Rew walking at Bussatein seafront as the sun sets
When I first announced I was leaving Bahrain back in February 2021 my friend Anis suggested we meet for a coffee in Bussatein and then he took me for a walk at Bussatein seafront. I really loved the place- lots of parking, great views of the city, toilets, fitness equipment , lots of cats and birds and even Dolphins, great sunsets and very peaceful. When I asked him what kind of people walked there he smiled and said "retired people!" . A week later I left Bapco, retired, and have been walking there ever since, alone, with Corleen, with Carl , and this week I took Rew.
Rew hiding from the camera, he asked me to tell you he was not crying!
It was on our walk this week I realised how many stray cats there are at the Seafront and I also realised that people were feeding the cats when I saw a man pull up, a cat run over to his car, and then he opened a can of cat food! Rew also took pictures of an ugly black cat feeding on the wall!
We also saw cats watching the birds and fish and when we went to eat at the new restaurant at the end of the seafront a sweet cat came and sat next to us, under the seat, expectantly waiting for food. So if you love cats you will love walking at Bussatein seafront!
Waiting for his dinner!
Watching the fish!
When Anis first took me in 2021 the place had just opened and was built, like much of Bahrain on reclaimed land. Anis told me that there were plans to build a mall here and a petrol station opened a few months back. Last time I visited we saw a new restaurant had opened at the end of the walk ( although it was closed when we visited) and they were building tennis courts. There are already many makeshift cricket pitches and every Friday you can see epic cricket battles being fought out in the sand by Pakistan, India , Bangladesh and Sri Lanka! Chester will remember that back in 2016 when I met him in Doha that they used to say the Doha skyline changes every night as the pace of new building is so fast. And so it is at Bussatein seafront! On this walk the new tennis courts were full with doubles matches under the floodlights powered by a noisy generator . As usual places are built in Bahrain on reclaimed land every day before the power supply is connected by EWA, and so generator hire is big business! Even the new restaurant has a generator!
The very modern floodlit tennis courts with glass sided courts
However it is the sunsets that I love the most at Bussatein and the more you walk the better the views get ( a bit like El Nido Cove in Palawan, where every time you think you have the perfect sunset shot a better one comes along. ) So here are a few of my favourites from this last walk ( I will spare you the other 50 shots- I am really becoming very Phillipino now in the number of photos I take!)
Sunset at Bussatein Seafront
I saw the fishing boat coming and waited patiently to take this shot
The other thing I really like about Bussatein seafront are the views you get of the iconic Manama skyline on a clear day . It reminds me of the park at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) beside Mashereb Museum in Doha where I used to go with Chester many years ago. ( thanks Chester for reminding me of the name!)
We had a big sandstorm this week so the visibility was not very good
You can get a much clearer view on the vlog that Corleen shot at the same place a few weeks ago:Another thing that constantly changes in Bahrain is Restaurants and when Rew and I got near the end of Bussatein seafront we saw the lights were on at Ciel Restaurant , and decided to give it a try. I have been intermittent fasting for 3 weeks and fast for 16 hours and then eat for 8 hours. By the time we reached there I was starving hungry, and this time I had my wallet! We eventually found the way in ( there is a gate on the right of the restaurant by the generator at the back but then you have to walk all the way around the restaurant to the front where there are some tables and seats by the sea. We saw the staff were praying in the empty restaurant so we sat outside and took photos of the cat. Eventually the waiter came out with the menu and offered us a meal package of fish and fish soup which we accepted. The wind got up and it got cold and dark so we moved inside and were given a fruit platter and they lit the BBQ outside and said the fish would take 15 minutes. When it arrived it was well worth the wait and there was so much food we ordered a take away!
Our soup, salad, rice and a fish platter
Our freshly cooked fish , which was delicious
Our freshly squeezed orange juice
Eventually we finished and declined their offer of coffee, and I was amazed that the total bill was only 12 bd. I would highly recommend this place which is open from 10 am to 10 pm daily at the far end of the Bussatein Seafront. They have an Instagram page and the menus are below. Everything is cooked freshly as we were the only customers so do not expect fast food!
Here is their Instagram....
All that was left were the bones and shells by the time Rew and I finished our meal:
I gave up, now I am on the Intermittent fasting diet my appetite has shrunk!
Luckily I had cash as they only accept cash and Benefit pay! We then had a 2 km walk back to the car which we had left at the other end of the seafront!
It was nearly full moon!
I hope you enjoyed the blog and I am pleased to announce we completed another day of the 5000 & 5 challenge where we have to walk 5000 steps and take 5 photos each day. In fact we did 8,222 steps by the end of the walk and 8,258 steps by the time we got back to Hidd!
I just counted- we took 70 photos- a truly Phillipino effort- even Beshy could not take that many! And just for a nice round number here is the 20 th photo for this blog:
Guess what- Thai's take selfies too!
So all that remains is to thank Rew for coming on the walk, The guys at Ciel for the amazing meal ( to quote Simon Cowell: "Well I wasn't expecting THAT!" ) . and Chester for fact checking the bit on Doha!
Ingat Palagi ( stay safe) and Kita kits Palawan- one day I will get there!
Hello, I am The British Kabayan! Feel free to read my stories.
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