Fashion Forward at its first season was the “it” event to attend and be seen at in the highly fashionable and glamorous city of Dubai. The event consisted of fashion focused talks by prominent individuals from the industry, cat walk shows from regional designers, and a number of social events and parties.
The event program ran over a period of three days. But since I am the type of person who lacks the amount of energy required to pull off a three day in a row social event, I decided to skip the first day. Nevertheless, I was at the venue for all of the second day events! I won’t get into detail of everything that I did, but I must say that I had a nice nostalgic flashback when I attended a talk by Toby Meadows from London College of Fashion. I didn’t get a chance to take a course with Toby when I did my course at LCF in 2009, but attending a talk by someone from LCF is always a great thing. He gave us insight and tips on how things work in the fashion industry in his talk titled: How to get a job in this industry.
I would love to post all of the good pictures that I managed to take on the two days that I attended the event. But unfortunately my laptop is acting up and it’s taking me ages to open the image files because of the technical issue. So until that is resolved, I will only be posting a few pictures from the event. I was able to attend the following shows:
Dima Ayad
Ezra
Toujouri
Michael Cinco
Amato
Ayesha Depala
I personally could see the great amount of hard work and effort in all of the designers’ work. Each designer had a unique signature style that was clearly reflected in his/her collection. And I’m proud to see that level of work showcased by designers from this region. I also greatly support local talent and home-grown concepts and events. Since I’m from the region and I grew up and lived most of my life here.
Fashion Forward’s after party was as glamorous and fashionable as the event itself. We all chilled at Fort Island listening to funky and lounge tracks. Beauty was the key word that night; beautiful faces, designs, and most importantly a beautiful spirit.
Kudos to the organizers of this highly successful and well-structured event. Thank you for all the effort you extended and we can’t wait for season two!
As you may have noticed, I haven’t written any new posts for a while. It’s not that I haven’t done anything interesting in the past week or so, or am suffering from writer’s mind blockage or apathy or anything like that. Mainly, I haven’t been feeling too well for the past few weeks. That was due to the weather change and to me doing too many things and not getting enough rest. That’s why I decided to take a short break from blogging and the whole rat race (as people call it). Mind you, I still managed to check out a newly opened cafe in my area (to maybe write a review about it), and I had to keep checking and responding to my e-mails, and of course my Facebook page. I also continued to post stuff on that page in an effort to keep things going. Even when I wasn’t feeling too good myself.
But I believe that something good comes out from everything that happens to us in our lives…Taking a short break helped me reflect on my priorities in life and maybe add some balance into other areas of my life. For the past couple of years, due to personal circumstances, I have been focusing mostly on my career. And since that hasn’t been going too well for me, I think it’s time to re-arrange my priorities in life. I’m not saying that I will write less blog posts or put in less effort into my career path (because I’m not even sure I can do that after all this time and effort that I’ve invested in that area), I just plan to put in more effort into other places that I might have neglected all those years in my search for financial and personal freedom and independence.
What are those other areas you might ask? well, I will leave that for you to figure out. I think it’s easy to know what they are once you read my about page and find out some simple facts about me and my personal life.
One main positive thing that came out from this short break and the connection with other blogger friends was to realize that we should not loose ourselves in our chase for material or success-related goals. We should always be reminded that life is a game and we should have fun while playing it. We should stay grounded and stay true to our selves. We should keep our sense of self-integrity and keep our standards high no matter how bad the going gets tough.
Most importantly, we should try to always help others along the way when we can.
Finally, I would like to mention that a few things need to be revised in my blog. Mostly concerning the topics that I write about. I have driven myself into extreme stress and exhaustion by trying to cover as many interesting topics as I could. And the time has come for that to end.
That’s why I need your thoughts and ideas on what you would like to read more about in this blog?
Here are some options to get you thinking, but any other ideas or views are welcome too.
About me and my perspective on life and things from a Saudi woman’s point of view (note: I live in Dubai, UAE)
A review of various events taking place in Dubai (you can specify the types of events you like to know about most)
A review of restaurants or cafes that I go to
Topics/events related to my job search and trying to make it in Dubai (mainly publishing/blogging/journalism)
Would you like to learn more about Saudi/Middle Eastern culture (as that’s where I’m from and where I grew up and lived most of my life)
Daily life stories and rants
Simple stories or deep thoughts and ideas
Or would you like me to keep the blog as it is and keep doing what I was doing earlier, which was basically a combination of all the above points?
Do let me know by commenting on this post what you would find most entertaining to read about in this blog. I will keep this discussion open, so please feel free to comment any time you read this. There is no deadline for your thoughts and ideas.
Thanks a lot for passing by and following my blog, and I hope that I will continue to offer interesting and helpful posts to my readers and followers. If you think otherwise, do let me know as well!
Thanks to Sandier Pastures helpful and entertaining posts, I found out about The Ultimate Blog Party. Which is basically a virtual gathering for all types of bloggers from around the world. It’s an opportunity to meet new bloggers, discuss relevant topics, and of course drive more traffic into your blog. The party also includes online live events on Twitter and Google+ for any one interested to join. The first step in joining the blog party is to simply write a party post about yourself and your blog, and then add the link to the list of blogs under the matching category for your blog topic.
So, here’s a brief about me and my blog:
My name is Nada, I’m originally from Saudi Arabia and I live in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. I started this blog in September of last year and I have been blogging regularly since then. I like to consider myself a lifestyle blogger. I mainly write about daily life events and stories. Mostly, I cover various types of events taking place in my city; Dubai. These events could range from art or fashion exhibitions, live music shows, publishing related events, or self-development seminars and talks.
The main reason I started this blog was to advance my writing skills and add more credibility to my CV and profile as a writer. I have been on a long journey to change my career path and shift my entire life and lifestyle for the past five years and this blog reflects this journey and my thoughts and trials and lessons learned throughout it. My main goal is to become financially independent as a writer and a blogger. Since I love what I do and I want to continue writing for the rest of my life! Through blogging, I also get to attend a lot of interesting events and meet great and exciting new people.
I always felt like I was a creative person, and working in IT support when I was living in Saudi Arabia surely didn’t match my creative flair. Nor did my college major in Business Information Systems. But I believe that it’s never too late to chase your dreams and follow your passion. Even if there are many obstacles along the road and unexpected challenges.
My journey started when I moved to London to take a course in Fashion Media and Communication at the prestigious London College of Fashion. Followed by moving to Dubai three years ago, where I continued to pursue my new career path and aim for an editorial role in publishing. I’m still working towards that goal in addition to my new-found passion: blogging. Ideally, I would like to get paid for what I write in both my personal blog and in print. I’m not sure how long the road ahead of me is, but what I’m certain of is that I’m enjoying every second of my journey and learning experience.
On a more personal note (yes, believe it or not; the above wasn’t personal enough!), I’m also enjoying the simple freedoms that my new life in Dubai has to offer. Growing up and living most of my life in Saudi, to relatively over-protective and controlling parents meant that I had to argue and fight my way into many simple things. And believe it or not, I still do! Yes, the fight to be free is an endless one when you are Saudi. But at least these days, I don’t have to convince my parents to go to a music concert or party. I can simply buy my tickets and head to the venue!
Although I call myself “The Rebellious Saudi Diva” on my about page, most people around the world will understand that the description is only relevant to my personal background and Saudi culture.
I think I’ve said enough about myself and my blog for now. I hope that you will find my posts interesting and entertaining. And that you will continue to support my journey by following my blog and liking my Facebook page (the link can be found on my blog’s home page)!
This is a picture of me at Tiesto’s recent concert in Dubai:
You may have noticed that I have been covering a lot of music shows in my recent posts. You may have also taken a look at my about page where I mention some facts about myself and how I am 30-something. So you might be wondering why I am living a 20-something lifestyle in my early thirties?
While most people my age could be settling down by getting engaged or married, or possibly already have a bunch of kids at school age, I’m still celebrating my spontaneous twenty-something- like days! I like to contribute this to the fact that I grew up and have lived in Saudi for most of my life. And must add; to somewhat over-protective and controlling parents. Who seemed to give a good amount of importance to people’s opinions and judgmental views. You can’t completely blame them though. Saudi society is quite fierce and tough when it comes to conservativeness and liberality. It’s a very complicated topic that I would need to dedicate a whole post to explain it, and it still wouldn’t be enough!
For now, I just felt like I could use some justification for my sometimes immature and crazy behavior 🙂 Like making sure that I don’t miss out on any cool concerts in town and dragging my “more responsible” and mature friends to them.
So I basically didn’t get to do many things that people in their twenties would do. Although I did argue my way around to some cool concerts in Bahrain when I was a teenager (yes, I was rebellious since then!).
Sometimes, I wonder if my late-lived twenties phase will ever end. Because I enjoy it so much that I would never want to live a different lifestyle!
Moving on to Train’s concert, I used to listen to the amazingly talented American pop rock band as a teenager growing up in Saudi. Yes, my parents were not that strict :p So to me, their show was more of a trip down memory lane to my 90’s in Saudi. When life was much more simpler and easier. When all I cared about was which magazines I wanted to get with me from Bahrain when I went there in the weekend. Yeah I was a weird teenager too! But doesn’t everyone love and long for the 90’s? I personally would go back to those years at any given time.
Arriving to the concert venue, me and my friend were surprised at how quiet it was! there wasn’t even any music playing at some point. And while I expected to see other 30-something Train nostalgic fans at the concert, all I seemed to see were teenagers and a generally younger crowd of people who didn’t look like they were old enough to sing along to “Drops of Jupiter”! My friend had also pointed out that it was her first time to see a five year-old girl at a concert 🙂
Nevertheless, Train put on a great show and sang many of their new and old hit songs. Such as “Hey Soul Sister” and “Meet Virginia”.
They also got the crowd engaged in some songs by asking random people to come up on stage and sing or dance along with the band.
At the end of the show, the band left the stage before coming back to sing my all-time favorite hit for the band: “Drops of Jupiter”. I was glad that I didn’t leave when my friend decided to leave after they left the stage the first time, as I would have missed them perform the ever popular and great track “Drops of Jupiter”. I think I was going to break down and cry when I saw them leave the stage before singing my song!
You must have guessed that I was the only person in that young crowd who was super excited and singing along to “Meet Virgina” and “Drops of Jupiter”! Yes, Dubai makes me feel old. But I stand my ground and continue to act and behave like a twenty-something 🙂
I must confess that I did manage to record some good video clips at the show. But since I am still not familiar with posting videos on this blog (more like, don’t feel like uploading them on you tube as I found out that this needs to be done), I will not be sharing my priceless Train videos for now. Who knows, I might get the motivation required to actually upload videos one day 🙂
So, was my one hour and 15 minutes or so of 90’s music nostalgia worth it? I’d say hell yeah! It was worth every second of the warmth and simplicity and joy it brought to my forever 90’s soul.
Since I’m having issues with my photos, I will only post the links for my favorite Train songs. And I will try to upload more images once I sort out the technical glitch.
I had done the photo shoot for this article and had answered some questions about myself and my blog a few weeks ago. And for the past three weeks or so I had been getting Gulf News newspaper every Saturday to check “The Weekend Tabloid!” supplement for the article that I would be featured in. Today, I had a follow-up appointment with the doctor for my cold and general fatigue minor illness. My plan was to later head to the nearby grocery store to get some stuff and the paper where my article might be published, since it was Saturday.
I was sitting at Starbucks having a grande mint tea (in an effort to prevent further developments of my sudden weakness). I was actually feeling tired, and disappointed that the mint tea bags used for my tea were the type that you could get at your local supermarket and not the same one I had tried the last time I ordered a mint tea at Starbucks. So there I sat, contemplating the inconsistency of service in restaurants and other service providers in general in this country. But I can’t complain much, as I am from Saudi where the service is even worse and the consistency almost non existent. I was just not feeling too well and upset that the tea I had been looking forward to all day turned out to be just a commercial brand off the shelf. I was also thinking to myself that I should go up and speak to the barrister and voice out my concern about the tea bag used in my tea. But I just couldn’t be bothered. Then I was sitting there talking to a friend on the phone, who wanted to meet up. I explained to him how I had pending work to do. More specifically, blog posts that I need to write. I told him how I still have posts about my two last days in Hong Kong that I still didn’t get the time to write about. Yes, my Hong Kong trip was last Christmas and I still haven’t finished writing about it!
His answer was a simple: “well, you don’t have to write everything in detail. It’s not like you’re making money out of it.”
That statement brings us to the core of this post. As you can see in the above image that the headline of the article that I was featured in reads: “Blogging pays”. And although I have not reached the point in my blogging journey that started last September, where I can say that I have generated income from my blog, I must admit that as long as I enjoy doing what I’m doing, and that I have the luxury to practice my passion and do something that I genuinely love for a living, then I’m sure that the material gain will follow at some point in my journey.
Right now, I am exploring my new found love of blogging and enjoying every minute of it. So as long as I feel rewarded in a spiritual way, then I will continue doing what I love doing best. Because I believe that the knowledge and life experiences and lessons learned from my journey are much more valuable than any monetary income or revenue.
So after that phone conversation, I get up to check today’s paper for the article that I would be featured in – one of those Saturdays – and to my surprise, I see my picture on the cover of the paper! later on, I see it on the cover of the issue of the weekend supplement as well! I quickly snap some photos before running back to my place to post them on my blog’s Facebook page. Which I highly recommend that you “like” if you still haven’t done so. I do post various stuff on that page, apart from my blog posts. So you must check it out and see for yourself.
You can read the full story by following this link:
I wasn’t feeling at my best on the day of the world’s richest horse race – The Dubai World Cup. Mainly because I had started to experience all sorts of symptoms of a cold and have been taking echinacea supplements for a week or so to help prevent further developments of my sickness. But since I was running around all weekend getting ready for the concerts and the Dubai World Cup and dancing the night away at the various indoor and outdoor venues of Dubai, I barely had any time to rest and let my body regain the energy it needed to go on.
But as I have completed three years living in Dubai on this very day (April 1), and have not been to the Dubai World Cup ever since I moved to this city, I knew that I couldn’t afford to miss out on this highly acclaimed and significant event.
So there I went dragging my extremely exhausted and dehydrated body to the lush green race courses at Meydan hotel in Dubai. Where I had been for my social dinner with Jack Canfield. Only this time, I got to spend a whole day outside at the apron views section of the event doing one of the following things:
Trying helplessly to snap good pictures of the speeding horses that passed (flew) by at the course, while standing in a front row next to all the photographers and who knows, maybe there was a blogger or two in the crowd!
Watching the people in the surrounding area and studying their outfits, hats/hair pieces, shoes, hair styles, and everything else that caught my attention. While at the same time making mental notes of what I should be wearing next year at the World Cup!
Pretending to be high society (which I believe has nothing to do with material wealth) and not really enjoying it that much 🙂 Yes, I’m a simple girl who likes to do fun things and random activities. But a change is good every once in a while!
After the final race, the champion was announced: American-based Animal Kingdom won the race. You can read all about it here. A number of acrobats and performers made an appearance after the race was over. Then there was an extravagant display of fireworks ending the ceremony, before everyone headed over to the stage area where Seal would be performing for the after-race party. Unfortunately, my friends had to leave and I was also too tired to stay, so I wasn’t able to see Seal perform.
I will leave you with some random pictures from the event, in addition to some thoughts and tips in case you planned on attending the Dubai World Cup next year. First, I would try to get VIP tickets, or any other type of tickets. As they would offer a better view of the race course and a more enjoyable experience. Especially if you don’t like busy crowds like me. Another tip would be to invest in a unique outfit and hat for the event and enter the Jaguar Style Stakes competition where you can win amazing prizes such as a Jaguar for a year!
Honestly speaking, I’m not a huge fan of dance or techno music. I grew up listening to all different genres of music, and dance was an occasional thing on my play list. Maybe mostly when I was working out. Another reason is the fact that I’m a 90’s girl. So if I wasn’t listening to Michael or Janet Jackson or Madonna, then I would be singing along to Boyz II Men or Lenny Kravitz! Yes, It was a wild mix of tastes and music types.
But since the world-renowned Dutch musician, DJ and record producer Tiesto was coming to town, I had to reconsider my music taste preferences. The show was being held at an indoor venue. Which doesn’t really suit me much. As the weather in Dubai is at its best at this time of the year, so it would be great to attend an outdoor concert. Plus, the place was packed with crazy dance music fans, who were jumping vigorously the whole time. This only meant one thing: you couldn’t keep track of the number of times that your toes got stepped on, or you were hit by someone’s arms or body while they were dancing and jumping around. Not the best concert experience, I tell you.
I must admit that my second dance music concert for the weekend was more fun and enjoyable. It was the EDMX concert part of the “My Music X” festival at Nasimi Beach, Atlantis. The stage was set outdoors at a spacious area, the ground was covered with sand as it was at the beach, and the visual effects and graphics were simply outstanding. The EDMX night featured famous artists including: Example, Sander Kleinenberg, ATB, Marco V, Miss Nine, Judge Jules and many others.
Hearing Example perform took me back in time to their new year’s eve concert in 2009 when I was living in London. I truly enjoyed singing along to their hits and reminiscing on my glorious London days. ATB is another great dance artist that I used to listen to when I was younger. So many of his tracks were famous hits that everyone could sing along to.
Aside from the stunning graphics and visual effects at the stage, there was blazing fire as well! it was an impressive show that got the crowd pumped up. And the venue wasn’t packed, so there was plenty of space for everyone to dance around and practice their moves.
So I would say that I enjoy listening to dance music with vocals as opposed to just repetitive beats with no vocals. And of course, famous hit songs that I am familiar with and can sing along to, would definitely make for an amazing night at the sands of Nasimi Beach, Atlantis.
I will be honest and say that I got introduced to Jack Canfield a couple of months ago by my neighbor at the time, in an effort to motivate me into working harder and becoming successful. I am sure I have heard of the motivational speaker and author’s best-seller book series: Chicken Soup for the Soul. But I didn’t get the chance to read anything by him until my neighbor presented his book: “How to get from where you are to where you want to be – the 25 principles of success” to me. I found the tips and advice in the book very useful and simple to follow. As you read through the principles, you will feel more confident and motivated to work harder and ask for things you might previously have fears towards them. The author’s words make you believe that anything is possible and that you are capable of achieving your dreams as long as you believe in yourself and are willing to put in the hard work and effort required to reach them.
Actually, I had won an invite to the social dinner with Jack after submitting my own success story 🙂 I basically explained how I managed to successfully change careers from a very rigid field (IT Support) into a much more creative one (lifestyle journalism). And although I still need to work on making profit from what I do, I believe that I am on the right track to making it happen.
There was a full-day workshop for the success principles, which I unfortunately didn’t win a ticket for! And after the workshop had ended, we had a Q&A session with the author. Jack answered each question in a highly informative and elaborate way. And made sure that the person found his answer helpful afterwards. I was so glad that my career specific question had been answered without me having to ask it! Actually, another guest had asked a similar question and I was happy to get a positive and definite answer. To help you understand more, the person had asked Jack about the challenge of not being an expert in a specific field and knowing that there are others who are far more knowledgeable than you. How do you overcome such a situation in your career? that question exactly describes my dilemma! I have been trying to get a role in publishing in Dubai for the past three years! I have taken a related course in London, have done internships, and most recently have started this blog to add to my credibility. But until now, I have not been able to secure a role or to get paid for doing what I love to do most: writing.
This was Jack’s answer: whenever you set a goal, three things come up:
Fears
Considerations: thoughts about why it’s not possible.
Road blocks: things that actually exist and prevent you from reaching your goal.
The fact that you are not an expert in the field is just a consideration. Don’t listen to it. It’s part of the process. Don’t let the consideration be a stop sign. Let it be a yield sign. He then went on to say that it takes 10,000 hours to become a master at anything. Which is equivalent to seven years of intense work. However, it can be less if you work with a master. You need to give yourself permission to be a learner. Plus, you may already be two years ahead of other people, if you had been working towards your goal for the past two years. That means that I can proudly say that I am over three years into my learning process 😀
Another important point that Jack discussed was that when you set a goal, it’s not so much to achieve it. What matters is developing your consciousness and mastering. If you can release the fear and overcome the road blocks, you become a master. The more you challenge yourself, the more mastering you will do. So the main outcome that you need to achieve is: the more you can master yourself and your life.
Some other insightful tips that Jack mentioned and I would like to share with you are:
Impatience with achieving your goals leads to focusing on not having the goal. That’s why low attachment to deadlines is better.
You don’t have to do big things. Do small things with love. ~ Mother Teresa
The secret of zen: just be yourself.
Allow yourself to follow what makes you feel alive and good. Joy is your internal guiding system.
And the most insightful advise that Jack had given was that when we are gone from this world, all we can take is our consciousness. That’s why your main purpose should be developing your consciousness, as opposed to growing rich and becoming extremely wealthy.
Honestly, I loved Jack’s words of wisdom and advice. I felt that I had learned so many things in those two hours or less that I spent listening to him answer the audience’s questions. His answers helped bring perspective to things that I was wondering about and didn’t have answers to.
I highly recommend Jack’s books and learning materials to everyone looking to become more successful in anything in their life. Whether it’s career, relationships, finances, Jack’s books can greatly help you achieve better in all areas of your life.
There was a debate going on about the spiritual teachings of people like Eckhart Tolle and how it contradicts with the ideas of being wealthy and attaining material things. Jack answered that question clearly as well. And I will not get into the answer, but I will share with you my personal experience on this. I had read Eckhart Tolle’s books before starting my career change journey, and his books inspired me and gave me the power and strength to make big decisions in my life. However, I have been unemployed and being supported by my father financially ever since I read his books! I even joked about this with a lady from the seminar at the end of our evening. So since I only recently read Jack’s book and have started following his advise, I might start to get results in the near future 🙂
I believe that balance in everything in life is essential. And as long as we can learn how to keep a balance in everything that we do, then we should be alright.
I will end this post by explaining to you the title that I chose for it. Since my neighbor at the time had given me Jack’s book, and since it took me ages to finish reading it, I have written a dedication to my friend who lives on the same floor as me, and intended to give him the book. But luckily I won a ticket to attend the social dinner with Jack and so I got a chance to get Jack’s signature on the same book before giving it to my friend to read it. So now the book has three different dedications by three successful individuals 🙂 Yes, that’s my success story and I’m sticking to it whether I become financially independent or not 😉
Race Course at Meydan Hotel (the venue for the workshop)
View from the workshop room’s window
Another buggy ride!
Jack during the Q&A session
Dedication from my ex-neighbor and mentor
The dedication that I wrote for my friend from the floor!
It was one of those days when almost nothing seems to be going right. I was tired, but I had to attend “Design Days Dubai”; an exhibition on interior decor and art pieces held annually. It was the last day of the event, so I decided to go and create a blog post about it. Not realizing that what happened during my day of casual and random incidents was far more interesting than the exhibition itself! And that’s what made me get excited about writing this post on a Friday night. When most of my friends are chilling at home and asking about my plans for the evening.
First, we had trouble getting to Emaar Boulevard in Downtown Dubai, where the event was being held. Until this moment I can’t comprehend how the sign that says “Emaar Boulevard” has disappeared from the face of the earth! I always used to see that sign when I wanted to go to The Pavillion, Downtown Dubai, and so didn’t think it would be a big deal to find the location for our design event. Sadly I was wrong, that sign was no where to bee found last night. And we spent an entire hour or more trying to get to the Boulevard! And even when we finally found our way there, there was no clear sign as to where the exhibition was! Apart from some street light banners and ads, there was no sign of a crowd or an event in the area! After my emotion-packed day, I went up to a security guard in a neon vest and asked: “where is Design Days? we’ve been looking for it since a long time!” As if it was his fault that the event was hidden and tricky to get to 🙂
When we finally made our way into the exhibition tent, we took a quick round at the stands and snapped some pictures of some cool design pieces. before heading out for our next “unpredicted” adventure. Our next stop was a birthday party celebration at a new chic patisserie in Souq Al Bahaar, next to Dubai Mall. Since we were already in Downtown Dubai, you would think that finding Souq Al Bahaar should be a piece of cake, right? Well, you were wrong. I still can’t understand that either! Dubai Mall is like the second home to most people who live in Dubai, or at least their second home when they have visitors in town. So whenever my dad is visiting, we would spend a lot of time at malls and Dubai Mall and Souq Al Bahaar are no exception. But last night, for some reason, I was disoriented and could not make out how to walk to Souq Al Bahaar from the Burj steps (OK, it was my first time at the steps honestly, but still). So as me and my buddy were trying to find our way to the birthday place, we see a guy riding a buggy-bike! yes, it was a facility for the area, and we asked the guy to give us a ride to Souq Al Bahaar! For your information, it wasn’t for free (it cost us 25 Dirhams). But it was so much fun! the weather was fabulous for a bike ride, we got so much attention from tourists and residents, and most importantly, we made it to the birthday party! (two hours late, but we made it!).
The cafe where we met our friends and birthday girl had a relaxed and elegant vibe to it. The outdoor area has a great view of the Burj Khalifah, and the weather was perfect for sitting outside.
I guess it’s always fun to do something spontaneous every once in a while. Even if it’s just a simple buggy ride in Downtown Dubai 🙂
Taste of Dubai is a fun outdoor festival revolving around food and music. It’s held annually at the Dubai Media City Amphitheater; the same area where the Christmas festival took place and I wrote a post about it here.
It was a Friday, and on that day the festival started in the morning and went on until midnight. I didn’t have a set time as to when I would go, but I was glad that I went during the afternoon (around 4:30) and stayed till around 8:45 in the evening. I was also thankful that I put some sun protection cream on my arms before heading out, because it was sunny and the sun cream did help me get a nice tan.
What most of you would be wondering now is what did I eat? Well, let me show you with pictures:
Steak fillet with a crab cake on top from Ruth’s Chris Steak House
Seafood Phad Thai from Mango Tree
Sirloin Steak Cubes with Potato Gratin from Seafire Steakhouse and Bar
Dulce de Leche Creme Caramel (Asado) and Chocolate Mousse (Ritz-Carlton)
DJ at the Ritz-Carlton Stand
Guacamole from Maya Mexican Restaurant
I would have to say that my favorite dish was the sirloin steak with potato gratin from Seafire steak house. It was perfectly made and tasted so good. The other steak I had from Ruth’s Chris steak house was kind of average. Maybe the combination of crab cake with the red meat didn’t appeal to me that much. And although the seafood Phad Thai from Mango tree was good, I must admit that I did regret filling my stomach from their stand, mainly because I had recently eaten there with my dad a few weeks back. And so, a better choice for me during the festival would have been to sample other restaurant’s dishes. Especially the ones that I don’t get the chance or time to dine at on normal occasions.
Another choice that I regret making was the creme caramel from Asado. When I was at their stand, I asked the lady if she would recommend the Dulce de Leche creme caramel or ice-cream, and I went with her answer. However, only to be disappointed and wishing that I had went for the ice-cream instead! Yes, that was what I was thinking the whole time that I was eating that creme caramel, which I must admit that I didn’t even finish! And that folks, is a big deal for someone who never leaves a grain of rice in her plate, because there are millions of people starving all over the world! I was greatly satisfied with my chocolate mousse biscuit-like cake from the Ritz though. I even took the second piece with me home and devoured it the next day 🙂
When I saw that there was a Mexican stand after I had already had my mains and desserts, me and my friend decided to try out Maya’s (the famous high-end Mexican eatery) guacamole. Which we both thought was surprisingly below average.
With prices ranging between 20 to 30 Dirhams for most dishes, I would say that Taste of Dubai is worth visiting if you love food and don’t mind paying that amount of money for a small portion from a high-end, gourmet restaurant.
The main attraction of the festival, well to me at least, had to be the opportunity to sit outside in a park-like atmosphere with the company of good friends and great live music.
