Watch meet art

Swatch have recently launched a special Art Journey Collection, where one of the watches is featuring two artworks from the collection of Louvre Abu Dhabi. This special Swatch x Louvre Abu Dhabi watch is inspired by The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai, and our beautiful astrolabe from the 18th century; and it is presented at the moment in a special cubicle under the dome.

Once you go inside, you will be introduced to this Swatch watch, beautifully displayed, with a nice "soundtrack" of smashing waves creating a bit of an immersive experience in there.

Here you get a closer look at the watch. The underside is etched with the impression of the astrolabe by Ibn Ahmad Al-Battuti, where the projection of a night sky is adding a touch of UAE heritage to the design. The front is showing off the crashing waves of the famous woodprint, and the classic prussian blue waves continue down the strap as well.

This special edition watch is now for sale in the gift shop at the museum, for a limited time only. I find it really beautiful, but I will not buy one, as I only wear my trusty Apple Watch. But what a great gift for someone who enjoys special watches, or art!

Valgerand

On Thursday I joined a dinner event with SwedishLadies, out at Mamsha. I had worked all day, so it suited me really well, just to drive 3 minutes over there after work to have dinner.
We met up at the apartment of one of the ladies for a sundowner before dinner. She had a fantastic corner apartment with the most amazing view all over the Soul Beach. Oaw!

The dinner was organised at the fairly newly opened Nordic restaurant Valgerand. Valgerand is a white beach in Estonia, turns out that the chef was Estonian.

He was so excited to have us there, ha ha! He had prepared a very special set menu for our group, and it was really thought through. A mix of many different Nordic cuisines and traditions. We started with some wine and cheese (not me, as I was driving), and some dips:

For entree, we had three different smørrebrød, a rösti with gravlax, homemade dark rye bread with cured salmon and a white toast with Skagen. Mmm!

The chefs special deviled eggs:

We were all so so full at this stage already, so we were happy to see that he brought us special baby portions of the main course, which of course was - meatballs.

Every course that came brought on huge applause from the ladies, ha ha! For dessert, he made us a 'kladdkaka' (a gooey cake), a super traditional Swedish dessert that everyone has their own version of.

We even got surprised with some 'Ahlgrens bilar', he sure knew how to make us happy!

We had a great evening! They blasted out ABBA on the speakers, and after we had eaten all that food, some of the ladies felt the need to shake it all down and started a bit of a dance party next to our table. I don't think the Valgerand crew really knew what hit them, ha ha! Great fun!

Metamorphosis

It's the time of the year where I usually, as my friend Anna labeled it, "go through a metamorphosis". Previous to working at the museum, the low season that starts now used to give me tons of time to fill, and nearly every year I would start a new fitness project.

New year, old me!
I don't have the same amount of endless time now, as I keep working at the museum all through until the summer holiday, but - I am still using these spring months to change my focus a little bit, and really concentrate on my well-being, in many different ways.

For example, I finally (after five months here) made it down to the gym!
We have many gyms here in the neighbourhood, one in every block, so all I need to do is take the elevator down into the parking garage to find one. I've just preferred to be outside in the good weather until now, and go for walks etc. Now as it's getting warmer, I'll be spending more time in this gym.

It is a very nice gym. All the machines you need, and also an area with loose weights and other equipment. The treadmill was very advanced, I found myself walking "in Rome"! Fun!

I'm not a very strong cook, nor do I enjoy to cook. Cooking is indeed a bit of a struggle for me, but I'm trying! This week I had a few days in a row at the museum, so I tried something new and prepared some 'salad jars' in advance to bring along. Easy peasy really, and just look at what a lovely colourful lunch I then got to enjoy while at work.

Beautiful birthday brunch

I love my Thermomix machine, and I use it daily - but I don't use as well as my friend Karin; she is a true domestic goddess! She also happens to be my Thermomix consultant, and I always gets inspired when she has been cooking up a storm with her machine.

This week she had organised a small gathering for a belated birthday brunch at her house. We had the most gorgeous food, almost all prepared or cooked in the Thermomix.

Dips, fresh bread, shakshuka, fruit crumble, salads and other things. Mmm! What a lovely morning!

Tribal street dance under the dome

I worked on the weekend and while there wasn't many tours booked because it was Eid weekend, there was a few different happenings at museum that I got to enjoy. 

For example there was three different dance performances to celebrate. Pop-up performances of African dance, Breakdance and Khaleeji dance - all performed to the beat of drums only.

Even though it was the same dance crew performing all three dances, they had completely different outputs and vibes. The common theme was the sound of the drums, that were used to show the connection between continents, cultures and generations. It was very cool.

The performances drew huge crowds! And of course, as always, using the museum buildings and the dome as the backdrop and the stage, is a success!

Dance - a universal language.

Interesting Indian lunch

We had one day at the mall together, and had aimed to go down to the fountains for lunch at my favourite Burgerfuel. But unfortunately, since I had been there last - it was closed down! Booo!

So, we looked around and decided to discover something new, and went to an Indian restaurant situated right under Ferrari World.
We quickly realised they only served one thing, a set menu, or thali.

There wasn't many people there, so we were really looked after, by an army of servers, each bringing different things. We started with a small plate of dahl, together with rice bread and sauces:

Then it was time for the thali itself, which is a big, round plate on which the food is served.

The roti and the other breads were placed in the center of the plate, and then we got a huge selection of curries, gravies and chutneys to enjoy it with. It was all vegetarian, and so yum.

There was also four different kind of rice, in different bowls:

Then as we thought we were done, in came some "dessert", in the shape of this little platter. A bit confusing for us, until we saw other diners take a spoonful of these sweets in the palm of their hand, and chuck it into their mouth. Ah! Ok, why not, tasted a bit like liquorice.

Such a nice new discovery, I will go back for sure!

"I love your machines!"

Having Pia visit so often this 'season' has meant she's not really here as a guest, more like family. Ha ha, I've spent more time with her than with any of my friends here really, even though she lives in another country!
I so enjoy when she's here, because we like doing the same things. We work well together in the kitchen for example, and this week we planned all the dinners together. A few years back she ended up buying a Thermomix after having used mine while she was here for a few weeks.
This time, she wanted to try to make homemade pasta, and I so happened to have another machine to play with!

Even though I love my Thermomix and I use it daily, there are a few things it can't do. For example, roll out pasta dough. I bought this pasta attachment for my KitchenAid during the Covid lockdown, for the family cookouts. To be honest, we haven't used it a lot since then, but now I'm thinking I should! It is SO easy, and super delicious! Look at this beautiful meal we prepared:

Ramadan nights

It was the last few days of Ramadan while Pia was here, and we just had time to go do a proper Iftar at one of the hotels, before Eid kicked in. We picked the Marriott at Al Forsan, as I had read good reviews about that one, and we were not disappointed.

A true feast for the eyes, as well as for the bellies! So. Much. Food.

I wore my new cream white trousers, and top, I had bought in Sweden. Brave, I know, but I managed to keep clean all night without spilling anything! Yay me!

Dinner in Al Qana

For dinner we decided to discover another new area that Pia didn't know, the Al Qana district. I had also only been there to visit the National Aquarium, had never visited in the evening.
We went for a walk along the canal, and then we picked a restaurant that was almost completely full, to have dinner. We were lucky enough to get a table with great views, and got to enjoy fabulous food. Pia is a big fan of 'Mixed Grill', so this was right down her alley.

It turned out to be a hit! They had a set Ramadan menu, and just kept bringing more and more food..!
We ate and ate - after we had heard the Ramadan canons go off from the SZGM - and it was only 89 AED for the whole meal, bargain!

Al Qana, just like many other areas of Abu Dhabi, looks even better in the evening with all the lights turned on. We had a nice walk back to the car after our dinner.