Let's get Cookin'

Bahrain is having a "Spring of Culture".  As the rest of the year is a bit of a cultural desert, I have bought tickets to several shows so the family gets its theatrical fix. 

Friday saw us at the outdoor stadium at the Arad Fort for an open-air performance of Cookin' Nanta - a Korean show a bit like an Oriental pantomime, as 3 cooks try to prepare a wedding banquet in record time. Lots of Korean folk music and rhythm, food chopping and martial arts. And actually surprisingly enjoyable.

Ok, so Abu Dhabi had Andrea Bocelli and Coldplay the same weekend, but we tried. Next week's cultural family highlight is The Sound of Music performed using 2 feet high marionettes operated by the Salzburg Marionette Theatre. Ian is beside himself with excitement.........

More bad weather....

We have had more sandstorms, lashing rain and high winds this week. This really wasn't the deal. The wind brought down a date palm just across the road from our house - luckily for our neighbour, she had not parked her car in her usual spot or else it would have been crushed. The chain gang arrived yesterday to clear up the debris. It's still raining..............

Sandstorm alert!

No, it's not a nuclear explosion, it's the latest sandstorm to hit Riyadh this Tuesday, causing havoc there and throughout the region. 

Winds touching 25 knots lashed Bahrain and the country was envelopped in a thick blanket of dust. Today is Friday, and the sky is still not clear.

So when I complain about the dust, you can now see what I mean. Imagine the fall-out from this lot on your bookshelves!

F1 comes early to Bahrain

Dad and Helen have just been here for a week and the visit coincided with Dad's birthday. His 66th, in case you were wondering. 

To mark the occasion we took him to the Bahrain International Circuit, home of the Bahrain Grand Prix. We held our own race ahead of April's F1 race. On the karts. In particularly fetching headgear.

Isabelle and Olivia went first on the kids' track. Isabelle, cautious at first, hunted down the two boys in the karts ahead of her with an icy determination and is now hooked. She has already planned a return visit for her birthday treat in November.

Olivia shot off at breakneck speed without, I fear, having listened to any instructions and totally unaware of where the brake was located. However, it was her inability to multi-task (odd in a girl) which was her downfall and she creamed into the safety barrier on lap 8, having been unable to adjust her helmet, wave for the camera and negotiate a hairpin bend at the same time.

After a minor equipment blip (Helen's head is just too small for an adult helmet) the senior team took to the track. And if Ian EVER tells any of you that he is not competitive - he's lying. It's the whoop of undisguised delight as he skids past you on the inside that gives it away. Needless to say he was the fastest.

And it's all good value for money. Ian and Dad got hours of post-karting entertainment out of analysing and re-analysing the lap times they were given. 

Helen and I got the dinner. So what's new?!