Stuff you don't need to know, but you read anyway.

THE 20 Minute Workout of Your Life!

I know, it's not easy to find time to workout because of all the buzz and craziness going on in our lives. But we have found a way for you now, and it only takes 20 minutes, we even throw another 10 minutes for you to change and get ready for the workout - making it a total of 30 minutes. Are you ready to know more about it? Because it's going to blow your mind.

WHAT IS EMS?

EMS has the potential to activate over 90% of the muscle fibres simultaneously during each contraction. This enables trainers to achieve outstanding results with an intense 20-minute workout session - which is equivalent to 4-5 hours of intense workout in a normal gym!

An EMS workout is a state-of-the-art training method that is focused on the scientific concept of electrical muscle stimulation. It helps achieve amazing fitness results through a series of exercises that can easily be customized as per the goals of the trainer, one session at a time.

During the training session, you will have electrical impulses send to target muscle groups in a rhythmic manner. This is done across the body as a means of stimulating muscle contractions. There are a diverse range of devices that are used for this purpose. These devices are fitted on to the torso, lower and upper limbs.

What Sets Us Apart?

At my30minutes, we take utmost pride in making it possible for our clients to benefit from the guidance of professional fitness trainers who supervise the entire workout. Through them, you will receive complete guidance about the exercises and motions. Not only that, they also help you ensure proper form throughout the contractions. We will also have a detailed discussion with you about your goals, and then plan an EMS workout routine to ensure that these are achieved in time.

Your personal trainer will continually adjust the rhythm, intensity and duration of the electrical impulses based on your customized EMS training plan. All of this is meant to ascertain that you achieve optimal results and maximize every single session as best as possible.

SUCCESS STORIES

We don't just train, we help get you to be the best version of yourself.

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I've been thinking about the time when corona didn't exist, and I can't remember much of it. I guess corona has now become our reality.

Now is the time for the great outdoors, the weather is great, the clouds have found their way here, and the weather is a tad bit chillier than a summer in Europe.

Shaikh Mohammed Bin Rashid has launched a hashtag called "Worlds Coolest Winter", and I’m always excited to see some of the places I didn’t even know existed in the UAE! It’s amazing how such a small country can have many different terrains, and different feels for every place. Khorfakkan is a huge spot for visits these days, I’m meaning to go soon. 

But at the moment, everyones’ favourite spot is somewhere in the desert. Flipping burgers and having some hot chocolate or karak, it’s that time of the year. If you haven’t been to the desert yet, you have to go, the good weather offer lasts until April so you don’t have much time. 

Have you ever tried making Machboos (a popular local dish) in the desert? I have, it was the best machboos I've had. here’s a picture of it:  

It’s also always good to be in the desert, clear your mind and be present - away from the noisiness of everything. Take a second to be mindful of the life you have lived, how blessed you are, and how your mental health and inner peace is most important above all things combined.

I usually write about new year resolutions this time of year, but today I wanted to do it differently. Today I want to be an enabler in your life, for being go-getters. So here goes:

Since we are starting a new year, and it’s only still February, I’d like you to do something for yourselves; and that is to put one goal you really really want to achieve, it could be anything - write it down somewhere, and let this be the goal you wake up to every morning, and make it happen before years end. 

I really hope that you do it. Because you will get to the goal you have set if you put your mind to it.

So until next time, Fajrawis! Enjoy the weather, laugh a lot, pray more, eat better, and check out the hiking trails around Fujairah! 

Have you ever had this cool business idea and you got all excited about it, but then you never started it? In fact, you sometimes think of it but - still - you haven’t done anything about it? If you have, carry on reading.

I’ve published a book called “Tales of an Emirati Entrepreneur” - it’s your guide to becoming your own boss. Get your copy today, and if you’re lucky you might get a signed copy from me if you see me roaming around Fujairah. 

I get a lot of questions from followers asking questions about entrepreneurship and plenty of questions about what they need to do to become an entrepreneur. So I’ve summed up this book - everything you need to know about becoming an entrepreneur is in there. Fun fact: before I published this book, I’ve given the draft to 5 people, and all of them have started their business successfully, whether it’s a home business, to a cute mini laundry in their own neighbourhood. 

This book will help you in a super simplified way to reaching your aspirations of a business owner, and it also taps into the personality traits one needs to acquire as a business owner. 

The book also tells you a little more about the fear factor and how you can make the ‘fear’ your friend. Among other tips and insights as a business owner, I wrote this book purely because I want to see you start the business you’ve been talking about for a while now. 

The book launched at the Sharjah International Book Fair, and I had my first book signing there - if you missed it and would like your copy signed, write me up on Instagram and I’ll be happy to set another book signing date for you guys. 

You can order your copy through a link on my bio on Instagram, it will reach you within 2-3 days. You wont regret buying it. 

Until next time, Fajrawis, 

Today, I want you to become the best version of yourself.

Envision it, act it, and then live it.

That's all I have for this one.

Live your best.

Until next time, fajrawis,

I recently bought 2 love birds, they’re called Yoke and Thanos, and they’re the cutest thing - they’re super friendly, but when i hang out with them too much, they bite as a sign for me to take them back to their house.

I think we spend too much time with these birds. The other day, my sister decided to have the bird pose so she’d make a drawing out of it. 

Then the other day I was watching a movie and the birds were having popcorn and accidentally bit on my hands. I haven't seen so much cuteness in a while, so this is pretty cute, even if they bite my hand and I bleed.

Here’s a picture of Thanos with Hamad, he’s the friendlier one, he would come to you without you asking:

Here’s a picture of Yoke with Yousif, he’s a little shy and plays hard to get most of the time:

I've been to plenty of beaches this summer, well what else can we do right, With travel restrictions and all? But honestly, it helped me and my buddies discover parts of the Emirates we didn't even know existed.

Abu Dhabi has *hands down* the most beautiful white beaches with crystal clear waters, here's a picture taken by my friend Amina:

You can even see some people are enjoying the waters. You might even think you're in the Maldives.

Corona is still going on though, I was hoping by the end of the summer things would have cooled down a little bit. I suppose not. I’m also sure you want to see how I look like with the mask, so here it is - I think it trendy, and I don’t have to make a lot of effort when I smile/talk.

Please take your precautions and stay serious about it until it's all over. Some people I know have gotten it and it's not anymore so far fetched for corona to reach us. Please be careful and be mindful of the people around you. 🙏🏼

On another note, how's life like with online classes? For me personally, I don't mind anything online. Corona has taught us that everything can be done while you're still in your bed. So why not?

Until next time, Fajrawis!

Now whenever I see anyone wearing a mask and it looks kind of weird, I wonder if they are smiling behind it. 

I’ve always had this hygiene thing - where I would wash my hands 4-5 times just because I’m bored. Mind you this behaviour was pre corona time. So now with corona, I probably wash my hands around 7-9 times - just because I can. 

It’s crazy how corona helped in making our Earth better and helped in reducing factors of climate change.

In Fujairah, they’re planting coral reefs that extends across the coast. Saeed Al Mamari - Manager of the Fujairah Adventures and his team in the center have been working on planting coral reefs in different parts of the Fujairah coast, some of the places include by the Fujairah Marine Club, Dibba Fujairah, Fugait area, and other places as well. This is done in order to reduce the carbon footprint and help in reducing the factors of climate change, a great step taken by Fujairah! This supports the environment, the diving community, and increases the incubation of fishes in our coast. 

Here are a few pictures: 

There is also a pretty cool thing Fujairah Adventures are doing: An underwater museum! 

The cool thing is, that all of the above work are done by volunteers from the Diving Volunteers Team that is under Fujairah Adventures.

A big thanks to His Highness Shaikh Hamad Bin Mohammed Al Sharqi, Ruler of Fujairah - for this wonderful initiative that brought the people of Fujairah together.

Thanks also goes to the Minitry of Climate Change and Environemnt, and Fujairah Municipality, Dibba Municipality, and to all the volunteers involved in this massive initiative. Thanks also to Ali Al Dhanhani for the details of the initiative and the images.

Anyone can sign up - and if you’d like you can give them a ring on or find them on Instagram @FujairahAdventures

I suppose there is a silver lining to everything, including corona.

Until next time, Fajrawis!

I know it's corona, and everywhere is corona, and every conversation is about corona, can we please stop it about corona already and look into how the Macarena dance got so famous?

I know that Summer is probably going to feel like a cool winter breeze, but really think about it: Corona has given us a chance to really work on that “Summer Body” we’ve all been saying we need to work on. Today, I got my exercise bicycle, and I gotta say it looked really good in the living room facing the TV, without me in it, so I think I’ll keep it that way for some time. 

Jokes aside though, staying at home has really given me a new perspective on “what on earth I’m doing at home” - especially through Ramadan, all I did was eat and sleep and checked my emails. I mean - there’s got to be more to life than this, right? So I added a new task to my list: watching Netflix. This is working out okay for now. I’ll let you know when I decide to change this routine, or if you have any ideas on what could be done while staying at home, be my guest - you can hit me up on @Sindiyay on Instagram. 

I was also wondering, listening to classical music really does soothe the soul. I’m listening to it while writing this. My music taste has changed completely since corona, I felt that I was listening to trash this whole time. Anyone feels the same way? 

But all in all, staying at home is not so bad for myself, I’ve grown accustomed to this lifestyle, I wonder how we are going to go back to our ‘normal lives’ after this whole thing rolls over. For most of us, I think it would be learning the alphabets all over again. I mean we’ve all just been talking to ourselves, and looking at memes. I’ve even made my own, and I’ve been trying to promote mine to everyone I know. I don’t think they like it very much but they’re being kind - we need kindness in times of corona. 

At least corona has made everyone kinder, and I’ve also noticed that they genuinely smile because it’s been so long since they’re seen another face. . 

I also feel like nothing really matters other than good health and being generally a good person inside out. I would have had a few jokes up my sleeves for the sentence before this but because I’m learning how to be kind, I am not going for it

So how’s your corona times treating you? If you’re happy, good on you, if you’re frustrated, try to adapt something new into your daily routine, like mine for example. 

Stay safe, Fajrawis! 

Isn’t it happy hour all the time since quarantine? Because all I’ve been doing all day is order stuff on Amazon, and get fed food and pretend that I cooked it. Nobody believes me, though. I don’t know why. 

So ever since lockdown, my sister and I have been ordering our groceries online. In the beginning, it wasn’t so bad - like we would get our groceries on the same day or the day right after. But a week after lockdown, when we order groceries, the closest date for delivery is after 7 days. So we kind of survive on cereal (without milk because it’s finished) until the delivery arrives. 

The other day I ordered from a fast food delivery app, and I ordered around 7pm for dinner, and it was scheduled to deliver within 30 minutes. Then after about an hour I check the status of where my food is, and it turns out that the fast food kitchen did not yet take my order so I got really furious because why didn’t they? And I quickly called the app hotline and complained about the situation, they said I should reorder, so I did, and right to when I reached the checkout page, a pop-up appeared that said “this shop cannot accept orders because it’s too busy right now.” - At this point, I probably ate half of my sisters’ right shoulder because she was sitting next to me. I had to apologize after that.

I am also ordering a lot of stuff from Amazon, and when it arrives, I wonder why I ordered them in the first place. I am however happy about one thing I ordered: an outdoor pool! When the delivery people came to drop it off, they told me that I would need professional help setting it up - so I became a professional myself by youtubing “how to set up a pool by yourself’, and that’s exactly what I did. I mean it is kind of swayed to one side and there’s a water leakage somewhere I can’t pin-point, but overall, I think I did a pretty good job. When I get in it, it kind of feels like I shouldn’t move and sit very still. Just so it doesn’t kind of break apart. 

One the other hand, it’s amazing how pollution quickly retreated since pre-corona time. I usually go up the roof and look at sunsets, and the weather seems to be quite crisp and, really just breathable. Here’s a picture of one of the sunsets:

Other than that, I think these times are not so bad at all really. They’re quite fulfilling, we get to do more for ourselves, more time to spend with our own thoughts - so it’s a blessing really. 

The other day my brother and I went about Fujairah when the weather was cloudy and nice, and it’s just amazing to see how nature had progressed quickly when humans do not sort of infest it. Here’s a picture of pure beauty: 

So what about you? What have you been doing with your time? All I can say is that there is a silver lining to everything, including these hard times. 

Let me know what you think about all of this @Sindiyay - I don’t bite. 

Until next time, Fajrawis, 

One thing I learned from corona: half of the meetings we do could have easily been in a form of an email. And also to have clean hands.

Jokes aside though, the virus really did put a lot of things into perspective. Like how a day can be so normal, and then the day after can be your worst nightmare.

My brother just came back from the UK since their had postponed the studies, and he's currently quarantined at home. We made sure he had everything he needed in his room, so far no complaints, except when we restart the WiFi router.

It makes me think how we take advantage of all the simple things we have, especially our well being and good health. The simplest things like driving from one place to another, enjoying a coffee with a friend at a cafe, being in a gathering with a bunch of friends, going for barbecues in the desert, or simply having the freedom of movement to wherever your feet can take you to.

This month, I've learned the little things that pass us by without us feeling grateful to, I've also learned that our well being and our health is something that is irreplaceable, and that when it's gone, it's gone.

To everyone out there, please stay safe, keep your prayers up, and contemplate the gifts we experience everyday.

This, too, shall pass.

Until next time, Fajrawis,

Do you believe in ghosts? My sister told me that she woke up one time, and then there was a thing covered in black, with a big head standing next to the bed. As soon as she saw it, it quickly zoomed into her wardrobe. I suppose ghosts are finding it hard to get a job also these days. Just standing there and staring at people. 

If it were me, I would have thrown my Vans shoe on it so it doesn’t give me a fright like that again. There was another time, my sister told me that our house is haunted, that she hears our nanny Edens voice when she’s not at home, and that one time there was a half eaten pizza she was saving for later. But what she doesn’t know is that it was me who ate that half. I don’t think she reads my articles so I’m safe. 

There’s a spooky legend in Fujairah that says that at night, there’s a ghost called Um Salasel (Mother of Chains) that goes for a walk by the Umbrella beach, and that you can hear her chains as she walks. I just think she fancies an exercise. I also sort of wish she was called Mother of Dragons, and that we would hear the sounds of dragons breathing fire - that would have been cooler. My friend says that she heard the chains once, and other people say they see a huge shadow figure at night by the beach. Have you seen or heard this ghost? 

There are also other ghosts that live close by Al Gurayyah. Apparently there’s this cave there that’s called “The Devils Nest” that’s on a peak of a mountain, so from the ground, the cave looks visible and you can see it clearly, but then once you walk up the mountain towards the cave, it disappears completely. A couple of people have tested this and it documented it - and it shows that really once they reach to the top of the mountain, it’s no longer there. But the person standing on the ground can see it clearly. How spooky is this? 

Here’s a picture of the mountain:

I have more stories, but I’ll leave it for later. I don’t want you to get all spooked up. 

My sister also told me the funniest thing - that one of her teachers at uni got food poisoning at a restaurant and decided to write a bad review on that restaurants page online - and then they were jailed because they wrote the bad review. So I suppose if anyone would like to apply for that position, it’s vacant. 

How did you spend your February? Tell me all about it @Sindiyay - I’m a good listener (If the story is good enough). 

Until next time, Fajrawis,

The weather was wild the past month, it was like when you promise a kid you’ll take them to Disneyland and then you take them to Grandmas house instead, and explain how the alternative was so much better.

But for me, I took advantage of the weather by taking Madiha my buddy to the desert for her birthday among other friends. 

So we arrive at the place we had previously booked, and it was pretty awesome. They had everything we need from seating areas to a fireplace to lights all around to a place to sleep. 

We arrived around 4ish, and the coordinator Ankur said that, for fun we could go for a walk towards a tree that was about 40 minutes away. Of course, Madiha said we should go and so we went. 

So the tree looked pretty close and the walk seemed doable. Here’s a picture of the tree:

Then almost 45 minutes of walking up and down the dunes, the tree still looked as far as it looked when we first started. I genuinely felt the desert illusion hitting me, and I started to get paranoid. I told Madiha “Look, by the time we reach to that damn tree it’s going to be pitch dark remember the guy said it gets dark after 6PM and it’s already almost 6PM.” 

Mads: So what do you wanna do? Me: Let’s head back before it’s too late. Mads: If it gets dark and we wont be able to see we’ll be food for the spirits - move your behind! 

And so I did.

In the desert it really is funny how we don’t use our brains - to get to that cursed tree, we were literally going up and down the dunes, when we could have easily walked on top of them and sway our way towards the tree. Half way through we started doing that: 

I remember thanking the Lord once we reached. 

When we reached, we heard sounds of the waves coming from the tree itself. I told the girls a made up story how Djins find shelter in trees in the desert and makes waves sounds, and they were in such a rush to get back to the camp. 

I started a fire, and went to see what we would have for dinner, but unfortunately there was none - I forgot to add a dinner package, so our dinner was a nutella biscuit spread with a marshmallow on top. Maybe at night I ate a bit of Madiha’s hands while she was sleeping - I was starving. Here’s a picture of the fireplace:

And here’s Madiha covered up in both our blankets:

So that was that for that day.

A few days later I went with a friend that was visiting to have afternoon tea in the “sky”. Basicallyt we were 53 feet off the ground, and we could twist our chairs to look down - it’s one of those things a tourist does when they visit. I would have preferred we had an afternoon Karak Chai at Magic Flakes Cafe, with some mini pancakes on the side. 

Here’s me 53 feet high off the ground: 

That was my January, folks. An interesting way to start the year. I mean I had hoped I won the lottery for a million bucks but I got this instead. I’m not complaining. 

you know what’s happening in Fujairah? #Zeronine is! *plugs in “Let Me Entertain You” by Robbie Williams* - Zeronine is back with absolute entertainment & harmony! 

Make sure you visit Zeronine from the 28th JANUARY – 1st FEBRUARY 2020. It’s all about harmony this year, representing a womens’ journey in life to find harmony in all aspects of life. There will also be a forum where selected inspirational women will be sharing their own journeys & successes. 

I’m also excited about the live performances with Arab routed performers, sharing the miracle of music to the soul. 

This year round, it’s all about the Zeronine tribe - the tickets are complimentary, and there will be 9 interactive platforms where you can use your senses whilst in them. With 90 Exhibitors this year, you’ll definitely find the good stuff you were looking for whether it’s fashion, food, or the arts. It’s also a closed venue this year, really look forward to it! 

I’ll have my booth ready for next year - gotta get my bling jewellery moving! 

Make sure you plug in @Sindiyay - get to see all the cool stuff I’m up to. 

Until next time, Fajrawis, 

I’m back, folks. I’ve sort of missed two months of writing because well I was facing a writers block. I am finding it hard to write this one too actually - but I didn’t want to disappoint Virginia (Fujairah Observers Editor) so here goes! 

I think I’ve been having a writers block because I feel like I have a lot of thoughts and things going on inside my head, and I’ve been finding it difficult to declutter. So what I did was; I sat down on my desk, took a pen and paper, and wrote down all the to-dos I had to get done, all the pending stuff that I need to follow up on, and new goals for 2020. It wasn’t that hard. I managed to get through all of it within an hour, without any distractions. 

So let me tell you about the highlights of the last two months, I’m sure you missed me. 

On October, I went on this benchmarking trip to London. I was there with the Government Accelerators team I was leading in order to find out about the policies and regulations on employing people with determination. Surely by now you must have heard of the term People of Determination in the UAE - it is a term used for people with disabilities. The funny thing is that when we were over there, I was boasting about this term saying “Did you know that in my country, we call people with disabilities, “People of Determination”?” - and the answer I get is “But why?”. And my reply is always “It’s a form of motivation,”, and they reply with “But are you saying that determined people can only be people who have disabilities?” And I’m like... “Check please ok thanks bye!”. Okay I don’t really do that I’m not that rude, but 10/10 of people outside the UAE thought the same and that they “Didn’t like it as a definition.” 

I mean I do see their point, this term sort of boxes anyone with a disability, and surely nobody would like to be boxed into something. I get it. Just like how I don’t like being called fat. Get me? 

Here is a picture of my team and I with one of the benchmarking entities we had visited: 

I also introduced the team to my Dad who was there on a separate business, and he bought us lunch at an Iranian Restaurant Abadanna. We made sure we ordered everything there was on the menu. 

Then on November, I went on this UN Women Empowerment Program in Vienna, and I have to say that I had a pretty splendid time, and I loved every bit of it. There were 20 fully funded women from the GCC that were selected to go on this program, I got to make friends with women from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and Oman. They were all pretty awesome, like-minded individuals who are on a journey to become global citizens of change. 

During the trip, a bunch of us went to Budapest for the weekend, and I cooked Karak with the help of Nada telling me that I was doing it wrong. She was right, the Karak tasted like expired water mixed with cement. But hey - it’s the thought that counts right? I kind of forced them to drink it because it was a waste of water and milk and tea and cardamom. 

Here’s the girls and I on our graduation day. 

I learned a lot from this program, it truly was something I was happy to be a part of, the workshops held at the Diplomatic Academy of Wein were excellent, and I’ve even started having workshops myself on sharing the knowledge I had acquired at my own workplace. So if y’all need some change-making guru, you know who to call (actually I prefer you send a DM on @Sindiyay, I’m too important now I don’t answer calls unless it’s from Aramex).

Now we come to December, of course, the best month of the year (I’m sure you know by now that December 22nd is my birthday and I accept all kinds of gifts, except for flowers; I don’t know what to do with them. This year I celebrated multiple times, I’m blessed to see so many good people around me that I can share this day with. Fujtown also celebrated a day early (or maybe they just forgot which day it was) - here’s a snap of it: 

As you can see I ate all of that cake and left some for the rest. It’s my birthday I can do whatever I want. 

I feel quite accomplished in 2019 Alhamdulillah, and I am aiming higher for 2020 - It’s going to be the best year, full of opportunities, love, peacefulness, and happiness, InshAllah. 

It’s also DubaiExpo2020 this year, commencing on October, I can already feel the excitement among people - what a great win for the country. 

My New Year resolution is all about decluttering; Decluttering things, unwanted energies around me, and most importantly, I’m decluttering people that do not add anything to my life. Let me put it this way: if someone does not add value to you or your wellbeing, you don’t need them in your life. This is how I’m declaring how I’ll be playing it in 2020.

I’ve done my New Year Resolutions, have you? Are you willing to actually accomplish them this year? If I dare you and you lose, you have to buy me lunch from Magic Flakes Cafe. 

And last but not least, congratulations on Trumps Impeachment. It was about time.

Until next time, Fajrawis! 

I suppose all students started September with heavy luggage either on their backs or dragging it by the floor. Back to school is like heaven for parents, and hell for the kids. 

But these books, so heavy and thick - that barely any kid reads unless he/she absolutely have to - why do they have to be so heavy? It’s the 21st century, just sum it up or put it on a tweet or something. We’ve got to do something about it. 

All the roads are jammed in the morning, now it takes me 35 minutes to get to work when it used to take me 12 minutes. All the kids are dangling about inside the car, staring at other cars like they’re about to pounce at you. But on the way back home from school, you wouldn’t be able to see them because they’re all taking the sleeping position inside the car. 

All the crazy drivers come out this time of year too, one of them hit my beloved car from the side. I came out screaming at the guy and he was pointing his index finger at me as if I came out of nowhere and hit him. Here’s my car, just admitted to the service garage. 

Word of advice, take the longer route home if you’re trying to avoid traffic, even if it means you’re going to drive to Dubai and come back to Fujairah. 

I know it’s not yet New Years, but sometimes September really does feel like a beginning to a new cycle of hope and exciting things that are coming ahead. I feel it in my bones, do you? 

Especially with all the Federal National Council Elections that’s been going on. The funny thing is that, we were used to seeing lamp post ads of fast food shops promoting their deals, but now all we see are the many different faces of the candidates that are running for the elections. It appears that the idea for making one candidate stand out, is to put their ad on the biggest post.

Nonetheless, on your marks, set your vote - go! The energy in the air is great, and who ever the winner is, everybody who participated is a winner in the end.

Another exciting thing is that we keep getting fed at work - a good old Machboos just before leaving work - is my favourite kind of meal. But the funny thing is that - I didn’t actually have it. I wasn’t invited. 

On a different note, have you tried Madiha’s pizza? It’s sort of cooked but it actually does taste quite nice. 

Other than that - September went by quite fast that I could barely keep count of the days. What about you - how was your September? Did you also get hit by a crazy driver? Tell me all about it @Sindiyay - I’m a good listener. 

Until next time, Fajrawis! 

This summer, we went for a holiday to London - and I said hello to Shaikh Mohammed Bin Rashed at Selfridges. It was the highlight of the trip! 

Every time we come here with the family, I always make plans to visit the historical places or get tickets to the shows, but then when I arrive I end up looking for the best melted hot chocolate shot in town. I found it - it’s at SAID cafe. Here it is: 

When I meet my friends here, they say lets go for a walk after lunch or dinner, and then the walk takes about 50 minutes and I’m not really happy about it because a walk typically lasts for some 20 minutes or so, so I leave them and take a cab back to the hotel. Then my sister tells me that she wants to go to some place and it’s quite near, and we walk some more say about 1.5 hours and I’ just really annoyed that people don’t understand that somewhere ‘near’ doesn’t mean 1.5 hours, it means a 5-10 minute walk! 

And also, when they walk, they don’t walk like normal human beings, they walk like they are doing the Michael Jackson backwards walk but going forward instead of backwards. They’re walking so fast as if they are going to join the Olympics for speed walking. And I’m always the one at the back gasping for my breath (and life) all sweaty like “Stooop!” when they are 2 miles away. 

Then after all that running I treat myself a peanut butter ice cream:

So that’s basically what’s been happening with me all summer - always trying to catch up with people that are supposed to be walking right beside me. But thats fine, I did lose some weight and I was kind of happy about that. 

How was your summer? I’m still posting @Sindiyay - check it out, you can find some pictures of London and pictures with me in them. But I have to say - I do miss Fujairah dearly, and I can’t wait to be back. 

Until next time, Fajrawis! 

Harees and Thareed and some Samosas - that’s a Ramadan Mubarak for me everyone! And of course, being faithful and all that.

Have you ever tried mixing the Harees and Thareed together and then eating it? It’s so good that - it probably is the answer to the unsolved mystery of the Pyramids. Try it out - and mix a little samosa with it.

So in this Ramadan, a friend of mine Nada had started doing this social media detox thing, and I got very intrigued about it. Not checking any form of social media for a full month? That sounds like an extraordinary effort to be done with that. But I thought, why not? And I started my 5th Ramadan with it. Wanna know what I learned? 

(Thareed)

(Harees)

One of the most important things I’ve learned, is that the value of life cannot be shrunk into a picture, or a few sentences with meaningful words. I know we probably already know how valuable our life is, but we sometimes forget, when we have too many distractions around us that keeps us from remembering it.

I also learned that being on social media, wasn’t really a way for me to document my outings or whatI’m up to. I mean - I do like to document those moments, but if we really look into it - who are we documenting it for? Ourselves or the people out there? It’s a slithering thought, but it is also the truth about the reality of what we do on social media, right? 

There’s also another thing that happens, it’s when we wake up and the first thing we do is grab our phone. Not to turn the alarm off, but to just check social media because it’s a habit we continued on for the longest time. But why though? checking social media means checking what other people are up to, and those people are only putting up made up images of their lives, because thats how they want people to see them. And then you start your day with weird emotions thinking you want to be like them, but what you’re after are all lies. They’re lies and they’re not real - you’re the one that’s real. 

So while I’m on this detox, and fighting the urge of the body to habitually check my phone so very often, until that urge does not exist anymore. And it came to me not really missing anything about it. The only thing I miss is The Daily Show. and of course - the memes. 

I mean I am still on social media and I do check it after doing this detox, but it’s more balanced now. It’s more genuine, and training yourself on seeking what is necessary only, not being curious on what this person or that person is up to, will make your life flourish. 

Let me know when you try the Harees and Thareed together, I wanna hear your thoughts on it. It’s important. You can also write me @Sindiyay - if you want pointers where to get the best Samosas in Fujairah.

Until next time, Fajrawis,

It is one Saturday afternoon - Manal, of course, looking fab as always, had just walked through the doors of The Orangery, the recently opened restaurant by the Fujairah Tower.

After showing Manal around the restaurant, we sat down and ordered mineral water. I was hoping for lunch but Manal had to be in Dubai within an hour so we wouldn’t have enough time to indulge properly.

Seeing that this is the first interview, the first question with Manal was: how did it all start? 

Manal: It all happened 2 years ago, I was never into beauty, but that time I was following Huda Beauty - and went to one of her classes, I told my parents I wanted to go, and when I did, there was a huge goodie bag, and with that, I thought to put up the beauty tips I learned that day, and publish my very first own amateur video of a make up tutorial! Thats how it literally started. 

Me: Once you started your first video on instagram, who were your biggest supporters?

Manal: My parents were my biggest supporters, both of them - if it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t have been able to do it. And of course, Huda Beauty, she supported my exposure, she would repost my videos and I’d get a good 10K of followers from that! 

Me: Talking about followers, how engaged are they with your content, and where do they come from? 

Manal: From all around the world - Al Hamdellah. They are very well engaged, even my new haircut I got a lot of comments on!

Me: A few people only can pull off that haircut - and you are killing it! So do you often feel there’s plenty of competitors? 

Manal: Definitely, the Instagram community is filled with lots of talented people, it has become more like a business, but what’s different is the content you post and being yourself is important because that’s what people want to see. I’m really grateful, like when some of the followers come up to me to take photos, I ask them ‘what is it that keeps you interested in my profile?’ and they tell me that they feel connected, and that what I post is relatable to them - and that makes me happy! I do my best in posting genuine and real content.

Me: I agree, I think there are a lot of accounts out there that are not exactly genuine to us all. Do you feel like you have quite a responsibility to carry as most of your followers are young women? 

Manal: I do feel I’m responsible, I mean I didn’t expect my growth to be really fast - in 2 years, I have gained 500K followers, and this makes me feel more aware of the kind of stuff I post, the kind of products I promote, It’s important to me to. I don’t want to show them something that would harm their skin. 

Me: Have you had a low point anytime in those past two years? 

Manal: At one point, I was going through a tough time, and I had stopped posting. In fact, I deactivated my account for some time. But I went back on the horse and started posting again. The thing is that to keep the followers interested, we have to keep posting something. 

Me: So what keeps you going, when the going gets tough? 

Manal: My followers. I want to keep them posted and I don’t want to disappoint them! But sometimes when I get lazy, my mom keeps a reminder for me, she’s like my manager *giggles* - 

Me: That’s a cool mom you’ve got there. So how do people react when they find out that you’re from Fujairah? 

Manal: They get so surprised! I think most people have the wrong conception about Fujairah, and I tell them that they should visit one time to see it with their own eyes. Fujairah is home to me.

Me: You’re right - most people don’t know that Fujairah is the paradise of the UAE. So what does a typical day in Manals’ week look like? 

Manal: Fully packed! Events and shoots, and if I’m not shooting somewhere, I’m doing the shoots myself for the instagram feed! The thing is, I never feel like I’m doing “work” - it’s meeting new people all the time, going to events, it’s a busy schedule and it does get hectic at times, but it’s fun! 

Me: I can imagine! Speaking of shoots, are there any tools that you use that you can share with your followers, to keep your content interesting? Or is it the secret of the trade? 

Manal: No not at all - I’ve been there. When I started I didn’t know what to do myself. All I can tell them is: when you do a shoot, don’t make it complicated, and use lots of sunlight! I also use iMovie on the iPhone. InShot is also a good tool to help with the videos. 

Me: Thanks for the tip - I’ll need those myself! I also use Splice for some of my videos and it’s super user-friendly. A quick random question, do you like to cook?

Manal: I don’t know how to cook - but I can sure eat. I love food.

Me: *laughs* I do too. The last time I tried to cook pasta, it came out black. Turns out I’m supposed to add water to it. How the hell do they forget to write ‘add water’ in a recipe?

Manal: *laughs* well it’s kind of obvious but alright. I’m no cook, but I love to taste food. Especially burgers. 

Me: So Manal, we’re almost reaching towards the end of the interview, is there something you’d like to share with your followers, perhaps how is Manal on a personal level? 

Manal: A lot of my followers and people in general might think that I’m a social bee, with a big circle, but in reality, I’m literally an introvert. I have a selective group of friends that I hang out with, but of course with social media, we choose what we want people to see. Some people might think that I have the best skin and all that, but we really choose what we want to post and the audience think that this is our life. But it isn’t. I’m doing my best to be myself!

Me: I’ll tell you one thing that I know, you’re quite the talent! I have a gift for you, since we didn’t get the chance to dine in - It’s a gift from @CharmsOfArabia, they think you’re awesome and wanted to gift you 5 of their best seller rings, and also one of their best seller necklaces. 

Manal: It’s so lovely! The colors of the stones on those rings are gorgeous. I’ll wear this one (green stone), what’s this ring called?

Me: This one is called the Ring of Transformation. It’s a Malachite stone, it opens up your chakras for deep energy healing - let me know how you feel after! 

Manal: I sure will - it’s so lovely I’m in love with the color. I’ll be wearing it right now! 

Me: I hope that you enjoyed you time here at The Orangery, and I hope you have safe travels to Dubai. Next stop with Manal will be at Magic Flakes Cafe!