St Regis Dubai welcomes a Canadian in chocolate

I'm staying at the (fairly new) St Regis Dubai for a couple of days in Al Habtoor City. It's gorgeous and restful and opulent and lush, just as a St Regis is. 

And then there is this gorgeous chocolate bar that was just delivered to my room. Someone Googled me! So cool. Should I eat it or save it?

Toronto restaurant group Icon Legacy brings Weslodge Saloon to Dubai: Meet executive chef Ben Heaton

Ben Heaton, Weslodge Saloon executive chef.

I'm pretty excited because I am hanging out in Dubai this week, and some friends and I are going to pay a visit to Weslodge Saloon, the first foray into the Middle East by the popular Toronto-based restaurant group Icon Legacy, which has 10 restaurants back home. 

I chatted recently with the 39-year-old executive chef Ben Heaton, a Yorkshire-born Canadian who arrived in the middle of March for the frantic launch process. He will leave Dubai at the end of April, when things are appropriately humming along, but return for several week sessions throughout the year. 

"I really want to nurture and grow the restaurant here," he said. "It's like my baby."

Canadians of the UAE: Meet Nisreen Jardaneh

I am originally from Jordan but moved to Ottawa when I got married to my husband, Nawriz. He works in IT and has lived all over the US, but chose to settle in Canada after he fell in love with the country when visiting friends there. We studied and worked in the capital, Ottawa, from 2004, and I was able to pursue my first love of music there. Although I was already a business graduate, I went back to studying piano pedagogy at the University of Ottawa, completing my Masters. I am currently working on a PhD in music education via distance.

Overheard in the newsroom: The not-an-engagement edition

Yeah, that was stupid and we had to have a talk about not giving people big diamond rings just as presents.

Overheard in the newsroom: Justin Bieber's is it too late to say Sorry? edition

It's an apology bear. It should be bigger.

#CANADIAN University Dubai School professor writes competition-topping songs

Okay so technically Franziska Apprich, an assistant professor in the #CANADIAN University Dubai School of Media and Communication Studies, is Irish. 

But that won't stop me from pointing out that she is a pretty relentless and apparently talented songwriter. According to a press release from the school, her song As much as I want you - described in her words as "Norah Jones meets Sarah McLachlan", a noted #CANADIAN -  has reached the semifinals of the International Songwriting Competition.

Last year Apprich wrote a song for Etienne Cousineau, star of the Quebec-based #CANADIAN talent show La Voix.

Winners in the International Songwriting Competition are due to be announced later this month. 

Now here's a #CANADIAN in the UAE: Flash Entertainment's John Lickrish

John Lickrish, ceo and founder of Flash Entertainment.

It's been pretty cool watching the evolution of the entertainment scene here in the UAE since 2008, which is the year that the Abu Dhabi government-owned Flash Entertainment was founded by John Lickrish. The-now 47-year-old has brought everyone from Madonna to the Rolling Stones to Dave Matthews Band to Coldplay - in a magical, rain-drenched show at Emirates Palace - to a capital once starved for live gigs.

Overheard in the newsroom: The weekend can't come fast enough edition

I need to eavesdrop on your laughs as I'm short of my own.

Canadians of the UAE: Meet Hala Khalaf

Hala, Alana and Mr T.

Meet Hala Khalaf, a writer who has lived in the UAE for seven years.

"I’ve never felt more Canadian than I do living right here in the UAE. I acquired Canadian citizenship as a teenager living in London, Ontario, after having grown up in three different Arab countries before that. Then, after university, I left Canada - more than 13 years ago - and I’ve only been back “home” to Ontario for short visits. When I’m asked where I’m from, I didn’t always identify as a Canadian immediately.

What it's like to live in Abu Dhabi, summed up nicely by a New Yorker

A writer and PR representative living in the capital, Christine Hinz has written a really good column about life here. It was top of The National's website all day, so you know it resonated. You can check it out for yourself, but I give you my favourite line:

For the most part, people who live in Abu Dhabi don’t like the idea of living in Dubai, and people in Dubai wouldn’t dream of living in Abu Dhabi.

When a loonie is more than a loonie - and doesn't buy very many dirhams

I don't usually get too excited about currency fluctations - the drop in funds that I experienced when transferring money into US dollars back in 2008, when I moved here was shocking and I totally freaked out when my financial adviser showed me the figures. Since then I have calmed down, having the benefit of time to see that what goes around comes around. Having said that, I did just transfer a chunk of savings into Canadian dollars with the idea that it is either a good time to invest in property back in Canada or just hang onto the Canadian dollars until the US dollar weakens. A foreign exchange expert I am not.

One thing I do know is that it's important to diversify your currencies when living over here, and yes, also to possibly take advantage of the dollar's fluctuations. The National breaks down the current dollar situation here.

Gutsy #CANADIAN Lysanne Richard wins the women's 3rd Fina Diving World Cup in Abu Dhabi

On Sunday the Abu Dhabi Sports Council and the UAE Swimming Federation brought high diving to the capital for the first time.

I wish I could have been down at the Abu Dhabi International Marine and Sports Club to see it. Instead here are some pics we grabbed off Abu Dhabi Sports after Lysanne Richard, a 34-year-old who hails from Chicoutimi, Quebec, nailed her 20-metre jump to grab gold.