Felling hot @ Chilis

One thing that excites me this past few weeks is discovering good restaurants here in Al-Khobar/Damman/Dharan area. One good restaurant find is Chilis in Mall of Dharan.

Actually there's two Chilis branch located near to our place, the one is in Al-Khobar Corniche and the other one is in Mall of Dharan but we prefer the Mall of Dharan branch because of the ambiance and
its is convenitently located next to my..errr..our favorite mall also (i.e. IKEA).

Chilis restaurant is divided into two areas, the family and bachelor, as customary to Saudi's law, though we need to pass throught he family section before entering the bachelor's area.
Upon entrance, their gracious host welcomes you together with their servers who will take your orders. I find this very hospitable and feels like we're @ home. I remember experiencing this kind of kind gesture
when I ate in Kamayan/Dads/Saisaki in Glorietta together with Floro.

As for appetizers, I recomend the Garden fresh salad, with chicken and shrimps. It's not only healty but the servings is huge 4 persons can share on it.

Though Chris prefered eating Tostada as appetizers.

Though im not a big fan of chips/tacos I do recommend ordering this Tostada coz not only it has a superb creamy white sauce dip but also this is bottomless.

Yep. You can eat Tostada as many as you want and you can even take home your remaining Tostadas. Isn't it great?!

The Iced Tea beverages are to die for. I love the way that we have to add-up the syrup by ourselves. This is the best prepared iced tea that 've ever tasted (sorry tokyo tokyo, but your my second favorite iced tea parin dont worry!).
And one thing good about it is it is Bottomless also! Yahoo!

Bottomless iced tea = Frequent visit to the bathroom.
(btw, the bathroom is waayyy too far from the resto, so you'll better have an empty bladder upon entering and ordering bottomless drinks)

For Main Course we tried a variety of food in the Menu.

Flame Grilled Ribeye, with bones still on it, was a winner. I think it was 306 grams of pure beef meat, tenderly cooked and easily sliced. Best to eat while it's still hot.

I suggest you to dip it in a hot sauce, super good combination!!!

As for the side dish, they have a lot of side dishes to choose from like mash potato, buttered vegetables and steam brocolli. All of them taste good (tried them already) but im always been a mash potato lover and their version of it was delicious! Sorry brocolli, better luck next time =P.

As for dessert, the molten chocolate cake is a runaway winner. Actually the only reason I went to Chilis is to eat this delicious cake with ice cream on top. Its a combination of cold + hot dessert. Sure fire hit!

So if you're living near the vicinity of Mall of Dharan or in Al-Khobar Corniche, please do visit their restaurant and I assure you you'll enjoy every minute of dining out here.

What keeps me busy..

Aside from my hectic 7am-7pm work @ the office, I did give myself some much rewarded R & R every weekend. Besides swimming @ the beach (which will be done again this coming weekend) one way to relax is to raid the malls here in Al-Khobar and Dharan. Actually just doing some window shopping is kinda relaxing. Though sometimes it can be very tempting to buy especially when its on sale, just like this slender lamp from IKEA..

IKEA slender lamp

I keep on baggering my friend Charlie and Richard to go to SACO mall so i can buy those huge clothes hangeran, and after many cancelled trip we finally made it and i was very happy when we set foot on that store.

Before

After

You've probably think im a domesticated-kind-of-guy, nah, wish i could. I'm not good at designing homes nor pick the right duvet or punda for my pillows. And that's why i thank god i have friends who has a keen eye on this kind of things. Hahaha. User friendly!!

Another stash from IKEA

Another thing that keeps me busy this past few weeks is my collection of padala to Pinas. I've planned to send this things wayback January but unfortunately, due to unforseen events and gastos, only now I did manage to almost complete my balikbayan box to Pinas. Another trip this weekend and im done.

Tefal for Mom, her favorite brand

Almost full

All boxed up!

Oh, i did manage to buy myself a new phone coz the old one will be shipped together with the padala sa Pinas. Was very happy to buy this phone and special thanks to Chris for joining me in my phone-hunting @ King Khalid street.

Let's do the BBM!!

And finally, what keeps me insane this past few weeks was the pestering cockroaches inmy room. Gah, there's cockroach everywhere! Form kitchen sink to bathroom to my bed and even under the refrigerator. I did one very stupid thing last week though, i sprayed my room with baygon (i consumed 3 cans in one night) but it was nightime already, shempre i was tired so after 30 minutes i slept. Come morning time i felt horrible.

In short nasinghot ko ata lahat ng baygon sa kwarto.

Not a good idea noh?

And guess what, not all of them are killed.I didn't annihilate the entire cockroache population yet. Di bale, there's a second batch (but will definitely not on a weekday night).

My frenemy..baygon

Oh well, that's how i spend my days here in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, slightly boring pero im fine with it. Aba, till Decemeber pako dito so I should enjoy life here in the Kingdom. Diba?

Swimming in the beach...Al-Khobar style

We're lucky our place here in Al-Khobar is situated near the beach. It will only take an hour to drive to the different beaches of Al-Khobar. There are public beaches (with family and single section) and there are private villas or as i say termed it "private resorts".

Two weeks ago I got a chance to visit one of the "private resorts" here in Al-Khobar named Al-Baher Villas, and I must admit i was impressed.

Pool inviting us to swim on a cold night

Playground in the sands

We arrive @ Al-Baher 2:00 AM and it was the last cold blast that we've experienced and that's why we're not in the mood to swim in the pool nor the beach.

Jetty area @ early morning

After inspecting the whole place and interviewing the caretaker, I found out that the villa not only offer the pool and beach but they also have rooms where you can stay, mini-bar that can serve foods and beverages (no alcohol of course), a boat ride, sailing boat, and many more. Dang, if only i have lots of money I would definitely love to try the boating thing.

Sunrise in the beach



View of the beach from the jetty area

Neighboring villas, as chris would termed it "Malibu style houses"

And Adjie left his mark on the 

The villa is open for both family and bachelor and it is a great place to relax and unwind after a toxic weekdays @ work. At SR50 entrance fee, its a good catch. So what are you waiting for, let's go na!

So, if your wondering why im not blogging too much, its because my weekend are spent travelling and exploring this wonderful country of Suadi Arabia!

Hop to Hofuf and Judas Cave

I've heard a lot of things about Hofuf and it's famous tourist spot which is Judas cave. My immediate friends already went there last year, when i was still in Pinas, so that leaves me no chance to visit Judas Cave with them.
And last week my officemate invited me to join them to visist Hofuf and Judas cave, with contribution of 30 riyals for the car, i coudln't say no.

Sandstorm was at rage the day before our trip, and with zero visibility on the roads i though our trip would be cancelled the next day. Thank God the weather was cleared on the day of our trip and we've finally make our way to Hofuf.

The travel was a breeze, with less cars ont he road and no traffic. It only took us almost 1.5 hours to drive from Al-Khobar to Hofuf.

Upon arriving in Hofuf, we we're suppose to visit an old fort in the middle of the city, sadly it was closed (maybe because it was too early then). Though the fort is exactly the same as the one in Bahrain (Arad Fort) but this one is much smaller. Didn't took some pictures on it coz I haven't get over with the idea of taking-picture-in-public-and-the-police-might-take-you-away, hahaha! That's how paranoid I am.

Hofuf is know for its hundreds of dates farm. I think the place was the biggest oasis in Saudi Arabia. Oh how i missed the opportunity to visit the dates farm in Iran.My colleague's group who visited the dates farm even brought home some fresh dates, courtesy of the owner of the farm. I think he was happy to see foreigneners pass by his properties.

After 20 minutes of driving around Hofuf we've finally made our way to Judas Cave. Thought it was not as magnificent as the carved mountains of Iran nor as a organize tourist spot, every tourist would still be awed by the rock formations and designs that consist of Judas cave.

Our friend told us legend tells it that Judas went here after Jesus was arrested and crucified though there's no real basis about it.

Here are the pics around Judas cave, Enjoy!

Sign @ the entrance

Can you find the grafitti?

The not-so-long but winding road

Weird insects doing something nasty!

Towering wall of rocks

Rocks waiting to roll-over @ you!

Three fingers

Entrance to the cave

Towering Rockies

Oneof the passage inside the cave. Funny but many people including babies on stroller visit this area as well. The lights from the lamp and dim sunlight makes a dramatic efffect on the place.

Sunlight peeking in the rocks.

The only staircase that I found inside the cave.

Rock formation shape like a....????

View on half way to the top.

The highest peak is over there.

Entrance of the cave, view from the top.

Grand Canyon is that you?

The dates plantation in the horizon.

If you're a mountain trekker/rock formation lover/naturalist you'll definitely love the place! I did appreciate the place, eventhough i slipped twice when hiking the mountain and almost bang my camera when i made a duck walk just to enter a dead-end area. The hike to the top is the most exciting part of the trip coz the chance of accident is high, but the reward is worth it.

All in all, the trip was worth it. We enjoy the trip and surely, if God permits, I'll make a second trip to Hofuf, but next time i'll visit the dates palm.

Oh,  here's my solo shot shoots pala  from my camera. What yah think? LOL!
Walang basagan ng trip =P

HAPPY WEEKEND EVERYONE!