Got Flu?

More pictures uploaded. Hopefully I’ll be able to include a few shots every time I post. My thoughts on a few things:

ALCOHOL - You’ll find posers everywhere, and Bahrain is no different in that aspect. What IS different is that over here, you can’t do anything but pose. You’ll see guys with black leather jackets, baggy pants, slicked-back hair, bling, and a bottle of…neon-red fanta cherry soda. Thing is, you won’t find booze on any supermarket shelf in Bahrain. It took me 3 attempts to find a specialty liquor store for white wine to cook with, and these stores are legally prohibited from selling to Muslims. I see many nights of alcohol-free business dinners ahead of me. My liver is happy. But then, there’s the hubble-bubble. I hate it when they make me inhale…

FOOD - It’s what the cabin crew enjoy the most here, but they’re only here 2 days at a time. There’s good Iranian, Lebanese, Italian, Thai, Korean, Indian, Filipino, Persian, American cuisine, and some decent Japanese stuff. See something missing? Yes. I brought over two bottles of oyster sauce, and found nothing to use it with. I dream even of the Cathay City food court now.

ROUNDABOUTS - Bahrainis are obsessed with roundabouts. They are everywhere throughout the island, and I pass through a minimum of six of them everyday. I’ve gotten good with handling them though, as you will see in the pics. At least they’re good for buying me thinking time when I’m lost.

WORK - A couple of trips lined up for September. Going back to HKG on the 16th for a meeting with Big Rick, KT and Gay-on, and also to sort out a few matters on behalf of the BAH office. Big Rick told me of his Frankfurt and Prague duty-travel plans, which placed alongside my itinerary, made the two of us feel like James Bond and…well…Osama bin Laden, respectively.

Met with the Chinese and Japanese ambassadors to Bahrain early on. The local Chinese/Japanese/Korean community is small and very close-knit, and CX seems to command a lot of respect because of its identity. I stuffed myself with Korean food once, which was as close to a ‘fix’ as it gets for me. But upon receiving my business card, the owner sat me down with his buddies as I tried to leave, and for three hours, made me drink, eat even more (the food just kept coming), and sit through the Korean conversation with his friends. Once in a while he’d throw me a line or two of broken English out of pity. A very warm guy though. Communication was almost entirely based on body language, but it was enough. I was just looking for a quick meal then, so now I don’t go alone unless I know I’ve got time to kill.

WOMEN - People in HKG kept telling me about how beautiful the women were here. Well, they’re not.

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