Pai Thai at Al Qasr, Madinat Jumeirah
For our 2nd wedding anniversary last Monday February 13, DH successfully surprised me with a truly romantic dinner.
Before I delve into details, I would have to say that DH has been trying to surprise me ever since we started going out, from birthdays (where he got all my friends to participate but I already knew where he was going to take me) to his proposal (we were taking a walk around zaabeel park and decided to sit at the back of his car with the trunk open. While we were chatting, I patted his bag which was in the trunk and he immediately snatched it from me as if hiding something. Wrong move- DH is such a bad liar. He forgot that when we women find our man being defensive or evasive, we have to find out why then and there. So we fought and struggled and I finally got the hold of the bag. As I rummaged inside, I felt a small box and took it out and saw the ring. I don’t remember if he knelt down, but I remember crying. Tears of joy? Maybe. J).
So when he picked me up last Monday evening, February 13, he had a bunch of flowers and for the first time he knew exactly where to take me and we had reservations. DH never makes reservations so I was very much impressed.
He took me to Al Qasr, Madinat Jumeirah (one of the most romantic places) in Dubai. You have 3 choices on how to get from the Lobby to the restaurant. You walk (long walk), take one of those buggies or take the abra (an Arabic boat). The resort areas are all linked by waterways, which contributes much to its beautiful ambience. I felt really bad that I didn’t bring my camera and was just trying to make do with a normal digicam but DH told me that it was a good thing because atleast I would concentrate on enjoying the place instead of putting too much effort in getting good pics.
pics of al qasr and pai thai courtesy of www.goboogo.com, timeoutdubai.com and chowdubai.com
at pai thai
DH got us reservations in Pai Thai.The weather was perfect for eating outdoors. The restaurant also had outdoor heaters so even if it was quite chilly, the temperature was just superb. DH told me I could order anything on the menu. I was seriously impressed considering that he is a full blooded Ilocano (an ethnic group in the Philippines who are known for their frugality), so even though I wanted to hold back, I wanted to make the most of the evening. We ordered the papaya salad (som tam) with shrimps and tom yum soup for starters.
yummy papaya salad and tom yum soup
We each ordered mocktails- DH got himself a Shirley temple and I ordered something lemon with mint and coconut juice.(sorry for not remember the exact name)
mocktails
For the main course, we ordered the pad thai (my favorite thai dish) and kao phad poo (crab fried rice). Before ordering I thought the serving would not be enough since I was famished, but DH and I did not manage to eat everything…
pad thai and crab fried rice... big serving!
We then ordered thai style crème brulee with green tea ice cream for dessert. And the green tea ice cream was good!
thai style creme brulee and complimentary cake
We were both so full we didn’t even manage to taste the complimentary anniversary cake from the hotel.
Overall, I would give Pai thai a 9.5 out of 10. A bit pricey but it was well worth it.
*pictures of Al Qasr and the restaurant were take from the following links – Goboogo’s article- Arriving in Dubai at Al Qasr Madinat, Chow Dubai’s Pai thai, and Timeout Dubai’s Restaurant review on Pai thai.
Spicy Chicken with peanuts stir fry
Ok, I seriously do not have any idea what to call this recipe. Originally, it was suppose to be chicken and cashew but I didn’t have any at home. When I cook, I never cook with complete ingredients; I always have to substitute what I have ready in the kitchen. So when I decided to tackle this recipe, I made up my mind that I would use some leftover peanuts that I had stocked for baking.
Based this on the chicken and cashew stir-fry recipe from epicurious.com
1) prepare 2)veggies first 3) add the sauce 4)toss in everything
Ingredients
- Scallions, chopped separating white and green parts (more popularly known as spring onions. Had to research that one)
- Previously prepared 300 g chicken breast chopped, lightly salted and peppered
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Vegetable oil
- 4-5 cloves Finely chopped garlic
- 1 ½ tablespoon Finely chopped ginger
- ¼ teaspoon Dried hot red-pepper flakes
- 1 ½ tablespoon Soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon Sugar
- ½ cup peanuts
- ¾ cup chicken broth (I didn’t have any chicken broth so I substituted this with ¾ cup water with 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce)
- 1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch
Procedure
- Prepare all ingredients.
- I usually prepare chicken beforehand and store in the fridge (as advised here by my good friend the charmed wife) so my chicken was already cut and seasoned with salt and pepper.
- Stir together broth (water with Worcestershire), cornstarch, sugar and soy sauce in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Heat your wok (I used my big pan from IKEA) and add oil.
- Stirfry chicken till they are brown in some parts. Set aside.
- Add bell pepper, garlic, ginger, pepper flakes, and the white part of the scallions and stir fry for about 5-6 minutes.
- Add the broth with the cornstarch into the wok. Reduce heat and simmer until the liquid thickens. Stir in the nuts, green part of the scallions and the chicken.
- Use salt, pepper flakes and sugar to tweak according to taste.
My husband actually loved this recipe. So it’s definitely a keeper.
The first day of a much needed break
Today is my first day as an official housewife and for the first meal I prepared, I chose to make something simple (and also one of DH’s favorite) called ‘Bistek Tagalog’ with my own twist of using orange marinade instead of calamansi.
The result- YUMMY FOOD!
BISTEK TAGALOG
bistek tagalog ala rachel
as adapted from panlasangpinoy.com
- Ingredients
300 g beef sirloin, thinly sliced (i used 1/2 sirloin and 1/2 beef stew coz sirloin is EXPENSIVE!)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1.5 freshly squeezed orange juice
black pepper (i let the black pepper rip without really measuring it)
3 cloves garlic crushed (i prefer the strong garlic taste, so i used 4 cloves)
1 large onion, sliced into rings (i used the white onion not the purple one, coz i had some lying around in the fridge)
cooking oil
salt to taste
brown sugar to enhance flavoring (optional)
Procedure
- Marinade beef in soy sauce, orange juice and black pepper for a minimum of 1 hour (i prefer to marinade meat for a longer time so that the taste will really go in.
- Heat the cooking oil in a pan then stir fry the onion rings until the texture becomes soft. set aside.
- In the same pan, fry the marinated beef (without marinade) until it turns brown. Set aside.
- Saute garlic for a few minutes in the same pan (or until you get the savory fragrance of the cooked garlic) and then add marinade until it starts to boil.
- Put in the fried beef and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until meat is tender. Add water as needed. If you use sirloin meat, you will find that you don’t need to add as much water.
- Add the stir fried onions and a pinch of brown sugar to enhance the flavor.
SERVE HOT -alone or with steamed veggies. I served it with steamed paksoy.
Disclaimer
I do not claim to be the original author of this recipe. I also do not claim that the measurements I used are perfect. I pretty much cook like an animal- which is i make my decisions by instinct. I think that is the best way to cook- that is to tweak and make adjustments according to your taste. Ofcourse, I am not a pro. But as long as DH is happy, I’m happy.
The habit of Focusing on one thing at a time
I tried, I quit and I have returned to try again.
At the beginning of the year, I dared myself to do a sketch a day. Although I a did manage to work on some doodles, I feel like I am not getting any better at it. Should I recommit? Or should I just drop the project?
But my days of quitting are long gone and I promise to work on a sketch for 20 minutes a day… Michael Nobbs recommends getting a timer to help you focus. I think that is what I lack, focus… I may have the drive, but I lack the focus… I have been working at a company that encouraged multi-tasking so much i have lost the ability to concentrate…
Focus- Something to work on in 2012.
unfinished sketches
Will try to add more color and concentrate more when I do my 20 minutes with my sketch pad and pencil.
I’m still hot no bake cheesecake
Planning to do some ‘no-baking’ for our 2nd wedding anniversary this coming feb 13 inspired by kensadork of YouTube.
To make things clear, feb 13 is our church wedding anniversary. The January 7 date is our civil wedding anniversary. I prefer celebrating both since i like celebrating things but we make a bigger deal about the church wedding one. Last year, I made Tom yum soup and accidentally put spoilt coconut milk at the last minute, which ruined the dinner. I have to admit, I am not a good cook, compared to ken from YouTube. But I aspire to be and will be doing more cooking in the coming weeks…
I fell in love with an AED 21 watch
I’m not much of a watch person but I remember one of the first watches I got from my mom for my birthday. I’m not sure it is the first ever watch, but its the first one I have a clear memory of.
I just turned 9 and my mom took me to Pic n save in Deira to buy groceries. She stopped over the watch counters and asked me if I wanted a watch to which I nodded giddily because it meant I was going to get a present. I chose a black plastic watch with a white face and I remember it costing around AED 21. Boy was I happy.
I remember in highschool when everyone started wearing baby gs and those pop swatches, I just couldn’t get one coz they were so darn expensive. All the cool girls had one. I was left with pretending that I didn’t care… But deep down inside, I wanted to be a cool girl.
Fast forward to the present, just the other day, my niece threw a tantrum because we didn’t want to get her a green ice watch. She still does not know how to read time but I think she was just so swept away by how cool the green ice watch was, she wanted one. We all wanted to appease her but the watch cost around AED 350! And no way would we spend that much just to make a crying girl stop. I grew up loving an AED 21 watch, so maybe if I find her a fake one, she’ll love me more… Lol I don’t understand parents who buy their kids these expensive stuff when a cheaper one can suffice. They’ll end up losing, breaking or getting sick of it in a few weeks anyway. unless ofcourse AED 350 is pennies to them…
Image courtesy of voguish fair.onsugar.com
Anyway, what extra thing does the ice watch give you but eye candy? Like I said I am not a watch person so these things are just like accessories that I will never wear.
I like the new swatch touch though with the digital face…
Image courtesy of swatch.com
What about the up bracelet by jawbone? That is one cool, smart gadget! Maybe I should get my brother one for his 40th birthday. He’s 32 but the way.
Image courtesy of design-milk.com
This wristband tracks your sleeping patterns, Calories Burned and food intake and has a lot of activities that will motivate you to burn those fats!
Maybe I should get myself one…
Silogs and bulalo – a resto find in Satwa
Due to our overly conflicting schedules, DH and I only get to spend a few dinners together in a week. He leaves the house at 5:30 am and gets home at 5 pm. I am too plastered to be awake at 5 am to have breakfast with him(yes I admit that I am a very bad wife) so I get up at 6:30 and leave the house for work around 7:20 am. I get home around 7 pm to which i find DH has already eaten. Unless we make it an absolute plan to eat together, it rarely happens. This is the sad part about both of us working. How I wish I could take the time everyday to prepare dinner for my DH so that when he gets home, all he has to do is eat and relax and maybe later on, wash the dishes… lol
Anyway, last saturday afternoon right after my physiotherapy, we were driving around Satwa to look for a place for brunch when we chanced upon parking in front of Lola’s best (grandma’s best in English) – an authentic Filipino restaurant. There are a handful of Filipino restos in Dubai and I plan to visit each one and blog about it.
We were both very broke at this time of the month, so we were working on a small budget. We decided to go for their daingsilog (fried daing with garlic fried rice and egg) and DH ordered tapsilog (beef tapas with garlic fried rice and egg) both for AED 12 each. My daing was a bit too salty and the portion was small, but the tapas was good. Originally, DH wanted the longsilog (longganisa, fried rice and egg) but when he found out it was chicken, he decided to go for the tapa. But now I’m curious what that chicken longganisa must taste like.
We enjoyed the frugal meal and decided to go back sunday night before church to have bulalo (beef marrow stew). DH is a big fat bulalo lover and if he can have it every week, he will.
Lola’s best’s bulalo had an interesting twist to it. The stew was showered with fried garlic and when you sip the sabaw (Filipino word for soup), you can taste a bit of lemongrass in it. It was good actually. The beef was very soft and there was an ample amount of marrow to suck. You cannot have bulalo without sucking marrow, so that was a treat.
Overall, DH has decided that we should eat there every week since he loved the bulalo so much. Maybe next time I can try their buffet for AED 30 and Sunday is seafood night.
How to blog with an iPad
As everyone knows, since the beginning of the year, I have been missing an essential gadget in my life- my MacBook pro. Blogging has taken a backseat because psoting on ipad safari is a pain and not having a computer meant the following:
- no downloading of pictures from my dslr
- no editing of pictures
- no access to pics from my hard drive
- uncomfortable typing
- recurrent loss of posts when I access WordPress dashboard on safari and I accidentally brush the screen with my fingers
- difficult navigation when editing posts on safari
- I just don’t like WordPress for iPad
I can come up with a lot more reasons that are valid (to me mostly) but I am constantly reminded of the saying that if there is a will, there is a way.
So I’ve been trying to find ways to post and have come up with a routine that will help me (or anyone in the same position) post with ease and I came up with the following apps for my use…
fingers
1) Do all typing with the notes app. The interface is much easier. The fonts are eye friendly. It’s so easy to edit, delete, correct with this app. Much smoother than accessing WordPress directly on safari.
2) Take my pictures with my iPad. I know that means my photography has to take a backseat but I have learned that photos are essential with posts. I myself am much drawn to posts with pictures.
3) Edit photos with iPad. Yes! There is a free app for photo editing that I use called Snapseed. It was introduced by my good friend Chris, who happens to be the husband of my blog buddy, the charmed wife- Ivy. I also downloaded a new app (for $0.99 or aed 3.50 for my Dubai friends) called Nostalgio that arranges your photos into a square layout. Perfect for photo collages. I add text through another free program called Skitch. After all the photo editing, i upload all photos thru the free Photobucket app on my iPad. Voila!
4) I just cut and paste the stuff I wrote from my notes to WordPress on safari. I don’t like using the WordPress app because the interface is a bit stiff and whenever I upload, my posts don’t seem to look right. Anyway, I get my photo links from my Photobucket app and just keep cutting and pasting…
So there you have it. I hope I will be more consistent. It’s a bit more time consuming than working with a computer but it’s the only way for me right now and I can actually blog everywhere I go… Which means I no longer have an excuse except pure laziness… Lol
Do you have any other suggestions on applications I can use in my iPad? Lemme know.
Indian food and anniv brunch
Indian food is not something i would recommend to first timers if they fall under the following categories
1) if they are not the adventurous type and they are very hungry- i remember bringing a friend of mine to a pretty famous pakistani (similar to indian food) restaurant called karachi darbar. She didn’t enjoy it and I was stuck enjoying everything by myself… she ended up going one hungry
2) if they don’t like spicy food – Indian food is no good if it does not make you sweat. I have tried Indian food that was mild, and they were no fun. It felt bland and there was no kick.
3) if they are traditional Chinese- I hope I don’t offend any Chinese readers, but I still need to meet a Chinese (adventurous or not) who would enjoy Indian food. Its Not because they wont like the spiciness of the cuisine because there are a lot of spicy Chinese food out there (I.e. Sichuan dishes) but its because when it comes to their food, the Chinese are so used to very little diversity. Most of my friends from china are very traditional when it comes to food and Indian food is so different from their food, they might cry afterwards… Not really, but they won’t enjoy it.
My parents introduced me and my bros to Indian food at a very young age. Living in city with so many diverse cultures gave us the advantage of being more adventurous with many aspects of our lives – especially food. We use to enjoy Monday nights eating out in Bur Dubai at a restaurant called Khyber(which is sadly no longer there). I don’t remember enjoying the food when I was a kid. I just went because we were forced to and because they had one of those play areas with lots of plastic balls. But as I grew up I kept finding myself craving for their curries and their butter nans.
I haven’t had Indian food for quite some time so when DH asked me if I wanted to eat at an Indian resto for our anniversary brunch, I immediately said ‘aye!’ well no, not really, but I nodded in agreement. We ate at a small resto called Green chillies in discover gardens. It was only 10:30 am when we arrived so the place just opened up and was still empty.
We ordered the veggie spring rolls as a starter which was quite crispy and tasty. I am not a big fan of veggie spring rolls but this was an exception. I ordered the chicken butter boneless (my fave) and DH had something with beef (I have really bad memory). They also had other asian cuisine in their menu so we also ordered some Korean fried rice.
The chicken butter boneless was great. It was just mildly spiced. I had some butter Nan’s with it. Yummmmy! The beef thing was also very good. Me and DH gave it a two thumbs up. The rice was also not bad. It was something new for us actually. Although I wished the crispy noodle was crispier. I had some mango lassi with my food and DH had a soda. – something out of topic- do you like the new coca cola slogan?
Overall the food was good and economical. I would rate it a 4.5 out of 5.
Happy
Somebody that I used to know
Im crushing on this new song by GOTYE… DH introduced the band to me. He actually pitched the song proposing that we do a cover of it… And it’s the first song that he liked first that I ended up liking. I liked it so much I ended up searching for the band online and looking for tabs. I’ll try to post a video if we actually go ahead and cover it, but for now here’s the vid-
Ive been without a computer for so long I have stopped counting..l
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