Jillian Michaels' 30 Days Shred Workout Review

Dear Readers,

Now that Ramadan with its feasting during suhoor and/or iftar is behind you and the Eid and its associated sweet indulgences and socialising have taken its toll on your waistline, I'm sure you are thinking it is time to get back in shape ready for school,work normal life.

I was away last year doing my Masters and during the months that I wrote my dissertation I also pretty snacked as much as I typed so in the end I put on a few kilos/  a lot of pounds! When I came back I was looking for workout to help lose the 'dissertation bulge'.

I tried this workout programme in March/ April to great effect-I lost 4 inches and 3 kg/6 pounds, it really works! So dear readers I thought this a good time to share it with you as a sorta 'Back to School' gift ;-).

You could use it to use the 'post-pregnancy baby bulge', the post Ramadan feasting bulge, the post Eid I ate too much candy and cakes bulge, or the I've been lazy all summer and sitting on my ever expanding booty eating junk bulge...hey I'm not judging just sayin.. :-p. Or to get in shape for school/work/special occasion like a wedding/engagement/reunion/holiday or just taking a new FB profile pic to make your frenemies jealous..

I discovered Jillian Michales 30DS (30 Day Shred) workout program online, and the reviews convinced me to give it a go. I like to see results fast so programmes that promise results in 3 months usually see me losing interest after the first few weeks of enthusiasm and novelty wears off.

I've been a fan of Jillian Michaels since seeing her on TV on The Biggest Loser and in the past I have enjoyed her kickboxing work-out. You can buy the program on Amazon for around $8/ GBP 4/SR30.

So what is the program all about?

The 30DS contains 3 workouts, Level 1, 2, and 3. You do each level for 10 days consecutively and then take a rest day before moving on to the next level. I have a confession to make though, I couldnt't do that due to rather busy weekends, I usually did 5 days(week days) and took 2 days off (weekend), so the program took longer for me to complete. But I have to tell you it works!!!!!

Each Level consists of 3 circuits and each circuit has around 2-3 minutes of cardio, weights, and ab exercises. the cardio does involve high impact exercise such as jumping jacks and high kicks which you may want to substitute with something else like jogging in place if you have bad knees and injury.
There are plenty pf planks, push ups and lunges to make you cry....but the result is worth it
It is based on the concept of muscle confusion and there are no rests resulting in an immensely hectic and effective 20 minute work out

With each level there are modifications to exercises to make it easier for beginners or more difficult for advanced users. I often started each level doing the wasy modification and by day 4 or 5 I could do the normal one.

Level 1 is quite easy if you regularly exercise, if you don't well the first day you might think of stopping after 10mins but keep with it if you are panting and dying stick with it..it gets better..trust me it does. Day 2 you will want to cry after 12 min and Day 3 will be much much better.

Pros: 

1. It takes only 20 mins so with a bit of willpower and time management you can fit it in your schedule-no excuses!
2. No equipment, you only need a set of weights, bar that you cn use water bottles or cans instead!
3. You don't need to spend on a gym membership and the time it takes to go there and come back.
4. You don't need to follow a meal plan, but if you buy the DVD from Amazon there is a suggested meal plan, but as long as you watch what you eat( calorie count and eat clean) it is still effective.

Cons: 

1. If you don't like Jillian the commentary and/or the music might irritate you esp if you have to listen to her say the same thing for 10 days in a row, I suggest muting her and playing your own work out music (personally I don't mind-I like her she motivates me).
2. If  you have a knee injury it might take the fun out of cardio portion of the circuits.

MUST DO: 

What you must do is measure yourself at the start of each level !

You will start to see a difference as early as day 5 for some people (I did). I feel this really helps to motivate you and keep you going. 

Personally I found Level 2 to be the hardest, and I've read reviews online and I think a lot of people wonder why Level 2 is so hard, but once you get through it Level 3 seems so much better.

Results

Overall for me I lost 4 inches and 3 kg/6 pounds  mA which is pretty good for me and more than I was expecting ( I am 5'4.5 and now weigh 51.5kg/113 pounds.)
 
The earliest difference I saw was my waist where I lost an inch pretty quickly, and where it was pretty noticeable everyone could see I looked different. and got plenty of compliments yay!

Links

If you would instead like to watch it on Youtube: 

You can watch Level 1 here, 

Level 2 here, 

and Level 3 here.

To get an idea of your ideal weight/range according to your height click here.

*THIS IS NOT A SPONSORED POST* It really worked for me that's why I decided to spread the love!

Please do leave feedback if you try out the workout and don't hesitate to ask any question in the comments or email me mishaican'at'gmail.com.

If you haven't signed up for my email list yet, sign up now for FREE so that you won't miss my healthy tips and recipes in the future – they will come straight in your inbox. Oh and do stay in touch on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. 

Geekfest Gamma Jeddah Review

Dear Readers,

I usually suppress my inner Geek in Jeddah, but last Thursday, I got Geek-out in public, and not receive any weird looks! 

My fave bit of the event was the first and last Geek Speaks and chatting with other geeks:

GeekTalks- the Cliff notes verison ;-)

Yasser Bahjatt and Ibraheem Abbas : sci-fi writers in the Arabic language. 

They started off the talk rather humorously asking us  an important question: 

What a Geek resident of Jeddah was called? 

A ‘Jeddi’! Of course, the crowd loved it.

Other nuggets:

There seemed to be a correlation between number of sci-book published and number of international patents produced by an area. Although they didn’t argue causality, it could possibly be education levels or an interest in science- or a larger geek community maybe?

They also mentioned a couple of sci-books which seemed to predict future technological advances- which could only be thought of as pure fiction when they were written.

Some notable examples were:

H.G Wells- predicting the invention of the atomic bomb in his book The World Set Free written in the year 1914. The atomic bomb was used in 1945 by the peace loving US of A.

Paris in the 21^st century by Jules Verne foretold skyscrapers- glass ones at that in 1863

So reading sci-fi might actually open up the mind and imagination, and instead of saying that’s impossible and people might instead say why not and then try and create and innovate.

Claire Sale

 She spoke about collaboration within the geek community and tried to interact with the audience to gauge what topics people would like to cover in the future, and where they want to see Geekfest in the future.

Tasneem

The woman behind Gcon-A female-only gamers convention in Riyadh, gave the next talk. Yes that was not a typo, you read correctly female-only. The brains behind this initiative Tasneem, showed what a steep hill it was for girl gamers, to get support and sponsors and how the established giants (or as she called them dinosaurs) were incredulous at the existence of female gamers in KSA despite looking at the numbers showed to them by Tas and her team. Thankfully they were able to get sponsorship by new forward thinking entrepreneurs.

Graphytes (Geek speakers as well as sponsors of the event)

Ammar  Sabban made some interesting points on design thinking and how it made much more sense to develop a human based approach to design rather than a functional one. 

The second speaker Hashim T Zain really worked the crowd, and woke me up for sure. If he wants to he could easily become a stand-up comedian/African American pastor as portrayed on TV, he was highly entertaining. He mentioned that these days we are surrounded by distractions, such as our email, twitter, facebook, blogs, etc that we don’t have time to create.

So he didn’t suggest to abandon all our social media accounts but rather to minimise the time we spend on them to ensure we have time to create.

I think this is very good advice- a bit obvious but true. Whenever I’m creating stuff- or living life, I spend less time on social media, just check in- and do the essential updates, I use it as a tool.

But when I spend my life engrossed with social media and online activities, I only have a virtual life, and nothing gets created, nothing productive.

They recommended 2 great design books to check out:

• Thinker toys by Michael Michaelko
• Change By Design – by Tim Brown

This was followed by a comic-making activity, the 5 –frame challenge- for those who wished to participate, and they would look at the comics and give their advice on what potential you had: writer, illustrator, both.

I decided that I had exhausted my creativity at the JeddahWriting Club earlier that day and decided to have chat with fellow geeks.

Geeks discuss

This included but was not limited to:

• Which sci-fi apocalyptical scenario was most likely?
• Sci-fi vs fantasy- (FYI- I’m a fantasy fan)
• Similarities between LORT and HP, ( Noooo, I refuse to believe Gollum and Dobby have any similarities)
• The real message behind various fairy tales- which was interesting, I need to interview iHuzzo, and do a detailed post, you don’t have to agree with her but I’m fascinated by her analysis
• And last flying cars... yes they do exist

A shout out to Khayra B, Tasneem, and Huda for enjoyable geek-worthy conversation.

TechnoCases

• A Samsung sponsored Angry birds tournament- Yes, you could have put your raging poultry game addiction to good use here.(The prize was a Galaxy II tablet)
• Another Samsung sponsored event was app development challenge for their new Smart TV which they had on display- proper candy for geeks.

Geek Grub

Delicious finger sandwiches, cupcakes, brownies, and pink lemonade provided courtesy of The Store.

A follow-up event was organised on Friday 12^th October at Virgin Stores Cafe who were also sponsors of the GeekFest Gamma.

Feedback-

Hopefully, Geekfest Delta will be open to the public, and everyone can enjoy some fun that doesnt involve shopping and eating!

Although I love The Store, I felt it wasn’t spacious enough for the number of attendees, and although all geeks were very accommodating and didn’t complain and we all managed good-naturedly enough something that needs to kept in mind for future events.

*This ended up being a much longer post than intended- oh well hope you enjoyed it*

Toni and Guy Salon Review Jeddah

Dear Readers,

As many of you know, (I use many loosely), I've recently changed the url address of my blog, and unfortunately Google seems to have forgotten that I exist. On the plus point, I'm getting less spam traffic, but I'm not getting any real visitors either- no sense of elation can be attained from my stats/audience tab. Any ideas on how to remedy the situation?
---
Anyway, on to the salon review.

I'm not a high maintenance gal, although the idea of regular visits to the spa and salon may excite me in theory I'm not a regular customer- I'm not sure why- I guess because I have rather sensitive skin I don't relish the experience as much as other people. Recently, I felt was time to get my act together and get  (I hate to admit it) a much- needed facial. I'm a comparatively regular customer of Zouari Salon and Spa of french fame; but I decided to mix things up a bit and leave my comfort zone and finally try out Britsh brand of Toni and Guy.

I have sensitive acne prone skin , so I called them up and asked which service/facial would they recommend, and the receptionist had the aesthetician call me back and she reccommended the deep cleansing facial before trying out any other treatments.

I showed up for my appointment a bit early, and the receptionist was polite and friendly after preparing the receipt she took my abaya and replaced it with a Tony and Guy robe. I was told to go the second floor and wait, and I took a fe magazines upstairs to browse. The spa area was quiet, as the 2 rooms had customers inside, the lounge.cafeteria was brightly decorated in red and white.
But there was no one in the cafeteria to take your order, or offer you with refreshments.
There was silence except from the sound idle staff laughing and talking from a staff room.

Once it was my turn the aesthetician, asked my about skin type, and skin care routine, and when was my last facial. She was very polite and friendly, and fluent in English. For me that is a big deal, because I don't quite feel comfortable with trusting my skin/hair with someone who may misunderstand what I say or more importantly feel about what they are doing to me!

She had a very  soft soothing touch, and after she put on one of the masks and left me for twenty minutes, I think I dozed off  for a bit.

After, the facial I definitely felt a difference my skin glowed and I looked fresher and the overall texture of my skin seemd to have improved.

Toni and Guy use Dermalogica and Vichy products which are the best in my opinion.

In comparision with Zouari, I like the ambience of the Zouari spa more, they have a bigger area more natural light, very relaxing atmoshphere: far eastern inspired spa music flute accompanied sounds of trickling streams, and their signature aromatic oil burned in diffusers spotted throught the floor. An employee is always at hand to ask for refreshments, and they usually serve complimentary drinks while you wait.
The place permeates a sense of pampering luxury.

I liked the language skills of Toni and Guy employees better, the receptionists, and the aesthetician spoke fluent English, and the esthetician, IMHO seemed to be better-skilled. Like I said before, she had a very soft touch, the extractions didn't hurt, and I have sensitive skin I usualy have tears coming out of my eyes-another reason to dread a salon visit!

Would I be going again- Yes, because of the aesthetician- if she goes I go!


Having said that, I wouldn't completely forsake Zouari-  returning maybe for a relaxing foot massage or something.

Gossip Girl Seasons One to Four

Dear Readers,

As you know I am rather behind on my series. You will be surprised to hear that I like it that way, because I have developed a need of instant gratification when comes to watching series and especially comedies. One episode just doesn't seem to be enough, and to wait one whole week seems like torture. I wasn't always like this. I liked to regulate my behaviour with delayed gratification, link the reward with something I had to achieve; but lately, and for a while now, all that's gone out of the window. Somehow, I will overcome all that.

Anyway, as I've gone on a bit of Gossip Girl bender I have to blog about it. I have to say I enjoyed Season 4 more than Season 3 it just got better with every episode. I also enjoyed the soundtrack of the second half of Season 4. Blair's wardrobe has improved by leaps and bounds, I used to think she hid her figure in dull androgenous outfits, esp in season two. Season 3 saw some improvement but Season 4 has been the best. I love the ball gowns they wear, the jewellery including Lily's. I am sad to see the demise of Jenny's character , I don't know why, I guess I believed there was a good person, some innocence still left in her beneath that teenage angst facade. I was really torn up over the Jenny and Chuck incident it was awful in every way. I had wished Jenny and Nate would have ended up together maybe he could have made Jenny better.

But then again I'm not completely for couples ending up together just so one of them can make the other better, a little grounding for the unstable is good but you feel the that one of them is getting a bad deal. Dan, I think, would have been interesting with Blair, would have brought her down from her high horse a notch. Serena is great to watch for her wardrobe and her hair- but I don't always root for her, she's to much of a flake a floozy, a bit of a hot mess, with hot on the outside and messed up on the inside!

Sexy Serena, Edgy Lil J, or Classic B what's your favourite style

As a rule I don't like people without self  control- (um in life not for watching series) and with no goals, no values, who get away with anything because they are rich and famous.  I do feel sorry her for sometimes though and love her bags and dresses- and her hair of course,

Blair and Serena Chuck and Nate, bold and beautiful for young people

Vanessa is going- yay! Was there ever a more annoying character? If she was supposed to be the underdog female, intellectual and down to earth, she should have everyone rooting for her . When you are rooting for Blair and Serena over Vanessa who probably has more in common with the audience compared to the whole cast put together, you know the charcacter has failed. I also thought she didn't have the right 'look' and she was so 'hard', she had a very reactive teenage angst, (the rest of them are are immature too, but her attitude which was unpleasant to watch and really rubbed me the wrong way.

Maybe Serena should end up with Ben, although he is too good for her, I think the Professor was better match for Serena, they deserved each other..

Let's see if Blair ends up with her Prince Louis or is Chuck her Dark Prince? Can't wait to start Season 5.

Chuck and Blair at a train station in Paris

 
I hope you enjoy the video montage   :-) the song is Young Blood by The Naked and The Famous, the montage covers everyone's favourite couples I think.

I would like to ask you to leave comments because you should make your voice heard :-).

XOXO

Iphone 4S- Apps, Covers Cases and more

If you are reading this you may already be the proud owner of an Iphone 4S or you maybe on the curb thinking about buying it, but not sure whether you want it. Well, you should buy-it because it is so pretty! Seriously, its one good looking mobile, plus its very easy to use even if you haven't used an iphone before. I bought the white one-as I don't think the black one is nearly as pretty but of course its entirely up to you and I think guys favour the black one and girls the white one- but I maybe wrong.

 The apps - everyone who owns an iphone always goes on and on about the apps! Well, I was pretty happy with Nokia's Ovi store as I could buy stuff just using my phone credit withou having to enter my bank/card details. The Apple store unfortunately requires you to enter your bank details which I am unwilling to do for a while, so I am going to have to satisfy myself with free apps- which luckily there are aplenty .

 
I have already downloaded the following apps: Skype, Viber, WhatsApp, I wish all my contacts were on Viber it would make my life a lot simpler. I 've also got Heart Fitness montior, Abworkouts free, anti-mosquito, HP home and biz( for my printer), QuranExplorer,Fortress of the Muslim, alQibla, stepmetr(a podometer- haven't tested it yet) ,iBooks and Classic Books- although I prefer to read on my Kindle.

Some of the apps are are a bit gimmicky and make me feel like a child with a toy, but I've only had the iphone for 2 weeks and am testing their usefulness and entertainment value.

It iss definitely user-friendly, and I love the zoom in feature, although I wish I could copy paste number from facebook messages, the copy/paste feature doesn't seem to work there.

If someone could reccomend an emoticon app that's simple and easy to use that would be great.  :-)

What other free apps would you reccommend?

 I have got a scratch-proof clear plastic adhesive cover, but I want to get an actual cover. I am notorious for dropping my mobiles, its a nothing short of a miracle that most have lasted 2.5 years plus. I am terrified that if I drop this the glass will casing crack or break so I need to find a suitable cover. I'm not sure if I should buy the common hard plastic ones, or a leather one?

Shown below are the cases I am considering buying, let me know your ideas for an iphone cover  because its great to share.

Plactic Iphone Ferrari cover

Ferrari Leather cover with flap

P.S Although on the whole I'm a girly girl,  I'm mad about sports cars :-).

I spotted some interesting how-tos for original girly mobiles on the blogosphere.

A black and gold lace cover will by chic and stylish accessory to any outfit, you can find the easy tutorial on Mellisa's blog.

                 

Mellisa also has great tutorial for a gold-studded phone cover and a cute embroidered phone cover pictured below.

Please share your thoughts, comments because your are important to me. 

Looking back at 2011:Most Popular Posts, Top Commentors, and Most Searched Terms

 2011 is practically over, and while I don't particularly feeling like mulling over the past year, I think a bit of a recap for the year, is in order.

The most popular blog post of all time in 2011 has been  Enchanted by Taylor Swift's Tantalizing Tresses  with 288 views.

This was followed by Uptown 966 Restaurant Review with 267 page views in second place.

A relatively newer post  Red Velvet Cupcakes Recipe- Best recipe ever! made it to the top 3, with 188 page views :-)

My blog's audience is from all over the world, but most visitors are located in the

United States 1,140 visitors; followed by Saudi Arabia  with 858 and lastly United Kingdom  with 399 visitors. I'm guessing this is because it is an English language blog, but how come I don't have that many reader from Austrailia and South Africa? I guess it has something to do with the population levels as well. Unfortunately, Pippa's a$$ is the most searched term that leads to my blog,  followed unsurprisingly by Taylor Swift/ curly hairy/updo and red velvet cupcake recipe. The Top Commenter on my blog was the sweet Izdiher, followed by fashionable Ghadeer, and last but not least IReadBlogs Take care  see you next year with New Year's resolutions!

Uptown 966 Restaurant Review

Last Friday we decided to revisit one of my family’s favourite haunts, Casper and Gambini, as we stepped out of our car, we saw that our favourite was no more- and it had been replaced by a newbie called Uptown 966! This was a bit of a shock, comparable to the shock that you get when you go to put on your favourite feel-good item of clothing only to discover it’s been ruined in the wash.

We entered the restaurant with a bit of trepidation, hoping for the best, while I secretly dreaded the worst. Inside, the changes seemed limited to slight changes in decor, certain glass topped tables had been replaced by low black wooden tables, and the big couches were replaced by smaller individual ones, but were just as snug. We grabbed out favourite spot near the big glass window, which sort of juts out over the restaurant entrance, and although it’s in the smoking-section we breathed a sigh of relief that there were no smokers seated in the area. I love this spot because its bathed in natural sunlight, which is a rarity for most Jeddah's restaurants.

The restaurant is well-lit by natural light, and has wooden floors and panels

The menu arrived; the ‘look’ had changed: it was short booklet of recycled paper strapped onto a black card. But as I browsed through the menu, I noticed that the content was pretty much the same- with the addition of pizzas, and availability of shisha at SR42.  

A view of Andalus Street.

 

  We collectively ordered a Tomato and Basil soup, a Watermelon and Blue cheese salad, a Papaya Shrimp sandwich, and the Asian inspired Cashew Chicken, and for drinks we ordered their popular frozen Lemonade with a twist of mint and Lemonade with kiwi.

At the end our order, we asked the waiter the reason behind the name change. He politely informed us that it was a simply a change of ownership and now it was no longer part of the C and G franchise; instead it was now fully locally owned. He then reassured us that 90-95% of the menu was the same as before as well as the staff, and-crucially the chefs (so we need not worry).

Our Friday lunch tends to be rather late, so when they served us the assortment of bread with butter and tapenade, I devoured it much like a vampire does its prey. My favourite is the soft spongy bread which they serve while it’s still warm.

The tomato and basil soup arrived in a huge bowl, garnished with croutons and accompanied by a mini Panini bread/bun. This was not just a starter; it was a meal in itself. I sampled it and tasted lovely, the tomatoes were roasted then and pureed and seasoned with the right amount of basil, and a bit of cream/cheese to add depth.

The watermelon and blue cheese salad was beautifully presented in the form of a giant flower, the endive lettuce came in quite useful to create the flower petal effect, and pink of the water melon added colour, and julienne cut green apple added crunch and sweetness.. This salad is an acquired taste; the blue cheese dressing is tangy and at times slightly bitter, with a strong flavour and may not be everybody’s cup of tea so to speak. 

I forgot I wanted to take a photo of this and started eating..yes I was very hungy!

The papaya shrimp cold sandwich was filled with succulent shrimp with a tasty sauce; it was accompanied by choice of either fries or salad, as we had ordered a salad we’d chosen fries.

The Cashew Chicken is served in a big bowl ideal for sharing, it is comprised of basmati rice flavoured with assorted spices, topped with crunchy slices of stir fried veggies, a generous helping of fried/roasted cashew nuts, round chicken pieces coated in batter and fried, and finally, topped off with an upside down fried egg, garnished with soya sauce! It may sound like a strange combination, but it works, and needless to say it is a very filling dish with a variety, of textures, and flavours that complement and satisfy.

Once we had finished our meals the waiter politely asked us if we’d like some tea or desserts. As we were having trouble deciding which tea we’d like, he brought over two boxes: One box contained labelled test tubes which contained different types of teas. You could select which ever tea suited your fancy, and pick out the corresponding teabag from the second box. 

Between we chose green tea, earl grey, and ginger calm. The ginger calm tastes and smells as exotic as it sounds.

To conclude , the bill came to SR331, and I felt it was worth every riyal.

As we left the restaurant with a smile on our faces, and I thought to myself, our favourite wasn’t lost after all: a new name but the same great taste!

To stay up to date with more reviews like these , like my Facebook page.

Dining at Durrat China, Al-Hamra, Jeddah, Review

This Thursday night as our family wondered what to have for dinner, I had a craving for Chinese and as the closest option to us was Durrat China we hurried over as it was already midnight. We went upstairs and were shown a table but we requested the corner table which is has windows on two sides. To preserve local traditions the windows are adorned with a decorative gauze curtain. We asked for the curtains to be opened so that we could take in the view. Jeddah looks like a city of golden lights. The street lights glittered, and the traffic along the street next to the restaurant and all along Al-Andalus street glimmered and you felt the city was alive and well, thriving at midnight. The Masjid Al-Anani (popularly known as the ‘Golden Mosque’) is right opposite the restaurant and its golden dome stands majestically and adds the view. 

Back to the restaurant, inside the decor is elegant with great big chandeliers, and red wallpaper, and plush sofas seats, as well as normal chairs.  As we were taking in the view a waiter brought us the menu. We chose 2 Thai soups, a Hot and Sour Soup, Beef with Dry Chilli Sauce, Prawn Tepayanki (Sizzler), Prawn Fried Rice and Shanghai noodles. We ordered apple cider and Pepsi as dessert, if your party includes more than 3 individuals or if you are very thirsty, I recommend their jug of ‘Saudi champagne’ cocktail.  The waiter also gave us the option of whether we wanted our food very hot/spicy or not.

Once we had ordered the waiter brought us finely chopped veggies soaked in white vinegar served in individual tiny bowls. Once we were the finished the bowls were promptly taken away. Soup was served shortly after. I really enjoyed my Thai soup, they put in a generous amount of Thai ginger, as well prawns, and I felt it wards off any sign of cold or flu that you may have. The Hot and Sour soup was also well received. We asked if they had any Chinese crackers (available at certain other Chines restaurants), or something similar, but were disappointed to find they didn’t. 

The mains arrived before I was even finished with my soup (but the rest of my party were), the Prawn Tepayanki the ‘sizzling’ dish was served with much fanfare and clanging of lids rounded off by the waiter exclaiming ‘Yummy!’ I suggest that if you have kids, that you definitely order and a sizzling dish because they usually taste scrumptious and the little performance entertains and entices the little ones to eat. The mains were all well received and there was silence at our table as we all devoured the meal hungrily. 

My only complaint was that the prawns lacked their original prawn taste, but the sauce did compensate for that. I’m not certain as to reason, were the prawn frozen, or naturally lacking the prawn taste, I don’t know. The Shanghai noodles did not taste like an authentic Chinese recipe, but as we enjoyed it, I wouldn’t complain; whatever variation had been made was a positive one. The bill was SR350, for 3 people, I felt that on the whole it was an enjoyable meal, though just a little overpriced. Considering other restaurants in Jeddah that are much more overpriced and the food really disappoints, I was happy with my choice of Durrat China. Would I be going again? Yes.

Zodiac Cuisine Restaurant Jeddah : A Review

Zodiac is a fine-dining restaurant offering an array of international cuisine. I’ve been to Zodiac quite a few times, and every time I go, I think I’ll write a review this time, and then-I forget. Well, here is my recent experience for your reading pleasure. We arrived at nine, and as soon as we entered the foyer, of the building, we were struck by the ambience, decor and the iconic zodiac logo showcasing the zodiac signs.The woman's touch is obvious, as the eyes drink in the aesthetically pleasing surroundings; including even the bathroom, which would not look out of space in a spa.   

We sat outside while we waited for the rest our party to arrive. At that time, the temperature was still warm, and there was no breeze, but we decided to stay in our spot to enjoy the view of the Jeddah’s Corniche fountain. We informed, the eager waiters that we would wait for the rest of our party, before we ordered. We were politely informed that the minimum charge would SR120pp. We were offered complimentary welcome drinks in baseless sand beach champagne glasses, another pleasant touch.

As our party was quite delayed, we ordered our drinks. After another half an hour of staring at the stunning meals displaced on the slideshow on the flat screen we decided to order, and remind the waiters that we were still waiting for the drinks. We also told them to bill 2 of our party separately as they would be leaving early. 

Once we ordered, the bread basket arrived, and we all devoured the tasty bread with its accompaniments, while the mosquitoes took to feeding on us. I suggest due to Jeddah’s weather and presence of unwelcome insect guests Zodiac should acquire some fans. Those of wearing sandals were quite distracted by the itching and decided to retreat indoors, the waiters were very understanding and refilled our bread trays and moved our drinks. The drinks however, were a bit disappointing. I ordered a fresh kiwi juice, and what I got was milky faintly green drink which tasted like coconut milk with kiwi syrup. I found the taste and appearance unexpected yet cooling, so I decided not to complain-but whatever it was it wasn’t freshly made kiwi juice. It was altered beyond recognition. Maybe they strained it and took all nutritional fibre out and then added flavour enhancers. The pina colada was a hit. One of the ladies ordered a melon juice without ice, because she was suffering from a cold, and but the waiter failed to mention that the drink would still be very cold as the melon itself was frozen! 

The main courses arrived and we all dug in. Fifteen minutes later, quite a few people were looking disappointed and playing with their food. The common complaint was blandness, and that the food had been better when they had initially opened up. The lady that had ordered a steak felt it had ‘no taste’, as well as the lady who’d ordered a simple pepperoni pizza. 

I’d ordered Chicken Polo Picante, which is grilled chicken breast with a tangy sauce served with steamed vegetables and a side of rice. I’d ordered this dish a couple times before and had been very pleased with the outcome. However, this time I felt the chef had forgotten some key spice/herb, the sauce lacked the kick, which was the reason I’d ordered it. I sampled another main, a creamy pasta dish which incorporated pasta dumpling stuffed with mashed potatoes and then baked. This dish was available with the option of being served with a tomato sauce; but the waiter forgot to ask my friend which option she wanted. It was an innovative dish, but once the novelty wore off you realised what you were eating was very heavy, and an additional ingredient was required to cut the sheer creaminess of the dish.

Another interesting main dish was the North Sea Delight. This dish included baked mashed potato stuffed with tender hammour and prawn with hint of rosemary and garlic. I think this dish although too heavy to be eaten by one person, was an ideal dish to share. It had the right combination of creaminess and zest.

Next was the fabulous gourmet dessert, the mille feuille. It was served beautifully, and was a combination of crisp layers of pastry, lush vanilla filling and freshly sliced strawberries. 

To clear our palettes we ended with the sorbet, our flavours of choice were rose, champagne, and mango. This was served with a mini-light that alternated between different fluorescent colours, illuminating the sorbet in an almost magically ethereal light. The rose flavour was divine, the champagne heavenly and the mango invigorating. 

There was a slight confusion at the time of the bill, as the waiter had forgotten to separate it as instructed but quickly made amends.

 To sum up I would say the ambience, decor, and desserts are extremely satisfying. The chef has either changed or needs some encouragement to draw on a range of herbs/ingredients to create mains that indulge the taste buds with something other than creaminess.

Price range:

Drinks from SR19

Pasta from SR 50

Steaks/Seafood SR75

Sorbet SR18

Mille fueille SR 52

The SR120 is appropriate if you plan on having a full dinner, but you will get ripped off if you just want to chill with a drink, dessert and shisha combo.

Do like my review at Jeddah's favourite foodie site Jeddah Food,  it will published shortly- I hope!

Photo credit: HS

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The Vampire Diaries Seasons 1 and 2 review - Incoherent Ramblings of a Fan

It is said that you should write about what you know, and what you are passionate about. Well, I'm definitely passionate about The Vampire Diaries, it is as close to an obsession as it can get. I have spent my summer break reading TV Fanatic's The Vampire Diaries caption contest entries and watching my favourite vampire diaries video montages on Youtube. I wasn't like this as a teen, what's wrong with me?
 I guess this is a part of my quarter life crisis?

Now let's get back to the review. When the trailers for TVD started showing although the key characters seemed unbelievably good-looking, I thought it was going to be like Twilight  (I'm not a fan), with the plot being as old as time itself: two brothers Damon Salvatore (Ian Sommerhalder) and Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley) fall in love with the same woman Katherine Petrova (Nina Dobrev) , a typical teen drama with vampires.
But wait, there is a twist-145 years later, they fall in love with the same woman or rather her doppelganger Elena. (I thought- meh, in my opinion most teen dramas these days require you to be a teen or at least have raging hormones or a similar love-life issues for you to really get in to them.)

So, one day I just turned on the TV as the show was starting. The episode was the one about Miss Mystic Falls (Se1 Ep 19) and the 'no-touch' dance between Elena and Damon completely entranced me, and by the end of the episode I wanted more!

I watched the next episodes the season finale left me breathless and I couldn't believe I had to wait the whole summer until the show returned. I'm ashamed to admit but it turned into an addiction, a guilty pleasure, my favourite vice- whatever you want to call it!

I caught up on earlier episodes, and in hindsight season 1 was a lot like Twilight, and the pace is slower, but it picks up towards mid-season, after that and pretty much all through Season 2 the pace is break-neck, and you never know who is going to be killed off..and then brought back to life-or something like it!

Those of you who grew up in the nineties- it's like Buffy but better (more eye-candy, shocking plot twists!)

Here are my favourite TVD music video montages:
Shattered (by Backstreet Boys) 


Enchanted (Owl City)

Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella, a Book Review

My latest Sophie_Kinsella read, is Twenties Girl. personally, this was just a bit disappointing, I have particularly enjoyed the Shopaholic series and her other books. This was a bit strange as the main charachter Lara, although a pretty much formulaic heroine, for Kinsella, is haunted by a ghost, of her great Aunt Sadie, and although she died at the ripe old age of 105, the ghost is a 23 year old version of Sadie! Needless to say Sadie was in her twenties in the 1920s! So, if you are a fan of this era and the glamour it represented, the book is full of quite a few 1920s fashion, make-up, lifestyle references. I think thats where it lost me. I should've known by the title but, I tend to get my decades mixed up, and am familiar up to the 50s, 40s even, but before that my interest wanes a bit.

I know, I know, the title of the book is self-explanatory, but I thought it would be a bit more.....interesting /glamourous/relatable. I had to google flapper dress, as I had a 70s style flapper in mind, only then did the first date outfit, with the feather head-dress and all make any sort of sense. Maybe its just me and my ignorance of 1920s culture.

1920s flapper dress, with fringe hemming and feathre headress, and cigarette holder!

The other thing that irked me, again this is going to sound rather shallow: I found it Aunt Sadie's tale of unrequited love and lonely retirement life especially after her stroke, rather tragic. I classify Sophie Kinsella as an excellent chick-lit writer, keeping it light and entertaining all the way, this wasn't completely so, and I had no fair warning.