Pixels For Four

I always try to seize the moment, especially when it spells t-r-a-v-e-l. No one knows how long one stays in one place or how long a place stays for us. Take two of my dream destinations for example: Bohol and Samar. Natural calamities and manmade disasters have destroyed some attractions in these places. But here in Riyadh, the government is busy restoring and developing places that were neglected or taken for granted. I just hope we'll stay a little longer to enjoy these places. I'm not sure how long we will be allowed to work here because labor laws are being drafted – and hopefully cancelled – regarding the maximum stay of expats here. For that and my love for travel, I decided to squeeze the most out of our time here and explore this wonderful city whenever we can. Together with some friends, our family went to Prince Sattam Park one late Friday afternoon. The Wadi Namar Dam and the lake created from it is the main attraction of the park. We wanted to go directly ...

There are some things that happen in life when you least expect them. Just last week, our laptop fell accidentally and the result was something that taught me a lesson on file back ups: all the files and the pictures that I've saved in the hard drive were damaged. Most of the pictures were from my DSLR and most were trips to places here in Riyadh. Sigh. Next time, I would be mindful of the pictures I've taken and save them in my Dropbox account. It's a good thing that I went to those places with friends. They're friends who like to photograph a lot, too. I've also some friends who've gone to those places either ahead of us or after we've informed them about the beauty of those sites. And the friends they brought with them like taking pictures, too! So although I lost most of my precious photos, I've some friends who lent me theirs to post here. The benefits of having friends, huh? Just before winter came last year, we decided to explore Ain Al He...

A famous quote says, "When in Rome, do what the Romans do." But when you're in Al Khobar, and you have a car and a little more time to spare, do what we did: Go to the King Fahd Causeway's Border Station before heading home. It was our second time there. The first time was when we passed by after our short stay in Al Khobar during Ramadan of 2011. We were barely a week here in Saudi Arabia, haven't gone to one of Riyadh's famous attractions - except in Carrefour to buy groceries, and didn't even know that this causeway exists. We came with a bigger group back then and were pressed for time so I wasn't able to take decent pictures. Fast forward to 2013, we checked out of  Jinan Suites  after lunch and on the way to Dammam, we passed by the Corniche again and noticed that it is as beautiful as it was at night. I was tempted to ask F to stop over but I know we didn't have enough time. The King Fahd Causeway connects Bahrain and Saudi Ara...