Pick of the week

Manal Alafrangi plunges headlong into the blogosphere to find out what bloggers from the Middle East and beyond have on their minds.

Something for the weekend
Summer isn't really over just yet, it's still dang hot …And we've just had our first official Friday/Saturday weekend (as has Bahrain). Now if we can just get the idea into the heads of several thousand companies that a two-day weekend is a splendid idea, and that those two days should be Friday and Saturday, we might just see some progress.

Weekends have always been a total mess in the Arabian Gulf. My very first job in the region involved a five-and-a-half day week: the weekend for me was Thursday afternoon and all day Friday. But some multinational companies took Friday and Saturday. About five or six years ago the UAE Government announced that it was reducing the working week for their employees to five days, but to the astonishment of many (especially Westerners) they settled on Thursday and Friday. Now they have come to their senses but they have not made it compulsory for the private sector.
http://oasisdubai.blogspot.com/

Weekend blogging
OK, fine, this Friday-Saturday thing is already a step in the right direction, but my father for example, who works in the private sector, still only has one day off (Friday). Why? People need two days off if only for their physical and mental wellbeing! Are people in the private sector less important than those in the public sector? Why can't the government regulate the private sector weekend as well, since the private sector won't make a decision to unify weekends?
http://dxbsunshine.blogspot.com/2006/09/weekends.html

There is a bit of confusion around town...
Though the government did give private businesses enough lead time for them to sort out the new weekend transition, a lot of companies are still scratching their heads on what the heck to do about it.

You see, most local private businesses operate on a 5.5 working day per week policy. Meaning, workers have a FULL working day from Saturdays till Wednesdays and on Thursdays, its a 1/2 working day which usually lasts till lunch time.

It was a convenient setup for most of these businesses. As they make sure their government customers are fully served throughout the week and their relatively less-important private sector clientele are attended to on Thursdays.
http://www.dubaiconsumermirror.blogspot.com/

Juicy nutrition facts
Today marks the first time I actually purchased one of Masafi's juice drinks. I didn't like their adverts. The artwork was poor and it simply didn't excite me. Their water outdoor ads were great. The fruit juice ads were just... boring.
You know what won me over though? They are perhaps the only GCC-based company that includes the nutrition facts label on the bottle. Amazing, isn't it? I am totally baffled that this is not law. I'm not a health freak, but something about putting things into my system without knowing its content doesn't sit very well with me. I simply do not buy anything without nutrition facts.
http://dubaimedia.blogspot.com/

Stopping at Jumeirah
Today, I was standing at the corner of Al Urouba Road and Jumeirah Beach Road.

Al Urouba Road is where I need to press the stop button on my bus if I want to stop at one of my favourite Jumeirah supermarkets. For those of us who get desperate for Western food items, the Jumeirah supermarkets have the best selection of Western foods (and other Western items) in Dubai.

They are building a fountain labelled 'Al Urouba' on the corner, to make it easier to spot the place to press the stop button on the bus, for which I am grateful.

As of current date, the silver 'Al Urouba' is still covered in black protective tape, but that should be removed soon.
http://dubaiatrandom.blogspot.com/

Not really free
People underestimate the benefits that the freezones brought the Dubai. The freezones offered an offshore environment to operate both in local and international markets with relative ease.

With the costs escalating, and now, with simple civil liberties that you would expect in the free world, there seems to be more cost than benefit.

I know of a number of medium sized companies that rejected a move to Dubai for cost reasons. And with no reasonable alternative in the region, they have elected to focus on the Chinese market.
http://grapeshisha.blogspot.com/
2006/09/dubai-free-zones-are-not-free.html

The buck stops where?
I know the answer is going to be 'not us'. The question? Who is responsible for street cleaning in Dubai Marina?

At the Jebel Ali end where there is a huge amount of construction there are also several buildings complete and occupied plus shops and cafes. A residential population. There is also a huge amount of general rubbish, builders' rubbish, stones, sand and cement dust all over the streets. The basic community service of street cleaning does not exist.
http://dubaithoughts.blogspot.com/

A swirl of sequins
A noticeable change in the sandlands in the past five years is the increasing ornamentation on abayas, the traditional dress of Gulf national women. Typically black, with a matching hijab that can be worn in a number of ways, the abaya five years ago was a relatively plain garment compared to now.

Back then, younger women maybe sported a few discreet sequins on their hems, or perhaps some subtle embroidery around the cuffs, but the overall impact was plain and black.
Today, abayas are glittering, lavishly ornamented works of couture. Decoration is no longer subtle, with sequins, beads, embroidery and crystals glittering all over.

Abayas are also much more colourful, even garish: while the background remains black, patterns are larger with much more varied hues. Fabrics are filmier and floatier. The result is that abayas are often far more stylish, flamboyant and eye-catching than everyday Western dress.
http://secretdubai.blogspot.com/