Tres Fab...

A very popular restaurant in Dubai is Tresind - a fusion and molecular-gastro Indian restaurant.

We can often be a bit skeptical about modernist restaurants - too complicated and unusual without the food tasting all that different.

But Tresind was anything but.

Simple menu items but done with a dynamic flair, the Chef create wild and delightful flavours without being overpowering.

From smoking cleansers to fusion street food to cotton candy dessert trees , this restaurant was certainly some of the most interesting and divine Indian food we have ever had.

Our mouths are salivating with memories as we write this post...

Cirque. French style...

So, when we booked tickets to "Cirque Le Noir", we must have been either very busy at work or extremely tired.  Turns out this was not part of Cirque Du Soleil at all!

But...this London-based company certainly knew how to put on a show.  With a small stage and seating all around it, the performers showcased some incredible and unusual tricks, even including some variations on gymnastic and figure skating themes.

In the end, our mistake turned out to be a great one.

And even better... Cirque du Soleil is actually coming to town in September!

The Peruvian trend...

We fell hard for Peruvian food when we hiked to Machu Picchu last summer.

And it seems we are not alone.

Peruvian food seems to be the biggest craze here, with new restaurants popping up what feels like all the time.

We were lucky to be invited to the opening of Mayta in the DIFC.  Not too much vegetarian fare that evening but the funky venue, upbeat vibe and "smoking bar" were a great draw!

Heart to Hart...

One of the unexpected treats of the UAE is the number of great performers who come through the region.

During our stay in Abu Dhabi, for example, Kevin Hart was in town.

Naturally, we had to book tickets!

Abu Dhabi Week - Magazine

The 25,000 capacity Du Arena where Hart performed is an enormous open-air stadium (thank goodness the rain has mostly stopped!) with excellent acoustics.  And it was absolutely packed.

The Plastic Cup Boys and Kevin Hart put on a great show.  Laugh-out-loud hilarious and sometimes even stomach-hurting and tear-inducing they were so funny.   We have a whole new respect.

The performers were very strict about photo-taking or video during the evening, with security keeping such a keen and very close watch.  Thus, these pictures are from either outside the arena or snapped when Hart told us all we could take out our cameras at the end of his show!!

Cars. Part Deux.

While in Abu Dhabi, we were lucky to be invited to the launch of Aston Martin's new racing car.

The car was spectacular looking, with gorgeous curves and cool features.

But clearly we were not the intended audience, being impressed as much by the remarkable violinist playing along side this high performance car...

Thus, this post is to get the message and photos out to more knowledgeable people who would appreciate the beauty, power and design of this car far more than we could...

To the Capital

Using Geoff's conference participation as a catalyst, we decided to spend the weekend in Abu Dhabi, the UAE's capital.  

The trip started off calmly as Beth took advantage of the many taxi deals to continue her avoidance of driving the UAE's fast and busy streets and still meet Geoff there after finishing work. Such a relaxing hour and a half drive...

Located between Abu Dhabi's downtown district and its cultural centre, Al Maryah Island - where we stayed - is Abu Dhabi's financial district.  But it aims to be much more than that.  With the Cleveland Clinic as one of its centrepieces, as well as some spectacular hotels (many thanks, Rosewood Hotel!),  a gorgeous mall under expansion, and new bridges making the commute to it even easier,  the Island has ambitious plans for expansion and is determined to become a 24-hour urban centre.    

PHOTO CREDIT:  Al Maryah Island Website - http://www.almaryahisland.ae/en/al-maryah-island

Unfortunately, our attempt to go to Abu Dhabi's beach festival and then spend a lot of time sitting by the pool was thwarted by rain pouring down for most of the weekend.

Instead, we spent much of our time eating - long lunches at a delicious vegetarian restaurant, Nolu, a windy but divine dinner at the St. Regis' thai restaurant, and a necessary coffee and cake break at Magnolia Bakery (New York).

Needless to say, it was an extremely filling but quite lovely alternative plan...and a very relaxing way to spend a weekend!

The spectacular Cleveland Clinic

Off to the races...

Horses are a passion for people in this region. So much so that HH Sheikh Mohammed founded Godolphin - the global thoroughbred and horseracing stable - and the Dubai World Cup - one of the biggest sporting events of the year.

Taking place the last week of March at the spectacular Meydan Racecourse, Dubai's World Cup event awards $30 million US in prize money.  No wonder people come from around the world for the race!

A couple of days prior to race day, is "Breakfast With the Stars". Starting at 6am, guests can come out and watch the horses and their jockeys practicing and preparing.


While the race teams work, guests relax with an enormous and mouth-watering buffet breakfast, enjoying a delightful band play, street comics perform and key event players give updates about the big day.

We won't get out of bed before sunrise for many things but this was worth it.  After such excitement, it was hard to believe we still had a full day of work ahead...

Short on time?

If you are ever on your way home and realize you needed something from the grocery store, Dubai has you covered!  The Smart Mall has been installed at a number of metro stations around Dubai. Customers can select needed items, drop them in a virtual cart, pay the tally and then have the items delivered right to their doorstep.  Incredible.

Can life potentially become too convenient??

Adam, this one is for you...

 

We are writing this post in honour of our nephew, Adam, the keenest car enthusiast we have ever known….

It was a perfect weekend for the Emirates Classic Car Festival – bright and warm outside, but not too hot.

Hundreds of magnificent cars – ranging from Henry Ford’s Model T to the cars of royalty to the latest Mini Coopers - lined Mohammed Bin Rashid Boulevard, the main street of Downtown Dubai. 

Some cars had tents to shield them from the sun.  Others were out in their full glory.  All were pristine and glorious. 

Visitors could stroll along at their leisure, investigating some cars more thoroughly, snapping photos of others, even stopping for lunch somewhere along the route. 

It seemed a bit strange for us to go to a car festival when we don’t even own a car…but it has certainly given us inspiration and ideas should we ever choose to buy one!

Our lunch stop!

First Tennis Tournie...

Geoff conveniently signed us up for the first Burj Khalifa Tennis Tournament and then booked a business trip for that same weekend thereby forcing him to miss the tournament.

Even more conveniently, Beth only learned of this change after the deadline for withdrawing from the tournament had passed.

Beth showed Geoff though, winning the women's leg of the tournament in a high-drama match...

A budding art district...

In the industrial district of Al Quoz, nestled midway between the Marina/JBR area and Downtown Dubai, a contemporary art district is emerging.

The Alserkal Avenue art district is home to 25 creative spaces, 9 galleries and a private museum.   And visitors are free to wander through the different warehouses at their pleasure.

The exhibits are diverse, creative and frequently changing, allowing visitors to pop by often and get completely different experiences each time.

Two exhibits particularly stood out.  

1.  The Road - a solo exhibit by Tammam Azzam - explored the tragic consequences of warn-torn Syria, using the theme of a road with little direction but numerous offshoots and obstacles along its path. His enormous canvasses highlight the wreckage and destruction that has enveloped the region, and he drove home the message with a staircase full of housing rubble crashing down and spilling out all around the exhibition.  Chilling. 

Photo Credit:  Alserkal Avenue Website (Ayyam Gallery)
- http://alserkalavenue.ae/en/event/73ef94ee-b9f9-11e5-9b67-f23c9161897b/index.php 

2.  M.A.D Gallery offered a totally different and much lighter experience, showcasing the coolest Mechanical Art Devices.  From motorcycles to spiders to clocks and robots, we wondered if we could find a way to incorporate one into our apartment!

Photo Credit:  M.A.D Gallery, Quentin Carnaille -
http://www.mbandf.com/mad-gallery/creators/quentin-carnaille/

A little night music...

A magnificent new opera house - Dubai Opera - is currently under construction and set to open sometime later this year.   This 2,000 seat theatre will showcase opera, theatre, orchestra, exhibitions and other seasonal activities and is envisioned to become the cultural hub of the region.

We have been impressed to learn, however, that there is already an active and talented music scene here in Dubai and we were lucky to be invited to the Dubai Concert Committee's Anniversary Gala Dinner (a sincere thanks, H!, for the invite).  

Even without a dedicated opera house, the DCC has been active in bringing classical concerts to the region for the past 20 years, using the One & Only Hotel as a venue.  Not surprisingly, the hotel offers some unbelievably good acoustics, making a listener (an untrained one, anyway!) almost forget they weren't in a formal concert hall.

The black tie Gala (which required some creative wardrobe pairings since we gave away all of our formal digs when we left Canada!) offered a delicacy of musical performances to accompany the different food courses.  Featuring Evgenly Morozovs' Quartet, Soloists of the Moscow Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra and soloist, Felicitas Fuchs, the music built over the course of the evening, crescendoing to almost a sing-along to My Fair Lady's "I Could Have Danced All Night" during dessert.

Dubai never ceases to amaze and this evening was one of those times.  It is a night not soon forgotten.

Because it's Dubai

My welcome home from work today..... a horse just strolling around in front of our building. Why not?

Scene It!

As frequent movie-goers, we were pleased to discover that Dubai has an active movie scene, showing the majority of mainstream movies.

In addition, they also have an independent cinema culture.

The Scene Club brings to Dubai some of the top independent films from around the globe.  Started by award-winning director, Nayla Al Khaja (who was kind enough to come and speak at a CBC event!), the Club showcases uncensored independent films followed by a talk from the film's producer, director or someone intimately involved in the making of the film.

We have seen two great ones so far.  

The first - Zinzana - used a Coen Brothers-like approach to create a cat-and-mouse psychological thriller of a man in prison who is tortured by his past...and a madman.  The film showcased the emerging Emirati film culture as this superb film was done locally by a first-time director - the stellar cinematography, acting (by well known Arabic actors Saleh Bakri and Ali Sukiman) and story kept us on the edge of our seats until the very end.

The second - Race - portrayed the story of Jesse Owens, the legendary US track star who won 4 Olympic gold medals at the Berlin Olympics.  Scene Club members enjoyed the Middle East Premiere of the movie and learned first-hand from one of the producers the intense and long process (it took 15 years to make) undertaken to create the movie.

We cannot wait to see what movies are coming next....

When it rains it pours...

It doesn't rain much here in Dubai.  But around the change of season, the rain will often come.

In typical Dubai fashion - "if you are going to do something,  make it memorable and great" - our last rainfall was a real showstopper.  The skies opened and the rain flooded down.  So much so, that many government offices, schools and businesses ended up closing for the day to make sure people got home before the roads became impassable.

Our first "Snow Day" in Dubai!

Incredibly, by the next morning, the sun was shining and almost everything was dry and back to normal.  Where did all that water go??

Food glorious food...

Dubai has worked hard to bring in festivals and activities from all over the world. At this time of year, you could fill each weekend with multiple activities and still not run out of things to do....

Right in our backyard, we were happy to join "Eat The World", a celebration of Street Food. With food trucks from the UK and UAE stationed in the park, visitors could enjoy pizza made in a specialized oven built into a car, taste creme brulee burnt to preference, drink juice out of bags and taste a variety of other delicacies.

Even us vegetarians felt right at home, chowing down on some of the most delicious "vegan duck" sushi rolls.

Paired with a number of lively bands, a coffee lounge and bean bag chairs aplenty, it was a delightful way to spend an afternoon.

Here's hoping the trucks drive back to Dubai soon...

A closely-kept secret - world-class tennis!

Always actively looking at the special events happening here, we were taken aback to randomly discover that the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Tournament was scheduled for February.    As avid tennis fans, we were thrilled...but a little embarrassed...to learn of this event only a week before the actual tournament.

Nonetheless, we were able to get tickets to the women's semi-finals match day, which turned out to be a brilliant day of tennis.  Although many of the top players - Serena and Wozniacki - had dropped out due to injury, and others - Halep and Muguruza - had been defeated earlier in the week, the two semi-final games were outstanding.  All eager and hungry to win, the women were competitive, intense and the matches much closer than the results would indicate.

Final Outcomes:
Barbora Strycova def, Caroline Garcia
Sara Errani def. Elina Svitolina

The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium is located in the heart of the Irish Village, which is one of the earliest expat communities established in Dubai.  The area has an inviting and intimate feel to it, with lots of greenery and twinkling lights lining the restaurant-lined walkways.  In the main area is a recreation of an Irish street, with an old pharmacy, trinket shop and a lively Irish pub that hosted a passionate band hyping up the crowd who were enjoying the sunny Friday (a weekend day here) over a couple of pints.



An awesome day of tennis in a really cool new area - we've marked it clearly in our calendars for next year!