Several days ago, me and ate May agreed to meet at Al Khobar during their Eid holiday vacation. Of course, I was elated. After six months, we will be seing each other again. Ate May has become the eldest sister I never had. And of course, the gang wouldn't be complete if Baian is not around since he is also just a text away.
Meeting place and time was set, and to my exasperation, ate May misunderstood one place to another. Well, I cannot blame her. She is still naive to places here in Al Khobar considering that she works at Jubail.
We met at Al-Issa Mall then went to Al-Ramaniyah through an overpass under the intense heat of the 10 o'clock dessert sun. She is with her new friends, ate Carla and Ate Ria while I am alone. Baian, who agreed previously that he will go with us so that he can also buy accessories for his newly-bought laptop said he cannot join us anymore due to an unexpected event. Jollibee filled our empty stomachs while exchanging thoughts about our jobs.
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Jolly-Bee!
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| Surprise! Surprise! Ate May's pasalubong straight from 'Pinas. :) |
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Kuya gamingly posed with us with the Jollibee sign. But, hey, why sleeping, huh? |
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| Ate Carla, Ate Ria, Ate May, and Me |
We needed to catch up lots of things because communication though exchange of text messages is not enough so we stayed longer inside Jollibee. Then I received a text message from Baian that he will be joining us. We left Jobee right before prayer time so that we won't be trapped inside. We roamed the stores of Al-Ramaniyah while waiting for Baian.
Nice, yes? I did't plan to buy another watch but the design tempted me to.. :) The unthrifty me strikes again.. :( |
At last, Baian arrived, and we did our very best to talk to each other while we were apart. While talking, we noticed a man, also a Filipino who keeps looking at us. We didn't mind him, but I thought maybe he's just amused with the way we talk because we are talking in our own dialect, and we are talking apart. After a moment, Baian is already talking to the man, then he informed us that the man is also from our home town. The man said Ate May's face is familiar, and asked her where she lives at Bicol. He knows ate May's cousins so we are not suspicious of anything. Then he asked my name. I told him my surname and he said he's related to Bergantins.
So there, we talked about our jobs, etc. He asked us to eat, but because we had just finished eating, we refused. Baian, who has not taken his lunch yet agreed. We went to the family section of the food court and chatted while they were eating.
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| Baian. He isn't that hungry.. :) |
After eating, we chatted a little more and wait for the weather to cool down a bit, although it's nearly impossible to happen. Baian reminded me that he will be buying the accessories for his laptop. We went out of Ramaniyah at around past 2PM but the stores outside Ramaniyah are closed, so we decided to go to Lulu Hypermarket. Kuya Mario, the man we just met volunteered to drive us there. We spent almost one hour at Lulu, mostly at electronics section. I didn't buy anything. Baian was able to buy wireless mouse and keyboard, while ate May, Ate Ria, and ate Carla bought some toiletries.
While at Lulu, we decided to go to Jarir Bookstore since we have our service anyway (Kuya Mario's Mercedez). But before going to Jarir, Kuya Mario toured first the other three girls to Al Khobar. We passed by Silver Tower, our housing area, and entered Saad Specialist Hospital where Baian works. We didn't get out of the car though. After we entered through the parking lot at basement, Kuya Mario drove his car out to one of the exits. Baian pointed us some of the buildings and its names, including what is inside the building. We were amazed on how big Saad is.
We didn't bought anything, just surveyed for the prizes of some stuff, things which are worthwhile to be bought in the near future. After Jarir, we went to Citimax--which at first I thought is a movie theatre--and just did window shopping. While at Citimax, Kuya Mario urged us to go to Chrystal Resort. At first, I hesitated because I have previously agreed with my hospital colleagues to go to Dammam but Kuya Mario said we will be back before our scheduled time to leave Al-Khobar, so I agreed. No, we didn't go swimming. Chrystal Resort is a hanging restaurant at Corniche. We just took photos.
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| Me, Baian, and Ate May. At the background is the Chrystal Resort above the clear Saudi sea. |
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| See Bahrain Causeway out there? :) |
While admiring the beauty of the place and taking pictures, I noticed a very long bridge. It was the first time that I saw it but I knew that it is the King Fahd Causeway (alternately called as Bahrain Bridge or Bahrain Causeway). I exclaimed to my companions, "that's Bahrain Causeway, right?" Ate Ria and Ate Carla, upon hearing me looked on the direction I am pointing. And right away, they said "let's go there!" Kuya Mario couldn't disagree more, but I hesitated because it is almost time for me to go to Gulf Centre and meet my colleagues. I told them that if they are going, I cannot join them, but Ate May urged me. I said it's only very rare that we go to Dammam but ate May asked me, "which is rare, going to Dammam or going to Bahrain Causeway with us, your bestfriends?" When she told me that, I decided right away that I will go with them to the causeway. I called my colleagues and told them that I will not be able to join them. Then we rode Kuya Mario's car and admired once again the beauty of the scenery.
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| Long, isn't it? |
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| Welcome to the Kingdom of Bahrain! |
Upon seeing the signage, we all feel like, "wow! Bahrain, here we come!" But that was short lived because we all know we cannot really enter the country without our passports and visas. We can only be able to stay at the park, according to Kuya Mario.
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| The Bahrain Tower's magnificent transition. |
Seeing the Bahrain Tower, we all chorused into "ohs and ahs". We cannot help it. It really is beautiful. Who would dare disagree and I will give you a kick. Joke!
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| Feeling like a real tourist. Well, I am a tourist.. :D |
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| Posing in front of the tower. |
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| The girls |
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| Baian poses with his "tarha" too, haha! |
We didn't want to leave yet and enjoy the moment, but Baian wants to go home early, and Ate May and her friends also have to buy something and needs to be on their meeting place at Al-rashid mall before their bus' departure, so even though our hearts are heavy with leaving such a beautiful place, we cannot stay.
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| Last pose before we left. |
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| Supposedly reads: Departure to Kingdom of Bahrain, but I failed to capture on time. Me and my camera's slow reflex.. :D |
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| Even as we left, the scenery is quite nice. |
I was sent home first as insisted by Baian because Kuya Mario is saying I will be sent home last because I am not in a hurry to go home as compared to my companions. Me and Baian is having a bad instinct on how Kuya Mario approaches me. I just don't know if the other girls noticed also. After I was sent home, Baian texted me, "we succeeded against Kuya Mario, haha!". Anyway, I am happy I am safe, and never would I have any contact with him again.
But the bottomline is, I did enjoyed the day minus the bad thoughts we had against how Kuya Mario treats me. Being with your bestfriends in a foreign land lessens the stress against work and homesickness. It feels like home.
Feeling euphoric!
