We made it thru our first night here but just barely. :)
When we checked into the hotel we were informed that there would be no alcohol anywhere in the city. bwaah-bwaaaah :( We had planned on drying out a bit and really hitting the gym while we were here anyways but the path is always easier to follow when it is by your own choice rather than being forced into it I guess.
Much to our dismay the Mexican restaurant we had set our bellies on was closed for the holiday, in fact, all the restaurants were closed, save one small poolside cafe and the traditional Iftar Buffet. We were famished but in an attempt to avoid the painfully over priced Iftar Buffet at the hotel we opted to run up to the mall and grab some Pad Thai. Being our current hotel is on the outside edge of the neighborhood there were no taxis about. We declined to ride in the ridiculously over priced hotel taxi (LandRover) and since it was only about 3-4k we decided to hoof it hoping to grab a taxi on the way. (have I told you lately how hot and humid it is here at night?!)
We found no taxis in route so the journey was just us and our shoes, in jeans (bad decision). Along the way we were shooed off a 400 meter stretch of road because someone's fancy house was located on this small stretch of road (nevermind the fact that the place is surrounded by a 12' tall, 4' thick concrete wall AND we were walking on the other side of a very wide street/parking lot across from it. What kind of threat we really pose?! Ugh.) After a 45 minute walk, which would have been really nice if it wasn't for the weather, we finally made it to City Center Mall.
We stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few essentials, ordered our Pad Thai from the restaurant, grabbed a fresh squeezed juice (admittedly my favorite part of this region, always fresh juice of many varieties available!) and caught a taxi back to the hotel. (yay AC)
After dropping the 3lbs in water weight on the walk up we were really ready to chow down! We arrived 'home' and opened our grub only to discover it was laced with chicken parts. :\ for those of you keeping up, we're still veg-heads and chicken still isn't a vegetable.
It was a tough night to be in a dry country... the rice was good.
As we curled up for bed we were watching "Working Girl" - did you know this movie shows brief nudity?! I didn't - but in a region that goes to such lengths to make sure so much is censored and so many are adhering to such a strick belief system I am surprised that I can discover this myself on my hotel TV. Of course it is nothing more than standard American rated-R nudity scenes but it is bizzarre! I'll never understand the math that makes up this place. I guess I should be thankful on some level that at least something is left whole and intact, pure if you will, and I am but it doesn't make it any less strange.
The good news is that the hotel is nice, nicer than it's sister hotel in IAH. The bed is not great but better than our last stop and we have a lovely view of the pool and ocean.
Thankfully they do serve breakfast (behind curtains) made up of a really good buffet and a decent cappuccino!!
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