HoW dO i SPeLL tHe WoRds

Sharjah Light Festival : Al-Qasba

2012-02-14T09:26:00.000-08:00

in malaysia, when i hear ‘festival of lights’, i think of deepavali. but here in sharjah uae, the ‘light festival’ is an annual event of colorful lights, laser show and music; running for 9 days, in 12 locations across sharjah. it runs from 7pm till midnight, FREE for all.

* sharjah is one of the 7 emirates (states) in UAE (united arab emirates). the other emirates are abu dhabi (capital), dubai, ajman, fujairah, ras al-khaimah and umm al-quwain.

the light show at al-qasba

last saturday we went to qanat al-qasba in sharjah, one of the 12 locations that hold the shows for this light festival.

qanat al-qasba is like the ‘venice of uae’ because of the man-made canal that runs through it, with rows of restaurants and cafe alongside it – dunkin donuts, thai restaurant lemongrass, japanese food sumo, nando’s and many more. you can enjoy your food with the view of the ‘river’, with occasional boats pasing by. a really nice place to hang out.

i’ve written about it here when we went with my in-laws on their visit here.

the show runs every 15 minutes – there’s a countdown on a building after each performance, so people can get ready once the countdown finishes. once the show starts, it runs for 9 minutes – 9 minutes of light play, music and laser show too. it’s like a kaleidoscope of colors which synchronized with the catchy beat that suspiciously sounded more hindustani than arab music!

very entertaining; something to be enjoyed on a lazy weekend, especially while enjoying your favorite meal, or just a cup of hot chocolate on this still-cool winter. the light show was really beautiful and my photographs DID NOT do justice to the wonderful sight and sound!

oh, and the light show is projected to both side of the building along the water canal so no matter where you’re sitting, you’d be enjoying the same show.

my boys loved it very much – khaleef even role-played that the lasers were lights from alien spaceship trying to catch them. so everytime the laser came up, he and kahfi would scream and duck behind their chair!

* * *

the seating area to enjoy the show

there are 12 locations that feature this light festival all around sharjah but in al-qasba, you get TWO shows – one inside facing the canal, (with the cafes and restaurant) and one at the outer part of the building facing the road. there’s even a stadium-like seating space for people to sit and enjoy the show like in a concert.

it’s great that when the show on the inside is over, the show on the outside starts. and that’s how it is over and over. so if you’re just walking around the al-qasba area, you can catch both shows at the same venue.

really beautiful play of lights and sounds!

the other 10 locations are al hisn fort, palm oasis front, cultural square, al majaz waterfront, al majaz mosque, the courthouse, the central souq, sharjah consultative council, kuwait square and sharjah international airport.

the one that we saw

* * *

we decided to have dinner at our favorite japanese restaurant sumo. luckily for us, sumo seemed to be the ‘less popular choice’, so it’s not as packed as nando’s and lemongrass. and when a restaurant is NOT packed, we can take our time, eat slowly, sit back and enjoy the show when it’s on.

like i mentioned, the light festival show runs every 15 minutes, for a duration of 9 minutes – so if the place is packed, and people are lining up to get seats, it’s difficult to lepak lama-lama once you’ve finished eating. also, you cannot eat slowly as you’re just being selfish hogging up the seats.

so again – we’re glad sumo was not that popular here! we just sat and sat until the show ends around midnight! it was so nice to sit around with the light show right in front of us.

nampak tak my nokia on the tall glass in front of him? haha

it was very dark, because, let’s face it – only in darkness we can truly enjoy a ‘light festival’, right? terang benderang kalu mane nak nampak kan!

but specky mr. khairul couldn’t fully enjoy his food in the dark, so i had to use my nokia’s ultra strong ‘torchlight’ to literally ‘light up’ the moment! hihi.

hmm honey where’s your BB? hihi nama je blackberry torch, tapi my 100dhs nokia jugak la yang berjasa malam tu! hihi. (mr. khairul wanted me to use his old samsung omnia, but no thanks – i’d rather use a really basic phone!)

as usual, i ordered my favorite chicken katsu with miso soup. yum. i’ve written a few reviews on our favorite japanese restaurant. click here for the branch in dubai media city and here for the one in jumeirah.

sharjah light festival will run until this coming friday, 17/2 so hurry-hurry! click here for gulfnews report on the sharjah light festival.

Dubai Pays Tribute to Whitney Houston

2012-02-13T19:31:00.000-08:00

the irreplaceable whitney houston has died at the age of 48.

i absolutely LOVE her songs, especially the classics like ‘saving all my love’, ‘greatest love of all’, ‘i wanna dance with somebody’, ‘where do broken hearts go’, ‘one moment in time’ and of course the definitive hit, ‘i will always love you’. when she sings, it’s effortless, beautiful and awe-inspiring.

i also love her in the chick-flick ‘waiting to exhale’. the soundtrack was excellent too.

dubai did its own style in honoring the legend in pop – through the dancing dubai fountain in front of the world’s tallest building and the world’s largest mall. i’ve written about the fountain in this posting.

a beautiful clip; the fountain ‘danced’ and lights up along with whitney’s perennial hit, ‘i will always love you’. enjoy.

Turkish Ice-Cream : No Egg, No Cream

2012-02-12T21:35:00.000-08:00

who doesn’t like ice-cream?

it’s winter so we don’t indulge ourselves too often with ice-cream. however we were hanging out at qanat al-qasba in sharjah when we came across this distinct turkish ice-cream kiosk, and was very tempted to try.

turkish ice-cream is called ‘dondurma’ which in turkey means ‘freezing’. also known as ‘maras ice-cream’.

turkish ice-cream doesn’t melt as easily as other ice-creams as they contain a thickening agent called 'salep' which is some kind of flour. this gives it a chewy stringy texture mcm melted cheese. it’s even referred to as ‘turkish GUM ice-cream’. even when we take a small scoop, a string of ice-cream will follow until we cut it out with the spoon.

we can see from the picture that the texture of the ice-cream differ from normal ice-cream

so many flavors, but my favorite has always been choc or pistachio!

khaleef absolutely loves strawberry
kahfi likes chocolate and strawberry
mr. khairul will eat any flavor – though he prefer it not be boring or normal like choc, or vanilla. the more unique, the better!

what’s interesting about turkish ice-cream is the way it is ‘kneaded’ or ‘churned’ to create the elasticity texture.

ice-cream is put in containers. the mixture is then churned regularly with long-handled paddles to keep the texture. this dude would press and press and pull and press and pull and press.

other than the fetching turkish traditional uniform (the white t with embroidered vest), the staff at a turkish ice-cream kiosk is also famously known to ‘tease’ their customers with funny acts as entertainment.

sometimes they would serve the ice-cream in a cone ‘stuck’ to the long paddle, and when the customer tries to reach for it, they would turn the paddle around so that the cone is upside down, but would not fall off the stick! this is because of the structure of the ice-cream that is elastic and glue-like!

the impatient customer may get restless with this ‘cheeky’ act, but it surely would amuse others who are watching. click the youtube clip below to see a really funny presentation from the turkish ice-cream vendor, and the bewildered japanese customer. definitely will make you smile. or tensen. hihi.

we didn’t get any of the free-of-charge ‘entertainment’ – probably because i was buying the ice-cream in a cup instead of in a cone. *frust betul!* haha.

turkish ice-cream is said to be natural ice-cream - no eggs, no cream, no coloring. still taste so good, so creamy n so yummy!

i love the finishing touch on my 3-scoop ice-cream – a sprinkle of pounded pistachio on my pistachio-flavored ice-cream. i took the one in the waffle bowl, but unfortunately, the ‘bowls’ had been prepared for quite some time, so it was already quite lemau. not crunchy anymore.

it spoiled the whole experience, but the ice-cream itself was delicious, thank goodness.

Giraffe-Feeding @ Al-Ain Zoo

2012-02-11T07:01:00.001-08:00

one sweet weekend, we went to al-ain zoo in abu dhabi, and feed the giraffes! what an amazing experience to go up-close (but not personal haha) with these magnificent creatures!

i’ve written about al-ain zoo here – one of the best zoos i’ve been to for sure, in terms of cleanliness, beauty and comfort. well, there we were, at al-ain zoo and we noticed an eye-catching giraffe-patches booth with the signage ‘giraffe feeding’. wow! this should be interesting!

refer to your zoo map as you look for this interesting activity, but the booth is hard to miss, with ‘giraffe’ patches all over its outer wall. besides, with them being the tallest living animal on earth, who could miss the awesome giraffes wandering in their enclosures?

we pay 25dhs (it’s about rm21 only) for 4 person, and we’re given 4 sticks of carrot in a cup, which ended up being 6. i think khaleef charmed his way into getting another 2 sticks of carrots with his loud ‘assalamualaikum’ and ‘maassalamah’ hihi.

(moral cerita : bersopan-santun lah anda walaupun anda di mana jua berada. hihi.)

there are a few water pipes right by the entrance, as the do’s and don’ts clearly state that we need to wash our hands before and after feeding the giraffes. other rules include :

don’t pet or startle the giraffes as this could make them aggressive
don’t feed them any other food than the one you get from the kiosk
don’t harass the giraffes with yells of whistles or throw anything at them

…and a few more about rubbish and smoking.

how tall are you standing next to a giraffe?

* * *

it was really a priceless experience. they were really close. we were reminded not to touch its head for any reason, but its head was VERY close as it bowed down to take our ‘offerings’. their fat green tongue waggling about to grab the carrot into its mouth! however, their tongue is not green, actually their tongue is covered with bristle like a brush – which helps them to digest food from thorny plants.

it was exhilarating! giraffes are really huge! their head is as long as a camel or horse but with that adorable antennae-like horns on their head!

do you know that those things on their head are really called ‘horns’, but looked ‘soft’ and covered with tufts of hair. these ‘horns’ are believed to be some sort of a cooling system for the giraffe’s or to protect their head from harm. whatever it’s for, it does give these giraffes a distinct appearance!

maybe they’re the real life version of the mythical one-horned unicorn!

my boys were SUPER EXCITED. enough said. even THAT is an understatement.

kahfi was screaming shrilly with a big amused grin as he felt the touch of the damp tongue on his tiny fingers when the giraffe eats his carrot. khaleef called one of the giraffes ‘melman’. urm, from madagascar? *wink*

when they’re older, i hope they appreciate this chance of seeing a giraffe so close like that! i don’t think they quite realized how incredible this is to see a wild animal LIVE right in front of your face. and not just ANY animal, but the tallest living animal on earth!

kahfi probably thinks it’s just like petting a cat or seeing a shaggy dog pass by!

as i stood there looking at them, i observe their calm face, and soft beady eyes. they’re so big and tall, yet they move gently and gracefully, slowly swinging their long necks as they move.

i run my eyes across their long slender body, admiring the lovely patches of their fur. the patches are really special, unique only to giraffes. really beautiful.

their fur is not long at all – it’s just a very soft covering on their skin. you can’t even call it fur, rather they’re just very short hair – so i imagine running my hands on their skin, it would feel soft and velvety rather than furry like when we touch a cat.

i looked at their very slim feet and clean hooves. imagine seeing them run! but right now, standing tall and majestic in front of me was enough to cause awe and amazement. mendongak tengok!

suddenly i was imagining tall dinosaurs…

let’s learn a thing or two about giraffes!

* * *

i won’t bore you with too many pictures of the animals we see – except for these two awesome creatures – the white tigers, and the cheetah.

the white tigers are the main attraction at al-ain zoo, and many come for a visit just to see these rare mammals in action. interestingly, white tigers ONLY exist in captivity, that means ONLY in zoos, wildlife park or preservation centers.

the white tiger is so beautiful, like a character in the magical land of narnia! it’s just a wonder to see!

mind you, these white tigers ARE NOT found in the wild. ONLY in captivity, under human care.

so then i was thinking : the normal orange-with-black-stripes tigers are now considered endangered because illegal poaching still continues and their habitat disturbed by human activities. well, what if a hundred years from now – our great-great-great grandkids will know the WHITE tiger as the original tigers because they see them often at the zoo (since white tigers ONLY live in zoos far from the harm of hunters), while the orange ones have become extinct – they became the rare one seen only in museums, old documentaries and history books!

long live the tigers!

* * *

…and then there’s the cheetah!

i love these shots because the cheetah was SO CLOSE to the boys – right smack in their face! without the glass, kazim would’ve mounted the cheetah and ran off somewhere hihi. or, instinct would suggest, the cheetah would gobble up the visitors for his meal…

but yeah – it was an exciting experience seeing a cheetah that close – even though it’s through a glass. observing them move that close just got me to one conclusion – they’re nothing but a big cat. with dots. and killer instinct!

amazing closeness. i SO wanna hug one! thank you for hanging around on that table long enough for me to take this shot. hihi

* * *

we took this chance to visit al-ain zoo because the weather is still cool and cozy.

you might notice my boys’ change of clothes. they first wore long-sleeved t’s because of the cool morning, but eventually got extremely sweaty as the day progressed, and after much running and jumping around excitedly at the zoo. so they changed to short-sleeved after that!

al-ain zoo is definitely one of the cleanest zoos i’ve been to and i’ve been to our national zoo, melaka zoo, taiping zoo, spore zoo and the ballarat wildlife park in aussie – al-ain is one of the top ones in terms of cleanliness of the animals’ enclosures (tak busuk!), beauty and comfort.

there are ample sitting area, drinking fountain and food kiosk
the walkway is very spacious
and most importantly, the toilets are clean! (bab ni singapore pun menang jugak!)
there are also zookeepers and guards everywhere we look to assist us, and ensuring the safety of visitors
and there’s also a mosque inside the zoo (not just a surau!), and azan will berkumandang sepelusuk zoo bila masuk waktu.

the boys love looking at animals, and i enjoy al-ain zoo. this is definitely not the last time we gonna visit.

Best Fish Mandi Rice @ Al-Yahar, Abu Dhabi

2012-02-09T11:09:00.000-08:00

i’m a mandi-addict. a big fan. but i’ve never liked mandi rice with fish because i don’t think they go well together. turns out that i just haven’t found the BEST fish that can go with mandi rice!

on our recent trip to abu dhabi, we had lunch at ‘al-yahar modern restaurant’ in abu dhabi, on the recommendation of a friend. we asked where is the best place to get mandi rice in abu dhabi and he guided us here.

it’s located near al-jahili fort – you’ll meet a roundabout, turning into a park, and then be on a lookout for al-yahar modern restaurant. i apologize but that’s as far as i can remember! if you ask the locals, they would probably be able to guide you there. just remember al-jahili fort as your landmark.

it’s a long 2-storey building, with blue signage – but coming from the fort you might see the back-door of this restaurant first. be on the lookout because at the back there is a signage too. when you see the back-door, just drive slowly on and you’ll find ample parking space at both side of the road.

the seating area for men

as customary of most arab and indian restaurants in dubai and abu dhabi, there would be separate eating area – for the men, and for women or family. i really appreciate this custom as it would be more comfortable for us without having to berasak-asak with the dudes!

for family area, we need to go up the stairs, to another spacious seating area and a few closed space with carpets for those who prefer eating sitting cross-legged on the floor.

the carpet had a distinct unpleasant smell that’s not too bad, but can be distracting as you wonder how long since they last clean the carpet…

the tents at my favorite mandi restaurant in dubai, al-tawasol still has the best, clean and most comfy ‘tents’, but this one at al-yahar tries to instill that ‘arab tent’ feel by putting up this stripey cloth on its ceiling. the stripey-patterned cloth is so typical of any arab restaurants around the country.

* * *

we ordered our usual favorites – chicken and lamb mandi rice. however, with strong recommendation from our informer-friend, we ordered the fish too. fish for mandi rice is usually grilled, but sometimes just fried. this one is grilled, and looked mighty tasty when the order came. and as you can see, the size of the fish is pretty large!

the chicken for the mandi rice was fine – plainly delicious like any chicken mandi rice would taste like. no disappointment there, yet no wow-factor either. janji kenyang!

meanwhile, mr. khairul as a lamb-mandi-fan reported that the lamb meat was not juicy, not as fresh as it should and was just a mediocre attempt.

mr. khairul’s appetite was saved by this delicious dish of grilled fish. the portion is huge, and looked so tantalizing with its juiciness and steam still coming out from its freshly grilled fish flesh. upon tasting the fish, we both concluded that this is THE best grilled fish ever, surpassing the famous ‘aden’ in sharjah, and even in ‘chalet’ jumeirah. (click on the link to read my reviews on both restaurant.)

it’s all in the marinade – it’s salted to perfection with a hint of some sort of spicy herb or powder that went really well with the taste of the fish. delicious! i don’t do this often (sebab aku mmg tak minat dan tak reti meratah lauk) but i actually ate the fish on its own – that’s how tasty and fresh it was!

as always, a dish of mandi rice is accompanied by this yummy condiment made of blended tomatoes and chillies. i’ve tried many, MANY mandi rice and this is by far the most spiciest of their ‘sambal’. usually it’s just slightly spicy with a lot of tomato taste. but al-yahar’s is really pedas!

also a familiar partner is a plate of veggie – leafy ulam, cut-up tomatoes and cucumber, plus sliced lemon to taste. fresh and in acceptable portion.

overall, it was a delicious lunch at al-yahar modern restaurant in abu dhabi, and surprisingly cheap too. the taste of the grilled fish is certainly memorable – too bad it’s too far away for us to eat it on regular basis! how far? 2 hours away! sometime soon, yummy grill fish!

War Horse, A Separation, Carnage & Dragon Tattoo

2012-02-07T08:55:00.000-08:00

watched four great movies this past week. three of them are nominees for the upcoming academy awards; ‘war horse’ for best movie award, ‘the girl with the dragon tattoo’ for a couple of awards including best actress, and ‘a separation’ for best foreign film award.

the movie ‘carnage’ is NOT a nominee, but the powerful cast of four, are all academy award-nominees and winners.

* * *

this movie left me with such a good feeling, you have to watch it. it is one of the contenders for best movie award for the oscar, and when you know that stephen spielberg is behind this movie, the more reason you have to watch it. it reminds me of the book ‘black beauty’ by anna sewell, also a story about the ups and downs in the adventurous life of a horse.

this movie follows the life of a young man and his horse whom he painstakingly trained to work in his family’s farm. the horse named ‘joey’ was eventually sold off to be a horse for a high-ranking soldier who vowed to take care of the horse. and so began joey’s life as a ‘war horse’ – from working at a farm, to being strapped as a war horse, to being captured by the enemy, taken away by a couple of brothers, then adopted by a sweet village girl – the adventure seemed endless. and just when you think this is IT, the end will lead you to cheer and cry at the same time.

will joey be reunited with his original owner? well, forget that – watch out for the scene where joey is stuck in the barb wire in the middle of a war-zone. absolutely loved it!

like dolphins, i feel that horses are one magnificently beautiful animal. they’re mighty strong with pure muscle, but with so much grace in their movement. even if you’re not a fan of horses, the multiple storyline (which are all interesting) will keep you glued to know where joey will end up in.

the pace might be slow for some people (like mr. khairul!) but i promise you it will be a dramatic ending; so touching with happy and sadness all in one. a definite must-see.

* * *

‘a separation’ creates history as the first foreign film to ever be nominated for best screenplay at the oscar. it is also the nominee and a favorite to win the best foreign film award at the oscar. this iranian movie had already won numerous awards internationally, so it was hard to ignore the temptation to watch it to see what’s all the fuss about.

the synopsis is simple enough – wife wants to leave the country and take their only daughter, but husband wants to stay because he has a father suffering alzheimer. result – they decided to separate. at first i thought this was just another regular drama about conflicts in a family – divorce, custody battle, courtroom scenes – oh, boy was i wrong.

the movie is addictive. from the very first scene, the words, acting, camera-work and plot pace already got me glued to know what happens next. when the wife left the house, the husband hired a religious woman to take care of the household chores which includes taking care of his ill father – but on one fateful day, something happened that started a domino effect that will change everyone’s life…

this movie is NOT just about the separation but so much deeper than that. issue of religious practice is obvious; one is depicted to be modern, out-spoken, taking charge, while the other is seen to be demure, soft, living life according to the do’s and don’ts of Islam. and in the middle, the daughter, trying to make sense of things; weighing between the good, the bad, and loyalty to her father.

all the actors were fantastic in their role – the words spoken, the expressions and emotions. excellent. especially impressive was the character of the daughter, ‘termeh’ was played by the director’s own daughter! and she did really well. a highly recommended movie, if only to immerse yourself in the hiruk-pikuk justice system of iran.

* * *

what can i say? there are simply only FOUR reasons to watch this comedy movie : jodie foster as an uptight mom, christoph waltz as the annoying workaholic hp-dependent husband, kate winslet as the sensibly patient wife (or so she was at the beginning), and john c. reilly as the peace-keeper turned obnoxious husband – all award-winning actors.

yeap, this movie is JUST about these four characters rambling on and on and on and on in one location. two parents decided to meet up after one of the couples’ son beat the other couple’s son. and they talk. and talk and talk and talk and talk. with a few awkward moments. many funny lines. and a lot of wit.

this movie is based on a play, which explains the one-set location, with just 4 characters. i can imagine this work being staged successfully.

the word ‘carnage’ itself really means slaughtering of a bunch of people like in a battle, or a massacre – in the case of this movie, when the parents meet, they started off really prim, polite and proper – but by the end of the movie, their whole sense of propriety is ‘slaughtered’! no more politeness, no more small talk, no more jaga hati – everyone says what’s on their mind, couples argue publicly, no shame and no inhibitions!

i consider this comedy as a ‘holiday’ for kate winslet, jodie foster and christoph waltz who are all known as character actors for powerful films. so this very light comedy gives them a chance to just relax, and make fun of themselves. give it a try.

* * *

apart from the 18sx scenes, this is a pretty good movie. hey, i’m a sucker for romantic steamy scenes (haha) but in this case, i just think that the sex scenes are unnecessary (some unnecessary long), and distracting. disturbing even.

anyway, the storyline is interesting – a prominent journalist is hired to search for a missing woman, who is believed to be murdered. the journalist then hired another journalist (who is the girl with the dragon tattoo) with a knack for hacking computers to help him with the investigation. the investigative journey starts, with a lot of discovery and questions that needed answers as they searched through newspaper reports and old photographs.

the CSI-meets-criminal minds plot is riveting enough, and this very gothic character – the girl with the dragon tattoo played by rooney mara (nominated for best actress) is one to watch. her character is interesting, and what she does and capable of doing will be one of the high points of this movie.

oh, and someone please tell me why someone who is not really that good looking like daniel craig can be so HOT?? hihi.

* * *

i’m watching a norway movie next…

Walk along Marina Walk in Dubai Winter

2012-02-04T13:53:00.000-08:00

dubai marina is a nice hang out.

there’s dubai marina mall. there’s ‘the walk’ JBR with its endless list of cafes and restaurants, pizza places and boutiques, supermarkets too, and medcare just opened – you dine, you drink, you lepak and right opposite, the beach.

the marina walk – the lit-up cafes and restaurants along the marina

and then there’s ‘marina walk’ – which is basically a string of cafes and restaurants set along the man-made marina, with the view of the skyscrapers that mushroomed all around, the expensive yachts docking at the marina, and the occasional tourist boats passing by.

last weekend, we decided to hang out at the marina walk. we walked from our place across the walk JBR – from amwaj to murjan, cross the road, cross the bridge using the pedestrian path-way and arrive to the sights and sounds of dubai metropolitan. and it’s a LONG walk!

did i mention it was a LONG walk?

but walking in the cool dubai weather, under the beautiful moon-lit sky, with the excited shrills of the boys embracing the freedom the night brings, in the arms of my man – it was a wonderful way to spend the evening. the sight of skyscrapers light-up in little dots like the buildings in manhattan, new york just gives it an extra class.

the best thing about our ‘adventure’ on foot is finding out how pedestrian-friendly dubai marina really is – you can really walk along the marina without worrying about traffic or your kids running out into the street – it simply IS a walkway made for walking, all along the marina.

like i mentioned, there are plenty of choices to dine in – from exotic moroccan restaurant to chinese cuisines to your usual nando’s and subway sandwiches. we didn’t want anything too fine-diney, so we opted for nando’s. lagipun dah lama gile tak makan nando’s!

* * *

dining amidst the view of the mushrooming skyscrapers, the calm waters of the marina, with the occasional passing of the beautifully lit-up boats carrying tourists enjoying a belly dancing or shisha.

* * *

had my favorite lemon and herb 1/3 chicken – must be drumstick! with side dishes of fries and coleslaw. i love the coleslaw! but the ayam so kering right? takpe lah, alhamdulillah, rezeki!

* * *

thinking of doing this again real soon, while it’s still cool in dubai. it was really, really cold when we walk that day, coupled with the cool breeze and the chill of the night. how wonderful to dress up in snugly sweaters, wrap shawls and put on winter caps for a stroll. that’s winter in dubai!

…which i hope will last for at least another 2 weeks…

Dubai Global Village : Our 4th Year Here!

2012-02-02T07:41:00.000-08:00

for non-dubaians – dubai global village is the long-awaited annual cultural event in dubai. it opens only during winter, this year from 1st november till 3rd march.

it’s basically this HUGE area with a lot of items sold from all over the world (especially from asian, africa and middle east countries) cuisine from all around and also cultural shows. there’s also a fun-fair with kiddy merry-go-round to death-defying rides!

turkish delight from turkey, colorful silk from india, glorious honey from yemen and leather goods from pakistan – these are just the tip of the iceberg. you want magnets from egypt, tribal mask from uganda or silk pashmina from nepal – you can get it here.

everytime we come here, it just feels like visiting a huge museum of the world, rather than a shopping spot! our favorite country pavillion had to be ‘africa’ for its unique display of items sold, their exotic furnitures and utensils, as well as home decor. really love it.

* * *

this is our fourth year to the dubai global village (can’t say fourth TIME because sometimes within a season, we went like 2-3 times by ourselves, or bringing guests from malaysia – like last year we went twice with abah, and then with mr. khairul’s sister teh).

so since we’ve been here many, many times before, we know what to look for, what we want to buy, where to get it and which country pavillion is a must-go must-see. dubai global village covers a HUGE land area, and if you’re JUST walking and looking around, it may take a while. focus on things you’re really looking for, and the trip will be smooth-sailing, and you’ll go back satisfied that you got what you came for – rather than getting tired tak tentu pasal.

we went to dubai global village to do 5 things :

to look for abaya at egypt pavillion, at the same time get the honey-coated cashew nuts
to buy yemeni honey at yemen pavillion
to buy turkish delight at turkey pavillion
to eat leqaimat (arab dessert) at the beduoin stall at the entrance
to let the boys play/get a kiddy ride at the fun-fair

* * *

kazim LOVES the ‘leqaimat’!

our first stop is at the many beduoin stalls across the dubai global village. here the beduoin ladies sit cross-legged in the comfort of their ‘tent’, armed with hot wok full of oil, ready to fry up some delicious arab dessert called ‘leqaimat’. another stall has a hot pan to make some sort of savoury bread that looks like capati cooked with egg and fish sauce.

i’ve already written about ‘leqaimat’ when we went for lunch at the beautiful emirati restaurant al-fanar.

this yummylicious dessert is called 'leqaimat' – crispy fried dough ball coated in sweet date syrup – sedap sangat! my boys loved it! served hot and fresh with a generous pour of the sweet date syrup, and a sprinkle of sesame seed.

click here to read the rest of my review.

behind me is the beduoin stall selling all these delicious arab snacks, including our favorite – the ‘leqaimat’. the beduoin ladies were fully covered, wearing the ‘batoola’ – the arab mask. i wrote a little about batoola here.

* * *

after we bought most of the things we needed – we made a stop at the fun-fair area. khaleef really rambang mata, and we let him choose which ride he wants to try.

we need to buy tokens at the booth, and with the token we pay for the rides. one token is aed5 which is very expensive – because most rides cost 5 tokens – that’s aed25 already! but for just two cheaper rides (kiddy rides are the cheapest – just 2 or 3 tokens) and the joy in khaleef and kahfi, we close one eye lah! haha. sekali sekala!

we went on the merry-go-round, and khaleef and kahfi went on the little centipede rollercoaster.

* * *

before leaving, a pit stop at turkey pavillion to get the turkish delight. pistachio, chocolate, coconut covered strawberry flavored ones – the works!

* * *

some people might get bored with dubai global village – like, what’s new? it’s the same thing year in year out – but to us, it’s an annual visit to cultured of the middle east especially, and for a few hours, we felt like tourists to their countries.

i think that’s pretty cool. *wink*

(check out my other postings on ‘dubai global village’ from 2008 till now)

Khaleef’s New Angry School Bag

2012-01-30T22:45:00.000-08:00

school has re-opened months ago, but haven’t gotten a new bag for khaleef.

mind you, we’re not the type who want our son to have everything spanking new every year – but the bag he was using was really worn out. i think the bag is not meant for rough school-use, it’s quite small, and not as thick and durable as a school bag should be.

…and then we found this bag.

khaleef was so excited because he had always wanted ANYTHING with angry bird. usually we found stuffed angry birds which does nothing – it’s just stuffed toys. at least this ‘angry bird’ merchandise he can actually USE daily.

i think it’s really cute too because it’s so bright red, with simple design that is not too tacky and has the right amount of side pockets for his water bottle and front zipped portion to keep his bus-tag.

and when the bag is stuffed with khaleef’s school books and his sweaters, it really DOES look like an angry bird! hihi.

* * *

incidentally, this bag-hunting started earlier, with a very choosy khaleef who insisted in telling us what is ‘too girly’ and what is ‘okay for boys’, or else ‘my friends will laugh at me’. tsk tsk! he’s 6! and already succumbing to peer pressure!

what’s the rule he said? purple is a girl’s color! say what? since when? khaleef oii, bapak kau pun ade t-shirt polo kaler pink. shirt kerja pun ade yang color pink, kaler purple soft – and he’s still so hot and MANLY okay! haha.

but at least he’s not giving in to peer pressure in terms of demanding for the latest gadgets like ipad or psp – he just wants his stuff to be 'non-girly’. all must be strictly for boys and men!

a friend of mine quipped that this is just the beginning of a l---o-------n----g line of complaints and demands and preference of all things cool and strictly boys. well we’ll see!

* * *

oh. by the way khaleef, mak found this old shot of you in 2008 during raya at bapak’s kampung – and surprise-surprise – you’re wearing PURPLE – and still looked so macho!

Shawarma Close to Home @ Ibn Battuta Mall

2012-01-29T22:12:00.000-08:00

when we want shawarma, we have to drive about 30 minutes across dubai to the area of bur dubai, deira and karama. that’s where you can get the best shawarma – delicious and cheap!

however, thanks to the info from a fellow malaysian akak ni, i discovered a shawarma closer to home – equally delicious, and relatively cheap! thanks kak su! she said her kids loved the shawarma and usually requested one when she picked them up after school.

this shawarma is in ibn battuta mall, at le bistro. le bistro is right next to geant, so after our weekly grocery shopping we can just head on to get shawarma. it’s not part of the food court, and it’s not really a restaurant. it’s just this long counter selling all sorts of arabic snacks and finger foods. the tables are without chairs – just these tall eating-while-standing type of table you usually see at pizza places.

i ordered the ‘small shawarma’ for 6aed, and mr. khairul took the large one. this is still pretty cheap considering that the ones in bur dubai is aed5. just 1 dirham more to get a shawarma closer to home without facing long driving and bad traffic? definitely a win!

the shawarma is only ready after 12.30 at noon. you have to place your order at the cashier, pay, and then pass the receipt to the staff at the shawarma section. then just wait for your shawarma to be ready.

oh, and try not to drool while you wait in front of the juicy revolving chunk of meat being cooked for your shawarma!

* * *

mr. khairul loved his shawarma, especially the delicious bread used. he wished it could be more spicy (he already asked for a spicy one but it’s still not spicy enough!). what goes into the folded shawarma? there’s chicken bits, pickle and french fries too!

personally i am satisfied with this shawarma – it’s delicious, hot and fresh, with a large portion, even for a ‘small’ shawarma. i wish they would put more of their special yoghurt sauce, because when the portion is huge, some chicken felt dry for lack of sauce. other than that, a nice discovery of a shawarma that is closer to home.

Tower Heist, Moneyball, Point Blank & Drive

2012-01-27T12:38:00.000-08:00

mooooooooooooovviiiiiieess!

retrenched staff got their revenge by robbing their ex-boss in ‘tower heist’. poor team versus rich team in the game of baseball in ‘moneyball’. non-stop action french movie about being on the run in ‘point blank’, and an excruciatingly slow movie disguising as an action movie about a heist gone wrong in ‘drive’.

ready?

* * *

think ‘fun with dick and jane’, and you kinda know what this movie is about. ‘fun with dick and jane’ starring jim carey and tea leoni (who is also in ‘tower heist’) is about normal everyday good guy forced into robbing people because of pressing money situation caused by his former boss. well, that’s what ‘tower heist’ is about too – a group of loyal, well-performing employees were forced into robbing their own boss for embezzling their pension money.

just like the movie poster tagline says – ‘ordinary guys. extraordinary robbery’.

it’s a power-house cast, with the awesomely funny otai eddie murphy, matthew broderick, casey affleck and helming the bunch is funnyman ben stiller whose movies have uniquely diverse storyline. expect a lot of jokes, and good acting. i didn’t know the exact line-up for this movie so i was pleasantly surprised to see oscar nominee gabourey sidibe in this, as the adorable safe-cracking expert.

there’s a commendable amount of action in this movie, a lot of heart too, and balls of laughter. the twist in the end is unpredictable, so that’s a real plus. a really enjoyable movie, recommended to those who miss wise-cracking eddie murphy in a role made for him. enjoy.

* * *

first up, i don’t know baseball, so i wasn’t enjoying the movie as much as i wanted to. let me explain.

the movie is about the manager of a poor baseball team oakland a, brad pitt as real-life billy beane – they don’t have the money to get the best player who are so expensive. but then with the help of rookie peter brand (played brilliantly by jonah hill) they devise a computer-generated analysis to draft the players they need in order to win. this means, they can find out that they don’t necessarily NEED the best player, just a good player in the section that they need to work on.

tak paham? me neither. this is where the movie lost me. i just don’t understand the calculations that they do, and the baseball jargons they use to come up with the calculations. heck, i don’t even know how they win a baseball game to begin with!

so the only thing i can appreciate in this movie is the awesome chemistry between my beloved brad pitt (who is as sexy and handsome as ever in this movie, even though age is catching up and he looks so wrinkly in certain shots – and looking like robert redford too!) and jonah hill – they’re great together.

and of course, nobody will forget the daughter of brad pitt’s character – and the song she sang on guitar. beautiful. even brad pitt exclusively mentioned this on his interview with ellen degeneres.

the concept of this computer-generated analysis led to constant change of players all the time, so there’s no time for viewers to relate to the character of the players. as a result, their win or losses in the movie wasn’t so touching like watching ‘remember the titans’ or ‘coach carter’.

watch only if you’re a fan of baseball. and brad pitt.

* * *

mr. khairul loves looking out for a good foreign-language movies, and he has found a number of gems which became his favorites; like the spanish ‘amores perros’, korean ‘the old boy’, german ‘the wave’, uae’s ‘city of life’ and hindi ‘my name is khan’.

he also found this non-stop action french movie called ‘point blank’. simple storyline, great execution of the action scenes. when i say this is a NON-STOP action movie, it’s not just a line in my review. it really IS non-stop.

at a hospital, a male nurse saved a thief – and now the thief’s bro, and the people who is after the thief kidnapped the male nurse’s pregnant wife and held her hostage, until the male nurse can help the thief escape hospital and the police – who are ALSO chasing after the thief and the male nurse, believing him to be an accomplice to this whole thing.

and so began a heart-stopping chase scenes across streets of paris, running, chasing, trying to find his pregnant wife, plus with a great twist to the story. like i mentioned before – simple storyline, but the chase-scenes and near-escapes will leave you at the edge of your seat, wishing and hoping it will all turn out alright for the male nurse and his pregnant wife.

highly recommended.

the french poster of the movie

* * *

oh, don’t bother reading this. this is a BAD movie! habih citer. for a movie called ‘drive’, this movie is so LEMBAB!

still here? ok lah, read on. i don’t know WHY on earth this movie receives so much praises, and people are even questioning why wasn’t ryan gossling nominated for an oscar for this movie – what? nominated for looking very dazed and uttering every sentence as if he’s just recovered from a hangover? no thanks!

i mean, he’s so cute and all, but not enough. na-ah.

wanna know why this movie is called DRIVE? because that’s the ONLY time this movie actually seems alive, seems interesting – only when there’s some sort of driving involved. mind you, this is NOT an action movie. it’s simply a movie about a heist gone wrong, and then for some reason, a lot of lembabness – the pace is SO SLOW! accept for the driving – get it – hence, the name of the movie. i think the pace was made to be so slow to juxtapose it with the fast driving.

and oh, if you’re gonna watch the trailer i added below here, you’ve actually seen the entire movie. this trailer should have a ‘spoiler alert’ to it. really. if you wanna watch a sexy, handsome, smooth-talker ryan gossling, you’re better off watching the funny ‘crazy stupid love’. he is SO HOT in that!

* * *

still A LOT of movies to cover. now where’s my snack?

Dubai is Cold!

2012-01-25T06:58:00.001-08:00

it was not THIS cold last year. i remember because during winter last year, i didn’t need socks to walk around the house. this year, the winter hit dubai hard, and it’s windy everyday! REALLY WINDY. i look out the window, and see the trees swaying like mad each morning and evening.

when i send khaleef down to his bus daily, we had to stand by the wall – if not, we’d feel the full blow of the winter wind. really cold!

yes, it’s WINTER in dubai, and it’s a really COLD one these days!

too bad i didn’t capture the one with 10 degrees once!

but hey, this is not a complain posting ok. this is just a report hihi.

because, alhamdulilah, windy or too windy – i’m enjoying the cold dubai winter. this is the short time of year where we can go out for a walk in dubai, and feel like we’re somewhere in europe – with our thick jackets, snow caps and pashmina wrapped around our neck. also, by next month, temperature will start to rise again… enjoy the cool weather while we can!

boleh la berangan kejap!

i hear malaysia is enjoying HOT weather, no? i miss you, malaysia!

(our own paper thestar actually wrote about winter in dubai in this 2011 article. click here. however the last line of the article about booking MAS flights to dubai – not happening anymore! what, didn’t you hear? MAS does not fly to dubai anymore…)

the Tale of Rasulullah SAW and Oranges

2012-01-23T01:04:00.001-08:00

one day, a non-muslim woman came to Rasulullah SAW bearing gifts – a few ripe oranges. the oranges were round and beautiful, very tantalizing. at that time, Rasulullah SAW was with his companions. Prophet Muhammad SAW graciously accepted the gift with a smile. then he ate the orange one slice after another. still with a smile on his face.

usually, when Rasulullah SAW ate with his companions, he would definitely offer some to them, but this time, he did not. he did not offer anyone even a single slice. Rasulullah SAW continued eating, every time with a smile, until he finished all the oranges. the other companions were perplexed with Rasulullah SAW’s behaviour.

then the non-muslim woman left, while Rasulullah SAW thanked her for the oranges.

that’s when the companions asked Rasulullah SAW why – with a smile he answered, “do you know that actually the oranges were so sour from the very first slice that i tasted? if you were to eat those oranges with me, i worry that one of you might squint your eyes because it’s too sour, or might be angry at the woman. i worry that she might be offended. that is why i finished all the oranges myself.”

and so it was, the mark of Rasulullah SAW’s high character – he will not look down on anyone’s gift even when the gift was not a good one, and even when it is from a non-muslim.

to emulate our beloved Rasulullah SAW’s character, we should always appreciate other’s gifts even when it’s not to our liking. just say thank you, and accept it with a sincere heart, because every gift is a rezeki from Allah.

got this from a friend’s FB page, shared from imam muda nazrul. it was originally in BM. it’s a very simple story, yet so meaningful, displaying one of many Rasulullah SAW’s great virtues. we should always try to apply Rasulullah SAW’s sunnah and exceptional character to the best of our capabilities.

GONG XI FA CHAI to chinese muslims celebrating chinese new year, and to all my chinese budies whereever you are! aku tak boleh makan limau lebih dari sebijik. confirm batuk!

*image is googled

Real Steel, Dolphin Tale & The Help

2012-01-18T06:36:00.000-08:00

3 more amazing movies, people. thanks for dropping by.

this time i watched ‘real steel’, a touching story about a father and son, and their boxing robot with incredible will power. also the heart-warming friendship between a boy and a dolphin without a tail in ‘dolphin tale’, inspired by a true story. and finally, a moving drama about african-american maids in the 60’s, and the challenges and harships they face each day in their jobs.

* * *

i never thought a robot could stir my emotions like a human character can. i mean, sure – ‘transformer’ was a fantastic movie but those metal guys were already famous before the movie. and even so, the 2nd and 3rd transformer movies were just crap if you ask me. there was no heart in it. now this – ‘real steel’ you have got to see.

the father, an ex-boxing champion. the son was the one he abandoned, and now that his mother had just died, he reluctantly got to take care of the boy. the world is set in the future – where boxing has changed – instead of humans, robots are made to fight in the boxing ring. together, the father and son joined forces to lead their humble robot to victory, in the boxing ring, and into the hearts of the people. their old robot revealed astounding will power, and both of them discovered a strong bond of family.

hugh jackman as the father is as hot and hunky as ever. you can see the transition from a i-don’t-give-a-damn guy to a believable father figure. as a boxer character, you get to see some sexy muscular arms action especially at the end. *pengsan* hihi. the boy who played the son is just so adorable, that you KNOW he’s gonna be as handsome as his on-screen dad when he grows up! hihi. watch out for the dancing scene!

but at the end of the day, the robot named atom steals the show. no spoken words, his eyes just flickering blue lights, his movement clunky and he’s just metal – but he has displayed more hearts and fighting spirit just like any living characters.

his fighting scenes are one of the best scenes – full of angst, hope and struggle – you would feel like watching any other human fight that has rocky I or IV, or watching russel crows’ cinderella man in action – you want atom to win just as much. you cringe when he gets beaten, you get tensed when the clock is ticking, your gut twisted in a knot when he fell down after a strong punch. just like watching a real match with real people.

and when he triumphs, you will cheer even louder. a highly recommended movie. it has heart, it has action. a metal robot with human fighting spirit.

* * *

dolphins are amazing. they’re said to be the 2nd most intelligent creature on earth – after humans. i’ve always been in awe of their charm as they ‘perform’ delightfully in water with balls and hoops; and captured our hearts in turn. ‘dolphin tale’ is the story of one such animal.

inspired by a true story, this movie is about a quiet lonely boy sawyer who first found an injured dolphin stuck in crab net. her tail was badly affected and had to be cut off. she was taken to the ‘clearwater marine hospital’ where she was named ‘winter’, and taken good care off. here on began the endearing relationship between sawyer and winter, as he comforted her back to health, helped her swim despite her disability, and best of all – helped her get a new tail, and a new lease of life.

the real-life dolphin with the prosthetic tail named winter (who also acted as the ‘winter’ in this movie!) still lives happily and continues to receive visitors at clearwater marine aquarium in florida.

the characters in this movie is lovable, especially sawyer. his dreamy eyes really shows how connected he is with winter. dr. clay (the person who runs the maritime hosp) played by one of my fav crooners harry connick jr is also endearing, and i love that they don’t waste the movie on the likely romance between him and sawyer’s single mom, played by the lovely ashley judd who seemed to have gained weight, but looked just as gorgeous in this movie.

watching ‘dolphin tale’ you will laugh, you will cry, you will clap your hands, and you will cheer. a tale of hope, a tale of survival, of a tale of friendship between man and animal, a tale of overcoming adversity and never giving up. a heart-warming family movie, with a positive message, with a feel-good ending. highly recommended.

“i am seeing something that a mother, a teacher dreams of seeing : a turned-on kid. he is so engaged, and it’s not with a game-boy. it’s with something that is alive, and beautiful and real.” ~ sawyer’s mother played by the lovely ashley judd when talking to sawyer’s teacher about him staying off school to help take care of winter.

this music video features clips from the movie ‘dolphin tale’, with the background song ‘safe’ by westlife which is played at the end of the movie. i havent’t really heard westlife in a long time (not a fan) but this song with wonderful lyrics really touched me. rasa nak nangis je!

enjoy!

* * *

nominated for best movie, best actress and even won for best supporting actress – this movie has it all – an interesting storyline, great cast, and an engaging script.

a story about an author in the 1960’s ‘skeeter’ who decided to interview the african-american maids aka ‘the help’, and writes their point of view on their white employers, how they were treated and their trials and challenges against racism and prejudices.

the two main african-american maid characters aibileen and minny played their role fantastically well; aibileen the reserved, quiet maid, while minny is the loud-mouth funny one. together, they helped skeeter write her controversial book, after several mistreatment from their white employers. skeeter is played by the beautiful emma stone, who played her spunky, determined, out-spoken and different from other girls her age who are all ‘happily’ married.

the script is what i enjoyed most – sometimes touching, at times funny and most of the time, will make me think. highly recommended movie, especially if you grow up with a maid in your house, or if you are employing a maid right now taking care of your home, prepare your food and bring up your own kids, while her kids are taken care off by others!

if a writer went and interview the indonesian maids in malaysia, what do you think they have to say about us malaysians as employers?

* * *

been trying to write a review ‘ombak rindu’, that popular malaysian movie among acik-acik and akak-akak. it’s coming. watch this space!

Yemeni Dishes @ Turath al-Mandi, Jumeirah

2012-01-15T17:00:00.000-08:00

people, i am a ‘mandi rice’ addict, and i don’t want a cure. haha.

i know mandi rice is an arab dish originated from yemen, and i can easily get it at my favorite place al-tawasol in deira. however, a new arabian restaurant in town ‘turath al-mandi’ claim to offer other YEMENI dishes as well.

mandi rice? mazby rice? makboos? bukhari? zorbian? other than these ‘rice’ dishes, what other yemeni dishes could there be? we went for a first try.

my yummilicious plate of mandi rice. yumness!

‘turath al-mandi’ is situated on jumeirah beach road, jumeirah 3. it’s right next to the also-newly-opened ‘dixie lee’ chicken fast-food joint. dixie lee’s building is very red and yellow, so you won’t miss it. turath al-mandi is right next door.

parking spaces are available right in front of these restaurants, but on a weekend it’d probably be full, so you either have to park a little further up or down.

* * *

as soon as we walked inside, we knew this is gonna be the ferrari of mandi rice restaurant! the posh lightings, the wall decor, the plush seats and carved windows – it was a really beautiful setting, though a little more posh for the humble mandi rice that we’re used to.

the place was really breath-taking.

ye lah, all this while we’ve enjoyed our mandi rice while sitting down cross-legged on turkish carpets while the kids rolled around in the privacy of the ‘tent’. the plates were just stainless steel platter, and cups were just plastic; so we won’t worry if the kids accidentally drop them.

at turath al-mandi however, it certainly brings the dining experience a little higher than we used to – huge square ceramic plate, heavy silver cutleries, spotless white napkin folded into shapes plus a very fragile-looking tall glass which has absolutely no business being around kids!

i immediately pushed all these fragile items OUT OF THE WAY from kazim!

i immediately told mr. khairul – if you wanna entertain clients, or guests, or really special guests, who are all ADULTS…haha – this is the place. it’s posh, it’s stylish, it’s got that rich yemeni culture in its gorgeous, very expensive-looking interior.

but us, with kids? THREE kids? and one of them is kahfi? na-ah. don’t risk it again, syigim! you got away this time! you got lucky! haha.

since we want to ‘hide’ our kids’ hooligan-ism haha, we picked this rather charming little closed-up space that looks like a half-cut egg. really gorgeous. cantik sangat. the walls inside our ‘egg’ was padded and the place was just comfy.

as you can see from the pictures, there are many other ‘types’ of seating – by the window, or around the walls if you’re a couple – your choice.

AND as you can see from the picture right above, mr. khairul was taking away all the fragile stuff from kazim. itchy itchy hands!

* * *

at first glance, i was kind off disappointed with the selection in the menu, especially considering my first impression on the posh place.

i expected it to be filled with exotic yemeni delicacies that i’ve never even heard off, with delightfully inviting pictures and colorful description – like the menu in the emirati restaurant al-fanar – really comprehensive with pictures and description both in english and arabic.

however, despite the cover of the menu being super-classy and hard-cover plak tu, the inside is just a short list of dishes printed in one a4 paper. talk about anti-climax, huh. gamba pun takde.

no pictures no description. how are we non-arabs or even arabs who are non-yemenis gonna know what those yemeni dishes are? i hope these menus are just prototype before the real one, turath al-mandi!

oh also, the food price here doubles that of al-tawasol. hey, somebody’s got to pay for the ambiance…

* * *

anyway, we started off with ‘fattoush’ (in the menu it’s listed as ‘traditional salad’) – a type of arabic salad made from toasted or fried pieces of pita bread (the crunchy square-shaped brown ones – usually they make use of stale bread – ala, kalau macam salad omputeh bubuh crouton, salad arab bubuh baked-pita bread) combined with diced-up mixed veggies like tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce and capsicum.

sumac (some sort of powder/spice) is usually used to give fattoush its sour taste. i don’t like too much of ‘sumac’, but when it’s done right, this is easily my favorite salad dish ever.

this is a complimentary appetizer which looked and tasted like our roti canai or parotha. mr. khairul said, when he ate at restaurants in yemen, this was also served before the main meal. i googled and found out that there were many types of yemeni bread – but this one is cooked using a tandoor – a big heated clay pot like nan bread.

it’s really delicious – thin and crispy, served with a dipping made from some herbs and olive oil. tapi kalau la ade kari, sedap ni!

ah, my precious plate of delight – the mandi chicken. the moment it arrived on my table, i knew this was going to be delicious, but NOT my favorite. why? i don’t like my mandi rice to be laden with unnecessary cashew nuts and raisins! i know they’re trying to be fancy and all, but spare me the extra taste – i just want the rice!

it was served along with the usual chilli-tomato gravy, plus oddly enough – a bowl of yoghurt.

my verdict : the chicken was delicious – juicy, tender, easily shredded, just like a good mandi chicken should taste like. but the rice, like i said, was not to my liking. it was not just about the cashew nuts and raisins, the beads of rice were not as soft as the ones you’ll get at al-tawasol, and the herb not as tasty as the ones from bait al-mandi.

delicious, but certainly not the best.

of course, mr. khairul the lamb-fan would order the mandi meat. rice – the same – filled with raisins and cashew nuts. the lamb meat was at its usual best – juicy, the flesh falls off easily from the bones and the taste – delicious. considering what we pay for, this was just a normal, good plate of mandi meat. nothing more special than that.

* * *

here’s my eldest boy khaleef at quite an interesting corner of the restaurant – buckets filled with herbs, spices and powder – filled to the brim. from all types, all sorts of colors and texture. a very nice addition to an already beautiful place.

there’s also a jambiya on the counter – jambiya is a traditional yemeni dagger which is shaped like a ‘J’, now used mainly worn for decoration around the waist with a belt, or used in entertainment.

interesting to note that :

the prices of the dishes double the dishes you pay for at al-tawasol. mandi chicken there is just aed21 if i’m not mistaken. here it’s aed45.
of all the mandi rice restaurants i’ve ever been to, this is the by far the ONLY mandi rice restaurant in which i have to pay for the accompanying salad. the rest would give the plate of salad complimentary together with the mandi rice dishes. tsk tsk.
the yemeni bread they gave out before the main meal comes is just so delicious. it’s made FRESH using the tandoor, and i saw it myself (through a glass window looking over the kitchen) when i asked for another one to my table. well done turath al-mandi!
camel burger is sold here. might wanna try that one out next!
there are a few interesting yemeni dishes here, including the ‘tharid’ which is a traditional arabic dish made of pieces of bread in vegetable or meat broth. the dish is notable in that it has been mentioned in a number hadith attributed to our prophet Muhammad SAW.

~narrated Abu Musa Al-Ash'ari: Allah's apostle said, "many amongst men attained perfection but amongst women none attained the perfection except Mary, the daughter of Imran and Asiya, the wife of Pharaoh. And the superiority of 'Aisha to other women is like the superiority of Tharid (i.e. an Arabic dish) to other meals."

~narrated Ikrash ibn Dhu’ayb RadhiAllahu anhu, we were brought a platter with a large amount of tharid and slices of boneless meat and i plunged in my hand in all directions, but Allah’s Messenger SallAllahu alaihi wasallam ate what was in front of him. he seized my right hand with his left and said, "eat from one place, Ikrash RadhiAllahu anhu, for it is all one kind of food." afterwards we were brought a plate containing various kinds of dates and i began to eat what was in front of me while the hand of Allah’s Messenger SallAllahu alaihi wasallam went round on the plate. he then said, "eat where you wish, Ikrash RadhiAllahu anhu, for it is not all one kind."

* * *

ok – to me, the mandi rice dishes at turath al-mandi were delicious, but not delicious enough for me to come again for their mandi rice. but hey, i might come again to try the camel burger or the tharid. there are a few more rare yemeni delicacies that you might not find anywhere else in dubai, so that’s a plus.

also it’s very pricey, so i’d rather stick to my favorite al-tawasol to get my beloved mandi chicken which is much cheaper, with bigger portion, and none of the cashew nuts and raisins nonsense! haha.

the place is really beautiful (i think i’ve been repeating this! it really is beautiful!) so for a special occasion, or to treat a special guest, you might wanna give the posh turath al-mandi a try.

the pictures of the interior of ‘turath al-mandi’ are from its facebook page. thanks.

Tangled, Ever After?

2012-01-12T13:48:00.000-08:00

i’m a disney girl. always has been, always will be.

i know all the songs from whatever disney movie you can name – from the more popular ones like beauty and the beast or aladdin to the less popular ones like ‘robin hood’ and ‘fox and hound’ to the classics like ‘jungle book’.

so of course i was totally in love with disney’s latest princess in ‘tangled’. i absolutely adore her, the songs were endearing just like any ol catchy disney tune, mandy moore’s voice is uplifting, and flynn rider is just the most handsomest-est (that’s how handsome he is!) disney hero ever drawn.

and just today i discovered that they’re making ‘tangled ever after’! cuteness!

scheduled to be released already in january, it picks up where the last ‘tangled’ left off – flynn and rapunzel are about to be married and the unlikely buddies – pascal the chameleon, and maximus the royal horse lost the ring as they were about to get married! bummer!

so ‘tangled ever after’ is basically about the adventure of the two in recovering the rings. hmm, not too excited about the story focusing on these animals, adorable as they may seem – because i want to see more flynn and rapunzel – and more singing!

however, still looking forward to see it! wonder when is it out in dubai? while i find out, please enjoy this short clip taken from ‘tangled ever after’. flynn and rapunzel are so gorgeous together!

i may have THREE SONS, but khaleef’s favorite disney movie when he was younger was ‘the little mermaid’, and kazim would stop on his track when i put on ‘tangled’. my boys are all disney-ed already. haha.

now, for ‘tangled ever after’!

1881 Baklava From Lebanon With Love

2012-01-07T12:55:00.000-08:00

any fan of baklava here?

some will say it’s too sweet. and some say they’re delightful drops of heaven to the palate. i will tell you this : if you felt that this arabic sweets is TOO sweet, you’ve tasted the wrong kind. a really good baklava should taste amazing, with just the right amount of sweetness.

the syrupy sweet honey would envelope the pistachio bits and ‘fillo dough’ pastry with perfect union. it’s sweet romance in every bite. ewah, dah macam iklan pulak.

the shop actually offered a plate of randomly selected baklava for a ‘taste-test’ before mr. khairul decided which to buy

looking at the title of this posting, i would like to state that i did not eat a basi baklava from 1881. ok, bad joke. mr. khairul got me this box of baklava from beirut, lebanon on his recent trip there – and the shop that made these baklava had been around since – you’ve guessed it – 1881. the shop is called ‘abdul rahman hallab & sons 1881’.

1881! gile lama!

it’s actually situated in another state in lebanon, called tripoli 85km north of beirut. the building looks amazing from outside, and even more beautiful on the inside – a reminiscence of old moroccan cafe, with a little hint of french---

ok fine! i don’t know architecture much ok. it’s beautiful. nuff said! haha.

anyways, a baklava recipe since 1881, huh? that’s gotta be one heck of a baklava to have lasted THAT long! it’s said that the baklava are hand-made, from the purest of ingredients.

* * *

now, it’s the inside that excites me the most when mr. khairul first showed me. it looked like a baklava factory in there! it was so wonderful seeing all those trays filled with freshly made baklava, ready to be packed and sold.

i don’t know about you, but this could be a little bit of willy wonka for the baklava world for me! not as extravagant, but still! pretty exciting!

there are seats there for patrons who wants their baklava there and then – could you imagine the freshness of the baklava that came out straight from the oven and into their mouth – heavenly!

my favorite type of baklava – called the ‘lady’s finger’ baklava – a popiah-like sweets made from a very thin and crispy pastry called ‘fillo dough’, with nuts and honey or sugary syrup inside. it’s smaller (i think the smallest of all baklava) and bite-sized so i could pop this for hours! haha. bahaya!

i also prefer those with pistachio than any other nuts.

mr. khairul said this was his favorite because it’s very compact and chewy – so all the flavor of the nuts, and dough, and honey just gels together in one delicious bite!

it was so cute that the ‘chefs’ were all so malu-malu at first when mr. khairul were given permission to enter their preparation area behind the counter. everyone was hunched up together at one corner, curiously eye-ing this malaysian tourist!

and then one brave soul stepped forward upon mr. khairul’s request – to pose for his camera. he even sportingly cut up a few baklava so mr. khairul could ‘catch’ him in ‘action’ candidly.

…and then, all of a sudden, the ‘pack’ started spreading out, and appeared more comfortable. everyone started to be more playful and happily posed for the camera with different kinds of ‘action’ of a normal working session. hihi. comel! mula-mula malu, pehtu over pulak! haha.

* * *

i’m very fortunate to be able to try the best baklava from lebanon, and the best from syria – and personally, i preferred the latter because syrian baklava are more crispier and that’s the way i like it. i’ve written about the baklava mr. khairul bought from syria – click here.

if you’re like mr. khairul and enjoy a more chewy baklava, you’d probably go for lebanese baklava. oh well, syrian or lebanese baklava – one is never enough…

Asean Delight @ Spore Deli, Karama

2012-01-05T12:37:00.000-08:00

are you a malaysian tourist in dubai sick of all the indian briyani and western fast food in your travels here? have some food close to home at ‘singapore deli’ in karama – offering singapore-malaysia-indo dishes that are hot and spicy – just as we asians like it!

if you’re a malaysian staying in dubai and has never heard of ‘singapore deli’, then you haven’t really lived in dubai. haha. or maybe you’re just a REALLY fantastic cook. huhu.

we’ve been here many times before when we first came to dubai around 2008 but i never got around to blog about it. now after a long time since we last came, we decided to have our dinner here.

it’s in karama, right opposite the burjuman center.

since the weather is nice and cozy and chilly, we enjoyed having our hot dinner right outside. it was more windy than usual that night, but when else can we savour winter in dubai than this time of year? just sit back and enjoy the cold air lah!

how’s their menu like?

interesting dishes that sounds suspiciously more indo than singaporean dishes – nasi tumpeng mini, nasi pepes, nasi timbel, nasi pecel ayam; down to the usual malaysian delights like nasi lemak and ayam panggang. the most singaporean dishes would be the chicken rice, and of course singapore meehon.

the place should be called asian deli instead! haha. takpe, kita kan serumpun. we have pretty much the same food! share-share makanan ni biase lah. haha.

i would eat this ‘nasi tumpeng mini’ again simply for its delicious sambal tempe goreng! terangkat!

mr. khairul tried the nasi tumpeng mini. this one is called ‘mini’ because usually the ‘nasi tumpeng’ is served with A LOT of different dishes (lauk) in small portion which is arranged all around the cone-shaped yellow rice (yellow because steamed with added tumeric/kunyit powder), and usually served as a celebratory dish – on special occasion.

this mini one was served with ayam panggang (juicy sweet grilled chicken), tempe goreng sambal, cut-up cucumber, egg and keropok. the actual huge-portion nasi tumpeng is also available at singapore deli for the really hungry tummy!

i went for the less-adventurous choice of ayam nasi panggang – which is just white steamed rice served with juicy-sweetly marinated grilled chicken and some cut-up veggie. we requested for a small bowl of plain savoury soup, FOC. it went very well with my plate of grilled chicken and rice. yum.

this dish relied solely on the grilled chicken as it doesn’t have anything else. the grilled chicken is marinated well, and tasted delicious. especially goes well with young kids who doesn’t like spicy food – and my khaleef loved it!

my growing boy had one whole plate all to himself!

if you wanna try another good plate of nasi ayam panggang, try the one in betawi. also a nice small place get indo food. read my review here.

we also tried the tantalizing kangkong belacan – spicy with that unmistakable yumness of belacan, just as it should be. well, of course any abe kelate in lembah klang can make a better plate of kangkong belacan, but we dubai beggars can’t be choosers, right?

it opens daily from 12 noon to 12 midnight, with the exception of friday of course, when they open after friday prayer at 3pm. should you crave for malaysian, indonesian and singaporean dishes in dubai, go to ‘singapore deli’.

..also, it’s just a nice change to visit a restaurant in dubai where you can speak malay to its waiters…

The Devil’s Double, Our Idiot Brother & Another Earth

2012-01-03T12:37:00.000-08:00

syigim’s cinema is open with another reviews of 3 latest movies to grace the silver screen.

i watched a disturbing movie based on true accounts of the man who claimed to be the body double to uday saddam hussein in ‘the devil’s double’. the next movie is ‘our idiot brother’, the delightfully funny story of a brother with three sisters and how he changed their lives. finally, ‘another earth’, a movie about a world where another planet was just discovered; a planet that is exactly like our earth. exactly. including having another version of us in it!

* * *

was the son of saddam hussein really THAT sadistic downright psychotic? disturbing tortures, have naked birthday parties, kidnap young schoolgirls from the street and kill her when he’s ‘done’ with her? randomly shooting people according to his whims and fancies?

it was really disturbing how uday was potrayed in this movie – told through the eyes of the man who was recruited to become his body-double. very graphic, and very real.

dominic cooper delivered an oscar-worthy performance as both uday saddam hussein and the body double latif yahiya. i know him as this manly hot dude from the movie ‘an education’, and was surprised at his transformation for this double role. well done! as uday, he is this loud-mouthed goofy-looking prince with very unpredictable violence. as latif yahiya, he is this cool english-accented military man forced into this undesirable situation.

i’m not sure whether to recommend this movie, or warn you against it – but it’s probably too controversial to be ignored. your call.

* * *

this is a really cute movie. i don’t have any brothers, so i’m sometimes fascinated with the relationship mr. khairul has with his 3 sisters. mostly funny, sometimes caring and at times obnoxious like only a brother can be! this is a tale of a brother, and how he inadvertently changed the lives of his 3 sisters…

ned is a simple-minded guy, sweet and caring. fresh out of prison, he stays with his sisters – one at a time. each time he stays with a sister, he somehow gets involved in their lives with dreadful (but funny) consequence. he doesn’t mean to make things worse, as he is always just being honest, and wants the best for his sisters.

kind off like forrest gump, but instead of the annoying ‘jenny’ character, we have 3 sisters.

paul rudd does well in his ‘ned’ character. he’s endearing, funny and loveable. no matter how much he goofs up and messes with his sisters lives, you can’t help but feel sorry for him, and hates the sisters! haha. speaking of sisters, they did very nicely too playing the sister part. great acting.

overall a light comedy-drama to laugh, to cry and to just remember how much you need your siblings in your life, no matter how ‘stupid’ the things they do! hihi. highly recommended!

* * *

i’m so glad i stumbled upon this award-winning indie movie. it was such a moving piece – original storyline, powerful performance from these relatively unknown actors, wonderful cinematography and a banging ending. a must-see.

that night, a duplicate of our planet was discovered. another planet that is exactly like our planet, in every single way – including having another us in that planet! another person who is exactly like you. on that same night, a brilliant student crossed path with an accomplished successful composer in a tragic accident, that will change their lives forever.

i will leave the synopsis at that, as i don’t want to spoil your viewing pleasure any further. the pace of the story might be a tad slow for those who prefer fast-action-packed movies, but i’m telling you that the conclusion of the story is SO worth the wait, and will hit you right between the eye. it was like, woah. i absolutely LOVE the ending.

this movie is more than just a sci-fi drama about the discovery of a new planet with CGI-ed aliens – i recommend this movie strongly to all who believe in hope, believe in forgiveness and second chances.

enjoy the trailer.

* * *

until we meet again in the next movie review!

Desert Camping Near Camel Road, Dubai-Hatta

2012-01-01T12:43:00.000-08:00

we started the new year with desert camping!

well, we didn’t exactly slept on the sand under the stars beneath the cactus tree – but we did join 9 other malaysian families, and pitch our tent at the desert!

it’s winter in dubai, the best time to hang out at the desert…

9 cars zoomed across the camel road along the dubai-hatta route; according to mr. khairul this area is simply known as ‘camel road’.

we took some time to decide where to settle and set up camp. the last time we went to camp at a desert, we went further in so the desert was really vast and was nothing but sand dunes everywhere you look.

(read here for our 1st desert experience with the 3 boys)

however, this time we didn’t go too far inside the desert area, as some of the vehicles might not be able to drive through soft desert sand. so there were more stones, and dry tree branches around the area we stopped at.

well, it was still as beautiful as Allah’s creation can be!

when we finally got the spot, the men got right to pitching up the tents, while the ladies set up the picnic tables with all sorts of yummy homemade dishes. a few of them would be spending the night there, and the rest would leave – including us!

we almost wanted to stay – we’ve got the tent, we’ve brought comforters and pillows and extra socks – but without sleeping bags, i fear it could get extremely cold as the night progresses. winter in dubai can be very cold – and this is winter in DESERT dubai – it’s definitely way colder in the night!

so we decided, maybe next time lah! hihi. when we’re much better prepared…

see how deep kahfi’s feet went into the sand as he walked!

the boys had tons of fun going up and down the sand dune. now this time, the sand dune was so steep, that i was left breathless trying to climb up to the top of the dune. seriously people, it’s NOT as easy as it looks. especially when your feet sink so deep into the sand as you’re trying to push yourself up. phew! letih gile weh naik bukit pasir tu!

as the night creeps in, the boys lepak inside the tent. now this is my FIRST time of really hanging out inside a tent, in the middle of nowhere. mr. khairul is a king’s scout so he’s SO used to camping out – but i’m the exact opposite, camping for more than 12 hours (especially when kids aged 1-6 are involved!) is a no-no haha.

nways, it was really comfy and cozy hanging out inside the tent. away from the chilling breeze of the desert, we got really warm and toasty inside the tent. especially so seeing the camp fire at a distance. really toasty!

* * *

this was one of our many, many, MANY attempts at taking my picture with the boys. failed! miserably! haha. kazim kept wanting to escape. kahfi hated posing for the camera. and while khaleef loves to be photographed, he kept complaining about the sun in his eyes. oh, man!

oh well – there’s always the next time, and the next, and the next…

* * *

seeing this posting one day, i hope my sons realize how lucky there are to be able to experience this beautiful landscape that cannot be found in our home country malaysia. some people can enjoy snow, some live life by the beach, and some breathe the fresh kampung air – they got to play in the biggest sand-box ever!

syukur!

11 Memories for 2011

2011-12-31T12:37:00.000-08:00

never too late to recap the beauty of 2011…

my eldest son khaleef’s *graduation* before going to year one~

abah & umi’s visit to dubai in january~ this was at the biggest mosque in UAE, sheikh zayed mosque in abu dhabi~

kazim turned ONE on april 1st!

watched stevie wonder LIVE in concert @ yas arena, abu dhabi! wee! unsangkarable moment!

mr. khairul got his harley davidson! vroom!

went back to malaysia in july and had a fantabulous spore getaway with abah, umi, my two younger sisters syida & azot. stayed at the beautiful festive hotel on sentosa island and hoo-ha-ing at universal studios singapore – priceless moments!

words cannot describe. our party of five. syimee, syigim, syima, syida & nazirah. me & my sisters in an impromptu photoshoot. at my dad’s place in ipoh. i’m gonna make this an annual thing!

had an indo-getaway with my sisters-in-law tina and teh with just the boys. mr. khairul had an urgent call to fly to saudi and had to pass on this. jakarta surprised me with her metropolitan front. truly an enriching experience.

my precious. all abah’s 9 grandkiddos in one shot for one rare second.

our 2nd time spending syawal in dubai. *smile*

the boys’ first time playing in the desert : what a blast!

* * *

wishing for 12 memorable moments for 2012 – and more! happy new year, people!

Garrett in Dubai : Caramel-Crazed Popcorn

2011-12-30T13:42:00.000-08:00

have you tasted garret’s popcorn that’s creating a buzz in klcc malaysia right now?

been seeing 'garret' in dubai since forever, but never had the urge to buy or even try, because it's so expensive here! however, since i heard they just opened one in our beloved klcc in malaysia with a loo—oo---ng----g line of people buying, thought i tried it here in dubai where nobody cares! haha.

(also, jealous finding out my sisters dah rasa dulu! hohoho)

garrett’s caramel crisp popcorn

we went to the one in dubai mall – well, i think the only garrett in dubai IS in dubai mall. there are two actually, one is in the candylicious opposite the aquarium, and the other one is at the exit heading out to the musical fountain.

kahfi & khaleef with our popcorn. khaleef was delightfully obsessive about his pack of popcorn haha

established since 1949, it is stated in their fb page that garrett is a “chicago tradition, unchanged for 60 years, handmade fresh every day, one batch at a time, using only the highest quality ingredients.” wow. did they really hand-mixed all those popcorns in special copper kettles? classic!

well, 1949 tu! malaysia pun belum merdeka!

there are a few regular flavors or types of garrett popcorn like the classic caramel crisp, as well as sweet caramel-coated popcorns with nuts you like – almond, cashew, macadamia or pecan, and even cheese popcorn! and they even offer a new ‘spicy cheese corn’ flavor!’ popcorn, spicy? that’s really something.

it seemed that the most popular one is ‘chicago mix’ – a combo of caramel crisp popcorn and cheese corn. sounds tempting, but for a first-timer, i wanted to try the very basic, and then go from there.

pricey!

we got ourselves the LARGE caramel crisp, at aed34 per bag (i think more or less RM10 more expensive than in msia). and look at the price of the biggest gallon of caramel crisp – a whopping aed758! even for a big party i wouldn’t dream of spending that much on popcorns!

those people must really be caramel-crazy to buy this much!

i was fascinated with the packaging. 3 layers! first, the popcorns are packed in a clear plastic bag, rolled down air-tight. this was placed in a cute striped paper bag with cool taglines like ‘heavenly obsession’, and ‘gone in 60 seconds’, ‘rite of passage’, ‘unchanged for 60 years’ and ‘the pursuit of happiness’ and my favorite – ‘selfish gobblin’! hihi.

finally it’s placed in a fancier bag to take home. fancy!

* * *

alright.

so we finally tried this so-called best popcorn in the world hailed from chicago.

VERDICT : the caramel-freak boys (and i'm talking about MR. KHAIRUL and khaleef) love it, but it's too much la for me. ok, here’s my first meeting with the popcorn people will line up for :

i’m amazed at how big the popcorn kernels are
every single one popcorn is wholly covered in caramel
it’s hot! so it tasted really fresh when you pop one in
i tasted one, and WOAH – it really is one of the best popcorn i’ve ever tasted! (at first…)
i tried some more, and it can be quite addictive especially if you’re a sweet-tooth person – i’m sure you can’t stop popping them
but TO ME, really, after 4-5 more scoops of garret caramel popcorn, i gave-up the sugar rush – too sweet! too much caramel for my liking!
also, the caramel after-taste was so overwhelming, even after i stopped eating them, it felt like i just drank a whole cup of caramel drink or something. the caramel taste is so strong!
but it’s nice that none of the popcorn kernel has a hard part. all crispy crunchy popping all the way. sickeningly sweet way!
my eldest boy khaleef and mr. khairul are the caramel-popcorn-freaks in the house – they can even sit with a bucket of regular popcorn rummaging thru it looking for ONLY the brown caramel-coated popcorns, leaving the white tasteless ones for me huhu – so they’re ABSOLUTELY HYPNOTIZED already by garrett popcorns haha
interesting fact : my youngest boy kazim – who can eat anything from m&m’s to doughnuts to nasi goreng tomyam – tried one, and spit it out. he wouldn’t try again. hmm.

my final word on garrett’s caramel crisp – it’s definitely too sweet for me to eat a lot off, but seriously, who in the world could go back to regular jagung bertih TGV or reel cinemas popcorn after a taste of sweet-sticky rich heavenly caramel at garrett’s? right?

Briyani in Bamboo @ Masala Bay

2011-12-29T00:05:00.000-08:00

briyani rice cooked in bamboo?

there are so many, many, MANY indian restaurants all over dubai. in order to stand out from the many, a restaurant needs to have good food with great price, good location with good service – and to be unique.

‘masala bay’ in discovery gardens may look like any other indian restaurant, service pretty much the same food – but the uniqueness lies in the way they serve their briyani!

briyani rice is served in bamboo trunk. the server pushes out the rice from the wooden tube, by edging a stick through an opening.

* * *

this branch of ‘masala bay’ is situated in discovery gardens, serving south indian food of the kerala state which – like its name suggested – rich in ‘masala’ (indian spices). the fiery symbol on its red signage can also prepare you for the hot spices of their dishes!

my favorite color is yellow, so i was immediately drawn to their ceiling which brightens up the minimal interior of the restaurant. it’s not that spacious, but comfy. a small clear window shows the chef in action.

i love the pictures on the walls – close-ups of spices, chillis and my favorite is a world map made solely from small beads of indian spice. nice.

* * *

appetizer : the super crispy popadom which is unlike any indian popadam i’ve ever tasted. very thin and crispy, with curry leaves and sprinkled with what probably is paprika. it’s served with this green dip.

* * *

this is ‘raitha’, a cold yoghurt dip with cut-up cucumber and onion, usually served with indian food to balance the heat and spiciness of the dishes. i love to dip my popadam in this ‘raitha’, as i eat my spicy briyani. excellent.

love this one too. is this coconut chutney? hmm.

for the boys, we ordered roti canai.

you’d be surprise to know that although there are many indian restaurants in dubai, it’s not as easy to find GOOD roti canai (parotha they call it here). really!

here, they are not too big on roti canai because they make so many, many other types of indian ‘roti’. so the best roti canai in dubai so far that i’ve tried are from ‘green city’, and ‘appa kadai’. and then i found this one at ‘masala bay’, and i liked it! not bad. soft, with a little crisp brownish spots here and there. nice.

we accompanied our roti canai (the parotha) with this thick, delicious curry chicken. yum.

* * *

..and here’s the main dish!

we ordered mutton briyani and they’re cooked normal but later steamed in this cool, classic-looking bamboo trunk, and then served straight on our plate. the waiter pushes out the rice from the wooden tube, by edging a stick through an opening. what a presentation!

the portion can be shared by two, especially if you’re also eating parotha. hihi. i like this mutton briyani at ‘masala bay’ because they’re not too spicy and the spices – though rich in flavor but not too overwhelming like some briyani tend to be if you add too much spices. overall, a delicious treat – soft beads of rice, and the mutton easily shreded and tender.

* * *

as usual, mr. khairul’s trip to any indian restaurants is incomplete without an order of sada chai. this indian tea is heated up on stove together with the milk, water and tea leaves which gives it a more rich milky taste that mr. khairul loves. must always ask, “tea bag? or not?” if it’s JUST tea-bag, don’t go for it. hihi. try the original!

* * *

while you wait for your order, you can enjoy amusing yourself with reading the jokes on its placemats. funny!

‘masala bay’ has a nice, relaxed ambiance to it, and the servers are polite and prompt. i would try this place again for the chicken briyani next!

New Year, New Haircut

2011-12-27T22:09:00.000-08:00

if you’re a regular at my blog, you know how long kahfi’s hair is. being mistaken for a girl is a norm, and i’m not even insulted anymore! his bapak wanna do this david beckham thing but i think it’s about time the boy tried a short haircut for a change!

click here for an interesting 50-s style black-and-white entry of their last haircut.

…so tada ~ their new looks for the new year! felt so relieved seeing all those hair ‘chopped’ away! while their maksu (my sister azot) is so glad kahfi finally got rid of his ‘weird’ long hairstyle, another aunt was not so pleased! their ateh (my sis-in-law diyana) was wee bit sad to those soft flowing locks go to waste!

oh well, it’s not like it won’t grow back! hihi.

* * *

before : kahfi was oblivious to the impending doom upon his hair…

we went to a saloon for kids called ‘just 4 kids’. this saloon caters exclusively for kids, so it’s got colorful geometric shapes at the entrance, and dalmations stickers on the front door. it really is inviting for kids! hihi.

it’s situated at deira, the same row as our favorite mandi rice restaurant al-tawasol. we always pass by this saloon as we head to al-tawasol, and only now it came to good use!

just a regular-sized shop, the saloon is furnished with colorful sofas suitable for an environment fit for children. on the walls there are cut-up pictures of children-models modelling hairstyles. haha. selalu kita nampak kat kedai-kedai gunting rambut amoi-amoi ade gamba fesyen rambut – sini pun ade, tapi gamba budak-budak. cute!

under each mirror, there is a small tv playing ‘tom and jerry’ to entertain the waiting kids, and especially – to calm kids who don’t want their hair touched! the seats are also cute with printed dalmation polka dots!

each haircut costs – 30dirham!

first up, was abang long khaleef – so that he can show kahfi that there was nothing to be scared of! he was relax and even a little excited, so his turn was a breezy.

the ‘barber’ or hairdresser is this warm, friendly lady from philippines who had been in dubai since 1993! so we know their hair was in good, experienced hands! she was always smiling, and always comforting kahfi when she cut his hair.

kahfi was starting to freak out!

abg long khaleef standing by to give words of encouragement to a sulking kahfi

…then it’s kahfi’s turn! he was very, very reluctant, and cried! we had to pop him a lollipop before he agreed to sit still and let the nice lady cut his hair. mr. khairul had to hold the lollipop for him at first haha, and as he sat there, he probably realized – ‘hey, this is not so bad’ – and sat still for the rest of the haircut session.

*i hate this but i want a new style* haha

* * *

voila!~

so went their old haircut and in with the new. may this new year usher in lots of new exciting stuff for you nice people to experience, to learn, to enjoy, to cherish.

have a good year!

Kahfi’s Bday : Figaro’s Pizza @ Rimal JBR

2011-12-25T08:47:00.000-08:00

my 2nd son kahfi just turned 3 and he LOVES pizza. he can eat two slices at one go, rest, and eat another one, and another one in the morning. hihi. so for his special day, we took him and the boys for pizza somewhere in JBR (jumeirah beach residences).

pizza napoletana, the pizza company, pizza express, papa john’s pizza – there are so many pizza places in JBR but we decided to try the italian figaro’s pizza that day. everybody together now – “fiiiiiiiigaro!” mesti rasa nak beropera kan hihi.

figaro’s pizza is on the first floor at the rimal JBR. you can even see its bold red signage as you walk along ‘the walk’ JBR.

i love the posters on the wall!

the interior is so red, haha – just like its signage. the inside is very spacious and so inviting. i love the red seats – big, sturdy, leather and looks kids-friendly – you know, one without any opening where a kid can fall out off, wouldn’t topple if a kid stood on it and it’s padded so it’s really comfy.

it’s cozy, relaxed; a family with kids could really hang out here.

* * *

its placemats have this sweet, romantic story that keeps you occupied while you wait for the pizza. ‘romano & juliet – a tale of real cheese and true love!’ haha

* * *

well, a pizza place is a pizza place. same stuff on the menu. what differentiates the pizza would be in the CRUST, combo of TOPPINGS and the CHEESE! going to a pizza place with the kids, we don’t even really need to look at the menu, since we basically know what the boys love most.

figaro’s pepperoni pizza

we quickly ordered the ‘pepperoni pizza’ especially for the boys. even if we wanted to go a little ‘wild’ and pick a pizza with different toppings or a little bit more than just pepperoni, the boys would just pick out the toppings they don’t want, and still ends up with pepperoni. so might as well get the plain ol pepperoni pizza for them!

birthday boy enjoying his pizza

it’s beef day apparently for us – since we got a second beef-based pizza

the crust is thick and soft, but personally i think their pizza are a little TOO SALTY. thank goodness i had my plate of mixed salad with me, from the salad bar. everytime i took a bite, i had to eat the coleslaw or potato salad together to add some sweetness. i couldn’t really eat the pizza on its own. it really is too salty for me.

mr. khairul ordered this hot chicken wings which looked like dry ayam goreng kunyit to me! however, mr. khairul said he really shouldn’t judge chicken wings by its look because they tasted quite delicious. i tried one but it’s so spicy! too spicy for me, but mr. khairul enjoyed every bite.

i was suprised that they brought out a plate instead of a bowl for the salad. they really don’t want people to pile up on the salad, huh? hmm, no matter – i still tried my best to pile on the coleslaw, potato salad, lettuce and mix veggie on my little plate. haha! and i actually finished everything on my plate, okay! so people like me should get bowl next time. hihi.

btw, i would just like to add that i LOVE coleslaw, and i think figaro’s pizza did really well with their coleslaw – it’s lumpy in a good way, it’s not too dry and not too watery – just nice. loved it! and it’s a good thing i have it to complement the salty pizza!

the salad bar

mr. khairul’s lime mint drink

* * *

figaro’s pizza is in rimal JBR ok, if you wanna check it out.

as for me – well, i love figaro’s pizza coleslaw, but with all the other pizza places around JBR, i doubt if i would come again. this is a great place to hang out as a family with small kids, but please amend the amount of saltiness of your pizza! thank you. hihi.

sigh. gimme domino’s or pizza hut anytime…

Kahfi Turns Thr3e

2011-12-23T05:09:00.000-08:00

my 2nd son KAHFI KHAIRUL turns 3 this day. everytime your birthday comes, mak will tell you that :

you were 7mths in my tummy when i flew with abg long on a plane from malaysia to dubai
you were born in dubai hospital
bapak was not with us in the labor room as he had to take care of 3-yr old abg long
you were delivered by a really nice indian nurse (too many babies coming, docs were super busy!) who had worked in dubai hospital since day it opens (around 1983!). otai tu! otai tak otai – i didn’t need any stitches!
while pregnant with you, mak craved indian food – and then you came out looking very chinese. hihi.

birthday boy is crazy about pizza, so on his birthday we picked one of the many pizza places in JBR (jumeirah beach residences) especially for birthday boy. nyum.

* * *

thanks for the wonderful well-wishes via facebook. you made my day! *smile*

* * *

making it simple this year – just a little itty bitty blueberry cheesecake for the birthday boy

happy birthday sweetheart!

as of today, kahfi has been off pampers too for the past 2 months, and we’re so proud of him. he calls kazim as ‘baby’, and khaleef as ‘anong’. i suspect that he’s a chinese-looking italian disguised as my son haha, because he absolutely love spaghetti, cheezy pasta, pepperoni pizza – anything italian!

his favorite quote for the time being is :

“mak, what’s that? what’s that? what’s that?”

“not me, it’s abg long!” or “not me, baby!” – whenever he’s accused of something.

and

“what’s that noise?”

mak, bapak, anong, and baby kazim love you very much and may Allah bless with you many wonderful years ahead. easy on the naughty stuff ya!

The Monster @ Burger Fuel, JBR

2011-12-21T01:33:00.000-08:00

boasted as ‘new zealand’s original gourmet burger’, we decided to give it a try on a nice weekend night at the walk, JBR (jumeirah beach residences). since the closing of hardee’s in amwaj next to KFC, JBR really needs a good ol burger place to balance the scale – there are too many pizza place in JBR!

this branch of burger fuel is situated in bahar building of JBR, right next to a cafe opposite hilton jumeirah. be on a lookout for purple signage and neon lights!

the weather was so fine, we preferred dining outside in the cool dubai air.

the restaurant is spacious inside, with minimal usage of colors so it kinda looks like a bare loft – which is cool, and urban. the washroom is upstairs, with more seats too. however, the weather is so fine now that it’s winter in dubai, so we decided to eat outside.

like chilli’s and TGIF, the kids get coloring papers featuring the typical burger and fries character with a cute face and a box of coloring pencils. sure kept the boys busy while we waited for food to arrive.

* * *

this is a burger place. so you’ll get an assortment of beef burger and chicken burger in their menu. there’s also a list of veggie burgers for the vegans. for sides, there’s this pumpkin thingy called ‘motobites’ which is really a cute name, and this chicken-based finger food called ‘chicken fenders’.

we ordered ‘chicken fenders’ for the boys. according to the menu, it’s ‘char-grilled chicken tenderloins seasoned with garlic and rosemary sea-salt’. my, my what a description! and all i want is just chicken nugget! haha. it looks so fancy too!

this is the ‘chicken fenders’ – the seasoning taste good, but i just don’t prefer white meat, so i didn’t like the texture that much. bahagian dada, tak best! in my opinion, it’s very pricey for just 4 small pieces of chicken bits. they should at least throw in complimentary fries, or cola!

the ‘BF monster’ burger is ‘1/3 new zealand ground beef, melted cheddar, sliced beetroot, beef bacon, salad and relish’. also in the burger is – get this – mango and avocado! OMG. mango? in a burger? seriously! i’ve eaten burger with pineapple when i went to the universal studios singapore, but this is really the weirdest combo in a burger ever!

mango? what!

an typical of mr. khairul, he would go to the weirdest dish in the menu. so this was his choice. he absolutely LOVED it! i tried a bite, and there was this explosion of taste in my mouth – so many things going on. but the tender juicy beef patty certainly overwhelms everything else. a delicious treat.

i ordered this one – the ‘cn cheese’ burger is essentially ‘1/3 pound new zealand ground beef, with melted cheddar, grated parmesan, salad and relish.’ when i read the menu, this burger got me at MELTED CHEDDAR and GRATED PARMESAN.

the bun is soft and fresh, the texture of the beef patty is just right – juicy and tender. it’s just a simple cheeseburger with a fancy name! it’s delicious, but i agree with mr. khairul, if you wanted plain ol cheeseburger, you can get one from mcdonald’s or burger king. since you’re at burger fuel, why not try all their other kiwi burgers with ingredients that are uniquely theirs.

next time, eh?

as you’ve noticed at burger fuel, burgers are served in paper bags (with the name of the burger) to your table, and you can request that they cut your big fat burger in half. also, they include this DOOFER – this paper thingy when folded and fastened together –

…it becomes a holder for your burger when you put it down! this is the first time i see such a thing – interesting! the friendly and helpful staff helped us to fold it. thanks for not judging us first-timers haha.

we get these dips for the chicken fenders and the fries. we can choose from these two – fresh lemon *aioli or natural yoghurt relish dip.

*aioli is is a traditional sauce made of garlic, olive oil, and (typically) egg

i LOVE their fries. these ‘spud fries’ are big and fat, just the way i like it. HOWEVER, burger fuel doesn’t have any set meals, so we had to order drinks and fries on the side. pricey, pricey!

we ordered mineral water, and this heavenly chocolate malt shake. it comes in this tall paper cup and taste so rich and cooling. i can’t even remember the last time i had a milkshake, so this was really a lovely treat. slurp!

the next time we drop by, i’d probably just get one chocolate malt shake, and try one of them motobites!

personally, burger fuel is one pricey burger place, but it’s still worth the dirham, unlike fatburger. what we pay, we get. check out this blog for more awesome pictures and a review of burger fuel.

Midnight in Paris, Dream House & 50/50

2011-12-18T04:53:00.000-08:00

a romantic movie, a mystery-horror flick and a dark comedy about dealing with cancer. these are my favorites of the week, but one has gone into my list of best movies ever, aka one of my favorite movies of all time.

* * *

i absolute adore this movie ‘midnight in paris’!

from the opening montage of the many popular sights of paris along with the soothing soulful sound of sidney bechet’s jazzy saxophone, i’m already in love with this movie. the story is so magical, the script is witty and funny, the leads did a great job being charming, and the city of paris is just amazing.

a writer is on a paris trip with his fiancee and super-rich future in-laws. instead of joining their social outings, he decided to take a night-stroll alone, when he somehow entered the past – 1920’s paris. he was star-struck as he met a string of his literary idols – scott fitzgerald, hemingway, and t.s. eliot, along with legendary artists like picasso and salvador dali. here he also fell in love with picasso’s mistress, and have wonderful midnight walks with her, enjoying the nostalgic night air in paris. always at midnight, always a magical moment.

the end kinda reminds me that we all feel the need to ‘escape’ at some point of our lives, but we just have to go back, and face the music. make the best of what we have. a great movie!

why i LOVE this movie :

i love woody allen’s movies. my favorite before ‘midnight in paris’ is ‘purple rose of cairo’. you should check it out. woody allen’s script is always so original, witty and funny.
it’s a time-travelling story, but it doesn’t bore us with details on how the character suddenly ends up in the past, or whether his ‘science fiction’ story would affect the course of history when he let getrude stein read it. it’s just a simple slip in time whenever he was out for a walk and woody allen just invites us to join the character in his nostalgic midnight adventures.
i know owen wilson as this funny loud-mouthed sidekick of jackie chan in the shanghai noon series, but in ‘midnight in paris’ he has become this sweet, romantic idol who is charming, sincere and passionate about his ideas, about paris and about being a hopeless romantic. he’s not brad-pitt or johnny-depp handsome, but he sure is loveable!
i major in literature so i could relate to his adventures of meeting all this famous literary figures, and how incredibly excited he was in being able to converse and share his books with them.
rachel mcadams plays inez, the main character’s fiance – and i LOVE her outfit throughout the movie. i’m NOT a fashion person, and i seldom care about what an actress wears in a movie – but her long-shirts-thin-belt look is so smart and feminine at the same time! love her, and love her look!

yes, ‘midnight in paris’ has now become one of the my favorite movies ever, alongside ‘shakespeare in love’, ‘sense and sensibility’ and ‘back to the future’ trilogy. highly recommended if you’re simply a romantic person at heart. oh, and if you love paris!

* * *

been wanting to watch this for the longest time, since i first saw the trailer. watch the trailer, and you’ll see why. it gave me such a chilling feel, that no other ghost story has given me for a long time. HOWEVER, what disappoints me is that the trailer had actually given away most of the best part of the movie. what i wasn’t ready for was, the twist at the end.

also, the story is more of a creepy mystery than a scary horror movie.

basically it’s about a happy family who just moved into a house, and mom and dad and their two girls are just excited to decorate, paint and be at home with this new house. then they found out that there used to be a gory murder in that house, where the father had shot his wife and two girls… they found out that the murderous father is still alive and is at a psychiatric hospital. the dad went to the hosp to find out more, when he was told a very shocking truth…

i thought ‘dream house’ is like ‘nang nak’ (the super-awesome super-scary thai movie about a man who lived a normal life in his house with wife and baby, not knowing that they’re already dead..) but there’s a different twist to this movie. the ending was nice – even put a little tear on mr. khairul’s eye as a father – but to me it’s a little anti-climax.

the premise of the story was brilliant, but the follow-up plot seems rushed and too easy.

* * *

i won’t spoil your viewing pleasure by giving away the ending, but i will tell you that you will cry. and if you know someone who had a terminal illness, you will cry even more. tears of joy, tears of pity, tears of sadness, and tears of triumph. oh, and it’s a comedy about trials and tribulations of beating cancer!

just a regular guy who doesn’t smoke, and doesn’t drink. has a nice house, and a cute girlfriend. and then one day – bam! – ‘you have a rare spinal cancer’. his chances of recovery? 50-50. he’s asked to go see a trainee psychiatrist doing her phd, and begins an awkward relationship that is funny and sweet.

i love how the movie potrays his friendship with bestfriend played by funnyman seth roger. he bashes him, throws profanity, hates his girlfriends – but we all know that their bromance runs deeper. the scene before he went into the operation theater really gets to me. their friendship is just the sweetest.

also, i love how the ending is unpredictable, as it could go both ways. he was wheeled into the operating theater – and viewers have to wait. if he died, we would’ve expect a sad ending but rejoice at his full life. or if he made it, we would’ve expect his survival because he has such loving support from family and friends. which one? go watch!

this movie is about dealing with cancer. if you had cancer, of if your child had cancer, or if your bestfriend had cancer, or if your boyfriend had cancer – how would you deal with it? this movie deals with this very serious and most undesirable condition, yet managed to come off really funny and charming. the script is never boring, and the actors did their part convincingly.

one memorable line – he was sickly and pale, yet his bestfriend suggested they go hook up with girls – “i look like lord voldermort!” haha.

highly recommended.

* * *

next threen movies coming soon. watch this space!

Al-Fanar : Eat Emirati Food in Old Dubai Village

2011-12-15T01:01:00.000-08:00

imagine travelling back to the past in simpler times where fishermen sat at tables drinking hot tea after a tiring day. at a corner, bedouin ladies preparing local food. pearl-divers and merchants busied themselves in souks (market), with donkeys carrying oil containers outside while passing by a camel sitting with its herder under the shade. arab merchants stopped to rest; cross-legged in a majlees while the waiter served them machboos dajaj (machboos rice with chicken).

no need time-machine for that.

gorgeous entrance ~ sturdy old-style oak door – and heavy to open too! (the arab dude behind me is just a mannequin ya hihi)

just eat at al-fanar restaurant and cafe, boasted as the first and ONLY place serving *emirati cuisine in the most incredibly charming setting – depicting the ambiance of 1960’s dubai. a time when it was just a small town in the heart of the middle east, along the shore of the arabian gulf. it was the strategic spot for merchants, pearl divers and bedouin people.

*locals of UAE (united arab emirates) are called ‘emirati’ and even the locals admit there is no restaurant selling emirati cuisine as it’s usually serves in people’s homes. realizing the lack of awareness about emirati food among the expats and tourists, the owner decided to open an emirati restaurant – and so al-fanar is born.

here at al-fanar restaurant, you feel like you’re eating at a museum; a museum set to look like an old emirati village. let the pictures show you how wonderful the outside of the restaurant is – so much to see, and to hold, and to take pictures off. my boys had so much fun. it’s good that they don’t really mind kids ‘riding’ the display. a few arab families also had their kids on the donkey and camel and take pictures.

and this is just the outside.

the decor outside is awesome. from left clockwise : my eldest khaleef on the camel, kahfi pulling a donkey, a blue jeep and lots of other items usually found in a typical emirati village; like the final picture showing kahfi watching a ‘bedouin woman’ making cheese – so interesting!

* * *

let’s go inside!

kedai kopi

words cannot express how wonderful the decor is on the inside. this part of al-fanar restaurant is made to look like olden days coffee shop. it has this gorgeous nostalgic look, with the crumbling paint-job on the wall, the rusty look of the door hinges and the oil lamp – complete with an old bicycle resting by a wall.

credit : al-fanar facebook page

this is also where the ‘souk’ is – where patrons can buy local items usually found at emirati houses, like metal containers, little hand-woven baskets, and brushes made from leaves – which mysteriously looked like the long-lost brother of our malay penyapu lidi!

the rest of al-fanar restaurant is even more mesmerizing. every single corner and walls is a quite a sight with kerosene lamp hanging above. all around the walls you can also see classic black and white pictures depicting old dubai, scenes from life in dubai around the 1960's.

everything is so nostalgic!

the courtyard (credit : al-fanar facebook page)

there are so many places you can choose to eat at. outside you can choose to sit cross-legged in the tent, or choose a tent with tables and chairs. you can sit outside beside the donkey or with the view of the man-made canal.

inside, you can sit at the table at the ‘souq’ or go to the courtyard, where we sat. you can choose to sit by one of the ‘booth seats’ tucked in a few corners for privacy, or just in the middle under the ‘blue sky’ next to a ‘tall bushy tree’.

yes, the ceiling is painted to look like a clear blue sky, while they ‘plant’ a tree (yes, a tree!) smack in the heart of al-fanar restaurant! lovely! you really feel like eating outdoor at an arabian courtyard.

we sat at the ‘courtyard’. it’s so interesting dining amongst the arabs, surrounded by the ambiance of an arab house. just lovely.

* * *

so, how’s the food?

the menu at al-fanar restaurant claims to offer ‘authentic emirati cuisine’. interestingly enough, i don’t see the usual street-food that i’ve had while in dubai like my favorite mandi rice, or shawarma, or even hummus – which i thought is a must-have at an arab dining table. turns out that these other food may be ARAB in origin, but not emirati.

this is exactly what the owner of al-fanar restaurant is trying to change : the perception of expats and tourist about what IS the local emirati food? there are more briyani dishes and grilled seafood in the main course, i would say. the selection of desserts is most commendable, and i guarantee you can’t decide right away which to try first.

the menu is easy to browse – it’s got pictures which makes it easy to imagine the dish you’re gonna enjoy without relying on the description alone. the names are in arabic, but the description is in english. to view full menu, click here.

we tried this humble little dish called ‘koftat samak’. looks like our pergedil, but it's actually fish – deep fried crumbled fish. it doesn’t look much, but it’s deliciously crispy on the outside, soft on the inside.

too bad blur photo – but this fish dish was the best! 'samak al-tanoor' is the name of the dish, served with steamed white rice, softest i’ve ever eaten – ntah beras apa diorang guna! the fish is simply grilled, leaving the flesh soft and juicy with rich taste of the marinade.

highly recommended! can’t wait to bring my abah here, he would love this grilled fish!

for the main dish, we ordered 'machboos laham' – it looks like meat mandi but sad to say, quite disappointing. the rice was ok but the meat is just too dry. i think with all the yemeni's mandi rice and iranian rice, rich-flavoured indian and pakistani briyani we’ve tried in dubai, emirati main rice dish is just a mediocre dish…sorry, sheikh!

we realized that we didn’t have anything with gravy but we didn’t want any curry (since we want to try something new) so we went for 'nagahr nashef' which is squid cooked in tomato sauce. this dish is quite so-so, tasty enough for me, but those who want more spice in a dish would probably not like it. it’s very mild, and for some reason, i didn’t taste the squid. was it really squid, ke potato?

now, i would suggest you to simply go to al-fanar JUST for their selection of local emirati sweets and desserts. just pick a table, sit back, relax and order one sweet dish.

this one that we tried was so delicious that we had to order another plate. this yummylicious dessert is called 'leqaimat' – crispy fried dough ball coated in sweet date syrup – sedap sangat! my boys loved it! served hot and fresh with a generous pour of the sweet date syrup, and a sprinkle of sesame seed.

there are a few others that i would love to try next; like the emirati doughnuts and flat bread served with date syrup and cream cheese – oh, the thought of it! check out the list of al-fanar desserts here.

* * *

my malaysian readers would be interested to find out that the waiters' outfit looks like our baju melayu, siap pakai kopiah ngan kain pelikat. i was so delightfully shocked when i first saw them! but actually they wore the green kandoora, and the kain sarong on the outside like an apron. we had to take picture with one!

while the men’s outfit looked like our lelaki melayu, the waitresses wear different colored kaftan.

when we came right at noon, the place was just starting to get packed. by the time we were waiting for our orders, more and more people came until there was a waiting line at the seating area by the cashier. however, the waiters were helpful in suggesting dishes to us, and promptly served our food.

* * *

in every nook and corner you can see an item, along with its description – just like in a museum kan? so interesting!

another interesting finding – these plates said to be ‘dishes traditionally used in most of the houses in UAE’ are amazingly similar to the ones used in my grandma’s house in teluk intan! macam pinggan mangkok kenduri opah aku kat teluk anson je! kan kan kan…

al-fanar restaurant and cafe @ dubai festival city

al-fanar restaurant and cafe is in dubai festival city, by the man-made canal by the marina.

personally i would say that it was an enriching experience eating at this beautiful al-fanar restaurant as it was like eating in a museum, it was like eating in another moment in time in the olden days, AND because it was my first time eating local emirati food.

all these while i’ve eaten yemeni’s mandi rice countless times, lebanese food, and iranian dishes, but never local emirati food.

overall, i thoroughly enjoyed my lunch here at al-fanar – since i tried the oh-so-soft steamed rice with the deliciously juicy grilled fish and crispy fish koftat. HOWEVER, i must say i would not go there as soon, because it’s quite pricy (to me, as i prefer cheaper but equally delicious yemeni’s mandi rice and pakistani briyani elsewhere!) but i highly recommend that you go and try eating there even if it’s just that one time.

this is the place where you can say ‘enjoy your food’, ‘enjoy the view’, ‘enjoy the display’ and ‘hope you had learned something about emirati food and culture’!

click here for a very interesting article on al-fanar restaurant and the emirati food from gulfnews, along with a video of the restaurant.

Kerana Facebook

2011-12-12T01:23:00.000-08:00

terbaca dalam status seorang sahabat facebook pagi ni. katanya :

kerana facebook : daripada kawan bertukar musuh
kerana facebook : couple boleh gaduh sebab cemburu
kerana facebook : pasangan couple boleh berpisah
kerana facebook : hidup boleh diperbodohkan
kerana facebook : kawan lupa kawan
kerana facebook : kita tak tidur & tak makan
kerana facebook : seseorang tu lupa diri konon dah hot

masa aku baca tu, aku amati ayat-ayat tu satu-persatu. hmm. ade betulnya. memang ada kawan-kawan facebook aku sendiri gaduh sebab status politik yang berbeza pendapat. ada pulak yang risau sebab kawan lelaki fb ntah mana-mana asyik suka 'like' status awek dia. ada yang diperbodohkan sebab membuka pekung di dada - contohnya mengutuk boss sendiri, atau mengeluh tentang 'keperitan' hidup yang terpaksa guna kipas sebab air-cond rosak...

tapi...

kerana facebook : kawan sekolah yang rapat masa kecik tapi terpisah,
dipertemukan
kerana facebook : couple bole meluahkan perasaan sayang di status dengan
gamba profile yang romantis
kerana facebook : ade pasangan yang bertemu di facebook, hingga ke jinjang
pelamin
kerana facebook : hidup bole lebih bermakna dengan berkongsi hadith
Rasulullah, dan kata-kata hikmat yang memberi semangat dan membuatkan kita
berfikir
kerana facebook : kawan akan sentiasa ingat kawan sebab setiap kali
harijadi, pasti ada notification! ruang news feed pula akan
sentiasa berputar menyajikan kita dengan pelbagai activiti dan asam
garam rakan-rakan fb

kita yang tentukan facebook ni bagus atau tidak untuk kita sendiri. seperti benda-benda yang lain jugak. pisau tu, contohnya boleh membunuh, tapi kita-kita yang boleh berfikir waras ni guna untuk potong ayam je lah ye!

moga kita semua pengguna facebook yang bijak! ok, masa untuk log on...

MoKa & Marini : Purple Royal Wedding

2011-12-11T04:01:00.000-08:00

sigh. here is the frustrating thing about living so far away from family – i’m missing all the fun stuff!

last weekend my cousin marini got married to her sweet-mocha ‘moka’ also known as khairul (yah same name as my husband haha) in a royally resplendent purple wedding. it looked like such a beautiful affair from the pictures i’ve seen on their facebook pages.

marini is the 2nd daughter of my mom’s sister, and this was one of the 2 weddings of the year for my family on my mom’s side – few months back, another cousin my mom’s youngest sis got married (here’s the post), and now this other cousin.

i missed both weddings, but i wish both couples a lifetime of happiness, love and passion!

a picture of happiness! the newlyweds with my aunt and family : from left – their first son-in-law firdaus, eldest daughter shina, the groom khairul, the bride rini, aunty na & uncle mi. sitting down from left – only son amin (super cute in bow tie!), and youngest daughter nayah

the solemnization : i gasped in awe – so lovely!

looking good! my newly wedded cousins – wani, rini, khairul & ijan

their pre-wedding photoshots – cuteness!

as usual when weddings come, i always thought of my own; and how far we’ve come together. alhamdulillah! may Allah grant rini and khairul many wonderful years together till they’re old and wrinkly, still holding hands. amin.

remember, the wedding is over – the marriage is the one that we look forward to, that we have to work for, that we have to cherish and uphold, that will last a lifetime…

Margin Call is In Time for Fright Night

2011-12-09T21:47:00.000-08:00

movie time with syigim again! mr. khairul got me a whole lotta movie this week, and i watched a tenseful drama that takes place 24 hours before the global economic crisis of 2008 called ‘margin call’, a sci-fi action movie ‘in time’ starring the artist who ‘brought sexy back’ – justin timberlake, and another one a horror movie about vampires that does NOT involve vampires having twinkling skin under sunlight. heh.

* * *

i never thought i’d ever enjoy watching a movie about numbers, economic and finance. ‘margin call’ is a movie about all that, and there was never a dull moment in that movie. was it the incredible assemble of actors? was it the 24-hour clock of the movie that makes it so intense? was it the controversial issue presented in the movie?

was it the incredible assemble of actors? YES. imagine a movie starring kevin spacey, stanley tucci, demi moore, paul bethanny, that dude who played the villain skylar in ‘heroes’, the cute guy in ‘gossip girl’ – each of them played their role wonderfully eventhough it was just saying out endless lines about numbers.

was it the 24-hour clock of the movie that makes it so intense? YES. the whole movie takes place 24 hours before the crash of the world economy in 2008. so the speed of the movie was what captured me, as the characters dealt with the problem hour by hour – from the moment they found out about the ‘glitch’ in the system, to the moment when they finally made the life-changing decision that will alter the face of the world economy as we know it now. all this while keeping the suspense on high.

was it the controversial issue presented in the movie? YES. i don’t know much about economy or finance or what REALLY cause the economic downturn, but how they simplify the issue makes me more interested to find out what really happen. it was a shocking revelation on how the top management handled the problem, but that’s what makes the movie more exciting.

a highly recommended drama for movie fans, and a must-watch-or-die for all you numbers-geek out there. hihi.

* * *

justin timberlake is one hot stuff. he was in a smashing teeny-bopper boy band when we first know him, then he shot to superstardom with his awesome music as a single artist, and now he’s in a new movie in his first starring role in ‘in time’.

‘in time’ is a sci-fi movie about how literal is the saying ‘TIME is money’ because in this movie, time IS money – they somehow have ‘time’ embedded in their wrist, and when they want to ride the bus, or buy food, or give their son some pocket money, they pay using TIME. a scanner will scan their wrist, and deduct the time they have. if you’re exchanging money = time, two people simply shake hands and the ‘time’ will transfer between the two.

the problem with this is – the ‘time’ in your wrist also acts like a ticking clock. when it goes 0:00:00 – you’re dead. so in this world, the rich can live forever, and the poor die young. and speaking of young, everyone in this sci-fi world STOPS AGING at age 25. a bit ridiculous, but it gives the movie-makers an excuse to put ONLY young, beautiful people in this movie.

ok, back to the being dead part – imagine if you only got like 5 mins on your ‘wrist-clock’ and you know it needs 15 mins for you to get back home and get some money from your mom. what happens if you don’t get back IN TIME? you’re dead, man. so this movie also instils the RESPECT FOR TIME.

at the end, i get the ‘robin hood’ vibe from this movie – the hero steals from the rich and gives to the poor, and the phrase ‘don’t WASTE my time’ certainly has more meaning here in ‘in time’.

* * *

familiar film title, unoriginal plot, cheesy-looking movie poster and b-grade tagline. so why did i watch this movie?

‘fright night’ was all hot in the top 10 box-office countdown, so we’re kinda curious. my take – if you’ve seen ‘disturbia’ starring shea labeouf, i’ll tell you that it’s like that, but instead of a psychotic killer, they’ve got vampire living next door. at least ‘disturbia’ is so much better in so many levels – shea labeouf is a better actor than that lembik nerdy guys starring in ‘fright night’.

it’s not really an original plot – no need spoiler alert lah. it’s actually a remake of a 1985 movie with the same title.hello – if you wanna do a remake, make yours better or otherwise what’s the point!

well, in this movie, the vampire will be all mysterious and suspicious – surprise-surprise, it’s the neighbour, no one will believe him at first, we can guess who will kena first, and the vampire will try to get freaky with his girl. what’s new?

don’t bother with this if you have other options…

* * *

so what’s on the next-change board?

Home Service ‘Massage’–Really?

2011-12-07T05:58:00.001-08:00

if you get THIS name card slipped under your door, would you be interested to get one? hmm, let’s look at the card, shall we –

it’s from a MASSAGE CENTER. ok, interesting. my husband has been complaining of back-ache and sores after riding through the desert the other day, so a massage would be a good idea to relax him.
it offers HOME SERVICE. wah, ini sudah bagus. my husband and i do not need to drive all the way to (hmm, surprise, surprise – NO ADDRESS GIVEN – oh well), the masseuse can come over to our house! wah.
ok, there’s a HP NUMBER given. right. and then look at the picture.

key words : massage. home service. and THAT picture. could they BE more suggestive? cover-cover la sikit weh. lepas amik gamba ni, terus buang name card tu!

sorry lah honey, tunggu balik malaysia cari pakcik tua kerepot yang terer urut lagi afdal. hihi.

* * *

here in dubai, it seems so easy for people to invade our homes by slipping flyers, take-out menus and name cards under the door. i’ve even gotten hand-written notes like, ‘need maid? i’m available, call 050-XXXXX’ or ‘maid available for hourly cleaning’.

i appreciate the take-out menus, because even if i’m not interested to order their food for delivery, my boys just love looking at the food pictures and pretend their at a restaurant. we can have a little roleplay there.

but merepek advertisement like the above name card, shame on you.

* * *

name cards are small, and there’s limited space where you can put pictures to let people know what you’re all about. however, let me just try and help them out by googling some of the more acceptable photos they can use for their name card next time.

‘relax’. says it all.

put ‘decent’ and presentable pictures of your pretty professional massage therapist.

give ideas and visuals of aromatherapy used in your massage services

..and this is simply THE CUTEST!

(images are from google. you should be flattered that i took your picture, because i’m showing the examples of better pictures to put on a name card! thanks! hihi)

well, to the ‘massage center with the chick in an unnecessary unrelated pose’, i hope this list will help you improve your name card in the future. thank you.

My Favorite Shawarma in Dubai

2011-12-05T13:39:00.000-08:00

like kebab? in dubai, it’s shawarma!

shawarma is pretty big in dubai. just like our local malaysian ramlee burger stall, it can be found in most places around dubai especially in karama, deira or bur dubai area. people love it because it’s cheap, doesn’t take too long to prepare, it’s easy to be eaten on the go and it’s delicious too!

basically shawarma is thinly sliced grilled chicken or beef rolled or wrapped into a flatbread or pita bread, along with cut-up veggies and sauce. i think our malaysian version would be the ‘kebab’ we get from pasar malam.

i love our malaysian kebab (though i prefer it on a hotdog bread rather than pita bread) however, malaysian kebab is no match for the exotic simplicity of the shawarma. while our kebab uses just mayo, shawarma has a special sauce which is a blend of yoghurt, garlic sauce and lemon. yum.

nampak simple je kan, tapi sedap sangat! – the shawarma from ‘picnic home’ in bur dubai

shawarma differs from country to country, and even different stalls would serve shawarma with slight variations on the bread they use (some use pita bread, tortilla bread, or flatbread) sauce, veggie (some go without tomatoes, some put onion, and some add pickle) and the marinade for the meat.

my favorite shawarma in dubai has to be the one in bur dubai, in a small humble restaurant called ‘picnic home’. what makes it most delicious is mainly the sauce, and the crispy chicken bits that’s perfectly marinated.

i’ve eaten shawarma that has chicken bits that are too salty. not nice. and i’ve eaten shawarma with homemade flatbread that is crispy! that was probably one of the best shawarma i’ve eaten too!

wrapped…

..unwrapped!

* * *

like i said, different stalls offer different taste, ingredients and presentation in their shawarma. this posting is about MY personal favorite of shawarma – the shawarma at ‘picnic home’ (lawak kan nama dia hihi). it’s situated in bur dubai, next to a shop called ‘royal dirham’ which i think sells souvenirs. it’s also opposite the burjuman metro station.

it should be easy to spot, but difficult to get to. parking is almost impossible! either you park so far away that you had to walk a long way OR what did we do?

DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK : hihi – but we simply stopped the car by the roadside right next to the stall, mr. khairul dashed out to order the shawarma by the window, rushed back in after few alarming honks from cars behind, made a U-turn and arrived back at the stall, repeating the process but this time to get our order and pay.

phew! it’s SO worth it!

mr. khairul making his order through the window counter

from the signage it says that its sells ‘lebanese food’ which is pretty much grill stuff all the way, including this very delicious, simple shawarma.

in our ‘early’ years of living in dubai, we used to get this shawarma regularly because we live nearby – our home was just few blocks behind burjuman mall. since moving to dubai marina, i haven’t had this shawarma since forever. rindu!

when i finally got to eat it, i was savoring a delightful dish that is so simple yet satisfying! the soft tortilla flatbread, the crispy juicy chicken, the tasty yoghurt garlic sauce and the fresh lettuce – yum!

know any other good place to get delicious shawarma in dubai? sorang msian kakak ni told me that the one in ibn battuta mall (next to geant) also has delicious shawarma which her kids love so much. i’m gonna try that one soon!

Jinn Interrupts Phone Call During Talk Show

2011-12-04T23:27:00.000-08:00

is this real? watch the video. judge for yourself. i must warn that this video contains clear vocalization of what seemed to be the 'jinn' interrupting a phone conversation between an ustaz and a female caller who wanted to seek advice about a jinn problem she was currently having. to me, memang seram ya amat!

this video is taken from the talk show 'roadside2Islam'. during the talk about 'the unseen world', a female caller sought advice about her problem - an unknown person sent her an item which resulted in her being possessed by a 'jinn'. she was supposed to testify in court, and the 'jinn' was sent to 'block' her from testifying.

during this phone conversation, the 'jinn' interfered twice - in low voice, and the second time with a seriously creepy laughter. i love how the ustaz in such a cool and calm manner recited surah from the Quran, and had firm interactions with the 'jinn' in reminding 'it' of 'its' Creator.

i myself am very glad that i watched this in clear daylight, because it scared the heck out of me. staged or not, real or acted out - this video taken from the talk show 'roadside2Islam' is definitely fascinating.

i never personally face a person who is possessed; just stories from few friends who had been to boarding schools and related their experiences.

whether this video is real or not, it demonstrates the ways in which to tackle jinn, as jinn is also a creation of Allah, and its existence is real. keep reciting zikir whenever possible, and don't forget your 'bismillah' before any tasks or before entering a place. may we always be under the protection of Allah from any harm. Allah knows best.

Farewell Thai Food Lunch @ Black Canyon, JBR

2011-12-02T06:30:00.001-08:00

two of my dubai gal pals are leaving dubai for good. sob sob. fida and husband amran is leaving dubai this saturday, and lin is delivering her 2nd baby sometime next 2 weeks, and then with hubby bob leaving dubai too after her confinement.

we’ve known for quite some time that lin and bob are leaving, but news of fida’s departure came as a shock to me as it’s too sudden. tiba-tiba je dapat tahu kena balik malaysia dalam sebulan-dua. uhuk uhuk. they will be sorely missed.

a dubai family (if you’re wondering why mr. khairul was in bike boots, he was out riding with his biker pals that morning, and came straight with his bike)

we treated them for a thai lunch at black canyon coffee in the walk, JBR (jumeirah beach residences). this branch is situated right opposite sheraton dubai marina, next to starbucks amwaj. it’s at the more laid-back and quiet lane of ‘the walk, JBR’, so you really won’t miss it.

‘black canyon’ in JBR offers authentic thai cuisine that’s both delicious and affordable, considering that it’s in dubai marina where everything is a little more expensive than anywhere else.

ladies : fida in red, lin, jaja in blue - lin’s sister vacationing in dubai, and me in purple

currently the weather in dubai is lovely to have your meals outside, but at 2pm, it’s quite scorching! so we took it inside and was ushered upstairs where we took hold of the entire floor. just us!

the kids went bat-crazy running around screaming and wailing while the moms and dads were able to enjoy their meals without worrying that the kids were running into the waiters or disturbing other patrons.

it was fun!

the dudes : my honey mr. khairul in T, lin’s hubby bob, and fida’s amran

* * *

don’t go to a thai restaurant and not order TOM YAM! we always go for black canyon’s tom yam whenever we’re here. it is commendable – huge portion, with the right amount of spicy and sour. highly recommended if you ever thought of dropping by. this huge bowl can basically be shared by 2-3 people, depending on how hungry you are!

this is mr. khairul’s favorite, and we ordered this as well to share the uniqueness with our buddies. it’s basically sweet-spicy fried rice (fried with prawn, chicken, capsicum and pieces of pineapple) and served in a half-cut pineapple. very cute, very delicious.

the chicken bits are slightly stir-fried before adding them into the rice which explains the slight brownish look on the chicken – and i love it! the first time i tried it i didn’t immediately like it since i thought it’s too sweet for fried rice, but it kind off grows on me, especially since mr. khairul loves it so much. it’s a unique dish, and try it if you’re curious!

we also tried this. well, i will try ANY kuey teow i find in dubai just so i could find the ONE that taste like penang/ipoh char kuey teow! this kuey teow in black canyon – well, imagine you fry kuey teow in sweet chilli sauce – that’s how it tasted like. it’s tasty, but incomparable to our malaysian style fried kuey teow!

however, i appreciate them putting aside the taugeh. saves me time asking them to fry without the taugeh! hihi.

we basically had white rice with lauk-lauk (savoury dishes, thai style) from top left : red chicken curry, green chicken curry, beef and broccoli, a fish dish with mix vege, kerabu sohun, and my favorite fried calamari.

i would recommend green chicken curry as it’s delicious and unique though if you’re looking for something spicy, this is not it. sedap, tapi tak pedas sangat ok. the fish was so-so, because the texture was soft but i don’t find any specialty about its preparation. i would be biased against the kerabu since i’m not a fan, but the fast-emptying plate clearly shows that the rest enjoyed it!

the fried calamari – what can i say, freshly fried – crispy and crunchy. also recommended. i just wish the portion was bigger with that price.

* * *

pulut mangga – glutinous rice with mango

what better way to cap this farewell lunch than a sweet dessert shared with sweet dear friends? we ordered the pulut mangga – warm glutinous rice served with cut-up sweet mangoes and sweet-salty coconut milk poured on top.

this is one delicous dessert – the combination of the warm glutinous rice with the cold mango gives quite a party in your mouth. and the sweet-salty coconut milk just adds to the richness of the dessert. yummy!

one complain – it’s too expensive for this small plate of humble dessert, and i advice you to order this ONLY if you’re really craving! haha.

makan sepinggan membawa berkat hihi

* * *

noisy kiddos : from left : kahfi behind haffiy in white shirt, amily is hugging him, adam in red, khaleef holding his hand and kazim walking aimlessly in front

* * *

now for my touching sad speech. huhu.

we didn’t see each other as often as i would hoped, but throughout our friendship, i found them to be friendly and easy to go into conversation with – senang nak ajak borak. when we see each other during events or makan-makan at friends’ house, it’s just easy to hang out with these gals as we can get along well. boleh masuk-masuk la kata orang melayu. hihi.

lin is the sweetest, and always smiling while her husband bob is just one charming dude. perfectly lovely couple, with great sense of humor. amran is just the nicest, soft-spoken guy around, while fida is the dubai baker i always go for to get the most delicious cakes. last year i think we ordered about 4-5 cakes from fida for the boys’ birthdays – and ALL of them are carrot almond cake with cream cheese, nothing else!

most importantly, they are the kind of friends you can count on. i will forever remember that one fateful night away from mr. khairul, and had to sought help from these brothers and sisters of dubai. their help was unconditional, and was offered without the slightest hesitation. i am grateful to be in dubai with friends like these. alhamdulillah!

take care now, and keep in touch for we “meet new friends, but keep the old – one is silver, but the other one is gold.” till we meet again! *hugs*

Sumo : Japanese Food @ Town Center Jumeirah

2011-11-30T07:56:00.001-08:00

our favorite japanese restaurant in dubai is ‘sumo’. the food is delicious, the portion is huge, the service never disappoints, and the price is affordable – considering that japanese food in dubai is generally pretty expensive with small portion. we’ve been here so many times that our order is always the same :

chicken katsu for me. it’s basically chicken strips fried japanese style, served with japanese rice, and steamed veggie. it also includes a teriyaki sauce dipping which i don’t really like because it’s too sweet. i will always just ‘steal’ the dip from mr. khairul’s set!

i love the japanese fried chicken strip – crispy, crunchy and such juicy tender chicken meat inside. yum.

mr. khairul’s choice is always ‘tempura bento’. (bento means ‘meal served in a box’) there are shrimp tempura, veggie tempura and chicken teriyaki as well. the portion is, as always – huge and satisfying. the shrimp tempura is always fresh and the sweet teriyaki chicken juicy and delicious.

this is the sweet teriyaki chicken served in mr. khairul’s ‘tempura bento’. delicious, marinated to perfection.

wash down the delicious japanese dishes with japanese tea. mr. khairul likes this but me – no thanks! too bland for my taste! gimme teh o gula anytime!

this humble plate is ‘shrimp gyoza’ – a shrimp dumpling fried slightly on hot pan. you can also order a chicken one. i don’t really like dumpling because i don’t like the too-gooey-soft texture but this fried one is delicious.

because this one is a little fried, it has that slight brownish crispiness that adds flavor and texture to the dumpling. dip it in a japanese soy sauce – yummy!

* * *

usually we go to the ‘sumo’ branch in dubai media city as it’s nearer to our home. however, for a change of scenery, we decided to go further down to jumeirah beach road, and tried the branch in town center jumeirah. town center jumeirah is a small mall right next to mercato mall.

if you came from dubai marina, as you pass, you can clearly see the big blue neon signage that says ‘sumo’ on the side of the building. if you came from the other side, watch out for mercato mall, and sumo is right next door.

‘sumo’ in town center jumeirah is right smack in the middle of the ground floor. from the 1st floor, the restaurant looks amazing with the lights looking like little opened-up paper umbrellas.

the light above our head – like opened paper umbrella – nice!

unlike dubai media city branch, here there are more choices as how you want to be seated. there are normal square tables and chairs, there are booth seats, and then there are also the japanese-style seating area where there’s a hollow space under the table where you can sit cross-legged, or else put your feet under the table like you would when you normally sit at a table.

most comfy – spacious, and our boys can run around while we just sit cross-legged if we want to – one plus point for this branch

dubai media city don’t do this, but here in ‘sumo’ town center jumeirah, the boys are given activity paper mat and crayons just like when you’re in chillis or tgif – another plus point for this branch

why does this japanese boy look like my 2nd son kahfi? huhu

kazim took a sip of japanese tea

if you love simple straightforward japanese food (not fusion, not posh, not exotic) that offers big portion under reasonable price – head on to ‘sumo’. and if you want the japanese decor and ambiance, try the one at town center jumeirah.

otherwise, the one in dubai media city offers equally delicious food and warm friendly service. it’s just that it’s a smaller branch, and tables are close together which can be quite uncomfortable when it’s a full house. tapi makanan sama je sedap!

well, i don’t fancy japanese food, yet i love eating at ‘sumo’. go figure. itadakimasu! *selamat menjamu selera* ~bon appetit!

Puss in Boots : Where is the Shrek-Humor?

2011-11-28T13:58:00.000-08:00

i was disappointed. tak lawak sangat pun.

puss in boots is and forever will be so very, very adorable, but where is the charm and laugh-out-loud humor that we all love so much from the four shrek movies? it has none of the lawak gile one-liners. well, there are a few moments here and there, but here and there ONLY is NOT good for a movie that supposedly a prequel to all the shrek movies!

the movie is entertaining – super cute characters, entertaining fight-scenes and a few great scenes like at the giant’s castle, but no LOL moments…

just for the record, we take the boys out for movies only ONCE a year in dubai. the cinema ticket is SO not cheap to begin with (55dhs a piece! and if you watch the movies at posh malls like in dubai marina mall, it’d be more expensive) and throw in a couple more dirham for the popcorn-soda set – the whole cinematic experience in dubai is pretty expensive.

2008 – we watched madagascar
2009 – we watched cloudy with a chance of meatball
2010 – we watched megamind
and 2011 – its puss in boots

so, that being said, that’s why we go all out when we finally picked a ‘good’ movie to watch on imax 3D that will be worth it for us and the boys. this year it’s ‘puss in boots’.

like other times, we watched at grand megaplex ibn battuta mall – smaller mall, less crowd, and much closer to home. senang. also grand megaplex has better popcorns than cinestar. haha. more caramels, and it’s served hot and fresh! yums!

* * *

back to puss in boots.

ok i’m not saying that the movie is bad. it’s just that i had high expectations. yes, that’s it. i anticipated too much. my boys and i love shrek so much, that i’m just waiting for puss in boots to come out, knowing that it will be as funny and memorable as all the shrek movies.

i love you puss, but the movie is simply NOT as funny as it should. as if a totally different set of writers wrote the script, with none of the same type of jokes. the movie is SO cute, and that’s it. the only thing i find funny is the fact that it’s so difficult (and dangerous!) to have an adventure when you’re an egg. haha.

what i love :

only antonio banderas and salma hayek can build sexual tension with their cat characters!
the final scene with puss in boots was to me a reminiscent of a scene from the movie ‘zorro’ – which starred antonio banderas too! cute!
puss in boots is SO CUTE! SO SO CUTE!
as usual, the 3D effect is amazing

what i don’t :

incorporating fairy tales and nursery rhymes like beanstalk, and the old jack is all good but could’ve been better if there were more reference
it’s not as funny as it could be – shrek, donkey and puss team was so funny that you would expect puss to still be funny on his own, considering that it’s produced by the same company
i personally feel that if it wasn’t for puss being famous from the shrek movies, this movie would have been just another regular animation
when we’re watching kungfu panda, khaleef laughed like crazy at so many scenes. watching ‘puss in boots’ he only laughed at the part where they all fall down from the beanstalk screaming

my eldest boy khaleef

oh well…

at the end of the day, we all have loved the adorable puss in boots so much in shrek, that we will forgive him in this mediocre animation. i actually welcome a sequel to this ‘puss in boots’, in which i hoped there would be improvement on the humor department – ala shrek!

Sand, Wind & Desert Motocross @ Nazwa Dunes

2011-11-26T06:14:00.000-08:00

one of the fun things to do when you’re in a desert is riding a bike across sand dunes according to mr. khairul. but if you ask my sons, the best thing is to just roll down the sand. hoho. yesterday we did just that.

we went to nazwa – which is a lovely vast desert area along the main highway of hatta, dubai. here the locals and expats try dune bashing in their 4wds, quad biking and desert motocross.

* * *

the main reason we’re out here in the desert was mr. khairul’s plan to do some desert motocross with his friend john, who is pretty much a pro already. this is a good thing because desert motocross is no easy feat, and you need a good guide who knows his way around the desert, and is really experienced handling a bike on uneven desert sand.

desert motocross is pretty much like motocross, only you’re riding across the desert; with steep sand dunes and unpredictable corners and slopes. and this sand is desert sand, which means extremely soft and smooth grains – one wrong step, and you might find yourself stuck, deep in sand.

motocross is a form of motorcycle sport or all-terrain vehicle racing held on enclosed off road circuits. it was called scrambles, and later motocross, combining the french moto with cross-country. ~wikipedia

mr. khairul getting ready with full suit, boots and bike

mr. khairul with his back against the camera, and john – ready to conquer the dunes! (picture credit : michaella el-daghma’s fb album – thanks!)

i don’t know much about bikes – wait, i don’t know ANYTHING about bikes – but i was told this is a KTM bike, the one that mr. khairul and john used during the desert motocross. it’s a cool, lean machine and mr. khairul looks GOOD on it. rowr. haha.

mr. khairul all geared up! (picture credit : michaella el-daghma’s fb album – thanks!)

john rode off with mr. khairul in tow while john’s wife lai shan drove us to the desert spot where we’ll be camping while waiting for the boys.

being in a 4X4 across the desert is an adventure by itself! how miss spunky lai shan did it i might never want to know! haha. i couldn’t do it – driving a huge car up and down uneven sand, she was a trooper!

the boys enjoyed the extremely bumpy ride so much, like being on rollercoasters!

* * *

it was extremely beautiful, and extremely fun, with awesomely fine weather to top it off. the desert was a vast beauty of nature, sand and more sand as far as the eyes can see. i can only utter subhanallah, in awe of Allah’s creation.

the boys?

..they climb up the slopes, pretending to be survivors of some crash, and now are lost in the desert haha. stepping on sand while climbing is NOT as easy as it sounds! letih weh!

..they enjoyed the vast view through binoculars,

..they lay down on the sand. rolling around, and making sand angels! rambut penuh pasir!

other activities also include burying themselves in sand, running up and down the sand, picking up a handful of sand and see the soft grains fall from between their fingers and termakan pasir!

* * *

setting up camp for the night (picture credit : lai shan – thanks!)

apart from john and wife lai shan, we actually joined ‘the chapter dubai’, for this desert camping trip. they set up camp for the night, but john, lai shan, mr. khairul and i left the place after the boys were done with their desert motocross.

‘the chapter dubai’ is a group of motorcycle enthusiast (all the guys own harley davidsons), headed by the charming mr. marwan who warmly welcomed us into their circle. as someone who is new to riding harley davidson, mr. khairul welcomed their friendship to share experiences and gain knowledge, especially the tricks and turns of a harley!

(picture credit : lai shan - thanks!)

mr. khairul would’ve been fine about camping overnight at a desert, with nothing but sand and wind (since he’s a certified king’s scout) but i’m not much of an outdoor person! especially with such young kids, thanks but no thanks! huhu.

takpe honey, when they’re older you pegi camping dengan diorang je lah!

* * *

one of the cars got stuck in sand

* * *

..i found friendship in the middle of the desert!

with aussie nadine, and our feisty 4x4 ‘driver’ lai shan

ever so glad to hear manglish in the middle of dubai ~ with these lovely amoi; paige and lai shan

* * *

when there’s a campsite, there’s camp fire! the boys were so engrossed as they stared at the fire after an extremely tiring rolling around the desert.

the other guys brought vegetarian dishes which include a delicious veggie briyani while i brought nasi lemak! anyone for a little taste of malaysian food? i was more than glad to assemble the cucumber, anchovies, sambal and the works for the arab gentleman mr. marwan.

glad the malaysian girls enjoyed my nasi lemak – that’s more than i need! appreciate the love! hihi.

* * *

mr. khairul with sifu john

to john and wife lai shan, thanks for including us in this little adventure. mr. khairul thoroughly enjoyed the extreme desert motocross, though he complained of aches and bruises! it was indeed a rough tough sport, and NOT for those lacking in stamina and upper body strength!

the boys had a fantabulous time rolling around the desert, and we would definitely want to do this again. as long as no overnight camping ok! haha.

Islamic ABC Poem

2011-11-25T10:04:00.000-08:00

A is for Allah
Lord of the Universe, who is One,
He made the earth, stars, and sun
He made angels to worship and pray,
He made man from a dab of clay

B is for Bilal
Bilal is that tall, brave African man,
Islam freed him and gave him iman
Calling the Muslims to come and pray,
Was his duty each night and day

C is for Children
Black, white, red, yellow, and brown,
Better than the jewels in a crown
Laughing or crying, short or tall,
Allah loves children, one and all

D is for Du'a
Remembering Allah all nights and days,
By giving Him our thanks and praise
Thank Allah with "Al Hamdulillah"
And praise Him with "Subhanallah

E is for Earth
With its mountains, rivers, and seas,
Animals, birds, fruits, and trees
They all declare Allah's Might,
Following His laws, wills, and light

F is for Faith
That which the Muslims call Iman,
Is in the heart of the believing man
Will come from his lip and hand,
Love for Allah pouring out like sand

G is for Gabriel
An angel created by Allah from light,
His duty is to serve Allah all day and night
To Prophet Muhammad (S) he did appear,
To bring mankind the Holy Qur'an so dear

H is for Heaven
God's garden of joy, peace, and love,
The home for Muslim's souls above
The path to this heavenly place
Is faith in Allah's guidance and grace

I is for Islam
A way of life for all of who,
Give to Allah the praise that is due
We worship and pray five times a day,
Because we know it is the best way

J is for Jesus
Peace be upon him, 'Isa, the son of Maryam,
To his people Allah's word did he carry
By Allah's help he made the sick well,
So people would believe what he had to tell

K is for Ka'bah
First house of Allah in Makkah was made,
By Ibrahim and Isma'il the stones were laid
Millions of believers from every race,
Come for Hajj tot his extra special place

L is for Life
A precious gift from Allah to you,
Don't waste it, he knows what you do
Don't chase pleasure or forget Allah,
No matter how little, say "Al-Hamdulillah

M is for Muhammad
Peace be upon him, Abdullah's son,
From Allah's enemies he did not run
Of all the Prophets he was the last,
Islam his message which we hold fast

N is for Nuh
Peace be upon him, a Prophet who was very good,
Allah told him to build an ark, fast as he could
Take pairs of animals and the believers-all,
The flood was coming and the waves would be tall!

O is for Obedience
It is the duty of each Muslim to obey,
The Qur'an and the Sunnah all the way
Go for Hajj, give Zakah, fast, and pray,
And to your parents do not say, "Nay!"

P is for Prayer
It is the cornerstone of Muslim life,
And the devil it cuts like a knife
Prayer five times a day is a must,
In Allah you should put your trust

Q is for Qur'an
A blessing and guide for all of mankind,
In it Allah's message you will find
Of all His messages it is the last,
Perfect for present, future, and past

R is for Ramadan
For Muslims this blessed month of fasting,
Is to celebrate Allah's love everlasting
All day, no food, nor drink, nor evil deeds,
Pray and read Qur'an, to heaven this leads

S is for Surah
One hundred and fourteen in the Qur'an,
Read them and trust in Al-Rahman,
Do you know ten of them that you can say?
Knowing them will help you pray

T is for Tawheed
La ilaaha illallah, Allah is the only one,
There is no partner with Him, nor son
Alla is the answer to all that we need,
Watch your heart and tongue, He knows every deed

U is for Ummah
The Muslim community which Muhammad (S) found,
The brotherhood of Islam made it sound
Allah's laws in the Qur'an and Sunnah,
Are to help everyone in the Ummah

V is for Victory
It is the help from Allah to you,
His guidance in everything you do
Work and prayer a Muslim does need,
To celebrate Allah's victory, indeed!

W is for Wudu'
We must keep our minds and bodies clean,
Because by Allah we are always seen
Whenever you hear the call of athan,
Prepare and come pray as soon as you can

X is for "Seen" *
X is not easy for us to rhyme,
So we'll not waste much of your time
In higher math X is hard to find,
But Allah's path is clear even to the blind
(* the Arabic letter "seen" stands for the unknown)

Y is for Yunus
Peace be upon him, a good man in a wicked town,
He ran to the sea and a whale gobbled him down
By the mercy of Allah he was saved to tell,
His people to become good and obey Allah well

Z is for Zero-sin
It is the way we each begin,
Free from wordly sin
So, don't let yourself forget,
Keep out of the devil's threat!

i took this wonderful poem from a site called islamicpoem. many talented poets contributed their poems there, and such beautiful words weaved about the glorious Quran, our beloved prophet Muhammad SAW, and many more poems with islamic theme. check it out!

salam jumuah, everyone!

Rockin’ Bday : 1st Day Opening Hard Rock Cafe Dubai

2011-11-17T19:57:00.000-08:00

for khaleef’s 6th birthday, we rocked and rolled at hard rock cafe dubai on its first day opening! yeargh!

this is probably the most anticipated opening in dubai – the hard rock cafe dubai at sheikh zayed road had been closed in 2009, only to be transferred to the festival city dubai recently. the opening had been delayed for more than a year but it finally had a soft opening on the 16th, and officially opened to the public today after friday prayers – and we’re one of the first few customers!

this newly opened hard rock cafe dubai branch is the 2nd biggest in the world after the one in orlando, and it has the biggest merchandise store too. if i’m not mistaken, they would soon put a replica of a guitar at the entrance, and it would be the biggest in the world.

well, korang tau la dubai kan. semua nak biggest, tallest, first bla bla.. haha.

the entrance is beautiful, but will be complete with the biggest guitar in the world

* * *

spacious and high celing – comfy!

since the hard rock cafe dubai is one of the biggest there is, the interior says it all. spacious, long lines of tables, high ceiling, and a huge stage dominates the inside.

we took a seat right in front of the stage, and enjoyed ourselves with all the rockin’ video clips shown on a huge white screen on stage. we were told there would be a live band playing that night.

it was pretty loud, but i welcomed the noise as it drowned the noise from my own kiddos! we can pretty much let loose and just lepak!

* * *

nothing much to shout about regarding its menu – if you’re used to TGIF and chilli’s, hard rock cafe serves pretty much the same kinda food with some variations here and there. don’t get me wrong, i LOVE these kind of food hihi. some entrees, sandwiches, steaks and chops – the works.

we tried the entree first – named ‘jumbo combo’ of ‘hickory-smoked’ chicken wings, crispy deep-fried onion rings, juicy ‘tupelo’ chicken fingers and soft baked potato skin. there’s also ‘santa fe’ spring rolls (yang macam popiah tu) served in a tall bowl of salad. yummy.

this plate of savoury delights also include four types of dipping – i think they’re marinara sauce, sour cream, mustard and another delicious dip. what’s not to like? you can come to hard rock cafe dubai for this alone, and be full and entertained the entire time there.

a classic plate of fish and chips for me this time. teringin pulak! i’ve always preferred fish and chips fried in batter instead of bread crumbs, and hard rock cafe delivers it. i LOVE the batter – crunchy, thick enough to cover the fish and not oily. the fish was soft and deliciously tender. tartar sauce is a must, and theirs was thick and yummy.

this is a good plate of fish and chips, and would be perfect if the fries were fatter!

mr. khairul opted for a plate of lamb chops, served oddly enough with baked beans, coleslaw and fries. this is probably my first time seeing a plate of lamb chops served with baked beans, and coleslaw instead of mashed potato or steamed veggie. hmm. anyway, my take on it – there’s good and there’s bad.

the good is that the portion is HUGE. you can really share this plate as there are about 5-6 pieces of lamb chops. the texture is perfect. however, the bad is that the marinade is a little bit on the sweet side for me. i mean, sweet and succulent is all good, but shouldn’t be THAT sweet. but this is a personal thing, you guys might like the sweet taste.

it’s served with coleslaw, which is fine by me because i love coleslaw, but mr. khairul passed the coleslaw to me, as he preferred steamed veggie. again, this is all personal.

also, as usual there’d be a kid’s menu with selection from burgers to pizza and pasta. we chose the macaroni and cheese served with garlic bread. unfortunately, this is NOT a good dish. the dish was DRY. mac and cheese should be ooey and gooey with lots of cheese. this is just dry, and the cheese does NOT taste good. i don’t know what type of cheese sauce they used – it’s slightly bitter, really.

since khaleef is a huge pasta-fan, he wasn’t as choosy, and happily finished the mac and cheese. the only good thing about this dish was the garlic bread. soft.

* * *

since it’s the first day of its official grand opening, hard rock cafe has lined up few activities for the kids – a clown, face-painting and lotsa shaped balloons to give away.

first khaleef got a sword balloon, but when told that he’s the birthday boy, he got another hat balloon which looked so very cute! i love the balloon hat! kahfi and kazim got a snail and a poodle balloon each.

birthday boy looking snappy!

in the middle of it all, the staff of hard rock cafe dubai took the stage dancing and snapping away to upbeat songs that include the classic YMCA. it was an entertaining bit from the sporting staff, and a fun break for the kids as khaleef, kahfi and even kazim joined in to boogie!

i’m not sure whether this would be a daily thing, a weekend thing or just because it’s the first day of opening.

* * *

what’s hard rock cafe without all the rockin’ memorabilia? drums, guitars, jackets, dresses and even boots from celebrities donned the wall in glass cases. pictures of rock stars also graced the wall, in true hard rock cafe tradition.

biase la ni. korang pi hard rock cafe KL ngan penang pun bole nampak benda-benda ni. ntah ye ntah idak ye haha. kot-kot just duplicates of the real thing!

* * *

the best part of the day for birthday boy most definitely was when the hard rock cafe dubai staff surprised khaleef with a tall glass of 3-scooped ice-cream as a birthday thing. they sang ‘happy birthday’, and brought a plate of whipped cream with cherry on top. when khaleef bend down to bite the cherry, they stamped the plate of whip cream on his face! all in good fun!

the complimentary birthday ice-cream was absolutely yummy! THANKS hard rock cafe dubai!

the 2nd biggest hard rock store in the world after orlando

we had a great time – the staff were friendly, helpful and eager to please. the food were fairly delicious, and it was a fun, entertaining time at the hard rock cafe on its first opening day. hope this commendable service continues!

the store opens from 10am to 1am, while the restaurant opens after 1pm. enjoy!

My Prince Khaleef is 6ix

2011-11-15T09:06:00.000-08:00

my eldest boy turned 6 on 15/11/11.

khaleef is a strawberry-fan, so for his birthday, he requested for a strawberry cheesecake, very berry strawberry ice-cream from baskin robbins, and a berry banana smoothies. so very berry!

we didn’t do any kenduri harijadi (birthday party) this year with a big cake and lotsa guests – i just packed goodie bags for khaleef to bring to school for his classmates. and that night we just went out to JBR to get him a small cake, because this weekend there’s gonna be another hoopla.

*wink wink*

* * *

thank you BERRY much for the well-wishes!

* * *

happy birthday khaleef, may you always be in the loving protection of Allah ~ always here for you, mak, bapak and your brothers kahfi and kazim. we love you very much, abang long!

Fell Asleep on Metro? Fined AED300!

2011-11-13T06:30:00.000-08:00

imagine you’re fined RM300 for falling asleep on the LRT. imagine.

of all the times i had to take the LRT from gombak station to taman bahagia, i admit dozing off a few times on the train. travelling from one end to the other is not a short trip, so memang letih! but in malaysia, sleeping on LRT is allowed right? right?

however, you read right – AED300 fine for sleeping on trains, in dubai!

it all started when an american student fell asleep on the dubai metro, missed her stop, and was fined when she reached the final station. kesian gile. tak pasal-pasal kena saman just because she was sleeping on the train!

this is downright weird. people sleeps on public transportation all the time. sometimes (or even most of the time) it can’t be helped. when you’re tired, you’re tired. or maybe you’re not well. or you’re pregnant and sleep is part of the cycle. at times people can’t wait for the train to arrive so that they can get into the air-cond space and catch a few winks before arriving at their destination.

hmm. a new way for dubai to make money? the powers that be of dubai, PLEASE if you want so badly to FINE people for AED300, you’re better off taking it on SMOKERS.

just found out that dubai is implementing fines on people chewing gum on metro – just like in singapore – so take that ‘fine’ example further and implement fines on smoking in public places too! that would be fantastic.

anyway, back to fined-for-sleeping – the funny bit was when a couple of attendants cleared it up by saying that “..if a passenger falls sleep and snores or disturbs others - by drooling or falling over on to someone else's space - that can invite a fine. as long as they don't disturb other passengers when they sleep on the train, then it's OK.”

lemme get this straight – so apparently is IS okay to sleep but no

drooling - haha
snoring – what, an officer will just stand beside the sleeping passenger, listening and fine him as soon as he starts snoring? agak kelakar di situ
head-falling-on someone else’s shoulder – i admit this could really be a bother, but waking him/her up would be enough right? a fine is too much. after all, they’re not some perverts who are doing it on purpose!

there is a comment asking for a fine on people who “stepped on her clothes with their dirty shoes”. hellowww you’re in a PUBLIC transportation. with CROWDS. there are bound to be jostling of arms and knees. as long as they’re not pick-pockets and perverts taking advantage of closed space. tapi takkan ketiak passenger busuk pun nak report kat officer suruh dia fine orang ketiak busuk tu kan…

ok, so anyways, if i wanted to lentok my head manja-manja on my husband’s shoulder while on the metro, still kena fine ah?

to read full article, click here.

Turning 81 on 11/11/11

2011-11-11T05:01:00.000-08:00

my beloved tokwan turned 81 on this special date of multiple ones – 11/11/11. what a blessed day to be celebrating 81 years of good health (alhamdulillah!), wonderful family and contented in life. at 81, he is still manning his makan place in taiping; his specialty is making ice-kacang – yum!

tokwan is tokcik’s husband. ala, tokcik is very famous in my blog. haha. my grandma who owns a makan place in taiping, ‘selera desa’. drop by when you’re in taiping ok! i’ve written about it here and here.

a man of few words, but plenty of smiles and laughs. no doubt one of the nicest man you will ever have the pleasure in meeting.

tokwan with the love of his life the ever vogue tokcik, with their grandsons

happy 81st birthday, tokwan – may Allah grant tokwan many more years of health and wealth in rezeki and rahmat; in this world and the hereafter. amin!

Our 3rd Aidiladha in Dubai

2011-11-06T02:34:00.001-08:00

a short entry to wish everyone a blessed Aidiladha!

my eldest khaleef donning the mckk sampin this raya. this is the very sampin worn by his bapak during his schooldays. classic tu! following the footsteps of atuk, bapak and his pak ngah? we’ll see!

my naughty 2nd boy kahfi couldn’t keep a straight face when taking picture. lantak la mak bubuh jugak gamba yang kelam kabut ni. hoho. these days he completely refused to eat rice, but this morning he ate A LOT of lemang!

* lemang is glutinous rice cooked in bamboo with coconut milk – delicious!

my youngest prince kazim was being weird this morning as he kept wanting to wear the songkok (headgear) padehal during last eid syawal he kept pushing it away! unpredictable!

mr. khairul actually went back to malaysia for about a week, and came back with his mom’s chicken rendang. absolutely divine. i don’t know how to cook rendang, so having this means the world. when i heat it up this morning, the whole house was filled with the aroma of ‘raya’. best! thanks a bunch to my mother in law for her thoughts and effort!

* rendang is a spicy malay dish usually cooked using chicken or beef, and is an excellent partner with lemang.

bahulu! again, thanks to my mom-in-law for packin them. the whole family is a bahulu fan, so two huge packs of bahulu would probably be finished by the end of the week. if not by the end of the day. haha. the last time we went back to malaysia, my aunt cik packed a whole lot of bahulu and we ate ‘em all in one day in dubai. bahulu freaks!

*bahulu is a malay traditional sponge cake. yum!

malaysians in dubai solat hari raya at matrade office, al-shafeena building, in oud metha – this is always where we would have our annual malaysian gathering for solat aidilfitri or aidiladha. there are A LOT (really, a lot!) of malaysians in dubai but sometimes they pray with the locals and other expats at the mosques near their homes

the tables at the back are for pot luck dishes – this year there are plenty of goodies!

thanks dubai baker fida for the picture!

* * *

ok, enjoy the rest of aidiladha, people! may Allah grant us patience and courage to keep sacrificing for our religion, our family, our country. amin.