Bahrain Q’s
Some questions in regards to our move to Bahrain…
- Any good places for yoga lessons in Manama?
- Do you have phone books in English?
- Have you got any camels in Bahrain(since I missed out in Saudi)?
- What are the must see or must visit places in Bahrain?
- Any good beaches or beach clubs, please because I am clueless?
- Any restaurants or cafes that should be avoided?
- Any no go areas?
- What is the average wage for a English teacher in Bahrain?
- What are the average prices for taxi rides in Manama and outside? Took a cab once and got proper ripped off.
- Any good mosques for females to go to (not only for females of course..aah u know what I mean)?
- Have you got any good places where one can learn Arabic? Any tips of private tutors?
- Can an expat such as myself open a company in Bahrain?
- Please advice me on a good driving school (What do I require to take a driving license except for passing the test?).
S as in Saudi 
[…] Bahrain Q’s […]
1. Am not sure about Yoga but it should be there.
2.They do have most things in English, not to worry.
3.They have Camels in Bahrain but am sure in the wild or at the Zoo.
4.Seef Mall is really nice but there is some old historical places too nice.
5.Try the Britsh Club and try Howar Island.
6. Junke food i guess.. avoid cheap places.
7. Stay in Manama better.
8. no Clue but try some private inst. they should pay better.
9. never pay more tha 4 BD to the most far dest. in Manama
10. am not sure about that but i can find out for you cos i like this question.
11. Am sure they have so many, check”Yellow Pages” or try me :p
12. that is possible if you can find a Bahrani partner or Saudi one or any GCC citizen.
13.You need a Bahraini ID which u can get with a valid visa and ur lease letter.
Sincerely
JOe
Thank you so much JOe 🙂 . Really sweet of you. What is Howar Island though?
Hi, welcome to Bahrain.
I have a PhD from University of Cambridge and I live in Bahrain now, It would be good to get a part time work teaching Arabic.
Please email me if you would like to meet.
I live in Juffair and have a car to meet where ever you like.
Email: majathoub@hotmail.com
Regards,
Mohannad
Thanks Mohannad 🙂 ,
I will speak to my son and contact you once he has been in school for some time. I think he will study some Arabic but I don’t think it is much so it would be great with some tutoring for him.
All the best
S
Is it just me or is Mohannad’s desperate perversion oozing out of his post ?
hello!,i’m bahraini from manama…even tho i’m just lil kid(16 year old) but i’ll be glad to help by answering ur questions.
1-ya too many place to go so u don’t have to worry.
2-ya u can find them.., but what the……English? we have even in Japaneses version .
3-camel? lol! rarely i haven’t seen one of those in my life.
4-go to seef mail,dana mail cool for movie.food garden very quit place indeed u will see a big rich house behind the place that will be my anti house i mean very big house
5-Al Bander is a nice place to chill in,and there is new place that is open in Manama i think u gonna love it sadly i don’t have the name but u’ll find it in the guild.
6-no.
7-no.
8-hm…go to a private school not only cuz of the money that u will get but cuz u will get more control in the class in there,but still it should be some brat that will annoying u just ignore him/her or kick him out of class,about the money ya u will get a lot for sure but u may become math for English or something….if u know math u even get more money.
9-1/2BD that should do.
10-….???…^_^v
11-if u work as a teacher u should learn it,i mean they will teach u the other teachers…..
12-lol u can make that dream to become true….but u should have too many money,i suggest u should just ignore it.
13-can’t help u about that sorry very much T^T..i’m just a little kid.
what is Howar?:a island that located the front of Al Bander..is a lovely island indeed.
hope it helps.
1- You’ll find there all quite a few yoga classes around the island, your best bet would be to check out magazines like Bahrain this month, Bahrain Continental and the local newspapers.
2-Yes, you can visit any Batelco branch and they will send you one to your address or if you are lucky might give you one on the spot.
3-Yes, you will find some on the highway, or you can visit Al-Areen Wildlife Preserve
4-Depends on what you are into really, so tell me what you like!
5- You’ve got the brand spanking new Lost Paradise of Dilmun near Al-Areen, Howar Island (but you need to spend the night there) and Al-Dar Island which is also near to Al-Bandar Resort.
6- anything on Exhibition Rd should be avoided, Adliya is where most of the good cafes and restaurants are.
7- Not really, expats are treated well in Bahrain alhamdulillah
8- Not sure to be honest, check out the private schools around the island especially the ones in Isa Town as they are the best known
9- They usually rip off people when it’s late but expect a short trip in Manama around 1.5 to 2 dinars, check out the rates of the taxi companies as well.
10- Ahmed Al-Fateh Islamic Centre in Manama is your best bet
11- There is one good institute in Juffair I think but can’t remeber the name, I’ll check and tell you
12- I’m not sure, most probably you will need a Bahraini citizen to do that for you and then rent it out to you
13- Well, there is only one! which is in Isa Town, there you can find a list of driving teachers based on their living areas, try getting one who lives near you so that he/she can pick you up easily.
Don’t hesitate to ask any more questions
Hiya Yousif,
Thank you so much for your comments. Really nice of you. You really cracked me up with your answer on number 8 😛 . As for no 3 aah shame but I still want to see camels though 🙂 .
all the best
S
Hi S, some of your questions answered, if you have any more, let me know and you can email me too, take care…
1. Hmmmm not sure but I am certain there are a few places, will look that up for you.
2. Yes Batelco publishes phonebooks annually in both Arabic and English.
3. Yes we actually do but they are not left out in the wild, all of them are privately owned by a member of the royal family so sometimes in the mornings in the Budaya area and the highway to Saudi, you will find them wandering around.
4. Okay here in addition to the usual malls (Seef, Dana, Bahrain Mall “Geant”), you can go to the newly opened waterpark in Al Areen near the F1 Circuit if you’ve been there, it’s called “Delmon’s Lost Paradise” as well as hmmmmmm lemme think, can’t remember anything else cuz there is not much to see TBH lol
5. The only public beach on the “island” is Al Jazaer Beach but you can find some resorts with private beaches such as Al-Bander Resort and you can take a trip to Hawar Islands where it has a resort too.
6. Nothing to be avoided in particular, even the local ones serve good food.
7. Not really, but some parts in the southern part of the country are military bases and there will be signs that they are off-limits.
8. Not sure about that.
9. I dunno haven’t taken a cab in a long time they used to be between 500 fils – 1 dinar within Manama. You can call Bahrain Limo cab service where they will come pick you up at where you are and take you to where you wanna go for not such a bad price plus they are metered.
10. Al Fateh Mosque is the grand mosque in Bahrain and have female sections. Actually most mosques have female sections but the good ones I think are Al-Fateh and Abu Bakr Mosques, Al Fateh is in Juffair and Abu Bakr is on Exhibition Road.
11. Hmmmm there are a few institutes that have that kinda courses for expats but not sure which.
12. Yes if you have a Bahraini Commercial Register (CR) owner as a partner and/or sponsor.
13. The only driving school in the country is the official traffic directorate driving school where if you go there you will find instructors listed by area and you can get their contact numbers and ask them whether they can train you or not cuz sometimes they get so busy that they don’t know what the heck they’re doing LOL, the driving school can be contacted on 17642109
yousif, shame on you, I know you’re only 16 but Howar is way south, nothing near Al Bander, the one in front of Al Bander is Al-Dar island which you can also go to, S. Howar is really near Qatar. Just check this map http://www.m-w.com/maps/images/maps/bahrain_map.gif this is to show where hawar is compared to the main island.
cool everyone followed the same numbering order lol i find that lovely,
lucky u Sous.
JOe
Yagoobs Dome and Lib Team, Thank you so much for taking your time and replying to my questions. Seems Howars Island is the place to be for some sun and beach. And as for the taxi service, well God how they try to rip me off. Off course why not but still…They wanted 4 dinars from Seef Mall to my house which I can see from Seef. I left the taxi and the whole crowd started calling me to come back. I ended up going with a guy who charged 2 dinars which was still too much in my opinion. Can’t wait until I start driving 🙂 .
hey guys i have a question. I newly moved to toronto from bahrain for my higher studies and was wondering if there were any good websites which had pictures of the island…just normal images…and preferably updated regularly !!! I’ve googled this and havent really found anything great !!!
I suggest you check you Mahmood’s (Mahmood’s Den – http://mahmood.tv/ ) pictures at Flickr
He has some really nice photos there.
All the best.
Kartik check here too
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=476
I wanna do frinndship with all of you so message me
An interesting blog! Stumbled across here as I was googl-ing for business culture in Bahrain 😀 So thought I may as well stay for the party and answer away 😛
1. I’d suggest the Art of Living, check their website for details (http://artoflivingbahrain.org)
2. Sure we do, and you could get a search-able one online at the Bahrain Yellow Pages (http://www.bahrainyellowpages.com.bh/)
3. When you’re back in Saudi again, you’d be able to find a couple camels in Jeddah, right next to the corp HQ of Saudi Air, and a couple minutes near the Intercontinental. In Bahrain, I’d recommend, driving down to Saar where there’s a camel farm, which is located off the Janabiya highway.
4. The must see or must visit places really depends on your taste, if you enjoy watersports, Al Bander is the place to be, if it’s Shisha hopping – grab a local friend and they’ll take you around, somehow everytime something new opens up in Bahrain – people just flock over, even if it’s just another Starbucks branch. So yes I did go off-post a bit there, but take a ride down to the hidden gardens of Bahrain near the Hamala roundabout.
5. I have been living here for over 20 years and I am still clueless as to why we don’t have ‘real’ beach life, but, to make your visit worthwhile you could dive in to Zallaq Beach (near the F1 Cicruit), the seafront near Coral Beach (dig Marina corniche), there’s a public strip of beach towards the Bahrain Yacht Club and another place to get wet at is under the new Arad bridge in Muharraq, not exactly a beach feeling but a good tide experience 🙂
6. Mostly the dingy ones dotted along the island’s alleys, unless you believe in food poisoning being the best way to a stomach wash.
7. Totally up to your definition of a no-go area, however, take my advice and pack in a can of pepper spray (if you have friends on the base you can buy some) or get your home-made pepper spray and anti-rape alarms which come in the form of pressurized oxygen fitted to an amazingly loud whistle. That and just knee your stalker in the midsection for a dude, haven’t heard of many female attackers, however should you find yourself faced with one, just use the pepper spray 😛
8. On average expect to make between $80K – $120K USD for high school classes at private schools and to teach at government schools is well…. a wonderful experience and great charity too. If any private school is paying you less than $80K they’re having a hearty rip off you 😉
9. Cabbie ride around the island wouldn’t come to more than BD7 in the comfort of a chaffeur-driven vehicle fitted with a beautiful sound system and air conditioning – call SMS Speedy Motors for bookings (which you’ll need to make in advance unless you fancy a 2 hour wait or come up with a convincing story that you need to drive past the airport – the keywords for them to get you a car fast are: airport, passenger, flight, seef, juffair).
10. You could try the Lady’s mosque at Sehla, green mosque before you hit the short highway from Manama to Riffa. There are others, green-lit mosques just impress me.
11. Try your hand at the Berlitz Center, alternatively post a couple ads around hypermarkets in the town and you’ll get a good steady response of local language instructors – filtering through them is easily done with common sense. There are a few who think that teaching a language means an opportunity to get physical intimately – so it’s always great to beware of that dimwit out there.
12. Yes you can! And you don’t need a Bahraini/local partner either. You would still need a minimum of 2 partners though (considering it would be registered as a WLL -With Limited Liability company, pretty much as good as a Private Limited firm in the UK or a LLC Limited Liability Company in the US), neither need to be Bahrainis/locals and you would need approx. 20,000 BD as a commercial deposit in one of the banks. The Bahrain Investor’s Center housed at the Seef Mall will walk you through but if you want the complete picture and ways of getting more out of your investment, feel free to e-mail me (And no I don’t charge for advice, rather, give it away because I’d rather not anyone else go through red tape and complicated legal terminology like I did a while ago)
13. The Traffic Directorate over in Isa Town IS the only driving school around this place, what you’d need is a driving instructor and am happy to reccommend a reliable one, pre-test you’ll need approximately 25 hours of driving with an instructor and a learner’s license before you can hook up with an instructor. A learner’s license is obtained by showing the directorate a valid residency permit and CPR (national photo ID).
Hi
can any one suggest or refer me any driving instructor?his/her mobile number to contact? i called many of them but most of them said DONT HAVE TIME
kinly reply me