Courtyard of Najd Village where the event was mainly held.
Blogger with fellow Flips in the company including Cong. Jun Manalili (in pinkish santana barong).
Event manager with newly-recruited Saudi program managers.
Event manager with company big guns.
The gathering's lead event manager with Blogger.
Food served was also typical and traditional Saudi cuisine including lamb on a bed of rice.
Blogger by the door as one of the unofficial hosts.
Traditional-looking lamp lighting up beautifully.
Lentils and other grains typical of yesteryears' fare.
The restaurant's foyer/entry way.The company was visited by top guns last week and we had the customary all-employee gathering on Nov. 13. It was a special kind of gathering since a lot of us were being recognized for our contributions to the business in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2006. We exceeded targets and got a cool A4 certificate for our efforts. We've been granted bonuses but we have yet to find out how much though. Sadly, there will be no salary merit increases (SMIs) for us this year since the company did not really do that well for the whole fiscal year.
The top guns wanted a gathering with authentic Saudi flair and ambience to it and the next best thing we can organize was at a restaurant called Najd Village. It is a replica of an actual house in the Najd style which was predominant in the Central region of Saudi Arabia in yesteryears. Of course, the city now boasts of modern architecture that the Najd style has gone the way of the dodo, except at specialty restaurants such as Najd Village.
Photographs by C. Servillas.
