You Know What...: Unforgettable Turkey

The Marine Tower, Bahrain - 1st stop!

8/12/08 Day 1, On board Gulf Airlines, flight GF281:
Suddenly, almost unbelievably, I find myself on Gulf Air, flight 281 - on my way to Bahrain. Goodness, I was momentarily stunned. What am I doing, I thought to myself as I kissed my little baby Zakiy, already missing him as I said my goodbyes. I don't know what lies ahead, I can only pray that this will be a momentous journey in my life, one that is unforgettable. I have always had my eyes on Turkiy, especially the Blue Mosque, and finally I am travelling that bit closer to making my dream a reality.

As I fly thousands of miles above, way up in the skies, I am feeling a bit upset that my boys are not coming with me, with a tinge of regret that hubby dear would not support one of them. Alas, I guess there is wisdom in everything that happens in our life. Maybe my being away from home, for a holiday on my own after twenty three years of marriage, I can consider as taking time out. Maybe too, that a short lapse of time without ummi will bring some good to the boys...and hubby too.

We arrived at Bahrain airport as scheduled, around 3 pm local time. Will be staying overnight here, before we head off to Turkiy. I took the second coaster trip to hotel. We were going to stay at the Marine Tower, a sort of water front hotel. By the time we reached the hotel it was late evening, so then it was not the time to do much sightseeing and photo snapping. (Note: about Bahrain, read my post on Bahrain - last leg of journey). On route, I can see that Bahrain is a beautiful kingdom, but still with the familiar brown desert soil, typical of arab countries like KSA or Jordan. At the airport,t alhamdulillah, the wait through immigration did not pose much problem, Dr. Zainundin, as our group tour leader from POTO, seemed to handle the paperwork smoothly.

However, much to my frustration, there was no Celcom compatible lines, compared to other phone service. Hubby had activated the IDD line earlier on at KLIA. The other communication lines already had strong reception upon landing. Hmmm...must let hubby know about this, considering he is attached to TM.

Then zakiy called, he had to call through Zura's number, and then got cut off. My poor baby...I could sense he was missing me actually. But still no reception on my phone. Luckily, and alhamdulillah, the comfortable hotel accomodation and the pleasant meal served made up somewhat for my consternation. It had already been arranged that throughout this trip I would be bunking with Zura. All praise be to God, although she is my niece, and a renowned Malaysian novelist, and although it seemed a millenium ago that we ever slept under the same roof, we hit it off just as we did all those years before. For that I am thankful to Allah, that I had this chance to get to know my niece again, a chance for us to rebond, so to speak. But above all, thank Allah, she is still just as "whacky" as I am, we seem to click well, laughing at the same jokes and all. Dato and Datin always had a room near to us, which is comforting to me as far as I am concerned. As for Datin, there was never any doubt in my mind, having her around would always promise some good laughs together.

Anyway, after dinner, I went straight to bed but was rather rudely awakened by the music from the disco somewhere within the hotel premise. Hmmm...so much for being an arabic country! Unable to resume sleep, I tried once more to check my phone line. The line was Batelco. Aaaah...finally! Messages started to come in, and finally, I got to call home, talk to hubby dear, big boy Ashraf and baby Zakiy. Thank you Allah, now I am more in the mood for my Turkiy expedition. Signing out...for now!