I walked through the alleyway which used to house a popular magazine store. While my father went in there to pick up newspapers, I would browse through British pop magazines like Smash Hits and video game magazines. But that store was long gone. I did find a lot of Nepali eateries though. See the vlog video at the end of this post for that footage.
I walked through Manama Souq to get Al Zeinah Plaza, my first stop.
Where F&F Watch Company stands now used to be a Dadabhai store — the most popular toy store chain in Bahrain
Dadabhai may have gone but across from it, Al Zeinah Plaza still stands…
…mostly empty 🙁
The main reason I used to frequent Al Zeinah Plaza was for this arcade. Also shut.
In fact, the only thing livening up the inside of Al Zeinah Plaza was this Filipino restaurant, which also had karaoke (no surprise there)
Kewalram & Sons, Dadabhai, Babasons (MegaMart) are among the many big business groups founded by Indians who settled in Bahrain more than half a century ago
It wasn’t just Al Zeinah Plaza. There were a lot of shut shops in Manama.
It was kind of sad to see the changes walking through Manama.
This is the Oriental Palace hotel — one of the hotels I considered staying at in Manama
Next, I walked to Yateem Centre — Bahrain’s first major shopping center
Opened in 1981, Yateem Centre was a shopping centre popular up until the late 1990s
Three levels of shopping and an office tower above it
But by the late 1990s, the Seef area saw multiple massive malls come up
Once buzzing in the 1990s, the crowds have all but disappeared at Yateem
Plenty of ‘For Lease’ signs all over Yateem Centre
Olympia Sports was the only name I could recognize that is still here since my school days
Yateem Centre and Al Zeinah Plaza seem to make more money now from paid parking than from leasing
It was kind of sad to see the state of Manama honestly. Up until 2002 (when I was last in Bahrain) Manama was packed and even on weekdays, finding car parking in and around Bab Al Bahrain was a challenge. Now though, the major brand stores have all but gone. My Bahrain-based friends said they moved to the malls but even my uncle, who once worked in a jewellery store inside Yateem Centre, told me business overall is down in Bahrain post-COVID.
And as I write this, the US-Iran war problems have made things even worse for Bahrain’s economy 🙁
On the back side of Bab Al Bahrain was a small open display showcasing old photos of Bahrain
Across the road from Bab Al Bahrain was the old Manama Police Station. Right next to the police station is a Bahrain Post Museum. But as I was taking a video of the entire building, a police officer from the station waved at me and asked me to show what I was recording. He asked me not to take photos of the police station, and I said sorry since I didn’t know.
This is the building that houses both the old Manama Police Station (it’s to the left) and the Post Museum — which was the main post office back in the day
The Bahrain Post Museum is free to enter and is open daily from 8AM to 7PM, closed only on Fridays.
Here’s a brief history about Bahrain’s postal service and the museum
Basically, Bahrain’s postal service was setup by the colonial British and it actually reported to the India Post office in Bombay for a while
In fact, this is a model of a ship used by the postal service, named after the port city of Dwarka, in the Western state of Gujarat
A whole bunch of Bahrain stamps, both old and new, are on display in these stands
I haven’t been into stamps since I was a kid but I recognized many of these designs from back when we used to mail letters to Kerala
I wonder if kids born in the 2000s even know what postal stamps are!
In this room was a massive filing cabinet with pullout drawers containing thousands of stamps
But these drawers contained stamps from all over the world! Just select the number associated to the country and open that drawer to see their stamps
Check out my video at the end of this blog post for footage from inside the Bahrain Post Museum.
This room housed equipment that was used by the post office. Pretty interesting stuff in here.
If you love stamps or history, I highly recommend visiting the Post Museum when in Manama. It’s free and won’t take up too much of your time either.
On the way back, I picked up some potato samosas as I was hungry
At night, I stepped out to walk to my relative’s house for dinner
A lot of shops run by Bangladeshis in the direction I was headed
Although the shop signs may have changed, I still knew the routes of inner Manama by heart 🙂
This is a typical kuboos shop. Kuboos is a local bread, like naan, and prepared the same way. It’s still ridiculously cheap!
I arrived at my relative’s place, had a nice home-cooked dinner, and stayed for a while talking to family
When I walked back home, the night was still alive… although I only saw South Asian men outside.
Coming from India where people are fighting to keep their local languages visible on shop signs, I was amazed to see Malayalam-only signs in an Arabic-speaking country
Anyway, this concludes my first day of sightseeing in Manama. Watch my vlog which has more footage of all that I saw today:
After arriving in Bahrain yesterday, I woke up today with one goal in mind — visit ‘home’.
By home I mean, visiting the apartment building I spent much of my years growing up in Bahrain. It’s why I stayed in Awal Hotel, it was very close to everything I wanted to see in Manama (the capital of Bahrain).
As I was walking from Awal Hotel to my old apartment, I realized Bahrain Hotel was still standing
Although abandoned now, Bahrain Hotel was the first proper hotel in Bahrain, having first opened in the 1920s.
Where this empty plot of land sits, used to be an old petrol station… and the pick-up point for my school bus
There is a vlog at the bottom of this post which shows the path I walked, so do watch the video later.
There it still stands — Tawfiq building. My home for much of my childhood.
Where Omega Restaurant (left) stands now used to be a sandwich and tea shop during my time. And the cold store (to the right) is still there.
A ‘cold store’ used to be the local grocery store. The name ‘cold store’ came about because it implies the store had refrigeration, to store soft drinks and frozen foods. Cold stores were where my family did all our grocery shopping before supermarkets took over in the 1990s.
Next to Tawfiq building is… or was… Ambassador Hotel. Now turned into flats for bachelors.
This was the apartment building opposite Tawfiq, where my batchmate Terry used to live
I went inside Tawfiq building as I didn’t see any watchman or security guard at the entrance.
This was my apartment — unit 103
There was another family staying there so I didn’t ring the bell. I walked around a bit more (see the video below) and then left. I had always wanted to re-visit Tawfiq building and see my apartment. Although I could not step inside flat 103, I still felt good having seen the door at least.
Next to Tawfiq building is… was Tylos Hotel. It has also shut down 🙁
Amazed to see how openly Malayalam is used on sign boards here
Family Discount Center wasn’t at this spot during my time
We lived near Naim Health Centre — a government hospital we used to frequent for illnesses
Next, I walked to the Central Market area
First, I popped by MegaMart — a supermarket we used to frequent
This shopping center used to house other stores too
But it’s soooo dead inside now!
At least MegaMart had a few customers
MegaMart being owned by Indian business house Choithrams, sources a lot of their inventory from India. From biscuits…
…to butter, clothes, vessels, and more
I was here making a list of the prices for the things I wanted to buy — mostly food and drinks, like Shani
I planned to buy a lot of Kit Kat chocolates from Bahrain because the Gulf Kit Kats are far superior to the ones made in India
Back in the 1990s, a whole frozen chicken cost BD1. 25 years year, BD 1.6 isn’t bad for inflation!
A short walk from MegaMart is Manama’s Central Market
Central Market was open in the 1980s and remains a popular place to buy fresh fruits, vegetables, fish, and meat
Central Market is fairly large and there are different sections for different food types
A lot of fruits and vegetables are from India, but food is sourced from everywhere — Europe, Pakistan, Middle East, Africa, and beyond!
Even some sourced from local farms
Scattered at the edge of every section are tea shops and small eateries
The fish section is another building
Bahrain being an island, seafood is an integral part of the local diet
The meat section is a separate building
Much of the meat (beef and mutton mostly) is imported from countries like India, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, etc.
Yes, right wing Indians… Indian beef (non buffalo) is available in Bahrain and has been the case for decades
Bahrain being an Islamic country, pork isn’t available in government-owned Central Market, but that doesn’t mean pork is banned nationwide.
If people are craving pork, you can find it in ‘Asian supermarkets’ like this one right across Central Market
Such supermarkets source food products from Philippines, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, China, etc. — including frozen pork
Next, I stepped into Ramez supermarket, also near Central Market
They were bigger and better stocked than MegaMart — and cheaper!
I made a list of prices and made my way out
My final stop was at Marina Mall, which used to be called Studio 1 back in the 1990s
I wasn’t allowed to film much inside the stores but man… it was dead inside. Studio 1 is now Splash and I couldn’t believe how much clothes cost in Bahrain! Splash, Max, Lifestyle department stores, Shoe Mart — are all retail brands of Landmark Group — one of the most successful Indian-run businesses in the Middle East. Back in the ’90s, the clothes were all affordable and of good quality. The same feel like premium pricing now, even though the quality and designs were nothing exception. So glad I can buy clothes for much less back in India, even from the big brands!
Anyway, check out the video at the end for more clips from the Central Market area.
This is the main bus depot in central Manama
This is Government Avenue road
Delmon International hotel — another old relic hotel of Manama. In fact, you will find very few new hotels in Manama.
Gold City is a shopping complex filled with jewellery stores
Malabar Gold, one of Kerala’s most successful gold retailers
I went back to my hotel room to recharge my phone and do some work. I would step out again to check out Al Zeinah Plaza and Yateem Centre, but that will be the next post.
I landed in Bangkok on February 4… sick. I was sick when I landed in Phuket on January 29 and I could not enjoy that time with my friends — but I will blog about Phuket later. I didn’t go out much for the first two days in Bangkok. On February 8 (a Saturday), I was on my way to the Big C opposite CentralWorld when I noticed a concert happening at CentralWorld mall.
And I can’t believe I missed One or Eight! 🙁 I was listening to their latest single “Tokyo Drift” the last few days and I could have seen them perform it live — for free(!) — had I known about JapanExpo happening! Another act I ended up missing was Sho Kiryuin from Golden Bomber. I kept thinking to myself “where have I heard the name Golden Bomber before?“. Only after returning back to India did I remember their awesome track “Dance My Generation” (funny music video by the way).
It wasn’t the whole group that performed so I don’t know if missing Sho Kiryuin was a big deal or not.
Oh well, I made a note of who all were performing on February 8, the last day of Japan Expo Thailand 2026, and told myself I would try to see more acts. Then I went inside CentralWorld mall.
An idol girl group called Say La were performing on the indoor Taiyo stage
Say La are what in the K-pop world is referred to as a nugu group (meaning: not very popular… yet)
