How time flies!

Life does sometimes go round in circles. Its amazing how we get connected, disconnected and reconnected again.

So many things have happened and so many issues I wanted to blog about but I just haven't had the time!

A very good friend whom I had lost touch with, managed to get in touch with me via this blog. I am delighted that hopefully we'll get to keep in touch from now on.

And I will get to use my passport again! To cross the border to Bahrain, where we can watch movies, where I can sit anywhere I like and not behind frosted doors, and where I don't have to wear an abaya! But funnily enough, not wearing an abaya makes me feel weird!

Surely not?

Because the abaya meant I can wear my jammies under it or wear a transparent tight T and nobody will see it or know! So not wearing an abaya means I have to dress decently again and I have to find those blouses that are deep inside my cupboard, iron the long sleeve shirts that I haven't worn for awhile and try to colour coordinate the tops with the bottoms. Sigh! I have forgotten how to dress up when I go out!

This trip is like a devaju trip for me. As I was re-reading my blog I realized that I flew to Bahrain from Heathrow all by myself around the same time last year. It was difficult being separared from my love but he was too kind to me. He sent me to Japan to backpack and as soon as I came back, he asked me to fly to Bahrain to meet up with him. His resident visa was taking ages to process and the separation was just getting too much for us. Thank god for the internet and phone cards. Otherwise our phonebills would have been colossal. Bahrain was our choice for rendezvous as I didn't need a visa to visit and I managed to get cheap tickets via Qatar air.

I also bought my first abaya at the Manama souk as my preparation to come here.

My first glimpse of the desert was in Qatar airport where I had to stop for a connecting flight. How strange it was to see so much sand and no grass! And I flew in from cold, grey England. The bright sunny days in the Middle East was a huge change.

Its been a year since I took that maiden flight and I have been back to Bahrain a few times afterwards. But I still remember how strange it felt for me. There I was wearing my jeans and T shirt. But the stares I got was surprising for me. I thought I didn't wear anything too revealing. Just my hipster Guess Jeans and a Marks and Spencer T shirt. Nothing too spectacular or sexy, no one would have blinked if I wore the same clothes in London. No one would even look. But there in Bahrain, I saw girls nudging at each other when they saw what I was wearing. And some of the men! I noticed their eyes as they walked past me. It was very uncomfortable.

I also remember after watching a movie at a Mall, we got disoriented when we went to the carpark. But the caretaker pointed to the direction where our car was parked. I did notice that he was staring at us when we parked our car earlier. Are we the only Orientals in Bahrain?

And so off I go to Bahrain again. You guys have a good week!