مدونات هوتباك

It usually starts with a message in the office WhatsApp group around mid-November. "Who's doing National Day this year?" A few people go quiet. Someone from admin or HR puts their hand up, and now they have two weeks, a small budget, and a floor full of colleagues who all have opinions about balloons....

Every year in late November, the cake orders start to change colour. Red, green, white and black buttercream. Flag cupcakes for a school class. A tray of dates with a little falcon on top for an office morning. A UAE National Day cake for a company that wants its logo next to the flag....

Diwali is on Sunday, 8 November. If you run a restaurant, a catering kitchen or a sweet shop in the UAE, you already know what that means. The phone starts ringing a week early. Offices want lunch for 60 people on a Thursday. Somebody's aunt orders five kilos of kaju katli and wants it...

Three hundred per cent That was the jump in Diwali sweet sales some Dubai shops were preparing for last year, according to Gulf News. Some well-known names closed their dining rooms for four or five days so their kitchens could do nothing but fill orders. Corporate clients started booking almost a month ahead. This...

Why the bag matters more than you think Hand someone a leaflet on breast self examination and there is a fair chance it ends up in the nearest bin. Hand them the same leaflet in a pink bag, with a chocolate and a thank you note, and it goes home. It sits on a...