issue 1

street stories

welcomeThe stories of peoples lives are laced through the walls of our hotels and their surrounds, whether its the intoxicating streets of Bangkoks Silom,

or New Delhis emerging creative laneways and villages; the colourful shophouses and history-steeped cafs of Phukets Old Town; or the fl urry of cutting-edge

galleries and cultural hubs blossoming in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

In this edition of Eight we take these fi ve Dusit destinations, select a street in each one, and introduce a fascinating collection of people artists, musicians, chefs,

business owners, writers and designers who live, work or play on that street.

Take acclaimed chef Tim Butler, the creative engine behind Eat Me restaurant, who revels in the hubbub that is Silom the area both his eatery and our fl agship

hotel, Dusit Thani Bangkok, call home. Then theres award-winning Thai photographer Manit Sriwanichpoon, whos also intrigued by Siloms blend of

traditional and contemporary. We even take you into the Bangkok Seashell Museum, a quirkily alluring space wedged between o ce blocks and smoky street-food stalls.

In Dubai, we meet a British DJ living in Jumeirah Beach Residences and a Lebanese fashion designer making waves in the UAE; in New Delhi we guide you through leafy Hauz Khas village, brimming with arty types of all persuasions. In

Phuket we discover the rich, multicultural heritage of the Old Towns Thalang Road; while in Abu Dhabi a city so new it was tricky to single out a particular street

we fi nd most people are from overseas and have relocated to the UAE for work.

Through their stories we give an intimate glimpse into each destination, illustrating the contrasting characters of the cities in which Dusit operates. As Dusit International expands globally, it is with great

pleasure that I present to you the fi rst edition of the new-look Eight I hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed creating it for you.y reading it as m

David ShackletonCOO, Dusit International

issue 1

PHUKETBANGKOK NEW DELHI DUBAI &ABU DHABI PHOTOGRAPHY

streetstories

Why did you choose Silom Road for Eight?

Its an old district that has been massively shaped by modern forces. Youve

got skyscrapers and swanky bars, but down the side streets people

have been living the same way for generations.

Your favourite Silom places?Maggie Choos and Eat Me

encapsulate Bangkoks growing sophistication.

Quintessential Bangkok experience?

Riding a longtail boat along the Chao Phraya.

Wheres your favourite spot in Hauz Khas Village?The 13th-century tombs overlooking the lake are an oasis in the busy city,

especially on rainy mornings with fewer visitors.

What was the most memorable interview?

The photographer and I spent three hours waiting

for comedian Zakir Khan opposite the local barbershop for a shoot. Meanwhile, the barber closed and reopened six times. Khan arrived on his seventh tea break.

Who was the best person to interview?

I learned an incredible amount about Phuket history from Nong at

i46, and Phuket Heritage Trails Chaya gave great insight into growing up

in the area. How would you spend a day

eating on Thalang Road?Roti and curry at Aroons

(124 Thalang Rd) forbreakfast; i46 (46 KrabiRd) for kopi cham (co eeand tea); and for lunch,

Hokkien mee at Kopitiam by Wilai (18 Thalang Rd).

Most enjoyable interview?Entrepreneur Ahmed

Ben Chaibah. Not only was he far more extroverted and open

than I expected, he was also inspiring with his relentless work ethic.

Quintessential UAE experiences?

All visitors should cross Dubai Creek on an abra,

a traditional form of water taxi; and no

Abu Dhabi trip would be complete without experiencing Sheikh

Zayed Grand Mosque.

Where did you most enjoy shooting?

Hauz Khas at New Delhi. I spent hours with the personalities; it was

a great photographic and personal experience.

And who were the most interesting people?Suryakant and Zakir

Khan were both really welcoming, and full of life and energy. Tips for Bangkok?

Sushi Masa near Rajtaevee BTS station; street food at Sukhumvit Soi 38; anddrinks at Maggie Choos.

Eight is published on behalf of Dusit International by Ink Publishing Pte Ltd. All articles and photographs published herein are created by the authors and photographers at their own discretion and do not necessarily represent the views of Dusit. Dusit International holds no responsibility or liability arising out of the publication of such articles and photographs. All material is strictly copyright and all rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part without the prior written permission of the copyright holder. All prices and data are correct at the time of publication.Ink Publishing Pte Ltd 51 Changi Business Park Central 2, The Signature, #04-11A/12, Singapore 486066. Tel +65 6324 2386, fax +65 6491 5261, www.ink-global.com. Printed by Comform Co, Ltd. MCI (P) 117/02/2014

Ink Liz Weselby Editorial Director / Peter Stephens Design Director / Jonathan Evans Chief Sub-Editor / Jeanina Peas Photo Editor / Helen Punzalan Production ManagerJeffrey ORourke Chief Executive Officer / Hugh Godsal Chief Financial Officer / Simon Leslie Publishing Director / Michael Keating Executive Creative Director / Gerry Ricketts Managing Director

Maps Martin Sanders - The Illustration Room

Dusit International Catherine McNabb Vice President Sales & Marketing / Gerrit Klaus-Gunther Kruger Director of Branding & Loyalty Marketing

Advertising Enquiries Pritika Hemmady Group Publisher / Nayarorn Konrajpobmonkol Media Specialist - Tel: +65 6302 2389 - nayarorn.konrajpobmonkol@ink-global.com

TomSturrock

Australian Tom moved to Bangkok two years ago,

and edits food, art & travel magazine Bangkok 101.

Simon NOstheimer

Hong Kong-raised Simons (www.simonostheimer.com) favourite part of his adoptive island is the Old Town.

SimarPreet Kaur

Formerly a Mumbai-based infl ight magazine editor, Simar now writes fi ction at her Himalayan home.

PeterFeely

Peter moved two years ago to work for Time Out Dubai, giving him unique insight into life in the UAE.

DavidTerrazas

David (www.davidterrazas photography.com) hails

from Spain, and has worked in Asia for four years.

Sala BarDevarana SpaOcean Villa

Dusit Thani Maldives blends graceful Thai hospitality with the unparalleled setting of the Maldives. Encircled by white sandy beaches, a stunning 360 degree house reef and a turquoise lagoon, this luxurious resort is located on Mudhdhoo Island in Baa Atoll - the Maldives first ever UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve.

For reservations and enquiries, please call +960 660 8888 or email resmaldives@dusit.com.

Thai Grace in Paradise

SilomRoad

BANGKOK

life. Towards the river the road becomes slightly more sedate: an echo of how Bangkok used to be. Here youll fi nd art galleries, antique shops, and bars and restaurants providing thrills of a more epicurean kind.

1 Tim Butler, chef at Eat Me

2 Manit Sriwanichpoom, award-winning photographer, artist and owner of Kathmandu Gallery

3 Ash Sutton, designer & Sanya Souvanna, managing partner, Maggie Choos

4 Bangkok Seashell Museum

5 Gemstone and jewellery traders

Pockmarked with skyscrapers, Silom Road is one of Bangkoks oldest and busiest thoroughfares, stretching from Lumpini Park at its east end to Charoen Krung and the river at its west. Nowhere else exemplifi es Bangkoks perplexing yet intoxicating character quite like Silom: here you will fi nd luxury hotels alongside multinational corporations, street vendors standing outside top-notch restaurants, and back-soi (street) markets snaking around gleaming shopping malls.

Around Sala Daeng Skytrain station the road is gridlocked with tra c, and its pavements are crawling with o ce workers. At night, this area is the epicentre of Bangkoks infamous after-hours scene as Patpong bursts into

SILOM ROAD IS WHERE OLD THAILAND COLLIDES WITH MODERN BANGKOK, AND IS FULL OF THE CONTRADICTIONS THAT ARISE FROM SUCH A JUXTAPOSITION

KNOW

1 Tim Butler p82 Manit Sriwanichpoom p12

3 Ash Sutton & Sanya Souvanna p184 The Bangkok Seashell Museum p24

5 Jewellers p26

WHERE

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4

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Silom is a living, pulsating thing with all its di erent areas. It runs the full gamut, from the grittiest and grimiest of Thailand to refi ned and everything in between. Theres Isaan food, Thai-Chinese stu , Indian as you move towards the temple and then Chinese again as you get closer to the river. Its a great place just to wander around.

Tim ButlerChef Eat Me

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Eat Me has carved out a niche as one of Bangkoks best-loved and most innovative restaurants; as testament to this it was ranked number 19 among Asias best restaurants in this years San Pellegrino-sponsored list. Eat Mes menu

defi es easy categorisation. Its hard to narrow it down beyond calling it modern international, conceived with a twist and an emphasis on seafood and game.

I prefer the word schizophrenic, the restaurants chef Tim Butler insists. We use products from all over the world, fl avours from all over the world. Were not boxed into French food or American food or Australian food. Our customers are international enough that they appreciate the mix.

We try to focus on interesting ingredients were not a locally driven restaurant but if theres a local version thats better, Ill use that. And it has to be responsibly produced. Generally, I dont design dishes I fi nd a product that I like and the dish designs itself around that. I dont sit down and think: I want to make a curry. Instead Ill fi nd something, or something will show up on our doorstep, and Ill decide it may work in a curry.

Butler, who was a pastry chef in New York before moving to Bangkok fi ve years ago, has also been infl uenced by Thai cuisine. A good example of this is his spicy chicken leg, which comes marinated in lemongrass and served with peppers, roasted green mango and chilli sauce. Im not afraid of using a lot of chilli, he says. In the West it might be too much, but its kind of cool that in Thailand you can get away with it. If people show up and order a spicy dish, they know that its going be actually spicy. Its not going to be the Minnesota version of spicy.

Butlers red venison loin has a more obvious European infl uence, served with toasted pasta, pistachio and mushrooms, then drizzled with chocolate-tinged stout beer.

Not many people use venison in Thailand, Butler explains. Its quite hard to sell Thai people arent big on it. They eat it up country in Isaan, but not so much in Bangkok. Theyre a little twitchy about game in general its maybe not considered very sophisticated.

Butler, though, is betting on tastes changing and horizons broadening. His confi dence stems from the fact that hes already seen seismic shifts in Bangkoks restaurant scene. Im not sure exactly what the catalyst for change was with the Thai dining public. When I fi rst came here, I was often told: Thais wont eat this or that, he recalls.

Somewhere along the line, that all changed whether thats a bigger middle class, people travelling more or food TV, customers

have become more open-minded and willing to try new things. In the last three or four years, every month theres something new, the chef continues. Its incredible, the young cooks now coming here and doing their thing. Its grown exponentially. When I moved here eight or nine years ago, it was the hotels and that was about it.

Butler is excited about the change of direction. This movement right now is still in the very beginning. [Australian chef] David Thompson, for example, is going to produce [up to] 20 phenomenal Thai chefs whats that going to lead to? Bangkoks in the infancy of that. In fi ve years time, people like me will be the old men on the block. All the young cooks, thats whats super-exciting.

Eat Me, Soi Pipat 2, Silom Rd;tel: +66 (0)2 238 0931eatmerestaurant.com

Just aroundthe corner fromSiloms heavingcentre,

Dusits Pathumwan Princess

is a business hotel with

direct access to MBK

Center mall. Located in old

Bangkok, Royal Princess

Larn Luang allows for easy

exploration of attractions

like the Grand Palace and

Wat Po (the Temple of the

Reclining Buddha). The

hotels Mikado restaurant is

famed for its sushi bar.

www.dusit.com

Silom is a perfect setting for this fusion between the traditional and the cosmopolitan. Its an old part of Bangkok but has steadily

become a hub for small galleries. I hope it can become an art district. On this side of Naradhiwas intersection, you dont feel like its dominated by high-rises; around Patpong, you get that feeling.

Manit SriwanichpoomOwner Kathmandu Photography Gallery

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since Manit Sriwanichpooms fi rst exhibition. In the years since, his work has been showcased internationally, and he has become one of Thailands foremost contemporary photographers. Manit is best known for his Pink Man series, which revolves around a Thai gentleman dressed in a garish pink tuxedo, sometimes pushing a shopping trolley, his surroundings fl itting between the everyday and the surreal. Sometimes he is out among Sukhumvits gleaming shopping malls; at other times, he towers like Godzilla between Bangkoks skyscrapers.

Pink Man has become Manits signature, a technicolour avatar for his anxieties about the e ects wrought on Thailand by consumer culture and rapid modernisation. My work is meant to raise questions for audiences, and hopefully they can help answer it, he says. Pink Man represents how people look at the world, and how they consume and worry about having this, having that, all the time.

As Manit talks, a welcome breeze dances in through the open windows of his Kathmandu Photography Gallery, which he set up in an old shophouse on Pan Road, around the corner from Silom Road in 2006, and opened one week after the coup dtat against Thaksin Shinawatra. We planned to open before that we spent one year renovating it, Manit says. It was an accident that we had a

gallery. My wife liked the shophouse and suggested it could become a gallery for my work, but I didnt plan to run it. In Bangkok we dont have a lot of galleries for photography its not a very popular medium for collectors.

It used to be an o ce, and they had covered everything up the ceilings, the walls and the fl oor and the fi rst thing we did was to take everything away because we wanted to see the original structure. We wanted to keep that to take back the feeling of the building.

As a photographer, Manits abiding fascination is with mapping the faultlines of Thai society, corralling his audience into a moment of self-examination. It is an approach he carries with him in his other roles, both as a gallery owner and also as a teacher.

When I teach photography, I open the textbook and its all about the Western history of photography, he says. But what about in Thailand? Do we have anything? That is the question I ask. And its very di cult to do any research.

This notion of fi rst looking back in order to understand the present animates Kathmandus Forgotten Masters series: regular exhibitions of Thai photographers barely acknowledged in their own time, whose images capture Thailand as it once was. For example, last year, Manit showed the work of Saengjun Limlohakul, who had documented life in Phuket in the 1950s, when it was still a humble tin mining centre. His images show elephants walking through streets lined with colonial architecture, as well as the fi rst manifestations of nightlife.

In Thai society, there is not much interest in the history of the common people, Manit explains. When they record history, it is all about the monarchy or the ruler. But in the area of photography, we should look at what happened in the past.

If Manits role as teacher informs this didactic approach embracing photographs as a historical document then his other life as an artist and

Its 33 years

agent provocateur is equally on show. In the collections he chooses to exhibit at Kathmandu, Manit is constantly searching for a new way to hold a mirror to Thai society, to play on its sense of itself and ultimately subvert it. That, he believes, is the role of art.

I look for something that youve never seen before, or that gives a new perspective, he says. I also try to support young photographers and look for work that has value for Thai society. I could show work from other countries, but its hard for people to make any connection.

I want work that talks about the social and political issues. That is the role of art to engage the society. Contemporary art is about todays events and problems. Thats why its so important. I try to fi nd work that has that dialogue.

It is inevitable that Manits art and the art of other photographers housed in Kathmandu addresses Thailands ongoing political unrest. As a photographer and as a curator, Manit sees it as his responsibility to shock his audience out of their complacency, to short-circuit comfortable, self-defeating patterns of behaviour.

If you look at whats happening in Thailand now, you cant just put your head in the sand and ignore everything, he says. We need to ask what happened. How did we get here? I think we havent done that enough. We havent had enough questions, maybe because we enjoy life too much.

The current situation even raises the prospect of the Pink Man reappearing. Asked where the Pink Man would fi t in Thailands 21st-century milieu, Manit pauses before giving an answer that reveals the essence of his approach.

People need to try to fi nd balance, he says. We lose that balance. Look at the world: we let the material dominate the spiritual side. When the spiritual side dominates, thats okay, but once you lose that, thats a problem. The material is limited. Not everyone can have it. But the spiritual is inside you you can have as much as you want.

This is something Thai society needs to combat, says Manit. This is why Pink Man is still relevant today.

Kathmandu Photography Gallery87 Pan Rd, Silom; tel: + 66 (0)2 234 6700kathmandu-bkk.com

Bangkok is home to four

Dusit hotels, each completely

different in its design and style.

Flagship hotel Dusit Thani

Bangkok is a city landmark

located opposite Lumpini Park.

During its prestigious 40-year

history the Dusit has hosted

royalty, international stars and

thousands of guests.

www.dusit.com

One hundred years ago, this [building] was a depot bank. If you were a trader, you would arrive by the river, disembark and get carried to

this place to stock up until the new transport arrived. Maybe by train or by road it was unpredictable. So if you had a shipment of tobacco or chinaware, this would be the place where youd store it while you

wait for the next boat. So it does make sense it does have a context. A lot of people ask us whether we could do it elsewhere, but its also

something that has to fi t into the locale. It fi ts. Sanya Souvanna

Sanya & AshManaging partner and designer Maggie Choos

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How did you come up with the concept for Maggie Choos?Ash: Its half-truthful it being a depot for the East India Company. The original warehouse is across the river. Maggie Choo is a fi ctional

character in my mind who escaped World War II and came to Bangkok.Sanya: We were trying to fi nd a name it was a bank, so we were

thinking of locksmiths, and then our initials. Then we decided to have the Maggie Choos girls hanging out so it would be like a cabaret/

bordello. So we had to come up with the name of a mamasan. I knew a lady in Hong Kong called Maggie Chu, and that name stuck with me

the Western name with a Chinese surname.

Maggie Choos, 320 Silom Rd;tel: +66 (0)2 635 6055

Its been over one year since opening. Hows it going?Sanya: Its been quick and eventful. It had its ups and downs obviously, we were very disappointed by the political situation. There was a defi nite slowdown in terms of activity and we invested a lot at the end of November. But its picking up again.Ash, youre renowned for the original design of your Bangkok bars [Iron Fairies, Fat Gutz Saloon and Bangkok Betty]. How do you come up with ideas? Ash: I see a space and feel it an empty space and I think about what can go there. I like history, so maybe that comes into my mind when Im doing it. I know how to build its easy. I like to get [to grips with] the tools. I designed Maggie Choos with the swings and crawling cagework. I built a lot of it myself, probably 90%. It was full of sand and had concrete foundations. What do you think of Siloms nightlife?Sanya: Silom is hectic the only thing thats missing is a nightclub. Theres KU DE TA, but thats very ambitious, very big. I think there should be a medium-sized nightclub. Whats your background? How did you end up doing this?Ash: In Australia, I was in boat building and

underground mining. I came to Bangkok by accident I had a business in the US and was buying some raw materials. I designed a studio here for some web designers. That was the Iron Fairies o ce, and people decided they wanted drinks there thats how I got into F&B.Sanya: My father is Laotian and my mother is Thai I was born down the road in Silom, but grew up in Paris. Ive been in Bangkok since 1997 I became a photographer, then I met my partners who opened [nightlife venue] Bed Supperclub. We closed Bed last August, and in the meantime I opened Quince [restaurant on Sukhumvit soi 45]. I like to organise events and surround myself with artists.How have you seen Bangkok change since in terms of eating and drinking?Sanya: Bed Supperclub brought nightlife in Bangkok to an international level, but even there I started with a certain customer base and we didnt really renew ourselves. Every 10 years theres a new market of young adults who dont necessarily adhere to an old club; they want something new and di erent. Ash: There wasnt a place in Thong Lor that sold wine [when I fi rst arrived], so its changed a lot like that. Its become more astute and educated, but its still missing an intimate cocktail place thats what Im aiming for. I want to turn this place into a nice cocktail place and then a jazz club with cabaret.

lies beneath the unassuming Novotel Bangkok Fenix Silom. Tucked in the basement of the hotel is Maggie Choos, one of the most innovative and high-concept bars in Bangkok. It comes complete with an intriguing (though fi ctional) backstory: the eponymous Choo escaped Shanghai during World War II and came to Bangkok, where she moved into an old shipping depot and turned it into a fabulous cabaret bar.

This invention is realised in every detail of the venue from the authentic Chinese noodle shop out front to the jade lighting, exposed brickwork and plush sofas of the interior. Theres a whi of 19th-century opium den, and the punchy cocktail list also harks back to that era.

And then, every night, at about 9.30pm, a coterie of Maggie Choos girls sashay out from behind the heavy velvet curtains, clad in bright red cheongsams, and drape themselves across the bar, on swings and even the grand piano tucked away in one corner. Impromptu performances punctuate the night and theres often a live jazz band playing. At Maggie Choos, you never know what to expect; the bar o ers one of Bangkoks most immersive experiences. Here, designer Ash Sutton and managing partner Sanya Souvanna invite us into their imagined world of 1930s Shanghai.

A magicalunderbelly

To the east of central Bangkok in

Bangna district, Dusit Princess

Srinakarin is 10 minutes from

the Bangkok International Trade

and Exhibition Centre. The

Chinese Restaurant is the hotels

main dining attraction, offering

Cantonese and Szechuan food.

www.dusit.com

With its white frontage, decorated with a large cochlea, Bangkok Seashell Museum is conspicuous among the o ce towers, street stalls and tra c

jams of Silom. Manager Natthida is responsible for maintaining the collection of shells which runs the full gamut of size, colour and origin.

Natthida Sricharoon Manager Bangkok Seashell Museum

4

On the ground fl oor of the Bangkok Seashell Museum, a giant clam or

bivalve, to use its o cial name takes pride of place, spanning at

least two metres in width. Its the centrepiece of a private collection

owned by Somnuek Pattamakanthin, one of Thailands leading

concologists (seashell experts).Its the centre of Bangkok and we

have many foreigners who have fallen in love with seashells, having never seen them like this, manager

Natthida Sricharoon says. Some of the shells are from the owners private collection it takes a long

time to fi nd the best ones.

Silom is Bangkoks gemstone and jewellery district. In a city where gemstone scams are rife, its useful to know where to go for genuine,

high-quality stones. Alongside the Jewelry Trade Center (JTC, pictured above), which is made up of wholesale merchants and

designers, there are well-reputed, independent shops.

The JewellersSilom Road Bangkok

5

Matinuddin Danishuddin sifts carefully through a pile of opals. They come from Ethiopia; we cut them in India, and sell them

in Bangkok, he explains. Opals were quite rare, but theyve become cheap recently so theyre more popular. Matinuddin explains that, when assessing opals, fi re pattern and play of colour are the key indicators of quality. The fi re pattern is the way the light is refracted in di erent shapes through the stone,

while play of colour refers to the way the stone fl ashes, shining in a full spectrum of tones.

MatinuddinSalesperson Sadruddin Jewellers International

Sadruddin Jewellers International Co, 919/1 Floor B1, Room B9F-B10, JTC; tel: +66 (0)8 7683 9021

Yui Watcharapunjamas often travels far to purchase stock. Sometimes I go all the way to [eastern Thai province]

Chantaburi to buy, she says. Although Yui stocks a wide variety of stones, including blue topaz, citrine and purple amethyst, she has found herself specialising in rubies and sapphires revered gems in Thailand. The ruby is a special stone for people who

collect them or make jewellery, she says. Its the king of stones; the sapphire is the queen. We get a lot of them, from

places like Myanmar, Mozambique and Sri Lanka.

YuiOwner Eklada Jewelry

Eklada Jewelry, Bangkok Fashion Outlet, B1 Floor; tel: +66 (0)8 1420 7939

When Weerawat Woramahakun opened his store two years ago, Silom was the obvious choice. Its the centre of business, and there are a lot of big hotels around here as well, he says. Its easier for tourists to come down and have a look and compare di erent stones. Weerawat encourages his clients to broaden

their tastes. I really want to introduce people to di erent combinations of gemstones, he says. Traditionally, diamonds have been popular in Thailand as are rubies, sapphires and

emeralds but I want to promote other, lesser-known stones.

WeerawatOwner Gemoria

Gemoria, B37 B1 Floor, JTC; tel: +66 (0)8 6791 3338

Jewellery at Jasmine is design-driven. We have the necklaces handmade and the designs are

all unique, says Panisa. We use raw materials of various kinds depending on the design and whats most suitable. We look for beautiful colours, high quality and durability.

Our customers are mostly guests of the hotel. A lot of them are regulars who have bought from us before and come back,

Panisa says. We also get a lot of business travellers from China, Korea and Japan.

Panisa Manager Jasmine Jewelry Factory

Jasmine Jewelry Factory, Lobby, Dusit Thani Bangkok

LobbyDeluxe King Room

Its All About Location Experience Thai Hospitality in the heart of Dubai

Newly refurbished rooms and suites Close proximity to the Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa Complimentary shuttle service to major shopping malls 20 minutes from the Dubai International Airport

or +971 4 343 3333Learn more at

JumeirahBeachWalk

DUBAI

Dubais Jumeirah Beach Residences, known locally as JBR, was only created in 2008, but is already home to over 20,000 people. With its 1.7km boulevard, The Walk, dotted with hotels, shops and restaurants, JBR has evolved into one of Dubais most popular destinations.

This year saw the opening of a brand new development at JBR - The Beach. Created directly behind the sands of the Arabian Gulf, the project has resulted in a further 1km of shops, oceanfront restaurants, green spaces and beach facilities, as well as an outdoor cinema. Unashamedly brash and modern, JBR is home to wealthy locals crawling the strip in their exotic

cars, people in traditional dress socialising over shisha, and a cross section of young Western, Eastern and Asian tourists as well as seasoned locals and expats sharing the walkway against the backdrop of Dubais famous skyline.

6 Ghada Kunash, Jordanian collector and owner of Vindemia Gallery

7 Benjamind Martin, Filipino skateboarder

8 DJ Adam, British resident DJ at high-end nightspot Mahiki, and resident of JBR

9 Zayan Ghandour, Lebanese fashion designer, owner of S*uce boutiques

DUBAIS JUMEIRAH BEACH WALK OFFERS A SNAPSHOT OF THE DIVERSE MIX OF NATIONALITIES AND CULTURES THAT MAKE UP THE EMIRATES POPULATION

KNOW

6 Ghada Kunash p347 DJ Adam p38

8 Benjamind Martin p409 Zayan Ghandour p42

WHERE

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A lifelong passion for collecting art and antiques from across the world, manifests itself in JBRs Vindemia Gallery: a wonderful

curio shop stocking a diverse range of collectibles from 19th-century porcelain to mechanical musical instruments.

Ghada Kunash Owner Vindemia Gallery

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Nosing out collectibles in markets in cities like Istanbul, London and Paris is a skill Ghada has honed to perfection over the years. Over time, she has also gained a network of dependable associates to help her source the best antiques: I try to buy from trusted people and those that I have already built relationships with to make sure the items are authentic. But Im always on the lookout for good contemporary pieces too, just to provide a good mix.

Ghadas showroom is a refl ection of the wide scope of her interests, with early mechanical musical instruments, silverware and antique furniture on display alongside elaborately decorated Islamic manuscripts dating back to the 18th century. She seems so completely at home surrounded by these old artefacts, talking expertly about every facet of their history yet her fi rst career was as a successful architect and product designer in her native Jordan.

Ghada sees a close relationship between the roles:

Its a background that may help explain her refreshing approach to the world of antique dealing, treating both collectors and the objects themselves with remarkable sensitivity and respect. With a telling smile, she admits to being too romantic at

heart to cut the best deal: If I fi nd that the client really likes a piece, then I will be generous in my discount because I feel a responsibility. When you buy these things, youre preserving them you restore them, clean them and keep them in shape. Youre passing a piece of history from one generation to another and preserving its story.

So does she struggle to reconcile a passion for the past in such an uncompromisingly modern city as Dubai? Ghada smiles as she explains: Im not against globalisation, but I am against losing identity and I think that this is the challenge.

Whats also di erent about Ghada is her breadth of appreciation for all artistic periods: an eagerness to embrace both the old and the new: I started with contemporary art to get something to mix with the antiques as a contrast. And then you start to meet the

artists, and you discover that there are fantastic talents in the area. Dubai is very young and new, and in terms of art it is even younger.

Ghada named her gallery after the Latin phrase for the best time to harvest the grapes for wine-making. Browse inside and youll soon understand why this is the realm of someone with uncommonly cultivated taste.

Jumeirah Beach Residence, Murjan 5; ww.vindemiagallery.com

To be an architect is to understand everything around you the history, the people.

It was 15 years ago that I came to Dubai, because I rented a video about the place and it was incredible. I just wanted to travel here and see what it was like. I was DJing in England, but it was only a hobby there. This hotel chain called me up and asked me to work for them in Dubai, so I ended up working as a DJ and they put me

in all of the new nightclubs they were opening.

DJ AdamResident

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Whats it like to live on JBR?Really amazing it has the atmosphere of a permanent holiday with the streets 24-hour lifestyle, beaches, bars and restaurants. Im hooked on the buzz.When did you fi rst realise your talent for DJing?When I was 13 years old in 1993 and I was into hardcore dance music, I had favourite songs on di erent tapes and I decided to mix my tapes together. My parents saw me doing it and bought me my fi rst turntables, so I taught myself to DJ.Who inspired you to get behind the decks?

[Barbados-born British house music DJ/producer] Carl Cox is one I got to DJ with him when I was just 15 years old. He played here in Dubai for the fi rst time in seven years recently, but I couldnt go because I was working. When I fi rst knew Carl Cox, he was playing hardcore it was literally 180 beats per minute not like techno or anything.Where else have you worked?Ive also played in Abu Dhabi where I was doing Hed Kandi and Ministry of Sound parties. Ive played all over the UAE and Bahrain. How long have you been resident at Mahiki?Well, itll be two years this

Ramadan. When Im there I try to play music that caters to the crowd, but I also like to play some serious stu for the people that like their dance music. Basically, I just try to keep things fun.What are your thoughts on the clubbing scene out here?360 in Umm Suqeim has always done it well, with great music, and they keep opening new house clubs in the city. But Im not sure that theres a big enough scene here for it to ever be like Ibiza. They usually have to play commercial music to fi ll large gigs here. Im DJing eight gigs a week at the moment, so I dont have much time; when I do, I like to head out to see new places.Whats the best gig youve ever played and where would you most love to DJ?[My best gig was] Ministry of Sound in Abu Dhabi the people were there just for the music, so there would be 800 people in this club, going o to house. If I could, Id choose the obvious Ibiza. If I could DJ anywhere there, it would be DC-10.

British DJ Adam is resident DJ at Dubais branch of famed

London nightspot and celebrity haunt Mahiki, and a resident

of tourist-friendly JBR. Having lived by the beach for over

two years, hes happily settled, playing fi ve nights at Mahiki and

an additional three gigs in the city every week. A dance-music

traditionalist, Adam, now 34, has been DJing since age 13. Hes

lived in Dubai for more than 15 years, during which time hes seen the citys nightlife grow

from a couple of bars to dozens of world-class clubs and bars.

Compared to my country, the skateboarding facilities in Dubai are complete and very good. Back in Manila we just have the rails,

ramps and box; here they have their own skate parks.

Benjamind MartinShop assistant & skateboarder Adventure HQ

8

Originally from the Philippines, extreme sports fanatic Benji is in his element working in a beachside setting among all the outdoor and watersports kit stocked at Adventure HQ. His biggest passion, however, is skateboarding a street skater for 14 years, the tattooed 28-year-old loves nothing better than hanging out with his crew, honing his skills.

There have been a lot of accidents. I twisted my ankle and wasnt able to skate for fi ve months all I could do was stay at home, he explains. Skateboardings not just a game its an extreme sport.

Benji started work in Dubai for a diving company that gave him the opportunity to learn kayaking, standup paddle boarding, wakeboarding and surfi ng. Yet none of these sports could replace his fi rst love.

Benjis encouraged by the impressive skateboarding facilities found on JBR and in the area. and has mastered over 80% of the known

skateboarding tricks, thanks to lots of practice. He remains

modest, though: Ive been skateboarding for 14 years, but

rating myself is very hard only other people can rate me.

Skateboarding is clearly growing in popularity in the

region, with his company Adventure HQ preparing to

open a skateboarding facility at its Abu Dhabi branch.

But its the draw of hitting the street that really gets Benjis

adrenaline pumping: What I do with my friends is street

skateboarding, where if you see some obstacle a rail, ledge or

stairs you just skate on it. Isnt that more risky,

though? He smiles: If you want to learn the sport, you have to

live with the pain.

Four years ago

Our fi rst store was at Village Mall on Jumeirah Beach Road, because the larger malls were only interested in big labels and

big fashion brands. It started very innocently, and we never knew that we would be in the position were in now.

Zayan GhandourFashion designer and owner S*uce

9

she also displays a keen eye for new business opportunities. When she glimpsed plans for the recent beachfront redevelopment on JBR, for example, she knew instantly that it would be the perfect venue for one of her S*uce [pronounced sauce] boutiques.

Zayans entrepreneurial talents fi rst emerged a decade ago when she and her partners, Fatima Ghobash and Dina Saleh, spotted a gap in the Dubai market for a multi-designer concept store. They opened S*uce in 2004 and it has since become one of the UAEs most talked-about boutiques, growing from a small a air showcasing just 12 designers to one that carries over 500 lines, including fashion, jewellery and even furniture.

She attributes its success to her savvy buying team and a

shared philosophy of style that embraces the eye-catching and edgy: We like to work with small designers and customise the collection as much as possible for the region, introducing things that people wouldnt have seen before. Our style is not necessarily classic; its more something new and hip that will defi nitely make you stand out. Honestly, its just the things that we love.

A creative force in her own right, Zayan also has her own eponymous fashion brand, Zayan the Label, which debuted at Paris Fashion Week in 2011. This year, it proved one of the highlights of Dubais prestigious annual Fashion Forward event.

Zayan comes from a background in journalism, and sees clear parallels between fashion and writing. As she explains it, style and creativity have always been an integral part of her personality. Juggling the roles of designer, head buyer and businesswoman would be daunting to some, but she relishes the challenge. The things I truly love about my job are the creative aspects which happen on a daily basis, she says.

Its clear that an initial sketch or idea is only a small part of getting her fi nal creations on the catwalk: With design, the creative

input is minimal you have around 10% creativity, then the rest is about production issues. I love the mixture fortunately I have experience in retail and production, so that really helped when I launched the label. The fashion scene in the UAE may be small when compared to Paris or London, but Zayan is keen to play an active role in the development of Dubais design culture. She believes that it has the potential to become a style destination in its own right: I have attended round-table discussions with Dubai Design District to look at the role of fashion in the context of Dubais 2020 vision. They have a lot of plans to support designers and smaller retailers. Although I dont think Dubai will ever catch up with Paris, London and New York, I believe these moves will defi nitely bring it up to the level of places like Australia or Brazil, who are getting a lot of international attention at the moment.

Given her sharp eye for spotting winning opportunities, fashion watchers would disagree at their peril. After all, having started her design journey with a small range of T-shirts in her own store, Zayan has now become a core member of the citys stylistas.

Ground Floor, The Village Mall, Jumeirah Beach Rd; www.shopatsauce.com

Lebanese fashion

designer Zayan

Ghandour doesnt only

have great creative

vision,

Dusit Thani Dubai is just

five minutes from the

worlds largest shopping

mall, The Dubai Mall, and

the iconic Burj Khalifa.

The hotel is home to the

Benjarong Restaurant,

which specialises in

Royal Thai cuisine.

www.dusit.com

Dusit Thani Maldives

HauzKhas

Village

NEW DELHI

Named after a historical lake in the area Hauz Khas translates as Royal Tank in Urdu the once sleepy district of Hauz Khas Village had its fi rst cultural awakening in the 1980s, before sliding into obscurity again a decade later. The villages renaissance followed in the early 2000s, when a clique of creatives looking for cheap and interesting spaces in which to work and live moved into the area. A more recent infl ux of restaurants has established the area as South Delhis prime dining turf.

Main Street runs like an artery through Hauz Khas Village, culminating at the entrance to a heritage complex which houses landscaped gardens and the domed tombs of Delhis 13th-century rulers. It is surrounded by chic rooftop cafs and gourmet restaurants, fashion boutiques, contemporary design studios and

antique stores, beyond which lies a maze of private residences.

10 Smitha Singh Rathore, designer and boutique owner

11 Ashish Anand, prolifi c collector of 20th-century Indian modern art and owner of Delhi Art Gallery

12 Zakir Khan, award-winning stand-up comedian, poet, radio scriptwriter and sitar player. Hes also a Hauz Khas resident

13 Suryakant Sawhney, musician and resident of Hauz Khas, who is frontman, vocalist and founder of the San Francisco/Delhi gypsy-jazz band Peter Cat Recording Co

14 Jamun Collective, Ayesha Sood and Udayan Baijal, digital fi lmmakers who were among the fi rst to move into Hauz Khas Village

THE MAIN STREET OF HAUZ KHAS VILLAGE IS AN UPSCALE, ARTSY NEIGHBOURHOOD THAT ATTRACTS MONEYED BOHEMIANS, CREATIVE TYPES AND THE OCCASIONAL EXPAT

KNOW

10 Smitha Singh Rathore p5011 Ashish Anand p5412 Zakir Khan p58

13 Suryakant Sawhney p6414 Jamun Collective p68

WHERE

10

11

1213

14

I like how this place invites you to [put yourself out there] and encourages community interaction, which is not common in cities these days. While walking from the parking lot to the studio with my dog, everyone called out to her by name just like living in a real village. Commercialisation aside, I still believe it is the only

place that has a unique cultural signifi cance in Delhi.

Smita Singh RathoreCo-owner CellDSGN

10

a number of Hauz Khas institutions: a minimalist fashion line at the 11.11 boutique, a pastel bedspread in a room let out at The Grey Garden, a selection of graceful furniture at Elmas Bakery, Cakes and Tea Room. The common thread is in-demand designer Smita Singh Rathore, who created many of the pieces in this very district.

In a sense I really found myself in the village. This is where I grew up, became an entrepreneur and started businesses, she reveals, laughing as she remembers her childhood days spent visiting Hauz Khas woods and park.

After earning a masters degree in design in Milan, Smita spent a number of years building a design consultancy that took her all over India. In 2006, she fi nally moved back to Delhi, where she and her business partner, Himanshu Shani, established their design studio CellDSGN in Hauz Khas Village. Their fashion imprint 11.11 followed soon after, with its fi rst collection featuring at Delhi Fashion Week.

The label has earned international acclaim not only for its clean lines and unpretentious designs, but also its organic philosophy. This evolved as a response to the designers distaste for sweatshops and the global mass production of clothes, and the label employs many traditional Indian textile processes and uses long-lasting fabrics. Often, products are created entirely by hand, from the picking of the cotton right through to the weaving and stitching.

Always looking for the next challenge, Smita is branching out from fashion into other creative areas, including interior design (for Elmas Bakery, Cakes and Tea Room), music programming (for The Living Room Caf) and festival curating (the three-day Magnetic Fields Festival at Alsisar Mahal, Rajasthan). Her latest project is a vegan food delivery service called Salad Box: Its simple and it solves a problem, which is most representative of how I feel right now and what I want to be.

CellDSGNA18, The Grey GardenHauz Khas Village;tel: +91 989 908 8338, 11-11.in / saladbox.in

A keen eye mightspot a commondesign themerunning across

Hauz Khas Village has a unique charm, which has inspired people like us to come here to set up shop. People particularly like its galleries, boutiques, restaurants and designer shops, while the

monument adds to the ambience.

Ashish AnandOwner Delhi Art Gallery

11

Delhi Art Gallery, 11 Hauz Khas Village; tel: +91 (11) 4600 5300, delhiartgallery.com

the Indian art market and the number of private art galleries has boomed, with Delhi Art Gallery (DAG) becoming one of the leading names on the scene. Since 1996 it has been under the directorship of Ashish Anand, whos following in the footsteps of his mother someone who recognised the Indian contemporary art markets potential very early on.

Ashish has overseen a systematic expansion ofthe gallerys collection to encompass both established and lesser-known artists, some of whom he himself discovered during extensive travels throughout India.

Despite dedicating nearly every waking hour to buying and selling art, and spending as much as 15 days each month on the road, hes lost none of the excitement that fi rst drew him to the profession. Ashish recalls the joy of purchasing his very fi rst artwork back in 1998:

DAG nows owns an impressive collection of 34,000 Indian paintings, the largest of its kind in the world. This includes earlier modernists such as Amrita Sher-Gil, Jamini Roy and Rabindranath Tagore, plus second-wave artists like M.F. Hussain, F.N. Souza and S.H. Raza, who formed the renowned Progressive Artists Group. In recent years DAG has expanded, opening galleries in the plush DLF Emporio mall in Delhi and in the prestigious Kala Ghoda district of Mumbai, but their fl agship remains fi rmly in Hauz Khas Village, a place Ashish hopes wont change too much.

Over the last twodecades,

It was by an artist called Ram Kinker Baij, and I celebrated with an overnight trip from Kolkata to Puri, strolling down the beach clutching my small painting.

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While leaving for work, I feel this breeze that drifts through the park gates at around 9.30am it always seems to say:

Welcome to Delhi. Returning home at night after fi nishing my show and looking forward to playing my sitar, I know that if

I lived anywhere else in this city, I wouldve left long ago.

Zakir KhanComedian, radio show host, sitar player & resident

12

eight 23

Backthen the

street was

deserted, serving

as a dandy

spot for well-

heeled dare-

devils

who refused to give up his favourite dish, despite losing his teeth. The meats fi nely ground and tenderised with papaya before being fried in clarifi ed butter thats why it melts in the mouth so well, says Zakir Khan, as we savour the delights of Raaz restaurant.

A regular customer, Zakir is well known to the waiting sta , although theyre probably less sure about what he does for a living. Disc jockey? Reporter? Food critic? Some might even guess hes a boxer after all, there are photographs online that show him standing in a ring, posing in an orange gown and boxing gloves. These are all good guesses, but Zakirs career is actually centred around stand-up comedy and producing a nightly radio show.

A winner of Comedy Central Indias Best Stand-Up Comedian Award in 2012, Zakirs routine is fi lled with childhood anecdotes: Every comedian in this world should be thankful to the guy who bullied him; hes the source of our droll gold, he explains. He also credits his home city for

Galouti kebab was

invented for an ageing

nawab

his distinctive brand of humour: Indore is small and its people are very candid not rude exactly, but hilariously funny in a way that can leave you completely dumbfounded. That irks me, so when that used to happen Id spend ages trying to think up cool comebacks. After many times you build up an arsenal of 100 witticisms poised for the kill.

Zakir fi rst arrived in Hauz Khas Village in 2007. I moved into a building barely visible beneath rampant cobwebs and took up a variety of jobs playwriting, ghost-writing television serials, even penning an agony aunt column, he recalls. Back then the Main Street would be deserted, serving as a dandy spot for well-heeled daredevils to go street racing. While walking home at night my fl atmate and I would squeeze on to the sidewalk to avoid getting run over. In such a scenario our names wouldnt even have made it on to the news. Its the car that wouldve stolen the limelight BMW kills two!

His main job these days involves producing Fever 104 FMs evening radio show, but hes also passionate about scriptwriting. His proudest work to date was a drama about Mahatma Gandhi: It was a 40-episode radio adaptation of Gandhis life that aired over a month and a half. As a comedian, it posed an interesting challenge to work on such a serious subject.

Beyond his radio and comedy work, Zakir relaxes by playing an evening raga on his 60-year-old teakwood sitar. I grew up surrounded by a classical music culture, he explains.

All India Radio and performed with many celebrated musicians. Indore is renowned for its musical heritage my father teaches the sitar Ive been learning it since I was nine years old.

Zakirs artistic pursuits dont stop with music; he also loves writing poetry in Urdu he feels his connection with the city deepens through verse. Inspired by legendary Urdu poet, Mirza Ghalib, Zakir philosophises: Most of us cannot decide which kind of life to live. Some people burn bright through their lives, yet the fl ame goes out the moment they die, whereas others like Ghalib live through pain but burn brighter still after they die.

Zakir clearly has no trouble blending many forms of creativity in his life: These are layers, hesays. Comedy is acquired; poetry runs deep down.

My grandfather, Ustad Moinuddin Khan, is a renowned sarangi player who worked at

2009 - 2013

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What attracted me most to this neighbourhood was the fact that there was a park where I could go for a walk in the morning. Now

I cant think of a better place to live in Delhi. I like the cosmopolitan vibe, but its also convenient because we get a lot of gigs here I can

just climb down some stairs, play and come back home.

Suryakant SawhneyMusican Peter Cat Recording Co.

13

eight 23

Hauz Khas Village, chirping birdsong merges with electronic melodies fl oating from a barsati, one of Delhis unique rooftop dwellings. Built to take advantage of any cooling monsoon breezes, this is where Suryakant Sawhney has his home and creates music. Infused with 50s nostalgia, the sounds created by Suryakant and his underground band, Peter Cat Recording Co., defy easy classifi cation. Drawn from a mix of genres including indie folk and gypsy-jazz, the project has earned the band a considerable cult following in India since they played their fi rst gig back in 2010. And when Suryakant isnt singing, writing songs or playing guitar and keyboards for the band,

hes busy producing ambient electronica for his solo project, Lifafa.

There are a lot of venues to play here now. Besides TLR (The Living Room Caf), which is like home, theres Out of the Box, The Verve, Raasta and Moonshine. Almost every venue promotes live music, whether its a band or a DJ, says Suryakant.

The balcony adjoining my bandmates house has also become a venue weve been having shows there for a year now, and we jam in the same building. Theres a lot of freedom in the neighbourhood, and no noise complaints from the landlords either. You could say its a safe place in an aggressive city, so the venues more or less stay open till late as well.

All this has encouraged the setting up of a music school and recording studio in the area, as well as drawing others musicians to come and live in the neighbourhood. Suryakant mentions a group called Nigambodh: They play music that sounds like Mahabharata [an ancient Indian epic]. Its very good, and the lyrics are far better than anything coming out of the country right now.

Suryakant is encouraged by Delhis growing love of live music in general: This is a good place for a band, because there are many live music venues half of them right here. You can pick from at least 100 di erent clubs on any given night.

While the music of Peter Cat Recording Co. seems steeped in melodies of past eras, Lifafa ismore experimental. Im still learning the techniques of production, getting comfortable with sound design, he explains, I want to sing in Hindi for a while, so Im mixing it all up. I like the idea ofnautch [an Indian dance] and old Bollywood sounds. Essentially, Lifafa is steeped in Indianness.

Peter Cat Recording Co.

Hauz Khas Village; tel: +91 (85) 2758 7491,

petercatrecordingco.com

Highabove

thestreets

of

With its sweeping, modern

architecture and considered

landscaping, Dusit Devarana

is a surprise find in New Delhi.

This gorgeous property has won

awards from Travel + Leisure

magazine and NDTV Design and

Architecture among others. It

is a luxury retreat with easy

access to the citys business

district, cultural attractions and

high-end shopping malls.

www.dusit.com

Back in 2003, when I fi rst moved here, there was no water in the lake and if you walked out at night it was totally quiet. Even as recently as four years ago, the pizza delivery guy had trouble fi nding this place. Today thats all changed the lake is completely fi lled now, and fi nding even an inch of parking space is a big issue.

Yet during the brief period in between these two extremes, an artistic community emerged. Ayesha Sood

Jamun CollectiveFilmmakers

14

in Hauz Khas Village, set among a row of brightly lit glass displays, stands a pretty purple door embossed with vividly painted peacocks. Push it open to fi nd a small, leafy courtyard that leads to the Jamun Collective studio a roomy, multi-level space overlooking the lake.

With sunlight streaming in through its tall glass windows, the elegance and tranquility of the studio contrasts strongly with the bustle in the street outside. It makes an ideal workspace for Ayesha Sood and Udayan Baijal to brainstorm their next fi lm.

Ayeshas mother, an interior designer, bought the building

during the 90s boom, but it was Ayesha who converted it into independent art studios that now house her collective, along with a mix of graphic designers, sound engineers and several resident artists. Within the collective, Ayesha plays the role of freewheeling director, while Udayan is the pragmatic producer who transforms her imaginative ideas into tangible projects.

Though the two studied at the same school, their early careers saw them working apart on feature fi lm projects, while Udayan trained in digital distribution and post-production in New York and London. When they met up again in 2011, they realised that not only did they have the same tastes in food, politics and sports, they also shared similar frustrations with the state of contemporary Indian cinema. A creative bond was immediately formed, and soon they were embarking on a collaborative project that gave them the opportunity to explore their artistic beliefs.

It was a really interesting time for cinema at a global level the old world system was collapsing. We werent quite sure where things were going technology was changing everything. So it was a great time for us to experiment with fi lm-making, explains Udayan.

Named after a deep purple, tangy berry native to South Asia, Jamun Collectives portfolio presents a similarly colourful blend of fl avours. Commercial commissions range from an advert for a luxury retail brand to a video of an innovative sound-based installation created by Absolut India. Then theres the second season of a popular TV show, The Dewarists, which brought together independent musicians from across the world via a travel documentary.

The collectives own work has included a highly praised series of Delhi Rising fi lms that protest against the escalating number of rape incidents in the city. These gained widespread coverage in international media and inspired similar video initiatives elsewhere in India. They also led to a request to make a fi lm about womens property rights for Oxfam India.

Ayesha and Udayan talk excitedly about other breakthroughs theyd like to make in Indian television, such as creating a major drama mini-series. In the meantime they wont neglect their other job helping to nurture this lakeside creative environment. Theyre clearly passionate about their surroundings: Take Elmas Bakery, Cakes and Tea Room, for example, which we shared a wall with; we loved their cheesecakes so much that we ended up making a video about the bakery.

Jamun Collective, 24 Hauz Khas Village;tel: +91 981 027 8050, jamun.net

Tucked away in a tiny lane

branching off the

Main Street

TheCorniche

ABUDHABI

rich diversity of people residents and tourists who descend on the street. Over 50,000 visitors fl ock to the Corniche each month, drawn by the blue-fl ag beach, family atmosphere, cafs, restaurants and cultural attractions.

15 Ahmed Ben Chaibah, entrepreneur, and owner of the largest infl atable slides in the world

16 Alaa Nemeh, manager of Abu Dhabi Theatre

17 Kurt Blum, Swiss art dealer, promot-er and owner of Swiss Art Gate UAE

18 Caroline McEneaney, journalist and resident of the Corniche

KNOW

The Corniche stands as a testament to what can be achieved when a city is given a blank slate. The United Arab Emirates was only established as a country in 1971, so to witness its capital Abu Dhabis imperious skyline from the beachside is nothing short of astonishing. Thoughtfully designed with palm-lined walkways and fountains, the Corniche has an expansive free beach, which opens up into the crystal-clear waters of the Arabian Gulf.

The Corniche is a perfect starting point if youre unfamiliar with Abu Dhabi. A leisurely evening stroll allows immediate familiarisation with the citys geography and urban archipelagos, and to experience the

RECOMMENDED AS ONE OF THE MUST-VISIT AREAS OF THE UAES LARGEST EMIRATE, THE CORNICHE IS CONSIDERED ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PARTS OF MODERN ABU DHABI

WHERE

16

17

18

15

15 Ahmed Ben Chaibah p7616 Alaa Nemeh p8017 Kurt Blum p82

18 Caroline McEneaney p86

I used to run an event called Beats on the Beach in Abu Dhabi. So I saw a gap. We have all these amazing corniches

and beaches with blue fl ags, but there are no activities for the kids or anything to do. You just sit down. In the whole region there was nothing either clubs with alcohol or just beaches.

Ahmed Ben ChaibahEntrepreneur

15

that would make Donald Trump panic, 32-year-old Emirati entrepreneur Ahmed Ben Chaibah is intent on making his mark in Abu Dhabi. The owner of the ambitious infl atable water park located on the Corniche has abandoned his job working for Flash Entertainment, the UAEs largest events company, to concentrate on growing his business. A restless traveller who regularly needs a new passport to accommodate all of his stamps, Ahmed claims to have visited 81 countries in his time, looking for ideas and projects to bring back to the emirate.

An enquiry about Ahmeds quirky infl atable tourist attraction quickly reveals a man with great enthusiasm for innovation. Ahmeds water park was not a straightforward conception, with the Emirati encountering mistrustful associates, bureaucracy and scepticism as he tried to fulfi l his ambitions. Yet the determined young man pressed on despite his detractors.

I came up with the idea [for the water park] and approached these companies who built these things, he recalls. Both were giving me a hard time, because I was a newcomer and I didnt have any money behind me. So I took over myself. I fl ew out of the UAE and viewed 126 factories

until I found a factory that did the work I needed. I designed my own games by taking existing games and improving them hugely. Theres this infl atable park, which I originally saw in Florida it took 30 minutes to infl ate, and its only 14m high. Mine is 70m long, 17m high and only takes seven minutes to infl ate. I have the two highest infl atable slides in the world.

With the UAE su ering from high rates of obesity and diabetes, the articulate entrepreneur is also keen to stress the health benefi ts of a trip to his attraction. All the games on the water park are team games or competitive, so I always like it when people come in groups the bigger the group, the more fun they have.

We host birthdays on a daily basis and school parties on a weekly basis. If you play there for two hours, you burn between 1,100 and 1,500 calories. Because the colours are very playful, its outdoors, theres music and youre with friends, you dont actually feel like youre working out like youre in a gym.

The unconventional nature of Ahmeds water

A man with the

sort of

work ethic

from R&B, urban, jazz, salsa and merengue to house, reggae, dancehall and Arabic music. Yet, he remains fi rm on the subject of whether hes likely to get back behind the decks. Every week I get o ered three or four gigs, but I keep turning them down, he says. I did it for 14 years Ive played in 28 countries.

With another seven water parks set to open across the UAE, Ahmeds infl atable creations seem likely to become an increasingly familiar sight on the emirates beaches. Yet, with all the music, travel and business, how does the young man wind down? He doesnt. I cant relax. I dont understand relaxing I cant switch my mind o , Ahmed says. In the last 16 months, I only took one day o .

park refl ects his strong sense of individualism. Having previously worked as a successful club DJ, an unusual pastime for an Emirati, the young man is clearly undeterred by traditionalists, though he admits to having lost his passion for clubbing. I stopped that a fewyears ago, he says. I was sick and tired of the whole industry. It became less about the music.

I played at Creamfi elds for three years and I opened for numerous big names. The last was Coldplay I was on stage in front 38,000 people. Im a Muslim, so I dont smoke or drink. It wasnt just about the music, and that became less exciting and fun.

Given that he has a whopping 13 terabytes of data dedicated to music, its clear that Ahmed still likes to trawl the digital world for beats. An avid listener, his tastes run the gamut

Surrounded by the sea and o ering stunning views of the city, Abu Dhabi Theatre is a landmark both to residents and to the thousands

of tourists who visit the area to enjoy the beachside promenade.

Alaa NemehManager Abu Dhabi Theatre

16

A native of Syria, Alaa Nemeh has been running Abu Dhabi Theatre on the Corniche since 2007.

Soft-spoken and contemplative, Alaa acknowledges that his main challenge as manager is fi nding ways

to attract audiences to performances. He admits that Abu Dhabi is very much a working emirate, so it can

be di cult for residents to fi nd time to take in a show. Alaas favourite events

are those aimed at children. Seeing the theatre packed with

youngsters, who take a more active role in the proceedings

than their elders, is something hes clearly proud of.

Alaa worked as the boss of a

satellite TV station in Syria before relocating to Abu Dhabi in 2005. Driven to succeed I like my job too much, he admits somewhat sheepishly Alaa has plans to host an international theatrical festival later this year. And his ambitions dont end there. He cites the French city of Avignon, famed for its annual theatre festival every July, as a benchmark for the status that a city theatre can achieve.

When Alaas not working with members of a committee to plan the schedule or complete all the day-to-day tasks involved in running the theatre, he winds down by watching a movie, playing sports or simply having fun with his kids. Yet, to him a working day surrounded by music and the arts is a form of relaxation in itself.

Swiss art dealer Kurt Blums mission is to improve the cultural dialogue between Switzerland and the Emirates through Swiss Art Gate UAE. The gregarious intellectual fi rst held an exhibition on the Corniche in 2009 and has

been hosting them regularly on the strip ever since.

Kurt BlumOwner and director Swiss Art Gate UAE

17

www.swissartgateuae.com

seven years ago and decided to establish Swiss Art Gate UAE with the aim of promoting the arts and culture of Switzerland. Not long after hosting a photography exhibition by a Swiss Formula 1 photographer, he was asked by various artists to exhibit their work. In 2010, Kurt created the fi rst online art shop in the Middle East.The fi rst priority of Swiss Art Gate UAE is to promote the arts and culture of Switzerland; the second is to promote the work of various local, regional and international artists in the UAE, and in general to bridge cultures.Kurts fi rst exhibition was with famed Emirati artist Abdul Qader Al Rais at the Swiss Embassy in Abu Dhabi. The second was with the Swiss Formula 1 photographer.His aim is to make art accessible to everyone who walks into a public place, and to showcase the work of local Emirati, expat and international artists. In 2011, Kurt was approached by the Swiss Ambassador to organise and curate a photo exhibition called Late Sheikh Zayed in Switzerland. Sheikh Zayed, the fi rst president of the UAE, spent his summer holidays at Lake Geneva in Switzerland and his royal photographer took many pictures. The four-week exhibition was held at fi ve-star hotels in Lausanne and Geneva. Kurts personal taste runs to abstract and colourful artworks. A self-proclaimed positive person, hes a fan of humour-infused art: I do

not deal with political messages. Upon receiving proposals from artists to display their work, Kurt has two main considerations: the fi rst is, does he like the artwork? The second is, can the artwork be sold in this country or region? If the answer to both questions is yes, then Kurt will go ahead with an exhibition. For many people, Abu Dhabi doesnt rank high on the list of art hubs. Yet the art scene has grown in the past fi ve years, thanks to the Abu Dhabi Art Fair, the Abu Dhabi Festival and its world-class orchestras, and the forthcoming opening of a number of museums. For Kurt, each year the emirate becomes more attractive, both as a place to live and for tourists. With big brands and events such as the Formula 1, Ferrari World, the Red Bull Air Race and the upcoming Louvre Abu Dhabi drawing visitors from across the globe, hes confi dent that the city is making its mark.Kurt has held fi ve exhibitions at Dubais Burj Khalifa, the worlds tallest building, which is his favourite place for shows as its surrounded by the stunning architecture of downtown Dubai. Its just a matter of time until Kurt fi nds the right sponsor for an exhibition on the top fl oor.Theres a lot of work to be done in the future to promote Swiss artists and Kurt is committed to doing his part. Switzerland is famous for its chocolate, cheese, banks and for turning out tennis stars like Roger Federer, Martina Hingis and Stanislas Wawrinka. But it hasnt been quite so successful it comes to performers, musicians or artists. Kurt believes that bridging cultures is one of the most important issues of our time.

Former music teacher

Kurtmovedto theUAE

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I love living here. Its my favourite part of living in Abu Dhabi looking out at the water. And I have a front row seat for many of the events that take place here, such as the F1 free concerts and the Red Bull Air Race. Another reason I love the Corniche is that its a great

place to go for a run or walk. There are always people walking up and down, exercising and playing. Its a lively part of the city.

Caroline McEneaneyJournalist & resident

18

Caroline McEneaney has been a resident of Abu Dhabis Corniche since moving to the emirate last October. After studying law in New York, Caroline decided to skip the corporate rat race by upping sticks and heading for the desert sands of the UAE.

Caroline has her hands full at the weekly lifestyle publication Time Out Abu Dhabi, covering an eye-watering portion of the citys cultural landscape. I do Art & Culture, Sport & Outdoor, Music & Nightlife and Kids, she says, running down the names of the sections she handles for the magazine. Art is

her favourite and as she has become more immersed in the citys culture, shes found that she was wrong in her initial impression that Abu Dhabis art scene is severely limited. When I started three or four months ago it seemed really dead, but then if you look a little bit more, its happening. And I think that with the Louvre and the Guggenheim coming, it will start to attract new people.

Caroline didnt follow a conventional path to Time Out. I was in law school until June last year, and I took the bar over the summer. Then I moved here shortly afterwards. Halfway through school I worked out that I didnt want to be a lawyer, but there were lots of aspects of the course that I liked, such as writing and research. I liked the academic parts of being a lawyer rather than working in a fi rm.

Highlights of her time in Abu Dhabi include a memorable interview with Dubai-based illustrator Hatty Pedder. The British artists playful mixed-media collages of Beiruts colourful socialites o ered a welcome window into the UAEs talent pool. Hatty Pedder shes quite a character. Her work is clever and she was an interesting person to talk to. Most of the artists who come here are from out of the country, and their work isnt necessarily groundbreaking. If I found an artist from Abu Dhabi, that would be really interesting.

Having done the rounds of Abu Dhabis many attractions, Caroline advises visiting the spectacular Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and taking a stroll along the Corniche. I would also recommend Saadiyat Island because even though theres not too much there yet, the beach is stunning, she says. And its so di erent from the beach on the Corniche.

Although people often remark that Abu Dhabi must be very di erent from New York, Caroline fi nds parallels. My life isnt that di erent here I take the bus to and from work, socialise with friends and family, and still feel like I live in a city, just a smaller one. The best thing about Abu Dhabi is the proximity to the beach, and how easy it is to travel.

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ThalangRoad

PHUKET OLD TOWN

In the late 19th century, Phuket life revolved around Thalang Road. Not only was it home to the islands most prominent families, but it was also the centre of commerce to this day, this part of the Old Town is still known among many Thais as Lard Yai, or big market. Trading ships from China would once sail up the nearby river and unload cargo at the end of the street, while disembarking travellers would be picked up by rickshaw and ferried to their destination. People came from all around the world to do business here, resulting in a multi-ethnic mix Thais, Chinese, Malays and Indians that lived harmoniously side by side.

As the tin mining industry began to fade, so did the roads fortunes, and for decades the street went through a period of decline and neglect. Now Thalang Road is rising once again.

19 Wiwan Bumrungwong, Thalang Road resident and manager of Kopitiam by Wilai

20 Kritchaya na Takuathung, founder of Phuket Heritage Trails

21 Roengkiat Hongyok, Thalang resident and owner of i46 Old Town Cafe

22 Kim Steppe, general manager of Blue Elephant Phuket restaurant and cooking school

WITH ITS CANDY-COLOURED, CHINESE BUILDINGS AND ECLECTIC MIX OF RESIDENTS, THALANG ROAD IS ESTABLISHING ITSELF AS THE CULTURAL HUB OF PHUKET

KNOW

19 Wiwan Bumrungwong p9220 Kritchaya na Takuathung p96

21 Roengkiat Hongyok p10022 Kim Steppe p104

WHERE

1921

22

20

In Thalang Roads grand shophouses, youd have once found large families living together, three or four generations sharing the same space. These days, most residents arent locals; theyre Thais and foreigners who have rented shophouses from locals relocating to

other parts of Phuket, and established their own businesses.

Wiwan BumrungwongManager Kopitiam by Wilai

19

eight 23

Kopitiam by Wilai, 18 Thalang Rd tel: +66 (0)83 606 9776

With itsworn, antiquewooden furnitureblack and white family portraits, and simple menu of traditional dishes, Kopitiam feels like its been here for much longer than six years. The restaurant owes its timeworn aura to the ethnic Chinese Bumrungwong family that runs it, and traces its Phuket roots back fi ve generations. Day-to-day operations are handled by the youngest member of the clan, Wiwan though with her mothers name adorning the sign, her father helping to run another restaurant down the street, and her uncle manning the traditional Chinese pharmacy next door, its very much a family a air.

Wiwans grandparents ran a co ee shop, or kopitiam, in Kathu, a small village built by immigrant Chinese workers, who toiled in the tin mines of the area. Co ee shops like theirs were the Starbucks of the day, says Wiwan, providing the exhausted labourers with much-needed ca eine and sustenance. Wiwans mother, Wilai, didnt take over the family business, becoming an English teacher instead. But when she retired in 2002, there was only one thing she wanted to do so she opened a simple kopitiam on Thalang Road, next door to her brother-in-laws herbal pharmacy. (Called Nguan Choon Tong, it was opened by Wiwans great-grandfather, an ethnic Hakka from Guangdong province in China).

With business going well at the restaurant, in 2008 she opened up another branch just two doors down, and called it Kopitiam by Wilai, styling it after her parents original cafe in Kathu by fi lling it with simple tables and chairs. Drinks recipes

were original, such as the kopi cham, a strong black brew that combines co ee and tea. On the menu was Nyonya food, another name for the Peranakan mixed-culture cuisine found in cities like Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. When furnishing the place, they called on Wiwans uncle, who had a stash of old-style furniture just gathering dust, and vintage Phuket photos fading away in drawers.

When it opened, Kopitiam by Wilai was an immediate success, drawing in a local crowd that reminisced about the past, and curious tourists. However, as Wiwan reveals, younger members of the community anyone aged under 30 rarely eat Nyonya food any more, preferring Thai dishes to those

that draw on their heritage. In many ways, by being

involved with her family-owned business, Wiwan is a rarity.

Having graduated from the prestigious Prince of Songkla University with a marketing degree, she spent some time studying in the United States before working in Bangkok for a huge conglomerate that sells everything from leather goods to cosmetics. After four years of life in the city, she decided to return home to help with the expanding family business.

While Wiwan doesnt want to see chain stores like 7-Eleven or Starbucks open on the street emphasising that traditional family-owned or one-o outlets should come fi rst she admits that change is inevitable. The entire island is changing,

Phuket is becoming a big city. It used to be quiet. On Sunday, Thalang Road was dead.

On that note, she has mixed feelings about the Sunday Walking Street, which transforms Thalang Road into a

vibrant, pedestrian-only zone fi lled with food stalls, street performers and souvenir shops. While she welcomes the fact that it promotes the Old Town, she laments that there isnt more focus on the distinctive heritage of the area, such as its dancing, music and cuisine. She suggests that if it took place once a month, it would enable more thought to go into the activities and participants, as well as bring together the far-strewn families that once called the street home.

Wiwan worries that if its not curated properly, the Walking Street will become like the one in Chiang Mai famous as a tourist attraction, but not representative of local culture. And what is that culture exactly? It is people from all cultures living together Chinese, Thai, Muslim and Indian in harmony for more than a hundred years.

Serving local favourites such as Hokkien mee (noodles) and popiah (spring rolls), some 20% of customers are local, usually coming in the evening when its quieter.

As a child Chaya would pass through the Old Town daily on the way to and from school, riding on the back of a scooter with her mum driving

and little sister Pam sat in front. Back then, Thalang Road seemed big and smelly, thanks to the open drains that lined both sides of the street. Her mother taught dressmaking at Satree Phuket School, and

would take the girls to buy fabric at the streets batik stores.

Kritchaya Na TakuathungOwner Phuket Heritage Trails

20

23 eight

as is the norm in Thailand the founder of Phuket Heritage Trails is not your average tour guide. On her mothers side, Chaya is related to Phukets famous heroines, the sisters who led the successful defence of the island against Burmese invaders some 200 years ago. Then theres the fact her grandfather was the governor of Phang Nga province directly to the north of Phuket during the tumult of World War II. As if that werent enough, her father was once personal chef to a direct descendant of Thailands King Rama IV. Despite all these high-society family connections, in person Chaya is down to earth and more comfortable in a T-shirt than a cocktail dress. She talks about her family, childhood and the changing face of Thalang one of two areas (the other being the Old Town) where she now plies her trade.

The surname Na Takuathung was given to Chayas mothers family by King Rama VI in the early 20th century before his modernising reign, Thais only had one name. Because its highly respected, both Chaya and her sister Pam, a local TV host, have taken their mothers surname instead of her fathers. (It makes life a lot easier, jokes Chaya.) Their half-Thai, half-Chinese dad is originally from Samut Songkhram province outside of Bangkok, and met their mother while she was studying in the capital. When she was o ered a teaching position in Phuket, they moved back and he looked for work as a chef.

Demonstrating how much Patong has changed since she was young, Chaya recalls riding a bike down Bangla Road then a dirt track, now the epicentre of the towns nightlife falling o , then looking up to see a water bu alo staring at her. Shed regularly accompany her father on shopping trips to Sin & Lee on Thalang Road, then the only store in Phuket where you could buy foreign goods like ketchup.

He took a position at a restaurant in Patong back when the west coast town had only fi ve eateries when one evening in the early 1980s, he had a visit from royalty, Mom Luang Tridhosyuth Devakul. A direct descendant of King Rama IV, Mom Tri as he is universally known on the island had a holiday home on the blu at Kata Noi where he would frequently entertain guests from the capital, including ambassadors and aristocrats. After eating the food of Chayas father for three nights in a row, an impressed Mom Tri asked him to become his private chef.

Chaya studied at the Pattani campus of Prince of Songkla University, in the deep south of Thailand. Now a troubled, restive region, back then it was very peaceful. She remembers that in Pattani town, where the university was located, the population was almost entirely ethnic Chinese, but out in the countryside youd fi nd only ethnic Malay Muslims; the two populations rarely mixed. This was in stark contrast with the Indian, Chinese, Thai and Malay families that live side by side on Thalang Road to this day.

From 2003 to 2008, Chaya worked in Krabi at a fi ve-star resort, only coming home every two months. It was during these homecomings that she fi rst began to appreciate the charms of Thalang Road. One time I came home and theyd removed the electricity poles from the street [they were placed underground as part of a gentrifi cation project]. I noticed how beautiful the buildings which Id been looking at for more than 30 years were. You have to grow up to see things di erently; you need to leave and come back.

When she led her fi rst tour down Thalang Road in 2010, the locals ignored her (just another tour guide, they thought). That was until they learned her name, at which point everything changed and we were welcomed in their homes.

Going by thenickname Chaya

Phuket Heritage Trails; tel: +66 (0)85 158 9788, phuketheritagetours.netShot on location at Baan Chinpracha, 98 Krabi Rd; tel: +66 (0)76 211 167. Entry fee 200 baht. Closed Sundays

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Their dad was the best cook in the family, learning much of what he knew from his father.

When I was young, this street and Phuket Town were quiet, with a small community, where everyone knew each other. The local

families used to send their children to Bangkok to study, but they never came back. I was lucky to become a tourist guide, as it gave

me a reason to stay. It was important to me to look after my family.

Roengkiat HongyokOwner i46 Old Town Caf

21

for generations of the same family to live under the same roof. Indeed, the distinctive Chinese shophouses in Phuket Town were designed for such cohabitation, with their multiple living spaces, and divide between the commercial shopfront and the private living space behind. Over the last few years, many of these shophouses have been converted into private homes or small hotels. An exception is i46, owned by Roengkiat Nong Hongyok, who lives with his wife, his child and his parents, and has transformed his family home into a caf and information centre.

Nong is a fourth-generation Phuketian and descendant of one of the islands most infl uential families. His great-great-grandfather was a Chinese monk who came from Fujian in China to preach in Phang-Nga, the province directly north of Phuket, where he married a Thai woman. One of his children, Nongs great-grandfather, moved to Phuket where, over many years, he built up a successful tin mining business. His wealth became such that at one point he is said to have owned more than 80 houses on and around Thalang Road. In recognition of his infl uence and wealth, he was given the Thai name Hongyok by Royal decree to this day, the extended Hongyok clan remains one of the richest and best-known families on the island.

Nong was born in Phuket on Christmas Day, delivered by a foreign doctor at the Christian-run Mission Hospital on the far side of Phuket Town. Despite showing an aptitude for languages at school, he chose to study maths in his fi nal years, and ended up failing the entrance exam for university. Instead

of heading to Bangkok with his peers Nong stayed in Phuket, learnt Japanese and worked as a tour guide for 16 years. Nong recalls it was a fantastic time, when he would take his guests all around the island, attend wild parties and often disappear for the better part of a week. Eventually, the partying took its toll, he quit and turned his family home into a caf and tourist centre, where he could use his experience and language skills (he had also mastered Chinese).

Despite being a self-professed devotee of Steve Jobs he admits nicknaming his two-year-old daughter i after the i-generation Nong remains a traditionalist at heart, and takes his role of informing people about the areas past very seriously.

Remarki