OUR FABULOUS TRIP TO THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (UAE)

(Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah,Ras Al Khaimah, Umm Al Quwain,
Fujairah, Ajman,)
 

Article by: Gloria Consolacion T. Cressler

International Correspondent and Host

 

Photographs by:

Achilles Anastasoupolous (Greece)

Denald Cuku (Italy)

 

Once again I was on my way to Dubai on one of my favorite airlines: United Airline BOEING 777 the best plane of course, besides the 787 DREAMLINER. Why I enjoy flying with the United Airlines is due to their exceptionally good service, and that the plane is larger in girth next to the size of the 787 when compared to the other planes, which makes it is so much easier to move about the plane, especially when you are flying on such a long flight. And it is even more delightful if the plane has a well-mannered and friendly crew who all provide great service. This is why I truly enjoy the flights which  I  take to Europe regularly,  while traveling to Dubai, and to the other parts of the Emirates. It was a long, but truly a pleasant flight.

 

When in Dubai, sometimes I will visit Abu Dhabi as well, But this time we added Ras Al Khaimah, Umm Al Quwain, Fujairah, Ajman and Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates or UAE. I have been traveling to Dubai for the past 5 years but this time it was a special trip. We scheduled a show throughout the 7 Emirates with my artist, Marco of MarcoArt and Opera Singer Paula Oleska, and were treated like true celebrities, and we all had such a fabulous time. Everyone was gracious and amazingly friendly wherever we traveled.
It is a trip to remember and treasure.

 

At our first opening night exhibition in Dubai, at the Artissima Art Gallery turned out to be a great success, and was attended by wonderful guests.   We began with the Consul General of Peru Carlos Tavera, and the Dubai Culture headed by Dr. Salah Al Qassim, Advisor to the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority. Mr. Khalil Abdulwahid, Visual Art Manager of Projects and Events,  Department of Dubai Culture, Mr. Ahmad Alserkal, Founder and President of Alserkal Cultural Foundation, Robert Lester of Vienna Austria, Etienne van den Peereboom of Belguim,  and many other friendly people. Everyone loved and enjoyed the Art of Marco and the songs of Opera Singer Paula Oleska. Guests marveled at the paintings that MARCO painted, because of the subjects, which are about Dubai and the Emirates, and about the buildings which have a twist of
 New York style of their buildings.  

What I discovered is that the people of the Emirates love to take pleasure with there places and things they love to do, which includes their beautiful beaches and having trees abound. All who attended enjoyed the exhibits immensely, and stayed until
the wee hours of the night. 

 

The trip was arranged by Artissima Art Gallery. Which is own by partners Aurela Cuku and Alberto Alfieri. Aurela Cuku is originally from Albania, then she moved to Italy and lived there for a while. After a time she decided to move to Dubai to start her gallery business which she enjoys running. She is helped by her brother Denald Cuku who resides and has business in Italy, but plans to move to Dubai permanently  to help  manage the Gallery.
For more info : http://www.artissimaartgallery.com/

Alberto Alfieri is originally from Los Angeles California, and he moved to Saudi Arabia in 1982 as part of Corps of Engineers, and then to Bahrain where he built a Mexican Restaurant. Later on he drove across the desert with his wife to Dubai and purchased a small food company named it Senor Pepes Mexican Foods. He is now a supplier to 5 and 7 star hotels, catering companies and airlines. His business is getting bigger, so they are preparing to move to newer and larger facilities. Last year he branched out in the gallery,
 check out their Website: www.senorpepes.com .

 

 

When we arrived in Dubai, we checked in at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai Deira Creek, It used to be the Intercontinental Hotel, and the first 5 Star Hotel in Dubai, so it has a lot of history. The hotel is unofficially called the old lady with the big heart. It has the elegance and atmosphere of an Intercontinental Hotel., and for now they  are going through a major renovation to upgrade the hotel to an Eco-Friendly Hotel.  We were given a very warm welcome, and everyone was so nice and friendly. For sure, they all knew my name by the end of my stay. They made us feel like we were at home, which is a feeling I really like in a hotel. They have several restaurants that serve different sumptuous international menus inside the hotel. And on the top, Up on the 10^th floor bar - the have live music. One eatery is a 24 hours restaurant called Boulvar, where they serve a good selection of Arabic, Lebanese, Indian and seafood. But you can also order a la carte in with choice selections. 

 

I was highly impressed with the service of the staff, since I should know since I have been traveling since I was very young visiting relatives all over the world. Lately, I am often Invited by hotels and government dignitaries of different countries (especially in Europe) to cover and their countries and hotels. They always put us in 5 Star hotels, castles and mansions, so you know that I am critical and knowledgeable about what goes on in the best hotels and if and when they provide great service. Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai Deira Creek is one of the hotels with great consistent service, and I highly recommended them to our readers and friends. It will be smart to add this hotel to your bucket list, as hotels to visit. And I will be adding them definitely to my bucket list for future stays.
For more information: go to radissonblu.com/hotel-dubaideiracreek.

 

 I got the chance to meet with their General Manager Tim Cordon. Tim Cordon is a very young charming gentleman, originally from England And move to Dubai 2 years ago. He has been a GM for the last 10 years, prior to that he worked in London as a General Manager for Kimberly Hotel. When he was in college taking engineering classes, he was working part time at a hotel. And when he finished college, his boss impressed with his work offered him a permanent position at the hotel (so that is how he got started in the hospitality world). At a young age he was surely doing a great job in running such a large hotel, and noted for the good service his staff provides to all their guests. He is a hands-on General Manager and the hotel is very lucky to have someone of his caliber managing their place.

 

I also got the chance to meet with Chef Uwe Micheel who is another charming man. I really enjoyed my interviews with both of them. Chef Uwe is originally from Germany, and started cooking at the age of 12 learning by helping his mother while cooking in the kitchen, and later he attended cooking classes. Chef  Uwe worked in several famous hotels from Cellar Hof Boutique Hotel-Hanover, Hotel Schwarzer Bock which is now managed by Radisson Blu, InterContinental Hotel Group-Germany, Hyde Park-London and Intercontinental Seoul, Yokohama Grand InterContinental Hotel.

 

He moved to Dubai in 1993, and holds the Title of Director of Kitchens at Radisson Blu Hotel, Deira Creek, and in 1999 became the President of The Emirates Culinary Guild with which he supports young chefs. He enjoyed helping them because he believes in giving back, and he also sees that this young chefs will be there future chefs, and can pass his torch to them, someday. Uwe has also received a number of awards including Best Chef in hotel operations, Chef of the Year at the Hotelier Middle East Awards and Chef of the Year at the Caterer Middle East Awards. Due to Uwe’s active involvement in the culinary field, he was given honorary membership from the following chef associations: Singapore, Canada, Ukraine and Saudi Arabia, and he wrote several fabulous Recipe Books in which I am very lucky to have received several of them. I will surely attempt to cook the food in his recipe books because they look fabulous.

 

 

We were invited to visit PREMIUM GEMS, located at Almas Tower. We were met with the artist Bhavna Vaya whose father and 3 uncles run the company. Her uncle Chetan Vaya is one of the Managing Partners, and the rest of the brothers are also managing partners. And each one of them holds their own positions in the company: We got the opportunity to visit and see the workers make jewelry from beginning to the end. PREMIUM GEMS is a very elegant high-end quality jewelry company that is purchased and collected by celebrities, royalties and the high societies who have discriminating taste from all over the world. The company offers different designs of fabulous and elegant necklaces, earrings, rings, bracelets, and many more, with the highest quality diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and many other precious stones. They also make special custom jewelry for future brides or for other special occasions of anything your heart may desire. Make sure to check out their website: www.gemsetdesigns.com. So you can place your order for exquisite jewelry, or that special someone you know!

 

I got the chance to meet with Director Stuart Cameron with my friend Robert Lester from Vienna Austria, (Robert does a lot of business in Dubai). Stuart is the Director and one of the Executive Producers of the movie titled ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE co-produced by Meddy Ezrah Ortegav &  Executive Producers Suzy Amis Cameron (married to famous Director James Cameron), Patrick Dunn & Stuart Hignot. 

 

All You Need is Love is a documentary that focuses on the lives and dreams of the children of Good Morning School in the district of Mae Sot, Thailand. Mae Sot is a town on the Thai-Burma border where hundreds of thousands of Burmese nationals have chosen to live as a result of the repressive actions taken by Burma’s military junta. They fled from Burma and escaped to Mae Sot with the hope that they will be able to sustain their families and become free from the fear of getting shot and arrested. However, the vast majority of Burmese in the town exist as people without nationality, rights, or any solid future. This is the harsh reality that the Burmese children in Mae Sot have to face every day. The documentary highlights not just their plight, but also the positive way that these children go about their lives in conditions
 and under circumstances we dare not even imagine.

 

All You Need is Love will take you on an inspirational journey towards a greater understanding of the human spirit and the power of the positive. It is a testament to all the very best facets of the human character. Please support them & support the Film, do go to www.allyouneedislovedoc.com.

 

We had arrived in Rak Academy in Ras AL Khaimah one of the emirates for another exhibition, and we were met by nice and friendly members of the staff, and the children were already there waiting for us. They were excited to know that Marco would be working with them in creating an Art for them and their School. And they all had fun working with the artist Marco. After that Paula Oleska sang a few of her songs, the kids were so attentive listening to her voice, and some thanked her for her nice songs. 

 

I got the chance to meet with Mr. Yousef  El Achkar who is the Chairman of the Board of Rak Academy, he is the Chairman of the Board, since 2010, but was at the School since 1999. Originally an Engineer by profession, and from Lebanon, he and his family moved to the UAE in 1977. The Chairman of the Board position was offered to him by the Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah after serving for 15 years as member of the board. In the beginning there were only 200 students, and now they have 3,250 students (comprising of 30% international students and 70% are local students).

 

I was also able to meet with the Executive Principal of Rak Academy Mr. Ross Hall, originally from Sidney Australia. He had been an Executive Principal for the last 18th months with most of his career in management. He also had worked in Bangladesh, and Thailand before he came to UAE. Inspired by his former teacher Mr. Hall wanted to share his inspiration with the other kids. His wife lives with him in the UAE and his children reside in Australia. According to him the Academy has 3 schools, the BC Primary, PYP Primary and Secondary School, all under one umbrella. We all thoroughly enjoyed our day at the school. When it was time to leave we profusely thanked our nice host for such a wonderful day.

We stayed there over night at the Hilton Ras Al Khaimah  hotel,that was sponsored by the Company ZEIN ITALIA 4D. for more info :http://www.zeinitaliamarble.com/

 

From there we went to Brunch at the Al Hamra Golf Club and we were hosted by the charming Restaurant Manager Sonia Bartholini, originally from Italy who decided to move to the UAE, and Chef Lakshan Viradith Silva who is originally from Sri Lanka who also moved to work in the UAE.  The restaurant were we sat overlooked the ocean, and has a beautiful ambiance, and the food was delicious, and very unique. The Alhambra Golf Club has Golf Course, Gymnasuim and 3 restaurants: The Pesto Restaurant it is a new modern and authentic Italian restaurant, The Lagoon Restaurant called by many as the 19th Hole Lagoon Sports Bar & Belgian Café. 

 

About Al Hamra Golf Club: The region has short day light hours, so the club uses the latest zero pollution floodlights for their golf course, so busy businessmen can play and relax at night.  They enjoy playing golf under the stars, a different experience. To know more, go to www.alhamragolf.com .

 

Next is to Umm Al Quwain, We are met by a very nice gentlemen by the name of Mr. Abdullah Ali Bousaibah with his nice and friendly staff. Mr. Buosaibah is the Manager of the Umm Al Quwain Cultural Center of the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Culture, Youth & Community Development. He is originally from Oman, he has been in the Ministry of Culture for the last 25 years. The Ministry gives service to talented students, and he handles all the activities for Culture and Education for their young generations. They continue to look for new, fresh talent from different cultures and give internships
to new young talents.

 

After Paula Oleska finished her songs MARCO started making his drawings for the students to color which they were so excited to do. One truly talented student showed us her talent in making art with the use of sand which was amazing to see. After that Mr. Bousaibah and his staff were so gracious to give us CERTIFICATES and PLAQUES with the images of the 7 rulers of the UAE, with which we were all honored and appreciated receiving them. For more information go to their website: www.government.com.    

 

The next day we went to Bara Bin Malik School in Fujairah where we met with Mr.Ali Muhamed Alzahmi, The Activity Director of school & Environment. He was born and raised in Fujairah, he had joined the Ministry of Education 3 years ago. He manages 73 schools in Fujairah and the schools are comprised of different sections: 12 private and 73 public schools totaling 23,000 students. They had invited students from different schools to join Marco in working with the art for their schools, and all the students were happy and overjoyed to work with Marco. Afterwards they prepared a lot of food for us which we all enjoyed, and consumed. The principal gave all the ladies a gifts for the hair it is a hair accessories that has the color of the UAE Flag which looked great. Then sadly it was time to leave
these truly wonderful people.

 

We headed off to a Resort Hotel called MIRAMAR AL AQAH BEACH RESORT in Fujairah which is managed by the IBEROTEL Hotels & Resorts and located on the east coast of the UAE only 90 minutes from modern Dubai. It has many rooms with balconies facing the ocean with a private sandy beach. The resort is 3 stories with 321 rooms and 30 suites. If you like a hotel by the Ocean this is the place, besides the beach and fabulous rooms, they have several indoor pools for adults and kids. More amenities included a gymnasium, tennis court, a multi-purpose court, beach volleyball court, garden chess, children’s facilities plus more.  They have 8 Restaurants (serving International Food) and Bar. Breakfast is FREE and you get quite a choice selection. The Hotel staff are courteous and their niceness and politeness made it even so much more pleasant a stay, and the place is so beautiful,
which made it even more enjoyable. 

 

I met with the Resident Manager Eyad Hamed & Executive Chef K.A.C Prasad. Eyad Hamed originally from Syria studied Business Administration. He moved to UAE December of 2008 and thoroughly enjoys working currently at the Resorts. Besides holding the job of a manager, he also works in providing motivation to the employees to keep them inspired with their jobs, routines and day to day activities. And you can see that with the staff, especially with one of the doormen, a very tall smiling gentleman who is always ready to give a helping hand when you are coming in or when you are checking out.
But all in all, they all provided us with good service   

 

Later on I had an  interview  with K.A.C. Patel the Executive Chef of Miramar originally from Colombo Sri Lanka, had moved to UAE in 1997 as middle management for Sheraton Deira Dubai, then moved to Taj to open an Italian Restaurant, and then in 2002 moved to the Meridian Hotel as their Head Chef. He had studied in Sri Lanka to be a Chef and had worked at other hotels, and now works for MIRAMAR Resort. He is telling me how he likes working at this hotel due to the very relaxing and environmentally friendly atmosphere. The Chef balances business and his charity works and states that the resorts get many guests from Europe visiting regularly, and they become members of their family. According to him the hotel has received numerous awards one of the awards is the Best Lobby in the Middle East. In 2012, Green Glove Certified, Voted World Luxury Hotel Awards in 2013, and Best Hygiene Practice at East Coast Culinary competition in 2013, Because of all of accolade we include this Resort on our Bucket List where we only name a few worthy.

 

The following day we moved to Nour Arjaan by Rotana Hotel also in Fujairah they are Hotel Apartments, a concept I also love. The hotel has 225 Luxurious rooms and suites. It is a very modern, well designed hotel with up to date technology facilities and a good contrast to the resorts. I like to stay in different types of hotels it makes my travel so much more exciting. We were met by the friendly staff headed by their front desk Manager Noushad PV and all were very nice and accommodating. So we felt truly welcome and another place where we felt at home. We really enjoyed the good service every staff member provided to us.

 

The Hotel Manager is Ghyath Fawaz and the Front Office Manager is Naseem Al Refai, and we met their Chef Timothy Xavier DSouza. For dining they have Murjan Café & Restaurant, for breakfast, lunch and dinner there is the Lobby Lounge Café, and the Aquarius Pool Café. The hotel has a marvelous Spa where you can relax your tired body and enjoy the treatment. On roof top of the hotel there is a temperature controlled pool and from there you can see the beautiful of view of Fujairah. The pool area includes a Sauna, and a Massage room. 

 

I was a given gorgeous corporate suites with a very large bedroom, living room and dining room and kitchen. The other apartments are also complete with everything an apartment needs. The suites have separate living rooms and also a kitchen is added.  The Nour Arjaan by Rotana Hotel  cater to both short and long term guests and also families. In spite of our short stay at this hotel we surely had a good visit and experience. We can hardly wait to come back to see this nice place and people again, I will surely add Nour Arjaan By Rotana Hotel also to our infamous bucket list.      

 

The next stop was Ajman, and yes, we were invited for a show at The Ministry of Culture Youth & Community Development meeting with Director Badria Alhosani and Deputy Director Ali Alhosani. When we arrived everyone was waiting for us including the children, their teachers, other staff of the ministry, and other guests. They had the paintings of Marco and the local artist Ibrahim Alawadhi on display already. After a while Sheik Abdullah Bin Saeed Al Noaimi from the ruler family of Ajman arrived with his young son and daughter, both very lovely children. In fact all the children were so nice, sweet and well behaved, and the teachers are all friendly. Sheik Abdullah Bin Saeed Al Noaimi cut the ribbon. The Sheik mentioned that he used to live in Texas and other parts of the United States, and that he enjoyed living in the US. Paula Oleska sang and afterwards both artists gave us tours of their paintings. And then Marco started drawing with the children and everybody enjoyed the evening and after a while we said goodbye to our very nice host. We stayed at Ramada Hotel & Suites in Ajman which was sponsored by the Ajman Tourism Development Department The hotel is close to the beach, And all the member of the staff and nice and friendly.

 

Next trip was Sharjah,  which is known for ART. Our exhibition was at Sharjah University City. We were guests of the College of Fine Arts and Design. We were met by Essam Nasr Selini Acting Dean of the College of Fine Arts and Design and Dr. Yakupmohd Rafee Academic Rank, Visiting Academia and all their staff and students. All had friendly faces, and they enjoyed talking to Marco about his art because they are all art students. Paula Oleska melodiously sang and the girl students enjoyed her music very much. Several local TV reporters came to interview Marco and the Acting Dean of the College, and afterwards we enjoyed their good spread of food and took group pictures with the staff and the students. Time goes by very quickly when you are having such fun, sadly we had to leave. We are hoping to go back there, someday...    

 

Our last Emirate was Abu Dhabi where we visited Zayed Higher Organization for Humanitarian Care & Special Needs. The Autism Center We were met by their Director Aysha Saif Al Mansouri, a very nice and friendly lady. She explained that Abu Dhabi Center For Autism was established in 2000 as a result of the efforts of H.H Sheikha Shamsa Bint Hamdan, may God preserve her, and the follow-up and implementation by the Red Crescent Authority and Abu Dhabi Educational Zone. Then it was handed over to Zayed Higher Organization for Humanitarian Care in 2006 under its direct control and supervision of the Center which provides specialist services to students with autism spectrum disorders.  The goal of the Center is based on providing a range of specialized services related to this kind of challenges, such as the Diagnosing and Assessment Service, the Early Intervention Service, the Academic Education Service, the Psychological and Social Counseling Service, The Therapy Service, the Vocational Rehabilitation Service and Inclusion Service  of children who have Autism. Several of the children joined us and created art with our artist Marco after Paula Oleska finished singing her lovely songs. It was another fruitful and fun-filled day.
Check out their website www.zho.ae
 for more information about the center.

 

The following day we were on our way to the ART HUB which is run by Ahmed Al Yafei, where I was able to interview him and he mentioned that the ART HUB is focused on emerging and established visual artists from all over the world. He said that the ART HUB served as a platform for interaction and cross-cultural artistic exchanges between national, regional and international artists. They have a program for international artists, and sponsor them to stay in there Hub for 1 month for free either in Abu Dhabi or Liwa. They have opening nights several times a year in which they invite guests to see the works of the artists at the ART HUB and they are welcome to purchase also, for more information go to their sites: Art Hub Liwa :http://www.adah.ae/#!liwa-art-hub/c1cwb
. Abu Dhabi Art Hub :http://www.adah.ae/

 

 

My group was also invited to the famous DESERT SAFARI, which was sponsored by Orient Tours. I did not go, since I had already been there before, but my group went and they all had a good time. So I advise our readers to visit when you go to Dubai it is a must see place to see and experience. The Orient Tours is known as the market leader in offering high quality service which is personalized, flexible, for groups, or individualized service. They have a lot of clients from the US, Europe, Asia, Australia, and also some local people from the UAE. It was established in 1982 in Sharjah in UAE by H.E. Sheik Faisal AlQassemi . The Company offers tour programs to Dessert Safari, Overland Tours, relaxing dinner cruises, as well as Individual Fly and Drive program, also corporate events, so do make sure to check them out when you get to Dubai, you are in for a treat! It is going to be a great experience you won’t ever forget. for more info go to http://www.orient-tours-uae.com/

 

 

I want to thank you all, especially our gracious and kind host, our terrific sponsors, and our great new friends for making our 7 emirates trips so memorable and successful due to the fantastic hospitality we received and the generous warm welcome that you showed us. Our trips are becoming a fond and wonderful memory which will stay with all of us for a very long long time. Words are not enough to express our thanks and gratitude to everyone who welcomed us so graciously with their open arms. We are telling all our friends and readers about this fabulous trip and wonderful experiences of our travels to the whole UAE.

 

Special thanks to our Sponsors Artissima  Art Gallery, Senor Pepes Mexican foods, Radisson Blu Hotel Diera Creek in Dubai, Miramar Al Aqah Beach & Nour Arjaan by Rotana Hotel both in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates Ministry of Education, University of Sharjah, Zayed  Higher Organization (for humanitarian care & special needs), United Arab Emirates Ministry of Culture, Youth, & Community Development, dal 1954 Donald, Zein Italia 40, Orient Tours, Ajman Tourism Development Department, Ras Al Khaimah,  Premium Gems,  The New York Times Style Magazine EMIRATES, Abu Dhabi Art Hub, Liwa Art Hub, Ras Al  and his group who made the connection for us in Dubai. We will never forget all the good things that you our sponsors and our friends had done for all of us. We salute you. We will see you again on our many more trips coming.     

 

This is your host signing off, till we meet again on our next fabulous trip

Gloria Consolacion Tamayo. Cressler

International Correspondent & Host

President/Founder: EPNG (Elite Professional Networking Group)

P.R. & Celebrity Event Producer Company

Ambassador: Power Team Internatioal

Global Ambassador: Impact Leadership 21 (United Nations)

Member: United Nations Association
 & United Nations Foundation

Member: United Nations Associations for Women Executives

Over 40 Female Executives

Email: Gloria@blacktiemagazine.com or elitepronet@aol.com

World Phone: US 1-917-575-9578