Okay, now I shall continue my story on my trip in the Middle East. I've been interning, and I was very tired the past week, because I had to get used to waking up early. =.=
After we went to King Fahad University for Petroleum and Minerals, we went to the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu. This is a statuary board set up by the Saudi government to oversea the development of these two industrial cities, Jubail and Yanbu. To get a better feel of where these two cities are, here is the map:
Note the red dots. Yanbu toward the West of Saudi close to the Red Sea and Jubail toward the East of Saudi close to the Persian Gulf.From Wikipedia:
In 1975, Jubail was designated as a new industrial city by the Saudi government, and has seen rapid expansion and industrialisation since. The industrial city is a complex of petrochemical plants, an iron works and a number of companies, plus a Royal Saudi Naval Base.. It held the Middle East's largest and the world's 4th largest petrochemical company, SABIC. Jubail is home to the world's largest seawater desalination plant. It provides 50% of the country's drinking water through desalination of the water from the Persian Gulf.
It was cool. Again, they gave a presentation on their statuary board. Before that, they were hospitable in manner. They served us Arabian coffee (you should try it...it's an acquired taste) and also green tea. And again, after the presentation, we bombarded them with questions. *>.<*
In 1975, Jubail was designated as a new industrial city by the Saudi government, and has seen rapid expansion and industrialisation since. The industrial city is a complex of petrochemical plants, an iron works and a number of companies, plus a Royal Saudi Naval Base.. It held the Middle East's largest and the world's 4th largest petrochemical company, SABIC. Jubail is home to the world's largest seawater desalination plant. It provides 50% of the country's drinking water through desalination of the water from the Persian Gulf.
It was cool. Again, they gave a presentation on their statuary board. Before that, they were hospitable in manner. They served us Arabian coffee (you should try it...it's an acquired taste) and also green tea. And again, after the presentation, we bombarded them with questions. *>.<*
Kirsty & IActually I think the concept of the Jubail and Yanbu is quite cool...the main functions of both industrial cities is to gather and process natural gas. One is in the East, one in the West. Therefore, they have this double pipeline running from East to West across Saudi Arabia to trasport oil and gas in order to supply energy to the many industrial projects which both cities are running. They are darn far away, but yet, Saudi was able to build the double pipeline!
Another map of Saudi...note the double pipelines that connect Jubail and Yanbu on the map!
After that, we had another sumptuous lunch...I tell you, ALL of our meals in Saudi were BUFFET meals!!! Sheesh, I was darn full through out the stay in Saudi. :S
Omm Ali
Let me introduce you to a Middle Eastern dish...it's the dessert. It's called Omm Ali. We have it at every Middle Eastern lunch and dinner throughout the trip. It's pastry, with sugar, sweet, and everything nice. Okay, it also contains nuts and raisins, or whatever else that suit the sweet taste of it. It's texture is like baby food...hahaaha. the best one I tried was in Golden Tulip hotel.
After the visit to the Royal Commision of Jubail and Yanbu, we then embarked on a countless hour journey back to Doha, Qatar. And I tell you it is countLESS. We board the bus at about 5pm, and reached Doha at 4am. We were supposed to go to the Mall of Dahran after our official visit at the statuary board to have dinner, but the driver, who only takes instructions from the Saudi side, would not budge because he didn't receive instruction for that. We had NO ACCOMODATION at Doha for the night at that point of time. If we went to the mall, then we could sleep in the bus, and would not need accomodation. What would we do if we reach there at 4am?!
Another map of Saudi...note the double pipelines that connect Jubail and Yanbu on the map!
Omm AliLet me introduce you to a Middle Eastern dish...it's the dessert. It's called Omm Ali. We have it at every Middle Eastern lunch and dinner throughout the trip. It's pastry, with sugar, sweet, and everything nice. Okay, it also contains nuts and raisins, or whatever else that suit the sweet taste of it. It's texture is like baby food...hahaaha. the best one I tried was in Golden Tulip hotel.
After the visit to the Royal Commision of Jubail and Yanbu, we then embarked on a countless hour journey back to Doha, Qatar. And I tell you it is countLESS. We board the bus at about 5pm, and reached Doha at 4am. We were supposed to go to the Mall of Dahran after our official visit at the statuary board to have dinner, but the driver, who only takes instructions from the Saudi side, would not budge because he didn't receive instruction for that. We had NO ACCOMODATION at Doha for the night at that point of time. If we went to the mall, then we could sleep in the bus, and would not need accomodation. What would we do if we reach there at 4am?!
Answer: Sleep in the Doha airport.
I am not joking. That was the plan then. But luckily, our fast thinking travel in-charge person, Isaac, thought of calling the emergency contacts that we had in Doha, and managed to arrange an accomodation for the night at a two-star hotel for us. (Good job Isaac!) It was sooo darn last minute. This was the part of the trip which gave me the worst memories. I hate big uncertainties.
Nonetheless, the long bus ride gave all of us an opportunity to get to know each other better. If I have not yet told you, the gals and the guys sat dividedly on the bus. All the guys sat in front, and all the gals sat behind. Try to imagine that. It's like that in Saudi. So the gals took the opportunity to share each other's love story. Pretty interesting stuff. :P And being single, I didn't have to share my story, though it was obvious that while they were sharing, I had a look of insight and understanding, which gave away my past. Oh wells.
Nonetheless, the long bus ride gave all of us an opportunity to get to know each other better. If I have not yet told you, the gals and the guys sat dividedly on the bus. All the guys sat in front, and all the gals sat behind. Try to imagine that. It's like that in Saudi. So the gals took the opportunity to share each other's love story. Pretty interesting stuff. :P And being single, I didn't have to share my story, though it was obvious that while they were sharing, I had a look of insight and understanding, which gave away my past. Oh wells.
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