What does every woman want? Hair straighteners, obviously

• Last Updated: April 04. 2009 8:30AM UAE / April 4. 2009 4:30AM GMT

Talk about going the extra mile for your customers! The newly opened Hive lounge, bar and restaurant at Downtown Burj Dubai’s Souq al Bahar took customer service up a notch when decking out its female facilities.

“We thought to ourselves, ‘What is it that people want?’” said Akhilesh Bahl, operations manager at Hive. “We wanted to have an additional feature in our bathrooms that would make us unique. We decided to do this from a comfort perspective.

“We asked ourselves what possible extra feature could ladies want, and we provided it.”

The answer to the question is hair straighteners. Placed on a separate counter top inside the ladies’ toilets, pink ceramic hair straighteners from GHD, a favourite with women worldwide, have been made available to Hive’s female patrons.

“The women like what they see; they’ve been using the hair straighteners and coming back to us with great feedback,” said Mr Bahl.

They’ve also been coming out of the bathrooms with straighter hair, apparently.

Giving form to dreams

As an extension of the unprecedented Emirati Expressions exhibition at the Emirates Palace hotel (do visit it if you haven’t already; it will be taken down on April 16 and you don’t want to miss this exceptional collage of various media by 87 Emirati artists), the Goethe Institute and the Tourism Development & Investment Company have organised a workshop tomorrow, also to be held at the hotel, intended solely for Emirati women.

The result? A “dream carpet”. Workshop participants will join in a moderated discussion that will reflect on the question: “What are my dreams, what do I wish for?”

Based on this reflection, they will design squares with different materials provided and stitch the pieces together to create their “dream carpet”.

The workshop will be led by the German-Egyptian artist Susan Hefuna and Mizmah, a collective of six art graduates from Zayed University who have been featured previously in The National.

Blending Greece with East

The music of the world continues to ring true in the capital. This Thursday, head to the Cultural Foundation’s Al Dhafra Auditorium at 8.30pm to listen to one of the best known ensembles from Greece. As part of the World Music concert series organised by the foundation, Savina Yannatou and the group Primavera en Salonico will perform a programme combining the melismatic riches of Eastern Maqam and the charming irregular rhythms of the Orient, with some free improvisation and modern jazz.

The music is based on traditional material mainly from the Mediterranean region, played on acoustic instruments with their origin in the East.

It promises to be a night of unconventional music.

Fundraiser for Iran’s women

Some people will be going for the chance to land a great deal on a piece of contemporary Iranian artwork at an auction overseen by Jussi Pylkkanen, president of Christie’s Middle East and Europe.

Others will be there solely for some serious laughs, thanks to the antics of comedian Maz Jobrani of Axis of Evil fame.

Regardless of why you go, Magic of Persia’s 2009 fundraiser, to be held next Saturday and Sunday, will be the place to see and be seen in Dubai that weekend.

The gala dinner and art auction will benefit the Magic of Persia education programme, the Future Centre for special needs in Abu Dhabi and the Omid E Mehr charitable foundation.

The foundation provides emotional and practical support for severely disadvantaged young Iranian and Afghan women in Tehran.

Just the kind of event we love: a good time for a good cause.

Head to Total Arts Galleries and B21 in Dubai on Monday and Thursday for a special preview of the art to be auctioned.

Corporate punishment

Fight Night is back. Touted as the most popular corporate event in Dubai, white-collar boxing has now become an entertainment event at the Habtoor Grand Hotel’s Al Andalous Ballroom. Planned for May 5, tickets are already selling out fast.

The evening will include white-collar boxing bouts, a black-tie gala dinner and a sale of sporting memorabilia for diehard fans.

A table for 12 is priced at Dh10,000 (US$2,700) and for those interested in getting up close and personal with all the gory details, a VIP ringside table can be had for an extra Dh5,000.

For details and table bookings, get in touch with Mark Povey at 050 625 7359.

* The National