Day: March 14, 2012

An evening with Her Highness Princess Ameerah Al Taweel

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With Her Highness Princess Ameerah Al Taweel

Flanked by Princess Ameerah & Rajah Galadari

One of the most amazing benefits of being a long term member of various professional women’s groups is that you get opportunities to meet with some very inspiring, beautiful and motivating women leaders. One such personality I met a few days ago was Her Highness Princess Ameerah Al-Taweel.

I was blown away by her down to earth personality, by the fact that she spent so much personal time with every woman in the room to get to know what they did and what their aspirations were. What was equally impressive was her knowledge in Mass Communication and the tips she gave us that night on communications, PR and Social media- it was on par with a professional communications expert.

I was thrilled to know that H.H Princess Ameerah had been to Fiji Islands….i don’t meet many people who have been to my country so we immediately felt at ease with other.

She taught me one good lesson that night…to never depend on anyone except myself. I will treasure this thought as I always trust people close to me way too much and I’ve realised that’s not a good thing as people can sometimes be deceiving and detrimental to your success because they drive you to do things that only benefit them….this is a lesson I will recall every time I am in situation where I’m told something but know in my heart its not the real scene.

Princess Ameerah is Vice Chairwoman and Board of Trustees and Head of the Executive Committee of the Al Waleed bin Talal Foundation in Saudi Arabia and the Alwaleed bin Talal Foundation Global. She supports a wide range of humanitarian interests in Saudi Arabia and around the world and has won numerous awards including the CEO Middle East 100 Most Powerful Arab Women 2012.

I went to the awards ceremony where Sheikha Lubna, another incredible Arab woman who has done this region proud spoke. Arab women are drop dead gorgeous, they have brains to match their beauty and given the opportunity, they shine among their peers….its great to see more and more Arab women making their mark in the global scenario as well.

It was awesome to come up, close and personal with Her Highness Princess Ameerah thanks to the hard work of Sahar Madani who is the founder of WE Group – this is different group from the International Business Women’s Group of which I have been a member of since 2003 thanks to the far sightedness of my ex boss Stuart Cameron who first encouraged me to network with women who were empowering. I owe this opportunity to him and till date, I always make time to meet and learn from women of calibre and high intellect.

One thing is clear…. The amazingly gorgeous Arab women of today are setting the stage to become inspiring leaders of tomorrow. Today I also heard a great talk by H. E Reem Al Hashimy who is a UAE Minister of State at the 20th World PR World Congress. Like her, Princess Ameerah is such an amazing example of an educated and incredibly eloquent, warm leader we all hope to see more of in the media and in forums around the world.

Saying goodbye at the end of the dinner…

Innovative concept from Gulf Craft for outdoor entertaining space

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The dynamic guys at Gulf Craft Inc., the largest manufacturer of luxury yachts and fiberglass boats in the Middle East and Asia last Saturday showed VVIPs at its shipyard’s the largest ever hull construction – the Majesty 135.

I already wrote about the awesome 30th anniversary gala celebration we attended at Gulf Craft’s yacht manufacturing facility in the UAE … These guys know what they are doing and are the nicest, warmest people you will ever meet so its always a pleasure being with them.

The Majesty 105 is the latest in a series of revolutionary concepts created by Gulf Craft. It represents both, the degree of engineering, design and technological sophistication already achieved by the company during its three decades in the business as well as its ability to anticipate and meet the need for striking new superyacht concepts tailored to diverse cruising needs.

We had the exclusive opportunity to tour the striking blue-hulled, triple-decked superyacht which features 5 staterooms, including a luxurious owner’s stateroom, 2 crew cabins and one captain’s cabin, 8 bathrooms in addition to a dayhead. The Majesty 105 runs on 2 Caterpiller C32 rated engines and can reach top speeds of 27 knots.

The interiors are furnished in gold teak veneer with soft, light carpeting and furnishings in a sea-inspired colour scheme that gives a nod to Mediterranean elegance. Extensive exterior space – including an outdoor steering helm and a hard-topped sundeck fitted with comfortable sofa seating, a wet bar, fridge, icemaker and barbeque makes this the perfect yacht for outdoor entertaining.

Erwin Bamps, COO of Gulf Craft was of course in his element – rightly so as he has done an amazing job with all the arrangements for the unveiling of the Majesty 105.

According to Erwin, the Majesty 105 was conceptualized for the yacht owner who likes to spend the majority of his time above deck, With a steering helm on the sun deck and an interactive outdoor entertaining and lounging space, this is the sort of yacht that would allow you to spend time admiring the coast on an island-hopping itinerary or catch all the action moored alongside waterfront racing circuits like Yas Marina Circuit or the Circuit de Monaco. (I’m pretty sure my friends at Yas Marina will be delighted).

It was also superb to catch up with Sultan….a personality to watch out for in the future as he is one of the younger generation of Emiratis who will carry on the legacy and the amazing work of his family and forefathers. Especially as the younger generation have the support of industry stalwarts like Saeed Hareb, Nabil their teams and families.

All I can say is that this baby is awesome – I already tweeted some pictures of both Majesty 135 and Majesty 105 from the exclusive preview @Fijianchick. Enjoy!

With Saeed Hareb

Erwin Bamps, Saeed Hareb, Mohd Al Shaali & Nabil Farhat at the Majesty 105 launch