Tag: Muay Thai

Celebrating cuisine that’s just as spicy as moi

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My favourite Thai dish in KL was nasi Pattaya….which is fried rice wrapped in thin omelette. In Dubai its everything on the Sukothai menu 🙂

Last Saturday, I made a supreme effort to get out of my pyjamas end of day to catch up with my cool friends from The Tourism Authority of Thailand at Dusit Dubai as they launched the “Amazing Taste of Thailand Festival 2012”. I don’t normally sacrifice my weekend for ordinary people or events but I love everything about Thailand and the people from Thailand have become some of my closest friends here so I was there in all my glory…. I love the country, got married there after a crazy weekend trip from KL (in Hatyai with a few weeks in Krabi), love the food, love the spas, love Muay Thai, love shopping in Bangkok, love the people of Pattaya and the list goes on.

Basically I was invited since everyone from the Thai Embassy, the Thai spas know how dedicated I am to my food and massage sessions and they are very right. In a nutshell, the month-long festival is until 7th July 2012,during which time diners at 13- participating restaurants will have the opportunity to win gift vouchers and a number of exciting prizes including a trip to Bangkok with Thai Airways.

“The Amazing Taste of Thailand” launch event was co-hosted by the Dusit Thani, Dubai and Thai Airways and began with a welcome speech from H.E. Mr. Somchai Charanasomboon, Ambassador of Royal Thai Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the ever so dynamic Wisoot Buachoom, Director of Tourism Authority of Thailand.

There were also two performances of traditional Thai dancing, fruit carving demonstrations and live cooking stalls where the 13 participating restaurants show cased their individual specialist Thai cuisine. The restaurants participating in the “Amazing Taste of Thailand Food Fest 2012” include Benjarong, Blue Elephant, Pai Thai, Sukhothai, Spice Emporium, Ban Khun Mae, The Kitchen of Thai, Shang Thai, Thai Chi, The Royal Buddha, Chimes, The Thai Kitchen in Dubai and the Taste Restaurant in Fujairah.

The ‘Thainess’, which is at the heart of Thai hospitality permeates across all of Thailand, from amazing beaches and natural environment to culinary expertise. Thai cuisine is a key element of ‘Amazing Thailand’ and the ingredients used, the various herbs and spices together with cooking methods is all part of the essence of Thailand.

Looks like the next few weeks are going to be a culinary adventure for me and anyone who wants to be in my company for meals….can you stomach the spiciness levels of this diva?

Going back to Muay Thai

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Apart from getting married in Thailand + loving Thai food and spa sessions, 5 years ago I developed a fascination for Muay Thai thanks to my ex-boss who introduced me to the National Muay Thai Team of the UAE who were about to leave for a International Championship in Thailand. (Who can forget the gorgeous Scorpion). After learning more about the sport from the Thai General Consul, I ventured to a few classes armed with gloves and guard to the nearby gym.

Like many things, I delved into it briefly as I normally do because I have a zest for life and believe in trying out anything that remotely fascinates me…I see it more as a learning experience than as a been there done that sort of thing. Anyway, I changed jobs, became a workaholic and my physical exercise sessions, travel for culture, dance etc became a thing of the past.

More recently I realised that I was becoming a boring person…last year I actually felt someone close to me behind the scenes preferred fun times with other people as all I was about was work and on assessment I realised it was true. I was too busy to take care of myself physically, emotionally, mentally etc and promised to throw myself into interesting things after work to get my energy levels up again and become balanced. Now that I’ve completed my bellydancing, Muay Thai is back in my books as my next big thing.

Last night after a particularly difficult day, I met with Dennis at Safa Park for my training – he put me through the paces with a quick run and sprint (I was breathless after) before we started on the jabs, crosses & hooks. It brought back memories of how I used to be so grounded and balanced on my feet before as yesterday I was out of my depth. It took an hour before I could go back to the levels I was 5 years ago and I was tired. Where I got the energy to pick my daughter up and go see friends at Bussola afterwards, I have no idea. But my daughter was adamant about seeing my friend Leila despite it being near 10.30pm so I gave in.

I was yawning on the way home and learnt that if a sport keeps you grounded, disciplined and keeps you healthy, don’t give it up. Another mistake I hope to correct this week amongst many others I made over the last few years!