RAS AL KHAIMAH // Popular Cafe, the oldest shisha cafe in Ras al Khaimah, is a creek-side creation of palm that has passed from father to son.
On one side, the cafe overlooks Old RAK, its vegetable and pigeon markets, the spit of land where dhows were once built, and the street where retired sea captains still spend their mornings by the fishmarket. Across the creek the Julfar Towers loom, 45 floors of shiny turquoise glass that mirrors the sea's sparkle.
In the afternoon, the minarets from the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, RAK's tallest man-made landmark before the Julfar Towers rose, are still visible. The call to prayer carries from mosques across the creek.
Popular Cafe has stood at the centre of the creek's transformation since 1973, when it was founded by Ali Ahmed al Ghais.
Born in the late 1920s, Mr al Ghais was a fisherman and a mason in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, before returning to RAK in the 1950s to try his luck as a cafe owner. The success of his first three cafes reached the ears of Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammed, the Ruler of RAK, who commissioned him to open a traditional cafe on the banks of the creek. Mr al Ghais worked there for two years on a government salary, and then was given the business to run for himself.
Popular was as much a social centre as a cafe, with a kitchen that served Emirati fare and a collection of maritime memorabilia on display for visiting schoolchildren.
When Mr al Ghais died three years ago at the age of about 79, his son, Adel, took over the family business. Instead of following the style of other cafes and investing in PlayStations, he honoured his father by expanding the cafe and renovating it in a traditional style inspired by the palm houses from which Ras al Khaimah takes its name.
A photo of the elder Mr al Ghais hangs in the waterfront majlis, the fingers of his left hand wrapped around the neck of a clay shisha pipe, a boat in the background. Even when he worked on land, Mr al Ghais remained connected to the sea, just as his customers and their sons remain connected to his cafe.
"The people who have a loyalty to this place did not leave when their fathers passed away," says Ahmed al Ghais, 44, the eldest of Ali's six children. "It's important for our family to keep the traditional look. It's more than smoking, more than eating."
On summer afternoons, the cafe seems empty. Mahmoud Kobir, dressed in the burgundy shirt of cafe workers, sweeps up the swollen dates that have fallen on to warm tiles, and waits for the evening customers. The cafe, like its patrons, is quiet and dignified in its maturity. It's a place to enjoy a coffee, to relax until your deepest concentration is centred on your next backgammon move. At Popular, the hours don't stop as much as they melt.
At 5.15, Ahmed Ali, 48, from Yemen, and Abu Saleh, 50, arrive. The two policemen have come here for more than 20 years for their daily saloom shisha and dominos. From here, they have watched RAK grow.
A few tables away, Mohammed Yousef, 60, sips on a clay shisha known as gadu, a daily ritual for 30 years. Like the cafe's founder, he began his life at sea, as a fisherman and later on a ship in Kuwait.
"This was the first, first, first cafe in RAK. In Kuwait there was no shisha," said Mr Yousef. "Just cigarettes. For us this is a good place. Forty years ago we were only sitting at home.
"Ali al Ghais, I remember him well. A real man. He used to dive, he had a tough life. In the old days, we used to travel away, away to the sea. He was one of the guys who was a fisherman and later on when he got the money from oil he opened his cafe."
When his four friends arrive, they unfurl a pink carpet on the table and pull out a notebook that has kept their scores for six months. They have enough books to fill a library.
"Khalas, our minds are programmed," said Abu al Hammadi, 42. "When we come from our house our cars know to go directly to here."
The call from the mosque next door carries across the water and clears the cafe. The sky turns from purple to a dark blue. Coals glow orange.
Young men sit in a majlis decorated with Barcelona football paraphernalia, donated by regulars who made the trip to the Spanish stadium.
"I've been coming to this cafe since I was two," said Mana al Mansouri, 36. "I think I was born here. It's an amazing place. I like to see the sea. Most everybody likes the sea."
@Email:azacharias@thenational.ae
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Thursday (All UAE kick-off times)
Sevilla v Real Betis (midnight)
Friday
Granada v Real Betis (9.30pm)
Valencia v Levante (midnight)
Saturday
Espanyol v Alaves (4pm)
Celta Vigo v Villarreal (7pm)
Leganes v Real Valladolid (9.30pm)
Mallorca v Barcelona (midnight)
Sunday
Atletic Bilbao v Atletico Madrid (4pm)
Real Madrid v Eibar (9.30pm)
Real Sociedad v Osasuna (midnight)
Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
A Prayer Before Dawn
Director: Jean-Stephane Sauvaire
Starring: Joe Cole, Somluck Kamsing, Panya Yimmumphai
Three stars
Voices: How A Great Singer Can Change Your Life
Nick Coleman
Jonathan Cape
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
RESULTS
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Should late investors consider cryptocurrencies?
Wealth managers recommend late investors to have a balanced portfolio that typically includes traditional assets such as cash, government and corporate bonds, equities, commodities and commercial property.
They do not usually recommend investing in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies due to the risk and volatility associated with them.
“It has produced eye-watering returns for some, whereas others have lost substantially as this has all depended purely on timing and when the buy-in was. If someone still has about 20 to 25 years until retirement, there isn’t any need to take such risks,” Rupert Connor of Abacus Financial Consultant says.
He adds that if a person is interested in owning a business or growing a property portfolio to increase their retirement income, this can be encouraged provided they keep in mind the overall risk profile of these assets.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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FORSPOKEN
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Star%20Wars%20Jedi%3A%20Survivor
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Suicide%20Squad%3A%20Kill%20the%20Justice%20League
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Final%20Fantasy%20XVI
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Street%20Fighter%206
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Diablo%20IV
%3Cp%3EDeveloper%3A%20Blizzard%20Entertainment%0D%3Cbr%3EPublisher%3A%20Blizzard%20Entertainment%0D%3Cbr%3EConsole%3A%20PC%2C%20PS5%2C%20XSX%0D%3Cbr%3ERelease%20date%3A%20June%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Baldur's%20Gate%203
%3Cp%3EDeveloper%3A%20Larian%20Studios%0D%3Cbr%3EPublisher%3A%20Larian%20Studios%0D%3Cbr%3EConsole%3A%20PC%0D%3Cbr%3ERelease%20date%3A%20August%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The%20Legend%20of%20Zelda%3A%20Tears%20of%20The%20Kingdom
%3Cp%3EDeveloper%3A%20Nintendo%0D%3Cbr%3EPublisher%3A%20Nintendo%0D%3Cbr%3EConsole%3A%20Nintendo%20Switch%0D%3Cbr%3ERelease%20date%3A%20September%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Marvel's%20Spider-Man%202
%3Cp%3EDeveloper%3A%20Insomniac%20Games%0D%3Cbr%3EPublisher%3A%20PlayStation%0D%3Cbr%3EConsole%3A%20PS5%0D%3Cbr%3ERelease%20date%3A%20Fall%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Assassin's%20Creed%20Mirage
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Starfield
%3Cp%3EDeveloper%3A%20Bethesda%20Game%20Studios%0D%3Cbr%3EPublisher%3A%20Bethesda%20Softworks%0D%3Cbr%3EConsole%3A%20PC%2C%20Xbox%0D%3Cbr%3ERelease%20date%3A%202023%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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RESULTS
5pm: Sweihan – Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 2,200m
Winner: Shamakh, Fernando Jara (jockey), Jean-Claude Picout (trainer)
5.30pm: Al Shamkha – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner: Daad, Dane O’Neill, Jaber Bittar
6pm: Shakbout City – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner: AF Ghayyar, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner: Gold Silver, Sandro Paiva, Ibrahim Aseel
7pm: Masdar City – Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: AF Musannef, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
7.30pm: Khalifa City – Maiden (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: Ranchero, Patrick Cosgrave, Bhupat Seemar
Company%20Profile
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Company%20Profile
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UAE SQUAD
Khalid Essa (Al Ain), Ali Khaseif (Al Jazira), Adel Al Hosani (Sharjah), Mahmoud Khamis (Al Nasr), Yousef Jaber (Shabab Al Ahli Dubai), Khalifa Al Hammadi (Jazira), Salem Rashid (Jazira), Shaheen Abdelrahman (Sharjah), Faris Juma (Al Wahda), Mohammed Shaker (Al Ain), Mohammed Barghash (Wahda), Abdulaziz Haikal (Shabab Al Ahli), Ahmed Barman (Al Ain), Khamis Esmail (Wahda), Khaled Bawazir (Sharjah), Majed Surour (Sharjah), Abdullah Ramadan (Jazira), Mohammed Al Attas (Jazira), Fabio De Lima (Al Wasl), Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Khalfan Mubarak (Jazira), Habib Fardan (Nasr), Khalil Ibrahim (Wahda), Ali Mabkhout (Jazira), Ali Saleh (Wasl), Caio (Al Ain), Sebastian Tagliabue (Nasr).
The specs
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 400hp
Torque: 475Nm
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
Price: From Dh215,900
On sale: Now
box
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Letstango.com
Started: June 2013
Founder: Alex Tchablakian
Based: Dubai
Industry: e-commerce
Initial investment: Dh10 million
Investors: Self-funded
Total customers: 300,000 unique customers every month
A%20Round%20of%20Applause%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Berkun%20Oya%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAslihan%20G%C3%BCrb%C3%BCz%2C%20Fatih%20Artman%2C%20Cihat%20Suvarioglu%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Aayan%E2%80%99s%20records
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if you go
The flights
Direct flights from the UAE to the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, are available with Air Arabia, (www.airarabia.com) Fly Dubai (www.flydubai.com) or Etihad (www.etihad.com) from Dh1,200 return including taxes. The trek described here started from Jomson, but there are many other start and end point variations depending on how you tailor your trek. To get to Jomson from Kathmandu you must first fly to the lake-side resort town of Pokhara with either Buddha Air (www.buddhaair.com) or Yeti Airlines (www.yetiairlines.com). Both charge around US$240 (Dh880) return. From Pokhara there are early morning flights to Jomson with Yeti Airlines or Simrik Airlines (www.simrikairlines.com) for around US$220 (Dh800) return.
The trek
Restricted area permits (US$500 per person) are required for trekking in the Upper Mustang area. The challenging Meso Kanto pass between Tilcho Lake and Jomson should not be attempted by those without a lot of mountain experience and a good support team. An excellent trekking company with good knowledge of Upper Mustang, the Annaurpuna Circuit and Tilcho Lake area and who can help organise a version of the trek described here is the Nepal-UK run Snow Cat Travel (www.snowcattravel.com). Prices vary widely depending on accommodation types and the level of assistance required.
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
Tips to keep your car cool
- Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
- Park in shaded or covered areas
- Add tint to windows
- Wrap your car to change the exterior colour
- Pick light interiors - choose colours such as beige and cream for seats and dashboard furniture
- Avoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat
