This will be the second festive season that I have had in the UAE, having previously spent all other Christmas holidays in London.
But times change, family ties loosen, and a new life opens up. This year in particular is a great privilege for me, as I experience the real treat of having all my offspring together with me, under one roof in Dubai, for most of the season.
My 20-year-old daughter is flying into Dubai for the New Year on her way from New York to Cape Town; my 17-year-old son is here for the next few days; and my five-year-old, of course, is enjoying school holidays and preparing for a profitable visit from Santa. Happy days.
I also think I’m now in a position to rate the festive experience in London versus Dubai for the first time. And it’s a pretty close-run thing.
That “festive” word of course needs some clarification. You might think, given cultural histories, that London would outscore Dubai in the festivities, but I don’t think that’s so clear-cut any more.
Dubai is such a multicultural, liberal city that festivities here can be just as enjoyable as in London. Certainly, those hardy souls who braved the “hacks and flacks” (journalists and public relations executives) annual gathering last week could have no reason to complain of lack of festive spirit.
What goes on hacks and flacks night stays on hacks and flacks night, but you would really be surprised how many of the solid pillars of the media and financial establishment in Dubai turn out to be real party people at heart.
No names, but those who ended up in the karaoke bar at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Deira know who I mean.
For the shopping experience (ordeal?) Dubai has to win hands down. I’ve satisfied all my gift requirements this year with a couple of trips to Mall of the Emirates and The Dubai Mall, and I can tell you it beats the Oxford Street torture by a mile.
London has its fair share of malls now,too, of course, but people there (myself included until a couple of years ago) always felt the need to trudge the tatty street of London’s main shopping thoroughfare, whose best days are behind it.
Nipping from one cut-price outlet to another in freezing rain and cold is an experience I can probably do without for the rest of my days. I will miss Harrods, I suppose, but that’s about all.
As for Christmas Day itself, if last year’s occasion is anything to go by, this will be a good one. I went in 2012 with wife and child to the One&Only Royal Mirage hotel in Jumeirah, and it was magical.
Walking out of the restaurant stuffed full of festive goodies to a barefoot walk on the beach was a real treat.
This year, we’re being more adventurous. Reservations are made at the Jumeirah Zabel Saray hotel on the Palm, and it promises to be a great occasion. Those friendly people at Jumeirah certainly know how to throw a party.
I must also thank Emirates Airline, for doing the donkey work by flying children from all parts of the world to be with me in Dubai.
The service so far has been good, but if I can be allowed one Scrooge-like moment: I’ve spent a lot of money on air fares, yet have not flown on any of the flights myself. So I do not get any benefit from the Skywards airmiles programme. Please Emirates, rethink this rule in 2014.
fkane@thenational.ae
How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
THE DETAILS
Director: Milan Jhaveri
Producer: Emmay Entertainment and T-Series
Cast: John Abraham, Manoj Bajpayee
Rating: 2/5
The specs: 2018 Nissan Patrol Nismo
Price: base / as tested: Dh382,000
Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 428hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 560Nm @ 3,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.7L / 100km