I should’ve been born in the steamy streets of Havana’s Barrio Chino eating a spicy egg roll and washing it down with a cold minty mojito. I think I would’ve felt right at home dancing the conga or the mambo under the Asian lanterns that light the neighborhood of Havana’s uniquely flavor-fused, sui generis community known as Barrio Chino de la Habana or Havana’s Chinatown. Which is why you will understand when I tell you that I love Abu Dhabi’s newest restaurant Asia de Cuba. Continue reading “Asia de Cuba — Barrio Chino”→
Living in possibly the world’s glitziest city takes cash. Cold. Hard. Cash. There might be an oil field a few kilometers from my villa but I am not on the payroll. So therefore, we expats have to find ways to make the biggest splash with the least amount of cash — because this awesome lifestyle doesn’t come cheap! Those gold flaked cappuccinos… well, they don’t grow on trees.
The expat secret to living the luxury lifestyle can be found in one little book or now that we are in 2015, should I say, one little mobile app. And everyone knows it. It’s called The Entertainer. Continue reading “The Glamorous Life”→
No plans for NYE?!? How about the St. Regis at Abu Dhabi’s Nations Tower newest Chic, sophisticated, glamorous, witty and above all, fun, Asia de Cuba? Combining a high-energy environment with its Chino-Latino menu; intensely flavored, imaginatively prepared and ultimately celebratory. Rooted in the Chino-Latino cafes that dotted the streets–first of Havana, and then of Miami and New York, Asia de Cuba has created a style of food and service all its own. Havana’s Chinatown, El Barrio Chino de la Habana, is one of the oldest and largest in Latin America. Beginning in the late 19th century, 150,000 Chinese came to work the sugar and coffee plantations, many from Canton in the south. As both are near the Tropic of Cancer they share similar weather and climates, and so Chinese vegetables were able to thrive in the Cuban soil. In the next few decades, many Chinese immigrants from California settled in Cuba, bringing with them new techniques and recipes, like Fried Rice, further improved by the island’s abundant shellfish.
I love all things Cuba and all things China….I’m definitely interested. How about you?
The itinerary of the Evening:
6:00pm – 8:00pm
DINING AREA A la Carte
9:30pm
DINING AREA (indoor): AED 850 per person
3 course meal with items chosen from a seasonal la carte menu
Unlimited selection of premium beverages
Dine indoor and party on the beach deck, enjoying the fireworks at midnight and our resident DJ all night.
BEACH DECK AREA (Outdoor):
Party on the beach deck, enjoying the fireworks at midnight and our resident DJ all night
Cabanas – AED 6000 minimum, for 6 people. Extra person @ AED 800 per person
Loungers – AED 6500 minimum, for 8 people. Extra person @ AED 800 per person
Pergola – AED 10,000 minimum, for 12 people. Extra person @ AED 800 per person
Welcome Fruit and Cheese Platter
Ceviche, Salad and Hot Appetizer Platters
Unlimited selection of premium beverages
STANDING BAR: AED 550 per person
Unlimited selection of premium beverages at the bar or cocktail tables.
Entertainment:
Spinning live all night is our Resident DJ – Marise Cardoso from Brazil
The Abu Dhabi PTA was invited to the iPilot grand opening at Yas Mall; and of course, we accepted because when else will we have the opportunity to fly an Airbus 380….in the mall? Never. So we went.
We arrived at the little iPilot office which is conveniently located near Cheesecake Factory for our flight simulation experience. The design was very airport like. The flight attendant greeting us looked just as spiffy as any Etihad or Emirate attendant and was accommodating too ushering us into the cockpit of what looked like a REAL PLANE!
Here’s what the company has to say on their website, “At iPILOT we enable you to fulfill your dream of being the Pilot of a Boeing 737 or an Airbus A380. Our simulators are so real that Pilots can train in them. They offer a total immersion experience with a fully enclosed Cockpit. You can take off and land to any of over 24 000 Airports around the World, with Hong Kong Kai Tak and St. Maarten being firm Favorites. Our Instructors, many of which are Experienced Pilots, guide our Customers through this experience of a lifetime. iPILOT has been featured by CNN, The Sunday Times, BBC London, The Observer, German TV Sat 1 and RTL. It has been voted by Sunday Times Travel as one of the hottest things to do… Book Your Flight Experience Today!”
Maha was dressed for the occasion. Sporting her usual uniform of heels, Bebe top, and ripped cool jeans; she was ready to take on any of the 24,000 airports mentioned above. Of course there is always a pilot and then a co-pilot; so we agreed to take turns. I would take off and Maha would land. As it mentions in the company info it FEELS like a real plane. Not that I have ever sat in a real plane cockpit but let’s just say, it’s a plane, in a mall, and it fooled me. All the buttons, and lights, and gears, and even a working headset so Maha and I could communicate our flight patterns. That’s industry talk. I know. You won’t get it until you too have had the iPilot experience 🙂
So we were prepped on the important stuff and then practically left on our own to guide the big bird into the air. I must say it is quite the sight to see a well-dressed woman behind the controls of an airplane. Yes, the UAE does have the famous female pilot Major Mariam Al Mansouri, but she wasn’t wearing stilletos and ripped cool jeans while flying an Airbus A380, which I was informed, is the big monster double decker of a plane. The whole experience was a little surreal. I felt the motion of the plane as I guided it off of the runway and up into the air. I managed to not harm anyone on board or take out any high-rise buildings in the process. I turned the controls over to Maha and she steered the plane in for the landing. We waved hello to the Burj Khalifa as we speed past enroute home. Two chicks. Two PTA moms. Bringing a big giant plane in for a safe landing. What an experience! We looked at each other as we were leaving and said, “Our husbands would love this!” Go and fulfill your dream of being an airline pilot. Go experience it for yourself. What a great gift to give for the holidays.
iPilot at Yas Mall is now open and there is currently a Groupon offer available. For more information on iPilot please visit their UAE website for general information or stop by and visit them at Yas Mall.
Yes, Christmas in the Middle East sounds like an oxymoron — and a little far fetched I agree. I too was blown away when I laid my eyes on my first Christmas tree. And of course, in full UAE style, there’s never just a simple Christmas tree but instead holiday sequoia-like trees that are three stories high and decorated by highly qualified Indian engineers. They spring up overnight immaculately decorated from top to bottom with an elaborate Santa village and dancing Filipino elves singing at the top of their lungs while enthusiastically pulling the willing into Santa’s house for a chat with the breaded guy. Even in the Middle East there’s a fascination with Christmas and all of the festivities; the colors, the baking, the snow, the giving. It’s the magic of the holiday and you don’t have to believe to participate. Muslims, Hindus, Shinto and Buddhist lined up in long queues to snap a pic and share in the joy.
This weekend we attended our first Carols in the Desert which has become an Abu Dhabi tradition for expats and some locals to drive 45 minutes into the middle of the desert to cook, dance, sing, and camp. This year over 2,000 people attended making the place look sort of like a festive refugee camp with the barren desert dotted with family camps spread over a large area of sand dunes. We arrived past dark without any idea of where we were going. Dragging a rolling Nascar cooler through the sand, up the dunes and stopped just as we crested the top only to find our friends had given up at the very same spot. Unable to see, unable to walk, we all decided this looks like a good spot. Since I had never attended I had no idea what to expect. Our Arizona friends, remember them, the Partridge Family of the Middle East? They were there of course because they will bust out in a song and strumming a guitar at any given opportunity. I could faintly hear them jamming away on the other side of the camp. In fact, many of my friends were there but it was so dark you couldn’t see. Hello. Hello. Hello. You could scream into the pitch dark night. Everyone around us was keeping a close eye on their small children for fear they would wander off and end up as camel food.
My friend Kerstin brought along ginormous marshmallows and they were the talk of the festive refugee camp. Never knowing what will be the conversation piece that pulls people together from the far corners of the desert, I was not surprised that it was the incredible hunk of gooeyness that was on the end of our camp fire stick. “Where’d you get those marshmallows? They’re like incredible. They’re like on steroids. They’re like a science experiment. They’re like the size of my bra cup. They’re like the size of my jock cup. They’re like a two-day meal. They’re like swelling up in my belly and I am not feeling so well.” Looking back on the event, I believe if I had a little more insight I would’ve definitely been better prepared for the Carols in the Desert. I would’ve made sure I had on a costume. Maybe a Grinch or a Mrs. Claus. I would’ve brought a lighted Jedi sword, a headlamp with an adjustable strap, popcorn, glow sticks, a pop-up tent, and maybe a glow in the dark frisbee. I believe that could possibly make Carols in the Desert an extraordinary event. There’s always next year and many opportunities in between to practice for perfecting the practice of being a festive refugee.
This is a part of a featured series highlighting businesses, events, services and products around the Capital that I love. They will be featured at the top of the blog. Please give these merchants a try. I did and I loved them! If I didn’t they won’t be featured. Promise! 🙂
I’m going to say it out loud right now, “I think you should go to Le Royal Meridien’s Friday brunch at Market Kitchen this weekend!”
First let me tell you, if you haven’t been to Le Royal Meridien lately you should go because the recent remodel is fantastic! It reminds me of California… yet infused with Italian design. It’s chic. It’s comfortable. It is unpretentiously suave. It lifts me to a higher standard without making me feel like I don’t belong.
As my 10 year-old son said, ‘Mom, I want to live in this restaurant.” The decor has that kind of welcoming balance.
Another reason why I love it so much. Because sometimes you want to have brunch without balloon art on your head, or someone spinning plates on a stick, or a petting zoo. (but if you got to have this type of thing it is located right down the hall complete with bubble machine and face painting for the kids or you I guess if you’re that sort of person).
Sometimes you want to sit with friends or business associates and have great food with fantastic cocktails and pleasant conversation — without the feeling of being in a mass horde of hungry wildebeests. If this is the case, then please visit The Market Kitchen because I did and I really enjoyed the change.
Did I mention the cocktails and the mocktails? If I didn’t shame on me! No lie. Hands down. And I am not joking you. Le Royal Meridien offers the best tasting cocktails in Abu Dhabi. If another hotel/restaurant/club wants to challenge this…bring it on, but I am here to say that the cock/mocktails are the freshiest and most inventive drinks I’ve tasted during my time here in Abu Dhabi. Cucumber martini, lychee raspberry, bellinis, ginger margaritas…yum! yum!
Now onto the brunch. First, it is not a buffet style brunch. It is a seated, shared, farm-to-table menu which means it will change every week. The brunch is offered as a set 4 course menu. A little different for us here in the land of over-the-top competitive brunches. After the bread and the drinks, came the first course appetizers, and although I wasn’t a huge fan of the tartare, my husband is always in the mood for sushi and we all loved the calamari. It was light and fresh and perfectly fried with a fabulous little lemon rosemary dip.
On to the second course, which, by the way had my boys at Hello; Steak, burgers, pizza and for me a tomato soup. Need I say more? Nope, but I will. It was tasty and we gobbled it up. You can never go wrong with a mini cheese pizza. And tomato soup is always one of my favorites. The little steak and egg stack was a nice surprise and an interesting chef creation. Yummy and interesting — definitely a good combination. And of course, every little person needs the option of resorting to a burger and fries if they want to go with something familiar; and so the Market Kitchen graciously obliged. (Please overlook strange expression on child)
For the main course, we were presented with a wooden serving board of meat dishes for sharing along with an array of dipping sauces for grilled fillet of beef, parmesan crusted chicken, and a side order of grilled fish; they all were delicious. The sides were the familiar staples that you find around your own dining table: mashed potatoes, broccoli, mac and cheese, except with a creative twist and the juicy fact that you will not have to cook it. The truth is I felt like I was at home with friends or family passing around our family favorites. The good thing is if any of these dishes do not make your mouth water then you can order from a selection of others off of another preset menu. It’s that simple.
To finish our experience off we were served a trio of desserts. Warm chocolate cake with a fudge filling, a warm apple crumb cobbler, and the market cheesecake with a side of berries. We finished the feast with a couple of cappuccinos and determined that this definitely deserved a return visit with either friends or for a business lunch for my husband. What makes the Market Kitchen so special is the management and the staff who are there to make sure your experience is a good one. I cannot rave about this anymore. Please go for yourself. Go this weekend!
Market Kitchen Brunch Friday from 12.30pm to 4.00pm
Cost: 250 with Mocktails, 350 with signature cocktails/wine and 450 with champagne
Although this is a sponsored post I can assure you these views are my own. I am a fan of the Market Kitchen and Le Royal Meridien Hotel and love sharing experiences that I enjoy.
A big thank you to the staff and management for your kindness and hospitality.
We arrive in a limo jet with the clothes on our back. Oh, my, God, this place is hot! we say through perspiration. We heat ramen noodles in the hotel sink while we adjust to the noise, and the smells, and the scene. “Why did you bring me here!” we shout to our spouse. I need something familiar, I need my good friends, and I need my mother! We rush to organize paperwork we don’t understand. You need what?!? I just gave you that now you need it again? I need to talk to what man? I can’t understand him. This is not how we do it in my country. We form lines and queues. Why did you butt ahead of me? Come on, I need this paperwork by next week or the school is going to kick my kid onto the street!
SEPTEMBER
We are still waiting on paperwork and heating ramen noodles in the hotel sink. Yes, our lives look fabulous as we lay by the pool but what else is there to do when we don’t have a clue? We are completely lost in a land we don’t understand. So don’t hate us as we hang out in a grand hotel and gather our brains that have turned to complete mush, while we fight to pull it all together in a system we do not trust. This is complete idiocracy we silently scream as we shake our fist to the man behind the counter. Will I ever have my identity back? My passport, my visa, my license too? We are down to a plea as we cry to the man. The kids are tugging our legs as they cry too. Please have some sympathy for us this place feels like a zoo.
OCTOBER
Ahhh, we have chosen a villa and our shipment will come soon. You have 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms and maid’s room? You think we live grand but our neighbors are junk collectors who slaughter goats in their garden as our kids peer from their bedroom window crying out to stop them. We did not sign up for this. This is not the suburbs. People do not own peacocks, and 10 puppies, and erect large privacy screens 30 feet high, so we cannot accidentally catch a glimpse of their wives thigh. We lived in neighborhoods, and threw block parties, and mowed our grass. We shared power tools and shared gossip about what was going on about town, so please forgive us if we seem a little shocked, because this is not how its done where we are from and we need a little time to adjust to the goat slaughtering, the smell of curry and the ungodly heat of the sun.
NOVEMBER
Vroom vroom! This town is going crazy because the F1 is coming soon. People are talking, the place is buzzing, and we starting to get used to it now. We have our visas, our villas, our license, and our Emirates ID too. We feel like a person again and we are ready to have some fun too. The concerts are the hot topic; who is coming, who is going and how do we get the tickets. Our kids have friends and we have made some lovely parents from school. We are no longer crying for our mothers or our friends from back home, we are organizing Harvest Festivals, searching for canned pumpkin and making plans for Thanksgiving. We took a deep breath and started to get in the swing, we now have internet, TV and our preferred mobile phone. We are starting to like it here and not missing home.
DECEMBER
What the heck just happened? They are erecting Christmas lights! It looks really festive, this is really weird. Why would a Muslim country erect Christmas lights and sell Christmas trees? This is not what I learned from TV. Ahh, it’s not Christmas lights its the UAE National Day. This place will get crazy just like Mardi Gras; except it is all about the UAE and the celebration of its founding. We dress in crazy clothes, we eat traditional food, and we pet camels. There is a huge parade and the cars are decorated. It’s all about the UAE and how far it has come, while still hanging onto tradition and just having fun. We start to feel like we are apart of something different and that’s okay. We are beginning to feel like an expat in a good way. People are talking about holiday break and where they will go. The newbies will race home to celebrate Christmas with family, while the seasoned expats take off to Rome, or to some other far away place on the globe; and send their family a note to meet us over here instead of grabbing a plane to go home.
JANUARY
Whew! We all return from holiday vacation and we are recharged to tackle this country with new gusto. The weather is fabulous and now we are hooked. We can finally see it’s a wonderful life if we can overlook the disorganization, the drivers, and the kooky stuff. We’ve decided we like this place and the people as well. Being an expat is kind of neat. The people are inviting, and our kids love it here too. Living on the beach is fantastic and trying new food is easy when you live in a country so culturally diverse. January is the month to just kick back and relax and take in all the beauty this life offers us up. We swap stories of the countries we’ve visited and the people we’ve met and how to squeeze out every last drop of our newfound adventure and our new attitude.
FEBRUARY
We continue to bask in the beauty of it all and talk about far away places as we hang out on the beach sipping cocktails and listening to jazz, wishing we could share it with the people back home, if they’d just climb on a plane come visit us here. There’s nothing to fear it’s a safe place we say to them. Turn off your TV and listen to me. They have no idea how big this world is and the enormous beauty we see, as we try to wrap our arms around it all. It’s hard to explain to the people who can’t see it and we would love to share just one day with them. Please get on a plane before the weather gets hot. We beg for them to visit but many do not.
MARCH
The weather is still beautiful and we are enjoying this magical place. Someone is playing bagpipes on the beach. How awesome can that be? We take seaplane tours, we take desert safari trips, we take the kids to the sand dunes. We drive to Dubai, we go to Oman, we talk about the camel beauty contest and the camel races, we eat, we dance and we meet new people too. We join sewing classes, we taking cooking lessons on the beach. We drink gold cappuccino and take Mosque tours, we take helicopter rides and go to the zoo. We absorb everything this country offers and more as we count down the days that weather allows us to play.
APRIL
April is all about spring break. Where are you going? We organize with our friends. I think we’ll go to Thailand. I’m sorry but we’ve already been. Have you been to the Seychelles? We ask our friends. What side of the island has the strongest currents, should we stay in a resort or rent a villa? What country has the best food? Korea or Bali is what I have heard. We may go to Australia someone else said. No, you must go to Singapore if you haven’t already been. I know we seem like a bunch of spoiled children but what would you do if you were in our shoes? Wouldn’t you jump on a plane and go visit all these places if they were right there at your finger tips too?
MAY
Here comes the heat. We are limited now. We are beginning to wander back to the malls to catch a movie or an indoor ski slope, next door to Cheesecake Factory and the place that sells fizzy soap. We head to Adventure Headquarters and jump on the trampoline or just take a stroll, through the manmade entertainment that the UAE offers, to amuse us while the sun heats up to unbearable temps. The Emirates Palace, the Burj Khalifa and the Burj Al Arab are just a few of the places we visit we it’s hot to keep us busy during the indoor season.
JUNE
We feel our lives winding down as we begin to finalize plans for the summer. Where we are going and who will see. How many cities will we visit and how long will it be? Who can fit us into their homes for more than a week? We are very excited to see our families and tell them about our lives in the UAE. It feels like an eternity since we moved across the globe and away from our homelands. How much we have changed and how small the world has become. We may sound like blue bloods as we tell our stories of things that many will never see, but to be honest, nothing feels as good as being home with our families.
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For working in miserably hot conditions that would make others crumble. For leaving your families for an opportunity that some cannot comprehend. For all of the difficult work you do to make our lives more enjoyable.
Thank you for cleaning the toilets. The floors. The laundry. The sidewalks. The dishes.
Thank you for being kind.
The kind of person we feel comfortable allowing into our homes, our lives, and into the hearts of our children. The kind of person who has our best interest at heart. The kind of person we will miss when we return home. The kind stranger that does their job with a smile on their face.
Thank you for being that kind of person.
Thank you for being there.
There to carry our groceries and to clean our pools. To wash our windows and our car. To drive us around. There to manage the things that make our lives possible. To maintain all things that seem impossible. Being there to do the mundane. As we sometimes pass by without seeing you.
Thank you for being where you are needed.
Thank you for doing that thing.
That thing that is beyond understanding. The thing that springs from the ground and becomes a community before our eyes. The thing that nobody else really wants to do and the things you don’t fully understand. The things that we need but don’t realize it. The things you do knowing it will not be appreciated or acknowledged.
The things that make a difference.
Thank you for giving us a gift.
A little glimpse of the globe and a better understanding of our place in the world. Thank you for extending a helping hand with only the best intention. Thank you for the new definition of community and the lesson in compassion.
Thank you for your work which has created our beautiful memories.
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Last week I was invited to a cocktail/mocktail master mixology class for bloggers. I must admit it was my first mixer and Samia, one of the PTA girls, agreed to join me representing the mocktail to my cocktail.
I had recently changed to a new medication which was leaving me feeling as disoriented as a sea-sick cruise passenger. I decided that maybe I should spare myself any embarrassment and cancel. So I sent Charlie the organizer a note. “I am sorry. Can’t come. In the process of letting new meds equilibrate. Not keen on making a fool of myself and since I cannot say no to a tasty cocktail, I must cancel.” Charlie responds, “Please come cocktails are tasty.”
So I went. I took a taxi to Samia’s place and she drove us to The Meridien Abu Dhabi which is the wrong hotel. Not the wrong hotel if you want to try out the new Greek restaurant (Opa!) but the wrong hotel if you’re going to join the bloggers at the Market Kitchen.
We drove a few minutes up the street to Le Royal Meridien home of the master mixology.
What a beautiful hotel. Unfortunately, in my time here in Abu Dhabi I have completely overlooked this fabulous hotel and all of its wonderful restaurants. Since we arrived late I wasn’t able to see the swimming pool which is a huge disappointment to me because I am on an official search for the most fabulous pools in Abu Dhabi. Hint. Hint. Le Royal Meridien.
I will also say, that my friend Laura used Le Royal Meridien to cater her masquerade party which was fabulous and the talk of the town for several days afterward.
Anyway, Samia and I climbed the stairs to this little bar above Market Kitchen which resembled the living room of my Italian aunt. If I were Italian and I had an aunt. It was super cozy, softly lit and the perfect place for an intimate evening. All around the place oozed Italian comfort. And the bar smelled like all of the fresh fruits we were going to use to concoct our mixology drinks.
From the beginning I knew things were going to be tricky because I was the only American at mixology. Samia is Canadian/Pakistani married to an American/British Pakistani. So she has the ethnic-mixology to converse that I do not. I should say thank you Samia for knowing Urdu. We would’ve been stuck in the lost corridors of Abu Dhabi without it. So I started the mixology night off not understanding anything anyone was saying. Could be due to the meds. Could be due to the fact that most of the other bloggers were British and although we share the English language we usually cannot share a conversation. I laugh as if I understand what they are saying and hope that they are not describing the recent event of their grandmother’s funeral. Life is not easy in a multicultural, ethnically blended city.
Anyway, Samia jumps into this mixology like she’s one of the crew. She’s chatting everyone up like she’s known them all her life. She’s like that regardless of where you take her. And there I was woozy on my prescription meds. “Gina I think you should go behind the bar and mix up a few drinks.” Samia said with her usual chatty smile which convinces you that everything is a good idea. I stumble by the bar past Bruno Valentino to begin my class in mixoloy when it occurs to me that there couldn’t be a more perfect name for the person who is hosting a mixology at an Italian restaurant than Bruno Valentino. Perfect. Although, now that I think about it, Bruno would be even more perfect as a silent Hollywood film star except those days are gone. Too bad for Bruno.
You might be expecting that due to my meds, limited communication with my cohorts, and the dark lighting of the venue that this blog post will end in a huge debacle and otherwise total failure. But it did not. It was an absolute success. Regardless of not understanding instruction or knowing what I was doing, both Samia and I managed to whip up some very tasty cocktails and mocktails. The rest of the evening was dedicated to eating some fantastic appetizers and drinking the very tasty drinks that I was promised. I will assure you that regardless of cooking skill, current medication routine or your ability to communicate, you too can mix up these tasty drinks. Give it a try.
Although I will remind you if you would like to visit and try the entire collection of fantastic cocktails from the masters please visit Market Kitchen at Le Royal Meridien Abu Dhabi.
I must say it was a great event and the Market Place is a lovely place to get together with friends new and old, and also with those you cannot understand. It makes an evening far more entertaining.
Thank you very much Mr. Bruno Valentino and the entire staff of Market Kitchen Le Royal Meridien Abu Dhabi.
The Market Kitchen has shared a few of the fabulous recipes for us to try at home….and when you’re finished mixing please invite me over.
COCKTAILS. Cucumber Martini
2 oz. Hendricks gin
0.75 oz. fresh lemon juice
0.75 oz simple syrup
2 cucumber slices
2 mint leaves
Cucumber wheel and small mint leaf garnish
Muddle cucumber, mint, lemon juice, and syrup. Add gin.
Shake and double strain into chilled martini coupe.
Garnish with a cucumber wheel and small mint leaf
Ginger Margarita
1 vol oz Sauza Hornitos Reposado Tequila
1.5 vol oz Ginger syrup
.5 vol oz Cointreau
1 rim ginger salt
1 lime wedge
Rim rocks glass with ginger salt and fill with ice.
Pour all liquids into a mixing glass. Shake. Strain over fresh ice.
Squeeze lime wedge and drop into glass
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MOCKTAILS.
Cucumber Mint Swizzle
2.5oz fresh mint tea
0.5oz lemon juice
0.75oz simple syrup
0.25oz ginger syrup
1 barspoon chopped green apple
2 slice cucumber
6 mint leaves
Muddle mint, apple, cucumber
Add tea, lemon juice, ginger and simple syrup in a highball.
Fill highball halfway with crushed ice and swizzle until glass is frosty.
Fill the rest of the glass with crushed ice.
Garnish with mint sprig and cucumber slice
Strawberry Chamomile
0.5oz elderflower syrup
0.25oz simple syrup
0.25oz ginger base
2oz chamomile tea
3 strawberries
3 mint leaves in the shake
Orange and lemon wedge in the shake
Muddle strawberry with simple syrup and ginger base.
Add elderflower and chamomile
Add slapped mint leaves and orange and lemon wedges
Ice shaker and hard shake.
Strain into a cocktail coupe
Garnish with spanked mint leaf
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Kumquat Muddle
2oz sour orange
6 halved kumquats
6-8 mint leaf
Soda water
Muddle and dump into highball
Fill with ice and top with soda
Squeeze lime and drop into glass. Gentle stir.
Add 1.5 oz of Bacardi Light Rum for a Kumquats Mojito
Sour Orange
Combine all the below
8 Vol oz Fresh lime juice
8 Vol oz Fresh lemon juice
8 Vol oz Fresh orange juice
6 Vol oz Simple syrup
6 Vol oz Elderflower syrup
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Living in possibly the world’s glitziest city takes cash. Cold. Hard. Cash. There might be an oil field a few kilometers from my villa but I am not on the payroll. So therefore, we expats have to find ways to make the biggest splash with the least amount of cash — because this awesome lifestyle doesn’t come cheap! Those gold flaked cappuccinos… well, they don’t grow on trees.
The Abu Dhabi PTA was invited to the iPilot grand opening at Yas Mall; and of course, we accepted because when else will we have the opportunity to fly an Airbus 380….in the mall? Never. So we went.
Yes, Christmas in the Middle East sounds like an oxymoron — and a little far fetched I agree. I too was blown away when I laid my eyes on my first Christmas tree. And of course, in full UAE style, there’s never just a simple Christmas tree but instead holiday sequoia-like trees that are three stories high and decorated by highly qualified Indian engineers. They spring up overnight immaculately decorated from top to bottom with an elaborate Santa village and dancing Filipino elves singing at the top of their lungs while enthusiastically pulling the willing into Santa’s house for a chat with the breaded guy. Even in the Middle East there’s a fascination with Christmas and all of the festivities; the colors, the baking, the snow, the giving. It’s the magic of the holiday and you don’t have to believe to participate. Muslims, Hindus, Shinto and Buddhist lined up in long queues to snap a pic and share in the joy.
theabudhabipta.com 