I Bought A HARLEY DAVIDSON!!!

Ok, so it may not be what you had in mind ... but I wasn't bluffing :p

Hehe ... my first Harley ...


I needed it cause my current pair is going into retirement ... the frame was chipped, the colour is fading in patches and most importantly ... my power increased a tiny bit. Sighhh ...

Also hor, wifey complained that my current pair's design is too 'fancy' ... very Ah Beng-ish were her exact words. Let's hope she approve this one. :p

A li'll retail therapy ...

Got this for a rather decent discount at Aldo last week. What's better ... the Filipino sales assistant offered me his staff discount too cause ... I think he mistook me for his fellow countrymen. Haha. Hello kabayan! :D

Nice???

GOLD ATM Machine ...

So you think you've seen it all? Well, how bout a GOLD ATM machine? Yea, that's right, a machine that dispence gold bars instead of the usual boring ol' cash. It monitors the daily gold price on the market. Interested buyers will then have to insert money and ALAKAZAM ... out pop the li'll shiny gold bars. It's as simple as that.

Amazing huh ... only in Abu Dhabi ... well, at the Emirates Palace Hotel to be exact. :)

We came, we saw and we conquered ... the Dubai Mall

Wifey had to come over to the region for a short meeting, so we planned for her to extend her stay by a couple of days so we can have some R&R together. Her visit coincided with the weekend, so I only had to take a day off from work. *Yay*




I arranged for transport and picked wifey up from Dubai Int. We had a pleasant driver, Mr. Moidin, a humble chap from Keralla and he sent us straight to the hotel soon after. We checked in at the Excelsior Creek Hotel (it was almost 5:00 am then) ... a nice li'll 4 star abode we called home for the next 3 nights. Located just 5 minutes walk away from the Burjuman Center, it was ideal as I had to take the Metro to work on the final day of our break. We slumbered till almost lunch time (well, I did anyway. Poor wifey had to work from the hotel early in the morning) and then made our way to the Dubai Mall soon after.

Now the Dubai Mall is hailed as the largest shopping mall in the world ... covering more than 12 million square feet of desert land and sitting right next to the Burj Khalifa, the current champion of the world's tallest ... towering majestically at 828m high. We were utterly famished and headed straight for food before even bothering with the 1200+ retail outlets spreaded all across the mall. Since we wanted variety, we chose to dine at the mall's foodcourt. We went all American and I was delighted to finally being able to sample the world famous Taco Bell. It was delish alright! Sharing the spotlight was the very yummy and the very sinful New York Fries, flooded with loads of melted cheese, beef chilly and sour cream.



With our tummies filled, we thronged the walkways (which were very wide by the way) of the mall. Every brand you can think of, from the high streets of the fashion capitals to the ones we've neither seen nor heard before made a home at this mall. You can practically get anything and everything you want here ... for a price of course. Kinokuniya opened a huge outlet and I can literally spend hours upon hours here browsing through its aisles of literature wonders. Pampered wifey to a little bit of shopping too ... well, she deserved it after being bogged down by so much work recently. When our tired legs began screaming from exhaustion, we rested and snacked at Caribou Cafe. The leather couches were amazingly comfy and perfect for us to slouch on as we chatted and gossiped. :p


We continued exploring the mall and it's not suprising for one to feel adequately small and lost being in such a mazzive enclosure. Good thing then that there are landmarks such as the Dubai Waterfall (pictured below) to help serve as a guiding beacon and point us towards the direction we wanna go.


Oh and we also saw this on one of the outlet's display window. There's some truth in it no? ... :)


We also decided to catch a movie at Reel Cinema. Voted as the best cinema in Dubai (although I couldn't tell what was so extraordinary bout it, pfttt), we enjoyed Back Up Plan starring J-Lo. Who knew being pregnant could be so disgusting and comical at the same time. Hehe.

We stuffed ourselves at TGIF before calling it a night. Too bad we couldn't get a table at the balcony facing the Dubai Fountain and had to settle for one inside instead.



The next day, we continued our attempt to completely 'conquer' the Dubai Mall as there are areas which we have not seen yet the day before. We again lunched at the food court before Wifey did another bout of shopping. We then pit stopped at Costa Coffee as I needed my daily caffeine shot. Their double choc fudge cake was richly delicious too *lip smacking*.



We then proceeded and bought entry tickets to the Underwater Zoo and the Aquarium where we marvelled over the exotic and weirdly intriguing marine lives on display. From prehistoric horse-shoe crabs to silly looking paddlefish, cuddly water rats to snobbish penguins, frightful looking nurse sharks to the adorable clownfishes ... we had a great time immersing ourselves in the spectacles of the marine nature.




We 'surfaced' from the Aquarium and headed out for some fresh air. The weather was cooling and breezy ... perfect for us to enjoy the musical at the Dubai Fountain. Played at an interval of every 20 minutes, one can enjoy the sights and sounds of the water dancing to the enchanting melodies of the desert wind. We stayed for two 'shows' and used the time in between to camwhore. :) *chik chak*





Finally, we dined at Rainforest Cafe, a restaurant with a very authentic jungle theme where almost all of the robotic animal props can move and blend well with the lighting and audio effects ... enveloping us with a very surreal 'Tarzan & Jane' feel. OOO OOO AAHH AHH. The food's good too albeit a bit pricy ... but heck, you pay for what you get no?





So there you go ... a detailed account of our adventure at the Dubai Mall. Care for a visit? :)

Movie Marathon ...

I finally caught Clash of The Titans. This remake of the 1981 original starring Sam Worthington (the guy from Avatar) pleases me. Sure the plot is predictable as hell but then again, I've always been a fan of all things related to magic & fantasy ... heck, I think it all started from my childhood days of chasing after the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon series. So from Harry Potter to LOTR ... I won't miss a single one of 'em. Oh and Liam Neeson stamped himself as the big chief of Olympia, Zeus authoritatively well while Ralph Fiennes was creepy as the evil Lord of the Underworld, Hades.

Like I said, watch this movie for what it was intended to be ... a bing bang between the Greek Gods, the Titans and the mortal men though the part where Perseus calling Medusa a bitch didn't go down so well with me. I doubt that word was in any part of the ancient Greek vocab then.

Oh and if you're plannnig to catch COTT, be sure to go for the 2D version instead of 3D. Why you ask ... well, it's simply because COTT was shot with 2D cameras but after seeing the humongous success of Avatar, the producers decided to 'convert' COTT into 3D. According to a certain James Cameron, this conversion would take no less then 8 months to a year to make it proper but the guys from COTT took only 6 weeks in order to rush it in time for its global premier. Another fine example of 'money talks and bullshit walks'.

When the movie was done, I grabbed some grub at Caribou's ... a cheese croissant to compliment my American Cold Press. Next up, I had an appointment with Mr. Tony Stark and Ms. Pepper Potts.


Ironman 2 picked up from where it's predecessor left off. Wouldn't wanna spoil it for those who haven't yet seen it but expect ACTION ACTION and MORE ACTION. Robert Downey as Tony Stark ... atrociously arrogant but super cool :p The Ironman suit ... macho macho macho. I SOOOOOO want one. There are a million and one things I can think of doing with the suit. >:) The villains ... Ivan Vanko with his badass Russian attitude and Justin Hammer with err ... his 'Ex-wife' ... they exude enough wickedness as far as baddies go. Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow ... sooo sinfully delicious! All in all ... a very entertaining blend of CRASH BOOM BANG at its best. This blogger gives it a double thumbs up!

And ... I treated myself to ...

Let's face it ... there's a boy in every man. Period!

So there you go ... 'nuff said! Go watch 'em already. Now shoo!

Noodle House @ Al Wahda Mall

The night before SY was due to return to Malaysia, I took her to Al Wahda Mall. I reckon it's the only mall she hasn't been to in Abu Dhabi. Famished, we headed straight to Noodle House. A very decent Chinese restaurant with authentic decor and ambience to put us in a happy appetizing mood.

From the kitchen staff to the waitresses, they were all dressed in traditional chinese attire and what suprised me was the music being played at that time ... a blend of Chinese classical, oldies and pop. The sounds of George Lam's Wong Fei Hung theme song made the both of us grinning silly in fond reminiscence.

The menu is however kinda limited variety-wise but they made up for it in terms of delish quality. Order cards were placed on each table and we simply tick the items we wanted on the aforementioned menu cards.

At the end, we decided on a bowl of hot and sour soup (our staple whenever we go for Chinese), tom yum goong, ma po tofu, thai chilly chickcen, salt & pepper calamari and steamed rice. Drinks came in the form of flavoured ice teas.

The soups both worked wonderfully in whetting the taste buds for the mains and the calamari's dip of chilly mayonaisse complimented its dish splendidly. The chicken tasted really flavoursome and authentic infusing a lot of chinese condiments such as ginger and lemongrass while the uniformly cubic to fu stir fried in ma po sauce went deliciously well with the bowls of steaming fragrant rice. A real yummilicious meal all together. :D

We enjoyed the food there and service was rather good too. I foresee us coming back here again plus they have a new branch opening soon in the spanking huge Dubai Mall.

2008 X'mas Loot

A rather belated entry this one. Simply to share with you peeps my 2008 X’mas haul. Parents got me a Hugo Boss XY Eau De Toilette. Younger bro, Shaun bought me Cecilia Ahern’s latest, This Gift (which I so nearly bought at the HK airport) while youngest bro, Ryan generously presented me with Anchee Min, The Last Empress and Where Rainbows End. Looks like I'll be a busy boookworm in the near future. Finally, I got a Mark & Spencer’s Autograph series Eau De Toilette, deodorant and aftershave from cousin Angie. Conclusion, people around me thinks I need to improve my vocab and that I stink ... literally. Haha. :p

So there you have it folks. What did you find in your X’mas stockings??? Did it made you go HO HO HO??? :D

The Eve ...

On the eve of my 'BIG DAY', I rushed home from work and took SY to Vasco's. It's a western restaurant under the Hilton Hotel's wing and it's themed based on the travel stories of a certain Vasco De Gama. *wink*

Anyways, we were amongst the first customers there and had the fortunate priviledge to be seated at the al fresco area. The evening bayou breeze was indeed welcoming and served well to wash away all the stress from work. Facing the beach, we had a panoramic view of the marina and the splendour of the crimson sky.

Service was second to none and after being seated, we were served with complimentary bread and dips. There were at least 7 different kinda breads and the salsa dip went along wonderfully to stir up the appetite.

We both had soup for starters. SY went with the lobster minestrone while I opted for the seafood bisque. Both tasted delish indeed although SY mentioned that hers was a tad bit too salty. I tasted the minestrone too and it was simply fine by me.

For mains, I had the grilled chicken breast served with corniche sauce, roasted vegs and potatoes. I know it doesn't sound like much but believe you me that it was YUMMILICIOUSSS!!! SY's seabass was prepared in a Chinese styled fusion and it came served in a plastic pouch before being served in the designated dish.

Last but definitely not least, we succumed to the sinful calling of our sweet tooth and indulged in desserts. We kicked off with a serving of affogato ... bitter expresso topped with a dollop of sweet vanilla ice cream ... funny how opposites can compliment each other so perfectly sometimes ... the bitter and the sweet ... the hot and the cold. The result ... one satisfied happy couple. :) Our second dessert, the chocolate souffle was highly recommended by our waiter and we were told that it'll take at least 15 minutes to prepare. Since we had all the time in the world, we happily obliged and it was worth the wait indeed. So soft, so fluffy and so moist was the texture of this French creation. Served on a white porcelain rectangle plate, it came with a mixture of wild berries and a scoop of rich vanilla ice cream in an edible chocolate cup. Yum Yum!!! We polished it all up without any guilt what-so-eva!!! Haha.

After the meal, we took a leisurely stroll along the hotel's club grounds before heading back to the villa.

At precisely midnight, I got my birthday wishes from a giggling SY. She suprised me with a card which she was hiding beneath the duvet all the while. After that, came a gift wrapped box and inside was a Precious Moment figurine. This holds a special meaning for the both of us, so don't bother asking cause it's for us to know and for you to find out. :p

Minutes later, SY (who was still giggling by the way) whipped out another card. Why another card you ask ... you don't need to know. Hehehe. Couldn't ask for a more pleasant way to welcome myself into the 27th year of my time here on God's green earth. :)

Oh yea, earlier I opened gifts received from my family, Su Yee & Alex and SY too (yes, she bought me multiple gifts :p). My brothers got me a Polo shirt, parents gave a red packet and Su & Alex tumpang-ed SY to pass me a Renoma t-shirt. SY got me a very nice set of duvet cover and bed sheets that made my old sheets look like the ones they used in Guantanomao Bay. Here's a BIG THANK YOU to all of ya. :D

The One Restaurant

Two nights ago, SY and I decided to eat out and I brought her to The One. The One is a furniture and household appliance selling establishment and its concept is everything which Ikea is not. Meaning to say that it's generally the opposite of the more popular Ikea. Where Ikea stressed on basics and simplicity, The One sells on abstract and elegance.

Ooo ... and their X'mas decor are all up already. Walking through its aisle flanked by colourful fairy lights, gorgeously decorated X'mas trees and with classis X'mas tunes melodiously playing in the background ... it felt simply wonderful to soak up the Yuletide atmosphere. HO HO HO ...

The One has only one restaurant inside and guess what is it named ... THE ONE RESTAURANT!!! Haha. Decked with thick crocodile leathered chairs, matching dark mahogany wooden tables and elaborate Victorian chandeliers, it envelope the customers with a sense of utter lushness and regal opulence. "Now where's my buttered scones and tea, ol' chap?" Hehe.

Browsing through the menu revealed that the pricing is really reasonable for what it's offering. Serving staple authentic English food as well as fusioned local cuisines, from Illy's coffee to healthy smoothies, no wonder this hidden gem is popular amongst the gwai los and local Arabs. It's usually packed during lunch and dinner hours too.

They're promoting their X'mas menu now and it comes with an option of a 2-course meal (60 AED) or a 3-course meal (70 AED). Consisting of 3 selections of starters, 3 selections of mains and 3 selections of dessert, you pick an item from each section and it comes standard with a serving of after meal coffee as well as X'mas truffles.

We both went for the 3-course meal and SY opted for the Parsnip Soup drizzled with truffle oil, wild mushrooms risotto and peaches and strawberry sorbet.

I went for the goat's cheese tart, the traditional turkey with cranberry sauce and stuffing and ended with the X'mas pudding.

It was really yummilicious and somehow the photos failed to do the food justice. The soup was thick and flavoursome. Dipped with the complimentary garlic bread ... delish delish delish!!! My goat's cheese tart is worth a mention with it's bold taste coupling well with fresh tomatoes served on a crispy flaky crust which reminded me of some very good roti canai I once had back in Malaysia.

The turkey was well smoked indeed served on top of a bed of boiled carrots, peppers, potatoes and brussel sprouts ... another 'must have' this one. SY's risotto came in a very generous portion but that's the only plus point here. It tasted very mediocre and it didn't take long before we had more than enough of it.

The sorbet was refreshingly delectable and served well to offset the dominant taste from the risotto while my X'mas pudding failed my expectations with the absence of rum / brandy. Other than that, it was all goooood. :)

Final conclusion being that dining at THE ONE RESTAURANT received a double thumbs up from SY and I. Excellent ambience along with scrumtious food and fine service ... I'll be sure to go back there again and again and again ... :)

Bumblebee and 'Friends' ...

If you're a follower of this blog, you would've knew that I'm currently based in Abu Dhabi. The second thing you should realize is that this rat hole isn't exactly the Garden of Eden. Ok maybe it can be ... with sufficient spending power, you can buy the moon and the stars but for moi ... let's just say I'm trying to modestly get by one day at a time.

When life gives you lemons ... you make lemonade no? That's what my colleauges and I are trying to accomplish ... attempting to make the best out of our current situation and I believe we'll get there one day. Soon I hope. :p

OK ... enough BS, straight to the point, after work last night, the bunch of us headed to Madinat Zayed. Located in that area is a bicycle shop and after relentless negotiation and bargaining, we snapped up 5 units in total. Got a free lock for each bike, a pump as well as free delivery. Not bad huh. So now as you're reading this entry ... JJ, Jenson, Eddy, Melvin and yours truly are proud owners of new mountain bikes bebeh!!! Marita (our document controller) bought hers a couple of days earlier from the same place.

The cost you ask??? Well, JJ, Jenson and mine cost RM390 while Eddy and Melvin's made them poorer by RM380.

It's been a while since I cycled (RPM in the gym don't count la) ... and it felt SO LIBERATING to cruise the streets at night especially with the cooling breezy weather we're getting over here now. I think I'll be spending a lot of time with my new set of wheels ... to re-discover the joys derived from the freedom of the spin. Next destination ... The Corniche ... a beautiful beach area populated mostly by beach strollers, cyclists and rollerbladers. Will try to get some nice pics the next time I'm there k. Those photos should be able to paint a much better picture compared to my limited vocab. :p

I christened my new toy 'The Bumblebee' for obvious reasons ... DUH!!! Me like. :D

So now it's time to lace up the shoes and ride the open road. It's just you and me, Bumblebee.

Night out with an ol' friend, Hiskandar

I woke as the morning light spills through my apartment curtains. I realized that today’s Sunday. And over here, Sunday’s a working day. Blehhh.

Anyways, let me tell you about last night. At approximately 7:30 in the evening, I took a 3 minute walk to The Crowne Plaza. There I met up with one my ex-uni mate, Hiskandar Hashim. Hiskandar have been based in Abu Dhabi for the past 2 months or so. He’s posted here with a glamorous position as the Second Secretary (Political) with the Singaporean Embassy.

We took his rented Toyota Altis and drove to Khalidiyah Mall. One of the many malls in the city and is located in the upmarket residential area of Khalidiyah. We parked the car and looked for dinner. The first thing that greeted me put such a big smile upon my face. Two words … two magical words … Krispy Kreme!!! Yes peeps, they have here in Abu Dhabi. My heart sang songs of joy as Hiskandar looked at me as if I’ve been possessed by a mad gleeful ghost.

After staring dumbstruck at the doughnut heaven sign for a good 5 seconds, we proceeded up to the higher level and surveyed the gastronomic offerings. We finally settled for Chilly’s. The menu is 99% identical to the ones we have back home in Malaysia, so it didn’t take long for us to decide what to order. Hiskandar had the chicken enchiladas and we shared the Triple Play. The fried mozzarella, the tangy buffalo wings, the stuffed veg rolls … all were real yummy. Our mains consisted of beef fajitas with jack shredded cheese and beef bacon toppings while my friend had the massive bacon burger. By the time we were done, I had sour cream leaking out of my ears. Hehe.

It was also someone’s birthday at the restaurant and for the first time in my life, I heard a birthday song being sang in Arabic. Totally different tune to the one I use to hear but nevertheless, it put a huge grin on the li’ll birthday kid’s face.

We then scouted the mall for electronics, I’m looking to get a mobile phone for my local line here while Hiskandar is searching for a DSLR for his wife. His wife just took up a photography course backing Singapore.

After checking out the prices, we headed back downstairs where I purchased ½ a dozen of Krispy Kreme’s finest. Super delish yo … now if you think J.Co or Big Apple are good, well, you ain’t eaten nothing yet my unfortunate friends. Every bite sends the tastebuds jingling into a cheerful frenzy. So moist yet so light. The sweetness of the glazing supplemented the sinful creamy texture like no other. It was simply divine.

My bloodstreams filled with sugary goodness, we took a drive to The Cornish. An area by the beach where the locals swim, ate, drank or just relaxingly chill the night away.

Also passed by the Emirates Palace and this is quite frankly the most regally exquisite hotel building I’ve ever seen I my life. I understand that it’s also serves as a state house to accommodate any VVIPs or royals coming to stay in Abu Dhabi. Amongst previous guests were George W Bush, Tony Blair, Nicholas Sarkozy, Elton John etc. So obscenely massive and utterly jaw dropping beautiful. Wonder if I could ever fulfill my new found dream of spending a couple of nights there throughout my stay here in Abu Dhabi. Maybe I should opt for the AED1,000,000.00 package for two (approx. RM1 Million) which include :

• First class return trip from any international destination serviced by Etihad Airlines to Abu Dhabi
• Seven night stay in a 680 sqm Palace Suite at Emirates Palace on an all-inclusive basis.
• Chauffeur driven Maybach at your disposal daily during your stay in Abu Dhabi
• Daily spa treatment in the Anantara Spa
• Day trip in private jet to Iran to create your own Persian carpet from the most exclusive and well-renowned hand-maker
• Day trip in private jet to the Dead Sea Jordan to experience the famous sea and an afternoon Anantara spa treatment in the Kempinski Hotel Ishtar
• Day trip to Bahrain in private jet for a pearl deep sea experience. Your pearl will then be hand designed with jewellery settings
• Royal Golf experience at Abu Dhabi Golf Club
• Make your own perfume with experts from YAS Perfume
• Deep sea fishing trip
• Gifts including champagne sunset and desert island tour.
• Gifts including the rarest pearls in the world from Robert Wang and a selection from Holland & Holland Sporting Guns

So there you go … an answer to the million dollar question. Opulence at it’s best. Damn, I should’ve proposed here instead of at Pangkor … at least this would incarnate a certain sense of grandeur no??? :P

That’s all for now folks. Back to work for me while you guys enjoy the rest of your Sunday. Sob sob sob. :p