Month: April 2015

Let Miracles Happen

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Tribeca Dubai Food Review

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DSC_1117  DSC_1111 DSC_1109 DSC_1108 I just came back from a meal at Tribeca Kitchen and Bar and thought I should give you all food envy by sharing my delicious experience. This New York inspired hotspot is fast becoming my local haunt, I even kicked off my birthday celebrations there this year. It is such a wonderfully creative space that just captures that NY swag, the graffiti art, lighting set in plumbing pipes and the antique inspired furniture with an urban chic twist are just some of the charming quirks. I have to say the fact that it has a platform to showcase local talent is a big plus point for me. Us Dubaians just don’t have enough spaces to display our home-grown talent and I feel this little piece of New York is very welcome to park on JBR. Now the good part…FOOOD! So another reason I love it is because It filled a gap for a funky organic eatery. The kitchen is headed by award winning Chef Giovanni De Ambrosis, who passionately couples exquisite food with artistic form, hailing inspiration from Mediterranean cultures and fusing them with American Contemporary Cuisine.The bar features all the classic beverages as well as organic wines and signature cocktail options. Tribeca is committed to organic produce wherever possible and I loved the simplicity of there menus – paper pinned to a piece of cardboard with a clothes peg and it actually looks really cool, all these little touches of using recycled building materials wherever possible display Tribeca’s commitment to global sustainability. DSC_1135 DSC_1125 DSC_1127 DSC_1123DSC_1137 The meal was delicious, I think you can always taste the difference with organic food! The Burrata was to die for and the Prawns with Polenta in A Coconut Sauce were yummy! Chef Giovanni cooked the Beef Tenderloin to perfection, it was literally melt in your mouth amazing and the Honey Glazed Chilean Sea Bass was also divine, the sweetness really worked with the fish. All finished with delicious desserts, the apple crumble with Ice cream tasted like Christmas in a bowl and my partner in crime was stumped with her dessert because she had no idea how to eat her deconstructed cheesecake tower but when she finally figured it out it was also amazing, the sourness of the passion-fruit coulis complemented the sweet creamed cheese and crumble. Yea we ended the night in a food coma, you should definitely check it out if you are in JBR, (in the JA Oceanview Hotel.)DSC_1140DSC_1144DSC_1142 DSC_1143  

Chachapoyas

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I had already been to Chachapoyas previously to see Gocta and Kuelap and they are well worth it but my second trip was a very relaxing one. Just a girly weekend away full of goodtimes and laughter. There was some kind of festival on while we were there so we checked that out, it was full of food and Chachapoyas is just so picturesque even if you sit and do nothing its beautiful. Enjoy the snaps:

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Masdar City – The Solar Powered City

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I saw Masdar City on a documentary in England a few years ago and I thought it was amazing and have been wanting to go there since. The entire city, south of Abu Dhabi,  is powered by 87,777 solar panels as well as solar panels on streets and roofs. It is completely carbon free meaning cars cannot enter, they have their own personal rapid transport which consists of  Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric cars.

The cars were my highlight, I got in and I felt like I was in the future, they drive themselves, you just sit back and press the computer screen inside to tell the car when to leave. They are these small pod looking cars and seat four people, these cars were deployed as part of a one-year pilot scheme however they will not be making it the only mode of transport as it won’t be viable. Instead they will use other electric vehicles and clean energy vehicles. You can drive your car to the car parks around the city or get the metro or light-rail but within the city you can only use the PRT’s and other carbon free vehicles.

I found it amazing that when we walked into the city from the car park it suddenly became colder. I found out this is another system they have created using natural resources. The city looks like a giant cube from a distance, the terracotta walls help to keep the city cool, it is 15 – 20 degrees cooler then the surrounding desert. This is due to a 45 metre high wind tunnel which sucks cool air from above and pushes it through Masdars streets. The fact that the city is elevated and buildings are huddled together allows walkways to be shielded by the sun.

Masdar doesn’t have a single light switch and there are no taps either, everything has movement sensors to cut electricity and water consumption. The lead architect Gerard Evenden said,

“When we started this project, nobody had really looked at doing projects of this scale. Then you realise it’s much more efficient to build your solar field on the ground in the middle of the desert. You can send a man to brush them off every day, rather than having to access everyone’s buildings individually, and you can make sure that they are running at their absolute peak. It’s much better than putting them on every building in the city.”[33]

I think its a wonderful city and I hope it inspires other  eco-friendly projects.

Call It Spring Yacht Party

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Call It Spring is one of my favourite shoe shops, affordable, trendy and most importantly comfortable!! Their new collection was my favourite one yet and it was unveiled in the most amazing setting. We were aboard a beautiful yacht in Dubai Marina and as we sailed into the sunset we got to walk around and look at the wonderful displays. The collaborative collection with Mike Perry was so colourful and perfect for Spring. Some of my favourite pieces from the SS15 collection included the knee length Gladiator sandals and of course the amazing rucksack with fringing and a multicoloured eagle embellishment (Pictured above)-can’t wait to get my hands on that bag! It reminds me of something Peruvian given a rockstar makeover and Its such a wearable, versatile piece.

Lets talk about the party, I arrived on the yacht to be greeted by paparazzi happy snapping away and soon the yacht was full with Dubai’s glitterati, the DJ was on deck playing smooth R&B grooves and as the sun went down everybody got up on the dance floor and there was some amazing dance-offs! Some professional dancers also performed for us and I also got my groove on for a bit. It was a really nice opportunity to get to know the other bloggers a bit better, most of the time you come to an event, get your info and pics, see whoever is there while you are, and leave but this one was nice because you got to mingle, all the bloggers and brand managers were there and being on a yacht…nobody could leave haha. I don’t think anybody wanted to, my only criticism was that it ended too soon, I think we all had a wonderful time and wanted to party longer. For me it was one of the best collection launches I have attended in my four years of blogging, I can’t wait for the next one!