Our Dubai "Adventure"

A Evening Stroll @ Dubai Marina

2008-12-07T13:31:00.001-08:00

After dinner at MOE, and since the weather is nice and cool, we decided to go for a stroll at Dubai Marina.

Hannah enjoying her apple juice....

....and Grace enjoying her pacifier...!

Here's a nice pix of the 2 sisters together....

One for the Album....

2008-12-07T13:18:00.001-08:00

Our little girl is growing up really fast....we didn't let her go out to the balcony because of the dusty ground and told her that she couldn't go out because she didn't wear shoes....next thing we knew, she took my shoes, put them on and started walking out to the balcony!

Look at her cute little legs!!

Here's Hannah trying to help with the grocery basket!!
"...it's tough helping mummy carry the grocery bag....but somebody's got to do it...!!"

Hannah's First McDonald's Happy Meal!!

2008-12-07T13:13:00.001-08:00

Hannah had her first Happy Meal two days ago!! She didn't quite finished her chicken nuggets, but nevertheless, she was happy with her apple juice and her madagascar2's penguin.

(honestly, I think she was more fascinated by the little box that she could carry around with her)

COSTA

2008-12-07T13:02:00.001-08:00

This coffee chain is like your coffee bean or star bucks back home in malaysia....you find it almost every where in Dubai. So, we decided we must try the coffee here at least once....

We ordered the cafe mocha, medium size and it was really huge. Price also very EX as well @ 22dh per cup!! Was nice but didn't think it was worth the $$. First and last for us....unless someone decides to treat us!! hehe....
We. the coffee addicts!! See how huge the MUG was....

Black Pepper Beef with Pickled Carrots & Cucumber

2008-12-04T05:52:00.000-08:00

Baskin Robbins

2008-12-02T12:59:00.000-08:00

2/12/2008

Today, we've tasted the Maui Chocolate Brownie Yoghurt Ice Cream (I think this is the name) with M&M's toppings. VERDICT - quite mediocre in taste - tasted a few brownies here and there. Nevertheless, it satisfies my chocolate cravings.....got rid of my headache that I had the entire day due to disrupted sleep during the night before.

17/10/08

The first ice cream we had since landing in Dubai - this flavour was featured - was called Candyman. It has pretty everything inside, candies, nuts, chips, etc. For those who are kiasu and want everything in their ice cream.....

VERDICT: I personally liked this (have to admit, i'm a bit kiasu)....like the different sensations that comes with nuts, choc chips and coated candies.....

Lebanese Fast Food - BEIRUT

2008-12-02T12:46:00.001-08:00

This pix was taken at Sahara Mall, Sharjah. We had another lebanese meal (have to ask hubby what was this....will update post once i get the info). Overall, lots of meat in the filling....not one of my favourites, though. But the bread was different.

On the way to Sharjah...

2008-12-02T12:36:00.001-08:00

We took a drive to the next emirate, Sharjah, this evening. It's a holiday today - UAE's National Day. It was about an hour's drive away (actually, it's faster without the traffic jam). Many ppl working in Dubai stay in Sharjah as the rental was way much lower - so, ppl preferred to travel about 2 to 3 hours a day (to and from) to work every day unless they leave at 4am in the morning - this will cut their travel time by at least half.

Interestingly, this building caught our eyes.....Arabian Jerusalem Co. Not sure what kind of business they operate.....

Lebanese Cuisine

2008-12-02T12:28:00.000-08:00

If you have been following our blog, you can see that we are kinda "in love" with Lebanese food. We've been trying a few restaurants within International City and hopefully, we are able to try most of the items on the menu. It's pretty standard in all the restaurant - there's zaatar, there's halloumi, hummus, shawarma, etc....

The below is chicken shawarma and hummus with meat and pine nuts.
The food was nice but the service was....uh...let's put it this way, below expectations - we won't be visiting this shop again for sure....

Chicken Biriyani - Authentic Indian Cuisine

2008-12-01T12:28:00.000-08:00

Hubby is exceptionally partial to this Chicken Biriyani - home delivery here is very common and they don't charge delivery fees....so we ordered in this meal for 15dh (enuff for both of us) last weekend. It's unlike the briyani that we know back in Malaysia - we personally like this better as it has less oil, so the flavour of the spices comes out better, can be savoured....wonderful. It comes with a yogurt dressing and some salad. And the rice is basmati rice...

An Evening of Fun-Filled Adventure for Hannah!

2008-12-01T11:54:00.000-08:00

It was one of those lazy Friday mornings that we decided to rest at home till we were ready to go out...little did we know that when we stepped out of our apartment that evening, it was fun and excitement all the way esp for Hannah.

We went to Deira City Centre for dinner at the food court. Next to the food court was Magic Planet - an amusement park!! So, Hannah couldn't concentrate on eating her dinner - halfway thru, tak boleh tahan, she pulled her daddy towards that direction. Obviously, most of the games did not really suit her....so, in the end, she was pretty satisfied sitting on the horse...

....and steering the "ship"!

Now, after that was done, it was still quite early - so we decided to drive to Mirdiff Mall for a quiet walk in the open air mall. When we reached there, we were surprised to see a "FunFair" being held there!! This time, Hannah was able to play many of the rides. First, it was the merry go round - we weren't sure if she was ok to sit alone by herself in the merry go round. Boy, were we wrong - she totally enjoyed herself and even made "friends" with the girl sitting next to her!Then, it was the little car ride that spins round, up and down....
Next, it was the spinning tea cup - Mummy must have some of the fun so she joined Hannah in the tea cup....
And finally, it was the bumper car ride with Daddy.....
You can see that she was not expecting this car ride to be so....uh...."bumpy"....see her crouching under her Daddy's arms.... she didn't cry because she asked to sit on this ride....hehe..poor girl, shocked to the cars to ramming into her car..

Dubai Mall - The Largest Mall in the Region

2008-12-01T11:44:00.000-08:00

Guess what? It rained for the 3rd time since we arrived in Dubai 2 months ago!! It was still drizzling when we took this picture. We were on the way out to visit Dubai Mall - the largest mall in the region!!
The ice rink in the mall itself - see how huge the projector screen is!! This picture was taken in the Gold Souk - very nice architecture.
Look at the bread!! Very nicely merchandized - this pix was taken at Waitrose Grocery Supermarket. Grace was busy looking at all the different types of bread!

Chicken Rice ala "Claypot Style" - 2nd Attempt

2008-11-26T20:25:00.000-08:00

Here's my 2nd attempt to do the chicken rice ala claypot style - this to check if i replicate the dish just as good - i think this time it's taste better - 3 things I have done differently:
- added chinese mushrooms & less muk yi
- Used 2 lap cheongs instead of one (the taste of the rice comes out better)
- salted fish (used the more premium version - better "ham yu" taste)

Still, cannot find the cooking wine - so make do without it. Taste yummy....

My First Popcorn!!

2008-11-24T12:03:00.000-08:00

Since moving to Dubai, Hannah tasted many new foods!! At first, she just licked up the caramel from the popcorn - taking about 5 minutes to finish one popcorn. Once she accepted the taste, she finished the popcorn in minutes!! Here's Hannah digging at the bottom of the popcorn bucket for the last few pieces left...

Grace's New Walker (2nd Hand)

2008-11-24T08:04:00.000-08:00

"Look!! I can walk now!!" - We bought Grace a walker at the so-called flea market at the international city last weekend for only 20dh!! I washed the cushion and cleaned the plastic part of the walker thoroughly and now Grace is enjoying her new found mobility!!

Steamed Carrot Cake - Allergen/Gluten Free

2008-11-23T21:15:00.000-08:00

Made this cake yesterday night using gluten free flour for Hannah - sadly, she's not into carrot cakes! Guess I have to stick to the chocolate flavoured ones....

I personally liked this cake - moist, light and tastes healthy too.

CORRECTION: Hannah asked to eat the cake today - guess it's not too bad after all! Hubby says nice too - think it will taste even better with normal flour and with the entire egg.

Dinner with Kim Ping & Peng Lim @ Xiao Wei Yang

2008-11-22T12:48:00.000-08:00

It was definitely a lovely dinner we had together with Kim Ping and her hubby when they came over to Dubai for a visit. First time having oriental food outside after being here for almost 2 months for me - mongolian steamboat, fried chicken and fried mantou. My hubby did a great job taking care of Hannah - so she was pretty occupied. Grace was a little edgy as she wanted to sleep - but otherwise, we managed to have a decent conversation, catching up & exchanging our experiences about living in UAE and raising kids!!

This restaurant is situated in Deira, Dubai.

The types of food they serve...

Hannah First Taste of Candies!

2008-11-21T12:54:00.000-08:00

We have been restricting Hannah from eating candies because of her allergies. While walking along the shops at Battutta Mall, she was fascinated by the colourful candies and started opening a container of candies on her own and took one piece out. Fortunately, the candies were labeled with ingredient listing - I checked it and found that there are no ingredients that she is known to be allergic to. So, I decided to give it a try...

Hannah taking her first lick of the candy

She loves it - took about 4 pieces and asked for more......allergic reaction? Thank God - so far, none! Yay, another new food that Hannah can eat (although, we need to make sure she doesn't eat this everyday - otherwise, susah lo...)

Zaatar! Yum...

2008-11-21T12:29:00.000-08:00

We tried for the first time Zaatar at the Hyper Panda grocery store...man...it tasted so good - better than some pizza that we've eaten. The below is called Zaatar & Cheese Manakish. It's a Lebanese bread baked in hot oven with zaatar (a mix of herbs & olive oil) & cheese and some lemon juice. We ate it almost immediately after it came out of the oven - very, very good!!!

The bread goes into the hot oven for baking for about a couple of minutes.

The next day, we went to another shop to try the similar kind of food. This shop is at Mirdiff Mall.

Very nice packaging.

This is how it looks as you unwrap it.

We opened it up to show the contents - this one is just plain zaatar - just mixture of herbs, olive oil and lemon juice without the cheese. This is good too as you can really savour the taste of the aromatic herbs. I think I still prefer the one with cheese.

Rice Noodles with Seaweed & Minced Meat in Ikan Bilis Soup

2008-11-18T00:24:00.000-08:00

We probably have to pay a lot for this meal should we go to a chinese restaurant in Dubai. This noodle soup got good review from hubby - so, it's something worth repeating.

Again, another simple meal to prepare - I used the pork soup I made for Hannah as the broth and base for the soup, added some Ikan Bilis and boil till the soup is fragrant (you can smell the anchovies). Sieve the soup so that you get a clear soup. Add in vegetables (I used lettuce) and seaweed.

For the meat, I used minced meat, stir fried with lots of garlic and onions. Add in seasoning - light soy sauce, dark soya sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, salt and pepper to taste.

Boil rice noodles or any noodles of your choice in a separate pot. Place boiled noodles into soup base. Place the meat onto top of noodle soup and garnish with cilantro if you like.

Serve hot.

Sand Storm & Rain in Dusty Land!

2008-11-16T09:00:00.004-08:00

Within 24 hours, we witnessed for our first time, one mini sandstorm & rain - apparently, this is quite rare. Minutes after the sandstorm, everything was covered with dust (so, if you have just washed your car, wash again). This was at about 4pm. (looked like a view in Genting - except, this is dust, not mist)

Then, it rained in the middle of the night - see, finally some clouds in the sky!! Pix was taken at 7am in the morning.
Look!! Wet ground!! (don't get this sight very often in Dubai)

Dubai Automart

2008-11-16T09:00:00.003-08:00

No, this is not our car in Dubai!! hehe....Hubby took us for a quick drive tour around the Dubai Automart (the largest automall in Dubai) - many, many cars for sale....both new and used. The below is Ferrari F50 (we think....not sure). Luxury cars are plenty in Dubai.

Here's another one...Mercedes latest model! Very nice for a Merc.

For now....we can only dream of owning one!! :P

Hannah's New Toy #2

2008-11-16T09:00:00.001-08:00

Our little girl is growing up very fast - we have to keep her occupied all the time....she got bored with the bricks, so her daddy bought her a new toy - spinning top. Within one hour, she mastered the skill of fixing & spinning the top (thought she would need a few days as it required a slightly more complex coordination skill. O well....we need to make a trip to the toy shop soon when she gets bored with this! Thankfully, the top was just 6dh.

Burjuman Mall

2008-11-16T08:59:00.000-08:00

As mentioned in previous postings, our intention is to cover as many malls as possible in Dubai - so we visited Burjuman Mall last weekend. Well, we are definitely not the target patrons of this mall....lots of branded outlets here....LV, Guess, Patchi, etc. Not many pplwalk around here...pretty empty...except for some rich Emiratis.

Am surprised that this mall does not have a KFC or McDonald's!! But they have Marrybrown!

This is our first and last time to the mall...after being charged 20dh for parking (only 90mins)!!! What a rip-off!!

Me, outside the LV outlet (you know, the windowshop is really big - and they put one miserable bag right in the centre, plus a scarf and a pair of shoes - sometimes, less is more....but, I think, not in this case - lack of class, plus, those glass beads seem to steal your attn away from the subject, from my pt of view).

Nice decor at the mall....

Stir-fried Beef with Homemade Black Pepper Sauce & Fresh Salad

2008-11-15T01:54:00.000-08:00

Black Pepper Sauce has always been my all-time-favourite sauce. I decided to give it a try to make the sauce on my own. Result was satisfactory - maybe it's because I just like the taste of black pepper sauce and made it to my liking.
Sauce - brown garlic and onion on low to medium fire in oil till the onion is transparent. Add in freshly ground black pepper, oyster sauce, dark soya sauce, salt and sugar to taste. For extra peppery taste, add more black pepper. Stir fry till fragrant.

Add in marinated beef slices (marinated in pepper, salt, sugar and cornflour & a little sesame oil). Cut up fresh vegetables like capsicum, tomato into cubes & cook the pasta. Mix the black pepper beef, fresh vegetables with a little olive oil with the pasta and serve.

Easy "Shanghai" Red Bean Pancake (using Kawan's Frozen Chapatti!!)

2008-11-15T01:16:00.000-08:00

This product is really versatile & comes into handy when you want a quick roti to accompany your curry, moutabel, etc. It's really easy to use - just heat up a pan - no oil required - place the chapatti on the hot pan - within minutes, you have a nice fluffy chapatti. Never tried this in Malaysia, but when we tried it here, we bought many packets to put in the freezer. Cost is cheap too - about 0.40dh per piece (about 40sen).

When we didn't buy the normal bread for breakfast, I just heat up, put a slice of cheese in between and I have a nice melt in your mouth cheese in the "pancake".

Now, the texture of this chapatti is perfect for an easy, peasy, red bean pancake if you are craving for one. No need to go to Tai Thong to have your red bean pancake (or Shanghai pancake) - plus, it's also much cheaper.

I made a very easy red bean paste using the balance of red bean from the red bean dessert soup I made for Hannah. Drain the excess liquid - put into the blender with sugar. Take it out and fry in a pan with 1 tbspn of oil until it forms a thick paste.

Then, heat up the chapatti - when brown and toasty, take it out and spread the red bean paste onto it - fold into half and cut into triangles - there you have it - crispy red bean pancake.

Hubby says it tasted good - preparation time - about 15 mins for the red bean paste and 3 minutes to toast the chapatti and spread the paste -> serve. Great with fa sang wu (but very fattening!!).

Our 4th Anniversary - 13th Nov 2008

2008-11-14T14:41:00.000-08:00

It's our 4th Wedding Anniversary!! How time flies!!

We celebrated the occasion at a restaurant at Century Village, called "Sarband", serving persian cuisine. Apparently, this restaurant had been awarded the "Best Iranian Restaurant in Dubai" by 7Days Newspaper (funny, we were one of the very few tables occupied....hmmm)

Nevertheless, we enjoyed the food. This was what we ordered.

(1) Mast Mousir - yoghurt and wild garlic cream, served with arabic bread, bay leaves and mint with feta cheese. The garlic cream was really good (was not overpowering, yet, flavourful).

(2) Volmeh Barg - Stuffed wine leaves filled with rice, meat & herbs. Interesting....first time eating wine leaves.

(3) Lamb Koobideh Kebab - Grilled Minced Lamb on Skewers. This is really fantastic - succulent and well-marinated - wonder how they got the minced meat to stick together and then, placed onto the skewers.

This candle to show you how "romantic" the dinner was....heheh...

Just in case you thought we were having this "romantic" dinner on our own....no....here are our two "angels" sitting next to us.

We, the Coffee Addicts!

2008-11-14T14:03:00.000-08:00

The day is not complete without a cup of coffee - so, we headed to this coffee place after our early dinner at Mirdiff Mall - Mugg & Bean - this is a coffee chain from San Francisco (I think).

I ordered a bottomless coffee (to get our money's worth) - cost 11dh. The pix on the right shows the coffee dispenser (self service refilling) - so you can refill as many times as you wish. I think we had about 3 refills.

Coffee is ok only lah - cannot compare with the NESCAFE 3-in-1 from Malaysia.

We also had a huge muffin that cost 15dh - it comes with butter, cheese and jam.

We couldn't finish the muffin - had to ta pau.

This is me enjoying the coffee & the ambience...& Hannah licking her spoon filled with jam...

Hannah and Daddy having a good time together....

...Grace sleeping...(that's why her mummy is enjoying her coffee)

Dubai Beach

2008-11-13T00:23:00.000-08:00

This is the beach in Dubai - apologies for the poor resolution - not sure what happened to the camera when we took the pix.

Perrier Water

2008-11-12T23:42:00.000-08:00

Here's Hannah enjoying her Perrier Water - what expensive taste! I remembered I drank quite a bit of it when I was pregnant with Hannah - this perrier water helped me reduce the nauseous feeling - so it was her drinking perrier water all along, not me!! :-P

5-spice sweet & sour pork chops!

2008-11-12T07:34:00.000-08:00

Found some nice frozen pork from Spinneys - the pork for this dish cost about 10dh - so it's very reasonable. Marinated the pork with the spices so that it doesn't have the porky smell. Somehow, the pork here smells different - unlike in Malaysia - not quite used to it.
This dish is really simple to prepare - just slice the pork chops to the desired thickness and then, use the back of a chopper knive to tenderize the meat. Season with salt, pepper, sugar, 5spice powder and some sesame oil for about 6 hours (or overnight). Brown it over a pan and remove. Caramelize brown sugar and put back the meat into the pan. Add rice vinegar and coat the meat till well coated with the caramel and vinegar.

Garnish and serve (you can add a bit of lemon juice). Think you can replace pork with chicken (will have to try this next time).

Chow Mei Fun - Allergen Free

2008-11-10T20:16:00.000-08:00

Thought of varying Hannah's daily meals apart from serving her cereals, rice, porridge and soup. Decided to stir-fry some noodles using ingredients that she's not allergic to. Here's the result:
Ingredients:
Mee hoon
Carrot - 1, sliced
Cucumber - 1, sliced with core removed
Sausages - 3, sliced
Onions - 1/2, minced
Garlic - 3-4 cloves, minced
Salt & Sugar to taste
Rice Vinegar - 2 tbspn
Molasses - 2 tbspn

Method:
Soak meehoon in boiling water for 10 minutes - remove and set aside. Brown garlic & onions in oil. Add the sausages & carrot. Stir-fry for a few minutes and add in the cucumber. Add salt, sugar, vinegar and molasses. Once combined, place the meehoon into the wok and stir fry till well mixed.

Serve with cilantro/mint as garnishing & sprinkle some lemon juice (optional).

Fancy Cake Pans!

2008-11-10T12:37:00.000-08:00

Found this shop in Mercato Mall selling all sorts of fancy cake pans - about 55 dh per cake pan. If you are thinking of baking a special cake for your kids' birthday party, this is the place you want to visit. Am contemplating buying one - however, you know how these things are like - you can only use one design once only - after that, it's not a novelty anymore. Also, you need to be pretty good at decoration too - that I have yet to learn.

Rice Paper Roll

2008-11-09T21:26:00.000-08:00

We bought some rice paper from the grocery store at Lamcy's... decided to have some healthy & easy to prepare dinner tonight.

The recipe is really simple - you can put anything in this wrap - so this is what we've tried.

Cabbage & Carrots - sliced, dressed with salad cream, salt, pepper and vinegar
Beef Patties - Minced meat, mixed with minced garlic and onions, panfried into patties, seasoned with salt & pepper.
Lettuce

Place rice paper in hot water a few seconds till soft. Take it out and wrap with the vegetable salad and meat. Serve with chilli sauce.

I didn't have the ingredients to make a vietnamese chilli sauce - so what I've done is to just add rice vinegar to a tablespoon of chilli sauce and you get a tangy spicy sauce. Works ok too.

Mercato Mall

2008-11-08T11:12:00.000-08:00

This is us buckling up in the car, on the way to Mercato Mall. Our intention is to cover as many malls as possible during our stay here in Dubai!!

Grace looks like a little "si-tau-po" sitting in her stroller! & Hannah didn't want to get off the "bike" at the toystore.

Dinner at IKEA

2008-11-08T11:00:00.000-08:00

Fancy having a nice dinner at IKEA? Well, it was one of our most comfortable dinner since the birth of Grace!! We found a nice table next to the IKEA play area - Hannah was so happy to be there, she was such a good girl. Feeding her was quite easy - she finished her potato and carrots porridge - on top of that, she had a few slices of our roast chicken.

The entire meal cost us 37dh - a huge plate of rice with 1/2 a chicken (roasted) with gravy + Salad + All you can drink coffee (cappuccino). It was a large portion (just right for the 3 of us).
Grace had her pacifier and little Elmo to keep her occupied. Overall, we had a good time!

Homemade Spicy 3-Bean Tomato Sauce

2008-11-03T20:38:00.000-08:00

Here's an experiment I did for dinner yesterday - wanted to do a chili bean soup, but then, I got lazy because it would mean preparing another dish as the main meal - so I decided to turn this soup into a sauce for spaghetti! So....here you go, spaghetti with homemade spicy 3-bean tomato sauce!

So, what beans? Whatever I could find in the kitchen - I had black beans, red beans and green (moong) beans. I soaked them overnight and then cook together with onions, tomatoes, celery and chicken broth. Added a bit of chilli powder and you get the spicy sauce. I liked it because I have always liked the mexican chilli soup but hubby thought it was "interesting". Verdict? I think this recipe lacked tomato flavour when finally mixed into the pasta - so, next round, have to add more tomato sauce or paste to it to make it richer in taste.

Moutabel & Roti!!

2008-11-03T20:23:00.001-08:00

We fell "in love" with this thing called "moutabel" and the freshly oven-baked "roti". One is Lebanese and the other is Indian - marry them together and you get this delicious melt-in-your-mouth sensation that is absolutely amazing. Just tear and dip the roti into the moutabel.

So, what's this thing called moutabel? It's made from eggplant, sesame paste (tahinia), some olive oil and lemon. This stuff is available almost everywhere in Dubai and cost anywhere between 8dh to 15dh (depending on quantity).

And this roti, we bought this 1dh per piece (quite large piece - can feed 2 persons; but really, it's so good you want to finish it all by yourself, esp. with this dip). We bought this at an Indian Roti shop in International City, England Cluster - they sell nothing else but this bread - freshly baked in a huge really hot oven.

We had this for supper last night (supposed meant for lunch this morning - but the bread smelled so good, we couldn't resist) - put on weight surely...!! :P

Burj Dubai

2008-11-03T04:10:00.000-08:00

See the tall building in the picture below? That's the tallest building in the world - Burj Dubai. Apparently, it's still going higher and nobody knows what the final height.

Hannah's New Toy

2008-11-03T02:44:00.000-08:00

We had to buy some new toys for Hannah - she was watching Blue's Clues and ASTRO Disney Playhouse Channel Repeats every day till she memorised the sequences and words of the cartoons. We decided to buy her some building blocks to develop her creativity - of course, this would only mean more work for her mummy who has to pick up the blocks after her. Anyway, we are working on getting her to pick up her toys after playing.

Here is Daddy's "creation" which Hannah conveniently & quickly disassembled.

Chicken Mushroom Stew

2008-11-02T21:20:00.000-08:00

Hmm....this dish turned out pretty well in terms of taste - the picture above did not do justice to the dish - apologies for the poor product shot - need to get better serving plates to enhance the appetite appeal. Anyway, this was my first attempt to stew chicken with mushroom.

Here's the recipe:

4 pc chicken thigh, chopped into smaller pieces
10-15 pcs of Chinese Black Mushrooms (qty depends on size), soaked & washed
1 clove garlic, minced
1 onion, minced
2 cups of chicken broth
1 tspn black peppercorn
1 pc cinnamon stick

Seasoning for the chicken:

1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
1 tspn sugar
1 tspn salt
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tspn rice vinegar
1 tbsp chinese cooking wine
1 tspn 5-spice powder

Cilantro for garnishing

Method:
Season chicken with the ingredients for seasoning as above. Soak mushrooms for 1 hour (or more depending on the type of mushroom) in normal water. Remove excess water from mushroom. Boil 4 litres of water and soak mushroom in boiling water - set aside for 30 minutes. Slice.

Stir fry with oil the onions and garlic till aromatic. Add in the marinated chicken and brown the chicken on all sides. Add in the chicken broth, cinnamon stick and black peppercorns and heat till boil. Add in the sliced mushrooms and stew for 90 minutes under low fire.

Add soy sauce and sugar to taste to the stew and serve, garnished with cilantro.

Lamcy Plaza

2008-11-01T22:13:00.000-07:00

We visited the Lamcy Plaza today for dinner and walked around the grocery store. This mall is located at Al Karama. The grocery store carries many asian packaged goods - so you can find things like Vietnamese Rice Paper, Thai Fish Sauce, Tofu, etc.

There is also a Japanese 6dh shop called "Daiso" - they sell many small items at 6dh per piece. I bought a pair of silicon baking cups which I can use in microwave oven or normal oven to bake muffins.

What I found interesting was this ad for a women's shop in the rotating entrance door. They placed a mannequin in between the doors and advertised a evening wear. I suppose you can find this in many other countries - this is new to me, but probably not new elsewhere.

Visit to Well of Life Church

2008-11-01T03:11:00.000-07:00

This is our first time to a church in Dubai - we've visited the Well of Life church on Friday, located at the Knowledge Village.

Celebration Service

The girls and I in the mothers' room.

Potluck at Jumeirah Lake Towers

2008-11-01T02:16:00.001-07:00

Hubby's colleagues invited us over to their apartment's pool side for a potluck party at Jumeirah Lake Towers. The view of Dubai skyline was beautiful from here but we didn't bring the good camera with us - couldn't capture with the blackberry camera as it was too dark.

The pool is situated on the roof top of a 40 storey building. We didn't bring Hannah's swimming gear so she was pretty disappointed as she she really wanted to jump in.

So, her daddy ended up playing peekaboo with her to keep her occupied!!

This was what we brought to the potluck.

Palm Jumeirah & the Atlantis Hotel

2008-10-30T03:19:00.001-07:00

These pictures were taken on the Palm Jumeirah. The pix on the left was taken on the trunk of the Palm on the way to the Atlantis Hotel. The pix of the right is the Atlantis Hotel.

At the time we were there, Atlantis has not been officially launched. Many people took the opportunity to come and take picture along this coast next to the Atlantis Hotel. We managed to get a parking spot to take a pix with the hotel at the background.

When the commotion has died down, maybe we'll go visit the hotel to take pictures.

Steamed Chocolate Cake - Gluten Free

2008-10-29T11:37:00.000-07:00

I took just about 10 minutes to whip up this cake and another 40 minutes to steam it using the I-Chef steamer. The result was amazing - the chocolate cake was moist and light, while full of chocolatey flavour. The best thing about this recipe was that it did not require a mixer or oven. Also, I've replaced the flour with gluten free flour and also, used on the egg yolks instead of the entire egg as Hannah is allergic to egg whites.

Here is Hannah examining the cake to see if I passed her test!!

She took one piece and kept asking for more till we had to stop her as it was 9pm at night - time to go to bed - Good Night, Hannah!

This is a recipe I definitely will keep. Will explore other flavours using the same basic ingredients.

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups of gluten free flour (I used Orgran)
3/4 cup of hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup sunflower oil (or vegetable oil)
1 cup of soya milk
3 egg yolks
1 cup of hot water

Method:
Sift flour, cocoa, baking soda and baking powder into mixing bowl. Mix in sugar till well blended. Add in oil and mix well. Add in milk and stir. Add in the 3 egg yolks and continue stirring till well blended. Add in hot water and mix till batter is smooth and silky. Pour into greased pan - I used the I-Chef steamer. Steam for 40 minutes in medium heat.

Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or as is.

Potstickers!!

2008-10-29T10:16:00.000-07:00

I have always liked potstickers or "woh tip" - i took this chance to experiment making this on my own back home in malaysia - the result was satisfactory. However, what I've done differently this round was to replace the pork with chicken minced meat (pork is about double the price compared to chicken here in Dubai) and I also couldn't obtain the chinese cooking wine here.

Salad with Lemon Mint Vinegraitte

2008-10-28T22:04:00.000-07:00

We decided to be healthy today and had a large serving of vegetable salad. Felt good after eating it. Should do this more often. I've experimented with the mint leaves (dried) and the result was quite nice. Will have to try fresh mint leaves using the same recipe the next time.

Here's the recipe for the lemon mint vinegraitte:

Rice Vinegar - 2 tbsp
Olive Oil - 2 tbsp
Lemon Juice - 1/2 lemon
Sugar - 1 tbsp
Pepper - a dash
Mint Leaves - 2 tbsp
Salt - a pinch
Cilantro - a few stems, chopped finely

Mix them all together & refrigerate. Serve with fresh vegetables of your choice.

Fusion Wrap

2008-10-27T23:28:00.000-07:00

This is a real fusion food. My hubby introduced me to this lebanese dip called "moutabel" and I fell in love with it. Instead of putting the kebab in the filling, I've put in place a warm tuna mushroom filling with oriental elements (oyster sauce, soy sauce). The result - yummy!

Here are the ingredients:

Lebanese Bread - 2 pieces
Moutabel or hummus - 2 cups
Pickled cucumber and carrot - optional - a few slices
Mushrooms - 1 cup
Salad Cream - 2 tbspn
Tuna - 1 can
Onions - 1 biji
Garlic - 1 biji
Cilantro - 4-5 stems
Lettuce - 3 pieces
Tomato - 1 biji

Seasoning to taste:

Oyster Sauce - 1 tbsp
Soya Sauce - a dash
Sugar - 1 tspn
Pepper - a dash
Rice Vinegar - a dash

Method:
Heat oil and stir fry garlic, onions till aromatic. Add in mushrooms. Season with soya sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, pepper and vinegar. Brown till mushrooms are soft. Add in cilantro.

Mix salad cream with tuna and add a dash of pepper. Add in cubed tomatoes. Finally, add in the mushroom mixture and mix well.

Place moutabel spread onto lebanese bread. Place lettuce leaves and tuna mushroom mix onto bread. Finally, add in the pickled cucumber and carrots. Roll up and serve.

Pork Ribs & Black Beans with Soy Sauce

2008-10-26T20:58:00.000-07:00

This dish came about after boiling this soup for Hannah. She didn't like the pork ribs (her favourite is still chicken), so I scooped the ribs out with the beans and added a dash of soy sauce on them.

Chicken Rice ala "Claypot" Style

2008-10-26T20:46:00.000-07:00

This dish got very good feedback from hubby - that's another satisfaction for me. Cooked this dish using the I-chef Steamer (borrowed this from my mum) - turned out quite well although I did not have a claypot. Have replaced the mushroom with the chinese black fungus (muk yi).
Ingredients:
Rice - 1 1/2 cups uncooked
Chicken thighs - 2 pcs, chopped into smaller pieces
Muk yi - 4 pieces, sliced thinly
Lap cheong - 1 pc, sliced
Salted Fish - cut into small pieces

Seasoning to taste:

Light Soya Sauce
Thick Soya Sauce
Oyster Sauce
Sugar
Pepper
Sesame Oil
Rice Vinegar
Salt

Garnishing:

Garlic, fried till aromatic
Cilantro

Chinese Herbal Drink

2008-10-25T23:27:00.000-07:00

Another first attempt - quite successful too - i suppose you can't really go wrong when you put the chinese herbal ingredients together - the only difference is the quantity of each ingredient - there's no hard and fast rule about how much to put - just not too much of one ingredient.

Hannah enjoyed the drink - so that's good enough for me.

Here are the ingredients of the recipe:

Chrysanthemum Flowers
Ginseng Root
Longan
Honey Dates
Red Dates
Rock Sugar

Boil for 90 minutes & cool down. Refrigerate for a refreshing drink.

Dubai Boating Festival @ Oct24,08

2008-10-25T12:56:00.000-07:00

We were taking a walk along the creek at Festival City when we came across the Dubai Boating Festival being held there during the weekend - and because of that, we get to enter the jetty to view some of the most luxurious boats in the world. It's usually non-accessible to public.

Dubai Boating Festival - before the start of the show...
Full fledge facilities in the boat including kitchen, dining area, bar counter, etc.

3 Storey boat...

Grace enjoying the scene at the jetty....

Dubai Outlet Mall

2008-10-25T12:35:00.001-07:00

Today, we visited the Dubai Outlet Mall - a place where you can find branded goods at factory outlet prices.
Amongst some of the brands are: Nike, Adidas, Guess, Gap, Banana Republic, etc.

Again, here we are trying out another ice cream shop - this time, we visited Cold Stone Creamery.

"Dark Choc with Pecan Nuts"

WHAT WAS THE VERDICT?

So so only lah.....it's creamy but I think the Pecan Mix-in was a wrong choice. I still preferred the marble slab creameries' double dark chocolate with cookie dough inclusions.

Price per scoop - 16dh.

Chocolate Molasses Cookies - Gluten Free!

2008-10-25T05:22:00.001-07:00

Had to make new batches of chocolate cookies for Hannah as she has finished all her gluten free chocolate cookies we've bought from Australia.

So, this is quite a successful first attempt making the cookies - Hannah took 3 pieces at one go.
Such satisfaction after making them!!

Here is Hannah enjoying her cookies!! Well worth the effort!

Look at that satisfied look!

Here's my recipe -

Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/8 cup hot water
2 1/2 cups of gluten free flour (I used Orgran)
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup Cocoa Powder

Method:
As I don't have a mixer, I used a blender!! It turned out alright too (bearing in mind that gluten free mixes generally deliver a harder texture). Mix sugar & oil until well blended. Add in molasses and blend. Add in hot water and blend. Sift dry ingredients and add to the mixture. Chill the dough.

Roll out dough and cut out shapes. Bake in preheated over at 375 degrees C for 10 to 12 minutes.

Battutta Mall - Largest Themed Mall in the World

2008-10-18T13:06:00.000-07:00

Clockwise from the top: Andalusia Court, Tunisia Court, China Court, Persia Court

We enjoyed walking in Batutta mall - less crowd and one storey only - no need to take lift or escalator. Apparently, this is the largest themed mall in the world - as you walk, you wil pass thru many different cultural themes - such as china, persia, egypt, etc..... each theme featured designs and architecture of the specific country/culture.

The highlight of this trip was the visit to the ice cream shop "Marble Slab Creamery"- one scoop is 16dh! Expensive but very yummy! One scoop is really huge - both hubby and I had one scoop and it's quite filling - we had the double dark chocolate ice cream with cookie dough inclusion - we'll have to go back again to try new flavours....!!

This is me enjoying the double dark chocolate with cookie dough inclusions - Grace looked like she wanted a bite of it too! Anyway, one scoop is too much for one person - hubby and I had to share! How NOT to gain weight!!! sigh....

Mirdiff Mall

2008-10-12T03:58:00.000-07:00

This mall is quite different from the rest we've visited so far - it's open air concept with wide open spaces for children to run around - particularly a favourite amongst parents with young kids.

Here there is a Spinney's Grocery store - you can get your pork here - quite expensive at close to 60AED per kg. Saw some nice "fa lam yuk" for sale (meat with mixture of lean & fat from the belly area)

Vegetables and fruits look fresher here too - pricier of course. Nice selection of breads as well.

Mall of Emirates

2008-10-11T00:45:00.000-07:00

It had been a week since we touched down in Dubai - we've not been to many places except where else... the malls - we needed to find a place for Hannah to run around and explore and also for us to do our grocery shopping. Bad idea - the mall was jam packed with people as it was a weekend; as a result, few parking spots and it was easy to get hannah lost in the crowd. We had to ensure she stays close to us all the time o- we put her in the shopping trolley when we did our grocery shopping in C4.

Mall of Emirates is pretty big - tried my first Krispy Kreme donut - it was yummy - again cost 5dh which I thot was really expensive for some dough and chocolate coating. The concept was similar to Big Apple or J&Co Donuts back home in MY- lots of ladies were queueing up to purchase the donuts.

We've tried the Hardees burger - similar to Burger King - didn't think it was extra special (although my hubby loves it). A set meal cost about 20dh.

My Culinary Journal

2008-10-09T13:28:00.000-07:00

Living away from MY gives me a chance to explore my culinary skills - esp. when eating out is too expensive unlike in MY where a plate of char kuey teow can be bought at less than RM5. I try to make sure I spent more time with my kids instead of cooking while ensuring that the food still taste good and nutritious....So..the dishes are extremely simple to prepare (i try not to be a hero to prepare from scratch - prepared mixes do the trick really well)

Week#1

Beef Stew in Tomato Paste with celery, carrot and bell pepper - very hearty dish
Beef Rendang - i cheated on this one - bought the Brahim's Mix from MY - excellent product
Steamed Fish (Nile Perch Fillet) with yummy chili paste from Penang - am actually surprised how good this fish turned out - fish was below 10dh....so it was quite reasonable (feeds 2 persons)

Week #2

Saturday 11.10.08 - Steamed Fish with black bean & hoisin sauce
Sunday 12.10.08 - Steamed Tong Gwei Chicken with kei chi + Potato Croquettes
Monday 13.10.08 - Stir-fried Beef with pickled cucumber & carrot
Tuesday 14.10.08 - Vegetable Curry
Wednesday 15.10.08 - Warm Chicken Salad with garlic mushrooms + Stir Fried Black Pepper Beef with Green Bell Pepper

Week #3

Saturday 18.10.08 - Chilli Fried Rice with Fermented Black Soy Beans
Sunday 19.10.08 - Steamed chicken with chinese black fungus (muk yi)
Monday 20.10.08 - Stir Fried Beef with Bittergourd & Black Fermented Soy Beans & Stir Fry Brocolli, Carrot and Sausage in molasses
Tuesday 21.10.08 - Caramelized sweet & sour pork ribs
Wednesday 22.10.08 - Curry Chicken (using Brahim's Meat Curry Paste)

Week#4

Saturday 25.10.08 lunch - Chicken Mince Meat with Potato & Carrots in Molasses Sauce (this was specially created for Hannah)
Also, made Chicken Pot Stickers (frozen for future consumption) & Gluten Free Chocolate Molasses Cookies (for Hannah)

Dragon Mart

2008-10-09T12:44:00.000-07:00

Wow...! This is my first reaction upon visiting the Dragon Mart - it's a long shopping mall about 1.2km filled with shops selling all kinds of stuff from China, ie. fabrics, clothes, handbags, semi precious stones, accessories, household stuff, food, etc. Was particularly impressed by the variety of beads and semi-precious stones for jewelry making - the prices were pretty reasonable - except that you may need to buy in bulk (ie strands). The variety is amazing - can't get this kind of selection in MY.

Apparently, the place is jam packed during the weekend with lots of locals (GCC nationals) shopping there.

Oh...I almost forgot, there were many toys being sold - well, made in China, where else... we tried to keep Hannah away from them - she's beginning to learn how to pester! ........sigh...... We managed to keep her quiet with some stickers and kiddi rides.

Tasted my first chestnut ice cream - apparently, it's sugar free too! Well...the chestnut flavour was pretty weak and very high overrun too & icy too. Cost 5dh - very, very not value for money. Anyway, this is our first and last time buying it.

Also bought an interesting waffle with cheese filled in the middle - also cost 5dh. Again, really a rip-off - the waffle was not crispy at all - rather, it was soggy and the cheese was hard - was expecting it to melt in my mouth. First and the last time...

Finally, found some leafy vegetables (chinese lettuce + kangkung) - very reasonably priced too! Avg about 3dh per bunch.

Festival City Mall

2008-10-09T03:40:00.000-07:00

After resting for a few hours at home, we headed to the supermarket to do our grocery shopping - we visited Hyper Panda at Festival City.
With not enough sleep, both hubby and I were pretty "stressed" out trying to shop - Hannah was her usual self - she gets a sudden burst of energy every time she gets to the mall. Grace was also in her usual self -loud - we wonder where she got her exceptionally strong lungs.
Some things were expensive while some are comparative... (relative to prices of household goods in Malaysia) - however, electrical goods are reasonable - also, the selection is more compared to Malaysia.
Here's a sample list of things we bought and the prices.....apologise as I didn't managed to keep a note on the prices on a kilo basis (the prices below are per unit)

Broccoli (1 floret) - 8.53 dh
Oranges (4 pc) - 5.07 dh
Capsicum (2 pc) - 3.28 dh
Apples (royal gala - 4pc) - 4.65 dh
Nectarine (4pc) - 9.21 dh - this is from Iran - quality not so good - not very sweet
Lettuce Iceberg (1pc) - 9.36 dh - found this exceptionally expensive (think it's double the price in MY)
Chicken Breast Meat (about 8 pcs) - 24.97dh - this is also very expensive
Beef (about 6pcs) - 12.86 dh - at least this is cheaper than chicken
Lays Potato Chips (185g) - 5.00 dh - this is very reasonable & also, one that is allergy free
J&J shampoo 500ml - 15.90 dh
Tabasco (Small bottle) - 5.40 dh - this is also cheaper than in MY
McVities Digestive - 10.50 dh
Stand fan - 65dh
Anchor Cheese Slices - 6.85dh - this is slightly cheaper than in MY
Coke Light 1can - 0.9 dh - this is also cheaper

4th October 2008

Our first day in Dubai

2008-10-09T02:56:00.000-07:00

After waiting for a year, we are finally here in Dubai! The girls were excited throughout the plane ride and finally slept at 2am in the morning (malaysian time). We touched down at 248am (dubai time). The weather was pretty warm even in the wee hours in the morning. Thankfully, all went well at the airport - we had the marhaba service - we were greeted at the entrance to the airport and taken care of by a nice lady by the name of Emily (she's from the philippines) all the way through immigration and collection of luggages. Glad we had this service as the queue for normal passengers were extremely long despite the early arrivals in the morning. Also, with almost close to 100kg in luggages, we were relieved that we had porter services too, carrying our bags to the cab. So far, the few hours in Dubai had been a positive one. Both girls are asleep now - it's 8am in the morning dubai time.
(written on 4th Oct 2008)