California Hotel Manama

So, when I rescheduled my flight with Gulf Air, i had to get business class.  Long story short, I am currently at this amazing lounge in Bahrain (which is close/similar to Dubai) hanging out with all of these super rich Arabs.  I didn't want to pay for another withdrawl in Egypt, so I didnt eat for 28 hours, hadn't showered in 3 days and then I got on this ...

Out of the widow Bahrain looks like lots of dust with skyscrapers on. Inside it is a strange mix of Christmas decorations lots of tour groups who look like they might be going on pilgramage, 25k rolexes in duty free, mcdonalds,costa and free internet to keep us amused. We've got 2hrs to kill - body clocks already out of sink! Am going to try and learn some nepalese from a podcast.

... wee hours.

Well, towards early morning I got into a deep sleep, and when I awoke it was way past 7:00AM, and when I rubbed my eyes, thought AM I IN THE MIDDLE OF A FOLKTALE FROM THE ARABIAN NIGHTS! Well, the desert looked superb with the view looking somehow infinite but at the same time very defined ( I dont know how to describe that), and it was basically sand, hillocks and scattered shrubs. At this point, I wondered: exactly how far were we from Jeddah?. I mean, I ...

... The security situation was deteriorating in Yemen and all Western nations advised against all unnecessary travel there.  There had been some small attacks and minor shelling of the U.S. Embassy and surrounding areas in Sana'a, an attack on a busload or Spanish tourists, a suicide bombing of 4 South Koreans and their guide in the exact spot of one of the places I was going to be, increased kidnappings in/around Sana'a normally safe, in addition to the normal kidnappings of Westerners ...

... 1604;هناك وايضا التمت 93; بالام 75;كن السيا 81;يه وليس فقط الاما 03;ن ال.... ماني قايل

... three words of Arabic I have picked up (Inshallah, Allah Akbar and Shukarah which means thanks). He told me that I couldn't leave the mall. I told him my car was right over there and he said again I couldn't leave the mall. It turns out what he meant was I couldn't go out the door I was in front of and had to use the one behind me. Three minutes of going back and forth and wondering how in the world I would get out just to learn that is ...

... levels of makeup on). Anyways, because the plane is waiting for a handful of passengers, we depart Sharjah an hour late (seriously; it's barely an hour-long flight). Customs goes okay, except for an egregriously queue jumping Lebanese gang (so egregrious the Egyptian behind me protests loudly). So I'm in Bahrain, and the taxi drivers are a little aggressive; they're asking for pretty ridiculous rates (I was planning on cabbing it to the Crowne Plaza I was meeting my ...

... docking in Manama over Dubai, because as they put it, Bahrain is the Las Vegas of the Middle East. Now don't get me wrong, by no means is Bahrain a bad place. Just its like comparing, on vacation terms, Cincinnati to Miami. Seef Mall was nice, nicer then most malls, but still pales in comparison to some of the stuff I've seen in Dubai. I guess you become a little jaded after seeing a mall with an indoor ski slope in it. Saturday morning, I got ...

... has been hectic to say the least there is always something to do if you up for it, which is good and keeps me occupied. The World Cup was pretty big as I'm sure it was in most places around the World, that filled in a few nights at the pub, i actually watched a few games and started to learn the rules (Sport and me that is something new, any excuse to go out really)but now that it is over i have gone back to my non-sporting ways until the next bandwagon i need to jump on ...

... a hopping place popular with expats. We decided to stop into Seņor Paco's Mexican Restaurant for lunch. The guacamole is was pretty good (6/10), the salsa mediocre (4/10), the margarita about right (7/10), the BBQ pork ribs not bad (7/10 - a real smoker but sweet sauce), and the chicken burrito boring (4/10). The place even had sopapillas. There was a group of US expats there for their (daily?) fix. Two Arabs also ate there - it was clearly their first time - and did not know what ...