As the cooler days finally come around, we can start turning our thoughts to afternoons spent outside an air conditioned sanctuary, and if you fancy a break this weekend from the traditional beach, brunch or bar-b-q, the new HDS Minigolf in JLT could be just the ticket.
Thanks to a childhood spent touring around the seaside resorts of England courtesy of my parents, I have a sizeable emotional investment in the mini golf concept, or crazy golf as we preferred to call it, in large part due to the former champion golfer Arnold Palmer’s Crazy Golf empire, which was an ever-present on the prom of any UK seaside town you cared to visit.
There’s no celebrity endorsement at HDS Mini Golf (I’m not allowing HDS Group, the developer of the adjacent HDS Business Tower, the mantle of celebrity), but that didn’t detract from the fun. Indeed, it would seem I’m not alone in holding fond memories of childhood mini golf. Within seconds of emailing a few friends to see if anyone wanted to accompany me for a round, my inbox was bulging with ‘affirmatives’.
Our, possibly over-subscribed, party of seven met in the curiously abbreviated Take a’ Break Cafe by the course, which is also where you pay and get your clubs, balls and score sheets, then it was out on the fairway (ok, the astoturf.)
With eighteen holes, as opposed to even Palmer’s more common nine, you certainly get decent value for money, and we took well over an hour negotiating the course. Admittedly, we did take a half time breather. We were perhaps a little too optimistic about quite how much it had cooled down by mid-October, and a unanimous vote at the ninth hole agreed we needed a break, a drink and some air conditioning in Take a’ Break before taking on the back nine, as they say in the golf world, but no one took issue with that and we set out refreshed to find the sun had sunk a little lower too, offering more shade during the second half.
Most of the usual attractions were there – water features; inexplicable large concrete animals with tunnels, ramps and drain pipes for you to hit your ball through; bumps, ditches and that one hole, usually different for everyone, that takes about 10 shots even though your competitors have all nailed it in three, which at least keeps the scores interesting till the end.
One notable omission, we all agreed, was a windmill. I actually thought a windmill, with the double-edged challenge of getting the ball into the door while avoiding the spinning sails was a compulsory part of any minigolf planning application, but we didn’t let it ruin our day.
I’d hate to go on too much of a flight of fancy and suggest that the arrival of a crazy golf course is a major sign of how much Dubai is maturing as a city, but there sometimes does seem to be a genuine lack of things to do as a group that doesn’t involve the beach, shopping or a five-star hotel. All of these are great for tourists, but can become a bit samey for the resident population. HDS Minigolf is definitely one to add to the list, and most of us are keen for a rematch to work on our handicaps.
*HDS Minigolf is located at lakeside level, Cluster M, JLT, Dubai. A round costs 35AED per person including club and ball hire. Concrete animals and frustration at ruining your previously well under par score on hole 11 are complimentary.
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
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Building boom turning to bust as Turkey's economy slows
Deep in a provincial region of northwestern Turkey, it looks like a mirage - hundreds of luxury houses built in neat rows, their pointed towers somewhere between French chateau and Disney castle.
Meant to provide luxurious accommodations for foreign buyers, the houses are however standing empty in what is anything but a fairytale for their investors.
The ambitious development has been hit by regional turmoil as well as the slump in the Turkish construction industry - a key sector - as the country's economy heads towards what could be a hard landing in an intensifying downturn.
After a long period of solid growth, Turkey's economy contracted 1.1 per cent in the third quarter, and many economists expect it will enter into recession this year.
The country has been hit by high inflation and a currency crisis in August. The lira lost 28 per cent of its value against the dollar in 2018 and markets are still unconvinced by the readiness of the government under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to tackle underlying economic issues.
The villas close to the town centre of Mudurnu in the Bolu region are intended to resemble European architecture and are part of the Sarot Group's Burj Al Babas project.
But the development of 732 villas and a shopping centre - which began in 2014 - is now in limbo as Sarot Group has sought bankruptcy protection.
It is one of hundreds of Turkish companies that have done so as they seek cover from creditors and to restructure their debts.
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
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Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
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