Iftar Evenings ’At The Top’ Of The World

The Holy Month of Ramadan is all about reflecting on the values of generosity, charity, gratitude, solidarity and compassion.

Contemplate the values of the Holy Month, marvel at the bountiful splendour of nature, cherish the achievements of mankind working in unity ­ from the world’s highest observation deck with an outdoor terrace.
At the Top, Burj Khalifa, on Level 124 of the world’s tallest building, is celebrating the Holy Month of Ramadan with special timings and an unprecedented and first-time ever opportunity to break your fast from a vantage location.

Guests can reflect on the spiritual values of the Holy Month, watch the sun set into the scenic horizon of the Arabian Sea, and break their fast with dates, complimentary of La Ronda Dates, and water, complimentary of Masafi Mineral Water, from At the Top, Burj Khalifa, this year.

The observation deck opens to sweeping 360 degree views across the Arabian Gulf and the surrounding Emirates, with the ethereal guest experience likened to that of sitting on the wing of a plane.

Issam Galadari, CEO, Emaar Properties, UAE Operations, said: “The Holy Month of Ramadan brings friends and families together and to celebrate the values of gratitude and generosity. The days of fasting are also opportunities to reflect on life and embark on a spiritual journey of self-improvement. At the Top, Burj Khalifa offers a perfect retreat for a memorable evening; indeed, it is a never-before way to celebrate the Holy Month.”

After dusk, visitors can spend time till midnight at the observation deck, enjoying the spectacular sights of the city sparkling in a million lights. They can also watch The Dubai Fountain, the world’s tallest performing fountain, swaying to the rhythm of melodious music.

In addition to the view, the journey to At the Top, Burj Khalifa is educational and inspirational. Learn all about the grandeur of Burj Khalifa, and the history of Dubai and its evolution through impressive sight and sound displays. High speed express elevators take visitors to Level 124, transporting them to a world of scenic vistas.

From August 10 to September 9, At the Top, Burj Khalifa will open daily from 5pm to midnight. Admission is AED 100 for Adults and AED 75 for Children up to 12 years. Tickets are time stamped in 30 minute intervals to enhance the visitor experience and to avoid long queues. Fast-track entry tickets are priced AED 400 per person and subject to availability.

With only limited tickets available for the Iftar Evenings At the Top, log on to http://www.atthetop.ae\\\”. www.atthetop.ae and purchase tickets early to avoid any disappointment.

All tickets purchased will receive an AED 50 voucher from Na3 Na3 and Ember Grill restaurants at The Address Dubai Mall, to continue with the Iftar celebrations. Terms and conditions apply.

The entrance to At the Top, Burj Khalifa is located in The Dubai Mall’s lower ground level. Tickets can be purchased online at http://www.atthetop.ae/\\\” \\\\o \\\”http://www.atthetop.ae/\\\” www.atthetop.ae or directly from the Ticket Counter. For further information contact 800 AT THE TOP (800 28 843 867).
 

Books At Discounted Rates At The Modhesh World Book Bazaar

Book enthusiasts can now head to the Book Bazaar at Modhesh World for an exciting range of reading material at heavily discounted prices. The Bazaar is part of the efforts to enhance children’s summer experience at Modhesh World.

The Book Bazaar also runs a weekly promotion called ‘Book of The Week’. The price of the book under this promotion is discounted at least another twenty percent. The Favorite Princess is the ‘Book of The Week’ this week and available in both English and Arabic.

Books for children include educational books for learning alphabets, numbers, spellings, and grammar. Besides dictionaries, books on general knowledge are also available. Children can also browse through endless colour books and other art and craft books.

Mature readers will also find a huge collection of books including self help books related to stress, fitness, and parenting. Popular paperback titles as well as all time classics of Shakespeare are also available. Books are available in English as well as Arabic. Prices begin from as low as AED 8 going up to just AED 100.

H. B. Leisure, DWTC, Coco-Cola, Magic Planet, Emirates, Masafi and Union Co-operative are the sponsor s of Modhesh World.

Modhesh World doors are open from 10.00am to 10:00pm (Saturday to Wednesday), 10:00am to midnight (Thursdays), and 3:00pm to midnight on Fridays. Tickets to the venue are priced at AED 10 for adults and AED 15 for children with numerous free zones and exciting activities.
 

Dedicated Shoppers Reap Rewards At Mall Of The Emirates And Deira City Centre

Two self-confessed shopaholics, one in her 40s and the other in her 20s, are the latest winners of Mall of the Emirates and Deira City Centre’s joint DSS promotion that is giving away prizes worth AED 2 million during the festival.

Nazan Onu, a Turkish tourist and Elena Mavrayeva, a Dubai resident from Uzbekistan have won AED 100,000 each and have already started spending their windfalls by shopping at their two favorite malls!
 

1,111,111th Visitor At Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo Rewarded With Mauritius Holiday

Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo, the popular leisure attraction at The Dubai Mall, recently welcomed its 1,111,111th paid visitor with a whole host of fantastic prizes. Mr Awad Mohammed Al Kabbi, a UAE national, received the grand prize of a dream holiday for two to Mauritius including Emirates Airline return tickets and a four night stay at the exquisite One&Only Le Saint Geran.

Mr Damien Prendergast, General Manager of Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo, presented the prize to Mr Awad Mohammed Al Kabbi. He also presented other prizes including a dinner for two at Fazaris restaurant at The Address Downtown Burj Dubai; sporting goods vouchers from Stadium Store worth AED 3,000; and Sharaf DG vouchers worth AED 5,000!

The special campaign to celebrate the 1,111,111th paid visitor to Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo was organised in association with Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority; One&Only Le Saint Geran, Mauritius; Emirates Airline; Virgin 104.4; Stadium; Sharaf DG and The Address Hotels + Resorts.

Mr Arif Amiri, Chief Executive Officer, Emaar Retail, said: “Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo opens doors to an amazing diversity of aquatic animals and is one of Dubai’s most popular family attractions. We recently crossed our 1,000,000th visitor within seven months of operation, which was a milestone in itself. To celebrate the popularity of the destination and to reward our visitors for their continued patronage, we decided to offer the unique 1,111,111th visitor with an unforgettable holiday and a host of prizes.”

Mr Awad Mohammed Al Kabbi said: “I am really happy and surprised to be the winner. I have heard a lot about the Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo and this is my first visit. I can’t believe my luck and it is wonderful to be part of this unique celebration for Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo.”

Dr A Karl Mootoosamy, Director of Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority, said: “Mauritius is very proud to be associated with Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo at The Dubai Mall. Aligning with such a strong brand, as Emaar, will certainly reinforce our image in the Middle East market and we will continue to focus our efforts in intensifying our presence in this region. It gives us great pleasure to welcome the lucky winner to experience the many activities and diversity the island has to offer.”

Featuring a rich diversity of aquatic animals including Sand Tiger Sharks, Rays, Giant Groupers, Penguins, Seals, Crocodiles and a mind-boggling variety of fish, Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo is spread over two levels of The Dubai Mall. Shark Dives, which are open to certified divers and to those who have never dived before, are popular with young and old alike. The recently introduced Glass Bottom boat rides throughout the day are also extremely popular with the public.

Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo complements other leisure attractions such as the Olympic-sized Dubai Ice Rink and The Waterfall, which traverses all four levels of the mall.

The Dubai Mall will soon open a dedicated Entertainment Precinct featuring SEGA Republic, the largest of its kind indoor family theme park; KidZania®, an award winning children’s ‘edu-tainment’ concept; and Reel Cinemas, a 22-screen megaplex.

Commercial Ads Service Offered At RTA’s Customer Center In Barsha

Customer Service Centers Dep’t of Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in Dubai made a new addition to the galaxy of services offered at RTA Customer Service Centers. The new service offered through Al Barsha Customer Service Center is Commercial Advertising; the provision of which was previously restricted to the Main Customer Service Center neighbouring RTA Head Office at Umm Ramool.

Dr. Aysha Al Busmait, Director of Customer Service Centers, said: “The new service adds to the portfolio of services rendered by RTA subsidiary customer service centers, the number of which has now topped 65 centers. The bunch of services offered include renewal of driving licenses, renewal of vehicle licensing, selling of seasonal cards, selling of bus cards, selling of Salik Cards and selling of marine transport cards among others.

“Provision of Commercial Ads Services through Al Barsha Customer Service Center broadens the scope of a service that used to be offered only through the Main Center, and demonstrates the intention of the Dep’t to deliver its services to the public at the nearest points to their homes and workplaces, thus rendering them accessible to all customers. This prompted RTA to open subsidiary centers at shopping centers which are visited by people for multiple ends, so it becomes easy for them to process their RTA transactions such as driving license renewal.

Delivering the new service at Al Barsha will facilitate the processing of such processes for Dubai residents who previously used to visit the main Customer Service Center at Deira to receive commercial ads services.

“RTA is keen to open Customer Service Centers at prime locations in the commercial centers to make them easily accessible to the public. The Dep’t carefully selects Customer Service Centers in locations that make them visible and accessible by the budget without having the inconvenience of inquiring after their detailed locations.

The Dep’t plan envisages introduction of all-inclusive employee at all subsidiary customer service center on equal footing with the Main Customer Service Center and several affiliated Customer Service Centers. This is particularly relevant as the new procedure proved efficient in saving time and effort and enhancing the skills and competencies of employees.

Saleh Constructions Commence Work At Dubai Lifestyle City In DUBAILAND®

Dubai Lifestyle City (DLC), the luxury lifestyle development located in Dubailand, announced today that Saleh Constructions have commenced construction work of the project. Saleh Constructions will build the 68 Tuscan-themed villas and 120 villettes (condominiums).

The construction work of JW Marriot Hotel and the IMG Academies is scheduled to begin in September 2009. The first phase of DLC is expected to be completed by the end of 2011.

The projects network infrastructure work at the development is now complete. This includes the 100 per cent completion of the road networks, telecommunication, surface water drainage, sewage network, irrigation networks, fire-fighting system, street lighting and portable water network. The completion of the infrastructure work on the project site will help the progress of the construction activities.

Mr. Arif B. Rahman, Managing Director for Dubai Lifestyle City, said, “We are proud to share our progress and reaffirm our commitment to this unique project. The appointment of Saleh Constructions has been in line with our efforts to ensure superiority and, yet, maintain a swift pace in the construction work. The Dubai Lifestyle City has made a promise to deliver a first-of-its-kind haute living experience and we are on track to deliver the promise.”

Mohammed Al Habbai, Senior Vice President at Dubailand, added, “Dubai Lifestyle City is a unique project, which we are all very excited about. It will offer a different type of living experience and we are proud to have the project as part of Dubailand, through which we will continue to provide our full support to ensure the timely delivery of the project.”

Dubai Lifestyle City, has been conceptualized by the ETA Star group, is well en-route to raising the bar on “haute living”. Spread over a sprawling 4 million square feet enclave, the exclusive self-sufficient residential community has entered into partnerships with some of the most respected leaders from a variety of fields, including JW Marriott, IMG Academies, Microsoft, and CISCO to create 68 Tuscan-themed villas and 120 villettes (apartments), all conceived by Tony Ashai the celebrated Beverley Hills designer.

Plug-Ins Opens Mobility Store At Dubai Festival City

Plug-Ins, Al-Futtaim’s multi-brand electronics and IT retailer today announced the opening of the Plug-Ins Mobility Store at Dubai Festival City. The store is adjacent to the 35,000 square feet Plug-Ins store located in the Festival Centre.

The new mobility store will enable customers to browse through the latest mobile phones including the Nokia N97 and the Apple iPhone, PDA’s, MP3 and MP4 players, GPS, Netbooks and all mobile accessories.

Customers will also be able to subscribe to new mobile phone connections or purchase recharge cards at the dedicated Etisalat and du counters.

The Mohammed Bin Rashid School For Communication At AUD Perfects Its Curriculum

The Mohammed Bin Rashid School for Communication (MBRSC) at the American University in Dubai (AUD) has built on its existing curricula to refine its Bachelor of Communication and Information Studies (B.C.I.S.), which now entails two concentrations in both Arabic and English: Journalism, and Digital Production and Storytelling.

The MBRSC prepares its students to work in the fast-paced world of the media and to provide the public with content that meets international standards, by enriching the students’ knowledge and training them in areas ranging from ethics, media policy and reporting, to writing, production and language skills.

Mr. Ali M. Jaber, Dean of the Mohammed bin Rashid School for Communication comments:
“We believe that all those who work in the field of communication are story tellers and that we are in the story-telling business. We believe in the need to train our students in how to be able to tell their own stories in the best way possible using the techniques of journalism and television, radio, cinema, online, games, and mobile media. We also believe that writing rests at the heart of story-telling. It is through the proper use of simple, yet rich diction that students will be able to translate their original thoughts, ideas, their trials and tribulations into stories”.

Loyal to its ongoing efforts to form the best and brightest journalists and media professionals, and well aware of the financial, geographical and logistic challenges that applicants might be facing in today’s difficult times, the MBRSC has reiterated that H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai, is offering full financial aid (including tuition, board, books…) to eligible applicants in need from all over the Arab World, and who have opted for the Arabic track. The scholarship application deadline is set for July 30.

In order to fulfill the degree requirements, students have to take the 7 General Foundation Courses and 8 Concentration Courses (according to their chosen concentration). In addition, they have to opt for 2 out of the 6 proposed Arabic, French and Spanish courses, and to choose 12 Arts and Sciences Core Courses, 8 Arts and Sciences Electives and 5-6 General Electives from the wide array of courses offered by the School.
When applying to the B.C.I.S. program, applicants must, in addition to satisfying AUD’s general admissions requirements, submit an essay written either in Arabic or in English depending on the chosen track, and a portfolio consisting of samples of their literary/artistic work. Applicants to the Arabic track must sit for an Examination of Proficiency in Arabic.

Those who wish to apply may do so by filling the application (www.aud.edu) and returning it either by fax to: + 971 4 399 55 85 or by mail to the following address:
Admissions Department
American University in Dubai
P. O. Box 28282
Dubai – UAE

For further information please contact the American University in Dubai: +971 4 399 9000.

Rain of Surprises as Dubai Shopping Malls Group Announces Weekly Winners at BurJuman

Flowers rained on excited shoppers gathered at BurJuman on Thursday, July 16, as the mall hosted the Dubai Shopping Malls Group’s weekly raffle draw to select ten lucky winners, each of who received AED 50,000 in cash and gifts.

An entertaining theatrical act set the stage for the raffle draw. The draw was followed by a rain of flowers as rose petals were showered on shoppers who soon turned the venue into a playground by throwing petals at each other for fun.

Lucky shoppers who won at the raffle, couldn’t hide their excitement.

Egyptian Michel Sabry, one of the lucky winners, was overjoyed when informed of the winning: “I am getting married soon and this win has happened at the right time. I obtained the coupon when shopping for my wedding. Now that I am a winner, I am going to shop more.”

To receive the raffle coupons and enter any of the weekly draws as part of Surprising Millions, shoppers only need to spend a minimum amount of AED 200 at participating malls in Dubai. They can also double their chances of winning by using their MasterCard credit cards for which they receive an additional raffle coupon.

Rod Coffin, one of the recent winners, said: “This is the best surprise ever! I had decided to buy my wife a ring, for no particular reason. I can’t believe I am a winner now, my wife is going to be surprised!”

Surprising Millions campaign has participation from twenty three malls in Dubai including Al Bustan Centre, Al Ghurair City, Al Manal Centre, Al Mulla Plaza, Arabian Center, Bur Juman, Century Mall, Dubai Festival City, Dubai Marina Mall, Dubai Marina Walk, Dubai Outlet Mall, Gold & Diamond Park, Ibn Batutta Mall, Lamcy Plaza, Mazaya Center, Mercato Mall, Oasis Centre, Reef Mall, Souk Al Bahar, The Dubai Mall, Town Centre, Time Square Centre and WAFI Mall.

Magic Puppet Shop Brings Fairytales To Life At Modhesh World

The Modhesh Theatre was converted into a magical land as the actors of The Magic Puppet Shop took centre stage for their first show. An exciting new show, it brought back favourite fairy tales like Pinocchio and Aladdin with a refreshing touch.

The show addressed a serious of issue that the generation of today faces, the monitor replacing all forms of entertainment for children. It depicts the tale of the puppets and muppets of a Magic Shop that are invited to the Dubai Summer Surprises to entertain the children. The owner of the Magic Shop has three daughters who love the toys at their shop. They have magical powers and know how to use them wisely and cleverly.

Larger than life toys of the Magic Puppet Shop are appealing and exciting in their colourful and delightful costumes. The opening of the show feels as if the toys have come alive out of the pages of a fairy tale with elves, pixies, animals, and Pinocchio.

On their way to the festival, the computer, which is among the toys, decides to invade the festival and get rid of the muppets. The computer is a huge inflatable and dominates the stage as it rears its head up and bounces about making its presence felt. It lets go of the virus that freezes all the toys. The “virus” performs a high energy acrobatic dance that makes the air go tense in anticipation and the little children hold onto their breaths as the “virus” scares the toys off the stage.

The father brings his daughters a “magical book” that will guide them to defeating the computer and saving the toys. The three girls and father set off to different lands to bring the four essential pieces, The Magical Flower, Aladin’s Lamp, Feather of the Fire Bird and the Golden Key from Pinocchio to save the toys.

Each land is more opulent than the other with exuberant costumes and stunning performances. Arial acts on straps, rings, acrobatics on unicycles, tyres among others take the story forward with exciting twists and turns.

The hand balancing and equilibrium gymnastics is the highlight of the show. The acrobat balances on his hands at a height while a girl balances on top of him without supports. This act is deservingly always met with awestruck silence followed by a thundering applause.

The Magic Puppet Shop is a one hour show and is staged six days a week with at least one show a day. Entry to the theatre is free for all Modhesh World visitors.

Modhesh World doors open at 10.00am – 10:00pm from Saturdays to Wednesdays, from 10:00am – 12midnight on Thursdays, 3:00pm – 12midnight on Fridays. Tickets to the venue are priced at AED 10 – adults and 15 for kids with numerous free games and rides.