Desert Adventure in the Red Sand Dunes and the Hidden Valley (with Music Video of Diwata song)

by George Pontino Jr.

If you're a living and working in Riyadh, you probably know by now that when it starts to rain, it means it's time to have some picnic with friends in Al Haeer (sometimes Al Hair) Red Sand dunes located in the outskirt in Riyadh. But just wait for a week or two before going there as the rain creates life-threaning floods in the "Wadis*".
*Wadi is a valley, ravine, or channel that is dry except in the rainy season.

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Al-Haeer Red Sands at the outskirts of Riyadh City center

Most of the times, rain signals the upcoming cold spell in the Middle East. Particulary in Riyadh, you will also know that winter is coming as malls start to sell outdoor gears from tents to grilling cookwares to foldable chairs to bags of charcoal by late September or early October. The drop in the weather provides a "more humane" atmosphere compared to summertime's unforgiving soaring celsius.  The cold season gives everyone a chance to truly enjoy the Al Haeer's natural desert landscape straight from sunrise to sundown. But of course, the cold can  also  bring discomfort to the senses. I advice you to bring some proper winter clothing to protect you from the elements. Staying overnight camping atop the desert sand is an option and you need a campfire to keep you from freezing. (SEE SOME HELPFUL TIPS BELOW)

All-Terrain Vehicles for rent. Quad biking is fun yet risky. 

The northern part but for the Overseas Filipino Workers or OFW / Filipino community, the southern part is usually a favorite choice for a winter picnic spot. The Al Haeer sand dunes, as a whole, not only offer a picturesque landscape to have some selfie, group picture taking or award-winning photography shots, but the site also serves a place for a picnic ground for the group to cook some barbecue. A reminiscent of a popular outdoor activity in the Philippines where people go to the beach on a weekend and bring some raw meat to be barbecued for lunch. Both places has sand but the other has water. Nevertheless, the place is a perfect getaway for some camaraderie and adventure with friends or families, helping cure homesickness and stress from work in the process. You get to relax and enjoy at the same time. For one, it's accessible and near the city center so traveling isn't a hurdle. And also, there's a bakala (convenience store) and a restaurant near the area. (SEE MAP BELOW)
Note: If you eat there, specially with disposable utensils, just please don't leave your garbage. Bring  them home and dispose them properly. Respect nature! 

WATCH THE AUTHOR'S ORIGINAL MUSIC CALLED DIWATA WITH AN "UNOFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO" SHOT
IN THE AL HAEER 

RED SAND DUNES AND HIDDEN VALLEY

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The most popular activity in the area is by renting an All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) or popularly called a quad bike. You can drive to and fro the dunes that has steep topography and very fine sands. A wrong manuever can possible get your vehicle stuck or can get you to an eventful accident either by falling with your vehicle or get being thrown down by abrupt halt and wrog turn. So, be careful when driving through the crazy horizons and uneven landscapes. The closest hospitals or clinics are miles away. 
Meanwhile, the ATV's rent goes up from 50 to 70 saudi riyals per hour when the demand is great; specially when people are coming in droves early in the morning. At 3, in the afternoon, the prize goes down as much as 30 to 10 sar as the number of people dwindle when most of them leave for another place to seek more fun such as  the Hidden Valley or Natural Arch in the southern part or just go home before the sun sets. 

The Hidden Valley during its glorious days

Sadly, the glorious days of the Hidden Valley is gone. The area seemed to be an apocalyptic wasteland where old tires were thrown in many areas. Graffitis left by visitors are still very visible. The silence is so deafening, too. However, you can still appreciate the mountain formations around the vicinity and it takes a good eye to capture these subjects and still tell an interesting story. The Natural Arch, on the other hand, is located more than 100 kilos away from the red sands, reaching its peak is still worth it. You just need a 4x4 car so you can cross the rocky road towards the natural arch's location. 

So close with a dromedary

HELPFUL TIPS:

1. If you have a DSLR camera with multiple lenses, try to change lenses inside a car where you're gears are safe from fine dusts.

2. If you decide to drive an ATV, be careful and don't be over confiedent doing some extreme moves, or else, you might end up with broken bones in a hospital.

3. Be careful with your gears such as GoPro, phones and others. Some fast hands might steal them from you in  a blink of  an eye.

4. You can make the red sand desert as a natural backdrop for your Pre-nuptial wedding photography and videography teasers.

5. Wear your winter garb as the temperature in the place is much colder than in the city. 

6. If rain falls move to higher ground to escape flooding.

7. Don't leave your garbage in the area. Dispose them properly.

8. Put off your charcoal fire when leaving and dispose them properly.

9. bring some foldable tables and chairs, tents or mobile rest rooms/covers. The area has no ready huts. 

10. Be careful with the camels when you decide to have a photo with them. You might get kicked or stomped. They could be sick too.


11. Pls. don't leave graffitis like "Juan was here" or "Jose loves" Maria on natural rocks or trees. 


MORE PLACES TO GO FOR ADVENTURE IN RIYADH:
RED SAND DUNES AND HIDDEN VALLEY IN AL HAEER 
WADI NAMAR IN THE SOUTH (SOON)

LOCATION MAP and GPS:

Once Upon a Time I Designed for Merzci Pasalubong Treats

by George Pontino Jr.

If you are a balikbayan or a frequent traveler to Bacolod, chances are you've come face to face with some food or Pasalubong packaging with my fancy drawings and designs on it. 
Well, I'm talking about my personal story of how I witnessed a brand come to fruition and somehow, how I became a part of its growth and history.  That brand is Merzci Pasalubong Treats and it was developed and owned by CMS and Sons based in Hervias, Bacolod City. At first, it started as a bakery and restaurant until it decided, it's gonna enter the pasalubong market.

Zoom back in early 2000, I had a call from CMS and Sons CEO Jonathan Lo. He was looking for a designer to update his company's restaurant and bakery business. Turned out, a common friend of ours recommended me to him. This event led to a series of fortunate events and it opened a new door of design opportunities for me. Read on...

Otap and Squid Rings product packaging illustrated and designed by the author

As a freelance graphic designer, I was doing design services for different clients. I was designing brochures, maps, invitations for events, giant billboards and even do some photography sessions. One of my steady clients those days was Ayala Land, Inc. which gave me opportunities to interpret the real state industry in different promotional media and marketing materials. Additionally, I did some projects in the clothing/fashion, mall and health industry which consisted of brand recall materials to magazines to store bags to special event visual exhibits. And meeting Mr. Lo and accepting Merzci to be part of my design turf was indeed a great addition to my growing portfolio. Plus though Merzci, I got a chance to try my hands on redefining the design trends in the local food industry.

Bloggers from different provinces inside the Merczi Tour Bus. After a tour in Silay, the bloggers were given some free stuff in one of Merzci's Pasalubong branches. 

Shown are the author's design for Cebu Mango Chips (top right) and Cebu Dried Mangoes (left) 

During those days, Merzci was still spelled Merci (meaning "thanks" in French).  The letter z was added later on its branding so the company can veer away from other brands that bears the same name as the company started to spread out its reach to the international market. My first task was to design some moving advertising signages for the company's trucks. Then I also did some food photography for the menu and outdoor signages for the opening of its Cadiz and Victorias bakery/restaurant branches.
Eventually in 2005, CMS and Sons, through the aggressive vision of its CEO, began to expand and it started its pasalubong business venture Merzci Pasalubong Treats. This time I was hired again to do some packaging, giant billboards and store wallpapers and signages. It was great to be part of the company's history though it was in still its infancy. In span of two years, I was witness to its opening of branches in Singcang, Lopue's Mandalagan, and SM Mall. 

Closer look of the author's design for Cebu Dried Mangoes and 

an advertising designed for a local magazine 

(shown are  some of the brand's early endorsers)

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Mr. Jonathan Lo challenged me to design something that is Pinoy in style and has that local Pasalubong feel but contemporary as a whole. So I looked up to my childhood idol Larry Alcala whose cartoon drawings on biscuit cans were the popular pasalubong treats in the 80s. He greatly influence me to embrace the world of illustrating comics and cartoons in my younger years. With this, I started to develop my own style of art and I applied them for Merzci's product packaging...trendy yet has the heart of Filipino pasalubong cultural heritage. I drew cartoon images that tell a story about the product and then I incorporated colors of fiesta and local landmarks. Indeed, it was my direct honor for my hero Larry Alcala*, a native of Albay, who lived and retired in Bacolod in his later years until his death in 2002 at the Riverside Medical Center, a hospital in Bacolod. While writing this blog piece on October 24, news came out that the late Larry "Larry" Alcala was inducted posthumously in the Order of National Artist (Visual Arts). ONA is the highest Philippine honor bestowed on practitioners of the Western arts. What a coincidence! 

The author's design for a giant billboard that was installed along Lacson St. 

in Mandalangan for more than a year.

I still look back how Mr. Lo appreciated my works so much to the point he asked me to leave a signature on each product packaging I illustrated an design. (yes, my full name as an artist). 
When you are a designer during a time when computer speed were not that too fast, internet were not yet fiber optics, no touchscreen smartphones yet, no CoWorking Space yet and there was no Dropbox and WeTransfer to transfer heavy files to the giant billboard printer in Manila. You can complain specially when deadline comes and the large file let your computer hang and crash big time. However, in the end, these challenges provides new experiences, techniques and confidence that could last a lifetime. As from the client side, Mr. Lo taught me the value of hardwork, leadership and how to deal with one's self under pressure. He opened my eyes more on the real  world's management and marketing ways even though I'm a holder of business marketing and business management diplomas. 

Circa 2006 wallpaper illustrations designed by the author that was used in 

Lopue's Mandalagan branch (left) and in Singcang Branch (right)

I'm so thankful for the experiences with him and Merzci specially now, being a designer for 12 years in the Middle East and Africa's top media conglomerate, founded by the King Salman's son, I face a lot of challenges when designing stuff that has writings in Arabic and with clients that has a different view on designs.  Indeed, I'm still proud to consider Merzci as one of my great stepping stones "in the real world" of my design career.    

Each time I go home for vacation, I never fail to bring a yellow box with me back to Saudi Arabia. Of course, on it are some of Merzci food fare which carry my designs to the delight of my fellow Saudi-based Pinoy friends who hails from different provinces.

The company supports local tourism activities

 and this paved a way to the Merzci shuttle bus.

Where can you find Merzci Stores? If you are a balikbayan or a visitor, here are maps for you to find Merzci Pasalubong Stores. However, you may also find most of Merzci Pasalubong Treats in malls, town and city markets in the North Negros like in Manapla, Victorias and Cadiz. At the Silay-Bacolod International Airport, you can also purchase a box or two before entering the departure area at the 2nd floor level just beside the X-ray machines. Some grocery stores and convenience stores also carry Merzci delicacies in their shelves. (SEE MAPS BELOW)

MORE STORIES ABOUT NEGROS OCCIDENTAL (BACOLOD)

Capture Nature: Revisiting Don Salvador Benedicto's Sceneries and Fresh Air

Traveling to Bacolod? Here are 5 Gastro Delights and 3 Travel Gear Guide part 1

OctoberFest Bacolod Style: MassKara Festival Guide 

Merzci Pasalubong SMX (North Wing)

Merzci Pasalubong Mandalagan Branch



Merzci Pasalubong Singcang Branch 

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Fastest Serving Shawarma Shop in Riyadh (with video feature inside)

by George Pontino Jr.

For many, shawarma is a comfort food.

Everytime they miss eating shawarma, some seem to get crazy if a shawarma joint isn't available near their place. It seems Shawarma-deprivation is a disastrous thing to many who loves this street and affordable Middle Eastern street food which was based on Ottoman Turkey's Doner Kebab. Even expats from different countries learned to love this.

See, that tahini sauce and thin slices of chicken or beef meat taking over your palate, like soldiers in a battlefield of taste tests, is priceless as if every bite should be savored. 
Not to mention, you can bring a shawarma with you anywhere. It's a handy thing of delight in every bite. 

Automated shawarma shredder to fast track serving of orders.

Now, it's even a popular street food even in America. It even conquered the hungry palates of the Marvel's Avengers when, after saving the world from invading aliens, Tony Stark wanted to go to a Shawarma shop to try it. Just watch the post credit scene of the first Avengers movie and see what I mean. Thanks to this movie's gag, a marketing research and study about its effect was done and the result was that shawarma sales in the US went up more than triple. There was a virtual stampede in some joints when buyers in US wanted a bite of it after it came out in Avengers.

Meaty halal shawarma for the whole family

Zoom in back to Saudi Arabia, a lot of Shawarma stores have their own way of attracting people. Indeed, when demand is too high when the store is in a strategic place, waiting time is usually long and the sometimes the queue is unforgivable. So, what if your hunger couldn't wait any longer? Well, one Riyadh-based resto/shop has a solution to that: (Check out the video below)

WATCH THIS CLIP OF FATERAT CHEESE RESTO's OPERATION and ITS SHAWARMA SHREDDER MACHINE

 IN ACTION:

Subscribe to my Youtube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/georgepontinojr

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Faterat Cheese shop's solution is indeed a fast one. It makes everything a breeze for the staff and customers. This shawarma joint, located in Al Bujairi Square, caters to people who go in groups for a picnic in open spaces which is located within the vicinity. Usually, one person orders not only one but boxes of shawarma good for the whole family. Well, patience is a virtue but for those who are not patient enough, a shawarma auto-shredder like that in the video above can do wonders for everyone. Not only the auto meat shredder helps the staff fast track service and reduce the queue of buyers during peak hours, the machine also gives an impression that the meat is chopped in a hygienic environment even a quick action is needed. It's a far cry from another shops where someone chops them to pieces with his arms and body directly exposed to the high heat.

Where is Al Buajiri Square? 

Al Bujairi square is part of Diriyah heritage park at the Al Diriyah district, Riyadh, KSA, where the now-restored Unesco World Heritage site Diriyah mudhouses are located. The old mud structures include the original home of the Saudi royal family where it lays on the either side of a narrow valley called Wadi Hanifa valley in the Northeastern of Riyadh.  (See Google Map below) Meanwhile, Faterat Cheese is strategically located near the entrance and a few meters away from the round about.  It is adjacent with other establishment like cafes and souvenir shops. Faterat also offers burgers, fries, pizzas to name a few. (continued below)  

Find Hotels Riyadh, Saudi Arabia:

Via Bookings.com Click here

Via Agoda.com Click Here

Neil Pinar, the designer of Faterat Cheese' new logo and packaging, with his family

MAP OF FATERAT CHEESE at Al Bujairi Heritage Park
Diriyah (Arabic: الدرعية )

Shawarma stores are outrageously abundant in Saudi Arabia specially the array of shops in the Filipino market that sells chicken shawarma. (I will talk about this shop later on.) I think it's a cultural heritage and a phenomenon that Shawarma has become a universal quick snack almost to any expats and locals alike in the Mid East. Well, even the Avengers who's so busy saving the world took the Shawarma bait.

FAST FACT: The Arabic word "shawarma" comes from the Turkish word çevirme which literally means "turning," similar to the more familiar Greek term "gyro."

READ MORE  SAUDI ARABIA BLOG FEATURES HERE:

Islas Resto and Grill: Bringing Traditional Boodle Fight in Riyadh 

Reaching the Edge of the World (Saudi Arabia) with tips

Need Epic Travel Music? Recording Original Soundtracks from One's Bedroom (with 8 videos)

by George Pontino Jr.

Note: With embedded travel videos below the article

Music is a universal language as they say. It moves us emotionally and affects our inner beings. To many, music is life. There's even the so-called LSS syndrome (Last song syndrome in which you sing a line or two of a song nonstop for hours). Tralalalala. Admit it, you've done it. Read on...

Gerard Pontino uses Komplete Kontrol keyboards

 while recording in his Bedroom Studio 

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The Emotional Driving Force that is Music. So music can easily cling to our emotions. It helps us soften our hardened hearts or can make us release our inner sentiments as we relate to its lyrics or just the beats. Or most of the times, it is there just to provide us our own personal entertainment or kind of escape from reality; any moment, in our own chosen time. Meanwhile, others need music to add dramatic spices to their YouTube or Facebook videos. Without music, how can you effectively engage your audience? And this is the tender meat of my blog article. I'll share to you the story of a person close to my heart who loves to make music; original recordings that add soulful structure to videos. Let me put it this way. He's a musician/composer during his free time in his bedroom and an I.T. support on long working hours in a cold office room. Being the Server and Network Administrator facing Unix issues from time to time can be taxing. So, musicmaking frees him from the challenging realms of I.T. work. But before I'll introduce him to you, let's ask ourselves how important music or a soundtrack is, really?

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So, Why is a Soundtrack so Important? Just imagine a horror movie without a soundtrack. Even the almost silent movies The Quiet Place and Gravity, flicks that have less talking and the slightest sound effects due to the nature of its screenplay, has some music strategically recorded and placed on some parts of the film. These tracks give a push or an emotional attack to viewers. You see, sound elevates our senses  in certain ways. High screechy violins are mostly for horrors and  broken springs or funny toinks and twangs of wires add cartoonish elements to comedies. Music drives you to cry, to cower in fear, feel inspired, fall in love or simply laugh. 

Gerard gives some inputs at an Ableton Live software basic workshop 

held at ARENDO Coworking Space in La Salle Ave., Bacolod City

How Possible can a Bedroom become a Recording Studio? Nowadays, video producers who are into travel and weddings also need music to help them convey their video's visions. And that is where the work of musicians comes. Usually, the great outdoors need a cinematic kind of music to be performed by a full orchestra that needs a wide expensive recording hall, but that's not the case nowadays. Yup, a dramatic music that is equally so epic just like in the movies can be composed and recorded in one's bedroom or living room; in your own chosen time. Equipped with the right experience, equipment, and skills you can even record an epic one on your own (yup, solo) and after a mix, you can just fall straight to bed, listen and enjoy it until you to slip away in dream land.

Recording guitar rifts on his workstation

Now, finally I'm introducing my younger brother, Gerard Pontino, who records different kinds of musical style in his bedroom that doubles his studio. While in his work he troubles server problems remotely via a remote computer at his office, at home he dabbles and tweaks beats, tempos and notes that he performs and are recorded on his music software also on a computer. Recording alone during his free time, surrounded with his gears and instruments, his musical outputs finally finds a way online and have been used in many productions such as travel adverts, prenup and wedding videos. His variety of sounds from inspirational to robotic to romantic to reggae to chill and more genre have been posted in his soundcloud account for the world to listen to. And this where the magic of collaboration happens virtually. (continued below)

Making beats with a drum pad on a loop machine 

How does collaboration works when a musician and a producer are thousand of miles away from each other? Thanks to the advent of technology, video producers and musicians can collab with each other for a certain video project despite not meeting in person yet. The internet, with  social media, cloud computing and voip communication apps, opened doors for both parties to virtually meet up and work together in a very productive way. You see, my brother is currently Singapore-based and he connects video producers to his online sound portfolio to them. Indeed, distance knows to bounds to these producers who are based in the Philippines, Middle East or those who are on the move, meaning most of them have no permanent address and makes the internet their platform to connect with clients and collaborators wherever the are--this day they are cutting and pasting clips in a hotel in Thailand and next two days,  they are busy rendering their video files in a coworking space in Bali for the clients and social media world to see, for example. The world has become small, after all, with this kind of collaboration being practiced. (See the 8 produced videos below)

Here are  the 8  travel or tourism promotional projects produced by different teams which utilized 
my brother's music as its soundtracks (WATCH):

1. THAILAND Travel / Hospitality Videos by the DroneGuys
Music: Gerard Pontino
Title: You
                                                                   PHUKET

2. PHILIPPINES Travel video by Christer Isulat
Music: Gerard Pontino
Title: Fly High

TOURISMO FILIPINO

3. SIPALAY City, Philippines video by Christer Isulat
Music: Gerard Pontino
Title: Journey

SIPALAY Charter Anniversary

4. TAIWAN TRAVEL video by Vincent Hablan
Music: Gerard Pontino
Title: Alone

5. Abu Dhabi Travel Trailer video by Ashley Yee
Music: Gerard Pontino
Title: We Are Free

6. Al Ula, Saudi Arabia (Episode 2) travel documentary by this blog's author, George Pontino Jr.
Music: Gerard Pontino
Titles: Fly High, Light, and We Are Free ,

THE SAUDI COMPASS Part 2

7.  PCCP Midyear Convention Trailer in Negros 
Director: Jonathan Lindaya
Voiceover: Christer Isulat
Music: Gerard Pontino

Title: You

Philippine College of Chest Physicians

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