AL AIN: Cycling in Al Ain Oasis

An amazing historical place to visit in the UAE. It is approx. 3000 acre and it was built to tame the desert.

Tim and I rented a bicycle for an hour to ride around the oasis rather than walking it. Honestly, you can do both and it’s massive. Around the oasis, there are museums and art galleries to stop and see.

I highly recommend you visit Al Ain Oasis, I guarantee you will have a good time.

 

ABU DHABI: Mangrove Walk

The Mangrove Park  opened earlier this year and it was built on Al Jubail Island. The gates open at 8AM and close at 5PM. So to avoid the crowd due to the Covid-19, we decided to visit the park at 8AM LOL. By the way, there is no entrance fee and food and drinks are not allowed and they have a couple coffee shops at the entrance of the park. Other than that just enjoy the walk and we recommend to visit when it is high tide.

It was a beautiful morning walk and very surreal. 

ABU DHABI: Picking Vegetables from Emirates Bio Farm

It’s a 2 hours drive from Abu Dhabi and extremely long and boring drive but it was indeed worth it. I always wanted to visit the farm and learn few things here and there. Tim and I love to plant. Especially Tim but sometimes, he doesn’t let me touch the plants.

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Anyway after driving for 2 hours straight, we finally arrived at Emirates Bio Farm at 11AM. We bought our ticket which is about AED 35 per person (approx. £ 8) and booked a farm tour for 12PM. We walked around the public area and bought cold beverages to keep us cool. We then started the tour and they made us pick our vegetables.

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Right after the tour, we had brunch at their restaurant and paid AED 90 (approx. £ 21) for a breakfast platter for two.

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We really had an amazing time and bought fresh organic vegetables from their mini supermarket and it a great place for families to visit.

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DUBAI: Road Trip to Hatta

It was February the 14th 2020, Valentines Day. When we all decided to go on a road trip to Hatta, Dubai. Hatta is known for Kayaking, Hiking and Resorts.

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Our first stop was Hatta Kayak, we all decided to go kayaking. However, Diana, Danny, Ivan and Xin Wei rented a pedal boat. We then had lunch at an Omani restaurant called ‘Tanoor Lahm Restaurant’. Our last stop was a resort and entertainment hub called ‘Wadi Hub‘. It’s developed by Meraas and we just brought our camping chairs and mats and just sat there had chai karak and enjoyed the weather.

Here are the below locations:

Hatta Kayak

 

Hatta Wadi Hub by Meraas

 

Tanoor Lahm Restaurant

Most Delicious African Cuisine

This is strictly my opinion. I have tried Moroccan, Sudanese, Egyptian, Kenyan and other few African cuisines but Ethiopian is my ultimate favourite and I’m sure a lot of people will agree.

My first Ethiopian experience was at home in UAE. Our helper was from Ethiopia and one time we went to her local restaurant and bought Injara (Ethiopian Bread) and she cooked a spicy potato stew and I immediately fell in love with Ethiopian cuisine. The first time, Tim and I had Ethiopian food was at Harlem in New York City with my friend, Marwah. Tim really enjoyed it so we tried several restaurants in U.A.E and his favourite thing about their cuisine is their famous coffee. One of the best coffees around the world.

When we had the opportunity to travel to Ethiopia, the first thing that crossed our mind was OMG!!!! We are going to have authentic Ethiopian cuisine’.

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Ethiopian Coffee

Our first day in Addis Ababa, we learnt that Ethiopian Christians fast on Wednesdays and Fridays which means they only have vegan food on those days and avoid meat. I LOVED it because I really enjoy vegan food. My favourite dish is called ‘Shiro’, it is a stew made out of chickpeas. Our first meal was ‘Wat’ which is a spread of the injera bread with lots of stews for everyone to share. Since we landed on a Friday, we had vegetarian stew and their cooked spinach was soo…. delicious.

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Wat

Tim is a meat lover and especially a red meat lover. At the age of 14 years old, I decided to become ‘pollo-pescatarian’. A person who eats only white meat. That’s why I married a white man LOL. Just Kidding. It was for health reasons and also I was never a fan of red meat anyway. When I married Tim, I tried some steaks from his plate but honestly, I couldn’t have more than a bite except in Tokyo; he begged me to eat a whole Wagyu Steak and once his step-mum cooked steak at home which I ate and it was good too but that did not convince me to like red meat. After turning 30, I decided that I want to cut down my meat intake so I starting having vegetarian or meatless meals on weekdays and eat fish or chicken on a Saturday. My family and friends found it weird but I feel happy so when I knew that Ethiopia had a variety of vegetarian and vegan dishes, I was so pleased.

Ok meat lovers, I won’t bore you. Tim’s favourite dish was ‘tibs’, meat mixed with vegetables and our tour guide told us that the meat are all organic and that I should give it a try. I had a piece and honestly, it didn’t taste fatty at all and really had a fresh taste to it. Tim also liked ‘Gored Gored’ which is a beef stew.

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For breakfast, we had ‘Fir Fir’ which is Ethiopian and Eritrean meal. It is basically made out of shredded bread, butter and Berber spice. Berber spice is the most famous spice in Ethiopia. Another breakfast meal is ‘Kinche’ similar to an oatmeal.

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Fermented Banana Bread. Technically it’s scrapped from ‘fake’ banana trees. It a tree that looks like a banana tree that does not grow bananas.

When it comes to Ethiopian beverages, all we think about is their coffee and yes, their coffee is extremely delicious. They also have a coffee ceremony.

Another famous drinks are their honey wine called ‘tej’. Ethiopia has a variety of beverages and dishes but this is what I encountered during our trip and I love it and I highly recommend it.

Let me know your favourite Ethiopian dishes.

 

 

Bellion Travels Monthly Recap: February 2020

Yeah! So much for promising more content and all. I know, I haven’t been writing or posting anything. Although, I do have 7 drafted blog posts about Ethiopia and places we visited in U.A.E.

Sorry readers, I haven’t been keeping my promises. My colleagues resigned, some went on leave and others are planning to take leave so everything was being handed over to me. I have a lot of work and that is not an excuse, I know. So I wrote a schedule and will religiously follow it to implement time management. To be able to read more, to blog and edit photos. To be able to work efficiently and head to the gym. I’m definitely working on it.

If you are wondering, NO! I’m not quarantined. I have been asked to work from the office.

Anyway enough with negativity, here is a quick update of what happened in February.

Destinations I’ve visited

  • United Arab Emirates: Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Dubai

Highlights of the month

  • Attended a Filipino Indian Wedding.
  • Went to Hatta
  • Visited the Mangrove Walk, Emirates Bio Farm and Al Ain Oasis.

I will definitely blog about those places.

What I watched?

Series:

Queen of the South

Next in Fashion

Love is Blind

Movies:

To All The Boys I Loved Before

 

To All The Boys 2: P.S I Still Love You

What music did I listen to?

 

 

What I read this month?

I’m currently reading 5 books and almost done with 3 of them.

Follow me on GoodReads.

What did I blog about?

So here is my February 2020 Recap 🙂