Showing posts with label Dubai. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dubai. Show all posts
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Monday, December 3, 2012
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Friday, April 6, 2012
Memo to Leafs: Thai Girl Goalie is Awesome
It'll never happen, mostly because the Toronto Maple Leafs are addicted to sucking, and they like to fill their roster like the Oakland A's from Moneyball (except that the Leafs ride high on a pile of fithly lucre, which makes their actions seem doubly insane), but if they did decide to take a leap into the unknown, and maybe whip up some excitement, I dont think they could do any better than signing 17 year old Wasunun Angkulpattanasuk.
Wha? Who? You say.
Just recently, at the Under 18 Challenge Cup of Asia, the Thailand team found themselves sans a goalie. Apparently male Thai's think being a goalie is a sissy thing, which only goes to show that they haven't seen enough footage of Patrick Roy or Ron Hextall. In any event, since none of the boys would put on the mask, the Thai team had no choice but to take on little Wasunun as their lone hope in net.
Once in the UAE, the Thai team nearly faced disqualification for this coed situation, but since the goalies don't interact with the other players, the tournament officials argued, there would be no chance of gender contamination, and therefore she could play (*Again, Roy, Hextall, et al).
Maybe they thought a girl in net would be a great opportunity to light up the scoreboard. Who knows. But what they got was a size two skate up the rear, because this little firebrand wasn't just standing around.
By the end of the tournament, the Thais has scored 47 goals, with Wasunun letting in only 4 total. A GAA of 1!
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Mackenzie's Kindergarten Graduation
My oldest daughter graduated from Kindergarten yesterday. Yes, yes, it's a long ways away from getting her JD, but still... Something to celebrate!
Easter Egg Hunt 2012
My wife's old schoolmate has started up a business planning weekend events for kids. She is just in the beta testing phase right now, but the kids had fun nonetheless.
Mackenzie's School Concert
My eldest daughter, at the wizened age of 5, is in higher kindergarten. One of the things I like about her school is their insistence on the arts and performance. This is a snippet of her 2012 concert.
Often Angels
I am blessed with three daughters, and friends will often remark on how lucky I am to have three girls instead of three boys.
Yes, I reply, they are often angels, but...
Yes, I reply, they are often angels, but...
Dad vs. The Desert
My Dad came to Dubai recently. We hadn't seen him since 2007, but thanks to my sister getting him a ticket for Christmas, he was able to stop by.
This is the first of a series of videos chronicling his visit.
This is the first of a series of videos chronicling his visit.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Sikka Art Fair 2012
We took the kids down to the Bastakiya in Old Dubai for some workshops being run as a part of the Sikka Arts Fair 2012. The kids had a blast, and so I thought I'd make a little promo.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Ah, the sweet sounds that stir the soul...
Earlier today I was scrolling through my Google Reader, checking out the latest Dubai and UAE related items, when I came across a post by Geoff Pound on the Fujairah in Focus blog. Geoff is absolutely fabulous at dishing out details about what is going on in the distant Emirate, but his often dry tone can, at times, undercut the significance of what he is writing about.
Today, in particular, I came across a note about a new radio station opening up in Fujairah - 90.8FM. I scanned through the article, but it was only after a slow read that I was able to dig up one tiny mention of the format - rock.
His tone was so matter-of-fact that it was like he was announcing that there would be raspberry scones at the Piffle-and-Forth this coming Tuesday.
I'm betting most readers just scanned through the article, clicking through with either a shrug or a "That's nice." But for me, that one little word cut through all the verbiage, crystallizing in a singular reaction.
What!? Rock!?
I know what you're thinking - whoop-dee-doo. Another rock radio station. And isn't radio dead anyway? Killed by the internet?
If this were Toronto, or somewhere in the US, I might agree. But out here in the Gulf, your only choices for music in the English language are Hip-Hop or Euro-Pop. And if that doesn't suit your fancy, you better start loving the Bollywood stuff, because there really isn't anything else out there.
So this isn't just a rock station. It's the first ever rock radio station in the gulf!
Tonight, driving home, I tuned in. They haven't officially started yet, not until 11am.* But they did have a playlist on, and I tell you, just hearing bands like Def Leppard, Whitesnake, and Green Day...
I know this sounds a bit dramatic, but, man I felt like Jack Black in the School of Rock was my own personal guru, as a visceral sense of relief washed through me through successions of power chords and pounding drums in 4/4 time. It's #$%*@&^ RAWK, man!
Back home I'd vary the dial between new rock, classic rock, alt rock (and a bit of classical, but let's keep it real here, okay?). Not here, however. In this land the deserts have been both sand and sonic.
But not any more.
*Which is kind of an unfortunate time to celebrate an opening, for us Westerners that is... since the start time is the exact moment everyone in the western world will be observing a moment of silence - 11am on November 11th. Otherwise known as "Remembrance Day".
Today, in particular, I came across a note about a new radio station opening up in Fujairah - 90.8FM. I scanned through the article, but it was only after a slow read that I was able to dig up one tiny mention of the format - rock.
His tone was so matter-of-fact that it was like he was announcing that there would be raspberry scones at the Piffle-and-Forth this coming Tuesday.
I'm betting most readers just scanned through the article, clicking through with either a shrug or a "That's nice." But for me, that one little word cut through all the verbiage, crystallizing in a singular reaction.
What!? Rock!?
I know what you're thinking - whoop-dee-doo. Another rock radio station. And isn't radio dead anyway? Killed by the internet?
If this were Toronto, or somewhere in the US, I might agree. But out here in the Gulf, your only choices for music in the English language are Hip-Hop or Euro-Pop. And if that doesn't suit your fancy, you better start loving the Bollywood stuff, because there really isn't anything else out there.
So this isn't just a rock station. It's the first ever rock radio station in the gulf!
Tonight, driving home, I tuned in. They haven't officially started yet, not until 11am.* But they did have a playlist on, and I tell you, just hearing bands like Def Leppard, Whitesnake, and Green Day...
I know this sounds a bit dramatic, but, man I felt like Jack Black in the School of Rock was my own personal guru, as a visceral sense of relief washed through me through successions of power chords and pounding drums in 4/4 time. It's #$%*@&^ RAWK, man!
Back home I'd vary the dial between new rock, classic rock, alt rock (and a bit of classical, but let's keep it real here, okay?). Not here, however. In this land the deserts have been both sand and sonic.
But not any more.
*Which is kind of an unfortunate time to celebrate an opening, for us Westerners that is... since the start time is the exact moment everyone in the western world will be observing a moment of silence - 11am on November 11th. Otherwise known as "Remembrance Day".
Monday, October 31, 2011
Reverse Halloween
Seeing as I don't see our family leaving Dubai in the near future, I decided that it would be unfair to let another Halloween pass unheralded. Since we knew that nobody in our building was going to be standing by their door with a basket o' treats for passing little ones, we decided to reverse the process, and bring the treats to them.
So we loaded up our tray with little pumpkins packed with treats, and the girls embarked on their very first Halloween outing.
So we loaded up our tray with little pumpkins packed with treats, and the girls embarked on their very first Halloween outing.
Monday, September 19, 2011
About Drive-Thru Coffee Culture
A commenter, katCL, posed a very interesting question in the comments to my last post, and I thought I'd put up both the question, and my response to it here.
katCL said...
katCL said...
I don't quite understand the "no drive-through coffee culture here yet" though. When some drivers stop in front of the neighbourhood grocers and blare their horns for assistance, is that not vey similar to the drive-thru concept? Not done in Dubai? It's very common in Abudhabi.
My response...
You are right that there is a sort of drive-in/thru culture in the UAE. But it's of a different sort. There's drive-thru when it comes to a McDonalds or Hardees or Burger King, or drive-in (and Honk! Honk! Honk!) when it comes to a road-side cafeteria. But those are places where you're grabbing a bite to eat.
For fast food, drive thru works here. But when it comes to coffee, the situation is different.
Up until now, coffee in the UAE has been of a very European / Upper-crust American experience. People here are used to sitting down with a latte, or tall and expensive dessert type coffee drink, and spending time with friends. They chat, sip some very sweet caffeine, and while away an hour or two. It's a very social paradigm.
Drive-thru coffee, on the other hand, is a very utilitarian sort of experience. In Canada I would grab a cup on the way to work to help me get ready for the day. Or I'd make a run to Timmies for co-workers who were looking for their morning coffee fix. Generally speaking, however, Timmies was never a place to go to, it was a place to go by, on the way to somewhere else - a hockey game, work, etc. What makes it work in Canada is that we don't use coffee as the setting for socializing, but for the set-up to socializing. (There are some people you just do not talk to before their first cup in the morning.)
I do feel that the UAE is primed for the sort of drive-thru experience that Canadians know so well. And with Tim Hortons, there would be a viable alternative to the inescapable ubiquity of burgers and fries here. I think residents of the UAE would like to roll up in the morning on the way to work, and grab a bagel and cream cheese, or pass by at lunch for a freshly made sandwich. Unfortunately the Tim Hortons corporate people don't have that sense, and are setting up walk in locations only. I think the caution is understandable, from their perspective, after their experience in Ireland. But still, I do hold out hope.
Up until now, coffee in the UAE has been of a very European / Upper-crust American experience. People here are used to sitting down with a latte, or tall and expensive dessert type coffee drink, and spending time with friends. They chat, sip some very sweet caffeine, and while away an hour or two. It's a very social paradigm.
Drive-thru coffee, on the other hand, is a very utilitarian sort of experience. In Canada I would grab a cup on the way to work to help me get ready for the day. Or I'd make a run to Timmies for co-workers who were looking for their morning coffee fix. Generally speaking, however, Timmies was never a place to go to, it was a place to go by, on the way to somewhere else - a hockey game, work, etc. What makes it work in Canada is that we don't use coffee as the setting for socializing, but for the set-up to socializing. (There are some people you just do not talk to before their first cup in the morning.)
I do feel that the UAE is primed for the sort of drive-thru experience that Canadians know so well. And with Tim Hortons, there would be a viable alternative to the inescapable ubiquity of burgers and fries here. I think residents of the UAE would like to roll up in the morning on the way to work, and grab a bagel and cream cheese, or pass by at lunch for a freshly made sandwich. Unfortunately the Tim Hortons corporate people don't have that sense, and are setting up walk in locations only. I think the caution is understandable, from their perspective, after their experience in Ireland. But still, I do hold out hope.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Tim Hortons Invades Dubai
Specifically, I was the "First Tim Hortons Customer in the UAE".
Yesterday evening the family and I went down to check out the new Timmies on Sheikh Zayed Road, only to learn that it was yet still closed. But, we saw from the sign on the door, it would be open on the morrow.
At that moment, two staff members leaned out the door for a bit of fresh air, and I had a chat with them. "Will Timmies be open at 6am?" I asked. "Do you know what a double-double is?" Yes, it seems. They would, and they did. Well, I thought, we'll see about that in the morning.
I set my alarm for 5:30 am, so that I could be there when the door opened. At 6:15 am, when I actually woke up, 45 minutes after my alarm (Dang you Nokia!), I was on my way.
Would I see a crowd? Would I see a line? There had been absolutely zero advertising about this opening, so I wasn't sure what I would find. Thus it was, at 6:55 am, when I got out of my car, it happened.
As I walked to the store, there were two men outside. One in grey slacks and a white dress shirt , hair slicked back like a Latter Day Saint - obviously a representative from head office - and an older South-Asian gentleman, who appeared to be either a manager or franchise owner. The men saw me and fixed their eyes on me. They looked first at me, then at the Starbucks next door, as if to ask silently "Which way is he going?" But as I passed by the Starbucks door, and tilted my frame towards theirs, it was all smiles, and a loud happy shout from the South Asian fellow.
Inside the store I was greeted by cheering, the entire staff overjoyed to see their very first customer. I came just in time, because shortly after I arrived, the people started wandering in, in twos and threes.
I hope they'll do well. I bought a breakfast, and spent some time grilling the corporate fellow with all the questions I had. Why the cup sizes were different (American sizing), why there were no "Everything" bagels (Can't import poppyseeds), and why there were no drive throughs planned (no drive-through coffee culture here yet). He smiled and answered all my questions, but after the first dozen or so, I bet his internal monologue was slightly less Sunday School-esque.
Yet for all the differences I saw, it still felt like home. The coffee tasted the same, the Sour Cream donut just as soft, and the herb and garlic cream cheese on my bagel was just like I remembered it.
Finally! I can get coffee at a sane price. Instead of paying a ghastly 12 to 20 AED every time I want a cup of coffee, I now only need to pay 7. And for a much better brew.
I'm happy Timmies is here, because now I can get a nice soup, bagel, and coffee for lunch. I can grab a pack of Timbits for my kids, or a French Vanilla for my wife, just like how we used to have it back home.
But as much as I am happy, I also wonder... will this be yet one more thing that makes me so comfortable, so complacent, that I end up not going back at all?
UPDATE: I came back, a day later. The place was absolutely overflowing. They literally could not keep stock on the shelves, and one of the managers I had met from the day before was sitting outside, around the corner from the front door, looking like he was ready to just collapse on the pavement. He recognized me, and as we shook hands, he said "Since you came, it hasn't stopped."
Thursday, December 10, 2009
One Final Indignity
This news story is old new by now, but for some reason I just couldn't bring myself to close the tab on my browser holding this story.
A little over two weeks ago, there was a bit of an incident in International City. International City is Dubai's attempt to create a multicultural gated(ish) community where professionals would go to love and commute into the city for work. For some time now International City has attracted more than a few expats of my acquaintance, mostly because the rents were dirt cheap (by Dubai standards) and the location seemed safely remote and out of the hustle of the city proper. Unfortunately, what most of these penny-pinching expats did not realize was that the entire development was created with a sewage system that could only handle, at best, 30% to 40% of the full population of the development. This led to a situation where, for a good period of time last year, large swathes of International City, especially the English area, were literally bathing in exposed sewage that had spilled out of the overtaxed pipes.
As if the constant stink and threat of cholera were not enough, the residents awoke recenbtly to discover that their area had been flooded by another form of sewage - organized crime.
It seems the ethnic gangs gave taken up root here in Dubai, which somewhat reminds me of Vancouver and Toronto back in Canada. There you can find Chinese gangs, Vietnamese gangs, you name it. Now you can find the same in Dubai. As the Gulf News told it -
"A police officer was moderately injured on Saturday evening during police raids on flats that were operating as brothels in International City.
A little over two weeks ago, there was a bit of an incident in International City. International City is Dubai's attempt to create a multicultural gated(ish) community where professionals would go to love and commute into the city for work. For some time now International City has attracted more than a few expats of my acquaintance, mostly because the rents were dirt cheap (by Dubai standards) and the location seemed safely remote and out of the hustle of the city proper. Unfortunately, what most of these penny-pinching expats did not realize was that the entire development was created with a sewage system that could only handle, at best, 30% to 40% of the full population of the development. This led to a situation where, for a good period of time last year, large swathes of International City, especially the English area, were literally bathing in exposed sewage that had spilled out of the overtaxed pipes.
As if the constant stink and threat of cholera were not enough, the residents awoke recenbtly to discover that their area had been flooded by another form of sewage - organized crime.
It seems the ethnic gangs gave taken up root here in Dubai, which somewhat reminds me of Vancouver and Toronto back in Canada. There you can find Chinese gangs, Vietnamese gangs, you name it. Now you can find the same in Dubai. As the Gulf News told it -
"A police officer was moderately injured on Saturday evening during police raids on flats that were operating as brothels in International City.
Dubai Police managed to arrest members of Asian gangs, mainly Vietnamese, who were involved in running brothels in the development. They were also involved in inciting violent incidents among their competitors including, murdering an Indian man and seriously injuring another at the China cluster on Friday. Both men were among the competitors involved in the same illegal operations."
The police action, as the article states, was prompted by an escalation of violence where 20 gang members broke into an apartment, most likely stash house, for a shakedown. In the process they killed an Indian man, and subsequently attracted the attention of the police who, in their raid, discovered that at least 52 units in the International City Chinese sector were being used as brothels.
52. Not 5 or 2. 52.
It's not a sign that a problem is starting, it's a sign that a problem is well established and growing. Thankfully the police seem to be on top of the problem and dealing with it with alacrity.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
The View from Festival City
I was in Festival City on Tuesday, the day before UAE Day, but it felt as if the celebrations had already begun.
It's not the best photo ever, but I was pretty darn proud of it. I thought of sending it in to the Khaleej Times or Gulf News, but thought better of it when I realized that do so would probably entail more effort than I was willing to undertake. So there it sits above, on this lonely blog.
As we walked along outside, however, we found that things had started to really come together at Festival City.
People were out in force, and the Disney Princess stage show brought huge crowds into the mall. We only caught the tail end of the 4pm show.
Luckily we there were a few attractions outside to keep us occupied until 6pm, or at least 5:30pm.
Eventually it was time for the stage show. I had managed, even arriving a half hour early, only to get a spot about eighty feet from the stage, but luckily a kind local offered to let my oldest daughter sit with his wife and children in the pit in front of the stage.
I can't say I understood what the story was supposed to be, but the singing and dancing Disney characters were a revelation for my daughter, who has not been able to talk of anything else since.
I think Disney hit it out of the park with their Princesses brand.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Is Dubai Too Big to Fail?
Is Dubai too big to fail?...
I liked Daniel Gross's Lehman analogy, only I find it a bit off, by a few orders of magnitude. Dubai is not Lehman Brothers, Nakheel is Lehman Brothers (And only metaphorically... Nakheel's debts amount to a high single digit percentage of what Lehman's were at the time of their collapse).
Yes, Dubai World and Nakheel are large companies, but in comparison to the size, not just of Dubai's economy, but of the large merchant families in Dubai (Futtaim, Galadari, Gargash, etc), they'd be like a sub-section of a department of a division were Dubai seen as a single corporate entity.
Yes, Dubai has seemed a bit flashy in recent years, but deceptively so, the way a sumo wrestler seems fat. There actually is a lot of substance underneath. As someone on the ground out here, I can tell you that the malls are jam packed (even the brand new mega malls), the roads are still clogged, the new metro is seeing increasing ridership every month, and major Dubai corporations like Dubal (7th largest aluminum producer in the world), Ducab (largest cable manufacturer in the middle east), DP World (Which, while a subsidiary of Dubai World, was excluded from DW's debt restructuring), and Emirates Airlines are all making money hand over fist.
The National's Wayne Arnold notes a few things the international media seems to have missed in their rubbernecking rush:
Dubai has never defaulted on or missed a debt (loan or bond) payment
Dubai is not a sovereign entity
Nakheel is a private company. (Nakheel's sukuk was never backed by the Dubai government and never even had a credit rating)
Dubai's traditional economic backbone has, and always will be trade facilitating infrastructure. This includes the Dubai Creek dredging, the Jebel Ali port development, the airport expansions, and now the Dubai Metro.
The money is there, but there are politics involved. Abu Dhabi's SWF alone has aver a trillion US$ in assets. The whole of Dubai's debts are a rounding error in the Abu Dhabi portfolio. The issue with Dubai World and Nakheel is not a lack of funds, on the part of either the Dubai government or the Abu Dhabi government. The issue is... something else.
Update: Ezra Klein gives a hat tip to an elightening graph that kind of garrotes the Dubai-Lehman analogy.
I liked Daniel Gross's Lehman analogy, only I find it a bit off, by a few orders of magnitude. Dubai is not Lehman Brothers, Nakheel is Lehman Brothers (And only metaphorically... Nakheel's debts amount to a high single digit percentage of what Lehman's were at the time of their collapse).
Yes, Dubai World and Nakheel are large companies, but in comparison to the size, not just of Dubai's economy, but of the large merchant families in Dubai (Futtaim, Galadari, Gargash, etc), they'd be like a sub-section of a department of a division were Dubai seen as a single corporate entity.
Yes, Dubai has seemed a bit flashy in recent years, but deceptively so, the way a sumo wrestler seems fat. There actually is a lot of substance underneath. As someone on the ground out here, I can tell you that the malls are jam packed (even the brand new mega malls), the roads are still clogged, the new metro is seeing increasing ridership every month, and major Dubai corporations like Dubal (7th largest aluminum producer in the world), Ducab (largest cable manufacturer in the middle east), DP World (Which, while a subsidiary of Dubai World, was excluded from DW's debt restructuring), and Emirates Airlines are all making money hand over fist.
The National's Wayne Arnold notes a few things the international media seems to have missed in their rubbernecking rush:
Dubai has never defaulted on or missed a debt (loan or bond) payment
Dubai is not a sovereign entity
Nakheel is a private company. (Nakheel's sukuk was never backed by the Dubai government and never even had a credit rating)
Dubai's traditional economic backbone has, and always will be trade facilitating infrastructure. This includes the Dubai Creek dredging, the Jebel Ali port development, the airport expansions, and now the Dubai Metro.
The money is there, but there are politics involved. Abu Dhabi's SWF alone has aver a trillion US$ in assets. The whole of Dubai's debts are a rounding error in the Abu Dhabi portfolio. The issue with Dubai World and Nakheel is not a lack of funds, on the part of either the Dubai government or the Abu Dhabi government. The issue is... something else.
Update: Ezra Klein gives a hat tip to an elightening graph that kind of garrotes the Dubai-Lehman analogy.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Going to the Library
Or will be, soon, for some people.
The Toronto Public Library now allows members to check out books online, as in e-books, audiobooks, music, and movies.
Makes me wish I still had my library card handy. Then again, I'd have to be a tax-paying citizen of Canada to enjoy that privilege, whereas I'm currently a tax-avoiding resident of Dubai.
I could always go to a local library... (wait, now, don't laugh too hard!)
Actually, I am pretty pumped about the opening a new library just down the road from where I live. When it opens, it will be the first Dubai library I will have entered. I know there are a few branches out there, but I haven't had the time to search for them.
Here's hoping the Dubai library system gets on the e-book bandwagon also.
The Toronto Public Library now allows members to check out books online, as in e-books, audiobooks, music, and movies.
Makes me wish I still had my library card handy. Then again, I'd have to be a tax-paying citizen of Canada to enjoy that privilege, whereas I'm currently a tax-avoiding resident of Dubai.
I could always go to a local library... (wait, now, don't laugh too hard!)
Actually, I am pretty pumped about the opening a new library just down the road from where I live. When it opens, it will be the first Dubai library I will have entered. I know there are a few branches out there, but I haven't had the time to search for them.
Here's hoping the Dubai library system gets on the e-book bandwagon also.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Napoletana
Previously, I mentioned a terrible experience my family and I had gone through at an Italian restaurant named La Dolce Vita, at the Jumeirah Beach Residence. And while I am sure there have been and will be many customers who will have enjoyed their food and their experience, the experience for us will be one best forgotten.
As we strolled away, slightly abashed after getting the phone back, the question was where we should try our luck. The wife wasn't so much in the mood to eat, afraid that the next place would be as bad as the last, so she lagged behind me as I soldiered on with a two foot whirling dervish, and a still sleeping tot in a a Phil & Ted's stroller.
Eventually we came upon Napoletana. It was an Italian restaurant, just like La Dolce Vita, with one key difference - it was packed.
That is usually a good sign.
So we went in, and our night went from bad to oh-my-God!
As in...Best. Night. Ever.
Instead of relying on low light and dark fabrics to hide dirt, this restaurant was awash with white. The reviewer in Time Out Dubai criticized Napoletana for it's sterile look, but I tell you, after seeing half a pound or whatever of dirt end up on my pizza at the last place, clean was fine and dandy with me.
We wasted no time telling our hostess the story of our misfortune, and a table was drawn up pronto. In fact, it seemed that half the staff wandered over to hear our tale of woe, and at least one manager was thinking on their feet that night, because they went out of their way to make sure that our experience with them was the polar opposite of what we'd been through.
And it was. The pizza had my wife flabbergasted. She went from monosyllabic grunts of pure enjoyment, to non-stop babbling about bringing her parents along, coming by for our anniversary dinner, and making this a regular stop from then until forever. And that was just three bites into her first slice.
The smells and noise woke the littlest one up in a hurry, and when she awakens, be at at home, in the car, or wherever, she gets testy of food isn't coming her way forthwith. Thankfully the other daughter was just waiting for her sister to wake up, so she could help her taste the wonderful food that had her mumma melting in her chair.
By the end of it all, we'd savored the bread basket with fresh oil and balsamic vinegar, more than enjoyed the pizza that came with a salad of rocket leaves and cherry tomatoes, and finished off a wonderful plate of fusili with rosee sauce, topped by fresh parmesan cheese.
One thing was for sure. We'll be back.
As we strolled away, slightly abashed after getting the phone back, the question was where we should try our luck. The wife wasn't so much in the mood to eat, afraid that the next place would be as bad as the last, so she lagged behind me as I soldiered on with a two foot whirling dervish, and a still sleeping tot in a a Phil & Ted's stroller.
Eventually we came upon Napoletana. It was an Italian restaurant, just like La Dolce Vita, with one key difference - it was packed.
That is usually a good sign.
So we went in, and our night went from bad to oh-my-God!
As in...Best. Night. Ever.
Instead of relying on low light and dark fabrics to hide dirt, this restaurant was awash with white. The reviewer in Time Out Dubai criticized Napoletana for it's sterile look, but I tell you, after seeing half a pound or whatever of dirt end up on my pizza at the last place, clean was fine and dandy with me.
We wasted no time telling our hostess the story of our misfortune, and a table was drawn up pronto. In fact, it seemed that half the staff wandered over to hear our tale of woe, and at least one manager was thinking on their feet that night, because they went out of their way to make sure that our experience with them was the polar opposite of what we'd been through.
And it was. The pizza had my wife flabbergasted. She went from monosyllabic grunts of pure enjoyment, to non-stop babbling about bringing her parents along, coming by for our anniversary dinner, and making this a regular stop from then until forever. And that was just three bites into her first slice.
The smells and noise woke the littlest one up in a hurry, and when she awakens, be at at home, in the car, or wherever, she gets testy of food isn't coming her way forthwith. Thankfully the other daughter was just waiting for her sister to wake up, so she could help her taste the wonderful food that had her mumma melting in her chair.
By the end of it all, we'd savored the bread basket with fresh oil and balsamic vinegar, more than enjoyed the pizza that came with a salad of rocket leaves and cherry tomatoes, and finished off a wonderful plate of fusili with rosee sauce, topped by fresh parmesan cheese.
One thing was for sure. We'll be back.
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