Cooking: Chinese Night !

Cooking is an inspiration that comes at really awkward times! 
Its one of these nights where I craved Chinese Fried Rice! 
and of course it will always be accompanied by a main juicy dish!

I wanted to share the Chinese night with you guys
Chinese cooking style depends a lot on cooking your ingredients over a wok !

 you might be surprised by what you add to your Wok but its okay the weird ingredients were a shock for me too but it turned out to be fantástico!
Also another important ingredient is the soy sauce!
 when you want to go asian in cooking you must have soy sauce in hand ! It is the secret sauce to master the asian taste. And it is a great source of protein so ya health !

I wrote below the original source from where I got my recipes but I changed them a little to be easier for what I have in my kitchen and matching my preferences.

Alright so I started by making :

Chinese Fried Rice

The trick about chinese fried rice is to use cold rice cooked couple of hours ( maybe days ) before and this works great for me as usually we have a lot of rice leftovers from lunch which saves a lot of cooking time!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup finely chopped onion

oil

2 eggs

3 drops soy sauce

3 drops sesame oil

1/2 cup finely chopped carrot 

1/2 cup frozen peas

4 cups cold cooked rice

4 green onions, chopped

2 tablespoons soy sauce 

Steps:

1-  Fry onions in wok until they turn light brown and remove from heat.

2-  In a small bowl beat eggs with the 3 drops of soy sauce and sesame oil.

(I didn't have sesame oil so I used a little sesame seeds to taste)

3-  Fry the egg mixture in wok to make an omelette then flip when one side is cooked. Remove from heat and chop it into small pieces.

4-  Heat oil in wok and add carrots and peas ( in my case I used mixed frozen veggies) and stir for couple of minutes.

5-  Add the rice and green onion and stir fry for another few minutes until all mixed well.

6-  Add a little drops of soy sauce to the rice mixture then stir in the chopped eggs and serve warm !

Now that the rice is ready I was wondering which type of chicken to prepare and ended up educating myself about :

General Tso's Chicken

Ingredients:

for marinating chicken:
vegetable oil for deep frying
1000g boneless chicken breasts cubed
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
pinch of white pepper
1 cup cornstarch

Others:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 green onion chopped
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
2 red/green whole chillies ( you can add more but 2 is good for mild heat)
half orange zest
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon rice vinegar ( I used white vinegar )
1/4 cup soy sauce 
pinch of sesame seeds

2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 cup water 

Steps:

1-  Marinate chicken: Beat the 2 eggs and add the cubed chicken breast then sprinkle with spices ( salt, sugar, white pepper). add the cup of corn starch and mix well - preferably with hand - to assure that all cubes are coated with the mixture.

2-  In hot oil, deep fry few cubes of breasts until floating and golden yellow. keep the chicken to cool for few mins then start the second time frying until golden brown then drain on kitchen paper to cool.

3-  Over high heat add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil to a large wok. add green onion, garlic, chilies and orange zest for 2 mins till the garlic is golden and chilies are brighter. Add sugar ginger and vinegar, soy sauce, sesame seeds and wait for it to boil. cook for more 3 minutes.

4-  Add 2 teaspoons of cornstarch to 1/4 cup of water and add it to the mixture on the wok. Keep on cooking until you achieve a thick mixture ( sauce ). Add the already fried chicken cubes and reduce the heat to cook for couple of minutes until the chicken absorbs the sauce.

Wooooh look at that yum yummy:p!

So thats it ! My favourite two for now and my first Chinese dishes :) 

Enjoy your weekend Everyone

Bon Appétit !

Amna

References:

1- http://www.food.com/recipe/chinese-fried-rice-38748

2- http://allrecipes.com/recipe/general-tsaos-chicken-ii/

Actor Song Joong Ki (송중기) visits UAE !

It was another ordinary day at UAEU when girls started gossiping about Arrirang club poster broadcasted all over campus 

"Have you heard the news? they will be hosting that handsome Korean actor !"

I do love Korean people but I've never been into Kpop and Kcelebrities or wtever u call them.. so I didn't knew who they were talking about. when I saw the poster I was like no way joseeeee~ they are bringing the brainy guy from running man ! 

송중기오빠가 오고있어요?!

I mean do you know how famous this guy is in Korea?! this guy is on Lotteria (I call it Korean Mcdonalds) soda cups and burger menus !!! 

Alright thats a funny description as he is now assigned the Korean Health ambassador but hell ya he is something huge in Korea!

two days ago we were saying Noooo way it must be a rumour, it must be a lie but oh no it wasn't !

I hesitated whether to go or not cuz I wouldn't wanna get in the middle of hysterically angry fans or stuffed among hundreds by the entrance ! yet there was a thing in my heart telling me to go ! I took a place in the long line with my close friend and earlier that morning she said she had a dream that we went inside and took part in the organization process .. I laughed at her n told her to shut up lol

As always fans giving the organizers a hard time and we were told to get out of the hallway and wait outside.. we were really pissed off cuz we stood in line and respected the rules and look where rules got us! My friend Cloud said lets just go home but again that feeling told me to stick around a little longer so I told her lets wait for a second chance and that when our friend from the Korean club showed up and asked us to go inside with her and be part of the organizing team !

I don't know how all this happened but I got hold of my friend's arm and we made it smoothly .. it was fate .. it was our luck !

I was like whooooh chinguya next time you should really dream about something bigger and from now on I shall respect ur dreams ! xD

Anyways we took care of the entrance to the theater and were able to distribute signed pictures and seat numbers professionally ! oh and on one corner we set up gifts for Joong Ki collection. I wanted to give him something from UAE to remember us but I thought naaaaa I guess his fans will take care of that and they indeed DID !

Gifts coming from the early batch of girls !

Anyways when all seats were taken and the hall got full it was time to start the event ! I truly appreciated the host of the event who was a korean speaking in Arabic ! Arabic is not an easy language yet she managed to read the whole script using only Arabic !

the first part of the event was for watching our oppa's new movie "Werewolf" 

I totally liked it so sweet so emotional I started crying very hard as the movie contradicted with a recent drama in my life, ommmmo it was really a good cry x)

During the movie my friend said "I wanna study movie production !!!" xD

me went like "oh ..... I wanna marry a KOREAN !" lol

Directly after the movie oppa came inside to greet us and the shock was drawn all over his face. He stated that he was expecting to see Korean fans living in UAE but turned out to be only locals! he was so humble and talked very well and as almost all Korean men he was very shy :)

Taken by my friend Nouf from the Korean club !

and funny thing is that girls were listening carefully to his words and happened to answer in Korean at some points that he asked in Korean .. oh do you speak Korean !!!!! and the whole place was like "nehhhhhh xD" !!! 

The man was literally shocked, poor korean celebrities still don't know how famous they are in Arab world lol !

and as for the crazy moments one fan girl wanted to run on stage to give him red roses and were stopped by 4 people! I couldn't help but stare with open mouth but then I felt sorry for her a bit but seriously woman ...

another girl right behind my seat had an emotional break down and started crying and laughing at the same time then making heart shape by her arms saying "saranghe oppa" hahaha

but you know I didn't mind these actions at all, in my opinion i think its pretty normal and gives the day a sense of humour! maybe cuz I've been to more crowded public concerts and gatherings and I've seen much crazier people before..

sad thing is some people didn't accept the new culture or even tried to give it a chance like supervisors and employees around who were surprised by the girls reaction that they worked as party spoilers and gave negative comments all the event long !

We are all humans; We all shall respect each other and honestly people learn to have some fun from time to time its an element to become an understanding mature person !

  

hehehe signed Photos of our handsome guy :p

Anyways I went back home feeling happy and just satisfied. We haven't had food since 12pm that day but we didn't get hungry at all ! we did something willingly and out of passion.. I caught a glimpse of my beloved home Korea :)

나는 너무 행복해요~

Thank you Arrirang Club Thank you Korean Embassy! 

Being the first to change is never easy despite the negative comments, stick to what you believe as you will be the future of development and becoming a global figure

I hope Song Joong Ki Oppa had a great time in UAE too and we wish to see this sweet guy around again :)

Peace,

Amna  

Finally an Apple user !

This all started last Wednesday when a tragic incident happened to my ancient laptop who lasted with me for around 4.5 years ! I was working so hard at night till 3 am; watched an episode later, then went to sleep for couple of hours

My hard disk crashed !! :(

I'm really grateful for the IT support for being able to extract my data from the broken disk

I really wanted to change my laptop when I graduate to open a new page for my life after graduation but life surprises you when you least expect it and well that happens to almost all things you plan for!

I was confused between choosing Mac Pro or Mac Air

either way I was gonna kiss Windows goodbye

analysing my needs I figured that my uses will be well taken care of using Mac Air as I'm not a heavy user to go for pro..

 so I went to Sharaf DJ and the sales person gave me a second thought with the new model of Mac Pro, the features are better, weight is lighter than the old pro and price is closer only 1000DHS difference.

It might be funny but I don't like the black frame around the screen in Mac pro and I didn't like how thin is Mac Air .. in fact I don't like very thin technologies as I don't trust my femininity with it lol 

and YES these preferences seem so naive but it does make a difference and NO I'm not so dumb to go for an expensive technology based on outer shell only !

I went home took a second opinion and more research and then settled for that choice

for now I'm still exploring the new features; I thought its gonna be really bad shifting from Windows to Mac but it was just fine !

Unboxing Mac

the long lasting battery is an awesome feature because now I don't have to carry heavy charger in my bag :D

 customisability, speed , weight, elegant look, retina technology, backlight keyboard .. are all features I loved and the list is still growing~

I only have a complain about the price but friends said its worth it and that what I want to discover by time..

for now I got some more discoveries to make, praying this Mac will last with me for the next 10 years

p.s: I don't know why but ever since I got a Mac I get the feeling that Steve Jobs picture on his book is glowing lol

which reminds me I should go back and finish reading his book !

Peace,

Amna

Jobs Day at a public kindergarten

I was supposed to pack my bags for 4 days in Abu Dhabi yet couple of hours earlier my mom suggested I join her and go to my little brother kindergarten as they had "Jobs Day"

This is not my first time attending my siblings schools as a guardian in place of mom; being the oldest sister I had to take responsibility in her busy days

It is different going there as a sister. you catch a glimpse of motherhood and understand how mothers society is so different than those of single people

yet some days its not as thrilling as it may seem;being a young parent will get u in really awkward position being surrounded by moms investigating looks

Anyways my brother is supposed to wear a fireman costume; a day ago my sister was sarcastically saying "why the hell did they choose a fireman for him?!" and I was like " well good thing they didn't picked him to be Bob the builder cuz he is chubby enough to be so mashallah lol"

My lil brother posing "Yeah a fireman but as cool as ice"

I got there a bit late but I was able to catch the first speaker; honestly speaking I thought the event was a bit complicated for kids at first, and I suspected that its a way for moms to feel better about the time spent by their child at school..you just wouldn't expect them to appreciate adults being dragged down from their busy life to talk about their jobs. But on the contrary; they were really bright, interactive and proved me wrong !

the kids were divided into groups based on their jobs/costumes there were policemen, doctors, engineers, firemen, cooks, soldiers and artists !

The first speaker was a pilot who was really smart with interacting with kids and he was able to own their little hearts by talking about his job as a game filled with adventures and amusing air tricks 

The policeman did a good job too and he let the children talk more about what they know on police duties
 a little girl explained a whole scenario about when she would need to call the police .. I mean that was WOW, the girl words are beyond her age and mothers were clapping enthusiastically!

Another child said "I would call a policeman if my car tire went flat!" - typical emirati boy lol he owned the audience haha

Boys and policeman having fun setting the rules

Unfortunately children didn't know the role of an engineer so he got the least attention; in the british children media for example, they had a character named Bob the Builder. Through this show children get to see how engineering and hand crafty work can solve life's problem like a fallen bridge, stuck truck or simply a broken door including the naming of the tools a builder would need !

Now that's a way to get to children and make them appreciate other professions

Engineers success to attract children finally

After that the artist came to talk and oh boy he asked a silly question to these smart kids : who is better me or a pilot ?

and BAMMM he got it right in his face and on top of their lungs "THE PILOTTTTTTT" xD !

moms were laughing and saying "you got what you deserve for comparing urself to a pilot " lol

When the talk was over we witnessed the cutest thing ever, all the girls gathering around the artist as he taught them how to draw trees ! hehe girls appreciate art more than boys apparently 

With the artist

Le chefs

making pizza, orange juice (left picture) and prepare salad (right picture) independently, cooking gets more fun when you get your child to participate in it I used to let my little brother help when he seeks my attention while cooking and he turns to be more quiet and useful around the kitchen :D

The doctors !

The most focused little professions of all, there were a bunch of dentist discussing a case another doctor injecting a little sick doll and ...

These two cracked me up, the kid is so into his job haha

My brother doesn't have the patience for painting or drawing so he finished first with a line and circle and went to show off to his teacher so she surprised him by asking the most critical question : "WHAT IS THIS?" he was like "how can I explain that to her" all over his face..

The firemen drawing their tools

It was joyful being around kids and even though when someone talks about kindergarten the image of seeing crying babies would come to our minds but children are really easy to go with when you master the art of keeping them busy and interested !

and when you participate in such events with them, the children are not the only thing to explore but the bond between mothers and their children. Women become different beings when it comes to their children.. you would see friendly mother who would like to share the experience, protective mothers where its always the other kids' fault, proud mothers who wouldn't stop talking about her child uniqueness..etc

and it made me think how would life be when you have a piece of you ~

These angels no matter how they look or act are someone else's precious..

we have to excuse parents when they act so protective and aggressive and respect their chosen strategy to raise them

I had this magical moment where I said to myself wow I would love to spend some time to explore these kids further more; wish I can get the chance to be a teacher for a day .. although I know it would be a challenge

when you try new things in life you start to respect work in any form it comes and you open to urself a whole bunch of options :)

may god bless our angels,

Amna

Spiritual Haven: A Day in Oman

I can tell that Al Ain people are most familiar with Oman  than other areas of UAE

the close boundaries they share pulled few immigrants from Oman to Al Ain and vice versa over the years

It was a fine Friday and we were two days away from starting the next semester so my mom's family wanted to hold a family gathering and I was tempted to go

Now when we speak about Oman the image that comes to our mind as emiratis is a splendid journey to childhood memories and simplicity of shared heritage

I really love Oman for keeping us a decent space to get away from this smothering modern life

so I said YES ! I don't want another friday spent on window shopping at Bawadi mall or sipping up a cup of my usual coffee at Starbucks/Nero, Lets welcome the opportunities and see how it goes 

well I haven't got the chance to meet my mom's family after coming back from Korea so this is like .. 6 months that I haven't seen them ? I know.

 So our trip goes from Al Ain city to Al Buraimi city -where we stop at the usual Dukan (Grocery store) for beverages and some fresh fruits- then voilaaa~ we are in Wasit village our destination!

To make the picture clear here is a map from my google account, As you can see Wasit is not far from the emirati borders

Road Trip Map from Al Ain to Wasit village

in around 1 hour we were there at our peaceful village of Wasit, most of its people has already moved to Al Ain but still keep their houses for holidays. The village was only inhabited by the famous family of "AlShamisi" which I never knew till recently! The people are very friendly, generous and really attached to each other :)

when we got there it was the habit to be served coffee and fruits at the beginning of every visit; It is a must in a decent hospitality and that's agreed on in both UAE & Oman. In modern houses though; Its not a mandatory thing to have fruits but were substituted by other international deserts. Yet it all depends on the guest and their age and level of openness.

after few talks around the circle; the lunch was served and god I can't resist the aroma of feasts especially when its homemade!

I need lessons on how to eat using bare hands x)

Note: in gulf area we prefer goat meat over lamb cause gulf people were not used to raise sheep for meat that they consider it more dense and smelly. However in Arabian countries around the Mediterranean sea its more common and preferred

After lunch,there were many women talks and catching up going until the sun went down alil and that was the best part of the day a walk around the oasis !
people calls it alnakhal النخل which mean palm trees area
 It was the resource of agriculture & food

This oasis used to be fulled with people who lived through it and worked most of their days

The diversity of trees was extraordinary !

cotton, mango, banana, lime, lemon, oranges .. I didn't even knew Arabian Gulf area would be able to produce such fruits in such climate !

Mango Trees

Unfortunately though with people leaving the area as it lost its value, these trees were cut down or abandoned to death 

Front yard of one vintage house

More interesting area is the neighborhoods spread around the oasis, I would estimate the age of these houses to be more than 100 years old based on local people sayings and tracking down generations. Wonderfully they still stand in quite good condition!
 

Despite the peaceful image people always made excuses to fight and so there were tribal wars going on and people got killed out of misunderstanding and pride. I found few mosques built here and there and called by the name of each tribe, its funny though because each one is far by 1 min walk lol
they were really ridiculously proud people who didn't want to pray in the same spot! you gotta problem wid that! hehe~ :)

View from the building on top, all houses were built to serve the basic needs of humans

The following pictures shows an abandoned well, not sure how they made it though these stones of hard nature. As it is shown the well was between houses and on the top of the hill, the reason for that is that the power of a tribe relies on how well they hide their resources; mainly water resource!

The following picture shows a police station with a different kind of architecture almost like a fort with small holes as windows

 and here we were there fascinated by the view at the top then rushed back to our residence before the sunsets, you don't wanna be wondering around an oasis with no flash light or farmers to guide you out !! reallllly risky. My mom said it was not as scary in old days because people were really brave and would help each other unconditionally. And when the oasis was blooming many farmers stayed around for late hours.. I could imagine that scene in my mind and it seemed great to live at that time !

Sun hitting on an old fort making it stand out beautifully

I think the Omani archeologists should pay more attention to the national treasures in this area before they vanish for real! The place is breath taking and less stressful. When you are young you appreciate such places less but when you are captivated by the new lifestyle you feel like whaoo this life is so fast and frustrating and I need to catch a glimpse of my childhood where everything was as this village wide, free and natural !

Sunset by the end of the tour

After that long trip we went back home for dinner followed by hot milk tea! we were really exhausted and sleep was all over our faces. The trip was supposed to end around 5pm yet it got as late as 11pm ! and by that we ended our day~

What about you readers did you spend the weekend somewhere inspiring and interesting :)?

Peace,

Amna

Book Review: Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Tuesdays with Morrie

by Mitch Albom

This book is a true story first published in 1997 takes the scenario of a course attended by one student and his favorite teacher every Tuesday

It tells the story of Mitch Albom reuniting with his favorite teacher Morrie Schwartz after losing contact for around 16 years! Unfortunatly Mitch reconnected with Morrie when he saw him on Tv interviewed about his fatal disease the ALS or what is known as Lou Gehrig's Disease ( refered to the famous baseball star Lou Gehrig who got it around 1930)

 The ALS attacks the nerves in the body gradually paralyzing its parts until it hits sensitive organs as lungs so you can no longer take a breath or as throat muscles so you get choked by food..and both are terrible deaths..

I was just discussing this book with my friends and they asked me about the last lecture by Randy Pausch and I said well every book has its beauty where Randy was trying to teach us how to live, Morrie was trying to teach us how to die !

if we were in that spot of as Mitch called it "crossing the bridge" how will we interact with life matters ?

The reason why this book has moved me to tears is that I'm living the same story with my Math teacher at high school. I've heard about this disease from the Japanese drama "One liter of tears" which was a piece of art representing a girl's journey with this disease till her last day. However, whats on tv is nothing like living the experience with someone used to occupy a part of your memory. My teacher used to be an active smart teacher who believed in me and always put up good words in front of other people although she was very strict in classes and that's what I always admire in a teacher. I talked with a lady I know from her relatives and she said "no one knew what she had; in fact this disease is scarily wide spread but very rare in a small country like UAE.." and still there she is with a smile raising her 6 kids mashallah.

Now I'm left with thoughts of wanting to see her again but I wonder if I'll ever find the courage to do so.

The books discussed the ideas frightening this generation like death, relationships, marriage, money ..

and Morrie focused on loving and forgiving repeating those two words again and again in his speeches.

Picture from Tuesday class

The book gave these thoughts an access to my brain

• is it worth it to hate a person and never give him a chance to explain or move on?
• My grandmother constant complain about her knees; how hard it is for someone who used to run one day?
• Family is a bless and we shouldn't hesitate when it comes to starting a new one
• Go back to Nature, technology is sucking the life out of us
• We are equal as long as we share birth and death (As Morrie once mentioned)

Beautiful piece, easy language, meaningful advices and a touching story!

 

peace,

Amna

Book Review: The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene

The 48 Laws of Power 

 by Robert Greene

This is one of the smartest books I prefer to call the BLACK book of power !

While I was reading this book I felt this kind of enjoyment and motivation as if I found my guru for acquiring power! And since during university I had a chance to be exposed to the field of leadership and power it is not a foreign topic to me and I was reading each rule saying yes I did this, I've seen that and some people did that ! but this will not be less exciting to those new out there !

 

this book is not only for those who seek power but those who need answers of how things work in a world filled with power seekers or protection against power itself! It helped me deal with problems accompanying power including how to deal with those above you, jealous enemies and even yourself when it gets drifted away by the seduction of power

 

So there is an extended version of the book but I went for the concise one with around 500 pages, its international best seller by the American writer Robert Greene and shocking thing is the book was first published in 1998 !

The laws might seem really malicious and deceiving that you would doubt your ethics while reading them and question yourself whether to apply them or not at some point, However; there is a reason why you should follow it and side bar stories and quotes from famous people, kings and philiosphers from centuries ago showing the success of their tactics and methods! The stories are really pleasant and interesting !

From my opinion there's no book as straight forward as this book, it would literally drop the boom over your head and let you stand in shock saying that is actually right !

This a must have book and I would gladly refer to it for any issues in future !

peace,

Amna