For Christmas this year I decided to have my own party. Actually, this is the first time I have had a party EVER!
HAM! Yes, ham is a big, traditional Christmas Eve dinner. Although this is a Muslim county, ham is available if you know where to look. There is a store that has a huge sign when you walk in that reads: HAM NOT FOR MUSLIMS! So, I picked out a nice honey-baked Belgian ham all for the bargain price of...$75.00 WOW!
Armed with my old school meets new school Christmas tree (retro silver tree with fiber-optic lights), my ham, wine and some Pictionary...we had a great time!
On Christmas Day my new friend, Thomas, and I made the trek to Abu Dhabi to see the world's most expensive Christmas tree. We drove 2 hours to Emirates palace and noticed a huge line of cars that were being turned away. When the guards got to our car, they asked us if we had a reservation. Uh no. He said there are a lot of people from all over to see the tree, so unless you have a reservation...sorry, you ain't gettin' in.
I pulled over down the street and called Emirates Palace. For 200Dhms. you can get a special tour. Uh no. So, to make a long story short, I mad a dinner reservation at the Italian restaurant in the hotel, drove back, and when the guard asked me if I had a reservation, I could proudly say, "Why yes I do!"
We got right in. I was shocked to see no more people there than on any other given day. Maybe it was a security issue due to the expensive tree. Anyway, we walked around for a bit and took a couple of pictures. We actually went down to the Italian restaurant, but when we saw that soup was 60Dhms...we left and went home.
Some facts about the world's most expensive Christmas tree:
1- Valued at almost 11 million dollars.
2- It holds a total of 181 diamonds, pearls, emeralds, sapphires and other precious stones of necklaces,earrings and other jewelery draped over its branches.
3- The 13-meter fake evergreen tree is located in the hotel’s lobby, and is worth about $10,000.
When we returned to Al Ain, Thomas invited me to his pad for some traditional:German Fire Tong Bowl (Feurerzangenbowle)
2 bottles dry red wine
1 cup granulated sugar
8 cloves
1 long slice of orange peel
2 slices lemon
1 lemon
1 orange
1/2 lb. loaf sugar
1 cup rum, brandy or arrack, heated
Combine wine, granulated sugar, cloves, orange peel, lemon and fruit juices in an enameled saucepan and heat for 10 minutes but do not boil. Pour into a heated heavy punch bowl. Place a pair of fire tongs across the top of the bowl, and on these set the loaf sugar moistened with some brandy or rum. Ignite the remaining brandy or rum and pour flaming over sugar until all sugar has melted into the punch.
Oh and we ate pizza with it!
HAM! Yes, ham is a big, traditional Christmas Eve dinner. Although this is a Muslim county, ham is available if you know where to look. There is a store that has a huge sign when you walk in that reads: HAM NOT FOR MUSLIMS! So, I picked out a nice honey-baked Belgian ham all for the bargain price of...$75.00 WOW!
Armed with my old school meets new school Christmas tree (retro silver tree with fiber-optic lights), my ham, wine and some Pictionary...we had a great time!
On Christmas Day my new friend, Thomas, and I made the trek to Abu Dhabi to see the world's most expensive Christmas tree. We drove 2 hours to Emirates palace and noticed a huge line of cars that were being turned away. When the guards got to our car, they asked us if we had a reservation. Uh no. He said there are a lot of people from all over to see the tree, so unless you have a reservation...sorry, you ain't gettin' in.
I pulled over down the street and called Emirates Palace. For 200Dhms. you can get a special tour. Uh no. So, to make a long story short, I mad a dinner reservation at the Italian restaurant in the hotel, drove back, and when the guard asked me if I had a reservation, I could proudly say, "Why yes I do!"
We got right in. I was shocked to see no more people there than on any other given day. Maybe it was a security issue due to the expensive tree. Anyway, we walked around for a bit and took a couple of pictures. We actually went down to the Italian restaurant, but when we saw that soup was 60Dhms...we left and went home.
Some facts about the world's most expensive Christmas tree:
1- Valued at almost 11 million dollars.
2- It holds a total of 181 diamonds, pearls, emeralds, sapphires and other precious stones of necklaces,
3- The 13-meter fake evergreen tree is located in the hotel’s lobby, and is worth about $10,000.
When we returned to Al Ain, Thomas invited me to his pad for some traditional:German Fire Tong Bowl (Feurerzangenbowle)
2 bottles dry red wine
1 cup granulated sugar
8 cloves
1 long slice of orange peel
2 slices lemon
1 lemon
1 orange
1/2 lb. loaf sugar
1 cup rum, brandy or arrack, heated
Combine wine, granulated sugar, cloves, orange peel, lemon and fruit juices in an enameled saucepan and heat for 10 minutes but do not boil. Pour into a heated heavy punch bowl. Place a pair of fire tongs across the top of the bowl, and on these set the loaf sugar moistened with some brandy or rum. Ignite the remaining brandy or rum and pour flaming over sugar until all sugar has melted into the punch.
Oh and we ate pizza with it!
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