Thursday, October 10, 2013

Where to Start?

Hello all!!!

Sorry for not posting again! We don't have internet yet in the house and I don't like writing a post on my phone. So the question is where do I start?

Let me start with saying Indiana and I love Bahrain. This change has been so good for us and not to mention for the dogs. They laze around outside soaking up the sun and bark at fish. It is the cutest thing watching them. They are so calm here and content. This move was for the best.

We still don't have our personal stuff here yet. Without taking up to much space for ranting, lets just say using this company has turned into our worst nightmare. Not only have a paid a fortune but we still don't have our stuff! On top of it all now the shipper is straying from our original agreement. We asked for door to door service. That means you pick our stuff up from our house in Kuwait and you deliver it to the front door of our house in Bahrain. Simple enough. Well apparently not. We paid him for those services however. We did it that way to make it easier and so we just pay the shippers one time. Now he wants the company here to deliver it to our house and we pay them a separate fee for their services. Um.....HELLO!!!!!! We already paid you for that. Anyways, the point is we will never be using them again and I am sorry for recommending them to you in previous posts.

On a more positive note, I would like to talk about what I have experienced in Bahrain so far. Living on the Amwaj Island, or as we call it, Expat Island, is a dream. People are so friendly and the overall atmosphere is generally calm a quiet. There is The lagoon about a five minute drive from the Floating City, which is where we live, or a 10-15 walk/jog/run. The Lagoon is where I fulfill my Starbucks coffee addiction every morning. The Lagoon is a very beautiful place with a collection of restaurants, coffee shops, a spa, Waitross (the grocery store) and many other things. It is always quiet and during the day filled with mommies and their children having coffee and lunch dates. There are also tons of activities offered on the Island from personal trainers to gyms. This one lady named Kathy offer paddle boarding over the weekends where you can rent paddle boards and she takes you around the floating city. It is a relaxing core workout not to mention fun. She also offers Pilates classes during the week and on Saturdays, Pilates on paddle boards as well. If you are interested check out the Facebook page Stand Up Paddling Bahrain or Pilates by KK.

We rented a car for me so I have also done some off Amwaj exploring. For shopping the City Centre Mall and Al Seef mall are my favorite so far. I also ventured to the Bahrain Mall to visit The Home Store there. That place is very nice and has a unique collection of furniture and decorations for your home at affordable prices. The only issue I have come across is finding a computer desk. Home Center didn't have a very large variety and most of their stuff was in white which does not go with the wood in my house. Then at The Home Store, they were completely out of desks all together. So, I ended up buying a small dining room table that was on sale. It will do just fine paired with a book shelf.

On the topic of car rentals, I rented my car from Adaliya Car Rental. They are great to work with, very accommodating and you can't beat their prices. I am renting a Toyota Yaris, 2013 model, for BD 160 a month. They even dropped it off at my house. Their cars aren't luxurious but do the job for a good price.

I also found the good sports stores. Sun and Sand Sports offers a wide range of athletic gear but is a little pricey on their clothing. I also found Skate Shack which offers our extreme sports gear like kayaks, kite surfs, wakeboards and bikes. They are also pricey but good quality.

My next adventure is to find a good salon/spa that doesn't cost a small fortune. I just want to find a clean place that I can go pamper myself from time to time.

So far that is what I have explored here. I am off to Alosra, another grocery store, now.

Catch you laters!!!! xoxo