In addition to citizens from the newly included countries, the tourist visa has been extended to seven other categories
Three hours past lunchtime, I sashayed into a cafe at The Dubai Mall and as soon as a server came up to me, I said: ‘I’ll be having forest mushroom pasta and watermelon juice, plus original milk cake for later.’ A complete order from lunch to dessert — stated in just one breath, without taking even a split-second glance at the menu.
As if I own the place. As if I’m a loyal customer who has already tried everything they serve. “Who is that girl in ripped cargo shorts? Is she a friend of the owner? Is she a regular?” The truth is, I have never ordered anything from this place, not even for takeaway or delivery. But of course I know what I should be having. I have already stalked their Instagram account, brushed up on Zomato reviews, and besides, their social media ads have been chasing me for months now.
I get how this deluge of online ads could be annoying, but considering the huge amount of time I spend tapping, swiping and searching for food, the algorithms have started working to my advantage. I have always been on the lookout for cakes and pastries, and social media doesn’t disappoint. It brought me Crumb&Co’s fluffiest donuts; Baking Studio’s burnt Basque cheesecake with tiramisu; and Gato Dubai’s adorable Korean cube cakes.
With the infinite choices (and quintillion bytes of data) at our fingertips, who needs a menu? When was the last time you actually walked into a restaurant having absolutely no idea what they were serving there? Aren’t we all checking out eateries and bakeries after seeing them through #DubaiRestaurant #Delicious #MustTry #SomethingNew #CantDecideWhatToEat? Or is it just me? Sure, there were cases when I had to choose a dish from an actual menu — but only after checking out how it looked like on Instagram.
My husband took me to this Japanese place whose physical menu came in words: Raw Hamachi (sesame umeboshi soy + roasted almonds); Chilled Angel Hair Pasta (Mushroom duxelles + pickled kombu)… you get what I mean? So, I did what I had to do. I looked up the restaurant on IG and that was how I knew I needed their Truffle Udon in my life. And it’s all because I saw how the fat noodles were sitting pretty in a creamy white sauce, topped with chives and parmesan. A picture worth a thousand likes.
The need for ‘visual cues’ is not really a millennial thing. One time, my family and I went to this cheesecake restaurant and when it was time for dessert, my dad had a problem. After going through the entire list of cakes for 10 minutes, he couldn’t decide what he wanted.
Then, he finally admitted, “Sorry, I really need to know how these cakes look!” So off he went to the counter where all the cheesecakes were displayed in all their glory. (I wish I didn’t have to say this but after going through all the trouble, he got the plainest of them all.)
In addition to citizens from the newly included countries, the tourist visa has been extended to seven other categories
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The tweet also informed people of the different details that a single ID card can provide
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