Jeddah: More Abandoned Cars

One of my pet peeves of Jeddah is the lack of concern of all members of the community in making the city a better place for all.  And one of the biggest problems is the garbage, junk and piles of rubble everywhere that no one seems to take responsibility for.

There are hundreds - no thousands - of disabled, wrecked, and abandoned vehicles all over the streets of Jeddah.  These cars are not only an eyesore, but they often take up valuable parking spaces in a city with far too few parking spaces to start with.  

SkyWatch: Royal Treatment

It's very common to see huge photos of the king and other important members of the royal family plastered all over buildings and billboards here in the kingdom.



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Left Over Decorations

The red and blue banner hanging from the business sign is left over from a past Ramadan when this type of festive decoration is commonly seen around the city.  I would say it's similar to the patriotic red, white and blue pennants or swag banners that are hung around the 4th of July in the USA.  

Arabic Calligraphy Jewelry

Arabic script is often incorporated into designs here, through artwork or jewelry.  These pendants caught my eye for their intricate details and appealing style.  

Our World: Saudi Style Seating

The traditional Saudi outdoor seating is different from the patio seating where I come from.  For one thing, the height of the seating is usually either much higher or much lower than a regular chair or couch height.  I don't know why this is - I've never gotten satisfactory answers to this question.

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Bedouin Accessories

This post contains some of the accessories one might see with featured Bedouin decor..  Above is a collection of lovely brass serving pieces.

Red carpets are a must-have for Bedouin decor, as well as dark carved wood items.

Arabic script paintings or wall hangings are also very typical when one thinks of Bedouin style home furnishings.  

Arabic Logos

Here is a building which has three familiar business logos on the ground floor:  Baskin Robbins, Bose, and Subway.  I enjoy seeing familiar logos transformed into Arabic fonts.

Jeddah: Apartment Building Door

Just showing you a lovely opaque doorway of an apartment building here in Jeddah today...

SkyWatch: Architecture in Jeddah

I love the color of this uniquely designed building in Jeddah against the blue sky, don't you?



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Jeddah: Layla's Gourmet Restaurant

It took us about an hour to locate this charming little restaurant in Jeddah, although we were within a block of it for most of that time.  The GPS didn't lead us to the exact location for some reason, and it is tucked away in a very residential area.

The decor of the restaurant is very French and delightfully whimsical, and comfortably homey.   Layla's Gourmet offers lovely baked items and finger foods.  

Jeddah: Round Building

The architecture seen around Jeddah is very diverse, ranging from extremely old traditional to ultra modern and everything in between.  There seems to be a trend with round shaped buildings here too.

Our World: Bedouin Details

Something that one might not expect to see in a room with Bedouin decor is a matching elegant red crystal chandelier.

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Fit for a Queen

Fancy tiaras are sold in many shops here in Jeddah.  I guess women like to wear them.  And I always hear men saying how the Saudi women are treated like queens here - that's one of the reasons for why women aren't permitted to drive, so they can feel like queens being chauffeured around all the time. Yeah, right... 

Jeddah: Free Store!

The translation of this store name of "Ya Balash" is something like "It's Free."  Of course the products sold there aren't free but it's to give the idea that their products are so inexpensive it's like you are getting the stuff for free.  

Red and Black Bedouin Geometric Designs

The most common colors seen in traditional Bedouin designs are red, black and white, and the patterns are always geometric.

Many times the cushions are not elevated but are placed directly on the floor.  I prefer to be elevated like this one.

Skywatch: Museum of Heritage and Civilization

Even though the big sign above the gate says it's the "Museum of Abdul Raouf Hasan Khalil Heritage and Civilization," I haven't been able to locate any information at all about this interesting building.

There is another building located in a different part of the city built by the same man (who, by the way, was my husband's uncle!) that houses the Tayebat Museum.

I do know that he had built a museum that burned down years ago.  Unfortunately I don't know what this building is used for or any details.  If anyone has any information, please feel free to comment.



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Fancy Pearl High Heels

I am always amazed at the fancy fashionable styles available here in Saudi Arabia.  The weddings I have attended here are always over the top with glitz and glamour.  I used to wear heels as high as these back in my younger days, but no more!  It's comfort all the way for me now, baby!

Jeddah: Benihana in Arabic

Here is another familiar worldwide chain logo written in Arabic - the famous Benihana of Tokyo.  I haven't eaten at this one yet, but I have been to several in the US. Benihana has over 100 locations serving more than 20 countries around the world.  What I like about Benihana - besides the food - is the entertaining way the chefs prepare the orders right there at the tables in front of the customers. They slice and dice and twirl around the utensils with real style and showmanship.  

Our World: Little Girl's Bedroom

While there are many differences between Saudi Arabia (where I now live) and the USA (where I'm from), I also like to show similarities between the two places and its people as well.  This is a typical little Saudi girl's bedroom.  Start with all shades of pink, throw in a bit of rainbow, sprinkle with a few hearts, flowers, and butterflies, and Voila!  You have a sweet bedroom that just about any little girl around the world would love to have as her own.  This charming room belongs to one of our nieces.





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Bedouin Decor

Besides geometric designs and mostly red colors, Bedouin style also involves lots of tassels as well as darked carved wood pieces.  . 

Bedouin Pattern

I love the traditional geometric Bedouin pattern in red, white, and black.  This design style for furnishings is very common here in Saudi Arabia.  It is reminiscent of Native American Indian geometric designs.  Many Saudi restaurants feature this type of design element.  Typical Saudi couch seating is usually achieved by cushions placed directly on the floor or is elevated on a frame a bit higher than normal couches. 

Saudi Arabia: Families Only

Places in the mall such as this Victoria's Secret are off-limits to men who are not accompanied by female family members.  It's a little hard to make out, but the sign belong the store name says "Families Only."  So a man who wishes to purchase something for his wife from shops like this cannot do it unless he brings along his wife or another female relative, like his mother, sister, or daughter. 

SkyWatch: Plane at Sunset

This shot was taken at sunset from the rooftop of our building.  The sunsets here are generally not nearly as colorful and spectacular as the sunsets of southern Arizona, where I grew up.  I have a feeling the poor air quality here in Jeddah has to do with it.  In this picture, I happened to catch a large jet as it was preparing to land at the airport north of us.



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Saudi Arabia: Camel Milk

Camel milk is readily available in Saudi Arabia at most grocery outlets.  It even comes in small single servings.  We like to get our camel milk fresh.  There are places we can drive less than 15 minutes out of town and have the camel milked right there on the spot for us.  My husband boils the heck out of it - he likes to use it in various ways for cooking. 

Mall Entertainment Area

Pretty much all malls in Saudi Arabia have a family entertainment area, much like a carnival.  Malls are very popular places here on the weekends.  

Our World: Gender Segregation Signs

There are many things that I like taking photos of here in Saudi Arabia - like camels, sculptures, architecture, and signs.  The huge variety of signs with creative graphics for bathrooms indicating "Men" and "Women" and for restaurants which indicate separate entrances and sections for "Families" and "Single Men" always attract my attention. 

I also like seeing the signs written in both Arabic and English.




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Jeddah: Stacked Chairs

Many times here in Jeddah, I just snap, snap, snap photos while we are zooming by in the car, hoping to get a few good ones, but mostly I end up deleting many of them.  Sometimes I get a kick out of the photos when I take a look at them on my computer because I had no idea what I was taking a picture of at the time.  Like this one.

Saudi Decor - Old is New

Old style architectural features like this old carved door have become popularly used as decor in many modern Saudi homes. 

Jeddah: Breakfast at IHOP

It's pretty amazing to imagine big American food chains like IHOP here in Saudi Arabia.  We've also got Red Lobster, Cheesecake Factory, Papa Johns, On the Border, P F Chang's, and Fuddruckers, just to name a few. 

Theme Day: The Beauty of Simplicity

I must admit, I am not much of a fan of modern architecture, but I do like the simplicity and clean lines of some modern designs.  The angles and intersecting lines of this new building in Jeddah, coupled with the large area of reflective blue glass is attractive and eye catching.  I also love how the building crane is reflected in the glass in this photo and how it fits the shape of that glass section of the design.  I find a lot of Saudi architecture and design is very fussy and overdone, in my opinion.  So it's nice to see something more simple and understated like this building. 

Today is the first of the month, which means it's theme day for City Daily Photo bloggers.  City Daily Photo is an online community of photo bloggers from around the world,  sharing the wonders of their area of the world pictorially with others.  Each month there is a different theme.  This month's theme is "The Beauty of Simplicity."

Please visit the City Daily Photo portal to view other participants' entries for today's theme day of "The Beauty of Simplicity."

Today is also SkyWatch Friday. To  visit MORE friendly skies around the world, fly on over to SKYWATCH  where you’ll find beautiful skies posted by bloggers all over the world.