Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Scattered update

- Got back late last night from a very busy trip to Dubai. Shopping. I hate it. Prowling around stores looking for stray bargains, rummaging through tie racks, trying on shoe after shoe after shoe. It's a ridiculous pastime. I don't know how people can enjoy it. Props though to the sweet old English lady who gave me a small talk on how to select neck-ties when I asked her to help me choose between two. Did you know that the shirt/tie placements in stores are dictated by the designers themselves? I always thought it was the sales assistants who did that. You live and you learn.

- Khala came over for a holiday early Sunday morning and needed directions to get to our house. They were waiting at the local mall aka the black hole which sucks up chocolate syrup and spits out bleach. She needed to be rescued. I jumped out of bed, grabbed an apple and rushed out of the house to perfom this heroic feat. Why the apple? To get rid of my toxic morning breath. It's a great trick. Crunch by crunch, the odors dissipate and the pall of gloom fermenting in your mouth quickly lifts to reveal a super-hero, pillow-cheeked, apple-breathed, ready to face with steely determination whatever challenges may come his way.

- Bit into a plum and got a jet of sweet sticky plum-spray up my nose.

- Met up with knicq and this other guy whose name I forget and what was supposed to be a quick smooch-smooch-hello-I-must-be-going-book-drop-off turned into a three hour spectacular with food, books and detailed instructions in how to outwit your wife. Ate Chinese food that tasted nothing like the pungent memories of those two a.m. noodles eaten after a night out in Toronto. This was delicious stuff, made even more so in the company of friends. Tom Yum soup, spicy chicken nuggets, Dim Sum samosas and a ginger chicken with an identity crisis (it looked like fish.) For those in Dubai, visit China Times at the Jumairah Plaza on Beach Road. Good food, generous portions and quick service. The mall also comes with a well-stocked second-hand bookshop (House of Prose) that's definitely worth a visit.

7 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

you guys kissed? you use apple's as breath fresheners? you ferment in your mouth? is that store based on the group, House of Pain, in a stunning play on words, only attributable to the genius (should i say genii') that is hardcore rappers? does anyone else have any confused line of questioning?

7:25 AM  
Blogger Crazed Teacher said...

ok so i am a little confused about whether u brushed ur teeth prior to using the apple as a breath freshner :)or not

8:28 AM  
Blogger karrvakarela said...

Assalamualaikum,

Ayan: To answer your questions,

(1) Na, we didn't kiss. Nobody was pretty enough to bother. Seriously though, there is a custom among some of the locals here where they touch noses on meeting. A few kids at school used to do it every morning.

(2) Yup, apples are good. So is hot water and lemon. But if you have time to sit around and boil water you might as well just brush your teeth.

(3) We all ferment in our mouths. Anything we eat is converted to acid by bacteria which then corrodes our teeth. Hence the wisdom behind brushing after meals.

(4) Don't know why it's called what it's called. Will ask the next time I see the owner.


Ushi: No, I didn't brush my teeth. I had to rush out and save them from melting in the parking lot. Temperatures are above 40 these days.

4:52 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Apples are the best early morning routine. So is hot water and lemon, although the boiling bit is a bit tedious. That's when you truly begin to appreciate the beauty of microwaves!

And yeah, I hate malls. You go in buying ONE thing and come out with 10 bags of things you don't need, or worse, will never wear..

6:06 AM  
Blogger Crazed Teacher said...

well melting temp or no melting temp thats does not excuse not brushing ur teeth heheh, baychara apple abhi tak ro raha hoyay ga

7:17 AM  
Blogger karrvakarela said...

Anonymous: Thanks for dropping by. I'm afraid your link didn't open up.

Bushra: yeah, the best time to go shopping is (a) on a full stomach and, (b) with very little money to spare so that you buy exactly what you need and nothing else.

Ushi: I bet you wouldn't say that if you were slowly melting in the heat. Then it wouldn't matter how wrinkled or moldy your savior was as long as he delivered you to airconditioned bliss.

1:51 AM  
Blogger knicq said...

It was three hours!!! I thought we had just stopped over for a bite...

Bro, 40' degree celsius is 8:00 a.m. 46-47 is more like it, your Al-Ain actually crossed 50 the day JB and I came over to eat those chappal/chapli kebabs-they- were-not-making-by-the-time-we-got-there. And to think I was dozing off in Mubazzara...gotta love Al-Ain!!!

8:48 AM  

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