Dubai Vibes News Team

Dubai, UAE: You see fashion models on the catwalk or in pictures and you swoon in awe, wishing you were as perfect. 

But there is usually a long story to that five-minutes of fame, says Youssef Al Hamadi, a professionally qualified mechanical engineer from HCT University in Abu Dhabi, who has turned to fashion modelling because, in his words: “It allows you to experiment and truly find who you are.”

“The final result that people see is polished and perfect. But the effort and time that go behind getting the perfect shot is what people seem not aware of. That’s what makes this industry so exhilarating,” Al Hamadi tells Dubai Vibes Magazine. 

The end user, he added, is used to seeing perfect pictures.  “But only the people involved in making the images know the true painstaking effort that goes into it. I wish it was glamor all the time,” Al Hamadi said.

Al Hamadi said he was attracted to modelling despite his engineering background after apparently realizing he has a think for dressing well.

“I have always been passionate about fashion and dressing well. It’s always been a part of my life. I was fortunate enough to turn my passion into a full time career,” he said.

“Fashion transports you and your mind to another place. It makes you feel positive, raises your self-confidence and allows you to experiment,” he added.

His advice to those planning a career in modelling?  “I would say primarily it is dedication. You must be dedicated to anything you do. Without the drive of dedication, you will lose the push when you get knocked back.”

“I had to face it so many times, when things didn’t go the way I planned. If I didn’t have the dedication, I would’ve definitely given up many, many times.  You know what you want to achieve. Only you can make it happen as long as you stay focused on the end goal. Positively turn your maybe into an absolutely.”

Al Hamadi, also an influencer and TV host, recalls how he got into modelling: “In 2017, I was approached by MMG Talent to be represented on their books. I have never looked back since.”

Al Hamadi have worked with some fabulous brands, among them,  Zegna, Dunhill, Nakheel Group, Lipton, BMW, Burberry and Diesel.

He also has a dedicated Instagram platform – Dontmissit1 TV.

Dubai, UAE: Excitement reached new levels among grocery shoppers in the city this week as the raffle draw for Home Edition 202, a part of Dubai Food Festival 2021, was announced. 

A combined total of AED 500,000 worth of grocery shopping vouchers was given away with ten winners all taking home AED 50,000 worth of shopping vouchers each – meaning there was plenty to celebrate!

Marking the eighth edition of Dubai Food Festival 2021, Home Edition gave shoppers spending a minimum of AED 250 at a participating outlets – including Waitrose, Spinneys, Al Maya, Lulu Hypermarket and Union Coop – the chance to be entered into a weekly raffle to win vouchers valued at AED50,000 during Dubai Food Festival.

The lucky winners picked at random included Suliman Omar Adba and Hussan Abdullah Ali at Union Coop. Manika Lakhiani and Dedith Villalobos at Al Maya, Nadiia Stokes and Kenny Vaz at Spinneys, Kim Lawrence and Emma Louu at Waitrose and finally, Anu Thomas and Greeshma V A and Lulu Hypermarket. 

All 10 winners will be able to redeem their vouchers at branches across the city from their winning hypermarkets. 

All experiences, events and activations during DFF followed prevailing safety protocols and social distancing guidelines to ensure a safe experience for all.

For more details on participating stores, or more information and a full update on DFF activities, please visit www.dubaifoodfestival.com and @dubaifoodfest on social media channels.

By Jojo Dass

Editor

Dubai’s hospitality sector is showing progress when it comes to attracting visitors, due to the government’s “very liberal view,” coupled with stringent health and safety protocols making travel to this city convenient and “very safe,” a top hotelier said.

“It is definitely on the rebound,” said Colin Baker, StayWell Holdings regional director for the Middle East and general manager of Park Regis Kris Kin Hotel, speaking to Dubai Vibes Magazine in an exclusive interview.

Baker said Dubai has “one of the strongest occupancies throughout the pandemic.”

“The Dubai government immediately established protocols when the pandemic hit and continue to do so, thus travellers can now come here and enjoy their visit knowing the environment is safe,” Baker said.

He said this has become a “demand generator for the businesses to come to Dubai.”

Baker said most Dubai hoteliers in July and August last year “thought that it would probably take at least 12 months before we would  see a real rebound.”

“We noticed from September-October that the occupancy increased dramatically. So, we enjoyed 70% occupancy rates in November, December, January and February, which was a very pleasing and strong rebound,” Baker said.

Despite this, Baker said, nobody’s resting on their laurels.

“We are hoping that things will return to pre-2019 levels or similar to 2019,” he said. “Some industry experts are saying it will go back to normal by 2023; some are saying 2024, but we are still optimistic that the industry will bounce back here in Dubai quicker than many other parts of the world,” he added.

Market diversification has seemed to become the order of the day as staycation offers are rolled out for those in the UAE, who want to experience weekend hotel stays in lieu of travels, according to Baker.

Other markets are also being tapped, among them Africa, the Commonwealth of Independent States (former USSR) in Europe as well as  UAE’s neighboring countries in the region.

According to Dubai Tourism, the city had a total of 1.11million international guests from July to November 2020. From January to February this year, Dubai Tourism, recorded 810,200 arrivals to the city.

Baker has a wealth of hospitality management experience, taking on key roles globally spanning New Zealand, Beijing, Papua New Guinea and obviously Australia before moving to Dubai in September 2017. (Photo by Jonathan Dumas)

Dubai Vibes News Team

Delhi, India: Sometime in 2003, Nitin Aggarwal, at the time supporting himself, walked into a hotel for a client meeting, where a Dubai-based bank was also having walk-in interviews.

“I went for the interview and was selected as a sales executive selling credit cards in UAE,” Aggarwal told Dubai Vibes Magazine. “I worked really hard,” he said.

Eighteen years later today, Aggarwal, 43, is running his own company – DealDirect Marketing, a Direct Sales Agency in the banking industry, and has, among its clients, the very bank he had worked for back in the day.

It was not a story of overnight success though, and one spawned by ups and downs of working in the banking sector.

“I started it from scratch,” said Aggarwal, who at a young age of 14 was already out making a living for himself in Delhi, India; and once had to drop out of college for lack of money to support his tuition. He did manage to get back as a working student and graduated in 2001.

Aggarwal, who has obviously developed keen understanding of the market, said outsourcing seems to have become the trend. “They find it more cost-effective to do so,” he said.

 “This particular model has a future,” said the father of two kids – an eight-year-old girl and a three-year-old lad.

Looking back, Aggarwal has come full circle, filling up a void in the market so that Dubai’s economy continue steaming back to life from last year’s slowdown caused by the pandemic.

Dubai Vibes News Team

Dubai, with its thousands of people in the culinary field, “has some of the best chefs in the world.”

This, according to Andy Cuthbert, chairman of the Emirates Culinary Guild (ECG), which has close to 3,000 chefs among its members, who said major international competitions where chefs from the UAE have joined and brought home awards are testament to this.

“Do we have the best chefs in the world? Yes, we do. Are we represented outside the country? Yes, we are,” said Cuthbert, who also is general manager of Jumeirah Creekside Hotel.

“When we look at what we could do with our chefs in Germany and Luxembourg – these are one of the best competitions in the world – and we come home with 74 medals, I think that is very true: we have some of the best chefs in the world,” said Cuthbert, who has been in Dubai since Jan. 6, 1992.

The ECG, which regularly holds three world-class competitions a year, started its first with about 60 entries. By the time it was celebrating its 25^th anniversary in 2019, the competition had 1,500 entries.

 “We can help people make their lives better through the competitions,” said Cuthbert.

A lot of former members have settled across the world these days.

The Guild is one of the most respected associations within the World Association of Chefs’ Societies (WACS) to which it is a member of.

The Guild, in 2008, hosted the WACS congress which was held for four days and participated in by over 1,000 chefs. It won the bid and will, next year, host another WACS Congress in Abu Dhabi.

Dubai Vibes News Team

Dubai, UAE: A group of like minded individuals have come up with a way that would hopefully address, once and for all, recurring problems in the medical industry about unpaid or delayed insurance claims.

Karim Dakki, CEO and founder of KLAIM, a UAE-based fintech platform, recently sat down with Dubai Vibes Magazine and gave a picture of just how bad the situation is in terms of claims gathering dust.

“Hospitals, clinics and pharmacies are bleeding cash every minute as a result of rejected medical claims,” Dakki said.

He said insurance companies usually have “99 reasons” to turn down an insurance claim ranging from insufficient documentations to prescription issues.

“KLAIM will stop the outflow by minimizing revenue loss of healthcare providers  and enabling them to manage the cash flow more efficiently,” Dakki said.

KLAIM, he explained is a smart software service platform currently with more than 2.3 million  visitor claims “We have a technology that used artificial intelligence that detects errors and speed up the date entry,” Dakki said.

According to recent reports, KLAIM has raised $1 million in seed investment from TechStars and a group of strategic regional investors. Joined by Ghafoor Ahmad and Meriem Tamarzizt, the founders plan to expand presence and operations in the UAE and Saudi Arabia in the coming months.

KLAIM is a software as a service (SaaS) fintech platform aimed at improving the quality of the medical care especially in these times of the coronavirus pandemic.

Dubai, UAE: A relative newcomer on Dubai’s F&B scene, European-inspired lifestyle restaurant Mondoux has quickly established itself as one of Dubai Creek Harbour’s must-visit destinations. Combining incredible food, attentive service, upscale interiors and stunning views, it is the perfect venue for all occasions, be it a family meal, a dinner date or a coffee catch-up. Taking it up a notch, the restaurant has recently appointed Colombian executive chef Luisa Fernanda Caicedo who is already making waves by revamping some of the venue’s signature dishes.

Passionate and adventurous, Caicedo has an interesting story to tell. “I credit my love for cooking to my family,” she says. “My grandfather, mother and uncle were my daily sources of inspiration. Some of my fondest childhood memories include spending time with them in the kitchen.”  

Interestingly, Luisa’s grandfather forbade her from going to culinary school, convincing her to opt for a career in nursing instead. Having relocated from her native city of Medellín, Colombia to New York City, she continued her medical career – until a sudden realization hit her. If not now, when? It was time to pursue her dream of becoming a professional chef. 

After completing her studies at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City, Caicedo launched her career in New York’s upscale restaurant, Perry Street, the brainchild of renowned Michelin-starred Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten.  Jean-Georges’ son, Celebrity chef Cédric Vongerichten, helmed the kitchen at the restaurant and over their 10 years of collaboration, has proven to be a great mentor and source of inspiration to Luisa. Prior to her appointment in Dubai, Luisa spent three years in Jakarta, Indonesia, heading up the kitchens of two upmarket restaurants, Vong Kitchen and Le Burger, both curated by Jean-Georges and Cédric Vongerichten.

Having been stranded in Nepal for seven months during the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, Caicedo was excited to embark on her new life in Dubai once the travel restrictions were lifted. “I was on my first flight out,” she laughs, reflecting on the challenging experience with a smile. “I learn so much by living in places with a different culture than my own and with Dubai being such a melting pot, it’s hard not to fit in.”

Luisa wishes for every single guest to have a memorable experience at Mondoux and is keen to emphasise that the restaurant uses only the finest produce. “At Mondoux, we serve an international menu and are passionate about showcasing the natural flavours of ingredients. We source most of our products locally and prepare everything from scratch in our kitchen. I’m not a fan of fleeting culinary trends and prefer a back to basics approach. Simple can be, and is, delicious!”

For more information on Mondoux Dubai Creek Harbour, follow us on Instagram @mondoux_dubai.

Dubai, UAE: Following her own experiences of deep loss with the death of her parents in quick succession, presenter Katie Overy created “That Grief Relief Podcast” to open conversations around grief and, ultimately, help others. Understanding that everybody will experience some form of grief in their life, this Dubai-based podcast answers those difficult questions, while adding light humor and even making listeners smile.

Finding that humor was the best way of coping through such an immensely dark time for her and her family, Overy wanted to acknowledge there is a way to grieve that isn’t all about sadness. 

Having initially started the podcast as a way to share her own stories, her infectious personality and laughter made others feel comfortable enough to tell their stories, in turn creating an outlet for many to laugh, cry and feel joy through their grief. 

“Approaching grief openly with positivity and even humour has always been the best remedy for me and my family. It pains me to see so many people in the region feel they can’t open up about the way they feel, which can cause further mental health issues. I want to use my experience as a crutch for others, removing the stigma behind talking about pain and hurt and finally making it a discussion for all,” said Overy.

“Whether you have been personally affected by loss or you want advice on how to help others who are going through it, this podcast is there to be a friend, sat waiting with a cup of coffee, ready to help relieve the load,” she added.

Featuring a new guest from around the world in each episode, including well-known faces from the region and internationally, the podcast tackles the previously unmentionable topic of grief with an open and funny outlook.

“That Grief Relief Podcast” is a light-hearted series chatting about all things grief and why it’s ok to have a laugh in the process. It isn’t just about the loss of a loved one as it delves into other types of loss –  relationship, a job or even a lifestyle change. It aims to open the listeners’ minds to how they think and cope with grief.

Episodes include a woman who has “mourned” her mother even though she is still alive;  a person grieving the “death” of their long-term relationship; a man who set up an online miscarriage support community for fathers so they have an outlet for their grief and support.  

“I have already received an overwhelming reception from the first episodes. It has been incredibly heart-warming receiving feedback on how people have found the stories so relatable and how much comfort they have felt from listening.

“The podcast’s popularity and reception has spurred me to try and grow it as much as possible and find more extraordinary people who have travelled through their own grief hurdle, no matter where they are on that journey. I actively encourage people who are willing to openly share their stories and in turn, make talking about these subjects a whole lot easier for others,” Overy said.