Outside was back to normal levels of traffic and chaos in the immediate area outside the mall. The vehicular access and egress really isn't designed fit for purpose. It's all very well and good using an American template but clearly nobody considered the cultural differences between the two countries consequently leading to numerous cars fighting their way to a 20 yard section of kerb outside each gate exit to pick up one of the many women who have to be chauffered around either by a family member or a driver. The women don't seem to be allowed to walk beyond the immediate gate area and therefore cannot cross the car park to meet their car. This queue inevitably backs up right onto the road, ensuring further chaos in both directions. On most occasions when we observe from the lobby or when actually going to the mall there is at least one police vehicle ineffectively attempting to assist in keeping things moving - for this challenge I do not envy them.
About an hour after getting my coffee and heading back to the room to chill out and catch up online Serban rang me to ask if I was going to Starbucks. Although I still hadn't yet made it through half of the one I'd not long bought I decided that with nothing else to do I might as well make the most of every opportunity to get out of the hotel and agreed to meet him. I text John to let him know we were going and he said he'd just got up so would meet us in the lobby shortly. We had our coffees (I decided to have an English Breakfast tea which was lovely) and Serban suggested we get a taxi and go to the other mall we'd been to a few nights ago just for a change of scenery. There was a big resteraunt right opposite IKEA that he liked the idea of trying, despite the fact that we had been no closer than at least 200 yards as we'd seen it and had no idea what kind of resteraunt it was other than the fact it said 'Resteraunt & Grill' on the side in big neon lettering. Anyway, again in absence of anything else to do we agreed and headed there. We negotiated the taxi down to $20SAR (it is only a 5 minute trip anyway) and made our way there. Dropping us off outside the mall we walked toward the resteraunt which had remained pretty non-descript from the outside. Carefully negotiating the different entrances for singles and families we entered only to discover it was an Applebys steak house (an American chain for those UK readers that don't watch many American sit-coms).
The pictures of the steaks on the menu looked amazing, especially given our diet up until that point. On average they were about $95SAR (£17) and so about three times the price of our usual fast food meals so far but if it was as good as it looked then it would be worth it. I'd honestly put it at a standard similar to what you'd expect to find from somewhere like TGI Friday back home etc, or any half decent typical big chain resteraunt but John genuinely thought it was 'a la carte' despite the surroundings. Serban and I had looked at eachother with confusion when he said it but decided to let him maintain his satisfaction.
I ordered a 12oz with mushroom sauce (entertaining myself briefly by wondering if I was back home and left half of it would Kirk scrape the sauce off to eat the juicy steak or would it be too contaminated by that point - I decided he'd leave it) and opted for mashed potato. It was heavenly! The steak was cooked to perfection - medium rare - and the creamy mash was amazing after so many chips over the week so far. On the whole definately worth the money! Only when it came to ordering a drink did it provide a stark reminder where we where. Up until that point, within the confines of Applebys, we could have been anywhere in the world but when the waiter asks you what you want to drink with your steak dinner at 4pm and you look to the bar, suddenly remembering why there are no taps on top of it do you find yourself longing for what you can no longer have. Just the habit really but it didn't feel nice at that particular moment I have to admit - the first time I wished I could have had a beer since I left the UK. Despite this minor set-back both John and I thanked Serban for bringing us despite his own obliviousness to what we would find.
After finishing our meals and having a good walk around this new section of mall we hadn't ventured to previously (which included a Giant Panda hypermarket that put the huge Carrefour to shame - Tesco, Asda and Sainsburys back home will from now on be viewed in a different light) we headed back the hotel and to our rooms.
After being quite content watching films on the iPad and attempting to make progress with my Arabic studies in my sweat pants and hoodie it took some effort to get changed again when John wanted to go to the mall for dinner. A good 5 hours had passed since our meal by this time but I still wasn't particularly hungry. I went anyway and rang Serban, who had already given up on us assuming we weren't bothering and was in the mall browsing having had his dinner already. He agreed to meet us in the food court. After a Burger King which left me uncomfortably full despite leaving most the chips and regretting the whole endeavour we headed for Carrefour. John was still clinging onto some semblence of normality from back home by drinking non-alcoholic beer (which I'd tried and decided was pointless and to just accept fate, opting for nicer tasting fruit juices instead) and he needed to re-stock. On the way I stopped at a few places to look at trainers which I still needed to buy, but decided against it at that point because I wouldn't be going running around here and exercising in the room wasn't going to do me much good without being able to warm up with a jog first anyway. I bought a few coloured Uni-Ball pens for making notes with during my Arabic endeavours in the Carrefour (stopping Serban buying too much in the way of stationary assuring him that they would hopefully provide at least the basic necessities) and we headed back to the hotel.
Serban wasn't quite ready to surrender the evening to his room just yet so I agreed to grab a coffee and sit outside on the step of the hotel lobby to make the most of the fresh air. After discussing a number of trivial topics of no consequence to anybody whatsoever and finishing our lattes (which Serban had decided to try on my advice instead of his usual double espresso shot given that he'd complained about not being able to sleep every night so far) we turned in for the evening...
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