Comedy Movie Review : The Campaign, Ted, The Watch, Stolen

comedy, comedy, comedy! laughter IS the best medicine! been watching ‘the campaign’ – a humorous look on politics, elections and campaigns gone down and dirty! an obnoxious cute-looking teddy bear that comes to life in ‘ted’, four regular urban guys formed a neighbourhood watch to solve a murder in ‘the watch’ and the action flick ‘stolen’ – NOT a comedy, but it’s SO bad that I had to laugh.

now don’t go anywhere. go on read my review.

 

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with the US presidential election looming, ‘the campaign’ offers a very hilarious look on politicians, elections and campaign. politicians’ wives putting a fake front, grooming new candidates by creating a new persona for them, sneaky campaign manager, rigged elections and kissing babies to get good press. comedy or not, this is all happening in real-life politics.

will ferrel is best at playing fantastically obnoxious roles, and he’s so versatile in them, like the chauvinistic newscaster in ‘anchorman’, the has-been ice-skating champion in ‘blades of glory’, and an evil zany fashion designer in ‘zoolander’; and now this – he’s just so funny.

I only know zach galifianakis from ‘the hangover’ – he was so funny there, and he’s equally funny here. his soft-spoken, feminine mannerism and southern twang is so believable. he has great comedic chemistry with will ferrel and when both are on screen, they’re just killing it!

it’s a feel-good movie towards the end – reminding all politicians about WHAT the fight is all about – about the position, or the people? what is it all about? what are you giving up, and what are you getting in return? it’s also sad to think that even when your intention is good, a ‘good’ politician can’t survive in this cut-throat, rat-race, dog-eat-dog in today’s politics…

highly recommended movie, especially since malaysians are also waiting on pins and needles for the next big election. this might be a fun watch for us too…

 

 

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‘ted’ is a teddy bear. he is cute, cuddly and belongs to a lonely boy john who wished he could become alive so that he can be his friend. ted did come alive, and became john’s best buddy.

the problem is, when they’re still stinky ol pals even when john hits 30. also, ‘ted’ the teddy bear is not a sweet, cute cuddly bear that he was. he’s an obnoxious, loud-mouthed womanizing bear who shouts profanities most of the time, and even smoked weed.

he’s not improving john’s life either. he makes him late for work, abandon his girlfriend’s important party, and basically weighing john down to live his life. john needs to ‘grow up’ and cut ted off his life – can he?

the funny thing about this movie is that ‘ted’ is not made to be this magic bear who had came alive ONLY when around the boy, like calvin and hobbes. oh no no – ‘ted’ goes on talkshows, appear on TV, fans stop him on the way to take pictures, and ted even drives a car, works at the checkout counter at the hypermarket and people don’t even mind!

he’s like a real person, a person most people would find annoying. only he’s not. he’s a teddy bear.

it’s fun to see mark wahlberg in a goofy role where he can be silly and funny despite his rock-hard pecs and sexy looks. milla kunis is simply gorgeous and they make a cute couple.

a silly fun movie to enjoy if you’re into crude jokes in a movie about friendship.

 

 

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oh, there’s so many wrong things about nicolas cage’s new movie ‘stolen’.

• this is like the B-grade version of ‘gone in 60 seconds’ – in ‘gone in 60 seconds’ his character needs to steal a bunch of luxury cars in one night to save his brother. it’s a freakin cool movie, nicolas cage looks so suave in it, and the cars made it more classy. HOWEVER, in ‘stolen’, he needs to steal a few million dollars to save his daughter. boring.
• plus rip-off from ‘taken’ – duuh, SO obvious – ‘taken’ is about a father who tracks down his daughter’s kidnapper in the most awesomely coolest way possible. HOWEVER in ‘stolen’, nicolas cage tracks down his ol buddy who drives a taxi, and has kidnapped his daughter, whom he doesn’t even have chemistry with. boring.
• and a brief reminiscent of ‘ghost rider’. in ghost rider’, nicolas cage rides a big-ass superbike on fire. in ‘stolen’ he drives a car a few meters to put off fire on the car. boring.
• unoriginal plot. I mean why name the movie STOLEN? that is such a clear-cut suggestion that it’s similar to TAKEN. hellow? stolen – taken? kidnapped daughter? dad on the prowl? ding!
• nicolas cage looks too old and tired to do any heist movie. sean connery did it in ‘entrapment’ and robert deniro did it in ‘the score’ they were fine coz they are actors who aged gracefully. but not nicolas cage. nope. no more action movies for you, buddy.
• viewers WANT to feel sorry for nicolas cage as the dad with the missing daughter. but we just don’t care. we see nicolas cage having no chemistry with the daughter, and to make it worse, she can’t act.
• there’s just no thrill to this movie. meaningless fast-paced movie that leaves no adrenaline rush – will he be able to save his daughter on time? can he steal the money? we don’t care.

 

nicolas cage is a great actor, and I absolutely love him in ‘the rock’, but he’s risking falling from hollywood A-list! he needs to choose his movies carefully next, or else he’d be a kevin costner or some actor we don’t even care to remember anymore…

watch this for a good laugh, and then go watch ‘taken 2’. or watch the first ‘taken’ movie again.

 

 

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I had wanted to watch this movie for the longest time. reasons : ben stiller, and aliens.

also, I just love movies that put normal people in extraordinary circumstances. like in this movie ‘the watch’, four normal urban guys – a control-freak active-in-neighbourhood-club dude, a controlling dad, one reject from the police force, and a british dude. they formed the neighbourhood watch to solve a recent murder in their beloved neighbourhood – and ended up fighting aliens and stopping them from destroying earth.

I love the plot, and ben stiller is in his usual comedic prowess here, but I would say that I’m a little bit disappointed with the movie. though it IS undeniably funny with a lot of hilarious one-liners but I can’t help feeling that there should be more laugh-out-loud moments, since there is ben stiller, and it’s written by another comedy actor seth rogen.

also the nigerian-brit dude with the spunky afro do is NOT funny. I don’t know who richard ayoade is, I’m surprised to find out that he has done a lot of stand-up comic, which I’m sure he’s good at – but it doesn’t work out in this movie. he doesn’t have that perfect comedic timing, he says his line very slowly but it doesn’t add anything to a funny scene.

I would recommend this movie for a fun weekend night – order a pizza or ramlee burger, pop open a packet of nacho cheese, bancuh milo ais satu jag, have a good laugh with your friends and loved ones.

 

 

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ok gimme more comedies please! I need cheering up!

5 Things I Adore About Muscat, Oman

we spent aidiladha at mucat - the capital in the sultanate of oman. just a nice little family vacation since khaleef is off school for a whole week. to me muscat, oman is like al-barsha dubai (simple, clean and non-chaotic) with a few surprises like the majestic sultan qaboos grand mosque, and a royal opera house too!

we’ve been to musandam, oman (popular tourist attraction to spot dolphins!) and enjoyed every second of it. click here to read about our experience chasing dolphins in musandam, oman.

 

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1. rocky mountains

drive anywhere in muscat and you'll see black-gray rocky mountains left and right. it may not be as green as our malaysia landscape, or swiss snowcapped mountains, but the rocky mountains along muscat is still very beautiful in its grandeur.

it's the al hajar mountains, and the mountain range dominates the landscape of muscat. the city lies on the arabian sea along the gulf of oman. the hajar mountains are the highest mountain range in the eastern arabian peninsula.

gorgeous.

 

the rocky mountain along muttrah corniche

 

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2. forts and castles

there are over 500 forts, castles and towers in oman which has a coastline of 1,700 kms, so they needed that many forts to protect it from potential invaders. these forts built great cultural landscape for oman, and continue to be an interesting tourist attractions.

 

at one of the many castles around muscat. entrance is free and open to public but we came on eid so it was closed. boo-hoo.

 

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one of the most visited landmarks in muscat is this huge frankincense burner perched on top of a hill on the roadside of muscat’s muttrah corniche.

3. frankincense

in the past, oman used to be one of the richest countries in the world, with the wealth mainly originating from the incense trade. frankincense trees also grow in the wild in oman.

frankincense is an aromatic resin obtained from the frankincense trees and is used in incense and perfumes. yang pak-pak arab suka bakar asap bau-bau sedap tu, ni lah dianya.

 

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the white building is the royal opera house muscat

 

4. oman's royal opera house in muscat

there is an opera house in muscat! what a surprise! it's really new, only opened in october last year. man, even dubai does not have a specific building dedicated to cultural enrichment or theater performances. which is weird. dubai should already have the biggest theater house by now! hihi.

this excites me the most because i am a huge fan of theater and plays. when i was a student back in 1997 onwards i frequented malaysia's istana budaya, and of course the actor's studio - back when they still had their theater hall under the dataran merdeka which had to close due to the terrible flood.

i really miss those days!

 

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5. children's museum

with the white dome, the children's museum of muscat is very recognizable even from afar. we were so disappointed to find out that the museum was close for eid - even 3 days after eid. the boys would've loved spending time there. from the blogs and website i checked out, the children's museum has a lot of hand-on activities like our petrosains.

amik gamba pun jadi lah!

 

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history and geography lesson, anyone?

1. Oman is officially known as the 'Sultanate of Oman'.
2. Oman, the capital of Muscat, is also the country's largest city.
3. Oman gained independence from the Portuguese empire in 1651 (wow, way ahead of malaysia who got her independence only in 1957!)
4. exchange rate : 1 OMR (omani rial) = RM7.94 = AED9.55
5. Omani men wear these white-based high-kopiah that is very recognizable, and you would immediately know that they're from oman when you see a man wearing it!

 

image : google

Spending Aidiladha in Muscat, Oman

salam aidiladha dari dubai!

however, this malaysian family in dubai is spending aidiladha in muscat, oman! by car! ROADTRIP, y’all! complete in baju melayu we headed on to muscat, oman – even the custom officer said “apa khabar!” when they found out that we’re malaysian.

*bangga jadi anak malaysia!*

 

on the way!

 

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before reaching muscat, the capital of oman, we lepak at one of the most developed city in oman (after muscat, of course) ‘sohar’ and there’s a pretty neat beach there! raya kat tepi pantai le!

 

 

I made nasi lemak that morning so we had that at the beach.

nasi lemak sambal ikan bilis suam-suam, angin pantai, riang ria gelak tawa budak-budak, hari raya, gumbira-gumbira.

sempurna.

 

 

more on muscat, oman when we return to dubai ya, watch this space! have a happy hari raya haji, and eid mubarak to my readers!

California Pizza Kitchen, MOE at 2am

we went to the mall of emirates (MOE) at 2am, and ate pizza. because we can. hihi. we had our pizza supper at ‘california pizza kitchen’ because though it’s a bit more pricey than domino’s, pizza hut or papa john’s – the dough and crust are superbly delicious and soft. fluffy and tasty.

california pizza kitchen at MOE is at the 2nd floor near the cinema – same row with chilli’s and a few more restaurants. it’s opposite a toy store and we tried very hard to distract the boys from noticing the life-size lightning mcqueen on display!

 

 

there was a reasonable crowd in the mall at 2am – and they walked around like it’s only 8pm! buying groceries, stopping at shoe stores and pushing shopping carts like a normal hour.

however, the restaurants are not as lucky from the looks of it – only one or two tables occupied, and that’s just one of a few restaurants. cafes are more popular – maybe because at 2am, people just need a good cup of strong coffee and something from the bakery.

 

empty seats, as far as the eyes can see!

 

 

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the ‘thai crunch’ salad

 

mr. khairul and I are great salad-fans, so we started with this salad dish. we usually just settle for the normal, boring caesar salad with grilled chicken, but upon the waitress’ recommendation, we ordered the ‘thai crunch’ salad. she was so enthusiastic and confident about how delicious it is, that we had to try.

the ‘thai crunch salad’ consists of crisp veggies, avocado and cilantro with chicken and the crunch of peanuts, wontons and rice sticks. instead of thousand island or french dressings, the whole thing is tossed in sweet thai peanut sauce.

the verdict : good recommendation!

it was surprisingly good! the clashing of the texture – the crispy fresh veggies and the smooth soft avocado, the crunchy peanuts and the tender chicken, the savoury wontons and the sweet peanut sauce – all danced together beautifully in this simple dish. nice one!

for the main dish, we simply ordered the basic pizza – pepperoni, because the boys won’t eat anything else! less IS more, so even this simple pizza is so tasty! soft dough, crispy crust, cheezy toppings and hot from the oven. what else do we need?

 

I forgot what the deal was, but what we know is – since we ate at ‘california pizza kitchen’ after 12 midnight, we get any appetizer FREE! so we went for this shrimp dish – a little on the sweet side, since they’re using sweet chilli thai sauce but it’s a tasty appetizer nevertheless. kalau makan dengan nasi putih panas-panas, sedap ni!

 

 

our favorite family pizza place is still domino’s, but for a once-in-awhile treat, we’ll head on to ‘california pizza kitchen’ for some really soft pizza dough!

Malls in Dubai Open 24 Hours : The Good and The Bad

do you like the idea of shopping malls open 24 hours a day?

yes, millions of dubai shoppers will be able to flock the malls 24 hours a day, during these 3 consecutive weekends around hari raya haji. wanna start shopping for groceries at 1am? hungry at 4am? thinking of looking for a nice dress at 3am? the mall is open 24 hours – for 3 weekends, starting from 18th oct to 2nd nov.

rise, night of the living shoppers!

 

shot courtesy of kak marliza : thanks!

 

 

click here to read more.

I’m weighing the good and the bad of malls opening 24 hours for these 3 weekends :

the good :

• this idea is appealing for people who work long hours during the day, facing traffic going home that there would be no time to shop at night, and on weekends mall would be too crowded during the day. they would love the idea of shopping after midnight
• people who works in shifts sometimes finished work at 3am, can catch a quick bite or still be able to walk around in the mall at that time
• this also benefits travellers/tourist in transit at the airport – they can escape boredom to the nearest mall
• last-minute shoppers on eve of raya would appreciate the malls being open past midnight
• coincidentally at the time of writing, I am waiting for mr khairul to come back from malaysia. he is scheduled to arrive home at 11am. tomorrow, he needs to leave home at about 1pm to catch a flight to cairo. he told me, having malls open past midnight is the perfect time right now, as we could still go out to stock up the fridge after he comes home tonight!
• to encourage people to visit the malls after midnight, a lot of stores are offering past-midnight discounts eg: if you bought an item around 10pm – 6am, you’ll get a 30% discount as opposed to only 10% when you buy during normal hour!
• of course this means that you simply CAN go ANYTIME you want. ANYTIME of the day!

 

the bad :

• people sleep at night. the idea of shopping after midnight is just not normal. who is really gonna go out in the middle of 3am to look for shoes?
• isn’t 10am to 11pm long enough to shop? malls are open all day long, all week long – what’s so important to get, that you HAD to go out after midnight to get it?
• family with kids might not want to stress their kids’ bedtime by dragging them to go shopping way past midnight
• nearly 7 malls around dubai opened 24 hours? more electricity wasted
• tired staff forced to work extra hours may affect their performance in attending customers – kang banyak pulak staff buat muka seposen kan!

 

in addition, a good friend of mine in dubai wrote this in as her facebook status :

Dubai- sempena Eidul Adha ni, shopping center dibenarkan buka 24 jam dari 18 Okt-2 Nov..byk tarikan..jualan murah, pertunjukan sarkis, kraf utk kanak2, cabutan bertuah termasuk yg x pnah terfikir akan dibuat masa perayaan yg suci & penuh pengajaran mengenai PENGORBANAN ni..

kalau bershopping setakat keperluan okla, masalahnya bila bercampuraduk dgn unsur maksiat & pembaziran, umat Islam kena berhati2...wallahuaklam

nauzubillah..moga tidak terkeliru dan terkorban apalagi dlm 10 hari terbaik ini, amin

(dubai – in conjunction with eidul adha, shopping center will open 24 hours from 18th oct – 2nd nov..lots of attractions..sales, circus acts, crafts for kids, lucky draw, including activities that we wouldn’t think of will be held during this holy festival & full of lessons in SACRIFICE..

if we were shopping as needed it’s ok, the problem is when it’s mixed with immoral activities and wastage, Muslims need to be wary…wallahualam.

nauzubillah..may we not be confused and be sacrificed especially in these best 10 days…amin)

 

she has a point! well said, kak muna!

in addition to feeling overwhelmed by this 24-hour chance to shop, we must never get carried away with all the festivities and shop-till-we-drop 24-hour. keep our mind on the focus of this day – eid al-adha – to honor the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ismail, for the sake of Allah. sacrifice, in the name of Allah. an act of obedience to Allah. a remembrance of that honorable virtue.

may we never go astray.

 

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though I agree with kak muna’s point of view, mr khairul and i do find this 24-hour thing merely a CONVENIENCE – making it easy for us to go to the mall at anytime without wondering whether it’s already closing time.

well, we actually tried it last weekend.

you see – mr. khairul had just arrived from malaysia at 11pm that night, and we had only a few hours before he needs to rest because he’s flying out again to cairo the very next day at 1pm! so we just took the chance to roam the malls at 1am to stock the fridge before he travel again, had supper at california pizza kitchen, and started grocery shopping.

believe me, dubai people do come out to shop at 3am. the crowd at mall of emirates looked like it’s just 8pm. seriously.

also interesting to note, the staff at california pizza kitchen was just as friendly, despite having to work extra hours way past midnight. kudos to the female staff. I wish I had taken her name! she was in great spirit, all smiles and recommended us yummy dishes to try. hope all the other workers during this ‘past-midnight shift’ are able to face the crowd with smiles and positivity!

 

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so, use the 24-hour shopping time for your convenience, but don’t forget the real meaning and spirit of eid al-adha!

Movie Review : The Raven, People Like Us, Bourne

syigim hits the movies again! this time I watched ‘the raven’ – a period murder-mystery movie ala se7en about a serial killer who modelled his killing based on edgar allan poe’s work. also family drama ‘people like us’ about finding out you got a half-sister somewhere; the thriller ‘the cold light of day’ and also ‘the bourne legacy’ – the fourth installment of that successful movie franchise.

enjoy!

 

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I had to read a lot of classic literature when I was in college, and soon fell in love with this author : edgar allan poe. his story is gothic, full of macabre that is both eerie and beautifully written. in this movie, a serial killer uses the gory details in poe’s stories to commit his murders.

naturally, only the writer can know what the killer might do next, so together with a young detective, they try to track down this psychotic killer.

I had my reservations when I found out that john cussack was gonna play poe, because he’s too sweet-looking haha. should get someone more deep and classic looking like johnny depp, hugh jackman or even daniel radcliffe for that matter!

however he was convincing enough, and I enjoyed the movie – especially being a fan of edgar allan poe’s stories, I get excited as the character mentions his works one by one as the killings continue.

the fact that ‘the raven’ is a period movie set in the 1800s is also a plus for me – I love period movies! watch this if you’re a fan of the awesome series ‘criminal minds’ or movies like ‘mystic river’ or ‘se7en’. murder, mystery, literature. be forewarned : it can get bloody gory…

 

 

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what would you do if when your dad suddenly passed away, leaving behind hundreds of thousands of dollars to his other daughter you never knew existed. now you found out that he had an affair, that you have a step-sister, and a nephew – what would you do?

chris pine and elizabeth banks have always been in comedies, but they did pretty ok in this family drama too. I can believe they could be related, and how they grow in that relationship, eventhough she doesn’t know that he was her half-bro at the beginning.

a movie about family is always so sweet and meaningful as you think about your own family and how lucky you are to have them. this movie has simple storyline, and a few inspiring one-liners here and there, but the ending surprises me – so touching in its simplicity, I totally didn’t see it coming. simply sweet. a movie you can watch just to pass the time…

 

 

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only two reasons to watch this movie. henry cavill, and henry cavill’s abs. with that gorgeous look, that hot body and that intensity in his acting – he could be the next american action hero in no time. too bad he is in this awful movie!

what I hate about this movie is that I know how crappy it is and the plot is so predictable, but somehow it makes you wanna know what’s gonna happen next so that you know your predictions were correct. haha.

the story : a perfect family vacation turns seriously wrong. they went on a boat, son left the boat to buy stuff and when he swam back, the boat is gone. where, what, who, why, when? a thousand mystery easily solved by your own self as the story unfolds. really. you’re practically the co-writer of the script and plot-line.

SPOILER AHEAD – do not read if you’re planning to watch :

hello, I know sigourney weaver was a bad ass in ‘alien’ but in this movie it’s just ridiculous that all her bullet-proof-vest-wearing bodyguards shot dead, but she could easily survived wearing just a three-piece suit. playing a villain like a boss!

when bruce willis’s character was shot dead, my husband and i were like naaah ‘die hard-dude’ CANNOT possibly die – either he’ll come back at some point of the movie, or it’s a ploy, or his son thought he was dead but he’s just injured – something other than SHOT DEAD. but yeah, that’s the ONLY part of the movie that was unpredictable – bruce willis’s character actually died before we even get to half the movie. so there.

…and henry cavill is just super hot.

 

 

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I am a fan of bourne movies. ‘the bourne identity’, ‘the bourne supremacy’ and ‘the bourne ultimatum’. I watched all three movies, and once I caught them back to back. the bourne movies are all action-packed with never a dull moment, always leaving us at the edge of our seat as the well-trained assassin bourne tries to discover his true identity while escaping from people who want him dead.

in the first three movies, matt damon was the perfect bourne – his facial intense, and his body ready for real physical action throughout the movie. I am a fan of bourne.

so naturally, I was so excited to watch the latest of bourne movie installment – the fourth, called ‘the bourne legacy’. it continues from the 3rd movie, suggesting that jason bourne was not the only agent in the project. this time, actor jeremy renner (also played the bow and arrow sniper in ‘the avengers’) took over playing the lead as he tries to discover his own identity, while fleeing from people who try to kill him. similar plot – but different feel.

‘the bourne legacy’ was unfortunately – boring.

the plot itself drags on and on about drugs, and testing and virus and making virus – bla bla bla. I love jeremy renner and I feel that he could really do well as an action hero but the plot is just too draggy! I’m not exaggerating but I fell asleep at the cinema, and I seldom fell asleep watching movies!

the action scenes were done really well – as you can see from the trailer, and jeremy renner was good – don’t get me wrong, but there were too little, and sandwiched between boring scenes with too much talking and explaining and talking and talking and explaining and medical jargons – boring!

sigh, even being a fan of bourne movies cannot save this movie. watch under your own risk.

 

 

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Cousins Welcome Their 1st Babies

my cousins rini and wani are close cousins – so close that they gave birth just few weeks apart, both in october, and both are baby boys! alhamdulillah! welcome babies! these adorable babies also make my aunts aunty na and cik first-time-grandma! congrats to the proud grandmothers!

CONGRATULATIONS!

both baby boys and mommies are in excellent condition, alhamdulillah. to khairul and rini, and ijan and wani, may Allah grant both parents patience, wisdom and most of all endless love to care and nurture these precious newborns. good luck and have fun!

*kiss kiss pinch pinch*!

 

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khaer muzafhar bin khairul anuar

3am ~ 4th oct 2012 ~ 2.69kg

 

proud dad khairul & beautiful mommy rini

 

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adam miqhael bin shahrizan

9.30pm ~ 17th oct 2012 ~ 3.5kg

 

rockin dad ijan & bombshell mommy wani

 

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aunty gim can’t wait to see you babies! nanti anong khaleef, abang kahfi and abang kazim balik dari dubai nak playtime dengan khaer ngan adam ok!

Malaysia’s PappaRoti in Dubai

I love rotiboy. the super soft caramel-coated buns, fresh and hot from the oven. I’d never buy less than 5, and the best time to eat rotiboy is straight in the car while driving back from OU or KLCC where I bought them coz then it would be fresh, hot and soft! hihi. my khairul can finish one in just a few bites. naturally, my boys love ‘em too.

rotiboy is established in 1998, and started in penang. in its website, the word ‘original’ is capitalized, stressing that they’re the pioneers of these famous buns.

 

babaruti? heheh.

 

however, there’s another malaysian brand selling a similar bun. calling itself, ‘the father of all buns’, papparoti describes this heavenly bread as ‘coffee-coated bread’ with ‘authentic and memorable taste’.

established in 2003, papparoti now has branches all over including dubai, saudi arabia, kuwait, china, vietnam, UK and australia. kat bangladesh pun ade!

 

 

this was the first time that I tried the bun at papparoti after being a faithful fan of rotiboy.

we went to the papparoti branch in sunset mall, jumeirah – the lonesome-looking little mall with more empty lots than occupied ones! definitely papparoti is the one café that’s keeping the mall alive! it’s at the corner of the ground floor, visible from the main road.

 

 

basically papparoti only has TWO items on its menu : DRINKS, and the BUN. that’s it. now which drink? that’s when it gets tricky. haha.

 

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from caramel macchiato to mochaccino, cappuccino, to hot choc and café late – they got it. even fresh milk or raspberry tea!

ok, I do not like ANY type of coffee, but I am always interested in words and their meaning, and I can’t help trying to figure out what’s the difference between these many types of ‘coffee’ :

• first and foremost, u need to know that ESPRESSO is the basis of all these variations of coffee. to me, espresso is simply COFFEE given a fancy name! haha. something in the way it’s brewed that makes it different than the kopi we make at home kot!
• macchiato means ‘marked’ or ‘stained’ – so it simply means espresso ‘stained’ with milk.
• cappucino means espresso at the bottom, hot milk in the middle and topped with steamed-milk foam
• latte means espresso with steamed milk
• mocha is like latte – but with added chocolate, usually cocoa powder, chocolate syrup or chocolate milk
• americano is made when hot water is added to espresso (what?!)

oh man! thank goodness I only like one type of hot drink and one only – hot chocolate! plain and simple! hihi. if you wanna know more to peningkan kepala, click this link and scroll down to learn more about other types of espresso mix.

 

malaysia : RM2.50. dubai : AED11!

 

I wrote at the beginning of this post, how I always buy at least 5 buns at once, and how it takes only a few bites to finish one before we can reach for another, and another…well, CAN’T do it here!

while the ROTI in malaysia cost only about RM2.50 each, here it’s AED11 each! that escalates pretty damn quickly!

also, in malaysia it’s just a humble café and the buns are served in paperbags where malaysians can just eat with our hands kan?

here, the bun is served on a nice wooden ‘bread cutting-board’, with knife and fork! wah, makan rotiboy fine dining, eh? haha. mr. khairul was like, “pak-pak arab makan rotiboy dengan sudu garpu ke?” huhu.

 

 

teringin punya pasal – bedal je sekali-skala!

to me, the buns taste the same, rotiboy or papparoti, in malaysia or in dubai,, cheaper or not – the same crispy sweet coat on the outside, and soft fluffy bread on the inside. yum!

we actually reminded the boys to eat as slowly as they can, and really savour the aed11 buns!

 

 

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don’t like anything with coffee or espresso, so I ordered iced-chocolate which is just yummy. how can iced-chocolate NOT be yummy, kan? mr. khairul got himself the caramel macchiato.

 

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will we come again? if the craving gets worse! haha. the service is top notch, and the bun is as delicious as it could ever be. however, I’d rather wait till we get back to malaysia and go buy 10 buns or more! lepas geram!

 

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the boys having fun at the empty sunset mall in jumeirah : the only MALL I can let my sons go wild without me worrying about them being lost in the crowd. coz there is no crowd!