Tuesday, July 26, 2011

249 AED for a Full Dental Checkup Including Scaling, Polishing and a Dental X-ray Check-up at Royal Care Medical Centre JLT

In the olden days, when ironsmiths disguised as dentists took pride in inventing tooth-pluckers that stood the test of time and force, mere mortals had no other option but to give in to their iron will.

Resort to better ways to get a check-up with today’s Groupon. Get a full dental check-up including scaling, polishing and an x-ray checkup for 249 AED at Royal Care Medical Centre JLT.

Relaxation and dentists aren't usually seen in the same room, but at Royal Medical Centre JLT, they aim to break convention. With a well-lit practice, their dentists have a variety of ways of making sure patients' experiences are just as sunny. The staff at the clinic understands that many people do not enjoy their trips to the dentist, and provide a sensitive service, catering to individual needs. As well as dental hygiene procedures such as check-ups and fillings, the clinic also offers cosmetic treatments.

Highlights
•Highly qualified dentists with excellent experience
•Equipped with state-of-the-art equipment to treat teeth, gum diseases and provide restorative cosmetic procedures as well
•Valet service available
•VIP pick-up and drop-off service also available

Fine Print
•1 Groupon per person, may buy multiple as gifts
•Valid for 3 months
•Open from Saturday to Thursday from 9:00 am to 9:30 pm
•Not valid with other offers
•Advance booking required, please call 04-4534808

Deal expires on Thursday 28th July at midnight.

Royal Care Medical Centre JLT
19th Floor, One Lake Tower, Jumeirah Lake Towers
P.O.: 186334 Dubai
http://www.royalcare-medical.com

Source: Groupon

Groupon Deal

750 AED for a Full Executive Health Checkup Package including Clinical Consultation with a Specialist at Royal Care Medical Centre JLT

Playing the guessing game on health matters is almost as difficult as reading an entire dictionary or climbing a tree that’s covered in oil. Take an expert approach to tackling the task of taking care of your health with today's Groupon.

The centre's various departments facilitate guessers to rid themselves of unwanted fear and assumptions with a host of check-ups. During the first step of their symptoms shrinking sojourn, calorie-shedders undergo a full-body check-up at the hands of the centre's expert staff, which includes all the tests listed above. After surveying the medical history, specialists even draft a prescription. Make a call and schedule an appointment to know your body inside out.

Deal Highlights
•Extensive general checkup that covers:
•Blood pressure, pulse, temperature, chest, cardiovascular system and gastrointestinal system
•Neurological and musculoskeletal system, joints and tendon tears
•Kidney, urological system, ENT and peripheral vascular checkup
•Health education and assessment for common chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension, bronchial asthma, allergy, hypercholesterolemia
•Smoking cessation counseling
•Cancer prevention & reversing diabetes program
•Children & adult vaccination review
•Assessment of possibility of common dangerous diseases in the future like
•Assessment of the cardiovascular & ischemic heart diseases future risk
•Assessment of cancer, diabetic and hypertension future risk
•Check the body mass index, and managing the positive cases
•Full blood count, sugar check, liver function test (SGPT), kidney function test
•Total cholesterol check-up
•High density lipoprotein check-up
•Triglycerides & LDL
•Complete urine check-up
•Electrocardiogram for needed cases

Fine Print
•1 Groupon per person, may buy multiple as gifts
•Valid for 3 months
•Valid for men and women and children above 12 years old
•Open from Saturday to Thursday from 9:00 am to 9:30 pm
•Not valid with other offers
•Advance booking required, please call 04-4534808

Royal Care Medical Centre JLT
19th Floor, One Lake Tower, Jumeirah Lake Towers
P.O.: 186334 Dubai
http://www.royalcare-medical.com

Source: Groupon

Groupon Deal

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Heart of gold in JLT

What is it about this ‘precious’ metal? A tour at Damas means we’re about to find out
Gold has many properties, not least the ability to turn otherwise normal people into beady-eyed treasure seekers or even, the modern-day equivalent of badgering, sulking spouses. For centuries, the yellow — and its white avatar — metal has held millions captive with its shiny allure and even today, people monitor its fluctuating price rates as though they were watching their own heartbeats.

Personally, I’d always thought it much ado about nothing, so for someone who’d never really taken a shine to the metal, now seemed as good a time as ever to take leading jewellery retailer Damas up on its offer of a close-up tour of the process involved. Finally, it seemed, I was about to find out what all the fuss was about.

The main Damas property — located in the uptown Jumeirah Lake Towers area — is hard to miss, with its golden façade an obvious but elegant nod to what one could expect to find inside. We were ushered in to meet Navdeep Singh Sandhu, operations manager at Damas, who would also be doubling as our guide for the day, and excitement buzzed in the air as he explained how today, we’d be watching the team bring rings from their exquisite Heart to Heart collection to life.

We started at the Designers room — and what must have been the birthplace of some of Damas’ most popular creations. Navdeep showed us how the designs were first conceived manually and then rendered using software that let the designers convert the design into a three-dimensional reality, complete with stunning detail. Quite literally, it was like watching an idea take shape.

A wax model was then ‘grown’ using a method called rapid prototyping. The entire process takes about 7-8 hours to actually become a wax model so instead of testing our patience, the considerate folks at Damas had already loaded the ring in a substance called resin the previous night. Having had the night to develop, what emerged now was an unmistakable 3D version of the Heart to Heart ring design we’d been shown earlier (1).

It was on to the Wax room from there, where four men in lab coats worked painstakingly to create the perfect ring moulds (2). Floor to ceiling shelves ran the length and breadth of an entire wall in the room, stocked with hundreds of moulds from previous designs. “Every single design is numbered and stocked, so if a customer wishes to recreate a particular design, all we have to do is base it on the corresponding mould,” said Navdeep. “The moulds are created with 100 per cent precision,” he added, as we watched one of the workers use what looked like a surgical blade to carve out the ring piece. If there is the smallest mistake, we’re reminded, the entire piece is ruined.

The resulting wax ring was fitted onto a tree (3) consisting of about 60-70 other ring pieces, to be taken to the Casting room, where the previous night another prototype had been put into a furnace, heated up to more than 1000ºC, and left overnight for the wax to melt. All of us stood back as the workers prepared to open the electric furnace. When the door was opened, the short blast of searing heat that hit us in the face honestly made Dubai’s summer weather feel like a lightly cooling breeze by comparison. Using huge tongs, the mould was transferred and locked into the casting machine, and flaming liquid gold poured in through a hole at the top (4).

A minute later, the mould was removed and dunked in water. The fizzling mass subsided, the plaster melted and we saw gold — lots of it, shaped like rings and still fixed onto the ‘ring tree’ (5). Each ring was clipped off individually and sent to the goldsmith for polishing, final touches and diamond setting.

Keen not to miss out on the action, we climbed two levels up to the manufacturing department, where we watched as diamonds — millions of the tiny gems — were weighed and bagged in a small room. Finally, the diamonds were set, extra mould stems were filed down and the ring given a final polish (6).

It was looking pretty good to me and if I were a magpie, I wouldn’t have thought twice about swiping the ring in its present state. Navdeep, however, insisted we were not done and we watched, part horrified, as the lovely ring was dunked in fizzling rhodium acid and hosed down with pressurised water. Our concern was unnecessary though for the white gold ring was positively gleaming now and after a careful inspection by the quality control guys (7), given the thumbs-up of approval.

The entire tour lasted about two hours but after watching scores of workers meticulously perfecting hundreds of similar pieces and the toil that went into creating a single Heart to Heart ring, I had to admit: I’m neither magpie nor treasure hunter, but even I could see this little beauty is for keeps.

By Karen Ann Monsy (ALL THAT GLITTERS)

Khaleej Times

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Jumeirah Lakes Towers has come a long way

Community becomes more attractive as landscaping work commences and lakes are filled up


Anyone who's been to Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT) recently would acknowledge that the community has come a long way. Relegated to being dubbed the "poor cousin of Dubai Marina", JLT stands vindicated today, enjoying a new lease of life after the opening of the two Metro stations. Notwithstanding a few pet peeves, the community is now self-sufficient, with a smattering of mini marts, restaurants and beauty salons.

"I have been living in the Green Lakes Towers for two-and-a-half years now," says Ghassan Ghellal, a JLT resident. "The apparent changes have mainly taken place over the past six months. The area, which used to look like a large construction site, is now filled with greenery, has walking and cycling pavements and jogging tracks for sports lovers. Furthermore, the lakes are now permanently filled, and the walkways around the lakes have been completed and this has incentivised a number of retail outlets to open," adds Ghassan, who is also a business development manager at Halcon Real Estate.

Dining options aplenty

Situated in cluster S, the Green Lakes Towers are popular, owing to their proximity to the Dubai Marina Metro station as well as the abundance of eateries such as Green Lakes Food Court, Kitchen India, Subway, All Day Mini Mart and Counter Culture Café. "Until a year ago, my building had no shops and I'd to drive to The Springs to get my basic food supply," recalls Ghassan.


While Dubai Marina has the lure of a glamorous lifestyle, courtesy of the beach and stretch of five-star hotels, residents are miffed at the limited parking spaces and peak-hour traffic chaos. Meanwhile, buildings in JLT offer abundant parking — both surface and underground — for residents, who own two or three cars, and even accommodates visitors' vehicles easily.

"I think the tag, ‘poor cousin of Dubai Marina', is overrated," says lulu Chandran, a resident in Saba Tower 2. "JLT offers some very good apartments — some much bigger than those in Dubai Marina [and cheaper] and residents don't have to deal with the horrendous evening traffic."

Easy access to all parts of town

In addition to the Metro that services JLT very well, the area also offers easy access to Shaikh Zayed Road (towards Dubai) as well as Abu Dhabi and Jebel Ali. The footbridge connecting JLT to Dubai Marina brings within walking distance the Dubai Marina Mall (Waitrose supermarket and Reel Cinemas), the Dubai Marina Yacht Club, and the restaurants and boutiques at the Marina Walk and Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR) Walk.

Ghassan says, "You can have two cars and not worry about parking them and your visitors don't have to worry about driving to your place any time of the day. This is a great feature for commercial clients."

While the residents' biggest bugbear has remained the one-way roads that necessitate taking a detour around JLT to access a building in another cluster, there is, however, no traffic chaos to contend with, even during peak hours. Though the roundabout leading to Dubai could get clogged a bit during rush hours, it's been a smooth ride for residents so far. "The road planning is awful. All the roads are one-way, which is not convenient to access the various towers in JLT," complains Ghaith Nazzal, a resident in Damac's Lake Terrace Tower.

Echoing his angst, Shalu adds, "As a resident, you deal with it, but every time you invite friends over you can expect some nagging." In the same vein, Ghassan says, "I could cut my journey to work by half if I didn't have to do that, as most of it involves simply driving around JLT."

Which clusters to avoid?

Though competitive rentals have made JLT popular among tenants, it's necessary to do your homework before zeroing in on a particular tower. Construction on the Parallel Road project has rendered access to clusters F to N (JLT West) rather circuitous.

Shalu says, "A lot of projects have been abandoned, especially in the second half of JLT, or work is still ongoing, which means the apartments get painfully dusty."

According to Mario Volpi, sales and leasing manager, Powerhouse Properties, "Occupancy in Icon Tower 2 has been affected due to its location and apartment sizes." He recommends the Al Seef Towers and Tamweel Tower (Cluster U), Green Lakes (Cluster S), Al Shera Tower, Madina Tower, Indigo and Lake Terrace (Cluster D) as the best towers in JLT.

Endorsing the same towers, Steve Crasto, property consultant, Halcon Real Estate, says, "These towers are holding on at 85 to 90 per cent occupancy. The main reason is that these buildings are well-maintained. They also offer big units and good quality, except Indigo Tower, where the units are of average size."


Influx of new tenants

With the softening of rents in JLT, several tenants have moved in from Discovery Gardens and Dubai Marina. Mario says, "There has been a good level of movement to JLT from Abu Dhabi commuters as well. There has also been a flight to quality, so more people have moved from inferior towers to better ones in the Dubai Marina."

Most towers in JLT offer facilities such as gyms with saunas and/or steam rooms, leisure pools; some even have residents' lounges, outside recreational areas, children's play areas, and so on. Steve says, "The Madina Tower, Green Lakes, Gold Crest Views and Lake Terrace deserve a special mention."

As part of the beautification process in JLT, children's play areas have been installed in most established clusters. This is a huge bonus for the community, which was until recently bandied about as "pedestrian-unfriendly".

Major supermarkets that have opened in JLT include two Carrefour Express marts in the Palladium and Armada Towers, a Spinneys near the Bonnington Hotel, a Park N Shop in the Al Shera Tower and several mini marts that offer home delivery.

"As more shops and cafés open in JLT, it will only further attract more residents to the area," says Ghassan. "Also with the abundant office space in JLT, there are plenty of class A commercial tenants taking up offices in the area, and some of the employees in these companies will be relocating to JLT for the sake of convenience."

Complaints about retail mix

However, sceptics feel it will take some time before JLT can enjoy a wide selection of cafés and restaurants. Says Ghaith, "All the retail spaces in my cluster are occupied, but the mix is not right. All that we have are restaurants, supermarkets and beauty salons. There are no gyms and cafés."

However, a cursory drive around JLT illustrates a healthy mix of retail options. Apart from multiple mini marts, there are both male and female beauty salons, laundromats, dental centres, medical clinics and a pharmacy in Cluster E. Other interesting amenities include a Kids' World Creative Learning Centre, Kcal Healthy Fast Food, Concept 1010 Fitness Studio (HDS Tower) and The Champions Club (kick-boxing, aerobics and personal training centre) in Icon Tower 2.

Residents could also let their hair down and unwind at the Bonnington Tower Hotel (Cluster J), where Healey's Terrace, McGettigans Irish Pub and The Cavendish restaurant are steadily gaining popularity. Says Bruno Guilloux, general manager, Bonnington Tower Hotel, "Our pubs and eateries are receiving a good response from JLT residents and they're definitely giving an added community feel to the area. Occupancy and revenue have almost doubled year on year."

The Oaks Liwa Heights hotel is also open in Cluster W while a Mövenpick Hotel is scheduled to open in the Laguna Tower soon.

"I think JLT is as dynamic as the Marina in terms of entertainment facilities and scores high on convenience too," says Firas Tarazi, a resident of Lake View Tower.

Demand base: singles, couples, small families

While Dubai Marina is primarily a residential area, JLT residents can leverage the community's mixed-use component to mix work with play. Since most high-rise buildings typically attract singles and small families, real estate agents admit that demand for studios and one-bedroom apartments in JLT is high among working executives and young couples.

Though JLT residents may not boast such camaraderie as evident in low-rise communities such as Discovery Gardens and Motor City, a few pioneers have set up a JLT Community Facebook page.

Shalu says, "The Facebook page definitely needs more action — but it's a start. They announce new store and restaurant openings. There have also been some Friday Markets taking place in JLT."

Rents in JLT
•Studio: Dh30K to 40K
•1-bedroom apartment: Dh40K to 75K
•2-bedroom apartment: Dh55K to 120K
•3 bedroom apartment: Dh85K to Dh155K

Source: Halcon Real Estate

Gulf News
Image Credit: Stefan Lindeque/ANM

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Handmade Vibgyor Creation now in JLT

Vibgyor Creations are handmade and selected items from India. Their concept is to spread and add colour to the lives of people by creating beautiful, very colourful, hand made items from the rainbow colours.
Vibgyor Creations are currently operating from their Facebook page and have new items every week. Most of their creations are handmade using unique and exclusive elements that are specifically ordered from India.


Why not check out their facebook fan page or order your next handmade flower bouquet or chocolate bouquet from them and give us your feedback?

JLT residents get a 10% discount when ordering from Vibgyor Creations. Just mention JLT Community Blog when ordering. Not only that, JLT residents are so pampered, their orders will be delivered free of charge within JLT! What more, check out Vibgyor Creations now!

For more information on Vibgyor Creations, please visit their Vibgyor Creation Facebook Fan Page or call 055 989 3308


Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Man accused of threatening couple to ‘win woman back’ in JLT

DUBAI - A man, who allegedly threatened an Indian couple and sent them abusive text messages, stood trial in the Court of First Instance on Monday.

The 29-year-old Pakistani postman allegedly threatened to kill the businesswoman in phone calls and text messages he sent to both her and her husband. He threatened to kill her if she did not resume her “relations” with him.

He faced charges of threat, libel and consuming liquor.

He claimed he had had sexual relationship with the woman.

The woman, aged 29, told the prosecutor that she and her husband filed the complaint in November last year. They had met the defendant in Jumeirah Lake Towers and had known him for about a year when they worked together in the real estate field.

However, they had to break up with him as he used to get drunk and call them and speak indecently. They cut all their contacts with him and the woman was also told not to answer his calls.

Angry at being ignored, the defendant began harassing them constantly. He sent them text messages in which he threatened to kill the woman if they did not resume their past relationship with him.

He allegedly threatened to kill himself if the woman did not treat him like before.

In a call, the defendant told the woman’s husband that he was in love with her and that she belonged to him. He said he would die if “he did not win her”.

He also allegedly threatened her that he would tell her husband that she had been taking abortion pills.

The husband, a 29-year-old manager, confirmed the allegations made by his wife in his statement. He said the defendant talked about having sexual relationship with his wife in his messages to him.

The defendant admitted during interrogation that he was intoxicated when he sent the abusive and threatening text messages.

In a text message, he allegedly threatened to beat the woman up or kill her if she did not go back to him. The defendant was arrested on November 30 last year.

Khaleej Times

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Pay service charges 'on time': DMCC

Master developer insists they work on a zero-cost budget and only the charges spent on maintaining community is passed on

Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) has called upon developers and owner associations in Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT) to pay the community service charges on time to ensure quality service.

“JLT developers and Owners' Associations understand that the master community service charges need to be paid on time to ensure our service providers are treated as partners with respect to accountability for the delivery of quality services to JLT,” Malcolm Wall Morris, Chief Executive Officer, DMCC, told Emirates 24|7.

The master developer of JLT insists they work on a zero cost budget and that they only pass the charges that has been spent on maintaining the community.

“The master development costs within JLT are based on a zero cost budget. Whatever charges are passed on via the master community service charge are only those which we have spent on maintaining the master community in line with community expectations.”

Emirates 24|7 had reported earlier that Nakheel had warned property owners in Discovery Gardens to pay their building service charge by June 24 or there could be utility and service disruption.

Asked if the issue of residents being charged twice by Dubai Municipality and the master developer had been solved, Morris said: “In terms of the Dubai Municipality housing fees, we are working closely with all government bodies to ensure that the residents of JLT are being treated fairly and in consistence with the level of services provided by both organisations.”

DMCC maintains it is working constantly with suppliers to ensure that service charges in JLT remain “competitively” priced.

“We are constantly working with suppliers to ensure that JLT receives competitively priced master community service charges. Although there are reductions in costs through improved operating efficiencies, this is always balanced with the cost arising from increasing services as demands increase due to the growing population and rapidly evolving community expectations.”

Asked how much is the total outstanding from developers and any legal action was planned against them, Morris said: “While it is true that DMCC has outstanding receivables with some developers, this does not adversely affect our ability to operate. We are in discussions to ensure that amicable solutions are found for any outstanding dues.”

By Parag Deulgaonkar

Emirates 24/7

Monday, July 4, 2011

Financial problems led Indian executive to commit suicide in JLT

DUBAI — The Indian Consulate in Dubai has urged the expatriates from the South Asian country to use counselling services offered by its workers resource centre in periods of stress even as financial problems were cited as the reason behind the suicide of the 45-year-old Indian executive who jumped to death from the 30th floor of a building in Jumeirah Lake Towers.

A colleague of the victim told Khaleej Times on Monday that the senior manger of her company was a well-respected man with pleasant and good manners. The woman who testified to the police said that the victim came to his company office in the tower to attend a weekly meeting on Sunday.

She said he had been upset for some months regarding a bank loan. The woman confirmed that he had no family problems.

A woman who was passing by the road informed the watchman of the building that she saw a man jumping from the top floor. After getting information from the watchman, the police rushed to the scene and found the corpse with head and body parts scattered on the road.

The body of the victim was handed over to the General Department of Forensic Medicine to be kept there till the completion of legal and administrative procedures.

The police have ruled out any criminal motive behind the man’s death and confirmed that the man had committed suicide due to financial problems. Meanwhile, the Indian Consulate in Dubai on Monday released the figures for the cases of suicides among Indians from 2008 till April 30, 2011.

It said the cases of 27 of the 335 Indians who died in the UAE till April have been classified as suicide. In 2010, deaths of 1,114 Indians were reported, of which 110 were suicides. In 2009, 113 Indians committed suicide when the total number of deaths reported was 1,285. In 2008, the number of recorded suicides was 147 out of 1,420 death cases involving Indians.

Consul-General of India Sanjay Verma told reporters that most of the Indians who committed suicide were unskilled or semi-skilled workers. He cited financial stress and personal problems as the major causes.

Noting that any suicide is worrisome, he urged Indians to avail the counselling services provided through the Indian Workers Resource Centre which can be accessed through the toll-free No. 80046342.


By Amira Agarib

Khaleej Times

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Schools near JLT

If you are new to JLT or planning to move to the community but not sure about children schools, a number of good ones currently exist near JLT. These schools include Winchester (Gardens), Dubai International Academy (Emirates Hills), Delhi Private School (Gardens),Jumeirah English Speaking School (Arabian Ranches), Emirates International School (Meadows on Meadows Drive, between Meadows 4 and Springs 1), Dubai British School (Junction of Meadows and Springs Drive), Regent School (Adjacent to The Greens).