Three years ago, we spent the Saudi National Day long weekend in Bahrain. We stayed at Fraser’s Suites, which, little did we know, would be our last time there for a while. Not long after, we got “poached” by The Domain Hotel when their manager helped my husband arrange a birthday surprise for me. Since then, we became regulars there. Fast forward to last month, when we found ourselves back at Fraser’s again, reminded of just how homey the apartments feel and how sincerely the staff treat their guests. You can read more about that here . But back to three years ago: on our way home from Bahrain, we got stuck in heavy traffic. At first, we wondered what was going on, only to realize it was the National Day festivities in full swing. Cars were draped in Saudi flags, kids were cheering from sunroofs, and people were handing out candies and chocolates from car to car. Some even sprayed cars with (what we assume was) removable paint, but all in good fun. The energy was infectious, and the l...
Three years ago, we spent the Saudi National Day long weekend in Bahrain. We stayed at Fraser’s Suites, which, little did we know, would be our last time there for a while. Not long after, we got “poached” by The Domain Hotel when their manager helped my husband arrange a birthday surprise for me. Since then, we became regulars there. Fast forward to last month, when we found ourselves back at Fraser’s again, reminded of just how homey the apartments feel and how sincerely the staff treat their guests. You can read more about that here.
But back to three years ago: on our way home from Bahrain, we got stuck in heavy traffic. At first, we wondered what was going on, only to realize it was the National Day festivities in full swing. Cars were draped in Saudi flags, kids were cheering from sunroofs, and people were handing out candies and chocolates from car to car. Some even sprayed cars with (what we assume was) removable paint, but all in good fun. The energy was infectious, and the love for the holiday was everywhere.
I promised myself that next year, we’d celebrate with everyone.
Well, the following year, friends were staying with us at home, and we ended up missing the festivities again.
But this year, we finally joined the happy chaos!
Saudi Arabia is celebrating its 95th National Day this year. The holiday marks the unification of the Kingdom by King Abdulaziz in 1932, and every September 23rd is a day for Saudis to proudly celebrate their heritage and progress.
This year, the holiday fell on a Wednesday—so instead of a long weekend, it became a hump-day holiday. Still, it was worth it.
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| Crispy Crab Salad |
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| Popcorn Shrimp Noodles |
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| Masami Box - Shrimp Fried Box |
In Al Ahsa, we kicked off with dinner at one of our favorites, Masami Sushi, which just reopened after a year-long closure. From there, we headed to King Abdullah Park to watch the fireworks. Traffic was crazy, and we had to park far, but the evening air was surprisingly pleasant, making the walk enjoyable. (Winter is coming soon! We can feel it!)
After the fireworks, we discovered a new coffee shop just walking distance from our place: The BLK Specialty Coffee.
The café is small and cozy, with affordable treats—my Spanish latte was only SAR 10 (around PHP 150 or USD 2.50), and the cake just SAR 18. Definitely a spot we’ll be going back to.
And of course, Lucky joined in the celebrations too! He wore a special outfit I designed with my Cricut, complete with matching sunglasses for the 23rd.
To wrap up the week and kick off the weekend, we had dinner with a friend at Flavors, in the InterContinental, where they delighted guests with a beautiful Saudi National Day spread of local pastries, a thoughtful and nice touch!
For the extended celebration over the weekend, we went back to Bahrain. Lunch was at our usual Bahay Kubo, where we ordered our forever favorites, lechon kawali and liempo.
We checked in again at Fraser’s, where the staff once more made us feel at home (with another room upgrade too! hehe).
That evening, we treated ourselves to a relaxing massage and capped the night with Jollibee delivery (one of the perks of serviced residence, the dining area + kitchen + cooking or delivery = happiness less the driving out).
I even had time for my favorite bubble baths, this time with a new concoction: Bath & Body Works bubble bath mixed with a little (or in my case, a lot!) BBW oil. My skin loved it!
The next day, I cooked breakfast - bacon, spam, leftover eggplant & ground pork omelette, and fried rice before we checked out. We passed by Boba T for milk tea (new fave as our old go-to had closed), then dropped by a friend’s house to deliver gifts before heading to the Corniche.
We arrived early enough to picnic before the Air Show, which, to be honest, was a bit underwhelming. Later that night, I saw Saudis online joking about it too—“National Day Air Show was more like a no show” and “wings of excitement, crash landed in disappointment.” Ouch, but true. A friend even showed me her video from last year—it looked 10x better. Fingers crossed for a comeback next year!
All in all, I’m just happy we finally joined in the celebration this year. It’s always amazing to see how much Saudis love their country - the pride, the unity, and the joy are so evident. It’s a little different from how we celebrate back in the Philippines, but we’re grateful to be part of it here. Saudi has truly become our second home, and for that—and for all the opportunities it has given us—we are thankful.
It was great that you finally were able to join and experience the Saudi National Day festivity.
ReplyDeleteThe photos showed how significant September 23rd is to Saudis.
The ceremonial flyover or the "no show" synchronized formation flying of the jets was wonderful or could have been fantastic. Just saw a jet flying but still I could imagine your amazement watching and hearing the "sound of freedom" as the jet (s) fly by.
Your brother and I were lucky enough to see a flyover when we were in Singapore years ago which coincided with Singapore's National Day celebrated every 9th of August.
I also remember the 3 of us watching the spectacular fireworks illuminate the skies of Singapore.
I love Lucky's outfit. He carried it not just with pride but arrogance as well hahahaha😅.
As always the hotel accommodation is "fit for a king". The food is mouthwatering. Funny though, that most of the food you eat are Japanese and I seldom see Arab cuisine.
Anyway, "life is too short to not eat what you want".
I guess 23rd of September from now on will be marked and saved on your calendar.
Happy Saudi National Day!
-aMOMymous