

Landed in Jubail on the 20th of October, after several months of delays to take up an offer with SABIC.

After what I had heard about Saudi Arabia, the passage through Dammam Airport was a breeze. In fact the customs officer told me to enjoy my stay here.
Traveling from Dammam to Jubail in the company provided transport – a Toyota Camry – driven by a Sri Lankan driver (Jaya). Jaya was chatting away while driving at a rock steady 120 kmph.
First view of the desert. It ocurred to me that Saudi Arabia was mostly desert. The specks in the distance was camels.

Sand whipped up by strong winds en route to Jubail. We hit a tyre that some one had left behind after something that should have been a spectacular blowout.

Jubail… next to the King Aziz Naval Base.

Outskirts of Jubail City. Close to a place that was my temporary accommodation.

Having brunch at a cafe near Al-Lulu Dispensary, where we went through a battery of pre-employment medical tests. The coffee and the pizza (with a middle-eastern topping) was brilliant.