ONjA Jewellery - Empowers Women To Make A Difference

More than a unique and prestigious jewellery line, ONjA Jewellery is about the larger vision behind the beautiful jewellery masterpieces presented to women in the world - the commitment to lend a hand to women in developing countries to raise them up as entrepreneurs so that they can transform their lives.

With this commitment, ONjA Jewellery contributes US$25 for each piece of jewellery sold to a woman under KIVA, a non-profit organisation that shares the same vision. Through KIVA, ONjA's funds are channelled to women who need the capital funds to kick-start their entrepreneurial dreams.

Inspired by Asia's beautiful surroundings, the pieces carry vivid colours that instill the richness and biologically diverse Asian tropical landscape. The type of woman to wear such bold statement pieces is not afraid to stand out of the crowd. She's an individual, seductive, quietly confident and works hard in everything she feels passionately for. ONjA Jewellery is available at Malaysia's multi-brand accessories boutique, Liberte Suria KLCC and Liberte AMCORP Mall.

For more information - Please visit, ONjA Jewellery.

Bufori Mk III La Joya - Spotted in Abu Dhabi

I couldn't believe my eyes, a Bufori Mk III La Joya here in Abu Dhabi!


I will always remember my visit to Bufori in Kepong, Kuala Lumpur 3 years ago :-)

ps - Here's the moment I first set eyes on a Bufori!

IKEA Yas Island - Really good breakfast!

We have grown to really like the new IKEA at Yas Island, near Ferrari World. Yes, its a 30 minute drive from the city centre, but well worth the trip there :-)
Previous review: IKEA Yas

4 AED for either ...
1) Full "english" (Swedish!?) breakfast of chicken or beef sausages, scrambled eggs, delicious hash brown, and baked beans, or
2) Waffle with maple syrup, butter and jam


Comment - bbG has had both sausages, we prefer the beef variety!

Best of all .. All you can drink, freshly brewed coffe - Take your pick, Latte / Cappucino / Expresso for 5 AED :-)

IKEA Yas Island - Swedish meat balls and more

Dinner one night in child-friendly IKEA one evening ... IKEA Yas is opened 10am - 10pm, daily. The restaurant may close 30 minutes before closing time, so do go early :-) And the fish is freshest at lunch-time, so we would recommend a lunch visit!

Swedish meat-balls, 10 pieces. Ask for extra cranberry jam, delicious! And the crisp-style potatoes which were served with the gravy were so good!


I had the vegetarian option, good value at 8 or 9 AED for a vegetable stew, served with steamed rice. bbG loved the salmon with grilled vege's, I loved it too!

Finz - Finest seafood, Beach Rotana Abu Dhabi

Finz has long been one of these restaurants that I had to go to, but didn't want to go to ... Why? I am not a big fan of seafood!

Hotel: Beach Rotana
Add: Tourist Club Area, P.O.Box 45200, Abu Dhabi.
Tel: +9712 697 9000


After enjoying X-Men: First Class at Abu Dhabi Mall, we had a lovely lunch at Finz over the weekend ... bbbbG loved the bread-basket too, check out the "star-fish" sundried tomato roll!


Cataplana with Saffron and Fennel broth, 220 AED (RM$180) - Portugese copper pot style cooking, served with garlic bread, and another salad. We finished most of the lightly flavoured broth, and quite enjoyed the mussels, prawns, fish and other seafood!


We shared the Finz Platter, 220 AED (RM$180), which was a platter of tuna steak, plump grilled prawn, large scallop, and some other fish and cuttlefish too. It even came with a nice side salad, which was perfectly dressed. Surprisingly... I enjoyed this, strange with me being a carnivore and all!


We also shared a large bottle of San Pellegrino, 32 AED, and with the Entertainer voucher, our bill for the two of us came up to 292 AED or RM$230 for a lovely lunch.

Abu Dhabi Exchange and Sowwah Island under construction opposite the Beach Rotana waterfront.


You can dine al fresco (Perhaps in the months of October - February!), or enjoy the air-conditioned ambience inside. Yes, Finz probably has the reputation of being very expensive and uppity, but we found the atmosphere to be relaxed and ambience to be beautiful. Perhaps it helped that we used our Entertainer voucher here too, which meant one of our mains was ... FREE!


Finz ... Didn't expect to enjoy the food genre, but I was pleasantly surprised and will be back!

Wasabi - Japanese restaurant that serves pork in Abu Dhabi

Located: Al Diar Mina Hotel, Al Markaziyah, Abu Dhabi
Landmark: 2 buildings away from the Porsche Showroom
Tel: +971 2 677 8415
Opening hours: 12-3pm, 6:30-11:30pm

Is it worth fighting the traffic to be here at Wasabi? Is it worth getting horribly lost in the maze of road-works that is the TCA/Hamdan area? Hmmm ... it depends! I'd personally go to Toki at Hilton on the Corniche next time, as it is the sister-restaurant of Wasabi.


Lets start with some Asahi "Super Dry" ... slurp! 24 AED.


Here is our Agadeshi To-fu, 32 AED. Expensive, but pretty good espesh by Abu Dhabi standards. We still miss the one back home in Malaysia - Good in Shun (Subang), and excellent in Rakuzen (Also, Subang)! The Mixed Tempura was excellent, 38 AED.

Expensive ... All About Rolls, sushi-selection. This cost 96 AED.

We were here to enjoy another night of the week-long birthday celebration of bbG, and JT chose the Wasabi Bento, 160 AED, for us - Three tiers of bento goodness! Overall good, but what stole the show was the amazing BLACK COD.

This is what the Bento consisted of ....

Yes... there was sashimi in the Bento too!

There are rather few places which serve PORK in Abu Dhabi .. this is one of them. Here is the pork-section of the menu :-)

ps - Sorry we were so late due to the mad traffic, and terrible diversions, JT ... Not surprised you had a plate of Edamame before we arrived, 24 AED.

pps - Overall ... the damage was 450 AED for the 3 of us. Not cheap, but good. Authentic Japanese in a town of fusion food! But I would still recommend Toki at the Hilton .. next time!

Shang Palace - Best service in Abu Dhabi!

Shang Palace, Shangri-La Hotel
Located: Qaryat Al Beri, Abu Dhabi
Tel: +971 2 509 8888

This is one of our favourite restaurants in all of Abu Dhabi!

Claypot to-fu (Good, but not spectacular - Especially when our taste buds are now so acute with the excellent to-fu we had in China recently) and ... Stir-fried beef with bitter melon in black bean and garlic sauce (80 AED - Beef was soooooo tender!). Seems that we had to call ahead to get the kitchen to prepare the Yong Tau-fu we so craved (and enjoyed on a previous visit here), we shall next time!

Shrimp with XO Sauce, 78 AED. I didn't find the XO sauce tangy enough, and bbG found the prawns (which I thought were really plump!) to be of the frozen and thawed variety. I couldn't tell, heh heh! Other items we had was steamed rice (10 AED per person), and jasmine tea (28 AED for the two of us).

Verdict ... the food is good, in fact very good by Abu Dhabi standards, but what sets this restaurant apart is the Customer Service ... quite possibly the best in Abu Dhabi! Emily, you are a star :-)

ps - Yes, you can find special buy-one-get-one-free offers in The Entertainer for Shang Palace :-)

Best steak in town - Wagyu at Rodeo Grill, Beach Rotana

Located: Beach Rotana Hotel, Tourist Club Area (Abu Dhabi)
Tel: +971 2 697 9000
Map: TripAdvisor
Opening hours: 12.30pm-3.30pm, 7pm-11.30pm

We like the Rodeo Grill at Beach Rotana, in busy TCA (Tourist Club Area) a lot ... Customer service is always pleasant and professional from the moment you call-up, to the point of arrival (Friendly valet service and concierge), to when you are led to your plush and comfortable bankers' style arm-chairs, to the actual meal ... :-)

The bread and butter combination here is possibly the best in town, with a large loaf of bread whic his made up of different sections, white/sun-dried tomato/olive/multi-grain etc. This is complimentary of course.

Here's our Gazpachio ... Tastes like a cool tangy salsa! Complimentary as well :-)



What you are looking at here could very possibly be the BEST STEAK IN ABU DHABI ... Divine Wagyu Rib-Eye Marbelisation 5, cooked to perfection (Medium-rare). Juicy, moist, tender, full of flavour :-)


Here's a comparison of what used to be our favourite steak-house versus Rodeo Grill ...

Meat Co, Souk Qaryat al Beri -
1) Indifferent service,
2) The ambience lacks "special",
3) The steaks are priced similarly to Rodeo Grill (and 18 Oz - One to One, The Village) but does NOT include sauces and side-dishes, which are priced separately, and most damagingly ...
4) The steaks were over-cooked on each occassion we were there (three times), and thus less juicy and not tender.

Rodeo Grill, Beach Rotana -
1) Friendly service from the manager to the front-of-house, to each and every one of the waiters,
2) The ambience says "grand and special",
3) The steaks may not be "cheap", but we actually consider it really good value as the meat is wonderful, and a Wagyu 250g (Marble 5) costs about 330 AED, and
4) The steaks are not over-cooked, and medium-rare IS medium-rare. Juicy, tender, perfect!