Orange Juice

I've spoken elsewhere about juices in Egypt but orange juice deserves its own post. The local oranges here are fabulous almost year-round. They squeeze into fresh juice so fabulously and make a superb way to start your day.

Music everywhere

Romantic, lovely, heartbreaking, heart-throbbing, music videos in all cafes, people singing on the bus, playing ringtones from their phones, humming to themselves...

Korba

Korba is a burst of excitement. Great cafes and shopping. Beautiful and elegant architectural style (almost reminds me of Jaipur the "pink city" of Rajasthan). With the proximity of the presidential palace it has also been transformed and back again into a small war zone of barbed wire and barricades and rows of gunmen to a return to the usual cacophony of daily sights and sounds of life in Cairo

Zooba

Egyptian traditional foods with a twist. Top trained certified chefs, funky decor, amazing taste, fresh ingredients. Serving kosherie, hawawshi, foul, tameya, beet and lentil salads, soups, fresh juice drinks, aish baladi coated bright green (spinach) and red (beet juice). Amaaaaazing. Give a hug to the manager Chef Zuzu who is one of the talents behind this establishment and who runs the rest of the staff like a close knit family. (Located in Zamalek)

Planet Africa

Just like the North American Rainforest Cafe chain, but with amazing grilled food. (Located in Heliopolis)

Ghalia Alia Mahmoud (Egypt's Rachel Ray)

Overnight television sensation Ghalia Mahmoud brings practical cooking advice, wit, humor and inspiration to millions of Egyptian home television viewers since this past Ramadan TV season.

How to feed a meal to a family of 15 on less than 10 dollars, words of encouragement for women, and the warm inviting smile typical of Egyptians, Ghalia has an inviting touch. She works in a modest kitchen modeled off of her own, using simple utensils and simple ingredients which every Egyptian can afford. Her producer sees her as a potential Oprah Winfrey.

Source: 25TV Facebook page

It is not exactly a story of from rags to riches however, as Ghalia's family budget even after her show and stardom is still less than $200 a month. Nevertheless, Ghalia has a deep richness which is typical of the majority of Egyptians that goes beyond buck, and her rise to celebrity status and popularity offer a great hope to many Egyptians, who hope to see a more egalitarian society on the horizon.

Source: CNN International Ed.: Inside Africa

The B+ Bassem Youssef Show

You've all heard of the Daily Show and the Colbert Report, but the newest latest political news comedy is not coming out of America, but is made in Egypt. Bassem Youssef is Egypt's newest home-grown media star, who began his career in media during the Egyptian revolution on YouTube (by trade, he is a heart surgeon), when he began broadcasting from his laundry room because of a passion to make a difference and provide alternative media to the trash that the state media (aka Fox news Egypt) was throwing in people's faces. Bassem Youssef is now going from the net to a wider audience on television, with his first show B+ The Bassem Youssef show, which is a riotous look at the upheaval that is Egypt these days.

Check out the Bassem Youssef Channel on Youtube or follow on Twitter.