Danderma's Blog, page 17

Star Gazing in Tamborine Mountain, Australia

Though I have so much to post about from my trip to Australia what I really, really want to publish now is this star gazing post. You never appreciated a sky fully glittering with stars unless you’ve never seen one before and then suddenly looking up and watching in awe. I looked up at the two lone shyly gleaming stars up in the sky here in Kuwait yesterday and I remembered with a pang what I once saw and currently miss, hence this post being published before the rest.

I was always fascinated by stars and when I was young one of my dreams was to become an astronomer hence why I’ve always wanted to go star gazing and aurora hunting but never knew where to start. Then when I was in Australia I just looked up one night and there it was, the most amazing star-studded sky ever twinkling at me. It was up high in the mountain when I saw the stars, nightfall arrives there at 6 P.M. and once its dark, its pitch blackness swallowing everything around you. If you want to step out, you will see absolutely nothing but darkness around you because there are no street lights and you are surrounded by dense forests. There was no moon, which meant no illumination of any to your path kind unless you happen to walk by a house with a light and that is barely enough to light up your path, and that’s when I looked up!

Yes, the quality of the picture is horrible indeed with a lot of noise in the background. I have never attempted to take pictures of the stars before, mainly because I’ve never seen so many! With a quick search around the internet on the 101 of astrophotography, and considering that I had barely any battery power, or a proper lens, or a tripod and that the woods were pitch black with squeaky animals sounds and creaks and I was standing in the middle of the dark road, unseen, I believe I’m entitled to be proud of my noisy and barely visible pictures

Some stars had a white glow to them, other had a blue glue and I swear I saw one that was glowing orange. My husband has this google app on his phone called Google sky or Google Galaxy that when you hold it up it tells you which star is which and guess what did it label the orange glowing star? Mars! Where there was an orange glowing dot in the sky, and quite visible, it simply stated the planet Mars! How mind blowing is that? No pictures of the glowing Mars though but I think I might have photographed the Milky Way in the picture below! It reality it had this distinctive glow around it, like being in a cocoon or a faint white bag or something and it was quite distinctive and no the horrible pictures do not do it justice.

I’ve always wanted to go star gazing and wondered why didn’t we have enough stars in the sky of Kuwait. It turns out the number of stars in the sky are the same everywhere, its only the abundance supply of light on earth is to blame for now allowing us a decent view of other planets, millions of years away, or so we are told. I believe the amount of pollution in the atmosphere of Kuwait plus the elevated hight of the mountain might have contributed as well. Anyway, this is my favourite and by the way, I was barely able to make the outline of the tree with my own bare eyes in the darkness.

Can you believe how many stars are there? I didn’t even attempt to count them, I just took endless pictures until the battery ran out. Then I stayed put, and gazed and gazed until my eyes began to fall and the pizza was getting cold and we had to go home. Yes, we had takeaway pizza in the car. The next morning however I was thinking I might be able to take better pictures if I was more secure and comfortable in the privacy of the balcony in the Chalet we were staying at. So I waited until it was about 8 or 9 P.M. on another moonless night, I went out the balcony and looked up and there you go!

I believe my second attempt was much more successful, though I don’t seem to know how to edit the pictures properly. Anyways in the picture below I believe the shiny orange dot that Google sky stated was Mars does appear in between the opening between the two bushes, in the middle more to the top of the picture a bright orangish dot, can you see it? It looks almost like part of the top branches but its not!

Anyways, the view was just magical

I have to admit that after a bit of star gazing that my mind began to wander and eyes began to lose focus. I had this creepy feeling that if I watch long enough I might find one of the stars moving from its place and that it would turn out to be an alien UFO or something. I knew it was getting too cold and was time to take the camera back inside.

Ooh here is what google sky said about what we were watching! One part of it anyway. I need to start learning a bit about astronomy to fulfil a part of my childhood dream

By the way, if you happen to come across a good deal of stars in the sky you can photograph them by using the Manual mode on your camera, with an aperture of 4 or 5, a very slow shutter speed -start at 15 seconds and go up- and have the ISO up to 1600 and the turn the focus into manual mode and have it on infinity. Happy star gazing wherever you are!

Movie Review: Bad Neighbours

I saw the trailer for this movie when I was in the UK and thought to myself it would be one good movie to watch. However, finding out it was banned in Kuwait I thought to myself I’d wait to watch it on TV or a DVD when its out but to my luck I got to watch it when I was in Australia and it was the first film I did watch there on the first or second day of my arrival.

The movie is about a couple with a new born baby who have just settled for a quite life in the suburbs when suddenly a college fraternity house move next door. As expected, the couple try to come to terms with the noise next door and treat the college kids nicely but before you know it both neighbours are at each others throats trying to get back at the other and their motto seems to be all is fair in war!

The movie is quite funny and the trailer didn’t give much away from the funny moments, there are plenty more to laugh at and it does deal with the age group of people in their 30s who are not as youthful as college kids yet are not really that old but are thought old by the kids and they have to come to terms with that.  30 is still the new 20 though only a more mature and wise 20 :p

Though there are some moments sensitive viewers might think inappropriate in the movie I don’t think it was worth banning in Kuwait. They could have chopped it up like they did Hangover II rather than ban it but then again either way we would still be complaining in the end, wouldn’t we? Anyways we did enjoy our time and would be definitely willing to watch it again when it comes out on DVD.

My Stay in Sofitel Brisbane, Australia

Before we boarded the plane to Australia and while we were preparing for the entry Visas, which are accepted online and done within 24 hours btw, we were warned of the very strict rules regarding bringing food or anything plant-related to Australia and that their customs are quite strict. I do remember watching episodes of the Australian version of Border Control on TV before -and I love those shows!- so we made sure we were food/medicine/plant/sand free before we boarded the plane. I was expecting a prolonged entry procedure at Brisbane’s airport but we went through quickly, only were asked if we had anything food or medicine related on us, and we weren’t searched at all. However, they did take us aside at the passport control and commented on why we seemed to have made so many trips to the UK before but it wasn’t a big deal, we were out of the almost empty airport in no time and ready to begin our trip to Australia.

Once we were outside at the arrivals area we were met by the friendly Mr. Bruce from Limoso luxury limousine service which was arranged for us by Tourism and Events Queensland. Mr. Bruce welcomed us into Australia and took charge of our luggage at once, loading them into the car and driving us away into the quite Brisbane night.

The limo was comfortable and cool, Mr. Bruce’s driving was smooth and experienced, When Mr. Bruce saw my camera he asked if I wanted to be taken to a point with a fabulous view of Queensland River and glittering buildings. I was up to it of course, never missing the chance to watch a beautiful scene and with a chance of pictures being taken. He took us to a place called the Kangaroo point where I had my first good view of Brisbane’s river and skyline.

We didn’t stay long, it was eerily quite and the breeze was cool but we were also in dire need for sleep so we headed to the car and minute later with Mr. Bruce’s smooth driving we were at Sofitel Brisbane Central unloading the luggage and bidding Mr. Bruce farewell.

The Sofitel was lovely! All brass, softly lit candles, and artistic pieces everywhere you look. It took no time at all to check in and before you know it we were heading to our room on the 19th floor.

As soon as we entered the room we were met by a personal letter from Sofitel Brisbane’s General Manager Mr. Marcus Hanna welcoming us into Softiel and next to the letter was a platter of luscious strawberries dipped in chocolate and a bottle of cold Aqua Panna water!

I didn’t know it at the time but the welcome sight of those juicy red strawberries all dressed up in chocolate, edible glitter, and rose petals was the first of many gestures to come, from my stay at Sofitel all the way through my trip, as if the theme was to “spoil the visiting blogger” and that was the most rewarding and mind blowing theme ever! Those strawberries were just the light pick-me-up we needed before crashing into the comfortable king size bed and snoozing away till the afternoon of the next day!

Oh and next to the strawberries there was a Nespresso machine and coffee pods, enough said!

Our room at the Sofitel, Room 1920, was spacious with two king sized beds that came complete with a pillow menu where you could choose the kind of pillow your neck desires. It was also modern yet warm, decorated in beige and purple and most importantly, spotlessly clean thanks to Bristi!

I almost stole those pillows and took them back home with me! They’d match my bedroom back home completely!

Room amenities included robes, laundry services, a safe, hair dryer, an iron, and more.

On the very night of our arrival there was a big envelope from Tourism and Events Queensland with our “welcome kit” inside waiting for us. It included a USB charger, an electric transformer thing we used throughout the trip to connect our electric chargers and cables to wall sockets, a very helpful and compact portable 4G WI-FI device from Telstra which provided speedy 4G internet access for us throughout the trip, and last but not lest a pre-paid VISA card that I was to use for transport and meal expenses for myself throughout the #Room753 trip. Very helpful and to the point connectivity KIT with clear instructions on how to uses everything and in moments we were all set.

When we woke up the next morning it was 11 A.M. and sadly the breakfast of the hotel ends up at 10 A.M., which is a bit too early to wrap breakfast up in my opinion but it seemed to be that way in almost everywhere in Australia. People rose up early and went to bed early, with most food establishments closing at 10 P.M.! We weren’t able to have breakfast on the very first morning but we did manage to enjoy it on every other morning during our stay and it was simply fabulous. I love Hotel breakfasts

The breakfast area had big floor to ceiling windows that overlooked the clock tower of Brisbane’s central station and Anzac square, two very important Brisbane landmarks. I especially enjoyed the greek yoghurt with fruits and nuts provided in the buffet plus the porridge, which I could use a bowl of right this very moment.

Because Sofitel is literally located on top of the Central station it meant easy access from within the hotel to the stations platforms. Plus, it was only a five minute walk away from Brisbane’s main shopping street “Queen Street”. We used the train only once but because our hotel was in a central location we walked everywhere all the time during our stay in Brisbane.

And because we walked everywhere it meant we always came back at night exhausted and ready to crash into bed, only to find the room fretted up for the second time -every night!- and two bottle of water plus two pieces of delicious chocolates waiting for us on the night stand. It was another nice gesture that made us feel both welcome and looked after, a home away from home indeed.

Another day we arrived home midday after a journey to a Koala sanctuary only to find this big box of fresh fruits waiting for us, needless to say not one little atom of the fruits were left behind, they were delicious!

I also used to enjoy the gorgeous view of the mountains out of the big room windows while sitting on this plush and very comfortable chair.

Examples of the view, especially during sunset! Gorgeous, no?

I was really sad when the time came to have my last breakfast at Sofitel Brisbane Central on the last morning of our stay. We were so pampered during our stay we felt like moving in and making it our home. Alas, all good things must come to an end one day and as we checked out Ms. Tegan Tranent, Sofitel’s guest relations manager left a meeting just to say good bye and see us off to our next adventure during our trip. Thank you, Sofitel Brisbane Central, for the good time and very comfortable stay. When we come back to Brisbane one day and we cannot wait to come back, there will be no where else we’d rather stay at. Till we meet again.

Hello from Mnt. Tamborine, Australia!

I’m writing this post now while wrapped in one of my warm shawls, wearing my comfy pyjamas and reclining on a chalet balcony with sweeping views of Tamborine in Mountain in Queensland, Australia. The birds have been chirping all day long and several of them were, err, getting cosy and enjoying each others company when they thought no one was looking. It is their mountain after all and we humans are imposing on their trees and habitat. Cool rain is falling around me and I’m shielded from the wet drops by the balcony but I can hear the droplets soft tuck tuck sounds as they fall around me.

I’ve just spent an amazing week that flew by in a blink in Brisbane! My hotel which I’m going to write about in a detailed post soon. Its just that I didn’t really have any moment to myself in the past week for I was too busy enjoying my packed and quite enjoyable itnerary that’s been put together for me by Tourism and Events Queensland and by the time I’m back in my hotel room I have to struggle to keep my eyes open long enough to brush my teeth and locate the bed. This afternoon however was spent lounging in the balcony doing absolutely nothing but pouring over my mountain weekend itinerary and taking endless pictures of the mountain, the birds, the rain, and everything else really!

One week down, and sadly one week left to go but I’m beginning to miss home as well. Hopefully by tonight I hope I will be publishing this post and answering all your comments and preparing the rest of my posts of my stay in Brisbane, that is if the fresh cold mountain air doesn’t take control of my eye lids and shut them early again. Will be posting some more soon, I promise!

Hello from Mnt. Tambourine, Australia!

I’m writing this post now while wrapped in one of my warm shawls, wearing my comfy pyjamas and reclining on a chalet balcony with sweeping views of Tambourine in Mountain in Queensland, Australia. The birds have been chirping all day long and several of them were, err, getting cosy and enjoying each others company when they thought no one was looking. It is their mountain after all and we humans are imposing on their trees and habitat. Cool rain is falling around me and I’m shielded from the wet drops by the balcony but I can hear the droplets soft tuck tuck sounds as they fall around me.

I’ve just spent an amazing week that flew by in a blink in Brisbane! My hotel which I’m going to write about in a detailed post soon. Its just that I didn’t really have any moment to myself in the past week for I was too busy enjoying my packed and quite enjoyable itnerary that’s been put together for me by Tourism and Events Queensland and by the time I’m back in my hotel room I have to struggle to keep my eyes open long enough to brush my teeth and locate the bed. This afternoon however was spent lounging in the balcony doing absolutely nothing but pouring over my mountain weekend itinerary and taking endless pictures of the mountain, the birds, the rain, and everything else really!

One week down, and sadly one week left to go but I’m beginning to miss home as well. Hopefully by tonight I hope I will be publishing this post and answering all your comments and preparing the rest of my posts of my stay in Brisbane, that is if the fresh cold mountain air doesn’t take control of my eye lids and shut them early again. Will be posting some more soon, I promise!

The Trip from Kuwait to Australia

By the time I post this I’d be fighting to keep my eyes open after a long day’s trip from Kuwait all the way to the land down under. Yesterday -or I think it was yesterday- at 8 P.M. I said good buy to the stray cats residing in the street where our apartment in Kuwait is located and headed for the airport to catch the 10:20 PM Emirates Plane to Dubai.

The flight to Dubai, which took about an hour and a half, was noisy and quite chaotic. Not the best start to the trip, especially when we finally were flying over Dubai and I saw Burj Khalifa and Sheikh Zayed Road all I wanted to do was leave the airport and go crash for a night or two in Dubai! Its been too long since I’ve been there, and I miss Dubai badly

The flight to Singapore was full with travellers and although there were over 600 or so channels to watch on the plane I was too cranky to be able to watch anything. It didn’t help that the food served was mediocre at best, but perhaps it was my bad mood judging both the food and the entertainment option. Anyway, the coolest thing about the Emirates airplane is this virtual sky dotted with stars kind of ceiling that is turned on when its night time! I’m currently writing this post on the airplane while looking up at the ceiling and I’m loving it!

7 Hours in the air later that I’ve spent dozing off and waking up, we arrived at singapore airport. Our connection at Singapore airport was for an hour and a half but we were allowed to get off the plane and roam the terminal for 45 minutes. We found the prayer room fully equipped for whudu and means of washing up after going to the toilet. Also, the bathrooms were super clean and gleaming!

After prayers we explored a bit and stopped at Starbucks to check out those delicious looking drinks! I so wanted that double caramel crunchy frappucino!

Other dining options we find in Singapore’s airport…

And by the food court there was this little balcony/terrace overlooking the airplanes gates and runway and we couldn’t resist going outside for a bit of fresh air. I think that was what I needed to fix my mood and draw a smile on my face. The weather was tropical: cloudy yet humid and a tad too hot for the winter clothes I was wearing but the fresh air was very welcome indeed!

Me smiling at last!

Then it was time to head to the gate, 45 minutes were well spent indeed.

Now boarding Emirates flight 432 from Singapore to Brisbane! Another 7 hours and our journey will finally be over!

The flight to Brisbane was much more fun! For starters, the plane was almost empty which meant most passengers took an entire row of seats for themselves and enjoyed the free space. With more room to move and breathe – I was travelling economy- and with the trip time cut in half, with only 7 hours to go, I finally was able to enjoy the book I brought with me with a cup of cold 7-up and some salted crackers.

Then it was time for lunch! And this time lunch was AWESOME! Vegetarian sushi with some stir fried vegetables as a salad and a main dish of spaghetti pomodoro with broccoli! Spot on! Finally some good vegetarian friendly pasta for a vegetarian meal instead of some spicy rice dish or limps greens that I’m usually stuck with when I order my Vegetarian Lacto Ovo meal on board flights!

I enjoyed my lunch so much that I was in the mood to watch something and to my luck, Sherlock season 3 was available to watch! If you are a Sherlock fan, you’d understand how lovely it was to watch his last vow for the tenth time while slurping spaghetti pomodoro. I almost forgot I was on an airplane for a moment and then in a blink the flight was over as I was in the mood to prepare this post!

I’m kinda dreading the trip back to Kuwait, which will be a full 15 hours non-stop plane ride from Brisbane to Dubai then a one hour connection flight to Kuwait. I don’t have vacation days so I cannot stop in between Dubai and Brisbane or Dubai and Kuwait. However, if you are flying to Australia I suggest you do it by breaking down your trip and stopping at different countries and staying in those countries for a day or two like for example a day in Dubai, then a couple of days in singapore or Tokyo -Oh I want to go to Tokyo so so bad :’( – then make your way to Australia.

Now, excuse me as I crash and try to sleep my jet lag which is wrecking havoc with my sleeping pattern. If you are a frequent visitor to Australia please do let me know what route do you take to make it here.

Joining Project #Room753 in Queensland, Australia

I remember the day very well. It was night time, and I was drinking tea in my favourite mug while spending a quiet night alone with the lights dimmed when I received an email from my contact form. The email was from Think! Social Media and it was asking if I am interested in joining 21 other bloggers from around the world in project #Room753 which involves a trip to visit Queensland, Australia!

At first it didn’t register, all I understood was something about a room with a hashtag and the phrase “world’s best bloggers” and in my confused I smiled to myself, partly in disbelief, and decided to run quick google search on both the person who contacted me and the place called Queensland that I’ve never been before. I was even a bit skeptic, perhaps it was some joke from a troll or something similar. To my surprise, it was all true! Tourism and Events of Queensland, in Australia, is inviting me, Danderma, a a virtually unknown blogger in this vast internet world with millions of other blogs from many more countries.

Why was I chosen? Am not sure to be frank. Why me of all blogs in Kuwait? Or the Middle East? I daren’t ask. How on earth did they find me, read my blog, and decided I’m to join I could never comprehend. I didn’t allow myself to fully believe it, partly because I didn’t want to jinx it and because I was secretly afraid they’d wake up one day thinking they’ve got the wrong blogger and decide they made a mistake or something. Not until now, at this very moment, sitting in my plush chair in Sofitel Hotel of Brisbane, Australia typing these words did I allow myself to fully believe that I, Danderma am going to Australia and I’m going to be the last -I think- of 21 other bloggers from around the world that have been here and according to their statements, had quite a great time!

Thank you, Think! Social Media and Tourism and Events Queensland for nominating my humble blog to visit Australia and allowing me this once in a life time opportunity to participate in the project #Room753. I want to pinch, or rather keep pinching myself, now that I’m here and I know I’m going to have a great time. My dear followers, I will be posting on instagram, twitter, and Facebook with the hashtags #Room753, #VisitBrisbane, and #ThisisQueensland on daily basis and I hope you can feel the thrill of the adventure I’m about to embark on through my posts and that I represent my lovely beloved Kuwait as a blogger in the best manner possible. Wish me luck and if you’ve been to Australia before, please do not hesitate in leaving me suggestions on what to do or where to go.

Stay tuned!

P.S. Check out the posts from some of the bloggers who already participated in project #Room753! I’ve been stalking them silently but I loved each and every one’s posts and they’ve been a great help and encouragement to my own trip, you guys didn’t know that but your adventures helped fuel my enthusiasim to get on that plane to start my own #Room753 adventure!

Stop Having a Boring Life
Young Adventuress
Miss Malini
Gypsy Nesters
Time Travel Turtle
Mallory on Travel
Otts World
The Planet D

Breakfast at Elsit Loung Cafe

Elsit, an Arabic word literally translated as “The Lady”, almost always refers to one great and well beloved Arab Woman: The Egyptian legendary singer Umm Kulthum. I’ve yet to meet someone who isn’t a big fan and though personally I’m not the song Enta 3mry which is my husband’s personal favourite did grow on me. Enta 3mry was playing in that fine Saturday morning as I walked into the quiet and still sleepy cozy corner of the souk section in the Avenues Mall where Elsit Lounge Cafe is located. 

Elsit lounge cafe has been open for a few months now but I heard it was only serving drinks and beverages for passers by. I also always thought it was a bit dark and gloomy, located in the deepest corner of the souk section with a few passers by occasionally. When I received the invitation from the cafe’s management to come and try it I did think the time has come to give them a visit and try the different sandwiches they posted about in their instagram account for breakfast on Saturday morning.

When I finally did make it to elsit lounge cafe I was surprised by the amount of sun light streaming in through the ceiling! Contrary to what I imagined, it was quite airy and very well lit indeed and the beautiful ceiling, areesh style -don’t know the name in English- did give off a lovely criss-cross shadow pattern that added to the charm of the place and suited the Egyptian cafe style chairs and decor perfectly!

The sweet owner who was waiting for me welcomed me warmly and explained about the cafe, the concept, and the different dishes available on the menu with her own recommendations on what to try. She also told me that in the evening the strings of light bulbs strung all over the ceiling give off a romantic, whimsical feel to the cafe’s setting and the overall souk area. I love those big lightbulbs, they remind me of happy occasions in my childhood.

The facade of the cafe is decorated with pictures of elsit Um Kulthum herself and the inside is no difference, with framed black and white pictures of elsit and big decorative art blingy art pieces of her distinguished profile. All illuminated by royal blue upholstery and carpets plus colourful hanging lanterns, very cosey indeed!

Gorgeous lounge indeed! The beauty of the place didn’t register on me as I passed by endless time while shopping in the avenues but now that I sat down, underneath the lovely areesh on the plush chairs, my eyes could see the beautiful details in every corner. Can you see how the blingy wall art piece inside the cafe is peeking at me from over the menu?

How many types of tea can you count on the menu? Yes, plenty! I had a hard time choosing what to drink but I settled for Koshari tea, which is a strong Egytpian style tea, and Saffron with cardamom milk for breakfast.

Now pouring the milk, it was perfectly balanced and quite delicious.

Also my kushari tea was gorgeous, rich and golden and just the way tea is supposed to be.

It didn’t take long for our breakfast order to arrive, and there were plenty of sandwiches to choose from. Given that we were in an Egyptian themed cafe we wanted more of an Egyptian style breakfast so we ordered the fool wrap, falafel wrap, and a white cheese with olives ciabatta sandwich.

The falafel wrap isn’t your usual falafel wrap with tahini and chopped tomatoes and cucumbers. It came with distinctive spices, melted cheese, and red peppers! Yes, you are thinking what I’m thinking, it reminded me of Pret a manger’s spicy falafel wrap! The taste isn’t exactly the same but its a welcome diversion from the boring old falafel sandwich mix you find all over Kuwait.

The fool wrap, or the Fava beans wrap sandwich, was awesome! The wrap bread had a red tinge to it which I assume means its originally a tomato wrap bread and the fool mix was wholesome and delicious. Personally I enjoyed it more than the falafel wrap.

Believe it or not, the feta with olive ciabatta was the winner sandwich that day. I’m craving it right now as we speak, it was just the right level of saltiness meets tanginess and the bread was browned to the point of being perfect, not too soggy and not too crispy. Highly recommended but I’d ask for the pickles to be left out if you are not a fan.

Look at my tea

Once we were done with breakfast we wanted to leave but the owner insisted we stay for dessert. On instagram one of my followers recommended their kanafa dessert for me and I did indeed order it. The order came with medium turkish coffee, a plate of baklava, a flask of Arabian coffee, and a surprise kind of tart filled with Omani halwa with a side of vanilla ice cream.

It was a full dessert table and we thought there was no way we’d be able to eat all that! We started by pouring the Turkish coffee which was quite delicious and the portion was big and satisfying to coffee junkies like myself.

Yes, more coffee was needed and it was time to try the Arabian coffee.

The Arabian coffee was light and flavourful and went well with the rest of the dessert party on the table though personally I like mine a bit stronger with more hints of ginger and cardamom.

You see, I was excited to try this pie/tart/Omani Halwa hybrid dessert. I love halwa, Omani and Bahraini, and the thought of it enclosed in a dough and heated up and dowsed with vanilla ice cream was quite tantalising.

It was good, the halwa did stretch lazily as I pulled on it with the fork. I’d liked it to have more halwa though, I didn’t get enough :p

Ooh now comes the Kanafa, or Kunafa, however you spell it! Individual sized and filled with eshta (cream), Elsit’s Kanafa was a killer!

No wonder people were recommending the Kanafa! It was absolutely delicious and worth every calorie consumed.

The Kanafa was surprisingly light for a kanafa and quite fluffy, the cream so delicious, and we simply polished it off. Highly recommended if you’ve never tried it before.

One of my followers on instagram commented on a picture I posted of an empty elsit cafe that I must have taken it at the crack of dawn because the cafe was empty. I was lucky to arrive there at 10 A.M. for at 10:30 A.M. almost all the tables were full and restaurant waiters were busy delivering orders for relaxed customers.

I loved the ambiance of elsit cafe, the light streaming in from the ceiling, the right level of quietness, the relaxed and laid back feel of the lounge, the music, the food, it was all so good I didn’t want to finish my drinks and get up. I could have spent an entire Saturday just sitting there looking at people and drinking tea while listening to enta 3mry. I would certainly recommend it and I will be back again for a quiet and relaxed weekend breakfast for sure.

Thanks to elsit lounge cafe and their lovely owners for the invitation and warm hospitality, thank you for making my Saturday! Elsit Lounge Cafe is located in the old Souk section of the Avenues mall and they are open from 10 A.M. everyday. For more information you can follow them on instagram (@Elsit_lounge).

Would You Buy Makeup Stained Garments?

Would you buy the last piece of a new garment in your size if it was the last one on the shelves and you really, really wanted to buy it, but it was smeared with makeup stains from a previous customer who tried it on and didn’t purchase it?

I wouldn’t!

I’m not sure who to blame for putting back makeup stained garments on the shelves, but I am sure not going to pay my hard earned money on a piece of clothing that is already ruined by lipstick and foundation from some other ignorant customer’s beauty mask. That garment would need to be washed first, most probably dry cleaned, and there would still be no guarantee that the makeup stains will come off. The stains are also a harsh reminder that whatever we choose to try and wear in stores could have been touched and tried on by someone before us. Someone who not necessarily just out of the shower, or free of viruses and diseases. Perhaps they had the flu and happened to wipe their runny nose on the collar of the dress as they were forcing it down their neck. I’m squeamish but I tend to force myself to buy things and not thing about those imperfections very much but I do know women who would insist on buying things if and only if they are brought in fresh from the stock room. However, I haven’t reached that extreme -yet- but a reminder to the fact that someone who couldn’t care less about the cleanness of an item being tried on is not something I’m willing to pay for.

That being said, I wonder why stores put back stained garments back on display to sell! Abroad, some stores provide customers wearing makeup a protective mask to put on before trying on garments. Also, ruined garments whether by makeup or by a tear or a fault is almost always discounted greatly. Here, however, the garments I’ve seen are put back nonchalantly, as if nothing is wrong with them, and paying customers are expected to just pick them up and pay full price for them?

Stores can always enforce a rule of not allowing customers to try on clothes if they have full makeup on. Or check the clothing after its been tried and have the customers, especially the tactless ones who stained a perfectly fine garment, pay for the piece or at least for its dry cleaning! I personally would pay for something I ruined by trying on in a store, it is the decent thing to do, I wouldn’t ruin something and just walk away like nothing is wrong because that’s not fair! In the worst case scenarios, if the damage is done and the store doesn’t want to bother the wronged customers, at least clean the item up or keep it hidden until sale time then display it with an extra discount! A stained garment is after all a dirty one and putting dirty clothes all over the store, not one not two but many, eventually means the store is indeed dirty! Why vacuum the floors and dust the shelves yet display makeup stained clothes?

P.S. Dear fellow female, the next time you decide to try on clothes, please wipe your face clean from foundation and if you are putting your head through the collar, you can always suck your lips in carefully. After all, you wouldn’t want your makeup to be ruined now, would you?

Lunch from Koshari Street in London

Sometimes I feel writing in my blog is like meeting a long lost friend for coffee, with so much to say I wouldn’t know where to start. I have so much to say, so much to share, yet somehow when my fingers hit the keyboard up I’m tongue tied -rather finger-tied- and wouldn’t know where to start. Since its Thursday, and you guys must be thinking about lunch by now, I am remembering a day when I was done with something I had to do on my trip to London and by the time I caught up with my old college friends I realised I was famished. It happened that I was a stone’s throw away from Leicester square and on that chilly afternoon in London, I knew what I really, really, really wanted to try: Egyptian Koshari from Koshari Street in St. Martin’s Lane, just off Leicester Square!

Koshari is a very simple yet quite heartwarming Egyptian street food. Though its made of simple everyday ingredients of rice, macaroni, pasta, and brown lentils topped with tomato sauce and fried onions, not everyone can put those ingredients together to make a perfect dish of Koshari. For a vegetarian who is also a carb junkie like myself, having koshari for lunch is the quite a treat and you can understand why on that day I wanted comforting that reminded me of home, hence why I was stood on Koshari Street‘s door, taking pictures and capturing my reflection in the mirror in the process.

The restaurant is tiny and if you weren’t looking out for it you’d easily miss it. Its also beautifully modern, quite sleek, and very to the point in design. Not cluttered, messy, or noisy at all.

Once you are inside, assuming that you’ve never tried Koshari before and the dish is quite foreign to you in concept, you’d see the plate of already prepared Koshari sitting on the counter showing you what its all about and is quite self-explanatory. Perhaps you’ve popped in, taken a look, and didn’t think that looked any good but I can assure you, Koshari is one of those dishes that is suprisingly familiar and comforting and is for sure worth a trial.

At the door of Koshari Street there is a fridge with already packaged takeaway items with hummus and vegetable crudités for dips, salads, drinks, and desserts.

We took some hummus, carrots and cucumbers and proceeded to the Koshari making station to choose our Koshari.

I customised my Koshari the way I like it, with the basic rice pasta lentils mix topped with tomato sauce -not spicy- and topped with chickpeas and doqqa (a mix of herbs & spices). There were no onions on top of my Koshari, and I usually prefer to have as little tomato sauce as possible as well.  Putting together the Koshari together took seconds only and with my already packaged items that I chose from the fridge, lunch was ready before I could reset my camera options to take better pictures of lunch!

I took my food and headed over to the long benches lining the other wall of the store. My tiny view was to the street and I could see the London walking by as I was preparing to have a taste of Egypt for lunch.

On the tables there was flasks, or rather jars, of cold water infused with mint and lemon slices with plastic cups and little salt shakers. Quite a nice gesture in my opinion especially if you prefer flavoured water to plain one.

I started with the vegetables dipped in Hummus, it was good and quite a light start to the meal.

Now the moment of truth, how did the Koshari taste like?

The rice, lentils, and pasta were absolutely perfect! Quite delicious and less starchy than the Koshari we usually get around here in Kuwait. The tomato sauce was lovely as well although it was a tad more like tomato pasta sauce than Koshari tomato sauce, I guess it is missing a herb or a spice, perhaps a few more pinches of cumin. Pasta sauce like or not, it was quite good and the doqqa on top of my Koshari compensated for the lack of spice in the sauce and contributed to the level of spices in the over all dish.

However, I do think the canned chickpeas were too hard and not a very welcome addition to the dish. I’m saying that because I cannot stand canned chickpeas for I’m used to soft and fluffy freshly boiled chickpeas that are sold in every corner in Kuwait. If you ever try the way chickpeas are cooked at home, you’d never eat those pellet like canned ones or use them for cooking ever again. Skip the chickpeas at Koshari street, the Koshari dish will taste much, much better without them.

And now I feel like having Koshari for lunch again! Mmmm…

Don’t want to eat Koshari? not a fan in the first place or didn’t like it when you tried it? Never mind, forget the Koshari, but if you are in London you must pass by Koshari street for another surprising find: the Qamardeen Muhhalabiya or as they call it the “Mixed pudding of mishmishiya & muhallabiyeh”. A spoonful of that amazing concoction will have you hypnotized and you’ll find your feet heading in Koshari Street’s direction whenever you are nearby.

I picked the pudding because my friends who tried it were raving about it, I expected it to be good but I never expected myself to agree so strongly: it is, hands down, the best tasting most delicious heart wrenching melt in your mouth muhhalabiya EVER! And by ever I mean EVER! and you have to try it with both the milk and qamardeen (mishmishiya). And because if my good fortune, I’m CRAVING IT right now while I am in Kuwait! I’d imagine it would be quite a treat for people during the holy month of Ramadan after fasting all these long hours in London.

Koshari Street is located in 56 St Martin’s Ln, London WC2N 4EA and if you happen to be in London right now you can take a walk for a light lunch there and a much needed sweet dessert treat. Don’t have the time? They also deliver and here is their website (link). Do not forget to order the muhhalabiya!