ironbutt57

I have to agree with monty77...

BahrainLad

Ditto, 15 years and counting and it's my home.....

Ridders

I have lived in Bahrain for about 18 months and as a woman would recommend it. It is a safe place and of course you get hassle from men but just ignore it (most unwanted attention seems to be from westerners in Fiddlers!).

The shopping is ok, about the same prices as the UK, and there are a few designer shops to treat yourself (Gucci, BCBG Max Azaria, Sergio Rossi). There are also the high street shops (Next, Marks and Spencer, BHS, Debenhams). The supermarkets are almost as good as the UK with Jawad supermarket selling Tesco and Waitrose items.

The choice of restaurants is vast with everything from Thai to Japanese to French, and there are lots of bars and clubs, some being better than others. A few of the bars have a 'ladies night' where one night of the week you can drink for free!

There are lots of gyms, beauty salons and clubs. There is the British Club, the Country Club and the Dilmun club. If you like boating there is the Marina Club and the Yacht club, you can play Golf at Riffa golf club, Rugby and other sports at the Rugby club and if you want to relax on the beach you can join the Ritz Carlton.....so you shouldn't get bored on your days off.

BAE146

Monty 77 .......................

..................so all those gentlemen in white thobes, rolling out of the Sherlock Holmes Bar on a Wednesday & Thursday night are either christians or atheists are they?....................well that would explain it !

Ridders

There are no problems with your girlfriend living here.If she gets sponsorship ie.gets a job or your company sponsors her then she can stay in the country indefinately.
I don't work and my partners company doesnt sponsor me as we are not married so i have to renew my tourist visa every 3 months. We usually do this by taking a quick break over in Dubai, Doha, Muscat etc...

sirwa69

Straight and Level

Expats can buy in certain areas. I have bought a house in Al Marsa floating city which is part of the Amwaj development. 3 bedroom with swimming pool and 12 m mooring for the tug for about BD115,000.

There are a lot of Gulf Air pilots buying up there as well.

Hotel Hotel

Speak to the manager of Gulf Air's Falcon Frequent Flyer program who I am sure will tell you what it's like to be a single white female manager in GF. (She is really enjoying herself)

Oh and if you do get the job you might like to take up hashing with the Bahrain Black Hash.

On On

Monty77

BAE146: I prefer not to judge. There are enough kiddy-fiddling Catholic priests around the world to fill hell several times over. True, some Saudis have let themselves down recently by getting getting arse-holed and running around starkers in hotels. A police matter, to me.

S&L: I believe there are now no restrictions on foreign property ownership in most areas. Obviously proximity to military installations and/or royal residences may have restrictions but that would be the same anywhere in the world.

Sirwa69: I was on the edge of following you on the Al Marsa front. What put me off was the time it's going to take to finish the rest of it. It will be the Venice of the Gulf when it's done and will be superb. Won't there be a bit too much construction traffic for the next 5 years? Let's face it, it is close to the airport and traffic is only headed North between now and then.

Overall, I happened here by chance and when I think of the UK weather and the M25, I know where I'd rather be.

To call someone an 'Arab' is to call someone a 'European' or an 'Asian'. A German is as different to a Spaniard as an Australian is to a Mongolian. Lots of people don't get that. If you get the opportunity to live and work here, my advice would be to go for it.

3BSKY

Hi Monty77,

I've sent you a PM, did yo get it ?

hotelhotel

Thanks everybody, really happy with your replies!

Sounds like a good place to be!

Just one more question: How do the costs of living in bahrain compare to the costs of living in the UK?
or,
How much do i need to earn to be a member of those nice clubs, drive a small but very airconditioned car and have a nice one-bedroom appartement and yes, also occasionally visit those lovely reataurants and the occasional bar...

And it would be nice to stash away some money for a rainy day (I know not very likely in the gulf.....)

EuroATC

Hi,

I lived in Bahrain up til last month for the previous 2 years.
A membership at the Ritz Carlton Club which is the nicest on the island will cost you about 650 BD per year for a couple. A place like the Dilmun Club will cost you about 100 BD for 3 months. The Dilmun gets old after a while..it's the same food and the same people day after day after day. As for cars, you are best to buy something you can sell easy. Only 2 cars to consider are the Toyota Corrola and Nissan Sunny. Both can be bought brand new between 5500-6000 BD. Used ones in great condition for about 3500 BD. I sold my 2002 Sunny with 18000kms in mint condition for 3600 BD. Apt.. well not sure but our villa was 700 BD a month semi furnished. I hear nice apts are around 500 BD now. Restaurants, you go to Zoes.. 25 BD min for a couple. You go to the wholesale restaurant and you get away for under 5 BD for a couple. Depends what you like.. my advice, stay away from grill shops in the summer as their chicken isn't so good.. I was sick 2 times.

Any more questions.. feel free to PM me.

Ridders

Hi Hotel Hotel,

Nissan Sunny, Corola..please do not even consider one of those heaps.Lease companies do good deals with decent cars if money is tight.

Also Zoe's restaurant is poor, many better than that.

The prices here can be the same as the UK or if you want to save you can limit the times you go out.

EURO ATC...
Who eats dodgy grilled chicken? Sore tum your own fault i think.

EuroATC

Ridders.. please englighten me.. what kind of car do you drive. Go to any used car dealer in Bahrain and they will all tell you that corollas and sunny's go the quickest. Tell me.. what is decent car???

Please also tell me which restaurants are soo much better than Zoe's?

And you mean to tell me you've never had a shawarma sandwich from a local shop???

Give me a break!

Ridders

Euo ATC,

Reading your past messages you obviously didn't like Bah and left on a bit of a negative note.

Firstly, i drive a European car, a fast german one.

Secondly, i eat out regularly and i think Zoe's restaurant is poor compared to others. The new Blue Elephant is good, especially for Brunch, Waves restaurant in the CP hotel is great for seafood, the new Japanese place next to Zoe's is fantastic Soie in the Sheraton too.

Thirdly, no i havent had a sharma from a grill shop in 'Sharma alley' for precisely the reason you said don't! If i want local food i get it delivered from good places like Paradise or Shoala restaurants.

In Bah you need to get out and about...Hotel Hotel wants to know the great places. As a English woman, the same as Hotel Hotel, i think i will have more of an idea whats she is looking for... Sharma's and crap cars it won't be!

EuroATC

You're right, Bahrain is not a place I want to spend my life. Canada in my opinipon is a much better place to live.. UN has ranked it top 3 for many years. What I said about Bahrain is not negative or positive, just stating facts. Do you have a problem with that? You might think it's a paradise.. and more power to you if so !

I drive an Audi S4 in Canada.. but never would have I gotten an Audi in Bahrain. Let me know once you try and sell your european car in Bahrain. Or better yet, have the AC fixed once you are out of warranty. My comments are purely based on what sells best and holds value best. Japanese cars hold value better than any other car in the middle east. In Europe it's the German cars (i know i've lived in Switzerland).

My wife and I also ate out regularly, almost every night to be exact and we've eaten at just about every restaurant on the island. I am not saying Zoe's is the BEST. I used Zoe's as a comparaison. Too bad you don't like it there, they do have good food and a nice atmosphere for the 30 something crowd. If you like Blue Elephant...well that explains everything.. I guess upscale snobby overpriced restaurants are your thing.. with bad service I might add.

I guess after thinking about it, now that I know you are english I know why you buy expensive cars. I guess if I could not afford a German car in my home country I would do the same if I moved to Bahrain. Truth of the matter, I didn't see the need to spend 10.000 dinars or have payments (I pay cash for my cars) for a car that I can drive to the seef mall and back. There is nowhere to go in Bahrain, why waist money on an expensive car???

Ridders

EuroATC,

I don't think Bah is paradise, far from it ( an island without a decent publice beach!?) but while i am here i want to enjoy myself and if that means driving a shiny car and eating in "upscale snobby overpriced restaurants" (rather than cold, badly prepared food at Zoe's) then we will.

Also, how on earth would you have any idea what car i have in the UK! And i have lived in Switzerland too but it didn't make me a world authority on german cars...

Its all about a standard of life you want to live here, i think that was what Hotel Hotel was asking about.

Right, off to have my caviar and blini's.........

ia1166

Hi ridders,

I take it from your posts that your partner is probably in GF management as none of the pilots i know can afford flash cars or to eat out most nights at the places you seem to. Most of them are struggling with a housing allowance of 300 or 400 beads, having to stump up 100 bead per month per child for schooling.
Being down route for 23 days a month and having to eat out then.
Anyway glad you're enjoying yourself. For the crew, who this forum is really about after all, a cheaper car is better, and maybe eating in jims or crumz, with a twice a month or so blow out in zoes or mezzaluna is the norm. And only to trader vics for xmas.

I know western F/O s who don't even know where zoes is, let alone the place next door. Way above their budget.

Euro atc. couldn't agree with you more old boy! there is nowhere to go in a flash car, and 90% of the roads are poor. If you're crew your car will spend most of the month in the car park.

TAF Oscar

Have to agree with EuroATC this time, very good advice. We did have his 'n' hers German cars, not because they're shiny or flash but because back in Europe we were used to them being totally reliable, very safe and hold their value.

Oops.

Don't underestimate the effect of heat and sandstorms and what it does to your car (and by the way the ultra careless attitude of other drivers here). Also do not underestimate just how lousy the Euro car dealers are at maintaining your pride and joy, nor how inflated their charges. Electrical problem with that fancy onboard computer diagnostic system sir? And the electric windows aren't working? Again? Sorry, we don't have the wiring diagrams here, would have to get them from Dubai at huge expense, and no guarantee we can fix it even then, very complex system y'know. Brake discs need replacing again sir, yes we know that's the fourth set this year, all the sand sir, and we have to import them from Saudi, here's a number you can call to get a mortgage for the repair bill sir.

That's the big advantage of Japanese. Any garage can maintain them at a fraction of main dealer cost, they suffer just as much in the climate but they are relatively simple to fix and less to go wrong, and lots of generic parts. They may not be (mostly) very shiny but neither are they 'crap cars', actually the Corolla in particular is surprisingly fun to drive, it's much more carefree when you're not worried about having a pretty car getting bashed. A/C in Jap cars is far superior to anything I have experienced in German cars, and give me a decent A/C over a badge any day.

We now have two Jap cars. It was painful letting the pretty Deutschemobiles go but now months since having to visit a garage or phone a friend that we'll be late because the battery is dead yet again, and we even have enough cash these days to go to restaurants. But that's another story...

ironbutt57

Kubble-wagen's over here seem to have a much higher casualty rate as far as a/c goes, would have to agree that Jap-cans are the least bothersome route to take when buying a car...or if u do go european, watch out when the warranty expires..be ready to pay...

Ridders

ia116,


" the crew, who this forum is really about after all"

My partner does not work for GF, though he does work in avaition, as i did and i thought that is what Pprune was all about... people who have a vested interest in this area of work,in this part of the world. I didn't realise you had to have a GF crew pass to post messages.

driftdown

Going back to the original post, I have been here for years and find it cheaper than living in the UK.

If the area to live in is not so important flats on the outskirts of Manama can be had for BD300-350 per month, you could be lucky and get that as all inclusive (no utilities or municipality tax).

Cheaper flats are available but the areas are usually pretty busy at weekends and evenings and it can be a nightmare getting home after an evening out of the town.

I would go with the Jap-can approach - BD3000 or so will see you with a reasonably good car a couple of years old. Go to the leasing companies selling off their old stock, much better in my opinion.

British Club is not bad value for money. Don't know what the single rate is I pay BD170/six months for family membership and that includes 2 adults for the gym. They also have reciprocal arrangements with the Yacht Club and Dilmun Club so that gives a bit of choice.

Eating out is a matter of choice, you will soon get to know what is good bad or indifferent. I like Krumz for the relaxed bistro approach, don't do much posh stuff. Plenty of places to enjoy a scoop or three, and taxi's are cheap so no need to drive and face the wrath of the traffic police.

For a bit of fun with your running give the Bahrain Black Hash a go

Its a great place to live