Apologies for not having written in a while kids. Now that we've settled in at work and the jet lag has seemingly gone away, the days are a little more busy. BUT I am back today with a post about the food experiences I've had so far as well as a little snippet into my day.
Luckily some of my other team members have been here for some time now and have had the opportunity to explore the island and surrounding areas. Because of this we have been lucky enough to have some excellent food adventures in the little over a week that we've been here. On the island where I'm staying there is the traditional hotel fair of all levels from grab n go to luxury dining. And at work there is an odd mish mash of Italian, Indian, American and Mexican? I'm not quite certain what is going on there actually;) Also at the hotel there is a multicultural small breakfast buffet and typically in the morning I've having some sort of Indian rice, hard boiled egg, sausage and some fruit type thingy. I don't typically eat breakfast at home so this is a nice change. Please see the pic below.
But this is not what I want to talk about. What I REALLY want to tell you about is Lebanese Flower! Lebanese Flower is sort of a chain/considered fast food place that I actually think is a pretty nice little restaurant. The food is Lebanese (duh!) and actually really inexpensive given the quality of the food. It's also located near to downtown Abu Dhabi and so is a nice change of pace when we leave the island to go eat there.
The other night we had an amazing meal of hummus, fatoush, stuffed grape leaves and lamb. Oh the lamb!!! Best lamb I've ever had. Seriously. And one must not forget the Fanta. Yes, I drink Fanta here. I drank it in Italy too. There is just something about that fizzy orange soda that makes me happy when I'm in foreign country.
Aside from Lebanese Flower we have actually found two really good local cuisine based places- one located inside of Heritage Village which is a total tourist trap but the restaurant was actually really nice. We ran in there for water and mango smoothies on one particularly nasty day with 110 degree heat and at least 50% humidity. And then the other one we went to was located in Mina Port where the fish market is and all the fishermen keep their boats. Upon first glance Al Arish seemed touristy as well but actually has quite a local following. They offer either a pretty good deal on a buffet with traditional food, or you can purchase fresh fish of your choice and they will grill it and serve it up with rice. The thing we appreciated most was our table that was actually a large aquarium. They just put the table top over the aquarium. Also one of the servers fell in love with one of my co-workers and so we were able to see the room the royals dine in when they come which was just over the top, lavishly decorated. Really neat! :)
Here is a review of the place that I found that falls in line with what I was thinking.
http://www.abudhabiweek.ae/component/content/article/63-restaurant-reviews/2659-al-arish?directory=76&Itemid=76
Also I'd like to point out that along with everything mentioned in the article we also had a local drink that is a mix of lemonade and freshly ground mint which is absolutely heaven and refreshing during these summer days and nights and at the end of the meal we had Arabic Coffee which is not to be confused with Turkish Coffee. Turkish Coffee is one of my favorites but it's quite thick and heavy, while Arabic Coffee seems almost a cross between coffee and tea and is really light with hints of cardamom in it. Yum!
And this closes the food portion of this particular post! :)
I also want to give you just a brief glimpse into my work day here in Abu Dhabi.
I typically wake up about 6 or 630am and if I'm feeling especially well behaved I will get myself up and swim laps in the hotel pool. Otherwise I lay in bed and watch the BBC to see what is happening in the world. Then I get ready and am down at breakfast with my newspaper in hand by 7:30am. Usually the rest of my team will slowly wander over and by 8am we are in the car and on the way to work.
I can't really talk about work without making you all fill out a non-disclosure agreement so let's gloss over most of the day. Typically we stay at the site from 8 to about 5pm (though this may change once the rest of the team comes over and different parts of the project start up) and our mornings are quite busy since we are responding to all of the work questions that came through while we were sleeping (we are 11 hours ahead of you all. So I live in the future! Ha!). Around 5pm we pack up and come back to the hotel where most nights we will have skype calls for an hour or two with the home office or other vendors since they are just getting their days started as we are closing ours. After that, sometimes we all eat dinner together (see picture below)
or we eat in our rooms, at the bar...somehow. After dinner, I'm still pretty tired these days so I will log on and take care of work emails and home emails or have some family/friend skype/gchat time. But mainly I collapse into bed exhausted from the day by 10pm. It's not that what we are doing is very physical but more the heat and constantly being in air conditioning I suspect. Also there is really no escaping work since when we are done for the day, the day is just beginning back home and it's hard not to look at your emails or want to respond to questions. The weekends run a little differently and are a mix of rest and work. I believe there are plans to see a movie and do some grocery shopping this weekend so I will regale you all with these wondrous adventures early next week! ;)
Hope everyone is well!
Love and hugs from the desert!
Chris
Luckily some of my other team members have been here for some time now and have had the opportunity to explore the island and surrounding areas. Because of this we have been lucky enough to have some excellent food adventures in the little over a week that we've been here. On the island where I'm staying there is the traditional hotel fair of all levels from grab n go to luxury dining. And at work there is an odd mish mash of Italian, Indian, American and Mexican? I'm not quite certain what is going on there actually;) Also at the hotel there is a multicultural small breakfast buffet and typically in the morning I've having some sort of Indian rice, hard boiled egg, sausage and some fruit type thingy. I don't typically eat breakfast at home so this is a nice change. Please see the pic below.
But this is not what I want to talk about. What I REALLY want to tell you about is Lebanese Flower! Lebanese Flower is sort of a chain/considered fast food place that I actually think is a pretty nice little restaurant. The food is Lebanese (duh!) and actually really inexpensive given the quality of the food. It's also located near to downtown Abu Dhabi and so is a nice change of pace when we leave the island to go eat there.
The other night we had an amazing meal of hummus, fatoush, stuffed grape leaves and lamb. Oh the lamb!!! Best lamb I've ever had. Seriously. And one must not forget the Fanta. Yes, I drink Fanta here. I drank it in Italy too. There is just something about that fizzy orange soda that makes me happy when I'm in foreign country.
Aside from Lebanese Flower we have actually found two really good local cuisine based places- one located inside of Heritage Village which is a total tourist trap but the restaurant was actually really nice. We ran in there for water and mango smoothies on one particularly nasty day with 110 degree heat and at least 50% humidity. And then the other one we went to was located in Mina Port where the fish market is and all the fishermen keep their boats. Upon first glance Al Arish seemed touristy as well but actually has quite a local following. They offer either a pretty good deal on a buffet with traditional food, or you can purchase fresh fish of your choice and they will grill it and serve it up with rice. The thing we appreciated most was our table that was actually a large aquarium. They just put the table top over the aquarium. Also one of the servers fell in love with one of my co-workers and so we were able to see the room the royals dine in when they come which was just over the top, lavishly decorated. Really neat! :)
Here is a review of the place that I found that falls in line with what I was thinking.
http://www.abudhabiweek.ae/component/content/article/63-restaurant-reviews/2659-al-arish?directory=76&Itemid=76
Also I'd like to point out that along with everything mentioned in the article we also had a local drink that is a mix of lemonade and freshly ground mint which is absolutely heaven and refreshing during these summer days and nights and at the end of the meal we had Arabic Coffee which is not to be confused with Turkish Coffee. Turkish Coffee is one of my favorites but it's quite thick and heavy, while Arabic Coffee seems almost a cross between coffee and tea and is really light with hints of cardamom in it. Yum!
And this closes the food portion of this particular post! :)
I also want to give you just a brief glimpse into my work day here in Abu Dhabi.
I typically wake up about 6 or 630am and if I'm feeling especially well behaved I will get myself up and swim laps in the hotel pool. Otherwise I lay in bed and watch the BBC to see what is happening in the world. Then I get ready and am down at breakfast with my newspaper in hand by 7:30am. Usually the rest of my team will slowly wander over and by 8am we are in the car and on the way to work.
I can't really talk about work without making you all fill out a non-disclosure agreement so let's gloss over most of the day. Typically we stay at the site from 8 to about 5pm (though this may change once the rest of the team comes over and different parts of the project start up) and our mornings are quite busy since we are responding to all of the work questions that came through while we were sleeping (we are 11 hours ahead of you all. So I live in the future! Ha!). Around 5pm we pack up and come back to the hotel where most nights we will have skype calls for an hour or two with the home office or other vendors since they are just getting their days started as we are closing ours. After that, sometimes we all eat dinner together (see picture below)
or we eat in our rooms, at the bar...somehow. After dinner, I'm still pretty tired these days so I will log on and take care of work emails and home emails or have some family/friend skype/gchat time. But mainly I collapse into bed exhausted from the day by 10pm. It's not that what we are doing is very physical but more the heat and constantly being in air conditioning I suspect. Also there is really no escaping work since when we are done for the day, the day is just beginning back home and it's hard not to look at your emails or want to respond to questions. The weekends run a little differently and are a mix of rest and work. I believe there are plans to see a movie and do some grocery shopping this weekend so I will regale you all with these wondrous adventures early next week! ;)
Hope everyone is well!
Love and hugs from the desert!
Chris
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