Len goes to Europe

Dear Friends and Family

I was in Europe last week on a business trip.  It was rather busy, a different city / appointment each day Monday through Friday.  Naturally I found some time to take some photos to share with you, hope you enjoy them!

Traveling from the Middle East to Europe is different from US business travel.  All the flights leave about mid-night or shortly thereafter and arrive early in the morning in major European airports.  The flights back are just the same.  So on a 5 day business trip, I only spent 4 nights in hotels and the rest in lounges / airplanes.  Well at least it was Business Class travel!

First stop was in Germany, where I was able to take some photos of Dusseldorf.  I learned that Dusseldorf was much like Pittsburgh in that it had a heavy coal mining and steel industry that are serviced by the Rhine river.  Unfortunately, much of WW II activities took away that industry and Dusseldorf has been rebuilding since.  They have hired some unique architects!

First a photo of the rebuilt areas along the Rhine (including my hotel at the end on the right)

you may notice one of the buildings in the middle has come colored things on it, here is a close up!

and if that isn't strange enough, they have hired some very famous architect to develop 3 buildings that look like they are falling in on each other.  One is red brick, one is white brick and one looks like it is made out of aluminum foil!

We then went to France to visit a few other companies.  Most of the time was spent in Lyon with a bit of travel to a small town in the mountains that had a fabulous restaurant (called The Radio, named as such because people gathered around the radio to hear news during WWII).

A view of a snow capped mountain near Cleremont- Ferrot in France

Lyon is the second largest city in France and wants to remind Paris of that.  They have built a version of the Eiffel Tower on top of the closest hill

Lyon had some very pretty older buildings along the 2 rivers that come together there (the Soane and Roan), I particularly liked this church scene

an old statue in the town square

and a river scene in Lyon

We finished the trip in London for 1/2 day meeting and dinner and then a mid-night flight back to Saudi.  I didn't really have enough time for photos, but I've also been to London enough times.  (I just had to say that, to sound like a real world traveler!)

Take care and keep in touch!

April in Saudi

Hi Friends and Family

It's April now and time for the weather to start to turn back to high heat in the Middle East.  The past couple of days have been in the high 80's and lots of sun.  As it turns out, one of the departments I work with at Saudi Aramco has their picnic this past weekend (remember weekends here are on Thursday and Friday).  So we drove down the coast about 10 miles to the Saudi Aramco Beach for a picnic.

We were able to hold the picnic at the sailing beach, which seems to have the least number of visitors.  Just to let you know, there is also a beach / dock for motor boats and then a separate 'family' beach.  A family beach means just that, it is only for Aramco families to come and enjoy the surf and sun.

The sailing beach is used only by Saudi Aramco employees who have a small one or two person sailboat (sunfish or laser) and all boats are stored and maintained at the beach.  The photo below shows the sailboats that were out that day.  The dolphin you see in the near ground is actually a shower that you can use to wash the sand off.

Soccer is the primary sport of choice for most of the Middle East, and Saudi is no exception.  Children of all ages engage in the game at any chance they can get.  The photo below has several of my colleagues enjoying a game on the beach.  It was all for fun, until they decided that a championship game would be held between the VP's team and the Finance team.  You would think those Finance guys would have learned who should have won that game by now!

Picnic had all kinds of kids games and tents to eat and smoke / drink coffee.  Just to give you an idea I took a photo of the smaller tent.  Note that there are carpets on the ground to allow folks to rest and feel at home!

Interestingly, one of the entertainment items was a falcon trainer.  This Saudi apparently trains dozens of these types of falcons at a time.  They fly across the Arabian Sea from Iran, Pakistan, even Russia as part of their annual migration process.  Apparently they can fetch several hundred thousand dollars for a well trained bird.

Last, but not least, I mentioned that I traveled home to Houston for spring break with Lauren and Jane.  One of the keys to the trip was to visit NYC.  Lauren has been accepted into the Joffrey dance school.  The three of us visited the school to decide that yes, she will go there next year for her Junior and probably Senior years.  Lauren will receive a vocational degree in dance and complete here high school requirements in an on-line program.   Naturally, like any good woman, she did some shopping in NYC...

Hope that you are enjoying the blog!  Take care and hope to see everyone soon.

Len is back at work

Dear Friends and Family

It is February in the Middle East and that means the cool mornings and evenings are starting to come to an end.   Many of us are hoping spring time this year will be more weather related and less politically motivated than last year!

That being said, I have been working some long hours the past month or so.  I've got two major initiatives that are starting to show some progress, so I am quite happy about that.  Not much for public discussion, but it is very interesting when we develop a spreadsheet outlining our position in the refining industry and a week later that same information shows up in a speech made by the CEO.

I was able to purchase a triathlon bike from someone on camp, so I've started riding again!  There is a good 10 mile loop that has some nice uphills (longest about 1.5 miles) and some down hills you can really hammer on!  I've been staying in shape with the swimming and biking and Pilates (on my own).   I am actually feeling like I am getting in shape again!

A couple highlights from the local area.  I'm not sure I mentioned the restaurants, but at the two malls off camp (about 1 mile away) have just about every US restaurant from McD's to Macaroni Grill.  A number of us have been going on Wednesday night to have a 'guys' night out dinner.

One night my neighbor and I went to look at Harley's (for him naturally).  It was an interesting experience, meeting the Saudi biker crowd..  Not quite the same as the older professionals in the US looking for a second adolescence. Mainly a lot of young Saudi's looking to have some fun.  Anyway, I took a photo of one of the more interesting bikes, it was essentially list price in the US.  ( I couldn't get the photo to rotate, not sure why).

I also had a business trip to one of my favorite cities -- London.  Had a few good meetings, plus got very lucky on the crowds and weather.  I took a few photos that I thought would share (those of you with teenagers may want to let them know what a phone booth is....).  I also included a photo of the original Big Ben (not to be confused with good old number 7).  Speaking of the Steelers, I thought they had a very good season but were just too beat up to go far in the playoffs.  I also wasn't sad to see the offensive coordinator go, they had way too much clock mismanagement for my tastes.

Finally, I did manage to have a birthday last month and went to Bahrain with a few friends for dinner.  Had a great Italian dinner and a good bottle of wine, then they surprised me with a cake.  BTW thanks for all the birthday wishes on FB!

I will be in Houston for Spring Break for my next trip to the States.  Hope to see some of y'all then!

Len returns from repat trip

Hello Friends and Family and welcome to 2012!

As you may recall, I was in The Woodlands for my first repat trip this past November / December and have been back in Saudi Arabia for about one month now.  I have a few things that I'd like to share, some have photos and some don't.  Some are from Texas, some from Saudi.  Some are interesting, some you may have already heard of.   So this blog will be mixed!

As you may have heard, I returned and have been working through the Christmas / New Years holidays.  It has been a weird experience going to work on both days, but everyone at work was very positive (many of my Saudi and expat friends went out of their way to wish me both Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!). One thing I wanted to share, before going to the 8:00 PM Christmas Eve mass, I went out for a short jog on our camp running trail. I went in the direction so I was running down the hill overlooking the golf course, downtown Khobar and the Arabian Sea.  One thing was different, the North Star was extremely low on the horizon and looked like the 'Star of David' from the Nativity scenes.  I thought this was really cool, that this part of the world is in a position so that star is that low in the sky on Christmas eve!  (Perhaps a coincidence, but still pretty cool).  I tried taking a photo, but it didn't come out.

As you can tell, I am posting the non-photo items first to keep your attention.

The other cool thing, you may recall there was a total eclipse of the moon a few weeks ago that took about 60 minutes.  Well, we played 9 holes of golf that night and the eclipse started about hole 3 and lasted through hole 7.   I did  try taking photos, but you need a better zoom than I have with me.  It made a great conversation topic (much better than my golf game that night)!  With the low humidity here, the eclipse was low in the sky and you could see the whole thing.

OK, a couple photos.

First, from the trip to Texas, Lauren danced the Dew Drop Fairy in the Nutcracker.  So naturally as a proud parent I need to share this with as many people as possible.  She is also trying to get into the Houston High School for Performing Arts next year, wish her luck on that!

When I headed back to Saudi, Jane and Lauren decided to spend a week in Destin Florida to enjoy a nice vacation.  They took some nice beach / dance photos that I thought good to share.

Back in Saudi, we needed some computer supplies at work one day, so we went into Khobar to see what we could find.  Our first trip was to the mall, but didn't find quite what we needed.  The fellow with me tells me, I know were to get this.  I asked him if we were going to Best Buy?  He said better, and we went to this store. Not quite best buy, but you could buy everything in this store that has been sold over the past 10 years or so. Some with manufactures warranty, many without.  Interesting stores...

Finally, I mentioned night golf.  Well I birdied this hole the other night and the friends I was playing with took this photo.  I told them it isn't really that rare of an event, but they wanted to make sure I put this on my blog, so here it is!

Well Take Care and I hope everyone is off to a prosperous, healthy and happy new year!

Len gets ready for repat trip

Hello Friends !!

Well I have been here for five paychecks now (five plus months, but the paycheck statement brings a chuckle from my fellow Aramcons). I am getting ready for my trip back to The Woodlands to spend some vacation time at home with Jane and Lauren (and Belle the dog). I thought I would share some random photos with you, and a short story with each before I head back.  I will be in Houston from this Thursday until Lauren's Nutcracker performance (she dances the Waltz Queen on Saturday afternoon, seats are still available :-) ).

With all the Arab Spring stories in this area, I am sure you have heard of the Kingdom of Bahrain. Bahrain is an island nation, and is about 20 miles from the ARAMCO camp in Dhahran. Bahrain is a more liberal Arab nation in that everyone dresses in western clothes, restaurants and nightclubs are plentiful, you can order alcohol in restaurants, etc. To get to Bahrain, we drive across a causeway which has customs, passport control, etc. Naturally, lines on the causeway can be hours to get across when it is busy. I have only gone twice, both times on off-hours and it takes about 45 minutes total. When the causeway was built, the Bahraini oil company paid for most of it and insisted that they have a monument which is in the photo below.

One of the interesting aspects of living in Arabia are the different foods and drinks.  You think coffee is the same the world over?  Well  Arabic coffee is quite different.  It is made from young beans that are 'kind-of' roasted.  The result is a more bitter coffee that needs sugar, and is served in little cups.  Arabic coffee is always served from a specific urn that is represented in the statue below.  In case you are wondering, I am known as the 'Medium Americano' to the coffee guy in our building at work....

At one time I recall, everyone had thier own 'galleria'.  Houston's galleria is one of the biggest with three or four major department stores (Neidmann Marcus, Nordstrom, Macys, Dillards), an ice rink, two hotels and several hundred stores.  I thought I would show a photo of the Galleria in nearby Khubar Saudi Arabia. 

Finally, for those of you who are worried about me getting out of shape while I am in the Kingdom, well, there is an 8 lane, temperature controlled (yes heated in winter and chilled in summer), lap pool about 1/2 mile from my townhouse on the Aramco camp. It is open to all employees and guests. There is also a 'play' pool on the same site, so the life gaurds strictly enforce lap swimming only!  As you can see, I am enjoying this part of the camp.

Take Care!

Len goes on business trip

Hi folks

Last week I got to go on my first business trip for ARAMCO. I went to a conference in Dubai called Middle East Petroleum and Gas conference. Nothing really crazy happened, but I did get some cool photos of Dubai.

The conference was at a vacation hotel in Dubai (Mina A'Salam at Madinat Jumeirah near Jumeirah Beach). I highly recommend it, right on the beach, several hotel types separates by lagoons / boats. Nice beach with all kinds of activities (jet skis, wake boards,etc). I thought I was in Florida when I was walking around.

Dubai is the Jewel of the Middle East. Interestingly, there are 1.2 mln people there, with 1.0 mln expats. It is truly a melting pot city with folks from all over. As a result it is probably the most progressive city in MIddle East (no need to cover up when going out, wine and beer in hotel restaurants, taxis easy to get, etc). Much of Dubai is skyscraper to skyscraper, most of which are flats for the expats to live in. Dubai also is home to the worlds tallest building.

Much like Houston with painted cattle, Dubai has many painted camels which are really cool

Oh yeah, the conference was interesting. Some high hitting speakers. Ex US ambassador to Iran, ex oil minister from Iran (they didn't hit it off), the Emir of Dubai, oil minister of UAE.

Take care!

World tallest building is on left, in background.

Len goes shopping

Hello friends and family

A couple of recent developments here in KSA -

I got a car to help me get around camp and town. I am now the proud owner of a 2002 ML 320 Mercedes. It is tan inside and out. Bought it from another expat who brought it here from Texas. The purchase went well, then it took 2 weeks to get the paperwork done! Anyway, now I am able to easily get out and about so I have been doing what everyone here does - shop!

The city of Khobar starts right outside the camp gates and goes to the Arabian Sea (about 10 miles). There are a couple places to shop. The first is downtown Khobar which has a shopping district much like you see on TV or in the movies for the Middle East. It consists maily of one story small shops that specialize in certain items. For example there is one store for coffee beans, one for nuts, one for trinkets.... There are a few photos of the shopping district to give you a flavor. These were taken at 8:00 am and are not too crowded. By 11:00 it is so crowded the streets fill with people and you can barely walk, yet alone drive.

Gold jewelers are big here, they seem to be all over the place and sell 18, 21 and 24 gold made into anything. most things are sold at gold content value so they are sold per gram. Unfortunately gold reached an all time high last week so I came home empty handed this trip :-)

Driving here is also an experience. Most roads are either under construction or they need to be. Stop signs at cross streets appear to be optional. And apparently it is OK to park a car or delivery truck anywhere on the street. Most expats from ARAMCO only go to town early in the morning and then head back to camp in the afternoon.

The other place to shop is closer to camp and consists of two large malls and an Ikea store. The malls are about the size of The Woodlands Mall times two. The strange thing to me is they don't have anchor stores. No Macy's, Sears, etc. It is a lot like downtown Khobar with lots of smaller shops, but it is air-conditioned! The shops in the mall a more western - forever 21, GAP, American eagle, Zara, etc. And restaurants like Chillies, Tony Roma, etc.

I have upgraded much of my original rental furniture at Ikea. Most of it is in the Hemnes line (for those of you Ikea fans). I am truly impressed with the bed technology. The mattresses are all combined springs and mattress. I bought one that has a memory foam top and have been sleeping great!

Next time will concentrate on more sights and sounds of KSA.