Visit to Kingdom Mall (Mamlaka Mall) II - Night time

My 2nd visit to the mall didn’t fail to surprise me (seriously!).

On my 1st trip there were some items that I really liked but I needed a VIP’s input, so on my 2nd trip my husband accompanied me (Wednesday evening). Well to say the least this time the scene in Kingdom Mall was a complete contrast, or may I say a complete black -all I could see were fully veiled women (headscarves, veiled faces, veiled bodies... basically the complete 'black' package) with their families in tow. Not a single woman without a headscarf!!! And, no single men either (not sure if that’s a policy for evening time or only weekends).

Anyways, after sorting and buying what we wanted, me and hubby headed to the food court downstairs for some quick supper. While deciding and queuing at the House of Iranian Cuisine counter (accidentally I was standing with my husband in the men’s section of the counter), we were very kindly interrupted by the-oh!-so-talked-about ‘religious police’ aka Muttawas. They called my husband to a side and after the initial confirmation of whether I’m his wife and that we’re Muslims, the Muttawas told my husband that my abaya was a bit tooooooo fitted!!! And, that as a Muslim husband he should ask me or rather make me cover/veil my face, as if my already covered hair was not enough! Need I say how utterly surprised (and #$ @%#&*) I was after learning what they had said? By the way allow me to clarify, my abaya is NOT at all tightly fitted even my husband vouched for that, though not really to the Muttawas (and no! I don’t blame him...you just never know with these guys).

Well, if you’ve read my Visit to Kingdom Mall (Mamlaka Mall) I - Daytime you must wonder like me: where on earth were these Muttawas on that day?? Coz had they been there, it would’ve been one helluva busy day for them, not to mention for the partially-veiled beauties too ;)

Visit to Kingdom Mall (Mamlaka Mall) I - Daytime

It’s been 5+ months since moving to Saudi Arabia, and I’ve got to admit that I’ve been waiting for the chance when I’ll get to see what young Saudi Arabian women/girls look like, in fact while lunching or dining out I’ve even tried to catch a glimpse of any Saudi woman eating close by (they sometimes remove the veil from their faces while eating) but rather unfortunately haven’t had much success thanks to the barriers/separators at their tables.

But my very recent visit to Kingdom Mall (aka Mamlaka Mall) during daytime did not disappoint me in fact it became a strange surprise. Me and my (girl) friend decided to go in for some shopping to Kingdom Mall on a weekday (by the way it was my 1st visit to the mall). So we get there and lo behold! what do I see...I see young beautiful Arab women strutting their Gucci, D&G, Cartier accessories (and whichever other highly priced brand you want to add to the list). Now you must think: are these so-called brands my way of judging their beauty? Well, of course NOT. The thing is these young girls or women though were donning their designer black robes aka abayas they had no veils on their faces, not to mention they weren’t wearing any headscarves either. That’s how I could tell their elegantly styled locks and their even attractively painted faces. What I couldn’t decide was if they were expat Arabs or of Saudi origin, though from their Arabic accents they did seem Saudi. Regardless, I was pleased.

I’m sure anyone else who would’ve or could’ve caught a few glimpses during lunch hour would’ve been pleased too (mind you! there are separate sections for single men and families/women).

P.S- my husband is of the view that there is nothing called free speech, and I can't help but agree. That's why I had to edit alot of details of this post despite having seen alot more. Like they say: somethings are better left unsaid...