Month: August 2005

Pakistani Restaurant in Tunisia

Thanks to Lea, an American student in Tunisia, whose blog I discovered today through Karim, I found what is most-likely the only Pakistani restaurant in Tunisia.

It’s in the back of Centre Dorra in El Menzah 6. Check the map here.

Eman has been dying to eat some Indian food for quite some time now, and well I thought Pakistani food was close enough, so I surprised her by taking her to lunch there.

It’s a little place, but quite nice. They have a few posters of places in Pakistan on the walls and some flyers about some Pakistani cities on the tables.

We ordered Chicken Biryani and some Pakistani bread.

Once the odour of the cooking hit my nostrils and I flipped through the pages of the Lahore flyer on our table to see the places I knew, it was as if I travelled back in time to the days I spent in Pakistan. Nostalgia hit me, and I started rambling on and on to Eman about Pakistan, what I used to do there, where I went, …etc etc etc.

Then the food came and it was really good, very delicious. I totally enjoyed every bit of it.

The prices are great too, pretty cheap actually compared to other restaurants in Tunisia.

I totally recommend this restaurant.
I’m sure I’ll be going back there many more times.

Bride & Prejudice

I just finished watching the movie Bride & Prejudice, directed by Gurinder Chadha, the same director behind Bend It Like Beckham.

The movie is inspired by the Jane Austen novel “Pride & Prejudice”, only it’s done in bollywood style.
Yep, it’s just like those Indian movies, with all the singing and dancing and everything, just done in English. It’s totally a Hollywood meets Bollywood movie.

It turned out pretty nice actually, quite an enjoyable couple of hours.
What I liked the most is the mix between hollywood and bollywood cinema styles.
I also love how the director presents India and its people, it totally makes you feel like picking yourself up and going to India right away.
Another great thing is how she handles the issues she’s tackling in this movie and presents them.
I wish Arab directors would learn from her (from both of her movies) and start doing similar things in Hollywood. Anyway that brings me to another post I’ll be writing soon about Arabs, Muslims and Hollywood.

My score for this movie is: 7/10

links for 2005-08-11

The Tenth Planet

So it has been confirmed that our Solar system has a 10th planet which is larger than Pluto and nearly three times farther from the Sun as Pluto is.

The new planet, temporarily designated 2003 UB313, is the most distant object yet seen in the solar system, 97 times farther from the Sun than the Earth is. It also is the largest body yet found orbiting in the Kuiper belt, the group of icy bodies including Pluto which orbit beyond Neptune.

Like Pluto, it is covered by methane ice, and at its present distance is chilled to just 30

Tunisian Fashion Week 2005

The first edition of “Tunisian Fashion Week” will be held in the coastal city of Hammamet from August 15 to August 17.

Six Tunisian fashion designers will present their creations. Their summer collections will feature wedding dresses, inspired from Tunisia’s traditional fashion heritage, as well as evening dresses.

A number of television channels are expected to cover the event.

“Tunisia Fashion Week” will also provide young creators with the opportunity to present their collections to the public in the company of more experienced designers.

The second edition of the event is scheduled for February 2006.

[Source: Tunisia Online]

Art Prankster Sprays Israeli Wall

Secretive “guerrilla” artist Banksy has decorated Israel’s illegal West Bank barrier with satirical images of life on the other side.

The nine paintings were created on the Palestinian side of the barrier.

One depicts a hole in the wall with an idyllic beach, while another shows a mountain landscape on the other side.

Another picture shows the head of a white horse appearing to poke through, while he has also painted a ladder going over the wall.

Banksy’s spokeswoman Jo Brooks said: “The Israeli security forces did shoot in the air threateningly and there were quite a few guns pointed at him.”

Banksy, who hails from the UK city of Bristol, never allows himself to be photographed and created the images last week.

[Source: BBC News]

Fifth Tunisian Blogger Meetup

So, upon the invitation of Adib, the next Tunisian blogger meetup will be held on Saturday, August 13th in Kelibia, or paradise as Adib likes to call it 😉

The programme includes having lunch at El Mansoura restaurant, which is on the beach right next to the water, swimming in Kelibia’s heavenly sea, soaking up some sun on it’s beautiful white beaches, playing some beach soccer and drinking some tea with pine nuts at the Caf

Tuninter Plane Crashes In Mediterranean Sea

An ATR-72, a twin-engine, propeller-driven aircraft, operated by Tuninter, a subsidiary of TunisAir that operates internal and short-distance flights, crashed into the mediterranean sea, just off the coast of Sicily, yesterday afternoon.

The plane had reported an engine problem around 3:20 p.m. and tried to make an emergency landing at Palermo’s airport, but it went into the sea 20 minutes later, according to Italian air traffic control officials.

The Tuninter aircraft was headed from Bari in southeastern Italy to the Tunisian island of Djerba, a popular destination for European tourists.

Rescuers have saved at least 23 of the 38 people on board.
Thirteen people have been confirmed dead, and another two are missing.

Our condolences to the families of the people who were lost in this crash.
May God rest their souls in peace.

[More: CNN]