I have a knack for social experiments. And so when I announced to a group of my male friends from the UAE and broader Arab region that I was seeking a therapist for my mental health, I was conducting one. The response? An awkward silence that filled the room. Another Movember is upon us, a month that has gone far beyond growing a mustache for prostate cancer to raise awareness for men’s whole health. Still, many of...
I had a best friend who was always the life of the party. The type that would always find an excuse to celebrate and pop bottles of champagne, pour glasses of liquor around beautiful women, who had a crew that was always down — as the Gen Zs and millennials say — and an Emirates discount card that helped further his efforts. He’d drink every day and night and sometimes mornings. That he often had...
Electric vehicle production and purchasing are surging worldwide, and this isn’t slowing down anytime soon. The Middle East’s more affluent GCC countries are bringing the region closer to Western market trends. In the UAE, which is the second Middle Eastern nation to host the United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP 28, in 2023, the number of electric cars in Dubai alone increased by over 7,000 percent from 2015 to 2022. Rising petrol...
Ahmed Al Balooshi, an Emirati living in Dubai, always drinks water when he works out, whether it’s cardio or weightlifting. But there’s one extra step he takes, to make sure his body is ready to receive that hydration and that it isn’t doing him any harm. “I always insist on sitting down when I drink water whether I’m at home, at the gym or at work,” he says. “I learned this from my family, especially...
There is no better time to set personal fitness goals than during the Holy Month, which is all about setting aside time to reflect, rejuvenate, break old habits and start new ones. Here’s how I managed to lose weight and build muscle last Ramadan. Dedication Ramadan is the most sacred month in the Islamic calendar. Muslims fast from dawn to sunset, abstaining from food and drink, among other pleasures (particularly the guilty ones) but also...
For many of us, Ramadan extends beyond abstaining from pleasures like food and drink. It’s also a time of giving, a month aimed at mindful practices like Zakat, the Arabic word for purifying or cleansing, which is a top priority for Muslims during this time. What is Zakat? Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam. It requires Muslims to donate 2.5 percent of their wealth. This should be done once a year, and...
In 2021 we made it back into coffee shops – and in 2022, we are spending way more of our time there. Here are eight of our top picks in Dubai. And don’t forget to check out our list of favorites in Abu Dhabi, too. Café Rider Custom Café Rider’s motto is: “To truly be original in our art, we have to be free to create.” And having used the space over several years for creative writing,...
This article is published as a series marking Movember, a month highlighting men’s mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer and testicular cancer. Pete Davidson, a standup comic and regular on the American sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, may be living it up with Kim Kardashian now, but he has had some very public struggles with mental health. Davidson has been frank about having borderline personality disorder and depression with suicidal thoughts, even in...
It was my third-ever track day event, and I was looking to get my petrol head fix: fast cars zooming past me and the scent of racing fuel in the air. Only this time I realized that while the cars were fast, the loud sounds and petrol were absent. And that was because it was a track day for electric cars. Among the super-electric-vehicles lined up: Teslas, Audi E-trons, Porsche Taycans and the most subtle...
This article is published as part of a series marking Movember, a month highlighting men’s mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer and testicular cancer. It was 2,500 years ago in Ancient Greece that Hippocrates, the father of medicine, recognized that a person’s wellbeing is the totality of their mental and physical health – and that prevention of ill health is key. “The greatest medicine of all is teaching people not to need it,” he...
I got my first car, a white Lexus, when I turned 18. I remember obsessing over its pleasingly growl-y and spirited V8 engine, making sure check-ups and oil changes were always on schedule. This obsession, one that was once shared by all UAE motor enthusiasts, is now arguably on the road to becoming redundant. That’s because of the surge in electric vehicle (EV) ownership. EVs don’t need oil changes, tune ups and all the other...