Noodle Box @ Yas Hotel, Abu Dhabi

do you know that there are over 200 islands in abu dhabi? i didn't! so island hopping is quite the in-thing to do over there. one of these islands is the 'yas island' - set to be the happening place of fun and leisure for locals, expats and tourists alike, having few hotels, a huge amusement center and an equestrian park, among others.

one of the seven hotels built on yas island is 'the yas hotel'.

the yas hotel, abu dhabi

it also said to be 'the dolpin hotel' because kononnye the shape of the hotel resembles a swimming dolphin seen from above.

hmm. tak pun! honestly to me it looks more like a giant glowing bicycle seat or like a shower cap! anyway, looking at the hotel itself is really breathtaking - because dolphin or shower cap, the building is very beautiful, and truly an architectural marvel.


jalan-jalan abu dhabi brought us here, taking along mr. khairul's sis tina and bro asrar.

one of the most fascinating facts about yas hotel is, other than a marina in the vicinity of a hotel - it's also the first hotel in the world built over an F1 race circuit!


the aquamarine-colored 'strips' behind us in the picture may look like a swimming track, but you're actually looking at the F1 race track!

this terrace area were accessible via the many classy restaurants in 'yas hotel', so i wonder can any minah and mat walk in to this terrace and catch a grand prix race in action?

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assuming that hotel ni fully-booked only when there's a race going on, how do they generate money when there's no activity happening? well, that's why they have a LOT of specialty and themed restaurants in the hotel - from seafood to western to japanese.

one of it is the 'noodle box', a chinese restaurant boasting asian cuisine.


look at the picture above. yes, most of the walls along the restaurants area are like this! petak-petak like the styrofoam thingy you put fruits in!


the food is oriental, listed under 'thai' food, 'chinese' and 'malay' food too! in fact, there's one called 'malaysian char kwe tow', which i really wanted to try, but didn't want to be disappointed again! (after countless tries, over countless of restaurants all over dubai, i now know the bitter truth - no kuey teow is ever like our very own ipoh or penang char kuey teow!)

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the setting of 'noodle box' is very simple, with padded flowery wall over a plain grey one, yet the dark wood furnitures add to the class and comfort. comfort, as the corner and wall seats are decorated with plush orange cushions.

its table setting is typical of chinese restaurant, which nowadays seem to prefer boxy plates over the conventional round ones.


oh, this i like!

the tree twigs-like lights up on the ceiling is gorgeous! a little christmasy though, and i don't really get how this light-design match up with the rest of the 'asian' decor - but still gorgeous!

also what i really like were the metal chairs! yang ni memang macam ranting kayu sambung-sambung jadi kerusi! lawa sangat! like siting on a well-formed twigs made to look like chairs, or the 'skeleton' of a dried lead, doncha think?

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our lunch at the noodle box, yas hotel

hungry!

we ordered pandan chicken, brocolli with osyter sauce and mushroom, and garlic fried rice with egg - served with a complimentary plate of fruits from the assistant manager who happened to be a young malaysian!

my verdict? well, i LOVE chinese-style cookings, so i have no complaints. the pandan chicken was juicy and well-marinated, while the oyster sauce brocolli has just enough garlic to bring out the great taste (coz sometimes they put too much garlic, and potong besa-besa which i don't like!).

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mr. khairul's sis & bro - tina & asrar

after the simple lunch we just hang out while mr. khairul finished his green tea, also one of the nice offerings of the restaurants - an extensive choice of tea.


thanks honey, for the wonderful lunch!

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can you see the window-like screens? those are few of the 5000 LED panels all over the top part of the hotel!

you see the boxy design all over the walls and roof of the hotel? it's actually 5000 LED screens or panels (yang mcm kat laptop kita ke?)! they're called the 'grid shells' which are actually programmed to change colors.

wow. over 5000 diamond-shape glass panels. imagine cleaning and wiping each and every one of those panels!


it's the largest LED display in the world - obviously - since the thousands of lighted screens draped the hotel like a huge glowing blanket!

those thousands of little diamond shaped screens act as light show when it changes color-lights. during one of the recent F1 races, they actually programmed the play of lights to look like a flag waving!

with that much of lights on a LOT of LED - wonder what's the electric bill like! and also, with the purple light illuminating through the hotel window - wouldn't it be annoying to the people staying inside? i mean, i don't want to sleep with a bright neon light right outside my window!


anyways, i'm sure the architectural geniuses hired by abu dhabi would have figured all these possibilities like the whopping maintainance and electric bill! despite all that, it still is quite a sight, adding to another awesome landmark on the uae capital of abu dhabi, one of the richest cities in the world.