TBK remembers how Bahrain was so different from Palawan

 

I was looking back at some old pictures of Bahrain the other day and thinking about all the differences between Bahrain and Palawan. As a Muslim country the most obvious differences are to do with religion and dress. 2 years after I left I still wear a  tee shirt and shorts when I walk on the beach here!

Back in Bahrain the call to prayer went out 5 times a day and wherever you went there was a mosque- even on the beach and in the park. I do not miss being woken by the call to prayer- here we wake to the sound of cockerels and barking dogs. 

I miss going out for afternoon tea here! In Bahrain we had several places like The Orangery where you could eat sandwiches , cakes and Earl Grey tea. Here only a few shops sell Earl Grey Tea and I have stopped drinking it. We do have Meryenda here which are snacks like Cassava pie or Guinataan Bilo Bilo or Banana Touron. 

 Bahrain was very flat and mostly dessert. In the summer the temperature was 40 degrees and above and there was a water shortage so it was hard to grow plants and trees. Therefore most places were brown and dry. One of Bahrain's iconic tourist attractions was the Tree of Life ( a tree in the middle of the dessert). Here in Palawan it has a tropical climate ( 30 degrees all year round) and lots of rain so everything is green and we have thousands of trees- palm trees, coconut trees, banana trees and so on. 

The good news is that in Palawan no one steals my fruit Juice- like Joshua and Corleen did in Bahrain! However one visitor stole my perfume and two people have stolen money I left on the table. Sadly there are many poor people here in Palawan. 

Here in Palawan I share my house with a dog ( not allowed in Bahrain) and various Ghekhos and worst of all , ants and termites. Frythy has to regularly clean out the kitchen cupboards here and all the spice jars and containers. Often the ants get inside the Granola, Muesli, flour etc and it all has to be thrown away. It is also hard to get refills for many of the spices here so I am constantly on the look out as I travel around the island. When I find something I need ( like curry powder at NCC the other day) I buy several packets! Annoyingly several shops will stock an item ( like Holondaise sauce and red kidney beans) and then when you run out and go back to buy more you find they are out of stock. Last year I could not get any cranberry sauce for Christmas. It arrived in February and as the use by date was February 2024 I bought some. Then I decided not to have Turkey this year so I do not need it!

My house in Awali, Bahrain was provided free of charge by Bapco but it was old and the electric cooker had seen better days! Here in Palawan I started from scratch so have a lovely new gas cooker, fridge, freezer etc . However the quality is not very good here and so my Kettle and Toaster blew up in the first year, the desk chair broke 3 times and the surface of the desk broke up and had to be repaired with Sellotape. Awali was like a ghost town as it was so hot people rarely went outside. Here in the Philippines the kids run up and down all day, play basketball, race on their unsilenced motorbikes and out of tune wannabe pop idols sing ( if you can call it that) at full volume on the Karaoke ( now you know why I am going away to a deserted beach for Christmas!)

By chance in both countries I hired small white cars! I did have a garage in Bahrain ( although with the cracks in the walls I was always scared it would fall on my car , made worse when Neil 1 told me it had happened and was not covered on insurance!). In both countries my car is cleaned for me once a week although Joven here is much more thorough than Shji in Bahrain! In his defence Chester gets it pretty dirty with his hairs and sand as we go to the beach 3 times a week here. The guy I rent the car from here is really helpful- a few times I have been late with the rent waiting to get it transferred from the UK, and he has replaced 3 punctured tyres, the battery and various other things. 

There does not seen to be a limit to the number of people a bike can carry- this one had 4, and reversed baseball caps are used instead of motorcycle helmets. In Manila you can be fined for wearing Tsinellas ( sandals/ flip flops) when riding a bike.

Joven shot this one night in Puerto when I was taking him home

• Helmets here are only worn in the city centre where you are most likely to be fined by a traffic enforcer. Most people just carry them them and then put them on if they see an enforcer! Buses often have passengers on the roof. Pick ups often have 5- 10 people in the back ( even using plastic seats) and the garbage collectors wear flip flops. I am amazed how the traffic controllers do not get killed directing traffic at night in dark clothes and unlit roads ( we have constant power cuts here which affect the lights- all you hear is the whistle and then as you nearly hit them you see the traffic enforcer doing his dance to direct the traffic. Of course in Bahrain we had working lights and signals over the motorways and the police and contractors all wore high viz clothing. The trikes, bikes , multi cabs and pick ups used here would all be in scrap yards as vans and busses are used for transportation. Bahrain even had a very effective bus network with Wi-Fi and air conditioning and you would never see kids walking to school . They either had their own chauffeur or a van to collect them and take them home.

I guess the biggest difference is driving here. I certainly use all the Defensive  driving techniques I learnt in Bahrain! There is minimal enforcement of the rules here so the Trikes use the National Highway daily ( in spite of the signs saying they are prohibited), motorbikes think the white line down the centre of the road is for them to drive on regularly clipping wing mirrors of oncoming traffic ( my neighbour lost two wing mirrors in a month on a new car). Pedestrians rarely use the crossing running out when they see a multi cab they want stop opposite or holding their hand up as if they are the President and all cars should stop to let them cross when they want. In the Middle East if you jay walk or fail to use a crossing you are fined ( assuming you are not run over and killed by a speeding Porsche, BMW or Mercedes!

Every week in Bahrain I would collect the grass cuttings from our local park ( up to 60 bin bags full) and my neighbours would deliver their vegetable peelings etc in the little green bins I gave them and Mr J would deliver his garden waste. I composted it all down and then sold the compost to help the plants grow in the extreme heat. Likewise we had containers where we lived and at work for glass and plastic bottles , cans and paper , which were all recycled. I bought my recycling bins here from Bahrain and when I went to a talk on the environment in a local mall I asked where I should take my recycling, to be told there were no recycling facilities in Palawan!

                                   My recycling bins in Awali, Bahrain

The best thing about Palawan is the large number of free white sand beaches and clean water , with watersports such as surfing, kayak and kite surfing available. Chester and I love to walk two or three times a week on these beaches which are usually deserted. The temperature is 30 degrees all year around and I live in sandos and shorts all year around- another big difference to Bahrain where I had a wardrobe of shirts, ties, suits and lace up shoes!

                                       My wardrobe in Bahrain

    In Bahrain they had a couple of walking tracks by the sea at Bussatein seafront and the one in the picture at Andullas Gardens - this was taken back in 2011 with my friend Anis ( now married with two girls , but who still messages me weekly to check I am ok).

I will end with a picture of my old office at home in Bahrain and my bike ( a gift from Bapco, currently on loan for a few more weeks to TJ) .Like most things in Awali it was all a bit old and not particularly comfortable. As all the furniture belonged to Bapco I had to leave it all behind . Many of my files were damaged in storage ( 15 months here in the Philippines until I could get a visa after COV 19) so I decided to buy new files and sort everything out and have bookcases made here to fit the available space and the new files.

              My new files, books and bookshelves here in Palawan

                             My new desk, chair and office here in Palawan

So as you can see there are many differences between my old life in Bahrain and my new life in Palawan. I was there 12 years and in Aril 2024 it will be the end of my second year here. So I am still finding out where things are and where to get the best bargains. I now have a retirement visa valid until November 2025 and have many places in Palawan I wany to visit ( Coron, Cuyo and Balabac Islands) and revisit ( El Nido, Sibaltan, Alimanguan, Brookes Point ,Port Barton etc)  .

Overall I love my new life, especially not having to work!