Craft Activity: Christmas Gift Bows

'Tis that time of year once again.  CHRISTmas, as we all know, is the day when we celebrate the birth of our Savior.  Along with this, it has always been a tradition of Christians to exchange or give gifts during this season, especially for kids.  Having had too many "inaanak" (godchildren), I had to buy each one of them their gifts as well as gifts for my own kids and my friends, too.  

To cut on costs, I decided to make my own gift pompoms out of old magazine pages.  This will help me lessen the expenses on the wrapping and gift presentation.  

I consulted Mr. Google on how to do one, and I was surprised on how easy it was and I am going to share it with you.

Materials needed are:

• Old magazine pages
• Glue
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Pen

Here's how to do it:

First, measure and mark the magazine page into nine strips about 3/4 inch thick.  Cut each strip.  The first three strips will be left at its full size.  For the next three strips, cut 1 inch off the top and for the last three strips, cut 2 inches off.  Take one leftover strip, about 2 inches, and glue it to form a loop.

Take one strip and divide it in half lightly.  Loop one end to the center and twist it to one side and glue it.  Loop the other end to the center and twist it the other way and glue it as well.  Make sure that after looping both sides, the strip will give you a somewhat number 8 appearance.  Loop the remaining strips.

Take the first three longest strips first and glue them together to resemble something like an ampersand.  Do the same thing to the remaining two sets and arrange them into a flower shape and secure with glue.  

Fill the center by placing the leftover strip of paper in the middle.  Secure the loop with a glue.  

There you have it - your DIY gift bow.  A practical way of giving your gifts an extra touch.

Late Post: Abu Dhabi Science Festival

As a mom, I want my kids to be involved in every activity there is possible.  One of these activities that my kids went to was the Abu Dhabi Science Festival.  The festival ran from November 14 to 23.  The main festival was at the Du Forum in Yas Island.  However, there was also a mini-festival held at the Abu Dhabi Corniche East Plaza for those who will not be able to go to Du.  These are one of the times that I was really thankful that we live just opposite the Corniche Beach because whenever there are events like this, we just need to cross the road and not worry about parking or traffic at all.

Abu Dhabi Science Festival

There were many activities that the kids loved doing.  We were welcomed with bubbles near the entrance of the festival.  The just beside the bubbles corner was a scale that you need to balance by shooting basketballs on each side.  My youngest enjoyed this activity, as he really loves basketball!

Balancing balls

 There were many musical instruments that were on display and with which the children had the chance to play.  They had drums of all sizes.

Drums

 There was also this giant xylophone, which you could literally sleep on.

Giant xylophones

 The metallophones, which you had to hit with a slipper to be able to produce sounds.

Metallophones

 For the wind pipe to produce sound, you have to wind up a lever for some time.  It was actually kind of difficult for my little boy to do so a little help from mommy did the trick.

Giant wind pipe

You can also check how fast you react on something.  Lights will blink from this board and you have to hit the square that lit up as fast you could.  The more you hit, the better you performed!

How fast do you react

There was also an area where kids will be taught how to make a kite.  It was really so educational, as I also learned how to make one myself.  I was a kid of the 80s, but I haven't been able to make or fly a kite.  It was such a delight for me to see that my kids are actually doing something that I haven't done while I was a kid.

Let's make a kite

My youngest attempted to fly the kite with the help of his father.  He was really into it and did not stop until he was able to make the kite fly in the sky.  I can say that for a first timer, he was actually good. 

Flying a kite

 The kids also had the opportunity to see the stars and the moon through a telescope.  They were really surprised and amazed on how different the moon and starts looked like compared to what they usually see in their coloring books.

Telescope

This was the fun part for me.  For one night, the kids became archeologists, which is another frustation of mine.  They were asked to dig in a sandpit and look for treasures, study those finds and make an estimate of how old the treasures were.  My kids were actually competitive with each other and each wanted to find more than the other.

Archeologists for a night

 At the end of the activity, they were also given this certificate stating thay they have been a "digger" for a day.

UAE digger

 Finally, they also had the chance to see and learn how simple levers work.

Levers

We should always make a conscious effort to expose our children at this young age to activities that would catch their interest.  Kids are like a sponge.  They are able to absorb knowledge by seeing and observing first hand.  It is always good to expose your children to a variety of experiences.  One will never know how these exposures can influence their choices in life in the future.

Dinner Buffet: Gems Restaurant at Cristal Hotel

My colleagues at work and I were looking for a place to celebrate Christmas together.  In our department, we are only eight so we cannot afford to celebrate it grandly as our number is limited.  So we decided to just have a buffet dinner and luckily we found a promo from Groupon for dinner buffet at Gems Restaurant in Cristal Hotel.  It was so cheap!  We only had to pay about 60 AED per person.

Christmas Tree 

Last Friday, we paid the restaurant a visit.  Cristal Hotel is located near Madinat Zayed Souk and New Medical Center.  The hotel was spotless.  It was really clean and inviting, taking into account that it is not located in one of the posh areas in Abu Dhabi.

Gems Restaurant

There were only a few Christmas decors in the resto to remind you it's the holiday season, but hey I am in an Arab country so having a few Christmas decors is better than having none at all.  I was surprised when we got in as the restaurant was literally empty.  So when a restaurant is empty, it only means one thing - food is terrible.

Bread and soup station

Erasing that thought on my mind, I went ahead to their bread and soup station.  Sady, I wasn't convinced by the bread/ornament arrangement and didn't even try a piece as it didn't look good for me.  There were two choices for the soup.  Based on my and my colleagues' review, soup was F-A-B!  Seriously, I could sit there and savor the soup the whole night.

My soup

Then we head off to the salad bar.  The selection was limited.  There were a few premade salads, mostly tuna based, and a few greens and dressings.

Salad bar

I had a couple of greens and tuna with Cesar's dressing on it.  I also tried their Thai beef salad.  The flavor was great, but the beef was as hard as rubber.  

My salad plate

There were also some appetizers such as spring rolls, samousa and fries, but I did not try any of those and couldn't give any feedback.  However, based from my colleague who tried their samousa with vine leaves, she said it was awful.

More appetizers 

On their main course, they had beef, chicken, fish, veggies, and rice, where they provided two dishes each.  There was nothing exceptional about their dishes, but their menu is far better than the one I had at Sofitel.

Mains

Mains

I only had a cut of chicken with spinach, a spoonful of rice, fried fish and veggies for my main course.   It was okay.  I also noticed that for their fried fish, they did not offer any tartar sauce to go with it, so I only put yoghurt instead.

My entree plate

This was the fun part.  Their dessert selection was divine.  The choices were not that much, but everything was fantastic especially the panacotta, chocolate pudding and Madagascar cake.  They also had the coconut cake, which I did not try, but was awesome according to my colleagues.

Desserts

Note that rinks are not included in this buffet.  You have to order separately for your drinks.

My dessert plate

I have been to Gems previously and I can say that they had much better choices before than what they offer now.  However, looking at the price we paid, it was a great deal after all.  The dishes weren't like the ones at Rosewater or Ingredients, but hey Gems Restaurant was still able to fill my tummy big time for AED 60 only.


Gems Restaurant 
Cristal Hotel
17th Floor
Muroor Road, 4th Street
Madinat Zayed, Abu Dhabi
Telephone number:  (02) 652-0000

How Expats Can Send Food to the Philippines

As an expat, I always want to surprise my family back home even in the simplest way.  One thing I love doing is having food delivered to my family's doorsteps especially during special occasions and sometimes for no reason at all.

Back in 2004 when I first arrived here, I was able to send Andok's lechon manok (roasted chicken) via one remittance company and they were very happy to receive something unexpected!  Now, although it's really predictable that I will be sending food to them during special occasions, their excitement never ceased. My family is still enthusiastic about the food that I am going to send them every now and then.

I only have a few choices.  I don't usually order form third party companies because they charge double if not triple of the original price.  Below is the list of the companies where I usually order food from:

1.  Max's Restaurant

• Minimum order is P500.
• Online order must be placed at least 1 hour in advance for deliver now transactions and pick up, 2 hours in advance for deliver later transactions, and 24 hours in advance for dine-in transactions.
• Mode of payment:  Credit card.
• Revisions and cancellations should be made at most 5 minutes after order is placed (for deliver now transactions) or 1 hour after order is placed (for takeout and deliver later and dine-in transactions).

2.  Shakey's Pizza

• Minimum order is P500.
• Advance order cannot be made.
• Mode of payment:  Credit card and Paypal.

3.  Jollibee 

• Minimun food purchase of P1000.
• Orders will be delivered within 24 hours upon confirmation of the order with the recipient.
• Mode of payment:  Credit card, over the counter remittance.

4.  Goldilocks

• Minimum order is $30
• Customer must present ID to claim their items.
• Delivery service is temporarily unavailable until further notice.
• Minimum of three days order lead time.
• Mode of payment:  Credit card.

5.  Yellow Cab

• Minimum order is P300.
• Delivery 45 minutes to 1 hour after confirmation of order. 
• Mode of payment:  Pesopay

Why not try sending a package to your family and then tell me how did it go?

UAE Military Exhibit

During the 42nd UAE National Day Celebration, a military exhibit was also held on the Corniche Beach.  We didn't miss this opportunity to go and visit, as exhibits like this are seldomly held.  I am not really familiar with the names of all the aircrafts, tanks, and other machines that were on display.  I just took snaps of those and I will let you, my dear readers, see how the exhibit was like. 

It was a very organized exhibit.  Each plane or tank has several personnel who would gladly explain to the guests what the machine was called, its history, etc., etc.  However, I did not spend much any time listening to those as the sun was showing us how powerful it was at 35 degrees Celsius.  The exhibit occupied much of the area of the Corniche East Plaza.  There was a shuttle available to bring the guests to and from the exhibit, which was a really good idea on their part.

However, I noticed that bachelors were not allowed to go in.  The event was, unfortunately, only for families.  I really felt sorry for them as the exhibit was really good and I hope that everyone was given equal opportunity to witness the magnificent display that they had.

There were also airconditioned tents for the smaller exhibits like the guns, the military uniforms of the different emirates, etc.

The exhibit was not just for adults; it was for kids, too.  There were many activities for the kids like face painting, coloring, etc.  They were also giving lots and lots of freebies like hard to find pins, shirts, caps, bags, food, etc.

Entertainment was also provided with the locals dancing to their traditional music.  There was also an opportunity to have your pictures taken with the navy, army, etc.

The exhibit only lasted for several days and I am so glad that we were able to witness how impressive the UAE military has been, is and will be.

Magnolia Bakery

We paid Al Maryah Island a visit as we were very curious about the newly opened high-end Galleria Mall.  It was so beautiful inside, but just as I have said earlier, it was high end - meaning most of their shops are the likes of Louis Vuitton, Prada, etc.  If you are willing to splurge then this is the mall for you, but for us who are short on budget we just feast our eyes on the marvelous displays of the shop and the view of the mall itself.

Welcome to Magnolia Bakery

Then we passed by the much talked about Magnolia Bakery inside the Galleria.  This cafe is very famous in New York for its cakes.

Cafe counter

The restaurant itself has a very rustic ambience.  It was simple yet elegant.  The pastel colors of the interior are really relaxing.  The service was excellent, too.  The staff was so nice to even give my kids a sample of one of their best sellers - the red velvet cupcake.  The only thing that I noticed was that most of the customers raised brows when they saw a Filipino family dining in this restaurant.  The staff was not racist, but the customers were.  But you know what - I didn't care, as we were paying customers, too.

Rustic interior

Best seller - carrot cake

Red velvet cheesecake

Milk tea

We ordered the last piece of their carrot cake, which was the best that I have tasted so far.  Now I know why it is so popular.  We also tried their red velvet cheesecake and the mini cupcakes were given for free by the staff.  The cakes were perfect for my hot milk tea, which was served in this country style mug.

Red velvet cupcake mini

The price was awesome.  At first I thought it was expensive because it is a franchise of the popular Magnolia Bakery in New York, but I was totally wrong.  It was very affordable.  A slice of cake costs around AED 20 to 30, which costs almost the same as the ones we order from Starbucks, Dome, etc.

Dining here was such a delight and I will make sure to sit here and relax whenever we are in the area.


Magnolia Bakery
Shop 279, Level 2
The Galleria Mall
Al Maryah Island
Telephone number:  (02) 6749380