Rock and Roll with Bedsores

Ah Bahrain you are my baby, we drove the causeway on Thursday evening and what is normally a very tedious journey turned into a Saudi take on Fast and Furious whilst in a stationary position, we were surrounded on all sides by muscle cars, oh the noise was like music to my ears, the alloys on those bad boys were goosebumpingly phoarrr, my favourite was the Bumblebee that went flashing past, so no photo of that one then, but I got some great snaps of others and most especially the Shelby GT500 oh she was a beauty, beautifully demure in blue with two go faster beeyatch stripes front to back.

We sat smiling whilst surrounded by muscle and the journey didnt seem so bad, well until you try and unfold yourself at your destination only to find from the neck down your body is sleeping, once again I had to slide down the side of the Tahoe to reach the floor, and then just wait for the life to return to my feet....

We rushed in changed and rushed out again taking Bing with us as she was also going out so we shared a taxi, we were dropped first to the Ritz Carlton and Trader Vics where we entertained ourselves watching Polynesian waitresses with beautiful floor length dresses, and Arabian Arabs in their very own floor length attire.


Whilst out we made a decision to call upon some friends and ask them across for Brunch the next day at the Golden Tulip, a venue they had told us about previously, so our weekend was organised and after a very nice evening in colourful clothing with not a hint of black we headed home, well back to Fred and Stela's, which is becoming more like our weekend retreat (I feel sorry for them having us for family).

We woke refreshed but only just and organised taxi's to take us to meet the crowd, we arrived first and headed for a bank, unlucky for us there are quite a few banks in Bahrain that do not like UK cards so no cash was given, we had no choice but to walk away from the cash machine with empty wallets and hope we could get at the hotel, which we didn't by the way.

Lunch began at 12 and lasted right through till 4pm during which time, wine flowed, beer was poured and food was eaten, I have never seen such a beautiful spread of food like it, this was the king of buffets, we had so much to choose from like lobster cooked to order, fillet, ribeye and pork, chicken, prawns and crabs, you name it they had it, from cooked to order to salads to hot dishes and cold, the Japanese section tickled my fancy but that actually could have been the wasabi I washed my sushi down with, I do love a bit of heat, I decided to give the curries a miss because I think I will be living on them for the next couple of weeks, yaahooo can't wait - Goa is calling my name and Tuesday I will be answering.

We had a crazy afternoon all bar one of us was drinking and the craziest of all was the none drinker, we laughed and laughed and had a fantastically good time, the band played throughout dinner and even though we were next to the speaker it did not interfere with our chitter chatter, the Karaoke capers reminded me of the reasons I don't sing in public, the uniqueness of my extraordinary voice are loved only by my hairbrush. The nutty balloon man kept us entertained with his ballon hats made especially for us, but I really wanted the pink panther a young girl had but could think of no valid reason to steal it from her that wouldn't get me barred or at the very least sent back to Saudi.

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I took photos of so much food, but they will have to be viewed on facebook, we left the hotel and were driven home by the sober Aussie and then everyone sat around chatting and laughing at Jannusen Avenue, Stela came home and introductions were made, and of all things Sari and Stela share a mutual friend in Saudi Arabia in Zamil compound, as I have said before the world just keeps getting smaller.

When goodbyes were said my beloved and I decided to head to bed as we really were tired, 8.30pm and we slept right the way through till 8.30 the next morning, hence the bedsores......WE ARE ROCK AND ROLL PERSONIFIED!

Dirty Dog

Poor Stitch is beginning to think he now lives with the lovely gentleman from doggie day care, he has been in and out more times than my ten hour curry I cooked for five..... the only down side is he now smells like a dog, no longer does he have the baby powder smell I keep spraying over him when his back is turned, no longer do his feet smell fresh and cheese free so this morning regardless of the fact that tomorrow he is back in again I bathed that bad boy, but really what is it with him drinking his bath water.  So now pupdog smells of wet dog and shampoo, nice.

Getting back to the ten hour but only cooked for five curry, well let me tell you it was another feat of culinary engineering on my part, I browned it, I threw it about the pot doused it with spices and sealed the lid before trying to work out how best to speed up the slow cook, in the end I settled for an increase in heat and a five hour reduction in time, the resulting dish did not disappoint and if I was not going away this weekend I would have been trying it for ten hours just for the hell of it.

Friday morning we took pupdog for a walk along the corniche, his first trip into town and it was lovely, if a little breezy which is ideal when you carry a tent on your shoulders and modesty stops you lifting the edges to air your legs, we met lots of families and they all wanted to say hello to Stitch who would only let the children get about a foot into his space and then hide behind my legs, but at least we know now that walking with Stitch on his lead in the centre of Khobar is not going to be an issue he may very well get another walk along the corniche in the not to distant future, I don't think I would subject him to being closer to the roads though, sea front it is for this hound, because I have a feeling he would be sitting on my head rather than walking with the craziness that passes for driving on the roads of Al Khobar.


link to an exceptional recipe for lamb

http://www.greatcurryrecipes.net/2013/09/17/10-hour-spicy-roast-shoulder-of-lamb/

Game Over

Three hours from home to the in-laws a journey of only 72km, most of the three stuck on this baby

It all went Pete Tong soon after
 these two babies were introduced to our system

Thursday night was spent in the company of family at the Rugby club, I have since decided that Rugby is a very dangerous sport, even when you are not playing and are just participating in the after game sport of drinking..... I remember going, I remember the middle, but the end is a blur, now I know I got home but how that occurred apart from maybe by the use of the word 'Abracadabra'  is beyond me.

So Friday morning came too early and carrying a hammer! My beloved also had his morning shattered not only by a hammer but a cement mixer which had been placed inside his tummy, he did try and shut it down with greasy crisps, but this turned out not to be one of his better ideas, as his stomach continued to churn all the way around the Bahrain City Mall, I ignored him as I had my own issues going on. 

I am not sure if I have mentioned before but I have a pet hate for all things flip flop, I could actually vomit every time I try and put that toe post between my toes, not a good look in a shoe shop but I do keep trying, and today I found a pair of Gelato flip flops that don't make me vomit, not even nauseous, so now I am the proud owner of a pair of Gelato flip flops, my beloved nearly had a hairy fit when he had to pay the equivalent of £17 for them, I just looked him in the eye and said sweetly 'but I am worth it'......

We eventually checked into our hotel which took us a good hour to find as we kept travelling past it on the motorway, then had to turn around, get back on the correct side of the motorway again, and try, and try, and try again, eventually by pure luck I happened to see the sign on top of the building for our hotel, not my fault I was looking for a tall building, so although I was looking up at the skyline, I wasn't looking low enough....we arrived at the Intercontinental and checked in, we were upgraded to a very nice club suite, and decided to spend the evening at the hotel as there were so many venues to pick from.

We began our evening in Downtowns, then took a tour of the numerous restaurants before finally settling on Legends Steakhouse, obviously we are now part owners of the restaurant because there is no way we paid that much and don't have some kind of ownership, and don't get me wrong the meal was stupendous, from start to finish each dish was a delight, the waiter and waitress were great fun, and even understood our English humour, but we really must remember not to over order as what we left in the way of sides could have fed a small nation for at least two days...either that or make sure we check what actually comes with our meals before we order sides.

Prawn in pasty

Crispy Skin pork, oh my what a feast

Aberdeen Angus

Surf and Turf

After dinner we headed back to Downtown where the band was playing and a few drinks later it was time to head upstairs to the most comfortable bed in the world, slipping between the sheets was like being wrapped in a hug and coddled all night long, I don't think I have ever slept in such a comfortable bed in my life, in fact when I did wake at one point through the night, I swear I heard the bed whisper, there, there, shhhhhh as I nodded off back to dreamland......