Hankook Korean Restaurant

July 26, 2009 by witsandnuts

I was never interested to try Korean food until I became so hooked to Coffee Prince. It was one of the phenomenal series which was tagalized for primetime few weeks before I left for Abu Dhabi. So I resorted to getting a copycat DVD and did a marathon few days before my flight. I still can’t believe that I sacrificed my sleep and prioritized this over more important things that time. I even copied the video to an external drive and brought it here (and have no plans of deleting it).

So, I was a happy soul and tummy when one of my despedidas was held in Kaya Korean Restaurant. I was particularly looking forward to try kimchi that night. You can just imagine how much influence Andy Go (or was it Arthur Choi? heehee, although it was Andy who was always feasting on kimchi), one of the main characters in Coffee Prince, had in me. Since I was in a gastronomical transition, one of my priorities was to find a Korean Restaurant in Abu Dhabi. Unluckily, they were hiding from me. Googling didn’t help much, neither the Abu Dhabi Eating Out book that I bought. Thanks to this babyshower organized for a friend-officemate. The sole Korean Restaurant in Abu Dhabi came out.

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Pre-birthday dinner at Cantina Laredo

July 22, 2009 by witsandnuts

(Waiting for a few more people)

I invited almost the same set of people from last year’s for this year’s birthday celebration. We held it earlier though because one of my guests was flying to Turkey the next day.

Aside from the good food, being spacious, and its attentive employees, the homey feeling is also a reason why I chose to celebrate in Cantina Laredo. Most of its employees are Filipinos. In a way, this means a lot for people like us who need psychological bridging of distance to home. Although they serve Mexican dishes, its totality has a Filipino touch.

Most of my guests are friends from the office. We don’t see each other so often due to nature of work. Hence, we were chatting endlessly even before the complimentary chips and salsa were served.

Do not miss their bestseller-appetizer. The topshelf guacamole is being prepared infront of the diners. So the waiting-peeking in accelerates the appetite.

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Have you gone fishing?

July 21, 2009 by witsandnuts

The jogging area, which is currently one of my favorite spots in this part of the Emirate, actually has a twin. I like these paths in Corniche because these revitalize me. It’s like almost a perfect place to breathe in and out, scream, “soulsearch”, and whatever you want as long as it’s decent.

Although this side is not restricted to the joggers, I noticed that mostly people who intend to go on fishing frequent the area. I have never gone fishing yet, except for the few childhood memories of one of our neighbors in the province who used to catch fish by using electricity (nangunguryente ng isda) or those playmates that used worms as bait. Or if it may qualify as fishing, I used to catch tiny fish and even tadpoles using my hands from a river when I was young. Then my playmates and I would kill and fry them (huhu, forgive me, I’m still short of wisdom that time) and will use in our lutu-lutuan.

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Comfort food brings you home

July 15, 2009 by witsandnuts

Two weekends ago, some friends from Dubai spent the weekend with me. Being the host, I was thinking of how to make this one a little different. Normally, we would eat out aside from the other intended activities. I decided to go back to basics. I put myself in the shoes of those based overseas (as if I am not heehee), new or old ones, on how I’d probably want to unwind at a humid month, beach not considered. But still, it depends on your type of guests whether they prefer to chill out through basic or extreme stuff.

During the first half of the day, I took them out for an early morning picnic. I incidentally learned about this picnic area near the Marina Yatch Club when I was jogging the other month.

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