Linkin Park Go Live in Abu Dhabi

FLASH Entertainment unveil top American rock band to headline at Yasalam 2010 concerts

FLASH Entertainment, the region’s premier live events company, recently announced double-Grammy Award winning rock band Linkin Park are confirmed as the act performing on November 13 as part of the Yasalam after-race concerts on Yas Island.

Originally from California, Linkin Park formed in 1996. They have since achieved critical and popular success with the albums Hybrid Theory, Meteora and Minutes to Midnight, as well as collaborations with artists such as Jay Z and Busta Rhymes. Last summer the band contributed to the score of the movie ’Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen' which also featured the hit single ‘New Divide.’

John Lickrish, Managing Director, FLASH Entertainment, commented: “The FLASH team cannot wait to welcome Linkin Park to Yasalam 2010; the annual Formula 1 celebration programme in Abu Dhabi.  Following the rock legacy of Aerosmith last year, Linkin Park will blow audiences away at the Yasalam After-Race concerts on Yas Island this year.”

Talking about Yasalam 2010, Chester Bennington of Linkin Park said: “We're looking forward to playing at the 2010 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Dhabi Grand Prix after-race concert this year. We can't wait to share our new music for our fans in Abu Dhabi.”

Yasalam, meaning wow, is the most diverse and ambitious city-wide entertainment programme ever seen by a Formula 1™ host city.  The 2010 programme will offer a stunning line-up of entertainment on Abu Dhabi’s famous Corniche, Yas Island and across the Capital during the 2010 Formula 1™ Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.  Further details of Yasalam 2010 and other headline acts are still to be confirmed.

The Yasalam After-Race Concerts are exclusively for Formula 1™ race-day ticket holders.

Entertainment for shoppers at Oasis Center's Ramadan Tent

Children learn about the significance of lamps during the holy month, as they decorate their own lamps at Oasis Centre's Ramadan Tent

Oasis Centre has lined up an exciting calendar of activities for their shoppers this Ramadan.

A beautiful Ramadan tent in the mall atrium comes alive everyday at Iftar, after they break their fast with traditional kahwa and dates.

Shopper breaks his fast with traditional Kahwa and Dates at Oasis Centre's Ramadan tent

An array of artists has been commissioned at the mall, to keep shoppers engaged. This is led by calligrapher and micro-artist Mohamed Imran Anwar and his team, which skillfully writes the names of shoppers on grains of rice. Visitors can also enjoy other art-entertainment offerings such as ‘colour and glitter your moon’, ‘paint the pillar of Islam’, ‘colour your masjid puzzle’, ‘traditional kahwa pot painting’, ‘zakat jar decoration’, ‘clay art’, Islamic calligraphy and ‘henna painting’.

Writing on a grain of rice, Imran Anwar at Oasis Centre's Ramadan tent 

The mall is also giving away 64 all-expenses-paid vacations to Kuala Lumpur through an exciting raffle being held through the holy month, and over 30 winners have already received their prizes.

Omar Abdel Rahim, one of the winners of this an all-expenses-paid trip said: “This promotion is a very nice gesture from the mall; a refreshing change during the holy month of Ramadan. We visit the Oasis Centre almost every day, because it is the most convenient shopping experience for my wife and I. We love the mall and are so excited about our holiday to Malaysia. Oasis Centre has given us the best opportunity to that our family out for a vacation!”

Oasis Centre’s initiatives for Ramadan run through the holy month, until the end of Eid.

Fight to glory at Arabian Center

For the first time in the UAE, the mall hosts a Martial Arts tournament with karate apprentices training hard to prepare themselves

Arabian Center paves the path for a new karate kid in the UAE. The mall, the latest hotspot for shopping, leisure and entertainment in Dubai, is hosting the ‘Ramadan Martial Arts Tournament 2010’ as part of the festivities for the holy month of Ramadan. The competition will have a stunning display of martial arts skills and agility. The tournament started on August 26 and will be held on Aug 27 and 28 and September 2, 3 and 4.

Acting as apt inspiration for prospective candidates is Col. Magdy Eid Sulaiman, karate extraordinaire who holds the 6 Dan Black Belt and is recipient of over 60 international certificates in martial arts. “Karate is commonly referred to as a form of self defense. However, I believe it is a definition of your personality and character. Not only does it provide you with a skill to protect yourself, it also keeps you healthy, focused and disciplined.”

Commenting on the tournament, Mathew Thomas, Marketing Manager, Arabian Center, “We are very excited about hosting this unique tournament. Martial Art is considered a very noble skill to attain and we are proud to hold this tournament for children of all age groups. Arabian Center has always strived to provide different and enticing entertainment options for its patrons. We are positive that this event will be well received and enjoyed thoroughly by the competitors and spectators alike.”

The tournament is spread over three age groups: 5 – 12 years, 13 – 19 years, 20 years and above.

Arabian Center is home to over 200 internationally renowned brands ranging from clothing to home furnishings, electronics, jewellery, perfumes, fashion accessories, toys and games. Sprawling over a generous area of 80,000 square meters, the mall also houses a hypermarket – World Mart, which carries a wide variety of products fulfilling the daily needs of the shoppers. Arabian Center is also home to a large food court that offers a variety of popular eateries, apart from a number of scrumptious dining options available at the mall.

The mall has recently opened a fully digital Dolby CinemaCity, equipped with eight big screen state-of-the-art digital theaters and a highly scrumptious sushi bar. Catering to a large audience of Arabs, Europeans and Asians, the Arabian Center is a complete family destination for shopping, leisure and entertainment.

The mall houses many public utility services such as a medical clinic, a children’s day care center, banks, post office and immigration department, Dubai Naturalization and Residency Department (DNRD) and a travel agency, attempting to create a convenient one-stop-shop destination for all living requirements. Sporting Arabian architecture with a modern outlook, the mall houses a variety of shopping options for men, women and children, facilitating an effortless and fun shopping experience.

The quaint charm of Masafi Friday Market

Friday Market, near the small town of Masafi, on the Dubai-Fujairah highway is a big attraction for people from all walks of life. The well known street market, where goods are comparitevily sold at a cheaper price is a favourite place of shopping for locals, expatriates and tourists, especially those who have bargaining skills. Unlike the fully air-conditioned departmental stores with dashing lights, decorations and special offers to magnetise the customers, the Friday Market, surrounded by mountains, have no such charms. The market is free of credit cards, branded products and computerised billing.

The asbestos roofed stalls at the Friday Market offer a wide range of products like fruits, vegetables, plants, toys, musical instruments, furniture and carpets. It is also famous for handcrafted rugs and antiques. Locally made pots and cups to bedding plants and trees are also available in several nurseries in the market. You will also find traditional pottery items made of local clay and the modern toys, which links the past with the present.

The shops are open all days, but business is good on weekends and public holidays. Even if you are travelling by the road at midnight there are sellers waiting for customers in the market. If you have no intention of making a purchase and show less interest, they will offer the wares for a lesser price.

Mohammed Hussain from Bengladesh, a salesman with a fruits and vegetable shop for the last six years said: "Most of the fruits and vegetables are fresh and locally grown. This is one of the advantages of buying fruits and vegetables from here. The market is open on all days, but business is good on weekends, especially on Friday." He added that the market is known as Masafi Friday Market for its popularity on Fridays.

All the people visiting the market are not necessarily buyers, but most of them break their journey here, get out of the vehicles and take a stroll around. They enjoy looking at the items in the market and chatting with the friendly shopkeepers. Most of the tour operators and people from Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman buy something from the market or at least stop here and experience the joy of bargaining.

Sherly Joseph, a housewife from Dubai said: "While going to Khorfakkan, we stopped here and the children liked the atmosphere here very much. They loved to taste the mangoes, corns and to buy toys displayed in the shops. We have recently shifted to a new flat and want to buy plants, pottery and handmade carpets on our return journey. I think the price of carpets is less than in the shopping malls."

Most of the vegetable and fruit shops here are owned by Bangladeshis. Carpet shops are the monopoly of Pakistanis and Afghans. Indians normally run cafeteria, grocery and toyshops. The sociable vendors in the fruit shops offer a piece of fruit to taste before you buy.

There is no fixed price in the market and one should use one's bargain skills especially in the carpets and antiques shops. When you ask the price of a carpet, initially they quote a high price. If you disagree and step out from the shop, the salesman will follow you asking, "How much you will give?" And finally, you can buy the product for half the asking price.

Though there are no special staffs for outdoor delivery, they help by delivering the purchase to your vehicle.

DPG hosts Bazaar for Al Noor Centre

Dubai Properties Group (DPG), a member of Dubai Holding, hosted a two-day bazaar for Al Noor Centre at their headquarters in Dubai to support children with special needs.

The bazaar, which proved popular with the more than 1100 DPG employees, displayed a wide variety of handicrafts made by students at the Centre ranging from office stationery to home decor, ladies bags and wallets to homemade cookies.

The event also allowed employees to interact with the Centre’s inspiring students who attend Al Noor Centre for professional training, which allows them to integrate into the community.  All proceeds from the bazaar were donated to the Centre.

As a builder of diversified communities, Dubai Properties Group seeks to connect people and support diverse strata of our society through community-oriented activities. DPG continuously endeavours to host events and activities that engage and support the community in which we live and work.

LG’s New LED Monitor promotion

Launching its superb new E40 and E50 monitors, LG issues a worldwide call for touching stories with the promise of surprising prizes including a Volkswagen Wagon Golf GTI2, 2 travel vouchers worth AED 30,000 and full HD TV Monitors E2380VX

Marking the arrival of its new LED monitors series, the E40 and E50, LG Electronics Business Solutions (LG), launched Sincerity, an online campaign (http://sincere.lge.com/gf) that aims to elicit and share touching stories from LG consumers around the world.

“The LG LED ‘Sincerity’ campaign will be conducted simultaneously in 9 countries, with people sharing 2,073,600 sincere messages, one for each pixel on our new monitors,” said Mr HS Paik, President of LG Gulf FZE.

Sincerity Shared, Prizes Won

As part of the Sincerity campaign, which runs from May 15 to July 13 this year, participants will be asked to “show their sincerity” by leaving on the campaign’s website moving personal stories or their own personal reflections on what sincerity means.

Smartphone users can take part in this event through their phones. Using Pixel Soldiers, i-Phone and Android Phone users can contribute their sincere stories by simply tapping them into their phones. Smartphone users can also download “wallpaper” containing their own sincere stories.

Each participant will be allotted one of 2,073,600 pixels, which will collectively form a full picture with as many pixels as LG’s new LED monitors.

During the promotion, LG will display selected messages across all retail stores in UAE “LED Zones”. Better still, those winners will also receive one of a range of fantastic prizes, including a Volkswagen Wagon Golf GTI2, travel vouchers worth AED 30,000 and full HD TV Monitor E2380VX. There will also be special sweepstake prize draw where 30 lucky winners will take home an LED LCD Monitor E2350V.

A Smart and Fun Friend

By highlighting the amount of time we now spend with our computers, LG is using the Sincerity campaign to cast its new monitors as more than just products. In providing the perfect place for users to talk, see, work and play, the E40 and E50 series are aimed at becoming a true friend in the workplace or at home.

Through their smart technology, the E40 and E50 provide a host of “sincere” functions that make the monitors a delight to use. The E50’s Smart+ Package includes a dual web feature that automatically splits the screen to allow easy multitasking, an auto brightness function that measures the light surrounding the monitor to ensure optimal brightness at all times, and a cinema mode, which creates the perfect environment for watching videos.

The E40’s Fun Package, meanwhile, boasts various photo editing features, and an original ratio function that enables viewers to watch videos in their original 4:3 wide angle without any on-screen distortion.

The First Monitor with UL Environment Certification

Though providing features as strong as on any monitor on the market, the E40 and E50 series boast impeccable ecological credentials. As well as being 30 percent lighter, the monitors use 45 percent less energy and fewer hazardous materials, with no halogen and mercury at all. Thanks to these improvements, the E50V model has become the first monitor to be awarded environmental certification from the US safety testing organization UL.

For those looking for something a little extra from their picture, the E50VR model boasts super resolution technology, for a picture as vivid and sharp as anything on the market. And with all E50 models, a depth of just 17.5mm creates a sleek, elegant finish, while a detachable two-way stand makes the monitor even more convenient to use. 

Equipped with convenient, smart technology, eco-friendly features, an exceptional picture quality and sophisticated design, LG’s E50 and E40 are set to raise the bar once more for the computer monitor market.

They are now available in all leading retail stores and will retail at AED 1199 (E2250V) and AED 1399 (E2350V).

Golden smile!

Winners of World Gold Council and Malabar Gold on-air contest announced

The World Gold Council and Malabar Gold have announced the winner of their Akshaya Tritiya competition, which invited listeners on radio stations City 101.6 and Hit 96.7 to share their memories of a piece of gold jewellery they had received in their life, and explain why it will always be special to them — live on air.

“The Akshaya Tritiya radio competition provided a great opportunity for people to take part and enjoy the festivities, as well as demonstrating the cultural significance of investing in gold on this day. Tahira’s is a truly special story which really highlights the emotive value of gold jewellery and we would like to congratulate her on her win,” commented Yogaani Bhatia, Country Manager UAE, World Gold Council.

The competition, which ran over seven days in celebration of one of India’s most auspicious festivals and a holy day for Hindus, welcomed hundreds of entries, and was won by 30 winners, who each received gift vouchers to purchase gold.

“I’m very pleased to have won this competition and proud to have shared my story with so many people on the radio. Gold is considered an important part of our culture – and this precious investment is particularly celebrated during festivals such as Akshaya Tritiya. This day also represents good luck in any new ventures, and so this goes to show that luck really was on my side that day!” said Tahira, competition winner from City 101.6 FM.