Carluccio's Italian Restaurant

Its never too late to post a Valentine's entry, right? And since tomorrow would be the last day of the Love month, let me share with you where Far-ouT took his Vdates:

The common beliefs is that Italians invented Pizza so the first thing that comes to mind is Italian Pizza since Italy's version of the dish, is the one we are familiar with - tomato, cheese and other toppings and seasonings. But its origin goes back to ancient times. which I prefer not to go further. 

Moving forward, We dine in at Carluccio's in Dubai Mall. 

Far-out ordered Focaccia  - Home-baked Ligurian bread made with extra virgin olive oil, with balsamic vinegar for dipping. Unfortunately, they don't serve complimentary bread so we had to order  from their Stuzzichini (small Italian plates)

My mini-ME's meal was from the Kids Meal of course, Pasta Alla Puttanesca with apple juice and garlic bread, but we requested the server to separate the pasta sauce,  I don't know where it started but just like how she refuse to use tissue, Bella doesn't like the red sauce at all.

My choice were from their set-meal for Valentines. From the Primi (first courses) Zuppe

I was on the safe side this time so I ordered something familiar to my taste. Lasagna Tradizionale - layers of egg pasta with tomato, ground beef and lamb and béchamel sauce. I made a note to myself that I am not a fan of Italian Pasta. I don't know, maybe its just me. 

Pizza is nothing impressive as well. Prosciutto - Thinly sliced long-cured Parma ham with half a ball of Buffalo mozzarella and a drizzle of olive oil

At least the desserts were fine. Nothing can go wrong with chocolates right? Dolce Di Cioccolato - A warm chocolate pudding based with almonds and kahlua and served with vanilla ice cream.

Still a lovely lunch. But we decided this would be the first and last though.

Happy Valentine's Day!

All the best,

A Farewell At The Warehouse, Le Meridien

February is almost ending, I have few entries more for the Love month. I will start of with see you someday...

As the saying goes, nothing is permanent in this world but change or better yet, let me rephrase that: Some people come into our lives and quickly go, some stay for a while, leave footprints on our hearts and we are never, ever, the same. 

How do handle changes? Is it difficult for you to get along with new people? I think for me, I am susceptible to separation anxiety, I don't easily open myself to anyone and so I hate when people leave, friends or colleague who became part of of your life one way or the other. But life is like that so instead of wallowing to the feeling, I let myself go to another direction. I remembered, my mom once told me, I'm emotionally unresponsive, I believe she's right somehow. Its better that way - we cannot always hold on to things or people. I don't let my guard down most of the time.

Enough of the heavy, I just actually want to share with you a farewell party we had in Warehouse, Le Meridien. Great Food, Creative Drinks and Fantastic music!

For AED 220/pax, we enjoyed array of food buffet paired with International beers or wine at the European style cafe bar and garden

Photocredits to my colleague, Sylvia (her Iphone6 is better than iPhone 5)

It was a fantastic night. I want to say THANK YOU! to the most amazing and coolest boss who taught me a lot in her 2 years of stay. I will not say goodbye, I believe that's one of the bullsh*tiest words ever invented, because maybe, someday we might bump into each other again.

All the best,

Cruise on a Yacht

I have been in a hiatus. Because of a lot of interruptions I had from 2014, my blog was neglected  for a very long time. I tried keeping up but still could not cope up so I decided to have a break to relieve me of the stress I am feeling for not being up to date with my entries - yes I am THAT affected. Anyways, I kept my Instagram updated instead for the time being. What I love about Instagram is you only get to choose the best photo to post and it tells a story just as well as a large amount of descriptive text.

Moving on, I want to share with you one of the best time I had in 2014, our department won the best team award from Southeast Asia and the Middle East, as a reward we spent our cash reward in a 3 hour cruise on a yacht. Cool, right? Start and End point is the Firsherman's Village in Jumeirah. We also get to enjoy from the package unlimited soda/water/ice. Total price is AED 2300 plus AED 350 for a banana boat ride

It was an awesome experience not only because I get the opportunity to experience it for the first time but also because it was part of my A-List.

All the best,

Charm Restaurant

There is always something exotic about Thai cuisine. With its Balance, detail and variety. So when one of my colleagues invited us for a dinner in Charm restaurant to celebrate her birthday, I immediately tag myself along, anything about food is interesting to me, especially, when its free.

The place is located at the Fishing Harbour in Jumeirah 1. I was impressed with the great sea view. It was quiet and serene. I would recommend this restaurant if you plan to have a date with your love ones or planning to have a quiet marriage proposal. Just the two of you - Saving yourself of embarrassment if she said no. Kidding!

But seriously, I wouldn't want to put myself into that situation. Like a flashmob kind of proposal. What if the girl is not ready yet to marry you, but you leave her no choice but to say yes? Because she wants to save you from shame to all those people you invited to witness the event. Family and Friends are fine, I guess, if you are really the type of person who wants everybody to see - but for me, Its like a shotgun wedding. I watched a few YouTube videos and I was like, such a pity. I don't find it romantic at all, most especially if its in public. Imagine all those strangers looking forward to see you said yes. You won't feel the moment. You will be more like self-conscious with the whole situation.

Anyway - Excuse me, but I wasn't able to take decent photos because of the lighting.

These delicious Thai recipes are combination of hot, sour, sweet, salty flavors.

Pandan - Deep fried  marinated chicken, pandan leaves wrapped, with panda sauce.

Satay - Grilled marinated chicken, turmeric, coconut milk, lemongrass, peanut sauce

Crispy glory - Tempura morning glory, prawns, ground peanuts, roasted coconut flakes, spicy sweet and sour

Green curry - Green curry, Thai eggplant, baby eggplant, sweet basil, coconut milk, and chicken (other selection are beef or prawns)

Charm chicken - Grilled chicken, Thai herbs, serve with sticky rice, sweet chili sauce, spicy tamarind sauce

I'm sorry, I have yet to know this viand - after several days of discussion with my colleagues, I am betting on Basil - sautéed duck, holy basil leaves, roasted garlic chili sauce

Who would enjoy all those meal without rice? Rice that most Filipinos can't leave without

By the way, they served us unlimited hot tea.

As they always say, People who love to eat are always the best people

All the best,

MIYABI, Sushi and Bento

Are you the the type of person who does New Year's resolution and proudly say that you have religiously follow every single one of them? Or are you the one who make the same goal every year? I don't really do these things every year. I believe that if you want something to happen, you don't need a change of a year to achieve, just go for it the moment you feel like it. Easy for me to say, right? Actually, I just got it all in my head, my plans, goals aspiration, and so I am inspired, excited and all from December 31 to January 1. Then when I woke up on January 2, I'm back to my normal self again. Doing the same thing again.

- pause -

its a bit frustrating that it took me several week to actual follow through with my post. Its really hard to keep up when you are a working mom with a 5 year old grade 1 student.

Moving forward, I just want to share with you few of my few food trips

We went to MIYABI, Sushi and Bento on SZR, Far-ouT ordered SAMURAI (AED 65)

These consist of 3 sashimi, chicken teriyaki, mixed tempura, gyoza (pot stickers)

I chose TOKUKAWA (AED 65) - California roll, chicken teriyaki, mixed tempura and gyoza (pot stickers)

I got my mini- ME SEAFOOD RAMEN  (AED 55) - assorted seafood with Japanese ramen noodle. you have a choice of miso base or soy sauce base for the soup - I chose the latter as I was not fond of miso

and for dessert TEMPURA ICE CREAM (AED 35) This is deep fried battered ice cream. Ice cream flavors are chocolate / vanilla / green tea.

I am really a gastronome by heart and can't think of any entries than food nowadays. We are planning for Baby #2 this year, might as well enjoy eating first.

All the best,