Pages

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Sushi Central: Amazing Sushi In Abu Dhabi

This post is long overdue. 

I went to Sushi Central's Al Khalidiya location to check out their 2 for 1 Saturday special. On Saturday's, all of their delicious dishes are buy one get one free.


I quenched my thirst with a refreshing lemon ginger drink. 

As an appetizer I went for two of my favorites, Edamame (soy beans) this time covered in chili sauce and shrimp tempura. 


For our main meal, we wanted to have a an assortment of flavors, so the waitress recommended the Takayama box.


This wonderful sushi smorgasbord, called the Takayama (ni) is comprised of various fresh sushis and rolls. 

As usual the service was impeccable with our food arriving very quickly. 

My only regret is that they do not have a branch in Al Ain. 

If you are in Abu Dhabi please check out one of Sushi Central's two locations, you will not regret it.



Thursday, October 29, 2015

Flattered

Someone told me earlier this week that I am part of the reason they are teaching in the UAE, my blog inspired. So flattered and touched. 

Saturday, October 17, 2015

I'm Still Here!

Hello readers! It has been a long time, a really long time, almost two months, yikes!  My sincerest apologies, but the good news is that I am hear and I have a fresh new post for you! 

This year my teaching load has increased, I used to teach 18 hours a week and now I teach 24, the maximum according to the Abu Dhabi Education Council is 30.   I now teach three sections of grade 8 and one section of grade 7. In grade 8, we were learning about acids and bases. In one of the classes we made a homemade indicator using red cabbage. 



We tested various household substances such as lemon juice and bleach to see how the color of the red cabbage indicator changed based on acidity.


Back in September, we had a holiday for Eid and I decided to make it a staycation,  so I went to Saadiyat Beach in Abu Dhabi with a few of my neighbors.




Lovely day at the beach. 

The staycation continued with my friend's 30th birthday. She decided to have us all dress in outfits from the 1920s and go to brunch at Jebel Saray in Dubai. In case you were wondering, I made the headpiece.


We went to brunch at the Imperium restaurant on the Palm. 




1920s theme was a hit!





Monday, August 31, 2015

Shout Outs and Birthday Shenanigans

  I just want to take a minute to give a shout out to all my readers and to everyone who has approached me in the last week that reads the blog. I am always flattered to hear that people from around the world read this blog and I am so happy to hear that I have helped so many. Special shout out to Stephanie, who approached me at Maya Island in Abu Dhabi last Friday and had so many lovely things to say. 
    School has started and it is not going so well. We are missing teachers, so the teachers that are here are overloaded. The last two years I taught 18 hours a week and now I have been bumped up to 24, I will be teaching three sections of grade 8 Science and one section of grade 7 Science. Hopefully, we will get another science teacher at our school and then we each can teach a grade. 

This past weekend I celebrated my birthday in Abu Dhabi and had an amazing time. 

  One of my coworkers husband is an artist and they know that I love art, so they gave me this piece for my birthday. 

    I had this delicious cake from Cold Stone, peanut butter and chocolate are my favorite combination.

  Went out on Thursday night to Le Royal Meridien in Abu Dhabi, the skirt I am wearing is made by the same lady that made the dress I wore to the wedding a few weeks ago, she is in Montreal. I bought this material in Tanzania. 

Friday took us to Al Maya Island.


This lovely bathing suit comes curtosy of rue107.



Thanks to all who came out! 35 is going to be a wonderful year! 



Sunday, August 23, 2015

Year Three: Resolutions and Ramblings

Hello Readers!
    Welcome and thank you for your continued support! Many teachers have told me that this blog had helped with their decision to come to the UAE, as well as facilitated their transition. I am happy that I made your move a little easier as well as entertained those of you that dream of coming to this side of the globe.
    I am back for my third year in the UAE. I am older, wiser and have a better idea of what to expect this time around.  I always try and set personal intentions at the beginning of the school year in various parts of my life and I would like to share those with you.

Travel:
  
I want to continue to explore this beautiful planet and fill my travel cup with as many experiences as possible. This year I am looking into the following locations; Sri Lanka, Netherlands, Turkey, Japan and maybe Ethiopia.
 
Next summer I would love to do a two or three week your of Europe backing my way through locations that I have yet to visit.

Academic:

I am half way done grad school and am pleased with my successes so far. By this time next year I should be finished my Masters in educational Technology. 

Personal:

To continue to make myself the best person I can be. Talk less, listen more. Improve my health by dropping some of these lbs and maintain the relationships that help me grow and severe the ties that do not. I truly believe that I am a mirror and that I attract what I put out. I would love to meet someone who not only is a reflection of myself, but compliments the person that I am. I would love to go on more dates and meet more people.

Work:

Improve what I can and let go of what I cannot. 

To all the teachers reading this, I wish you the best of luck, have a wonderful year!

Saturday, August 22, 2015

Summer Vacay 2015: Part II

   This was my outfit for the second wedding I attended this summer. I was so happy that I got to see so many of my high school friends. 


Over 20 years of friendship in this picture! 

   I also turned 35 this summer (I know, I don't look a day over 26), my friends from Toronto sent me these lovely balloons. I also received an edible arrangement of chocolate covered pineapples. 


And some lovely flowers.


For my birthday I wanted to try an escape room, these activities are coming very popular. You have an hour to 'escape' the scenario, using clues in the room. Our room was a medieval prison, sadly we didn't get out, but I had a great time and I would do it again. There is one in Dubai called Challenge Chambers and I definitely want to try it out. 


After the escape room, went to eat at Diablo Smokehouse on St-Laurent in Montreal. 



Yummy drinks, the glasses were so cute.


My friends and I ordered this mixed plate:  pulled pork, brisket, fried chicken, pork and beef ribs and cornbread. Everything tastes delicious. My only complaint was the cornbread could have tasted better, I found it dry. 


My friend made a delicious cake!


Sunday, I went to Passé Composé, a well known breakfast place in the plateau. I had montreal's signature breakfast, smoked salmon, cream cheese on a bagel. This one also had panko covered avocado, yummmmmm. 


I had a wonderful birthday and now it is time to celebrate in the UAE!!



Summer 2015 --Part 1


   I am currently on the plane heading to Geneva, Switzerland. I am heading back to the UAE for my third year. Time passes so fast, I cannot believe that two years have already passed. This summer was a fantastic one, let me give you a glance into what I did. 

   Montreal is known for its summer festivals, one of those festivals is the Just For Laughs comedy festival. This summer, I took advantage and went to not one or two shows, but FOUR! I saw Jane Lynch and Wanda Sykes as well as Kevin Hart.


 I also went to the Nasty Show; which is at midnight and features all types of raunchy jokes. To our surprise Louise C.K. showed up. 


Sushi is also a must when I am in Montreal! 



My good friend E got married this summer and the wedding was fantastic. E's parents are from Ghana and her husband is Ugandan and Cote Ivorian. So I decided to get an African print dress made with fabric that a friend had brought from Ghana a few years ago. 

I had my makeup done by M.A.C. 


The wedding was held at the Montreal Science Centre in the Old Port, sunning venue.

Sushi at the cocktails were served in individual spoons. 


   Many of us attending the wedding are Instagram fiends, so they had a #ashtag (see what I did there), for us to tag our pictures, it was genius because you got to see he wedding from various perspectives. Also, the bride and groom did not have time to take pictures and it was a chance for them to have a look at pets of the wedding they may not have seen. 

As my mom says, 'No rest for the wicked'.  The day after the wedding I went up to Tremblant (about an hour and a half north of Montreal), for my other friend's bachelorette. Seven of us rented a cottage for two nights and we're going to the spa for one of the days.


The spa called the Scadinave was amazing. They have a strict silence policy so you cannot being in cell phones and you cannot talk (we were shushed). 


We played games, I must admit that Catss Against Humanity is my new favourite game. 









Friday, July 31, 2015

The UAE is Safe

I am a little tired of being 'told' that the UAE is not safe. The UAE is the safest place I have ever lived (besides Japan) and I am never worried about my safety. The situation in the United States of America is volatile. Even here in Canada there are times when my heart begins to race when I think I am being pulled over by police. I have never felt this is the UAE. Don't worry about us, we are really good. No really. 

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Summer Vacay!

Just a super quick post. Congrats to all the next teachers that are heading to Abu Dhabi, I know some of you are heading out Aug. 6. I wish you all the best and if you have any question, put them in the comments and I will try and answer them or you can hit me up on Twitter @misshaneefa.

I have been enjoying my time in Montreal, went to see Kevin Hart last Friday part of his 'What Now' tour. He is hilarious! 


Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer! 

Thursday, July 9, 2015

Twitter Chat!

I know many of you got your tickets to come to Abu Dhabi, congrats! If you have questions, I have answers come to the Twitter chat on Sunday at 8 pm eastern time. Use the hashtag #askhaneefa.

@misshaneefa 

See you then! 

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Year 2 Recap


Hello lovely readers!

I know have been away for too long, but I am back and that is what really matters, right??

A huge thank you to everyone that reads the blog and emails me. I love giving advice and helping you in anyway that I can.  

I wanted to recap year two and take a look back at my second year in the UAE.

September:

 I went to my first emirati wedding and was blown away at the gradure. I also started my Masters in Educational Technology. 


October: 

My first trip to Africa! Spent my 8 hour layover in Nairobi, Kenya and got to experience an African Safari, I saw lions, zebras and antilopes on the open plane. This was a stop on my way to Zanzibar, the most beautiful beach I have ever seen. 


December: 

My parents came to visit for two weeks, I also went to India for Christmas vacation. 


January: 

All dressed up to head out to celebrate my friends birthday. 


February: 

Attended Al Ain's first ever food truck festival, ate a camel slider and loved it. 

April:

I travelled to the Dead Sea in Jordan for Spring Break!



May:

Went to Ajman (another of the seven emirates) with some of my girl friends.


June:
   Two of my friends from Canada came to visit.


As per usual a fantastic year!