TBK tells - What will I miss about Bahrain?

                              The Manama skyline from Muharraq by Gerda Fourie

 

One of the questions I was most asked in my final weeks in Bahrain is 

                               "What would I miss most? "

So in no particular order here is my list:

The food and variety of cuisines and restaurants.

                         Neil on day one- 14.2.2010  -   109 kg
 

An obvious starting point as I was only 109 kg when I arrived on 14.2.2010 and am  125 kg as I leave on 13.2.2021! Along the way I gained Diabetes, High Cholesterol and blood pressure, a fatty liver and a stone in my gall bladder. I am just glad I stopped smoking in 2004 and drinking in 2016, or like others before me I would have left Bahrain in a coffin. 

I remember when I first arrived Kathleen Croes telling me one day I would eat out all the time like her. I think I managed pretty well after an initial splurge on high end hotel Friday Brunches at 40 bd a head with Anis, and by 2020 a nice Friday for me was Brunch at the Bapco club for 6 bd! However COV 19 put paid to that!

Most of the rest of the time i cooked at home and I only had one food delivery in 11 years ( and that was because the chef turned up late and they said they would deliver to my house)

                       Fusions by Tala on the roof of the Gulf Hotel

One of my first regular eating places was Fusions at the Gulf hotel . It has now been rebuilt outside on the roof with a Bahraini Celebrity Chef, Tala. It was an obvious choice for one of my farewell meals and Tala did not disappoint. The Pinoy waiter was excellent too and the view amazing. It's one not to miss. Special thanks to Tala and Director of F and B , and my dear friend , Sunuj Dean- great job and I am so sad that COV 19 prevented me having my 60th Birthday dinner or Farewell party there.

If you want to read more about Tala , click here Chef Tala

The weather 

                                   By the National Theatre
 

Ironically the day before I wrote this ( 5th Feb 2021) I got sunburn walking around the garden selling plants, sitting outside having coffee with Ian etc. Jon, who has just arrived in Bahrain from Canada said its -6 in Toronto now, Kirstie in Scotland has 2 degrees and here in Bahrain its still 26 degrees. Even better its 28 degrees in Puerto  today! So having UK summer temperatures in Winter and then up to 50 degrees in summer with 5 days rain a year has been amazing. I hate the cold and wet and snow.

 BAPCO 

    The Bapco OTL system, Overtime never paid, one minutes lateness deducted
 

As we chatted over dinner the other night a former colleague and I decided Bapco would be on both this blog and the one of things that I will not miss! As Phil Gregory would say "Its the systems not the people". But as I said to my last boss "The leaders role should role model the Bapco values of Trust, Commitment and Enterprise". Sadly the opposite is true and the Managers, not leaders, simply manage the systems and ask why did you leave one minute early. The really crazy thing is the systems are so badly designed that when I left I had an email from HR asking when I started , and one from IT asking what computer equipment I had. To quote an OU Lecturer "You could not make this stuff up"

So what will I miss about Bapco?- A huge tax free salary and free fuel and house, utilities and transport allowance ( yes they pay me to drive 1 km to work) , flexible working hours, 7- 330 and a 2 hr. lunch break ( or is that just some of my former colleagues) 5 days a week. We also had such a pretty place to work at the Oil & Gas Academy, Building B. Pity they had to downscale the company car fleet in my final year due to the falling oil price.

Compare that to the UK where I was running training courses around the UK five days a week and Photocopying handouts on the 6th , with a 2 - 4 hours drive every day through snow, hail, rain and ice. I was staying in hotels 4 nights a week. In Bapco I got 32 days holidays plus 13 days public holidays, and free medical care .

When I left Bapco the value of that free medical care alone really hit me. As my departure from Bahrain was delayed by COV 19 I had to buy a further 3 months supply f medication from a Pharmacy in Juffair, and that was 68 bd. I was on Prozak for a year due to work related stress and that was 30 bd a packet which lasted a month. Even simple things like my PCR test to fly to Dubai was 25 bd. The bill for my hip replacement at King Hamad Hospital and the specialist appointments before ad after was over 3,000 bd. I guess my total medical costs over my 11 years in Bahrain were in the region of 15,000 bd ( 30,000 GBP) all paid by Bapco. Thank you!

I could go on - the list is endless. Between Bapco's generous remuneration package for 11 years, my brothers wise investments and the tax free Kingdom of Bahrain, I never need to work again . ( foot note to my Pinoy friends- no , I don't want to invest in your business- thank you) 

    My Veolia Company car in Edinburgh , 1.1.2010, My last New Year's day in UK
 

The Beautiful Buildings  

One of my great joys in the last 11 years in Bahrain has been showing people around and learning about the rich history of the place. A firm favourite is always the Pearling trail in Muhurraq starting at Sheikh Isa House. The 3 hour walk, if you do not get lost ,  visits various restored coffee shops, souks, sweet shops , and amazing restored buildings . Many pay tribute to some fascinating characters from Bahrain's past. Among my favourites were Bin Matter's house ( Pearl Merchant and Philanthropist), The Bin Farris music house and Maison Jamsheer ( their grandson was one of my ILM delegates from Tatweer Petroleum) . There are also houses dedicated to various professions such as the  Press house, various Government Guest Houses for Visiting dignitaries and so on. 

Bin Mater house on the Pearling Trail in Muhurraq

             

You can find more on the trail at The Pearling Trail or take a virtual tour of any of the properties here Virtual Tour.

I would just like to pay tribute to :

H.E. Shaikha Mai Bint Mohammed Al-Khalifa, 

President of the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities and Chairperson of the Board of the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage (ARC-WH)

Shaikha Mai- as she is affectionately known

She and her team have done so much to preserve Bahrain's old buildings and history for future generations but also bought so many Cultural events to Bahrain through the annual Spring of Culture and Summer of Culture events.

Corleen, Patrick and I having a hot drink in the café set up next to the Tent used for the Spring of Culture events at Arad Fort which we looked forward to each year.

Peace and Quiet

As an early riser ( 4 am) I love the first two hours of the day where I can sit with a coffee and talk to my anaks in Palawan ( where its 9 am) . It is at this time that I write my blogs, cook, do the washing and wander around the garden. Then I hear the Islamic call to prayer. I am in sound of 3 mosques in Awali ( depending on the wind) and its a wonderful sound. I have been amazed by the dedication to their religion by my friends and colleagues who follow Islam, Praying 5 times a day and fasting in the Holy month of Ramadan.

 The call to prayer at Avenues Mall- with some of Bahrain's iconic Building's like the Four Seasons and Wyndhams hotels 

The beautiful sunsets and sunrises

                                    Sunrise from my kitchen

                                  Sunset over Manama by Gerda

Bahrain Confidential 

October 5, 2019- 

Sunset in Awali by Neil Porter

#Bahrain #BestinBahrain #BahrainPhotos #BahrainConfidential #Manama #PhotooftheDay #BahrainPhotography

The beautiful birds 

        

         Flamingo at Nabi Saleh- we nearly got arrested for taking this photo!

                       The Francolins- picture by Les Winder

My friends and Colleagues

Anyone who has lived in Bahrain will agree it is the people, and there is such a diverse mix here, that make this place so special. I could not single out anyone here but over the last 11 years they have become my family in Bahrain and added so much to who I am now in so many ways- I will miss you all.

                       

                                  Zainab and Zahra, my habibtes

                                        Zainab and Ate Hazel

                        Andre, the ball bouncing restless Canadian

                         Andy, the golf playing, mince pie loving sleeping giant from Essex
and oh so many more outside work like....

     Fatima , Anis and the girls ( and Waqas and the rest of the Nadeem family)

          Little Waqas, age 13, who is now 24 and married with Anis and Fatima

              Adam, from Photographer to  H & M and now has his own Business

                                    Nini, now at Ikea, and Salah, in the Army

         On one of the Bapco Family fun days in Princess Sabeeka park with Nini
My lovely neighbours

I really was blessed to have such lovely neighbours over the years in Awali, delivering meals, teaching me to cook Indian food, providing vegetable peelings for my compost, making hand made cards for me ( all of which I still have Vidhi!). Others came for Birthday meals, cooked me Thai food, invited me for tea and so on. 

Special thanks to Alpesh, Mittal and their wonderful kids Vidhi and Marashi , I know so much more about Gujarat and vegetarian food and all the Indian festivals thanks to you. 

Thanks also to Matthew, Marisol and Lukas for your compost contributions, for buying all my plants when I left, your perpetuating card , and checking up on me when I had my hip operation.

Mike and Nea lived down the road until they retired to Thailand where we are still in touch weekly. It was always a joy to have you join my birthday and Christmas celebrations, to see you in Pattaya, to have you cook for me and my friends and sing such lovely songs in Thai ( Nea not Mike!) 

Miss Andrea, what can I say? You became friends with all my friends, buying them lovely gifts for their birthdays and at Eid and Christmas. Your scones, roast dinner and other culinary gifts were to die for. Once I sent all my belongings to the Philippines in December you kindly did all my printing for me for 6 months!

My namesake on the right - Neil 1, the slim bald one as I used to say when people sent me an email meant for him. In return he would tell people sending him assignments to mark that they should be sent to the big fat Neil. Thanks Neil for everything that you arranged to make my life in Bahrain so enjoyable and for all the wonderful birthday celebrations ( I still have the photos of your daughters 16th birthday "schools out fancy dress" party!!) .

Sadly I don't have photos of Commander Rik, Vince Ortega, Our wonderful legal counsel Dwight Luther and his lovely wife, Terrance and his family, all of whom graced our street . Then there was VP, the lovely Mr and Mrs Kandahare  and Barbara and Johan Tuit, The Parkinson's and of course, the one and only Mr Jaworski.  I would just like to clarify that John leaving my house in his dressing gown early in the morning was due to the fact that he was delivering grass cuttings after his early morning swim for my compost!

As I was leaving for Dubai at the airport I heard a voice shout "Hello Neil" and turned to see Tim and Shelley Owen who were departing for the Greek Islands. 

Thanks Tim for all your support with my weight loss, Bike and mental wellbeing over the years.

I have so many happy memories from my 11 years in Bahrain and I thank you all, and apologies to all those I missed... keep checking future blogs

So this is me on my last day:

       Neil Porter, 953928 ( not 863928 Layla!) on his last day- 125 kg!

Let me just end with one guy I miss more than any other, Jay, who sadly died last year. He was my first Phillipino houseboy in Bahrain and we used to go out exploring Bahrain every Saturday when we were both off.

                                                               RIP Jay