Archives for April 2011

Fast car.

Expensive, too.

Ferrari World
is billed as a major attraction in Abu Dhabi. Located on Yas Island, the world’s largest indoor amusement park is just minutes from the Formula One race track. It is also home to the world’s fastest roller coaster. After a few delays, Ferrari World opened in November of last year.

Initially, the reviews were not exactly glowing. Between the high ticket prices (225AED/$61) and mechanical failures, the majority of visitors were not too pleased. The reviews on Tripadvisor ranged from: “Worst amusement park in the world.” to “Don’t waste your time or money!!” It seems that people were buying their tickets only to find out that none of the rides were operating once they had entered. Harsh.

Naturally, having heard about the opening troubles and not being a fan of Ferrari, I didn’t rush to check things out. But when half price tickets were on offer a few weeks ago, I figured, “Why not?”

First up on our agenda was the world’s fastest roller coaster, Formula Rossa. We arrived just prior to opening so there were no lines to toil through. The anticipation is pretty palpable when you know you are about to shoot 240km (150miles) per hour in the span of 4.9 seconds. That can’t be healthy. Fortunately, it’s super fun! The ladies in our bunch rode the coaster twice in short succession. I was ready to go for a third but to be honest, I had quite the headache the rest of the day. Your body just doesn’t know how to deal with such speed!

I do not mean to be lewd. The ride was literally blowing off my clothes!

The next thrill ride we rode was G Force. It shoots you straight up and out of the building, then lets you sit there checking out the view of Yas Island. Unfortunately, since you are outside it’s really hot. Waiting for the ride to begin was pretty uncomfortable. I can’t imagine what it would be like later in the season.

We also rode the Fiorano GT Challenge. This ride is actually two roller coasters that are racing each other down the track. That might have been cool… except during our visit there weren’t enough visitors to justify opening both tracks. (At least that’s my assumption as to why only one track was running). After riding the world’s fastest coaster, this one was just so-so.

The other rides at the park were geared either towards kids or teaching you about Ferrari. Speed of Magic (a 4D adventure!) was surprisingly fun while Racing Legends (the history of Ferrari) was pretty boring.

Oh yeah, there are a ton of Ferraris displayed around the park as well. If you like that sort of thing.

My recommendation: If you’re an avid Ferrari fan, it’s probably worth checking out. If you’re only in it for the rides, don’t pay full price and come early. You will be exiting through the gift shop so don’t forget to grab that 45AED ($12) 6-pack of Ferrari pencils!

Remember to enter my delicious Giveaway!

xo, jill

PS. John O. this one’s for you!

That’s my snack. (GIVEAWAY!) CLOSED

It’s the thought that counts.

I noticed a little surprise at my corner store a week or two ago. A novelty snack made just for me…

The sighting coincided with a pre-planned giveaway… and now I could send along a little Jilly bar as well. How perfect! Probably should have tasted it before I got so excited and bought 5 bars.

Novelty Snack: Jilly
Description: “Creamy wafers covered in cocoa.”
Tastes Like: Blech. Fake chocolate thinly covering the stalest wafers I’ve ever tasted.

Verdict: Thumbs down!

But no worries! Plenty of other novelty snack goodness abounds inside this Sri Lankan tote bag featuring the Tamil alphabet.

And it all could be yours for the tasting.

To enter, leave a comment anywhere on the blog. Write whatever you wish but include the word “tote” in brackets. Like so, [tote].

You may enter up to 3 times.

Winner selected by a random number generator.

Contest open to all.

Closes Friday, April 29th at 12pm (Abu Dhabi time).

Good luck!

xo, jill

PS. I also have a new “Novelty Snack” button up on the right. Now it’s just an easy click to the tasty treats.

PPS. Giveaway is now closed! Thanks!

Novelty Snacks of Sri Lanka

Time to get serious.

My novelty snack reporting from Jordan was a little, well, weak. I waited too long to record my findings and the flavors were no longer fresh. That’s why my descriptions were a bit… vague. Like when I described a cheese flavored chip as, “A cheesy chip.” When the time came to snack in Sri Lanka, I took my job a bit more seriously. I even kept a novelty snacking notebook. That’s right.

Novelty Snack: Woodapple Nectar
Description: A juice made from woodapple, treacle, milk powder, and water
Tastes Like: Nothing else I’ve ever tasted. It tastes a bit like apple but also like wood. It’s a thick drink with a bit of a tang.

Verdict: Thumbs neutral

Novelty Snack: Hacks Original Hard Boiled Sweets
Description: A menthol, eucalyptus, and aniseed hard candy
Tastes Like: Something familiar that Mike couldn’t quite place. He thinks it’s a German candy.
Verdict: Thumbs up! *This candy looked so gross to me that I couldn’t even try it. I’m sure it would have been a thumbs down.

Novelty Snack: Vegetable Snack 109
Description: A cassava based snack
Tastes Like: Sweet onion flavored snack with a good crunch. It doesn’t melt on your tongue like you might expect.
Verdict: Thumbs up!

Novelty Snack: Black and Gold Salted Gram
Description: Dried garbanzo beans (chickpeas) with salt and a bay leaf.
Tastes Like: A bit bland. There’s not enough salt on the outside to match the bulk on the inside.
Verdict: Thumbs neutral

Novelty Snack: O-Kay Layer Cake
Description: A mini vanilla layer cake.
Tastes Like: Twinkie meets Poptarts
Verdict:
Thumbs up!

I mentioned something about a giveaway a few weeks ago. It’s coming in the next few days!

xo, jill

One last necesscity.

Colombo.

Unfortunately, our itinerary required us to stay our very last night in Sri Lanka in Colombo. We had been dreading this portion of the trip after hearing about our friends’ experiences there. The touts were aggressive, the hotel (that we had also booked) was dirty, there’s nothing to see… etc.

When we boarded the train to Colombo, our expectations were pretty low.

Turns out, it wasn’t so bad. Our hotel room was the nicest one yet (hot water, water pressure, clean linens, mini fridge, flat screen, AC), and the touts more or less left us alone. We relaxed in our room (watching bad tv) until check out. Then we visited Paradise Road (our friends’ recommendation) for a bit of shopping and a very expensive (but delicious) lunch.

Unfortunately, we were swindled by our driver as we were dropped off at the airport. But why let that ruin an amazing trip?

xo, jill

Relapse.

Back to the beach!

After visiting Udawalawe, we ended up in an inconvenient part of the country. The route the locals kept recommending was to travel quite a distance to Ella, and then take a 12 hour train ride back to Colombo. We thought it over. Then went back to the beach!

Despite our hotel assuring us that a tuk tuk ride to Matara would be out of the question, we decided to do it anyway. Surprisingly, it was the shortest and smoothest of all of our extended tuk tuk rides. The plan was to stay two nights in nearby Mirissa and take the train back to Colombo from Matara (only 4 hours).

I think we made the right decision.

Mirissa is a tourist town that lets you forget it’s a tourist town. The hotels and restaurants are built back in the trees so when you look out at the beach you see… the beach. We spent our time relaxing, taking walks, and playing in the water.

It was the perfect way to end our trip.

xo, jill

Here come the elephants.

Unless you want more tarantula?

Our next stop in Sri Lanka was a visit to Udawalawe National Park. The park reserves 119 square miles for the wildlife that was displaced due to the construction of a nearby reservoir.

We arrived bright and early with high hopes for viewing elephants. We weren’t disappointed.

I love seeing animals in their natural habitat. I couldn’t help but think of the elephants I’d see in childhood at the Oregon Zoo. The indoor viewing room was brutal.

In addition to seeing elephants we also saw a few peacocks, parakeets, water buffalo, a baby crocodile, an elk, and an eagle (of sorts).

We had a surprise guest in out hotel room this time around as well. Don’t worry, this one was a bit less creepy.

And the monkey family living in the trees just above our balcony was pretty cute too.

xo, jill

PS. Can I just take this minute to once again implore you: Please don’t ride the elephants!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...