The past few days were filled with good food, plenty of laughter, and a few new experiences. In fact, I am convinced that our weighing scale is broken because it claims I gained 9 pounds during this trip. There is simply no waaaaaay. HAAHHA
As soon as we arrived in Bahrain, we headed straight to our usual favorite, Bahay Kubo Restaurant. We ordered our tried-and-tested favorites - leche flan, liempo and kare-kare - but also added something new to the table: tortang alimasag. As I always say, if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it!
After lunch, we checked into Fraser Place and were assigned a different one-bedroom layout from our previous stay. This particular layout is actually my favorite, although my husband still prefers the one we had before.
To make our stay even more special, we were welcomed with a lovely charcuterie platter courtesy of Jenifer Fernando, the kabayan Guest Relations and Quality Manager.
Not long after settling in, we headed for a couples massage. By “couples massage,” I mean I fell asleep almost immediately and woke up when it was over. Hahahaha
Later that evening, we visited Cafe Sego, a charming French-inspired café located near the hotel. It had a cozy atmosphere and looked especially pretty at night, although it was a little dark inside. I suppose that is part of its appeal. I’d love to visit again during the daytime and see how different it feels.
Back at the hotel, we kept dinner simple and ordered pizza and mushroom soup. Thankfully, we were given a 50% discount on food and beverages, which made everything taste even better. haha!
Of course, no staycation is complete without a proper bubble bath session. Armed with an entire collection of masks - from face masks to boob masks to butt masks - I fully embraced the experience. Most of these goodies were still from my husband’s haul during one of our previous staycations, along with a few gifts from family.
Unfortunately, I may have gone a little overboard with the caffeine that day because I struggled to fall asleep. Then, when I finally did drift off, the fire alarm suddenly went off. Thankfully it only lasted a few seconds and nothing was wrong, but it definitely interrupted my sleep.
The next morning, I finally got around to swatching the large watercolor set my husband gave me as an anniversary gift. It was something I had been meaning to do since I got it. I've done it with the smaller one before but I'm sharing both vids I made now. hehe!
Afterward, we headed to Avenue Mall for brunch at Texas Roadhouse before spending some time wandering around the shops.
Back at the hotel, we rested for a few hours before leaving again for what would become one of the highlights of the trip - our clay throwing class at Passion Art.
I had wanted to try pottery for years, even back when we were still living in Manila. As it turns out, pottery is significantly harder than it looks.
I was terrible at it.
Absolutely terrible.
My bowl somehow became a bowl-plate hybrid creation that belongs in a category of its own. Meanwhile, Ton turned out to be pretty good at it. Even our classmates, two Arab ladies - did a fantastic job. I was very clearly the black sheep of the class.
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| Before |
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| After. Hahahahuhuh |
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| The husband's. Sobrang ginalingan. |
Still, it was incredibly fun.
We were told to wait two days for our projects to dry before painting them and then another three weeks for glazing.
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| My plowl and my husband's bowl |
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| Our classmates' cups |
After our pottery session, we had a late dinner at Fuddruckers before returning to the hotel for the night.
The following day, Ton surprised me by saying he had extended our stay for another night so we could paint our clay projects the next day and catch the light show at Marassi Galleria. It was a sweet idea, but when I asked checked the rates, the promotional pricing was gone and the room cost had become ridiculously expensive.
I convinced him to cancel the extra night.
“We can always come back to paint,” I told him. “And we can skip the light show.”
He agreed and said...
“We can just use the money for shopping.”
A man after my own heart. hahahah!
After checking out, we headed to Marassi Galleria to wait for the evening show.
Beforehand, we tried Sushi Library. Sadly, it did not quite live up to the hype. The best thing we ordered was actually the lemonade. I joked that maybe the maki served on the giant boats tasted better because at least the presentation looked impressive.
We also had coffee and snacks at Bunz cafe where they had a kabayan assist us and even gave us two teddy bear charms! Mind you - not everyone received even just a bear!
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| B1 and B2 aka Bear 1 and Bear 2 |
Then came the much-anticipated light show.
Social media had been buzzing about it, with reports claiming around 100,000 visitors attended the opening night. Expectations were definitely high.
The first show was advertised to run from 7:00 PM to 7:30 PM.
It started at 7:30 PM.
And lasted about six minutes.
Let’s just say it was not exactly what we expected.
I thought maybe I was being overly critical, but after reading comments online, it seemed many visitors felt the same way.
Still, even with a few disappointments, the trip itself was wonderful.
Back in Al Ahsa, we spent most of the remaining holiday relaxing at home. Ton treated us to one of his specialties - steak and mashed potatoes - and we also enjoyed a meal at Al Tamayos.
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| Al Tamayos |
I also had another iron infusion session and received some great news from my pulmonologist. Since my asthma has improved, the dosage of my inhalers has been reduced.
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| Was at the old wing of Almoosa Hospital this time and got a bed! |
To wrap up the holiday, we made a quick day trip back to Bahrain so we could finally paint our clay projects. We'd want it for eating so we chose non-toxic paint instead of acrylic paint. We will need to wait for 3 weeks to get it but that's ok.
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| Passion Art is so much prettier in the morning! |
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| Ton's bowl looking oh so pretty |
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| My plowl looking... interesting. hahaha |
And because no Bahrain trip is complete without a pork meal, we also squeezed in a samgyupsal feast at Itsumo.
Looking back, this year’s Eid al-Adha celebration was filled with everything we enjoy most - good food, small adventures, quality time together, and plenty of laughs (Note to self and hubby: Think Trader Joe's tote). While I may never become a pottery expert, I am glad I finally got to try something I had wanted to do for years.
Here's a little spread I made on my Short Trips TN.
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| But first, I'm sharing them as junk collected - Day 1 |
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| Day 2 |
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| Day 3 |
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| and now, for the spread! |
Now we just have to wait three weeks to collect our finished pottery pieces. We’ve already decided to bring some friends along next time.
Maybe they’ll be worse than me.
At least that’s what I’m hoping! Hehehe!
Thank you for joining me on another holiday adventure. If you’d like to read about our Eid celebration from last year, be sure to check it out here - a quick getaway in Jordan! Until our next getaway, here’s to more travels, more food discoveries, and more memorable experiences together.
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