My Top 10 Movies.

I’m weird – now since that is out of the way, lets move forward.

I have been a huge movie buff my whole life. As long as I can remember I have watched movies, but surprisingly I don’t like going to the theatres. Theatres and cinemas give me headaches, and don’t even get me started about 3D.

For me a perfect movie night is in my PJ’s with my favourite bag of chips, no fan, dim lights and clear voice quality. I am a very easy person if you need to make me happy, no stars and moons for me, just a bag of chips would do (insert some lulz)

Moving on, I have seen a lot and I mean a loot of movies but here I am just mentioning top 10 that are on my mind right now.

Okay here we go.

The Illusionist.    

Oh Edward Norton! Umm sorry back on track. An American romantic mystery film based on magic! I loved this film like big time. I am really not going to say much about this one – Go watch it for yourself if you haven’t already. All I can say is I still remember my heartbeat when I watched it long back – you figure out if Edward Norton was the reason or something else.

Julie and Julia

This film is like super close to me and has more or less helped me stand where I am today. Deals with two of my favourite topics.

-food and blogging!

Its about challenging yourself, setting goals for yourself, smashing the hell out of them and then clapping for your damn self. Deals with obstacles and hinderances, both Julie and Julia lived decades apart, early 2000’s and 1950’s. It has food, comedy, a bit of drama and Meryl Streep – whats not to like?

The Others

Nicole Kidman! Need I say more?

Genre: Supernatural mixed with psychological horror.

The End: I mean woahhhh!!

I watched it with my cousin and the way we stared at each other was phenomenal. Its not your average scary faced, ghost popping horror flick. Its pretty cool. I have heard of a Bollywood copy also and was put off for a while. It was nominated for BAFTA award for the best original screenplay and it was a horror movie. You should be looking for it already!

Children of heaven

Shot in Tehran and talks about a family from Iran. I have not seen a film that has been more realistically made. IMBD rating of 8.4, the best part was that it is not necessary you need to have a gazillion dollars, star studded cast and top of the line of the graphics to have a great movie, sometimes a very basic concept is enough to leave the impact that you desire.

The Prestige

Mystery! Thriller! Drama! – a full combo pack and Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale. 2 rival magicians, a tough competition and tragic results. Similar to the likes of the Illusionist. A true fight between getting the title and most prestigious magician. Prestige – isn’t that what the world is all about. Classic combination of rivalry, jealousy, obsession and secrecy.

The Shrek

I love animated movies! Like all of them but Shrek was amongst the first that I watched (umm I didn’t really like fairytales – like I said, I am weird)and totally fell in love. A story about not judging a book by its cover, and how an ogre overcomes Prince Charming. The film grossed 484.4 million dollars. Beat that! The references to countless fairy tale characters is hilarious. 1 and 2 were good, 3 not so much.

Now you see me

Got 7.3 IMBD rating but I think it should have been more. It’s a heist thriller and features an ensemble cast. Watch it for yourself because I really don’t want to explain or break it down for you. All the clips, references and the way it is filmed worked for me – let me know if it did for you.

Bourne Series

All 5! 5 stars! I love spy thriller films. I think Matt Damon is oh so hot! Bourne Identity, Supremacy, Ultimatum, Legacy and Jason Bourne. All 5 received critical and commercial success and won multiple awards. A true action packed, jumping from the roof – guy kinda movie that I happen to love.

National Treasure

Talk about obsession – obsession that runs for generations. Search for a treasure that no one believes exists. Nicholas Cage gets his sanity questioned over it. Deals with ancient Egypt, Knights Templar, Freemason, Declaration of Independence. If all this sounds good – what is stopping you?

Inside Out

C.U.T.E very C.U.T.E, deals with animated emotions and their effect of interpersonal relationships. Avery different and one of its kind animated movie, though I personally think that the concept might be a bit too complex for young kids to grasp but who am I kidding , kids these days are smart (read: smart asses)

Got anything to add to the list; hit me up.

Till then relax, unwind and love yourself.

Laters,

Urooba.

Hogwarts Cafe - A review.

I am sure like everyone I have been waiting to receive my owl too – and I did! Boyses I got accepted at none other than Hogwarts and so what if it is just 10 15 years too late? I mean who is counting? Its Hogwarts right?

Two of us grown up women visited the newly opened Hogwarts Cafe, located in PWD Islamabad and acted like complete idiots and were infact appreciated. How cool is that?

Here I can be seen sippin' some Butter Beer Folks!

Yes guys I finally went to the much hyped Hogwarts Café and I am really glad I did so. A tiny venture by our youth has always been very inspiring and I think it should be appreciated no matter what.

We were welcomed very warmly and seeing our excitement we were promptly guided towards all the props, gowns and all and hence we began our photo session. Here are some of the pictures from around the café.

Thats my friend - high on thankfully Butter Beer.

The menu was simple; no complicated stuff and hence very delicious. The drinks were the best. I would suggest that you guys should definitely go for the drinks if nothing else.

It was predecided we would have Butter beer. Apart from that we had Gryffindor Red Lion (Strawberry Margarita) and it was like woaahhh yummy, and I had Dragon’s milk (Pina Colada) which is like my favvv drink ever. We were recommend Chow Mein which was again really good. I haven’t had a decent Chow Mein in Islamabad in a while now, so trust me I know.

This is the supeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer yummy ChowMein People! Supeeer yummmmy!

Gryffindor Red Lion (Right) and Dragon's Milk

This is the menu, and I won’t further disclose what’s what – that’s for you lot to find out. Seriously guys do give it a try once – I am pretty sure you will like it, given you all are aware of who is who and what is what.

Let me know how you all like it!

P.S I was in Gryffindor and my bestie was in Slytherin – known for ambition and evil :P But thanks for the treat bestieee!

X0X0

Urooba.

I am a proud BOOKWORM.

For as long as I can remember I have loved books – my idea of a perfect evening or some ‘me’ time was a big bag of chips and a good book. I remember when my parents were grocery shopping I’d sit in the book aisle and read and pray my parents would take loonggg.

I started with Sweet Valley (short stories about twins Elizabeth and Jessica if I remember correctly), books by Enid Blyton, risking sleepless nights by reading Goosebumps to Christopher Pike and of course Archie comics.

I remember my mom had Agatha Christie and Sidney Sheldon novels and I was instructed not to read them until I was 18, and that was precisely why I read them before I turned 18. Thus turning another chapter, ditching my prior novels for some yet more thrilling ones.

I read everything! Books, novels, magazines. My break from studies would be reading novels until I was told that the point of the break was to rest my eyes. I read everywhere too, kitchen, car, bedroom, between classes and the place where I loved reading the most was my bathroom. I now proudly say I maintained a tiny library in there. Few years down the road I found out that all smart people did this. How cool am I exactly? (Perhaps a little self-obsessed).

I then grew up and moved to risqué books – my feudal lord, Princess of Arabia, Blasphemy and the likes. I may not agree with whatever I read but I did it nonetheless.

…and the world grew up, books were replaced by tablets and kindles – and for me reading them was just not the same. I missed books, the ability to feel and touch and umm smell fresh books and hence I moved on to T.V series.

     Currently reading - The Bastard of Istanbul

I always need something that stays; permanency for me is a must! My commitment is such that either I give a 100% or 0%. There is no middle ground for me guys!

Buttttttt last week after spending an hour and 45 mins at the book shop I got myself 4 books. Not ebooks, pdfs, epubs but good ol’ reliable books – won’t die on you, leave you and will always be there! So excited that I decided to blog about it, trust me that’s gotta count for something right?

I got Something Borrowed, Bastard of Istanbul, The Stars Shine Down and The Princess of Burundi…and now you know what is keeping me busy.

Catch ya laters people! And feel free to hit me up with any suggestions that you might have.

Best

Urooba.

Laziness of a Sandwich Ninja!

I love me some big and hearty sandwiches – trust me, pure true love!

However the closest I am going to get to cooking today is just picking ingredients from Subway and watch my sandwich being build up before my eyes.

 I love Subway!Yeshhh – from the start to the end; the selection, picking my bread, adding all the goodness except tomatoes and ketchup. Seeing this baby build up before my very own eyes, glued to the selection and moving along with the sandwich artist – I never get tired of watching it.

 I know a lot of people who are not Subway fans and trust me that’s okay, cause all the important ones are Subway fans anyways.

I like Subway to such an extent that I cant pick any favourites – love them all through and through.

Today its Subway’s Club! Yessssh pairing up Turkey and Beeef – pure goodness wrapped in crusty Parmesan bread!!. I am always on the lookout for Subway deals like on Valentines they had 1+1… Oh yeah this was freee tooo, won a bet cause Islamabad United won against Quetta gladiators (for those who don’t know – it was a cricket match from Pakistan Super League)

Whats your favourite Subway Sandwich? Let me know while I enjoy this beautyand truly look forward to the day when I can have a foot long in a single go –

Best,

Urooba.

IT IS NOT SUFFICIENT THAT I SUCCEED, ALL OTHERS MUST FAIL

Story of Mongolian Empire and Mongolian Beef

Ladies and Gentlemen, Genghis Khan – one of the most powerful military leaders who started the Mongol Empire. Apart from this he did a lot of other stuff which I wish I could do but for now I’ll stick to cooking Mongolian cuisine.

My first encounter with this particular cuisine was about 2 years back but I went to Genghis Grill, a Mongolian restaurant in Texas, USA. The concept was pretty amazing!

You get a bowl, and then there are 5 steps.

Step 1 – Butcher’s block – selection of all imaginable proteins! You name it they had it..Of course I could only experiment with seafood.

Step 2 – Spice Trail, where you season you protein.

Step 3 – Farmer’s Market, here you add to your bowl the freshest and finest selection of produce.

Step 4 – Artisan Flavors, here you add the sauces to your bowl – they had pretty cool names like – 3G, Island Teriyaki, Mongo BBQ, Khan Pao and the likes.

Step 5 – Harvest Selects, here you get to choose what you would like to eat it with – Choice between rice and noodles.

Then you get it all cooked in front of your eyes on a huge girdle!

and this is what I had at the end, by the time I remembered to take a picture.

Well however this time instead of going we had Mongolian cuisine over at our place. Presenting Mongolian Beef with Garlic Rice.

Mongolian Beef

½ Kg Undercut Beef.

½ tsp black pepper.

½ tsp salt.

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp cornflour

1 egg.

Cut the beef into thin and long strips, and marinate with salt, pepper, soy sauce, egg and cornflour and fry till brown and crispy.

3 tbsp oil

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup soy sauce.

1 tbsp of Ginger garlic paste.

Mix all of the above over low heat and toss in the fried beef. Sprinkle green chillies and the green part of the Spring onion, and a teaspoon of sesame seeds.

 I had it with Garlic Fried Rice and an amazing chinese style cucumber salad on the side.

Try and let me know how you like it.

-This recipe can also be found under the category, Mains around the world.

Best,

Urooba.