Another one of our favorite water features –

Is now wrapped in a death shroud.

The reasoning is

“The future is clearer. We’re clearing away obstacles to make way for better shopping. Project: Opening sight lines. It’s all happy-ning.”

I have no idea what will replace this distinctive fountain, but it sounds like it will be more kiosks selling stuff. Very sad.

My First Box of Dilmah Tea

Recently, I had the privilege of meeting the founder of Dilmah Tea, Merrill J. Fernando, and his son Dilhan Fernando. For me, as a lover of tea in general, and a daily drinker of Dilmah tea, this was rather like getting to meet Steve Jobs.

My affection for tea by Dilmah started just a few years ago. Having grown up in the USA where good tea is generally difficult and/or expensive to obtain, after we moved to the UAE in 2008 I relished living where really good tea is a staple of everyday life. A visit to the average grocery store in the region reveals a coffee & tea aisle that usually has more tea than coffee, and even the cheapest and most humble brands tend to be very, very good. So, as the Mrs. can attest, I’ve taken great joy in randomly trying out various teas from the multitude available here. I am rarely disappointed. Although the flavor and character can vary quite greatly, the average quality of packaged teas is quite high. Moving to the Eastern Hemisphere has been quite beneficial to my tea-swilling.

On a work day about four years ago, I ventured from the office I was working in at the time to a nearby market and, as I always do no matter what items I may have entered the store for, I quickly perused the tea aisle. The packets of Dilmah “Ceylon Gold” tea caught my eye, as it was a label that I hadn’t seen before. A new discovery is always welcome, so I cheerfully purchased a box of 50 tea bags, headed back to the office, and immediately turned on the kettle on to try my new discovery. The aroma of the tea as it steeped was very promising, and after a few minutes I had a revelation: this was the best tea that I had ever tasted. It was hearty and complex, with satisfying flavor from beginning to end of a sip. I was, by then, used to finding satisfaction in teas from Ceylon, but Dilmah Ceylon Gold topped everything I had tried up until then.

Naturally after that first cup, I kept an eye out for Dilmah Tea while shopping, although it wasn’t so common in grocery stores. I was interested to find that while my introduction to the brand had been with a box of inexpensive, fairly basic tea, Dilmah was more frequently to be found at finer hotels and restaurants. Dilmah produces a wide variety of teas of many grades and styles, which are rightfully considered to be among the best available, so I think it only fitting when I find it served at upmarket venues, and I’m glad for their growing success in this area.

But my tea tastes are rather basic. More delicate and “refined” teas are enjoyable, but for my main cup I prefer something hearty, a tea with plenty of strength and character. So while I enjoy trying Dilmah’s more high-end offerings, such as their Single Estate teas and herb infused tea, the Dilmah Premium Ceylon, which seems to be their standard offering that is on grocery shelves these days, stands out to me as the best choice for my daily cup.

After getting hooked on the tea, it was both surprising and rewarding to find that Dilmah is no ordinary company. Dilmah was founded by Merrill J. Fernando, a native of Sri Lanka, not just as a business concern, but to fulfill Mr. Fernando’s passion for quality, honestly produced tea as well as for compassion to his fellow man. When he entered the tea business in 1950, Mr. Fernando was chagrined to find that a great deal of the business had little to do with the production and origin of the tea, and was much more concentrated on the blending, packaging, branding and marketing done by the major corporations. Likewise, the profits reaped from these endeavors went mainly to the traders and distributors, with only a tiny fraction going back to the farmers, pickers and packers who spent great effort on a daily basis to produce the fine tea that was simply a commodity to the the outside world.

And so, Mr. Fernando worked hard for many years to become successful in the tea industry, until in 1988 he was able to establish Dilmah- named after his sons Dilhan and Malik- a company dedicated to honestly growing, preparing and distributing single origin, 100% Ceylon tea. Just as important to Fernando as producing honest tea was to do so ethically, sharing the profits with those that worked so hard to grow and pack the tea. The fulfillment of this obligation eventually led to the creation in 1999 of the MJF Charitable Foundation, to oversee the many projects he had created to benefit Dilmah’s employees, as well as the general populace of Sri Lanka.

Learning of the company’s background, I found Dilmah tea to be something that I could not only enjoy, but could also feel good about drinking. So when our friend Mita contacted me and asked if I wanted to attend afternoon tea with the founder, I dropped everything and made the trip from Fujairah over to Dubai.

Dilhan and Merrill Fernando

The father and son behind Dilmah Tea were in Dubai to conduct the latest editions of Dilmah Real High Tea Challenge, a series of events which challenge teams of chefs to create High Tea dishes that are paired with specific teas. They had held the event in Dubai the previous day, and would be doing the same in Abu Dhabi the next. The practice of pairing wines with foods is well known, of course; now Dilmah is advocating the same with fine tea in order to create memorable High Tea experiences. As a tea lover and amatuer cook this sounds quite sensible and fun to me.

It was really a delight to get to meet Merrill and Dilhan Fernando. I and a few others had the privilege of sitting around a table at Amwaj restaurant in the Shangri-La Hotel, Dubai to chat with them and hear about their goals and experience with the Dilmah Real High Tea Challenge as well as their business philosophy. I had read the account of Mr. Fernando and his company, of course, but naturally it was much more interesting to hear him recount it himself, with many personal insights and details added. Mr. Fernando’s passion for tea and for making the world a better place were quite palpable. What to me was already an admirable person and story became even more inspiring.

Merrill Fernando speaking passionately about his life’s work.

Also in attendance was Chef Bernd Uber, who serves as Presiding Judge for the Dilmah Real High Tea Challenge. He gave mouthwatering accounts of the fine pairings of Dilmah tea and creative dishes that have been developed by the chefs participating in the Challenge. He also spoke quite of admiringly Mr. Fernando, his family and company, which the chef has been collaborating with for several years now.

Quite naturally, the occasion was capped with afternoon tea, including a selection of treats provided by the restaurant and a wide variety of Dilmah teas. Although many tea and herbal blends were on offer, I stuck with my preference for ‘straight’ tea, sampling the Oolong and “Brilliant Breakfast” teas.

I was pleased that Dilhan expressed enthusiastic approval when I mentioned my daily preferred tea preparation: simply a large mug with three bags of Dilmah Premium Ceylon. Apparently, he likes his tea very strong too!

Previously, I already would have happily recommended Dilmah Tea to anyone who would listen. Not only is it consistently great tea, but the family-run company itself is an all-too-rare example of an firm that one can be unabashedly enthusiastic about. In times when the vast majority of goods that we depend on are produced by giant corporations with often shady practices, having a choice that offers both quality and good ethics is a relief. And now, having met and spoken with the founder, I feel even more enthusiastic about recommending my favorite tea.

For more information, see these sites:

Dilmah Tea – http://www.dilmahtea.com/

The MJF Charitable Foundation - http://www.mjffoundation.org/

Dilmah Real High Tea Challenge - http://realhightea.dilmahtea.com/

Hello Kitty and Spaz Cat? or Winky Cat?

Snoopy and Random Duck?

Alacrity? “Brisk and cheerful readiness.” I guess it fits.

We find that they are putting “Angry Birds” on everything, whether relevant or not. “Welcome to my little world. Let’s play together.”

“Train Energy Powerful: Too courageous to be met with”

Serving spoon, anyone?

We’ve done it again – found another good restaurant.

We ventured out to try a “new to us” restaurant. As we drove up, we checked to see if the restaurant was busy and were a little concerned that there were only two tables occupied by customers. But, we checked the time, which was 8 pm, and realized that it wasn’t the local dinner time, yet.

There didn’t seem to be any menus to choose from, so we had to ask the waiter what they offered. We decided on mixed grills and asked about salad. He assured us they had salad. First came the soup which was tangy and had onions and liver in it.

Then came the salads – two rocca (arugula) salads, cabbage & tomato & cucumber salad, and tabouleh. Also, two small plates of hummus. The salads were perfect.

And then the mixed grill – chicken tikka, lamb tikka, kabab, lamb chop, and arayes (spice mincemeat-filled oven-baked flatbread sandwiches).

The waiter brought us tea to finish the meal without our having to ask. It is like he read our minds. The bill came to 62 AED ($17.00). New Damascus is located in Fujairah, just north of the souk.

Our last site to see was Jerash. It was established by Alexander the Great in 331 B.C. and later expanded as a Roman city, one of the Decapolis cities.

Much of the city was toppled by the earthquake in 749 A.D., but it is one of the best preserved sites.

The pillars of the Temple of Artemis remained standing despite the earthquake.

We had a guide and it was worthwhile. Sometimes the guides can get in the way of the experience (such as the one at the Citadel). This guide went slowly, told us important information without it being too much and gave us lots of time to take pictures and enjoy ourselves.

To see all the pictures, click here.

Our last day of site seeing in Jordan started with Ajlun Castle. It was built by a nephew of Saladin in 1184-1185 A.D. and enlarged in 1214-1215 A.D.

Before we even got into the castle, we encountered a bus load of Nigerians who all wanted to have their picture taken with DaddyBird. Some even decided that they needed a picture with me also.

The castle was larger than it appeared and very interesting. To see all the pictures, click here.

We headed out for dinner. First was shwarma at Al Reef. (3.00 dinar $4.25 for four)

Followed by falafel sandwiches at Al Quds Falafel. (1.40 dinar $2 for two)

Followed by one of everything at Hamish Restaurant. (6 dinar $8.50 for full dinner for two)

After Wadi Rum and Petra, it seems to be downhill. Perhaps we should have reversed the order of our itinerary.

On our way to the Dead Sea, we stopped at St. George Church in Madaba where there is a mosaic map from the 6th Century. Neither of us is very interested in the Byzantine era. I enjoyed some of the newer mosaics that were hanging in the church (21st Century).

We also stopped at the Mosaic School, where we were briefly (very briefly) shown how new mosaics are made in a small workroom and then ushered into the expansive gift shop. The school teaches Jordanians, some of whom are physically disabled, how to create and restore mosaics. They do good work.

Next was Mt. Nebo, where there are more remains of mosaic flooring from a Byzantine church. The view of the Jordan Valley was lovely, despite the cloudiness.

By mid-afternoon we were at our Dead Sea hotel, ready for a late, late lunch and a long nap. Testing the waters waited until the next morning.

See all the pictures – click here.

You knew it would happen, right? A post about stray cats during our vacation is traditional.

We saw this tom three times on our trips up and down the siq (canyon). He clearly has a territory that is his niche. There is a patch of bamboo and a large crack going away from the path area, so there is probably a whole ecosystem that provides for his needs.

Since we were walking out on the second day, we could stop to have a little chat with him.

He was very sweet and very clean (except for his dusty paws). It would appear that he has a pretty cushy life just sitting around, licking himself, and watching the tourists go by.

The cats in this region aren’t Arabian Maus, like our own Oliver and Bert. These cats have shorter legs, shorter spines, and rounder faces. They are very nicely proportioned, medium sized cats.

He even made himself right at home on DaddyBird’s shoulders.

We tore ourselves away and went further up the trail. This little female came running with her tail in the air when she saw us.

She also was happy to get some attention.

Until the dog came…

And she had to take defensive measures.

All the stray cats we’ve encountered in town have been very skittish and defensive. It was nice to encounter these two, who have it pretty good and can afford to be friendly.

If you would like to see all the pictures from our second day at Petra (222 of them) click here.

Our first day at Petra started at 8 am. We met our guide, Abdullah Al Nawafleh, bought some hats to shield us from the sun, and headed in. To ease the experience we hired a horse drawn carriage. Abdulla negotiated it so that he could drive us in and another driver would come to pick us up at the other end around 2 pm.

The horse drawn carriage is a rough, rough ride. We were bounced down the path. Luckily, Abdullah stopped occasionally to explain the features along the way giving us a bit of a break. The path in is all downhill. We felt sorry for the poor horse who slipped occasionally on the rocks.

We had a marvelous time. The tour was informative and enjoyable. We had a few hours on our own, mostly spent in the Roman part of town. We started to climb to the Monastery, but I was not up to it. We came upon a trinket stall along the way and the Bedouin woman invited us to stop and rest on her bench. I took her up on the offer. She also offered us tea. We accepted not realizing that she would have to start a fire and make the tea for us. A couple of tourist police on their way up and a German couple on their way down joined us. It was quite pleasant. We bought a necklace from our host. She was very gracious.

Then we headed back to our rendezvous point for our carriage ride back to town. It was a bumpy ride back and a bit worse because there were no stops to alleviate the experience.

You can see all of the 390 pictures here.

Day two, we go in slow on foot.