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  • Taif through the eyes of Nanay Aurea

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    First road trip for 2015 ..the long winding road going to Taif, Saudi Arabia with an elevation of 1,879 m on the slopes of  Al sarawat mountains. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ta’if

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    nanay aurea

    This is also  Nanay Aurea first road trip outside Jeddah. Our plan was just to have an early sunrise breakfast to our favourite “sand dune” but decided to go further and have lunch At Al Shifa mountain.

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    A breezy morning to unwind, as we ascended to the mountain, Nanay aurea was quiet for some time, wondering whether the road has an end. At times, she asked questions like..why there are so many tires on the road? In the Philippines old car tires can be reuse and recycle to a flower pot holder, a swing ,chairs and table etc.She was murmuring “marami nang manginginabang sa atin nito” a lot of people will earn from these old tires. In unity, we all nodded our heads.

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    Dongyan of Sand dune

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    Once we passed by police check point, she readily took out her passport and got worried that her visa is only in Jeddah 🙂 to our amusement we told her, her deportation back home is imminent 🙂 hehehe of course not!

    Her amazement of how the road was constructed  echoed on how  hard it is for her to relate the story to her friends back home. 🙂 me too Nanay Aurea ..I share your sentiments 🙂 I took a lot of pictures and I can’t decide which one to upload. Alas! I choose candid street photos! Alright friends..don’t roll your eyes on me!

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    Taif is also famous for agricultural products like pomegranate, grapes and other fruits. There are also baboons on the street in which tourist have fun feeding them..oh wait! the last time I know they only eat banana but now they also eat arabic bread!  huh? oh yes!

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    baboons in Al Hada

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    Rock climbing anyone?

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    house in the middle of the mountain

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    What about lunch? Chicken grilled on rocks!

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    among other menu 🙂

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    The road was so foggy when we reached the top of Al Shifa mountain, the hot chicken is now cold chicken on the rocks 🙂

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    After Lunch, we headed back home, Nanay Aurea asked what we did? hahaha we only ate Grilled Chicken, so next time..I wonder if Nanay Aurea will ever ask  grilled chicken for lunch,..ever!

    Oh! before I forget, what was the comment of Nanay Aurea on grilled chicken?

    “amoy arabo ang chicken”..the chicken smells like the arab guy who was selling it 🙂 in fairness..the taste was superb! not the guy..the grilled chicken o la la 🙂

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    Nanay Aurea rocks! We love you Nanay! Peace!

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    handprint in the sand

    Cheers,

    jamilamimi

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  • Baboons of Al Hada TAif in black and white

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    Nope! this is not a zoo, these are baboons at Al Hada, Taif of Saudi Arabia. Though there are many tourist attracted to these sight, a lot of locals complained about its existence because they destroys farms,trees and sometimes attack people when the food are scars, they are like scavengers,feeding themselves from the garbage or rely on the foods given mostly by the tourist around the city.

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    I am so scared to go down from the car but the clinging baby baboon got my attention! I took the shots through the window car 🙂

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    2015-01-09 at 18-01-03This is how close people get into the baboons!

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    This one caught my attention really hard, I realised the baby baboon has no life, it doesn’t move! And the mother won’t let go! how sad 😦

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  • Weekly Photo Challenge : Shadowed

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    A mother and baby baboon of Taif,Saudi Arabia

    I took this photo today at 1pm at the foggy site of Al Hada,Taif ,Saudi Arabia. I was inside of another car, so scared to get down 🙂

    Another blog coming up about our first road trip for the year 2015 ( Taif, Saudi Arabia)

    Cheers,

    Jamilamimi

     

  • 2014 in review

    The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

    Here’s an excerpt:

    The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 20,000 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 7 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

    Click here to see the complete report.

    This year 2015, I’m starting a new Challenge for myself, Cheesecakes was a lot of fun but I must admit I enjoyed baking as much as photography, so this year, I am challenging myself to make a better photos and in order to achieve my goal, I enrolled in on line photography class. Yes! you heard it right, I’m taking a photography lesson on line and let’s see if I can make it. 🙂

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    Actually, I started lesson one but was not able to continue..this challenge will make it through.. Promise!!!

    Cheers,

    jamilamimi

  • Home baked Cheesecake Challenge : 50th Flavour

    The idea of Challenging myself with different flavours of Cheesecake started Dec.25th of year 2013.

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    my first attempt to make cheese cake

    January 15, 2014 was the day I uploaded my first Cheesecake

    happy Dulce de leche Cheesecake
    happy Dulce de leche Cheesecake

    and wallah! today is the day of the 50th Flavour. Shall I go for a bang! or shall I make a simple one?

    I choose a simple Berries Cheesecake!

    50th : Berries Cheesecake
    50th : Berries Cheesecake

    A simple one will be a cheesy one too! not too sweet and yet it is deliciously insane 🙂 The extended crust on the side makes it more crunchy but so creamy and soft inside.

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    I made another one, added more eggs into it, same taste only varies in texture!

    Christmas Cheesecake
    Christmas Cheesecake

    Weight versus experience?

    So what did I learned from this experience aside from gaining weight? 🙂 hahaha I know you gonna ask, did I put some weight? Oh well! I am happy that in one year I gained 3 kilo, not because I ate all the Cheesecakes but because I was lazy to do my routine exercise.

    Lessons Learned 🙂

    > eat anything but in small portions and don’t forget to exercise!

    > baking is not easy, I salute all the bakers,chefs and all in the culinary department! May you have good health and strength to feed us all 🙂

    > being passionate in what you do will lighten the load of doing it.

    > nothing is impossible if you put your mind and heart into it, but having said that..you really need to dig in into your last penny to buy the ingredients 🙂

    > lastly, as I gained weight, I also gained experience and I gained friends too ! not to mention I gained enemy too hahaha.. I ruined their diet!!

    Do’s and Don’ts of making cheesecakes?

    Well, I can’t say what works for me will work on you too but it’s fun to experiment and find your thing!

    * make do of what you have 🙂

    I’m still using my old oven with faded numbers of the temperature, it took me awhile to get the right temperature but I manage. And I am still using hand-held mixer, it works!

    *don’t mix too long

    the more you mix the more air get’s in ,which resulted to more bubbles in cheesecake.

    *bake one day ahead

    Chilling the baked cheesecake overnight will prevent further cracking as you remove it from the pan

    *always make an extra cupcake size for tasting

    I make sure I have extra butter to bake with the same recipe of the day so I know the taste.

    *gently and slowly

    have a lil’ patience, use water-bath to control the oven temperature, use your oven timer and don’t open the oven door now and then to check if it’s done! Sudden change of temperature will cause cracking of the cheesecake. When its wobbling at the middle, turn off the heat, leave the door slightly ajar and let it cool for an hour before removing it.

    What kind of Cheese I used?

    Philadelphia Cream Cheese
    Philadelphia Cream Cheese

    Though most of my recipes I used Philadelphia cream cheese, I also used Italian cheese like Mascaporne and Ricotta cheese. I also used the famous Kiri Cheese in KSA.

    Difference?

    Well, it all taste good, it varies in texture, i.e. Philadelphia Cream Cheese is more denser than Mascarpone or Ricotta Cheese. Kiri Cheese is also denser but it’s quite heavy compared to Philadelphia.

    Flour?

    I did use flour on some of my mini cheesecake especially when I use my cupcake pans. It gives more firmness and sturdiness on the cheesecake. If I don’t want to use flour, I add extra egg yolk to enhance the bind and velvety texture.

    Hmmm.. Ladies did I forget anything? Or maybe you can give some tips of yours, that I can follow the next time I make another flavour. huh? there’s next time?

    hahaha maybe, but I guess year 2015 will be a year of Beauty and Fashion 😉

    HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

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    Cheers,

    Jamilamimi

     

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  • Weekly Photo Challenge : Warmth

    Warmness of your smile brings joy to all!

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  • To you and yours..our Santa is made in Lebanon

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    Living in Jeddah for so many years, we got accustomed to not having our Christmas Eve like in Philippines. We tried to celebrate wherever and whenever we can. Last night was a blast! Our Santa is made directly from Lebanon 🙂

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    It’s nice being a kid ..sometimes 🙂

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    Merry Christmas Everyone!
    Merry Christmas Everyone!

    After all the photo shoot, I was so hungry and I forgot to take a photo of our dinner, but I manage to take my cheesecake for the Christmas 🙂

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    Palabok
    Palabok

    Our favourite dish from our very own Chef Kelly 🙂

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    Cute mat-mat, he was born in Jeddah, his first time to know Santa and got scared, however towards the end, he gave us awesome smile!

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    Our special guest, Nanay (mother of my Bff ), welcome to Jeddah!!

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    Thank you Santa Nabil, It was nice of you to make our Christmas this year a memorable one!

    Cheers,

    Jamilamimi

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  • Oh hello! KiNg CroC :-)

    King Croc at underwater zoo in Dubai, weighing 750 Kgs and about 5m in length, Wow!

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    hurray for 40 yrs old croc from Australia!

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    goofing around
    goofing around

    Dubai Aquarium and underwater Zoo features a 270 degree walk through tunnel , impressively clean and organised!

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    The aquarium and underwater zoo at Dubai mall, good place ! after walking through we went window shopping, had dinner and went back to the Hotel.

    Good night Dubai!

    Jamilamimi

     

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  • Weekly Photo Challenge: Yellow

     

    Yellow Tulips At Skagit Valley, Washington state USA

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