Julie Meer is starting up Body Balancers, a wellness, sports and physiotherapy centre, in Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai.
This week has gone so quickly. The biggest hurdle has been working on the interior of the centre with the contractor and designer. It's critical as it provides the whole look and feel of the company, the message and the image that we want the public and our clients to see. It's been a real eye-opener, because obviously if you have unlimited funds you can go out and do some amazing things. But we're not that lucky. We had to hit the high street and try to be pretty creative to achieve the look we want within our budget.
We have brought some designers on board to help us, but luckily my business partner Carol is quite knowledgeable about colour therapy and feng shui, so she worked with them to set the tone. The idea was to make our clients feel at ease in a calm, safe environment.
We visited a few places around town, and looked on some websites and through magazines to get some ideas. If we found something we liked we would take a picture of it and put it in the wish book to see if it would fit. In two weeks the contractor will start work, and then the fit-out should take a month.
It's a great feeling to be at this point. While you're working on the paperwork you feel a bit stuck, like there's loads of other stuff you could be getting on with. But it's going to be fantastic to see our vision materialise. I can't wait to see what it's going to look like.
Jeanne LeSage is the managing producer of the Abu Dhabi Film Festival. She is doing the Original Fitness beach boot camp.
I had a much better outlook this week and tried my best to ignore the struggle of last week and just get back out there. Things are getting busier at work, so I've grown to be very appreciative of this time for myself. I want to make the most of it.
Unfortunately, on one of the days, after getting dressed and ready to go at 5:30am, I suddenly remembered that I had lent my car to a friend and was completely stranded, so I missed the morning session. It completely messed up my day but I made sure that instead I went to the evening boot camp. It was so bizarre to go in the early evening as the sun was setting. I had one great boot camp moment, though: Phil (the instructor) often asks me to set the pace for the group run at the end of the session. This is a big challenge for me with a group of runners with very diverse speeds and abilities; plus when I first started, I couldn't even run the whole distance without a walk break. It's tough but I can see a progression every time I do it. Well this week, near the end of the run, which is after a pretty tough hour of intense exercise, for some masochistic reason I thought it would be fun to challenge the group to a sprint for the last 50 metres. It seemed like a good idea at the time. So, off we went for the last gasp. Then, true to my usual grace and poise in athletics, my gym trousers started falling down. Just when I thought I couldn't get any more goofy out on the course. But I guess it's because I'm losing weight, so no complaints here.
Steve Watson used to work in media but has, since arriving in Abu Dhabi last August, been a house husband. He is writing his first screenplay.
This week I wanted to take my draft screenplay to my mentor, Magy, for some feedback. But first I had to put it in a legible format, so I bought Celtx, a screenwriting template from Microsoft. I had read last week, in my book Write Screenplays That Sell: The Ackerman Way, that it's no use just writing a document. Whenever you submit you've got to make it as easy as possible for someone to read and engage with it.
Magy is a very clever and inspirational lady. Being a bit of a newcomer to all this I was expecting a drubbing, but she was very positive in her appraisal of my work so far. My task had been to write a 12-minute screenplay, with each page taking a minute. I presented her with 26 pages. Not surprisingly, she asked me to cut it right down. She told me that although at the end the interaction between characters and the close was great, by the time the audience got there they would be asleep because the introduction was too long. I needed to reduce the dialogue and introduce the action much earlier. It's the first stage of film-making - you shoot everything and then so much is left on the cutting-room floor.
It was great to get her feedback. When you watch a film you often think: "When's it going to get going?" Sitting with Magy it was very clear that I could get things going a lot quicker.
Interestingly, she said that the passion I have put into this task indicates a level of enjoyment on my part. And I have enjoyed it. I'll be interested to see what the Abu Dhabi Film Commission says; whether they can take it to the next stage.
Murtuza Kaizar is the branch manager of Hafele, a German company that supplies the construction industry with door hardware. He is studying level three Arabic at the Berlitz Language School in Abu Dhabi.
Having been frustrated at the lack of people to practise Arabic with on a day-to-day basis, a colleague of mine at work, who was really happy to hear about my interest in learning the language, has promised to quiz me with 10 new words every morning by e-mail.
Then, for the first time since I took up this course, I spoke with confidence to the Arab-speaking man who washes my car. Due to the language barrier, I never used to be able to converse with him more than our standard greeting. However, I realised that now that I have more vocabulary in my store I could question him on why he had been ignoring my car recently. I took him completely by surprise!
I had been meaning to teach my son Arabic at the same time as I have been learning it; but I got some very helpful advice from a customer at work on the topic. He suggested that my wife and I first concentrate on the languages we both commonly speak if we want to train our child perfectly in any language, instead of confusing him with a new language that neither of us are very confident in.
Having reached this stage, I have already started imagining the endless possibilities if I complete the course successfully. Of course, I still worry about losing touch if I don't put it to use. But then, I have already fallen in love with Arabic movies. This week I watched two of the four I chose last week. It's a lot more fun with subtitles and I like rewinding and replaying certain conversations that I recognise from my course.
THE SPECS
Touareg Highline
Engine: 3.0-litre, V6
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Power: 340hp
Torque: 450Nm
Price: Dh239,312
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
THE DETAILS
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Dir: Ron Howard
Starring: Alden Ehrenreich, Emilia Clarke, Woody Harrelson
3/5
Liverpool’s fixtures until end of 2019
Saturday, November 30, Brighton (h)
Wednesday, December 4, Everton (h)
Saturday, December 7, Bournemouth (a)
Tuesday, December 10, Salzburg (a) CL
Saturday, December 14, Watford (h)
Tuesday, December 17, Aston Villa (a) League Cup
Wednesday, December 18, Club World Cup in Qatar
Saturday, December 21, Club World Cup in Qatar
Thursday, December 26, Leicester (a)
Sunday, December 29, Wolves (h)
'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
UAE tour of the Netherlands
UAE squad: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Shaiman Anwar, Ghulam Shabber, Mohammed Qasim, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Chirag Suri, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Naveed, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Fixtures:
Monday, 1st 50-over match
Wednesday, 2nd 50-over match
Thursday, 3rd 50-over match
RESULT
Manchester United 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1
Man United: Sanchez (24' ), Herrera (62')
Spurs: Alli (11')
What is hepatitis?
Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver, which can lead to fibrosis (scarring), cirrhosis or liver cancer.
There are 5 main hepatitis viruses, referred to as types A, B, C, D and E.
Hepatitis C is mostly transmitted through exposure to infective blood. This can occur through blood transfusions, contaminated injections during medical procedures, and through injecting drugs. Sexual transmission is also possible, but is much less common.
People infected with hepatitis C experience few or no symptoms, meaning they can live with the virus for years without being diagnosed. This delay in treatment can increase the risk of significant liver damage.
There are an estimated 170 million carriers of Hepatitis C around the world.
The virus causes approximately 399,000 fatalities each year worldwide, according to WHO.
Specs
Engine: 2-litre
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 255hp
Torque: 273Nm
Price: Dh240,000
Brief scores:
Toss: Pakhtunkhwa Zalmi, chose to field
Environment Agency: 193-3 (20 ov)
Ikhlaq 76 not out, Khaliya 58, Ahsan 55
Pakhtunkhwa Zalmi: 194-2 (18.3 ov)
Afridi 95 not out, Sajid 55, Rizwan 36 not out
Result: Pakhtunkhwa won by 8 wickets
How England have scored their set-piece goals in Russia
Three Penalties
v Panama, Group Stage (Harry Kane)
v Panama, Group Stage (Kane)
v Colombia, Last 16 (Kane)
Four Corners
v Tunisia, Group Stage (Kane, via John Stones header, from Ashley Young corner)
v Tunisia, Group Stage (Kane, via Harry Maguire header, from Kieran Trippier corner)
v Panama, Group Stage (Stones, header, from Trippier corner)
v Sweden, Quarter-Final (Maguire, header, from Young corner)
One Free-Kick
v Panama, Group Stage (Stones, via Jordan Henderson, Kane header, and Raheem Sterling, from Tripper free-kick)
The Farewell
Director: Lulu Wang
Stars: Awkwafina, Zhao Shuzhen, Diana Lin, Tzi Ma
Four stars
Bangladesh tour of Pakistan
January 24 – First T20, Lahore
January 25 – Second T20, Lahore
January 27 – Third T20, Lahore
February 7-11 – First Test, Rawalpindi
April 3 – One-off ODI, Karachi
April 5-9 – Second Test, Karachi
Manchester United v Club America
When: Thursday, 9pm Arizona time (Friday UAE, 8am)
Fitness problems in men's tennis
Andy Murray - hip
Novak Djokovic - elbow
Roger Federer - back
Stan Wawrinka - knee
Kei Nishikori - wrist
Marin Cilic - adductor
How to keep control of your emotions
If your investment decisions are being dictated by emotions such as fear, greed, hope, frustration and boredom, it is time for a rethink, Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG, says.
Greed
Greedy investors trade beyond their means, open more positions than usual or hold on to positions too long to chase an even greater gain. “All too often, they incur a heavy loss and may even wipe out the profit already made.
Tip: Ignore the short-term hype, noise and froth and invest for the long-term plan, based on sound fundamentals.
Fear
The risk of making a loss can cloud decision-making. “This can cause you to close out a position too early, or miss out on a profit by being too afraid to open a trade,” he says.
Tip: Start with a plan, and stick to it. For added security, consider placing stops to reduce any losses and limits to lock in profits.
Hope
While all traders need hope to start trading, excessive optimism can backfire. Too many traders hold on to a losing trade because they believe that it will reverse its trend and become profitable.
Tip: Set realistic goals. Be happy with what you have earned, rather than frustrated by what you could have earned.
Frustration
Traders can get annoyed when the markets have behaved in unexpected ways and generates losses or fails to deliver anticipated gains.
Tip: Accept in advance that asset price movements are completely unpredictable and you will suffer losses at some point. These can be managed, say, by attaching stops and limits to your trades.
Boredom
Too many investors buy and sell because they want something to do. They are trading as entertainment, rather than in the hope of making money. As well as making bad decisions, the extra dealing charges eat into returns.
Tip: Open an online demo account and get your thrills without risking real money.
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Stage 2 results
1 Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal 04:18:18
2 Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep 00:00:02
3 Arnaud Demare (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 00:00:04
4 Diego Ulissi (ITA) UAE Team Emirates
5 Rick Zabel (GER) Israel Start-Up Nation
General Classification
1 Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal 07:47:19
2 Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep 00:00:12
3 Arnaud Demare (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 00:00:16
4 Nikolai Cherkasov (RUS) Gazprom-Rusvelo 00:00:17
5 Alexey Lutsensko (KAZ) Astana Pro Team 00:00:19
RESULT
Shabab Al Ahli Dubai 0 Al Ain 6
Al Ain: Caio (5', 73'), El Shahat (10'), Berg (65'), Khalil (83'), Al Ahbabi (90' 2)
MATCH INFO
Austria 2
Hinteregger (53'), Schopf (69')
Germany 1
Ozil (11')
