1001 Arabian Nights
it's now 5.30am Bahrain time and i can't make myself sleep. my body clock has gone haywire, probably tuning to Timbuktu's timezone because i can only sleep for 4-5 hours and eat 2 meals a day at really odd hours.
i should probably start from the beginning. after the flight with Qatar Airways that took forever, me and my boss finally reached Doha (Qatar's city) to catch our transit flight. Doha Airport is small but modern, they sell lots of duty-free electronic goods, an iPod nano for example only cost bout RM800. i would have given in to temptation, if the plane to Al-Manama is not about to take off in 5 minutes time. it all boils down to the stupid delay back at KLIA, where the Arabs tried to check-in 60kg luggages (trust me its gigantic) and refused to pay the excess baggage fine. my Bahrainian customer told me that the Arabs like to buy goods in bulk, because they feel ashamed if they only bought one. well, that explains why i saw an Arab woman who opened her huge LV luggage, only to see at least 10 Gucci handbags nestled inside.
Bahrain itself is an interesting kingdom. 40% of its residents are expatriates, mostly from India, Pakistan and Lebanon. within the 3 days i spent here, i've tried authentic Pakistani, Arab and Lebanese cuisine. Arab cuisine is erm...uh..weird at best. i had this dish with soggy boiled chicken, bread and funny-tasting sauce. let's just say that the experience is enough to last for a lifetime. i didnt even bother to take a picture because the food is tan color, just like the buildings, just like the land. basically everything here is tan color. i was told that if a house is painted white, it will change to tan in a week's time.
the water here is salty because Bahrain is an island and do not have any fresh water source. the first time i brush my teeth i spat the water out of shock. yuck! imagine that i had to bath in salt water everyday. a standard 1.5 litre bottle of mineral water costs 1 dinar, which is a bloody 10 ringgit. and it still tastes a little bit salty!
okay, the imsomniac in me is starting to give in. i need to get some sleep because tmrw... i mean today... is a Big Day. my boss promised that if we finished things early he'll bring me to see Turkish belly dancers and go shopping!
p/s: the Arab women here are all drop-dead-movie-star-gorgeous. at least, from what i can see from the minority of women that doesn't wear black veils lar. since whoring and clubbing are tolerated here, men from Kuwait and Arab Saudi drive over every weekend for the obvious.
i should probably start from the beginning. after the flight with Qatar Airways that took forever, me and my boss finally reached Doha (Qatar's city) to catch our transit flight. Doha Airport is small but modern, they sell lots of duty-free electronic goods, an iPod nano for example only cost bout RM800. i would have given in to temptation, if the plane to Al-Manama is not about to take off in 5 minutes time. it all boils down to the stupid delay back at KLIA, where the Arabs tried to check-in 60kg luggages (trust me its gigantic) and refused to pay the excess baggage fine. my Bahrainian customer told me that the Arabs like to buy goods in bulk, because they feel ashamed if they only bought one. well, that explains why i saw an Arab woman who opened her huge LV luggage, only to see at least 10 Gucci handbags nestled inside.
Bahrain itself is an interesting kingdom. 40% of its residents are expatriates, mostly from India, Pakistan and Lebanon. within the 3 days i spent here, i've tried authentic Pakistani, Arab and Lebanese cuisine. Arab cuisine is erm...uh..weird at best. i had this dish with soggy boiled chicken, bread and funny-tasting sauce. let's just say that the experience is enough to last for a lifetime. i didnt even bother to take a picture because the food is tan color, just like the buildings, just like the land. basically everything here is tan color. i was told that if a house is painted white, it will change to tan in a week's time.
the water here is salty because Bahrain is an island and do not have any fresh water source. the first time i brush my teeth i spat the water out of shock. yuck! imagine that i had to bath in salt water everyday. a standard 1.5 litre bottle of mineral water costs 1 dinar, which is a bloody 10 ringgit. and it still tastes a little bit salty!
okay, the imsomniac in me is starting to give in. i need to get some sleep because tmrw... i mean today... is a Big Day. my boss promised that if we finished things early he'll bring me to see Turkish belly dancers and go shopping!
p/s: the Arab women here are all drop-dead-movie-star-gorgeous. at least, from what i can see from the minority of women that doesn't wear black veils lar. since whoring and clubbing are tolerated here, men from Kuwait and Arab Saudi drive over every weekend for the obvious.
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