If you don’t have time (or don’t want to spend the time) to shop at a physical grocery store, then Kibsons in the UAE is a great option.

Since COVID, I have relied on weekly grocery deliveries and after trying different stores, I now do 99% of my grocery shopping at Kibsons.

Ever since we moved to RAK (Ras Al Khaimah), I rely on Kibsons even more because the other options (other than Spinneys and Choithrams) don’t cover my needs of quality meat, vegetables, and fruit.

As much as I appreciate that Kibsons has grown their product offering since COVID days, it gets a little overwhelming with so many products to choose from. I end up ordering the same items every week (I keep them in the FAVORITES section of the app so it’s easy to do).

What I would love is for there to be a “review” section so you can get a sense of product quality and flavors. Many times, I’ve ordered something that I absolutely hated because the product description wasn’t accurate.

Like spaghetti bolognese. This is my go-to for the children’s meals when I don’t have time to cook.

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I homeschool my children in reading and writing in Chinese. At home, our spoken Chinese is Cantonese so many of my resources focus on that dialect.

Please let me know if you have any additional resources that you have found helpful.

Books:

Sage 500 from Hong Kong:

I primarily use these learning books with my children. Sage 500 teaches children the most often used 500 characters of the Chinese language. I’ve written about how I use these books to teach my kids here.

Facebook Groups:

• Cantonese Parents
• Cantonese American Parents
• Raising Bilingual Children in Chinese & English
• Homeschooling Young Kids in Chinese

Apps:

• Train Chinese
  • This app is great for teachin how to write a Chinese character because it will animate the character in both Simplified and Traditional Chinese. Tip: if your default app setting is traditional, then to animate the simplified text, simple hold down the simplified character until the option for “Animation” shows up, then click on it.
  • I also use this app to make lists of the important characters that we reference often – like my children’s names.

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Although I am not fluent in Chinese (just conversational), I am able to teach my kids Chinese through the Sage 500 books (from Hong Kong). I spend about an hour each week total but lately, we’ve been doubling our efforts…with frozen yogurt bribes 🙂

On Mondays and Wednesdays after school, I take my 7-year old daughter to get soft-serve yogurt while my son is at golf practice. At the yogurt shop, I grab a paper cup, pull down on the lever to disperse the yogurt into semi-perfect swirls. I choose plain mango and my daughter goes for vanilla with a topping of crushed Oreos.

We take our yogurt cups to our favorite table and sit and get comfortable. For the next hour, I would be teaching my daughter how to read and write in Chinese.

You would think that I can teach my kids Chinese because I am fluent myself. But I’m not. My spoken Chinese is barely at a conversational level. I have a hard time understanding Chinese movies because they speak with such “big” words. And I can barely read above a 3rd-grade level. I stopped attending weekend Chinese school when I was in 7th grade and have forgotten many of the characters.

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Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) is one of the seven emirates in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and is located about an hour’s drive north of Dubai. The name translates to “head of the tent” reportedly after a large tent was erected as a navigation marker by an early chieftain. Recent developments in adventure tourism have propelled RAK as the adventure capital of the UAE.

From Sea to Mountain to Desert

RAK is located along the coast with 40 miles (65 km) of gorgeous sandy beaches where staycationers and tourists alike can choose from high-end beach resorts, like the Waldorf Astoria, to more budget-friendly options.

Also located in RAK is the majestic Hajar Mountain range that spans the emirate, rising from the Arabian Sea to its highest peak of Jebel Jais. Jebal Jais is home to the world’s longest zipline and the first Bear Grylls Survival Camp.

Further inland are stretches of pristine desert where activities like camping, sandboarding, and dune bashing are popular.

As Dubai residents, we often escape to RAK for a change of scenery. Whether for a relaxing staycation or an adrenaline-pumping day trip, there is so much to do.

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Gardening in Dubai has its challenges with the scorching desert heat and high humidity of the summer months. But for 8 months out of the year (October to May), the climate can support a wide range of plants and vegetables including many cool weather crops.

We just do things a bit backwards here. While people in other parts of the globe are winding down their gardening activities due to frost, we are starting our planting season. And when we wind down our growing season in May due to heat, others in the North Hemisphere are starting their planting season. There are also many plants that can survive the harsh desert environment and can be grown year-round.

If you are new to gardening (or new to gardening in Dubai), you may have a lot of questions on the topic and I’ve put together a bunch of frequently asked questions (FAQs) to help you on your journey.

You will notice that I recommend a lot of Amazon products. That’s because Amazon makes it easy to shop in the comfort of your own home, to track purchases, and to make returns. If you live in the UAE it’s only 16 dhs per month and includes free international shipping (yes, FREE!) on products marked as “Prime International Shipping” and same-day or next-day delivery of Amazon Prime products sold locally.

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Tonkotsu ramen is an umami-packed bowl of Japanese noodle soup made from pork bone broth and traditionally topped with braised pork, halved soft-boiled egg, menma (seasoned bamboo) and sliced scallions. This stick-to-your-ribs kind of broth needs to simmer for half a day (or more!) but here I show you how to use your Instant Pot pressure cooker to decrease the cooking time. It is not a difficult meal to make but because of the different elements involved, is best made over two days and I will provide you with a suggested timeline of how to put together a perfect bowl of tonkotsu ramen at home.

Tonkotsu Shoyu Ramen with Homemade Noodles

My 10-year old son asks for Tonkotsu ramen ALL. THE. TIME. Ever since he had his first bowl in Houston 2 years ago.

Because I love making stocks and soups, I am happy to oblige. But making a proper bowl of Tonkotsu ramen was more work than anything I have ever made before. The first time I did it, it took me five days!

The results were so worth it though. To finally sit down and slurp a bowl of ramen noodles in a wonderfully flavored creamy but light broth accompanied by meltingly tender pork belly and custardy eggs?

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I ate a lot of ramen noodles as a child but like most people outside of Japan in the 80s and 90s, it was the Nissin Cup O’ Noodles kind. Seafood flavor was my favorite and I became an expert on opening a packet by first tearing off the cardboard packaging and then the plastic wrapper, and finally the lid. I had a special way of making the noodles extra soft: first add boiling water, then microwave the cup o’ noodles for one minute (no more or it will boil over and make a mess of the microwave tray), then cover for 5 minutes. Voila, extra soft noodles.

In 2000, I moved into a midtown apartment in New York City right across from a tiny Japanese bar/restaurant. Even then I was always craving noodles and would order their ramen when I could afford it. This was way before the ramen craze hit New York and that bowl of ramen wasn’t very good compared to today’s standards. But I would inhale it nonetheless and go back for more when the craving hit me.

By the time the ramen craze arrived in my hometown of NYC, I had already moved to Dubai and missed out on all the fun of trying out all the trendy new noodle bars popping up right and left in the city.

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As an avid reader, I enjoy reading travel stories as well as cookbooks. I especially love cookbooks that aren’t just about the recipes and techniques, but also about the story and history behind the recipes and the food.

Below are a few of my favorite books on ramen and Japanese cuisine. There are even wonderful children’s books on ramen. Any of these would make a great addition to your own collection or gifts to friends and family.

10 Best Books For Ramen Lovers

(1) Japanese Soul Cooking: Ramen, Tonkatsu, Tempura, and More from the Streets and Kitchens of Tokyo and Beyond

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(2) Ramen Otaku: Mastering Ramen at Home: A Cookbook

“Otaku” is a Japanese word that denotes a full-on obsession with something. Ramen Otaku author Sarah Gavigan moved back to her hometown of Nashville after spending twenty years eating through ramen joins in LA. With no decent ramen available, she dedicates herself to recreating the perfect bowl and now shares her secrets and recipes for the home cook to recreate at home.

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(3) Ivan Ramen: Love, Obsession, and Recipes from Tokyo’s Most Unlikely Noodle Joint

When Ivan Orkin’s passion for ramen takes him from the US to Japan to open a ramen shop, he faces many trials of tribulations along the way.

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