The Celsius has dropped a few degrees this week, down from 46 to about 39 C today - and a pleasant breeze bonus. The temporary cooler weather put me in the mood for some walking.
I invited my friend Rodney to join me today in a walk to Madinat Zayed Shopping Center. Madinat Zayed Shopping Center is one of the larger, older malls in Abu Dhabi and one neither of us had visited. We fueled up with some coffee first before starting our walk. Coffee finished, we headed for the Corniche. The paved route along the Corniche is an easy walk, no traffic my friends, and hardly anyone was out there this morning.
Madinat Zayed Shopping Center
According to my map at home, our destination was off of Lulu street, next to Zayed the 2nd street. Looked like an easy walk on the map. Without going into details, after a bottle of water, and a wrong turn, we made it to Madinat Zayed Center- a little hot and sweaty, but we made it. The extensive use of thick concrete on the exterior, tells you this is one of the older Abu Dhabi malls. It was a relief to step inside out of the heat. It's cooler today, but not that cool.
I suppose we all have preconceptions of what a place "should" be like - people, customs, food and shopping. Madinat Zayed Center is what I thought Abu Dhabi malls would be like. That is, an older building with many small shops selling abayas, sandals, scarves, perfume, watches, cell phones, ball gowns, and various home essentials. There's also an Abu Dhabi Co-op inside the mall (grocery). This looks like the place to pick out some items with a Middle East flavor.
A New Pair of Sandals
Almost immediately, we found a shop with an array of leather sandals. What the heck, let's check it out. We walked into the "Al Jazeera Trading Est." to check out the goods.
This is where I tell you that I've not been happy with the sandals I purchased for 199 dirhams at Marina Mall a few weeks ago (ouch, dang blisters). Finding a new pair of comfortable sandals was on my to-do list. Finding a good pair of sandals should be easy in Abu Dhabi. Almost everyone wears sandals here - if you are Muslim, they are easy to take on and off at the Mosque and prayer rooms.
The young gentleman who greeted us, "Welcome, my friends, my friends..." was indeed friendly, helpful, and eager to sell some sandals. Yes, I did find a pair of sandals. The sandals I bought are branded "Alonso" they are made for the UAE (in the UAE?) and I'm told are very popular. I'll know in a couple of days if I made a good purchase - priced at 175 dirhams, he sold them to me for 150 dirhams "So you'll come back my friend".
These are the sandals I bought - good price, and comfortable.
Al Jazeera Trading Est.
Phone: 02-6348422
Madinat Zayed Shopping Center
PO Box 3032
Shop No. 64,65
Abu Dhabi, UAE
Rodney and I kept exploring downstairs and upstairs. The mall shoppers were mostly women in Abayas, and a few men sitting at the cafes and Internet kiosks. Oh, I should mention, there are several shops selling watches, and some of the shops have hawkers trying to get you to buy fake Rolex's and other cheap watches "watches, watches, Rolex for you.." we passed on the watches. Another item I should tell you about is the gold jewelery. Yes, Madinat Zayed Shopping Center sells gold jewelry. If you can't find your gold here, head up a block to Hamdan Center - plenty of gold shops there. What we did not find here was a decent place for lunch.
Curry House
Hungry, and on the search for food, we walked back towards the Corniche and saw, "The Curry House" on Electra Street. Rodney said he saw it recommended in "Time Out Abu Dhabi". Curry sounded good to me. I ordered the Chicken Curry and Butter Naan with a cup of mint tea. It was a freaking delicious curry, just spicy enough to leave a touch of residual heat, the sizable portion of buttered naan helped me scoop out the last of the curry sauce - ooooh, so good, and just the right amount - rice not needed, it would have left me too full. Freaking great lunch - we grabbed take away menus - they deliver! I'm ordering in tonight.
The Curry House
Phone: 02-6328860
Fax: 02-6328861
Behind Janata Bank,
Electra Street, Abu Dhabi, UAE
After our morning walk, lunch, plus the leg work in the gym yesterday, we both felt a taxi ride home was an excellent idea. On the drive back, Rodney had the taxi driver go past a tailor shop he recommended to me. For about 600+ dirhams, the tailor will custom make a suit for you, you pick the material and color of your choice (better material = bigger price). Rodney has his own suit on the way. This fall I'm going to stop by and have a tailored suit made for me. Pretty neat day.
update #1: Well, we ordered from the Curry House - proves that the food is almost always better at the restaurant than delivered. The food was good, I have chicken curry and rice left-over for my lunch tomorrow. But it was much better at the restaurant.
update #2: The humidity returned tonight. I went out around 7 pm tonight, and the heavy, hot, humidity has returned. Thankfully we had a great walk in the morning. The heat is back.
update #3: Also had a great conversation with my friend Mohamed. He's originally from the Sudan, but worked in the States these last 12 years. Great guy, great perspective and a pleasure to talk with. I try to keep myself open to making new friends. And the grape shisha was good tonight too.
update #4: The left-over chicken curry made for a great lunch.
update#5: The new sandals are working out and proving comfortable. Maybe I should buy one more pair, fancy ones with some bling, in black?
"M'a sa-laama-a" (go with peace).
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