Selamat Hari Natal

To friends celebrating Christmas, warm wishes from me on this day of remembrance. Selamat Hari Natal. Have fun, be kind and stay cool. p/s - I have always wondered why the Malay form of this greeting uses the term `natal'. The word is actually an English term relating to birth... in this case specifically the virgin birth of the prophet Jesus.

When `mandi' does not mean taking a bath

I had not expected to travel abroad this month but was asked by the boss to handle some issues at one of the company's projects in the Middle East. The previous Sunday saw me and a friend named Hasnul, on an Emirates flight bound for Dubai and we spent the whole of last week in the United Arab Emirates.

The project is located in Fujairah, one of the seven emirates or states in the UAE, the others being Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Ras Al-Khaimah and Umm Al-Quwain. The UAE is a federation not unlike Malaysia. Each emirate has its own government and is headed by an Emir or ruler. Although Dubai is perhaps the most well-known of all the states, the capital of the federation is actually Abu Dhabi. The ruler of Abu Dhabi is also the president of UAE.

I was last in the UAE in April of last year, having spent about six months posted there to manage a project. This latest trip was therefore more like a return to a familiar place and meeting old colleagues. Fujairah is located about 130km from Dubai and is the only emirate that has a coastline facing east towards the Gulf of Oman. The other states have coastlines facing the Persian Gulf. The landscape in Fujairah is a stark contrast when compared to Dubai. Most of Fujairah consists of rocky mountains while Dubai is generally sandy desert.

The first day was spent attending a meeting and later evaluating the progress of works at the project site. The following day, I took the opportunity to visit some old colleagues who were stationed at the company's crane barge that was moored in Dibba Port, located to the north of Fujairah town.

Later that evening, we had dinner at a Pakistani restaurant that has become one of our regular makan place. My friends had chicken briyani while I chose to have chicken tikka with naan bread. The weather in the Emirates at the present time is mild with temperatures around the low twenties Celsius. Since the air was cool, we chose to have our dinner at the outside table. At other times of the year, the temperature can be a sweltering 40 degrees, even at night.

Dinner at Zaman's Restaurant in Fujairah

We were able to complete our task earlier than anticipated and managed to bring forward our return date by 4 days. Before flying back, Hasnul recommended that we have dinner at a restaurant in Dubai that serves a delicious rice and meat dish. He has been to the place only once before and could only remember the name of the restaurant and the street on which it is located. But he could not recall the specific area of Dubai where the street is or how exactly to get there.

After asking for general directions from the hotel front desk, we ventured out in the notorious Dubai traffic in search of a makan place that reputedly serves a tasty meal that would become unforgettable. It took us quite a while before we finally found the place. At one point while we were crawling in the jam and circling the streets, I told Hasnul that the food had better be real good for me to endure the terrible congestion. He assured me that it is... and having tested Hasnul's recommendations of other food places before, I never thought of giving up.

Bait Al Mandi Restaurant is located on Al Muraqqabat Street in the Al Rashidiya area of Dubai. It is quite plain-looking and does not have any fancy decor to pull the tourist crowd. The restaurant basically serves a rice dish called `mandi' that comes in three variants : mutton, chicken or fish. Mandi is a traditional dish that originated from Yemen.

Since there were four of us that evening, we selected a combination of mutton and chicken mandi. The dish included a standard serving of fresh vegetable salad, some yoghurt and a homemade tangy chilli-tomato dipping sauce. The mutton meat was tender and so tasty. The chicken was juicy and delicious too. For a mutton lover like me, the meal was really exquisite. It was worth the trouble of wading through the horrible traffic.

Mutton and chicken mandi dish served in a large plate

If I ever do get the chance to visit Dubai again, I'm willing to skip the shopping or sight-seeing just to have another mutton mandi at this place. Unforgettable.

Lama dah tak dengar khabar

It has been more than a week now since I last posted. I'm missing my blogger friends already...

I was on overseas assignment for the whole of last week. Although our overseas branch office has an internet connection, I only had time to check emails. Sorry, tak sempat jenguk blog. I'm now back in KL and will post some updates soon. Hope you guys have been behaving yourselves :-)

Free hole with the dough

Last week, I dropped by the opening of the latest Big Apple Donuts & Coffee outlet at the new Aeon Jusco Shopping Mall at AU2 Setiawangsa. This outlet is owned by a group of friends who are former colleagues. They have pooled their resources, convinced the bankers and managed to secure the deal to open the 27th Malaysian outlet.

Truth be told, I've never heard of this franchise before... probably because I'm not really a donut fanatic. I have only heard of Dunkin' but have never bought any from them because I think the donuts are overpriced. But this does stop other people from queueing up to buy them.

Big Apple outlets are bright and visible. Their kitchen can be clearly seen by the customers... you can see the dough being mixed, the donut being moulded, baked and then being arranged in rows, ready for the dipping and topping process in an uncountable number of flavours. Well, actually I'm exaggerating here... of course it's not uncountable, but if you see the whole donut range on display, you'll have a hard time choosing. And they come in an array of creative names... Alien, Duren-duren, Rolling Stone and Pink Panther, among others. No prizes for guessing which one is a favourite pick of the girls.

The display counter that makes you become spoilt for choice

I picked out a box of 12 pieces but because it was an opening day promo, I paid only for six. The donuts were brought home for my kids and their cousins to consume. To enable all of us to share the flavours, each donut was cut into quarters. Except for yours truly who, being the boss, got to eat the whole Cheesy donut for himself.

My choice of 12 pieces. No Pink Panther because it was sold out.

And so now... to the all important question, how was the taste? Not bad, I would say. You don't have to ask the kids... the whole box was eaten up in a jiffy.

I am confident that this business venture of my friends will do well. I've known them to be dedicated, hardworking and honest. To Azah, Azlina and Azman of the Big Apple Donuts & Coffee 27th outlet, my wishes for your continued success.

I now have a place that I can hang out for donuts and coffee, in the company of good friends.

Take the path less ordinary

In my Regular Reads blogroll is a blog managed by a group of dedicated individuals who call themselves Outskirt Outreach. This group promotes nature conservation and organizes treks into our beautiful rainforest, especially within the Kinta Valley. They also help out the Orang Asli communities by various means such as collecting used children's clothes from urban donors for distribution to the Orang Asli families.

Their latest post makes a mention of a certain `old' guy whom they have described as a `prolific' blogger. The post can be read -> here.

Err... Casey my friend, I need to correct you here. Putting up a blog post every three or four days hardly qualifies as prolific... heheheh. Thanks for the mention, anyway. I certainly wish that I'll be able to join you guys on a jungle expedition one day.

If any of my KL-based readers are hopping over to Double-O's blog, do check out their latest Kuala Lumpur Integrated Rail Map. It has all the train lines (LRT, Monorail, KTM, Kommuter and ERL) neatly and colourfully laid out. Reminds me of the London Underground Subway. Cool.