Magic Carpet Stories

We still don't have an internet connection but I found a weak wi-fi signal in a particular room at our house. So if ever my neighbors come across this blog, sorry for stealing internet from you. Heehee

Now here comes a short geography lesson for the clueless.

The Kingdom of Bahrain is in the Middle East. To be more specific, it's a two-hour drive across the causeway to Saudi Arabia, 45 minutes away from Dubai by plane, and no, we're not near Lebanon thank goodness. (Commercial: Pray for world peace!). Everything's pretty much quiet here, except for demonstrations that happen once in while...parang mga welga din sa 'pinas.

Bahrain belongs to the countries surrounding the Persian Gulf such as Qatar, Saudi, and United Arab Emirates (UAE). It's a small archipelago with 33 islands (not sure) and a population of a little less than 700,000. I've been told that there are about 40,000 filipinos living here and true enough, in the malls, hotels, and groceries you hear our language being spoken quite loudly. Hehe asteeg. ;)

Natives here are sea-farers. In fact, I've seen a lot of fishing boat monuments. So forget the image of camels and cactus-es (oo na, cacti) scattered everywhere. Also, for those of you who are asking me to bring home oil, wala akong mabibigay sa inyo dahil wala nyan dito. Even if oil is a natural resource of theirs, the last oil reserve here's almost drained out. Interesting, isn't it. Saudi has all the oil wells. This country gets its riches largely from tourism. Aside from Dubai, Bahrain is one of the more liberated Muslim countries, and it's where most arabians do their R&R. During weekends and holidays, you'll see cars from Saudi flocking to the malls, hotels, spas, and golf clubs.

As I've told most of you, in a nutshell, I'd describe Bahrain as "Singapore on a desert" and it's capital, Manama, as "Makati in progress." Buildings of modern architecture continue to spring up, and more HUGE malls are being constructed. There's an area here that reminds me of old Manila, except cleaner. It's where the souqs are (think of Divisoria), and the Grand Mosque is nearby.

I really haven't gotten around much because I still don't have my driver's license. I'm kinda scared to get it cos Arab drivers are crazy...they think their highway's the circuit. (A tip to those guys: try joining the grand prix next time!!). Pero kaya yan. Konting fight lang. I have a lot of time on my hands so I'll be exploring little by little. (Promise I'll post pics asap)

All in all, I've been away for exactly a week now. I've been seeing, and I'm sure I'm gonna be seeing more great things, at least for the next couple of years. I figuratively have the whole world to look forward to. But since I got here, one particular thought remains stuck in my mind.

There's really no place like home.

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Hey hey wait a minute don't go throwin around confetti just yet cos I'm still comin home. I just dunno when. Haha! But for the meantime, this is gonna be it. "Magic carpet stories" about my stay in Bahrain and all the other places in between. My misadventures, travels, rambles, trippins, and such.

Ahlan Wa Sahlan. Welcome.