Brunch at the Burj Al Arab

It is now 7:33 p.m.. I finished my brunch at 2:45, it was not one overflowing with copious amounts of alcohol, nor was it themed Asiatic or "all you can eat hoorah." I am still pleasantly full. I'm pretty sure I will not have to eat until tomorrow and that is in a nice way. I haven't felt stuffed at all today but no hunger since.

It was a civilized morning with friends, and a cute girl with a pixie hair cut in a black dress singing covers of Julie London and Frank Sinatra. A roller rink green and blue scheme meets r2-d2 and hideously printed carpet on the decor, but really on the 27th floor overlooking the water, it was easy to overlook such details.

In this case, persistance and positive emailing landed me with one of the best tables in the restaurant, in the corner overlooking the Palm islands and World, round, so we could all see each other's smiling faces and bellies.

We got in around 10:30 and after looking at the Russian tacky, meets "symmetrical overstimulation fit for a math book cover," we took the lift up overlooking the ocean behind the infamous sacreligious cross to the Al Muntaha restaurant.

When we walked through the small entrance which looked like computer panels from the early 1980s, I had my doubts that it was nothing but a tourist trap and became slightly nervous about the food.

Nonetheless, shortly after arrival and an ooh and aw over our corner table, some photos and ordering some $15 a bottle mineral water, we approached the buffet, which twisted and turned around the restaurant.

Of course, there were the normal stations of any high end buffet, seafood; complete with a sushi station, gawdy ice sculptures of koi fish, oysters, lobster, mussels, etc. but at the end, laid a little booth on the end where the chef would prepare a platter with 8 different types of fancy caviar around the edges and small blini waffle pancakes alongside creme fraiche made the whole thing extra better.

Next, there was an area of Indian food, which was pleasant, but not what I personally come to buffets to eat. It often makes me too full, so I usually leave this out of my buffet routine. Nonetheless, I tried some aloo mutter (potatoes and peas) to keep with my analysis of the entire dining experience. It was pleasantly light and more yogurt based then weighed down by the heaviness of ghee.

There was a continental section with some delights such as sun-dried tomato gnocchi bowls, soy-saffron salmon and a number of other combinations. Again, if I am at a buffet, I prefer to eat the more fresh options or the ones that are prepared at stations for you. Hone in on the pan-seared foie gras station. Sadly, this was my very first stop, toasted brioche, pan-seared foie gras, cinnamon-apple compote and parsnip paste. Yum!

The cheese spread looked like something out of a trendy cheese store in New York city. Nothing too risky or outrageously stinky but presentation sweet on the eyes.

Finally, the most impressive spread of all, were some of the beautifully created desserts. Kiwi-apple mouse balls covered in green chocolate, the cliche but crowd pleasing chocolate fountain, strawberries and cream, wrapped mango creamed chocolate cakes, Sicilian lemon goodness (that reminded me of Amalfi).

All in all, definitely worth the 395 aed to spend a morning with good food, good friends and a great view. A recommended must-do upon an adventure to Dubai.

Hospital mishaps

Another Saturday afternoon and I ain't got nobody, more like and "I am quarantined in my apartment..." Annoying is an understatement. Well, since I have arrived back from Italy, life with love, finance and work has been going fairly well but health wise, I have taken a bit of a nosedive.

It started after Italy and me being a slight hypochondriac, I got quite paranoid about the chest pains and numbness I was experiencing. Because I am a little bit of a spaz, I thought that excessive consumption of red wine, taking birth control the last 3 months and history of stroke in the family was a justified reason to go to the Cardiologist, and he didn't completely rule me out either. He suggested we do an EEG, EKG, stress test and some cholesterol blood work to see what was going on. Today, I learned that my heart is in good shape for the moment (knock on wood) but I was the first person in 27 years to pass my cardio medical imaging test with an A++, staying on the treadmill, a whopping 21 minutes and my heart rate was still not 80%. Now, when I am training properly, I can run 12 km in an hour, so this was not that hard for me, but by the end of it, I was nearly walking at a 90 degree angle with incline which made it a little challenging... Nonetheless, this little heart of mine did shine for today which brought a smile.

The other medical mishap was a viral eye infection that I have had the last 5 days. I went to one doctor first and unfortunately, it did not redeem my lack of faith in Indian doctors, because the first day she misdiagnosed me, the second day she misdiagnosed me and the third day, she called me and wasn't listening to what I was saying but was reading the results of some test that was completely irrelevant. Now, my eye issues were not easily identifiable, it took two other doctors a detailed debate over what it could be, potential treatments, etc. and luckily there first guess was right.

Nonetheless, the whole thing got me thinking when the original Indian doctor called me and didn't even apologize for the mistake. I was quite rude and felt bad about it at first, but I thought about the time someone called me out for not doing my job correctly and it was annoying at first, but I needed to hear it. Last year, I wrote "this is unacceptable" early in the year on one of my student's workbooks because his handwriting was a disaster. Little did I know that he had some occupational problems with writing and had an ongoing struggle and was oversensitive to the issue because he did genuinely try. I apologized to my student directly and realized that a big part of my job is seeing the smaller details before you apply the bigger picture rule.. Funny, how that analogy totally parallels what this Indian doctor should have done with my eye. She was generalizing and if I would have continued to go to her, god knows how long it would have taken her to figure it out. But mostly, I wanted her to say I am sorry for not being right and I apologize for the amount of pain I caused you.

Good healthcare is a right, not a privilege but lately it seems like you can only have this right if you are privileged. The world needs to make life accessible so that we can live, eat, drink, play, learn and work peacefully and without danger or potential harm.

Something that we all need to start working towards*

Esta vendando el coche

Selling the car, at a bargain of 2500 usd, and a 1000 dollar loss, I am over it. You wouldn't think this is an adventure, but I feel like it has been already

First, the actual sale. I have not one mean bone in my body. This Iranian guy was going to buy it at value for 13,000 aed before the whole air con escapade happened. He was on the fence. Over the last 72 hours, I have reposted it, dealt with 10 other interested buyers and then, he phones. Christ, and although, I could have potentially gotten an extra $300, I folded and said, let's do it because the whole thing is giving me a giant headache; walking from one end of the other of a 2 km mall to find a working fax machine, so Merhzad can get insurance by tomorrow afternoon when the handover happens.

And then, as you do, I had to figure out if I had any fines to pay off when I go switch over the car. I checked at the beginning of April, shortly after returning from Italy, when I was contemplating posting the thing on and was home free. Low and behold, I checked today, just as I am about to turn the thing over. Well, o'er the last few weeks, I have been cruising around the city and spending more time on highways. I am not in the need for speed at any point, more the need for my bed and the pillow for my sleepy head; but I wouldn't have been surprised to see a ticket from speeding 10 km over or something ridiculous, because it's like they know that you are going to sell your car or something. However, no, it wasn't a ticket for speeding, which they actually can prove with cameras. It was a ticket for obstructing traffic. One which I never received in paper form; one which can not be proven. One which I am pretty sure I wasn't even at the location where I was apparently obstructing traffic one weekend evening. In other words, the government can just screw you here because they want to and because they know that we all believe we are walking on glass with them anywise..

So, selling the car, has lead me to realize that even places like the UAE, which has the reputation as being the most laid back of the Arab gulf states and having a higher tolerance for western behavior, are not what they seem. And while I would recommend people to continue to explore and investigate this country, I would say beware because you never know what bullshit they are going to get you for and where it's coming from. I mean is this the way to solve monetary issues; how is it fair that a person can receive a ticket for something that they aren't aware of and there is no proof. Innocent until proven ?

I realize that Venezuela is corrupt and it's potentially going to be a hundred times worse but no one denies it there. In fact, blogs, guide books, locals, expats will tell you that corruption swims all around you, which for me is most important. If a country has issues, own up to them, it's about time some place did.