Where to get your BMI

Cool you can buy your Body Mass Index here - what would you like? 22BMI suit you? Perhaps a little 18BMI takes your fancy?

Or could it be a place of much more essential supplies? In particular a place one should visit prior to 10th August...........

New Apartment Pool Rules

Photos to come soon (inshallah) of my new apartment, but this post is dedicated to some new sign boards I spotted yesterday while lounging by my pool. Not particularly impressed that these rules are up, could have sworn people rent these apartments as homes to live, these rules read like a public swimming arena. Note I don't intend paying them a lot of attention - but like Mike says, doesn't say you can't BOMB!

This board isn't too bad, the 18 bullets points one below is pure gold!

Classic points to note;

• if there is no smoking (oh and good luck with that in this country baby) why are there ash trays provided around the pool area, and
• if you can't bring food why is there a BBQ provided for tenants use?

I particularly liked number 9...... nose blowing or discharging bodily wastes........ yuckkkkkkky



Bad luck if you're under 4 foot tall = denied entry. Number 2 is classic, never mind narcotics being illegal just make sure it's done inside the apartment not by the pool!

Tennis champions

Since the middle of January I have played (well participated anyhow....) in 2 hours of doubles tennis each week at the Brit Club with 3 colleagues from work.

It's not pretty, talent is lacking, there have been plenty of seriously dodgy line calls by Kym (Australian, to be expected really), horrific 'chicken style' dancing from Leon when winning net points, sweaty high-5s BUT most of all it was 2 hours of damn good stress relieving fun and laughter each week.

With a small community, stressful and at times frustrating work environment meant this weekly game has been a highlight of the past semester. Needless to say Kym and I lost every set bar one but the scoreline didn't reflect the close cutting edge nature of each game point. Towards the end of the semester you could even say we were rallying more often than not.

Last week was our last game of the semester mostly due to Heather swanning off to Barcelona for fun times but also in part due to the fact that doing any outdoor activity in 47 degrees is just plain nuts (and sweaty).

Couple of pictures of the sporty foursome...... post match.

Licence to drive Bahraini style

Here is my application for a driving licence, was an exciting process to complete. Only about 5 different Ministry of Transport counters to visit to achieve the end result of a Bahraini Licence and as a bonus my own personal copy of the road code booklet...... still wondering why you receive (and pay for) the road code after they issue you with the licence?

Still it makes for an interesting read. Has illustrations that remind me of those primary school readers back in the day.

I was lucky the man in charge of most of the process was a hardcase, he produced (with a theatrical flourish) what he thought was my licence when the machine spat it out, but alas, it had a photo of a bearded Arab man, not me I laughed :-) Next one was the real deal though.

Nice spot for a morning walk

Full credit to these ladies, not the most beautiful place in the world but they are out there doing their exercise early in the morning to beat the heat.

Think this may have been an typo on the weather forecast website

If it's not then man Friday is going to be a shock to the system that's for sure!!

Temperatures rising

Last week was a bit of mini heatwave, I'm seriously relieved that the temperatures have now returned to a pleasant range in the late 30 degrees.

It's amazing what a difference 10 degrees can make; at 47 degrees you just don't feel like moving outside at all, you feel yourself start to break out in a sweat even walking slowly inside.

This photo was taken last Saturday during the invigilation session I foolishly signed up for - what was I thinking? Leaving for work 7am on a weekend day? Especially after attending the Great Escape Party the night prior!! Perhaps that 2nd bottle of bubbly wasn't the best idea.......

The tests went from 8am to 4.30pm and it was hot, and as a bonus, the A/C was broken that day. With hundreds of potential students packed into the hall it got a bit on the warm side.

Why did the chicken cross the road?

'Don't know' is still the answer to that old question; this chicken was cruising across the road last weekend but, damn it, he just plain refused to answer my question.

The mystery remains unsolved

Signage

I do admire the helpful traffic signage in Bahrain, it often provides a chuckle or two (yes then I do look like the crazy lady laughing to herself in her car - it's true).

This particular gem caught my eye the other day. Note the careful placement of the caution sign - a good 2 metres or so in front of the 'new traffic signal' that the sign is cautioning drivers about.

Struck me as locals must have far superior reaction times than me if that's all the warning they need :-)

Just to add to this post because I don't want too many of my posting being about traffic signs..... here is another gem just outside the Isa Town roundabout - on route to work. One way is fine - but which one? One way or another...

Reading the rear end of vehicles passes the time while stuck in traffic

A great example of how reading the vehicles around you can cheer up your 'stuck in traffic jam' mood.........Debbie (fellow tutor at work) snapped this gem this morning. Tempting to phone them really.

Luke's 4th Birthday

And so it has been months and months since writing in my blog, hmmm where did time go? End of last year just went nuts there for awhile, full on at work and oh a seemingly large numbers of holidays :-) YAY.

This wee snap (stolen from Mum's facebook page - thanks Mum!) shows kids never grow up and will nick other kids toys....... I flew back from Bahrain for 2 weeks in Feb, it was a absolute whirlwind trip so thousands of sorries if I didn't catch up with you. The occasion caught on camera was the mighty nephew Luke's 4th birthday party and yes I bought him a remote control car that did all sorts of cool things and yes we all played with it. We did allow Luke the first turn - after all it was his birthday. Cheers to the large kid who helped me find the best car.

Also at this fabulous party I surprised Mum who didn't know I was in the country - a well kept secret by all :-) We were rapt it is kinda hard to keep secrets from ones mother, I avoided skyping at all costs, phone calls without her seeing my face were all good. Was hard not to say 'see you soon'!

The night before I surprised Dad at his 'surprise 60th birthday' party - needless to say both parents were rather speechless on both occassions - mission successful. Particularly bewildered was Dad who took awhile to work out why 1. I was there not in Bahrain and 2. Why all his friends were gathered together wishing him a happy birthday when the actual day was still weeks away. Well plotted by Ann!

Now I didn't actually take any photos at all while I was home, whoops, but have been promised some by folks back there (hint hint). So for now I'm reduced to stealing.

Summer back home was lovely although it took awhile to get used to all the green trees, bushes etc all growing over the top of each other - tad messy really - not at all like the barren single file well spaced apart palm trees of Bahrain!

Getting used to the beach outside my front door was just fabulous, so very nice and warm - it is a great country indeed full of lovely friends who made leaving them again very hard.