On the first day of Carnival I headed to a party in Copacabana with Brian and James, two friends from Britain, and four of their friends.
There were thousands of people hanging around and dancing wildly on the roads, pavements and on the public benches. Food stalls were scattered across the streets. All we could hear was trance and house music coming out of a speaker system placed on the back of an old, scratched-up lorry. Our group was soon joined by an Australian man and Anglo-Thai girl. After a night of extreme dancing we returned to our rented apartment at 4am.
On the second and third days of Carnival, we walked towards Ipanema beach where the main party was due to be taking place. On these nights the atmosphere was even livelier and wilder than the first. There were parades of people walking and dancing down the main stretch of the road, following another beaten up pickup vehicle that, once again, had a speaker system fitted on the back.
The main road had been closed to traffic with the exemption of police cars and rubbish trucks. We followed the crowd dancing along to the folk Brazilian music that was being played. People were dressed up in outrageous costumes: the number of men dressed up as women was surprising. Others were dressed up as dogs and cats complete with a tail, fur and whiskers. The majority of women wore bikini tops and skirts with angel wings around their backs and halos around their heads. I stuck to the simple but patriotic option of having the UAE flag painted on my cheek.
I really enjoyed the second and third days of Carnival because of the parties taking place on the main beach itself, where there were about five different stands playing music that varied from electro to drum 'n' bass. On the fourth day of Carnival, at about 10pm, we headed to Lapa. Lapa has a reputation for being more dangerous than either Ipanema or Copacabana. There are quite a few pickpockets in the area and you have to keep your belongings safe at all times. A few of Brian's friends later told us they had their cash snatched from their pockets while walking through the parade and they did not even realise it at the time. I made sure I never took out more than the equivalent of US$35 (Dh130) whenever I went out and luckily, avoided trouble.
Lapa was by far the most exciting place we had been to during Carnival. The streets were just as crowded as those in Ipanema and Copacabana but they had an authentic feel to it in the sense that they lacked the pretentiousness of the previous places and as a result felt more local and less touristy. Different parties were going on, all featuring different themes. I heard a group of people playing the samba while walking slowly along the streets and alleyways and I decided to check the party out - it was by far the best.
There is something about the rhythm of the samba that gets you dancing. Each player has his or her own drum and hits it hard with their drumstick at intervals. The assortment of beats drives the crowd wild with energy. I pushed in straight to the front of the crush walking along the alleyways with the samba players, dancing constantly till I felt exhausted - again, I dropped at around 4am.
The following day, we got to Saquarema during the early hours of the afternoon. It was just the type of relaxed small town we needed to stay after Carnival. We spent the next three days eating seafood and surfing at the Itauna beach, where the waves reached three metres high. Saquarema is a very small town about 100km north-east of Rio and is not considered to be one of the main tourist attractions.
We then decided it was time to go back to Rio to watch the six samba school finalists perform at Sambadrome. We checked back into the Rio Backpackers hostel (www.riobackpackers.com.br), where we were able to buy tickets at a cost of $160 (Dh588) each and headed straight to the Sambadrome. For six hours we watched the six samba school finalists perform their parades. The costumes and sets were out of this world as were the routines, which consisted of dancing, gymnastics and samba playing.
What really amazed me more than anything else were the massive robotic sets that were built for this once-a-year event. These robots that the performers were dancing on were huge, with wheels and faces that were designed with the most intricate detail. The eyes, mouth and head of the robots moved constantly, and it felt as if you were actually looking at a real-life person whose head size was three or four times the size of your own body. I was disorientated but exhilarated.
Next week: Omar reports from Saalbach in Austria.
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
Cry Macho
Director: Clint Eastwood
Stars: Clint Eastwood, Dwight Yoakam
Rating:**
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If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
Ticket prices
- Golden circle - Dh995
- Floor Standing - Dh495
- Lower Bowl Platinum - Dh95
- Lower Bowl premium - Dh795
- Lower Bowl Plus - Dh695
- Lower Bowl Standard- Dh595
- Upper Bowl Premium - Dh395
- Upper Bowl standard - Dh295
Company profile
Company name: Nestrom
Started: 2017
Co-founders: Yousef Wadi, Kanaan Manasrah and Shadi Shalabi
Based: Jordan
Sector: Technology
Initial investment: Close to $100,000
Investors: Propeller, 500 Startups, Wamda Capital, Agrimatico, Techstars and some angel investors
The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
FORSPOKEN
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Starfield
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Results
Stage three:
1. Stefan Bissegger (SUI) EF Education-EasyPost, in 9-43
2. Filippo Ganna (ITA) Ineos Grenadiers, at 7s
3. Tom Dumoulin (NED) Jumbo-Visma, at 14s
4. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE-Team Emirates, at 18s
5. Joao Almeida (POR) UAE-Team Emirates, at 22s
6. Mikkel Bjerg (DEN) UAE-Team Emirates, at 24s
General Classification:
1. Stefan Bissegger (SUI) EF Education-EasyPost, in 9-13-02
2. Filippo Ganna (ITA) Ineos Grenadiers, at 7s
3. Jasper Philipsen (BEL) Alpecin Fenix, at 12s
4. Tom Dumoulin (NED) Jumbo-Visma, at 14s
5. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE-Team Emirates, at 18s
6. Joao Almeida (POR) UAE-Team Emirates, at 22s
LUKA CHUPPI
Director: Laxman Utekar
Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Cinema
Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Kriti Sanon, Pankaj Tripathi, Vinay Pathak, Aparshakti Khurana
Rating: 3/5
TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
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