Open Skies | November 2015

THE FOOD MYTH

Photography Patrick Demarchelier

Le Théâtre Dior From November 9 to November 24, 2015 The Dubai Mall, Fashion Catwalk Atrium

Diamond Guitar played by Jermaine Jackson in front of an audience of 40,000 at the BBC Proms, Hyde Park.

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ContributorS

Gary Evans, Andrew Birbeck, Gemma Correll, Meryl D’Souza, Kaye Martindale, Daniel Huffman, Mark Johanson, Carolyn Stritch, Sandra Tinari, Sean Williams. Cover: Kyle Smart ChiEf CoMMErCiaL offiCEr Anthony Milne anthony@motivate.ae gEnEraL ManagEr ProduCtion S Sunil Kumar ProduCtion ManagEr R Murali Krishnan

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dEPuty SaLES ManagEr Amar Kamath EditoriaL ConSuLtantS for EMiratES Editor Hannah Burden Hamer arabiC Editor Hatem Omar dEPuty Editor Andy Grant WEbSitE emirates.com InternatIonal MedIa representatIves auStraLia/nEW ZEaLand Okeeffe Media; Tel + 61 894 472 734, okeeffekev@bigpond.com.au bELgiuM and LuXEMbourg M.P.S. Benelux; Tel +322 720 9799, francesco.sutton@mps-adv.com China Publicitas Advertising; Tel +86 10 5879 5885 gErMany IMV Internationale Medien Vermarktung GmbH; Tel +49 8151 550 8959, w.jaeger@imv-media.com hong Kong/MaLaySia/thaiLand Sonney Media Networks; Tel +852 2151 2351, hemant@sonneymedia.com india Media Star; Tel +91 22 4220 2103, ravi@mediastar.co.in JaPan Tandem Inc.; Tel + 81 3 3541 4166, all@tandem-inc.com nEthErLandS giO media; Tel +31 (0)6 22238420, giovanni@giO-media.nl PaKiStan D&S International News Agency; Tel +92 3235345727, dnsnewsagency@gmail.com SWitZErLand, franCE/itaLy & SPain IMM International; Tel +331 40 1300 30, n.devos@imm-international.com turKEy Media Ltd.; Tel +90 212 275 51 52, mediamarketingtr@medialtd.com.tr uK Spafax Inflight Media; Tel +44 207 906 2001, nhopkins@spafax.com uSa Totem Brand Stories; Tel +1 4168475100, nicole.mullin@tc.tc Emirates takes care to ensure that all facts published herein are correct. In the event of any inaccuracy please contact the editor. Any opinion expressed is the honest belief of the author based on all available facts. Comments and facts should not be relied upon by the reader in taking commercial, legal, financial or other decisions. Articles are by their nature general and specialist advice should always be consulted before any actions are taken.

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E D I T O R ’ S

L E T T E R

ON THE COVER

ANDREW NAGY

I

remember leaving university, as a twenty-something, with hopes, dreams and an incredibly strong desire not to get a real job.

Not immediately at least. And so in hopelessly clichéd fashion, I set about booking a round-the-world trip.

After a few weeks of prep (begging for money from parents and any other wealthy relatives I could find), the route was set. India-Thailand-Vietnam-FijiAustralia-America. I was happy.

It took my best friend roughly 20 seconds to shoot down this dream. “Ooh, mate. India? India first? I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” His thinking being that the second most populous country on Earth might be such an assault on the senses that making it my first port of call would have me running home within the week.

I followed his advice, and was ultimately pleased I did. Don’t get me wrong, India is an absolutely amazing country, with stunning landscapes and rich history, but any journey there can be tough, par ticularly a first one and especially by train – watching the stark contrasts of life whizzing past your window. However, this is also what makes it one of the classic journeys.

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Fully aware of government plans to modernise India’s railway, we felt it only wise to send a writer there for one final hurrah. “Go until your visa runs out,” was the plan. And he did, and he’s put together a rather lovely feature about it too.

Another thing I remember about India is that back then, as a rather naïve traveller with a less than iron constitution, I feared eating almost ever ything. It resulted in a diet of, well, bread. The upshot was that I lost a fair amount of weight and missed out on whole host of fantastic food.

Why am I telling you this? Well, our other main feature this month is about neurogastronomy and it’s staggering. I won’t go into details here, but suffice to say that I know what you’ll be eating in the future – it comes in a special shape to fit your mouth and with added sounds of the sea.

Enjoy the issue.

THE FOOD MYTH This month’s cover story will revolutionise the way you eat. Neurogastronomy is the name of the game and it’s absolutely mindboggling. For our cover we went to illustrator Kyle Smart, whose work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal and Port magazine.

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C O N T R I B U T O R S

NOVEMBER Some of the people who helped create this issue of Open Skies ANDREW BIRBECK

MERYL D’SOUZA

GARY EVANS

MARK JOHANSON

Andrew is an Edinburgh-born author, writer and blogger who contributes regularly to a broad range of international and national titles. This month he spoke with Komal Ahmad, who created an app to feed the homeless.

Meryl is the deputy digital editor at GQ India who turned, grudgingly, to journalism after accepting the hard truth that he just wasn’t good enough to become a professional footballer. This month he writes about Diwali.

Gary is a freelance feature writer from Sunderland.

His writing has appeared in Rolling Stone, The Guardian, The Independent and Dazed & Confused. This month he writes about India.

Mark is an American writer who contributes to a number of international publications from his home in Santiago, Chile. This month he explores the multisensory process behind our flavour.

“The beauty of an idea often lies in simplicity.

Komal Ahmad and the Feeding Forward team are focused on one goal – to end food poverty through excess food re-distribution. And it all comes down to an app.”

“As a Christian boy brought up in India, the festival of Diwali was an unusual but fun time. My friends got presents – I didn’t, but it’s an amazing moment of celebration and I still always love the fireworks.”

“Travel the length and breadth of India by train: that was my big idea.

One of the world’s most populous countries, it turns out, is held together with red tape.

But the many delays and detours were what made this trip so special.”

“It was mindboggling to discover that eating is one of the most multisensory of all human experiences.

After speaking with experimental psychologist Charles Spence, I will never look at another meal in the same way.”

KAYE MARTINDALE

CAROLYN STRITCH

SANDRA TINARI

SEAN WILLIAMS

Kaye is a semi-nomadic writer currently based in Yorkshire’s beautiful Calder Valley. This month she travelled down to London for lunch with the acclaimed chef Tom Sellers.

Carolyn is a freelance photographer and blogger from Newcastle. She spent four months photographing India, guided by one selfimposed rule: she would travel only by train.

Sandra is an Australian freelance journalist and photographer, based in Dubai.

This month she wrote about not only the fantastic Cafe Rider, but also man behind Vintage Watch Dubai.

Sean is a British writer and photographer based in Berlin.

He has written for The New Yorker, the Economist, VICE, and Esquire. This month he writes on how Rugby Sevens is rivalling the full game.

“There’s never a dull moment in India, arguably the most photogenic country in the world.

Photographing its everchanging landscape is thrilling, even if it was through the dirty window of a train.”

“As a journalist there was a wistfulness on seeing the functional timepieces with a story collected by Vintage Watch Dubai; if only they could whisper of the tales they’ve seen and the battles they’ve survived.”

“It’s almost strange writing about sevens rugby while the 15-a-side guys are in the middle of a World Cup. But with the game soon to take its Olympic bow in Rio, the gap between the two is much smaller than I’d thought. ”

“It’s always inspiring to hear of someone rising from humble beginnings to fulfil their dreams and ambitions. My meeting with British celebrity chef, Tom Sellers, was the perfect heartwarming story of a working class hero done good. And boy, has he done good.”

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AN OASIS IN THE AIR FOR 30 YEARS.

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FRONT

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November 3

The Melbourne Cup Melbourne, AustrAliA

Jean Shrimpton wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice. Three days earlier, at the horse race known as ‘The Derby’, the British model hadn’t really given her outfit (above) too much consideration, yet had both outraged Australian high society and thrust the miniskirt into global conscious in one effortlessly glamorous swoop.

Of course, after the furore had died down and she came to attend the main event, the 1965 Melbourne Cup, the woman described as the first supermodel was rather more classically attired with

three-piece suit, straw-hat gloves and tights. However, there was no denying who had grabbed the front pages over the course of the biggest week in Australia’s annual sporting calendar.

Fifty years down the line fashion still has a special place at the Melbourne Cup, but it’s the day as a whole that has seen it become known as The Race That Stops A Nation – now an official trademark by the Victoria Racing Club... and a poem by Australian writer Vivienne McCredie, for that matter. Make no mistake about it: this

is no horse race, it’s a national institution.

Running since 1861, even the outbreak of war couldn’t stop it and it’s now a public holiday in Melbourne, mainly in weary acceptance from workplaces that would report record sick leave on race day.

With AUS$6.2 million to share between the first 10 past the post, it’s the richest two-mile race on earth, and as a handicap it offers an interesting glimpse into the Australian psyche: with better horses weighted down, every nag has an equal chance – it’s all about who wants it most.

IwoRDs: anDREw nagy IMagE: gETTy

ThIs MonTh’s MElbouRnE Cup wIll bRIng ausTRalIa To a sTanDsTIll onCE agaIn, MakIng IT a hoRsE RaCE ThaT’s lEss spoRT anD MoRE FIERCE naTIonal pRIDE

Every year Emirates brings one of its many destinations to life in its Flemington Racecourse hospitality marquee. The Emirates Marquee has seen key attractions of the world recreated including the canals of Venice; France’s Chateau Versailles; Dubai’s bedouin villages; India’s vibrant colours and fragrant tastes. This year the theme is England.

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E x p E r i E n c E

November 9 – 24

Le ThéâTre Dior Dubai, uaE

In 1947 the French designer Christian Dior turned the fashion world upside down when he launched a debut haute couture collection dubbed the New Look. His clothes were all about creating feminine silhouettes, the pinnacle of which being the Bar Suit. Easily his most iconic piece it featured a large corolla skirt that kicked out over the hips with a white blazer that synched in at the waist.

It might seem unusual to describe a single outfit as having great historical significance, but strict rationing, the war

effort and the general make-do-and-mend attitude of wartime Europe meant women had been sporting simple, boxy and more militaristic outfits. This helped the line become a roaring success and soon his New Look was being imitated the world over. You can discover just why at Le Theatre Dior, a travelling exhibition of Dior’s most famous haute couture dresses in small-scale form at The Dubai Mall’s Fashion Catwalk Atrium this month.

Each outfit – and there are more than 60 of them – is perfectly identical to the

original, and was painstakingly recreated using the same techniques and fabrics.

For example, every last inch of the 1949 Miss Dior dress, (allegedly named after Christian’s sister Catherine), is covered in beautiful individually handcrafted flowers.

The show features outfits from the last seven decades of Dior, including the stunning gold dress worn by actress Charlize Theron in the 2011 J’adore advert. So go along, pick your favourite and convince yourself it’s a history lesson. dior.com

If you’re into fashion, check out Lifestyle TV on ice Digital Widescreen, home to fashion channels including Fashion One, E! and Video Fashion.

Plus, the hit movie The Devil Wears Prada is showing in Film Club and In Louboutin’s Shoes is on channel 1274 in Documentaries.

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WOrDS: LOuISE quICk IMAGE: BAkAS ALGIrDAS FOr DIOr

ExPLOrE ThE LAST SEVEn DECADES OF DIOr hAuTE COuTurE AS ThE FAMED FAShIOn hOuSE ShOWCASES OVEr 60 OF ITS ICOnIC DrESSES In DuBAI

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November 11 – 15

Diwali india

When I was a child my Diwali-related emotions were always fear and jealousy.

Fear because for every dazzling firework show there were deafening firecrackers that would scare the life out of even grown men. Jealousy because it wasn’t easy for a five-year-old Christian boy to see his closest friends receiving Diwali gifts while standing just a few feet away.

As time went on, the festival of lights became nothing more than a five-day licence to create as much havoc as possible.

The best part was that the adults were in on it too, and pranking your neighbours

with firecrackers earned you high-fives instead of a spanking. Staying up until the early hours of the morning was also a much-cherished prerequisite. I was well into my teens before I even bothered to find out what the festival was really about and what it meant to Hindus around the world.

Hindu mythology tells an epic tale of Lord Rama and his wife Sita returning to their kingdom in northern India from exile after defeating the demon king Ravana. In essence, the festival is a celebration of light over darkness that happens to fittingly coincide with the

Hindu New Year. It’s the celebration of a new beginning and an official holiday in Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Mauritius, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Malaysia, Singapore, Fiji and Pakistan.

There’s something highly symbolic and soothing in watching those fireworks illuminate the sky. It’s like letting go of your inhibitions, vanquishing your demons from the past 12 months and looking on as they splatter into nothing against the ink-black sky – all the while creating something inexplicably beautiful for the rest of the world to watch.

Emirates serves nine destinations in India: Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Trivandrum, Mumbai and New Delhi.

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IMAGE: GETTY

THErE’s soMETHING sooTHING ABouT THE sYMBolIC DIwAlI fIrEworK DIsplAYs You CAN ExpECT THIs MoNTH, sAYs MErYl D’souzA, GQ INDIA’s DEpuTY DIGITAl EDITor

F O R

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M A D R I D / D I AG O N A L

DEPARTMENT STORES SPAIN & PORTUGAL

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November 27 – 29

Abu DhAbi GrAnD Prix Yas Marina circuit, uaE

Let me tell you this: Abu Dhabi is a great circuit. I’ve been on the podium there three times and it’s a fun track to drive on.

That said, it has its own unique challenges.

Its sectors are made up of two almost completely different parts: fast corners and long straights in Sectors One and Two, and a tight, twisty, slow-speed bit in Sector Three. It really does have everything, and for a driver it’s very satisfying to race there.

A lot of my affinity for the place probably also comes from the fact that it’s usually the last race of the season and it

almost feels like an end of term party.

This season’s been a little rough, but it’s also had positives.Thankfully, every race in F1 is a new opportunity to win – you can’t really look at it any other way.There’s no doubt this is a very glamorous sport and as drivers we’re extremely fortunate, but there’s a lot of hard work, long hours, media and partner commitments, time spent on planes, jet lag, training, and all the other elements that come with driving in 19 Grand Prix races a year.

I’ve worked with Tag Heuer on a number of campaigns and activities during my time

at McLaren, but I don’t tend to wear one during the race, as it’s important to be as light as possible when you’re racing. Out of the car I’ve been wearing the Formula 1 chronograph McLaren special edition.

As for retirement, I’m not thinking about anything beyond next year at this point.

This is my 16th year in F1 and I know I won’t be on the grid forever, but the sport has been part of my life for so long that I haven’t really contemplated what I’d do when I hang up my helmet. abudhabi-grand-prix.com

Watch real-time sport on ice TV Live, which is now available on more than 70 of our Boeing 777 aircraft. The Sport 24 channel airs live F1 races including the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on November 29. More aircraft with ice TV Live are coming soon.

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IMAGE: GETTy

ForMEr WorLD chAMPIoN DrIVEr JENSoN BuTToN oN ThIS MoNTh’S GrAND PrIx FINALE, ThE PErcEIVED GLAMour oF F1, AND hoW hE hASN’T EVEN ThouGhT ABouT rETIrEMENT yET

Miranda Kerr

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F L A S H B A C K

THE SPRUCE GOOSE FLIES

ON NOVEMBER 2, 1947, ECCENTRIC BILLIONAIRE HOWARD HUGHES FLIES THE LARGEST, LONGEST, WIDEST PLANE EVER SEEN The look on Howard Hughes’ face was a picture. Having taken the flying boat HK-4 Hercules on two increasingly quicker taxi tests, one final attempt was set to go. As the wooden behemoth sped across the water, it slowly rose to 70ft, coming back down with a surprisingly graceful splash around 1.6km later. The Spruce Goose had just taken what would be its one and only flight.

Despite a revered place in history, the Spruce Goose (a nickname Hughes detested) was actually something of a problem. In 1942, with the US in the grip of World War II and the Allies suffering at the hands of German U-boats in the Atlantic, a large aircraft carrier was required – and Howard Hughes was commissioned, along with ship builder Henry J. Kaiser, to build it.

Unfortunately, Hughes was something of a perfectionist. He didn’t build normal; it had to be the fastest or the slowest, the biggest or the smallest.

According to Kaiser, it was this which caused the delays that meant construction didn’t even begin until 1944 – when the war was coming to an end and the plane not needed. Kaiser promptly walked off the project leaving Hughes to go it alone with the modified HK-4 Hercules model instead.

By 1947 it was ready, but Hughes was called to a Senate War Investigating Committee to answer why $22m of government funds had been used on just one prototype. “The Hercules was a monumental undertaking,” he explained.

“It is the largest aircraft ever built. It is over five stories tall with a wingspan longer than a football field. That’s more than a city block. Now, I put the sweat of my life into this thing…. if it’s a failure, I’ll probably leave this country and never come back. And I mean it.”

On November 2, 1947 the Spruce Goose flew, thus validating the use of government funds. After which it was kept in a climate-controlled hangar with a full-time staff keeping it operational right up until Hughes’ death in 1976.

BIRDWATCHING HUGHES’ ORIGINAL FLYING BOAT STILL STANDS After leaving Hughes’ hangar – since used as a movie set for films such as Titanic and End of Days – the Spruce Goose was bought by the Aero Club of Southern California and used in a number of exhibitions. It now has, what should hopefully be, a final resting place at the Evergreen Aviation Museum in Oregon, US. Undoubtedly star attraction, here visitors can wander around the wooden beast at their leisure. evergreenmuseum.org

If you’re an aviation enthusiast in London, check out The Emirates Aviation Experience, which gives an insight into the modern achievements of commercial air travel. If you’re in Dubai, visit The Emirates A380 Experience which lets you take the controls in our state-of-the art flight simulator at Dubai Mall.

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E n t r E p r E n E u r

Feeding Forward San FranciSco, caliFornia

Words: AndreW BirBeck iMAGe: JuliA roBBs | 32 |

E N T R E P R E N E U R

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE For the real San Francisco… head for Mission. It’s a great district with real local flavour and the excellent Tartine Bakery. For terrific city views hang out in Dolores Park.

If you just have a day in the city I’d recommend… hiring a bike in Golden Gate Park, cycling to the bridge and grabbing brunch or lunch at North Beach.

The best coffee in town…

I love Philz Coffee. There are a few around but you’ll find the original on 24 Street in Mission.

The best advice I can give is…

Take time to figure out your calling and when you do, follow through, no matter what. Own your dream.

I

n 2012 Komal Ahmad had what could be described as an epiphany. Appalled by the homelessness and hunger she witnessed in and around Berkeley, where she was studying medicine with a view to joining the Navy, Komal had an idea.

It sounds like simplicity itself, a glaringly obvious solution to a problem that really shouldn’t exist.

Ahmad noticed that thousands of tonnes of perfectly edible food was being thrown away each day. It led her to the question: what if that food could be re-directed to those who so desperately needed it? From tiny acorns giant oaks grow. Starting at UC Berkeley, Ahmad began to organise a food re-direction programme. It was both a runaway success and steep learning curve. “The issue is not a lack of food, but rather an inequitable distribution of it,” she says. “The food recovery scheme we started on campus was called BareAbundance which, in a short time, became the not-for-profit organisation Feeding Forward.”

With willing on-site volunteers and the co-operation of the college, food that otherwise would have either been composted or binned was re-distributed locally. Komal describes her initial

endeavours as “simple yet highly effective food recovery that essentially redistributed excess edible food from campus dining halls to nearby after-school programmes, homeless shelters and other human service agencies”. The positive impact was immediate and the programme quickly spread throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. At face value all this sounds relatively easy and makes perfect sense. However, the logistics and organisation are simply mindboggling. And that’s where can-do thinking, determination, innovation, a great team working together and technology come in.

“I realised the traditional method of coordinating food donations over the phone is fraught with inefficiencies,” explains Ahmad. “Often people end up with excess food and are unable to locate and contact the people who need it most when they need it most. Feeding Forward solves this issue by using the speed and accessibility of smart phones.”

The technology, which is constantly being updated and enhanced, allows businesses and organisations to register a food surplus. The only information needed is the type of food available, how much there is and when it should be collected. Feeding Forward does the rest. “Our platform

detects the user’s location and immediately matches their excess food to nearby organisations in need,” explains Ahmad. “An on-demand driver picks up and delivers.

The organisation will then send a thankyou message along with a picture and/or testimonials of the people the delivery fed.

It allows the user to see the actual impact made in people’s lives.”

Across the planet food waste takes place on an unimaginable scale. The statistics are truly shocking. In the US alone an estimated 40 per cent of consumable food produced goes to waste. To put this in perspective, that equates to around 165 million kilos per day. It’s difficult to reconcile this fact with hunger being a stark reality for a significant portion of the American population and, of course, around the globe. Bizarrely too there are huge fiscal and environmental costs attached to disposing of this excess with more than a billion dollars per annum being spent in the US to get rid of food.

Much of it ends up in landfill too with inherent environmental implications. Redistribution seems to be the answer and there’s no reason for the initiative not to spread far beyond American borders. feedingforward.com

Have you downloaded the Emirates App? Available for iPhone, iPad and Android, the Emirates App makes it easy to view and arrange your trips when you’re on the go. Designed to complement the iPhone app, there’s also an Emirates App for Apple Watch.

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L u n c h

w i t h

Tom SellerS We meet the UK’s most talked about chef at his Michelin-starred Restaurant Story WORDS: Kaye MaRtinDale iMageS: geOff BROKate

W

ell this is awkward.

Tom Sellers, rising star of the UK’s burgeoning food scene, and owner of the hugely popular Restaurant Story in London, is late; 20 minutes late to be exact.

Once here, and in-between apologising profusely, he explains

how he’s only just found out about the interview, leaving us to haggle over how much time we have. Once settled and with his small white dog, Daphne, in tow, we talk.

I’d read about Tom’s transformation from slacker schoolboy to focused and driven chef who plotted his career through

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Rush The Team Members of LUX* help people to celebrate life with the most simple, fresh and sensory hospitality in the world.

M AU R I T I U S R E U N I O N M A L D I V E S C H I N A U . A . E ( 2 0 1 6 ) | L U X R E S O R T S. C O M

L u n c h

w i t h

i loved the kitchen – the camaraderie with a group of people, the pressure, the heat. i was a rogue as a kid but just connected with the discipline in there

the kitchens of the finest restaurants in the world with a chess player’s precision. Along the way he became one of the youngest chefs in the UK with his own restaurant to boot.

With a modish side fringe and an air of mischeif about him, Tom appears younger than his 28 years, but while his face offers a warm smile and open manner, his body language tells another story. His arms are folded high around his ribcage while his torso and legs point away from me – par t defensive, part ready to dash off to the next par t of his day.

Like most people, he warms up as he star ts to talk and the time-conscious urgency melts away as he falls into the slow lilt of his Midland accent. He’s happy to talk at length about his humble beginnings in a “normal Nottingham estate”, winding his way through tales in an unguarded manner that perhaps I

should have expected from someone who’s based the concept of their restaurant around their life.

As he talks about revelling in the high-octane pressure of life in a kitchen, I wonder where this laidback guy found the drive to fight his way to the top of such a competitive industry. “I fell in love with the energy that you get from cooking,” he explains.

“The camaraderie with a group of people, the pressure, the heat. I was a bit of a rogue as a kid and there was a discipline there that I connected with.”

At the age of 16, life came into focus as he decided – as he has throughout his career – that if he was going to do something, he wasn’t going to settle for second best. He knocked on the door of Tom Aiken, then London’s most innovative chef, and asked for a job. After a one-day trial he

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w i t h

I remember standIng outsIde readIng that revIew, In tears, thInkIng to myself: ‘just what have I done?’ was offered a commis chef position. He leans in, offering me a snippet of classic Tom Sellers folklore “Tom [Aiken] said, ‘I’ll pay you £12,000 a year and you work 110 hours a week.’”

It was a masterstroke, the first of Tom’s many bold leaps out of his comfor t zone and into the unknown. “I found out very quickly that I was entering a ver y different world. Tom [Aiken] is a very intense individual who expected the highest standards in a very pressured high-speed environment.” Rising to the occasion, the previous serial underachiever found the challenge infectious.

Aiken went on to become an influential figure in Tom’s life.

“He realised I had some talent and saw that I was young and driven so he invested a lot, becoming a father figure to me. I was in his kitchen 19 hours a day and it was there that I went from being a teenager to a young man.”

But like all father/son relationships there came a point where Tom felt he had to go his own way. Nervous to broach the subject with his mentor, he found the words to say he felt it was time to leave. Aiken could see Tom’s potential and arranged the job of a lifetime for his protégé at Per Se in the US, one of the world’s top restaurants. “It felt like it was a reward for all the dedication and hard work I’d done for him. I think he knew that Per Se could take me to places that he couldn’t.”

Unlike the 16-year-old who fell into food without too much of a plan, two years later Tom was now showing the clearly thought out determination and confidence that has brought him success at such a young age. “When I left London the big drive for me was that I wanted to do things, to show that I wasn’t the underachiever I’d been at school. My plan was to work with great chefs and in the back of my mind I was like: ‘One day it’ll be a dream to cook my own food.’ I truly believe I was meant to cook; to express myself with food.”

At 18, Tom left behind the life that had shaped him and bought a one-way ticket to New York. His time at Per Se gave him the skills he needed to take his skillset and sense of possibility to the next level. Watching Thomas Keller manage

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the place gave him a wider view of what it meant to be a chef.

He started to see that he could pull together a brand and a concept to create a common goal with a group of people.

Listening to Tom, I get the sense he’s spent a lot of time talking and thinking about his ‘journey’, as he explains both his personal and professional development while in New York.

However, after almost two years at Per Se Tom found himself, once again, hungry for the next challenge. Next was a brief stint in France where he found the 40-hour working week limiting, followed by a return to London for a spell at Trinity, where he focused on the business end of being a chef.

Keen to return to an elite kitchen, Aiken again orchestrated a high-profile position at the world renowned Noma restaurant in Copenhagen. “It was hard. I had to learn a new way of cooking, of thinking: It was a totally different philosophy.”

The most important thing that he learnt at Noma was that it was time to go it alone. “I didn’t care how old I was or what people were going to say to me.” With the philosophy that has defined Tom’s short career he decided that he should stop thinking about it and do it. Two years later he took the most decisive step of his career and opened London restaurant, Story.

Feeling the weight of expectation, Tom was determined that Story be a reflection of his identity and tell the tale of his background, philosophy and journey. Petrified that he would be seen only as a facsimile of his illustrious list of mentors, he created a menu grounded in traditional British cooking, with more than a nod to his working class background.

His signature recipe is the ‘candle’, a bread and beef dripping dish, inspired by his father’s favourite weekend meal.

“It all star ted with that dish and went on from there. I always wanted a restaurant and always wanted to call it Stor y, because I was going to tell what I was all about. My stor y, my life, everything I’ve worked for : the hours of blood, sweat and tears, it all came down to this.”

Gaining a Michelin star within five months of opening was the perfect start. However, despite all the accolades and glowing reviews, the ever driven Tom is still spurred on by his first and worst review.

Despite his frequent pronouncements that he’s never asked for anyone’s approval, he seems haunted by the reviewer’s

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opinion that Stor y was simply “a restaurant to tick off the list and not to revisit”. He turns to me momentarily as if searching for sympathy, as he confesses to “standing outside in tears after reading the review thinking, ‘What have I done?’ ” Keen to put a positive spin on a bad situation, Tom now thinks the reviewer did him a favour. “It made me think long and hard about how we can continue to reinvent ourselves, to keep moving forward and refining what we do.”

As we begin to wrap up the inter view, Tom’s body rests back and he turns the chair away from me, gazing out of the window. I sense he’s shifting into a different mode, moving away from the temporar y compliance he’d offered as he prepares to step back into the lead role. Interestingly, as the photographer star ts snapping away, his eyes narrow and his smile gives way to a stern frown. His whole being takes on a petulant countenance as if to por tray the rock ‘n’ roll figure he’s hyped up to be in the media.

More pressing duties beckon Tom as he steps into the kitchen. Rough-housing with his team, giving ever yone a friendly punch on the shoulder. I leave with the distinct impression that the man is still a boy at hear t.

The Bill Apple and carrot juice – US$7 Set lunch – US$60

With either:

Scallops, cucumber and dill ash or crab, smoked leek, rapeseed, pear and lovage

Total: US$67

Emirates’ eight daily flights to London will all be served by the highly popular A380s from January 1, 2016, cementing the airline’s status as the largest international A380 operator into the British capital.

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Trump SoHo New York, US

Words: Marina Chetner iMages: truMp soho Trump SoHo New York, a hotel named for, well, you know who (now, of course, as the rather outspoken Republican candidate as well as retail magnate), is becoming something of a jewel in downtown Manhattan.

In a city as cramped as this, the guest rooms here are a retreat; so spacious, they have soaking baths with views

over the famed metropolis. Luxury travellers, high-flying executives, and families trailing an entourage seek out the 2,300-square-foot duplex penthouse that rises from the 43rd to the 44th floor. Adorned with ar t and encased in windows, it has two bedrooms, twoand-a-half bathrooms, and ample areas for enter taining, plus an open terrace

Emirates serves New York three times daily – and all three services are with the Emirates A380.

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with views of the Hudson River, uptown Manhattan, Brooklyn, and beyond.

Top perk: an in-house car that chauffeurs guests within a two-mile radius from the hotel. Penthouse guests have access to an upgraded fleet of Bentleys and Maybachs. The Trump standard of ser vice? Polished to a T. trumpsoho.com

Yas Mall celebrates you this November. It’s Yas Mall’s 1st Anniversary and you and your family are invited to a memorable month of celebrations all day long.

Catch the very best in entertainment, dining, shopping and more...

YAS MALL, WHERE IT’S ALL HAPPENING YAS ISLAND – ABU DHABI

#YasMall

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Brown’s Hotel London, UK

Words: Mark Evans IMagEs: BroWn’s HotEl If there were a checklist for ‘the quintessential London hotel’, Brown’s Hotel would confidently tick them all off. Location? The hear t of Mayfair.

History? 178 years and counting.

Celebrity restaurant? The Hix Mayfair, with much-vaunted chef Mark Hix at the helm.

But that flippancy doesn’t do the old girl justice. Brown’s is a beautiful

hotel, its magnificent Victorian exterior resplendent against a line of equally impressive neighbours. Delve into that 178-year history and you’ll discover a who’s who of impressive guests and former residents: Alexander Graham Bell made the first phone call here, Rudyard Kipling wrote The Jungle Book here, Roosevelt stayed, Conan Doyle stayed, Stevenson, Barrie and Stoker stayed… it

positively bristles with history.

Yet inside it also achieves a contemporar y feel – Brown’s underwent a US$37 million refurbishment in 2005 – and avoids the stuffiness of some of its illustrious counterpar ts. The result is arguably one London’s finest hotels, regardless of how you choose to measure it. roccofortehotels.com

Visiting London? The Emirates Air Line cable car promises great views of the city. The ten-minute journey crosses the River Thames between Greenwich Peninsula and the Royal Docks.

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Park Hyatt ZuricH Zurich, SwitZerland

Words: AndreW nAgy ImAges: PArk HyAtt ZurIcH This could very well be the best time of year to stop at the Park Hyatt Zurich.

Wander in from a weekend on the slopes to a warm, welcoming lobby, and collapse into one of the large sofas by the library and roaring fireplace.

You’ll also benefit from its intriguing approach to food, with a scientifically

crafted menu for brain, mood and beauty. The creation of nutritionist Marianne Botta, it taps into modern wisdom on the power of diet.

Once you make it past lobby level you’ll find exactly what you would expect from a five-star hotel in the hear t of Switzerland: not edgy cool but

clean lined and comfor table luxur y.

Of course, summer’s just fine here too, but you can’t shake the feeling that this a festive place. In fact, throw in a Christmas cookie making class – there are two in November – and you’ve got the perfect base for a wintery weekend in Zurich. zurich.park.hyatt.com

Zurich is all A380-route with two flights a day operated by Emirates’ flagship double-decker aircraft.

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A perfect destination for the whole family. Despite fast-paced development in Al Ain, it is still a safe and quiet place surrounded by greenery and extraordinary nature. It offers a relaxing retreat for any individual after a tiring day at work or school and is a must-visit tourist destination.

Al Ain National Museum

The oldest museum in the UAE. Open since 2 November 1971, it displays the city’s unique heritage and history.

Jebel Hafeet

Al Ain Palace Museum

The museum is based in the Palace of the former UAE President Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan and his family and is regarded as a memorial and a unique cultural landmark.

Rising 1,240 metres above sea level and visible from outer space, these towering heights have obtained a place as the number one family destination.

800 555 visitabudhabi.ae

@visitabudhabi

Al Jahili Fort

Green Mubazzarah

Is an area with sulphur water wells and hot springs; it has developed into an important tourist destination further defined by beautiful gardens.

One of Al Ain’s biggest forts; its construction began in 1891 and was completed in 1898.

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BOSTON SOUTH END DISTRICT Words: AdrIAN MoUrBY IMAges: KATe TAdMAN-MoUrBY

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Emirates now serves Boston’s Logan Airport twice daily with the Boeing 777.

Thirty years ago you would only go to South End if you had no other choice.

Cut off from central Boston by ‘The Zone’ – a gangland area where visitors were unwelcome – this Victorian suburb had fallen on hard times.

South End was created after the American Civil War when huge areas of Boston Bay were filled in and the fashionable ‘Back Bay’ area to the nor th

of Tremont Avenue was brought into being. South End lay on the other side of Tremont and was always the poor relation. Small-scale industrialisation followed, then came the commercial stagnation of the 20th centur y. There simply wasn’t the money to pull Southie’s buildings down. As a result its gracious old houses and commercial blocks were left mostly intact. So when

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the process of gentrification began in the 1990s, South End had all the raw material for a trendy shopping and restaurant neighbourhood.

In recent years Southie’s long rows of red brick terraces and parks have blossomed with design shops, pet parlours, delis, restaurants and ar ts venues. Former tenements now change hands for millions of dollars.

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TORO TAPAS

Founded in an old piano factory in 2005, Toro Tapas is the brainchild of two celebrated chefs, Ken Oringer and Jamie Bissonnette, who wanted to create an out-of-the-way restaurant that people would discover. It was a brave move to come to South End even 11 years ago, but Toro Tapas’ very liberal take on Spanish cuisine took off almost immediately. The place is packed and noisy every night. Disarmingly, Jamie admits that he has no idea why his compact roadside restaurant is so popular : “If I knew I would bottle it and make a fortune.” Toro opens at 6pm (5.30 at weekends) and you need to be there early to get a table. Expect Spanish dishes like paella but also deliciously sweet corn on the cob, octopus, “hamburguesas” and hamachi. There’s quite a strong sense of Spain meets Japan at Toro Tapas. As one waiter told me: “The menu is basically whatever Jamie feels like making.”

1704 Washington St | +1 617 536 4300 | toro-restaurant.com/boston

LEKKER HOME

Lekker means “yummy” in Dutch, but Natalie Van Dijk Carpenter, who founded this design store in 2003. prefers to translate it as “approachable”. Based in a modern block on Washington Avenue, Lekker imports tables, sofas, dishes, cushions and lamps from more than 50 designers across Europe as well as in Japan and America. Its style is modern but warm, with none of the starkness of some contemporary designers or the disposability of IKEA. Lekker Home products are made to last, like the teak and oak tables from Belgium, which have become something of a Boston classic, or the Japanese ceramic tableware, the brushed stainless steel Italian cutlery and the Scrimshaw whale, lobster and octopus trays from New England. According to manager Katie Kavanagh, students who came in 12 years ago just to buy a candle are now earning well and furnishing their entire homes from Lekker.

1313 Washington St | +1 617 542 6464 | lekkerhome.com | 51 |

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FORMAGGIO KITCHEN – SOUTH END

Formaggio was one of the first new enterprises to give South End a chance. An offshoot of a much larger delicatessen in Cambridge, it opened here on the last day of 1999. Although Formaggio carries a wide selection of wines and coffee, herbs and spices, hams and jams, it’s for cheese that the shop is best known. There are more than 100 in stock at any one time, all selected

by David Robinson, Formaggio’s dedicated cheese buyer. He visits every producer individually, even the Frenchman on a hillside with just 60 goats. The store’s impor t licence means that it’s able to impor t quickly, ensuring freshness. Its Poilâne bread is Fedexed overnight from Paris every Wednesday and is on the shelves by Thursday afternoon. Formaggio has the look of a small European deli. Stock is piled high and there’ll usually be one or two customers who have called in for a cup of $1.50 coffee at the counter.

268 Shawmut Ave | +1 617 350 6996 | southendformaggio.com

THE BUTCHER SHOP

Celebrity chef Barbara Lynch’s latest venture on Restaurant Row – the most popular part of Tremont Street as far as Boston diners are concerned – is The Butcher Shop, which sits just opposite Barbara’s seafood outlet, B&G Oysters. Inside, the restaurant is stripped-back brick, brushed steel and dark wood. Customers sit at high brasserie-style tables, at the grey soapstone bar, or cluster round a huge wooden butcher’s block on which meat master classes are held at weekends. Specialities of the house include steak tartare, a signature burger, Wagyu Denver steak, and the house pasta with meaty Bolognese sauce. There’s also an ambitious range of ten artisanal cheeses. The house red came from an Austrian vintner called Herr Heinrich, who was so impressed by his meal that he declared his intention to create a unique wine just for Barbara Lynch. Butcher’s open till midnight but evening bookings are essential.

552 Tremont St | +1 617 423 4800 | thebutchershopboston.com | 53 |

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PATCH NYC

For adorable objects that you don’t need but absolutely must have, there’s nowhere better than Patch NYC, a store founded in New York by two designers, John Ross and Don Carney. Three years ago they moved to a gated courtyard enclave in South End that’s home to several artists. The new Patch store sells a cornucopia of items: pillows and postcards, scarves and lamps, jewellery, ceramic playing cards, and some very expensive Italian candles. John and Don design 40 per cent of the range themselves and import the rest. Don has a penchant for reworking Victoriana and Day Of The Dead imagery. The store rarely opens before midday and doesn’t advertise its existence. According to John, almost all their customers come from word of mouth recommendations. “People coming to Boston seem to know about us.” Patch also runs a gallery on the opposite side of the courtyard hosting regular exhibitions of art they like.

46 Waltham St | +1 617 426 0592 | patchnyc.com

MICHELE MERCALDO JEWELRY

Michele Mercaldo was the first jeweller to move into South End in the 1990s and she transferred to premises in tree-lined Shawmut Avenue in 2004. Michelle works at the back of this spacious shop with her three assistants, creating a range of silver and gold rings, bracelets and necklaces and also resetting heirloom jeweller y. As a designer she has a par ticular enthusiasm for the lustrous silver y-white metal palladium, and her work sells for anything from $60 to $12,000. She also showcases work by other jewellers she likes, many of them her former assistants. New ar twork is displayed on the walls with a fresh ar tist exhibiting every three months. At the same time that the interior of the shop is rethought, the window display is also changed.

This tends to be a work of ar t in its own right. At the time we visited it was in the form of a bamboo grove.

276 Shawmut Ave | +1 617 350 7909 | michelemercaldo.com | 55 |

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WALLY’S CAFE JAZZ CLUB

The oldest continuously operating Jazz cafe in America, Wally’s was founded in 1947 by Joseph “Wally” Walcott, a Barbadian immigrant who lived to the ripe old age of 100 before passing the cafe on to his three sons, Frank, Lloyd and Paul. Rooted in South End’s Afro-American community (as a student Martin Luther King lived just a few doors away), Wally’s was nevertheless the first New England jazz club to offer a platform to racially integrated groups. Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday and Art Blakey all performed here and today Wally’s takes its role as Boston’s unofficial jazz academy very seriously. It’s open 365 days a year and the first few hours are always given over to students. There’s no cover charge but a bucket is passed around this narrow ground floor bar for the musicians.

Get there between 9.30 and 10pm for the best guest acts and make sure you carry photo-ID to prove your age.

427 Massachusetts Ave | +1 617 424 1408 | wallyscafe.com

BOSTON CENTEr FOr THE ArTS

Even in the dangerous 1960s the BCA was always there on Tremont Street, occupying Cyclorama, a 19th century domed building designed to hold a vast 400-foot, 360-degree reconstruction of the Battle Of Gettysburg. That canvas is now in the Gettysburg Museum And Visitor Center and the stunning circular exhibition space left behind is now BCA’s main event venue. The rest of the complex consists of three theatres, the white-box Mills Art Gallery, and the Beehive jazz venue. The centre is also home to Boston Ballet and four theatre companies. Next door, in a 2004 extension, the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion contains two further theatres.

It was built on the site of Boston’s National Theatre, which in its time presented the shows by Sammy Davis Jr and Duke Ellington.

The centre opens daily at noon and, needless to say, with all that space there is always something playing or on display at BCA. 539 Tremont St | +1 617 426 5000 | bcaonline.org | 57 |

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Cafe RideR A combination of serious coffee and specialist motorbikes might sound unusual (it is unusual), but it could well be Dubai’s most intriguing cafe words and IMaGEs: sandra TInarI

P

art specialty coffee bar, par t motorcycle workshop, Cafe Rider is tucked away within Dubai’s industrial zone and drawing an eclectic community of coffee connoisseurs and bike enthusiasts alike.

“Cafe Rider is different, and you will sense it when you walk in,” says founder Mur taza Moulvi. “We believe ourselves to be curators of art in a sense. We source the best coffee beans we can to offer that perfect cup of coffee, and create the best custom designed motorcycles we can build, too.”

As you might imagine, the remit sees a diverse customer base fill the place, from bikers resting after a morning ride to families with children whizzing across the cafe’s floors on toy motorcycles and cars.

“There is such a crossover,” Moulvi says of his customers. “It’s become a place for ar tists no matter what their ar t might be, with caffeine being the common thread. It’s what Dubai is – a mix of the local and expat community, who all feel comfor table enough to venture into this unassuming, unpretentious

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Cafe RideR offeRs ameRiCan-style food and Coffee fReshly impoRted fRom a small san fRansisCo RoasteR, seRving signatuRe dRinks and pouR-oveRs, along with espResso and CappuCCino

warehouse on the edge of Al Quoz. This is the Dubai I grew up in and that’s what I love seeing.”

Cafe Rider offers American-style food and coffee freshly imported from a small San Fransisco roaster, serving signature drinks and pour-overs, along with espresso and cappuccino. Its mechanics revive old-school bobbers, cafe racers and modern ‘Mad Max’ machines. A corner concept store also does a brisk trade, with own branded T-shir ts, and leather message bags and gloves, as well as stocking emerging brands.

There is one thing that Moulvi would like to be clear about, however. “We’re not a theme café,” he explains. “We continuously make sure we concentrate on the product and go to great lengths to be true to the core of what want to spark in this region: a revival of cafe culture.”

As unusual as the concept might be, for Moulvi it was a natural choice. “I am born and bred in Dubai, where nothing is impossible. Dubai has always been the one to star t the quirky trends and not afraid to try something new. We chose Al Ouoz as it’s the road less travelled by many who think only ‘glamourous Dubai’ exists.

“We realised the gamble of doing so but were hoping that there were lots of people like us, who wanted to have an unplugged place to hang out. We opened Cafe Rider to be able to show a different side of Dubai. It’s home-grown and organic.

That’s what resonates with residents and tourists here in UAE. Cafe Rider is a product of passion and that can be seen and felt the moment you walk in.” café-rider.com

the City sightseeing hop-on hop-off bus is a great way to explore dubai. learn more about City sightseeing dubai, and all the routes and stops at citysightseeing-dubai.com

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VIntage Watch DubaI Luxury watches are easy to find in Dubai, but if you’re looking for something a little different and with a story to tell, there’s a man you should meet

I

t’s hard to get a word in edgewise with watch connoisseur, Osman Bhurgri. Not because the Irishman is a big talker, but because he – or more specifically his watches – are in demand.

Naively, I’d chosen a busy local cafe for an interview with the man behind Vintage Watch Dubai. When it comes to Bhurgri’s collection, men are like bees to honey. As soon as he opened his case, filled with rare workhorse timepieces lovingly restored, he draws an inquisitive crowd.

An avid collector of vintage watches with a strong narrative, Bhurgri recently launched a small collection for sale through Dubai’s independent concept stores. His vintage pieces have seen battle and the depths of the Arctic seas – which naturally is part of the appeal.

“It’s the story they tell. The collecting of vintage watches is a compelling hobby for men as they’re really the only accessories we get to wear. These fantastic little pieces of macro mechanical engineering have survived so much, in many cases outliving their original owners.

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i love the story that some watches have to tell, not to mention the fact that they are really the only accessory men should have

“I love the functionality aspect of a watch from eras such as the 1980s and ’90s, when having an accurate timepiece was an essential par t of everyday living – as opposed to checking the time on your phone.”

Bhurgri’s collection includes rare diving watches by niche Italian brand, Squale, a clock from a Russian MiG jet and an air force issued Precista 6BB that was likely deployed at Bessbrook military heliport in his home country of Northern Ireland during the 30year conflict commonly referred to simply as The Troubles.

Vintage Watch Dubai star ted as social media fun but strong interest saw Bhurgri launch the brand with watches for sale, offering original military of defence straps obtained internationally or made of Dubai camel hide.

“It’s really an equal mixture of obsessively hunting online and sheer luck,” Bhurgri says of his sourcing methods. If watches have a story to tell, then working order or even being in one piece is non-essential. A prize purchase was a box filled with watches and was secured at a Ministry Of Defence auction that held a variety of timepieces in disarray.

“Repair-wise, you need to do the smaller stuff yourself, such as inspecting a watch and having a basic understanding of par ts.

For small things, like bezel changes, straps and adjustments, I enjoy doing them but for more complicated work, I send the watches to my watchmaker in Ireland. Behind every great watch collection there should be a great watchmaker. Think of them like a doctor!”

Vintage Watch Dubai has struck a chord as buyers return to appreciating craft, authenticity and heritage. Bhurgri’s first range, which is sold through the likes of curated store Akin Barber & Shop, has been a hit.

As for his treasured Ministry Of Defence find, Bhurgri says the Cabot Watch Company watches found in there were Royal Navy issued, carrying the British Empire’s ‘Broad Arrow’ military marking on the back, as well as the dates, 1989 to 1990, tying them to the first Gulf War. “I spent 18 months seeking out parts to restore them one-by-one into working order but making sure to leave enough patina on them to ensure their battle worn history could still be seen,” he says. instagram.com/vintagewatchdubai

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A collection of stories from around the world

Magnificent Sevens

The Last Train

Brain Food

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With plans in place to modernise India’s railway, the classic journey through the subcontinent could soon be a thing of the past. We sent a writer to document the trials and tribulations of attempting to traverse one of the world’s most populous countries by train

K

olkata, midday. The yellow Hindustan Ambassador trundles forward a few metres, stops, forces its way into the next lane and stops. No air-conditioning in these big old taxis. The windows are wound all the way down but the air that fills the cab is humid, heavy with fumes, and carries prowling mosquitos.

The taxi driver chews paan open-mouthed, the stimulant’s juices leaving dark red stains on his lips and teeth. The young Bengali scowls at the traffic, rages about the stubborn jam of cars, trucks, motorbikes, and the barefooted man pulling a rickshaw full of scrap metal.

This journey should’ve taken 20 minutes. We’ve been on the road an hour. Police pull us over to check the driver’s documents, so it takes another half an hour to get to where we’re going‚ the biggest, busiest railway station in all of India, a huge 100-year-old red brick for tress known simply as Howrah.

For the author Paul Theroux, trains are the only decent way to travel. It is, as he wrote in his mast famous work, The Great Railway Bazaar, “a far cry from the paralysis that afflicts the car passenger”. With this quote in my head, I pay the taxi driver, shake loose my passenger’s paralysis, and sprint into the station.

Missing a train in India is serous business and Howrah is an unforgiving place for people in a hurry. Every last Indian is here, a billion of them, I’m sure of it, each carrying every last one of their possessions. There’s no seat not sat on, no wall that isn’t being leaned against, scarcely an inch of floor-space free from bags, cases, beat-up old trunks, cardboard boxes reinforced with sticky tape – by people themselves, lying down on blankets they’ve spread out wherever they could find room.

The station holds within its walls, beneath its high ceilings, India’s best and worst traits: wallahs, wheeler-dealers and pickpockets, the showy rich, the dignified poor, those who stare without shame and those who are quick with a smile, bureaucracy, hypocrisy, lunacy, barefoot beggars shaking a cup at well-heeled businessman, good food, weird food, dangerous food‚ and for me, the star t of another long train ride across the most fascinating, frustrating country in world.

I catch my train, just. The Shatabdi Express, its average speed a leisurely 58km/h eased out of Howrah station. I stretch out in my seat, in an air-conditioned bogie (carriage), with all of India to watch through the window, and feel content to have found some calm amid the chaos of this country.

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There are plans to modernise India’s railway. So with Theroux’s book under my arm, knowing the kind of trip he took may soon be a thing of the past, I had decided to spend six months touring the length and breadth of it, guided by one self-imposed rule: I would travel only by train. “If a train is large and comfortable,” he wrote, “you don’t even need a destination; a corner seat is enough, and you can be one of those travellers who stay in motion, straddling the tracks, and never arrive or feel they ought to.”

I left home in January with one bag and a one-way ticket to Delhi, nothing more. Almost everything I knew about train travel in India came from Theroux’s book‚ which he published in 1975. The American spent four months travelling through Europe, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. I intended to spend six months solely in India. The author occasionally flew and took boats between countries. But I wouldn’t leave the subcontinent until my visa ran out, so I would definitely travel only by train.

after most journeys i felt i was finished with rail travel, but it wasn’t long before i was elbowing my way to the front of a ticket office queue again In Delhi I couldn’t get a train. At least, not to anywhere I wanted to go. I ended up spending a week in what was my least favourite city in India. But it was difficult to be bored in the area I was staying, the notorious Paharganj.

One night, walking along the street looking for a bar, a man emerged from the shadows. “Hello, sir,” he said. I returned his hello but didn’t stop. “How are you? Your country? Where you go? You want to buy a flute?” The hawker tried tirelessly to sell this flute, pursued me with the kind of dogged urgency that suggested I played the flute, was in the market for a new flute, and had showed keen interest in buying his par ticular flute.

That’s Paharganj. The craziest street in one of the craziest cities in the world. A whirlwind of noise and colour, smells and shouts. Where four, five lanes of traffic drive up and down a road wide enough for one. Where packs of stray dogs and herds of prying cows roam. Where a derelict mosque has reopened as an electrical goods shop. Where everyone wants to sell you something, and if they don’t have what you want to buy, then they’ll find someone who does and pocket a commission for bringing you to them. Every time I stepped out of my hotel it was that way – like I was the first tourist in town and the last potential buyer on ear th.

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Manish worked on the travel desk in my hotel. He was unwilling to discuss so much as the weather without first sitting me down and sending out into the street for tea from his wallah friend. I told him about my trouble buying train tickets.

Like his compatriots outside, he refused to accept this. But several days and countless cups of absurdly sweet chai later, we were no fur ther forward. So I arranged with Manish to hire a car and a driver, and to visit by road all the places in Rajasthan I had intended to visit by rail.

In Udaipur, the lake city known as the Venice Of The East, I boarded my first proper Indian train – a sleeper travelling the 1,000km to Mumbai. “To understand the real India,” Theroux wrote, “the Indians say, you must go to the villages. But that is not strictly true, because the Indians have carried their villages to the railway stations.” These words were illustrated perfectly by the sight of Udaipur City after dark. This little four-platform station looked like the set of an apocalypse movie, with the whole town waiting to be evacuated on a train that would never come. There were more people sleeping on the floor here than at Howrah, a station five times its size, giving the impression the evacuees had been waiting not hours, but days.

Indians and tourists gave me warnings about train travel.

“The trains are delayed by days,” they said. “The trains are dir ty.

The trains are unsafe.” My train chugged to a stop in front of me and I boarded the air-conditioned, two-tier class of bogie known as AC2. “Don’t accept food or drinks from strangers,” they said. “Don’t show your ticket to anyone but the inspector.

Don’t leave your bags unattended.” I boarded. The bogie was open-plan, with ber ths on one side of the aisle arranged widthways in bays of four, and longways in bays of two on the other side of the aisle.

Three older ladies from Mumbai joined me in my ber th, followed by a small army of por ters carrying their luggage.

One of the ladies, the leader, asked in perfected English: “From which country do you come?” My answer, England, was satisfactory. She smiled and said, “Nice country.” From this point on I was spoken to and fussed over as if I were travelling with my grandmother, mother and aunty. Before we’d even left the station, I’d accepted crisps and water from them, shown them my ticket, and left them to mind my luggage while I wandered up and down the train. The ladies even arranged, and paid for, a restaurant to prepare and deliver breakfast, right to my bunk when we stopped at a nearby station.

An attendant came around, dishing out sheets, pillows and blankets. We drew the large cur tain that covered our ber th and I read for a while by the light above my bunk. Sleep came in fits and star ts. Lying down, the train’s every rock and bounce is exaggerated, so much so that it felt like a ship in stormy seas.

I’d wake up from a doze cer tain we were about to capsize.

Throughout the night, the train seemed to stop and remain stationary for long periods. Each time this happened I’d draw back the small cur tain that covered the window in my ber th, usually revealing a dimly lit station – deser ted but for a solitary figure, a silhouette on platform – never sure whether I was awake or dreaming.

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Theroux said Mumbai: “fulfils the big-city requirements of age, depth and, inspiring a chauvinism in its inhabitants, a threadbare metropolitan hauteur rivalled only by Kolkata”. This haughtiness is best seen in and around Kala Ghoda, an ar ty area whose colonial architecture looks all the better for being a little threadbare. But, for me, Kolkata is big-city India at its best – an old-world wonder with all the beautiful rundown buildings that go with it, where the iconic Hindustan Ambassadors taxis boss the roads until they’re engulfed by a passing herd of goats.

My proposed route around India was what the guidebooks call The Grand Tour. Between Mumbai and Kolkata, it descended into The Grand Detour.

There were many reasons for this. It’s not that easy to buy a train ticket in India, especially along the more popular routes. They’re often fully booked weeks, sometimes months in advance. My longest train journey was almost two days straight, but was enjoyable. The most unpleasant trip was the shor test.

Three cramped hours sat on the floor outside the toilet in Sleeper Class, the cheapest, most notorious kind of carriage.

After most trips, I felt I was finished with train travel. But it was never long before I was queuing again, elbowing my way to the front of the queue at a ticket office in some provincial train station, trying to book another seat. I also got a bit too comfor table in cer tain places. There were three lazy weeks in Goa, exploring the beaches of India’s smallest state on a beat-up old moped, drinking the local brew and eating red hot chicken xacuti, a curry full of Kashmiri chillies. I zigzagged and backtracked and went around in circles. I twice visited Kerala. | 75 |

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Its endless rolling green tea gardens, around a village called Sengulam near the hill station Munnar. It was mesmerising.

India’s hill stations are towns built at altitude by colonising Europeans to escape the heat. Perhaps the most famous of these is Darjeeling. The train trip I most looked forward to was along the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. This route along a narrow gauge is a world heritage site and goes from New Jalpaiguri up 2,100 metres of switchback mountain. But when I was in West Bengal, due to a landslide, the steam locomotive wasn’t running.

I went to Darjeeling anyway. By car. Stand almost anywhere in that town, found up in the foothills of the Himalayas, and the view is sublime. On a clear day, I could see from my hotel window the world’s third-highest mountain, Kanchenjunga.

I used the town as a base to explore the Singalila Ridge – a trekking route that offers, to the early riser, views of Everest.

Back and forth I hiked across the border with Nepal, sleeping along the way in little lodges found in isolated farming villages.

I don’t claim to be an exper t on India. But, whenever I met and swapped recommendations with fellow travellers, I’d say try Kochi during Biennale, its huge contemporary ar ts festival. I would tell them to ignore the guidebooks and go to Bangalore for its bookshops, for its nightlife. And I’d suggest they wander without aim along the cluttered streets of Mysore and test their bartering skills at the loud and colourful Devaraja Market.

The truth, though, is that I left India with a list of places to visit far longer than one with which I arrived, and couldn’t be happier about it.

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sometimes i got a little too comfortable... exploring goa on a beatup moped, i zigzagged and backtracked and went around in circles Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sees high-speed lines as being crucial to the country’s development. One proposal suggests building work on these lines could begin as early as 2017. India has much to gain from modernising its railway. But it’ll lose something too.

When I think of the subcontinent, I think of train travel. I spent almost a week in total riding India’s railways, travelling the better par t of 10,000km. My best memories hang around a handful of sunny afternoons. I’m drinking sweet chai out of a paper cup, eating a vegetable samosa from a folded bit of newspaper. A dapper old Indian man – there was one on ever y train – stands over me going, “From which countr y do you come?” He’s the one that spends the entire trip pacing

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on the train, the world flashes by in jump cuts: from lush farmland to barren wasteland, a one-bedroom hut to an eight-bedroom mansion up and down the bogie, looking for a job to do, taking it upon himself to tell each and ever y one of his fellow passengers exactly how late the train is running, down to the minute, but never revealing where he’s retrieving this information from.

“Nice country,” he’d say. “Accha, accha, accha,” his words of agreement when I spoke.

On this train, the world outside the window changes in jump cuts: from lush green farmland to dry barren wasteland, the jungle, the deser t, the sea, a one-room hut and an eightbedroom mansion, people wearing lungis to work the field, commuters wearing officewear to wait for local trains, the mountain range, the valley, the plains, passing through slums, life at its toughest seen in snatches through windows in makeshift

homes, children playing cricket anywhere there’s room for a game, big waves, big smiles, people getting on with it, hope and despair, a better tomorrow.

The train stops at a station with a name that’s a volley of awkward syllables. The bogie grows loud. “Chai, chai, chai-mmm,” shout the boarding chaiwallahs, carrying giant pots of tea.

“Paani, paani, paaniii” go the paaniwallahs, a bucket of bottled water on each shoulder. There’s the rising chatter of voices speaking every one of India’s 800 languages. The train noises are equally memorising – buh-bump-bump, picking up speed, buh-bump-bump – and I feel truly like one of those travellers who doesn’t need a destination, one who straddles the tracks, never arrives and never feels they ought to.

Emirates Holidays offers unique holiday packages to India and many other destinations around the world. Learn more at emiratesholidays.com

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Sevens has long been considered the poor relation of rugby’s 15-a-side form. But with sides from all over the world competing at events such as the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens, not to mention its Olympics bow under a year away, sevens is gaining some serious traction

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ctober 9, 2009, is probably the biggest moment in the history of rugby sevens.

On a bright day in Copenhagen, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted to include the spor t in the Summer Games, with its first appearance scheduled in Rio in 2016.

While that moment was a momentous day for the spor t, for those who follow it around the world, it’s clear that it has been a growing force for many years, not least because of the World Rugby Sevens Series – whose opening tournament just happens to be next month in Dubai.The series then globe hops to nine other locations including Vancouver, Hong Kong and Singapore. It is the 17th edition of the league and, crucially, the last before sevens rugby takes its Olympics bow.

However, far from Olympic glamour or exciting events held in the bright

lights of major cities, sevens has a rather more austere histor y, spanning over 130 years to the first match played by an amateur side from Melrose, Scotland. It took another four decades for the spor t to spread south into England, and in 1926 a tournament was held in London for the first time.

The Hong Kong Sevens brought the game to a more international audience in 1976, and in 1999 the Sevens Series was born. Not only did it give the big Test-playing nations a chance to hone their skills and fitness – but it also introduced countries not-so-acquainted with the 15-a-side version. Since then, sevens has been played in all corners of the world, from Kenya and the Cook Islands to Georgia, Russia, Brazil and even the Philippines.

In Fiji, where rugby is believed to have first been played in 1884, by local and European soldiers of the

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Native Constabular y, the game has become a national pastime. In 1977 the countr y won the Hong Kong Sevens in only its second incarnation, beating Marlborough 28-18. Titles have continued to come the island nation’s way ever since, and players like Waisale Serevi and Samisoni Viriviri have long wowed crowds with their dynamism.

On the other end of the scale, perhaps, is the USA, whose team largely comprises players who found rugby through American football, one of half a dozen national spor ts still more popular.

The UAE’s own ambitions, its federation’s secretar y general Qais Al Dhalai admits, will be “on the pitch, rather than the scoreboard”. But the Emirates are another nation whose commitment to sevens rugby has flourished in recent years. Since 2011 it has had a presence at the Dubai

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tournament, which will continue to grow after sevens’ Olympics designation.

“Rugby is new to Emiratis so the sevens style of coaching is conducive to the growth and development of the Emirati player,” Al Dhalai adds. “We are now in a position to field a competitive sevens side as well as enter a regular 15s side into our tier-three domestic division.”

This year is the Dubai Sevens’ 46th year. But its biggest changes have come in the past two decades, as Dubai has blossomed into a full-fledged global destination. When Donal Kilelea joined the Dubai Sevens organisation team in 2003, it was a very different affair. The tournament welcomed just 20 to 25,000 people across its three days, at the small

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Exiles Rugby Stadium in the historic Creek area. Today everything is bigger and better.

“It has become an ambassadorial event for Dubai,” Al Dhalai says. “Twenty-eight per cent of people who visit now come from outside the country.”

In 2015, 100,000 people will visit the tournament, which from 2008 has been held at The Sevens stadium – purpose-built for the event. Kilelea and his team have strived to make the event more familyfriendly throughout the years: this edition boasts live music, crèches, competitions and 15 food and drinks vendors.

There are also a wide array of children’s rugby tournaments, an under-sevens club – Sabaa – and a teen zone. Perhaps unusually, netball has a big focus and 32 | 89 |

Sevens has seen rugby embraced by many nations outside of the traditional powerhouses.

teams have also been invited to compete, which Kilelea hopes will, alongside the women’s rugby, attract more female fans.

“The situation now is that it’s more than just rugby,” he says. “It’s a joyous event.

People just love the atmosphere and there’s something for everyone.”

The main event is, however, the rugby. This year more than 430 teams requested to fill the 286 invitation spots available, breaking all previous records.

The women’s game will play a vital role, with 12 teams competing.

Sevens was once considered a training tool for those tr ying to make it

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in the 15-a-side game. No longer. The lack of 15-a-side rugby’s heavyweight forwards means players must be nimble as well as strong. The way the game is played, too, has changed wildly – although, as UR7s (Ultimate Rugby Sevens) CEO and coach Tom Burwell says, the aim is ultimately the same.

“It’s still about the creation and exploitation of space on a rugby field,” he says. “The major differences that have a huge impact on this are the structured defences, fitness levels and emphasis spent on areas as set piece and restar t, which comes from coaches having full-time squads rather than, as it was previously, players meeting the day before the game.”

The big sides still dominate and South Africa won last year’s tournament

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The IOC decision, adds Burwell, has “changed and revolutionalised” the spor t, but in different ways for different countries. “The fact that South Korea, Russia, China and USA now have full-time rugby sevens programmes is something that no one would have thought possible 10 years ago,” he says. “The fact that Kenya, Japan and Por tugal would be competing at the same table as the big boys of England, New Zealand and Australia is equally staggering, but the shor ter form of the game has made this possible.”

The IOC verdict has also helped sevens attract bigger stars. New Zealand’s Sonny Bill Williams and Australian Quaid Cooper are two big names that have been tempted to the format by the chance of a medal. But sevens will not be a walk in the park for

them, warns Burwell, “Players will need time to adjust, to get to the relevant fitness levels and understand the structures so that their obvious quality can then shine through.

“Without this time and exposure to the sport they’re not guaranteed to be a success,” he adds. “It’s for this reason that the likes of Sonny Bill Williams have signed to play with New Zealand for the whole of the 2015/16 season and not just the Olympics, as it has been discussed with other players around the world.”

However these high-profile transplants perform, it’s clear that sevens rugby is on an upward trajector y.

With events like the Dubai Sevens grabbing ever-bigger crowds, the spor t may not be considered 15-a-side’s poorer cousin for ver y much longer. dubairugby7s.com

If you’re a rugby fan, head to Sport TV on ice Digital Widescreen. Rugby programmes are on channels 1224 and 1225.

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WHAT IF WE TOLD YOU THAT THE FLAVOUR OF YOUR FOOD HAD MORE TO DO WITH YOUR SENSE OF SMELL THAN WHAT WAS GOING ON IN YOUR MOUTH? WHAT IF WE SAID THAT, IN THE FUTURE, EATING OUT WOULD BE A FULLY IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE INVOLVING FOOD THAT HAS NEVER TASTED SO GOOD? THE FUTURE IS HERE AND IT HAS A GRIP ON YOUR SENSES WORDS: MARK JOHANSON

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ry a quick experiment the next time a member of cabin crew drops by with food or drink. It’s nothing too demanding. Just take a bite or sip, think about how it tastes, then plug in your headphones and tune in to one of the classical or jazz music stations.

What sort of sounds do you hear?

Is it an upbeat and higher-pitched song with, say, a twinkling piano or chimes? If so, you may find that your food or drink tastes slightly sweeter than before. But maybe it’s a slower and lower-pitched song you’re listening to, like brassy jazz or bass-heavy blues. These sounds might bring out the bitter and umami tastes.

Researchers call this subtle change in flavour perception “sonic seasoning,” and it’s an important element within the emerging field of research known as neurogastronomy.

“Neurogastronomy is the name given to studies that look at the brain on

ILLUSTRATIONS: KYLE SMART

flavour – namely which bits of our brains light up when we’re tasting something,” explains Oxford professor Charles Spence, author of The Perfect Meal.

“The hope is that, by understanding the brain mechanisms underpinning how we experience flavours, we can better design foods and beverages.”

Spence is kind of like the Yoda of neurogastronomy. His Crossmodal Research Laborator y is full of gizmos like aroma machines and taste pumps, and he dishes out new studies at a dizzying rate that highlight the ways in which “off plate” elements impact our perceptions of flavour.

Up until recently food was discussed almost exclusively in terms of taste. But according to Spence, eating is actually one of the most multisensory experiences we all have on a daily basis. Food isn’t just something we taste; it’s something we touch, see, hear, and, above all else, smell. | 94 |

In fact, research shows that smell may account for as much as 80 to 90 per cent of what we perceive as flavour. Anyone who’s ever had a cold and couldn’t stomach the taste of their food already knows this, though they might not have realised it at the time.

What it is that Spence is trying to discover is how various stimuli play a role in our dining experience. And his lab is kind of like a kitchen for mad scientists.

“Imagine somebody comes in to the lab,” he says, describing a typical day at the office. “It’s a dark, silent room, maybe in a soundproof booth, and they have a couple of tubes just underneath their nostrils and a couple of tubes lying on top of their tongue. We can deliver specific smells and specific tastes at the same time, or different times, or matching combinations of smell and taste like sweetness on the tongue and strawberry to the nose, or mismatching

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FOOD IS ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY DISCUSSED IN TERMS OF TASTE, BUT EATING IS ONE OF THE MOST MULTISENSORY EXPERIENCES WE HAVE

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combinations like the smell of chicken stock and a sweet taste.”

Spence gets his subjects to respond and differentiate what they’re perceiving: How intense is it? How much do they like it? What shape are they thinking of at any given moment? If he plays music, can he enhance the experience of taste?

It all might sound a bit crazy, but new insights into our multisensory perception of flavour have already had widesweeping impacts on the products we consume. Have you noticed that several of your favourite chocolate bars recently hit the shelves with a “new shape”?

That’s because a study sponsored by Nestlé found that curves – as opposed to straight lines – enhance in-mouth perceptions of melting. Nestlé boils it down to something called “mouth geometry”: A curved shape is simply a better fit for your oral cavity.

Other companies, like Unilever, are experimenting with reducing the sodium content of their food products while still maintaining the same salty taste by adding high levels of savoury aromas.

Using 60 test subjects and two samples of beef bouillon, researchers found that a combination of potassium-based salt replacers and savoury aromas could compensate for a 30 per cent reduction of sodium without any noticeable change in the flavour profile.

Companies have also begun enhancing their products by offering sensory apps.

Take Häagen-Dazs, for example. It recently released a ‘Concerto App’ that lets consumers scan a QR code on each ice cream carton to enjoy a private, two-minute concerto. The brand believes this virtual-reality showcase – a fiddler literally pops up from the carton top when viewed through your phone – will give the ice cream enough time to temper so that it’s at an ideal consistency when eaten. Rival Ben & Jerry’s, meanwhile, is rumoured to be developing a soundtrack to pair with its flavours.

Perhaps the most exiting practical application of this research in neurogastronomy (and the closely related field of gastrophysics) is how new ideas are filtering down into restaurant kitchens around the globe. | 97 |

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“There are many chefs who can look at the science and turn it into wonderful, creative, talked about, stimulating experiences,” Spence said. “They will take an idea, put it on the menu, try it out, and you have the perfect environment to bring something away from the lab. You have real diners paying real money for real experiences.”

Spence believes there’s a new generation of chefs right now who, for the first time in history, are “thinking about the minds of their diners and not just about the sourcing, preparation and presentation of the food on the plate”.

One of his early collaborators was chef Heston Blumenthal, whose three Michelinstarred restaurant, The Fat Duck, is located in the British village of Bray. Exploring natural affinities between taste and sound, the pair discovered in 2007 that diners perceive seafood as stronger and saltier when accompanied with the sounds of the ocean – even if those seagull squawks and pounding waves emanated from a speaker. A dish resulting from the collaboration, called Sound Of The Sea, has became one of Blumenthal’s signature items: A sculptural plate of seafood, seaweed and panko “sand” that comes with an iPod tucked into a conch shell.

“Now more than ever the line between food and science is being blurred,” Blumenthal explains. “Our senses are so entangled and inter twined that the possibilities of what we can create are endless… I think we almost need to go back to the basics, examining how our primal senses react to the world around us to harness this in our enjoyment of food.”

Sound Of The Sea was developed in the early days of multisensory dining, a movement that has since ballooned in size and scope, birthing new restaurants akin to culinary funhouses. International food and restaurant consultants Baum + Whiteman called multisensory dining one of the 11 hottest food and beverage trends for 2015, and new offerings include Ultraviolet In Shanghai or Sublimotion In Ibiza. Both invite diners to eat multicourse meals in a highly stylised environment where lights, sounds, temperatures and aromas are

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Fantasy Food Five of the world’s best multisensory eating experiences

Ultraviolet Ultraviolet is Shanghai’s most mysterious restaurant (it has no postal address) and the culmination of 15 years of meticulous planning from French chef Paul Pairet. Diners meet at an agreed spot and are ushered to a table in a bare-bones room nearby with no décor whatsoever. As the 20-course meal begins, however, they find themselves completely bombarded with stimulation, from 360-degree wall projections to scent diffusers and mood lighting. The immersive dining experience is choreographed in a way that’s said to enhance the flavour perceptions of each dish. uvbypp.cc

tickets Bar The name is like a cruel joke because tickets to Barcelona’s famed Tickets Bar are few and far between. But those who do secure a spot (generally two months in advance) can expect everything from exploding olives to edible trees made of cotton candy in this eclectic tapas bar from Ferran Adrià, of El Bulli fame, and his brother, Albert. Tickets draws equal inspiration from the theatre and the circus, with dishes that dabble in sensory-altering magic of the mind. ticketsbar.es

the Fat dUck Heston Blumenthal was at the forefront of neurogastronomy before the science even had a name, and his iconic restaurant, The Fat Duck, will return to the British village of Bray later this year after a six-month stint at Melbourne’s Crown Towers hotel.

Expect concoctions like a cup with equal | 98 |

portions of hot and iced tea that don’t blend or Blumenthal’s signature Sound Of The Sea, which comes with an iPod tucked into a conch shell to enhance the salinity of the seafood it’s paired with. thefatduck.co.uk

alinea Chef Grant Achatz has brought the culinary carnival to Chicago with his inventive and wildly acclaimed restaurant Alinea. From surprising scents to culinary pyrotechnics and mood-altering lights, dining at Alinea is nothing short of an adventure for the five senses. One of the most theatrical dishes has to be the Green Apple Balloon.

This edible inflatable is made from apple taffy that’s been puffed up with helium and attached to an “apple leather” string.

Guests pop the balloon to enjoy flavours lighter than air. alinearestaurant.com

sUBlimotion Travel around the world, from the Spanish island of Ibiza to the bottom of the ocean and the depths of outer space, on this 20-course culinary journey from Michelinstared chef Paco Roncero. Just 12 diners at a time are allowed into Sublimotion’s hightech room (which is encased in ever-shifting screens) to witness the happy marriage of visual arts, haut cuisine and virtual reality courtesy of the latest wearable technology from Samsung. Various stimuli are meant to trick the mind and enhance all five senses for a greater appreciation of the multisensory perceptions of taste. sublimotionibiza.com

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If you’re interested in food and cooking check out Lifestyle TV on ice Digital Widescreen for shows like Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations and episodes of top shows from Food Network.

RESEARCH SHOWS THAT SMELL MAY ACCOUNT FOR AS MUCH AS 80 TO 90 PER CENT OF WHAT WE PERCEIVE AS FLAVOUR ever-shifting and meticulously controlled to tease out certain flavours.

Other restaurants have used the research in neurogastronomy in subtler ways, crafting soundscapes with synesthetic matches between taste and music or using science to discover the most appealing ways of plating a dish. The latter is the subject of an exhibit at the London Science Museum, where Spence teamed up with several up-and-coming chefs to see if the way they intuitively plate their dishes matches up with how everyday museumgoers would want them.

One interesting find: Most people abhor asymmetrical plating, a current

trend where chefs put all of the ingredients on one side of the pate and leave the rest of the surface blank.

Spence hopes that the best of what works at the lab, the public experiments and these exclusive restaurants will birth new ideas in the near future, like multisensory cinemas or restaurants where portable devices aren’t a nuisance, but rather wholly integrated into the dining experience through apps or iPad “lightplates” (already available at Schauenstein Schloss in Switzerland). “No matter how great the food is,” he explains, “people will appreciate it that much more if everything else around is optimised.”

The food-fixated brainiac also hopes new insights into our multisensory perception of flavour will percolate down to everywhere from hospital dining rooms to airline cabins, where pressure and engine noise can dull the senses.

Just imagine if on your next flight you had a curated soundtrack to add some sonic seasoning to your meal, or an aroma stick to bring out the sweet and salty elements, which are most affected by altitude. This, Spence believes, is the future of dining, where taste is only the beginning and flavour is a multisensory mind game.

NOW DO THIS AT HOME PLAY WITH LIGHT Purchase a multicoloured LED light (with remote control), plug it in above your dinner table, and experiment with how different settings affect the flavours of your food.

According to Spence, red lighting can bring out fruitiness or sweetness, while a green light can bring out sour and fresh notes. Trying to loose weight? Recent research from the University Of Arkansas shows that a blue light may trick you into eating less.

PLAY WITH SHAPE Shape is one of the most overlooked elements of flavour, but it can be particularly important when it comes to preparing desserts. The Crossmodal Research Laboratory found that sweetness is matched with roundness, bitterness is matched with angularity, and sour tastes tend to be angular and asymmetrical.

How to enhance your eating experience

PLAY WITH SMELL The majority of what we think of as taste actually comes from our nose. One easy way to enhance the smell of a dish at home is to prepare it right at the table. You could, for example, cook fish or meat in a smoker bag and slice that bag open right in front of your family or friends so the aromas stay at the table. You can also play with the cutlery by wrapping various herbs around the handle of a fork and seeing how those smells affect the taste of the food.

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PLAY WITH PLATES At your next dinner party try serving the same dessert to your guests on vastly different plates. Experiments conducted at El Bulli’s test kitchen in Spain found that diners perceived strawberry mousse served on a white plate as sweeter than the same dessert served on a black plate. Subsequent research found that round plates accentuate sweetness, while heavier plates enhance perceptions of flavour.

PLAY WITH CUTLERY Speaking of heavy plates – heavy cutlery can also enhance diners’ perceptions of flavour.

A team from Spence’s Crossmodal Research Laboratory conducted a large-scale dining experiment at a Scottish restaurant earlier this year and found that diners who ate with heavy cutlery were willing to pay 15 per cent more for their food than those who ate with the restaurant’s normal, lighter utensils.

Essential news and information from Emirates

Desert fun in Dubai

Inside Emirates

Route Map

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BRIEFING

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Food, Fat bikEs and Fun in dubai

Arabian Adventures, the region’s leading destination management company, has announced new tours from November 1 that boast unique experiences allowing you to enjoy the city in style.

If you try Flavours of Dubai you’ll learn more about the culture and heritage of the Middle East by way of fantastic local food. Enjoy a traditional Arabic fruit cocktail, a taste of Turkish ice cream and Lebanese bites. End the day with a trip to Café Bateel in Jumeirah,

for a traditional Emirati meal with Arabic coffee and desser t.

Meanwhile, if you’d like a little more adventure, you could try Desert Dune Buggies. This bucket-list adventure sees you drive across the sand dunes in brand-new fully automatic, four-seater off-road dune buggies. Follow your guide or take time to blaze your own trail, but either way be sure to stop for photo oppor tunities along the way.

Finally, if extreme is definitely your thing, try Desert Dune Drive with Fat

Bikes. Fat bikes are built with oversized tyres to help riders glide through soft terrain like sand and are growing in popularity around the world. Be par t of an exclusive experience with the only company in Dubai to offer them as par t of a deser t safari package. As well as a dune drive through the Deser t Conservation Reserve and fat bikes, you’ll be able to try sandboarding and enjoy a picnic breakfast. To make a booking call +9714-303-4888 or visit arabian-adventures.com

EmiratEs ExtEnds HamburgEr sV sponsorsHip Emirates has announced the renewal of its sponsorship agreement with Hamburger SV for another three seasons until June 2019, highlighting its ongoing commitment to Germany and to football around the world.

The par tnership star ted with the 2006-07 season and the airline is the most longstanding jersey sponsor in the club's illustrious history. In addition to being the main shir t sponsor, the sponsorship includes prominent branding of the distinctive Fly Emirates at the Volksparkstadion, the home of HSV, as well as promotional and hospitality rights. Emirates also remains par tner in the 'Der Hamburger Weg' initiative.

“Today’s announcement is not just about spor ts, it is also an Emirates’ investment in Germany,” said Boutros Boutros, Emirates’ Divisional Senior Vice President Corporate Communications, Marketing & Brand. “Since we star ted flying from Dubai to Germany in 1987, we have experienced a robust demand for our daily flight and a constant loyalty from our passengers. Today, we offer nine daily nonstop flights from four German gateways continuously increasing the mutually beneficial trade, tourism and investment our flights brings to the country”, he added.

Emirates is a long-standing suppor ter of football with par tnerships across Europe including AC Milan, Arsenal FC, Olympiacos, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and SL Benfica. | 104 |

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emirates introDuces ‘the icon collection’ Emirates’ Official Store has unveiled a new apparel, home, and travel collection in collaboration with Hatty Pedder, a renowned Dubai-based British artist and fashion illustrator.

‘The Icon Collection’ is a unique interpretation of the globally recognisable Emirates cabin crew and their jet-setting lifestyles. The collection includes stylish floaty tops and sweatshir ts that appeal to all ages, handbags and luggage, and a sophisticated range of home items.

Items in the collection retail from 35 AED to 400 AED, and are available at the Emirates Official Store at The Dubai Mall (Ground level, The Village) and at all other stores in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The collection is also available at emiratesofficialstore.com

Be There in New Zealand Have you seen Rahed’s thrill-seeking adventures? He’s one of seven Emirates Globalistas showing you new experiences around the world.

Follow their stories and be inspired to Be There yourself

Where do you get your sense of adventure?

From the city of Beirut where I grew up, cycling and skateboarding the city streets in summer and snowboarding the country’s beautiful snowy slopes in winter.

get to your gate on time

What was your favourite aspect of New Zealand aside from the activities?

I enjoyed the stop by the sheep farm. I was hoping to experience wool shearing, but it wasn’t the season for that. I enjoyed chasing the sheep trying to feed them the hay I was given by the farmer.

What was your favourite experience overall?

The heli-boarding, for sure. As a little kid I used to follow and watch all the professional snowboarders reaching untouched mountain peaks by helicopters and riding their snowboards down the snowy fresh tracks. I must say doing that myself was definitely a dream come true.

What’s your advice for anyone travelling to New Zealand?

Travel the country in a campervan. The experience is so liberating and exciting at the same time. Secondly, get fit before landing in New Zealand, as the amount of outdoor activities you can enjoy is endless. Lastly be prepared to meet the friendliest people who will welcome you with genuine smiles.

What adventurous activity are you most looking forward to?

Base-jumping ranks among the most thrilling activities being enjoyed all over the world. I hope to wear the wingsuit and attempt it at least once.

To follow Rahed and plan your adventure go to emirates.com/BeThere or follow #BeingThere

Watch the Be There Travel Series on ice Digital Widescreen. Go to Lifestyle TV or choose channel 1292

Don't miss your flight Please make sure you get to your boarding gate on time.

Boarding starts 45 minutes before your flight and gates close 20 minutes before departure. If you report late we will not be able to accept you for travel.

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THE BiggEsT parTy on THE planET jusT goT a wHolE loT BiggEr... ...anD you arE on THE guEsT lisT!

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n e w s

the pangolin CRiSiS The pangolin, also known as a scaly anteater, is covered in hard plate-like scales. But demand for their meat and scales, is seeing these unique African creatures being hunted to extinction.

Emirates is supporting United for Wildlife, an organisation working to fight against poaching.

Learn more about United for Wildlife on channel 1502 on ice Digital Widescreen

asian pangolin •Manis pentadactyla (Chinese Pangolin) – Critically Endangered african pangolin

•Manis javanica (Sunda or Malayan Pangolin) – Critically Endangered

•Smutsia temminckii (Cape or Temminck’s ground Pangolin) – Vulnerable

•Manis culionensis (Philippine Pangolin) – Endangered

•Smutsia gigantea (Giant ground Pangolin) – Vulnerable •phataginus tricuspis (Tree or African White-bellied Pangolin) – Vulnerable •Uromanis tetradactyla (Long-tailed or Black-bellied Pangolin) – Vulnerable

For more on wildlife and conservation, visit Wildlife TV for a collection of award-winning documentaries including Attenborough’s Big Birds and top shows from Animal Planet. Channels 1240 to 1251 on ice Digital Widescreen

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INFOGRAHIC: JOHN MARSLAND SOURCE: WWF

•Manis crassicaudata (Indian or Thick-tailed Pangolin) – Endangered

Your home in Dubai

• • • • • • • •

Located in the heart of Dubai Opposite Metro Station Walking distance to Burj Khalifa, world’s tallest skyscraper Dubai Airport - 15 min Abu Dhabi Airport - 45 min Walking distance to shopping malls Close to Business Hubs (DIFC and DWTC) Spa and Outdoor Swimming Pool

Sheikh Zayed Road, P.O Box 116957 Dubai, UAE Tel: +971 4 323 0000 | Fax: +971 4 323 0003 www.emiratesgrandhotel.com

I n s I d e

e m I r a t e s

what a journey

Milestones that have seen Emirates become a truly global leader 1985 DXB

KHI

EK600 depar ts Dubai International for Karachi, its first commercial flight.

1987

Emirates takes delivery of its first bought aircraft, an airbus 310.

The airbus a310-300 is designed to Emirates specifications.

1991 DXB

LHR

Service begins to the busiest internationalhub in the world – London Heathrow.

1992 Emirates begins flights to Charles de Gaulle in Paris.

1996

Emirates takes delivery of its first Boeing 777-200 and The B777-200’s maiden flight is to London Heathrow.

2000 Emirates becomes the first airline to A daily service from Dubai to Sydney commences on the first A340-500 to join the fleet, which was the maiden flight for the airline’s industry leading First Class suites.

DXB

cDg

2003

Emirates makes its first flight to New York’s JFK Airport, its first destination in the United States. DXB JFK A £100 million deal with arsenal Football Club is signed, which includes naming rights to its new stadium for 15 years and

INFOGRApHIc: SARA RAFFAGHEllO

Emirates celebrates a milestone in its employee history, with its cabin crew | 110 |

I n s I d e

e m I r a t e s

becomes the first airline to show live footage of take-off and landing on its in-flight enter tainment system.

sign up for the airbus a380 when it orders seven, with an option on five more, at the Farnborough Air Show.

The A340-500 features ice , its game-changing in-flight enter tainment system – including 500 channels in all classes, and every seat is equipped with a phone.

2004

shirt sponsorship for eight years, star ting from the 2006/07 season.

2007

In the same year, Emirates reaches six continents with the launch of services to Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Emirates stuns the world by signing up for 120 Airbus A350s, 11 A380s and 12 Boeing 777-330ERs, wor th an estimated $34.9 billion at the Dubai Air Show.

2011

Emirates places the largest single order in Boeing’s history – 50 777-300 ER aircraft, wor th $18 billion in list price.

The order also includes 20 777-300 ER options valued at US$ 8 billion.

2012

Emirates launches its first social media platform on Facebook followed by Google +.

2013 Emirates rewrites aviation history with an order for 200 aircraft – 150 Boeing 777Xs and 50 A380s.

At US$99 billion, it is, at the time, the largest order in civil aviation history.

2014

Emirates is visible across three world cups – the FIFA World Cup in Brazil, the ICC Cricket World Cup in Australia, and the Dubai World Cup. team now totalling 20,000 staff. Emirates signs an historic $9.2 Billion order with Rolls-Royce for 200 A380 engines. | 111 |

2015

D e s t i n a t i o n

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D E S T I N A T I O N

COPENHAGEN Emirates will serve the Danish capital with an A380 from December 1, so enjoy our guide to one of Europe’s great cities Cutting-edge fashion, razor-sharp design and a culinary scene at the forefront of world gastronomy – for many Copenhagen is the trendiest city in Europe.

The residents, who dress down to go out, create a vibrant atmosphere throughout the centre of the city, but those who want to party a little harder head to the Kødbyen meat packing district, where clubs and bars entertain throughout the night.

While the city’s cool credentials are gaining headlines in style magazines the world over, Copenhagen has an abundance of

historical and cultural attractions. As a royal city of almost a millennia, fairy-tale castles and cobbled streets are resplendent, as are impressive museums and galleries. Denmark's National Museum is definitely worth your time, providing a fantastic overview of the country’s rich history.

Perhaps the most important development has been the arrival of better mid-range and budget accommodation options. The many diverse delights of Copenhagen are now far more accessible so there is no excuse not to explore this superb city.

EAT

STAY

DO

GERANIUM Headed by the exceptional Rasmus Kofoed, Geranium boasts two Michelin stars. This is serious food and the restaurant aims to bring clarity and diversity to its culinary creations. The whole experience from the service to the plating to the food will leave a lasting impression. geranium.dk

GENERATOR HOSTEL COPENHAGEN Cool, spacious and cheap, the Generator Hostels provide a place to lay your head and hang out in central locations without the cost. WiFi, pool table and other amusements entertain, but expect the hustle and bustle associated with groups travelling. generatorhostels.com

VISIT TIVOLI GARDENS One of the oldest theme parks in the world and beautiful gardens combine to create a tourist hotspot in Copenhagen.

If the wooden rollercoaster isn’t for you, head back at night when the beautiful lighting and attractions make for an entertaining and engaging stroll. tivoli.dk

NOMA If you are one of the lucky ones to secure a reservation at the world’s best restaurant, a table at one of the most influential eateries of the last hundred years awaits. Expect seasonal foraged food, groundbreaking style and service at comes in at a whole new level. noma.dk

NIMB HOTEL Situated in the famous Tivoli Gardens, the location couldn’t be better. Stunning design and an impeccable sense of service combine to provide a truly satisfying stay. After breakfast head back to your balcony and watch the crowds make their way around the gardens. hotel.nimb.dk

HANG OUT IN NYHAVN A former busy commercial port, Nyhavn is now a picturesque place to unwind with a leisurely walk and a trip to a cosy restaurant or bar. The colourful houses, so synonymous with the city, have also played host to some of the country’s greatest artists as well as the writer Hans Christian Andersen.

AMASS Amass is firmly on the foodie’s tour of the city. Former Noma chef Matthew Orlando is at the helm and uses ingredients from the restaurant’s own onsite garden. Feeling sociable?

Try the communal dining table experience. amassrestaurant.com

HOTEL CPH LIVING For a truly unique stay head to the converted barge that is Hotel CPH Living. Clean and simple rooms boast views over the water in the centre of the city.

The rooftop terrace is the place to relax with a beverage and watch the city come alive. cphliving.com

TOUR THE CASTLES With its rich royal history there are plenty of stunning castles and palaces to enjoy across Copenhagen and beyond. Try the spectacular royal hermitage Rosenborg Castle or head to Kronborg Castle, one of the finest Renaissance buildings of its type in the world.

EMIRATES STAFF TIPS CAFE CULTURE "My favourite place to eat is Café Victor on the famous Stroeget Street. Get the seafood and steak."

Marco Mohabbat Cabin Crew

BE SURE TO SHOP "Ther are great souvenir options in Copenhagen.

Buy a Viking hat, or go for some delicious Anton Berg chocolates."

Kennet Jakobsen First Officer

Emirates flight EK 151 leaves Dubai at 08:20am and arrives in Copenhagen at 12:20pm. The return flight EK 152 departs Copenhagen at 2:20pm and arrives in Dubai at 11:35pm the same day.

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C O M F O R T

WELLNESS IN THE AIR To help you arrive at your destination feeling relaxed and refreshed, Emirates has developed this collection of helpful travel tips.

Regardless of whether you need to rejuvenate for your holiday or be effective at achieving your goals on a business trip, these simple tips will help you enjoy your journey and time on board with Emirates today.

SMART TRAVELLER

DRINK PLENTY OF WATER Rehydrate with water or juices frequently. Drink tea and coffee in moderation.

TRAVEL LIGHTLY

WEAR GLASSES

Carry only the essential items that you will need during your flight.

Cabin air is drier than normal, therefore swap your contact lenses for glasses.

BEFORE YOUR JOURNEY Consult your doctor before travelling if you have any medical concerns about making a long journey, or if you suffer from a respiratory or cardiovascular condition.

Plan for the destination – will you need any vaccinations or special medications?

Get a good night’s rest before the flight.

Eat lightly and sensibly.

AT THE AIRPORT

USE SKIN MOISTURISER Apply a good quality moisturiser to ensure your skin doesn’t dry out.

KEEP MOVING Exercise your lower legs and calf muscles.

This encourages blood flow.

DURING THE FLIGHT

Allow yourself plenty of time for check-in.

Avoid carrying heavy bags through the airport and onto the flight as this can place the body under considerable stress.

Once through to departures try and relax as much as possible.

Chewing and swallowing will help equalise your ear pressure during ascent and descent.

Babies and young passengers may suffer more acutely with popping ears, therefore consider providing a dummy.

Get as comfortable as possible when resting and turn frequently.

Avoid sleeping for long periods in the same position.

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MAKE YOURSELF COMFORTABLE Loosen clothing, remove jacket and avoid anything pressing against your body.

WHEN YOU ARRIVE Try some light exercise, or read if you can’t sleep after arrival.

V i s a s ,

q u i c k

c o n n e c t

Guide to us customs & immiGration Whether you’re travelling to, or through, the United States today, this simple guide to completing the US customs form will help to ensure that your journey is as hassle free as possible.

CUSToMS DECLARATIoN FoRM All passengers arriving into the US need to complete a Customs Declaration Form. If you are travelling as a family this should be completed by one member only. The form must be completed in English, in capital letters, and must be signed where indicated.

ElEctronic SyStEm for travEl authoriSation (ESta) If you are an international traveller wishing to enter the United States under the Visa Waiver Programme, You must apply for electronic authorisation (ESTA) up to 72 hours prior to your departure.

ESta factS: Children and infants require an individual ESTA. The online ESTA system will inform you whether your application has been authorised, not authorised or if authorisation is pending.

A successful ESTA application is valid for two years, however this may be revoked or will expire along with your passport. apply onlinE at www.cbp.gov/ESta nationalitiES EligiblE for thE viSa waivEr*: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, Monaco, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom** * SubjEct to changE ** only britiSh citizEnS qualify undEr thE viSa waivEr programmE. | 116 |

This image is for advertising purposes.

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EXPERTISE YOU CAN TRUST. UAE • SOUTH AFRICA • NAMIBIA • SWITZERLAND www.mediclinic.ae

&

q u a r a n t i n e

i n f o r m a t i o n

Cut the queue at JFK with quiCK ConneCt If you’re connecting through New York JFK, you can avoid long waiting times in US immigration and queues for connecting flights with the Quick Connect service. US Customs and Border Protection Agency created the special service for passengers who have a connecting flight within three hours of arrival at New York JFK.

Follow theSe StePS:

1

2

3

4

have your boarding card or ticket for your connecting flight ready for the ground staff as you exit.

You’ll be given a Quick Connect card. Continue to the Quick Connect queue in the Arrivals hall.

After passport clearance, claim your baggage and clear US customs, regardless of your final destination.

If your bag is tagged to your final destination, hand it to emirates staff at the transfer counter for your onward flight.

quarantine in australia Australia has strict biosecurity laws, so when you arrive you’ll need to declare certain food, plant or animal items on your Incoming Passenger Card.

You also need to declare equipment or shoes used in rivers and lakes or with soil attached. All aircraft food must be left on board. Please take particular care when you complete your Incoming Passenger Card – it's a legal document and false declarations may result in a penalty.

quarantine in Japan Japan has strict rules around exposure to livestock and bringing in livestock items.

You will need to go to the Animal Quarantine Counter if: • you have recently been to a livestock farm • are bringing livestock products into Japan • your visit to Japan will involve contact with livestock the counter is in the baggage claim area. If you’re bringing meat and livestock products into Japan without an import certificate, you must see the animal quarantine officer. | 118 |

Calethon Construction, present in the Middle East and especially in Iraq for nearly twenty years, specialises in the provision of a multitude of services to the Oil & Gas industry.

Mechanical, Electrical and Instrumentation installation for the Petrochemical & Processing industry • Cable pulling & Installation • Piping fabrication and installation • Instrumentation installation Testing • Hot-works in Brownfields

• Cable Termination & Glanding • Non-destructive Testing, Hydro-testing & Radioactive Testing • Tubing Installation • FOC Cable installation

Large scale Civil Works including but not limited to: • Terrain Excavation, grading, leveling & compaction • Building construction, both traditional & Pre-engineered • Hydraulic and Electrical distribution networks installation

• Road construction • EPC Large scale Life Support Facilities

CALETHON CONSTRUCTION SA, SWITZERLAND - Via Générale Guisan 12 6902 Paradiso - Lugano SUI | Tel: +41 (91) 960 9970 CALETHON DUBAI, Dubai Middle East Office: Gold & Diamond Park, P.O. 34273 Dubai, U.A.E | Tel: +971 (4) 325 6030 CALETHON IRAQ - Calethon North Rumaila Camp, Al Attari Gate, Iraq | Tel: +964 (78) 151 50339 CALETHON TURKEY - Ankara, SUBESI Turan, Gunes Bulvan 84/2 Yildiz Cankaya, Ankara , Turkey

U A E

S M A R T

G A T E

BE SMART! USE UAE SMART GATE AT DUBAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

NATIONALITIES THAT CAN USE UAE SMART GATES

UAE

Andorra

Australia

Austria

Bahrain

Belgium

Brunei

Canada

Denmark

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Iceland

Ireland

Italy

Japan

Kuwait

Liechtenstein

Luxembourg

Malaysia

Monaco

Netherlands

New Zealand

Norway

Oman

Portugal

Qatar

San Marino

Saudi Arabia

Singapore

South Korea

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

*UK

USA

GO THROUGH IMMIGRATION IN SECONDS AND GET YOUR VISIT TO DUBAI OFF TO A FLYING START Citizens of the countries listed on the right and UAE residents can speed through Dubai International airport by using UAE Smart Gate.

If you hold a machine-readable passport, UAE Emirates ID card or E-Gate card you can check in and out of the airport within seconds.

Just look out for signs that will direct you to the many UAE Smart Gates found on either side of the Immigration Hall at Dubai International airport.

USING UAE SMART GATE IS EASY

1

Have your UAE Emirates ID card, E-Gate card or machine-readable passport ready to be scanned

2

Place your passport photo page on the scanner. If you are a UAE resident, you can scan your UAE Emirates ID card. If you have an E-Gate card place it into the E-Gate slot

OK!

3

Go through the open gate, stand in the blue footprint guide on the floor, face the camera straight-on and stand still for your iris scan.

When finished, the next set of gates will open and you can continue to baggage claim

*UK citizens only (UK overseas citizens still require a visa)

UAE SMART GATE CAN BE USED BY:

REGISTERING FOR UAE SMART GATE IS EASY To register, just follow the above process and then spend a few moments having your details validated by an immigration officer. That’s it! Every time you fly to Dubai in future, you will be out of the airport and on your way just minutes after you landed. | 120 |

• Machine-readable passports from the above countries • UAE Emirates ID cards • E-Gate cards

• • • • • • • •

Contract Drafting & Review Business Setup , Offshore & Free Zone Companies Corporate & Commercial Legal Services Litigation & Arbitration Debt Collection Banking, Insurance & Maritime Cases Real Estate, Construction & Labor Cases Trademarks, Patents & Copyrights

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• • • • • • • •

DUBAI EMIRATES TOWERS, 14TH FLOOR, SHEIKH ZAYED ROAD P.O. BOX: 9055, DUBAI, UAE TEL: +971 4 330 4343 | FAX: +971 4 330 3993 contact@emiratesadvocates.com | www.emiratesadvocates.com ABU DHABI Tel: +971 2 6394446 auh@emiratesadvocates.com

RAS AL KHAIMAH Tel: +971 7 2046719 rak@emiratesadvocates.com

DUBAI INTERNET CITY Tel: +971 4 3900820 dic@emiratesadvocates.com

SHARJAH Tel: +971 6 5728666 shj@emiratesadvocates.com

JEBEL ALI Tel: +971 4 8871679 jafz@emiratesadvocates.com

DIFC Tel: +971 4 4019562 difc@emiratesadvocates.com

WITH AFFILIATE OFFICES IN SAUDI ARABIA, QATAR, BAHRAIN, KUWAIT AND OMAN

FOR 24 HOUR LEGAL ASSISTANCE, PLEASE CALL +971 (50) 328 99 99

R O U T E

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M A P

NEW ROUTES: Bologna: daily service starts November 3 Panama City: daily service starts February 1, 2016

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M A P

YOUR CONCRETE PRODUCT REQUIREMENT OUR PRODUCTION SYSTEM SOLUTION

ONE OF THE MOST ADVANCED TECHNOLOGICALLY EQUIPPED FULLY AUTOMATIC PRODUCTION LINES FOR YOUR COMPLETE RANGE OF CONCRETE PRODUCTS

AIR PURIFYING BLOCKS UV pollutant

(E.G.Nox)

clean air

TIO2

ILLUMINATED TECHNOLOGY

AIR PURIFYING TECHNOLOGY

Fujian Excellence Honcha Environmental Intelligence Equipment Co. Ltd

Head Office: 3-16B, Quanzhou Economic & Technological Development Zone, Quanzhou, Fujian 362005, China Factory: Xuefen, Huaqiao Economic Development Zone, Nan’an Fujian, 362300, China Tel. No: (86-595) 2249 6062 , 2249 6066, 2249 6070 | Fax. No: (86-595) 2249 6061 Web: en.honcha.com | E-mail: marketing@hcm.cn , enquiry@honcha.com

R O U T E

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M A P

OPEN SKIES FOR IPAD

Search for Open Skies on the App Store

THE FLEET Our fleet contains 245 aircraft made up of 230 passenger aircraft and 15 cargo aircraft BOEING 777-300ER

Emirates is the world’s largest operator of this aircraft, which joined the fleet in 2005.

Number of Aircraft: 110 Capacity: 354-442 Range: 14,594km Length: 73.9m Wingspan: 64.8m

BOEING 777-300

Since 1999, Emirates operates two and three-class versions of the 777-300.

Number of Aircraft: 12 Capacity: 364 Range: 11,029km Length: 73.9m Wingspan: 60.9m

BOEING 777-200LR

Number of Aircraft: 10 Capacity: 266 Range: 17,446km Length: 63.7m Wingspan: 64.8m

BOEING 777-200ER

In 2005, the Boeing 777-200LR set a new world record for distance travelled non-stop when it landed at Heathrow airport, London, after a journey of 21,601km (11,664 nautical miles) from Hong Kong - the long way round. Emirates received its first 777-200LR in August 2007.

Emirates’ first Boeing 777-200ER joined the fleet in 1997.

Number of Aircraft: 6 Capacity: 274 Range: 14,310km Length: 63.7m Wingspan: 60.9m

BOEING 777F

Number of Aircraft: 13 Range: 9,260km Length: 63.7m Wingspan: 64.8m For more information: emirates.com/ourfleet | 128 |

The most environmentally-friendly freighter operated today, with the lowest fuel burn of any comparablysized cargo aircraft. Along with its wide main-deck cargo door which can accommodate oversized consignments, it is also capable of carrying up to 103 tonnes of cargo non-stop on 10-hour sector lengths.

AIRBUS A380-800

Emirates has operated the A380 since 2008, and is the world’s largest operator of this aircraft.

Number of Aircraft: 69 Capacity: 489-517 Range: 15,000km Length: 72.7m Wingspan: 79.8m

AIRBUS A340-500

This ultra-long range passenger airliner was introduced to the Emirates fleet in 2003. This saw the launch of the First Class Suite which has since been rolled out on the Boeing 777 and Airbus A380.

Number of Aircraft: 1 Capacity: 258 Range: 16,050km Length: 67.9m Wingspan: 63.4m

AIRBUS A340-300

Similar in many respects to Emirates A330-200s, the A340-300 is equipped with four engines giving it an enhanced range.

Number of Aircraft: 4 Capacity: 267 Range: 13,350km Length: 63.6m Wingspan: 60.3m

AIRBUS A330-200

First added to the fleet in 1999, this aircraft operates predominately on shorter-haul routes.

Number of Aircraft: 18 Capacity: 237-278 Range: 12,200km Length: 58.8m Wingspan: 60.3m

BOEING 747-400ERF

Number of Aircraft: 2 Range:9,204km Length: 70.6m Wingspan: 64.4m Aircraft numbers through end November 2015 | 129 |

This aircraft is capable of carrying up to 117 tonnes. The deck-side cargo door, with a height of approximately three metres, allows the uplift of oversized shipments that cannot be accommodated in the belly-hold of passenger aircraft. The nose door allows the carriage of long pieces.

K N O W L E D G E

DESTINATION How a city works. This month: Tokyo

Due to the scarcity of land, Tokyo incinerates 70% of its garbage every year, recycles 21% and dumps the remainder.

Source: Waste Atlas

TOKYO TOWER

TOKYO DRIFT

Tokyo’s nine terrestrial television and four FM radio stations are transmitted from the Tokyo Tower.

The tower monitors pollution and traffic on the streets below.

Source: Tokyo Tower official website

The Eiffel Tower was the inspiration for the Tokyo Tower, which is repainted every five years, a process that takes 12 months each time.

Edo was founded in 1457, becoming The City of Tokyo in 1889, which disappeared when it merged with Tokyo Prefecture on July 1, 1943.

YUP DEFINITELY TRAFFIC OVER THERE

IT’S BEEN FIVE YEARS BOYS. TIME TO PAINT!

“Tokyo buildings are numbered by the order in which they were built, not their location on the street” Source: A First Course In Japanese by Fudeko Obazawa Reekie

6

3.64

12.3

Months an oshiya, or “pusher”, is trained before they’re allowed to star t pushing people on to crowded trains during rush hour.

Million people pass through Shinjuku Station daily, making it the world’s busiest rail station.

Million tons of garbage is being used to create the manmade island of Umi-noMori, or Sea Forest, in Tokyo Bay. It will be a 2020 Summer Olympics venue.

Source: Guinness World Records

Japanese Railway, Transport And Technology Authority

Source: Tokyo Summer Olympics planning committee

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