Free Fiscal Tax for Indonesian Worker

TRAVEL - Do you know how to get free fiscal when you get back from holiday in Indonesia?

Just follow this link. The explanation or actually the story is in Indonesian language.

Al-Areen Wildlife Park

Annual Car Registration in Bahrain

LIVING - On last August, I should renew my car registration. Around three of four people told me the different way, how to renew it. For your information, that my car is under 5 year old, because there is possibility for car more than 5 year will have different story.

So, this is the way how to do it. Might be useful for others.

1. Before you go to Trafic department (for location see "Bahrain Driving License"), make sure to renew your insurance and get new insurance certificate (card) and sticker to put your regsitration card at right side your windscreen.
2. Go to traffic departemen, car registration section.
3. Fill the form for your CPR & Car regsitration information.
4. Take queue number and wait
5. Give the form to the officer and pay 20 BDH. You will get registration card with new validity.

It's not that difficult right!!

Three-day Weekend in Bahrain (New Working Day in Bahrain)

WORKING - On september 2006, it will be momentum for Bahrain which the public sector will switch their working day from Saturday-Wednesday to Sunday-Thursday. So start from September 2006, weekend day in Bahrain will be Friday and Saturday.

So this weekend, we will have three-day weekend. There is also news about this in Gulf Daily News "Three-day Weekend"

Where is tree of life in Bahrain?

TRAVEL - Many foreigners in Bahrain are not coming to "Tree of Life" just because they don't know how to get there or maybe they are just lost in the middle of nowhere, since there is no clear indicator the way to this tree.

Today, i am willing to help you by making a simple map how to get there. What do you need to know is the way to AWALI club or Riffa Golf Club.

I hope this will help you

Pictures of Bahrain

TRAVEL - There are many interest place in Bahrain you can visit. Brian McMorrow is very kind by sharing all the pictures around Bahrain. Very nice picture with very nice information for each picture.

Are you curious enough to see Bahrain, just visit Brian McMorrow's Site

Happy traveling around Bahrain

Consulate General of Indonesia in Bahrain on Indonesian Embassy in Bahrain

Note: The Indonesian Embassy Office has moved to new address, please see the following post


WORKING - There are two websites that can give you information about this one. First one is Perkibar Website, you can find there address and their working hours, while the other one is Fahimi website, in his blog you can find the location map of Indonesian Consulate in Bahrain.

It is very important to know this office expecially in emergency time like you have trouble with your employer. You can also renew your passport here or just to inform them that your living and working in Bahrain, so if you need help from them, they are already know about you.

Happy staying in Bahrain.

Movie Theater in Bahrain

TRAVEL - Do you want to watch the blocbuster movies in Bahrain? There are three cinemas you can rely on. Since these three cinemas own by different company, you will find that they are running difference movies.

The three cinemas are SEEF Cineplex, SAAR Cineplex and Dana Cinema.

SEEF Cineplex

You can find this movie theathre at SEEF Mall. There are two place of this cinema in Seef Mall, so you should make sure your movie will be showed at which cinema, but you can buy the ticket at both side

SAAR Cineplex

The location is in Saar, but i just heard that this cinemas also as good as Seef and Dana.

Dana Cinema

The location is in Dana Mall, Sanabis (near Bahrain Mal). They have a very good cinema with different size screens. The ambience inside the theathre or in lobby is like inside Planet Holywood.

Reference link

Here is the link if you want to know more about cinemas in Bahrain

- Dana Cinema
- Cinemas at Click Bahrain
- Bahrain Cinemas

Rachanee Supermarket, Indonesian Food Stuff in Bahrain

LIVING - Rachanee is an asian supermarket in Bahrain that supply many things for asian foods. Rachanee supermarket is in Adliya, near to Al-jazira supermarket.

What is the thing you can find here?

1. Tofu or "Tahu"
2. Tempe
3. Meat bals or "bakso"
4. Sweet soya bean or "kecap manis"
5. Instant noodle "Mie Sedap"
6. "Onde" cake
7. Dji sam Soe, Gudang Garam and Sampoerna cigaretes

Happy shopping

Cooking Gas Review in Bahrain

LIVING - In jakarta, it is very easy for us if we need a cooking gas. Nowadays there are many shops selling this cooking gas with delivery service.

In Bahrain, there are some gas company which is not give you only gas cooking delivery, but also service for fixing the gas. The cylinder from each company usually has the same size but some of them using a diferent regulator.

Here is some review of the gas company in Bahrain

Nader Gas

Too many complaint come to this company. The main problem, it is not easy to call this company. Many of my friend are not satisfied with their service.
The regulator is diferent compare to the one we know in Indonesia.
Just visit Nader Gas Website for more information


Awal Gas

I am a customer of this company. First, it is very easy to call them and within a same day they come back to us to comfirm the fixing and delivery time of the cylinder.Just visit AWAL Gas Website for further information.

Bahrain Gas

I don't have any experienced with this company, but i heard from my friends that they also give you good service.

Indomie Instant Noddle in Bahrain

FOOD – Instant Noodles, one of famous food in Indonesia. Easily you can find it in hypermarket, supermarket or small shop on the side of the road. Even, there is one terminology that there will not be a problem for Indonesian to survive in overseas as long as they can find this food.

Nowadays many shops are serving instant noodles with many variations that we even don’t know it makes this noodle more nutritious or more poisonous for our body. But, more company is coming now for producing this noodle.

For you who want to work and live in Bahrain, you don’t need to worry, because Indomie Instant Noodles is available here with their variants like fried noodle and chicken curry.

This Indomie is not imported from Indonesia, but produced in Saudi Arabia. So, for the taste is little bit different, especially for the noodles.

You can find Indomie at all Midway Supermarket, Geant Hypermarket in Bahrain Mal, Lemarch Hypermarket in Sitra Mal. For 1 packet with 14 noodles, it cost you around 1 BD (1 BD = 2.65 USD)

Transfer Car Ownership in Bahrain

TRANSPORTATION - Transfer ownership of the car is one thing you should do when you want to sell your car. In my experience, it is easy and not takes long time to do it.

This is the documents you should prepare:
1. Copy of your (owner) CPR.
2. Copy or original letter from the Bank
3. Original car registration card.

The place for transferring ownership is Traffic Department. If you don’t know the location of this department, just see my posting about Bahrain Driving License.

Once you on the car registration office, go to the desk next to receptionist. Ask the person there for the form or just inform them what your need is.

Fill the form with the information of you and the buyer, then insurance number, and signature. Then, go to desk 19 or 20 to get the signature and stamp. After that, go back again to desk next to receptionist to get another signature and stamp.

The officer will ask for copy of your CPR and then ask you to get the ticket number for waiting list. Just sit on the chair around the area and wait till your number is being called by the bell and display around the room.

See the desk number on display, once your number is on display. Give all the documents to the officer. At the end, they will ask you to pay at desk No 10 (at that time we should pay for 16 BD). After that, go back again to get the new car registration card with the buyer’s name.

Bahrain Local Newspaper

LIVING - For local English edition newspaper, I have seen only two good newspapers. One is Gulf Daily News and second one is Bahrain Tribune.

Bahrain Tribune is using composition like conventional newspaper with supplement pages. It can be access online at http://www.bahraintribune.com/

Gulf Daily News is using composition like tabloid news. It can be access online at http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/

Tea or Teh in Bahrain

FOOD - What do you like for tea, with milk or without? Having tea in Bahrain is same as having tea in Malaysia, by default the tea is with milk but without "tarik".

“Teh” in Indonesian language or “Tsay” (say) in Arabic language will be served with milk and I you want it without milk, just ask them to make it without milk or you say it in Arabic as “Sulaimani”.

Since most of the tea shop are Indian, some of them can also make “Tea Tarik” but they called “mitr” that stand for 1 meter, maybe this is because for professional they can do this trick where the gap between each glass can be up to more than 1 meter.

Enjoy your tea !

Bahrain Driving License

LIVING - Before you buy a car in Bahrain, make sure you have a Bahrain Driving License. This was my experience in getting Bahrain Driving License for me as Indonesian.

Since, I could transfer my Indonesian Driving License directly without class and driving test, here is the list what you should prepare before coming to Traffic office:

1. Original + Photo copy of your Indonesian Passport
2. Original + Photo copy of your CPR
3. Original + Photo copy of your Indonesian Driving License
4. Two photos (passport size)

Go to traffic department before 2 PM from Saturday to Wednesday. Just follow the map; surely you can get to there and also the location of driving license office.

Map

Office location from car park



Just go to the first two desks, choose one of them and ask politely to the officer how to convert your Indonesian driving license or just get the queue number and wait. The officer will give you the form you should fill up and give it back to them with all the documents.

Once you get their signature on the form, go to eyes test room, and show your form to the receptionist to get the queue number for eyes test and wait in front of eyes test room. It is only take 2 minutes for waiting and the test itself is simple. It shows you a bunch of letter around 5 lines. Close one of your eyes with hand and read it loudly then close your other eye and read it again, then it is done.

Give the form and the eyes test form back to the same person you get the signature. He will check and ask you to the cashier in the same room. Pay the charge around 26.5 BD. You will get the book and receipt. Show your receipt to the officer and wait for around 1 hour.

All the process if you want to wait for the new license is only take around 1.5 to 2 hours.

Used Car in Bahrain

LIVING - Are you looking for a 2nd hand car in Bahrain? There is several ways to get what you looking for. You can search it in newspapers, magazines or web sites.

Newspapers

Just look for classifieds in Bahrain Tribune and Gulf Daily News (GDN). For GDN, it also available online.

Magazines

Highly recommended to buy Dealz 4 Wheelz magazine. This magazine publishes all 2nd hand cars with picture also with the prize.

Websites

First website is Bahrain Cars that shows all used car from around 10 car showrooms in Bahrain. The address is http://www.bahcars.com/en/.
Sometime the database is not up to date for some showroom, but certainly you can get useful information from this website.

Second website is http://advantage.com.bh/ that belongs to Advantage Cars, an subsidiary of National Motor Company that sell Honda and GM Cars.

Public Bus in Bahrain

LIVING - Public transportation seemly is not the priority for govenrment of Bahrain, because when you are staying here you can not rely on public bus to go around. There are two public bus in Bahrain, the first one is what we call CARS and the other one is Public Transportation. Both are handling the same trip.

CARS is having nicer bus compare to the public transportation, their bus is big just like ordinary bus with air conditioned in Singapore but for some trip they just provide you with mini bus. The color of their buses is white with blue and red line, sometime the whole body is covered with ad. They have pre-paid ticket system which can save you around 30% from the normal fare, also they will give you receipt ticket after you paid the fare. They have fix trip for each number.

Public Transportation is only use mini bus. The color of their buses is like desert color or brown sand. They don't have pre-paid system or recipt ticket and also you paid for the fare at the end of your trip not when you get in the bus. The trip is the same with CARS but sometime they don't pass some place, so make sure with driver the place you want to stop before you get in. There is no number for this kind of bus.

Bus number and their trip:

2 - Isa Town to Muharraq via Manama
3 - Manama to Port Mina Salman
5 - Salmania to Budaiya via Manama
7 - Riffa to Manama via Isa Town
9 - No Info
15 - Isa Town to Hamad Town

There are only two fares, 150 fils or 200 fils (1 Dinar=1000 fils) but some trip will cost you only 100 fils.

I thing, only number 2 and 5 that servicing by enough number of bus, while others only servicing by 3 or 4 bus. So, you can imagine how long to get the bus you want for buses beside 2 or 5, sometime it need 30 to 1 hour to get in the bus.

So, prepare yourself for having a car here

Sweet Soya Bean "Kecap Manis" in Bahrain

FOOD - Sweet soya bean or "Kecap Manis" in our language is a must for me. It is like can not live without it. I am still remember the first time i came to Bahrain, I wished at that time that at those Indian restaurant I could find this sweet soya bean to eat along with their food. But, what to do, is not their fault for not having this thing at their shop.

I had ever asked my wife to send this items only to Bahrain since I didn't know whether I can find any sweet soya bean in Bahhrain.

But now, don't you worry. I have found out that you can find this item easily at Midway Supermarket and guess what, the brand is a well known Indonesian brand, Indofood.

So, you can cook the famous Indonesian Fried Rice here in Bahrain.

Indonesian Restaurant in Bahrain

FOOD - What is the most thing that Indonesian people will miss when they are far away from their motherland? The answers is Indonesian Food. Unfortunately if you are not doing well in the kitchen then you should prepare to eat Indian food that you will find it easily here.

There is only one Indonesian Restaurant in Bahrain as i know right now and it is a well known restaurant for most of the Indonesian and even Malaysian. The name of this restaurant is Aliyah Restaurant.

What is on the menu? You can get these food as permanent menu, means you can get it everytime you are going there. While on the weekend there will be one special menu that depend on the chef mood.

Menu:
1. Soto Kikil
2. Soto Ayam
3. Sop Jeroan
4. Sate Kambing
5. Pecel Ayam
6. Gado-gado
7. Nasi Goreng
8. Mie Bakso
9. Tumis Kangkung

The location of Aliyah restaurant is in Gudaibiyah Town near Dasman Centre and the working hours of this resaturant is from 5:00 PM to 1:00 AM

The prize itself is very moderate, but i can not say it "it's cheap" if we compare with Indian food, but it is woth to pay between prize and taste and offcourse to heal your passion of Indonesian food.

Perkibar Bahrain, Perhimpunan Keluarga Besar Masyarakat Indonesia di Bahrain

LIVING - The first thing you should now about living and working in Bahrain is PERKIBAR. What is PERKIBAR? PERKIBAR is one of organization that gather all Indonesian family in Bahrain. PERKIBAR stands for Perhimpunan Keluarga Besar Masyarakat Indonesia.

Right now, PERKIBAR is not a formal organization but it has some activity. One of the activity I like is PERKIBAR gathering, although it doesn't have any fix schedule yet. For some time all Indonesia family is like to gather expecially if there is special ocassion day in Indonesia like Independence Day or any meaning day in Indonesia.We ever gather once to collect a donation from all Indonesian worker here for Earthquake Tragedy in Yogyakarta last June 2006.

Where is the place for gathering? There is one place that PERKIBAR always use for gathering and the location is on the beach near Dolphin Park and Volley Beach Court. It is a very lovely place to gather and sit together on the grass. I must thank to the people who decide for always gather on this spot, because right now from this spot you can see clearly the new 100 feet fountain on the sea, it is also near to Dolphin Park where you can watch Dolphin show or maybe you want to get on camel and horse ride that only 200 meter from this spot.

What is the activity at PERKIBAR Gathering? Most of the time at this gathering we just having conversation among Indonesian family and worker, offcourse in our mother tounge language. Get to know with new or just meet people. But that's not all, you will find also barbeque party here. Main menu of this barbeque is the fishes and sausages while got satay also available sometime. Mostly you will find Indonesian food here and this is very special because you can not find Indonesian food easly in Bahrain (I will talk about this in other edition). In special ocassion there will games and prizes.

If you want to know more about PERKIBAR in Bahrain, just go to their website at http://www.perkibar.org