Today is my 5th and last day of my coffee course. I’ve never been so sad to finish a course before 
I am going to miss being around coffee so much but then I still have my coffee graduation this Saturday to look forward to, kinda like my final exam 
Yesterday was purely behind the counter experience serving real customers. I wore my very own Gloria Jeans outfit and my Gloria Jeans trainee badge and went in. I stood with the baristas as they got the daily briefing from the store manager Mr. Subhi and I was assigned the tast of B1 as in Barista 1 that is in charge of making the coffee shots for the drinks.
I was also shown the hygiene checklist used for the start of each shift to make sure that the food and drinks prepared and clean and the checklists they use to keep track of the food daily. Running a coffee house is a LOT of work.
Then I got around to making the drinks for real customers! Luckily it wasn’t overly crowded at night. The first drink I made was a double espresso for a very nice woman. Then I got to make this… a caramel latte!
Eyshaweg moo? There was a very good chance that I’d grab it and drink it instead of the customer! If you are coming tomorrow for my graduation you might want to order this one. Then I made a blended drink (yay me!) and then I made this mocha.
After the decoration I thought the face resembled something familiar but I couldn’t put my hands on it. It was only later on Instagram that someone suggested it looks like Ansam’s logo and they are right! It does!
logo piz
After about 3 hours of working behind the counter it was time for me to go home. I left gloria jeans covered in Cocoa powder and smelling like a cup of freshly brewed coffee and I minded at all. Went for dinner then came back to sleep like a baby. Its like being in the gym for 3 hours but it is a lot more fun -and less sweat g63-.
So now all is left out of my coffee adventure is the Saturday work shift behind the counter from 12-2:30 PM. I truly hope I do well and not screw up :S
As for the Gloria Coffee Quiz, we have a winner! It is my dear blog reader and avid commentor Hafsa KQ Congratulations Hafsa and see you tomorrow at 12:30 insha2 Allah
Hello and welcome to the weekend! Its Thurdsay! Half term just started and everyone is taking a plane out to somewhere! Take me with you to Bahrain or Dubai!
What is your lunch for today? Is it like the rest of the us working in our offices? Bel zwara? On the plane? In the car while you are taking a road trip?
Today I am craving Nachos! Not cinescape’s horrible smelly nachos no. Good crispy nachos topped with sour cream, cheese, guacamole, and jalapenos! Not from American chain restaurants either that use blocks of butter disguised as sour cream no. Real tangy greek yogurt like sour cream and everything heaped up on top of each other. You take a piece of nachos and its drenches with everything! Hmmmmm its been a while since a good Mexican place has opened up in here 
So shino ’3adakom elyoom?
When you are minding your own business lost in whatever you are doing, then hear your iPhone bleeping with the sound of a mention in Twitter. You open it and you find several mentions from several followers telling you that someone you don’t know is on some TV channel, then asking you to “Please Retweet”?
Excuse me?
Oh so you know how to use the word please eh? Now wait a minute. Who on earth do you think you are telling me to retweet something? Eb amarat shino? Do you understand how twitter work? Do you know me? Do you know my political interests? Do I care about that man on TV? How DARE YOU ask me to retweet about him? 3la ay asas? Do you think by adding the world please baste7e o basawee retweet? o ana shako feeh?
Eb kaif mino ana asawe retweet? Eb kaifi. Why do I retweet something? If I like it, or think its important some how according to my own set of rules and likings, then I will retweet it out of my OWN FREE WILL! You have no right, absolutely no right, in asking me to retweet about anyone. You do NOT own me. All right?
I am not liking Twitter at the moment. Bad layout. Too many creeps, too many politics, too many people coming in for the first time and lecturing us about “what to tweet and what’s not”, and too many people thinking they have the right over you to tweet or retweet whatever you want. I miss Twitter back in 2009 when there was a handful of tweeps you knew and you could rant or spill out your life and you’d still be anonymous. 7safa 3la twitter wallah :’(
Time does fly by fast when you are having fun! Only one more day of the coffee making course to go and I’m definitely going to miss it with all my heart!
Today started by me inviting over my husband to rerun yesterday’s testing on him. Now I am certain I can run the coffee tasting and tuning on every one I want :p Afterwards The Operations Manager Mr. Wessam Wafa gave me a briefing about Gloria Jeans Coffee franchise scheme.
Basically Gloria Jeans Coffee is franchised from Australia to operate in Kuwait. But they themselves allow sub franchising for coffee enthusiast who would want to start on the coffee business too by providing them with full support which in my opinion is a brilliant idea. Maybe you will see me operating my own Gloria Jeans Coffee soon, don’t be surprised if I do :p
Again I left Gloria Coffee with a gift: A big white mug, a stainless steel tea infuser, and a cute cute koala bear hugging my cup! Isn’t he cute?
All that is left now is tomorrow which is going to be an actual coffee making training day where I will be making beverages that are sold to customers in preparation for my graduation shift next Saturday. If you happen to pass by Gloria Jeans coffee Salmiya branch tomorrow after 5 there is a good chance that I will serve you a drink you’ve ordered
Now I leave you again with the Gloria Jeans quiz. Winner of the quiz will get his or her prize next Saturday! Stay tuned!
Gloria Jeans Coffee Quiz:
What is the difference between a regular cappuccino and a regular latte at Gloria Jean’s Coffees?
1) Amount of foam
2) Weight of the drink
3) Strength of the coffee taste
4) All of the above
5) 1 & 3
Think carefully and place your answer here (link). Good luck!
P.S. Shasamee my koala?
I am a sucker for packaged stuff ,kits, and hampers. There is nothing more exciting to me than a box of little stuff coming together to make something especially if its a food item. Since I am also a fan of Mexican food and Taco Bell I am happy to know that tomorrow Taco Bell Kuwait will start selling their new Bell Box.
It will be perfect for a spur of the moment picnic, camp, or chalet! There are going to be three different boxes with different contents.
All three boxes however are selling for 5 KD and the food is enough for 4-5 persons.Plus by purchasing the Bell Box you save money VS. purchasing the items individually:
o Bell Box #1: You save KD 1.200
o Bell Box #2: You save KD 950 fils
o Bell Box #3: You save KD 1.050
o Buy all 3 for a large group and save KD 3.200
Taco Bell is located in Abu Halifa, Shaab, Kaifan and the Avenues Mall. For more information you can check their facebook page (link) or follow them on twitter (@TacoBellKuwait).
Dear Ansam has sent an email today to remind us about earth hour and urge us to participate. Remember how the world had closed down their lights on Earth hour? Now this is something similar except its Environmental hour instead of Earth hour and its originating from Kuwait to mark the 27th of February as a remarkable day to give back to Kuwait and the environment especially since we have the 25th and the 26th marked in our minds.
What are the recommended actions in the environmental day event?
- Turn off unnecessary lights for one hour only (rush hour is between 1-4 pm and the event will be at night).
- Turn off unnecessary electrical appliances for one hour only.
- Reduce the number of hours that illuminations lighting are turned on as we do not need to keep lighting until the early morning hours.
- Use energy saving lights for ornamental purposes, if possible.
- Apply environmentally-friendly cruising rather than car cruising and replace them with walking and cycling.
- The environmentally-friendly cruising will be organized by the Touristic Enterprises.
- Company and the events will be friendly to the environment to deliver an important message about the importance of the environment.
So what say you? Are you in?
If you are kindly repost about this if you are a blogger or share it with your friends and family in your social media circles. For more information in both Arabic or English you can refer to Ansam’s post (link).
Does privacy mean squat to people in Kuwait?
If you know me, and I trust you enough with my phone number or any other personal details that doesn’t give you the right to act on my behalf and distribute it to other people. If anyone asks you about my phone number for any reason on earth, you should first contact me, let me know that flana X wants your number, and then give out my number after MY APPROVAL!
I am getting weird calls and calls from numbers I’ve never known in my life giving me lectures on who to vote to! When you are given a phone number it comes with a certain amount of trust that you will keep it private, its the unspoken rule.
From now on I am not going to answer any strange numbers that are not saved in my phone book. Period. I repeat again: If you have my phone number then its a sign that I trust you to keep it private. It is NOT for local -or global- distribution. Full Stop.
Have you ever given out someone’s number without checking with them first? Have your number ever given to someone you don’t want to talk to by someone else? Doesn’t that make your blood boil?
I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before but I have a “slight” obsession about fine line, wrinkles, and grey hair. So I am always on the look out for whatever product is out there that promises to keep wrinkles at bay or minimize their appearance. After all I got my first set of wrinkles between my eyebrows at age 21, a blessing from the college of Engineering.
Therefore whenever I am in London I make sure to lurk in the beauty section of every department store or boots around and haul whatever that promises me to keep aging signs at bay. This year I read a lot of good reviews about the “This Work No Wrinkles Active Serum” so I set about to searching for it. To my delight I found a small bottle sample for sale in a kit together with a no wrinkles extreme moisturizer.
The good thing about this kit is that its small in size and has two products that complement each other. So if you don’t like the results you are not wasting a bottle full of product. After all they are not cheap.
What makes me happy is that the products contain Retinol and Vitamin C, both of which are active ingredients that does make a difference to your complexion if used regularly. Anyways I’ve heard a lot about them and I got them, you can get them too whenever you are in London.
Today is day 3 of my Gloria Jeans Coffee Training and today we did coffee tasting! When I arrived the first thing I did was to take a quiz and I passed it
Afterwards I was told about the different taste places in the tongue for sugar, salt, and sour flavors. Then I learned about the elemental things in a coffee taste that distinguishes one coffee from the other: Aroma, Flavor, Body, Acidity, and After Taste.
Then it was time for the palate training which highlights the things to look for in terms of the elements before. We used a Strawberry Candy for aroma, Pepsi for flavor, Milk then Water for Body, and A piece of dark chocolate for aftertaste. I can probably run this test on you if anyone is interested :p
A sip of water is necessary between each item being tasted.
Then it was time for the coffee tasting. The best way to taste coffee is to brew it using a French press because it extracts the most flavor out of the ground coffee beans being used in the press.
This involved teaching me how to properly use the coffee press. You add two heaped spoons of freshly ground coffee into a coffee press.
Then you add hot water and adjust the coffee press lever. Then use a timer to wait for exactly 4 minutes.
After the four minutes are up you press the coffee one last very hard time and voila its ready to serve.
We tasted several types of coffees with different flavors, aromas, and bodies. I discovered that my favorite coffee bean is the dark roasted bean which is heavier in body and very low in acidity with a smokey aroma. As our lesson was up I was given this bag, again!
Inside was a beautifully wrapped box. Can you guess what’s inside?
My very own French coffee press!
Plus, fresh Nicaraguan ground beans to use with my press that are recommended by the store manager Mr. Sobhi!
Its like being in my very own coffee wonderland! It was really generous of Gloria Jeans to give me this gift! Thank you so much! I can’t wait for my fourth day tomorrow as I am having so much fun!
Now remember to answer Gloria Jeans Coffee quiz and you may win a prize to be handed to you next Saturday on my graduation day! Good luck
Gloria Jeans Coffee Quiz:
What is the difference between a regular cappuccino and a regular latte at Gloria Jean’s Coffees?
1) Amount of foam
2) Weight of the drink
3) Strength of the coffee taste
4) All of the above
5) 1 & 3
Think carefully and place your answer here (link). Good luck!
In November I wrote about finding two shows that are worth following again: Pan AM and Revenge. I loved the idea of both and I was hooked.
Now that Revenge is halfway through I can say its sounding a bit ridiculous in some points. Is it just me or am I watching something like Kill Bill? A Japanese “revenge” instructor and people getting away with arson and murder without the possibility of being caught? When did Japan become the brand name of Revenge exactly?
Revenge is getting a bit ridiculous. DHW is past its expiry date and its ridiculousness is unheard off. Every season there is someone being killed, criminals attacking no one but the ladies of wisteria lane, and secrets being unraveled. Bs 3ad.
Pan AM is still beautifully written and as the episodes go on its becoming even more interesting.
I want to check out Once Upon a Time, Drop Dead Diva, New Girl, and some sitcom that had been advertised in the UK as a hilarious top number one of some crazy woman -not new girl-. Any thing else you might be watching and think its worth checking out?
Nestling in Soho’s busy streets there is a red sign with the name “Hummus Bros”. If you are hungry and on the go, get inside for a good non pretentious Read more »
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Today was day two of my coffee training in Gloria Jeans coffee and the first day where I actually practiced coffee making! First I was given a Read more »
When I am in London I make sure to stock up on two types of biscuits for my Nespresso coffee: The mini Almond biscotti and the Dolcetti Read more »
In this cold weather there is nothing more appreciated than a flame of a heater ablaze with the warmth and light of the night. Especially those high flames of the pyramid like heaters every restaurant seems to have in its outdoors area. They are so lovely, modern, and most importantly warm am always glad they are around.
In exactly 4 weeks, or 28 days, I have an appointment with my orthodontist to remove my braces. On the 19th of February 2012 after one year and eleven months of wearing braces I finally get to remove them and feel free again.
The good news is I willl be removing my braces. The bad news is I am not going to remove all my braces, only the bottom ones But one half of them is quite all right! I can’t wait for half the metal load to be gone, to be able to run my tongue along my teeth without getting stung by metal. I think I will feel lighter, I will be able to smile better and look much better. I simply cannot wait.
I wonder if I could whiten just the bottom half of my teeth? I would do it in a heart beat if it is. Hallelujah!
First off I apologize for not doing the December 2011 post for it was extremely hectic. To be frank I didn’t realize there were many people waiting! So I made it up to you by getting the January 2012 ratings early before the 31st of the month
2012 is different Read more »
Well I am just back from my first day of my coffee making course and I have to say it was AWSOME! It feels good to be doing something new, different, and unique! Especially if its something you adore and Read more »
I am predicting that this week is going to be a good one. For one thing I was there at work minding my own business when out of no where I real on QsInstagram’s feed that my picture is one of the Best Five Pictures of the Day for 22 January!
Happy? You bet! I am both happy and proud of myself! There are amazing pictures out there by real photographers who know what they are doing and my little lady bird won Must go out and celebrate soon!
Instagram rocks! Thank you Q8Instagram
Whenever I am in London I make sure I grab myself a box of Artisan du Chocolat original Sea Salted Caramels. Read more »
