Category: Art, Culture, theatre, film

Ya Ghali – Bil Arabi’s superb collection by Nadine

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With Nadine at a Donna Karan show

One of my favourite pieces from Nadine

Recently I have had the pleasure of chatting at various times to Bil Arabi designer Nadine Kanso who not long ago launched her new Ya Ghali jewellery collection exclusively at Harvey Nichols.

To the uninitiated, Ya Ghali showcases luxury pieces made from white gold and gems, layered with yellow gold additions and semi-precious stones that are the hallmarks of Nadine’s Bil Arabi line.

In her limited edition collection for Harvey Nichols, Nadine took the classical and melded it with her unique creative insight to craft something that is at once timeless yet typically playful of her style.

The Arabic phrase ‘Ya Ghali’ is colloquially used to reference that which is dearest to the heart and also expensive; the collection embodies a sense of lightheartedness that only the most discerning eye will detect.

I loved the Ya Ghali collection which has rings, necklaces, earrings and bracelets that reference the themes Bil Arabi is recognised for – love, nature, butterflies and of course, the Arab identity. The Arabic calligraphy that represents the foundation of the Bil Arabi line, using both individual letters and words, connects with the classical pieces in a way that appears incongruous and yet produces something meaningful.

What I love most about Nadine’s work is how she captures the essence of the modern Arab identity – unique, unavoidable and with a need to be seen and heard. The new generation of Arabs should be proud to be the keepers of their rich cultural legacy and Nadine uses her jewellery as one medium for communicating what it means to be young, Arab and proud.

She is successful in this and has truly excelled and introduced yet another way of conveying what is dear to her clientele’s hearts. The collision of history, tradition and popular culture has formed the basis for much of Nadine’s work. Her artistic sensibility, connected with collage as an art form, has recurring references in all her creative work, using fragments to create a new whole. I for one absolutely love the passion she exudes and love being in her company – a wonderful individual, sweet, down to earth and super talented to boot.

If you want to have a peek at the jewellery, the Ya Ghali by Bil Arabi collection is available exclusively at the Fine Jewellery & Watches Department of Harvey Nichols  in Mall of the Emirates.

One of the more glamorous pieces from Nadine

11th Women’s Exhibition at Dubai Ladies Club

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After my JetPad introduction, I ventured to the Dubai Ladies Club for Tim Hortons & doughnuts with none other than Dubai’s Thoraya Al Awadhi. There are very few women I admire or am friends with but ever since I have met Thoraya, early last year, it has been a delight to catch up with her at her office (Squisito) for coffee or outside. Dubai may be full of beautiful women but its not often I come across women who are beautiful, intelligent, down to earth, grounded, successful while being family oriented as Thoraya which is why no matter how tired I am end of day, I never say no to meeting with her.

Yesterday I caught up with her at the 11th exhibition that she has organised for women and I absolutely loved the abayas, the jewellery and walked out with some herbal supplements. The exhibition is for women to showcase their creativity, talent and provide as well as receive guidance in business. Thoraya targets women, especially those above 40, whose children are grown up and who may have a lot of time on their hands, to recognise their talent and to help them realise this will make them become financially secure. The idea is to encourage them to utilise their skills and help those in need with the money they earn.

I remember how I was late getting to the Thoraya Alawadhi Group of Companies the first time as I had decided to try out the Rolls Royce Phantom of a friend and the petrol was on ‘E’ – we had underestimated how far it will take us. We reached her 20 minutes late and she was most gracious and forgiving about the fact that we drove 30miles an hour to get to her. Our coffee date had started on a humorous note – our mutual friend felt we both were very similar in many ways and should meet and its great we did.

I’m so glad for that introduction because Thoraya has become my role model and since meeting her, I have become more focussed on myself, my child and the time I spend with her just like Thoraya did over the years and her daughter (Najla Al Awadhi) is a well known intellectual personality in the UAE. Thoraya herself graduated from the University of Southern California as a historian. Imagine my delight when I heard that as the company I work for has a global travelling exhibition that looks back in history on the achievements and inventions of Muslim scholars during the golden age of Islam.

It’s always great to be able to talk about all kinds of subjects with Thoraya. Most of her current events are in aid of the Al Noor which is a school for special needs children. Thoraya organizes special events and exhibitions to raise awareness for children with special needs. I have been to her events and as a woman, I really appreciated the things on offer and meeting interesting people from all walks of life.

Our last chat was a discussion on the fact that civilisations should always be built on people and not on buildings. She loves the fact that the UAE Government spends as much on developing the skills and talents of the local people as on the beautiful architecture that visitors to the country are in awe of. She also encourages the growth of the younger generation having seen how successful her own children are.

My favourite project of Thoraya’s is one that she and her partner Miss Leen Vandle designed together – They designed and built a houseboat that is ideal to be attached to beach hotels. She has a model of this currently in Dubai. It is unique and beautiful and future concepts of the boat will also include the facility of being able to travel. The houseboat is a dream home for people who like to live on water (As an Islander and a Pisces, I can totally relate). The interiors are better than any five star hotel you can visit.

Thoraya looks years younger than her age. Her secret is being happy and able to realize her dreams. Doing yoga also helps her with balancing her thoughts and keep her energy levels up. Especially as she gets up early to get her youngest daughter, Yasmeen up for school so her days starts at the same time – this is one thing I am so bad at. I definitely am not a morning person so I admire people who can start the day early with so much vigour. If you have time, do go and see Thoraya’s amazing exhibition tailored for women at the Dubai Ladies Club….its on until the evening of the 8th of March. Enjoy

Diva is smiling….HEAPS!!!

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Diva in the Mercedes SLK350 convertible

This year I decided to celebrate my birthday one week ahead…..partly because the love of my life NJD is going away on a ski trip to Switzerland on my birthday so my focus will mainly be on her this week…afterall this is her first trip on her own with her friends and at the age of 11, she may be confident about travelling and sliding down an icy mountain with no qualms but this mama is having mini heart attacks every hour as the trip gets closer.

So,,,,after a hectic and heavy week last week that included heaps of mental stress, PMS and warning signs to everyone around me to watch their step if they value their life, I decided to go on a sabbatical….not just any sabbatical but where I would live the life that I have become very accustomed to…in pure luxury.

Thankfully my early birthday presents came in form of experiences – Nick of Daimler reckoned diva needed a HOT car so he arranged for me to have for a few days none other than the top of the range 2 door sports car Mercedes SLK350 which I realised when I signed my life away to him was worth close to US$68,000/- (AED248,000/- roughly). But it was all good when at the touch of a bottom the roof came down and my hair went all sorts. It was an awesome convertible and since I get to drive the most expensive cars as and when I want, it really means that it must be fabulous if I start crooning about it. I don’t normally write entire blogs on cars but this baby deserves a whole piece dedicated to the fabulousness of the SLK….watch this space!

To top it off, Sarah decided that since I was meditating and moping anyway with all the problems my mind and body was going through, why don’t I breeze down to Abu Dhabi in the Merc and she would arrange for me to stay at the Suite in Shangri-la that came with a fabulous balcony, and separate living and dining area. Now most of my Malaysian friends were in Abu Dhabi this Friday so I breezed in, picked little diva up for the weekend and we spent the most amazing time at the Shangri-la suite, spa and I got to catch up with my Malaysian friends on Friday at the ‘Glorious Malaysian Galore’ festival in Mushrif Mall (Amazing stuff every evening until the 3rd of March). Lots of dancing, Malay food & Tim Hortons…what more can a woman want???

So all in all, I had an awesome time Friday night and Saturday thanks to two amazing people plus my Malaysian friends (Sakina & Sally ++) at a time I really needed to wind down. I feel a lot better in terms of being chilled and physically…well….if my PMS gets any worse and if these herbal remedies from Abu Dhabi don’t work their magic, I am seriously thinking of becoming a hermit for a week next month. (I wouldn’t be surprised if all the men in my life have noted the dates down to make sure they disappear during that period…women tend to be a bit more understanding and supply loads of chocolates, luxury holidays, sinful food and sweet & sour snacks instead).

Anyway… Having such a great time has left me smiling heaps…. I can’t wait for Sakina to return again to Dubai as she encourages me to get out of my shell, travel to new areas in UAE and generally have fun. I just hope she gets here while NJD is away cos I will be missing the little tyke heaps when she leaves on the night of my birthday and be away the next 10 days. Or I shall distract myself and write about my 2 nights of living in luxury at Qaryat Al Beri indulging in all sorts of fun stuff.

What’s my passion?

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Funnily, I have been asked this twice this week. It seems that I have such a zest for life, people think I see excitement and thrill in everything that crosses my path so it’s hard to figure Fijianchick out – as I fight a bout of flu that has made my usual sexy voice go to pot, I thought I would respond in detail on word as I nurse my vocals back to its sexy self.

I agree being hard to get figured may be a pain to some but hey, it does keep peeps on their toes….afterall, my husband has not been able to figure me out for 15 years and possibly reckons I’m the most unusual and mysterious person on the planet. And yet, for some odd reason he still hangs around and wants me in his life in one form or another (mysterious or not)

So what is my passion? I love the tapestry of exotic coral waters and am drawn to the magnificence of the Coral coast’s shoreline of private beaches and waters. (Where else can one go skinny dipping and feel totally at one with nature in total privacy??? ).

I LOVE MUSIC….its my all time passion. Be it bellydancing, salsa or hip hop. My favourite has to be reggae but not too fussy on that end.

I love the inspiring scenery of the highlands, tropical rainforests (just to be able to wake up to it as I did my entire childhood). I like the fact that my home town is probably one of the best kept secrets in the world and that materialism, despite the many 5 star hotels has not touched the lives of the people in my community and we still appreciate nature in its raw form.

Its obvious I love the sea…I was born with the sea at my doorstep and found it had a calming effect on me just looking at it from the windows of my home every morning.  My dad had this bizarre habit of walking around the house every morning pausing every once in a while to take in the view of the forest, the sandhills in the distance, the Sigatoka valley, the town and the sea as he got ready for the day. I guess this had a profound effect on me and my likes and dislikes as well. Afterall, I am a daddy’s girl and since we are both hard core Pisces, we have very similar outlook in life about living simply and finding joy in the simple things in life.

I am extremely passionate about my daughter and her outlook of life and the world at large. Being a clued in kid, she helps me see things from different perspectives and I am not ashamed of the fact that at times, she has had better ideas than I could ever come up with – it makes me proud that she stands up to me as well on things she believes in and the fact that she is highly principled. (I was prepared for this eventuality when she finally came out of me after 8 hours of extremely painful labor born as a Scorpio and a double dragon under the Chinese signs – OUCH!

I was born with a travel gene and very passionate about discovering at least one country a year – I have kept this up for 14 years now and have explored over 97 cities in 22 years. Travelling is in my blood so I guess that is another of my passions.

Food – most of my excitement comes from the joys of discovering, eating, cooking and trying new things. I love cooking and find it therapeutic. After being editor of 3 issues of Menus of the Masters, I took a vow to continue experimenting fine dining with an element of exquisite surprise in taste and presentation. Naturally my favourite restaurant is ‘The Edge” for obvious reasons but as a lover of Japanese food, Nobu, Okku and Zuma feature high on my list of awesome venues.

Another of my big passion is books – there are mini libraries in every corner of every home I have including the bathrooms. Even my house in Spain has books I left behind even though I hardly spend time there and I’m in the process of filtering books through to my Fiji home. Luckily my daughter shares my passion for reading so hopefully she will not hate me for the fact that 85% of her inheritance will be books since Kinukinoya and Magrudy’s take all my salary.

So….the sea, the highlands, my daughter, travelling, food, books and music is my passion – if you were hoping to see your name on the list, perhaps its time to start striving towards impressing Fijianchick. Maybe in a few years time, you could be the next big thing I would be passionate about!