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
I left Bengaluru past midnight and after a layover in Abu Dhabi, I am now on an Etihad flight to Bahrain.
Just an hour later, I could see the island of Bahrain in my sight
For those new to my blog — and me — I grew in the island of Bahrain. Me and brothers, we all finished our schooling, before leaving the island in the early 2000s. I hadn’t been back to Bahrain in 23 years. So why now?
My 1999 school batchmates created a WhatsApp group in 2024 and once the group got large enough, discussions began about organizing a reunion celebration to commemorate 25 years since we graduated. I was initially hesitant as after my Mumbai trip to see Coldplay, embarking on an international trip for a week, was going to cost me a lot. But my friend Jassim encouraged me and told me it would be fun, so I just said “fuck it” and swiped my credit card away.
So here I am, landing in Muharraq, where Bahrain International Airport is located.
My father worked on this airport’s expansion back in the 1990s (airport code: BAH)
But even Bahrain airport has also got a brand new terminal
I smiled when I saw the Batelco logo in the aerobridge 🙂 Batelco is Bahrain’s national telecom operator
My friend had gotten my Bahrain visa arranged beforehand, so I just had to walk straight to immigration.
Honestly, there wasn’t anything exciting to see inside the airport. BAH is nice, but nothing special.
Unfortunately, as I passed immigration and passed my bags through security, I ran into trouble for my DJI drone. As my luggage passed through the X-ray machine, the officer asked me if I had a drone, and pulled me into the security room. I was informed drones brought in from outside Bahrain aren’t allowed. So I was told I would have to collect my drone upon leaving.
The security officer wasn’t rude with me or anything. They gave me a form to hand the customs officer when leaving and collect my drone.
This is what the form looks like. So be warned, don’t bring drones to Bahrain.
As for why Bahrain doesn’t allow drones… the official reason is “security”. The real reason is Iran, their proxies in the region, and some smuggling of drugsvia drones. Other countries in the region have accused Iran of the same as per the linked articles.
