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From - Shawerma Review: IKEA:

Sweden is famous for their meatballs so when IKEA started making and selling shawermas I was eager to try it. First time I had the shawerma in the new IKEA branch at The Avenues mall I didn’t like it. They mixed vegetables with my shawerma and I hate places that do that. The vegetables which is usually made up of onions and some green stuff (I don’t know what its called) over powers the chicken flavor. So next time I passed by IKEA I ordered the shawerma plain with just garlic.

How was it? Its edible.

The biggest problem I had with their shawerma is the bread. I think there is too much bread for the shawerma. The solution I would recommend is to either increase the quantity of chicken in the bread or decrease the size of the bread itself. The chicken tasted good and the garlics presence was felt but not over done. If only they weren’t so stingy.
Final score I settled for was 3 out of 5. The shawerma costs 250fils which is great specially since the place is extremely clean. They also have an offer, coke plus shawerma for 350fils. The location is crap, no one is going to drive up to IKEA just for their shawerma of course. Overall its not bad for their first try. I just hope they start filling up the bread with more chicken.

Shawerma, or shawarma, is a common fast-food type dish in the Middle East. For our friends in Sweden we can liken it to the kebab that’s served in Sweden, although it seems to be more whole chicken that is shaved here, rather than the compact type of meat that’s used in Sweden. But it’s good.

I’ve not tried IKEA’s shawarma myself, but I’ve had their meatballs, which were a disappointment.

Save the goat:

For 40 years it has been torched, vandalized, had its legs cut off and even been run over by a car.

But officials in the Swedish city of Gavle are guaranteeing that this year’s giant straw Christmas goat - the involuntary victim of Sweden’s most violent yule tradition - will survive unscathed.

Vandals have burned the 13-meter (43-foot)-high goat 22 times since it was first set up on Dec. 3, 1966 to mark the holiday season. But for its 40th anniversary Sunday, officials think they have finally outsmarted the resourceful arsonists by dousing this year’s ram with flame-resistant chemicals normally used on airplanes.

“It is impossible to burn it to the ground this year, although you might be able to singe its paws,” said Anna Ostman, a spokeswoman for the committee in charge of building the goat. “After 40 years, we think we finally found the solution.”

The company providing the fireproof treatment is so sure of its resilience that its spokesman Freddy Klassmo told newspaper Aftonbladet that “not even Napalm can set fire to the goat now.”

For those who still want to follow its fate, a 24-hour Web cam has been set up to film the straw goat where it stands on the central square in Gavle, 150 kilometers (90 miles) north of Stockholm. The security guards who have watched over previous versions have been called off, Ostman said.

“We can sleep very soundly at night now,” she said. “The goat can too.” Since 1966, just 10 of the straw goats survived beyond Christmas Day. Aside from being burned, several were beaten down and the 1976 goat was hit by a car.

The vandals are seldom caught, but the 2001 culprit - 51-year-old American Lawrence Jones - was convicted and spent 18 days in jail. The 2005 vandals - who witnesses said were dressed up as Santa Claus and the Gingerbread Man - remain at large.

I think people in Europe and North America are largely ignorant about what music is popular in the Middle East, and I can willingly admit to being the same, even though I live here. A problem is obviously the language. If you don’t understand Arabic the music looses a lot of it’s appeal since you don’t know what they’re signing about.

Here’s an example of a popular song by Lebanese singer Elissa.

The same song is featured in a Pepsi commercial where Elissa appears together with Christina Aguilera.

Congratulations United Arab Emirates on your 35th Birthday. For a country 35 years is not very much. Sweden, by comparison, is widely recognized to have been formed in 1521, almost 500 years ago. But I’m sure the UAE has a brilliant future ahead.

The very first Swede to venture into outer space, Christer Fuglesangs, is set to blast of in little over five days time. He’s been scheduled to go many times before but not it seems to be the real thing. It seems Sweden is going space-crazy, and why wouldn’t it? For a relatively small country, getting their first citizen into space, this is a big deal.

It seems the super-mega-projects have now come to Abu Dhabi…$40 billion Yas Island to be developed in Abu Dhabi:

Aldar Properties Chairman unveiled recently Yas Island, which is a themed leisure city and one of the largest natural islands in Abu Dhabi, Khaleej Times reported.

According to the chairman, Yas Island, a development that would cost $40 billion, will be a prestigious world-class leisure destination with mixed-use tourist attractions including beaches, entertainment, shopping, hotels, residences, golfing, equestrian facilities and motor racing. Yas Island will have the world’s first ‘Ferrari World’ themed park.

He added that the Aldar has sought government permission for free zone status where non-UAE nationals can also make investments in the Island.

Yas Island will include retail areas occupying a staggering 300,000 square metres, top quality motor race track, two major marinas and yachting facilities and more. The first phase will be completed in 2008 and the entire project by 2014.

Today in the Khaleej Times they have a story about Julie Amer, and some of her adventures. But what I think is her biggest adventure is that she is going around speaking to women about stepping out of their comfort zones, take part in things around them, and get out into nature. She also reminds people to take care of them self.

Mountaineer Julie Amer delivered a motivational speech to a select gathering at the Zayed University on Tuesday.

Her goal was to encourage women to step out of their comfort zones, take charge of their health and well-being, interact with various cultures and discover their true potential by connecting with nature through expeditions.

Julie, who’s the founder of the popular mountaineering association, Mountain High, told the audience that her main source of inspiration was her father, who was her greatest tutor.