bazaar August 2022 issue by bazaar magazine

August 2022 | Issue #271 www.bazaar.town

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Int The bazaar team... Boss Ahmed El-Adly It’s hard to believe that it’s already August. A lot of people traveled and are already back in K-town after their first summer holiday in two years and a lot of you are still out of town, or heading out now as we speak. One thing that is definitely noticeable this summer is the fact that the country doesn’t empty out the way it used to all summer, every summer like when we were kids growing up here. I guess that’s because of the fact that life is so much more expensive than it used to be, meaning families can no longer simply take off for three months like back in the good old days. Regardless of where you are right now, by the end of the month school will start and life will resume some form of routine and normalcy, so this is our attempt at capturing the last of summer’s laziness and the first step into the beginning of the academic year. It’s a strange cross feeling of getting organized, with a touch of procrastination. Starting with our favorite beach read of the summer, we loved The Stardust Thief by Kuwaiti-American debut novelist Chelsea Abdullah. We just had to find out more about her and you can too, when you read the interview in this issue. We also met with interior designer Carolina Aguilar, founder of the studio “The Room at House One”, operating in Kuwait and Barcelona since 2019 for this month’s Truth or Dare. We were wowed by her Friday Market upcycling projects and are inspired to try breathing new life into old objects ourselves. August also means the beginning of back-to-school shopping and we are slightly jealous of all the kids who are getting new backpacks, sharp colored pens in a fresh pencil case and a cute lunchbox. But we did get to live vicariously through you when we put together our MUJI list. We also got some great tips from our friends at X-Cite for our tech and gadgets this year. We also learned about two fabulous brands launching in the region. Tribe of 6, a sustainable fash-leisure brand and Cheekee Munkee that creates the cutest playful clothes for the under-5 crowd. Learn more about both brands and how to shop their new collections in this issue. No bazaar issue is ever complete without an exciting global fashion launch, and our latest bazaar Studios production for all new brand H&M Move is not to be missed! Featuring professional athlete and sprinter Abdulaziz Saif Marzouk and the magnetic Sarah Al Homood, we explore the art of movement in every way with the brand-new sportswear brand at Studio 33. Last but definitely not least, is the news that is most exciting, the new Nissan KICKS is available in Kuwait through Abdulmohsen Abdulaziz Al-Babtain Co (AABC) - the sole authorized dealer of Nissan in Kuwait. It’s a fabulous car that’s stylish, technologically advanced and designed to meet the growing needs of young urban drivers. It’s time to switch out our boring old wheels for a thrilling new ride. Happy reading! Ahmed El-Adly

Editor Alia Al Duaij

Operations Manager Ihab Youssef

Content Manager Yasmine El Charif

Mixed Media Solutions Jennifer Cádiz

Design Shadi Mofeed

Staff Writer/Online Media Mariam Raslan Yasmin Gamal Sahira Ladha

Contributing Photographers Sunil Raju

Communications Hala Y. Sharara

Syndicates & Sources Fast Company LA Times MCT International Newsweek

Printing British Industries for Printing and Packaging The views expressed in bazaar magazine are those of the respective contributors and not necessarily shared by the magazine or its staff (but sometimes they are).

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No one likes to be dumped;

recycle me, please.

INDEX AUGUST 2022 28

KICKING IT WITH NISSAN

THE STARDUST THIEF WITH AUTHOR H&M MOVE Discover the launch of CHELSEA ABDULLAH Move that aims to We love a good fantasy novel. We found one that is set in a world based on the deserts of Arabic, the characters are representative and diverse and so we got really curious. We met up with AmericanKuwaiti debut author Chelsea Abdullah to learn more about The Stardust Theif and what might be in the pipeline.

80 MEET THE FOUR SEASONS HOSPITALITY ARTISTS

Hospitality is a science, but it is only elevated and luxurious when it is treated like an art. Introducing the Four Seasons Hotel Burj Alshaya Kuwait’s hospitality artists; Executive Chef Thierry Papillier, Executive Pastry Chef Gregory Chrismant, Italian Chef Luigi Frassanito, Director of Catering Ayça Çivgin and Hotel Manager Martin Kipping who work hard to make your stays and visits a slice of heaven.

exciting new brand H&M democratize sportswear worldwide! Our special bazaar Studios production features professional athlete and sprinter Abdulaziz Saif Marzouk and the magnetic Sarah Al Homood, and we explore the art of movement in every way with the brand-new sportswear brand at Studio 33.

88 CHEEKEE MUNKEE

Get ready to take the road by storm with the new edition of the Nissan KICKS’ that is now availableat Nissan Al Babtain Showrooms. With its refreshed style and technology upgrades designed to meet the growing needs of urban young drivers. The car focuses on enhancing connectivity, innovation and personalization, the Nissan KICKS 2023 edition allows drivers to further express their personal style.

STATIONERY HAUL TIME WITH MUJI

Childhood only happens once, and this is why the newly launched brand Cheekee Munkee is making sure that it’s a whole lot of fun for them. The regional brand offers great value and responsible clothing that’s still very playful and fun. The collection is bright and colorful just like the little Cheekee Munkees themselves.

Did you know that the MUJI gel pens have a cult following? So does MUJI stationery and Study Tokers and YouTubers love them. Get ready for school with our quick shopping list from MUJI for back to school.

100 THE ICONIC IKEA PAX

One of the best investments to make in your home is a fitted wardrobe. The iconic PAX system from IKEA is fully customizable and fits in every space and aesthetic. Find out more about the different options and special promotion that is ongoing this month.

106 #XCITED FOR BACK TO SCHOOL

Gone are the days when you could just rely on pen and paper for school or university. We need high tech gear to get through the academic year. Get your laptop or tablet from X-cite now so you can get acclimated with it before classes start. We have a great list of devices, accessories and bags to get you started.

H&M MOVE P. 44

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With a bilingual audience of both English and Arabic, we cover ever ything from what’s on, to the bizarre. We print and distribute 10,000 copies of bazaar ever y month; each copy is read by an average of 3 people, giving us a total readership of over 30,000. bazaar is published ever y month (with a double issue for July/ August), delivered free of charge to a large subscriber database, and distributed free of charge in all of the following locations: Cafés & Eateries

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4 Boutique Alghanim Marine Alghanim Showrooms - Safat Al Rai, Shuweikh, Sharq, Fahaheel beau-tique cosmetics British Embassy US Embassy Brush Salon CAP Galler y Cookie Dough Dar Al Funoon Dar.Nur Gold Class Lounge - Grand Cinemas Al Hamra TONI & GUY- Al Corniche TONI & GUY- Cliffs Kuwait Airpor t Business Class Lounges Finesse Nail Lounge Media Elephant Shuwaikh Market Sultan Galler y THE One The Chairman's Club

Galleria Al Hamra Elevation Burger Boulevard Starbucks Costa Coffee The Promenade Caribou Mall 360 Dunkin Donuts Marina Mall Marina Crescent Casper & Gambini Chocolate Bar Johnny Rockets P.Q. Paul Souq Sharq Starbucks Haagen Dazs Symphony Mall Juan Valdez The Avenues Elevation Burger Johnny Rockets Paul Starbucks Airport Mall Starbucks Dar Al Awadi Starbucks Spoons Chocolate Bar Salhiya Complex Starbucks

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what's trending August 2022

What: @shopflain Info: acti-wear style essentials Editor’s Note: Because we refuse to work out unless we look fabulous!

What: @euphoriccandleskwt Info: New concept of candles Editor’s Note: We’ll take two gummy bear candles please

#2 What: @wallnut_well Info: Clean eating without compromising on taste Editor’s Note: We’re casting our vote for the coconut macaroons

What: @sunshine.kw Info: Eco friendly totes Editor’s Note: Keeping it weird!

What: @ dearbabykw Info: All the tips and tricks you’ll need to take care of your little one! Editor’s Note: It takes a village to raise a child

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YOUR HIGH SUMMER PLATFORM

SHOP RIVER ISLAND THE AVENUES | MARINA MALL & ONLINE AT TAMANNA.COM SCAN THE CODE FOR MORE INFO

GULF BANK ANNOUNCES THE WINNER OF KD1,000,000 IN THE ALDANAH MILLIONAIRE ACCOUNT’S DRAW Gulf Bank continues to reward customers and create new millionaires By bazaar staff

Gulf Bank is continuing its long-standing tradition of rewarding customers and creating new millionaires through its AlDanah Millionaire account, the most popular savings account in Kuwait.

In keeping with its long-standing tradition of rewarding its customers and making their dreams come true, Gulf Bank announced on Thursday, July 21 that Mrs. OM HASHEM MOHAMMED MUJAHED ABDULHALEEM won the KD1,000,000 prize as part of the AlDanah Millionaire account’s draw. Gulf Bank is continuously rewarding its customers and creating new millionaires through the AlDanah Millionaire account, the most popular savings account in Kuwait. The draw was held on Thursday, July 21 at 7:00 pm at the Avenues, and broadcast live on 360 FM. The draw was held under the supervision, and in the presence of, representatives from both the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Ernst & Young. In light of the joyful occasion, the General Manager of Consumer Banking at Gulf Bank, Mohammed Al-Qattan, said: “We would like to congratulate our newest AlDanah millionaire, Mrs. OM HASHEM ABDULHALEEM, for winning the AlDanah Millionaire account draw prize. We would like to encourage all of our customers to continue adopting a culture of savings, thereby increasing their balances and chances of winning an AlDanah draw prize, and giving them immense opportunities for financial profit — all while being rewarded for their loyalty.” Al-Qattan pointed out that the AlDanah 22

Millionaire account is witnessing high demand from customers, as it is one of the best savings accounts in Kuwait, distinguished by its periodic draws that award valuable prizes. Gulf Bank’s AlDanah Millionaire account offers monthly opportunities to win KD1,000 to ten lucky winners, in addition to two quarterly draws with KD100,000 prizes each, a semi-annual draw prize of KD1,000,000 and a grand draw prize of KD1,500,000. He added, “The AlDanah Millionaire account is the only account that rewards customers for their loyalty by providing loyalty chances and transfers your chances of winning from the previous year to the next year, as part of a program that rewards customers for their loyalty to Gulf Bank.” Al-Qattan stated that the AlDanah Millionaire account provides a multitude of valuable services to its customers, including access to an exclusive AlDanah ATM card, ideal for depositing money into their accounts at any time. Account holders can now also calculate their chances of winning the monthly, quarterly and annual draws using the AlDanah Calculator, available on Gulf Bank’s Online and Mobile Banking App. Gulf Bank’s AlDanah Millionaire account is open to both Kuwaiti and non-Kuwaiti residents of Kuwait. A minimum of KD200 is required to open an account and the same amount must

be maintained for customers to be eligible for the upcoming AlDanah draws. If the customer’s account balance falls below KD200 at any given time, a KD2 fee will be charged to the account monthly until the minimum balance is met. Customers who open an account and/or deposit more will enter the draws. With Gulf Bank, depositing into an AlDanah Millionaire account is easier than ever, as clients can deposit into their accounts and increase their chances of winning through the following channels: Online/Mobile Banking App which includes the ePay service. Gulf Bank clients can also visit any of Gulf Bank’s branches, ATMs and ITMs, or call the Customer Contact Center at 1805805. Customers can also take advantage of the free standing order service on other Gulf Bank accounts, and transfer directly to an AlDanah Millionaire account. To learn more about Gulf Bank’s Al Danah Millionaire account, visit one of the Gulf Bank’s 53 branches or log on to www.e-gulfbank.com. Contact the Customer Contact Center on 1805 805 or place queries through the newly launched WhatsApp service on 6580 5805 for assistance and guidance. Visit the dedicated Al Danah Millionaire web page to learn more about the account and the winners.

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bazaar weekends

THREE THINGS TO DO EVERY WEEKEND DURING THE ACADEMIC YEAR Get everything in order, before you head back to school By bazaar staff

It’s been a hot minute since you set the alarm, packed your backpack and made sure that your homework was done. It’s August and you might be getting ready to go back to school or university or have a student at home who needs to get things in order before they do.

Most of us remember how excited we used to get when our parents told us we we were going shopping for a new backpack and pencil case. A fresh set of colored pencils was on every kid’s wishlist, but that was usually the extent of what we wanted from the new year. We wished we could skip classes, exams and boring homework and go straight to winter break and then summer break. Now that we’re older and (hopefully) wiser, we wish we knew then what we know now, that with a little planning and organization we could have gotten so much more out of our time in school and university. So, we’re passing on some tips that might help you out. Plan ahead Some schools provide you with a homework planner, but if you don’t have one, then create your own. Writing down everything that you need 24

done makes it easier to prevent forgetting. Use the weekend to set it up for the new week.Note down what you think you need to get done in the new week and what exams you might have scheduled. This will help you feel better prepared instead of overwhelmed. Starting at the beginning of the year, means that by the time the going gets tough, you will have a routine in place for when you need it. Include other extracurricular activities, holidays and test scores, so you have a better perspective on your performance overall. Reset your desk Clean up your desk or studying space before the year starts. Get rid of any papers or books that are no longer necessary (recycle, please). Check that all of your tools are in good condition, dry pens, broken rulers and non-functioning calculators can all go. We also suggest choosing a positive

affirmation for the week. Write it out and hang it or tape it on the wall where you can see it, so you set your weekly intention. Commit to resetting it at the end of every weekend, so you always start the week fresh and ready to go. Jump on to #StudyTok One of the best resources for study tips, ironically, is TikTok. There’s an incredible amount of content that offers great tips that will help you with almost every obstacle or challenge you might face. It also helps you realize that there’s a large community out there that cares about studying and achieving good grades. While we don’t want you falling down a TikTok rabbit hole, but a little inspiration with funky background music won’t hurt.

Photo by Matt Ragland on Unsplash.

INFLUENCERS ARE OUT—AUTHENTICITY IS IN

The influencer economy is on the brink of a seismic shift. By Danica Lo

Catalyzed by the popularity of TikTok and its algorithm, which prioritizes content types over creators, brand marketers and digital agencies are increasingly allocating social media budgets toward user-generated content (UGC) from small creators and away from big-ticket deals with internet celebs. For many companies that pivoted to the UGC model out of sheer necessity during the pandemic—when staging photo shoots and video productions was out of the question—the results have been astonishing. On TikTok, we recently joined their influencer program, and the direct response ads created by influencers didn’t work well,” says Jeannie Assimos, head of content for Way.com. “Unscripted, off-the-cuff content we created blew the direct-response-style content away in all of our metrics. Testimonials [also] always do well and continue to perform in simple static ads with real people.” After more than a decade of pouring money into partnerships with big-name influencers, marketers are increasingly wagering on less-expensive deals with amateur creators, blanketing the internet with relatable, authentic-feeling content that’s optimized for conversion. “Brands are no longer hiring influencers to act as influencers, but rather as outsourced content farms,” says Online Optimism CEO Flynn Zaiger. “Our clients are no longer asking for follower counts or engagement rates, they’re asking for one or two pieces of example content to understand the influencer’s ability to move product.” What is UGC? Well, anything anyone posts online qualifies, really, including text, photographs, GIFs, and videos. A recent Telus survey reveals that 83% of Americans say they’ve posted UGC—including images (52%), reviews (51%), or comments (44%). The accessibility of UGC creation and sheer amount there is to choose from makes it ripe for exploitation, and a win-win situation where nearly anyone with an internet connection and camera can participate and potentially be paid. “It democratizes content,” says Jason Konopinski, a marketing content specialist at SocialLadder. “If you’re on a platform and you’re posting, you are now a creator and you’re creating user-generated content. The secret sauce of it is, how does that turn into something?” According to Annette Sally, the executive vice president of Blue Sky Agency who previously led the Leo Burnett team behind Always’s 2014 #LikeAGirl social media blitz—one of the most-cited viral campaigns in the women’s personal care space—leveraging UGC is vital for amplification and impact. “While we didn’t use UGC in the content that we put out into the world, what we did do was leverage UGC to drive the campaign and to drive awareness,” Sally says. “It changed the dynamic nature of the conversation because instead of it just existing on the plane that we introduced the campaign, now all of a sudden men were engaging and boys were engaging and dads and coaches were engaging. All of a sudden it wasn’t about boys versus girls—it was about power and confidence.” 26

Recently, Sally’s team enlisted content creators in a marketing program for Explore Georgia, the tourism division of the Georgia Department of Economic Development—promoting both real-life and virtual state tourism. Conceived in early 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, UGC provided the campaign with a practical solution for generating photo and video assets—and despite the format’s relative lack of contrived styling and professional polish, its authenticity and relatability attracted off-the-charts engagement. “What we realized is the more ‘produced’ we are, the more disconnected you get from that passionate consumer,” Sally says. “UGC drew customers to us because it felt real. They could see themselves in that moment, whether it was the camera angle or the way people looked, and the enjoyment factor was genuine. It drove an emotional connection with our content that was a little bit unexpected.” For business owners with limited marketing budgets, engaging with UGC can provide an affordable option for lead generation and new-customer conversion, especially when it comes to local brickand-mortar retail, restaurants, and experiences. Pursuing content, and not a follower count, means that oftentimes deals can be done via barter with smaller creators. “That makes it more authentic, that they aren’t really being paid to experience a place or a product,” says Elana Levin, president of Eleventh House PR. And part of the appeal of user-generated content is how attainable it makes a product or experience seem. “I think, because it gives that inclusive sort of feeling versus it feeling out of reach, people feel more connected to it.”

Levin points to one of her restaurant clients, Au Za’atar in New York’s East Village, which she started working with a few years after it opened. She collaborated with the owners to come up with an Instagram-worthy dining experience—a tower of chicken shawarma sliced up and served tableside. After she invited talented local content creators to dinner in exchange for posts, she was able to grow the restaurant’s clientele—as well as its Instagram follower count, from 700 to more than 64,000 to date. One thing to note, Levin says, is that UGC is rarely ever one and done—it’s not like a single milliondollar Kardashian endorsement, which could make or break a brand. “Conversion isn’t necessarily always coming from one individual,” she says. “It’s multiple individuals saturating a certain place or product; it’s drumming the pavement, so people see it in their feeds constantly.” And though the pendulum is swinging away from bigger influencers and toward the UGC marketing model, big-time creators probably have nothing to worry about. The $104 billion-a-year creator economy shows no signs of slowing, and as it grows it will likely continue to segment into a wide variety of niches serving different industries and business goals. “The top-tier influencers are [still] great for firestarting conversations around product launches and new brands,” Konopinski says. “The role that’s filled by your amateur creator is your brand advocate. We’re all consumers. People are enthusiastic about brands that they love and there’s a natural affinity to talking about them.”

Photo by Mateus Campos Felipe on Unsplash .

A JIN, A MERCHANT, A PRINCE, A THIEF, AND CHELSEA ABDULLAH Debut Novelist Chelsea Abdullah tells us more about The Stardust Thief By bazaar staff

For as long as I can remember, I read books to escape, and my favorite genres have always been Sci-Fi and Fantasy. I am often looking for elaborate world building, surprising plots, and layered character development. And until recently, these worlds were written by white men. While many of the stories that I read were fantastic, they were often lacking in authentic representation, diversity and a non-western perspective. In the last couple of years, I enjoyed The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh, We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal and City of Brass by S.A Chakrabor ty. I came across a new book called The Stardust Thief, on Instagram that had just been released, instantly purchased the e-book version, and fell in love. I later realized that the author, Chelsea Abdullah is an American-Kuwaiti and this was her debut novel. I had so many questions, and she delivered with the answers. How do you introduce yourself? I’m an American-Kuwaiti writer who loves exploring found family dynamics and experimenting with stor ytelling structures. In my free time I read, play video games, and sometimes draw! Did you always think you were going to be an author? How long has this book been brewing in your head? I’ve always loved writing and had dreams of being published, but it was only during my undergrad career that I star ted seriously thinking about traditional publication. The concept for The Stardust Thief has been floating around in my head for more than six years at this point. When I left Kuwait to go to university in the states, I star ted thinking on the idea of writing an Arab-inspired fantasy that was a love letter to the stories I grew up with. I sat on that idea for years before the opening scene of this novel came to me. As I star ted writing, I realized this was the fantasy I’d been building myself up to write. It was my fifth completed manuscript and the first one I felt confident enough to edit and send to agents. I’m ver y happy it’s my debut novel! How would you briefly describe The Stardust Thief? The Stardust Thief is an epic fantasy that follows a merchant, a prince, a bodyguard, and a thief on their journey to find a mythical lamp. On the way they’ll have to face a myriad of dangers, including a dangerous jinn queen, 28

a malicious killer from the past, and an unfor tunate number of ghouls… There’s a map in the beginning of the book, did you begin writing with this in mind, or was it a product of the writing? How much of Kuwait and the landscape (the dust storms and the journey across the desert) inspired the writing? The stor y came first! The map is a ver y recent creation, designed by a car tographer after I wrote the book and signed with a publisher. It was an incredible experience to work with him to design the map based on the journey the characters take in the book.

Since I grew up in Kuwait, a lot of my inspiration for the landscape comes from its geography and climate. There’s one scene in the novel where the characters have to travel through a vicious dust storm, and it’s based on my memories of a really bad sandstorm that happened in Kuwait in 2011. I remember the sky turned orange and then black, and that I couldn’t see anything beyond the windows of my house. I also remember the videos that were circulating on YouTube at the time that showed how thick the layers of sand were. That storm immediately came to mind when I wrote the dust storm scene in The Stardust Thief.

World building is always tricky, but this world feels real and well thought out, what was your process like for creating this world? I’m a discover y writer, so the world unfolds for me as I write the first draft. I like to say it’s like I’m following a sparse map at that stage—I know what some locations are going to look like and where they are, but the characters are the ones who show me how to get from Point A to Point B. Because they all notice different things about the world, I discover unique pieces of the lore ever y time I swap perspectives. That being said, though The Stardust Thief is a high fantasy that takes place in another, fantastical world, there are elements in it that are inspired by my Arab heritage. The food, the clothing, the architecture, the social dynamics… And, of course, all the Arabic phrases and names! One of my favorite things about the book is that it’s not based in euro-centric mythology or fantasy, was this something you had in mind while writing the book? Did you want to introduce more readers to the world of Arabic fantasy? Yes, that’s how The Stardust Thief started for me! As a kid, I always wished to see more Arab-coded characters in popular fantasy books. There were so many popular Eurocentric fantasies, but it wasn’t until I was an adult that I saw other fantasies on the market that featured well-written Arab representation in fantasy. Still, those novels were few and far between, and I’ve always wanted to see more of them. The Stardust Thief started as a personal project. I wrote it because I missed home. It was only when I finished it that I realized maybe other people might like to read it if I edited it into something more book-shaped. I’m always happy when readers tell me a) they have a new appreciation for Arab stor ytelling traditions after reading or b) they saw echoes of their own heritage in the stor y. We have a rich history of oral tradition in our region, did you research any of the different tales while writing your book? Most of the stories are based on folktales my dad told me growing up, including stories from Failaka, but I definitely did additional research to make sure I remembered all the details correctly. The easiest tales to research were the 1001 Nights stories, if only because there are so many

translations and resources, but I was mostly inspired by the versions my dad used to share. When can we expect the sequel? And is it going to be a trilogy? There’s no date set for the sequel yet since I’m still working on it, but I’m hopeful I’ll be able to share more about it within the next few months. I can confirm that this is going to be a

trilogy, which is really exciting. I’m so happy to have three books in this world and with these characters! For the rest of the conversation with Chelsea, visit bazaar.town. Follow Chelsea on Instagram @chelsabdullah and visit her website chelseaabdullah.com to stay up-to-date with her latest news. 29

EMPOWERING WOMEN AT SOAPBOX’S WEDNESDAY GATHERINGS First ladies’ diwaniya held at Soapbox at The Promenade By bazaar staff

This is not the first time that Soapbox has sponsored events that give women a voice. The Promenade and Soapbox are committed to promoting women’s rights and the Wednesday gatherings are another way to support the local female community. In the past, Soapbox has held events such as hosting the launch of Grit, which is a sevenpart documentar y series on the inspirational women of Kuwait, along with the screening of Dream, Girl, a documentar y which showcases female entrepreneurs that talk about topics from self-sabotage, to balancing family life, to women supporting other women. The event closed with a panel of successful women in business and philanthropy discussing how women are able to excel in the realm of business and beyond in today’s world. With the desire of encouraging discussion between women, Wednesday gatherings is a ladies’ event held at Soapbox on most Wednesdays of the year, the topics at the events are of particular interest to women that can be discussed in a safe space without judgment. Organized by a group of Kuwaiti women that come from var ying backgrounds, each with their own unique passions, but united in their love for volunteer work and social responsibility. The idea for the Wednesday gatherings came about because these women would get together and discuss a topic weekly that one of the group members would come up with. The group of women that commenced the Wednesday gatherings include Hessa Alrashed, Danah Althaidi, Asiah almaimny, Wasan Alshayji, Sara Almutairi, Faye Almutawa, Durrah Albuaijan, Mariam Alawadhi, amongst others. These events encouraged a keen debate, which when people heard about, the group received requests of participation. From there came the Wednesday Gatherings, and previous speakers included Dr. Dana alsalem, Dr. Lama alhumaidan, Dr. Ebtesan Alansari, Alanood Alsubaihi, Manayer Alkanderi, Tasneem Alsanand, Jana Alsanad, Nour Alsanad, Amal almutairi, Fatima Jaafar, Esra Alkandari, and Dalal Alhammadi. The Wednesday Gatherings are considered to be the first ladies “diwaniya” in the Gulf regions, an ideology that is being replicated in many of the neighboring countries, such as Qatar and Bahrain. The idea is to give women a voice to discuss topics that resonate deeply with them. The topics range from women’s health, women 30

in business, safe and effective volunteering amongst many more. In each meeting, the girls are eager to instill concepts of goodness in the participants, while getting to know each other. This gathering is an opportunity for learning, teaching, and getting acquainted with people of similar age with different specializations and environments. Soapbox is keen to build a community, a place where businesses, clubs and social groups can meet for events. That is why Soapbox has deliberately thought out the layout of the main hall. With movable furniture, the area seems spacious yet cozy within smaller sections. So, while the open plan is maintained, several different groups can occupy the space without impeding on each other. It is the ideal space for you to hold meetings, or have a small gathering of friends or colleagues, especially with the café there. With large tables as well as massive sofas, there are a multitude of ways for you to be able to enjoy Soapbox for hours at a time.

Soapbox is also Kuwait’s first retail incubator, as the name suggests, it is a safe, nurturing environment which supports and prepares new business owners in their economic ventures. With low overheads and flexible terms Soapbox tenants can choose from pre-fitted, manageably sized shop spaces or they can opt for shorterlease kiosks or pop-up. Once moved-in the focus can immediately be on sales and building the business’ brand.

To learn more about the Wednesday Gathering and their upcoming events, follow @Wednesday. gathering on Instagram. For more Soapbox news follow @soapboxkw on Instagram. The Promenade is located on 3rd Ring Road, opposite Qadsiya, for more on The Promenade’s activities and events follow them on Instagram @thepromenadekw or call 2227 7130.

ECO 1

Dubai is now home to the largest vertical farm in the world By Adele Peters

If you walk into a grocery store in Dubai, the spinach on the shelves will probably be from Europe—or even from as far away as the United States. Because of limited arable land and water, the United Arab Emirates imports about 90% of its food. But inside a warehouse-like building near the Dubai airport, a new vertical farm is now beginning to grow more than 2 million pounds of local leafy greens per year.

The farm, called ECO 1, is now the largest vertical farm in the world, with the more than 330,000-square-foot facility stacked with shelves growing lettuce, spinach, arugula, and mixed greens. “Size does matter in the food production space,” says Craig Ratajczyk, CEO of Crop One, a vertical farming company based near Boston that partnered with Emirates Flight Catering, the company that supplies Emirates Airlines with food, to build the farm. Like other indoor farms, the new facility automatically tracks and adjusts lighting, humidity, nutrients, and other factors to boost plant growth. But scaling up production helps spread out the cost of that tech. “When you’re talking about something this large, the economics work out well,” says Ratajczyk. “So it turns out to be a very profitable farm.” 32

The facility also uses 95% less water than is required to grow greens in a field, and no pesticides or herbicides; because it’s grown in a controlled environment and immediately sent to stores or the airline, Ratajczyk says the greens don’t have to be washed before they’re eaten. Unsurprisingly, there is less spoilage than with produce that has traveled thousands of miles. Still, though it saves on fuel, it’s not clear how the total carbon footprint compares to imported food. The company declined to share details about how much energy the farm will use (lighting is one factor in the emissions from vertical farms, and air conditioning is another (especially in so hot a location), though the company says that it uses systems that are as efficient as possible). The farm runs on

conventional energy, though the company plans to use solar power in the future. It also will supply only a small fraction of the greens that the nearly 10 million residents of the United Arab Emirates consume each day. But additional large indoor farms are likely coming to the area. In Abu Dhabi, the government recently invested $100 million in indoor farming, including a new research facility working on improving vertical farming methods and technology. Some of the lessons may come to the U.S., where vertical farming is also growing: startups like Bower y, Plenty, BrightFarms, and others, are all in the process of expanding. Worldwide, the vertical farming industr y may grow to $9.7 billion in the next four years.

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A DIFFERENT KIND OF BEACH READ

8 must-read design books this summer By Elissaveta M. Brandon

My recipe for a good summer day involves a morning read, a park picnic, and a sunset cocktail. I’ll leave the last two up to you, but if you want to indulge in the first ingredient, we’ve put together a list of eight design books we’re excited about. From fashion to branding to architecture, there’s something in here for anyone, whether you’re in a creative practice or simply interested in it. Designing Peace How can design pave the way for peace? An exhibit at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, highlights 40 tangible ways designers can help resolve conflict and promote justice. An accompanying book—Designing Peace: Building a Better Future Now—expands on the topic with essays, interviews, and maps exploring the crucial role designers can play in nurturing peace. Edited by the exhibit’s curator, Cynthia E. Smith, the book includes essays from Assistant Secretary General of the U.N. Michael Adlerstein and others. Somewhere Yes The oldest form of branding dates back to 2700 BC, when farmers branded their cattle with scorching irons. Since then, branding has expanded into a gargantuan practice that can promote belonging and foster division at once. Somewhere Yes: The Search for Belonging in a World Shaped by Branding takes you on a visual exploration of that dual power, ultimately arguing that branding isn’t about ownership (as it was with the cattle), but about belonging. Written by Brooklyn-based designer and creative director Beat Kaspar Baudenbacher, the book is a perfect crash course on branding and how it’s used today. Arbitrary Lines Zoning debates used to be relegated to developers, city planners, and policy wonks, but with housing prices rising and inequality becoming even more pronounced, the issue has entered the mainstream. In Arbitrary Lines: How Zoning Broke the American City and How to Fix It, M. Nolan Gray makes a case against zoning, arguing that it stifles growth and innovation—and exacerbates racial and economic inequality. In one particularly illustrative chapter, he examines the largely unzoned city of Houston, using it as a case study for how cities can thrive without zoning restrictions. Viral Cultures As COVID-19 swept through the U.S., it wasn’t uncommon to hear people say, “We’ve never lived through a pandemic before.” This wasn’t true, of course, and disregarded the fact that for many AIDS is far from a distant memory. Viral Cultures: Activist Archiving in the Age of AIDS examines AIDS archives from the ’80s and ’90s—the documentation and records collected by activists at “a furious pace” during the height of that pandemic. Marika Cifor shows how these materials play a vital role in 34

understanding and memorializing the crisis, as well as providing a window into the way some stories are elevated while others are marginalized. It’s a particularly salient analysis, given the inequity exposed by COVID-19—and the systemic structures that made both pandemics worse. Plastic Unlimited That the world is drowning in plastic waste isn’t news to anyone. Yet despite the global movement to combat plastic pollution, demand for plastic is still rising. In Plastic Unlimited: How Corporations Are Fuelling the Ecological Crisis and What We Can Do About It, sociologist Alice Mah argues that the current predicament doesn’t stem from bad waste management or poor consumer choices but from sheer plastic production. The goal to stop producing more plastic, however, has been hindered by petrochemical and plastics corporations fighting to protect their markets and denying the risks. Ultimately, the book is a fiery analysis of the plastics industry, but it also draws attention to the very root of the problem: the capitalist imperative for limitless growth. Inventor of the Future Buckminster Fuller has been hailed as one of the greatest minds of our time. Now the visionary architect—most famous for his geodesic domes and flying car designs—is the subject of a revelatory new biography by Alec Nevala-Lee, who also authored biographies of science fiction writers John Wood Campbell Jr. and Isaac Asimov. Drawing on dozens of interviews and thousands of unpublished documents, Inventor of the Future: The Visionary Life of Buckminster Fuller paints a rich portrait of the architect’s tumultuous life, including his fraught

relationship with his students, as well as the origin behind his most famous innovations, including the Wichita House—a self-sustaining prefabricated house—and the zeppelin-shaped Dymaxion car. What Shall I Wear? Claire McCardell isn’t a household name, but she should be. She was a designer in the 1940s and ’50s who shaped American fashion by creating women’s clothing that was both aesthetically pleasing and easy to wear in the midst of an active life. She popularized the ballet flat, spaghetti strap, and mixand-match separates. In 1956, she published What Shall I Wear? The What, Where, When, and How Much of Fashion, a manifesto that conveyed her belief that it’s possible to be stylish no matter what your budget or lifestyle. The book is now a classic, and next month it will be back in print for the first time in years, along with a new foreword by Tory Burch, whose Spring-Summer 2022 collection was inspired by McCardell. Science Illustration Information can be passed down orally or in writing, but graphic images also play an important role in transmitting knowledge. Science Illustration: A History of Visual Knowledge From the 15th Century to Today features more than 300 such images. From Galileo’s detailed watercolors of the moon to Florence Nightingale’s statistical diagrams of war casualties, the extra-large-size volume illuminates more than six centuries of scientific discoveries in anatomy, physics, astronomy, mechanics, and more. At 436 pages, it’s a beautiful ode to illustration and its ability to translate knowledge for a broad audience. Photo by Rachel Lees on Unsplash.

MAKE A MAJOR DECISION The American University of Kuwait received its Institutional Accreditation from the Private Universities Council (PUC), Ministry of Higher Education in the State of Kuwait, and has a Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation with Dartmouth College (Hanover, N Hampshire - USA).

admissions@auk.edu.kw Tel: 1802040/(+965) 2224-8399 Ext: 3148 www.auk.edu.kw

truth or dare

SETTING THE (INTERIOR) SCENE! Meet the interior designer who upcycles Friday Market finds, and creates gorgeous spaces for her clients bazaar staff

Passion and attention to detail. These two traits define the essence of interior designer Carolina Aguilar, founder of the studio “The Room at House One”, operating in Kuwait and Barcelona since 2019. The spaces that she crafts breathe with personality and comfort, always tailored to the needs of her clients..

With her unique blend of Spanish and European influences, Carolina defines her spaces as warm and relaxed, she believes that homes need to be welcoming and designed to be lived in, not to be showcased. Carolina is originally from Barcelona, a city 36

filled with design and innovation. She moved to Kuwait in 2009 for a new job. At that time, she had been living in Muscat and Dubai but she was keen to move and experience another country in the Gulf region. What she thought would be a temporary

destination became her permanent home when she fell in love with a Kuwaiti man, who is now her husband. In addition to a full-time job, her interior side business, she also has two kids, aged 7 and 9 years old. Her passion for interior design was piqued by

her mother’s career as an architect and growing up surrounded by floor plans. She was never interested in interiors when living in Barcelona since she spent much of her time outdoors and the city is filled with so much beauty. When she moved to Kuwait, interiors became extremely important to Carolina. She felt that the limited availability of beautiful outdoor spaces and extreme heat and dust created a sudden urgency to care for living spaces. That’s when the

seed that became a passion was planted. Initially, she started to work on projects for friends and family and received very positive feedback. Although she had a natural flair for interiors, she wanted to equip herself with the right technical skills and she did a Master’s in Interior Design, after which she felt ready to launch her own studio. And let us tell you, her work is absolutely gorgeous! Although Carolina loves what she does, she

has faced quite a few challenges working as an interior designer in Kuwait. She feels that the product range isn’t as vast as many other countries and that the collections that arrive in Kuwait, both from affordable and upscale brands, are often limited. However, she believes that the area where Kuwait does NOT have an issue, even though many may disagree, is finding relatively skilled workers to do the job. She does warn us though, that quality work comes at a price - here or anywhere else. When we asked her if she thought that interior designers were expensive, she told us that she did not think they were expensive but that there is a lack of understanding of what an interior designer will offer. She also gave the bazaar team a great tip on how to pick the ideal interior designer? She tells us to check their portfolio to see if the style resonates with you and meet them to ensure you “click”, that you both are on the same frequency and speak the same language. Carolina also tells us about the importance of colors and materials in the home and tells us that picking the right materials and colors create a ‘feeling at home’ sensation. For example, a sofa in linen or cotton will provide more comfort than a leather sofa or a real wood table will always give more warmth than a glass table. She tells us that color selection is also key and that it is important to pick tones that are closely connected to create a relaxed model; it is about finding a balance among all the pieces. [Continued...]

We love what Carolina does with interiors, but there is also something else that the bazaar staff finds inspiring. She often refurbishes furniture pieces from the Friday Market. When asked, she tells us that “in the used furniture section, if you have the patience to browse frequently, you will find pieces with good bones… I love to go and browse every weekend. During my time in Kuwait, I taught myself some upcycling skills. I learned that I love transforming pieces with my own hands - it’s a very meditative and calming task”. In a country where the push for recycling and reusing is not really present, Friday market is a great example of how the circular economy works. How someone’s trash can be someone else’s treasure. When asked about her favorite Friday Market project, she tells us that there are so many! 38

She tells us that her solid wood dining table is probably an old butcher’s counter or a coffee counter and they just cut the legs a bit as it was too high. It’s a gem and a conversational piece for anyone visiting her home. She also has two gorgeous secretaire desks which took Carolina forever to upcycle. She changed these from dark reddish wood to natural whitewashed wood and actually received offers of sale for them, but she just can’t let them go. She also loves to source pieces for customers and tells us that while some are a bit reluctant at the beginning, when the pieces are on site, they can’t imagine their space without them. We asked her for her Friday Market visit tips. “The most important: patience. When anyone comes to our home and sees that a significant part of my furniture is from Friday Market, they tell me “I went once, and I didn’t find anything”!

Obviously since patience, perseverance and a trained eye is what you need… and all three don’t happen on day one,” Carolina explains. Carolina also shared some tips on designing and redesigning a space: “First and foremost, think about yourself, your needs and about how you live in a space. Think of functionality first and then aesthetics, not the other way around. Spend on a good foundation with a per fect distribution, well thought out lighting, good flooring and doors. When picking materials, think timeless and don’t get too excited with trends that come and go.” There is more to Carolina than just interiors, three years ago she started playing the violin and got hooked. She tells us that learning how to play an instrument as difficult as the violin in her 40’s showed her once again that it’s never too late to learn something from scratch.

TRUTH OR DARE QUESTIONNAIRE How would your mother describe you in one word? Stubborn. How would you describe your mother in one word? Perfectionist. What is the most ridiculous question you’ve ever been asked? In the US, I was asked whether in Spain we ride horses or drive cars, wasn’t ridiculous but more of a funny question. What is the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done? The latest was to compliment a perfect stranger in Sabah Al Salem for the cleaningness and caredfor garden in their house. Since then, our kids are friends and our families visit each other on occasion. What is your theme song? I will survive by Gloria Gaynor. What word in the English or Arabic language do you wish you had invented? Eclectic: derived style or taste from a diverse range of sources. Where would you like to live? Paris or New York, where interior design happens at another level. What is your dream retirement location? A wood cabin inside a forest and next to a lake… located 5 minutes away from a bustling city with amenities. Does it exist? What is the first famous quote that comes to your mind? “The details are not details, they make the design”, by James Eames. Which animal best describes your perfect partner, be it in business, or in life? A horse: smart, powerful and loyal.

What is the toughest part of your character? Stubbornness

Why do you think most people who do, like you? Naturality.

Do you miss anything from your childhood and if so, what is it? The long summers, which I didn’t fully appreciate back then.

Who is your favourite historical figure? Michelangelo, for his incredible artistic skills, his creativity, forward thinking and going against the flow most of his life.

Finish this sentence: “Happiness is…” …a happy home!

If you could change your name, to what would you change it? So many to choose! So would end up sticking to mine. How would you describe your handshake, in one word? Firm, hate limp handshakes (giggles).

What in the world do you least desire? Suffering, for any human or animal. What do you think is lacking in the world, which [if there were more of it] would make the world a better place? Empathy.

To learn more about Carolina and her fabulous projects, follow her Instagram account @theroomathouseone. She regularly shares information on her Friday Market ventures and also the exciting interior projects that she is working on - you won’t be disappointed! [...Continued]

SAUCEGATE

How Pink Sauce became TikTok’s most viral—and controversial—condiment By Stephanie Vozza

A weird, bubblegum-pink condiment has taken hold of the internet. Dubbed Pink Sauce, the controversial product got its start on TikTok this summer when a woman began selling and shipping out the $20-per-bottle mystery substance with allegedly few precautions taken for food safety or regulations.

Where did Pink Sauce come from? In June, the creator, Carly Pii—who goes by @ chef.pii on TikTok—uploaded a video of herself dunking a large chicken tender into a bowl containing an oddly pink, creamy substance. Since then, TikTok videos with the hashtag #pinksauce have had over 81 million views. Over the next few weeks, Pii posted more videos of food covered in the sauce, whose color seemed to fluctuate from magenta to baby pink. Pii wouldn’t say what was in the sauce or what it tasted like, but TikTok users were obsessed. On June 25, she made the sauce available for purchase. Some intrigued TikTokers shelled out for the mystery condiment—and their packages came with a whole host of problems.

I can’t tell you the ingredients to make it pink.” Pii created a website to start distributing the product, and the website finally divulged what was in the sauce with a graphic that said the ingredients were dragon fruit, honey, chili, sunflower seed oil, and garlic. Right away, several users pointed out oddities with the product’s nutritional label (available for view on her website). Vinegar was spelled incorrectly, the math for the total amount of carbohydrates didn’t add up, and the serving size indicated that the small bottle held a whopping 14 pounds of sauce. The nutritional label listed milk as an ingredient, which raised concerns about whether it was shelf stable or could cause food poisoning.

Controversy over the ingredients Before Pii began selling Pink Sauce, there was speculation about what it tasted like or what Pii used to make it, both of which she addressed in separate TikToks—kind of. In one video, where she responds to the question, “What ingredients make it pink?” Pii said the product was “100% naturally colored with no artificial additives, and

Problems with orders Still, it was seemingly enough information for people to order the vibrant sauce for themselves, and Pii recorded herself packaging and sending out the product. When customers got their orders, some complained that the unrefrigerated bottles had exploded during shipment and were allegedly rancid when they arrived.

Videos of people opening their orders began circulating on TikTok. Sarah Murrell, the founder of Metal Honey Foods, a startup that sells bottled honey and sauces, posted her own TikTok video about the importance of food safety testing and warning people not to buy Pink Sauce. Pii finally addressed the controversy in a video she posted on Wednesday. “Time to acknowledge the elephant in the room,” she said in the video, apologizing for the misspelling, the serving size error, and shipping problems. Pii assured customers they would not be receiving bottles with the “bad label.” She went on to assure viewers that she and her team are “following FDA standards” and the product is in “lab testing.” In an interview with The Daily Dot, Pii did not disclose exactly what kind of testing she is doing or the timeline for when it would be completed. She told the publication that she will be releasing a “detailed response” to the controversy on her YouTube channel on Thursday night. Stay tuned. Photo by Pawel Czerwinski on Unsplash.

#XCITED FOR ECHELON FIT

Join A Global Community Of Fitness Enthusiasts And Get Access To WorldClass Instructors From The Comfort Of Your Own Home On Demand By bazaar staff

Some people have the luxury and flexibility of making time in their busy daily schedules for going to the gym. The rest of us aren’t always able to. Luckily for us, we no longer need to rearrange our life to make time for the gym. With the new Echelon Fit equipment that is now available at X-cite you can finally have a world-class level workout, lead by elite instructors from the comfort of your own home in the company of the thousands who make up this like-minded community. Following a fitness class online is nothing new, but Echelon Fit has taken the humble workout and elevated it to a whole new level. Presently, you can find three different models of Echelon Connect bikes, the Stride Auto Fold Treadmill, the Echelon Row Connected rowing machine and the revolutionary Echelon Reflect Touch Smart Fitness Mirror at X-cite. Purchasing any of these will give you access to an exclusive network of fitness instructors and Echelon members who all share a common goal — to live a healthy life. Explore thousands of ondemand fitness classes or join daily live workouts broadcast to your connected equipment. Track your progress, workout with friends or family, and push toward your goals together. Each device’s membership allows up to five users to connect and offer a list of fullbody workouts with different levels and types like boxing, pilates, strength training, yoga, meditation, and more. You can attend live classes or access hundreds of on-demand classes whenever you want to. The equipment is Bluetooth compatible, so you can connect it to your speakers and heart monitors without any issues, and you can also easily use the built-in Wi-Fi to connect to your smartphone or tablet, making it super easy to sync your Echelon with apps like Strava, Zwift, Apple Health and Fitbit. So, you can easily and simply track your health goals and metrics on your favorite app and device. The bikes all have a small footprint so they won’t take up a lot of space in your home, and have small wheels attached, so you can easily move them from one room to another or store them when they are not being used. The pro-style Aero handlebars and competition style seat are ergonomic and comfortable, so you can train for as long as you want to without feeling restless. The Echelon Stride Auto Fold Treadmill was designed to be lightweight and folds to just 10 inches! The patented Auto-Fold feature with builtin transport wheels provide horizontal and vertical portability and easy storage. And the integrated handlebar heart rate sensors clearly shows you in the display panel just how hard you are working. There is a generous side step for convenient StepOff and a safety stop lanyard. The LED Readout shows your pulse, distance, incline, time, speed, and calorie burn. The treadmill also has two water bottle holders, a smartphone holder, a secure tablet holder and a USB charging port. 42

Rowing is another great full-body work out that many of us forget about. But with the Echelon Row Connected Rowing Machine you can get all the benefits at home. It comes with a handy device Holder that swivels 90° and flips 180°. The handlebars contain the motorized resistance controls for easy access. The comfortable seat design puts you in an optimum rowing position, so you have no excuses for stopping a workout too early. The foot platform adjusts to your foot size with Velcro straps to secure your feet. The rail angle is 1.7 degrees for optimum performance. And finally, it folds up for easy storage, portability and mobility. The real pièce de résistance of this collection is the Echelon Reflect Touch Smart Fitness Mirror.

Enjoy a great workout experience on the 50” class HD touchscreen display. Explore more than 2,000 studio-quality fitness classes including HIIT, Core, Yoga, Pilates, Kickboxing, and more — all from the convenience of home. Tap the embedded touchscreen to access thousands of on-demand classes and daily live workouts led by professional instructors. Stay updated on the latest events, monthly promotions and offers by subscribing to the monthly newsletter on xcite.com, follow X-cite’s social media channels on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and Snapchat, @xcitealghanim or Facebook at XcitebyAlghanim and win prizes with contests, or visit the online store at www.xcite.com.

H&M Move invites the whole world to move together Democratizing sportswear means getting the whole world and everybody moving, however they move, and with new brand H&M Move, our vision for sports is reframed from the traditional to the free, making sportswear more accessible and celebrating movement like never before. In fact, H&M Move knows that everyone on the planet is already a Mover, moving in a multitude of ways. Right here in Kuwait, professional athlete and sprinter Abdulaziz Saif Marzouk (@abdulaziz_saif) represents the nation in the 400m sprint, and he knows that when off-season, it’s important to move his body in other ways to stay flexible and in peak condition. This means trying out new experiences. Restauranteur and Joffrey Ballet School dancer Sara Al Homood (@saraalhomood) retired from formal training as a dancer many years ago but movement is still in her soul. When the pair discovered Studio 33, they decided to take themselves out of their comfort zones and exchange training tips while exploring something new with H&M Move. H&M Move aims to equip the world with stylish and functionable ‘movewear’ that will support Movers of all abilities and skills to move comfortably and confidently.

Both for women, men, and kids, H&M Move launches with a wide range of ‘movewear’ designed to bounce, flex, skip and flow. The first drop includes a variety of Move Essentials, including functional tops, lightweight jackets and a broad selection of tights and bras, alongside items specifically designed to train and run. Dropping simultaneously is the H&M Move Monogram Collection, this collection features a series of tracksuits sporting logo play and reflective detailing.

H&M Move will present four exclusive materials by combining innovative designs with complex technologies with a simple naming system. Customers need only glance at the name of each material to understand what it does and how it helps them move. DryMove™ Helps pull all moisture away from your skin, keeping you comfortably dry while moving. ShapeMove™ Gives you extra support plus features a ‘no show’ benefit when lifting and stretching. SoftMove™ - is super soft and gives you extra support while you move. StormMove™ protects against wind and rain and is breathable whatever the weather.

With the strong H&M Group goal to use %100 recycled or sustainablysourced materials by 2030, H&M Move is almost at %85 today, starting with all polyester being %99 recycled and all cotton that is used in its collections either being organic, recycled or BCI-sourced. Furthermore, the brand is amplifying positive impact by establishing new partnerships that collectively drive towards circularity and innovative materials of the future, by starting collaborations with Fairbrics and LanzaTech, launching 2023. Produced by bazaar Studios Featuring Abdulaziz Saif Marzouk and Sara Al Homood Photography: Sunil Raju Location: Studio 33 See the H&M video online! Videography: Muneera AlKhulaifi

H&M Move is now available with collections for women, men and kids available in store and online on kw.hm.com/en/shop-hm-move/ & the H&M App.

ABANDONED BUT NOT USELESS

An abandoned Berlin airport is being transformed into a climate-neutral, car-free neighborhood By Adele Peters

Last year, after Berlin’s Tegel Airport had been replaced by a new international airport at another location, workers started clearing the land for a new project: a neighborhood built from scratch with the climate in mind.

Some parts of the airport will be reused, with old terminals turned into commercial space for research and offices for startups. But a more-than-100-acre area near where the runway used to sit will be completely reimagined, with 5,000 new apartment homes built in a walkable, bikeable, carbon-neutral neighborhood with parks, schools, and stores. “The planning is based on questions such as: How do we want to live and get around in urban spaces in the future? What qualities are important to us as individuals and as a community? And what functionalities can’t we do without?” explains Constanze Döll, press secretary for the Tegel Projekt, which is developing the area, called the Schumacher Quartier. While the final designs are not yet complete, the project has several guidelines. First: People take priority, not cars. “The Schumacher Quartier is planned in such a way that the streets and squares belong to the people again, rather than to cars,” Döll says. “We want to let people rediscover the public space . . . for socializing, playgrounds, places to relax and talk. Important locations in the neighborhood, like the kindergarten, school, bakery, supermarket, can be reached easily by foot.” The plans call for wide bike lanes and green spaces. At the edge of the neighborhood, there will be access to micromobility and existing public 54

transit. The neighborhood will allow limited access to cars (people who are disabled, for example, will be able to drive up to their buildings), but will otherwise be car-free. The apartment buildings will be built from wood, and when completed will be the largest group of mass timber buildings in the world. “Wood in particular enables long-term CO2 storage, and the use of wood as a building material reduces the consumption of environmentally harmful materials such as concrete,” Döll says. The team will source timber locally in Germany, and expects to reduce CO2 emissions in construction by 80%. The designs will also be ultra-efficient, and all energy will be produced on the site, including solar and geothermal power. A system will also harvest waste heat from adjacent commercial buildings to heat the homes. The commercial part of the redevelopment, called the Urban Tech Republic, will be home to new startups whose technology—from recycling to new mobility systems—will be developed and can be tested in the residential area. The neighborhood will also include “sponge city” designs that help capture water in heavy storms to prevent flooding. Green roofs and gardens will use some of the water, and some will be stored underground.

“All rainwater is used or stored in the quarter; nothing is lost,” Döll says. “If the water evaporates on hot days, it cools the surrounding area—and if instead it seeps in, it fills up the groundwater. This self-contained system makes for local climate regulation, aided by many large-leaved, deciduous trees that act like natural air-conditioning systems.” The plan also includes a concept of “animalaided design,” developed by ecologist Wolfgang Weisser and landscape architect Thomas Hauck, that incorporates biodiversity. Open spaces and buildings will be designed to support 14 rare species, including broad-winged bats and nightingale grasshoppers, with the goal of helping them permanently settle in the area and attract other species. Over the past year, the Tegel Projekt team has been working on the first step of the development: clearing some of the old debris that existed on the site before it was an airport, when it was used for military training in World Wars I and II. So far, Döll says, more than 5,000 pieces of ammunition, including old grenades and bombs, have been removed. This fall, the project will begin allocating land, and architects will work with residents on the design details. The first buildings, which will include social housing, cooperatives, and student housing, will be completed in 2027.

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DON’T EMAIL AND DRIVE

Knowledge workers can’t stop reading and replying to emails while they drive By Clint Rainey

Ninety-five percent of Americans call distracted driving “extremely dangerous,” and federal campaigns to stop activities like texting behind the wheel (“U text. U drive. U pay.”) have been carried out by federal agencies as varied as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Yet, according to a new survey by Harvard Business School researchers, 87% of the commuters they interviewed still admitted to “multitasking” on their way to and from work. The research, recently published in the International Journal of Human-Computer Studies and coauthored by Harvard Business School professor Raffaella Sadun and three other researchers, asked questions about the driving habits of 400 commuters who fell into the category of “knowledge worker”—meaning someone whose job is communicating ideas. A vast majority conceded that they’re guilty of being “engaged in at least one other activity while driving.” These other activities involved making phone calls (7.5% of the time), “planning events” (7%), reading emails (18%—or almost every fifth distraction), and replying to emails (9.5%). According to government figures, 400,000 people are injured each year in accidents involving 56

a distracted driver, though the actual number could be much higher, thanks to underreporting. As it happens, as driving distractions grow, operators of vehicles are becoming more careless. The NHTSA says the U.S. had about 43,000 car fatalities last year, the most since 2005, and the Governors Highway Safety Administration estimates 7,485 pedestrians were killed last year, compared to 6,711 in 2020—the highest number in 40 years. What will it take to actually make driving safer? The authors don’t sound very optimistic that, in the digital age, people behind the wheel will quit using their phones. So they argue that car makers must design better safety features. Which may be a tall order: Apple just unveiled its next generation of CarPlay, which can be integrated onto every screen in the car; and it took the feds to convince Tesla to disable a feature that allowed occupants to play video games on the touchscreen while the car was in motion.

Their survey didn’t analyze car safety features. But, the authors write, that smart ideas worth considering might be adding eye-level monitors above the dash—or even rethinking the need for things to be visual at all, instead relying more on voice commands. Sadun and the other authors note that we’re always “on the clock” nowadays, especially while sitting captive in a car, dying to feel productive. With AI and automation all the industry rage, Sadun warns future commuters may pay even less attention to the road than ever before. “The risk is that the promise of extensive automation may provide a false sense of security,” she tells HBS Working Knowledge. “Our findings suggest that some drivers are already easily distracted and unable to keep a safe level of engagement.” Photo by Alexandre Boucher on Unsplash.

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THE SOCIAL VIDEO WARS

Instagram keeps trying to be TikTok. Fight back with these 2 simple hacks By Christopher Zara

Earlier this week, Instagram users who have become increasingly frustrated over the app’s not-so-subtle attempts to mimic TikTok found a powerful ally in Kylie Jenner. The beauty influencer reshared a rallying cry to “Make Instagram Instagram Again,” an image that had been circulating on the platform along with a Change.org petition that has been signed by almost 200,000 people as of Wednesday. “Stop trying to be TikTok,” the image continues. “I just want to see cute photos of my friends.” The chief complaint among many of these unhappy users underscores a growing frictionwithin old-school social media sites about what their core purpose actually is. Are they intimate places to connect with friends and family or discovery engines where users can scroll through endless entertaining videos from strangers? Meta, Instagram’s parent company—which also owns Facebook—has decided that it wants to be the latter, and in a way you can’t really blame it. As user growth has leveled off in mature markets such as the United States and Europe, the company has adopted a more aggressively TikTok-like approach, pumping social feeds with more and more content from random people that you don’t follow and probably don’t care about. On Instagram, this content takes the form of the dreaded “Suggested Post,” which slides into your feed like an uninvited party guest as you are innocently trying to see what your old college chums are up to on their vacation in Barbados. Suggested Posts have become so ubiquitous in recent months that some users have made a habit out of documenting the mix of their Instagram feeds on Twitter—a way of demonstrating how far astray the platform has wandered from its original mission. With TikTok now the dominant platform for younger users, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberghaving apparently made up his mind about which direction he wants to go, it’s likely that not even Kylie Jenner can stop Instagram’s ultimate transformation into a notas-good version of TikTok. However, users are not completely powerless. The good news is, there are a few small things you can do right now to make Instagram feel a little bit more like the app you fell in love with. 1. Snooze Suggested Posts If you are annoyed by the increasing presence of Suggested Posts in your feed, here is a ridiculously simple solution that you may not know existed. (I’ll admit, I didn’t know about it until recently, but it has made life on Instagram so much more pleasant.) Just click the Xat the top of the post and then select “Snooze all suggested posts 58

in feed for 30 days.” Yes, it’s just that easy! So easy, in fact, that you have to wonder if this will become one of those features that quietly disappears with no explanation. Perhaps, but for as long as it exists, enjoy it. 2. Select Favorites Here’s another handy feature that will make Instagram feel more intimate. Earlier this year, Instagram announced a “Favorites” feature that lets you select a handful of friends who get priority

in your feed. Just click the Instagram logo at the top left of the app, select Favorites, and choose your list among your Instagram friends. You can pick up to 50, and change it up whenever you want. Once you have your list, those users get top billing when you’re scrolling through Instagram. Now you can party with 50 besties like it’s 2013 again. And who among us doesn’t want that? Photo by Amanda Vick on Unsplash.

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EXPLORE THE STYLISH NISSAN KICKS 2023

The new edition of the Nissan KICKS’ set to take the roads by storm is available now at Nissan Al Babtain Showrooms By bazaar staff

Refreshed with style and technology upgrades designed to meet the growing needs of its urban young customers, Abdulmohsen Abdulaziz Al-Babtain Co (AABC) - the sole authorized dealer of Nissan in the State of Kuwait, announces the availability of the new Nissan KICKS in Kuwait. Placing a large focus on enhancing connectivity, innovation and personalization, the Nissan KICKS 2023 edition allows drivers to further express their personal style as they cut through the city with precise handling and available advanced driver assist features.

Nissan’s lineup of KICKS has attracted young, enthusiastic drivers to the brand every year and has maintained its reputation for offering an impressive array of class-leading features with equally attractive value. New exterior design makes a bold first impression While maintaining KICKS’ compact urban crossover dimensions – with its large interior space and nimble, city-sized exterior for easy maneuverability – the extensive exterior changes immediately set KICKS apart from the competition. The Nissan KICKS 2023 is available in KICKS SL. Starting with a bold front end, the new KICKS features a “Double V- motion” grille, while the LED headlights offer a high-tech, modern and premium effect, which is even further enhanced on the SL grade’s super-thin LED multi-reflector design and additionally includes LED fog lights and side turning lamps on door mirrors. A stylish rear end begins with a new bumper and back door finisher and LED combination light that stretches from side to side, adding a strong horizontal line that emphasizes KICKS’ wide rear structure. Like in front, the redesigned rear bumper imparts a sense of more “lifted” volume and a premium feel.

The new KICKS continues with its floating roof with a wrap-around visor look to the windscreen and side glass. The wide C-pillar appears hidden, with a black finish that blends into the tailgate glass and still allows excellent outward visibility for all. Standard exterior features include Intelligent Auto Headlights with adjustable sensitivity and timing, along with rear wiper and available roof rails, heated outside mirrors with integrated turn signals and rear roof spoiler. Smart, stylish interior Redesigned with brown leather seats and leather handles, the new KICKS interior also has a new stylish and premium feel. The versatile interior offers a sporting flavor – provided by a

D-shaped steering wheel, comfortable 6-way driver’s seat, 4-way adjustable front passenger seat and 60/40-split fold-down rear seat. For peace of mind, Nissan Kicks with Safety Shield® 360, which includes Automatic Emergency Braking, Lane Departure Warning, radar-based Blind Spot Warning, and Rear Cross Traffic Alert. Among the other on-board technologies, KICKS features an available Intelligent Around View® Monitor, which provides a virtual composite 360-degree bird’s-eye view of the KICKS’ exterior. For the ultimate audio experience, the 2023 Nissan KICKS includes the class- exclusive Bose Speakers, which uses eight speakers and proprietary Bose signal processing to provide

what Bose calls. Key to its dynamic sound is a pair of lightweight 2.5-inch Bose UltraNearfield™ neodymium speakers located inside the KICKS’ driver’s seat head restraint. A Bose PersonalSpace Control feature is built into the infotainment system’s audio settings, providing adjustable listening options from frontfocused sound to a wider, more enveloping experience. The system also includes a digital amplifier with six channels of custom equalization and digital system processing. To always keep drivers connected, the new Nissan KICKS also provides Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. A crossover for the adventurous Every new KICKS comes with a standard 1.6-liter DOHC 16-valve 4-cylinder engine with Continuous Variable Valve Timing Control System. The engine is rated at 118 horsepower at 6,000 RPM and a maximum torque of 15.1 Kg-m at 4,000 RPM which is paired with a smooth, Xtronic transmission powering the front wheels. KICKS offers a standard Traction Control System, Vehicle Dynamic Control and Hill Start Assist, front disc/rear drum Anti-lock Braking System (S grade) and electric power steering. New for the recently launched KICKS as standard on all grade, is an electronic parking brake with auto hold, which can ease driver workload in certain situations. KICKS also includes an Integrated Dynamic-Control Module, featuring Active Engine Brake, Intelligent Trace Control and Intelligent Ride Control, to help provide a higher level of driving enjoyment. Nimble handling is provided by a front independent strut, stabilizer bar suspension matched with rear suspension featuring twist beam and twin-tube shock absorbers. The Nissan KICKS SL grade is equipped with 17-inch aluminum-alloy wheels. KICKS is also equipped with a total of 6 airbags and Intelligent Driver Alertness.

Combining an invigorating style with worldclass technology and value for money, visit the Nissan Al Babtain showrooms situated in Al Rai, Ahmadi, and Al Jahra to experience the popular Nissan KICKS 2023. Customers with queries and interest in gathering more information can contact the dedicated call center on 1804 888 or visit the official website www.babtain.com.

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THE CLASS GEN Z NEEDS

Google aims to teach Gen Z how to ‘internet better’ By Danica Lo

A couple of weeks ago, Google revealed that 40% of 18 to 24-year-olds prefer TikTok or Instagram search over cheugy, Boomer-style Googling. Since then, the internet giant has come back fighting, by launching an educational campaign aimed at Gen Z. Called “Let’s Internet Better,” the crusade features a series of short animated videos targeting misinformation, con artists, and catfishing online. Positioned as a call to action to help people become “smarter internetters” by using Google Search for fact-checking, the campaign logo features a rainbow color scheme and a shooting mouse pointer–a riff on the 1980s-era “The More You Know” television PSAs. The 15-second videos have tongue-in-cheek titles, such as “Did someone just buy the sun?” and “Should you put slugs on your face?” With more than 90% of global search-engine market share, Google Search is in no way facing any danger of obsolescence–though attrition of younger audiences and product searches to social media platforms and Amazon.com could be worrying early signs of changing consumer behavior. “Google is the default for Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers—in much the same way that Sears used to be the default for shopping,” says Flynn Zaiger, CEO of digital marketing and design agency Online Optimism. “Legacy and digital brands continually underestimate the diversity of Gen Z and their ability to critically think.” Google says the campaign was designed with the intention to resonate with “Gen Z’s tone, humor, and aesthetics” to be a “fun, yet selfaware PSA that’s supportive and informative.” As part of the initiative, Google has partnered with some top TikTok creators—including Hank Green, Matt Taylor, Antonio Baldwin, and Alexia Del Valle—to publish content around internet safety and fact-checking. There are also videos that provide back-to-basics lessons in subjects such as reverse-image search. Fair enough. Yet with reports and FTC data showing that it’s older age groups who are increasingly falling victim to online fraud– to the tune of $3 billion last year in the United States alone–it’s curious that the search giant has invested in an internet literacy campaign targeting Gen Z, a digitally native “hypercognitive generation” researchers describe as “very comfortable with collecting and cross-referencing many sources of information.” “With this campaign, we wanted to speak directly to Gen Z, digital natives who shape much of today’s internet culture,” says Rebecca Michael, Senior Marketing Director, Google Search. “By partnering with them to think critically 64

about the information they come across online and arming them with the tools and resources to check the facts and ensure credibility, we hope they’ll set the pace for others and help us make the Internet a safer, better place.” Beyond social media apps and Amazon.com, in recent years, many websites and platforms, such as Reddit and LinkedIn, have doubled down on scaling user-generated content and improving search. And while the long-term sociological effects of narrowing search to within the parameters of niche internet communities are not yet known, a strong case can be made in support of theories that point to increased political and societal polarization–with The Network State by Balaji Srinivasan, a best-selling new release that details

how to start a new country, providing a dystopian warning of where we might be headed. Still, if nothing else, the campaign signals the degree to which understanding the habits and mindset of Gen Z users has become a major objective for the brain trust behind Google Search. As Prabhakar Raghavan, the company’s senior vice president of knowledge and information, explained at a business conference in Aspen, “We keep learning, over and over again, that new internet users don’t have the expectations and the mindset that we have become accustomed to. The queries they ask are completely different.” Photo by Shingi Rice on Unsplash.

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IMPROVE YOUR WRITING

These 3 essential tools will help you write better—for free By Doug Aamoth

Writing can be a lonely endeavor, but it’s becoming even more important as many of us shift to more remote work models. So, if you find yourself in need of a little prose pick-me-up, these three free tools can help you generate ideas, catch spelling and grammar mistakes, and crank out long documents with ease.

Smash through writer’s block There’s a certain irony in leveraging the anxiety of a self-destructing writing session to overcome the anxiety of writer’s block, but that’s where we are with The Most Dangerous Writing App. This free tool starts you out with a writing prompt, at which point you choose to begin a writing session between three minutes and an hour. There’s a catch, of course: If you stop writing, everything you’ve written gets deleted within a few seconds of idle time. So, this is a great daily tool to use if you just need to write, damn it.

Ginger tool is a solid alternative to the betterknown Grammarly. This app checks your emails and posts in real time and offers not only spelling and grammar corrections, but also suggestions for the rewording of full sentences for better clarity. Ginger is available as a Word add-in, a desktop app for Mac and Windows, a mobile app, and as a browser extension—so you can use it just about anywhere you need to write something. The free version offers limited grammar correction, definitions, synonyms, and sentence rephrasing while the paid version is available for $7.50 a month and up.

Spiff up those emails and social posts If you’re constantly second-guessing yourself when firing off short missives, then the free

Get deep with in-depth stats and analysis Looking to take your writing to the next level? For that, there’s Slick Write.

This free, ad-supported app works right inside the browser, or as an extension, and is great for longer documents—offering up readability scores, grammar checking, passive voice levels, help with sentence structure, flow analysis, and a whole lot more. It’s almost like having a writing professor sitting on your shoulders as you type. There are even settings for catching problems, such as “weasel words” (which come across as uncertain or nonspecific) and biased language. If you like analytical data more than you like writing, then this is the writing tool for you.

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash.

AlRai, The Avenues, Souq Sharq, Al-Kout, Boulevard, Promenade

UPSKILL

4 skills that are essential at every point in your career By Diana Shi

Part of being a young professional is responding to new challenges. To do this, you must rely on different problem-solving abilities. But there are certain soft skills that can help you succeed at just about every step of your career. Since the start of the pandemic, there has been a greater emphasis on these soft skills, which include curiosity and team work—abilities that can’t necessarily be clearly defined as a KPI. Julie Lee, a clinical psychologist and a dean at Brown University, says these sorts of soft skills are becoming increasingly relevant due to the changing workplace. She says that some experts have theorized that the pandemic sped up automation and more technical abilities, which are causing companies to reevaluate what skills are necessary for future work. Here are four skills and traits that can serve you at every step of your career: Willingness to learn Lee says maintaining a sense of curiosity early in your professional journey is key. Young professionals who exhibit a desire to learn new specialities can broaden their mindset and stoke passions and creativity. “Every opportunity can be an opportunity for insight and learning,” she says. “Even a search that does not lead to a job offer can be seen . . . as an opportunity to learn about a new company, role, and one’s ability and interest in the work.” In a recent article for Fast Company, contributors Tomas ChamorroPremuzic and Becky Frankiewicz wrote that when people with high levels of emotional intelligence encounter others with different views, they look for opportunity to learn versus getting defensive. People with a curiosity to learn about new topics—as well as about new people—make an effort to listen and stay present in an exchange. “Wanting to be heard is a value we all desire, yet it requires working on the reciprocal behavior of listening and staying engaged,” woite ChamorroPremuzic and Frankiewicz. Seeking out an opportunity to understand another person (even if your perspectives do not align) almost always leads to a better end. This approach invites collaboration and harmony in the workplace, attributes that allow emotionally intelligent and curious people to thrive, no matter their role. The ability to leverage connections In the workplace of tomorrow, noticing and leveraging connections in your network will be a special skill. People with this ability are good at observing the strengths of others. They might notice that a certain person in their network would 68

suit a particular position perfectly and possesses the skills necessary to build a super team of collaborators. People who are adept at leveraging connections may show a strength in motivating and influencing others. For workers aspiring to leadership roles, the ability to recognize others’ strengths, find them a role in your team, and then build a dynamic and collaborative unit will be a significant strength. This is also an especially important skill in today’s economy, given how hard hiring and retention has been lately for many managers. Strong communication skills No matter how the workplace evolves, the ability to communicate effectively will always be critical. Strong communication is only becoming more important as remote work requires additional written communication. As an early-career professional, effectively communicating in different formats is key. For instance, good communication is a key part of nailing a job interview. So is following up with the recruiter by sending a thank you note. Then, when you secure the job, you’ll need to interact effectively with your new boss and coworkers. Self-awareness Self-awareness, or the capacity to recognize your thoughts, feelings, and actions, is a skill that transcends the first stage of your career. Selfawareness can also be considered a form of emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence extends to both knowing yourself and remaining open to new viewpoints.

It’s also a skill that can be developed by paying attention to opportunities to grow and explore new ways of thinking. Being aware of yourself as a leader trickles down to how you interact with your direct reports and colleagues. It means you are also picking up on the emotional cues of others and practicing empathy. Self-awareness early in your career may allow you to excel at tasks like answering questions in a job interview. For instance, if you know you do not have a lot of on-the-job experience, you might choose to answer a question about your qualifications by discussing a relevant internship you did. Later in your career, self-awareness helps you pay attention to how you present information to your team. Further, self-aware leaders are often more aware of the level of risk attached to certain choices. Good leaders are often intelligent risktakers; they don’t allow their personal levels of self-esteem to interfere with their judgment. Another tenet of self-awareness is possessing the ability to self-regulate, which is particularly helpful if you’re a leader (or want to be one). Lee describes self-regulation as the process of “leading yourself,” or knowing your particular impulses and moments of strength and weakness. “Self-regulation skills refer to the set of selfmanagement skills that help us manage our own internal processes and emotions in ways that help us to stay engaged, productive, and self-directed,” says Lee. Photo by Saulo Mohana on Unsplash.

The sustainable GCC home-grown fash-leisure brand is on a mission to create a diverse tribe that welcomes everybody! By bazaar staff

Always on the move

Never in anyone’s shadow Updating the status quo as we go We’re an unstoppable force Of future-forward momentum Powered by passion and fashion Our existence is a statement We’re young, and wild, and free Our vision: an inclusive community We move with poise, presence, and purpose Leaving nothing but change in our wake Because we stand for sustainability and care So when we go, know We’re not just going anywhere We’re going… [somewhere]

Inspired by the six degrees of connections between us all, Tribe of 6 creates fashionable, yet comfortable apparel for those who want to express their individuality while still being part of today’s fashion moment. If Tribe of 6 isn’t on your radar yet, it definitely should be! This fashion label launched in April 2022 has been making waves this summer across the Gulf region.

Sustainable fashion is in growing demand across the world, and we are super excited about a local Gulf brand paving the way with sustainability, inclusivity, and community at the core of the brand’s DNA, proving that fashion should not cost the earth. Tribe of 6 is committed to the conscious consumer, those of us that are looking beyond fast fashion and hoping to reduce our carbon footprint on the planet. Featuring contemporary silhouettes and vibrant colors, every product follows ethical guidelines ensuring industryleading quality and environmentally responsible practices across sourcing and manufacturing of fabrics. That’s not all, all of the design and product creation is local to the UAE and the production processes that have been put in place positively impact the environment. Tribe of 6 pieces are consciously made with ethically sourced fabric that is recycled, reclaimed or organic. We are absolutely in love with the brand’s Spring Summer 2022 Travel Collection. It is no surprise that revenge travel is in full force, but it is imperative that we dress as fabulously as our getaway destinations. Whether you’re looking for the perfect day-to-night outfit, or simply a comfortable, yet fashionable airport look, Tribe of 6’s latest collection has you covered. Choose from a selection of versatile wardrobe [Continued...]

essentials; including casual comfort dresses, T-shirts, sweats, jackets, joggers, cropped tees and more in a variety of vibrant summer colors, all made to last with sustainable fabrics. But we have saved the best for last, the brand embraces diversity and body-positivity by offering a wide range of pieces to choose from, including unisex styles in a broad range of sizes ranging from XS to 3XL. Tribe of 6 is creating versatility, longevity, and endless possibilities for mixing and matching. Tribe of 6 is a new fashion player that is working to push the industry towards meaningful change, by bringing together all walks of life to form a community that celebrates talent, diversity, and inclusivity. The brand showcases not only where we come from, but also where we are going together. They are inviting you to be part of the tribe!

Customers can discover Tribe of 6 at select Foot Locker stores in Kuwait, KSA and the UAE, as well as Harvey Nichols, Kuwait. Shop Tribe of 6 online at Namshi.com across Kuwait, KSA, and the UAE, and Tamanna.com in Kuwait. Follow the brand to stay up to date on their latest launches and news on Instagram @Tribeof6ME. You can also find them on Facebook at: Tribe of 6. 72

[...Continued]

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FORGET THE JETSONS

Transportation of the future will look more like ‘Westworld’ By Aimee Rawlins

Before the pandemic, a typical commute may have involved choosing between walking, driving, or taking public transit. Ridesharing apps have also allowed us to request rides in a shared car, on a bike, or even using a scooter. Walking might involve a journey that begins on a residential street and travels through bustling commercial strips, past cyclists and delivery drivers that would need to be dodged and maneuvering through busy intersections.

The pandemic altered the commute for most and changed our experience of moving through cities. Municipalities have been installing bike lanes, reducing car lanes and parking, widening sidewalks and green spaces, and creating space for electric cars. If these changes were possible in such a short period of time, what could happen with decades of changing streets? Would public transit still exist? And what would it look like? The next generation The way we commute has already started to change. With next generation transportation projects, public transportation is becoming more efficient by employing self-driving buses and trains and installing automatic card-ticketing systems. Futuristic public transportation projects explore transforming cities into smart cities, addressing security and privacy concerns, creating new technical standards and piloting smart city projects, like the proposed artificial intelligence-powered campus in Chongqing, China. Science fiction storytelling has constantly envisioned the cities and urban life of the future. Classics like Blade Runner and Ghost in the Shell contain prescient representations of the future as imagined at the time. China’s social credit system echoes the mass surveillance system in George Orwell’s 1984. 74

Urban futures In the science fiction TV series Altered Carbon and Westworld, urban backdrops form a significant part of the shows’ depiction of the future. Futuristic cities are represented as densely populated, with skyscrapers towering above busy, narrow streets. In Altered Carbon, the streets are reminiscent of lively pedestrian night markets filled with merchant stalls. Rich urban residents live above the clouds in ultra-luxurious high-rises and use the skies to literally fly above the common folk. In the televised HBO series Westworld, homes are managed by an artificial intelligence that adjusts the house’s environment to the inhabitants’ needs, functions as a security system and even doles out advice to its residents. Outside, holographic advertisements can be seen with the use of smart contact lenses that augment the streetscape with hidden content. In Westworld, there are electric self-driving vehicles for citizens and self-driving luxury drones for the rich. Smart lenses have replaced smartphones, and shopping is also hyper-real with smart mirrors that remove the need to physically try on clothes. These technologies — smart lenses, smart mirrors, and enhanced environments — already exist. Inclusive futures So, what would a typical commute look like in the future? Imagine leaving the house with a self-flying

drone that takes you to the main street to catch a flying bus. You check the news on your smart contact lens. You reach your stop and while walking the final steps to your destination notice something in a store window. You approach it and see how it looks on you, purchase it instantly and have it delivered to your home immediately. Buses and cars zoom by at high speeds, yet there are no collisions because sophisticated AI controls everything. The streetscape is no longer one layer, but many intertwining passageways at different low altitudes. Parks and open green areas scale vertically, creating smaller and privatized pockets of greenery within high-rise structures. Cities have become the centers for the development and applications of digital technology and creating the city of the future will not be without challenges, such as those of affordability, social cohesion, equity and climate change. Marginalized groups must be part of the process in designing this future. The question then remains who will design this future — private companies or the public sector? Planners, designers, and governments must be able to keep up with the rapidly changing technologies that can shape our world for better or for worse.

PHONECAMERA MAGIC

6 things I learned by going all in on iPhone photography By Harry McCracken

I have been taking pictures with cell phones since August 2003, when I splurged on a Nokia 3650, one of the first camera phones sold in the U.S. Since then, I’ve shot untold thousands of phone photos—in recent years, mostly with iPhones and the occasional Android. But in a way, I never took phone photography all that seriously. Most often, I thought of it as a digital equivalent of using a disposable camera: something that was more about quick-and-dirty convenience than artfulness. If I was taking photos I really cared about, I used a digital camera optimized for image capturing and nothing else. Since 2019, that’s been my FujiFilm X-T30 mirrorless camera. When I bought an iPhone 13 Pro a few weeks after its release, I decided to go all in. Since then, I’ve been on an overseas business trip, traveled for the Thanksgiving holidays, gone on a Christmas weekend getaway, socialized (cautiously!) in the Bay Area, and taken photos for work. And I did all of it with my new iPhone as my only digital camera. It’s been more than nine months since I took a photo with the X-T30. Herewith, some of the things I’ve learned—interspersed with images from my iPhone 13 Pro. 1. Photographic basics always matter most If your hand shakes when you take a photo, the image will probably come out blurry. Okay, that’s one of the most obvious photography tips ever, and is applicable to every camera ever made. But when I took photos with a smartphone, I rarely stopped to remember it, because I wasn’t in a serious photography frame of mind. Now that I am, I’m steadying the phone more carefully, putting more consideration into composition, and generally doing all the little things that add up to better photos. They work! 2. It pays to dig into Apple’s camera settings It’s easy to forget that the Camera app has settings at all. But it does—and they give you a surprising degree of control over your shooting experience. You can ditch Apple’s HEIC file format for the much more widely compatible JPEG, set the default portrait mode to 2X zoom rather than 3X, and even tell the Camera app to retain settings until you tell it otherwise—so it always opens up in black-and-white mode, for example. The Settings app is also where you can select one of Apple’s “Photographic Styles,” such as Rich, Vibrant, or Warm. These presets remind me of the X-T30’s ability to emulate a variety of FujiFilm film stocks. 3. You should take (or at least keep) fewer pics For anyone who grew up shooting 36-exposure 76

rolls of 35 mm film—and paying to have them processed—a smartphone’s essentially unlimited photo capacity is incredibly liberating. Or at least, it used to feel that way. These days, the fact that I have 93,970 photos in iCloud feels like a burden; the gems are outnumbered by shots that are unexceptional or just plain crummy. And there are many instances where I have 47 slight variants of the same scene, because, well, there’s no reason not to keep pressing the shutter button. 4. Taking lots of photos is a battery drainer One of Apple’s most welcome upgrades in the current iPhones is their improved battery life. When snapping photos in moderation, you’re unlikely to run out of juice. But on days when I’ve shot with abandon, my 13 Pro’s battery has gotten a workout—and on a few occasions, it’s gotten perilously close to the zero mark. Unlike a conventional camera, the iPhone and all of its most direct rivals don’t let you swap in a new battery; the best you can do is to tote an external battery pack. (I bought one from Anker with support for the iPhone’s MagSafe wireless charging built-in.) 5. Camera phones still have ergonomic issues If “the best camera is the one you have with you,” it’s tough to beat smartphones: Thanks to their

portability and versatility, we do have them with us, almost always. But even though photography ranks among a phone’s most important functions, phones still don’t feel like they were designed to be cameras first and foremost. (There have been occasional exceptions.) 6. I miss my “real” camera less than I expected Smartphone cameras haven’t reached absolute parity with conventional cameras. My FujiFilm X-T30 packs far more megapixels than an iPhone, which comes in handy when I want to crop an image without ending up with something that looks too fuzzy. It accepts interchangeable lenses, such as zoom lenses, that go way beyond the iPhone 13 Pro’s 3X range. If I tote a camera bag full of lenses and futz with manual settings, I can still get results my iPhone can’t match. I’ve come out of this experiment with a new favorite camera. The fact that it also happens to be a telephone, game console, e-book reader, voice recorder, and a whole lot more is merely a bonus.

Photo by Jeremy Bezanger on Unsplash.

Oliva, An Umami

Tofu Oliva Maki

Experience

LISTEN TO THIS

The 6 best tech podcasts you need to listen to right now By Mark Sullivan

Do you ever feel like technology is moving so quickly in so many different directions that there’s no way one human brain can keep up? That’s what podcasts are for. Whether you work in tech, run a startup, or just love learning about new technology and gadgets, podcasts can be a great way to keep up with major trends in the tech space. We’ve compiled 15 of our favorite podcasts that are not only entertaining but also can help expand your knowledge of a sometimes complicated industry. Some of these podcasts cover the general industry news of the day while others immerse you in specialty areas like crypto or electric vehicles. Some are short and hit just the highlights while others run longer and dive deep. But all of these great podcasts give you a chance to absorb useful knowledge in a relatively short period of time—even while your hands are busy doing something else. Best tech news podcasts Techmeme Ride Home Techmeme has for years carefully aggregated and curated some of the best (and fastest) coverage of the most important news in the tech industry every day. Techmeme Ride Home gives you much of the news on the website, but in audio form, making it even easier to digest, especially if you’re multitasking. The podcast is hosted by Brian McCullough, who enthusiastically provides the key facts from the tech stories du jour, with a dash of commentary. The podcasts go up at 5 p.m. daily and are usually pretty brief, at about 15 minutes long. The Hustle Daily Show This podcast is another short, daily affair (many episodes are less than 10 minutes) that gives you a solid executive summary of what’s going on in tech news, plus a little bit of smart, and often funny, commentary. The Hustle Daily Show is hosted by The Hustle newsletter writers Zachary Crockett, Juliet Bennett Rylah, Jacob Cohen, and Rob Litterst. Best gadget podcast Waveform Software may have eaten the world, but hardware and gadgets are still hugely important, and that’s the niche the Waveform podcast fills. It stars Marques Brownlee, who became well known among tech influencers for his reviews on YouTube of everything from smartphones to electric cars. Every week, Brownlee and cohost Andrew Manganelli look at all kinds of new gadgets, including gaming gear and virtual reality 78

headsets, electric vehicles, folding phones, and pretty much anything consumer tech companies are putting out. These guys look at products with a critical eye, but they clearly love gadgets, which is part of what makes the YouTube cast fun to watch. Best podcasts about Apple Mac Power Users Many of us love our Macs but also suspect we could get more productivity out of them if we just had a little expert advice. That, in broad terms, is what the weekly Mac Power Users podcast is all about. Guided by hosts David Sparks and Stephen Hackett, and featuring insightful guests from a wide variety of professions and backgrounds, the show teaches listeners new workflows for their Macs, as well as news and commentary on Apple’s newest hardware, apps, and operating systems. The show has been going since 2009, and just published its 649th episode. The episodes are pretty long, but they’re rich with tips, and Sparks and Hackett create a low-key vibe that’s pleasant to listen to. Connected Connected is a deep dive into Apple World, with weekly commentary on the company’s latest devices, apps, features, operating systems,

and services—and how it all works together in the ecosystem. The podcast features MacStories editor-in-chief Federico Viticci and Relay FM cofounders Myke Hurley and Stephen Hackett (also of Mac Power Users); and the three have a comfortable and polished repartee together, complete with long-running jokes and references. All three are longtime Apple watchers/influencers and speculate intelligently on what Apple may come out with next. Best tech-and-pop-culture podcast The Content Mines The Content Mines covers the social-content side of the tech world, which includes things like the latest TikTok trend, crypto scams, hot tweets, Instagram influencer trends, and pretty much any kind of creative output that shows up on social media sites. The podcast is a weekly rap session featuring (Fast Company contributor) Ryan Broderick, who also writes the newsletter Garbage Day; and Luke Bailey, who runs digital for inews. co.uk. What makes the show click is the funny back-and-forth of the hosts and their obvious knowledge of the daily trending online topics.

Photo by Will Francis on Unsplash.

THE ART OF HOSPITALITY AT FOUR SEASONS HOTEL KUWAIT AT BURJ ALSHAYA Meet the Newest Behind-the-scenes ‘Hospitality Artists’ By bazaar staff

The best artists are those dedicated to their craft. And in a hotel exquisitely merging the finest design, architecture, and interiors with a buzz-worthy international collection of contemporary art, it’s no surprise to discover that the newest additions to the dream team behind the Hotel’s scenes are as finely curated as its sculpture and paintings. As Impressionist artist, Edgar Degas, once said; “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see”. It’s a sentiment that echoes through the output of each latest member of the senior team: Executive Chef Thierry Papillier’s dedication to creating memories; Executive Pastry Chef Gregory Chrismant’s infusion of love into each creation; Italian Chef Luigi Frassanito’s free-spirited ‘cucina libera’ artistry; Director of Catering Ayça Çivgin’s eye for detail and passion for connection; and Hotel Manager Martin Kipping’s heartfelt oversight of the entire operations masterpiece. Together, this formidable team of dynamic hospitality leaders guide Four Seasons Hotel Kuwait at Burj Alshaya – named ‘Kuwait’s Leading Luxury Hotel’ at the World Travel Awards 2021 – towards ever-greater boundary-pushing creativity. Meet the newest artists behind the Hotel’s hospitality scenes Overseeing every immersive experience at the creative city haven, Hotel Manager Martin Kipping is delighted to welcome the new team additions. “I always strive to be an excellent host to every one of our valued guests,” he comments, “and it’s exciting to offer them such prodigious talent honed across the globe.” Just as a beautiful piece of art resonates after the viewer has left the gallery, Kipping is clear when it comes to his driving force: “to create meaningful experiences that stay with our guests, long after they are gone.” Far from being a solitary pursuit, every great artwork requires a team of visionaries to bring it to life as Executive Pastry Chef Gregory recognizes. “Alone, I cannot achieve anything,” the French culinarian from Cannes comments. “I make it my priority to prepare my teams to succeed with my support, teaching and motivation.” His humancentric approach and natural humility belie a stellar career in the sweetest culinary art of all, 80

including senior positions at several Michelinstarred restaurants as well as Mandarin Oriental properties in Dubai and St. Vincent. Having spent the last decade developing his skills to secure a coveted Four Seasons role – a 10-year personal goal – Italian Chef Luigi’s warmth and creativity have found the perfect home in the casual elegance of the Hotel’s Dai Forni restaurant. Classy Italian comfort food gets an expressive Luigi twist via his unique ‘cucina libera’ – free cuisine: “a direction and style I created myself as it allows me to devise unique

recipes on my own without being tied to any cooking styles or combinations.” “At its heart, hospitality is an opportunity to show love,” shares compassionate Director of Catering, Ayça Çivgin. Ensuring that every event showcases the team’s artistic vision is no mean feat, but the ‘face of Four Seasons Kuwait for every wedding’ brings inimitable calm alongside organisational skills honed over 22 years in high-end establishments including Jumeirah Royal Saray, Bahrain and Soho House, Istanbul. With Four Seasons Hotel Kuwait’s two stunning

ballrooms and five meeting rooms as her canvas, Ayça’s creativity and care are given the space they need to shine. “I don’t serve food. I serve memories,” states Executive Chef Thierry, who oversees the Hotel’s five restaurants and lounges with a generous and personable approach ideally suited to sociable Kuwaitis. Guided by the desire to craft an experience that extends beyond the plate, he brings 15 years international experience to his dream role in Kuwait. “To have such an accomplished team all under one roof is a dream,” he concludes. “It enables us to deliver a memorable world-class experience to every one of our diners, whatever the occasion.” A sense of wonderment is at the heart of the entire Four Seasons Hotel Kuwait at Burj Alshaya experience. From the voluptuous beauty of The Etymology of the Baroque, a bronze sculpture crafted by London-based Marc Quinn, to the Lobby’s stunning Crystal Chandelier by Lasvit – the largest ever produced by the master glass designers – eye-widening pieces from an array of global talent enhance every public area. Lighting throughout is custom designed, with top-flight international design talent fashioning every aspect: architecture by Gensler of San Francisco; interiors by Yabu Pushelberg of New York; and two restaurants by Kokaistudios of Shanghai. To immerse in the artistry of the people and surroundings of Four Seasons Hotel Kuwait at Burj Alshaya, contact 2200 6000 or follow @FSKuwait on Instagram. 81

THE SION

Park this electric car in the sun and it uses solar to give itself an extra charge By Adele Peters

From a distance, the Sion looks like an ordinary black car. But when you walk closer to the new electric car from the Germany-based startup Sono Motors, you might notice solar cells covering the doors, hood, roof, and the rest of the surface—456 solar half-cells, to be exact.

When it’s parked on the street, the car can help charge itself, and drivers can plug in the car four times less often than they otherwise would, saving money and time. For cars “Solar makes sense,” says cofounder and CEO Laurin Hahn. “It’s convenient, and it makes your life easier.” Hahn and cofounder Jona Christians started work on the car a decade ago. “[We] started in a small garage in Munich, having one vision: a world without fossil fuels,” Hahn says. Solar power, they realized, could help speed up adoption of electric cars. In Germany, as in many other European countries, most people rent apartments rather than owning homes. While a homeowner can plug in a car overnight to charge, using public chargers can be more of a hassle. But solar integrated into 82

the car can significantly extend the range. In an early experiment, they bought a cheap car on eBay, converted it to electric, and added solar power. Then years of development began. The company now has a production-ready design and is building vehicles for final testing, with production scheduled to start in the second half of 2023. The price is around $25,000. Another solar-powered EV, from Netherlands-based Lightyear, is 10 times more expensive, at around $250,000. The car also has bidirectional charging, meaning that you can use it to charge electric equipment or plug it into a house to provide backup power. “This is a huge battery pack,” says Hahn. “You could basically run on it for several days, maybe even weeks, without any recharge.”

Two trends made the car feasible now. “Solar technology got cheaper and more efficient over the last 10, 20 years—tremendously,” he says. “The second one is that the EV adoption rate highly picked up. Ten years ago, EVs weren’t cool. Now they are.” The company also makes a “solar bus kit” that can be used to retrofit diesel buses with around 85 square feet of solar panels on the roof. By using solar power to run air conditioning, lights, and other electrical systems, a bus can use less fuel, with each bus avoiding as much as 4 metric tons of CO2 emissions a year. Sono is also working with bus and truck manufacturers to integrate solar into new vehicles.

Expand your taste buds with our new additions! Dine in or Order now.

WORK PALS

22% of people don’t have any friends at work. Here’s how to change that By Gwen Moran

The pandemic has left a wide path of destruction in its wake. And one of the sadder things it has done is made us lonelier and less connected, especially in the workplace, according to a new report. In “The Connection Crisis: Why Community Matters in the New World of Work,” BetterUp Labs, the scientific research team of virtualcoaching platform BetterUp, found that while most of us would like to have more work friends, more than 6 in 10 people don’t socialize with coworkers outside of work and 43% don’t feel a sense of connection to coworkers; 22% said they don’t even have one friend at work. More than half of respondents said they would trade some of their compensation for stronger ties with colleagues. Workplace loneliness was an issue even before the pandemic, and social distancing and remote work have just exacerbated the problem, says friendship expert Shasta Nelson, author of The Business of Friendship: Making the Most of Our Relationships Where We Spend Most of Our Time. And the more we get used to that feeling, the less we even realize it’s an issue, she adds. “A lot of us are getting less interaction, and we’re telling ourselves that we’re okay with that,” she says. Today, the reality is different. The natural interactions that happened in an office full of people, such as spontaneous conversations and sharing meals, are less common. But workplace relationships play an important part in our lives, says Carole Robin, coauthor of Connect: Building Exceptional Relationships with Family, Friends, and Colleagues. (Robin and coauthor David Bradford taught the well-known Interpersonal Dynamics class—often called “Touchy Feely”— at Stanford Business School.) Fortunately, there are some effective ways to foster more connection in the workplace. Here’s how: Prioritize connection over convenience Organizations are often laser-focused on efficiency and productivity. When employers shifted to remote work, employees often doubled down on their desk time, working more hours. And while it may be more convenient to work from home, remote employees may find that the convenience comes at the cost of connection, says Nelson. So, employees and employers need to be more intentional about creating opportunities for employees to form bonds, even if that means sacrificing productivity from time to time. Create space for the personal Employees who don’t feel connected may 84

be more reluctant to reach out via email or other communication platforms, the BetterUp Labs report found. Nearly 70% said they think carefully about the frequency of their communications so they don’t “bother” others. That hesitancy can impede the communication necessary to get things done. Finding time for employees to connect and discuss personal details like hobbies, family, or weekend plans fosters better connection. The report also found that this is an area where organizational intervention may be important, as one in three respondents said they were unsure how to find people for friendly relationship-building in the workplace today. “Those things are not frivolous,” says Erin Eatough, occupational health psychologist with BetterUp Labs. Such opportunities, “actually matter for building connections with people,” she says. “And then that trickles out to how teams perform, how committed people are, [and] their intentions to stay.” Find ways to elicit positive emotions In addition to finding opportunities for people to connect on a personal level, fostering positive emotions is also helpful, Nelson says. It may be easy to roll your eyes at ice-breaker or teambuilding exercises, especially with remote teams, but participating in good faith can help you learn more about your coworkers and the common interests you might have. Leaders have an opportunity to designate time during meetings for people to share something about themselves, ranging from what they did over the weekend to

something they’re proud of that happened during the past week. “We just need people showing up with hope, with expectation, with a willingness to participate. We have very few moments that are meaningful together anymore,” says Nelson. Deciding that you don’t like the scavenger hunt or other game but that you’re still going to participate can lead to opportunities for making new work friends. Another way to create positive experiences that can help bonds form is to find opportunities to work on something together, Robin says. Whether it’s a project, a team book club, or a group volunteering project, those opportunities to connect and collaborate on can lead to some of the spontaneous moments that can be integral to forming workplace friendships. Normalize appropriate vulnerability An important part of connecting is vulnerability, Nelson says. People have to feel comfortable opening up to each other. Leaders can encourage sharing and connection by offering details about themselves, even if it makes them feel vulnerable. As Fast Company has reported before, “[V]ulnerability is sharing relevant concerns, uncertainties, or requests for assistance, which insecure leaders are often reluctant to do.” She adds that it’s also important to start early. During the onboarding process, help connect new hires with other employees. Connecting them with a mentor or someone who can at least show them the ropes can lay the groundwork for more workplace friendships, she says.

THE AMAZON PRIME VIDEO REDISIGN

Amazon’s Prime Video app is about to look a lot different. By Jared Newman

A recent update will overhaul the entire interface on TVs, with a new sidebar for navigation, a grid-based live channel guide, and a bigger emphasis on Amazon’s burgeoning sports catalog. It also more clearly distinguishes core content included with an Amazon Prime subscription from Amazon’s ad-supported offerings, a la carte purchases, and add-ons. The new Prime Video app may help address some complaints with the previous design, which critics have described as “genuinely impossible to browse,” “nearly unusable at times,” and “the worst user interface in streaming.” But it also speaks to a broader shift in streaming TV. Whereas services like Prime Video once focused on streaming on-demand movies and shows, they’re now branching out into linear channels, live sports, and news as they slowly replace the cable bundle. That in turn requires a fundamental rethink of how their apps work. Live TV emphasis Browsing Prime Video’s on-demand catalog should be easier with the new design. The revamped home screen includes filtering options for movies and TV shows, along with quick links into “Categories,” such as Comedy and Action & Adventure. Those genre menus will also appear in the search section, which is being renamed “Find.” Taking a page from Netflix, the home screen will feature a “Top 10” list, making trending shows easier to track down. But Amazon’s also making some big changes to emphasize live TV. The app’s left sidebar now includes a dedicated “Live” menu, with a cablestyle grid guide for Amazon’s free streaming channels, along with live feeds from premium add-on channels, such as Paramount+ and AMC+. (Here, though, a new gripe emerges: You won’t be able to hide channels you’re not paying for or otherwise customize the guide.) Meanwhile, the Live TV tab will include a row for live and upcoming sporting events, both from Prime Video and add-on services. It’s a meaningful change as Amazon buys up more live-sports streaming rights. Prime Video will be the exclusive carrier of Thursday Night Football this fall, for instance, and it has started offering some regional sports coverage, including select New York Yankees and Seattle Storm games in those markets. More than just Prime “Prime Video” has long been a misnomer for Amazon’s app. In addition to movie and shows for Prime subscribers, it also includes free, ad-supported video from Amazon’s Freevee service (formerly known as IMDb TV), movie rentals, a la carte TV shows to buy, and an array of subscription add-ons. 86

The redesign tries to make more sense of those options. A new “Free with ads” menu showcases movies and shows from Freevee, replacing the old design’s “Free to Me” section that included both ad-free and ad-supported content. And while Amazon’s “Store” menu isn’t going anywhere, it now covers all the forms of steaming video Amazon sells, including a la carte purchases and Prime Video Channels subscriptions. Prime Video Channels subscriptions are now easier to find on the home screen. Accessing content from those subscriptions will be a bit simpler as well. A “My Subscriptions” row on the home screen will include quick-launch icons for add-ons you’re already paying for, along with suggestions for ones you’re not. At the same time, Amazon is trying to be clearer about where its recommendations come from, with color-coded descriptions for everything on the home screen. Rentals and add-ons will have a gold shopping bag icon next to them, while a blue “Included with Prime” tag will appear beneath core Prime Video content.

Making sense of more stuff The underlying theme here is that Amazon’s app isn’t as simple as it used to be. Whereas the Prime Video catalog was once somewhat analogous to premium cable channels, such as HBO or Showtime, over the years it’s become more like a miniature cable bundle, with a mix of movies, shows, linear channels, and sports. The redesign feels like an attempt to step back and better reflect this new reality. Other streaming TV apps have been moving in a similar direction as their catalogs expand. Paramount+ and NBC’s Peacock both have livechannel guides and sports sections, and the latter has to juggle both free and premium subscription tiers inside a single app. (It accomplishes this by showing a purple “Premium” tag over subscription-only content for users on the free tier.) Hulu, meanwhile, now has an embedded version of ESPN+ so subscribers to both services don’t have to juggle two separate apps. Photo by Thibault Penin on Unsplash.

The playful fashion brand for under-fives that encourages kids to be kids launches in Kuwait, KSA and the UAE By bazaar staff

Cheekee all day, every day! Fun that’s completely your way. In creating everyday kids fashion for the “not so innocent”, Cheekee Munkee offers excellent value and responsible clothing with a magical mix of coolness, playfulness and irresistible charm. Because childhood happens once, let’s make sure it’s a whole lot of fun for your Cheekee Munkee! The just launched brand in the UAE, KSA and Kuwait, brings a fun new take on playful, comfy, and responsible children’s fashion. We love checking out global fashion brands, but we also appreciate it when a brand truly understands our regional needs in terms of style, climate, lifestyle and special occasions. Created locally for the GCC market, Cheekee Munkee is a uniquely fun children’s fashion brand, that offers everyday essentials that let kids express themselves, whilst offering great value 88

that parents will love. Cheekee Munkee creates clothing for kids from newborns to 5-year-olds, with playful touches in must-have styles that really capture the essence of childhood. The brand has quickly become a parent and child favorite so due to popular demand, the brand will be increasing their size range to 7 years old, from September. Clothing for newborns and infants are designed to make it easier for parents to dress and undress them. Snaps are nickel-free and covered and the cotton is soft and gentle to make sure that babies’

sensitive skin is not irritated. More importantly, the brand is on a journey to make responsible fashion that is better for kids and the planet. The brand takes pride in offering durable clothing that is both comfortable and safe for little ones. Currently, over 50% of the range is produced using sustainably grown BCI cotton. We can’t care about kids’ wellbeing right now without actively living an eco-friendlier life for their futures. As parents, making more sustainable choices is not a luxury, it is a responsibility towards our little ones’ future.

For the debut Spring/Summer 2022 collection, Cheekee Munkee is treating the little ones to a mix of casualwear and sleepwear, in trendy motifs and vibrant colors. Elements such as graphic prints and bows add fun details to the look - everything that’s needed to be the bestdressed kid on the block! Whether they’re at the park, visiting grandma or on a play-date, they will be comfortable and ready to have fun. One of our favorite details is the brand’s namesake and mascot, the Cheekee Munkee, that often shows up on the tees and onesies. Cheekee Munkee products are available across Debenhams and Mothercare stores in UAE, KSA and Kuwait. Parents who prefer the convenience of shopping online will be happy to learn that they have multiple online shopping options like Debenhams.com, Mothercare.com and Namshi.com across all three markets, as well as Tamanna.com in Kuwait.

Follow the latest updates from Cheekee Munkee on Instagram and Tiktok @CheekeeMunkeeME and on Facebook at: Cheekee Munkee ME.

BEING HUMAN

Here’s why human-centered design is so important By Kaitlyn McInnis

Human-centered design is believed to have been born out of the Stanford University design program in 1958—when Professor John E. Arnold suggested that engineering design should be human-centered and focused on positive and long-lasting change. The concept has since expanded into numerous fields beyond engineering— including psychology and anthropology— and continues to provide a creative problem-solving solution to help push innovation forward in a practical manner that is grounded in human well-being and user satisfaction. So what exactly is human-centered design— and how does it help to solve actual human and community needs? Here’s everything you need to know about the human-centered design concept including what the process looks like and how human-centered design thinking can often result in even better innovation and solutions than buzzy technological advancements. What is human-centered design? Human-centered design is, at its core, the concept of creating and inventing products and services that respond to a problem or fill a void that will help propel human well-being, improve user experience, and reduce human discomfort or stress. The design process involves human brainstorming and context at every level of the problem-solving process as opposed to using technology or artificial intelligence to propel a concept or product forward. The human-centered design concept is an extension of the concept of participatory action research; using real human behavior and responses to poke holes in projects or provide the chance to improve upon existing products or services for the sake of increasing the overall user experience or providing innovative solutions to problems in a given community or group of people. Although human-centered design is most often used to improve upon or resolve problems in the health and wellness space, it’s becoming a popular methodology for testing and improving the technology used in our day-to-day lives. The most common example of human-centered design in technology was the participatory action research that resulted in Apple modifying the iPhone to offer distinct features that help increase the overall UX; as a result, Blackberry phones were proven to have much less human usability than the iPhone. What is the difference between human-centered design and design-thinking? Design-thinking is at the root of human-centered design—but the concept zooms out in order to look at a problem or invention at a larger scope and without the same level of attention to detail that human-centered design puts forth. Design-thinking is a concept that involves creating solutions, processes, and products that are specifically designed to solve a problem or create a better workflow that can easily be adopted 90

by specific groups of people and communities. The process involves learning about a specific subset of people or a target audience and empathizing with their needs or holes in services before coming up with solutions or inventing products that can easily be put to use immediately and, of course, earn capital and make money from the solution. Human-centered design takes the designthinking concept one step further in order to properly ensure a product will enhance the lives of consumers rather than just become a novelty. Applying human-centered design on top of designthinking involves getting to know the objectives and goals of a particular audience to ensure inventors and product teams are creating services and products that will enhance the lives of the consumer rather than simply pique their interest. What is the human-centered design process? The human-centered design process puts real people at the forefront of research and innovation in hopes of actually providing a solution (that could be a product, process, or service) to a real life problem or hole in the market that has the

potential to improve the lives of a community of specific demographic. The final goal of the human-centered design process is to provide a positive and long-term impact for the demographic or community that the product has been designed for. The process involves empathizing with a demographic or hole in the consumer market, ideating on exactly how the solution could best help real humans, and implementing a prototype. The human-centered design process will also borrow concepts from participatory action research and take real consumer/human feedback into consideration in order to ensure an optimal solution or product that will make positive change for said demographic. The testing phase is also a key part of the innovative process as it ensures that the general population won’t just adopt a new solution or product but that it will actually improve the lives of those who use the product.

Photo by Karina Carvalho on Unsplash.

POKE PICK... THE LATEST TREND IN HEALTHY EATING

PROTECT YOUR BRAIN

These are the 4 boundaries your brain needs to feel less overwhelmed By Stephanie Vozza

Ever wonder where the day went? It’s not uncommon to reach the late afternoon, and marvel at why you didn’t gain more traction on your to-do list. That’s because the workstyle most of us use is reactive, says Joe Robinson, author of Work Smarter, Live Better: The Science-Based Work-Life Balance and Stress Management Toolkit. It’s survival mode, and we go with whatever factors the most recent in our brain,” he says. “It’s autopilot and it causes stress in the process.” Many of us are feeling overwhelmed, and remote working arrangements aren’t necessarily helping, because they increase the amount and forms of communication you must track. The challenge is our brain’s instinctual reaction to overwhelm. “We have a hangover from our ancestors that doesn’t really work in the modern world,” says Robinson. “Anytime your ‘ancient’ brain perceives that something is more than you can handle, it sees it as a threat and triggers the stress response. Stress today is social stress, but it still sets off the automatic response of fight or flight.” It’s possible to manage our thoughts so we’re not just reacting in panic mode all day long. Robinson says setting these four boundaries will help you work in a more sustainable way. Attention Management Part of your brain is always asking, “What’s wrong?” “How am I going to make it? “What’s next?” says Robinson. “Self-inflicted stress is the frenzy and frazzle to get to the next item on the list,” he says. To get anything done during the workday with focused attention, you need tap into your working memory. The human brain is limited to three or four thought chunks for only a few seconds, says Robinson. Unfortunately, interruptions blow up working memory. “We have the rise of what’s called ‘attention deficit trait,’” says Robinson. “It’s not ADHD—something you’re born with—but it mimics the same symptoms. Your attention span shrinks, you have a hard time staying on task, you flit from one thing to the next, and you have more time urgency because you’re falling behind.” To regain your attention, calm your mind. Robinson suggests counting backward from 100 to zero in your brain. “Since we don’t do this every day, we have to pay attention to it,” he says. “If your thoughts stray, just come back to the next number down the line. The exercise is relaxing and calming.” Interruption Management In order to have more attention, it’s important to set the terms of engagement with your devices. “The more you check email, the more you 92

have to check email, because you lose your ability to regulate your impulse control,” says Robinson. “Disruptions erode your impulse control, and interruptions make anything you do seem more difficult and aggravating than it is. Humans are allowed to set the rules on the devices.” The impulse control mechanism is located in a part of the executive attention function of the brain called effortful control, says Robinson. “Interruptions shred it and make us self-distract and lose ability to regulate impulsivity and stay on task,” he says. “Managing interruptions, then, is key.” “Barking” Management Another boundary your brain needs is the ability to let things go in order to return to work. Robinson calls this “barking” management. “Does your dog bark hours, days, months, or years after another dog walks past your yard?” he asks. “He drops the event as soon as it’s over like it never happened. But that’s not what humans do. We keep barking. We hang on to the event, and that’s what causes our stress—but we don’t have to.” Hanging onto stress is rumination. Robinson says we can play a big role in shutting down this ancient reflex by managing the thoughts in your brain. Robinson suggests using a tool called “thought labeling.”

“Instead, tell yourself that a thought is not self-defining,” he says. “You can say, ‘I’m having the thought that I can’t handle this anymore.’ Labeling your thoughts as thoughts, separates you from knee-jerk, emotion-word fusings that hold you hostage to false beliefs. The stress response stops in three minutes after you turn off the false life-and-death signal.” Refueling Management Sticking to the previous three boundaries requires giving your brain a break so it can rest and reset. “We are not hard drives with hair,” says Robinson. “After two hours of time on task, the brain has to get off task to relieve strain and reboot. ” The brain needs daily, weekend, and vacation resets. Robinson says productivity goes up after 10-minute breaks, 20-minute breaks, and dramatically after a vacation. Recreation and relaxation also allow you to put away whatever you’ve been thinking about over and over and recover. If you don’t, you’ll come back to work the next day with a stress still there. “Managing stress is really all about managing our thoughts,” says Robinson. “We think because something’s in our head, we got to pay attention to it. We don’t.”

Photo by Joshua Olsen on Unsplash.

BACK TO SCHOOL WITH MUJI Class is in session By bazaar staff

It’s time to say goodbye to sleeping in and say hello to alarm clocks, making sure you packed tomorrow’s lunch and that you did your homework. Yes, we’re heading back to schools and universities. Even though it’s not all fun and games, there are two great things about the beginning of the academic year. Seeing your friends every day and back to school shopping! Everyone loves getting the perfect pencil case and filling it with exciting and colorful pens, finding the perfect backpack and scoring shiny new sneakers. To make your lives easier we’ve put together a must-haves list for school from MUJI.

TAKE NOTES MUJI’s gel pens have a cult following. You might think that any old pen will do. But the humble writing instrument from MUJI was designed for comfort and perfect ink flow, so you can quickly jot down ideas for as long as you need to. They’re available in several thicknesses and many colors so you can even color code your notes and have the most organized notebook this year.

STUDY You’ve already written down your notes, but you will eventually need to study. Two of the most useful tools are sticky notes and highlighting pens. You can use the sticky notes to cover the answers and check if you can remember them on your own, or to add extra ideas and explanations to help you memorize difficult concepts. Highlighting important sections also makes it easier when you need to revise later on. Figuring out a system that works for you at the beginning of the year will make studying for finals a breeze.

KEEPING IT ALL TOGETHER We love MUJI’s ring binders and folders for keeping everything in one place. It is easy to add paper and dividers so you can expand sections when you need to. We may have fallen down a StudyTok hole and realized that there are so many amazing ways to use these folders, from study journals to note keeping.

STAYING ORGANIZED At the beginning of the year, most of us are optimistic, our desks are still tidy and our heads are clear, but as the academic year progresses we usually end up cluttering our spaces and our brains. MUJI’s Acrylic Organizers are the perfect antidote to the mess. They come in several shapes and sizes and most of them are stackable so you can keep everything nice and tidy.

TOOLS AND ACCESSORIES Chef’s understand the importance of having all of your tools handy, and the French call it mise-en-place. It’s the secret to getting things done quickly and efficiently. Making sure that tools like rulers, scissors or glue are easily accessible will save you from breaking your state of flow and losing focus.

BE COMFY This tip is for university students or school students who don’t wear a uniform, get comfy T-shirts. We often forget that our bodies need to be in a relaxed state, not too warm and not too cold, for our brains to function properly. We love MUJI’s line of different tees that are made from organic cotton, are breathable and still look stylish.

SET THE SCENE Finally, create an ambience that helps you focus. We love MUJI’s diffusers and essential oil line. The portable USB powered one is perfect for students on the go, just plug it into your laptop and drop a couple of drops of oil on it and you’re good to go. To supercharge your focusing powers try peppermint, sweet orange or lemon essential oils.

Visit the MUJI stores in 2nd Avenue – The Avenues, Grand Avenue – The Avenues and Al Kout Mall or shop online at muji.com.kw. For more information, follow MUJI on Instagram @mujimiddleeast. 95

HACK THE DOC

Save precious time with these 3 lesser-known Google Docs features By Doug Aamoth

For me, there’s a certain irony in creating content for a living, but absolutely dreading the look of a blank word processing document. As a writer, the less time I spend inside a word processor, the better. So I’ll take any opportunity I can to minimize typing and formatting. These three Google Docs features speed up my process exponentially. Best of all, they’re really easy to use.

Voice typing If you can talk, you can type—and much faster than actually typing. Google Docs has a great built-in dictation feature that you can access by clicking Tools in the menu bar and selecting the “Voice typing” option. You can add punctuation manually if you like by saying “period” or “comma,” but the feature is actually pretty good at recognizing natural pauses and inser ting punctuation automatically. It’s not per fect, of course, but it’s a great way to get a quick first draft going without doing too much hands-on-keyboard typing. 96

Automatic text substitutions An absolute godsend for anyone who has to retype the same phrases over and over again, Google Docs’s text substitutions feature is a must-have for just about ever yone’s productivity arsenal. Click Tools > Preferences and then select the Substitutions tab in the box that pops up. Now enter an acronym in the Replace column and the full phrase in the With column. Moving for ward, ever y time you type the acronym in a document and hit the space bar, its respective full phrase will appear in its place. Type the acronym in lower-case letters to have the full phase appear all lowercase or, if you’re beginning a sentence, capitalize the first

letter of the acronym to have the first letter of the phrase capitalized. Multiple text selections The multiple text selections feature makes short work of large-scale changes. Say you’re working on a long document and you’ve forgotten to bold every paragraph heading or italicize every book title. Just select the first item you need to change, hold down the CTRL key on Windows or Command on Mac, and select the next thing you need to change. Keep doing this until you’ve multi-selected everything that needs to be in boldface, for instance, and then click the bold button to change everything at once. Repeat for italics, and so on.

SAVE THE MONARCHS

Monarch butterflies have been classified as endangered, but we can save them from extinction By Connie Lin

Monarch butterflies, the iconic and beloved butterfly that’s most recognized by children when they first learn of the species’ existence, have now been listed as endangered by the world’s foremost scientific authority in such classifications.

The designation has, sadly, been a long time coming, as monarch butterflies have for decades watched their natural habitats be culled by deforestation and climate change. Their numbers have gradually dwindled: The population of Western monarchs, which live west of the Rocky Mountains, fell by an estimated 99.8% between the 1990s and 2020. But much of the devastation has boiled down to the loss of monarchs’ critical food source, the milkweed plant, which is the only plant they can 98

eat as caterpillars to plump themselves up for the taxing transformation into butterflies. That problem was wrought largely by American farming, which raised genetically modified crops to withstand herbicides like glyphosate, which was then sprayed across vast acreages of Midwestern field—thus destroying great swaths of the milkweed that caterpillars seek. But on the bright side, we can still help their plight! Monarch experts are now calling upon the public to plant milkweed that’s native to their

regions (meaning, for example, mostly swamp milkweed across the country, except for the far West, and no tropical milkweed, especially in the deep South). Full-grown butterflies feed on nectar, experts add, so it can also help to plant any flowers native to the region that bloom during monarch season, which peaks during the summertime in most areas. Photo by Meritt Thomas on Unsplash.

THE IKEA PAX ®

Create the perfect custom-designed wardrobe By bazaar staff

Who doesn’t dream of the perfect wardrobe? It is spacious enough to house your precious garments, well-divided so you can stay organized, and perfectly fits the available space in your home. The IKEA PAX wardrobe system is the iconic Scandinavian wardrobe that does justice to your clothes. It’s the wardrobe everyone loves to personalize, customize and upcycle. It has only one drawback; you might end up wanting to play dress up every day.

PAX corner wardrobe, 211/213x236 cm Year after year, IKEA continues to create a better life at home by making our everyday normal easier and our living spaces more organized. If you are looking for a practical wardrobe that is also beautiful in your home, IKEA PAX is the solution! It easily stores all your clothes, shoes and accessories. A wardrobe is a functional object that needs to be able to hold all your clothes, accessories, shoes, bags and probably more while still adding style and character to your room. It is not a small piece of furniture that you can easily hide, so it needs to stand out and be fabulous. Understandably, many people choose built-in closets because they are great at saving space, 100

but they can be quite expensive and are not easily installed in any home. Lucky for us, IKEA has the perfect solution for that problem, the PAX Wardrobe system. The system has proven so succesful that over the years people have started replacing built-in wardrobes with PAX wardrobes because they are so affordable, durable, easy to design and customize, and look great in any space! The fitted wardrobe system helps you maximize the space you’ve got by creating lots of storage. The PAX wardrobes are just like built-in wardrobes, except you get to decide it all – the size, style, doors, and interior organizers to sort your things.

Most importantly, you won’t have to break the bank. PAX is an affordable way to get a more bespoke look on a budget because with the PAX wardrobe system you can build a storage solution that suits your needs. Combine interiors with frames in different heights, widths, and finishes - and choose hinged doors or sliding doors in a style you like. The PAX is a system that also grows and changes with your life. You can easily make changes to the interiors whenever you need to. Switching out the aesthetic is easy too. Changing the doors or handles can create a totally different look. IKEA believes that the PAX is a wardrobe that can be useful for you for many years to come and offer a 10-year guarantee on it.

PAX corner wardrobe, 310/310x236 cm white/Grimo white

PAX wardrobe, 150x66x201 cm white/Nykirke

PAX wardrobe, 200x58x236 cm white

PAX wardrobe,210/273/210x236 cm black brown

One of our favorite things about the PAX system is that it is fully customizable, not just when you first purchase it, but can evolve and change with your growing needs. Just like people, who are unique, storage solutions need to be too. The IKEA PAX system is built around personalization, and the range of inserts ensures that it fits your storage needs. Whether you need more hanging space or extra drawers for accessories or even specialty pull-out racks for ties, the PAX can be built for it. The system remains flexible even after being put together, and it is easy to add or remove drawers and inserts later on. Even if you move and your living space becomes completely

different, you can rearrange the wardrobe to work with the new space. Anyone can plan, design and personalize their PAX wardrobe from the comfort of their own home by using the online PAX designer tool found on the IKEA website. We love spending hours trying out the different configurations. Alternatively, you can visit the store, and a skilled designer will walk you through the process. They will ask you some questions to better understand your needs then will help you create a design that is perfect for you. While designing your own wardrobe is fun, you may not need to so you can opt for the

ready-made PAX interiors. You can choose from many already available PAX combinations. A PAX wardrobe could be the perfect fit in your bedroom or hallway. Now is the best time to rethink your wardrobe and invest in the PAX Wardrobe solution because IKEA is offering customers a 15% discount on PAX wardrobes and KOMPLEMENT accessories until the 11th of August. Visit IKEA 360, IKEA The Avenues, IKEA Assima Mall or shop online at www.IKEA.com. kw. For more information, please call 184 0408 or follow @IKEAKuwait on Instagram. 101

VIZ WIZ

Here’s when to use data visualization tools, and why they’re helpful By Kaitlyn McInnis

It doesn’t matter whether you subscribe to the “right brain” or “left brain” camp—the human mind is drawn to aesthetically pleasing shapes, colors, and patterns. And that’s exactly where data visualization tools come into play. Data and information visualization tools were designed to make data points easier to digest, to help draw conclusions, and discern information that might not be as easy to scan and work with in its raw form. Data visualization tools—like Tableau or Google Charts—allow users to import small or large amounts of data and automatically transform the raw data into beautifully designed visuals or graphics. This doesn’t just make it easier to process information internally but can also offer a simplified way to pitch data-driven theories or display KPIs in meetings and presentations. So what exactly are data visualization tools and what do they bring to the table? Read on to better understand the role data visualization tools can play in the workplace and how using said tools can help make processing large amounts of information quick and efficient. What are data visualization tools? Data visualization and information visualization tools were designed to make it easy and efficient for designers to work with and talk about large data sets on a surface level. This can look like a clear representation of smaller data sets but can also represent all the way up to hundreds or millions of data points in a quick and easily scannable format. The role of modern data visualization tools is to help automate the process of creating a visualization—which doesn’t just make a designer’s job easier but also helps ensure that all data visualization will be free of human error and data entry mistakes. Data visualization tools help designers interact with larger data sets in order to easily draw conclusions or discern usable information in a way that would not be feasible with hard data sets alone. What are the best data visualization tools? There are dozens of data and information visualization tools on the market right now that range from basic and easy-to-grasp to more complex tools that can take a while to learn and work into your day-to-day workflow. The best data visualization tools should be easy to use (or come with a comprehensive tutorial), handle large amounts of data points, and be able to convert different data subsets into multiple different output options—such as maps and charts or graphs. Depending on the type of data you tend to work with and how much you expect to commit to learning and using the tools available, there are a few different data visualization tools and scripts that will stand out based on your field and specific day-to-day needs. 102

One of the most popular data visualization tools among web designers—and anyone who wants to quantify data points—is Tableau, which offers free or paid options that make importing data easy, with hundreds of data import options available. There’s also an extensive option of color-coded graphs and aesthetically pleasing charts that not only work for discerning conclusions from data points in-house but can also be used to convey information in highlevel presentations and pitches. Why use data visualization tools? There are three major elements that data visualization tools help cover when working with large data sets or complicated information. Successful data visualization tools will help you understand your audience, set up a clear framework to interpret data and draw conclusions, and tell a visual story that might not come off as clean and concise with raw data points. Data visualization tools—when used properly—will help to better tell a given story and make it possible to better pull information, see trending patterns, and draw conclusions from

large data sets. Data visualization tools also lean into a more aesthetically pleasing approach to mapping and tracking data. It goes beyond simply pasting information onto a pie chart and instead uses design know-how, color theory, and other practices to ensure information is presented in an interesting but easy-to-understand manner. Although data visualization tools have always been popular in the design space, the right data visualization tools can aid just about any field of work or personal interest. For example, data visualization tools can help journalists and editors track trending news stories to better understand reader interest. These tools can also be used for anyone looking to track personal interest data points to better understand a larger picture, such as tracking the specific changes in weather in one’s neighborhood or community.

Photo by Lukas Blazek on Unsplash.

ItÈs Summer Time

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ZOOM TO AROUND.CO

Why Around.co is the best alternative to Zoom out there By Jeremy Caplan

Around is the best tool for remote team meetings. Zoom and Google Meet are fine, but Around has a range of features that make it a better choice, in my view. Free to download, easy to use. Just launch a meeting and share a link. Here are 7 reasons why I prefer Around to Zoom. Get my screen back Around takes up much less of my screen. No clunky menus. Participants appear in small circles, so I have space to see my browser, notes app, slides, or whatever else. Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, et al. have more menus and eat up more of my monitor. Softer self view Around offers subtle filters to reduce the distraction of seeing yourself front and center while you’re talking with someone. You can change or remove filters, but I find that they make it easier not to worry about how I’m appearing onscreen. Built-in notes A special shared tab lets anyone in your meeting jot down notes, share links, or add info that everyone can see. Unlike Zoom’s waterfall-style chat box that can’t be edited or reorganized, Around’s notes can be edited or reordered. The notes automatically get emailed to the meeting host, who can then share them with everyone. I love having notes builtin as opposed to having to open separate apps in multiple windows. Vibes To reduce the awkwardness of meeting openings when people are gradually arriving, Around has a new feature that lets you add a music vibe and a moving background visual. You can change to a different song, adjust the volume, and turn it off whenever you want. (This is a new feature; I noticed a bug where the music speed can occasionally be uneven.) Timers Add a little timer to keep your meeting on time. It’s helpful if you’re leading short, timed activities or if you want to keep a meeting agenda on track. Share reactions, quick text, or gif messages A little text box below everyone’s video circle makes it easy for each participant to share a quick text response or link. You can also share a gif that appears right in your video window. It’s all part of the Around aesthetic, which is a little more relaxed and creative than the more button-downed Zoom style. Echo cancellation For hybrid meetings, Around helpfully eliminates the annoying echo effect that sometimes occurs when more than one meeting participant is in the same room. Instead of having to send people to separate physical rooms to avoid the echo, just use Around. How to make the most of Around • Switch to audio-only mode to talk freely 104

without worrying about video. • Use minimal mode to get your full screen back for working, or campfire mode to see a medium-size circle of those with whom you’re meeting. • Share screen just as you would with other meeting tools. • Remind guests that they don’t have to download the Around app—they can join directly through a Web link you send them. • Use “Face-Mask” mode to clarify muffled speech for those wearing masks. • Add the Slack plug-in to start meetings directly from Slack. • Keyboard shortcuts make it easy to interact nimbly in a meeting. M = mute/unmute; H = raise hand; U = thumbs-up; W = wave hello or bye. • Here’s how the Around team uses its own product for meetings. Pricing Around has been free over the past year and will remain so until it leaves beta later this year. After

that, one-on-one meetings will remain fully free while group meetings will be capped at 45 minutes for free accounts. When pricing rolls out, ~$9/ month will get you unlimited usage. Platforms Desktop: Mac, Windows, and Linux Mobile: iOS and Android Web: Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge Limitations • No polling or breakout room feature • Limited to 50 participants • The recording feature hadn’t launched yet (as of this writing) • It takes a minute to get used to Around’s interface. The first time I meet with someone on Around, they need a moment to get situated. Usually they say that they appreciate the break from the customary Zoom interface. Sometimes they’re a little confused at encountering something new, but mostly they like it. Photo by iyus sugiharto on Unsplash.

READY FOR SCHOOL WITH X-CITE

Get your tech in order before you head back to the classroom By bazaar staff

We’re still enjoying the slow pace of summer. And while we wish it could last forever, we know we’re headed back to the classroom. In our day, we may have zoned out of some (ok maybe most) of our classes, but there is one lesson that stuck with us; having the right tools makes things much easier. From the simple ruler to the scientific calculator we have always needed things to help us accomplish different tasks. In today’s technologically dependent world, our needs have changed, but luckily for you, we asked our friends at X-cite for a little help and they helped us put together a list of essentials.

The Main Machine A powerful laptop is a necessity for any student. No one wants to deal with a lagging or crashing machine while doing homework. Windows users will love the HP Pavilion Convertible X360. Not only is it capable of top-notch speeds and high performance that can handle the toughest programs (and latest games), it can also be converted into a tablet for different forms. Or maybe, you’re a budding graphic designer, soon-to-be movie maker, future Marketing magician or anyone who is starting in the creative fields, then the MacBook Pro M1 is for you. It is a powerful, sleek machine that runs all the artsy suites that you need to make magic. 106

On the go You might not need a laptop, or prefer a more basic device for working on the go, an iPad Air 5th Gen is the way to go. It lets you join online calls, gives you quick access to emails and internet browsing. If you throw in an Apple Pencil you can also take notes or draw wherever you go.

Accessorize You absolutely need a backpack to carry your new tech. The EQ Girls 15 inch backpack a spacious bag that can hold all of your stuff. If you already have a favorite bag, invest in the Rivacase 13inch sleeve for iPads or Macbooks to protect your device.

Get it on paper We might be using less and less paper, but we still often need to print a report or an assignment. The HP Officejet Pro 9010 All in One can do all that, but it’s also a scanner and copier which comes in really handy.

Stay updated on the latest events, monthly promotions and offers by subscribing to the monthly newsletter on xcite.com, follow X-cite’s social media channels on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and Snapchat, @xcitealghanim or Facebook at XcitebyAlghanim and win prizes with contests, or visit the online store at www.xcite.com. 107

bazaar Apps

BEAUTY HUNTER

SIT STILL MEDITATION

HUDDLE

KOBLE

LATEX CARDS

EPHEMERA

Did you know that up to 90% of beauty products aren’t used after purchase? Beauty Hunter AI recommendation engine analyzes millions of ingredients and suggests skincare product that matches you!

Hudle is the easiest way to capture and share real moments from vacations, parties, weddings, or other events. This is accomplished by using geofencing and other location services.

Create different topics to save your important formulas and theorems in beautiful flashcards written with LaTeX. Anywhere at anytime, learn your lessons using the flashcards you created or scanned.

Sit Still lets you track your posture using augmented reality, so you’ll maintain an upright, self-supported position while meditating.

Koble is an app for pregnant and postpartum parents. We help you navigate the early days of parenthood by offering 1:1 expert support and guided live and on-demand video sessions.

Unlike other apps that save bookmarks that stay unread forever, Ephemera sets a deadline that the bookmark must be read by. Miss the deadline, and that bookmark is gone. It wasn’t important anyway, right?

play.google.com itunes.apple.com 108

bazaar books

WAKE THE BONES

UPGRADE

by Elizabeth Kilcoyne, Young Adult

by Blake Crouch, Science Fiction

The sleepy little farm that Laurel Early grew up on has awakened. The woods are shifting, the soil is dead under her hands, and her bone pile just stood up and walked away. After dropping out of college, all she wanted was to resume her life as a tobacco hand and taxidermist and try not to think about the boy she can’t help but love. Instead, a devil from her past has returned to court her, as he did her late mother years earlier. Now, Laurel must unravel her mother’s terrifying legacy and tap into her own innate magic before her future and the fate of everyone she loves is doomed. Elizabeth Kilcoyne’s Wake the Bones is a dark, atmospheric debut about the complicated feelings that arise when the place you call home becomes hostile.

SHE WHO BECAME THE SUN

At first, Logan Ramsay isn’t sure if anything’s different. He just feels a little . . . sharper. Better able to concentrate. Better at multitasking. Reading a bit faster, memorizing better, needing less sleep. But before long, he can’t deny it: Something’s happening to his brain. To his body. He’s starting to see the world, and those around him—even those he loves most—in whole new ways. The truth is, Logan’s genome has been hacked. And there’s a reason he’s been targeted for this upgrade. A reason that goes back decades to the darkest part of his past, and a horrific family legacy. Worse still, what’s happening to him is just the first step in a much larger plan, one that will inflict the same changes on humanity at large— at a terrifying cost. Because of his new abilities, Logan’s the one person in the world capable of stopping what’s been set in motion. But to have a chance at winning this war, he’ll have to become something other than himself. Maybe even something other than human.

BOOKED ON A FEELING

by Shelly Parker-Chan, Historical Fiction

by Jayci Lee, Romance

In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness… In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family’s eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the family’s clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected. When a bandit attack orphans the two children, though, it is Zhu Chongba who succumbs to despair and dies. Desperate to escape her own fated death, the girl uses her brother’s identity to enter a monastery as a young male novice. There, propelled by her burning desire to survive, Zhu learns she is capable of doing whatever it takes, no matter how callous, to stay hidden from her fate. After her sanctuary is destroyed for supporting the rebellion against Mongol rule, Zhu takes the chance to claim another future altogether: her brother’s abandoned greatness.

VIOLET MADE OF THORNS

Lizzy “Overachiever” Chung, Esq. has her life mapped out neatly. If all goes to plan, she will check off that last box in a couple years, make her parents proud, and live a successful, fulfilled life in L.A. What was not in her plans was passing out from a panic attack during a pivotal moment in her career. A few deep breaths and a four hour drive later, Lizzy is in Weldon for three weeks to shed the burnout and figure out what went wrong. And what better place to recharge than the small California town where she spent her childhood summers with her best friend, Jack Park. Jack Park didn’t expect to see Lizzy back in Weldon, but now he’s got three weeks to spend with the girl of his dreams. Except she doesn’t know of his decades-long crush on her--and he intends to keep it that way. Sometimes the path to the rest of your life has been in front of you all along.

THE BOOK OF GOTHEL

by Gina Chen, Fantasy

by Mary McMyre, Fantasy

Violet is a prophet and a liar, influencing the royal court with her cleverly phrased—and not always true—divinations. Honesty is for suckers, like the oh-so-not charming Prince Cyrus, who plans to strip Violet of her official role once he’s crowned at the end of the summer—unless Violet does something about it. But when the king asks her to falsely prophesy Cyrus’s love story for an upcoming ball, Violet awakens a dreaded curse, one that will end in either damnation or salvation for the kingdom— all depending on the prince’s choice of future bride. Violet faces her own choice: Seize an opportunity to gain control of her own destiny, no matter the cost, or give in to the ill-fated attraction that’s growing between her and Cyrus. Violet’s wits may protect her in the cutthroat court, but they can’t change her fate. And as the boundary between hatred and love grows ever thinner with the prince, Violet must untangle a wicked web of deceit in order to save herself and the kingdom—or doom them all. 110

Source: Goodreads.com

Haelewise has always lived under the shadow of her mother, Hedda—a woman who will do anything to keep her daughter protected. For with her strange black eyes and even stranger fainting spells, Haelewise is shunned by her village, and her only solace lies in the stories her mother tells of child-stealing witches, of princes in wolf-skins, of an ancient tower cloaked in mist, where women will find shelter if they are brave enough to seek it. Then, Hedda dies, and Haelewise is left unmoored. With nothing left for her in her village, she sets out to find the legendary tower her mother used to speak of—a place called Gothel, where Haelewise meets a wise woman willing to take her under her wing. But Haelewise is not the only woman to seek refuge at Gothel. It’s also a haven for a girl named Rika, who carries with her a secret the Church strives to keep hidden. A secret that reveals a dark world of ancient spells and murderous nobles behind the world Haelewise has always known...

GASLIGHTING: PAST AND PRESENT

A toxic history By Porter Braswell

In 2018, the Oxford English Dictionary named “toxic” its word of the year. Unsurprising given the political climate at the time: Trump was President, Britain was Brexiting, and tech companies were under intense scrutiny for their role in enabling toxic environments online. Among the runners-up, though, was another word describing a specific form of toxicity: gaslighting. I remember hearing it for the first time and being slightly confused about where the word came from–but I very much recognized the dynamic. Gaslighting is a form of emotional manipulation, in which the gaslighter questions or denies the validity of their target’s emotions and perceptions. Psychologists most often cite it as a form of abuse in relationships, but it extends well beyond that. Nowadays, gaslighting is used to describe many more ways of questioning people’s experiences, whether it’s a U.S. president railing about “fake news” or someone at work telling you you’re taking a racist or sexist comment “too seriously.” Early sexist origins The verb “to gaslight” originally comes from a play called . . . wait for it . . . Gas Light. This 1938 thriller, set in Victorian London, follows a well-to-do husband as he attempts to convince his wife she’s going insane (in part by telling her she’s imagining a dimming gas light in their home). The play became an Oscar-winning film and helped catalyze the public understanding and academic study of this form of abuse. The Victorian setting of the play is significant: This was an early era for psychology, when scientists began studying mental illness empirically and methodically. It was also the culmination of a much longer history of a (nowdefunct) condition called “hysteria,” which classified “abnormal” behavior in women as a physical affliction of the uterus. From Ancient Greece to 19th-century London, countless doctors in the West claimed that women who deviated from “normal” female behavior–i.e., being modest, sexually inhibited, submissive, subdued, unquestioning, religious, etc.–were in fact physically unwell. Some of this “non-normative” behavior may well have been forms of mental illness that earlier eras didn’t have a vocabulary for. Much of it, though, was undoubtedly just women being normal human beings, with a full range of emotions and personalities. Because of this long history of men–and specifically men with power, such as doctors or religious leaders–doubting women’s mental faculties, women have been subjected to the generational trauma of these behavioral stereotypes. Even today, despite so many advancements in modern medicine, those 112

preconceived notions about how women should be or behave remain deeply embedded in our culture. That history is one of the reasons women are more associated with gaslighting, particularly in relationships. It’s still commonplace in our society to stereotype female assertiveness as unnatural or attempt to diminish it. The familiar stereotypes around women being more sensitive, emotional, or less rational than men are weapons in every gaslighter’s arsenal.

In the workplace, this has often showed up in cases of sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior. A boss who doubts the seriousness of an employee’s complaint about her co-worker’s inappropriate comments is gaslighting her. That kind of invalidation of women’s experiences traces a direct line to humanity’s long history of misogyny, patriarchy, and sexism. Fortunately, now that more research has been done on this topic, there are many resources available to women who experience this form of abuse.

Power and racial gaslighting What’s important to glean from gaslighting as a psychological concept is that it’s all about the gaslighter maintaining control in difficult situations. And they’re able to maintain that control by virtue of their importance in someone’s life. The gaslighter has to be important enough to the victim(s) that they are willing to question their own emotions. So, it’s never really about victims being mentally “weaker” compared to their abusers. It’s about the gaslighter abusing their power in a relationship, and that power can come from any number of things: love, loyalty, prestige, trust, admiration, and so on. Gaslighting makes it easier for people who’ve done something wrong or hurtful to confront it. It’s a maneuver that allows them to sidestep their own self-examination by denying the reality around them. It is not the same as disagreement, which is natural and normal in relationships of all kinds and scales. It’s about negating someone else’s (uncomfortable or inconvenient) truth. It also doesn’t just occur on individual levels or toward women. Racial gaslighting is a prevalent form of denial in this country that occurs at individual, group, and institutional levels. For individuals from diverse ethnic or racial backgrounds, this can be particularly troubling in interpersonal situations. Journalist Siobhan Neela-Stock gives a few examples of her experiences with racial gaslighting that I immediately found familiar:

This is an all-too familiar experience for many people of color in the United States. The key part of that quote is the last bit where the author specifies that it’s her version of reality that’s called into question through denial, diminishment, or accusations of full-blown delusion. These conversations happen all the time in private, at work, and even on television. The examples of this in the media in the past decade are numberless. When protesters were criminalized in the press after George Floyd’s murder, that was a form of gaslighting (often racially motivated) that denied the validity of their anger. When they were written up in headlines as targets of state-sanctioned violence, often in the passive voice and without the perpetrators (i.e., the police or military) being named, that was also gaslighting. These are subtle forms of linguistic manipulation that seek to deny or obscure the truths we observe in real life. The power of allies In the Gas Light play, a detective eventually shows up and assures the distressed wife that she’s not imagining the dimming of the gas lights. Only then does she begin to believe her own perceptions again. In modern instances of gaslighting, be it racial or relational, victims need allies to help affirm that their experiences are valid. Knowing how to recognize gaslighting is therefore key for all of us. The first step is to identify that there’s a problem. For victims

of gaslighting, this is often the hardest step, because it means that someone who plays an important role in their lives is hurting them. Next, before asking who’s right and who’s wrong, acknowledge the validity of the target’s feelings and experiences. Because that’s often what the issue boils down to in most instances of interpersonal gaslighting: intention vs. impact. No matter how unaware or well-intentioned a comment may be, the impact it has can be very different. Acknowledging that words can hurt without people meaning to is critical for becoming more sensitive to gaslighting. Ultimately, gaslighting thrives on discomfort with confrontation, both for the gaslighter and the target of their (intended or unintended) abuse. Getting more comfortable with your own discomfort around issues of race, gender, identity, or even just your own relationships will help you recognize and respond to gaslighting better. And finally, remember that disagreement is not the same as denying someone’s experience. Disagreeing is an important, healthy way to enable debate and share diverse perspectives. But you can disagree with someone without shutting them down or invalidating their experience. If we can all at least agree on that, then it becomes much easier to recognize and disarm gaslighters wherever they operate. Photo by Alex Wolowiecki on Unsplash. 113

bazaar techno

CASIO G SHOCK GBDH1000-1 MOVE

RIOTPWR CONTROLLERS

INSTAX MINI LINK 2

XIAOMI SMART STANDING FAN 2

LAVA BLAZE

BASSPODS

This watch is solar powered while also being a sports watch that includes a heart-rate monitory and GPS. It also includes an optical sensor for heart rate measurement, along with bearing, altitude/barometric pressure, and temperature sensors, and an accelerometer for step counting.

The Xiaomi Mi Smart Standing Fan 2 will bring a drop of comfort to the microclimate of your home. The device has a foldable design that allows you to adjust the fan height. Thanks to this, you can use it as a desktop fan. In addition, the design allows the head to rotate up to 140 degrees. The gadget is equipped with a powerful brushless motor that makes almost no noise. This fan can be paired with Google Assistant and Alexa for remote control.

Play any video game on your phone and have a fully functional controller with this device. It also has buttons designed to trigger Xbox responses which makes mobile gaming feel more like console gaming. There’s also a headphone jack to immerse yourself in sound and the game even more.

The Lava Blaze is an entry-level smartphone that comes with a 6.5-inch 720p display, 10W charging and is powered by a MediaTek Helio A22 chipset. There is also a 5,000mAh battery and a 13MP triple camera setup on the back. The phone comes with Android 12, 3GB RAM, and 64GB storage.

Source: bestproducts.com 114

This small device is a smartphone connected mini printer. You can quickly print multiple pictures in under 15 seconds and it develops in under 90 seconds. You can also print pictures from a video on your phone making the photo printing options endless.

pTron has launched two new TWS earbuds – the Basspods P251+ and Basspods P11 in India. The P11 earbuds start at Rs 799 and come with 10mm drivers and a display on the charging case. There is also the P251+ which cme with a stemdesign and larger 12mm drivers. They also offer 50 hours of playback.

bazaar movie night August Movies

PRIZEFIGHTER

BULLET TRAIN

EASTER SUNDAY

ORPHAN: FIRST KILL

NOPE

THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF LONGI

Release Date: 28 July Genre: Biography Cast: Russell Crowe, Matt Hookings, Ray Winstone Synopsis: After a life-changing accident risked ending his career forever, Jem Belcher (Matt Hookings) begins a long, grueling road to recovery which eventually sees him compete in a death-defying standoff – known only as The Forgotten Fight of the Century – ...

Release Date: 18 August Genre: Crime, Horro r Cast: Isabelle Fuhrman, Julia Stiles Synopsis: After orchestrating a brilliant escape from an Estonian psychiatric facility, Esther travels to America by impersonating the missing daughter of a wealthy family.

Release Date: 4 August Genre: Action Thriller Cast: Brad Pitt, Sandra Bullock Synopsis: Five assassins aboard a fast moving bullet train find out their missions have something in common.

Release Date: 25 August Genre: Horror, Mystery Cast: Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer Synopsis: The residents of a lonely gulch in inland California bear witness to an uncanny and chilling discovery.

Source: cinescape.com.kw 116

Release Date: 4 August Genre: Comedy Cast: Joy Koy, Lydia Gaston Synopsis: Set around a family gathering to celebrate Easter Sunday, the comedy is based on Jo Koy’s life experiences and stand-up comedy.

Release Date: 1 September Genre: Drama, Fantasy Cast: Idris Elba, Tilda Swinton Synopsis: A lonely scholar, on a trip to Istanbul, discovers a Djinn who offers her three wishes in exchange for his freedom.

TRAVELLING IN A POST-COVID WORLD

As the world opens up, COVID-19 challenges plague international travel By Patrick Connolly

The phone rang, a number calling from California, just 13 hours before I was set to embark on a long trip to Malaysia for a college friend’s wedding. I was packing and doing laundry but thought I should answer. Japan Airlines, the facilitator of the overseas por tion of my trip, rang to inform me that I needed a visa (which I did not have) to transit through Japan on an overnight layover. Other wise, I would not be able to fly. My hear t sank as I grappled with the implications of this news. A quick Google search made it clear that while same-day transit through a Japanese airpor t is allowed, overnight layovers are currently barred for noncitizens due to COVID-19 protocols. My thoughts raced: Why was I ever able to book this ticket with such an itinerar y? Would I be able to make this trip happen? While the world is opening up and some COVID-19 restrictions ease, many countries still require travelers to jump through hoops to visit or even transit through an airpor t. Such is the reality of our new pandemic present, which many of us hoped was already in the past. Distraught, I called American Airlines customer ser vice and was informed it might be two hours before someone could reach me. Later that night, the estimated wait time rose to five or six hours. Eventually, I did receive a callback and arranged flights with a layover in Qatar instead. But after one trip to the airpor t and a second bungled itinerar y, I was informed it would be four days later before I could travel, based on flight availability. I called my ride back to the airpor t, frustrated beyond words with my situation. I got in the car and bawled. I shouldn’t have been surprised at my stroke of bad luck amid a summer that has seen a huge increase in travel demand, but also a surge in canceled flights and additional travel requirements. Dear reader, this stor y has a happier ending. I did make it to Malaysia — three or four extra days after I was originally scheduled to arrive — but in enough time to experience some incredible food, hospitality, sightseeing and a joyous wedding. However, getting there sure took its toll on me. If there was ever a time when travel by air was enjoyable, the pandemic has stripped us of that serenity, adding additional stress at each step of the journey. Despite the headache of navigating airpor ts in a COVID-19 world, traveling internationally amid ongoing restrictions proves that if there’s a will, there’s still a way. 118

Here are ways to navigate the ongoing pandemic-related challenges of traveling abroad. Invest in travel insurance As soon as Josh Lim, one of my best friends from Ohio University, told me he was going to be married this year, I knew I would do everything in my power to get to the other side of the world. But after the collective trauma we’ve all endured in the last two and a half years, I knew I should be appropriately cautious — in case the wedding was postponed or I caught COVID-19 (for the second time). I invested in travel insurance shortly after I purchased my flight. There are many options available both through travel agents and online businesses. I opted for a plan from Trawick International that ensured I could get all or most of my money back if the trip was canceled or interrupted. In addition, the plan insured me against trip interruption, delays, missed connections, accidental death and dismemberment, medical accidents and sickness, baggage delays and property damage. In another almost comedic twist in a series of unfortunate travel events, my checked bag didn’t show up until a day-and-a-half after I arrived in Kuala Lumpur, but eventually, we reunited. Carrying such insurance should make it possible to get money back on nonrefundable lodging and experiences, should you experience a delay in flights or travel. Build in a time cushion While I still haven’t forgiven American Airlines for

robbing me of several extra days with one of my best friends from college, I did arrive in Malaysia in time for all of the important things. And to their credit, the airline carrier tried to make amends by offering bonus miles in my account. As one of the groomsmen, I still made the rehearsal and the bachelor party and I helped greet other international guests as they arrived. And I got there in plenty of time before the wedding, the most important part. I did miss out on several extra days of eating, visiting, catching up and exploring a country that was brand-new to me. But because I built in extra time at the beginning of my trip, I was there for the events and moments that really counted. My altered timeline just means I’m due for another longer visit soon. Do your research I spent time researching COVID-19 restrictions before I traveled. Luckily, Malaysia did away with a mandatory quarantine for vaccinated travelers before my trip. The country even nixed the testupon-entry requirement. I thought I might need a test for traveling through Japan, but I completely missed the stipulation that prevented me from having an overnight layover. I still don’t think I should have been able to book this itinerary through American Airlines in the first place, but I could have done better research. In navigating ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, visit Sherpa, an online resource that aids travelers in navigating a confusing array of rules and visa requirements. Enter your point of origin and destination, plus any connections, and the

site will list any documentation, tests or visas required for each country. Sherpa also allows travelers to apply for some eVisas. Enjoy the trip (and the feeling of coming home) Amid our new reality, it’s worth asking the ageold question: Is it about the journey or the destination? Parts of the journey might still carry bliss and intrigue: gazing in awe at a sunset casting golden light across the landscape from 40,000 feet above the earth, then finding yourself in an airport on the other side of the globe with signs in Arabic and English. Wondering about people around you, where they came from, what their stories are, where they’re headed. But during a time when masking is common on planes and some typical comforts of travel are stripped, it might be more about the destination. Savor every moment of an international vacation, especially given what a monumental effort it takes to get there. Returning from travel inevitably comes with the experience of pinching yourself and remembering how real the trip was, even if it feels like just a dream. It’s great to relive the moments and feel nostalgia for the recent past through photos, and though it’s not like actually being there — these are the things that make all of the hassle worthwhile.

Photos by Ulises Guareschi Corvetto and Erik Odiin on Unsplash. 119

bazaar scopes

AQUARIUS JAN 20 – FEB 18 In August, Aquarians are not in the mood to talk much. Nor do they want to go for walks or to spend time with someone. A few of the natives are taking a retreat to develop strategies to earn money. That is the top concern of Aquarians during this period. Mistakes from the past catch up with them making this period less happy than it should be.

PISCES FEB 19 – MAR 19

LEO JUL 23 – AUG 22

Others may find you rather eccentric in your behavior and beliefs. Financial luck stems from your positive attitude, a favorable cycle for writing, publishing, sales, and marketing. Overseas travel, contact with people from abroad bring good news, importing and exporting, and expanding your interests are favored. You may have an interest in further education.

VIRGO AUG 23 – SEP 22 You will be strongly motivated to achieve your goals. This may push your family into the background. However, your loved ones will not mind, but on the contrar y, they will support you and motivate you to act. The planet system will support energy and vitality in ever y Virgo. Thanks to systematic work, your career will begin to develop, and the professional goals will be easy to achieve.

LIBRA SEP 23 – OCT 22

Big social and family plans may be in the works now, perhaps connected to a holiday, engagement, wedding, christening, or confirmation. You will be in a loving mood around family and friends and they will want to be around you. Some will start a new relationship with a person of age or background difference.

ARIES MAR 20 – APR 19 This month Aries will have a lot of work and challenges ahead of them that will distract them from home affairs in favor of spending most of their time at work. If you tr y you will make a good impression on the boss. By mid-month, it’s better to be careful and not make important decisions that can affect your life.

TAURUS APR 20 – MAY 20 Stars are opulence, they tell the success stor y. You should make small concessions to those people who are important to you. They will show that you have good will and willingness to cooperate. You will have a month under social meetings. You will be full of new acquaintances with ver y interesting people: intellectuals, artists, art experts, and culture lovers.

GEMINI MAY 21 – JUN 21

Libra is not a ver y emotional sign, that is why the people born under it, value their professional life so much, they devote a lot of time to it and do not pay attention to the emotions of their relatives. It will not be other wise this month, because once again without a moment of reflection you will throw yourself into the whirlwind of work.

This month will sometimes be turbulent and abundant with various types of changes for you. Surprises can be expected especially on the 3rd and 17th of August when planets will change their location. Jupiter will be wandering in the sky. If you manage to remain calm and self-controlled, at the end of the month, you will see that all the new products have come out for good.

SCORPIO OCT 23 – NOV 22

CANCER JUN 22 – JUL 22

Private life during this month seems to be quiet, but full of little surprises; Scorpios will experience beautiful moments with their partner, while for the singles this month seems to promise new encounters, crushes, or even strong relationships.

You will have to deal with problems at home and with family life. The stable situation at work will make him see the negligence he has committed. The issues will not solve themselves, and it’s time to make things worse. You will have to show patience and calm their desires. Fier y behavior and judging others will end in brawls. It is worth asking for help.

SAGITTARIUS NOV 23 - DEC 21 An agreement you make with a congenial person can be the start of something big, in terms of a marital or financial partnership. Joint funds are strongly emphasized now and can be an important part of a new, longrange alliance. You may have to think for yourself in matters connected with career direction, you are getting restless again.

CAPRICORN DEC 22 – JAN 19 Although your sharp wit could probably bail you out of situations that may unexpectedly develop, it is still wise not to have too many irons in the fire. Career is liable to be touch and go, avoid disputes or major discussions about wages, added responsibilities, who should be going what, and who should have the authority, over who? Tr y to be compromising, let others take the lead for a change, and sit back, and let others make a fool of themselves. 120

Source: wisehoroscope.org

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