ALONE TIME
Friday is totally for recharging and spending time with the family. My day starts with spending time in solitude, lying in bed watching TV. I do try and ensure I keep away from gadgets for the day. The rest of the week is usually manic, starting at 5.30am with preparing the kids’ lunch boxes followed by a quick workout around the beach and then straight off to work where I stay until 5pm.
SMILE MAKER
What I enjoy the most about my job is putting a smile on all the little kids’ faces who celebrate their birthdays at the park – I love making memories for the parents and the little ones to remember for a lifetime, in a stress-free environment. [It’s exciting] to come up with creative new ideas for all the new shows and entertainment we have every month. When kids squeal ‘omg, I wanna [sic] live here!’ it’s the best compliment ever.
GOOD AND PROPERTY
I worked in the real estate market for 10 years and it was simply amazing – the adrenaline rush was unreal. I would have never have left if the real estate industry hadn’t crashed in 2009. But after 10 years, selling floors, buildings and single-unit apartments didn’t seem thrilling anymore. So I took a break for two years and had my second child, which was what inspired me to [venture into] the kids’ entertainment business. My first project was a kids’ centre called Funky Monkeys Playland – it was a jungle-themed indoor play area.
FLOAT AN IDEA
The concept of a kids’ water park came up when my children were little and we would go to Wild Wadi and Aquaventure, but could only use the toddlers area, even after paying over Dh1,000, as young kids have height restrictions and as parents we had to watch the kids and couldn’t use the slides.
ALL PLAY AND NO (HOME) WORK
Since the kids are young, we love the outdoors and bond over swimming and canoeing in Palm Jumeirah, where we live. I would love to add doing homework to that list, but that doesn’t really happen.
HOME – THEN AND NOW
I am British Indian and was born and brought up in Hong Kong where I lived for 25 years until I got married and moved to Dubai. Living in Dubai for the last 20 years has spoiled us completely but if I had a time machine, I would travel back to my good old years in Hong Kong. They were the absolute best years of my life – simple, fun and carefree. We grew up as independent kids and enjoyed a mixture of both Eastern and Western cultures.
TEA OFF TO LONDON
If there were no boundaries, I would love to fly to London with the family for a quick holiday. There is something for everyone to do there and never get bored. I would stay at the Dorchester and [relish] my cup of tea with scones.
KEEPING UP WITH THE KARDASHIANS
I love the Kardashian sisters; each one of them has something unique to offer. [Their show] is something I love to watch and totally switch off. Their lives are so insanely interesting.
HUNGRY FOR SUCCESS
Career-wise I’m never satisfied with what I’ve achieved, it’s just human nature! The ambition never stops. I am in the process of expansion at the moment – we are opening another Splash n Party on Mamzar Beach Park and adding another extension to the park in Jumeirah with a massive pool, lazy river and a few zip lines.
JUST SAYING
If I weren’t an entrepreneur, I would have become a lawyer. I’ve got the killer instinct [for it].
NOODLE AROUND
I love eating out and can’t cook to save my life. So you’ll find me hanging out at Zuma and Shang Palace – Asian food is my favourite and anything with rice and noodles is a done deal.
LEARN WITH KIDS
A lesson I’ve learnt from spending so much time with different children every day is that a beautiful heart can bring things into your life that all the money in the world can’t. We need to learn to love without condition, talk without bad intention, give without any reason and most of all, care for all people – young or old – without any expectation. This is something I drill into my kids constantly.
PRICELESS LITTLE PEOPLE
My most prized possessions are my children, as [when I had them] I was not a young mum. My body grew, my skin stretched, I had aches and pains with strange cravings [yet] all the jewellery, clothes and shoes I had before them could go straight to the bin. All the possessions in the world would not compare to the two little munchkins who have moulded me into the person I am today and most importantly, [directed me] to the career path I chose after having them.
SCENT OF JOY
A perfume is something that is an invisible and yet an unforgettable accessory. I always recollect a happy moment in my life when I spray on Tom Ford’s Jasmin Rouge.
LIFE IS A LAUGHING MATTER
Laughing is, and will always be, the best form of therapy. Life is too short to be serious all the time, so believe it or not, I laugh at myself a lot!
SEEING DOUBLE
As farfetched as this may sound, the one gadget that would improve the quality of my life is I another me, a robot mum version clone.
