Places I’ve Eaten – Page 3 – Loving Food, Fashion, & Life

My Trip To Dubai (Part 6)

Posted on April 1, 2015 by LFFL

I just loved waking up every day in Dubai to my next adventure.

I had no idea today was going to be a doozy—but a doozy it was!

Desert Safari

I had SO much fun on this 6-hour safari. Here we had the pleasure of meeting a couple from Canada and a couple from America as we all piled into the land cruiser once the driver picked everyone up from their prospective hotels.

The safari carried on from about 3:30pm-9:30pm and I loved every minute of it—well, almost every minute of it. There was a bit of dune bashing that threw me for a huge loop. I was NOT prepared for that, I can tell you. What started off as a smooth ride soon turned into chaos.

On our way to desert safari camp.

Having fun headed to Desert Safari.

Being silly in the land cruiser on the way to safari.

Being silly on the way to safari.

Chillaxin’ in the desert on our way to camp.

Our group taking a break on the way to camp. (A couple from Canada, a couple from the States, my date from India living in Dubai, and me from the States.)

Me chillin’ with a big bird.

Me and a bird chillin’ in the desert.

Out in the middle of the desert.

At a rest stop halfway to camp.

A store at a rest stop.

Our snacks.

That sun.

Those land cruisers for all that dune bashing.

The sunset.

Desert Safari campsite.

I had absolutely NO IDEA we would be in a land cruiser with our driver tearing across the sand hills like a freaking maniac!!! What was that about?! At first I thought we were just going over a few bumpy parts to get across the desert, but NO—apparently, it’s all part of the safari adventure! They actually hire drivers to drive around like nut jobs across the desert on the way to camp. What?!

And my date and I were sitting in the very back seat which made the experience that much worse for me. You can feel everything in the back seat—all the bumps and everything! I swear I don’t know how many times I thought we were going to tip over and go rolling down any number of those hills. Geez Louise!

One of the guys in our group took an excellent video of some of it and was kind enough to send it to me. But in the video below, yeah, you can hear me carrying on in the back seat—but not nearly as much as I really was. This is because the video is only 30 seconds long but our maddening ride on those hills was 30 minutes long! And the video doesn’t make the ride seem nearly as rough as it really was. Trust me.

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Video courtesy of Scott McQuistan

It was all I could do to keep myself from getting nauseous, dizzy, and throwing up vomit in the back seat—considering I noticed there was absolutely no way to let the windows down in the back seat just in case I had an accident. Seriously?! Is this really happening right now?! My date tried to help me through it all best he could, bless his heart.

That camel ride.

Getting ready to ride. Giddy-up.

On a camel ride.

Getting off the camel with some help.

Me and my safari date in the shisha pit.

Me and my safari date still in the shisha pit.

We keep taking pictures.

The picture-taking goes on and on.

Me and my safari date in the shisha pit. We’re not going anywhere.

Glad I met someone in Dubai that likes taking pictures as much as I do.

Me and my safari date chillin’ in the shisha pit as only we know how. Who does it better?

He’s back there somewhere.

How many pictures does one take before they’re considered vain?

Us again.

Yeah, that’s right.

Somewhere along the way to camp, we stopped at a local store for about a 5-minute rest break. We grabbed some snacks to eat the rest of the way to camp.

Continue reading “My Trip To Dubai (Part 6)” →

My Trip To Dubai (Part 5)

Posted on March 28, 2015 by LFFL

Ready to go on a dinner cruise in the Dubai Marina.

I couldn’t wait to get on the boat and sail down the Marina while having dinner buffet-style. You know I love food.

The Dhow Cruise

When we arrived to the boat, there were fresh sweet dates waiting on a platter before we even stepped onto the boat. I can’t begin to describe how sweet these things were! Omg. I couldn’t eat just one.

I finally had to pull myself away so I could board the boat because my date kept encouraging me to try another one and another one because he saw how much I liked them. I’m telling you—I could have eaten the entire platter myself. Which means there’d be none left for the rest of the crew—but such is life.

Headed out the door for the cruise.

The platter of fresh sweet dates I couldn’t pull away from.

Getting ready to board the boat.

That’s me on deck shipping out to sea.

Me and my dinner date.

Me and my dinner date.

Me and my dinner date.

Waiting to eat dinner.

At the dinner table.

This cruise was one of the most beautiful and romantic ever! I loved looking out the window at the water and all the beautiful buildings. It was a sight to behold.

Me and my dinner escort.

The buffet-style dinner was lovely. Of course, I had to get one of everything which required more than one plate. And since I don’t have eight arms, I could only carry one plate back to the table. But my date surprised me by bringing me a second plate with food from the other side of the buffet—which I hadn’t made my way to yet. But you knew I was headed there, right?

For someone that’s only known me a short time, he figured me out pretty quickly when it comes to food! He was such a gentleman taking care of me. Ahh, I just absolutely loved meeting people in Dubai.

Continue reading “My Trip To Dubai (Part 5)” →

My Trip To Dubai (Part 4)

Posted on March 22, 2015 by LFFL

I’m all ready to go see the famous Burj Al Arab hotel.

Now I’m on my way to Jumeirah to see the Burj Al Arab. Ohhh, my goodness gracious I’m so excited.

The Burj Al Arab

What can I say about this magnificent creature? I’m speechless, I tell you. Totally speechless. I can’t even begin to describe its beauty.

I was on my way to have lunch at the Al Muntaha restaurant. First of all, you’re not even allowed to go up the long drive that leads directly up to the hotel without having a reservation either at the hotel or at one of the restaurants at the hotel. You have to show security at the gate that you actually have a reservation or you’re not getting anywhere close to that bad boy. No siree!

The taxi drivers will even ask you when you first get into the car if you have a reservation there because they already know they aren’t getting past a certain point if you don’t have one. So don’t even try it!

The Burj Al Arab in all her glory.

Approaching the Burj Al Arab.

Greeting the cars.

Rollin’ at the Burj Al Arab.

The walkway in front of the Burj Al Arab.

In front of the Burj Al Arab.

The Jumeirah Beach Hotel directly across from the Burj Al Arab.

I found this interesting video on how the Burj Al Arab was built. It totally blew my mind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGzSNZudEHw

I did some sightseeing outside the hotel and wandered around the inside of the first floor. Then I made my way to the restaurant’s personal elevator/lift that goes directly from the first floor straight to the restaurant.

And, oh my goodness, what a view of the sea from that glass elevator ride! I wanted to ride it all day long like a little kid—up down, up down.

The view from the restaurant windows is even more fabulous. You look directly out the window and all you see below you is the beautiful Persian Gulf/Arabian Sea. Pure gorgeousness! You’re literally out on the sea in this hotel!

Continue reading “My Trip To Dubai (Part 4)” →

My Trip To Dubai (Part 1)

Posted on March 9, 2015 by LFFL

On the way to the airport. No time for makeup yet.

Freaking out at the airport. It’s just starting to sink in what I’m doing.

This girl woke up early on Wednesday, Nov 12, 2014 doing her usual “getting ready for work” thing like any other normal day—and within an hour of getting dressed for the day decided out of the TOTAL BLUE that she was going to go to the Middle East the very next day all by herself!

With absolutely NO PLAN, NO FORETHOUGHT, and NO IDEA HOW to pull it off she set her mind to it. My bosses at work looked at me crazy for giving them ONE day’s notice—but even I only had a day’s notice to plan everything since I had just decided that very morning to do something so, obviously, insane.

And with the help of a few awesome friends, I was able to pull off the impossible and figure it all out and left the next day on a 12-hour flight overseas to Dubai, United Arab Emirates for 10 days! THAT GIRL’S A THUG!! WHO DOES THAT?!

(I have SO many beautiful pictures and videos that this will be a 6-part series. I hope you enjoy all the videos and pictures from my time in the UAE. Wish you could have been there!)

The Dubai airport customs line.

My very own personal TV screen.

The map of where the plane was flying at any given moment. Going over Istanbul, Turkey here.

This trip was so last-minute that I still didn’t even have a hotel reservation when my friend arrived at my house to take me to the airport! I was booking one on my computer as she stood there waiting for me. Then off I ran out the door!

My family and friends were freaking out and texting me all day when I was overseas checking on me—“where are you, what are you doing, who are you with?”

I don’t travel and have hardly been anywhere in my life that doesn’t involve cars, buses, or trains because I’m terrified of planes. Hence, my face in the second picture above when it just dawns on me at the airport what is about to happen! First of all, BY MYSELF; second of all MIDDLE EAST; third of all PLANE!

The living room in my hotel apartment.

The bedroom.

The bathroom.

My lovely hotel in Media City, Dubai.

The kitchen.

Guest information.

The Arabic news.

A Nancy Grace-like debate on television. Lol.

My personal bidet. Who knew?

President & Vice President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nayhan (Ruler of Abu Dhabi) and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (Ruler of Dubai).

I don’t know why I snapped when I woke up that morning but I did. And now my life was about to get even more exciting. I didn’t have time to research ONE THING about this place I was going to. So I figured when I landed I was just going to “wing it” each day. Yes, I clearly lost my mind.

But, ohhhhhh, how I absolutely fell in LOVE with this city—and the entire country. As soon as I landed and got through the insane customs line, I pulled out of the airport in a cab and within 20 seconds I swore I never wanted to go back to America.

Someone asked me if I felt “safe” in this country. I felt much MORE safe than I ever feel in America. I did things in this country by myself that I would never even attempt to do in America. The emirati have this country on lock. They don’t play. Cameras are everywhere, too.

I just loved waking up every morning in my new home away from home.

I loved meeting so many people along the way. I was wedged between two awesome guys on the plane in a really tight space. We took selfies together. One lived in the States but was from Tehran, Iran and was going to visit family; the other guy was from America and told me all about his travels to Afghanistan and such.

Continue reading “My Trip To Dubai (Part 1)” →

Oh, That Sports Bar Food

Posted on January 1, 2015 by LFFL

Smokey Chicken Pasta with garlic bread; Maytag Potato Chips with smoked bacon & green onions; and Irish Nachos made with fried potatoes, jack & cheddar cheeses, bacon, green onions, and ranch dressing.

This sports bar has been in town here for a while but I never had a chance to try it out. So when they opened another new location closer to my whereabouts here, I decided to head down to try it out.

I loved the atmosphere and it’s a great place to watch sports—but I think I like my other sports bar better that I frequent.

The food was pretty good. But to tell you the truth, I wasn’t that thrilled with the appetizer potato chips. I did, however, fall totally in love with the Irish Nachos. Oh my goodness—they were delish! I had to get a second order of those suckers to take home with me since the ones on my plate didn’t last but a hot second.

So, if you have nothing else to do today, get a plate of those Irish Nachos from somewhere in your town. I’m tellin’ ya.

Take-Away Life Lesson: Don’t wait on folks to go out to eat with you either. The good thing about it is you get to eat all that marvelous food by yourself. There’s no such thing as ‘sharing’ when you’re eating out by yourself. Take advantage of it while you can.

A Trip To The South Bronx

Posted on December 13, 2014 by LFFL

Well in the middle of October, I finally made it to New York after all these years. My dad hadn’t seen his mother since he was around 20 years old! So it was about time!

We decided to take a LONG train ride there because my dad isn’t getting on a plane unless it’s life or death—and even then we don’t really know. I’m not a big fan of planes either—let’s get real.

I had never been on a train before—so I was looking forward to it.

Waiting for the train at 5:30 in the morning.

Boarding the train.

Leaving the station. The train is rocking too much.

On a stop to NYC.

A bird wandering the train station in NYC. Apparently, this is normal as no one looked twice.

The drug-sniffing dog at the train station all up in everyone’s business.

The train ride on the way to New York wasn’t bad at all—especially if you can manage to get two seats to yourself to spread yourself out and relax. The scenery out the window wasn’t much to write home about though.

The food on the train was even less exciting. Not only were the prices outrageous as I would only expect them to be—but the food pretty much tasted just like it looked. Thank goodness I brought lots of food and drinks from home, too.

Continue reading “A Trip To The South Bronx” →

A Wine Festival

Posted on October 23, 2014 by LFFL

YES!! I had the pleasure of attending a wine festival this year with one of my girlfriends and how lovely it was. I’d never been to a wine festival before and was a little excited as to what was might lie ahead.

Well, I can tell you WINE IS DEFINITELY EVERYWHERE!! So make sure you eat a double cheeseburger and fries before you attend one of these shindigs, people!

This particular wine festival was being held on the grounds of an estate and tents were set up all around it. Most of the tents had different vendors from various places selling bottles of their assorted wines and giving away free tastings of them all. So—WHOA! That’s at lot of wine going down your insides. There were also other tents that were selling and giving away free tastings of different snacks of food—and you know I had no problem trying them ALL!

The tents.

Proof I’m at least 21.

The murder tape around the bees’/hornets’ pit.

Horse-drawn carriage ride.

Singing and playing guitar.

Chair massages.

Bottles of wine everywhere.

When we first arrived, we had to get wrist-banded so the vendors would know we were at least 21 years of age! First things first, you know. Then we were given our very own personal wine glass to enjoy all the tastings.

I’ll tell you—the lines to some of the tents were RIDICULOUSLY LONG! I couldn’t believe how long we stood in one line just for a tasting! So needless to say, we opted to go to tents with shorter lines—which were few and far between. I mean, we stood in one line for 35 minutes at one tent just waiting our turn for a tasting!

Pumpkin Coffee Cake

And OH, I found a coffee cake tent!! HEAVEN!! And pumpkin coffee cake at that. It was so amazingly good I had to buy a whole one just for myself to take home. I swear I’m going to stalk this company and order more throughout the year.

In the end, all the food and drink tastings were awesome and I came home with one bottle of sweet red wine, one bottle of sweet white wine, pumpkin coffee cake, and a big jar of yummy apple butter.

So, if you have nothing else to do today, attend the next wine festival you can find in your town.

Take-Away Life Lesson: If you don’t eat a double cheeseburger and fries ahead of time, you won’t be able to make your way around to all your rounds of wine tastings like you want to—if you catch my drift.