Não sei por onde começar. Milhões de coisas pra contar e ando com uma preguiça de blogar...
A million things to tell and i’ve felt so lazy when it comes to blogging...

2010 começou e por enquanto tudo ótimo.

2010 started and so far so good.

We’re going to Brazil in a week and the projects I have been assigned are making me really happy - but unfortunately I cannot blog about them (yet).

Vamos para o Brasil daqui uma semana e estou bem feliz, trabalhando em projetos espetaculares - mas que infelizmente nao posso divulgar ( ainda).

Kids in thobes ice skating in Doha.



Duck Magret with Red Berries and balsamic reduction and a side of green beans and chestnuts in Bilbao.



Bridesmaids at Ben’s wedding in London.

We’ve been away from the web-- in transit -- we love to see the world.
Estivemos afastados da web -- em transito -- amamos ver o mundo.

First we went to London for Ben’s wedding and a little rain. We missed rain and cold. And we also saw La Clique again!
Primeiro fomos a Londres para o casamento do Ben e uma chuvinha. Nós estavamos com saudade de chuva e frio. E aproveitamos para assistir La Clique de novo!


That’s Anis and Ben ( the groom) at the wedding reception - at the Rosemary Branch!
Acima , Anis e Ben ( o noivo) na recepção - no Rosemary Branch!

After some days of shopping and freezing - we flew to Bilbao.
Depois de uns dias fazendo compras e passando frio - voamos para Bilbao.



Richard Serra no Guggenheim é lindo de passar mal...
Richard Serra at the Guggenheim was so beautiful i felt nauseated.

Dias depois fomos para Madrid, cidade boa de se perder caminhando.
Days later we went to Madrid, a good city to get lost in while walking.

As the little guy in fantasy island would say: The plane! The plane!




O Doha Tribeca Film Festival abriu com uma sessão ao ar livre, nos jardins do museu de arte islamica, com o filme Amelia, da Mira Nair. Mais de 3,000 pessoas em cadeirinhas de praia, filarmonica, uma tela gigante, e fogos de artificio depois. E eu me diverti fotografando os aviões do filme. :

A mão não é minha, é do filme.


Doha Tribeca Film Festival opened with an outdoor screening of Mira Nair’s Amelia, at the Museum of Islamic Art gardens. Over 3,000 people on beach chairs, the philarmonic, a giant screen and fireworks at the end. And i had a blast taking pictures of the movie (sorry:phone camera).

After the show, Tim Sebastian attentively listening to what i have to say...



...then laughing at the punch line! I honestly don’t remember what i said.



Don’t miss The Doha Debates tonight, on BBC World. I saw it live, but am curious to see what bits of the debate were cut.

i’ve got a 3 day schedule of 3 movies per day, plus whatever talks i can squeeze in...

Last week I made capeletti. I didn't feel like making pasta dough but had wonton squares in the fridge, so this is what i used. Worked like a charm. I highly reccomend it.

Semana passada eu fiz capeletti em casa. Eu estava com preguiça de fazer a massa em casa, mas tinha quadradinhos de massa para wonton na geladeira, então resolvi usar. Funcionou lindamente. Recomendo.


Here's the recipe for the filling:
Abaixo, a receita do recheio:

1 cup oven roasted pumpkin cubes ( i had them frozen, just nuked for 3 minutes on "defrost"), mashed
1 xicara de cubos de abóbora assada até ficar molinha, em forno bem quente, e amassada com um garfo.
1/2 cup finely crumbled goat's milk ricotta ( the low fat, almost dry type, comes in a block)
1/2 xic de ricota de leite de cabra, amassada
2 tbsp grated pecorino cheese ( i'm sure parmesan would be ok too)
2 col (de sopa ) de pecorino ralado ( parmesão tbem funciona)
about 1 tsp orange zest
+ou - 1 col (de cha) de raspas de laranja
1/4 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
1/4 xic de nozes, picadas grosseiramente
about 3 tbsp finely chopped onion
(+ou- 3 col (de sopa) de cebola picada miudinha
2 tbsp olive oil
2 col (sopa) de azeite de oliva
1 egg, yolk and white separated
1 ovo, clara e gema separadas
dried thyme
tomilho seco
dried sage
sálvia seca
fresh parsley ( about 3 tbsp, chopped)
salsinha fresca
salt and black pepper
sal e pimenta do reino

heat the olive oil in a pan, add onions, a tiny bit of sage and a good pinch of thyme. When onions are golden brown, remove from heat. with a fork, mash ricotta, pumpkin and onions together. Mix in egg yolk. Add parmesan, orange zest, and a chopped parsley. season with salt and pepper.
frite a cebola , uma folhinha de salvia picada e uma pitada generosa de tomilho , no azeite de oliva. Quando a cebola estiver douradinha, tire a frigideira do fogo. Numa tigela, amasse a ricota, a cebola a gema, e a abobora, misturando bem. Adicione o pecorino, as raspas de laranja e a salsinha picada. Tempere com sal e pimenta.

Take the wonton wrappers from the fridge and fill them like this:
Recheie assim:


1. put one teaspoon of filling in the middle of wrapper.
2. brush edges with a little eggwhite and fold diagonally in a triangle. set aside and make more triangles, in the meantime the eggwhite will dry, making the triangle edges stick together better.
3. push bottom of triangle ( the side touching the filling) a tiny bit in, to accomodate filling and make it easier to fold.
4. cross bottom triangle tips, sticking them together with a dab of eggwhite.
5. you've made fancy looking capeletti!

1. coloque no meio de cada quadradinho de massa uma colher de chá de recheio.
2. pincele as bordas com um pouco da clara do ovo e dobre diagonalmente, fazendo um triangulo. pincele a clara e dobre todos os quadradinhos, assim a clara seca e cola melhor as bordas.
3. empurre delicadamente a base do triangulo ( a parte onde o recheio esta), para acomodar melhor o recheio e facilitar as proximas dobras.
4. cruze as pontas laterais do triangulo, colando uma sobre a outra com uma pinceladinha de clara.
5. woohoo! você fez capelettis lindos!

Cook just before serving, in a big pot of boiling water with a pinch of salt. Put a few capeletti at a time, and remove each (with a slotted spoon) as soon as they rise to the surface. They cook in seconds.
Cozinhe em muita água fervendo, logo antes de servir. Coloque poucos de cada vez, e tire com uma escumadeira logo que eles subirem a superficie. Eles cozinham em segundos.

from the filling above, i was able to fill about 30 capeletti. because they are quite filling, we only had 8 each, topped with a simple tomato sauce ( garlic browned in olive oil, strained canned plum tomatoes, salt pepper and chopped fresh basil) and a little parmesan, we also had a green salad with them.
com a quantidade de recheio acima, eu consegui fazer uns 30 capelettis grandes. Nós comemos 8 cada um, com um molhinho ao sugo básico (alho quase dourado em azeite de oliva, uma lata de tomates passados na peneira, sal, pimenta e manjericão fresco), polvilhados com parmesão. Ah, e uma saladinha verde.

I froze the remaining 15 capeletti - open froze them first ( on a tray) then put them in a ziplock once they fully frozen.
Os outros 15 capelettis que sobraram eu congelei numa bandeja e depois de congelados guardei em um ziploc no freezer.

If we didn;t have to worry about calories, i would have served them with sage butter or a more creamy sauce...Anyway... Later in the week we had them as soup, in brodo. Very nice as well.
Se a gente não tivesse que se preocupar com calorias, eu queria ter servido esses capelettis com uma manteiga aromatizada com sálvia, ou um molhinho mais cremoso e engordativo...enfim, dias depois nós fizemos um caldo de legumes e frango e servimos os capeletti cozidos nele, “in brodo”. Bem gostoso também.

Oh, sorry i didn’t photograph them sauced and plated...we were hungry.
Ah, e desculpa eu não ter fotografado os capeletti no prato prontos para servir. Nós estavamos famintos.

Em 2007 fizemos uma longa viagem de carro. O trajeto inicial era Doha a Damasco via Arabia Saudita e Jordania, mas nem tudo acontece como planejado, e a Síria ficou para outra oportunidade. Não conseguimos entrar na Siria e acabamos deixando o carro uns dias no aeroporto de Amman e voamos para Beirut. Mas Beirut vale outro post.

In 2007 we went on a long road trip. The initial plan was to drive from Doha to Damascus by way of Saudi and Jordan; but of course not everything happens as planned so we have yet to go to Syria. Instead of crossing the Jordan-Syria border we drove back to Amman, left the car at the Airport for a few days and flew to Beirut. But Beirut deserves its own post.


Nós vimos varios carros como este na estrada...caminhão de mudança pra quê?
We saw several cars packed like this on the road : who needs a moving truck?

Viajar de carro pelo deserto acaba sendo um tanto sem graça. As primeiras duas horas de deserto são lindas, mas chega um momento em que o ser humano precisa ver formas mais interessantes do que postes e guaritas, além dos outros carros na estrada.
Driving through desert roads becomes a bit boring after a while. The first two hours you find all the sand and vastness beautiful, but it comes a time when us humans need to see shapes a bit more complex than poles and checkpoint portacabins, or other occasional vehicles on the road.

De repente, algo extraordinário aparece diante dos seus olhos, e você sabe que daqui a pouco vai chegar numa cidade. Mas esse extraordinário chega a ser tão surreal que acredita que um objeto assim banal e gigante possa ser uma miragem.

Suddenly, something extraordinary appears before your eyes, and you know that soon you’ll be passing through a village. But this extraordinary vision is so surreal that you believe such a giant yet banal object can only be a mirage.




Como essa caixa de jóias com uma mão bizarra que vem de abaixo do solo.
Like this jewelry box, held by a bizarre hand that comes from below the ground.



Ou um bule de café imenso.
Or an immense coffee pot



This ginormous mortar and pestle set.
Um pilão gigante.



E meu favorito: um batedor de manteiga composto de tripé e estomago animal.
And my favorite: a butter churner made up of an animal stomach hanging from a tripod.

Just before the taxi arrived, the taxi that took us to meet my father and you asked him for my hand in marriage, you took this picture with your phone.

Você tirou essa foto com seu celular, enquanto esperavamos o taxi que nos levaria até a casa do meu pai, onde você pediu a ele permissão para casar comigo.



I love this picture. I love the way you were looking at me then, and that you still look at me the same way.
Eu amo essa foto. Eu amo o jeito que voce me olhava nessa hora, e amo o fato de você ainda me olhar desse jeito.

On October 7 , 2004, in Cairo, we got married. Five years ago. Before the wedding, we went to the pyramids and laughed at how much better they look on pictures. We went to the museum and you were impressed that the ancient egyptians played dice. When we returned from Sharm to Cairo from our honeymoon, it was the first day of Ramadan, we had to hire a driver, and the “limoseen” didn’t have much of an AC. The driver stopped in the middle of nowhere, perhaps close to Suez, and we broke our fast at a roadside hotel/restaurant that had an empty marble fountain at the entrance surrounded by novelty store plastic toy dinosaurs. I wish I had taken a picture, but for some unknown reason we have no pictures of our honeymoon. However, we do have a cd with cheesy “habibi dance tunes”, a gift from the recreation crew at the resort.

Em 7 de Outubro, 2004, nos casamos no Cairo. Cinco anos atrás. Antes do casamento, nós visitamos as piramides e rimos porque elas são mais impressionantes em fotos. Fomos ao museu e você se encantou com o fato de que os antigos egipcios jogavam dados, Quando voltamos de Sharm El Sheikh para o Cairo, era o primeiro dia de Ramadan, e precisamos contratar um motorista para nos levar de volta -- e a “limoseen” tinha um ar condicionado muito fraco. O motorista parou no meio do nada, talvez perto de Suez, e nós quebramos nosso jejum num hotel/restaurante que tinha uma fonte de marmore, sem água, mas cercada de dinossauros de plástico de 1,99. Eu queria ter fotografado, mas por alguma razão não fotografamos nada na nossa lua-de-mel. De lembrança, além da memória, só um mixed cd com “habibi dance tunes”, presente da equipe de recreação do hotel.

Por que eu não tenho blogado ultimamente.

1. Because the weather is finally nicer and I have dear friends who invite me to spend a day at the Four Seasons pool & beach. And they give you orange sorbet in shot glasses made of ice there.
Por que o clima está finalmente ameno e eu tenho amigas queridas que me convidam para passar o dia na piscina do Four Seasons. E lá eles te dão sorbet de laranja em shots de gelo.


2. Because I have tons of paperwork to go through.
Por que tenho toneladas de burocracias para resolver.



3. Because I started this painting of a rock formation in Wadi Rum.
Por que eu comecei esse quadro de uma formação rochosa no Wadi Rum.


4. Because a new season of Grey’s Anatomy started and i have cried at every episode so far.
Por que uma nova temporada de Grey’s Anatomy começou e eu chorei em todos os episódios até agora.

via popground

This is what i did when i didn’t know what to do.



I wrote and illustrated, hand painted and hand bound cookbooks.


I used origami papers, food packaging, watercolors and sharpies to make these.

They meant “calligrapher”. Captured in Doha, 2009.

Até agora...



I never believed in coffee fortune telling. Until this one...

It is amazing what one can find on youtube...

Entardecer em Atenas, Novembro de 2005.



MInha irmã, minha avó e eu, esperando o taxi que ia me levar embora, em 2008



Um derviche rodopiante em Istanbul, 2007.

We end up having more food at home than we can actually consume during Ramadan. Not to mention leftovers. A couple of days ago we made grilled duck magret and weren’t really able to finish them so 48 hours later they became duck fried rice. Today i found this bag of bosc pears in our fridge and knew we would not be able to eat them all at one sitting so i had to do something about them pears. Looked for a recipe on the epicurious app, found one, tweaked it a bit to finish off some ingredients i had very little of, and...success! Here’s the recipe, my way (you can find the original on Epicurious, under “Country Pear Cake&rdquo:

Durante o Ramadan a gente acaba tendo em casa mais comida que consegue consumir. Sem contar as sobras. Outro dia fizemos magret de canard grelhado e não conseguimos comer tudo - 48 horas depois as sobras do peito de pato se transformaram em duck fried rice.
Hoje eu achei muitas peras Bosc no fundo da minha geladeira, e sabia que nao conseguiriamos come-las todas entre hoje e amanha; eu precisava fazer alguma coisa com elas, pois estavam tão maduras e perfumadas! Procurei uma receita no Epicurious, encontrei, fiz algumas modificações que aproveitassem alguns restinhos de ingredientes que eu queria terminar, e...sucesso totaaaaal! Abaixo, a receita do meu jeito ( a original está no Epicurious, com o nome Country Pear Cake) :




Pear Olive Oil Cake

2 large eggs --- 2 ovos grandes
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil ---1/3 x. azeite de oliva extra virgem
1/4 cup plain yogurt ( full fat) -- 1/4x iogurte natural integral
2 tbsp orange blossom water - 2 col de agua de flor de laranjeira
zest of one lemon - zest de um limao amarelo
2/3 cup demerara sugar -- 2/3 x. açucar demerara
1/3 cup fine semolina - 1/3 x. semolina fina
1/4 cup almond meal -- 1/4 x. amendoas peladas e moidas
2/3 cup flour - 2/3 x. farinha de trigo
4 bosc pears, coarsely cubed -- 4 peras em cubos grandes
1 tbsp baking powder - 1 col (sopa, rasa) de fermento em pó
1 tsp salt -- 1col (cha) de sal
1/2 tsp baking soda -- 1/2 col (cha) de bicarbonato de sodio

Preheat oven to 375 F. Oil and flour a 9-inch diameter cake pan with 1- 1/2 inch sides. Line bottom with wax paper.
Whisk eggs, oil, yogurt, lemon zest and orange blossom water in a bowl. Whisk in sugar. Add flour, semolina, almonds and salt. Whisk until batter is well mixed. Add pears, baking powder and baking soda. Pour batter into pan. Sprinkle top with 1 tbsp sugar. Bake until brown on top, about 35 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack.

Pré-aqueça o forno a 200 graus C. Unte uma forma redonda e rasa com azeite e enfarinhe. Coloque um circulo de papel manteiga no fundo da forma.
Bata os ovos, o azeite de oliva, o zest do limão, e a agua de flor de laranjeira até misturar bem. Adicione o açucar, misture e junte o restante dos ingredientes - as peras por ultimo. Despeje na forma, polvilhe com 1 col. de açucar e leve ao forno ate que esteja dourado, por uns 30 minutos. Deixe esfriar na forma.


This is the lightest, fluffiest cake i have ever tasted. With some fresh blueberries and a cup of ceylon tea spiked with cardamom, it’s perfect. Make sure to invite some friends over so you don’t eat the whole thing in one sitting.

Esse é o bolo mais fofinho e leve que já provei na vida. Com umas blueberries frescas e uma xicara de chá preto com cardamomo, é perfeito. Mas é bom convidar amigos para compartilhar, evitando assim comer o bolo todo numa sentada só.

Eu não tenho como não pensar na imagens de Nossa-Senhora-de-alguma-coisa, tão comuns no Brasil, quando passo pelas lojas de abaya aqui no mundo bege. Valei-me Nossa-Senhora- da- Migração-dos-Simbolos!
Valei-me Nossa-Senhora-da- Abaya-Preta! Valei-me Nossa-Senhora-de Nós-Mesmas!

There is no way i can NOT think about the “our lady of something” images, so common in Brazil, when i see the signs at the abaya shops here in the beige world.
Our Lady of the Migrating Symbols. Our Lady of the Black Abaya. Our(lady-of)selves.

This is actually 2 very popular memes combined. It’s the “your first album cover” meme and the “my life OST” meme. By now you can tell i am procrastinating on things like completing my paintings, planning today’s iftar menu, reading and writing notes on my current reading list... and finishing my client’s documentation work. Not to mention general daily housekeeping.

Well, let’s work on this combined meme then, because it will be awesome, i promise , I know it will.

First you get the title of your film from a random movie title generator. Get your movie tagline (that catchy line that makes people WANT to see the movie) from the last 6 words of the last quotation (i just used the whole sentence myself because i thought it sounded good) on a random quotes page. And finally, get your album cover art from your favorite photo on a page of random photos from Flickr. ( Don’t forget to write the photographer’s credit on your post). Make your movie poster. This is mine:


( the photo came up on flickr random images and is from integrity_of_light’s photostream)

And for the soundtrack- open your desired mp3 player app. put it on shuffle and match with the given “time frame” of the movie. Then copy the cues from this, and post it on your blog with your shuffled songs.
This is my soundtrack:
Proselytizing a Fuzzy Bunny OST
opening credits: I wanna be your dog - Emilie Simon
introducing your character: Sweetly - Andrew Bird
introducing your best friend(s) for funny subplot: Mr Spaceman - The Byrds
your future love interest character introduction scene: Sunday Arak - Balkan Beat Box
falling in love: Superstar - Sonic Youth
introducing your antagonist: Taratata - Mano Negra & Noir Desir
the plot thickens: No Time Soon - Gnarls Barkley
finally getting into the main plot: Mano Negra Mala Vida - Manu Chao
a meaningful dialogue: Fade to Grey - Nouvelle Vague
time lapse: Habibi Min Zaman - Balkan BEat Box
small colorful conflict: Tell Her Tonight - Franz Ferdinand
a moment of weakness: Le Desert - Emilie Simon
your antagonist gets the best of you: Frenchy, I’m Faking - Architecture in Helsinki
funny subplot character(s) do their bit: The Volcano Song - Budos Band
flashback: No one gets left behind - Devotchka
final conflict: Bublitschki - Gogol Bordello
your antagonist gets what he/she deserves: Night of the Dancing Flame - Roisin Murphy
getting back together with love interest: God Only Knows - The Beach Boys
funny subplot resolution: Supersonic Rocket Ship - The Kinks
good triumphs over evil: Top of the World - Shonen Knife
Closing Credits : Still Crazy after all these years - Paul Simon
I tag the following blogs for this meme:
Humanette, abundant creature, the absence of abcess, lovetodaydream and YOU. Feel free to tag yourself and post this meme on your blog, whoever you are....

All in a day’s work:
H for havaianas, I for Ilha do Mel, J for janelas vistas da janela do 231

You can get there from here, though
there’s no going home.

Everywhere you go will be somewhere
you’ve never been.

(...)



(...) Bring only

what you must carry -- tome of memory
its random blank pages. On the dock

where you board the boat for Ship Island
someone will take your picture:

the photograph -- who you were --
will be waiting when you return.

( fragment of a poem by Natasha Tretheway)

This is how Meemew relaxed FOR HOURS on the couch:

Eyes closed. Yes, she was asleep.
Olhinhos fechados. Nossa pequena felina contorcionista, dormindo.

Saw these rolls of fabric at the souq. From far away, i thought they were women lounging out in the sun.



Vendo as coisas como elas não sao. Estes rolos de tecidos no souq, por exemplo. Achei que eram mulheres sentadas, tomando um solzinho.

This was taken in March 2006, at one of the atols near Bahrain. There are so many things I love about this picture: the way our scarves were floating with the wind, the lonely bird flying above us, the cargo ship in the distance that looks like a village, the emptiness surrounding us, the way our feet are in synch...
I don’t know what Sheyma and I were talking about while we walked, but I am sure it was something awesome. We always have awesome conversations. I love this picture.

Essa foto o Anis fez em Março de 2006, em um dos atols perto de Bahrain. Tantas coisas eu amo nessa foto: a maneira que nossos lenços voavam com o vento na mesma direção, o passaro solitário no voando sobre nós, o navio cargo lá longe parecendo uma cidade, o vazio a nossa volta, nossos passos sincronizados...
Eu não lembro sobre o que Sheyma e eu falavamos ao caminhar, mas tenho certeza que era sobre algo incrívelmente interessante. Nós sempre falamos sobre algo incrivelmente interessante. Eu amo essa foto.

The holy month of Ramadan begins in approximately one week, as soon as the new moon is seen in the night sky. For Muslims around the world it is a month of reflexion, reading Quran, and fasting from sunrise to sunset. The fast is intended to be an exacting act of deep personal worship in which Muslims seek a raised awareness of closeness to God.

O mês sagrado do Ramadan começa em aproximadamente uma semana, assim que a lua nova possa ser vista no céu. Para muçulmanos ao redor do mundo, este é um mês de reflexão, um mes para reler o Alcorão e fazer jejum ritual do nascer ao por do sol.



Going grocery shopping the week before Ramadan begins, however, is total chaos. People cram their shopping carts with food, as if they were stocking underground shelters for the end of the world -- which makes no sense, because if the world were to end, who would need all that food? And it is not like supermarkets will be closed or work shorter hours in Ramadan...it is the exact opposite,supermarkets and grocery stores don’t even close for prayer times, as the staff is mostly christian, so there is no need for all that shopping...

Ir ao supermercado na semana antes do Ramadan é um caos completo. As pessoas entopem os carrinhos de compra de comida, como se estivessem se preparando para o fim do mundo e estocando mantimentos em seus abrigos anti-nucleares. O que não faz o menor sentido, pois se o mundo acabasse, quem iria sobrar pra comer toda aquela comida? Além disso, durante o Ramadan os supermercados continuam abertos, mais horas ainda que nos outros meses. E se as pessoas só fazem uma refeiçao por dia, ao invés de 3, para que comprar mais comida?

I was told that in arabic it makes sense.

...except for me and my monkey.

In April 2000 I had a bicycle accident - a motorcycle delivery guy crossed a red light and crashed into my bike. Two exposed fractures and some minor bruises. 24 hours later i wake up in my hospital room all drowsy with anesthesia after-effects and these two life size rabbits, pink velour suits and giant heads are visiting. I had a film camera in my backpack at the time of the accident, so i ask my mom to take a picture because this is way too surreal. When we finally develop the film, the pic came out all blurry as the camera was damaged in the crash. Still, it is my all time favorite picture.

The very moment that defined my existence, above.

I am working on a painting made up of 25 paintings. It is about Anis and I, but in alphabetical order. It is actually a gift for the baby we’re planning to have. The shadow painting from the post below is part of it.


S de sombra, T de torneira, U de umbigo, X de raio-X, Y de yoga, Z de zoo
(sim, curitibanos, eu considero o passeio publico um zoologico)



E logo abaixo, meu micro atelier. So far , so good.

We have this series of pictures of our shadow. Everywhere we go we take pictures of our shadow, since 2003, when we first met. Last week i painted this picture of our shadows, and perhaps i will make a series out of it.

The painting


The photograph

I have not completed a painting in ...mmmm...almost 3 years? Until Today! In the past month i have been determined to complete one and I DID IT. For most of you this may sound easy but for the past couple years i have been concentrating in anything other than my own artwork. So it is a huge thing to start and finish this.
I had promised a friend her portrait and here it is. Just waiting for it to dry completely so i can send it to her.
Happy belated birthday, Fernanda.

very well, special well, is good, is good, mais...

After a 2 year blogging hiatus. Let’s see how long this fad will last.




By the way, all dates and times on the older posts are different from the original. I tried to approximate them to the real ones, but forgive me if i forgot. It has been a while since i posted. Today I am just posting some pictures, so come back for the text and more pics- i promise promise promise they will be uploaded soon.

Três semanas não são suficientes para matar a saudade, a primeira semana é só readaptação, a segunda é correria de fazer tudo o que se quer fazer, ver o máximo de pessoas possível e a terceira, quando eu me sinto em casa, é de despedidas e fazer malas, e correr no mercado para comprar Farinha de Mandioca, Paçoquinha Rolha, Goiabada, Doce de Leite, Nescau Light e Clight de Caju -- coisas que no fim não vão saciar minha fome de casa, e mesmo assim pago excesso de bagagem por elas, e as consumo em doses homeopáticas que é para tudo durar até a próxima visita.
Ultima noite em Curitiba e o plano era fazer malas e chamar as amigas para passar aquelas últimas horinhas na casa da Vó. Mas minhas amigas são muito mais espertas que eu, e me enganaram direitinho. Juntaram quase todo mundo que realmente me importa (faltou o Roupa, minhas irmãs, a Bete e a Familia Leda) para uma derradeira noitada na Venda.
Ano que vem tem mais, Inshallah. Por enquanto, fotos da maior concentração de gente querida por metro quadrado nessas 3 semanas de visita:

A Vericu e o Cesinha



Cleverson, Pagu e o Principe


O Jorna e Eu


Minhas loiras, Milena e Dani



Dani Marques, Teresa Infinito e Marcelo Piramide do Peixe Eterno

Five fantastic days in Notting Hill with the lovely Sheyma, meeting my brother in law for the first time, an entire afternoon with Ayesha and Imran in Spitafields, La Clique with Amal and Sheyma ( including drinks with the circus freaks after the show) then Brasilia for the first time, and finally 21 days in Curitiba where i celebrated my birthday with family and childhood friends.
Insane book shopping. I live for these holidays, folks.
..

If this shows ever comes to where you are, don’t miss it. Saw it last night in great company, and I would see it over and over again. It was fantastic.

Citrusy Meow.

Finally went to Libya. First time. In terms of architectural heritage preservation, it was awesome. Stayed for 14 VERY LONG days, and - I have to be honest here - if we had stayed 3 more days, my spirit would have been broken beyond repair.

Maldives. Yeah, baby, yeah! 10 unforgettable days of doing nothing but sunbathing, snorkeling, kite flying, island tours and spa treatments
.

We lived in Barhain for almost two years and never visited the Tree of Life. Only now, when i went back to celebrate the birthday of my friend Sheyma, i had a chance to visit the famous tree. Problem is, it was almost sunset when we arrived, and the tree is so large it was hard to capture it whole in one photo from a distance. So I sketched it.


I ommited the fence around it because i wanted the tree of life to be free. But I also understand why they fenced it in, as some people have no manners and carve their names on it.



No one knows how this tree survives in the middle of the desert, and for this long. I read somewhere that this particular species lives only 100 years and apparently this one is over 300 years old.


The branches dig into the sand and come out like mini trees.



It was a fun afternoon, and i must mention we spent most of the time talking Broadway musical style.
I think the tree enjoyed it.



There are a lot of human-like shapes on this tree. See a profile on pic above?


A bit shaky as i was shaking hands with the tree.

My Mom always taught full time and overtime so when i lived with her our quality time was breakfast on the weekends. We’d sit and she’d force me to have papaya and we would talk about everything and not fight over everyday crap (if you know us well, you know how rare it was for us not to argue over everyday crap). I had not seen my Mom since 2001. Of course we talked on video messenger and Skype, but i missed her. Today we had breakfast together.


Mom had oatmeal with dried fruit and nescafe, and i introduced her to tahine mixed with date syrup.


Anis had tuna and harissa with turkish coffee.


I had cherry tomatoes, avocado and grilled haloumi; and apple tea.


It was almost surreal to see my Mom reading a magazine in our backyard.


Mew was upset because we kept her inside because she insisted on climbing the table.


But Anis sneaked her out in his hoodie.


Mom enjoys a strawberry with the tahine/date syrup mix. She says it tastes like Nutella.

We got kitty! Went to the veterinary clinic to choose a cat for adoption and found the most adorable creature. Someone found her in their car engine -- she was barely weeks old -- and took her to the clinic. She had just been vaccinated, de-verminized (?) and cleaned when we got there. And now she is home with us. She is so tiny the grass in the backyard is a jungle for her.

I didn’t go back to Brussels for 12 years. I used to live there when I was young and gloriously flunked out of college, after an epic Summer of intemperance and vice on the roof of the legendary Petite Rue des Bouchers madhouse, leaving friends and an astronomical Belgacom bill behind.



JC, Waffles and Magritte. Brussels, in a nutshell.


Cut to 2006, when i finally returned for a weekend in old BXL with Anis; we had just been to Istanbul and Amsterdam with Veridiana, and in Amsterdam i managed to get a hold of the darling Le Fox, who happened to be there too. We met after so many years, at a cofffee shop ( where else? ) and hung out like 12 years had never gone by. A couple of days later there i was, on avenue Louise, ringing the doorbell of Jan’s showroom, as if i had never left town. Jan, as usual, was a total darling. We recalled meeting in 92, when i crashed his birthday party and running into each other the very next day, both hungover, at the VUB cafeteria. Weeks later Jan took me dancing at Le Vaudeville and there i met Laurent -- Le Fox, baby -- and we just clicked.



Jan tried Anis’ eyeglasses during lunch at a sweet trattoria off-Avenue Louise in 2006.





Volaly reunion, in 2007

Le Fox approved of Anis and let us hang comfortably at the Fox’s lair in St Catherine with the original bathroom and Madonna posters and La demence flyers ( Saturgays at La Demence!). He played music for us, told us the concept behind FUck Chuck and we reminisced about the old days.



Dr Alban would be proud



Larry looks a bit blurred but i had to show the madonna poster. (2006)


Straight from Larry’s Box of Wonders and Curiosities.

Then he made a magic phone call and got us all a table at the Brussels Cafe, his favorite restaurant in Brussels since he was a little gamin. That same evening we feasted on the best steak of my life. And i am from Southern Brazil, so i have had my share of pretty excellent steaks in this lifetime.
Brussels Cafe is a family restaurant that serves steaks and moules only. There are no more than 8 tables, 3 people in total working, and these people happen to be the family that owns it. You got to book in advance, sometimes weeks in advance. We were lucky that Laurent has been a regular since he was a baby. The steak and fritjes is just what a steak should be: succulent, tender, juicy, flavorful. There are 3 types of sauce to go with it, but each table can only order 2 different types because they are made to order and there is only one cook - who’s also working the grill. We had champignon and blue cheese ( that is 2 different sauces), and the fritjes are perfect too ( it’s Belgium, you can’t get bad fritjes in Belgium). This year we went again and remembered to take pictures.



Laurent, looking sharp this time, with the steakmeister at Brussels Cafe.


Larry says “ you’ve got to purse your lips when you speak french” and i obey.

When we decided to go to Amsterdam/Rotterdam again this year, I told Anis I also wanted to pass by Brussels, to which he replied : “Yes, we can go and have THE steak...and, oh yeah, see Laurent.”
THE STEAK has become our standard for steaks. An excellent steak is called “almost like the Brussels Cafe steak”.
Of course we went there again. And no, i am not publishing the address in this website. I want to guarantee a table there next time we go.

Love getting lost in Amsterdam and finding fantastic places by accident. We came out of Kadinsky in a daze, walked a bit looking for the Droog showroom and somehow walked right into this magic, magic place where people were lining up for chocolate.



The first things that caught my eye were the milk bottle chandeliers. And then, the scent of deliciousness: chocolate!



Without thinking, we got in line and soon were feasting in delicious, hand made, sugar free, 70% cocoa, natural flavors, out of this world chocolate. The only problem is, it ruins chocolate for you. Any other chocolate is mediocre in comparison to Puccini. One bite and you instantly become a chocolate snob. It’s THAT good.

If you go to Amsterdam, make sure to try their fig-marzipan bonbons...and who would have thought that lemongrass chocolate would taste so good? Check them out at two addresses: Staalstraat 17 and Singel 184.

Ajlun Forest, Jordan.

Love the little girl in pink wearing grown up shoes



A colorful cover for a red beetle

Anis surveiling the area and all the olive trees below



A perfect spot for a picnic

What a great adventure it was. The original plan was to drive from Doha to Damascus, but we had border issues in Syria, so instead we went to Ajlun Forest for a couple days, back to Amman and flew to Beirut for a few days then back to Amman and the 3 day drive-back to Doha.



Lots of photos and reviews to follow. It wasn’t all beige.



Ok, most of the time it was.

Olhei no espelho e me senti primeiro uma ninja, e em seguida, o mancha-negra. Lembra do mancha-negra, vilão dos quadrinhos do Tio Patinhas? Entao, eu estava igualzinha. Um minuto antes eu era eu, entrando no banheiro - até que limpinho - na fronteira entre Qatar e Arabia Saudita, e depois de me paramentar de modo aceitável para os Muttawa - misto de fashion police e fiscais religiosos sauditas- abaya, hijab e niqab, eu nao era mais eu. Eu podia ser qualquer pessoa. Inclusive o proprio Mancha Negra. E na Arabia Saudita, eu seria mais uma na multidão, entre varias manchas negras. Na Arabia Saudita, todas as mulheres andam assim.



Primeira experiencia bizarra: na fronteira, o oficial olhou os passaportes, mas nao me pediu pra tirar o véu. Eu podia ser um homem usando rimel e kohol, nao podia? Um fugitivo, um terrorista, uma outra mulher que nao a da foto, mas pra ele nao fazia diferenca. Nos tinhamos um alcorão no carro, o Anis estava de barba por fazer, e eu usando niqab. Apenas uma familia padrão, cruzando a fronteira as 5 da manhã. Em compensacao, tivemos que abrir mala por mala, cestas de piquenique, livros e revistas foram folheados - para o caso de termos fotos indecentes ou alcool ou alguma literatura anti-governo. Mas estavamos limpos. E passamos.
Deserto, deserto, deserto. Areia amarela, areia vermelha, um camelo, uns oasis, deserto, deserto. Vários camelos. De vez em quando, um posto de gasolina. E três horas depois, uma cidade. Areia, areia, outra cidade. Precisei de banheiro. Paramos. O Anis entrou por uma porta, eu por outra. Ninguem me olhou. Eu era invisível.
Horas depois, chegamos a Riad, capital da Arabia Saudita. Cidade grande, imensa. Check in no hotel Al Khozama. Anis entrou, com meu passaporte e o dele, fez o check in. O bell boy veio ate o carro buscar as malas, eu saí e abri o porta malas. O bellboy nao se mexeu ate o Anis voltar. Era como se ele nao tivesse me visto. Quando entramos no elevador, enquanto as portas fechavam, olhei nos olhos do bell boy, Ele desviou o olhar. Como se eu nao estivesse ali. No quarto enquanto ele descarregava as malas do carrinho, tentei olhar nos olhos dele novamente. E mais uma vez ele desviou. Confirmadas as minhas suspeitas: eu era invisível. No café da manha, o garcon indiano me perguntou se eu queria chá, café, suco...eu olhei nos olhos dele pra responder, e claro, ele desviou e olhou para os proprios pés. Na mesa próxima ao jardim, outra colega mancha negra me observava. Na minha cabeca, comecei a inventar uma historia onde só as manchas negras se enxergam. Só quem usa o manto da invisibilidade consegue ver quem usa o manto. Para o resto da população, somos invisíveis.

The night before we’re leaving for our Arabian Road Trip, the cactus outside decided to blossom. Lucky us, we got to see the cactus flower in all its glory.





There will be another one in a day or two, but we will be far away and won’t get to see it...

We moved. To Doha. Finding a house has been a nightmare and rents are super expensive because of the Asian Games. Speaking of Asian Games...went to the opening, and that was awesome, even though it rained. Ironic, because in a town that gets 5-10 days of rain /year, what are the chances that it would rain during the opening ceremony? But it did...





It was still amazing.

Veridiana is here and our friends were super kind to invite us for a swim in the Arabian Peninsula.



Massoud caught a fish and kept it in the drawer next to Lux.



I think it is amazing that my two best friends from different countries look so much alike.



We walked on water



The Island appears







And then disappears...

My friend Veridiana is visiting -- all the way from Brazil.
I took her to Saededdin, near Exhibition Rd, to try their Baklava. We brought home a tray of assorted sweets and almost overdosed on so much sugar and butter and nuts.

I had this jar of peeled, roasted chestnuts, that I bought to make cake. But this morning I changed my mind and decided to have them for lunch, as a side dish for the oven grilled salmon fillets. Here's the recipe (for 2):

Drizzle some sesame oil , soy sauce , lemon peel and chopped chives on salmon fillets. Grill in super hot oven until done.
In the meantime, saute 1 cup sliced celery and coarsely chopped chestnuts in a little butter. Add salt, pepper, 1/2 cup chicken stock and simmer until chestnuts are soft. Puree in food processor. Season with cinammon and cumin.
Serve with salmon fillets and a tomato chilli salad.

It was the night before Eid holidays, and we had 5 days off. So around 10 pm Anis says “ Let’s go somewhere”. And we frantically search for holidays online, until we decide to go to....Greece! We managed to buy tickets and book a hotel before 1am and the next morning we were off...



It was great how right outside our hotel we could see the contrast of old and new . Speaking of hotels, we first checked in at the Fresh Hotel. It’s cute, it’s cool, it’s overdesigned and the rooms are tiny.



Anis prepares to jump over the bed so he can get to the bathroom. Seriously.




He locked me out in the balcony so there would be space for him to change in the room. Seriously.

Breakfast was great though. And we heard the pool bar is also great in Summer, but this is Winter, people.
So we moved to the Baby Grand Athena, one block away. Much better, for the same price.

Não fizemos planos para o reveillon. Até conversamos sobre what big deal people make of it, essa história de countdown e meia-noite, blablabla, que bobagem. Mas fomos convidados para uma festa na casa de conhecidos e aconteceu de perto das 11 da noite estarmos dando uma banda de bicicleta perto da festa e resolvemos parar e ver que tal. Entramos desejando “Feliz Novo Calendario Gregoriano” e cada pessoa que ouvia isso fazia cara de “cuma?” até que eu desisti de explicar, até porque mesmo quando eu explicava que o calendário é relativo, ninguem entendia.

(Ano passado também fomos numa roubada dessas e nossa tentativa de fuga da festa acabou transferindo a festa para nosso esconderijo; estavamos no Kuwait na passagem de 2004 para 2005, numa festa absurda numa casa mais absurda ainda, sem carro e longe de casa, até que ao conseguirmos uma carona para sair dali mencionamos um café em Salmyia e a festa TODA resolveu ir para o tal café.)

Mas enfim, esse ano nem foi tão roubada assim, quase meia-noite eu e o Anis usamos o velho truque que eu e Veridiana usavamos nas festas de ano-novo no Brasil: o abraço eterno de feliz ano-novo. Funciona assim: você combina seu cumplice que na hora da virada já vai estar abraçada; nao desgruda do abraço enquanto estrategicamente caminha - no abraço-- até uma área despovoada da festa. Quem te vê naquele abraço nao vai querer apartar, vai rapidinho procurar outra pessoa para abraçar e fazer aquela cara de “feliz ano novoooo!” . Depois de um tempo você e seu cumplice voltam para a festa e ninguem vai lembrar que vocês não participaram daquela pataquada da meia-noite e a festa continua.

Antes de ir embora, dançamos um pouco e foi delícia. Ainda não descobri quem nos fotografou com a nossa propria camera, mas ó, valeu, as fotos ficaram bacanas e só as vimos dias depois. Essa abaixo está bem fofa...



E quando fomos embora, pedalando, a cidade silenciosa e vazia, do nada ouvimos de um carro “cruising” pelo bairro , WE ARE THE WORLD no volume máximo. Abalou Manama...

Feliz Novo Calendario Gregoriano pra vocês também!

For our last two days in Egypt, we decided to stay at a different hotel before flying out of Alexandria. We took the train from Cairo to Alex, the Spanish train this time, and made a reservation on Expedia, nearly midnight the night before, to El Salamlek , located inside the Montazah Gardens in Alexandria.



El Salamlek used to be one of the royal summer retreats.Apparently, it was built by HH Khedive Abbas Helmi II, in 1890 something, as a hunting lodge for his (then) mistress the Countess May Torok von Szendro ( they married at some point). It's an old mini palace, restored but still retaining that creepy decadence of westernized arab aristocracy. We stayed at the Pasha Suite, complete with a black and white portrait photo of a dead child princess by the bed, rococo iron bed and striped wallpaper in various shades of pink. The great thing about this hotel is that it is smack in the middle of Montazah gardens, which i am guessing was the royal family's summer house backyard. Now it is public, thank god for that. Of course, as anything public in Egypt, to get it you must go through a couple of military checkpoints, but i figure it's still better than being blown up by some unhappy terrorist faction. At the reception, when we told the 3 receptionists we had made our reservations through Expedia, they did not know what that was. I was moody and cranky after 3 hours on an early morning train from Cairo, so I sort of just watched Anis deal with them. He actually had to open his laptop and show them the reservation. It was a good thing he saved the page because there's no wi-fi there ( but we didn't expect it to, anyway). We had a tiny balcony but the view was great. Don't have breakfast at El Salamlek. We did and it was gross. Dinner was not bad, we went to the french restaurant which used to be the pasha's den. Apparently, the cutlery and china are the same as from the Basha time. French service is annoying though. Food was good but not exceptional, french fare straight from school of culinary arts txtebook, i could tell. But no complaints there, it just added to the whole decadent experience. Anis explained to me that keeping the Salamlek as it was and having the staff dress as they did in the Basha time was like a big joke on royalty. The last Basha pretty much let Europe trample over Egyptian people, their heritage and culture not to mention all the commercial exploitation. And all that because he dreamt of being french and tres chic. More about the mistress Countess who died as Haile Sellassie's wardrobe consultant, Here

Oh the famous Alexandria Library. I love it. I'd live in Alex just to hang out at the library.

After a smelly flight in Arabia Airlines from Manama to Alex through Doha, where poor Anis suffered approximately 3 hours next to a guy whose talent was to reproduce the original scent of gutter with his armpits, we finally arrived at 11pm. The Alexandria International Airport looks like a roadside bus terminal. Seriously, they could really use a new airport, judging from the number of real estate developments and high risers and super hotels in the area, you'd think they'd have a slightly bigger airport. Not really.The most important travel tip about the Alexandria Airport is, when arriving there, once you are out of the plane, run to passport check. There's only one counter and Egyptians are not really famous for being organized and polite. People will be elbowing each other to get ahead. You either run to be first in line, or chill and wait until everyone does. One thing you can do to pass time is change your money at the exchange counter. Because if you wait to do it after you go through customs, you will have to wait for the exchange guy to come back from the counter before passport check. He works both counters. The duty free shop is cute, like a big dime store in Paraguay. I'm serious. You can buy aluminium pots and pans, counterfeit barbies and little tins of Nivea cream, all in the same place. And I saw some guy get busted for drugs, right in front of me.

I love recreational slumming.



About 20 days later, when we were coming back to Bahrain, I met these two pretty brides at the Alexandria airport and they kindly let me take their picture together, although it was the first time they met. Both were flying to Kuwait to meet their new husbands. I thought it was cute and bizarre that they would fly so early in the morning and arrive already in their wedding gowns, jewelry and make-up. Unfortunately I don't speak arabic, so I didn't get a chance to talk to them more. But while Anis checked our luggage and got the boarding passes, I watched the brides say goodbye to their families, cry a little, listen to( what i think it was )advice, buy juice and water at the duty free, and sit on opposite sides of the hall and peek at each other from time to time. Some ladies would walk up to them and say mabrook. I did too, and asked if i could take their picture together.
The bride on the right walked with me towards the other, sat and I took their picture. They didn't really talk to each other, though.

We took the room next to the Umm Khulthum suite at the Sofitel Alexandria Cecil. We meant to take a picture of the plaque on the door but never actually did it. I also read somewhere that E. M. Forster lived in the Cecil for a while.



I love these old refurbished hotels, specially when they are run by the French. The French do a mean breakfast, with proper pastries and all, and they really train their staff for good service. The Sofitel Cecil is located between the Mediterranean Sea and a fantastic bakery. The room we stayed in was tiny but cozy, but the Sofitel main attractions are the revolving door and the tiny elevator, with cage doors and brass and weights . You can tell it was a five-star in the early 1900's. Now it is a 4 star by Egyptian standards. By my standards, it is a 3 star with honors.

The location is great not only for the bakery meters away, but also because it is walking distance from the Alexandria Library. You can walk along the sea or take a horse carriage, which is CRAZY. I hailed one thinking the guy didn't see me hailing but he did. He crossed in the middle of buses, cars and the usual egyptian chaotic traffic to pick Anis and I up. That was an adventure.

As far as I know, there are only two places one can eat at the Khan El Khalili without cursing the cooks' mother or getting food poisoning. One of them is the one pictured above. They make Fathira and only fathira there, but I guarantee you it is super yummy. Fathira is like a super thin layered bread, and between each soft, paper-thin sheet of dough there are sinful amounts of butter. You eat it hot and drizzled with a choice of honey, date syrup, frosting sugar or cottage cheese. There are savoury options too, but I'd stick with the sweet.
The second place is hidden in the middle of the souq and I would probably need to get lost to find it. It;s a small, indoor cafe named after Egyptian author Naguib Mahfouz. This tiny and super clean, air conditioned cafe has a clean washroom and good shisha. It also has air conditioning and super nice waiters.
Here in Bahrain, Cairo Bakery in Adlyia makes fathira and sells it packaged and ready to eat at the supermarkets. We heat them in the oven and drizzle them with a little olive oil and date syrup. Or honey. or maple syrup.
No wonder I am gaining weight...

My first impression was...hummm, smells really nice in here. And I had just come into a public restroom inside a shop. You gotta go when you gotta go, and I am always one to dread going - no matter if it's number One or number Two - to a toilette other than my own, in the comfort of my home. Speaking of number One...the super clean, nice smelling toilette, is at a shop called The One - Total Home Experience. Establishments all over the world, please get a hold of The One's restroom maintenance protocol AND USE IT. Your customers will thank you, I promise.

Evil foods. They make you fat, they have cellullite written all over them, they taste kinda good. Worst of all, they are somehow addictive, with all the chemicals and emulsifiers and colouring. Mayonnaise is one of them. I haven't bought a jar in years, but I could have. They stare at me from the supermarket aisle whispering " take me home, i'll make your tuna salad creamy, i'll make your
veggie dog delicious, take me, take me, i'll make your potato salad transport you to that childhood place..."



But I never do buy it. Although I must confess I did whip up some mayo at home, raw eggs and olive oil, a dot of dijon mustard and it tasted sinfully delicious. I might as well have injected it directly in my thighs, or call it cholesterol spread, but noooooo...I had to have it.

But mayo, industrialized or homemade, no more. I can get the same without all the fat. Better than the low fat versions (which are not really low fat, but 70% fat instead of 100% fat -- not much of a change).

I have seen the light. And the light was pointing to silken tofu. And it showed me that silken tofu makes a damn good substitute for Mayonnaise. All you need is a blender and a few seasonings. Here's the recipe, adjust it as you wish, then let me know if you liked it.

Super low fat sort of mayo but not really

1/2 cup silken tofu
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp soy sauce
1tsp dijon mustard
white pepper
whip it up in the blender...you got mayo!
For Aioli, add a couple of roasted garlic cloves and a bit of finely chopped parsley before blending.
For tartare sauce, mix in some chopped onions, sweet and sour cucumber slices (chopped), bits of green pepper, and some parsley.
Lasts 3 days in the fridge, but you can always whip up some more!

We used to go to this great indian fusion restaurant in Kuwait called Asha's. Since then, I have never been able to go to an Indian restaurant without comparing it to Asha's. I miss it. I'd go back to Kuwait just to eat there again. Asha Bhosle is a Bollywood legend, 1996 Grammy and 2002 BBC Lifetime Achievement winner, AND she also cooks great meals for friends and family. She also wrote and recorded over 13,000 songs, so say the write-ups on the LP-cover-shaped menu at her restaurants.

Despite being inside a mall, Asha's in Kuwait has a great atmosphere. After all, it is Marina Mall, complete with yacht "parking" , and Asha's not only has pretty food and ambiance, it also has a sea view and a resident dj playing remixes of Asha's 13 thousand songs. And the food is dreamy.



Here in Bahrain there's Lanterns,Nirvana,Clay Oven, Copper Chimney... plus dozens of other places unworthy of mention because the food there looks like reddish, oily mud and taste of too much ghee and turmeric. As my first contact with Indian food was at Asha's , I kind of have been expecting too much from any other Indian restaurant.

Lanters is FUN. It's got its own sikh live band ( not zz top, sorry to disappoint you) and a half pick-up truck framing the bar. It's super kitsch, it's got that yellow glow of candlelight everywhere, and a saturday night promo of all you can eat for 5BD (15 dollars, i think). Food's good and plenty, so make sure you bring an appettite. They have this "Tid Bits Platter" and the snow fried mushrooms are deliciously fattening.

The other night we had a late night meal at Copper Chimney, but neither Anis nor I knew how to order. I thought an Indian green curry was similar to a thai green curry and ended up with potatoes and cauliflowers drowned in spinach-ghee sauce. Anis ordered " chicken with that sauce that's not scary hot" and ended up with tomato ghee sauce. Our friend Sheyma knew how to order and got delicious vegetarian paneer dumplings in malay curry sauce.

Once we went to Nirvana at the Ritz-Carlton, but the food was not really memorable, because the hotel was undergoing renovation so we mostly felt annoyed by hammering and sawing noises. I'll need to go there again to write a more accurate review...

Next time you fly anywhere, please steal two Emergency instruction cards, those illustrated, often laminated , guides on what to do in case of emergency that come in the pocket of the seat in front of you, usually along with a bag to vomit in. Let me know when you steal them, and i'll send you my mailing address. I collect Emergency Instruction Cards.

We meant to go to Nino since it opened in A'Ali Mall, but somehow always ended up at the cafe at THE ONE. But this time we were determined, and after a day of intense shopping for linen napkins and japanese raku bowls, we decided it was time to try it out. The place looks beautiful. I'd easily live there, and as we were seated, Anis and I began the mental conversion of this place into our new home. We re-positioned windows and decided where the master bedroom would be. When the bread basket came, we asked the waiter if it was possible to change the music for something more chill-out. There music playing was way too doosh-doosh clubby for eating. The waiter said "no problem" and we set on to enjoy one of the best selection of breads we had ever tasted. Proper ciabatta, with and without olives, some dense whole grain rolls that tasted like heaven, rye with a crispy crust and perfectly soft dough...the whole basket was yummy, and we don't blame the waiter for not letting us know where the bread came from...I'd keep it a secret too. What we do blame the waiter for was his - or whoever was in charge of dj-ing - poor poor taste in music. After the doosh-doosh, i guess after our request, the music changed for worse, some sort of poppy ballad compilation, which included that yucky " You're beautiful" that we're all tired of listening to on easy fms worldwide...So that's what they think chill out is, but I digress. On to the food. I ordered tagliatelli with chicken, sundried tomatoes and fresh herbs. Anis ordered a steak. Chicken pasta was ok but i can make a better one at home with the same ingredients. Anis' steak was never delivered. While my pasta went cold, we asked several waiters about the steak. Some 15 minutes later, I had finished my pasta and the last waiter we asked came back to tell us that the order for the steak had never been placed. Not cool. We asked for the bill, paid it, and stole the salt and pepper shakers just to spite them.