Of Camel Milk, Olive Flavoured Milk and Expensive Pastimes while Travelling

One of my favourite pasttimes whenever I'm overseas is buying groceries from the local supermarket or convenience store. There's just something about walking around aisles of goods, looking at what they have to offer and buying some items.

When I was in Bangkok last year, I had more than my fair share of Red Bull from the 7-11 nearby my hotel. Earlier this evening I went over to the nearby Pick n Save, opposite my hotel in Deira, Dubai to get my second bottle of camel milk, amongst other things.

I also bought a bottle of laban, yogurt in Arab (I think), and although it was unsweetened, I finished the entire bottle in one sitting. It was yummy indeed.

I had a little trouble looking for a regular (read:long) can of Original Flavour Pringles in a country obsessed with Salt and Vinegar potato chips so I got a can of "Light Aromas: Paprika with a touch of Olive extract" flavoured Pringles. The flavour seems to be the product of some mad food scientist's lab and if you don't like experimenting with different Pringles flavours, stay away from it

Then there's the other habit of buying expensive stuff and bringing them back to Malaysia, something that I picked up in last year's trip to Dubai. A friend of mine was asking about it (the habit) actually. I didn't answer that. Thinking back, the answer is not so much of "Because I can" but more of "Because it's Dubai, and I can"

I can hear that "Happy Mario!" Gameboy Micro calling my name from the Geekay shop at Deira City Centre. Not suprising, since the shopping centre is about a kilometre away. Altogether now, "Happy Mario!" GBM!

Tapenade...TA..PE..NA..DE.. People eat that!

Somewhere around this time last year, a couple of colleagues and I were put up in a rather posh hotel nearby the Mall of the Emirates, and within sight of the Burj. Coral Boutique Hotel...anyone?

The hotel, despite being rather new at the time (and having the distinction of being the first 5 star hotel in Dubai that DOES NOT serve alcohol), and having a rather limited menu, served up pretty good breakfast. The lunch and dinner items were good as well but imagine having like a handful of main dishes to rotate with for two weeks....you get the idea.

Anyways, back to breakfast. The hotel's cafe serves thin, hard bread and pastries accompanied with tapenade! Say what? Repeat after me... ta..pe..na..de. According to Wikipedia, it's a dish consisting of pureed or finely chopped olives, capers and olive oil.

It goes very well with the bread and until today, I'm still missing the feeling of eating tapenade. Maybe I should make a batch of that stuff myself. Now where can I find capers?

Speaking of the all things Middle East, my client from that region called up earlier. It was lunch time over there while I was already pushing 8 p.m. over here. I found out through our chat that the place she's located at hasn't seen rain since March. And we are having rather gloomy weather right here in Malaysia.

Now, on to things that are much closer to home, the kind people at Nuffnang (love the new logo) sent me 2 complimentary passes to Ratatouille! Nice, the only problem is it's a Monday to Thursday kind of pass, and I usually watch movies on weekends. But on a more positive note, I have two tickets, and you most likely don't, it does pay to be a Nuffnang exclusive blog eh? :)

With such a big blogosphere, I doubt any other recepients will be reading this lil' old blog of mine. Hehehe.

Sun, Sea, Sand and Jelly Fish

When I was in Dubai, I had the opportunity of seeing how jelly fish infested water looked like. The river separating Bur Dubai and Deira was filled with those beautiful but painful (if you touch their tails) creatures of various sizes, and most of them being pink in colour. I took a boat ride across the river to get to the Gold Souk and I remember loathing the thoughts of the boat sinking or being thrown overboard because it would meant swimming in that water.

I had the good fortune of witnessing jelly fish infestation again, but this time in a local beach. Unlike Dubai, the jelly fish that I saw measured around 30 to 40 cm in diameter!. Some of these huge creatures were beached and some were floating near the shore. The bulbous dome kinda reminded me of a Metroid; probably the game developers were inspired by jelly fish. One interesting note, I've been to this beach so many times in my life but I've only seen small jelly fish until yesterday.

I don't subscribe to the stereotype that all video gamers tend to be cooped up in their rooms but I do know some of people are that way (hence fueling the stereotype); so may I suggest a trip to the beach? Beaches aren't just about coconuts, coral and sea shells (ala Animal Crossing), go get some sun, meet new people, get some REAL sand in between your toes and get fascinate (and not stung) by jelly fish. If you can afford it, go wind surfing or jet-skiing.