As you may or may not know, I spent my last visa run in Bahrain. I want to go on record as saying I LOVE Bahrain, and not just because I didn't have to wear an abaya. I booked a high end hotel, Diva Hotel, Manama, Bahrain. It was a recommendation from one of the other teachers. The two reasons I was looking forward to staying there were the free airport shuttle and the breakfast included. Ok, that and the huge soaking tub! I arrived at 11:00 pm and was picked up by the shuttle driver carrying a sign with my name. So far, I was very impressed. And then, I arrived at the hotel. They had received my request for a queen bed, but they only had a room with 2 twins, which they would gladly push together to form a king. When I got into the room, I realized that their "twin" was larger then the single I have in my room so I told them not to bother.
What I didn't realize, until they had left, was the fact that they had unplugged the bedside lamp between the beds so if I wanted to read, I had to take the bed closer to the window. Not my choice, but it would do. The room was huge, the bathroom very nice, the tub HUGE, and I had a mini-fridge and a water kettle. They had real ceramic mugs of a reasonable size. I immediately went across the street and found a cafe that was closing and convinced them to sell me a cup of milk. Coffee....check :-)
With coffee secured, I could think only of taking a shower and going to bed. I was terribly disappointed with the amenities. There was no hand soap next to the sink so I used the blue shower gel (?) It did not smell good or bad, but I was not impressed. I stepped into the rainfall shower and the upset melted away...until I was finished and it hit me that I had exactly one washcloth, one hand towel, and a bath mat. I stepped out of the shower, dripping wet, and put the bath mat on the floor while I dried myself with the hand towel. (very heavy sigh) I made a note to ask for towels and another mental note that I could not work out in the morning if I didn't have any towels to shower afterwards.
The bed wasn't very comfortable, the pillows were hard as rocks, but the sheets appeared clean so I cranked the AC and crawled under the covers. I had a very hard time getting to sleep so my plans to wake up at 8:00 to go work out, yeah, that didn't work out. Instead, I simply made coffee and went to breakfast. I had been told I had a view of the sea, and nope, that didn't happen either. I had made myself a reasonable cup of coffee in my room so the crap they served in the dining room was ok, but not great. My made to order omelet was fabulous and the view made up for the bad coffee.
Having given up on the idea of working out, I asked at the desk and was told that the best place to shop, that was not an overpriced tourist mall, was Manama Souk. A souk is an outdoor mall type place. In my area I visit Taiba Souk. So, I grabbed a cab and headed out. The place was HUGE, but most of the stalls were closed as it was Friday in a Muslim country. There were, however, enough stalls open to make for a tremendous shopping experience.
BEST MOCHA EVER!
I spent the afternoon shopping and did not return until 4:00 pm. I had not remembered to get something to eat...I had shopping to do!, so I was wiped, hungry, and in no mood to work out. So, I relaxed a bit and headed down to the bar. There is a Japanese restaurant in the lobby of the hotel and it looked promising. I perused the drink menu and was tempted to order. Too bad I don't like Jaeger.
I was given a free drink by the bar manager, apparently, because it is a Muslim country, most women in the place don't drink but the expats do, so they are always short of women in the bars. I was broke before I left and no less broke when I returned from shopping, so I left a tip and headed across the street for a burger. Amazing burger!
When I finished I stepped into the grocery store in the "mall" and purchased candy canes and stolen...life just got better!
I decided to try and find the pool for an early morning swim before I left. The view from the roof was amazing, but the pool was empty!
I forgot to buy bath salts or something to soak with, (remember the shitty quality bath stuffs?), but I had purchased lavender oil so it was all good. OMFG it was WONDERFUL to soak in a real tub. It was only 8:30, but I was ready for bed.
All in all, it was a nice trip, crappy hotel stay, and great shopping. I will do this again next month and this time, I booked a different hotel. The one thing I love the most was that Bahrain is far more green then Saudi.
Now for the turkey part. I was able to find a turkey, although it may have been a large chicken, the taste was not as turkey as I would think, and I thawed it in my fridge.
I was able to find yeast and so I made a batch of granny rolls. Unfortunately, baking is not the time to eyeball and I don't have a set of Western measuring cups or measuring spoons. They turned out ok, but there was not enough sugar, and too much flour. Oh well, they were edible. I had invited only one person for dinner, and she no-showed. I was fine with eating alone and by the time that dinner was ready, the latest X-files movie was playing so I settled in for dinner and a movie. Yeah, great plan.
The woman next door had knocked earlier to ask me a question and I offered her a granny roll. She saw what was cooking but I had not invited her to join me as she was hanging out with the one person in the dorms I really don't like, whose cat comes to see me all the time and is pissed because I won't let him in my bath or bedroom. The other gal from upstairs, who has helped me out, but that I am not a real fan of either, had also knocked earlier and she turned down my offer of a granny roll. Well, no sooner had I finished eating, she knocked again and said she would like a granny roll now...oh yeah, and did I make anything that was vegetarian that she could eat as well? WTF! Being the gracious host I am, I said that the stuffing, green bean casserole and mashed sweet potatoes were veggie only, but she had to bring her own eating utensils and plates. She ran upstairs and brought her stuff back and allowed me to serve her. My next door neighbor suddenly stopped back and plate in hand, helped herself as well, after thanking me for cooking a Thanksgiving supper. I did NOT get to watch my movie and they basically sat talking to each other, eating, and ignoring me, while I set about putting away the leftovers.
The universe was listening because when I rolled out of bed late this morning, my movie was playing at about the same point it was interrupted last night. Having done some crafting last night, it is my plan to eat leftovers and craft some more today. Life is good.
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