Saturday, May 10, 2008

FOREX Conference, Manama, BAHRAIN

22 – 25 APRIL 2008

The roundabout near my hotel, also a taxi stand

I decided a few months earlier to attend this conference for 2 reasons. The first was, I am a newbie when it comes to Foreign Exchange (FOREX) trading. The second reason, I have never been to any Gulf country. This would be my first visit. That was the first time I learned that Manama is the capital of Bahrain. An old friend of the family, Ridzuan is the Head of Maybank Bahrain. I would have somebody I know in Bahrain. It had been a long time since I last met him.



Bahrain's Feature Attraction: Mr. Moustache, he charged BD6 (RM50) for a photo session

I flew into Manama after 7 and a half hour journey from Kuala Lumpur. I spent my flight time reading a trading psychology book or chatting to an Iraqi fellow passenger sitting either knowingly or out of ignorance, at my designated seat. An aisle seat proved to be a better alternative than a window seat since I frequented the rest room regularly. By the time I landed, I had finished the book and learned that my Iraqi neighbor was a professor in Arabic Studies based in Damascus. He could not return to Iraq due to previous political affiliation.

My hotel for 3 nights

Bahrain is a small city state, having the size of Singapore roughly with about 760,000 populations. Half of them are migrant workers from Bangladesh and India providing cheap labour to the more affluent Arabs. It is one of the moderate Arab states where consumption of alcohol and prostitutions are rampant especially amongst the Arab Saudis from across the border. The place is usually full with Saudis over the weekend (Thursday and Friday) who treat Bahrain as their little playground. From my conversations with the locals, they despised the Saudis. They were at times wild and unruly. I experienced first-hand an encounter with a Saudi driver overtaking us from the left side at an exit ramp, scratching his left side against the road railings. He was wild! I was even more surprised to bump into ladies of the night from mostly the Philippines inside the elevator with their Arab clients. Welcome to the new Arab world!



The Main Souk

I checked into my hotel, Gulf Pearl, a 3-star hotel. Hotels are expensive in Bahrain. I simply avoided staying at the expo venue, Crowne Plaza Hotel because it costs about USD300 a night, a huge sum for a night’s sleep. Minutes after checking in, I called Ridzuan and he sent his driver, Abdullah to pick me up.


With Ridzuan, against Bahrain's backdrop & sunset

His office was about 10 minutes from my hotel. After spending sometimes at his office, he took me on a short tour around Bahrain. We drove across the King Fahd Causeway to the mid way between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The causeway was one of the most expensive ever built in the world.

From the causeway trip, we dropped by Ridzuan’s house, a 7-room villa. It was a big beautiful house. I met his beautiful wife, Anita and 2 cute daughters, Sophia and Sara. We had fried rice dinner at his house. It was getting late despite the fact that it was only 8pm. To me, it was already 1am Malaysian time.


Ridzuan & Family at his villa

I spent the next 2 days commuting between my hotel and Crowne Plaza. Ridzuan came to accompany me on most trips. That saved me a lot of taxi fares.



At the conference venue

It was a small turn out for the conference. It started at 10am, stopped by lunch time and continued after 4pm until 7pm. The Arabs closed shops after 1pm and reopened after Asar prayers. I would spend these times holed up in my room to escape the mid day heat. In between the conference schedule I would venture out into Manama’s main souk. It was a big letdown. Most of the shops were manned by Indians. Foreigners made a big part of Bahrain’s population. Even I was mistaken as a Filipino worker.



With Boris Schlossberg of FXCM and Dickson Yap of Forex Journal at the conference

The trip back to Kuala Lumpur was uneventful, except for the good fortune of being up graded to business class due to the full flight. I had a good sleep in my business class seat cum bed.



In Business Class comfort

Bahrain, to me, is not an exciting place to visit. There is not much to see or do. The high cost of stay is prohibitive. The attractions were lacking. I could be wrong. Perhaps, I did not venture out much.