Dear Ali: I recently married an Emirati, but we live in an apartment outside of the UAE. How can I make my home look more "Emirati"? HY, Toronto, Canada
Dear HY: My heartiest congratulations. It is not hard to make your apartment look more “Emirati” if you have space. I know some apartments in the West are a little tiny compared with those we have here in the Gulf – we love everything big and huge.
I advise you to set up in a majlis or sitting area. You can set it up with a comfortable set of couches and armchairs placed around a tea/coffee table, which should be in the middle. You will need some “sadoo”, which is a wool fabric, to give you the feeling of a real Emirati majlis. There is no need to make this majlis as big as the room – it can occupy one area of the room where is enough space while other space can be dedicated to anything else. If you can, purchase a “dallah”, our traditional coffee pot, and place it on the table with a small traditional cups, called “fenjan”. Otherwise try using plastic thermoses in the shape of a traditional pot. Since we moved from hair houses to brick houses and apartments, we no longer have the opportunity to cook coffee or tea on an open fire, so we started using them ourselves. It is very practical and helps us to maintain our norms of hospitality at the top level.
Another option would be to have a mini palm trunk, which you could use as a decoration or perhaps to hang some of your clothes. Also you may use some “bukhoor”, which is the incense we burn to make our houses smell good. This always works best – even when I was a student in the United States I would burn some “oud” bukhoor incense to make me feel as if I was back home. Use it before your Emirati husband arrives home and make sure you open the door to greet him wearing your Emirati “jalabiyah” dress and smile, and you will win his heart and mind always.
Dear Ali: I love the Emirati men's dance and would like to know more about it and whether it is possible for me, an American guy, to learn it? MF, Dubai
Dear MF: I have noticed many people like the Emirati “razfah”, which is what we call it. I believe it is because of the dignified movements our men implemented from the lifestyle we had before, such as hunting, battles, camel riding and sailing. There are three main kinds of the rafza national or traditional dance: yola, harbiya and aayala.
Yola is performed by one person or a group, but each man moves individually, demonstrating his skills and dexterity in twisting and twirling a sword, stick or rifle in one hand. The action is called “yool” and if you hear someone say yool, it means “perform the yola move”.
Regarding the harbiya and aayala, at first sight they may look the same but there are two main differences. Unlike the yola, the harbiya and aayala are performed in two groups facing each other. The yola can be performed by one man. The first difference is that the harbiya can be done by a minimum of 10 people – so five against five – while the aayala needs a minimum of 30 men – 15 men will stand in front of the other 15. It’s no secret that the groups can be huge, sometimes up to 100 men. The next difference is that we need a poet who can write a poem to be sung by both groups. Its meaning will depend on the event. The first group chants the first lines of the poem and then second group repeats it. At the same time men in each group will stand close to each other, almost touching and move at once, hands holding sticks and lightly hitting them on a ground. They also crouch and lean in to the rhythm of the song. The second main difference is that the rhythms are not the same, and will have specific variations.
Since we do not have clubs or schools for adults to learn these traditional dances, men who are interested meet in the majlises of their houses to practise movements and write new poems.
If you go
Flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh with a stop in Yangon from Dh3,075, and Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Phnom Penh with its partner Bangkok Airlines from Dh2,763. These trips take about nine hours each and both include taxes. From there, a road transfer takes at least four hours; airlines including KC Airlines (www.kcairlines.com) offer quick connecting flights from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville from about $100 (Dh367) return including taxes. Air Asia, Malindo Air and Malaysian Airlines fly direct from Kuala Lumpur to Sihanoukville from $54 each way. Next year, direct flights are due to launch between Bangkok and Sihanoukville, which will cut the journey time by a third.
The stay
Rooms at Alila Villas Koh Russey (www.alilahotels.com/ kohrussey) cost from $385 per night including taxes.
SPECS
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Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi
Director: Kangana Ranaut, Krish Jagarlamudi
Producer: Zee Studios, Kamal Jain
Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Ankita Lokhande, Danny Denzongpa, Atul Kulkarni
Rating: 2.5/5
MEDIEVIL%20(1998)
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The specs: 2018 Infiniti QX80
Price: base / as tested: Dh335,000
Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 400hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 560Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.1L / 100km
MATCH INFO
Schalke 0
Werder Bremen 1 (Bittencourt 32')
Man of the match Leonardo Bittencourt (Werder Bremen)
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Dhadak
Director: Shashank Khaitan
Starring: Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khattar, Ashutosh Rana
Stars: 3
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
A Cat, A Man, and Two Women
Junichiro Tamizaki
Translated by Paul McCarthy
Daunt Books
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl, 48V hybrid
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 325bhp
Torque: 450Nm
Price: Dh359,000
On sale: now
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20HyveGeo%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Abdulaziz%20bin%20Redha%2C%20Dr%20Samsurin%20Welch%2C%20Eva%20Morales%20and%20Dr%20Harjit%20Singh%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ECambridge%20and%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%208%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESustainability%20%26amp%3B%20Environment%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%24200%2C000%20plus%20undisclosed%20grant%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EVenture%20capital%20and%20government%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
The specs
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Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now