March 16, 2010 by saudislike
When Saudis travel they usually carry
a reasonable amount of luggage with them; but some how
when they come back from their long lovely vacation, their luggage
magically doubles in number… if you wonder why is that? Well,
Saudis find stuff that are sold overseas very appealing, even if you can
find the exact same stuff in Saudi. For instance, Saudis will
always argue that chocolates like Kitkat, Cadbury, Toblerone, etc. taste
much better if you got it from Great Britain than just buying it from a
local shop in Saudi. In addition, telling your friends that you
bought your laptop from the U.S., makes your
laptop extraordinary comparing to laptops sold in Saudi… I
am sure you guys got the idea!
Ironically, some people who strive
for uniqueness may think that certain things such as name
brand clothes or electronics can only be found outside of the country,
not knowing that everyone else in town owns the same thing… the only
difference is that they bought it from one of the few local shopping
malls. What I suggest for travelers is not to worry about how they
can squeeze every non sense item in their bags, instead they
can spend their money in site seeing and enjoy their trip.
Posted in Full List of Stuff Saudi People Like | Tagged chocolates,
clothe, electronics,
Saudis | 4 Comments »
February 16, 2010 by saudislike
With it’s recognizable green cap and exotic red
bottle, Crystal hot sauce has a magical ability to make any type
of food taste great. Even if your food does not taste that good,
just add a some Crystal drops on your food and you will experience
the best meal you have ever had. Many Saudis like to carry Crystal
hot sauce in their pockets, waiting for the right moment to use it.
Let’s say you are invited to your mother-in-law’s house for
a lovely family dinner and you don’t like her food, you can’t
be rude & not eat… right? Here is when Crystal comes in handy…
you will eat everything on the table and make your in-laws happy.
Go to any dinner party in Saudi and I am 100% positive that
you will find Crystal bottles standing with pride on the dinning table
or on the floor (for people who like to eat on the floor). You can
put Crystal on your Ka’bsa, scrambled eggs, sandwiches,
fries, and potato chips… you name it! Don’t be surprised if
Saudis start drinking the hot sauce or serve it as a cocktail drink
in restaurants. I once saw bunch of Saudis drink
Crystal straight from the bottle, so I think it can be considered
as a beverage.
Posted in Full List of Stuff Saudi People Like | Tagged food, hot sauce, Saudis, spicy, taste | 10 Comments »
February 5, 2010 by saudislike
In different parts of the world, people wait until
they retire and save enough money or go through a mid-life crisis so
they can get a fancy car. However in Saudi, it’s a different
story. Saudis love their fancy rides and often strive to own one
of those limited edition one of a kind cars… I am talking about those
cars that if you look at their price tag you think its a freaking phone
number. Of course this also means that Saudis don't typically have cheap auto insurance rates. What’s funny is that not only old people own those fancy
cars in Saudi… don’t be surprised if you are stopped at a traffic light
and the person who is driving the Lamborghini next to you is a kid
who has barely passed puberty with a little hair on his face which he
likes to call a mustache. In fact, most people who drive fancy
luxurious cars in Saudi are the young (spoiled/brats) citizens of Saudi.
It’s nice to own a Ferrari and see people turning their heads
staring at your fancy ride when you are driving by. But what if
you heard that there is another person who owns the exact same
Ferrari as you… then it will be your worst nightmare, right?
Posted in Full List of Stuff Saudi People Like | Tagged cars, fancy, luxurious, Saudis | 3 Comments »
January 25, 2010 by saudislike
Saudis feel obligated to read books so they
can be considered as one of those intellectual societies.
It’s not that Saudis don’t like to read, if you walk down the
street you will witness that the majority of men carry newspapers under
their arm pits… as if it’s attached to their body. On the other
hand, Saudi women love their magazines; from gossip tabloids to how you
wear your make up (or as I call it magic) so it looks natural, to
the newest bullshit diet for this year that makes you lose ten pounds in
two days … women just love their magazines.
With the domination of newspapers and magazines, books feel
left out, lonely, and hopeless in their book shelves.
But there are a bunch of world savers; aka “we can make a difference
Saudis”, who are campaigning to promote book reading.
The type of books that Saudis “enjoy” reading are books that have
to deal with self-improvement and how to make you a better person.
It’s not like Saudis lack those aspects; but they like the fact
that they can implement some things that they learn from
those books and gain a sense of intelligence amongst their
peers which make them feel good about themselves. Next time
you have a conversation or discussion with your friends,
mention that you been reading one of those books that help you achieve
your goals, and you will be looked at as if you are
a professor from Harvard.
Posted in Full List of Stuff Saudi People Like | Tagged books, read, Saudis, self-improvement
| 9 Comments »
January 18, 2010 by saudislike
There is only one Adel Imam in this world
and there will be no other in the future. I don’t care what you
say, but there are no actors/comedians currently who make people laugh
like Imam. This comedy legend is beloved by all people in the
Middle East and considered the funniest man in the Arab world. I
can talk about Adel Imam for days, but this post is devoted to Saudis
who like Mr. Imam. Any movie or play that Adel Imam stars in is
an automatic trigger in a Saudi’s brain that it will be damn funny…
people will start laughing before Imam does or say anything; this how
funny he is. Saudis memorize every Adel Imam play and watch
them a million times, making sure they did not miss any scene.
Adel Imam has influenced Saudi humor in a way that you can witness
it when you’re joking with Saudis; 99% of the time,
someone will react or mention one of Adel Imam’s punch lines in a
lame Egyptian accent.
One of the main things for a Saudi family to do when they are
visiting Egypt is to attend one of Adel Imam’s plays, otherwise they
will feel like they didn’t go to Egypt.
Posted in Full List of Stuff Saudi People Like | Tagged actor, comedy, funny, movies, star | 2 Comments »
January 8, 2010 by saudislike
Who said video games are only for
kids? Many generations in Saudi love to play video games.
However,this post is not about Saudis who find their joy in
playing video games. I will not talk about video games in general,
it’s specifically about the one and the only game console
that has been dominating every house in Saudi for decades… allow me
to introduce the Sony PlayStation.
The Sony PlayStation is the game console that every Saudi kid
dreamed about and strived to get A’s in his classes in order
for his parents to buy them one.
“BLAY” Station became a must in any Saudi household…it is one of
those necessities that is a must have for a Saudi household… like TVs,
dining table, sleeping beds, etc. PlayStation became so popular
that people started referring any video game console by calling it
PlayStation. Mention XBox to Saudis and they will think that you
are talking about a new coffee shop in town. Walk into
any bachelor pad in Saudi, you will witness
three entertainment aspects every one has in common; people
playing cards (Bal’ot), hookah, and PlayStation. Don’t be
surprise if you see a bunch of Saudis reading Japanese. They
mastered the language by playing the number one game on PlayStation for years, which
is Winning Eleven (a Japanese soccer game).
Posted in Full List of Stuff Saudi People Like | Tagged games, PlayStation,
Saudis, video games
| 3 Comments »
December 15, 2009 by saudislike
When Saudis talk about investing, it’s
usually about investing in the stock market…period. Not real
estate, bonds, funds, etc. For some Saudis, the stock market is
considered the easiest way to invest with less “physical” work, at least
that what some people think. Since casinos are illegal in
Saudi Arabia and gambling is considered forbidden in Islam, the stock
market can be the next best thing. I know investors have to do
some market research or hire a broker, but that doesn’t guarantee you
will have higher return. Otherwise everyone will do their long ass
homework about stocks and bonds or spend more money to hire those soft
talking sophisticated brokers. Therefore, Saudis pick simpler ways
to invest!
One way to invest in the stock market is based on your instinct, if
you’re feeling lucky… go for it and pray for the best. Another common
way is to ask your peers and they will tell you that they made a lot
money last week on a certain stock and you should invest in
it. Of course stocks don’t stay at the same status
everyday…that’s why people spend half their lives staring at the
stock screens, but some Saudis ignore the fact the stocks change and
start investing in a certain stock…assuming they are going to make a lot
money just like their friends.
Posted in Full List of Stuff Saudi People Like | Tagged investing, money, Saudis, stock market
| 2 Comments »
December 4, 2009 by saudislike
“Texting” SMS messages is the number one hobby in Saudi
Arabia, from funny sexual jokes to cheesy love messages! Those are the
type of messages that take most memory space in Saudis’
cellphones. By coming up with phones that have their own mini
keyboard such as the all-astonishingly amazing Blackberry, messages that
used to take half and hour to type, now takes 3 seconds to type and hit
send. The best sound of melody that any Saudi will enjoy is the
sound of their phone’s ringtone when they receive a random
message. It is like receiving a gift on your birthday, you don’t
know what it’s going to be… hoping it will be something worth your
excitement!
In 1994, the telecommunications industry came up with a new
technology called “Bluetooth”. Bluetooth technology took SMS
messages to a new level; and for Saudis, it changed the perception
of data transformation and it took Saudi Arabia by storm. For
many Saudis, a phone with no Bluetooth (which is impossible to find one
nowadays), is like a car in Saudi with no A/C.
We might be heading into an era where people don’t speak or it seems
as though they have forgotten how to speak directly with each other and
start communicating with text messages and some weird symbols!
Posted in Full List of Stuff Saudi People Like | Tagged Blackberry,
Bluetooth,
cell
phones, Saudis,
SMS
messages, text
| 1 Comment »
December 1, 2009 by saudislike
My heart goes out to all
those affected by the terrible flooding in our homeland. Many
thoughts and prayers go out to everyone. It is the time for
everyone to come together.
Posted in 1 | 2 Comments »
November 25, 2009 by saudislike
Generosity is one of the most positive
characteristics that many Saudis have in common when it comes to dealing
with guests. Some believe that part of being an Arab is that
hospitality and exaggeration in welcoming guests are serious
duties. The best and safest way to show your generous side that has been
hiding for a long time is to invite your friends and guests to a lovely
dinner. Breakfast or lunch will not work due to the Saudi
schedule that starts from 1 pm (although I know some people will wake up
early for free food). When it comes to eating, Saudis like to
enjoy every bite and make sure that they taste everything on the
table; all of this is time-consuming; therefore, dinnertime is the
best time for Saudis in case they are planning to spend more than two
days eating.
For newbies in hosting dinner parties, I just want to say that pizza
will not work…it’s either a whole animal; usually lamb or some certain
type of herbivorous mammal or nothing at all. Make sure there is
dessert after dinner, and yes fruits can be dessert and for extra street
credit serving tea after words will be the best option.
Dinner invitations will always be a part of Saudi culture that
leads to bonding amongst each other, making new friends, and solving
many problems… but seriously, who doesn’t like free dinners?
Posted in Full List of Stuff Saudi People Like | Tagged dinner, food, hospitality,
invitations,
party, Saudis | 1 Comment »
When Saudis travel they usually carry
a reasonable amount of luggage with them; but some how
when they come back from their long lovely vacation, their luggage
magically doubles in number… if you wonder why is that? Well,
Saudis find stuff that are sold overseas very appealing, even if you can
find the exact same stuff in Saudi. For instance, Saudis will
always argue that chocolates like Kitkat, Cadbury, Toblerone, etc. taste
much better if you got it from Great Britain than just buying it from a
local shop in Saudi. In addition, telling your friends that you
bought your laptop from the U.S., makes your
laptop extraordinary comparing to laptops sold in Saudi… I
am sure you guys got the idea!
