Danderma's Blog, page 97

The Danderma Operette :)

Good Saturday morning! Its been a while since I’ve posted a breakfast post but today I have something better. I found an Egyptian operette from god knows when which has two versions: an old one and an animated one. Name? Danderma :p

Basically they are singing about Eldandorma, and its making me very very happy so I thought I would share it. Wenees :p And just in case you still do not know what Danderma means, I think this should hit home!

Now I have a dessert shop, a baqala, a Ramadan tv series, cupcakes, a perfume, and an operette :p

Have a very happy Saturday

The World Blooms at the Avenues

We don’t really experience the four seasons phenomena in Kuwait. We basically have two seasons: summer and winter. We are supposed to be in the spring now but we don’t really feel it. Its not like we see flowers blooming and parks getting greener. That was the case until yesterday when I went to the Avenues.

If you pass by the Avenues between 17-20 May you will get to experience the feel of spring as they have “The World Blooms” events on. Flowers, flowers, and more flowers EVERYWHERE!

We went to the Avenues for lunch and we parked in Phase II, the first thing we saw when we got into the mall was a… flower arrangements station!

World renowned floral designer, Gray Kwok, is providing a demonstration on how to arrange flowers. Ms. Kwok is the one responsible for the floral arrangements throughout the Avenues by the way! She shows you the techniques of how to cut and twist your blooms into vases and facing her are glass tables with flowers and tools and women actually arranging flowers while their loved ones looked on, took pictures and videos, and cheered them on. Wanasa!

We stood around watching for a while then we went to see the rest. Alyasra’s blooms.

Pinkberry blooms! That was quite popular as people kept standing besides it in turn to take pictures.

Ikea’s blooms! Oh how I wish to have a similar garden setting.

Tulips! I love tulips

I know these flowers! I used to see them in cartoons! Its the first time I’ve seen them in real life, they look like bells!

And these flowers… don’t they appear in some famous painting by picasso or someone?

Next stop, the red crescent! Donate a KD and get a flower. There was a long long line.

A great idea! People all over the avenues were walking with fresh flowers that smells really good.

Next stop, Baroe’s doorway!

Those roses are gorgeous! How pretty!

Moving on, we saw another flower arrangement with Lillies!

Lillies are my husband’s favorite flower. He stood there forever.

Then we came to the most attractive thing in the middle of the Avenues! Underneath this modern black structure the little glass display cages were filled with…

Butterflies! Very pretty, very different butterflies!

Besides each display is a card explaining the species.

How lovely was that walk through the Avenues? It felt like having a walk through a portion of Kew Gardens in the UK, only much less boring given that you are surrounded with shops and less humid since the AC was blasting full on!

The flowers and the event is arranged by Villa De Fleurs. In case you didn’t know them they are one of my favorite florists in Kuwait where I’ve picked the flowers I’ve posted about (here) and (here). I love the selection of flowers they have available and the prices are very reasonable! Well done.

Thank you the Avenues for letting us take a taste of spring without having to travel. Thanks Abdullah Al-Baddah and Shaikha

Help: Stray Cats Invaded my Doorway!

Since before I was born Kuwait’s streets were infested with scores of stray cats. Everywhere you went, there must be a group of cats sitting around the garbage can tearing it apart to have that Zbaidi leftovers from lunch, a couple of cats mewing in delight till the wee hours of morning during the mating season, and eventually a fat pregnant cat hiding somewhere to give birth to her baby kittens. Nothing new mo?

I’ve never really suffered from this cat infestation before, aside from the times they attacked you while you were dining out that is. Or obsessing about odd scary story of turning on your car engine and a cat would be hiding there and well, its disgusting and I truly wish I never have to encounter it. However, yesterday morning as I was trying to go to work, I peer out of the glass in the door to see the scene in the picture above and below!

A pregnant cat had given to kitten a few weeks ago. We know she was pregnant because she would always jump on us while she was carrying her babies whenever we sat outside. Apparently now that they are a bit grown up they once mewed and my husband gave them some food on the far side of the house. Bad move, they have invited themselves to my front steps and lodged themselves there.

We tried everything to get them to move away! Both of us are highly allergic to cats. Plus I am actually terrified of all animals on planet earth, including ants. I was screaming as I went to my car because when you shooed them they wouldn’t move, they would just scream and yell and run all around the door.

The mother cat is very vicious indeed and is not afraid to show it. They are also eating all the plants we have outside and dragging some leftover rubbish and bones to my new doormats and eating there happily while also rubbing against them! I also suspect they are already carrying diseases, yarab as we say in Arabic, given that they seem to scratch against the doormats alot.

We came back from work, they were there. We kept looking through the glass all day long and they were there, eating and scratching and mewing, making themselves totally at home. I wouldn’t mind them so much if they were at the other end of the walkway but not at the front door! At night we managed to truly shoo them after a 100 tries, but then my husband went out. When he came back at night they were all sleeping on the doorstep and he didn’t see them because it was dark and when he approached them they all woke up and mewed and screamed and ran in all directions, including on his!

This morning? Still there! This afternoon? They greeted Pink Girl in the afternoon with some chicken bones as she came to visit! Now? Yes, still there, not going anywhere.

This is getting out of hand! Why exactly do we have so many stray cats in Kuwait? We’ve never encountered that problem in the UK before. There would be a few cats wandering around the neighborhood but they would all be collars and very cute, never strays! Can’t we do anything about it? Without killing them that is? Can’t someone just gather them all up and put them in big huge cages where they can play and reproduce, maybe make a cat business where they sell cats for people who actually want them? Who wouldn’t want this cute curios kitty that made faces at me while I tried to shoo her?

I wanted to call one of the animal shelters but I doubt they would be able to come and pick up all these cats and give them shelter. I believe they are swamped with pets as it is with limited resources, or that’s what I was told once. Someone on Instagram suggested I give them tuna laced in rat poison and I almost cried at that cruel fate. No way! I don’t want them killed, I want them all to live happily ever after somewhere AWAY from my door step so I can live in peace!

Help? Any suggestion are welcome!

Review: The Drey’s Scones

Yesterday afternoon a knock came on my door. There was a brown bag closed with a blue colored sticker, written on “The Drey”.

A sticker on the side of the box said “To the lovely Danderma” aww, thank you

 

Inside the box were 6 different types of scones along side two small plastic tubs of clotted cream and strawberry jam. A wooden knife is also available, therefore you can dig in as soon as you get your order.

The aroma of the scones preceded their first look. The recipe of these scones, as tweeted by The Drey, ‘Was learned and adapted from Miss Jackie in Casey’s Corner Cafe in Lancaster. When we say our scones are british we mean it!’. Intriguing eh? Then again, is there any snack food more British than scones?

Now lets see, the six scones were in different flavors. There were plain scones, shown above. A raisin scone that I didn’t photograph, a Blueberry scone, below.

Nuttella filled scones, now that’s a Kuwaiti touch. A modern one that is.

And this is my husband’s favorite, Strawberry & Clotted Cream filled scone.

Oozing with delicious cream.

I tried the blueberry scone, with the works.

Feedback?

The scones themselves are really and truly good. As good as scones I’ve had in the UK, even better than some scones I’ve had there in well known afternoon tea places! The scones were crumbly yet very soft, the perfect break point between hard and soft. The checkered red paper lining was totally fitting, perfect! If it was me however, I would use a customized carton box instead of the plastic box.

As for the flavors, kudos on the variety! Very interesting indeed. My husband thinks they should have vanilla cream cheese and strawberry compote in one, like a strawberry cheesecake scone. I’m wondering about a cardamom scone infused with saffron clotted cream perhaps? Oooh or a salted caramel and banana slices one! The next time I try them I will sure have a tub of Alban dairy’s clotted cream (post) to try them with, I suppose the combination would be destructive.

These scones totally deserve a photo shoot with a full English tea setting. I wish I had more time on my hand to properly set the mood up but the moment you get those scones you can’t really wait much.

Recommended? Yes, highly. They are “Non-sharable” as my husband put it.

The Drey sell the scones by the dozen but you can order half a doze. A half dozen of scones is 4 KD. One dozen of scones is 8 KD. You can order your scones by SMS’ing or calling 99890610, by e-mail thedreykwt@gmail.com. For more information you can check out their twitter account (@TheDreyKWT) or on Instagram (@TheDreyKWT).

Thenk you, The Drey, wishing you the best of luck and kudos on coming up with a new baked item to sell.

P.S. I have to wonder though, why the name “The Drey”? Doesn’t that mean a nest?

My Braces are Finally OFF!!!

Finally!!!

Time to celebrate! I am metal mouth no more! Its been two years and two months since I’ve sat, unwillingly, on my orthodontist’s chair, shutting my eyes tightly and praying that the ordeal of having braces for the second time in my life would be over.

I had suffered, a LOT! I had days when I couldn’t even eat mushy rice krispies. When the insides of my mouth were stripped into raw flesh. Were my head like it was about to explode. I missed biting into things: an apple, a grilled corn on the cob, chewing gum!

Now, today, this morning, a few minutes ago, it was finally removed! My suffering had somewhat subsided over these years, my mouth had changed its shape entirely, even my nose and chin and face look different now. Talk about a makeover! My teeth are, thank god, rightfully aligned without gaping holes or missing teeth. I can smile proudly now and flash my teeth, if you see a crazy woman grinning at everyone in the next few months that would be me by the way.

I keep running my tongue over my teeth, I can’t believe that teeth are that smooth! I’ve forgotten that feeling! I can brush now without fear of breaking the braces, I can brush till my gums bleed and I don’t care if dentists think that’s a bad sign.

Am I done with dentists forever?

Ha! Fat chance!  Now the real road will begin insah2 Allah. I still need to wear my retainers, I need a crown, need to check all teeth for cavities and fill them again, I will whiten them, I will protect them with that protective filling thing, I will begin saving for lumineers, I really really really want lumineers on my teeth so they’d look like the teeth in the picture above. I wonder if I should file my teeth so they would all look even, or would that be too weird? We’ll see.

To my orthodontist, Dr. Edgar Zoghaib, Thank you for everything. It was a fun -and quite painful- ride

Event: Ramadan Collection Launch at Fortune Cookie Boutique

Ever since I received Fortune Cookie Boutique’s lovely invitation I’ve been looking forward to the actual event which took place last Thursday. I was there at around 5:15 PM and the launch was at 5.

Don’t you just love their acrylic infused door? Every time I go to the store I gaze at it. I wont to take it with me. Anyways by the time of my arrival of course it was already crowded and women were lining up to pay and/or try on clothes still.

In the middle of the store was a white clothed table with Ibra’s latest necklace pieces on it. At first glance it was so overcome with shoppers touching and grabbing the candy like necklaces. It was hard to take any pictures. But then thankfully the cleared away for me to snap a few quick shots.

How pretty is this setting? It seems to be the latest fashion in modeling jewelry, having them in tea like table settings like it was done in Alwan’s event (post). I can totally understand why given that the jewels blend in beautifully with the colorful china.

 Now for the rest of the items in the store that I could snap.

 

I have a mini 3qaal in black

Part of Fortune Cookie’s charm is their bags and price tags. You must know Kuwaiti culture very well to understand g7a6a. I remember my father loving the G7a6a bag so much he confisticated the bag and used it as a gift bag given to one of his friends.

The thing I didn’t like in Fortune Cookie’s event were the staring customers. Many women eyed the camera and may have suspected I am a blogger or were alerted that they might be photographed which they didn’t want, so I got a whole lot of stares. If you know me you’d know I am actually scared of gathered women. I tend to fraeak out and flee their presence which is what I did. I wasn’t able to take much pictures anyway but outside I took these of the displayed manniqueins

The best part about the even, in my humble opinion, was the quirky catering! So pretty! Yes pretty! If you were a kid in the 80′s you would totally identify with it! Check it out!

I had a picture of the boofak with daqos but I can’t find it anywhere! How weird.

It was really a great event. Thank you dear Areej for invinting me, it was really nice meeting a Dathra fan

Foturne Cookie Boutique is located in Olympia mall, Salmiya. For more information you can contact them through their online store (link), facebook page (link), twitter (@FortuneCookieQ8) and instagram (@FortuneCookieQ8).

Event: Harper’s X Browns Charity T-shirts S*uce Launch in Dubai

 

Do We Have Fancy Restaurants in Kuwait?

Kuwait is the land of restaurants. We Kuwaitis love to eat, love to hang out in restaurants, have a good laugh, eat good food, and people watch. There is no breaking news in stating that we have good distinguished restaurants that are popping up every day and each one is more impressive than the other.

But we really do need new fancy restaurants.

In fancy restaurants I mean restaurants you won’t go to every weekend. Restaurants  you make reservations to go to only once in a blue moon dressed up to the nines to have a fancy expensive meal in posh setting in order to celebrate an occasion: 30th Birthday, Big Promotion, Wedding Anniversary, First Marriage Dinner, PHD graduation. There would be no giggling teenagers, no gawking women passing time, no babies bawling their eyes out. Only the finest of china, the sparkliest of crystals, the best of  culinary wonders to be savored, and no sliders in sight. It doesn’t hurt to have live music playing on the side.

It is really a problem in Kuwait because 1- People are always dressed up to the nines even to go to the Co-Op and 2- People go to all restaurants, all times, all day long. I’ve been straining my brain trying to come up with some new place to celebrate an occasion earlier this months and quite frankly I came up with this list only:

1- Ricardo in Sheraton Hotel.

2- Shahrayar in Sheraton Hotel.

2- Peacock in Radisson SAS which is now closed temporarily -I hope-.

3- Lenotre’s Sea Side Restaurant. Not the cafe, the restaurant on the first floor.

4- Meat & Co. in 360 mall but its not that posh, just very expensive.

5- Cucina Restaurant in Missoni Hotel.

Very short list indeed. My point is, we need more fancy restaurants in Kuwait that are NOT solely Italian. Yes we have tons of restaurants popping up everyday but when it comes to fancy fine dining on occasion only, we are really stranded for choice. Dubai on the other hand has plenty of choices and Michelin Star earner chefs opening up. How hard it is to do the same here?

P.S. Have you anything to add to the fancy restaurant “list” in Kuwait?

Book Review: Does My Head Look Big in This by Randa Abdel-Fattah

This book, even though its publishing dates back to 2005 and we should be thankful we are still finding books less than a decade old to purchase in Kuwait, is fascinating!

The story is written by Randa Abdel-Fattah, an Australian-Palestinian who in her debut novel decided to write about Amal, a sixteen-years-old Muslim girl living in Australia who one day decides to wear her hejab to highschool in a post September 11 era.

Sounds interesting? It is! High school is a nightmare as it is and no one leaves it unscathed -I think I heard the past phrase in a movie- so trying to fit in while adding a hejab to the mix is quite intriguing. Its also so witty! I was laughing every other page, the writing is superb, the kind of writing I would envy and wish I can write the same. The story is so real and touching. I was pulled back to the world of high school, and hanging out with my teenage girlfriends, and the insecurities that haunted -and kinda hunts still- our existence in this world.

The thing that also makes it more interesting is that you can identify with it. As a woman who recently started wearing the hejab out of my own free will when I was 28 years old, I’ve seen a big difference in the way I used to blend with the crowds abroad before, and how now I stand out and how sometimes I’m mistreated or simply picked on. I remember distinctly an incident at a spaghetti restaurant in Bern where a Swiss man was so offended by my wearing the hejab and sitting on the table next to him he was freaking out and pointing at me while rambling in German. Only a year before I would not have made a bleeb in this man’s radar. Oh well, I hope he did’t have to go to therapy after the horror of seeing a Muslim woman dine next to him.

The most important message it delivers is this: Islam is a relationship between you and god, period. No matter what you do, no matter where you are, no matter what your surrounding are, it will change nothing in your behavior as a Muslim. Period. So all the preaching and religious pretense won’t make a difference in the heart of a person who doesn’t fear god.

Oh plus, the story is based in Australia, a land I’ve never been to before, and I find it quite similar to the UK or the USA except for a few words that I don’t get. I’d have to Google them. But it was nice exploring stories from Australia.

The book is available in Jarir and is highly recommended. It is so going on my shelf. I’m also going back to get Randa’s second novel, Ten Things I hate About me, which I’ve seen in Jarir and look for the rest of her novels which I suspect won’t arrive here till the next millenia but who cares, we are used to being patient until we can stock up on books again when we travel.

More Loyalty Cards from Businesses in Kuwait

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Last October I posted about my wishing we had more loyalty card schemes from businesses in Kuwait (post). All over the world you can get rewards for becoming a loyal customer by being given a card where you can collect points. I’m glad however to see loyalty cards popping up in Kuwait! In the last few days two loyalty cards from two very famous businesses were introduced! Yay!

The newest arrivals on the loyalty cards scheme is November Bakery’s rewards card! A fabulous addition given that I’m quite a loyal customer. I took the picture from their blog but I’m so going down and getting my own soon.

The second loyalty card is from my favorite local gelateria, Gelato Italiano’s!

Here are some more “new” loyalty cards that I’ve acquired in the past 6 months. Taco Bell’s.

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Alyasra fashion also have a loyalty card that I’ve never known about! Great for all the shopaholics out there shopping from their multiple brand stores

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Shukran rewards point for a big array of stores and restaurants in Kuwait and the UAE: Carluccio’s, Zafran, Home Center, Kurt Geiger, Ecco, Carpisa, Centerpoint, and many many more.

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Dear Ansam had once posted about Tony & Guy’s loyalty card which earns you a professional hair treatment once the card is filled out.

Jarir’s loyalty card that gives you immediate discount on your purchases. I used to have one ever since they opened in Kuwait but I lost it a while ago so I applied for another temporary one.

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The ones we already have for years now: TSC, Ikea, Keifan Optics, Zero Degrees, and 52 Degrees.

Now we have a great collection of loyalty cards that’s making my wallet fat I can’t wait for more, yes I’m greedy and I want more and more and MORE cards! Way to go!

If you know of anymore loyalty cards in Kuwait, please share.