Jumeirah | October 2016

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The elixir of youth

Can anti-ageing treatments turn back the clock?

Nathan Outlaw

The Michelin-starred chef takes up residence in Dubai

The sound of silence

Are we all suffering from noise-induced stress levels?

ang lee

The Oscar winner breaks new ground with the premiere of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk

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october 2016

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Editor-in-Chief

Obaid Humaid Al Tayer

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Managing Partner & Group Editor

lan Fairservice Editorial Director

Gina Johnson Goup Editor

Sophia Serin Art Director

Karen Evans

Contents

Acting Editor

Tahira Yaqoob tahira.yaqoob@motivate.ae Picture Editor

Diana Bell-Heather

Monitor

Contributors

Mike Fleming Jr, Sarah March, Conor Purcell, Gareth Rees

Essential news and previews

Publisher – Luxury & Lifestyle

Negar Ghodstinat negar@motivate.ae General Manager – Production

S Sunil Kumar Production Manager

R Murali Krishnan Production Supervisor

Venita Pinto Chief Commercial Officer

Anthony Milne

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15 City watch Discover some of the most exciting events happening this month 21 Smell the roses A Georgia O’Keeffe retrospective dispels some of the myths about the artist

Group Sales Manager

Ziad Saleh ziad@motivate.ae For Jumeirah

Charlie Taylor

22 Park life Dubai’s long-awaited theme parks get a grand opening

Featured Head Office: Media One Tower, Dubai Media City, PO Box 2331, Dubai UAE, Tel: +971 4 427 3000, E-mail: motivate@motivate.ae Dubai Media City: Office 508, 5th Floor, Building 8, Dubai, UAE, Tel: +971 4 390 3550, Fax: +971 4 390 4845 Abu Dhabi: PO Box 43072, UAE, Tel: +971 2 677 2005, Fax: +971 2 677 0124, E-mail: editor-wo@motivate.ae London: Acre House, 11/15 William Road, London NW1 3ER, UK, E-mail: motivateuk@motivate.ae Printed by Emirates Printing Press, Dubai

26 Dubai’s Michelin-starred arrival Nathan Outlaw’s new restaurant in Dubai is a world away from Cornwall 30 Cool runnings Parkour star Kie Willis makes light work of the Madinat Jumeirah skyline 34 Ang Lee The Life of Pi director breaks new ground with his upcoming premiere

Our spirit of excellence.

Senator Chronometer

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october 2016

Contents 62

Lifestyle 44 Focus on China The best of Arabian and Chinese culture will be marked in Shanghai this month 46 The elixir of youth Can you turn back the clock? We look at the boom of anti-ageing treatments 54 A Kors celebre A friend to the stars, Michael Kors has accessible luxury in the bag

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Travel 60 Treasures of the deep Snorkelling in the Maldives reveals an underwater treasure trove 62 Turn down the volume On noise-induced stress for better health and enjoy some tranquil spots 70 Season of mists Harvest season in Mallorca means a host of fiestas to enjoy the best produce 72 The insiders’ guide to‌Frankfurt The first in a new series, we talk to locals about the best the city has to offer 78 Secret spaces Float your way to better health in a saltwater pool 82 The high life Understated opulence at Gold on 27 in the Burj Al Arab Jumeirah, Dubai

City Watch

Discover some of the most exciting events happening this month

Dubai Halloween Spectacular october 28 The electronic band Major Lazer headlines the Fiesta De Los Muertos Halloween show, bringing its unique blend of dancehall, reggae, moombahton, trap and electronic music to Dubai in Dubai Outlet Mall’s new Autism Rocks Arena. The eclectic line-up also features pop group All Saints, UK band The Mariachis and the Jumeirah-supported dance music duo Hollaphonic (pictured below), made up of UAE-based Greg Stainer and Oliver Wood.

Fiesta De los Muertos, autism rocks arena,

On the catwalk

Dubai. 117live.com

october 20 to 23 Dubai Design District plays host to Fashion Forward Dubai, a biannual event dedicated to promoting the Middle Eastern fashion industry. The fashion-packed event, which takes place and the d3 Fashion Talks, a series of panel discussion and presentations by industry experts.

Fashion Forward Dubai, Dubai Design District, Dubai. fashionforward.ae

Swan Song october 4 and 8 Superstar Spanish tenor Jose

Image: courtesy of hype magazine

in April and October each year, features catwalk shows, presentations by regional designers

Carreras will perform in Dubai Opera twice this month as part of his final world tour, called A Life in Music. As the name suggests, this will be the maestro’s last a limited number of opportunities

house of Fun

anywhere in the world to see

october 6

Carreras before he retires.

British ska outfit Madness, best known for the

performance in the UAE and one of

Jose carreras, Dubai opera, Dubai. dubaiopera.com

1982 hits House of Fun and the Ivor Novello award-winning Our House, is warming up for

compiled by Gareth Rees Images: Getty

its upcoming UK tour with a show in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium. Suggs and co will release their 12th album, Can’t Touch Us Now, on October 28.

Madness, Dubai Duty Free tennis Stadium, Dubai. madness.co.uk

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Abu DhAbi/istAnbul

Home Game October 20 With the UAE national team still in the running for a spot in the 2018 World Cup, now is the time to catch an Arabian Gulf League match.

See Abu Dhabi’s Al Wahda take on Dubai’s Al Wasl at home in Al Nahyan Stadium and you might get the chance to see the UAE’s star players, including Al Wahda attacker Mohamed Al Akbari, in action.

Al Wahda vs Al Wasl, Al nahyan stadium, Abu Dhabi. uae.agleague.ae

MAster MusIcIAns October 27 Moroccan oud player Driss El Maloumi and Indian slide guitarist and singer Debashish Battacharya, both international stars, perform together in NYU Abu Dhabi’s arts centre. It is the first time the artists have played together since their successful 2009 show in Paris.

Driss el Maloumi and Debashish Battacharya, nYu Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi. nyuad.nyu.edu

Art WOrks until October 16

Jazz Greats

Multidisciplinary New York artist Katherine Behar’s Data’s Entry exhibition in Istanbul’s Pera Museum explores the relationship between

October 12 to 23

human beings and technology in the realm of

Together with the Istanbul

digital labour. The exhibition features animation,

Jazz Festival, which takes

sculpture and video works.

place in July, the Akbank Jazz

katherine Behar: Data’s entry, Pera Museum,

Festival has helped establish

Istanbul. peramuseum.org

the Turkish city as a stronghold of jazz. The line-up for the 26th edition of the festival includes the American Grammy awardwinning double bassist Ron Carter and his Golden Striker Trio, the French soul singer Imany and the drummer and afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen.

Akbank Jazz Festival, various locations, Istanbul.

Image: Getty

akbanksanat.com

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london

World of Art Image: Addie Chinn / Dinner at the Twits

october 6 to 9 Frieze London, which takes place over four days in Regent’s Park every year, is one of the world’s most prominent art fairs. Showcasing more than 160 major international galleries, Frieze London also incorporates Frieze Projects, a series of new works by contemporary artists - including the winner of the Frieze artist award - screenings of new films commissioned specially, a music programme and the Frieze Talks series.

A DAhlicious BAnquet

Frieze london, Regent’s Park, london. frieze.com

until october 30 Mr and Mrs Twit, two of Roald Dahl’s most popular characters, will be hosting a gloriously gruesome dinner party in The Vaults under Waterloo station to mark the author’s 100-year anniversary. Dinner at the Twits will include nettle cocktails, Mr Twit’s Odious Ale made using yeast swabbed from the storyteller’s writing chair, bird pie and the Muggle-Wumps Downside Up Cocktail Cavern. Expect surprises galore from the Olivier award-nominated Les Enfants Terribles, who have paired up with gastronomy experts Bompas and Parr for a night to remember from “the worst hosts ever”. twitsdinner.com

cAPitAl FeAst october 1 to 31 The London Restaurant Festival includes more than 350 London restaurants and a month-long programme of events, including chef-hosted meals, restaurant-hopping tours, themed feasts and bespoke set menus.

Image: Liam Sharp

london Restaurant Festival, various locations, london. londonrestaurantfestival.com

Writing the Future october 5 to 16 The London Literature Festival in London’s Southbank Centre will explore the theme Living in Future Times, looking at literature’s role in envisaging the future. Writers including Margaret Atwood, Louis Theroux, Richard Dawkins, Lauren Beukes, Liu Cixin and Xiaolu Guo will be putting in an appearance. london literature Festival, southbank centre, london. southbankcentre.co.uk

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frankfurt/Shanghai eleCTrO piONeer October 16

Iconic Pairing

French composer, producer and musician Jean Michel Jarre’s Electronica tour hits Frankfurt. The electronic music trailblazer, who recently released

October 28 to January 22, 2017

Electronica 2: The Heart of Noise, the second installment of a two-part album

Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt’s Giacometti-Nauman

featuring collaborations with renowned musicians including Pet Shop Boys,

exhibition explores the connections between the

Primal Scream and Sebastien Tellier, will perform in the city’s Festhalle arena.

work of legendary Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti

Jean Michel Jarre, Festhalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt. jeanmicheljarre.com

and contemporary American artist Bruce Nauman.

The exhibition draws comparisons between the artists’ investigation of the human condition – Giacometti through sculpture and painting, Nauman through drawings, photographs, videos, sculptures and installations.

Giacometti-Nauman, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt. schirn.de

HOOp DreaMS October 9 face off on the basketball court in Shanghai’s Mercedes-Benz Arena. The game is one of two making up the annual NBA Global Games China, with a rematch in Beijing scheduled for October 12.

NBa Games China, Mercedes-Benz arena, Shanghai. nba.com/global

Image: Getty

New Orleans Pelicans and Houston Rockets

Acing It October 9 to 16 World number one Novak Djokovic attempts to end a run of poor form, which has seen him exit early from both Wimbledon and the Olympic Games, with a defence of his Shanghai Masters title in the Qi Zhong Tennis Centre. The outdoor hardcourt tournament is one of nine in the ATP Masters 1000 series on the ATP World Tour and the only tournament held outside Europe or North America.

Shanghai Masters, Qi Zhong Tennis Centre, Shanghai. en.shanghairolexmasters.com

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monitor SMELL THE ROSES She is one of the most misunderstood artists of the 20th century and a pioneer of the American modernist art movement. Now an exhibition charting the extraordinary career of Georgia O’Keeffe spanning more than six decades of her work gives a rare glimpse into her vast repertoire.

O’Keeffe, who died in New Mexico at the age of 98, was best known for her flower paintings but 13 rooms in London’s Tate Modern filled with more than 100 of her paintings show they were just a fraction of her oeuvre. She was fascinated by synaesthesia, the neurological condition where stimulation of one sense leads to a reaction in another. It led to abstract compositions of music and emotion as colour. In this, the largest exhibition of her work outside the US to mark a century since her debut, there is also an exploration of her interest in cityscapes, landscape and animal bones. Her longstanding relationship with the photographer Alfred Steiglitz is examined in a series of touching portraits.

It was those abstract flower paintings that prompted psychoanalytical readings of her work but they were robustly rejected by O’Keeffe, who once declared: “I'll paint it big. I will make even busy New Yorkers take time to see what I see of flowers.’”

The Georgia O’Keeffe retrospective runs until October 30. Tickets priced $23 are available from tate.org.uk Clockwise from left: Georgia O’Keeffe New York Street with Moon 1925 Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection on loan at the Museo ThyssenBornemisza, Madrid © 2016 Georgia O'Keeffe Museum/ DACS, London; Georgia O’Keeffe Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 1932 Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Arkansas, USA Photography by Edward C. Robison III © 2016 Georgia O'Keeffe Museum/DACS, London; Georgia O’Keeffe From the River – Pale 1959 Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. Gift of The Burnett Foundation and Georgia O’Keeffe Foundation © 2016 Georgia O'Keeffe Museum/DACS, London

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Bollywood Parks Dubai

Motiongate Dubai

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Legoland Dubai

monitor

PARK LIFE The much-anticipated Dubai Parks and Resorts will finally open to the public this month with the first phase of its mega-entertainment complex.

Motiongate Dubai, Legoland Dubai, Legoland Water Park and Bollywood Parks Dubai will be open for business from October 31, offering nearly 100 funpacked rides, themed attractions and numerous dining and shopping options.

Movie lovers will be delighted with the Hollywood and Bollywood-themed revelry. Motiongate brings some of the big screen’s most beloved characters to life in a collaboration with DreamWorks Animation, Sony Pictures Studios and Lionsgate. Parkgoers can even step into the shoes of their screen idols as Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan and Farhan Akhtar have helped create rides such as Don: the Chase, a three-dimensional immersive tunnel where visitors can chase escaping crooks. There will be live performances and musicals in Bollywood Boulevard and the Rajmahal Theatre while the Mumbai Chowk zone recreates the city’s Victoria station and its famous street food. Riverland links all the parks with more than 50 dining and shopping outlets.

The parks are part of a giant $2.8 billion complex sprawling over 25 million square feet in Jebel Ali, built in a drive to attract 20 million tourists to the city by 2020. It marks Dubai’s “massive and ambitious undertaking” to be one of the world’s leading cities for all-round family entertainment.

Dubai has already seen the opening this year of Legoland Water Park

IMG Worlds of Adventure, the largest indoor theme park on the planet, which features Marvel and Cartoon Network-inspired rides and characters such as Hulk, Spider-Man and Iron Man, the Lost Valley with 70 animatronic dinosaurs and the Velociraptor rollercoaster, which hits 100 kilometres in 2.5 seconds. Spread across 1.5msq ft in Dubailand, the site opened in August.

Annual passes for each park in Dubai Parks and Resorts are priced from $208 with a pass for all resorts costing $680. dubaiparksandresorts.com.

Tickets to IMG Worlds of Adventure start from $68. imgworlds.com

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Featured 26 Michelin-starred arrival

Nathan Outlaw’s new restaurant in Dubai is a world away from Cornwall

30 Cool runnings

Parkour star Kie Willis makes light work of the Madinat Jumeirah skyline

34 Ang Lee

The Life of Pi director breaks new ground with his upcoming premiere

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fine dining

DuBai’s MiChEliN staRRED aRRival British chef Nathan Outlaw is synonymous with Cornwall, the remote west England county and home of his Michelinstarred Restaurant Nathan Outlaw – so his opening in Dubai is a surprising one, says Gareth Rees

Port Isaac is a small fishing village in north Cornwall, England’s rugged West Country. Its relationship with fish – specifically pilchard – dates back hundreds of years to at least the 16th century reign of the Tudor king Henry VIII. Port Isaac’s fishermen are still hard at work but today the village is most closely associated with two men – one fictional, one not – both of whom attract masses of tourists each year: Doc Martin, the character portrayed by British actor Martin Clunes in the popular ITV television series of the same name, filmed in Port Isaac and the chef Nathan Outlaw, who has two restaurants in the village, one of which, Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, has a two Michelin star rating.

Dubai’s Burj Al Arab Jumeirah, one of the tallest hotels in the world, was opened in 1999. Its rooftop helipad has served as a driving range for Tiger Woods and a tennis court for Roger Federer and Andre Agassi. It is known for its iconic billowing sail design, its exclusivity and of course, its seafood restaurant Al Mahara.

Port Isaac and the Burj Al Arab Jumeirah are not natural bedfellows.

Nevertheless, they are now intimately connected. Last month Al Mahara was relaunched as Al Mahara by Nathan Outlaw after the chef was brought in to “revamp” (his word) the restaurant. When the hotel’s general manager Anthony McHale suggested the idea of Outlaw taking over Al Mahara more than 18 months ago, it was not something the chef expected. “I had never thought about doing anything like that,” says Outlaw, speaking from the kitchen of his Cornish restaurant, where he can be found most of the time.

Outlaw had never even visited Dubai. “I didn’t know what to expect but I really enjoyed it when I went over,” he says. “Going into a hotel like the Burj

Al Arab Jumeirah is a dream. A lot of chefs would love to get the opportunity so I just went for it.”

For anyone familiar with Outlaw’s career, the news he has taken over the hotel’s flagship restaurant will come as a surprise. Born in Kent, southeast England, Outlaw started helping out in his chef father’s kitchen at the age of eight. He trained at Thanet Catering College before moving to London to work for high-profile chefs like Gary Rhodes and Eric Chavrot. Then he moved to Cornwall to work for Rick Stein at his legendary venue The Seafood Restaurant. While he was working for Stein, he fell in love twice over – with the woman who was to become his wife and with Cornwall. He has appeared on television and produces regular cookery books but he is no Gordon Ramsay or Jamie Oliver. He has certainly made a name for himself yet the moniker celebrity chef does not quite fit. “I have got all these things going on but ultimately what makes me happy is cooking a piece of fish,” he says.

His love of cooking, evident in his clever but unfussy approach to Cornish seafood, has brought him success. Outlaw now has three restaurants in Cornwall – Restaurant Nathan Outlaw and Outlaw’s Fish Kitchen, both in Port Isaac and the Mariners Rock, a pub in nearby Rock. London, the location of his fourth restaurant, Outlaw’s at The Capital hotel, is the furthest the chef had ventured from his beloved Cornwall until taking on Al Mahara.

But like all successful chefs, Outlaw is not content to sit still. “I am the sort of person who needs to be challenged.” he says. “If I was not nervous, taking what I do out of the UK and putting it into a hotel in the Middle East, I would not be a human being But if you are not nervous you should not be doing it. If you think it is going to be easy, what is the point?”

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fine dining

A cookery book addict, who is constantly scribbling down ideas and snapping pictures of anything that might provide inspiration for future dishes, Outlaw - who admits to being easily bored - is driven by a desire to learn.

“I have an ability to learn from any situation,” he says. “That is why I like to do so many things.”

Does he ever worry he might be spreading himself too thin? “Of course, all the time, every day,” he says. “For me it is about longevity. I am 38 now and hopefully I will still be doing this when I am 58, at least. That is 20 years. It is a marathon not a sprint. I worry every day about whether it is a bit too much but if I am still smiling and my family is happy, I know everything is all right.

“There are so many opportunities but I am sensible enough to know if something is not right, I just won’t do it,” he says, adding he was only willing to accept the offer to relaunch Al Mahara because two long-time collaborators, Pete Biggs and Sharon McArthur, agreed to take on the roles of head chef and general manager respectively. “We have had a dozen inquiries over the last 18 months about [taking on] different restaurants around the world but I have not had the right chef or restaurant manager to do it. That is the key for me. When you see these celebrity chefs go too big and it all goes to pot, it is because they have not got the support there.” Outlaw estimates he will visit Dubai every seven weeks. “If you look at the other chefs who have put their names to things in Dubai, I do not think they put in that sort of time.

I think it is a lot less than that,” he says.

With his trusted team in place, Outlaw, who believes organisation is the key to survival in his stressful industry, started doing his research. He spoke to fellow chefs, including Jason Atherton and Tom Aikens, both of whom have restaurants in Dubai and started visiting restaurants. His verdict? “The scene was much better than I expected it to be. I do not mean that in a bad way.

I just did not expect it to be as good as it was.” He also went to a lot of the

‘‘

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I have eaten at a few of the restaurants to check out the competition [and] see what else is around, what other chefs who have put their names to restaurants in Dubai have to offer. That was what excited me really because I know what we are offering, what we do – there isn’t anywhere else in Dubai that does it

other hotel restaurants to see what they were offering. “That was where I thought it was not as good,” he says.

“I have eaten at a few of the restaurants to check out the competition [and] see what else is around, what other chefs who have put their names to restaurants in Dubai have to offer. That was what excited me really because I know what we are offering, what we do - there isn’t anywhere else in Dubai that does it.”

Al Mahara by Nathan Outlaw’s signature dishes include lobster risotto, crispy oysters and caviar, raw scallops, citrus-cured brill and sticky toffee pudding.

Many of the ingredients are Cornish, including the oysters, which are from Porthilly in North Cornwall, not far from his restaurants. But his Dubai outlet differs from the chef’s restaurants in Cornwall in that the dishes also feature ingredients from outside the county. “The exciting thing for me as a chef is the array of new ingredients,” he says. “At first it is a massive thing to get your head round but then you start thinking, hang on, I can buy the most sustainable seafood from pretty much anywhere in the world. It means we can expand what we do within Outlaw’s as a group. It is almost like being a commis chef again in a sense, which is quite nice.” The list of new ingredients includes tuna, Asian vegetables and Middle Eastern spices.

Outlaw, who is dubious about the typical formality of fine dining restaurants – “very stiff” – was charged with making the new Al Mahara “accessible and “relaxed. I do not think it matters where you are in the world, people are all in the same boat,” he says. “They just want to go out, know their money is well spent and they want to enjoy themselves. If you stick to that simple formula you will be successful. A bit of West Country spirit in Dubai won’t hurt.”

To book Nathan Outlaw at Al Mahara call +971 4 301 7400 or email BAAReservations@jumeirah.com

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l o Cor unn ing s

Cha m ligh pion a t th sky work o lete Ki lin f th eW eM il Con e in a a stun dina lis mak or P es nin tJ u star abo rcell ta g new umeira ut h lk h’s is lo s to th video. ve o e pa f fre r e ru kour nnin g

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extreme sports

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T

he thing about parkour, or free running as it is sometimes called, is that you are never really sure what you are seeing. It’s hard to know what is real and what is not, as the effortless grace, the feline efficiency, the sheer audacity of the moves render normal calculations obsolete.

For an example of this, just watch the athlete Kie Willis – a 29-year-old British parkour champion – jump, flip and roll his way across the Madinat Jumeirah rooftops in a special collaboration with his extreme sports outfit, XDubai. It looks like something from a movie – not surprising, given every action flick worth its salt, including Bourne and Bond, has featured it in recent years.

For the unititiated, parkour is essentially a way of getting from A to B in the quickest, most efficient way possible, by climbing up walls, leaping across rooftops and running over what look like insurmountable obstacles. Its journey from a niche pursuit to the darling of Hollywood film makers and admen has been largely thanks to YouTube. If ever there was a sport made for video it is this one. For its practitioners, the real attraction of the sport lies in the ability to acknowledge – and overcome – weakness; the realisation that we are all capable of far more than we give ourselves credit for.

Parkour is generally thought to have originated in the early 1900s with a French naval officer called Georges Hebert, who, impressed by the physique of the various African tribes he encountered, realised it was the result of their lives in the wild. He set up the so-called natural method of training, which was based on 10 fundamentals of exercise, covering everything from climbing and throwing to swimming and jumping. As he rose through the French military, his teaching expanded until it became the standard system of French military training, culminating in the invention of the obstacle course, now a standard part of training in armies throughout the world.

These methods were passed down from generation to generation, expanded on and improved until what we now recognise as parkour emerged, developed by David Belle in the 1970s after he was inspired by his soldier father Raymond’s endurance exercises. The first live performance of the physical art form took place in Paris in 1997. Since then, the sport has gone global, appearing in everything from TV commercials and music videos to Hollywood blockbusters.

One of the new breed of parkour athletes is the aforementioned Kie Willis, a member of the number one freerunning team, Storm Freerun. Should you judge a man by how many Instagram followers he has (you can), he is very popular indeed, with more than 70,000 fans hanging onto his every turn, leap and roll.

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extreme sports

He started free running at 16 and has now been at it for more than a decade.

“As a teenager I was into athletics and skateboarding and parkour seemed to combine the best of both worlds – the strength and speed of athletics and the culture of skateboarding,” he says.

Despite the fluidity of his movement and the jaw-dropping stunts, everything is carefully planned. “We spent a while in the Madinat Jumeirah, walking around, looking at the distances, figuring out the spaces, just to make sure we understood the area,” he says. “I don’t take unnecessary risks. Everything is carefully thought out. You can’t eliminate the risks completely but you can reduce [them]. There are also recovery moves we know we can fall into if we undershoot or overshoot.”

It is a confidence that comes from relentless practice. “I have been doing this for 11 years so at this stage I know the limits. I know what I can and can’t do.” Watching him move, it is unclear what those limits are as gravity seems to lose its pull. He bounds across buildings, flips, rolls and does it all again, making easy work of the Madinat Jumeirah’s unique skyline.

Every parkour athlete has his own style but for Willis, it is all about speed, power and accuracy. “That’s my style. Others like to do flips and focus on acrobatics but they have to go slower. I like to get from A to B as fast as possible.”

His training reflects that: “I do mainly high intensity interval training and explosive power training. Most of the training comes from practising but it’s the technical aspect that is the hardest, getting the timing right and making sure the risks are lowered.”

For Willis and for a generation of extreme sport athletes, Dubai is a natural home. “I love Dubai. XDubai is a great company and Dubai is trying to place itself as the centre of extreme sports in the world. There will be parkour parks opening across the city and it’s great they appreciate the sport so much.”

So if you happen to be walking through a Jumeirah resort and see a figure gliding past you, running up a wall or doing any of the almost unbelievably acrobatic things a parkour athlete can do – don’t fret, it’s probably Willis or one of the Storm Freerunners putting Dubai on the extreme sports map. xdubai.com/kie-willis-playcation/

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Story: Deadline / Mike Fleming Jr with additional reporting by Tahira Yaqoob Images: Getty and Rex

featured: ang lee

LiFe oF Ang

He is one of the most decorated directors in Hollywood, a soft-spoken giant whose films always reverberate loudly and frequently pick up awards.

Double Oscar winner Ang Lee tells Mike Fleming Jr what inspires him ahead of his new release

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H

e is soft-spoken yet a giant in Hollywood,

where his movies never fail to make an impact.

Double Oscar winner Ang Lee is about to do it again with the world premiere of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, a much talked-about war drama starring Steve Martin, Kristen Stewart and Vin Diesel. Premiering at the New York Film Festival on October 14, it is the first film from the director since he picked up an Oscar for Life of Pi in 2012.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ It has been 25 years since Taiwan-born Lee, who

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

turns 62 this month, first started making movies

His next blockbuster, Sense and Sensibility

but he quickly managed the seemingly impos-

in 1995, starring Emma Thompson and Kate

sible by becoming both a darling of Hollywood

Winslet, placed him firmly at the heart of

and a disrupter by embracing three-dimensional

Hollywood. Since then, he has gone on to make

technology and tackling controversial subject

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hulk, Taking

matter. He first began making Chinese language

Woodstock, Brokeback Mountain and Life of

films but was swiftly recognised internationally

Pi, the latter two winning him numerous best

for his talent for storytelling. His first feature

director accolades (Brokeback Mountain won 71

film, Pushing Hands, was a national box office

awards in total and 52 nominations). His latest

success; his second, The Wedding Banquet,

release is based on the novel by the same name

about a Chinese-American love triangle, was

by Ben Fountain and centres on the bravo squad

nominated for best foreign language film at the

fighting in Iraq and its disillusioned protago-

Golden Globes and the Oscars. It was swiftly

nist Billy Lynn. It was adapted for the screen by

followed by Eat Drink Man Woman, a touch-

Slumdog Millionaire’s Oscar-winning screen-

ing tale of family conflict and the generational

writer Simon Beaufoy and was shot in 120 frames

divide, which scooped five awards, including best

per second, the highest frame rate for a film to

director from Independent Spirit.

date. It will be followed by Lee’s next directorial project Thrilla in Manila, based on the 1975 boxing bout between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. As Mike Fleming Jr discovers in this interview, Lee does not use storytelling to show off technology but uses technology to deliver immersive storytelling.

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Image: Columbia/REX/Shutterstock

featured: ang lee

The 3D in Life of Pi aT The new York fiLm fesTivaL Premiere was such a singuLar accomPLishmenT. You sTarTeD bY making

say that it is probably often true for even technical people, who have to endure a lot of boredom.

no-buDgeT reLaTionshiP movies anD now Your 120-frame 3D biLLY LYnn’s Long haLfTime waLk is The TaLk among Techies.

so whY is This innovaTion haPPening?

whaT LeD To This marriage of sTorYTeLLing wiTh immersive

I think the chemistry between me and them started with: would I have something interesting to think about that is kind of impossible but inspiring? And they just keep going at it to achieve something they’ve never seen before. I think it’s that chemistry that keeps pushing us. I cannot do it and they need somebody to raise the artistic standard. So they go through a lot of hardship, things I find boring, to get at what’s interesting. I’m a dramatically trained filmmaker. I take actors, stage them and then figure out how to shoot them. Over the years I tried to be conscious about things as a filmmaker. I’m not in the drama world anymore. I try to make it visually more interesting so movie by movie, I try to move away from drama and get more visual with storytelling. But after a while what I do isn’t satisfying. I just want to see more. In principle, I won’t do any visual stuff unless it reflects the mental state of characters and how they feel and what they want to express. What I do here is externalise the internal feelings. That’s what I do. I get a little uncomfortable when people say you’re breaking technology. That’s not what I do at all. I have no such ambition and interest.

visuaL exPeriences?

There’s no simple answer – and maybe no answer – to that. I’m only aware of it because people keep asking me that question. If it was up to me, I’d just keep doing what I like to do without even looking back or breaking it down.

You know, I’m not a technical person at all. I can hardly use email. My smartphone? I only call out. Zero interest in technology. The opposite of technology, that is me.

So why did that happen to me? I’m doing the most advanced computer stuff.

Now we have to trick the computer to do things it’s never done before. But I don’t know how to use a computer, only the most basic things. I’m not technically savvy. I think it is curiosity and this relationship I found with my technical crew. I think at heart artists are not happy just doing technical, which is mostly pretty boring. The first thing I learned about the big computer years ago, when I did Hulk, was how dumb it is. I realised that the way a computer thinks is the dumbest way and so it was not interesting to me. I would

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Image: Coote/Columbia/REX/Shutterstock

Image: Goldwyn/Everett/REX/Shutterstock

Image: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock

Movie stills, clockwise from left: The Wedding Banquet; Eat Drink Man Woman; Sense and Sensibility

featured: ang lee

What movies that broke ground most inspired the path you are one?

I began to feel this since Pi, that we all pave the way for each other. Avatar really is the first one, that giant step forward to legitimise 3D as a storytelling tool rather than just a gimmick. Without the success of that movie, there’s no way I [could] do Pi in 3D. I wanted to do 3D before Avatar existed because I tried to crack the book Life of Pi and thought I needed another dimension to see the circle. Pi is an irrational number and many elements that are most interesting in the book are un-makeable, not just technically but philosophically. It’s a story examining the value of story. I think that can be done in literature but I didn’t think it was possible in existing movie form because your attention to the screen is so mandated, because the photorealistic images are ongoing and you never want people out of the movie. Once you fail to keep them in the movie, it would take you a long time to bring them back so that’s a bad thing. So how do you tell a story where they won’t stop and say, wait a minute and start thinking about what they’ve just seen? Then a fancy thought hit me. What if I have another dimension? And I thought about stereo 3D, before I even knew what it was. As I get into it, I come to think that animation is far ahead of us, because everything is controlled and when you watch it, the mindset is not as serious. Avatar was such a big step forward because you have some realism in it, the storytelling is long but you’re still inside it.

That was a huge step. But I think that’s just a beginning.

‘‘

‘‘

I don’t want filmmaking to feel like work. I want to give everything I have for this and it becomes existential. I become the movie I’m making

[If]anything moves, you don’t see the faces. It looks so strobe-y because in 3D that’s closer to what our eye sees. It’s less forgiving. You need more accuracy, you pick up more nuances. We moved up to 24 frames because that’s the minimum to carry soundtrack. Fortunately I found a way to survive and it was successful and we’re at the beginning of something we don’t know yet – 3D, digital cinema, frame rate, with clarity. We don’t even know how to make a movie where you see clearly. It seemed full of potential and very exciting. On the other hand, you open a can of worms. peter Jackson made the attempt to shoot a higher frame rate at 48 and it took people time to get used to it. noW you’ve shot billy lynn in 120.

He paid for that himself and I really admire the guy. But everything that has been done so far has only just scratched the surface.

What is the payoff?

An immersive. It’s more like how our eyes are designed to see. I think people are so wrong to see 2D as art and 3D as tricks that only hacks use for action or spectacles. I think it’s the opposite. What 3D gives you is intimacy and what 3D does best is portray faces. I’m so eager to show that. That’s what 3D is about, not action. We haven’t even gotten there yet. My Dinner With Andre should have been shot in 3D.

Why?

What most frustrates you When you are trying to break

Everything in movies is set up [to work on screen in] 2D. We’ve been trained that way. There’s no 3D thinking really. I was struggling while at the same time making the most difficult movie in 3D because water is the hardest thing [to film]. [In Life of Pi] we have a tiger, we have a kid and survival. But 24 frames just [would not have worked] and that [was] obvious to me before shooting.

ground in 3d or With frame rates?

Technically it’s hard because the industry doesn’t have a pipeline for this. You can get beat up really badly and you have to be independent. Then because it’s a little bit more expensive, you need a studio, you need an ecosystem to help you. But the biggest thing is the cynicism. People still look down on

39

Image: Everett/REX/Shutterstock

40

Image: Dune Enter/REX/Shutterstock

Image: Everett/REX/Shutterstock

Clockwise from left: Lee directing Brokeback Mountain; Life of Pi; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

featured: ang lee

the bio born: On October 23, 1954, in a southern agricultural community in Taiwan lives: Westchester County, New York childhood: His parents put great emphasis on education and learning Chinese culture, art and classics faMilY: The son of a high school principal, he went against his father’s advice to go to film school in America. The pair “exchanged less than 100 phrases in conversation” in the

3D, as if they won’t call it art so they can feel better about themselves. So nobody helps you really, except your comrades and you struggle technically.

And then the next level of difficulty is the science. We don’t have the equipment. Even how you hold a camera and how you shoot, the physicality and how computers do this. We didn’t have a lab until we invented one. It’s like reinventing the wheel and physically it’s hard to go from one step to the next.

The artistic part is the next level of difficulty. Beyond that, what’s really hard is commercial applications: how to show it in theatres, how to change viewing habits and people culturally. So technology is first level and the second is art. Above that is the commercial application.

following two decades

You will follow this with thrilla in Manila, a filM about the

his big break: After six years as a full-time house

bout between MuhaMMad ali and Joe frazier, shot in the saMe

husband, Lee submitted screenplays for Pushing Hands and

iMMersive technologY. do You foresee Yourself plaYing in this

The Wedding Banquet to a competition in Taiwan and won

sandbox for the rest of the filMs You’ll Make?

first and second place

I don’t know. Each time you search, you find answers and raise more questions.

I find that interesting. Otherwise it feels like work. I don’t want filmmaking to feel like work. I want to give everything I have for this and it becomes existential. I become the movie I’m making. I live that life and I want to keep progressing. I also don’t want to do this and find only people in five theatres can appreciate it. When you can see things on a screen more clearly, your mindset in making the movie becomes different. It all takes effort and it takes time.

education: Studied theatre at the University of Illinois in 1978, where he met his future wife, before going to Tisch School of the Arts in New York to study film relationships: Married fellow university student Jane Lin, a biology graduate. She supported him through the early years of his career and told him: ‘Ang, don’t forget your dream.’ They have two sons, Haan and Mason

first feature filM: Pushing Hands in 1991. A box office success, it won eight nominations in the Golden Horse Film Festival in Taiwan philosophY: “My own perseverance and my wife’s immeasurable sacrifice have finally met their reward”

a lot of the discussion about disruption has been about

Making it to hollYwood: Sense and Sensibility

initiatives like netflix and screening rooM, alternatives to

in 1995, his first English language film, was nominated

the Movie-going experience. how do You feel about all this?

for seven Oscars

I want to bring people to the theatre, give them a reason to go instead of watching at home - like when we were kids and you’d go to the theatre and it was something special and not casual. It was very exciting. I want to go back to my childhood when I watch movies and you have to raise your game to get people to feel young and [feel] that childlike innocence. It gets harder and harder to get people willing to believe in these fantasies. From day one, in the dawn of history, this is what we want. We want to get together for some special event, something that is theatrical, that is inspiring, that will make you cry over your feelings and you share it. But you have to give people good reason to do that. If they can watch it on an iPhone, why would they go to the theatre?

on filMMaking: “I must continue making films. I have this neverending dream” on where he calls hoMe: “I was never a citizen of any particular place. My parents left China to go to Taiwan. We were outsiders there. We moved to the States, Outsiders.

Back to China. Now we were outsiders there too” career low point: By the age of 30, Lee had spent six years struggling to make it as a filmmaker, working odd jobs on sets. “I couldn’t even support myself,” he

so the challenge in billY lYnn is Making Me feel what it’s like

admitted. His in-laws offered him funds to open a Chinese

to be in war and in thrilla in Manila, i’ll feel what it is like to

restaurant instead

be punched bY a heavYweight boxer?

I hope so. I think there is a big difference in the high frame rate in 3D and that is involvement. You engage in the theatrical experience as more of an insider, [more] than watching something else and peeping into someone else’s business. That’s the biggest change with 3D filmmaking and we haven’t quite gotten there yet. But we will.

career high point: Becoming the first Asian director to win an Oscar in 2006 for Brokeback Mountain, a lowbudget independent film based on a short story

41

LIFESTYLE 44 Focus on China

The best of Arabian and Chinese culture will be marked in Shanghai this month

46 The elixir of youth

Can you turn back the clock? We look at the boom of anti-ageing treatments

54 A Kors celebre

Image: Getty

A friend to the stars, Michael Kors has accessible luxury in the bag

Game, Set, match They are fresh from snatching a clutch of gold medals at the Rio

and investors, gathering to build new connections and exchange

Olympics and boast the world’s number one player, Ma Long. Now

ideas for mutual growth. The initiative from advisory firm Falcon and

the Chinese national table tennis team, pictured here playing on the

Associates – partnered by Jumeirah Group, Dubai Chamber, Dubai

helipad of the Burj Al Arab Jumeirah, will be among the line-up for

Expo 2020, Jafza and Dubai Multi Commodities Centre – has also

an event marking the special relationship between Dubai and China.

drawn support from the likes of Emirates airline, Dubai government departments and tourism officials.

Dubai Week in China (DWIC), which will be held in Shanghai from October 27-29, will showcase the talent of leaders in business,

Last year’s inaugural event in Beijing attracted more than 15,000

education and sport and celebrate deep connections which yield

visitors, who were invited to enjoy demonstrations of calligraphy,

bilateral trade of $48 billion per year.

henna painting and Arabic food. This year’s extravaganza, held in The Langham and The House hotels in partnership with the

China has been Dubai’s premier trading partner since 2014. More

Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries,

than 4,200 Chinese firms operate in the UAE compared to just 18 in

will include a show match with the star table tennis players, talks

2005 while more than 200,000 Chinese expatriates live in the UAE.

spanning business and education and a bootcamp for Chinese entrepreneurs hosted by Dubai 100, which aims to sow the seeds for

DWIC, the second event of its kind, will highlight Dubai’s key role

the next generation of innovators.

as a global gateway offering the world’s largest exporter prime

44

opportunities for economic development and cultural exchange. It

Jumeirah Himalayas Hotel opened in Shanghai in 2011, with another eight venues to

is set to attract business officials, thought leaders, entrepreneurs

follow across China. jumeirah.com/shanghai

focus on china

LUXURY ON TAP Could we be seeing the end of designer brands relying on bricksand-mortar outlets to entice customers?

The high-end accessories brand Bulgari has taken the plunge in China by offering limited edition jewellery sets from its pink Divas’ Dream collection exclusively online via WeChat, the hugely popular messaging service with more than 800 million users worldwide.

WeChat, known as Weixin in China, is a mobile messaging app that allows users to do everything from pay bills, chat to friends, call taxis and book doctors’ appointments. It is the third most popular social network in China, where the majority of its users are based but selling luxury goods through WeChat has been largely uncharted waters - until now.

While high-end brands are increasingly looking online to target customers, Bulgari is one of the first to realise the potential of sales through apps. Dior has also taken the leap by offering WeChat users the chance to buy a special edition of its Lady Dior handbag. Chinese stars including Chen Yifei and Li Bingbing were enlisted in a marketing campaign for the exclusive sale.

45

the elixir of youth

images: Getty

Can you really turn back the clock?

Tahira Yaqoob looks at the booming market of anti-ageing treatments and why we are all so obsessed with staying forever young

46

beauty

47

48

beauty

y

ou get the face you deserve at 40. In your 20s, you can happily burn the candle at both ends and still have youthful, glowing skin. In your 30s, there is nothing that a slick of make-up and a caffeine boost can’t fix.

But your 40s? That’s when all the late nights, the junk food, the 3am burger you couldn’t do without, the lack of exercise, the smoking habit you haven’t been able to kick – that’s when they finally catch up with you. You wear your habits on your face.

Coco Chanel once said: “Nature gives you the face you have at 20. Life shapes the face you have at 30. But at 50, you get the face you deserve.” George Orwell, too, concurred that “at 50, everyone has the face he deserves”. But times have changed even since they uttered those immortal words. The stresses of modern life, pollution, bad diets, traffic fumes, lack of exercise all are conspiring to take their toll on our skin even earlier.

Little surprise, then, that the anti-ageing industry is such big business. A report from Transparency Market Research estimates the industry was worth more than $122 billion a year globally in 2013 and will rake in more than $190bn annually within three years. This month, Dubai will host the International Congress in Aesthetics, Anti-Ageing Medicine and Medical Spa (ICAAM) for the ninth year running. Held in the city’s International Convention and Exhibition Centre, experts will gather during the two-day conference to discuss the latest innovations designed to make us look more youthful, from ablative facial resurfacing (laser technology to improve sun-damaged skin), stem cell therapy advances in anti-ageing, peels and fillers, to male body contouring with surgery and even gluteal augmentation, or bottom lifts with fat implants. Manon Pilon, the author of Anti-Ageing: the Cure, told gathered scientists at a previous conference that in the Middle East, treatments typically start at a young age – as early as 18 for fillers and 20 for Botox.

Nor are they alone. Americans spent more than $12bn on surgical and nonsurgical procedures in 2014, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, with a 43 per cent rise in treatments for men from the previous year. The most popular were botulinum toxin injections, skin tightening and acid peels. In the UK, although women account for about 90 per cent

of cosmetic procedures, the number of men has almost doubled, says the British Association of Aesthetic and Plastic Surgeons. Meanwhile more than 620,000 Britons opt for non-surgical treatments such as Botox every year.

But why are we all so obsessed with turning back the clock? Beauty therapist Tracey Sergeant thinks a combination of social pressures and the number of celebrities visibly embracing surgery or talking about Botox has dramatically transformed the way we look. “Women are still the massive market and they are more aware of their appearance now,” she says.

“They are under more pressure to look better and to be slimmer than they were in the 1940s and 1950s. Even during the last recession, beauty salons were one of the last industries to be hit.”

As the UK’s training director for the anti-ageing brand Skeyndor, she says if you start at 50, you are already several decades too late. “You are ageing from 21,” she says, in words which will strike fear into any young heart.

“Your cells start changing from 21. You are making enzymes that damage the collagen and it is also down to the amount of sun you have had.

In your 30s, you are properly ageing. A good skincare routine is really important from about the age of 14. By the time you are 25, you want to be into regular facials and serious skincare.”

Skeyndor, a 50-year-old Spanish brand which goes deeper than most in examining how the skin ages and coming up with science-based solutions, offers a range of anti-ageing treatments in the Jumeirah Carlton Tower hotel in Knightsbridge, London. Sergeant is a walking advertisement for Skeyndor’s treatments. At 47, she has the annoyingly plump, glowing skin of a 27-year-old. She has dabbled with Botox - an injectable toxin which stops nerves from signalling to muscles to contract - but says she stopped because she did not like the effect it had on her face. She is also no-nonsense when it comes to the importance of a skincare regime and maintaining it with high quality products which penetrate below the surface layer of the skin, known as the epidermis - all of which should render the need to resort to cosmetic surgery or Botox injections unnecessary, she says. A more long-term strategy is a better alternative to drastic action.

49

Sergeant adds: “The stratum corneum, or top layer of the dermis [below the epidermis] is very hard to penetrate. If you apply a normal moisturiser to the skin, it will take six to eight weeks to penetrate that layer. Micro-capsulation techniques were formed to go deeper into the skin. At Skeyndor we have nanotechnology, which is the smallest method of encapsulation you can use.”

That technology is used to send anti-ageing chemicals where they are needed most - from liposomes (minute moisture-carrying molecules) to nanosomes carrying antioxidants and moisturisers and peptides (protein compounds said to help skin repair itself and act as moisture-sealing agents).

Most mass market moisturisers, she adds, will not have that level of science. “It is not about spend,” she says. “You could spend $50 to $80 and get a really good working moisturiser but you want to be looking for high science brands. The market has really changed in the last 10 years and what we have today in skincare is amazing.”

In the Jumeirah Carlton Tower’s Peak Health Club and Spa – where, unusually, nearly half of those seeking treatments are male – Skeyndor offers a package of 16 treatments incorporating mesotherapy, which has significantly advanced to the level where injections are no longer needed. Instead, electrical currents are used to deliver fillers and chemicals deep below the surface of the skin.

Indeed, the market for non-invasive procedures is a booming one, growing at a much faster rate than cosmetic surgery. Innovative techniques include using ultrasound, radio frequency waves and micro-currents to firm the skin, all without giving the disconcerting appearance so many celebrities seem to have of pumped-up lips and an unnatural sheen to their skin. The Complete Lasercare clinic in Harley Street, London, recently began offering medical grade skin needling, also known as microneedling. The skin is numbed with an anaesthetic cream before a roller with about 150 fine titanium needles is applied to the face. Three treatments costing $650 are needed, followed by annual touch-up treatments. The clinic’s co-founder Emily Cambridge says: “It is a safe, simple and virtually pain-free treatment for lines and wrinkles, lack of skin firmness and elasticity, sun damage and enlarged pores. It is based on the skin’s natural ability to repair itself. The micro-needles penetrate the top layers of the skin to create tiny pinpoint injuries in deeper layers, triggering the body’s wound-healing mechanism. This results in the formation of new collagen and elastin, helping to increase skin elasticity and reduce wrinkle depth.” She says the procedure is a better alternative to more invasive procedures like cosmetic surgery.

Author Helena Frith Powell, whose new book Smart Women Don’t Get Wrinkles was published earlier this year, has tried numerous treatments and says the earlier you can start an anti-ageing regime, the better. “Of course,

50

some people look younger than their age, especially women, who are getting increasingly adept at making the years show less,” she says. “It really depends on so many factors such as posture, shape, size, style sense – everything that contributes to the way you look. I suppose around 40 it becomes more difficult for most people to pretend they are young adults.”

She adds you should think of everything you do as an insurance policy for the future. “What you eat, how much you exercise, your beauty routine – all of it will have an impact on how you look in later life. Some people have Botox in their 20s to avoid wrinkles.” An advocate of Botox, she thinks a good skincare routine is not enough.

“You can slow [ageing] down but not freeze it. I would avoid surgery or treat it as a last resort. Laser treatments and stem cell treatments are now so effective, I envisage a time when facelifts using a scalpel will be a thing of the past.”

Cambridge agrees alternative treatments to surgery are set to rise in popularity. “Women definitely seem to feel the pressure to look younger enough to be motivated to do something about it,” she says, adding men make up about 10 per cent of customers. “It is difficult to say why some of us feel so much pressure to conform to this expectation. Perhaps it is the recent obsession with selfies and posting infinite numbers of photos of ourselves on social media for scrutiny by hundreds of our friends.” She recommends taking anti-ageing measures before the onset of wrinkles.

Sergeant, too, says the earlier you can start the better but she adds there are corrective measures for those who are seeking limitation to the damage already done. “Most clients are sensible. They are in a good routine in their 30s but the age group that really does come to us are the 50s and 60s. They are panicking,” she says. “A lot of it is reversible but it is a process. We have clients on courses where we are correcting the damage they have done, so we might be filling lines around the eyes or nasolabial folds [from the nose to the mouth] with mesotherapy or treating puffiness around the eyes.”

Clients in their 30s can bring their sun damage under control and reduce nasolabial folds. In their 40s, peels can remove the top layers of dead skin and treatments focus on cell regeneration. Sergeant recommends mesotherapy for women in their 50s, 60s and 70s and hyaluronic acid treatments to keep the skin plump, as well as line fillers. Her oldest client is 84 and while she cannot expect the skin of a 30-year-old, Sergeant says: “We can make a dramatic difference. After a course of 16, clients never come back to do the same course. We work from the ground up. The best route is to look after your skin. If you look after it, use good products and good treatments then you will see a difference.”

beauty LOOK YEARS YOUNGER WITH JUMEIRAH’S RANGE OF FACIAL TREATMENTS

THE ANTI-AGEING TAILOREd ExpERIENCE

Talise Ottoman Spa, Jumeirah Zabeel Saray, dubai

is a surprise) and notes some pigmentation (which is not). She devises

You always know you are in good hands at the Talise and the Jumeirah

a plan consisting of Natura Bisse products to moisturise and brighten

Zabeel Saray’s Ottoman spa is as good as it gets. I would not say I am

my skin. First comes cleansing, opening up the pores with steam, then

hung up on my skin but I don’t just wash my face with soap either. I am

a toner and a vitamin C scrub. In my case, extraction of blackheads was

somewhere in between, using a cleansing gel, toner, decent night cream

necessary. After a face massage and mask, my face and eyes are treated

and a separate eye cream. At my age I am told I need Botox but I don’t

to a moisturising cream. All the while I am given relaxing massages for

believe in it. And neither does my wallet.

my tight shoulders and at the end, my hands. The result is wonderfully radiant, glowing skin. The dark circles under my eyes seemed to

In the spa you are given directions to the relaxation and waiting area,

disappear and my skin feels soft to the touch.

where you can indulge in dried apricots, dates, Turkish tea and infused

Karen Evans

water. My therapist Touria leads me to the treatment room and takes a look at my skin under a lamp. She determines it is slightly dry (which

To book: call +971 4 453 0456 or email JZStalise@jumeirah.com

51

beauty

Skeyndor Global lift facial

MarGy’S aGe eMbrace facial and coMPuteriSed Skin analySiS

the Peak Health club and Spa, Jumeirah carlton tower, london

talise Spa, Madinat Jumeirah, dubai

A refreshing drink is a welcome relief on a hot summer’s day at this

I love the name of this facial, which sends out such a positive

gem in the heart of the capital. The Peak’s glass walls boast stunning

message. The wonderful Aysel starts with a skin analysis session,

views over leafy Cadogan Place Gardens and the London skyline but

which can be added onto facials with the spa’s VisioFace

there is no time to linger. I am ushered into a therapy room, where

technology. It tells you in precise detail how many pores you have

lights twinkle in the ceiling like the night sky. While treatments are

(135 large, 558 small), where your sun damage lies and how oily and

tailored to individuals, they all use Skeyndor's science and technology

hydrated your skin is. This miracle machine shows I’m a bit rubbish

to penetrate deep below the surface of the skin. My face is cleansed,

at applying sunscreen evenly (there is a tidemark of sun spots under

toned and exfoliated before a firming gel is applied and non-invasive

my sunglasses’ rim) but tells me I have no wrinkles. I think I might

mesotherapy, a gently tingling electric current to help the moisturisers

have to marry it. Margy sounds like the kind of comforting, homely

penetrate deeper still, is used for about 10 minutes. A mask, which

woman who would feed you HobNobs and sweetened tea and tell

comes packaged in one piece, is then stretched over my face, which

you that you look lovely in a dress. I look her up. She definitely isn’t.

feels slightly like being mummified, although there is a space to breathe.

She is a stunning blonde Monte Carlo-based millionaire inventor of

A cryotherapy wand, the cooling medical treatment used in anti-ageing,

a range of fabulous products like her extra rich firming mask and

is circulated over the top of the mask, which feels like ice cubes being

the triple concentrate prestige serum. Aysel uses them all on

run over my skin. It is said to keep the active ingredients in the mask

my skin, several times, stroking in an upwards lifting motion and

working. We finish with a contour cream and serum applied in an

massaging my head and shoulders. The result is plump, baby-soft

upwards stroking motion. The lines between my nose and mouth are

skin which I can’t stop pressing in wonder. I don’t think I’ll ever wash

noticeably reduced and my skin looks dewy and fresh, an effect which

my face again.

seems to last for weeks afterward.

Tahira Yaqoob

Tahira Yaqoob

To book: call +971 4 366 6818 or email MJtalise@jumeirah.com To book: call +44 207 858 7300 or email JCTpeakrec@jumeirah.com peakhealthclub.com

MarGy’S collaGen botox effect

talise Spa, Jumeirah emirates towers, dubai

52

tHe roSe infinity anti-aGeinG facial

Ah, Margy. I’ve missed you. The stakes are high for this facial, which

talise Spa, Jumeirah at etihad towers, abu dhabi

promises so much – a protein cocktail of collagen to give a “Botox-

I am not particularly conscious of the lines on my face. Having said that,

like effect”. It has a more remedial feel immediately as Nelsa gets

age brings with it different skin tones, particularly looking flushed and

to work cleansing my skin with a milk cleanser and mild toner. A

when I have this, I feel more conscious of my lines and age. I am taken

correction fluid for the oily T-zone and an eye zone renovating

to a treatment room by Pabitra. In the beautiful ambience, with a light

fluid are gently massaged in before algae patches are applied all

feature that looks like bubbles drifting off into a pink sky, I start to relax

over my face, which feels rather like sticking plasters, before Nelsa

and quite literally smell the roses as my feet are gently bathed in a bowl

turns on the steam for 10 minutes. Together with an extraction to

filled with rose petals. I move to a heated bed, where my skin is cleaned,

remove any pore blockages, it gives me visibly clearer skin with

gently exfoliated, massaged and a mask applied. The massage focuses on

less blemishes. She then applies Margy’s extra rich firming mask

the lines around my eyes and the laughter lines around my mouth and my

before following it with a second mask, this one with collagen and

neck. A firmer pressure on my head allows me to relax. Afterward my skin

hyaluronic, the natural cell-plumping substance we all produce,

looks hydrated and fresh and I look and feel healthier. My husband says I

which diminishes with age. As it’s working its magic, she massages

look glowing and friends comment on my healthy skin. My skin is a more

my head, shoulders and arms and finishes by smoothing in a divine

even colour after the facial with fewer blotchy red spots. The Rose Infinity

neck and decollete cream. The after-effect is a tightening of the skin,

is so much more than a facial. I walk out with glowing fresh skin and a

a feeling not unlike being out in the sun for too long, which lasts at

body that had been completely revived.

least a week.

Sarah March

Tahira Yaqoob

To book: call +971 2 811 5858 or email JADspa@jumeirah.com

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A KOrs celebre

story: Laura Craik / Evening standard / The Interview People . Images: Getty

He has been branded too commercial and courted criticism for making luxury accessible – but Michael’s Kors billiondollar global empire continues to grow as he dresses everyone from Gwyneth Paltrow to Oprah Winfrey and Anna Wintour. Welcome to Planet Kors

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fashion

‘‘I

know what I’m having. I’m going to be very New York and change the bread but I’m going to have a roast beef sandwich.

Perfect. I have to tell you, I am definitely not a kale enthusiast. Last night they had these wonderful gnocchi and I said to Gwyneth: ‘I’m getting up to go to the men’s room. Touch the gnocchi on my plate and there will be hell to pay.’”

For a man who, the previous evening, got straight off a plane from New York, held a press conference in London to mark a new lifestyle partnership with McLaren-Honda, threw a party for his Regent Street flagship store then popped to the River Cafe to host a dinner for 100 friends (Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Chastain, Solange Knowles, Jenson Button, Elle Macpherson and Dame Joan Collins among them), Michael Kors, 56, looks pretty fresh in his uniform of black T- shirt, black jacket and dark jeans. He is tanned but not the deep mahogany colour of lore. His teeth are reassuringly normal – almost British in fact. “I am built for speed,” he says cheerfully. “I am either at full tilt or I go on vacation and collapse.”

Ask him what the hardest thing about being Michael Kors is and, without hesitation, he says “the calendar”. But then, you do not build a $1bn empire with 869 worldwide stores by messing around on Facebook eating crisps.

Kors launched a womenswear line in 1981, filed for bankruptcy in 1993, relaunched in 1997 (the year he also became creative director of Celine, a fact that may blow the minds of those who thought the house began and ended with Phoebe Philo), launched menswear in 2002 and has since added bags, accessories, jeans, shoes, fragrance, sunglasses, watches and wearables. In 2014 he joined the billionaires’ club, an elite pack whose members include the Wertheimers (who own Chanel perfumes), Giorgio Armani, Ralph Lauren, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino and Miuccia Prada.

You might have noticed that every third woman is toting a Michael Kors handbag. Their ubiquity goes some way to explaining the success of the brand.

Put it this way: if your girlfriend asks Santa for a Jet Set, a Greenwich or a

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With Gwyneth Paltrow

Selma this Christmas, thank your lucky stars she does not want a Chanel.

Kors’s three most popular bags retail at $344, $377 and $410 respectively; a Chanel 2.55 bag can cost upwards of $4,000. With stunning prescience, Kors pre-empted the current obsession with mid-market prices many years ago.

The current trend for accessible luxury? You could almost say he invented it.

“My wheels started turning a long time ago,” he says when I ask why he decided to make his bags so (relatively) affordable, recalling a time in the early 1990s when he happened to be in Bergdorf Goodman on the first day of its seasonal sale. He watched as women “rushed the racks” looking for markeddown bargains and had a lightbulb moment. “Why am I not thinking about them? Why can’t I be more democratic?

“Not just with handbags – with shoes, jewellery, watches, everything. The reality is that people mix up everything anyway. When I was 20, I might have spent a month’s rent on buying a jacket and then wore it with a pair of thrift shop pants. But for a lot of fashion people, price and the idea of wearability and saleability are dirty words. As are age, size, height. I never felt that way, even a long time ago, because I did so many trunk shows and personal events. I was so young when I started. If I had not done that, I truly would have been designing in the dark.”

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At the God's Love We Deliver Golden Heart awards in New York

Kors’ success lies in his refusal to be snobbish. Or rather, in his natural yearning to be inclusive. He is interested in people. More unusually still, he appears to treat them all the same. “Even with celebrities – I mean, I can be pretty blunt with them,” he says. “I’ll say: ‘You look like you can’t move in that. Take it off.’” No wonder close friends such as Liza Minnelli, Bette Midler, Kate Hudson, Sarah Jessica Parker and Blake Lively all adore him. “The simple truth is that if you understand people and you are curious about them, it is a huge leg-up. Whenever I talk to students or designers who are just starting their business, I say: ‘Have you spent time in a store? Are you on the street?’

And also: ‘Are you only friends with other fashion people? Because if you are, it’s a disaster. Get out of your bubble.’”

Kors was born Karl Anderson but when his mother, a former model, remarried his stepfather Bill Kors, a businessman, she gave him the option to change his first name too. He was a child model growing up in Merrick, New York (he appeared in a TV ad for Lucky Charms), then an actor, before finally deciding to pursue fashion, enrolling at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York in 1977.

“I grew up with very opinionated women,” he says. “They loved to debate.

The men, never. But the women in our family would fight over clothes. I lis-

fashion Jessica Chastain and Dame Joan Collins attend a private dinner

tened to all of it. I’ve had the same housekeeper in New York for 27 years.

She has two daughters and they wear Michael Kors. One of them is very petite. Tiny. She told me she tried on this coat and it overwhelmed her. The next thing you know, we started doing petite sizes. We make an American size 16 for the runway collection but we also make a size zero. I don’t care if you are 17 or 70. Everyone is looking for similar answers. Maybe I’m oldfashioned but I think that is my job.”

Some fashion critics might dismiss Kors as too commercial but what he might lack in creative spark, he makes up for in strategy. In the same deft way that he identified an overlooked market, he also identified his customers’ rapidly shrinking time frame in which to shop. Everyone is overloaded and so he has embraced what he calls “punctuation points”. “They are the signifiers of how you get dressed,” he says. “It is a fabulous coat or jacket, an amazing bag, the right sunglasses, a shoe that’s comfortable but cool – and everything else kind of recedes. Those are the look-changers. Fragrance is a signifier. It tells people what mood you are in, says something about you, finishes you off.”

Kors has a 26-year involvement with God’s Love We Deliver, the New York charity he first encountered when a friend was ill with Aids. Thanks

to a $7.8 million city grant (and a $4.9m donation by Kors), it now turns out nearly 1.5 million meals a year to people suffering from Aids, cancer and other illnesses. “How lucky am I? How could you not give back?” he exclaims. “It is my nature. I like results. That is how I approach fashion.

Halle [Berry] took her daughter to Nicaragua – she was six at the time – and as soon as they got back to LA she said: ‘Mommy, what can we do to help?’ That’s the key thing. I want people to feel engaged. You don’t have to be rich. People donate $5.”

If Kors is affectionately known as a name-dropper, it is clear he does it more out of a duty to entertain than show off. A man who counts Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama as clients, whose public offering in 2011 was one of the most successful in fashion history, probably does not need to impress anyone. Kors is not a boaster – he is a people-pleaser.

On the way home, I think about his courtesy and charm, his sense of public duty and propriety and one thing he said comes back to me: “I am convinced that it is an increasingly casual world. I don’t know that we’ll go back.” He was talking about the way we dress but he might as well have been talking about everything. From manners to microshorts, the world has gone casual. And Kors is there to dress it.

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TRAVEL 60 Treasures of the deep

Snorkelling in the Maldives reveals an underwater treasure trove

62 Turn down the volume

On noise-induced stress for better health and enjoy some tranquil spots

70 Season of mists

Harvest season in Mallorca means a host of fiestas to enjoy the best produce

72 The insiders’ guide to‌ Frankfurt

Image: Courtesy of In Pursuit of Silence

The first in a new series, we talk to locals about the best the city has to offer

TREASURES OF THE DEEP Guests at Jumeirah Dhevanafushi can explore the resort’s reef with a snorkelling adventure experience.

Claire Hill reports

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adventure

f

our hundred kilometres from Male on the Gaafu Alifu Atoll, the Jumeirah Dhevanafushi resort is on one of the most remote islands in the Maldives and the epitome of paradise. On arrival at the airport in the capital Male, the resort’s guests are welcomed with a meet-and-greet service before being led into a dedicated Jumeirah airport lounge until it is time to board a short flight to Khadeedhoo airport. From there, guests hop onto a 20-minute speedboat transfer to the Jumeirah Dhevanafushi resort.

On approaching the resort’s jetty, the distant sounds of the Maldivian bodu beru drums can be heard. The traditional music was first introduced to the Maldives by sailors coming across the Indian Ocean as early as the 11th century. Drummers welcome guests onto the pier with handmade garlands and fresh coconut juice. Guests are invited to take a seat and admire the view, indulge in a 15-minute complimentary couple’s foot massage or can be whisked immediately to their luxurious island hideaway.

The snorkelling package offers guests the chance to discover some of the world’s rarest, largest and most beautiful coral reefs under the guidance of Jumeirah Dhevanafushi’s expert marine biologist. Begin the morning with a session held by the biologist, who will talk about the importance of the island’s ecology and the preservation of the reef.

From there, guests can follow one of the resort’s experienced guides with a dip in the warm crystal clear waters, where they will discover a kaleidoscopic world teeming with marine life.

There are plenty of opportunities to spot parrotfish feeding off the coral, schools of vibrantly coloured reef fish swimming by and octopuses sleeping on rocks. Other finds might include trumpet fish, grouper, butterfly fish and wrasse. If you are lucky, your guide might be able to find some turtles and further afield, dolphins have been known to visit.

Competent swimmers can even snorkel along the 850-metre stretch to the water bungalows, swimming along the reef and diving past the drop-off into the deep blue ocean to discover some of the most incredible coral reefs on the planet. The package also includes the opportunity to help clean the reef and for anyone looking to go scuba diving during their stay, the resort’s PADI certified Meradhoo dive centre can cater to everyone from beginners to experts. jumeirah.com

By Claire Hill, PR manager and copywriter, Jumeirah Group. On a weekly basis, new stories about Hill’s travels from across the luxurious world of Jumeirah are posted on experiencejumeirah.com.

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the sound of silence

image: Getty

We are increasingly bombarded by noise – yet most of us never realise the full psychological and physical toll on our health. Conor Purcell talks to the makers of a new documentary, which aims to explore the impact of noise and silence on our lives

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environment

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Image: Getty

w

e live in a world where noise can seem unavoidable – everything from traffic to mobile phones, construction to humming appliances, act as the soundtrack to our lives, whether we are aware of it or not. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), noise pollution is the second largest environmental cause of death in the world after air pollution – a sobering statistic and one that makes the new documentary In Pursuit of Silence so necessary. Directed by Patrick Shen and going on general release in the UK this month, it is a beautifully put-together treatise on silence and why, despite the barrage of noise we encounter, it does not have to be this way.

In 2016, silence can almost be seen as a luxury good, an increasingly precious resource that should be cherished and protected. For millennia, men and women have used silence to get closer to God, to find themselves and to find comfort within. As that gets harder to do, the premium on silence has shot up. Witness luxury car advertisers proclaim their models are the quietest on the road or the huge wellness industry that has sprung up in the past few decades, with some stressed-out executives paying thousands of dollars a night to join silent retreats. It is why when we need a break – whether it is a holiday, time away from our daily lives or just from our desks – we often seek somewhere we can be alone with our thoughts, whether that is a park bench, a yoga retreat or a tranquil hotel in an isolated spot. What all this tells us is that silence is a human need and one that is harder than ever to experience.

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It was not always like this of course. When the first humans began roaming the earth, it was a much quieter place. Like most of the functions of the human body, hearing had a vital task – it allowed hunter gatherers to protect themselves from predators and to communicate with fellow tribesmen.

These grunts eventually evolved into language and while that process was painstakingly slow, the rise in modern sound and the function of hearing today has changed rapidly.

“It really started during the Industrial Revolution. That was when modern noise pollution began,” says Julian Treasure, the chairman of The Sound Agency in the UK and a regular TED speaker, who is featured in the film.

The company champions the idea of designing soundscapes in offices and businesses amid claims they can help enhance employee productivity and boost sales with a better aesthetic experience for customers. The change from a rural lifestyle to an industrial one undoubtedly helped humans progress but it came at a cost. “Look around today and you can see four ways it affects us: physiologically, cognitively, in our behaviour and psychologically,” he says. “In offices, noise is the number one complaint and more and more offices are going open-plan despite the fact it reduces productivity and increases stress. You go to a restaurant and there could be 90 decibels of noise, which is almost unbearable – you have a restaurant designed with hard surfaces and an open-plan kitchen and no thought has gone into the noise levels. In hospitals, noise levels are currently 12 times the recommended max-

environment

imum, according to the WHO. It is a huge problem. In schools we never focus on if the children can hear. We do not teach them to listen so really in every area of life, noise is a major problem.”

What all this noise is doing to us is sobering. A WHO report says noise is the second biggest environmental killer in the modern world. Overexposure to noise can lead to everything from raised blood pressure and stress hormones to heart attacks. “Your chance of a heart attack is increased if you are exposed to noise, as is your chance of a stroke,” says Treasure. “Psychologically, it makes us unhappy. Noise is the number one complaint in hotels, in schools, in offices and in hospitals.”

the world around us with almost Terence Malick-like fervour; the camera rests on a tree, its leaves fluttering in the wind or on a kite against an overcast sky, which gives the scenes a forceful energy – the energy of stillness. There is, aptly, no narrator but we hear from the likes of Susan Cain, whose bestselling book Quiet celebrated introversion and Pico Iyer, the renowned travel writer, who has long championed stillness. The film also focuses on Greg Hindy, an American who walked more than 14,000km from New Hampshire to Los Angeles while taking a vow of silence. Hindy saw the walk as a performance art piece, something to get the observer to think about our place in the world and how we interact with it.

In Pursuit of Silence, which was filmed in eight countries, including China, Japan, the US and the UK, aims to challenge people’s relationship with noise and get us to question the type of world we want to live in. Crowdfunded on Kickstarter and raising $41,906 of its $40,000 goal, it starts, appropriately enough, with four minutes and 33 seconds of silence – an ode to John Cage’s seminal silent work 4’33”, which featured an orchestra turning pages and clearing their throats but not playing a single note.

The film’s executive producer is Poppy Szkiler, whose grandfather John Connell set up the Noise Abatement Society in the UK in 1959 to campaign against the “physical and mental distress” caused by noise pollution and light disturbance. Connell described noise as the forgotten pollutant and his ceaseless campaigning led to the UK’s Noise Abatement Act in 1960, when noise was officially termed a pollutant. The fact the society was set up more than half a century ago illustrates this is not a modern problem. The Industrial Revolution was also a noise revolution, with all what that entails.

Beautifully directed by the American filmmaker Shen, who began his career on the Emmy-nominated documentary We Served With Pride focusing on Chinese American veterans of World War II, In Pursuit of Silence captures

“He was fed up with the noise around him and put a letter in the Daily Telegraph to see if others felt the same,” says Szkiler, who runs Quiet Mark, an organisation lobbying for quieter consumer products. “He was inun-

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A lone tree, Iowa

dated with sacks of letters and he knew then that a large amount of people felt the same way.”

These days the letters come via email but the sentiments are the same: people are fed up. “Manufacturers, whether they are making cars or airplanes or household appliances, do not seem to put noise at the top of their list when they make their products,” says Szkiler. “Yet noise pollution is second only to air pollution as the biggest killer in the world and I think that is part of the reason the film has gotten so much publicity.”

Indeed, some are speculating that In Pursuit of Silence, which has already been screened at a number of film festivals around the world, will do for the awareness of noise pollution what An Inconvenient Truth did for climate change. It traverses the globe, visiting a Zen temple in Japan and a Trappist monastery in Iowa in order to explain why silence is important. This, then, is more than simply an advocacy film – it examines how we think about ourselves and reveals what happens when we embrace silence, and, as the author George Prochnik (whose book In Pursuit of Silence inspired the film) says: “Silence is the interruption of the imposition of our own egos upon the world.”

And there is hope. More and more businesses are realising what customers hear is as important as what they see. The Sound Agency works with brands to create “organic soundscapes” that enhance the atmosphere in a hotel or a mall. “We work with brands to create textures, sound that is in between silence and music - but everything we do takes silence as the starting point.”

Go to Szkiler’s Quiet Mark website and you will see quiet-branded products, everything from computers to cars that have been awarded a quiet mark.

While in her grandfather’s day, letter-writing campaigns were one of the few ways to push for change, activists now have the technology to raise awareness and fight for change.

Perhaps, as you think about what silence means to you, you will read the words of Hindy, words he spoke after a year of not speaking as he walked across America, his speech “soft and laboured”, according to his father Carl: “It’s about patience through thirst; it’s about solitude through desert; it’s about endurance through stillness; it’s about being pardoned by pavement.

It’s about being humbled by rain; it’s about being sheltered by meditation; it’s about moving through space – the human body – and time to think. It’s about seeking by wandering and it’s about speaking through silence, unspoken thoughts like vapour.”

In Pursuit of Silence will be in cinemas in the UK from October 21 and will screen internationally next year. To book one of Jumeirah’s London properties see jumeirah.com

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Image: Courtesy of In Pursuit of Silence

The publicity the film has gotten bodes well for those seeking change. Silence can be interpreted as an art, a philosophy and as a goal, yet it is really about us alone, about how we want to live and interact with the world. As the world has changed so rapidly in recent decades, maybe, the film argues, it is time for a reset, to figure out what is important and what is merely baggage. Ultimately, says Shen, “I hope the film challenges audiences to slow down and on some level, make the world new again for them”.

environment

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where To find your own SilenT SPoT

The TramunTana

Jumeirah Port Soller hotel and Spa, mallorca Perched on a clifftop, The Tramuntana terrace in the Jumeirah Port Soller offers breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains, cerulean skies and the azure Mediterranean below. Soothing white and blue decor and comfy loungers provide the perfect perch to gaze upon the best nature has to offer. Below lies the bustle of the quaint fishing village of Port de Soller but The Tramuntana is a haven of serenity where you can disconnect from the world.

jumeirah.com/mallorca

aegean caBanaS

Jumeirah Bodrum Palace, Bodrum, Turkey The Bodrum Palace’s Aegean cabanas give the impression of floating on water - and what could be more relaxing? Maldivian-style overwater beach huts on stilts give panoramic views of the Aegean Sea and promise peace and solitude - although there are butlers on hand to supply gourmet fare and chilled drinks if you want to get back to civilisation. The Maldivian Villa, spread over a vast 2,000sq ft with all amenities and an outdoor jacuzzi with a sea view, is the ultimate combination of luxury and tranquillity. jumeirah.com

mediTaTion room

Jumeirah Bilgah Beach hotel, Baku Regular meditation is said to help keep you stress-free, increase your attention span, improve the quality of your sleep and even help you lose weight. The Talise Spa in this Baku retreat on the edge of the Caspian Sea covers a 5,400sq ft space, which includes a round meditation room. It offers the ultimate relaxation with colour therapy and the calming sounds of running water. jumeirah.com

himalayan SalT room

Jumeirah messilah Beach hotel and Spa, Kuwait As tranquil as it is therapeutic, the amber-coloured salt room allows visitors to lie back on heated waterbeds, close their eyes and relax to the sound of gently trickling water. There is no chance of being disturbed by electronic devices (they’re all banned). Instead, let the salt, compressed for more than 250 million years (it is known as white gold), do its magic. The salt-infused air is said to remove toxins, boost the immune system and is thought to be beneficial for a number of common ailments. jumeirah.com

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environment

Malakiya villas

Jumeirah Dar al Masyaf, Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai Tucked away within the sprawling Madinat Jumeirah resort are these hidden gems. Inspired by the traditional courtyard houses of ancient Arabia - malakiya means royal - the seven two-storey summerhouses sit surrounded by waterways and architecture modelled on old wind towers. There are landscaped walkways, lush tropical gardens, private pools, light and airy rooms and oversized marble bathrooms, where you can sink into a tub and forget the world. jumeirah.com/madinat

ROyal REsiDENCEs

Jumeirah Zabeel saray, Dubai Set on the Palm Jumeirah's west crescent, this collection of 38 four and five-bedroomed villas are an opulent way to get away from it all.

In the Lagoon Residences, you can gaze out over tropical foliage and MiNiMENZa islaND

enjoy direct access to a lagoon-style pool. The Beach Residences

Jumeirah Dhevanafushi, Maldives

are set among gardens with a path leading directly onto a pristine

A 20-minute speedboat ride from the Jumeirah Dhevanafushi

private beach while the Seafront Residences have private pools and

resort, Minimenza is a Robinson Crusoe-style escape with an added

ample space for up to 10 guests. jumeirah.com

touch of understated luxury. There you can enjoy an intimate dining experience on your own secluded desert island. Arrive by private speedboat and discreet staff will be on hand to provide glasses of chilled champagne, picnic hampers with fine wines - or simply leave you to enjoy the treasures of the retreat by snorkelling or lying back to soak up the sunshine. As if the Maldives were not already tranquil enough‌jumeirah.com/maldives

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Images: Getty

festivals

season of mists Keats called it the “season of mists and mellow fruitfulness”. As autumn sets in, Mallorca’s towns and villages burst into life and colour with a host of festivals marking the harvest season – and as any Mallorcan will tell you, they need little excuse for a fiesta. It began last month with the melon and almond fairs, the Jumeirah-supported Habaneras (fishermen's lament) beachside festival and the infamous grape battle of Binissalem wine fair, when thousands of grapes are hurled, squashed underfoot and eaten. The carnival atmosphere continues this month with Esporles’ sweet fair, a sobrassada fair in Campos celebrating the Mallorcan sausage and the Llucmajor harvest festival. In Esporles, there are cakes, pastries, homemade jams and sweets to be sampled, as well as the local speciality, bunuelos (doughnuts). From oranges dipped in chocolate to quince jam, every sweet tooth is catered for. In Llucmajor, the harvest is marked with three weekends packed with parades, arts and crafts, live music – and, of course, a chance to taste the fruits of the season.

The festivities continue in November with an artisan fair in Pollenca, dozens of food stalls at the Dijous Bo agricultural fair in Inca and a tribute to the humble olive in Caimari, a village in the foothills of the Tramuntana mountains. Named one of the top 10 gastronomic fairs in Europe by the Guardian newspaper, it celebrates the crop from more than 200,000 trees scattered across the island.

Meanwhile at the pumpkin fair in Muro, participants will be trying to beat the previous record of 82kg in a competition to find the biggest fruit while the honey fair in Llubi will give a chance to sample different kinds of honey, meet beekeepers and try honey liqueurs. seemallorca.com The Jumeirah Port Soller Hotel and Spa in Mallorca will close for the winter on November 6 and reopen on March 24, 2017. jumeirah.com/mallorca

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The European Central Bank

The InsIders’ GuIde To‌

FrankFurt

Image: Getty. Interviews by Gareth rees

In the first instalment of a special new monthly series, we talk to residents of the cities where Jumeirah has hotels to find out what they really think and feel about their home

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travel

Juergen Boos

Juergen Boos, 55

Bookseller, publisher and director of the Frankfurter Buchmesse, (Frankfurt Book Fair). Married with one child

When I think of Frankfurt, I think of a liberal and international city where millions of people come together day by day to do business, meet and talk and also to enjoy a rich cultural life. Above all, it is the city where the Frankfurter Buchmesse takes place every year in October.

My favourite escape in the city is a walk in the Palmengarten [botanical gardens] and a good coffee at Cafe Siesmayer. Only recently I discovered the walk along the river Main towards Frankfurt’s Ostend, which has new architectural landmarks such as the European Central Bank, a vivid independent art scene and outstanding new restaurants along the riverbank.

In the city I love to meet interesting people from all nations who live here and discuss political and cultural issues over dinner, especially after attending one of the numerous cultural events - for example, when the Literaturhaus [Literature House] presents an author’s new novel or there is a gallery preview.

The city’s best-kept secret is the huge Frankfurt Main Cemetery, where a lot of famous people are buried, including [the philosophers] Arthur Schopenhauer and Theodor Adorno and [the psychiatrist] Alois Alzheimer. It is an overwhelmingly beautiful park with old trees and impressive funerary monuments.

The best books about my city are any of the non-fiction books about the philosophical movement known as the Frankfurter Schulz [Frankfurt School]. If I want to be distracted, I grab one of cartoonist FK Waechter’s books, which are also displayed in the Caricatura Museum Frankfurt.

The hardest thing about Frankfurt is that it is not located by the sea. The best part about Frankfurt is the number of inspiring people I meet here.

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Image: Getty

Robert Ackermann

Senckenberg Museum

Rooftop of Jumeirah Frankfurt

RobeRt AckeRmAnn, 50

hotel. married, two children

munity. Frankfurt is an active town but not as huge as Berlin, Hamburg or Munich. I love the cosmopolitan nature of Frankfurt. It is not all about the financial district.

My earliest memory of the city is seeing the dinosaurs at the Senckenberg Museum. When I first visited the museum with my dad, I was five years old and a big dinosaur fan. Now I visit the museum once a year with my children. I have a seven-year-old and a nine-year-old and I love to see their big eyes when they stand in front of the Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton.

My favourite escape in the city is spending time in one of the many chilled cafes or bars. My favourite cafes are Bitter and Zart, Glauburg Cafe and Cafe Wacker. As for bars, I love the The Kinly Bar.

beekeeper taking care of the rooftop bees at the Jumeirah Frankfurt

I grew up in Giessen, a town just to the north of Frankfurt but I lived outside the Frankfurt area for more than 25 years. First I went to Bavaria to study economics at the University of Bamberg and then I lived in Munich for a long time. But during that time I came to Frankfurt often to visit friends and I always had a good time. When my wife and I started to settle down to family life, we came back to the Frankfurt area. We are self-employed so we can live anywhere we want in Germany but we are happy to be back in Frankfurt.

It is very easy to live here.

When I think of Frankfurt, I think of skyscrapers. Frankfurt is the only city in Germany with skyscrapers and when I visit my bees on the Jumeirah rooftop, I have a stunning view of them all. The new European Central Bank is the most beautiful one. I also think of apfelwein [apple wine] – try it at Apfelwein Wagner or Fichtekranzi – and the city’s vibrant international com-

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In the city I love to visit Food Truck Fridays in the Jahrhunderthalle. You will find the best food trucks in the city all in one place and you can have a chilled picnic in the Butterblumchenwiese [buttercup meadow]. The visitors are mostly locals but the food is international - American burgers and pulled beef, German spaetzle, Italian pizza, French crepes, Austrian noodles, Mexican burritos, Japanese sushi and gyoza and Indian curries. I visit a lot of street food events and this one is the best.

My favourite memory of Frankfurt is being offered a place for some of my bees on top of the Jumeirah Frankfurt hotel, 300ft above the city with a stunning view.

The hardest thing about living here is surviving the traffic jams. I am so happy not to be a commuter. If the weather is fine I use my bike. It is definitely much quicker to ride a bike or use public transport than it is to drive.

travel Martin Engler

Image: Getty

Fleamarket

The best part of living here is being outside the city centre. I have lived in Giessen since I came back to the Frankfurt area. I have a house with a garden.

From my house I can see castles and the Lahn Valley, the children’s school is in walking distance and we have a big meadow with scattered fruit trees where I also keep some bees. I love to live in the countryside and still be able to reach the centre of Frankfurt in 40 minutes.

At weekends I like to visit Taunus, a recreational area between my hometown and Frankfurt, with my family. There are mountains and a forest. It is perfect for hiking and biking. You will also find the Opel Zoo and the Hessenpark, an outdoor museum with historical artefacts from the area. In nearby Bad Homburg is one of the golf clubs in Germany, the Bad Homburger Golf Club.

Martin EnglEr, 48

Head of contemporary art at the Staedel Museum. Single

I was born in a small wine-growing village in the south of Germany called Ihringen. I moved to Frankfurt eight years ago. I was hired when the Staedel Museum decided to build an extension for contemporary art, which opened in 2012. I did not plan to live in Frankfurt and it wasn’t love at first sight but I have grown to like it. It has only about 700,000 inhabitants but it is very diverse. You can experience a totally different city if you just cross the river.

The small villages or towns that have been incorporated into the city over

time have retained their unique character. You feel that it is a city in transition – that some parts of it are still in the process of being assimilated.

My earliest memory of the city is the dinosaurs at the Senckenberg Natural History Museum, which I visited on a high school trip but the first day I moved here, when I walked from the train station to the museum, I noticed the river. It is big but not so big that it divides the city. The museums are on one side and the banks are on the other but the two sides are still linked because you can cross the river quite easily.

My favourite escape in the city is the terrace of the rowing club next to the Friedensbrucke [station], the Frankfurter Ruder Club 1884. It is not a fancy place and not a very big terrace but it is the perfect spot to sit at sunset and watch the joggers on the riverbank and people rowing on the river. I rowed in school and I took it up again when I moved to Frankfurt.

The best part of living here is that I do not need a car. Everything is within walking or cycling distance. In German towns cycling is a very popular way of moving around. If I am cycling for pleasure, I will cycle along the river bank.

The hardest thing about living here is the apfelwein, which, having come from a wine-producing area where we were used to very good wines, I still have not gotten used to.

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Nada Lottermann and Vanessa Fuentes

Image: Getty

Grueneburgpark

At weekends I like to walk through the fleamarket on the bank of the river Main in the day. I visit the fleamarket for the party atmosphere. It transforms the whole riverbank into a little village. I enjoy a night out at the Robert Johnson club, one of the most renowned electronic music clubs in Germany.

It has the best audio system and attracts lots of international DJs. When I leave work I like to spend time in the vibrant Bahnhofsviertel neighbourhood around the main station. In the 1980s and 1990s it was very rundown but recently it has been transformed. It is still undergoing the process of gentrification so it is fancy but it still has its original character.

I like Walon and Rosetti, a restaurant with a very good European fusion menu, Plank, a great bar and a wonderful place for fish called Alims Fisch Imbiss.

It is very basic but they have the freshest and best fish in town. You can buy fish to cook at home or eat it in the small restaurant.

Nada LottermaNN, 38 aNd VaNessa FueNtes, 49

My favourite memory of Frankfurt is when my grandma and grandpa from Greece lived here with us in Bockenheim. I was a little girl and my grandpa always picked me up from the kindergarten and we had the tradition of going to Palmengarten for an ice-cream and to feed the birds there. I loved it.

At weekends I like to go out for a nice dinner with my friends. My favourite restaurants are Moriki, Stanley Diamond, Vai Vai and Pasta Davini.

The hardest thing about living here is that there is no beach, otherwise Frankfurt would be the best city in the world. The best part of living here is that we are free from all the trendsetters and fashion victims you sometimes have in big cities.

FueNtes:

I was born in Lima, Peru. I grew up in Westend, Frankfurt.

My earliest memory of the city is being driven home after a few weeks of summer holiday outside Frankfurt and seeing the city skyline from the freeway. When I think of Frankfurt I feel home.

Both photographers and mothers-of-two; co-founders of Lottermann and Fuentes studio

I was born in Frankfurt am Main. My earliest memory of the city is the first day I took the metro from Leipziger Strasse in Bockenheim to the city centre by myself. I was nine or 10. Everything was so big and exciting. I do not like to ride the metro anymore - I hate it, actually. Frankfurt is a small city so you can stick to riding your bike everywhere.

LottermaN:

I grew up in Frankfurt Bockenheim. It is a very international neighbourhood.

I played outside on the streets with all the other children. It was a lot of fun and we had nothing to fear. Now you do not see a lot of children on the streets and all the small shops have changed to big, cheap global shops. I don’t like that. The neighbourhood I live in now, Westend, is like Bockenheim in the old days - small shops owned by familes who also work in them. Everyone knows each other. I like the village feel.

When I think of Frankfurt I feel home and safe. My favourite escape in the city is the Grueneburgpark. It is near our apartment in Westend. It is nice to hang out with the family in a green space.

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In the city I love to be on my bike. You can reach anywhere in the city in a short time. The best film about my city is GI Blues with Elvis Presley. It is not actually about Frankfurt but Elvis sings about Frankfurt. The song is called Frankfurt Special. I love it. My favourite line is: ‘Frankfurt girls got pretty faces’.

My favourite memory of Frankfurt is walking round the corner in my neighbourhood with my father to buy drinks for Sunday lunch, having a little chat about what had happened the previous week, just walking and joking.

The best part of living here is the diversity, which makes little Frankfurt seem like a big city. At weekends I like to go out for a nice dinner with my friends or just stay at home with my husband and our children. At weekends I like to go to the market on a Saturday and buy and eat a lot of fresh homemade food.

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