If We Were Having Coffee… 10th December
If we were having coffee, I’d suggest that we walk to one of the cafes that are near our hotel here and select the one that has outdoor seating. We have been passing through these cafes every day and I quite like the stylish yet simple ambience of the cafes lining the busy road. I like the quiet on the roads despite traffic and people going in and out of the big brand stores, cafes and offices. The weather is perfect for sitting outside with that hot cup of coffee. Yes, the winters have officially arrived here in Kuwait. So, how have you been? Hope you had a wonderful week.
If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I am not missing home as far as the food is concerned. I have seen that meal time at a new place can be thrilling and it can be downright frightening as well. Though I have strong preferences about my food but I am willing to try almost any new food at least once. So, I am missing no opportunity to eat the Kuwaiti and Arabic dishes for I believe that the best way to learn about a place is to eat your way through! I quite like the shawarmas, fatayer lahme, kuboos and hummus, warak enab, katayef and a variety of meat kebabs and sweet dishes. But I do like coming back to our Indian food. The pastas, lasagne, sandwiches, shawarmas are great to eat but are not our comfort foods. Thanks to the Chefs in our hotel, there’s roti, dal and subzi on our plates.
Recently, we were at an Indian joint and we just went crazy eating chaat, gol guppe, idli, dosa, aloo paranthas, chhole bhature, dhokla and much more. Because we were a group of 7 people, so we could order everything in sight!! It was such fun gorging on all these things which we were seeing after a long time. It was like being at home in a foreign land. Can you believe that in all the hullabaloo of seeing the food we love, I almost forgot to click pictures. The realization to take pics for the blog dawned on me pretty late!
If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I am on a reading spree and quite enjoying it. Oh, that’s also because I have to race against time to complete my Book Reading Challenge 2016 . Of the 6 book reading challenges, I am on track for 5. I am lagging behind on the Goodreads 2016 Reading Challenge where I had planned to read 150 books this year. I still have to read 41 books by December 31st. And that’s nearly 2 books per day. Seems difficult, but I am giving it my best shot.
If we were having coffee, what would you share with me? Tell me, tell me, I am all ears!
Linking this to #weekendcoffeeshare
December 11, 2016 2:30 pm|
All that food looks drool worthy. Are you in Kuwait for work reasons? And, wow so many reading challenges! And, look at me, I’m hardly reading these days..
December 11, 2016 7:42 pm|
Oh, it tasted yum too. Yes, I am in Kuwait for work. It’s been almost 20 days since we are here and another 18 days to go 🙂
You are writing!! Loved your post on maid woes, Uma 🙂
May 8, 2017 9:28 pm|
We had the Bunny till I accidently ran over an ear with the vacuum. Then we decided to send it back to Fisher Price because of a recall and the melted mangled ear.
December 11, 2016 2:34 pm|
Lovely new experiences. I can imagine the love for home food in an alien land. Don’t bother about pictures when having fun. Enjoy the stay and have a coffee for me too.
December 11, 2016 7:39 pm|
Oh, you must have seen our table that day. We were acting like starved kids. Thankfully the restaurant staff did not throw us away for I am sure they must be seeing such scenes pretty often! Thanks Lata, you have a great time too 🙂
December 11, 2016 2:49 pm|
Please try the arabian sweet baklava if you get the chance… you will fall in love!
41 books before the end of this year.. seriously? 😀
As for interesting things, well on my last duty night at the hospital, I ended up sharing my cramped duty room with a civet that snuck in via the semi-open ceiling of the room (situated on the 6th floor). Scary as hell till it got bored watching me stare at it in the dark and climbed back up and out the roof.
December 11, 2016 7:37 pm|
Oh, I have had Baklava and I ♥ it!!
41 books… well, it’s possible… see what I found… http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/22/short-story-read_n_4220181.html 😀
I think this will help me catch up 😉
Civet? OMG!! That would beat the living daylights out of me. How did it get there?
December 11, 2016 4:30 pm|
Wow! All that food made me go weak in the knees! 😛
I love trying out different recipes (veg only). And, from the looks of it you seem to be having an awesome time there, Shilpa! Enjoy!
150 books in a year? 41 books remaining? Wow! You sound like a human library! Hahaha! It must be such fun, reading books of varied genres, one after the other!
Great going, Shilpa! <3
I always enjoy having coffee with you; get to hear so much from you! 🙂
December 11, 2016 7:25 pm|
i think you are right that a big part of knowing a place is eating local foods. I haven’t been to the middle east, but I like the foods I’ve tried from there. Unfortunately there isn’t a lot of choice in my area. One of my cats is a rescue from Kuwait City. It’s a long story (if you’re curious you can search “Kuwait” on my blog). Anyway, whenever we have a lamb dish or use certain spices he goes crazy. I assume it reminds him of home. Thinking of home, I’m glad you found places to get good Indian food.
Have a great week!
December 11, 2016 7:56 pm|
Well, the Middle East is almost a second Indian home when it comes to food, I reckon. Plus you have a variety of options too. As someone who grew up there, I can vouch for that.
But yes, you do miss ‘ghar ka khana’ at times.
As for if we were having coffee, I’d probably bore you to death with some health concerns that I was going through. Well, hopefully t hings will be okay for next round of coffee with Shilpa 🙂
December 11, 2016 11:38 pm|
I too would have all those Indian dishes on my table daily if I had a chef. My dad went briefly to Kuwait..he was a petroleum engineer. All that selection of cuisines, and the weather sounds appealing to me. 🙂
December 12, 2016 1:43 am|
The snow we have earlier is still around in patches. I thought after the rain we had it would gone. Interesting experience working in another country. Enjoy it. We had civret cat and her family spend the winter in our actic. We had been over run with mice. They clear out the mice..
December 12, 2016 4:26 am|
How wonderful that you are getting to try different foods! I am always wanting to try different foods but don’t have the opportunity too often. Lucky you!
December 12, 2016 6:19 am|
The food looks amazing! What an experience and a great way to get to know a new place. Enjoy!
December 12, 2016 11:53 am|
If we were having coffee Shilpa – I’d tell you that your idea “the best way to learn about a place is to eat your way through!”, is an excellent one :)… good luck with the book reading 🙂
December 12, 2016 4:47 pm|
Your reading goals have always left me baffled… I am sure you will create a record of your own.
Oh the chats… I have been dying to eat some spicy pani pooris and chole nature since weeks… yeah it’s good to have a big group. You can try a lot of dishes.
December 12, 2016 7:07 pm|
I have yet to taste and eat the food you have described! Looking forward to travel one of these days. Lucky of you to work in a place and enjoy the food too. What a feat for your reading challenge. I’m doing it for the first time next month, so good luck to me.
December 13, 2016 9:03 pm|
You seem to be having such an adventurous time Shilpa. Looking forward to more pictures from you. And my God you’re a reader! I pledged to read 30 books this year and am behind by one I think. Phew!
December 15, 2016 9:59 am|
Shilpa, it is nice to find Indian food in a foreign land but when in Rome do as Romans do 🙂 You are right, to know a place, sample their food. May you have a great time in Kuwait and eat lots of exotic food…
December 15, 2016 11:57 am|
Glad u found a home away from home Shilpa. Food is something that connects us with many things in life. Home our people and even childhood…
And wow u have progressed on ur reading challenge
December 15, 2016 2:34 pm|
IF we are having Coffee, I would tell you about the Big Love Mistake of my Life and then cry into my tissue and order another double Latte’.
December 15, 2016 2:35 pm|
Did you watch (not read) my Post on Funny Babies Memes ? You pick the Funniest Pic and I’ll tell you something about your personality.
December 16, 2016 11:39 am|
If we were having coffee together, I’d shamelessly flick that yummy looking pani puri off your plate and finish it off before you could say ‘stop’!!
December 19, 2016 12:28 pm|
If I was having coffee with you; I would tell about my latest dream and how it made me so happy; dosa, wada any day is good for me; and I must tell you that you truly are a superwoman 🙂 your reading challenges are mind blowing …. hopefully I must take some inspirations from you, thanks for sharing shilpa, you are simply fascinating !!
May 8, 2017 9:37 pm|
What about the fact that the gravity of a mass has negative energy associated with it…namely -mc^2?Wait, what? That means that mass can appear out of nothing with it’s gravitational field balancing it out – the total energy is zero!In fact physicists reckon the total energy of the universe IS zero (providing it’s flat) and therefore could easily come out of nothing.