Our new Home in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

So, we decided on getting an apartment instead of a villa or living in a compound. The main reason-it is more affordable.

Sohail's journey in finding us a home was quite eventful. More than three times, he found a place and went back either later that day, or the next day to give a deposit. and it had been rented out already! I fell in love with each one he chose-however-he had to find something that was available-especially since it was 2 weeks until our arrival date. I was so happy to hear that he successfully got us a place to live.

These are the things that I LOVE about our new home...
1. Tile floors throughout
2. Tile floors and walls in both bathrooms.
3. We have an elevator that takes us right outside of our front door.
4. 3 bedrooms (would have loved 4, but oh well-3 is better than 2)
5. We live on a quiet street.
6. It is well insulated (thanks to the tiles) so we are always nice and cool inside.
7. We have big windows in each room (some apartments here have no windows in the bedrooms and some are super small)
8. We are all here together!

Shopping in Jeddah - A Shoppers Paradise!

Although I am not one of those women who shop alot, I do enjoy the variety and size of malls and stores here. All the buildings in Jeddah are huge and each seem to make a statement.

HyperPanda is like a Super Wal-Mart. It has groceries, clothing, bikes, toys, a deli, fresh naan (bread), washing machines, dishes, hair dryers-everything! The Andalus Mall has a Panda store on the third floor. Flat escalators allow you to take your shopping cart all the way down to the first floor.

IKEA has been our most visited place since we first moved here. It reminds me so much of the IKEA store in Houston. It even has the drop off kids play area.

One of my favorite "low key" shopping centers is Shatte. It has alot of small stores, side by side, and has a central area with seats and tables for eating snacks. We had shawerma and curly fries. There were some small carnival rides, but they were not working (we were there at 6, so, maybe at night time they work,perhaps?)

*Updated 9/7/12 - The below "market" is not longer at this location. There is now a construction project there :(

View from an Indoor Mall in the Al-Balad area

A tent making shop in the Shate' market

The Red Sea Mall - This is just 1/3 of the mall! It is huge!

Shate' Market - This is a great place to buy abaya's. There are so many shops here that it is easy to get lost. 

This is right outside the Al-Balad shopping area

Another part of the Red Sea Mall

A local grocery store - Bin Dawood

Furniture display at "Home Centre"

Theme park inside the Mall of Arabia

The King is always near IKEA! It is also common to see his picture everywhere around Jeddah.

Shopping at Al-Balad

Water Rafting and Tubing at the Mall of Arabia

Aziz Mall - This is not one of my favorites, but it does have "The Children's Place" store.

American Eating in Jeddah with Updated Reviews

There is so much here that reminds me of my home back in the USA! Everytime I've lived abroad-it's the food that brings life to the phrase "comfort food." Here are some of the nearby food places in Jeddah: Fuddrucker's, On the Border Mexican, Applebee's, TGIF Friday's, Hardee's, McDonalds, Chinese food, Baskin Robbins, Dunkin Donuts, Starbuck's, KFC, Subway, Quizno's, Domino's, Pizza Hut, Marble Slab, and Tutti Frutti.

Fuddrucker's

On the Border - Me with my "non-alcoholic" Strawberry Colada.

The outside of Fuddrucker's. I love the lights on it!

The outside of "On the Border." The food was ok and the service was great! However, the food was nowhere comparable to the authentic mexican food we are used to in Houston, TX.

The indoor kids play area at On the Border

Baskin Robbins - There are more ice cream shops here, compared to anywhere in the US!

One of my favorite places - Starbuck's. I have only come across 5 in the Jeddah area, nearby where we live. They seem to be the only coffee makers who make iced coffee.

Gulf Royal Chinese in the Rawdah area. The atmosphere was great but the food was not as good as what we were used to in the US. It was also not worth the money. But, the atmosphere and service was great. The kids play area was also a plus!

TGIF Friday's. The food here was ok, but double the price of what we paid in the US. It was nice to be in the American atmosphere, but not worth the money.

Inside the Chinese restaraunt

Fudrucker's again...can you tell I loved this place? The Burgers were great and the service also! 

Applebee's - The food was good, better than TGIFriday's. The service was also great! But, it was double the price we would pay in the US-so not worth the money to us.

Hardee's - The food quality here was not as good as the US. But, there are many locals and expats that like it and say the food it good.

The Amazing Cars of Saudi Arabia

Jeddah is called the Paris of the Middle East. Now I know why. Every day, we see Rolls Royce cars, Mercedes Benz, Ferrari's, hummer's, BMW's and Audi's. The car we see the most, and in the strangest colors, is the Porsche.

Here are some of the "cool cars" we were able to capture!

Rolls Royce

Hummer - We have also seen them in neon orange and neon yellow

Vintage Station Wagon

Bentley

Vintage Limo style Suburban

Pegout

Although ladies do not drive here - they can still choose the color of their family SUV. It is very common to see pink and purple cars and SUV's here!

Mercedes Benz

Mirror covered Porsche SUV

Neon orange Hummer

Porsche