Posted by Kanga. Please do not reblog.
Friday we ventured out to the bull butting competition on the Fujairah corniche. This is an old tradition brought to the region by the Portuguese.
Two bulls butt heads and push in a feat of strength.
It is held every Friday afternoon between prayers and sunset. As near as we can tell, there is no money or prizes involved. Pride in having a winning bull is the reward. Some drive from as far away as Abu Dhabi to participate.
Posted by Kanga.
Friends from Dubai came to Fujairah for a food tour of our favorite restaurants. We began Thursday evening with Nepal Kitchen House.
We started with the signature momos (steamed chicken dumplings).
Pictured above (upper right, clockwise) Aloo Jeera (potatoes, cumin seeds, tumeric), Aloo Dum (potatoes, coriander, tumeric), Chicken tass (chicken, puffed rice, crispy onions), and Badam sandeko (peanuts, onions, tomatoes, chilies).
We also sampled vegetable rice and chicken rice – rice, lentil soup (daal) and curried vegetables/chicken.
After all that, we called it a night and headed off for a good night’s sleep before starting again with an 8 am breakfast of paratha (flat bread), chana (chick peas/garbanzo beans in a curry sauce) and tea at Al Khan Restaurant.
This breakfast cost 36 AED ($9.80) for 6 people ($1.63 each). They kept the bread coming and would have refilled our bowls, but we had to pace ourselves.
We headed to the corniche for a bit of sun. It didn’t take long to have gotten more than enough heat. It isn’t quite winter, yet. The temperature high that day was 97F.
“Second breakfast” was at Sizzling Restaurant which opened at 11 am. Doing this tour on a Friday was problematic due to Friday hours. Many businesses are closed, some until 4 pm. Any future food tours will have to be done on Saturday.
Sizzling Restaurant is one of three great Filipino restaurants in town. Breakfast entrées consist of fried egg, garlic rice and a variety of meats.
We ordered and shared three items – tapsilog (beef), adosilog (chicken), and tosilog (chicken).
Next, we attempted to explore the discount stores, but again ran into the Friday hours problem. Only one store was open.
We headed down to Kalba mangroves to look for turtles. The mangrove area has been closed since March due to plans to develop the area. We weren’t even allowed to walk out onto the bridge to get a better view of the turtles, but we still managed to see a few.
When we returned to Fujairah, it was a bit too early for the bull butting and too early for bread at the Afghani restaurant, so we were off to Oriental Restaurant for Singaporean/Malaysian food.
Pictured above is crispy shrimp omelet, egg plant sambal with shrimp, chicken and salted eggs, and mixed seafood soup.
Beef and kai lan is my personal favorite. Also pictured is hainanese chicken.
We returned to the bull arena in time for the last bout.
One last stop at a discount store ended our day around 8 pm. A long, busy, and tiring day. Great fun with great people.
If you would like to get Mita’s take on our tour, read this Mita56’s Blog: Fujairah Food Tour
Posted by Kanga.
We served as amateur tour guides for Sharjah International Book Fair visiting authors (Mike, Terri, Sophie, Nicola, Stuart, and Yahia – I hope I got that all right.)
We started with lunch at a Yemeni restaurant.
We shared a large platter of mandi (lamb and rice).
Eating rice with their hands seemed to be a new experience for everyone. It was enjoyed by all and mastered by some.
Then we were off to Fujairah Fort which is open to the public due to the 40th National Day celebrations that started November 11th (with the beginning of the Al Saif sword competitions) and will continue through December 15th. The actual National Day is December 2nd and commemorates the joining of the 7 Emirates into a single country.
It was a real pleasure to get to see the inside of the fort.
Sophie found a place to rest with an inspiring view and took a moment for contemplation.
Below the Fort many traditional activities are on display. This man is making a fishing net by hand.
These men are tying palm leaves together to make a small boat.
Eventually, it will look like this.
Then, of course, we had to squeeze in a visit to the bull butting. This competition is held every Friday afternoon and dates back to the 1600’s.
The dark bull was something to see. He started by kneeling and rubbing his head on the ground and then was up in a flash, catching the other bull by surprise and gaining the advantage.
Unfortunately, time ran out and the authors had to return to Sharjah for the book fair activities. We enjoyed giving them a taste of Fujairah and Emirati culture.
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