Friday, December 12, 2008

Our Bad !

It seems that we might have made some of you (ahem..one person in particular) little angry with our recent blog on the new trend of "tween pop" stars (orginally posted on Saturday, December 6).

We would like to apologize if we offended anyone, but come on it was just our opinion and everyone is entitled to their opinions. While we stick to our original posting, we have seen the errors in our ways and respect (really trying hard too) those of you that actually like that crap.

So come on people, instead of getting mad; get even

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Need a lil extra cash?

It wouldn't be the holidays without feeling that pinch in your wallet. Let's be honest we're all broke come this time of year (and for some its all year round, you know who we're talking about). If you're thinking how you're going to come up with some extra cash to get those last remaining Eid/Christmas gifts, then turn your radio dials to Nile FM (104.2) and they might have the answer we all desperately need.

As part of their Christmas celebrations, Nile FM will be running the "12 Scenes of Christmas" contest where one lucky person (God, we hope it's us) have the chance to win the grand prize of 10,000 LE. Finally a prize we sink our teeth into!!. Details for the contest are still a little fuzzy, but so far we know that our favorite morning presenters; Lou and Heba will be testing your knowledge on classic Christmas movie scenes.
More details can be heard on the Mobilnil Wakeup Call with Lou and Heba on December 14 from 8am - 11am, where the contest rules will be given and things will become a little bit clearer.

So start getting ready folks, and watch those classic Christmas Movies. But don't come asking us for any help, cause when there is money on the line we at Out & About tend to get a little nasty, but at least here’s the link so you can start listening right away. http://www.nilefmonline.com/nfmplayer/player.htm#

Good Luck!

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Tis the Season to be jolly and All That Crap!!


It’s always nice when both Eid and Christmas fall during the same time of the year here in Egypt. Out & About doesn't like it when anyone feels left out. Now everyone in Egypt can go through the holidays together as one big dysfunctional family.

We love (and sometimes hate) the holidays here in Egypt for so many reasons, here’s some of our favorites:

The freakin busy streets - If the traffic in Cairo and Alex weren't bad enough. Now add about 2 million more of us trying to buy that one more piece of junk we don't need before everything shuts down for three days.

Those holiday signs - Egyptian store owners will do anything to make an extra buck. So its no surprise that during the holidays they fill their stores up will all different types of signs and decoration to try and encourage us to come in and buy something. We just wish they would open up a dictionary before writing those damn signs. Habby Holedays and a Mirry Krismas anyone, Bay too and tak one free, etc…..!!!!

The Christmas Spirit at City Stars - If you can't be in Paris or New York for Christmas, then City Stars is the next best thing. You really have to give the mega-mall credit; it does a good job with the Christmas displays and the carolers. Now if they could just get rid of those annoying people that are always there.

That special color of red (and were not talkin about paint) that is everywhere - Do we need to say more? Just watch your step.

Those are some of our favorite holiday memories here in Egypt. Let’s hear some of yours.

Habby Holdays and a Mirry Krismas from Out & About

The Attack of Tween Pop!!

We at Out & About need to get something of our chests. Please indulge us as we begin to rant. We've had it with the new crop of tween pop that has been polluting our ears for the past few months. Artists (if you can call them that) like Miley Cyrus and those god-awful Jonas Brothers need to be stopped and stopped now.
We don't want to come off sounding like old fashioned geezers, but come on people who can really call theses Disney-produced kids real artists? We are offended by the lack of real talent that any of these pre-pubescent brats really have. If you look behind the perfect hair and clothes, you'll discover neither that “adorable” Miley nor "hunky" Jonas Brothers write, produce or arrange any of their own music. Instead you have a team of real artists and Disney Executives working behind the scenes calling all the shot.

And if that's not enough these little monsters are actually extremely popular and successful (insert our jealousy right here). Both have already sold millions of copies of their cd's, dvd's and any other piece of crap that their fans can get a hold of. Making both the Jonas Brothers and Miley multi-millionaires before they reach the ages of 16 (ooh the pain; we don’t even have 20LE in our bank). It makes you ask yourself who is actually buying this junk and why?

Listen up people we need to do something before this gets anymore out of control. We at Out & About are asking you to tell us about your favorite real artists and why, and we will spotlight them on this blog. So start sending us your favorites and who knows maybe we can reverse all the bad that has been done by Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers.

Ah, we feel so much better now!

Bawaki Camp !

We came across an event on Facebook and we thought it was worth adding to our blog.

We've never been to Bawaki, but we heard allot about it, it looks a little like Basata, so check it out, and leave your comment plz.

You can do one of two things, either sign up and join all the activities listed below, or apply for a camp coordinator and be one of the people running the event for free... yup for free.

Event Info
Host: ADAA'-أداء (Agency for Development And Advancement)
Type: Trips - Camping Trip

Network: Global

Start Time:
Tuesday, December 23, 2008 at 9:00am
End Time:
Tuesday, December 30, 2008 at 11:00pm

Location:
Bawaki - Noueiba'

Description

A Great Opportunity for Maximum Fun & Maximum Learning!!

This camp is a great opportunity for High School students to learn important survival skills through totally depending on YOURSELVES for a living!

Hurry up and sign up for this lifetime experience..Beware, places are limited!

Every day, you will acquire a new skill or build on an existing one through the games that you will play in teams.


Prices are inclusive of:

1) Full board stay for 7 nights and 8 days
2) A Training book with materials you can use to succeed in your whole life
3) Access to all activities, games and trainings given during the camp
4) A guarantee to a wonderful experience :)All of this, ONLY for $70/night

** Sign up before the 11th of December and make use of our Early Bird offer:

1) With a group of 10 friends, $70/ night (**)
2) With a group of 5 friends, $85/night
3) Alone, $105/ night

Regular Sign-up after 11/12 : $115/night

For reservations, please contact Christine Beshay on 0168838665 or email her on c.beshay@adaa.com.eg

We are currently recruiting camp coordinators to help ADAA' team during the camp.

A camp coordinator should:
1) be a high school student
2) help with the logistical setup of the place,
3) lead a group of 10 or more students from his/her school
4) and OVER AND ABOVE, have a FREE stay during the whole camp ;)So hurry and sign up as a camp coordinator and a get a free stay =))

Friday, December 5, 2008

Cellar Door - Worth a Visit

This post was originaly posted by Manisha on her own blog spot and we asked her to share it on our blog.
http://living-in-egypt-manisha.blogspot.com/2008/12/cellar-door.html

Cellar Door

Restaurant: Cellar Door
Address: 9, Road 151, Maadi
Tel Number: 2359-8328
Timing: 11am to 11pm
WiFi available

I am not sure why I have never written about Cellar Door though hubby and I have been there for meals ever so often. At one time "Petit Swiss Chalet", Cellar Door has made a huge leap from its erstwhile avtaar, and, I suspect for the better!

Its a chic yet cosy, small eatery located just around the corner from Bua Khao. A few steps transport you down into a trendy, relaxed place whose warmth is further enahanced by the easy manner of its new owner. He's usually to be found there, mingling with the guests, cracking a joke or two, and, generally adding to the atmosphere of the place which is a little irreverent, which makes it a fun place to go to!

They serve you the most delicious garlic bread with a vegetable spread while you browse through two, not one, menu! One is a printed, regular (er stable, lol!) menu while the other is a changing one! Quirky, ain't it? But thats what makes the place fun! Its nice going to place every 6 months and not knowing what to expect!

Today, we ordered a mushroom salad (LE 23), which was very basic but really nice The lemon vinaigrette greatly enhanced the flavour of fresh mushrooms and arugula. Even the Greek salad (LE25), with fresh tomatoes, onion, cucumbers and feta cheese, which I have had before, is quite nice.

Being a predominantly Italian place, there is enough and more choice for the poor vegetarian mortals like me. We ordered a home made gnocchi (LE27) in a tomato sauce, a home made lasagna (LE29) and spaghetti with a cream sauce (LE27).

The gocchi was soft, which is great, cos you can really mess up the gnocchi and the last thing on my mind was a battle between my teeth and the gnocchi! The lasagne tasted good though I though the pasta was a liitle underdone, but the yummy roasted vegetables made up for it! The spaghetti was a nice foil to the cheese and tangy tomato sauces we had had so far.

One of us had ordered fish in butter lemon sauce that was served with some rice. She thought the fish was very well done, more so cos a similar fish she ate at Crave the previous night had not been so good.

The other thing that I love about Cellar Door is their tableware. Plain white porcelain in large outsized plates and serving dishes , it makes the food look delicious - half the battle won! I was very tempted to ask the owner where he got the tableware from, but desisted from doing so!

We ordered a caramel cheesecake, which I must admit, was yummylicious! Though we all shared it, I thought it was perfect. In fact, I think I will send my driver to pick one up for lunch tomorrow! Now I know why I seem to fight a loosing battle as far as my waistline goes!

If I remember correctly, they allow you to carry your own wine but you need to pay corkage at LE 40. A bottle of wine at Cellar Door costs LE135, so it makes sense to carry your own and pay the corkage, if you have a specific wine in mind.But I think, the place is definately worth a visit, and, we at least like the food quite a bit!

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Out & About Exclusive Sneak Peak!


INDIGO

We at Out & About strive to be first to provide our readers with the latest scoops about the new and exciting things happening around Egypt.

Indigo is a brand new pan-Asian restaurant that will be opening (Early 2009) at the ever elite Four Seasons Cairo First Mall. We haven't seen much, but what have seen was truly amazing! If the main entrance of Indigo is anything to go by than we should expect great things from this new restaurant. Expect a modern design and the high quality service that you have come to expect from the First Mall and Four Seasons. Menu and pricing still is unknown, but we reccomend that you start saving up now.

Rest assured once more information is available Out & About will be the first to let you know.

Quantum of Solace


Some of you might remember the classic Burger King commercial where three cute old ladies open up a burger from McDonalds and ask "Where's the Beef?". Well we had the same feeling after seeing the latest installment of our favorite spy James Bond in "Quantum of Solace".

If you’re asking what Burger King has to do with the new Bond movie, keep reading and you will soon understand. Don't get us wrong we actually liked the movie, but we left the theaters with that empty feeling inside, like we missed out on something we came to love. Where were the witty fights between James Bond and his gadget guy Q? Where were the pens that turned into missals with just one click? Where was gum that after chewing for 5 seconds could dissolve through steel? Where were the great car scenes with a bad ass Aston Martin/Jaguar or any other car that would make any grown man week in the knees? And most importantly where were the hot (and we mean really hot) Bond girls that also could also affect a grown man (but in different places than his knees).

We missed all these things that we have come to expect from a Bond flick and damn it we want them back! To be fair, there were some positives to the movie. The many (maybe one too many) action scenes were very well directed with exciting and new camera angles. The story was kind of interesting with MI6 turning on their best spy. And Daniel Craig does add a new dimension to a classic character.

All in all, we do recommend "Quantum of Solace" as good movie to check-out and fill up some free time. But we won't be happy until they bring back the James Bond (and definitely don't forget the Bond Girls!) that we all have grown to love.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Mojo Lounge Grill

It seems that new cafe/lounge concepts are popping up all over Cairo recently. Most can be skipped, but sometimes there are those diamonds in the rough that should not be. One such new cafe/lounge that we recently tried (and actually enjoyed) was the Mojo Lounge. Being open for about 5 months, Mojo Lounge is a beautiful addition to local dinning scene.

Designed in a simple yet elegant manner, think Sequoia without the Nile and those annoying tents. Mojo Lounge has done a lot with the rather lackluster location it has chosen. Katemeya's 5th District (like most of the city, it seems) is going through a huge building boom, but what makes Mojo Lounge so successful is its secluded, calm and serene setting (even thought its out-doors) would make you none the wiser.

Like most of Cairo's high-end cafe/lounges the menu leaves much to be desired. The standard items are all there (same old pastas and sandwiches). But what Mojo might lack in variety and selection, it makes up for quality and taste of the food. We especially enjoyed the Tomato Soup (best Tomato Soup we had outside the U.S.) and the Thai Chicken Dish.

In our opinion, Mojo Lounge might be a drive, but its well worth it. But don't forget to bring a sweater, it sure can get chilly during the upcoming winter nights.

Mojo Lounge Grill
106, Town Center
Off Road 90
5th District, New Cairo

Tel: 012-9269269
email: reservations@mojothelounge.com
web: http://www.mojothelounge.com/

Monday, December 1, 2008

"Disaster Movie" is a real Disaster


You know when you have high expectations for a certain movie and they come crashing down in a large flame of glory. Thats the feeling we had after seeing the "Disaster Movie". The idea of the film is simple and has been done successfully many other times, but watching the movie felt worse than watching a slow motion train crash that never ends up crashing. Most disappointing about the movie is that the mainly unknown cast and crew had such ripe material for them to satirize. Such big blockbuster movies like the Hulk, Iron Man, and even independent ones like Juno have so much comedic material that the mainly lame jokes they choose for the film were a bust.

We would love to continue ripping the film apart based solely on lack of a good script and comedic jokes, but we would remissive if we did not mention the less than stellar cast. We had the great honor of experiencing the theatrical talents of such great American Actors as Kim Kardashian, Carmen Electra and that one guy (his proformance was that bad that he doesn't deserve his name printed).

The bashing could (and we would love too!!) continue for pages but we need to move on and try to forget the tragic events that we have experienced in the past. The moral of the story kids, is that you should not just walk, jogg, but run as fast as humanly possible away from any screening of the "Disaster Movie"

One final thought just came to us, we give mucho kudos to the genius that named this "Disaster Movie", you couldn't have a more fitting title.