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Get your skates on … it’s time to slip by one of Bahrain’s popular malls for a spot of Shop Bahrain time on the ice, writes Mai Al Khatib-Camille.
The Al Aali Shopping Complex has closed off part of its parking area for the rest of the month and turned it into an outdoor market for families and friends to enjoy, as well as slide away on the region’s largest outdoor ice rink.
The VIVA Winter Wonderland features more than 20 vendors offering an array of eateries and shops housed in little chalet huts to create a cosy community vibe.
A DJ plays the latest hits and visitors will also be able to enjoy an array of live performers on the main stage.
But one of the main attractions of the 30-day extravaganza remains the 500sqm ice rink which gives families and friends a chance to boot up, skate and twirl around to their heart’s content.
Yousef Al Khan, the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority director of tourism marketing and promotions and director of Shop Bahrain, said: “The ice rink was a successful feature staged a couple of years ago and a few of our partners, Al Aali Shopping Complex and VIVA Bahrain, felt it would be fun to have it happening again this year.
“There are around 20 vendors and it has a really nice looking feel with all the wooden chalets - it gives the event a really cool winter feeling.”
The wonderland is open from 4pm to 10pm on weekdays and from 4pm to midnight on weekends. Entry costs BD4 for children and BD5 for adults on weekdays and BD3 for children and BD4 for adults on weekends until February 17.
VIVA Bahrain customers will receive a 500 fils discount.
The organisers of Shop Bahrain, Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority, in cooperation with partners from the public and private sectors such as Tamkeen, VIVA Bahrain, YK Al Moayyed and Gulf Air, invited members of the media and their families to test out the ice 24 hours before it was opened to the public.
One family in particular had a fantastic time skating together. Marketing specialist Amal AlAali watched as her five-year-old twins, Abdulla and Abdulaziz and Ayah, 10, took to the ice like ducks to water. According to the boys, they loved the skating assistants - Rudolph the reindeer and Sammy the seal - who help stabilise movement on the ice, a bit like training wheels on a bike.
Children can even sit on the seal and be pushed around the rink by family members and friends.
Amal said: “I love the VIVA Winter Wonderland and I think families are going to enjoy skating here as well as shopping in the market.”
Rudolph especially came in handy for GulfWeekly’s chief reporter Mai Al Khatib-Camille when she put the ice rink to the test.
She had not skated since high school and while she had rollerbladed in the past this was NOT an Erin Jackson-style Winter Olympic story.
Erin, 25, readers may be aware, is a former inline skater and roller derby athlete that gained a spot on the US Olympic Long Track Speed-skating Team and will be competing at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea.
Her story is remarkable because she was picked for the team just four months after she took to the ice.
Incidentally, Erin is only the third black athlete to make a US Olympic speed-skating team and the first black woman to qualify for a long-track competition.
Hearing her story inspired our Mai to get back on the ice and it was soon clear to onlookers that Olympic glory wasn’t on the horizon.
Above is her story …
Shoppers and visitors can learn more by visiting www.shopbahrain.com or through the account @shopbahrain on social networking channels Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
“After strapping on my skates, I gave my husband, Sam, a hug as I began to feel jittery because I had a feeling I’d fall before getting the hang of it. As I skated up the stairs, an instructor approached and took my hand to help glide me to the centre of the rink.
He advised me to bend my knees, pick up my feet and lean forward. He also noticed I was shaking and it wasn’t from the cold.
Once he left me in the middle, he grabbed my smartphone and spun around me to create a cool video. However, I didn’t realise I was placed over a dip in the ice and I began to wobble back and forth like an inflatable blow-up punching bag.
Fear gripped my heart again. However, I managed to slide over to a more stable surface and relaxed. This is supposed to be fun anyway.
There was only one option. I slowly skated to a reindeer guide which I held onto for dear life. That stability helped me glide around with ease and did make me a more confident skater. By the end of it, I didn’t need it any more.
Skating really is like riding a bike, it’s a skill you don’t forget. You just sometimes need the helping hand of a reindeer to get started.
The best part was skating under the sparkling twinkle lights which gave the illusion of skating outdoors under the stars. It was such a wonderful feeling which is exactly the ambiance that the organisers wanted to reflect.
Skate on …
