Monday 27 August 2007

Extremely Hot Weather

Today is the worst summer in Yanbu for the past 2 months. The temperature reached 47 degree celcius and it is extremely hot. You can feel your face is burning, it just like standing infront of the Oven. Hopefully this extremely weather will be end soon.

Tuesday 21 August 2007

An Evening in the Desert

I had a chance to spend my evening in the desert yesterday. My neighbour, Mr. Muhammad Al-Otaibi had invited me to joint him and his clan. Actually he had invited me many times before but I was so busy with my familiy. Yesterday was a good time for me since my family are having summer holiday and will come back soon from Malaysia on this Friday.

Lets enjoy the little space left as a bachelor...hehehehheehe.

We spent that evening with chatting, drinking tea and arabic coffee. As a guest, I was treated handsomely.

We left the desert after Isya' prayer. The good thing about being in Saudi Arabia, people pray at anyplace when the times come. Subhanallah.

Wednesday 15 August 2007

Our First Trip to Madinah


Our first trip to Madinah Al-Munawwarah was on 9 Zulkhaedah 1427H last year.We celebrate our Eidul Adha in Madinah. It took 3 hours the journey from Yanbu to madinah by bus. The bus stop at Badr town (another historical place in Islam where the first war between Muslim Madinah and Kuffar Mekah took place) to pick-up another passenger.


We arrived Madinah at 11.00 am and immediately go to get the hotel room. Most of the hotel were fully booked and the rates were very expensive. We were told that many Saudis' came to Madinah to spend their Eidul Adha. Finally, we managed to get one small room with 3 beds.



It was so cold in Madinah that time. We have to buy gloves, caps and jacket for the childrens. We spent most of the time in the Prophet Mosque. We took our children to visit Prophet Muhammad (p.b.o.h) tomb. We told them who is him to us and why we need to visit his tomb.

We left Madinah on 11 Zulkhaedah after spending 3 days overthere.

Tuesday 14 August 2007

Yanbu today

1) Youths Cool Down in School Pool

Muhammad Al-Homaid, Arab News

YANBU, 14 August 2007 — Police in Yanbu were called to a high school following a telephone call by a local resident who saw a number of youth jumping over a school wall. The youngsters ran away when police arrived. Police found towels at the school pool, indicating the youngsters had entered the school to cool down during the summer heat.

2) Guards Save Youth From Drowning

Muhammad Al-Homaid, Arab News

YANBU, 14 August 2007 — Border guards rescued a Saudi youth, who got into difficulties while swimming in an out-of-bound area off the Yanbu coast. The youth’s family alerted border guards about the youngster, who was struggling to swim and was shouting for help. Border guards called on people to exercise care when swimming in the sea and to avoid restricted areas.

Welcome new Malaysian to Yanbu

With a great honour, we welcome you new Malaysian to Yanbu Al-Sinaiyah. Ahlan Wa Sahlan. Marhaba bikum.

It is our pleasure to assist you to the new life in Yanbu.

May Allah grant you peace in this land of Prophet.

Monday 13 August 2007

Our Family


Alhamdulillah, we were blessed with 4 childrens. The eldest is Shah Eiman Amzar, second; Siti Aina Zulaikha, third; Siti Yasmeen Safa and the last but not least Siti Hannan Safiyyah. Picture was taken in October 2006 during Eidul Fitri.

Saturday 11 August 2007

Yanbu Al-Bahr

From Wikipedia,

Yanbu, Saudi Arabia Yanbu' al Bahr (Arabic: ينبع "spring by the sea"), also known simply as Yanbu, Yambo, or Yenbo, is a major Red Sea port in the Al Madinah province of western Saudi Arabia. It is approximately 350 kilometers north of Jeddah (at 24°05′N, 38°00′E). The population is 188,430 (2004 census).

Yanbu's history dates back at least 2500 years, when it was a staging point on the spice and incense route from Yemen to Egypt and the Mediterranean region. Yanbu served as a supply and operational base for Arab and British forces fighting the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. It remained a small port town until 1975, when the Saudi government designated it as one of the country's two new industrial centres (the other being Al Jubayl on the Persian Gulf).

The city is subdivided into three smaller villages, which are about 15 minutes drive by car away from each other. The Town (often call "Al-Balad") which means the actual city which has most of the population and all the shops centers etc. Second is Yanbu Al-Nakhel (Al-Nakheel), which is very old and mainly only has farms. And finally the industrial city, Yanbu Al-Sina'iya (literally "the industrial Yanbu), established around 1975 with a very modern housing architecture. It houses all the major refineries and petrochemical installations and still growing very fast.

Yanbu is an important petroleum shipping terminal and is also home to three oil refineries, a plastics facility, and several other petrochemical plants. It is the country's second port (after Jiddah) and serves as the main port for the holy city of Medina, 160km (100 miles) to the east. The natural harbour is protected on both sides by wide coral reefs. These reefs remain mostly untouched making them excellent areas for diving. Three major oil pipelines lead across the desert from the oilfields in the east to terminate at the Red Sea in Yanbu. Yanbu also has a domestic airport (code YNB) and a naval base. The naval base called Al-Minhalapin utilizes islands and underwater facilities to protect the landmass.

A new highway now passes through Yanbu linking Jeddah to the northern parts of the kingdom and the neighboring countries Syria, Jordan etc

Madinat Yanbu Al-Sinaiyah

Yanbu Al-Sinaiyah or Yanbu Industrial Area was located at the Red Sea coast. It was 20km away from Yanbu Al- Bahr, 200 km and 400km from Madinah and Mekkah respectively.

Yanbu is a very nice place with non extreme weather unlike other places in the Kingdom. It can go up to 41 deg Celcius during summer and 12 degree Celcius during winter.

Yanbu Al-Sinaiyah comes from The idea of H.M King Faisal as the path to reduce the Kingdom’ dependence on crude oil exports, upgrade its precious natural resources, diversify the national economy, and ultimately, raise the standard of living of the entire Saudi population.

1976, Royal Commission of Jubail and Yanbu was established by King Khaled, successor to King Faisal. The task is to developed and maintain the township.

Petrochemical Industry is the main activity here where we can see all the factory from the main road before entering Yanbu.

As a well planned township, Yanbu is a very much different from other township in the Kingdom. Consist of well planned housing, schools, hospital, shopping complexes and higher learning institution.

Malaysian in Yanbu

As todate, approximately 9 Malaysian and their families resides in Yanbu and most of them working in the Yanbu Industrial College and Yanbu University College (Male & Female)and only a few working in the industrial sector. With an attractive sallary and free schooling for childrens provided by the Royal Commision, more Malaysian were expected to come in the future.

For Muslim, its location near to Haram (Mekah & Madinah) makes it more attractive where umrah and ziarah (visit) can easily perform during the weekend.

other link to Madinat Yanbu Al-Sinaiyah :

Tuesday 7 August 2007

Water Leaking from Apartment Above

2 Aug 2007 :
Alamakk.....I saw water dripping from my house ceiling...hemm probably it comes from my air-conditioning unit. Maybe the drain pipe was blocked. My floor carpet starting get wet and tomorrow it will become stingky. I used what ever we have; bucket, trash can and even cooking pot to collect the water.

I called property department on the next day and told them about the problem and they came to my house to verified my report.

4th August 2006 :
I received a phone call from Mr. Shahin (maintenace department). Again they want to check the problem. But it was scheduled on the next day. I pleaded them to make it today since the condition is worsened. They said, they have a thight schedule today and appointment with other peoples were made earlier.

5th August 2007 :
As promised I waited them at my house at 9.30 am but the only appear at 10.00 am. Their reason was they can't find the house since the address was wrong. OK, I have no problem on that as long they come and fix the problem.

They open the ceiling maintenance access to check the aircond drain pan. There is no drain pan and that means the water not coming from the condesate water. After opening the second access panel, they saw water dripping from the floor slab above. At last we found the source but we face a new problem. The house was vacant and the owner going back to USA for vacation. They will only come back end of August.

By that time I have to live on that condition.

Thursday 2 August 2007

Durian in Yanbu ??

Believe it or not, we can get durian and mangosteen in Yanbu. Panda Hypermarket (2 month old in Yanbu) is the only place offering tropical fruits. Many Saudi's loves mangoesteen and they kept it in their freezer at home.

These tropical fruit came from Thailand. Looks like Thailand is a champion in producing agricultural products from South East Asia. Salute you guys.


Price ? Hewww.....SR 38.00 /kg for durian and SR 24.00/kg for mangoesteen. Well to my fellow Malaysian back home, eat durian as you can before coming to Saudi Arabia.

P/s : still remember eating mangoesteen with my late mother under the tree. I miss that moment.