LUSH: The Cosmetics Store You've Been Waiting For

From a kilometer and a half away, you’ll be able to catch a whiff of it. From the steps down the escalator, your nose is filled with the aroma that some call the Lush signature scent. Lush opened recently in Bahrain, and I cannot tell you how excited everyone was when they announced that there were only three days left until the opening. And after months of anticipation, it’s finally here, and we’re hoping that they’ll be here to stay.

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Hotel Sofitel Bahrain Zallaq Thalassa Sea & Spa

Bernard Shaw, an Irish playwright, had once said,

“The great advantage of a hotel is that it is a refuge from home life.”

The Sofitel Bahrain Zallaq Hotel is a hotel that has proven to offer that said refuge. I had booked a one night stay with the wife, in one of their famous Luxury Club Millesime rooms. The lobby was an open-air affair, with high walls littered with beautiful lanterns which design was a true French-Arab flair.

The staff were diligent and efficient with their smiled “Bon Jours” all around. Check-in was seamless, and in within 15 minutes, we were in our room; granted, our room was a long walk to the end of the hall of the 2nd floor, but definitely worth it I might add. Read on to know why!

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Breakfast at The Orangery, Tearoom and Pâtisserie

A large enough English-inspired restaurant that is able to be hidden in the shadows. The Orangery, Tearoom and Pâtisserie is a classy, antique pâtisserie with a splash Middle Eastern culture. 

Upon entering the restaurant, we were hastily greeted by a waiter who offered us a table either inside or outside. Inside of the pâtisserie looked sweet, elegant, and quite spacious, but since the weather that morning was breezy and cool; Autumn feels and all, we opt for a table outside in their garden. It was quite a beautiful place. It looked almost like a backyard of a mansion with fountains, trees, and statues. 

After scanning through their breakfast menu, I found that they didn't have much variety of breakfasts. It was mostly pastry–of course, it's a pâtisserie–so if you're looking for meat for breakfast, I'd opt for Fuddruckers or iHOP breakfasts. I ordered a Hazelnut Latte to get me started, and later their Belgian Waffles that was topped with strawberries, icing sugar, and cream and maple syrup on the side

Hazelnut Latte tasted no different than the regular latte's with hazelnut syrup out there. The blend between hazelnut and the coffee, to me, was perfect. The hazelnut wasn't too strong that it overlaps the coffee, nor was it too lacking. It was a pretty good blend that was doable. 

Texture and flavor wise of the waffle is crunchy on the outer layer and not too sweet; the fresh strawberries provided that extra sweetness to it. That large waffle is enough for one person with a small stomach like me, but if you need a little extra, then the Oriental Breakfast or the Orangery Breakfast would be perfect. 

If you're looking for the perfect pastry and fruit-based breakfast then Orangery Pâtisserie is the perfect place for you. Although, I must warn you that they are quite pricey. The Belgian Waffles alone was about BD 6.000, and the Hazelnut Latte was around BD3.000. While the Oriental and Orangery Breakfast went up to BD 13.000, but this breakfast is good enough for two guests.

Three and a half flowers for The Orangery, Tearoom and Pâtisserie, because of its English-inspired classy look, exquisite looking cakes, delicious pastries, but also for its pricey and inadequate menu.

They are located in the vicinity of The Palace Boutique Hotel, Adliya.

      

Check out The Orangery, Tearoom and Pâtisserie social media links to learn more about them!  Website | Facebook | Instagram 

Have a lovely week everyone!

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Book Review: The Randomist by Ali Al Saeed

The Randomist by Ali Al Saeed
Genre: Non-Fiction
Goodreads
Synopsis
The Randomist is a collection of columns, essays and personal writings by Bahrain national best-selling and award-winning author Ali Al Saeed. From everyday life in the tiny Gulf Kingdom of Bahrain as a struggling writer, to the intimate recollections of childhood memories, The Randomist paints a rare portrayal of young modern Arabs trying to find themselves in the world.

Review

When I first picked up this book, I didn't know what I was getting myself into. I have a knack of judging books by their cover – I know that it's ethically wrong to do so, but I somehow find myself doing it anyway. I started this book back in October 2014 and six months later I finally finished it. I am not proud of the time I took to finish this 200-page book, but it happened...

The Randomist is filled with many thought-provoking articles, stories, and Bahrain's history. When I read the first article, and then the next, and the next, I was a little confused. What exactly is the book about? When I read the summary at the back of the book it read:

"The Randomist is Ali Al Saeed....his thoughts scattered, dense and often seemingly incoherent, the author of three critically-acclaimed books believed for many years that no one could possibly know what he is talking about! But surprisingly his non-fiction, essays and columns have not only been praised for their originality but also embraced by many. He often scares himself making sense with his ramblings. Take a look into the mind of a mentally hyperactive dream junkie and see if you can make any sense of it yourself" 

Since the actual summary on Goodreads was nowhere to be found in and on the book, hence my confusion a little bit. I had to read this a couple of times and a few more articles to actually understand what the Randomist was about and when I did my mind was blown.

I stopped treating the Randomist like a regular book that I could finish in a week and began treating it like a book I could turn to for inspiration and motivation. The way Ali puts his thoughts into words is captivating. Some articles are filled with touching and emotional stories of his past, while others were informative and humorous.

The Randomist is a thought-provoking and inspiring book that provides an insight of a writer's mind and tidbits of information about the life he has in Bahrain and all around the world. It was intriguing, captivating, fascinating, and silly.

To those who enjoy reading either inspiring or just random blogs and/or articles, this is the perfect book for you.

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Where Hipsters come a-calling at the Market 338 | Blogmas

Blogmas Day 17

*cue sleigh bells*

After trying to fix my lipstick in the car while one of my best friends was driving like a crazy person, we finally made it to our destination. The place that's about 10 minutes away from where I live – perks of living in a tiny country. The Market 338

The Market 338 is where hipsters, families, and friends – but mostly hipsters – go, to find some good home baked pastries, over priced handmade jewelry, and for some good music. It is something that's been going on every year since...well, since last year I think, so I'm not surprised to find a huge crowd crowding the stalls. 

Last night was something different, since it was Bahrain's National Day – yay for that. It turned into something called Bahrain's Noor Al Ain Festival which means "Bahrain, the light of our eyes" or at least that's what google tells me. It's a four day festival around the kingdom to not only celebrate the National day but to also celebrate the pride and spirit the citizens have for the Kingdom. So the crowds were twice as large as the market was used too. We had to squeeze our way through with our "Sorry" "Excuse me" "Sorry my bag touched your butt" and "Can you move please" to get to the other side of the market. 

I've always liked what Al Riwaq – the organization behind Market 338 – does with the space given to them. I mean look at this. They used a sink as a flower pot!

| Sweater (similar) - H&M | Jeans - Bershka | 

| Boots - Forever 21 |

Despite it being the middle of December, I put my hair up when the crowd of people started to roll in. The body heat was killing me, plus the sweater wasn't helping. I went for something plain, simple, and earth-toned for my outfit that night. And I completely forgot to put on a necklace. I wanted to feel as comfortable as possible since I know I'd be standing and walking around the entire night. 

Okay, we can completely forget what I said over on this post about how I wasn't able to see my favorite local artist play since I had to be elsewhere. It turns out he had a mini concert last night – yaaay. Okay enough with the yaays.

Mo Zowayed and Iba Al Mohsen *dances*

I've spoken about Mo  when I first saw him and his band – or is it his backup band – play at Museland Festival earlier in the year. I was pretty excited to see them play again. They have this positive, mellow, peaceful vibe radiating off them whenever play live – it's all Mo basically but Iba and his little djembe adds a really nice touch to the entire show.

Visit Mo Zowayed's website and SoundCloud to hear some of his music and get updates on his next shows. If you like what you hear, look out and keep those fingers crossed for a CD release soon. 

And here are a couple more photos of the night.

Photo creds: Sarah Barcelona

These guys are called Majaz. They play a mixture of the classic arabic tunes with a slightly modern twist. They're music has it's ups and downs. From the high up beat songs, they're music can easily transform into something soft and dark. They're live presence was great. They brought a little life into the market.,

Have a jolly day everyone!

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Food Review: Oliveto

I know, I know, I'm a day late to my regular Mon-Wed-Fri blogging schedule, and I apologize for those who have been waiting. 

Nonetheless, here it is, and finally, it's something food related!

We went to Oliveto to celebrate an early birthday dinner for one of my elder sisters; the one who recently got married. It was a surprise that we've been planing for a month or so, and I'm happy that it turned out well. Everyone got there before the birthday girl and the girl herself was surprised, at least I hope she was. 

The restaurant

Oliveto is an italian restaurant that was reopened in 2013 after renovating due to a tragic fire 2 years before. I've never heard of Oliveto until a month ago and my time spent there was my first. 

I had made a reservation at 7pm for 13 people, and being the very punctual and paranoid woman that I've grown to become, I arrived 20 minutes early to make sure everything was ready. As I walked in, I had to call out to since the front desk, as well as the entire restaurant, was empty. The hostess led my brother; who was with me, and I to our table of thirteen, and was very kind to us the entire 20-25 minutes of waiting for the rest of the guests to arrive. She even asked if we would like to sit outside for a while since the AC was too cold.

We chose the nonsmoking area which was quite spacious. I like how the furniture isn't consistent but it makes the restaurant look appealing to the eye. Outside of the restaurant was okay. They've got seating areas around the pool or huge puddle in the middle, which makes the outside perfect to dine in when the weather is cool and breezy and not hot and humid. 

When we arrived, the waitress told me that the we couldn't order until 7:30pm because the chefs would arrive at 7pm. Thinking that when I came early, the restaurant had already opened hours ago, but apparently not since the chefs weren't there yet. Conveniently enough, everyone took about an hour to arrive, coming one at a time. 

Also, the hostess told me that shorts aren't  allowed in the restaurant. I can see now Oliveto is the type of restaurant that's fancy enough to have a dress code. I wasn't aware of this. I had to warn my party of thirteen about the no-shorts deal and hoped that none of them dressed in shorts, but my brother had worn shorts at the time, hence the hostess bringing up the no-shorts rule. Thankfully the hostess let it slide since it was our first time and we already made reservations. 

Once everyone arrived, the birthday girl walked in looking surprised and was later showered with random yet thoughtful gifts, it was time to order. 

I didn't know what to order. I remember looking at the menu and thinking that nothing sounds very appealing to me. It had the regular pastas, pizza, risottos, etc., but nothing clicked. Giving up, I chose the first thing that sounded at least 10% more appealing than the rest. An eggplant penne pasta. I don't regularly have eggplant, it was something I would avoid at a buffet, but this time I decided to give it another go. 

Arriving hot and smoky on a plat in front of me, I was pleased with the portion they had given. It wasn't the regular large portions we had at Vanelles or Vapiano, it was enough for a person with a medium sized stomach. 

The pasta wasn't over the top tangy-cheesy-scrumptious-pasta-of-deliciousness. It was okay. It wasn't overly seasoned with spices nor was it overly garnished with cheesy goodness. It was okay with minimum salt and pepper and garnished with a fare amount of parmesan. I had only wished the pasta was creamy instead of soupy. Other than that, it was okay. Would I order it again? Perhaps.

The birthday candles were blown and the night came to an end. We asked our lovely waiter to separate our bill since we didn't want max out one of our credit cards on a meal for thirteen. That was when I saw the frustration on that waiters face when he tried to convince us of having a full bill instead of a separate one. We told him we would pay in pairs instead of individually to make it easier on him, and when the bill arrived, my order was shuffled and the waiters frustration grew heavier. I could sense that he didn't want to wait on us any longer so I apologized and thanked him for all he has done and dealt with. 

In conclusion, Olivetos is a pleasant restaurant with interesting decor, doable food and good atmosphere. It was an okay experience. 

Would I go there again? Perhaps in time, just to give it another shot.

- Oliveto Facebook Page

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