Martial Arts with the Blue Wave Club

Activities for children are always in demand in Jeddah. Contact 2nd dan black belt Nancy Boydston on the number in the flyer below for details on her martial arts classes.

Treasure Island Festival

A Jeddah Blog reader has sent in the below information about a festival taking place from the 2nd day of Eid until the 11th day of Eid.

Be sure to book your tickets now as seats are limited.

The Treasure Island Festival will include daily gifts and a lucky draw and a treasure hunt. There will be special surprise gifts for the first 50 passes. Activities include: jet ski, banana boat, desert bikes, segmented shopping arcade and a night to remember featuring national and international artists.

It sounds like a fun day to be enjoyed with your family and friends.

Contact 0563235353 for tickets.

5 Fun Things to do with your Children during Winter Break in Jeddah

For many children in Jeddah, depending on which school they go to, they are either in the middle, or just starting their Winter Break. If you are wondering how you’ll ever be able to keep the little monkeys busy this holiday, we have some great places to visit and fun things to do right here in Jeddah.

Fakieh Aquarium

Launched earlier this year to much fanfare and excitement, Jeddah’s first aquarium can be found on the busy Corniche Road. Enthusiastic Jeddawis have been flocking to visit the aquarium and have come away with excellent reviews. They tell us that the area is very clean (food and drink are not allowed inside), and the staff are efficient and organised. The dolphin show is a must-see. Open every day from 11am-11pm and from 1:30pm-11pm on Fridays. Make sure you keep a note of the dolphin and seal shows which are scheduled every day for 1pm, 7pm and 9pm and plan around this time. Free wifi is a great plus for those of us who hate to stay away from the internet for long.

Kathy Bacchus wrote in to tell us, “A lady’s morning at Jeddah Aquarium found me there. Vibrant, fresh and welcoming from the outside,we purchased our tickets with ease. Inside, I was struck  by the imagination and detail in my undersea exploration. The aquarium is vast with many shark, stingrays, starfish and all species identified and described carefully which I found very educational for all ages. The Dolphin show is a must!.On the day,there were School trips visiting  and school children giggling enjoying the show. All in all a very enjoyable visit and a delight to families”.

Expect to pay: SR 50 per person for entrance to the aquarium and SR 50 per person for the dolphin show.

Cafe Ceramique

Situated in Stars Avenue Mall, (by the entrance that goes up to the supermarket – thank you Soreya!) this delightful spot is a sure winner with kids of all ages. Children choose a clay object, from figurines to decorative plates, and then take their time to paint the piece, being as creative as they like. Once they’re done, you take the finished pieces to be glazed and set, and return after a week to pick up your masterpiece. The only problem is, your children might want to start all over again when they see how awesome their creation turns out. One 11 year old girl says, “I like Cafe Ceramique because it’s fun to pick out what you want to paint and then you get to keep what you’ve made”.

Parents can also have a go at practicing their artistic skills. Snacks and drinks can be ordered while painting.

Expect to pay: SR 30-100 per clay piece depending on the size.

Stationery Fantasy

Particularly popular with younger children, Stationery Fantasy on Prince Sultan Street, next to GNP Hospital offers a range of activities kids can indulge in from cooking to arts and crafts, the sandbox, dress-up and a large ball pit. You buy tickets from the counter for your choice of activity and then send the children into the activity room while you sit and watch them through large glass windows. The children are generally well-supervised by staff. Snacks and drinks are available for purchase. Stationery Fantasy also caters to birthday parties. “I like going to Stationery Fantasy because they have lots of nice games which are a lot of fun, especially the ball pit. I like the snacks too”, says a very active 9 year old boy.

Expect to pay: SR 7-45 per activity. The sandpit is SR7 each, the cooking class SR15 and the carpentry section is around SR 45.

Sail Island

Now that the weather is warming up, it is the perfect time to take your young ones to Sail Island. Located on the Corniche (you can’t miss the huge white sails atop the venue), children have a blast swimming in the pools and playing in the sandy playground. The restaurant is set up overlooking the sea and in our opinion, it’s one of the best places to view the sunset from. The best part is that the entrance tickets can be redeemed at the restaurant for meals. The grilled hammour is particularly delicious and cooked to perfection. One boy we asked said, “they have a big area to swim in with fun sprinklers and the beach-side sandy playground.”

Expect to pay: SR 60 per adult and SR 40 per child.

In10So

If your children are in the older age category, then you might want to introduce them to In10so (pronounced Intenso, aimed at kids over 10 years). This gaming area can be found on the third floor of Serafi Mega Mall, on the opposite side of Moon Toon, and also in Red Sea Mall. It’s a great place for teens to hang out decked out with a snooker table, Playstation and Xbox games, and racing/ go-carting. They also have a wide range of challenging arcade games and a bowling area. The latest pop music plays in the background and there’s even a hangout spot with sofas and lights for the teens to chill and chat. There’s also a snack bar with snacks and beverages. One young teen says, “I like it because it’s a good alternative for older siblings to hang out instead of going to Moon Toon which is more for younger kids.”

Expect to pay: SR 50-100 depending on the number of activities chosen.

For more kids’ stuff, click here.

3rd Silk Painting Basics Workshop

Following the success of previous workshops, Qurratulain Sikander will be conducting the 3rd session of Silk Painting, teaching the basics of the art. Read on for details.

Topics to be Covered

• Material Concept
• Painting techniques
• Guta usage
• Tools
• Basic technique for drawing and coloring
• How to fill the background

Fabric, paint and brushes will be provided.

Course time and location will be announced soon. Duration 3 hours. Hop, skip and jump to the Facebook event page to register and for further details.

Price 230 SR (Including all tools )

Art Attack: Creative Art Classes for Children

Uzma Sabahat is a Pakistani expat with a background in textile and fashion designing who moved to Jeddah last year. She realised soon enough that many children including her own, lacked access to creative activities, ending up watching cartoons and playing video games. She began organizing weekly art and craft classes at her house teaching the basic and advance elements and principles of art at affordable rates, and has so far had a great response from attendees.

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Art Attack

Date: Every Wednesday

Time: 5-7pm

Venue: near PISJ, Rehab District, Jeddah.

Age: 4 years and above

Cost: SR 30 per class per child

If you would like to register your child, then send an email to huescollections@gmail.com or visit the Art Attack Facebook Page.

“My Life as an Artist in Saudi Arabia”

Acclaimed artist Dorothy Boyer will be speaking to a select audience about her life as an artist in Saudi Arabia. She will be talking about her commissioned mural work here in Jeddah, and also about her own personal work.

Roshan with Figure. Watercolour on Paper. 18ins x 16ins.

If you would like to attend the talk, My Life as an Artist in Saudi Arabia by Dorothy Boyer at the Saudi Arabian Natural History Society, then contact Susie Zaidan for details at arabianaccents@yahoo.com. The event will be held on Saturday 6 April from 7:30-9:15 pm. The venue will be sent to confirmed attendees. The fee for non-members of the Saudi Arabian Natural History Society is only SR 20 and for members entrance is free.

To register, send in your name ID or Iqama number to the email address above asap. Dorothy Boyer Fine Art products will also be available for purchase at this event.

PMP Project Management Training in Jeddah

Details of the latest Project Management Professional (PMP) Training Course in Jeddah are as follows:

Workshop on Silk Painting

A workshop is being organized for beginners to orient them in the art of Silk Painting. This is the first batch, which aims to generate interest in this Asian art form.

The workshop will include an introduction to the following:

• Material Concept
• Painting techniques
• Guta usage
• Tools
• Basic technique for drawing and colouring
• How to fill the background

Fabric, paint and brushes will be provided.

Date: 23rd March, 2013

Time: 9:30am-11:30am

Venue: Al Zahraa District (a map will be sent to confirmed attendees)

Register your interest by visiting the Facebook event page or emailing q.sikander@gmail.com

Baking and Decorating Classes for Girls

If your little girl is interested in baking, she will probably want to join the S ‘n’ S Dream Bakery’s baking and decorating classes for girls. They will be held at the following dates and times:

1st Batch

8th march 2013
Friday – Saturday
Timing: 6 – 8:45 pm(maghrib break in-between)

2nd Batch

14th March 2013
Thursday and Friday –
Timing: Thursday 3-5:30pm
Friday- 6-8:45 pm

All materials will be provided except aprons and hand towels.

For more information, visit the S ‘n’ S Dream Bakery Facebook page.

Shabby Chic Furniture Workshop

Dorothy Boyer has 30 years experience of carrying out specialist faux finishes including, gilding, distressing, old plaster, stencil and trompe l´oeil effects. She has taught in London and Jeddah, and will be conducting this 2-day workshop.

Tired of the same old furniture?

Would you like to learn how to give your old fashioned frames or furniture a quick aged look? Shabby Chic is the term given to the kind of antiquing that will fit in with any type of interior. It can look Mediterranean, Italian, French, Swedish or English Country House. You can make it look as old as you like, and have it in the colour you like.

Call Kawther on 6571030 at the Darat Binzagr for details and to register. Take along a SMALL item to work on, either a chair, small table, frames etc. They provide all the materials and sample boards. Dorothy will demonstrate on carved pieces of picture frame—-you might like to try that!

“This Victorian desk of mine was destroyed in a devastating flood two years ago. I repainted and distressed it , fitting a new leather top. It is now a very useful dressing table!” – Dorothy Boyer

Mad Hatter’s Tea Party

A tea party on the 28th of February. Thank you to Debra at The Quilting Arts Studio for sending this to us:

Urdu Academy International Launched in Jeddah

Urdu is the fourth most commonly spoken language in the world, and to secure the language, build bridges between the East and the West, and serve future generations, the Urdu Academy International has been launched with its head office in Jeddah.

Rohail Khan, founder of the UAI asserts that the organization will be a global think tank “to incubate new ideas and develop new projects to promote the Urdu language, literature and culture.” Activities will be held in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and GCC countries. Rohail tells Jeddah Blog that an office will be established next year in Washington, DC to manage operations across North America and Europe.

Urdu lovers are invited to join and contribute towards the growth of this newly-founded think tank. Click on their Facebook page  for further details.

Some projects in planning are the launching of a quarterly Urdu Digest, publishing an Urdu-to-Urdu dictionary for the comprehension of difficult Urdu words, publishing a Grand Urdu Encyclopedia, and an Urdu thesaurus. They will also petition Facebook to adopt Urdu as one of its official languages. An international directory of Urdu writers, poets and scientists will be compiled and develop computer operating systems in Urdu, making Urdu accessible to the average smart phone, computer and laptop users.

If you think you may be interested in participating in this project, or would simply like to follow their progress, check out the UAI’s Facebook page.

20 Tips for a Green Jeddah

Things are looking greener for Jeddah as an increasing number of green enthusiasts and environmental initiatives have sprung up in the city, and it has become much easier to Reuse, Reduce and Recycle. Anousha Vakani speaks to a couple of such enthusiasts who agree that while the environmental situation in Jeddah leaves much to be desired, we have come a very long way in the last decade.

Sahar Radwan, a volunteer at Mawakeb Al-Ajr and a member of the Taif Orphans Association, explains that the pick-up truck from Trewind for the recyclables collected on their venue is now needed everyday as opposed to just once a month when they began six years ago. She talks about the increasing awareness among the people of Jeddah, and says, “people are very interested in the idea of recycling and reusing things. It’s a new culture for them but they are very enthusiastic about the fact that there is a place where they can send recyclable or reusable items.” However, Sahar admits that there is a transportation issue as the recycling situation in Jeddah is not yet big enough for recyclables to be picked up from individual areas. Instead, households must drop off their recyclables to Mawakeb Al-Ajr’s venue in Khalidiyah. Due to this, Sahar admits that other than many schools and companies, most families that drop off recyclables live close by in the Khalidiyah or Rawdah Districts.

Jeddah has seen the appearance of public recycling bins which can be found in many schools, colleges, hospitals and even supermarkets such as Hyperpanda, Wall Street Institute and United Doctors Hospital. Recycling bins have also been seen lined on a couple of streets.

@Huda_Alamoudi

Mona Othman co-founder of Naqa’a Enterprise, which provides sustainability solutions to companies, has also noticed a significant improvement in the environmental awareness levels between today and five years ago. Naqa’a Enterprise has worked with companies such as Nestlé and Abdul Lateef Jameel Co. Ltd. as well as Dar El Hekma College and Friends of Jeddah Parks.

Mona believes that the awareness of proper waste disposal will lead to a much better future for the environment. She goes on to add that currently they are contacted “mostly by international companies with young people who have either studied abroad or grown up there with environmental awareness, or due to pressure from international branches.”

Local companies are, however, slowly entering the green scene. One such company is The Loft, a creative hub based in Jeddah. Co-founder Ruba Sidani mentions that The Loft uses a very minimum amount of paper in the office but does end up with a good amount of plastic water bottles. After a little research they came across Mawakeb Al-Ajr and now send recyclable items to their venue in the Khalidiyah District.

Ruba explains that The Loft team is very enthusiastic about water and energy saving and the reuse of resources. She asserts, “We felt that especially in Saudi the topic of recycling is not of any significance, so we thought we would start in the office and once it kicks off we would move on to a campaign to try to spread awareness and to encourage people to separate their waste and recycle. We hope this catches on because it is for a much greater good, better for Saudi and better for the world.” The Loft has recently collaborated with Ateeq on a promo video of the Trochet project.

The Trochet project is the brainchild of Diana Rayyan, and another green campaign that Jeddah can be proud of. Trochet (trash + crochet) aims to reuse, through crochet, plastic and other recyclable items in the creation of hand-made products. They have even managed to design and create a bean bag made of crocheted strips of plastic. Recycling bins will soon be placed for the collection of plastic bags for Trochet.

The people of Jeddah are strongly urged to do their bit to help paint Jeddah in the vibrant green that it deserves. Jeddah Blog has compiled twenty tips for a greener Jeddah to help you start off:

mobilecommons.com

 

Twenty Tips For a Green Jeddah !

• Aim for shorter showers, reduce the flow of your shower head and don’t keep the water running while brushing your teeth.

• Turn off the lights when you leave the room, especially if you’ll be gone for more than a minute.

• Recycle technology; old laptops and cellphones can be sold to local shops who will usually offer a good deal as most parts are reusable.

• Participate in Earth Day 2013, follow green blogs and local environmentalists to stay up to date and participate in events taking place in Jeddah on Earth Day. Take a look at activities from Earth Day 2011.

• Raise awareness by inviting environmentalists to give talks at your school, college, workplace orevent. Companies and groups such as Naqa’a Enterprise, Al-Nabta and Faseelah hold environmental awareness lectures.

• Educate children at home by encouraging them to reuse and recycle wherever possible. Start them off at a young age by looking for green activities to do with your toddlers, such as recycled material in an arts and crafts project.

• Make an effort to improve air quality and reduce traffic by carpooling whenever you can.

• Reduce the amount of plastic bags you bring home from the grocery store. Ask the bagger to place as many items as possible into a single bag. Better yet, take your own reusable bags to bring home your groceries in.

• Switch off the hot water boiler in summers. Tap water in the summertime is usually hot enough for showers and household chores.

• Buy your groceries in bulk and reduce the amount of containers that have to be recycled.

• The greener the product, the better. Look for environmental friendly products the next time you go shopping. Take a look at Destination Jeddah’s Green Living section for updates on green products.

• Unplug cellphone and laptop chargers when not in use

• Separate your trash immediately into paper, plastic, metal and glass. Consider colour coding your waste baskets to make it easier and more fun for the family. Take a look at Trewind’s How You Can Help section for details on this.

3mireland.ie

• Bring the separated recyclable items to your nearest collection point such as Hyper Panda, Mawakeb Alajer, Wall Street Institute and United Doctors Hospital. Contact Trewind for more information on collection points.

• Volunteer at local green activities, such as the Trochet project by Ateeq and several projects by YIG Jeddah, Mawakeb Alajer and Friends of Jeddah Parks.

• Khayra Bundakji, an environmental enthusiast and student at Effat University tweeted a useful and simple green tip; invest in reusable cups and take them to cafes instead of using their disposable ones. If you have your coffee (or tea) on the go, invest in a thermal coffee cup and have your daily drink in your own reusable cup, saving hundreds of paper and plastic cups per month. These reusable cups can be found in places such as Lifestyle, Home Centre, Ikea and most grocery stores.

• Instead of giving kids money to buy bottled water from school, invest in a reusable water thermos for them to take to school.

• If you have large windows at home, open the curtains and let in the natural light for as long as possible before switching the lights on.

• Set your air conditioner on a timer instead of keeping it on all night.

• Donate old clothes, toys, books and furniture to local charity groups such as YIG Jeddah or second-hand shops such as Mawakeb Alajer. Organizing a yard sale in your compound or neighbourhood can help you to get rid of items no longer needed as well as make you a little extra cash. Items can also be sold online at Expatriates.com or Jeddah Yard Sale on Facebook.

Green Bookmarks

Naqa’a Environmental Enterprise

GREENation Saudi Arabia

Green Jeddah

Destination Jeddah

Mawakeb Alajer

Ateeq

YIG Jeddah

Trewind

Faseelah

Saudi Environmental Society

Friends of Jeddah Parks

Green Prophet

Liyano Design and Production

Jeddah Yard Sale

Green Crafts for Kids

Caving Trip to Umm Jirsan

The Arabian Treks Team are organizing a 2 day Caving Trip to Umm Jirsan Cave on 31 January 2013. The cave is 620 km north of Jeddah in a volcanic and rocky area that is defined by its underground caves that were created thousands of years ago as a result of volcanic eruptions. It is one of the largest caves in the Middle East. Participants will be caving, camping and stargazing and fees include an individual dome-style tent, all full meals, drinks and snacks.

The floor is composed of evenly-spaced “domes” of hard mud

Photo credit: http://explorecavernsnow.com/caverns/umm-jirsan-saudi-arabia/

The costs are SAR 750 if you require transportation, or SAR 600 if you are driving your own SUV. The last date for joining is 26 January 2013.

For further details contact info@ArabianTreks.com, call Mazin on 0566660530 or you can visit their Facebook event group.

Historic Balad Tour

Experience Balad like never before!

Your True Nature is organizing their third historic tour of Balad on the 13th of January, 2012. This is a professional tour service for expats and it includes a 4 hour tour, presentation, food and visit to a museum. The cost per person is SR 275.

The tour is open to families and you will probably want to take your cameras along to take photographs of the beautiful old buildings and streets of Balad. “This is our third successful tour of Balad and it is vital for our cultural awareness to learn about the heritage and culture of the land we are living in”, says Alicia of Your True Nature. She goes on to add, “Jeddah, and this region in particular, goes back to the beginning of time. It is significant to the history of mankind. However, with little emphasis on heritage,  we miss out on a lot. Recent discoveries tell us that this region houses Mount Sinai. So Balad is just a starting point of activating an interest in the rich history of this land.”

Photo: Anuar T http://www.panoramio.com/photo/48974922

If you would like to attend this unique tour, send your confirmations to essentialfitra@yahoo.ca including your name, contact number and total number of participants.

A video link of their last tour can be viewed here.