Mall of Dhahran

Last Thursday we went to the Mall of Dhahran where hubby decided to bring us for our weekly grocery shopping. We don't actually want to do our grocery shopping every week as it is too time consuming, tiring and more expensive. However, we have a small ref that can only fit a week long supply hence, we have no choice really.

I now realise the importance of having jeepneys around instead of just riding the cab every time. Our cab fare is normally 10 riyals but since the Mall of Dhahran is quite far from where we hailed the cab, we had to pay 15 riyals. The mall is quite huge, complete with a hypermart named Panda; it housed branded clothes, shoes, and bag shops. It is a one-level mall with an entertainment park for children where ticket ride prices ranged from 7 to 10 riyals. Female toilets are hard to locate though...well not really, I guess it was the first toilet that we went to which drove me and my daughter a bit crazy :) We found a sign that read female toilet/female mosque. As we entered, there was no door whatsoever except for a long hallway which led to a seemingly endless stairway. At the top of the stairs were doors that led to a prayer room, a fitting room (i must admit though that I was a bit confused to find a fitting room in the area) and a door that probably led to another room. I did not bother to open the said door and instead retracted our steps back to where we entered hehe... I suddenly lost interest in taking a pee and was in a hurry to go back to my husband who was waiting downstairs with my 2 sons. Again my husband laughed at my expense :) he said it was that way with the other female toilets. We saw another toilet which was not as complicated as the first one we entered, this time my daughter backed off as she saw that the toilet bowl is different from the one she is used to. It was one of those squat toilet bowls. The first time I saw one was back in Japan at Tokyo Disneyland which they call "washiki."

With the abaya and the headscarf (hijab) that keeps falling down, it was a pretty difficult task to lift up the long skirt and do "the deed" while holding my head (remember the headscarf?) hahaha  Still it was a cool experience for everyone...well for us girls anyway... 

After walking and looking around the mall, we then decided to do our grocery shopping we needed to wait for 15minutes though as the grocery had to close their doors to give way to Salah (prayer time). 

looking on as the grocery doors are being closed for Salah (prayer time)

almost empty aisles as everyone prepares for Salah

Once again I took the liberty of taking amateurish pictures using my phone but I did this without attracting anyone's attention as I don't see people taking pictures of their kids around. I don't know if it's allowed or not but with the many rules in this country I'd rather be on the safe side :) without having to sacrifice taking pictures of the places we have visited...