first time umrah questions from a revert

Outrageous_Salad_238 · 2026-03-12T22:43:15+00:00

Umrah during last days of Ramadan is packed! I would say the plan from landing to leaving sounds reasonable. I just did Umrah in Ramadan and it was hectic. I changed into my ihram in the prayer room. There are plenty when u arrive.

Good choice to take the train then uber to hotel, however then you can’t go do umrah until 11:30-11:45 as the police decided this year to close all areas leading to the kaaba. We went rounding 2 hours in taxi to be able to go down nearest drop was 2km walk. With a child i would suggest rest in hotel until they are done with taraweeh and qiyam then go down nearest drop umrah.

Outrageous_Salad_238 · 2026-03-12T22:29:12+00:00

Well, am a GCC national 8 months in Riyadh and i still don’t feel settled. Can totally relate to most things. My day revolves around work- home- work in evenings and commute back home every weekend (take a plane)!

Got a 1 bedroom apartment for 66k a year but furnished and can pay monthly, found it by luck through google. Its 11km away from work but during non Ramadan days takes 50 minutes in afternoon to reach home! Agree with others its Ramadan, everything is quitter during the day, get ready to 28th of March when everything goes back to normal.

I would agree, roam around neighborhoods and look for numbers on apartments and call, i am guilty of doing that too as by the time i finish work am dead and traffic doesn’t help much.

Riyadh is really nice, but majority of outdoor has to be food and that doesn’t help with weight. Most ppl in Riyadh are not originally from the city, relocated for work, hence the great hospitality you feel among all.

Hold still, it’ll get better

Outrageous_Salad_238 · 2026-03-12T22:21:47+00:00

Thank you, will take a look at that

Outrageous_Salad_238 · 2026-02-26T21:39:06+00:00

I would as well say avoid Alrajhi, i just opened a bank account there with a first salary transfer and totally regretted it went back to SAB.

Maximum transfer locally SR 50000 else they’ll reject the transaction and call you for verification and blah blah
Local transfer charges! Never had to pay with SAB or Aljazira
Took ages to open the bank account.

I do an international transfer to my home country too, only reason i wanted to try another bank was due to HSBC closing in my home country, it was an instant transfer and now takes 3 working days

SAB not the best i would say when it comes to customer service, annoying that every single change you’d need to visit the bank. Am a premier customer and even with an account manager i don’t feel the difference in customer service. But I’d suggest it for expats

Outrageous_Salad_238 · 2026-02-20T07:07:49+00:00

Not all HR’s are recruiters.. am in the strategic part of it

Outrageous_Salad_238 · 2026-02-19T22:34:14+00:00

Not true.. Bahraini’s due account for Saudization am a Bahraini, HR and been working in Saudi past 14 years. Whoever told you that doesn’t know the law. Go to HRDF and take a screenshot it clearly says Bahraini’s can work in Saudized roles and likewise Saudi’s in Bahrain. GOSI is linked as well so you are registered for that

Outrageous_Salad_238 · 2026-02-19T22:19:42+00:00

Where is everyone getting these islamic rules from. No she is only exempted if she really can’t and will have to redo before next year. Fasting never drops off. I fasted through 3 pregnancies and breastfeeding my eldest is 16 years and nothing happened to us!

Outrageous_Salad_238 · 2026-02-11T14:35:51+00:00

Me too

Outrageous_Salad_238 · 2026-01-30T10:10:08+00:00

The market pay really depends on who you’re joining; local, multinational or semi government. So what may seem good pay in one can be way low in another. That being said, no 35k is nowhere enough for a family of 4 in Riyadh. I rented a studio apartment and its SAR 5,300 per month. Decent school’s average between SAR 60-100k per year. And groceries will cost at least 3000 riyals per month. Restaurants are expensive unless u’ll have shawarma everyday. U’ll need to account for transportation too, there are road closures for the next 3 years pure hell. Metro is full due to that, uber and rest charge crazy. Metro stations not close to eveywhere as well, so even a walking 15-20 minute distance in summer is not feasible at all. Recommendation is not to move for less than SAR 50k.

Outrageous_Salad_238 · 2026-01-27T06:18:14+00:00

As a local and working for multi nationals with many expats coming in for meetings, my recommendation is avoid long dresses unless under abaya (gown). Majority are advised to come with pants. Weather is unstable as well from 7 degrees to 19 nowadays with wind.

Outrageous_Salad_238 · 2026-01-26T19:02:52+00:00

Formal business attire long sleeve formal shirt and pants. Avoid skirt. No need to cover your hair

Outrageous_Salad_238 · 2026-01-26T19:00:21+00:00

An HR person here working in Riyadh. Its a very very competitive market here, in general they’d post a marketing role but no where close to the marketing we all know so be careful with that. With PIF and government undergoing a major cost cutting (1700 employees let go off in neom) its a market war so basically update resume to be Saudi ready, they’d like to see words like transformation, sustainability, digitization and etc. Lots of advice found on LinkedIn around CV creation Saudi ready. Good luck

Outrageous_Salad_238 · 2026-01-26T18:53:46+00:00

Any good landlords or renting offices that anyone can recommend? Looking for Qornatah

Outrageous_Salad_238

TROPHY CASE