It sucked - Bahrain that is

I feel like enough time has passed since my last visit to Bahrain to write a fair description of what I thought of the country. The island has a way of mesmerising you while you're there and tempting you with its easiness and comfort. Add to that the emotional roller-coaster you go through when talking to family and long-lost friends and you may think that it's the best place in the world.

However, a couple of months later and having been to more than a couple of exciting new places down under, I feel like I'm able to see more clearly where Bahrain sits in my head. Basically, the place sucks.

Starting with the roads and traffic, the planning and condition of the roads are disasterous, and whether this is the reason why everyone drives like a maniac is yet to be investigated. Why two or three cars pass a red light every time one comes on is beyond me! This apparently happens so often that the cars at the front on the other side of the road who have the green light, stay put for longer to ensure that no one smashes into them. This in turn leads to all the cars behind the first car that has a green light to get frustrated and start going nuts with beeping and swearing. Watching people on the road in that country is really enough for any visitor to understand that entire underlying psych of the Bahrain society.

Did I forget to mention that after 30 minutes of constant rain, every road in the country was pretty much flooded?

When walking around malls (where else would you walk?), I couldn't help but notice that the majority of people strolling around were either over-weight or disturbingly under-weight. Whenever I spoke to someone about going to the gym or keeping fit, it wasn't the fitness that they seemed interested in. It was either about being thinner or bulking up (when it came to this, people freely discussed HGH, a growth hormone that is legal in Bahrain and illegal anywhere else). Anyway, the reason why people did what they did (i.e. slave away on a running machine, or pump iron) was to look good and not to feel good. Not once did I hear someone complaining about feeling unfit and unhealthy and wanting to improve their fitness level. I've always been one for feeling good first and then working on the looks, and I really think it doesn't work the other way around.

Now we come to the food, and this is the reason why many Bahrainis abroad love to fly back. The range of options when it comes to food is unlimited. You name it, those fat bastards have got it. Everything from taste and presentation, to service and pricing hits the right spot. Not once during my trip was I disappointed with the food. Except, I couldn't find a single place (apart from the traditional Gahwas in the Souq) that served traditional Bahraini food. But there was something suspicious about all the food in Bahrain, and it relates to the quality of the meats. I've been buying free-range meats and eggs for a while now, and maybe this explains why I felt the meats in Bahrain (particularly the chicken) felt 'empty' and 'rubbery'. Most chicken breasts have some level of fat in them and if you cook one yourself you'll find that you could pick out the meat in strands. But the chicken I had in Bahrain (apart from traditional roasts) felt like a 'block' that you couldn't really disintegrate and I don't understand why. Overall, I was very suspicious about the quality of underlying ingredients in meals I had at restaurants. And why on earth did I get hungry so soon after a massive meal?

Had my family and friends not been there, and had I not been invited to a lovely wedding by a lovely friend, I really wouldn't have bothered. Go to Turkey instead. I hear it's awesome fun.

I've been like fully sick busy..

Yo Broz,

Jus wanted to let youse know that I've been full-on busy. Like yea mate, fully sick ey. I've been travellin' and shit, in a suit and all that ya know. Who woulda thought ey?

But I gotta say broz, gettin' on and off planes all week long is pain in the ass bro. Pack and unpack. My gym routine has hit the skitz too. I'm not like gettin' fully sick pumps like I used to. I lost 2 kilos since I been workin' on dis project. 2 fuckin' kilos bro. You knw how much guns is dat?

But yea, I been missin' writtin' ey. Youse no longer droppin' me no lines or shit. You think youse too good for me ey? Screw youse man. Can't see any good shit out dere.

Anywayz broz (and sistaz). Just wanted to say I miss youse all ey. Clubbin' is fuckin' awesome when youse are not in the same city for more than a week ey.

Alright broz. Jus wanted to send a shout to youse all. I'm alive and kickin'.

Getting Older - Fight or Quit?

"What a disgrace it is for a man to grow old without ever seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable" - Socrates

There are things in life that we come to understand that we have missed out on when we realise that we are getting older. At the first point of realisation of that fact, we reach the fork in the road. At that intersection, one gets to decide between:

I must do something about it. I can't let my life go by and miss out on this.

or

It's too late. I'll never get to do it. I'll never get there. I need to move on and accept it.

The first option is the warrior option. You fight it out and refuse to accept things the way they are. While you may realise you are getting older and some things get harder to accomplish, you refuse to let it get to you. The extreme side of this is obvisouly a mid-life crisis. Panic and fear takes over and you realise that you really haven't done much in your life. So you go out, get your sports car, go on that cruise, or travel around the world.

The second option is the option for quitters (they think they're realists). You stick to what you know, probably become good at it, but also starting losing that glitter of brightness you used to have when you had ambitions. Cynicism creeps in, and all of a sudden everyone is calling you a grouch. Other things creep in at this point too, things like keeping fit. You start realising that there is no point in working out because you're too old to get fit, and besides, you're married.

For now, I choose option 1 to cover more than one aspect of my life. I always thought about the point of Socrates' quote mentioned at the top of this post. It is definitely a shame if one grows old without knowing the limits, strengths, and beauty of their body. So the first aspect is settled. I must get fit and healthy again. I must reach the peak that I reached in May 2007 again. I want to be able to see my abs again. That's the goal.

The second aspect of this is (ta da) work. I am growing too impatient for my own good and this must stop. While finding a source of inspiration is extremely difficult in the circumstances that I'm in, I must work on my self-motivating skills. There is no point in giving up and being satisfied with status quo when it comes to work. At least not five years into my professional career. Life is all about ups and downs. I accept that. But the downs must be managed, and they must be managed well.

While focusing on the two things mentioned above, I of course forget about everyone and everything else. That in itself needs fixing. Maybe in another post.

Ending the year - with a bang?

Maybe in a parallel universe, I would have listened to the voice inside me and declared 2008 a difficult and miserable year for me. But this is not another dimension and I am who I am. This year was tough, and I survived (quite literally on one occasion). Did I learn anything? Yes. I did. I learnt a lot about myself. At what cost? White hair. Lots of it. So much white hair that my good friend and workmate exclaimed, "Odd, you didn't look like this at the beginning of the year!". No I didn't. Thanks for letting me know.

There are seven days to go and I must not let myself end the year on an angry note. I am angry and frustrated for two main reasons.

Reason 1:

2 months ago

Odd: "Boss, our approach to this project is complex. It is too much for the client to comprehend this plan and they specifically said they wanted a 'one-page' plan."

Boss: "Odd, they want these documents. They want all eight plans. We are just giving them what they want."

Yesterday

Client: "Look, I thank you for your work on the plans. But they are too grand for us. Too complex. We were really after a one or two-point plan. This is a bit too much for us."

Obviously I am furious. Annoyed. Pissed off. I'm pretty passive but when I know I'm on the right track, I get infuriated when a good idea is completely disregarded by someone who seems to grapple with the concept of efficiency. Why didn't he listen in the first place? Was it so hard to consider simplifying things in the first instance?

Reason 2:
I bumped into my ex a few days ago. Needless to say, I wasn't happy about seeing her around. In hindsight, the whole thing was a big waste of my time and I shouldn't have let it drag for as long as it did. If you don't love someone, you really shouldn't be with them. Why I stayed for so long is beyond even me. Okay, so it was convenient to have an introverted and boring partner while my head was deep down in accounting standards and examinations. The best option was to end it once I had completed whatever I was doing, which I did. So why am I pissed off?

I was a cold-hearted prick during the conversation and I even ended it with, "I hope I don't see you again... ever".

Then I remembered my very macrscopic friend telling me, "Why Odd? She didn't do anything so bad to let you rip into her like that! You broke up with her once you realised you are too different!". True that. But I do feel that I shouldn't waste a single second on someone who had already wasted almost one year of my life. Am I completely off the mark with my thoughts?

Where to now?
I'm off to a little holiday island for the next 10 days, where I will do whatever it takes to let loose. The same workmate who commented on the whiteness on my head very wisely said, 'Odd, when you get on that plane in a couple of days, forget about all of this!'.

I agree. It is time to let loose. Watch out.

Odd's Near-Death Experience

So what does it feel like to get so close to death? I'm not good with detailed explanations but I'll try my best to share with you how I felt at the time.

We were driving towards a storm in a 4WD, 6 hours away from civilisation. The roads in the land were mostly graded sand. The rain had caused the sand to turn into slippery mud and shallow puddles of water had started appearing. At various points of the trip I had felt that the driver was going too fast for the conditions. When I stepped out of the car wreck, I thought we were driving "slowly, probably around 60km/h". The people driving in the 4WD behind us swore that they were driving at around 70km/h and were "definitely faster."

I'm not a big fan of cameras or photographs. But during this trip, I was unusually snap-happy. I had taken photos of every car, animal, signpost, and human I came across. Continuing in that fashion, 2 minutes before the rear right wheel lost grip on the road, I was taking a video of the rough terrain with my work's digital camera. For a place that is hardly touched by humans, someone or something with some sort of power was certainly putting on a show. Surely this place was not as foresaken as I thought when I first stepped on the red sand.

"Oh shit"

I heard the driver as soon as I decided to close my eyes for a quick snooze. The car felt wobbly, and before I knew it, I felt my head bang against something, and sand, lots of sand, flying in through what was a windshield only a few seconds ago.

In hindsight, it all happened very slowly. I remember thinking, "we weren't going so fast so the worse thing that could happen is if the car tips over and lands gently on its side. We'll all be able to climb out of my door."

When I felt sand splatter on me I remember thinking that this was more serious than just a tip to the side. This was it. I was gone. I was going to go. I was definitely dying. Wasn't there something I was meant to say before dying?

Then things went blank for a bit. It was a 'white' blank. The 'white' blank stayed for a microsecond or two. I was expecting someone to greet me on the other side. But there was no one. There's no one on the other side. I remember thinking that as soon as I became aware that I was still alive.

Was I injured? I didn't know. I could move my legs and arms. How did I come out of this without a broken bone?

"Is everyone okay?" I screamed out. Everyone was fine. "Then let's get the fuck out of here!" and I opened the door and stepped outside.

The lady who was driving in the car behind us came running. "Everyone's ok. Don't worry, we're all fine."

Once everyone was out of the car. The lady offered me a bottle of water. I could see that she had a pack of ciggies in her pocket.

"No thanks. I'll just have a ciggie."

Managing Expectations ... Not Really Easy

"Odd, do you have a minute?"

Uh oh. Here we go again. The guy has been on my case for the past few days.

I walk behind the boss and enter a small meeting room. We both take a seat.

"Yes boss?"

"Odd. Don't ever say that any project you work on is easy."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing is easy! Everything is hard, and you try your best to get it done. You see what I'm trying to do?"

"Umm... setting expectations?"

"I am managing expectations. If you tell the head honcho that a job is easy, and we deliver, then we've only met expectations. Because everyone knows that the job is easy! But if you say that the job is challenging, and then you complete it, then you've beaten expectations. Besides, something can go wrong in any job. How will you explain an unintended stuff-up when you've declared to everyone that a job is easy?"

"Hmmm..good point about the stuff-up thing...but the job was actually eas.."

"No it wasn't. It was tough, and we managed to get it done."

"Fine. It was tough. Complex. Difficult. Hard. Fine. Nothing is easy!"

"Good. And Odd, your study lifestyle is outrageous..."

"Boss! There's only two weeks to go before the exam. Let me have my moment. Besides, I already said that I'm taking next year off. No more study! What am I going to do without study?"

"Work!"

"Absolutely NOT! I will enrol in any night-class I can find to avoid being at work for long hours."

"You need to find a balance somewhere."

"I don't think working more is a balance."

To be continued...

A Day in the Life

"Woke up, got out of bed, dragged a comb across my head, found my way downstairs and had a smoke. Somebody spoke and I went into a dream..."

On Friday, I bought a beautiful cookbook by Neda Afrashi called The Persian Kitchen, and once I laid my eyes on the Tahchin recipe, I was determined to cook the rice and chicken 'cake'. So I woke up today feeling good. Stepped outside and realised that 15 degrees celcius in summer was more than I could ask for. Thank you God! That means for the next few days at least, I will not suffer symptoms of the dreadful hayfever.

So anyway. I got into my little car, and drove to what some people call city. I walked around one of the shopping malls and came across a video game store. Is Mirror's Edge out? Yes it is! Woohoo! I get to play a first-person game where you don't have to shoot anything. Great! So I bought it. As I was stepping out, I checked the TV series aisle for my favorite show - Quantum Leap. I had been thinking about watching the entire series for some time now, but could never fit it in. Season 1 was in stock, so I bought a copy!

On my way to the car, I bought a few things you need to make Tahchin. Youghurt, rice, butter, onion, and carrot. Awesome. Everything I needed for the recipe was in place. I impatiently drove home, and started mixing ingredients up. I finished preparing the recipe and even used a kitchen towel to cover the lid of the pot in which the Tahchin was cooking. Talk about being authentic. Yea baby. I'm real.

So while the rice and chicken cake was cooking, I plugged in Mirror's Edge and started playing. Wow - this is so awesome. How cool is this game... wait... uh... I don't feel so good. I feel flushed... I'm sweating, and feeling extremely nauseous. Must be that salad I had for lunch (I always have salad for lunch on Saturdays). Uh. I need to lay down a bit. Ooh I feel much better now. I can play the game again. After three minutes of playing... uh... I don't feel good anymore. Could it be that this game is making me sick!? After a bit of googling - I found out that it is! HOW ANNOYING!

So me being me, I started googling how I can avoid feeling sick. Lo and behold - the medication I use for my hayfever can be used to limit symptoms of nausea! I'm in again, yes baby! Okay, so maybe taking a few pills to play a video game is a bit extreme. But then again - I am extreme.

By that stage, the Tahchin was ready. A quick taste test proved that I am the greatest chef in the world. Shame that no one was there to testify for it. So I plugged in the Quantum Leap DVD and enjoyed the very first episode of the TV show I used to watch on Thursdays on Channel 55. I initially thought it may be the case that everything will appear tacky and lose its flavour. But no. The show looks good, and the acting is great. Above all, it has the coolest storyline and premise ever!

At 10:13PM, I realised that this was the most normal day I've had in a very, very long time.