Magic Carpet Stories

Last Wednesday, the second to the last day of Ramadan, I was able to experience an Iftar meal. Iftar is done right after sunset to break the daily fast. It was held at the grounds of Hala House (Shell Convention Center) with a buffet of traditional Arabic dishes. I filled myself with the usual fare of hummus, mutabal (spicy eggplant dip), pita bread, tabouleh salad, dried dates, and umm ali (Egyptian bread pudding). It was also the first time I tasted Tamar Hindi (Tamarind drink), Arabic coffee (Gahwa), and this sweet juice made with dark rose petals which I found most interesting. I was too hungry coming straight from work so here’s the only lousy photo I took:

Gahwa pot (left): Pour using only the right hand into itsy-bitsy cups.
Fanoos (middle): The Lantern is a symbol of Ramadan.

---

The end of Ramadan is marked with a three-day celebration called Eid al-Fitr which means the Festival of Fast-Breaking. It also means three days away from the office, which for any non-Muslim like me, is a bigger reason to celebrate.

Since we haven't had the time to explore Bahrain, the 'rents and I decided to kick off the Eid holidays with a road trip. The first place we discovered was 10 minutes away, just down our highway, and I can't believe we never knew about it:

Beautiful isn't it?


My mom and I plan to go back here for a picnic.
I love cheap thrills. ;)

Without a single decent road map of Bahrain available in ANY shop, our attempt at finding the nearby historical sites by ourselves miserably failed. So we decided to set those places aside for a real tour and headed to the King Fahd Causeway.

Where Bahrain and Saudi Arabia meet


Marhaba!

The causeway is a 15-mile bridge with a small island halfway through. Two panoramic towers stand on either side like sky-high gates. We planned to take some lunch with the great view but apparently half the country also planned the same thing. Hunger won over our sense of adventure so we settled at my family's favorite weekend getaway place and did our favorite pastime - shopping and dining out. :p

The next day we headed south of the country to check out the Al Areen Wildlife Sanctuary. There I met my new adorable junkie friend who was begging me for some weed.

Help yourself to some grass my friend

A short drive into nothingness and Bahrain flags (seriously, check the photo below) led us to the very appropriately named Lost Paradise, a 7-hectare water park in the middle of the desert. I wasn't ready with my swimsuit so I just took a photo of its grand Aztec temple-like facade. I was sincerely hoping that the Arabic women inside weren't wearing their Abayas to the slide pool because the thought of it is just too depressing.

At the Lost Paradise

We also visited the luxurious Banyan Tree Desert Spa and Resort which took my breath away. It's the biggest spa in the Middle East where a night costs about BD 500 (Php 60,000) and is the perfect reminder of why we all should work hard. When I'm rich I'm going to treat myself to the "Romance in Bahrain" package whatever the hell that includes.

I'll be back someday

Another short drive into nothingness led us to Al Jazair Beach, one of Bahrain's public beaches and biggest disappointments. It was like Boracay on Holy Week (think Indians instead of Koreans) withOUT any consolation of white sand. Apologies for the hint of racism but it was absolute chaos! 5 minutes into it literally drove us back to the city.

Don't be fooled by the silhouettes

Not wanting to end our trip on such a horrifying note, we seized the day at the highly-acclaimed Bahrain National Museum. I learned so many interesting things that I will not bore you with. The rest of photos are here. You might wanna know though, that Baraha in Bahraini culture is what they call their tambayan.

Here I am making tambay with the boys at our Baraha.
Somebody bring in the poker chips and shisha!

In the museum some local guy with chiseled features kept hitting on me. I told him he’s pogi but my man’s waiting for me at home. I held the poor fella’s hand for a second and said goodbye without looking back...

"Don't call me habibi."
Oh the drama.

I spent the last day running errands, taking out winter clothes, and chilling at home. The liquor store is finally open again and we stocked up on Amstels and Heinekens (lesson learned: do this BEFORE Ramadan). Alcohol never tasted so good after months of deprivation. So how exactly did I celebrate the end of Ramadan?

With a nice, cold beer at hand. ;)

---