A few meals out

We've had a few meals out recently and so I thought I would blog about them.  It may not sound like something 'blog worthy' (!) but we just haven't been feeling up to going out much recently and so these turned out to be a nice change.

Last Thursday we went to the BCA after work and had a few drinks.  We'd thought before we came out 'maybe we'll go out for some food on Road 9 after' and so as we were leaving at the same time as our friends the Pwebbles and Sayno, we asked them if they fancied it too.  Our first choice down there (since Mediterraneo closed last year) is always Lucielle's, but Sayno is veggie and as a burger joint they don't actually serve anything, apart from a side salad, without meat!  We headed for Villa 55 which we like as their menu is pretty diverse and they serve beer.  A bonus was that the Pwebbles and Sayno had never been before as the restaurant is housed in a proper colonial Maadi villa which is pretty cool. The downside about Villa 55 tends to be the service - there is always a dish that they get wrong or manage to forget (!) but a gentle reminder sees them quickly cook the dish to order we've found.

They do a very good baba ganough which we had with bread alongside our meals and it was only Pwebble's burger that they brought out 10 minutes after the other meals this time. It was a really nice meal and nice to be out with the gang outside of work, and to chat about things outside of work too!

When we finished we started to walk up Road 9 towards the main midan to catch a taxi but found ourselves being drawn to a near area of development just off the street where lots of cafe's and coffee shops have sprung up. It seems to be the new cool hang out for Maadians with lots of young people sipping drinks or just chatting.We were attracted to the bright white lights of one place called "Maybe Two" (with a logo of a heart / number two) which turned out to be a new frozen yogurt store. They were celebrating their 'anniversary' (I think they meant 'opening') and were offering free tasters and then 50% off your next order.  The tasters were interesting - especially the 'maybe two flavour' which was blue and hard to place what exactly it could have been made from - but we decided to give it a go anyway. With each portion you got toppings which consisted either of fresh fruit, or of dried cereal! It was quite expensive all in all and nowhere near as great as the gelato place we love on Road 231. I'd say that the only reason we'd return would be to spend our 50% off voucher, but at least we gave it a go!

This week we missed the 4.30pm Grand Mall bus home, but managed to catch the Delga bus so ended up that end of Maadi. Although it was early we were both a bit peckish and so decided to grab an early dinner out before getting home. We went to Crave which we haven't been to for about a year I think! Crave is a great restaurant and looks really swish - we love taking visitors to it because you feel very sophisticated in their big chairs and with chandeliers made from curved forks.

It was nice to have a dinner out just the two of us, but as we were sat somewhere different from where we normally sit  we kind of felt like little-armed dinosaurs eating because of the low chairs and high table!  On our way back home we went passed the gelato place but managed to resist going in for ice cream.  We did notice though the the other (far inferior) ice cream place that opened about 6 months ago has now been turned into a waffle and coffee shop.  It really seems that these places are all the rage out here at the moment, but I know nothing will beat our favourite!

One year on...

Well this week / weekend marks one year since #25Jan.
A lot has changed while some things have stayed the same. Some things have moved on and others have stalled. In many ways things have been united, while in other ways there remain divisions.
We've been musing over all of this a lot in our heads (and on the show) for the last few weeks and probably will continue to do so for some time. It's hard to put all our thoughts into words, so maybe our shows are going to be the best record for where we are right now.
This weekend we set ourselves a little project and decided to go out and photograph the same sites that we had recorded a year ago in Maadi during the days of curfew, road blocks, empty streets and tanks. Here's what we found:

Our apartment door

Degla junction of Rd 218 with 254

Degla Rd 218 towwards the Shell building

Degla Rd 218 with 231

Degla Rd 218 towards 254

Grand Mall Arzak side

Grand Mall HSBC end

Grand Mall, HSBC end towards satellites

Grand Mall HSBC towards Rd 206

Road 206 towards Grand Mall

Grand Mall towards roundabout

Grand Mall towards HSBC with tank

Grand Mall towards HSBC

Road 81 towards Port Said

Midan Mustafa Kamel

Road 206 towards Degla

Gift Swap from Tenerife

Today at work our Gift Swap gift arrived - all the way from Tenerife in Spain!
It was a huge box and it had been opened by the Egyptian Postal Service of course, but they sealed everything back up and nothing had been taken or was broken - which was amazing because there was loads in the box and four glass jars too!
Thank you to Leeroy who sent it to us and for;

• A map of Tenerife
• A colection of leaflets about Tenerife - including one on walking (Yey!)
• A Guide Book on Tenerife
• Two newspapers; Tenerife News and Island Connections
• A CD of the band Cupier 
• A jar of special Canarian palm honey
• A set of three spreads / sauces, Mojo Rojo, Mojo Verde, Almogrote Gomero
• A box of Platano con Chocolate (chocolate banana)
• A box of Piedras del Teida (chocolate almonds)
• A foodie / recipe calendar
• A magnet
• A straw
• A mini-cactus
• Two little chocolate / biscuits

I love the Gift Swap. It's such a great idea and really fun to do. I had worried that this year the packet wasn't going to get through to us, but I wasn't upset as I really enjoy the putting together of the package that we send and seeing online the other packets that people recieve. 

Already looking forward to next year's swap and thinking about what I might be able to get for someone!

Our UKNova fridge magnet collection!

Shopping Trip

Earlier this week Scotty suggested that we go to Carrefore at the weekend.

Now, a "Saturday big shop" might not sound like such a strange suggestion, but considering we haven't been to Carrefore for about two years it did come out of the blue somewhat! We'd been turned off the idea of big shopping at a weekend in our first year really by two things #1 the queues at the tills and crazy-ness of shopping #2 negotiating a taxi back to Maadi.

We decided to give it a go as with more and more 'white and black' taxis with meters we thought there would be less hassle going home, and if we went on a Friday morning the hopefully things would be a bit quieter. Our plan was also to treat ourselves to a coffee and cake for breakfast and to maybe buy some electricals as there was a big sale on.

We managed to get a taxi there without too much wait by the Grand Mall and it took next to no time as it was so quiet at 10.30am The taxi meter read 12LE but we were happy to pay 15LE and inside we went.

Going in we had our bags scanned and went through a metal detector - maybe a new precaution post-25Jan. Inside it was really quiet even though most places were due to open at 9am - but when does anything open at 9am on a Friday?!  First we wandered around the shops to see what there was as it had been so long since we'd been.  We were quite taken aback by all the western brands and didn't really know what to do - Next, Body Shop, La Senza, Zara were all there, but we've become so conditioned to only shopping for clothes in the UK that it felt wrong to consider it here.

After our little browse of the shop windows we settled on Starbucks for a coffee and croissant. We found a nice seat by the window at the back so that we could people watch, but also be out of the way. t was nice to be somewhere different and treat ourselves in this little way. Weekend morning coffee is part of our routine now (that we have an AeroPress) and it's something I always look forward to.

When we finished up we headed into Carrefore proper and started with the electricals and computers which is the first section you arrive at. We had in mind that we should look at the printer/scanners as ours was over six years old and you had to actually manually feed the paper in to get it to print. It had also got to the point where it was more expensive to buy ink cartridges than to buy a new machine altogether! We decided on a model and the (clearly stoned) assistant helped us out. In classic Egyptian-shopping style Scotty had to place the order at one counter (where our shop assistant was competing with half a dozen others to place the order on one small machine) and then go to another counter to pay. At this point his receipt was stamped and we had to return to the first counter to find out where we could collect the printer/scanner from. It turns out you can collect it from the shelf (!) but have to have an assistant watch you take it off the shelf and check your receipt. As we're paying for all of our shopping at the very end of the trip another two people check the receipt, stamp it and check the box before we can leave. A way to ensure that all products are paid for and as many people as possible have a job!

At this point I was really feeling the effect of the coffee and the loud music that was being pumped out in the electronics section of the store. We use our AeroPress and make an expresso shot that we turn into two americanos and it always seems strong enough to us, but having coffee out means a full shot of whatever they've got!  As there was a big sale on there was music pumping out and everyone was getting involved in the TVs they had cheap. These included 3D TVs and large flatscreens all for much lower prices than you would pay in the UK. We decided to pass this time - maybe we'll feel the need if we move.

We decide that now we're here we should at least scour every inch of the store to find anything we might want to buy. We wander through the camping section, fitness, toys (just in case there are any more #25Jan themed board games!), lighting and wiring. We pause for a while in the kitchen section to try and find a serving spoon, but are options are either a dessert spoon or a ladle.  On to the clothes section and we spend a while looking at what they have on offer. In the women's section they have imported F+F (the Tesco brand) but nothing that I fancy.  There are some classy suits in the men's section that Scotty is tempted by but we move on.

The good thing about shopping here is that the shelves have prices on (something which they are starting to do in Save Way by means of writing in pen on cardboard and sticking it in front of the first jar on each shelf).  So we decide to buy some tins as we know which are the best deals. We also buy some jars of tomato sauce which we probably wouldn't buy in Maadi because of the varying price (it's so difficult to tell which you will end up paying an 'imported' price for, and which are considered 'local').

After taking a look at the meat counter we decide to get some chicken (as we cannot get chicken from Gourmet Egypt, but can get good mince from them) and that this evening we'll make our chicken with veg (broccoli, peppers, mushrooms and onions) in blue cheese sauce.  We also pick up from salami slices and Gouda slices with a baguette for lunch (this was our weekend lunch of choice in the UK after a trip to the Tesco for fresh bread). A pack of croissants will do for tomorrow's coffee/breakfast and then we're done and ready to go through the tills.

The taxi home is less traumatic that it used to be. We head in the direction of the row of white-and-blacks and make eye-contact with the two men standing near by. They quote us 25LE for the trip and we ask for the meter and eventually settle on 'no meter' but 20LE for the trip. It's 5LE more than we got here for, but they've had to sit out and wait for custom, so I guess it's fair.

As is always the case in Cairo - you can't buy everything you need in one shop.  So we end up heading to Save Way in the afternoon to pick up the last few things. It's there that I have cause to get my camera out again when we notice this in the cereal section.

So a successful shopping day done and a yummy dinner ready to eat!

New year doings

So we're back in Cairo after spending Christmas in the UK and we're busy doing things.
We're 'project people' and can't help but do things to fill our time!
So what have we been up to in the week-or-so that we've been back?

• We didn't take so long unpacking our bags. This was mainly because we weren't cramming quite as many things into them as we normally do! We flew EgyptAir and they allow two bags each (twice the BA allowance). We took three bags total back to the UK as we had various things we wanted to put into storage (but managed to do a clear-out of our storage to make room for them!), but only brought two bags back here with us. We didn't even cram loads of extras into our hand luggage! Is this because we're getting more settled out here, don't have the desire for lots of UK things - or are tired of lugging huge cases around airports? Who knows, although having a Kindle has certainly reduced the number of books we bring back. We did come back with some lovely Xmas pressies though (thank you!), and a few essential supplies. We'll top up supplies in Feb when we realise what we maybe should have packed!
• We fitted a new shower head onto the shower. Scotty had the brainwave in the UK to buy a new shower head from Argos (reserve online and they text an order number to your mobile - so good we did it twice!) and so brought this over with us when we came back. Once fitted with a new washer it managed to transform our shower from being mediocre, to being quite powerful. Goes to show that you don't need a power shower, but a decent shower head will make the difference. Seems silly that after three-and-a-half years of living here and thinking we've got crap water pressure we find out that it's not half bad at all (see post a few months ago of when Scotty managed to fix our tap problems!)
• We got the heater out. Yes we're back and it's cold here. I know Egypt is meant to be warm all year round, but 18C here is a lot colder than 18C in the UK I promise you! Luckily our AC can heat as well as cool and so we have that on in the evening once it gets dark out. We only have it on a few degrees, but we are sitting around in a few jumpers too. Then we have the heater in the bedroom on just before going to bed. Work is cold too. We both wearing suit jackets all day for the first time in years!
  
• We made a beef and homebrewed-ale stew. We'd been saving two bottles of our dark homebrew (named Sandy Claws as it was our Christmas brew for people last year) and decided that with the weather being what it is (cold) we should make a hearty stew! So we bought two packs of beef cubes from Gourmet Egypt and cooked that up with some onions, carrots and mushrooms. We wanted to add more root veg, but there aren't many options out here so we added  a sweet potato and then another few potatoes into the stew and left it for hours in the oven. Yum yum!
• Ali made a strawberry crumble. I was surprised to find in Saveway that they have strawberries now. It seems that strawberry season is earlier this year than it was last and I'm determined to make the most of it. I've got pectin (thanks mummyp) and so will get round to attempting jam again at some point, but I wanted to start by using the strawbs for a pudding. I found a strawberry crumble recipe that seemed perfect because a) it uses strawberries b) a crumble is nice and warming in winter c) it also used almonds which Scotty loves. The recipe said to keep the strawberries whole, and you can probably do that with British strawbs, but the Egyptian ones are massive so I did cut them. It was a bit of a botched job as the dish was a little too big, but it tasted yummy and everyone said they liked it. I want to make it again before the strawbs go out of season (or it gets too warm!)
• We had a games night. We were invited round to the Prebs place for a games night and we took along Ingenious. Only four of us could play at a time, but it was good fun with the five of us as it left one person to point out that you had mis-counted your score. It was good fun to catch up after the break and they enjoyed the game (so much that they have now downloaded a copy onto the ipad!). Looking forward to another games night soon - maybe playing our new game!
  
• We started a new project. We're not totally ready to reveal the project yet, but it's an idea that Ali has been thinking about since September. We spent most of the weekend working on it; Friday as a draft project and Saturday on the real thing. We're nearly ready to introduce it to friends and then after a while maybe more. It's exciting to have something to work on together.
  
• We're back in to the Wii. I don't know when it was, but some time last year we just stopped playing the wii. We'd had great fun at the start of the year on the Scooby game, but then after that it dropped off our things-to-do. We got a few new games for Christmas that are good (including a new Scooby
• We got a plumber round to sort out the flush on the toilet. Visitors will know that our main toilet has been a bit dodgy when it comes to flushing for ages. First it would only occasionally flush, so after a while we changed it to a pull-string instead of using the mechanism. Then the plunger part wouldn't always seal and so after flushing water would drip through to the bowl instead of filling the cistern. It's never not been 'usable' but has been long overdue getting someone to look at it. The tipping point was when the plunger wouldn't seal at all despite all our efforts. So we called "TG Services" who we'd heard were good for expats and they came round that evening (even phoning 30 minutes before to check we still wanted them to come). The two guys didn't speak much English, but were methodical with working through the various problems with the toilet. About an hour (and many tests) later they were done and even tried to leave without us giving them a tip! You now use the handle to flush the toilet - how modern!
• Scotty's a number one podcaster. Scotty has been doing some more of his revision podcasts and saw the online iTunes charts which have his podcasts as number one!

So that's kind of it for now. Next thing is the "25th Jan" anniversary coming up, so we'll see what that brings and let you know!

Local

I added a few more tips to the Been There Local pages of the Grauniad and got front-page billing for my efforts :-)

I included tips on Cairo Jazz Club, visiting St Samaan in Moqattam and the Stella Baladi Bar map. Three very different things to do in Cairo!

Our front door

After the Revolution people in our building decided that they wanted to put a new, more secure, door at the front of the building. So by the end of February the thin glass door had been removed and a large patterned iron metal gate was being soldered in place.

The gate was put in place and looked very impressive. For the first month or so it didn't have a lock on it and so with a bit of a push (it was quite heavy) we could swing it open.

The next step was that the intercom was installed. This invovled lots of men and wires - and a fair amount of drilling through concrete. It was quite late in the evening by the time they made it to our apartment to drill, but even after that they were drilling in the apartment upstairs and running the cable outside the building. The highlight of the evening was the naked wires on the masonry drill:

As they'd got the intercom sorted it seemed time to add the lock to the door. Before this was added though we had a knock on our door from Samah upstairs saying that they needed a little extra money for the keys and locksmith. We didn't mind chipping in as Mdm Kawthar, our landlady, had paid the flat's share for the door in February.

With new keys cut we were all set and the door started to be locked and the intercom started to be put to use.

With no glass in the door though there was realistically a fundamental part of the "increased security" that was lacking. Anyone could just stick their hands through the bars in the frame and turn the handle from the insde. In fact that is what we would normally do when we got home - much easier than fumbling with keys.

This was one aspect of our home security that we failed to tell the Prebbles when we gave them a key to our place in August when they moved out. It turns out that they couldn't get the key to work in the gated door and didn't think about sticking their hand through - so only managed to visit our apartment once!

With the door being so heavy, and everyone constantly reaching through to turn the handle (from an angle), the catch became misaligned. This wasn't a big problem, just a bit annoying that you had to wiggle it sometimes to get it to turn. But coming back in September it seemed to be at a whole new level of "mis-aligned" and would more likely catch than turn! It was at this point that we started to have to go downstairs to let people in to the building, rather than being able to just buzz them in!

Then to try and increase the security, the bowab took to double locking the door. This meant you could no longer just reach through. It also meant you couldn't buzz people in. A great idea, except that they took to locking the door at about 6pm!!! So if we were having any deliveries (not that we have them every night!!) we had to go downstairs to let them in. Why do we have an intercom, again?

It was with some surprise then that we came home two days ago to discover the bowab and two workmen fitting glass panels to the door! Only ten months on from the door being fitted, then! Coming up the stairs we could see that the workman's ladder crossed both doors and so we thought we'd wait a bit until he'd finished up there. But no need, as the other workman just pushed the ladder so that the angle decreased to the point where it was only just spreading his weight (!) while we came through the door.

We were feeling pretty good about the new glass and the fixed catch on the door until the guy came to deliver our ironing....and the buzzer wouldn't buzz! So down I go and let him in. Later that night another delivery arrives and again the buzzer isn't working. We guess that they did something to the connection when fitting the glass, but it is only in the morning that we notice a ball of cables hanging above the door - they've completely severed the system! Oh well!

It's a short 48-hours between the glass being fitted and the wires being reconnected and so now we not only have a huge metal gate, but we have a lock that locks, a catch that catches, an intercom that buzzes and glass that...well, is glass! Phew!