Clicks and writes

Sree Koodalmanikyam Ulsavam 2020 – Block Your Calendar

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Block your calendar 4-14 May, 2020 Sree Koodalmanikyam Temple Festival 2020 

 

 

This entry was posted in #Irinjalakuda, #RameshMenonAbuDhabi, Clicks and writes, General, Irinjalakuda Koodalmanikyam Temple Festival, Kerala Festivals and tagged , , , .

Opening of the exhibition – “Sheikh Zayed and Europe: a Journey”

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IMG_20181124_192256_InPixioOpening of the exhibition – “Sheikh Zayed and Europe: a Journey” at the Founder’s Memorial in Abu Dhabi.

Under the patronage of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Delegation of the European Union to the UAE, is organising an exhibition titled ‘Sheikh Zayed and Europe: a Journey’ in celebration of the Year of Zayed.

The exhibition will take place at The Founder’s Memorial Abu Dhabi Corniche, on 25th November until 31st December, 2018 and it is now open to the public.

The exhibition aims to commemorate the legacy and leadership of the founding father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. It also aims to highlight his local, regional and international accomplishments and his values of tolerance, giving, coexistence, loyalty, patriotism, volunteerism and humanitarian work.

The Founder’s Memorial is a permanent national tribute dedicated to commemorating the life, legacy and values of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founding father of the UAE.

IMG_20181124_193741_InPixio

This entry was posted in #RameshMenonAbuDhabi, Abu Dhabi Events, Clicks and writes, General and tagged , , .

Basic values – Short Take – Gulf Today Dt 07 October 2017

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Life is not easyMind Speaks - Oct 2017 - Basic Values for most of us. People face different challenges, personal and professional tensions. However, some are fortunate. They enjoy privileges that they don’t deserve.

Opportunities for excelling in one’s field are rare. They have to be grabbed with both hands and mind with a “Thank you” note to God almighty.

But, some take it all lightly. For mundane reasons, they resist changes in life and situations happening around them. What one has to remember is there is no assurance that you will be in the position that you are now the next moment.

The only thing one can control is conduct, dedication and self-discipline. Do not add anything more to existing disharmony. Always try to understand from the other side of the fence.
Ramesh Menon

To read it in original, please visit the below link:
Short Take – Gulf Today dated 07 October 2017

This entry was posted in Clicks and writes, General, Gulf Today, Mind Speaks, Short Take and tagged , , .

TCA Abu Dhabi weighs anchor on VOLVO Ocean Race Destination Village

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BIGGER THAN EVER 23-DAY STOPOVER HUB OPEN TO PUBLIC FRIDAY
 

Heralding the start of the VIP tour. Volvo Ocean Race CEO Knut Frostad shows Sultan Al Dhaheri, Acting Executive Director Tourism, TCA Abu Dhabi and Omar Kaddoura, President & CEO, Rotana Group , into the Destination Village. 
Abu Dhabi: Thursday, December 11, 2014 – Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) today hosted a VIP preview tour of its purpose-built  Volvo Ocean Race Destination Village on its stunning Corniche Breakwater, which will open to the public tomorrow (Friday, December 12).
The 35,000 square metre, waterfront, village will be the hub of three weeks of sports, entertainment and leisure as part of the UAE capital’s stopover hosting of the hardy Volvo Ocean Race fleet, which is expected to arrive from the 6,125 nautical mile Leg 2 from Cape Town on Saturday December 13. The village is 30% bigger than in 2011/2012 when Abu Dhabi last hosted the Volvo Ocean Race.

Ahead of the tour, HH Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon, Chairman, TCA Abu Dhabi and Department of Transport, Government of Abu Dhabi said he expected the UAE capital to be the “stand-out” stopover of the race, which will visit nine stopover destinations on its epic, round-the-world challenge which began in Alicante, Spain and ends in Gothenburg, Sweden next June.

“This is a destination in its own right for our residents and the many visitors we expect in Abu Dhabi over the coming weeks and New Year,” said Sheikh Sultan. “It is active, engaging, entertaining and provides something for all nationalities and age groups.

“Naturally it is compelling destination for sailing and watersports fans yet has many aspects that will appeal to those who have never ventured out into the ocean. The village has been created with the support of many key stakeholders who should be congratulated on their efforts. Yet again, Abu Dhabi has shown how coming together as one delivers excellence of product and I believe visitor feedback will bear out this sentiment.

“The village is also a headline promotion of our centuries-old maritime heritage with many activities celebrating our sea-going past and showing how Abu Dhabi was, and remains, at one with the sea.”

Today’s VIP tour was led by Volvo Ocean Race CEO Knut Frostad and attended by: Sultan Al Dhaheri, Acting Executive Director Tourism, TCA Abu Dhabi; Majid Al Muhairi, CEO Abu Dhabi Sailing & Yacht Club; Salem Al Romaithi, CEO, Abu Dhabi International Marina Sports Club; Omar Kaddoura, President & CEO, Rotana Group, the stopover hospitality sponsor, Abdulkareem M. Al Masabi, Vice President – Port Operations, Abu Dhabi Ports Company; Major Ali Al Suwaidi, President, Emirates Marine Environmental Group and Faisal Al Sheikh, Director, Events Bureau, TCA Abu Dhabi.

Sailing fans from around the world, race sponsors and families of the seven teams contesting the gruelling, 38,739 nautical mile challenge are expected to descend on Abu Dhabi over the coming weeks delivering a year-end boost to the UAE capital’s tourism industry.

Boat operator Xventures said Stopover demand for craft has been such that it has drafted additional vessels into its fleet.

“We operate a fleet of five boats in Abu Dhabi and would usually operate at about 75 percent capacity over the Festive period with certain days sold out but we have had to bring in a number of additional boats to cover demand from the Stopover, especially around race days,”  said Tony Hajj, CEO, Xventures, Abu Dhabi. “We’ve also seen an increase in uptake across our other activities as the city attracts teams and their families as well as additional international visitors, many of whom are staying for extended periods this year.”

The Rotana Group is also reporting strong response with an influx of race-related bookings.

“Such initiatives are extremely important and give this great destination tremendous worldwide exposure. We truly believe Abu Dhabi is the ideal destination to host such events and are ready to welcome thousands of race guests to our properties,” said Rotana President & CEO, Omer Kaddouri.
“Rotana has extended its full marketing support via of customers and ‘Rotana Rewards’ members through branding, advertising, and digital signage in over 50 Rotana properties across the region. The event has boosted occupancy and served us well during the festive season. Rotana will host thousands of executives, teams, crews, spectators and tourists travelling from around the globe, over six weeks in December and January and will receive over 3,000 room nights in its properties in Abu Dhabi during the Stopover.”

Music, the sea and tradition meet at the Destination Village
The free-to-enter Destination Village has six distinctive and interactive zones covering: culture & heritage; adventure; family; exhibitions; team and haul out and the environment.

“We’ve increased the village opening hours by 25% after visitor feedback from our 2011/2012 hosting,” explained Sultan Al Dhaheri. “In all the village will be open to the public for 225 hours, which is equivalent to almost nine and a half days and it will bring a heightened dimension to festive and New Year seasonal celebrations here.”

Abu Dhabi’s VOR Destination Village features 22 exhibition pavilions for visitors to tour, including five international pavilions from China, Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands and Great Britain.
“Each of our international pavilion partners will be promoting their own destination and cultural attractions,” said Al Dhaheri. “Their presence underlines the importance of this market to these respective countries.”

The village also features, for the first time, a 440 metre ‘floating’ Skyline Stage which will host live concert and solo performance by a range of international musicians and personalities as well as regular ‘Cinema Al Mamsha’ (Boardwalk Cinema) screenings of popular movies and regional premieres.

The Skyline Stage has been built into the sea bed off the Corniche by a team of 13 commercial divers with over six tons of underwater ballast.

The opening Skyline Stage performance will be on Friday night when the celebrated BBC Worldwide production ‘Blue Planet In Concert’ will be screened to music conducted by five-times Oscar-nominated composer George Fenton and performed by the 75-piece National Symphony Orchestra Abu Dhabi. The performance will run for a second night on Saturday and tickets are available from timeouttickets.com.

Over the coming three weeks the Destination Village will host stage performances and appearances by over 200 artists from 23 countries including Lebanese singing sensation Myriam Fares, Argentinian guitar maestro Dominic Miller, French marine adventurer Fabian Cousteau, the City of Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra, Grammy nominee Kamal Massalam and Madrid’s renowned ‘El Corral de la Moreria’ flamenco troupe.

 “In addition, contributions from over 80 traditional artisans, musicians and chefs feature in the Destination Village programme thanks to partnerships with cultural stakeholders, such as the Khalifa Fund, Abu Dhabi Falconers Club and Soqur Al Mqbeel,” explained Al Dhaheri.

 “The community has responded enthusiastically to the village with over 7,500 man hours being contributed by 220 volunteers working during the 23 day stopover.”

The village will also host, for the first time in public, the model of the UAE capital’s planned Mina Zayed permanent cruise terminal in a pavilion, mounted by Abu Dhabi Ports Company, where visitors can enter a contest for a chance to win a US $1,000 voucher towards a Royal Caribbean International cruise.
The village opens daily from 12 noon to 9pm Sunday-Thursday and 11am to midnight Fridays and Saturdays until January 3rd when the fleet leaves on the third leg of the race to Sanya in China.

Aside from the ongoing activities and entertainment, village-goers will be able to buy refreshments from 12 cafes and restaurants spread throughout the venue including themed stalls serving shawarmas, Arabic sweets, European, Asian and Mexican cuisine. A special ‘show kitchen’ is at the heart of the ‘Galley’ area and features live cooking demonstrations from professional Spanish, French, South African, Swedish and Emirati chefs.

TCA Abu Dhabi, which is behind the emirate’s VOR campaign is using the event to highlight Abu Dhabi’s swelling sailing and watersport credentials.

“We have it all,” said Al Dhaheri. “Fabulous active marinas, superb winter weather, first-class watersports suppliers, clean seas and generally ambient prevailing winds.

“At this particular event the outdoor life will be in prime focus with over 150 hours of watersport and beach sport events involving upwards of 1,500 people from UAE schools, rugby and soccer clubs, sailing, paddling and fitness clubs. If you live here, there’s no reason to stay indoors at this time of year – and if you live elsewhere and want to escape grey skies – this is the place to be.”

The packed destination village programme is available on www.abudhabievents.ae and www.volvooceanraceabudhabi.ae. Highlights include the December 14/15 fleet arrivals, the January 2nd in-port race and the January 3rd race restart.

“All will be marked by distinctive, culturally-slanted parades and celebrations which we want everyone to see and enjoy,” said Al Dhaheri.

Meanwhile, from December 15, Destination Village goers will be able to visit ‘The Boatyard’ and get bird’s eye views of the competing Volvo Ocean 65 yachts including ‘Azzam’ (Determination) of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (ADOR) – the emirate’s own entry. A public viewing platform, built eight metres above ground, will allow visitors to watch shore teams as they work to prepare their vessels for Leg 3.

A series of ‘Meet The Crews’ sessions are also being planned so the public can get up-close-and-personal with the VOR ‘Heroes Of The Seas.’
www.volvooceanraceabudhabi.ae

More photos of the event:

This entry was posted in Clicks and writes, Passionate Photographers, PassionatePhotographers, Volvo Ocean Race.

Click trick – Gulf Today – Short Take -Dt 04 October 2014

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Click trick

New look arrival lounge Bangalore Airport

A few days ago, I met some friends at the airport. Meeting me after a long time, one of them teased me. “Where is your camera? We get to see you posting on social media immediately wherever you go!”
I was in a hurry at that time and also this is a question I hear often.
During my childhood days, it was a routine for us children to go for sight seeing trips to distant towns in the southern states of India. Most of these trips were directed at pilgrimage centres and historic places of importance.
A family of my father’s friend and my family were part of the tour party most of the time. Nine passengers in a good old Ambassador car, which my father still maintains in a good condition!
It used to give us exposure to different places, culture, food and tradition. It went on till we children grew up and parted ways due to our own business or work.
Now my parents are old and cannot travel easily. Adding to their problems is poor eyesight. I realised the solution was to install a computer at home, provide them a Facebook ID and teach them the basics. Since then, it has become a routine for my parents to see the world through me.
Thus, there are some silent well-wishers out there who regularly read my posts.
It is the same way, I get to see and travel around many parts of the world through some good friends who share the world and news through their clicks and posts.

Ramesh Menon

To read it in original, please visit Gulf Today online.

Key Words: Gulf Today, Short Take, Letters to the Editor, Mind Speaks, Clicks and writes, Photo Speaks, Passionate Photographers, Daily Passionate Photography Thoughts, 

This entry was posted in Clicks and writes, Daily Passionate Photography Thoughts, Gulf Today, Letters to the editor, Life in Bangalore, Mind Speaks, Passionate Photographers, PassionatePhotographers, Photo Speaks, Short Take.

Get ready for the VOLVO Ocean Race 2014

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August 29,2014. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing arrival to Alicante.

                                                                                 ©Ainhoa Sanchez/Volvo Ocean Race




Get ready for the VOLVO Ocean Race 2014 


Our race is all about the people bold enough to compete in it. Discover who our sailors are, where they come from and how they made the cut to take part in this round-the-world adventure.
In 2014-15, an all-female crew will race against Volvo Ocean Race veterans and first-time rookies. You will see sailors from China, from America, from the Netherlands, Abu Dhabi and Spain – and even more will be announced in the next few months.

These teams will commence battle on the water on October 4, 2014 – follow us as they embark on this great challenge!

What does a Volvo Ocean Race crew look like?There are eight sailors plus one non-sailing multimedia reporter onboard the standard teams.
All-women teams can race with 11 sailors plus one non-sailing multimedia reporter.
Each team must race with two crew members born after 1st October 1984, the “Under 30s.”
And all boats have to qualify by sailing 2,000nm non-stop (3,700km).


The race will reach Abu Dhabi leg in the first week of December, 2014

Village Opening: December 12, 2014

Estimated arrival of the boats*: December 11 – 15, 2014

In-Port Race: January 2, 2015

Leg start: January 3, 2015

Watch out for extensive coverage at Volvooceanrace.com

View the 2012 Volvo Ocean Race Abu Dhabi leg highlights at team1dubai channel

Follow the news on Twitter +Volvo Ocean Race 

This entry was posted in Clicks and writes, Passionate Photographers, Volvo Ocean Race.

Photo Speaks – Sound of Post

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Sound of Post – Remembering the olden days, when we used to wait for the odd letters to arrive by post, the sound at the postal desk back home, where the van deliver a bag full of letters and the postal clerk sort it and stamp each one of it with a heavy thud at his ink filled desk, as we children wait for the news to collect it before the postman delivers it home by walk. The stock of envelopes and stamps – a few still remain, even though now, I never use. The stamps, the letters, the postal mail – the feeling of reading a hand written letter, wonder the new generation ever experienced it !

This entry was posted in Clicks and writes, Daily Passionate Photography Thoughts, Passionate Photographers, PassionatePhotographers, Photo Speaks.

Mall shoppers left unprotected under the sun

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Mall shoppers left unprotected under the sun

Busy bus stop at Marina Mall in Abu Dhabi lacks bus shelter By Ramesh Menon, Gulf News Reader Published: June 29, 2012

Image Credit: Ramesh Menon

Shoppers leaving Marina Mall are often left waiting for the bus under the sun because no bus shelter is available at the popular bus stop.

Abu Dhabi’s public buses connect the Marina Mall shopping complex to various points in the city. The service and the buses are very useful for shoppers at the mall.

However, the bus stop in front of the mall doesn’t have a shelter for the passengers. The shades and benches provided are far away from the bus stop. Another issue is that the chain dividers for the taxi parking area act as a hindrance to passengers who have to rush between the taxis and the dividers when the bus arrives.

I urge the mall and other relevant authorities to kindly consider installing temporary sun shades for shoppers who use the bus during this summer period.

The reader is based in Abu Dhabi.

Be a community reporter. Tell us what is happening in your community. Send us your videos and pictures at readers@gulfnews.com

To read it in original, please visit GULF NEWS online.

This entry was posted in Clicks and writes, Community Reports, Community Service, Gulf News, Letters to the editor, Opinion 2012, Photo Speaks.

A rain special – feature video – at Mathrubhumi online

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Summer is getting into it’s extreme here and several times I wish, if it rains here at least once in a month. How nice it would have been?! Hmm, no luck.. Then I change my wish and think, how lucky we all would be, if it rains, at least once in three months… Hmm.. no way… nothing doing…It remains a wish like that. But, few years ago, it rained for two days continuously in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. As usual, I didn’t miss that golden opportunity to click some photos and videos of the rain in UAE. 


With the habit of sharing things, I blogged the video that time. Last year when Mathrubhumi online started the Yuvog – their video only site, friends from that team asked me to start posting in it, and see how it is. I started enjoying the free uploads option there and then continued posting whenever there is an important event or activity to video share. 

It’s monsoon season in Kerala and today, Mathrubhumi online have come out with a special feature on rain – Peyyattangane Peyyatte.. (let it continue to rain..).. and in it they have specially featured this video.

Thank you Team Yuvog and Mathrubhumi. Those who wish to read it there may click on “Peyyattangane Peyyatte“

I have also included another video of a rain opportunity I captured while at a short visit to Bengaluru.

Enjoy both videos.



Rain at Abu Dhabi and Dubai


http://www.yuvog.com/misc/flash/player.swf


Rain at Bengaluru 

  http://www.yuvog.com/misc/flash/player.swf

If you are currently on holidays in Kerala or from anywhere, you can upload your rain photos at:

“Peyyattangane Peyyatte“

This entry was posted in Clicks and writes, Mathrubhumi, My videos, Photo Speaks, Yuvog.

More bus shelters needed – My letters

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More bus shelters needed
People either stand near a wall or a hotel close by to protect themselves from the sun
By Shahnawas Latiff, Gulf News ReaderPublished: 00:00 May 9, 2012

Image Credit: VIRENDRA SAKLANI/Gulf News
Passengers are forced to cover themselves with pieces of cloth as they wait for the bus at an open bus stop because there are no shelters nearby.
I would like to draw attention to a request that people need most while commuting.
This is with regard to bus stops without proper shelter from the sun, such as the one in Al Quoz. I’m not sure how many more similar situations are happening across the UAE.
Al Quoz bus station is one of the stops that has a good frequency of operation, but what it lacks the most is shelter. I have been to this bus stop a couple of times and everything was fine, except the bus stop itself. I saw people either taking shelter near a wall or a hotel close by to protect themselves from the scorching sun.
I would like to appeal to the authorities concerned to provide at least a temporary arrangement before the peak of summer in order to protect commuters.
There could be many more bus stops that might require this urgent attention.
— This reader is a market analyst
Be a community reporter. Tell us what is happening in your community. Send us your videos and pictures at readers@gulfnews.com
My comments as follows:

Very timely report. With the sun at it’s best today with strong wind, even sitting in the comfort of my cars aircondition, I felt it extremely hot. I hope the authorities take note of this summer scenario and re-prioritise the renovation, installation of waiting sheds in all the emirates. It is all the more important as the taxi charges are on the rise, and recommendation to use more public transports to avoid traffic congestion on the road.
Ramesh Menon, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

This entry was posted in Clicks and writes, Gulf News, Letters to the editor, Mind Speaks, Opinion 2012.