Community Community The Maria Marte, Shantiniketan an immigrant P7Indian School P16 in Spain, has student council gone from a cleaner at members for a restaurant to its head 2017-18 are sworn chef, overlooking 15 in at a ceremony. other cooks.

Friday, April 14, 2017 Rajab 17, 1438 AH

DOHA 27°C—40°C TODAY LEISURE 12 & 13 LIFESTYLE/HOROSCOPE 14

COVER STORY Nevertheless Alec Baldwin reflects on his life, career in witty memoir. P2-3 2 GULF TIMES Friday, April 14, 2017 COMMUNITY COVER STORY Alec Baldwin

PRAYER TIME writes back Fajr 3.54am Shorooq (sunrise) 5.13am Zuhr (noon) 11.34am The star he never quite became, as opposed to the star Asr (afternoon) 3.04pm Maghreb (sunset) 5.58pm Isha (night) 7.27pm he is, eats at him. His political preoccupations are many, USEFUL NUMBERS and now that he is best known for doing Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live, other facets of his career have been pushed to the background, writes Michael Phillips Emergency 999 Worldwide Emergency Number 112 Kahramaa – Electricity and Water 991 Local Directory 180 International Calls Enquires 150 Hamad International Airport 40106666 Labor Department 44508111, 44406537 Mowasalat Taxi 44588888 Qatar Airways 44496000 Hamad Medical Corporation 44392222, 44393333 Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation 44845555, 44845464 Primary Health Care Corporation 44593333 44593363 Qatar Assistive Technology Centre 44594050 Qatar News Agency 44450205 44450333 Q-Post – General Postal Corporation 44464444

Humanitarian Services Offi ce (Single window facility for the repatriation of bodies) Ministry of Interior 40253371, 40253372, 40253369 Ministry of Health 40253370, 40253364 Hamad Medical Corporation 40253368, 40253365 Qatar Airways 40253374

ote Unquo Qu te Perception is created and twisted so quickly. – Louis C. K.

Community Editor Kamran Rehmat e-mail: [email protected] Telephone: 44466405 Fax: 44350474 Friday, April 14, 2017 GULF TIMES 3 COVER STORY COMMUNITY

“I’m not actually writing this book to discuss my work, my opinions, or my life. I’m not writing it to explain some of the painful situations I’ve either landed in or thrown myself into. I’m writing it because I was

RAVE REVIEWS: Alec Baldwin famously impersonating now-US president Donald Trump on television. paid to write it”

f you happen to like Alec chapters are more diff use and tend I’m writing it because I was paid to drank my way to Hollywood.” on a “sleep cruise,” he sounds Baldwin, why do you like to get caught up in grocery-listing write it.” His relationships with women genuinely grateful and happy for him? There are plenty of the remaining stops along Baldwin’s Baldwin says a lot in three words. consisted, he writes, of practising what he has. He has chips on both reasons. Baldwin came up resume, as well as his tangles with Beyond the “rivers of Tab,” he his acting on them. He had a shoulders, however. The star he with that jolly, fantastic line various agents, managers and describes his childhood school bus “nagging need for attention that never quite became, as opposed Ireading in Martin Scorsese’s The publicists. Nevertheless. I’m glad as “a rolling jailhouse.” High school, would fi ll the holes my parents were to the star he is, eats at him. His Departed — “Patriot Act! I love it I I read it; the good stuff in it is very he says, was “a blur of wanting too enervated to address.” political preoccupations are many, love it I LOVE it!” — and that alone good. things I couldn’t have and missing Soon he washed up, happily, on and now that Baldwin is best is enough for me. “Six kids and no help” is how the wonderful moments right in the shores of Knots Landing, on known for doing Donald Trump on For many admirers of his work, Baldwin describes his mother’s front of me.” That line reminded me which he played Lisa Hartman’s Saturday Night Live, other facets it starts and ends with Baldwin’s existence, as young Alexander of something Baldwin told me in a love interest. It was worth it, he of his career have been pushed to uniquely commanding, medium- (who went by Xander) and his fi ve 2013 interview at the Cannes Film writes, to get to know the actress the background. (The sketches grade-sandpaper voice, conveying siblings grew up in Massapequa, Festival. Baldwin marvelled at that Julie Harris. A brief engagement grew less funny, but the fi rst time a hint of authoritarian fellow. NY. His father died young, at year’s fi lm festival jury president, to Janine Turner, later of Northern Baldwin did Tony Bennett on Certainly he has played his share 53, in 1983. “When she struck Steven Spielberg. “He never Exposure, gets a nod. In each SNL, it was one of the greatest, of such intimidating men. And on you,” Baldwin writes early on ceases to amaze me. He’s having actor’s life, there are the roads not most aff ectionate celebrity 30 Rock, where Baldwin soared in Nevertheless, “her right arm a wonderful time. He’s happy. taken, the acting off ers debated impersonations in modern TV for seven seasons as Tina Fey’s sprang toward you … snap! … like There’s no base line of tension and juggled, decisions regretted. history.) exquisite foil, the network kingpin Navratilova’s backhand.” within him. Most people in this When Baldwin declined to join Baldwin’s a tough critic. State Jack Donaghy, he reminded The author recalls the “rivers of business, they don’t have enough the original off -Broadway cast and Main (2000), written by David everybody how funny he was. Tab” his mother swallowed over the of what they want, or they’re of Craig Lucas’ play Prelude to a Mamet, remains “one of the few As Donaghy, he killed, reliably, years. The family never had enough worried about losing some of what Kiss in its transfer to Broadway, he of my own movies that I can stand treading a fi ne line between money. “Acting,” Baldwin writes, they’ve accrued.” In Nevertheless had his reasons: a million-dollar watching,” he writes. He’s also a deadly understatement and blithe “was a way to ease, though never Baldwin tacitly acknowledges that, payday for the male lead in the jabber, unrepentant. Just for the disengagement regarding the petty eliminate, the fi nancial anxieties individual fortunes aside, he’ll ill-fated Neil Simon-scripted hell of it, he takes a shot at Harrison problems of mere mortals. of the boy from South Shore never be one of the tiny number of romantic comedy The Marrying Ford, the guy who swiped his Jack In his ruminative new memoir, Long Island who remains inside Spielbergs in the industry. Man, opposite Basinger. It was “a Ryan franchise role after Baldwin Nevertheless, Baldwin reveals bits me today.” He goes on: “I’m not We learn of Baldwin’s decision devastating mistake,” he writes, one originated it in The Hunt for Red and pieces of a life and career full actually writing this book to discuss to attend George Washington that “changed my career and my October. Baldwin speculates that of switchbacks, some handled my work, my opinions, or my life. University in Washington, DC, life forever.” Ford’s lack of critical respect and more wisely than others. The I’m not writing it to explain some then New York University. He Today Baldwin has three young Academy Award recognition “must forlorn, faraway look in Baldwin’s of the painful situations I’ve either lands a role on the soap opera The children with his wife, Hilaria, frustrate, if not burden him, after eyes on the book cover suggests a landed in or thrown myself into. Doctors, before he “snorted and and while he daydreams of going his long career.” Like a few million personality with a lot on his mind. other US citizens, he looks to the The actor, New York Philharmonic north for inspiration in the Trump orchestra announcer, radio era: “Away from the ceaseless noise, and television personality and hucksterism, and smugness of combustible activist, “addicted to America, Canada itself is a balm to solitude” by age 9, may be 30-plus the soul.” years sober, but some addictions Such pronouncements, in the are tougher to shake than the end, aren’t as rich as what Baldwin chemical ones. has to say, however reluctantly, This is Baldwin’s second book. about what he does for a living. His The fi rst, A Promise to Ourselves: memoir concludes with an A-to-Z A Journey Through Fatherhood compendium of actors he admires and Divorce, came out in 2008. It (Gary Oldman, in his view, is the ground through the many years of best fi lm actor of his generation). If Baldwin’s wearying custody travails navigating a challenging childhood regarding the now-adult daughter feeds the hungry young performer’s Baldwin shares, uneasily, with his soul, Baldwin wonders if his eldest ex-wife, Kim Basinger. Aspects daughter, Ireland, is destined for of that legal battle royal come up success in that direction. “She’s for further review in Nevertheless, eclectic and funny,” he writes. which takes its title from an old, “But most important of all, she is raunchy theatre joke. But mostly in no hurry for you to know her. the leading man concerns himself Which compels you to come to her. here with a tricky childhood and his In acting, that may be the most years as a performer on the rise. important quality of all.” The fi rst half of Nevertheless is Her father has the same quality. swift, eloquent, witty; the later HER OWN WOMAN: Baldwin’s daughter Ireland is in no hurry to make an impression in the profession of her dad. —Chicago Tribune/ TNS 4 GULF TIMES Friday, April 14, 2017 COMMUNITY TRAVEL Mexico’s Isla Holbox: This way to relaxation

Whale Shark Pier, Isla Holbox.

Before long, somebody will explain that the waves are too gentle for surfi ng, but the winds At Milpa, a small, sophisticated dining By Christopher Reynolds word “Holbox” comes from a Mayan phrase are lively enough to encourage kite boarders. room that opened in 2016, you might order the for “black hole,” perhaps derived from local On nights when the moon is dim, locals say Drunken Octopus Roaming Valladolid, which freshwater springs. you can spot bioluminescent phytoplankton is octopus soaked in sauce under a dome of everal weeks before I found myself So far there are no global hotel or restaurant glowing blue and green in the shallows. I didn’t swirling fumes, with bits of meat and chorizo, uncomfortably close to the world’s brands – in fact, no hotels with more than about see that, but I did catch sunrise and sunset at corn and bell peppers. largest shark, I told a few folks I would 45 rooms. About a dozen beachfront lodgings the dock as pelicans swooped and idle fi shing This was my favourite meal of the visit. Until be going to Holbox. are lined up along Holbox’s north-facing shore, boats bobbed. that night, I’d never before walked home on “Whole what?” asked more than where the dock is. Eat well. At El Chapulim, where there’s no unpaved streets from a dinner of molecular Sone. The bohemian-chic, Italian-owned Hotelito menu, chef Erik Winckelmann typically cooks cuisine. “Holocene,” corrected my smartphone. Casa las Tortugas, where I was lucky enough to four main dishes each night and comes to your Look for feathers and scales. Some people get “Ohl-bosch,” corrected the locals when I land, is more stylish than most of the island’s table to collect orders. boat rides to the mangroves, where they paddle arrived. lodgings. It has 26 rooms, a pool, a raked-sand At Mandarina, the restaurant at Casa las kayaks and often see crocodiles. Isla Holbox, a Mexican island with turquoise beachfront and rates that start at about $186 a Tortugas, your dinner might be duck in orange Many visitors sign up for a half-day waters, unpaved streets and about 3,000 night. mole and brioche of huitlacoche (a.k.a. corn island-hopping boat tour that includes Isla residents, lies about 120 miles northwest of Most islanders live in low-rise, no-frills fungus). del Pajaros, where I spotted fl amingos, and Cancun, 500 miles south of New Orleans. homes constructed in the last 50 years on the It’s not an American household name yet, fl at, sandy island. Most of the buildings are but it has fi ne sand, palm trees, wild fl amingos boxy and modern, often splashed with murals. and beachfront hotels charging less than $200 There is nothing Spanish Colonial here. a night. Because the island is part of the Yum Balam Moreover, if you take a boat out from mid- Nature Reserve and a hefty distance from May through mid-September, you have a good Cancun, growth has been limited. One major chance of swimming with a whale shark. There development proposal has been tied up in court is no bigger fi sh. for years. They grow to as much as 40 feet long and Yet the place is getting busier as travellers 30,000 pounds. Their grey fl anks are peppered rush in from the US, Europe and Mexico with white polka dots. Their mouths are up to 3 City. As tourism grows (and debate increases feet tall and 4 feet wide. Because they’re fi lter- about what’s sustainable and what isn’t), a feeders, consuming mostly plankton, they swim sophisticated crop of restaurants has arisen. through life with their wide mouths open, no teeth in sight. Get off to a good start But fi rst, the island. Here are some of the things you do before It’s about 26 miles long and a mile wide and heading out to fi nd a whale shark: is developed only at its eastern end. You’ll want Prowl around downtown Holbox. This won’t mosquito repellent. take long. The built-up east end is about fi ve by Most visitors arrive after a three-hour ride by 12 blocks. Most cars are banned, and the streets taxi, van or bus from Cancun, then a half-hour are dominated by golf carts (you can rent one), ferry from the coastal town of Chiquila. scooters, bikes and pedestrians. So far there’s The temperature is rarely cooler than 65 not much nightlife. degrees, rarely hotter than 90. Laze on the beach. The sand is fi ne. The After swimming with whale sharks, a boatload of tourists visits an undeveloped beach. Friday, April 14, 2017 GULF TIMES 5 TRAVEL COMMUNITY

Yalahau, a freshwater spring with bracingly cool water, is part of many boat tours around Isla El Chapulin is one of several restaurants here. Holbox, Mexico.

Yalahau, a freshwater spring where you can I barely succeeded in getting out of its swim and snack on ceviche while iguanas and way. Never touched it. a coatimundi (a close relative of the raccoon) Then its flank passed before me, a blur skirmish for scraps. of white dots, and I was alone again. The whole encounter took about three minutes. See the whale sharks The only thing left to do was fi nd my boat, On most Mondays, tour company V.I.P. fl op aboard and hope that these sharks and Holbox Experience off ers a free boat excursion this island can thrive, or at least survive, for travellers who want to collect marine litter amid the attention that’s bound to come. from the island’s remote northern beaches. The company’s whale shark expedition costs The best way to Isla Holbox, Mexico about $125 per person. You borrow wet suits, From Cancun, travellers take a two- to mask and fi ns. A guide instructs you never to three-hour drive to the town of Chiquila. touch the creatures, which have been labelled By public bus (www.ado.com.mx), one-way “endangered” by the International Union for fares are about $15. By shuttle bus, fares Conservation of Nature. are $40-$80 per person (for a couple) from That’s in large part because of demand in V.I.P. Holbox (www.vipholbox.com) and Asia for the fi ns, meat and oil of the animals, Holbox Shuttle (holboxshuttle.com). By which are supposed to be protected worldwide. taxis, fares are usually $100-$130 each way. But “harvesting” isn’t the only threat. The only way to reach Holbox from The World Wildlife Fund says that reckless Chiquila is the Chiquila-Holbox ferry, Even the busiest streets in the tiny tourist destination are unpaved and dominated by pedestrians, tour-boat captains can interrupt sharks’ about $5 each way for a 20-to 30-minute bikes and golf carts. feeding or collide with them, and it works with ride. whale tour operators to promote safe practices. If your expedition is like mine, you’ll board a What to do motorboat and ride about two hours to a cluster Several companies offer daylong of whale sharks, which will likely be surrounded whale-shark tours ($125-$135 per person) by a gaggle of boats bearing tourists from and half-day trips to Isla Pajaros, Isla Holbox, Cancun and Isla Mujeres. Pasion and Yalahau Lagoon (about $30 per At some point, there will be snorkelling and a person). Among them: V.I.P. Holbox, www. sand bar to explore. But the sharks are the main vipholbox.com, and Holbox Adventure, event. holboxadventure.com Once your captain gets the boat close to one of their telltale dorsal fi ns, your guide fl ops into Where to stay the water. Guests follow, two at a time. The island is small enough that these For most people the greatest astonishment hotels don’t have street addresses. comes the moment you duck your head beneath Hotelito Casa de las Tortugas, (984) the surface. Beneath those dorsal fi ns, 10 to 15 875-2129, www.holboxcasalastortugas.com Milpa, an ambitious restaurant, opened in Besides whale shark sightings from May tons of animal loom like the hidden bulk of an Twenty-six rooms. Doubles $186-$421, early 2016 on Isla Holbox. Dishes include this through September, the turquoise waters off iceberg, but living and swimming at your side. breakfast and taxes included. Three-night octopus plate. Isla Holbox off er colourful snorkelling. You might notice a harmless remora or two minimum with full payment in advance. (they use a sucker on the top of their heads to Posada Mawimbi (984) 875-2003, www. attach themselves to larger fi sh) gliding along in mawimbi.net Nine rooms, two bungalows. the shark’s shadow. Doubles $158-$248, depending on season. But apart from swimming to keep up, you Continental breakfast and taxes included. have nothing to do but gawk at this docile La Chaya Eco Hotel (984) 875-2142, wonder and forget the wider world. www.lachayaholbox.com Nine rooms, That’s what I did, anyway, until my guide many with sea views. Doubles about $95, gestured for me to swim back to the boat. I breakfast and taxes included. turned and started kicking my way through the open, blue water. Where to eat Your peripheral vision is limited in a mask. El Chapulim, Avenida Tiburon Ballenas; And I was swimming at an angle. And now (984) 137-6069, www.lat.ms/chapulim something else was moving nearby... Mexican bistro. Dinner entrees about $15. Suddenly I was staring at a big, black oval Restaurante Milpa, Calle Palomino; (984) directly in front of me. The mouth of another 875 2026, www.lat.ms /milpa Modern whale shark. Three feet tall, 4 feet wide, 5 feet Mexican. Dinner entrees about $10-$13. away. It was like staring into the open end of a Mandarina Restaurant and Beach Club, sleeping bag and fi nding deep space inside. Hotelito Casa las Tortugas, (984) 875-2129, That waterproof camera in my right hand? www.holboxcasalastortugas.com/dine- Completely forgotten. drink. Dinner entrees about $15-$25. Fortunately the shark – which probably swam alongside a dozen scrawny, fl ailing To learn more mammals that day – showed no sign of caring. Isla Holbox, www.holboxisland.com – In the waters near Isla Holbox, snorkellers swim alongside whale sharks, which are considered the It made no sudden moves. Los Angeles Times/TNS largest fish on earth. 6 GULF TIMES Friday, April 14, 2017 COMMUNITY CUISINE

Tandoori Chicken

Ingredients Chicken, whole 900gm

First marination Deggi mirch powder 1 tsp Mustard oil 1 tbsp Salt 1/2 tsp Lemon juice 1 tsp

Second marination Yoghurt 1 cups Ginger paste 1/2 tbsp Garlic paste 1/2 tbsp Lemon juice 1/2 tsp Deggi Mirch powder 1/2 tsp Mustard oil 1 tbsp Coriander powder 1 tsp Cumin powder 1/3 tsp Salt to taste Chat masala 1 tsp Unsalted butter 1 tbsp

Garnish Red onion rings to garnish Lemon wedge 4-5 nos

Method Place the yoghurt in a fi ne strainer and leave it overnight in the Tandoori Chicken. Photo by the author refrigerator to drain the water and get thick yoghurt. Cut the chicken into 8 pieces and keep aside. Combine the fi rst marinade ingredients in a zip lock bag and place the chicken into the bag and refrigerate overnight. Learning the art In a separate mixing bowl prepare the second marinade by combining yoghurt, ginger garlic paste, lemon juice, red chilli powder, mustard oil, coriander powder, cumin powder, salt and whisk to get a smooth paste. Marinate the chicken in the of the Tandoor prepared marinade for 1-2 hours. am sure that you must have Jahangir, the Mughal emperor India, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, cooking temperature. The design Skewer the chicken and place a heard the word “Tandoor” in India, is credited for making Middle Eastern countries and of a Tandoor is a combination drip tray underneath or place the and must have relished some the Tandoor mobile and portable. Bangladesh as the common kitchen of makeshift earth oven and chicken in a roasting tray lined with Tandoori food delicacies He instructed his cooks to take oven. The Tandoor is an integral horizontal round masonry oven. aluminium foil. as well. A Tandoor is a the Tandoor along wherever he and important fi xture in any Indian Some modern day even also Roast in a preheated oven at 425 Icylindrical clay oven used for travelled. Thus Tandoor was made kitchen. Working on a Tandoor use electricity to attain high degree Fahrenheit for 30-35 minutes roasting and baking. Tandoori is the portable in steel drums, insulated requires a special skill and is a temperatures. The popularity or till the internal temperature of adjective, meaning “pertaining to with glass wool and the cylindrical highly skilled trade in the industry. of Tandoori cuisine is so much chicken is over 165 degree Fahrenheit Tandoor,” and is used to describe a clay drum in the centre. Tandoor The trick is to quickly slap the that electric Tandoors have been in the thickest part. dish cooked in Tandoor. was used to make naans, roast game bread to the super-hot clay walls installed on latest luxury cruise Baste the chicken with clarifi ed Have you ever wondered where birds and lamb chunks. with bare hands. It also requires liners in America. butter and serve hot, dusted with does this word come from? One Tandoori Chicken also years of practice to master the art of The basic design of Tandoor chat masala and onion rings and theory relates that Tandoor originated during the reign making succulent meat chunks on makes it very effi cient and lemon wedges on the side. originated in Persia and was of Jahangir. One of the oldest skewers and serving them smoking contemporary ovens cannot match Note: Deggi mirch is a special brought to India via Afghanistan by Tandoor installed in restaurants hot. Controlling the heat in a the quality of Tandoor cooked chilli which is added in the recipe Arabs. Another story relates that in India was at The Moti Mahal charcoal fi red Tandoor is the key foods. The products cooked in a for the bright red colour. You can there is evidence that Tandoor may restaurant in Delhi in 1948. Earlier to a perfectly cooked bread/ tikka. Tandoor have a typical distinct replace it with cayenne pepper. You have been native to India dating as Tandoors were fuelled with The internal heat is controlled with aroma, taste and texture and this can replace chicken with your choice far back as 3000 BC. charcoal but due to the increasing a small air vent in the base of the makes Tandoori cuisine so popular of meat or vegetables like mushroom, The word “Tandoor” is derived price and environmental concerns Tandoor and takes a lot of practice and unique worldwide. broccoli, pineapple to make an from the Persian word “Tanur”, regarding this fossil fuel, more and and patience to master. One dish that is synonymous assorted Tandoori platter. meaning “Fire”, In Turkey “Tannur” more Tandoors are being fi red by The internal temperature in with Tandoor is “Tandoori became “Tandur”. In Afghanistan, petroleum gas/natural gas. Most of a Tandoor can reach up to 900 Chicken” and today I will share my z Chef Tarun Kapoor, the Tandoor was built in the ground the Tandoors in the United States degrees Fahrenheit and it is on recipe so that you can enjoy it Culinary Mastermind, and was (and still is) used to serve use natural gas as their fuel. designed to be lit for long periods with friends and family over a get- USA. He may be contacted at bread to the entire communities. Tandoor is commonly used in of time and maintain the high together. [email protected] Friday, April 14, 2017 GULF TIMES 7 COMMUNITY

SIS student council sworn in

The Shantiniketan Indian School (SIS) student council members for 2017-18 were sworn in recently. badges of off ice on head boy Prabhat Shahi, head girl Amina Karim, IT secretary Nishath Ahmed, The ceremony was attended by SIS president K C Abdul Latheef, general secretary Abdul Khader, cultural secretary Sushanth Kumar Deep, literary secretary Urba Chowdhury, sports captain Farsan principal Dr Subhash B Nair, senior vice-principal Shihabudeen Pulath, vice-principal Dudley Riaz, assistant head boy Ahmed Mohammed and assistant head girl Montaha Ahmed. The badges O’Connor, and administrator Abdul Salam in addition to teachers and parents. Latheef invested the were also conferred upon the house captains and house prefects.

Hanan Cricket Club wins cricket tournament

Hanan Cricket Club won the inaugural Thrissur Jilla Souhrida Vedi Premier Cricket League recently. They defeated Galhina Cricket Club to win the tournament. Souhrida Vedi President P Mohsin gave the prizes to the finalists. 8 GULF TIMES Friday, April 14, 2017 COMMUNITY INFOGR Friday, April 14, 2017 GULF TIMES 9 RAPHIC COMMUNITY 10 GULF TIMES Friday, April 14, 2017 COMMUNITY In Taiwan, beautiful handwriting is social media’s latest craze

Lee teaches customers how to hold a fountain pen correctly.

cartridges and bottled ink products, And writing slowly also off ers By Yu-Tzu Chiu with stores across Taiwan reporting therapeutic healing benefi ts, he hefty year-over-year sales growth. believes. At Lee’s shop, sales have tripled Livia Yang, a 25-year-old graduate n downtown Taipei on a recent in the past three years, he says, as student, came to Lee’s shop to buy a weekday, Taiwanese shoppers customers purchase new products new fountain pen as a gift for a friend T Y Lee demonstrating beautiful handwriting of words representing dpa. are fl ocking not to an Apple while revisiting elementary-school who just got her fi rst job. “I fi nd it Store, nor to trendy clothing lessons about stroke orders and really interesting that friends in my Lee, the shop owner, says he complicated or rarely used traditional brands, but to a fountain pen improving their structures for generation like to post images of their fi rst noticed in the early 2000s, Chinese characters and sometimes boutique.I complex Chinese characters. beautiful handwriting on Facebook,” around the time that online blogs even hesitate before writing simple The shop is off ering them “We use a fountain pen to ‘draw’ Yang says. began to fl ourish, that computers words. something far more valuable than words and a ball-point pen to ‘carve’ The trend has become so popular were stealing away people’s basic Noting the reliance on computers’ new pens – it promises to help characters,” Lee explains. that there have even been local handwriting skills. automatic suggestions to help improve their handwriting skills. People are eager to return to old- media reports of people stealing the He felt particularly sorry for fi nd words, Lee often asks people, Since opening the business nine fashioned, pen-on-paper writing for handwriting of others and claiming it high-ranking offi cials, who revealed “Without a computer, can you really years ago, owner TY Lee says he has many diff erent reasons. as their own. their poor penmanship when write?” helped countless customers perfect “For me, using a fountain pen Meanwhile, many new publicly brushing Spring Festival But the shop owner insists he does their penmanship and regain self- to copy good poems, quotes or the handwriting books have been couplets during lunar new year not have solutions to the problems of confi dence. Buddhist sutras is a way to not only published in Taiwan, and sales of the festivities. handwriting in the digital era. “Before talking about handwriting, sharpen my handwriting skills but most popular titles have skyrocketed, “For basic communication, we “My experience just tells me you fi rst need to know how to hold also to practice mindfulness and says Li-yi Lu, a clerk at Taipei-based need around 3,000 traditional that people’s skills can defi nitely be your pen correctly,” the 66-year-old meditation,” says Jason Cheng. San Min Book Company. Chinese characters, of both the sharpened by practice. That’s the owner says. Handwritten letters or cards can Tsung-han Yu, 29, recently simple and the intricate types. If you reason I off er free classes at my shop In Taiwan, showing off beautiful create warmer feelings in today’s bought some books to improve don’t write them by hand, you just to teach my customers,” Lee says. penmanship is one of the hottest cold digital era, in which the pace of his handwriting, saying he simply forget them,” he says. Customers are often returning, new social media trends. Many communication sometimes feels too wanted “to better understand the Nowadays, Lee says, many people asking for more tips on how they can believe that having nice handwriting rushed, Cheng adds. structure of characters.” in Taiwan forget how to write improve their handwriting. – DPA reveals a more fl attering side of one’s personality. At his shop, Lee keeps samples of his customers’ earlier, less polished handwriting, in which traditional Chinese words sometimes look like the errant threads of a spider web or like wiggling worms. But after learning a few tricks and just 30 minutes of practice, Lee says, customers can markedly improve the aesthetics of their script. “Everybody has the possibility to change. It’s like if you thought you were unattractive because you didn’t know how to dress properly. After you get some tips, you can change,” Lee says. The trend has triggered a boom in sales of stationery, fountain pens, ink Lee’s fountain pen shop in Taipei sells several Taiwan-made fountain pens. Friday, April 14, 2017 GULF TIMES 11 LEISURE COMMUNITY

Colour by choice

Maze Connect the dots Picture crossword 12 GULF TIMES Friday, April 14, 2017 COMMUNITY CARTOON Friday, April 14, 2017 GULF TIMES 13 LEISURE COMMUNITY

Super Cryptic Clues Wordwatch

lollygag (also lallygag) drink as Codd’s Wallop. This story discomfiting reality, to be fair.” (LOL-ee-gag) is unproven. Earliest documented Michael Den Tandt; Tory Hopefuls MEANING: use: 1959. Avoid the Big Issues; Montreal verb intr.: To fool around, waste time, USAGE: Gazette (Canada); Feb 6, 2017. or spend time lazily. “And to think that there are people ETYMOLOGY: out there -- including some I used gargantua Origin unknown. Earliest to vaguely respect -- who actually (gar-GAN-choo-uh) documented use: 1880. buy into and believe that kind of MEANING: USAGE: codswallop.” noun: A giant in size, feats, stature, “[Photographer Nathan] Benn didn’t Jesus, St John, and Mahatma Gandhi or (physical or intellectual) lollygag. Between June and October, need YOU; Malta Today (San Gwann); appetites. he exposed 286 rolls of film.” Jan 19, 2017. ETYMOLOGY: Mark Feeney; A Vivid Time Capsule After Gargantua, a voracious giant, of the North Shore; The Boston foray the father of Pantagruel, in a series of Globe (Massachusetts); Jan 12, 2017. (FOR-ay) novels by François Rabelais (c. 1490- MEANING: 1553). The son also has given a word to codswallop noun: 1. An initial attempt into a new the English language: pantagruelian. (KODZ-wol-uhp) activity or area. 2. A sudden raid, Earliest documented use: 1571. MEANING: especially for taking plunder. USAGE: noun: Nonsense. verb tr.: To pillage. “In Io’s sky, Jupiter crawls like a ETYMOLOGY: verb intr.: To make one’s way into a gargantua, a bright, vast, streaked Of unknown origin. According to new activity or area. disk eating the blackness of space, a popular story, a fellow named ETYMOLOGY: so huge it seems intent on crushing Hiram Codd came up with the Probably a back-formation everything under it.” design of a soft-drink bottle with a from forayer (raider), from Old Dana Wilde; Io Roars and Shakes Its marble in its neck to keep the fizz. French forrer (to forage). Earliest Fires in Empty Space; Bangor Daily Wallop was slang for beer and those documented use: 1400. News (Maine); Apr 23, 2007. who preferred alcoholic drinks USAGE: dismissively referred to the soft- “There were brief forays into — wordsmith.org

Sudoku Yesterday’s Solutions

Across Down 3. Though versatile, is he liable 1. Van? (8) to go to pieces? (3,2,5) 2. Simply marvellous as the 8. The trio’s playing as minister (6) accompaniment to a girl (6) 3. Spoil most awfully the little 9. Some crushed walnuts on the creatures (7) grass (4) 4. Help an upset girl (5) 10. Big enough for a seance? 5. Dossier responsible for the (6,4) row (4) 11. Spot turned on him (3) 6. Like the undamaged tent you 13. The rate is shown on page can live in for nothing? (4-4) Sudoku is a puzzle one (4) 7. What only the elite have for based on a 9x9 grid. The grid is also divided into 14. Country road ran windingly tea at Wimbledon? (4-4) nine (3x3) boxes. You (7) 12. Also says, when one sums up are given a selection of 15. An injection for the tot (4) (4) values and to complete 17. A measuring device for the 14. A scrap with a cat (4) the puzzle, you must fill the grid so that dispenser (5) 16. Claimed to have grasped it (4) every column, every row and every 3x3 20. Something to eat, for Olaf? (5) 17. And certainly not a big box contains the digits 1 to 9 and none 22. Round about the figure reduction (4,4) is repeated. there’s a light (4) 18. Understand all will be dry (8) 24. Acted oddly about being 19. By all accounts, made out a housed and made a fuss (7) list (4) Mall Cinema (1): Smurfs: Of The Furious (2D) 8pm; The 25. A piece of ivory will do (4) 21. The man put the minced pork The Lost Village (2D) 2pm; Fate Of The Furious (2D) 11pm. Royal Plaza Cinema Palace 27. The cat is, as monsieur said, in the boot (4-4) The Fate Of The Furious (2D) Shivalinga (Tamil) 6:45pm; Robo Dog:Airborne (2D) (2): . 3:45pm; The Fate Of The Smurfs: The Lost Village after the duck (3) 23 The gold one in the smart Furious (2D) 6:15pm; The Fate 9:15pm; The Great Father (2D) 3pm; Rabbit School (2D) 28. ‘Tut, this isn’t the bitter I cover is, in fact, not very good Of The Furious (2D) 8:45pm; (Malayalam) 11pm. 4:45pm; Shivalinga (Tamil) ordered’? (4,6) (7) Kadamvan (Tamil) 11:15pm. Landmark Cinema (2): 6:30pm; Robo Dog:Airborne 29. How the book I inspired was 25. He’s a terrible bore, right? (6) Mall Cinema (2): Rabbit Rabbit School (2D) 2:30pm; (2D) 9pm; The Great Father dedicated? (4) 26. Left in a car by a lady (5) School (2D) 2pm; Smurfs: Smurfs: The Lost Village (Malayalam) 11pm. 30. Went out boxed (6) 28. Aim and get near (4) The Lost Village (2D) 3:45pm; (2D) 4:15pm; The Fate Of The Royal Plaza Cinema Palace 31. Promise sun to them on a Robo Dog:Airborne (2D) Furious (2D) 6pm; The Fate Of (3): Beauty & The Beast (2D) cruise (6,4) 5:30pm; Beauty & The Beast The Furious (2D) 8:30pm; The 2:15pm; The Fate Of The (2D) 7:15pm; Eloise (2D) Fate Of The Furious (2D) 11pm. Furious (2D) 4:30pm; The Yesterday’s Solutions 9:30pm; The Fate Of The Landmark Cinema (3): Robo Great Father (Malayalam) Furious (2D) 11:15pm. Dog:Airborne (2D) 2:15pm; 6:45pm; Eloise (2D) 9:30pm; Mall Cinema (3): The Great The Fate Of The Furious (2D) Kadamvan (Tamil) 11:15pm. Across: 1 Recall; 5 Enamel; 8 Down: 1 Rushes; 2 Cram; 3 Long- Father (Malayalam) 2:30pm; 4pm; The Fate Of The Furious Asian Town Cinema: The Oiled; 9 Season; 10 Intent; 11 stop; 4 Slow in the uptake; 5 Shivalinga (Tamil) 5:30pm; (2D) 6:30pm; Kadamvan Great Father (Malayalam) 1, 4, Gowns; 14 Straiten; 16 Nitwit; 18 Edison; 6 Meet; 7 Latent; 12 Take The Fate Of The Furious (2D) (Tamil) 9pm; Eloise (2D) 4:30, 7, 10pm, 1 &1:30am; Take Take up the thread; 20 Return; out; 13 Eternal; 15 Trade; 17 Irate; 8:30pm; The Great Father 11:30pm. Off (Malayalam) 1:30, 4:30, 22 Unloaded; 25 Later; 27 19 Tolerant; 20 Retail; 21 Nelson; (Malayalam) 11pm. Royal Plaza Cinema Palace 6:30pm & 12:30am; Kalamban Amends; 28 Amount; 29 Oaken; 23 Dotted; 24 Mess; 26 Dump. Landmark Cinema (1): The (1): The Fate Of The Furious (Tamil) 1:30, 7:30pm & 1:30am; 30 Lesson; 31 Tapped. Great Father (Malayalam) (2D) 2:30pm; The Fate Of The Shivalinga (Tamil) 12:30, 3:30, 2:15pm; Eloise (2D) 5pm; Furious (2D) 5pm; The Fate 9:30pm. 14 GULF TIMES Friday, April 14, 2017 COMMUNITY LIFESTYLE/HOROSCOPE Want a memory boost? Try a hearing test

ntrigued by all the brain- effort goes into just hearing it, have less gray matter in the training products out there their ability to remember what auditory cortex, a region of the to keep your mind sharp they heard often suffers. brain needed to support speech and spirits young? You may Experts believe this has to do comprehension. want to consider something with what they call “cognitive Other research shows a Ielse: A hearing test. load.” That is, in order to link between hearing loss and That’s right. Mounting evidence compensate for the hearing loss dementia. One Johns Hopkins links untreated hearing loss to and make out the words, people study found that seniors with impaired memory and diminished with untreated hearing loss may hearing loss are significantly cognitive function. What that draw on cognitive resources more likely to develop dementia means is, if you keep brushing they’d normally use to remember over time than those who retain interventions, like professionally hearing health care professional, off that suspected hearing loss of what they’ve heard. Experts say their hearing. Another found that fitted hearing aids, could and get a hearing test. yours, your cognition may pay. that untreated hearing loss may hearing loss is associated with potentially help. After all, research suggests that Researchers have found that even interfere with the person’s accelerated cognitive decline in The bottom line is we actually treating hearing loss may be one when people with unaddressed ability to accurately process and older adults. And a third “hear” with our brain, not with of the best things you can actually hearing loss strain to hear, they make sense of what was said or revealed a link between hearing our ears. do to help protect your memory tend to do more poorly on memory heard. loss and accelerated brain tissue So if you think you may have and cognitive function. tests. They may figure out what is In fact, research shows that loss. hearing loss, do something about being said, but because so much people with poorer hearing Some experts believe that it. Make an appointment with a © Brandpoint

ARIES TAURUS GEMINI March 21 — April 19 April 20 — May 20 May 21 — June 20

Finally, money later today in your twelfth house of secrets and your Avoid silly arguments based on emotion versus fact with your Unless you feel as if something or someone is truly holding you Pandora’s box of what if? Over the weekend make sure you allow other half today. The Moon shining in Scorpio, your one on one back, you must move forward with whatever project you are yourself time to unwind relax and forgive yourself Aries. relationship zone makes this the perfect day to address something working on right now. Despite the fact that Mercury your ruler is important with someone important to you. retrograde (through May 3), if the project is something you started before April 8 it’s fine to continue.

CANCER LEO VIRGO June 21 — July 22 July 23 — August 22 August 23 — September 22

It’s never easy for you to give up control, is it Cancers? Admit it, Avoid having any kind of emotionally charged conversation today if In your opposite sign of Pisces, your one–on–one relationships zone, power turns you on. Interestingly enough, there is a hit show on TV possible. Venus is getting ready to move direct in your eighth house the reemergence of Venus over the weekend is a good sign. Things in the United States called Power and 50 cents who is a Cancerian, is of intimacy and joint finances. Talking with your other half about are looking up Virgos. Make things work. the executive producer of the show. money right now could be dangerous.

LIBRA SCORPIO SAGITTARIUS September 23 — October 22 October 23 — November 21 November 22 — December 21

Patience is a virtue as they say. You definitely have a lot of patience Don’t let someone talk you into doing something today that you Feeling lucky today? You should be with Venus finally moving direct – that comes with the territory of being born under the sign of Libra. really know feel in your heart is a stupid thing to do. Sure you’re in your fourth house of home and family. If you’ve been hoping for Keep on being patient. Your ruler Venus finally moves direct this trying to be one of the gang and maybe make some new friends. good news for one or more of your children or even work on a new weekend. Wasn’t it worth the wait? Chances are none of that will apply. arrival in the house it could be right around the cosmic corner.

CAPRICORN AQUARIUS PISCES December 22 — January 19 January 20 — February 18 February 19 — March 20

Being open and allowing other people to see just who you are up While you can avoid something or someone as much as you want Happy days are here again! Venus moves directly over the weekend close and personal is never easy. However, this is one of those times and like to, chances are they want to talk to you. Do you owe anyone and spends the next week in your sign. Time to write all those wrong when showing your true colours denote and allowing other people money? That is something that you may have to deal with this either your other business partner or someone that you will say in to your inner realm and sanctum is a wonderful thing. weekend with Venus giving direct in your money zone tomorrow. things hadn’t gotten off to a start with. Friday, April 14, 2017 GULF TIMES 15 SHOWBIZ COMMUNITY Don’t have much at stake, says Swara on being outspoken

ctress Swara Bhaskar, who is known for being outspoken about her thoughts, says she is not afraid to speak her mind as she“doesn’t have much at stake”. “To be brutally honest, I do not have Athat much at stake. I am not or . I don’t have crores of endorsements to lose. I don’t have the kind of visibility that they do. I don’t have lots of property or companies. What will suff er in my case? And I don’t think Bollywood is that narrow minded that they would not caste me in a fi lm because of what I think,” Swara said. “My producers sometimes get a little like, ‘Swara, can you not say so much?’So now I have a plan. I will say whatever I want to say until there are two months to the release of my fi lm. Then, I will calm myself and I will only post about my fi lm,” she added. The 29-year-old, who has recently delivered a powerhouse performance in Anaarkali of Aarah, will next be seen on screen in romantic comedy Aapkey Kamrey Mein Koi Rehta Hai, directed by Gaurav S. Sinha. The actress spoke about this and more in a candid talk for an upcoming episode of Off Centre on CNN-News18. It will aired tomorrow. — IANS CHILLED: Swara Bhaskar.

RELAXED: Alia Bhatt. I’m a better dancer than my husband: Sanaya Alia Bhatt cool about not moment to celebrate talent,” Alia winning National Award said. Actress , who is currently seen Expressing her joy on winning as a contestant alongside her husband Mohit Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt, the Lokmat Award, Alia said, “It’s a Sehgal on dance reality show 8, says who has just been awarded the great moment. Winning this award she considers herself a better dancer than him. Lokmat Maharashtrian of the Year shows that you are now in the heart “I am a non-dancer. When I was a part of Award, says that she did not feel line of your country. So it’s great.” 8, its judges used to say that a bad for not winning the National Alia was last seen in Badrinath non-dancer came into the fi nals. But now I fi nd Award for Best Actress this year. Ki Dulhania, a romantic comedy this funny that suddenly in Nach Baliye, people Alia’s performance in Udta fi lm directed by Shashank Khaitan are calling me a dancer,” Sanaya said. Punjab was received well by critics and produced by her mentor Karan “Still, I consider myself a non-dancer. It’s and audiences alike. At the media Johar. just that I am a better dancer than Mohit. I interaction after the awards, Asked when she would start feel it will take time for us to understand each reporters expressed their sympathy working for her next fi lm Dragon, other’s dance. It’s hard, but it’s amazing how for Alia not getting a National she said: “Ranbir is here, I will ask our bodies are tuning slowly yet steadily,” she Award. him when he will fi nish his shooting added. “Please don’t feel bad. I am not for Dutt so that we can start the “I have better knowledge of music and going anywhere. There is lot of fi lm, I will go and ask for the dates.” rhythm than Mohit. He has less knowledge in time. I did not feel bad so even you Dragon, a superhero fi lm, will dance, but he is working hard. I am very happy don’t feel bad about it,” the Student see Alia and Ranbir together on that with every week he is improving his skills. of the Year actress said. screen for the fi rst time. Written It is diffi cult for him. Still, I feel he will learn it “It’s a moment to celebrate as and directed by Ayan Mukherji and for sure,” she said. — IANS Hindi and Marathi cinema won produced by , it also so many awards and it’s a very big stars Amitabh Bachchan. — IANS CANDID: Sanaya Irani, right, with husband on a cruise. Fonda, Tomlin hit stride in Grace and Frankie new season of Grace Hanson (Fonda) and Frankie Bergstein this season have gone into business together, challenges of a new marriage, a new home, and By Ellen Gray (Tomlin), who fi nd themselves living together producing and marketing a device designed plenty of old baggage. The blended family’s after their former husbands (Martin Sheen specifi cally for women of a certain age, a adult children — played by Brooklyn Decker, and Sam Waterston) reveal their decades-long project that both exposes their very diff erent Ethan Embry, June Diane Raphael and Baron ane Fonda and Lily Tomlin are back aff air and decide to marry. approaches to work and life and, along with Vaughn — all have solid storylines of their own. for 13 more episodes of Netfl ix’s Grace At least the women got the beach house, a Frankie’s ongoing aff air with Jacob (Ernie But what I love most about this season is how and Frankie, and the third season’s the setting straight out of a Nancy Meyers movie Hudson), allows the kind of age-appropriate Fonda and Tomlin’s off screen friendship has most charming yet. that helps undercut the sadness its title sex jokes TV seldom allows women over 50. continued to bloom into onscreen chemistry. Created by Marta Kauff man — of characters still occasionally experience over the Moving on, too, are Sheen’s and Waterston’s Their characters may have arrived here by FriendsJ fame — with Howard J. Morris, Grace loss of their former lives. characters, lawyers facing tough decisions accident, but they’ve both come to the right and Frankie is about the odd-couple friendship They’ve mostly moved on, though, and about retirement and working through the place. —Philadelphia Daily News/TNS 16 GULF TIMES Friday, April 14, 2017 COMMUNITY From cleaner to Michelin-starred chef: an immigrant's success story

Marte slowly became an assistant By Laura del Rio to the Club Allard’s head chef at the time, Diego Guerrero. He had confi dence in her, but he t is early in the morning at questioned her creativity. Marte the prestigious Club Allard recalls in her book how he once said restaurant, and you can to her: “You’re good, but only with hear the sound of someone somebody like me at your side.” vacuuming between the But Marte was not daunted. In Ichairs and tables. 2013, Guerrero left Club Allard Fourteen years ago, that someone unexpectedly and Marte asked to be could have been Maria Marte, an allowed to take over the kitchen. immigrant from the Dominican When she did, she had to live Republic who began working at through more nasty comments Club Allard as a cleaner. Marte is being made about her. But now head chef, with 15 cooks under six months later, Marte had her. revolutionised the menu and the She has done so well with her restaurant continued to fi ll up with fusion of Mediterranean and customers and receive good reviews Caribbean cuisine that Club Allard from critics. retained its two Michelin stars in Since she began as head chef at the latest Michelin Guide. Club Allard “it has changed in every “So many things have happened way,” Marte says. “It has developed to me so quickly I’m barely taking it an intensity of fl avours that it did in,” she says. “All I’ve done is work, not have before. It has my own seal, struggle and I haven’t been able to the seal of my identity, which is the register success. I remember I’m fusion of Caribbean cuisine with famous when somebody tells me Mediterranean.” about it.” Marte’s innovative cooking has Marte’s story can be summed up created sophisticated dishes – such in three words: “Dream, Struggle, as hibiscus fl owers with potato Cook” – the same three words in starch – that mix the fl avours of the the title of her recently released Caribbean, the Mediterranean and autobiography-cookbook. Asia. Right now, life is so good for Her cooking has gained the Marte that it seems hard to believe attention of Spanish cooking greats the struggles of her past. “Success such as Basque experts Pedro is the result of the seed you planted Maria Marte emigrated to Spain from the Dominican Republic. She always loved to cook and learned to make jams Subijana and Martin Berasategui, so many years before,” she says. “I from her mother as a young child. of whom she speaks fondly in her feel happy when people stop me book. on the street and some people say Marte’s biggest professional to me: ‘I want to be like you some break came in 2015, when Club day.’” Allard held on to the two Michelin It all began in 1976 in Jarabacoa, stars it had already been awarded. the village in the Dominican Now, Marte wants a third star – the Republic where she was born. highest rating Michelin gives. Marte was the youngest of eight “We are working for the third siblings and she always had an star. I know we’re going to achieve interest in cooking. Her mother it. This is an engine that moves us. taught her how to make jams, and We all want three Michelin stars.” she would accompany her father Marte spends so much time in to his work at a restaurant that the Club Allard kitchens that she prepared local food. practically sleeps there. Sometimes Marte gave birth to a son at 16 she works 16-hour shifts, but she and then separated from his father. is always happy to go out to greet Five years later, she had twins with patrons when they fi nish their another partner, with whom she meals. also broke up. For Marte, an outing to a To make ends meet, she went restaurant is “like a grand theatrical to work at a butane gas-bottling performance.” fi rm, as well as painting plaques “We all have to eat, but this is and even setting up a small catering a gastronomic experience. This business. But in 2003 she decided is a performance. At home you to emigrate to Madrid, where her don’t eat 14 dishes. Each dish is an oldest son had relocated to be with experience. his father. She had to leave her two “You are the play’s lead youngest children in the Dominican performer and people want to see Republic. you at the end,” Marte explains. In Madrid, Marte embarked “What we do is very nice and we on the diffi cult path that would have to share it with people.” eventually lead to the heights of Marte is not considering haute cuisine. When she began Marte at the Club Allard restaurant in Madrid, which she has transformed to off er a fusion of Caribbean and returning to the Dominican work as a cleaner and dishwasher Mediterranean food. Republic any time soon. “I think at Club Allard – a job her former there’s still a lot to be done in boyfriend got for her – she became made fun of her and she had to disdain and racism as well as people can look at themselves and Madrid, in Club Allard. The Club known as “La Negra”, or “the black keep badgering the chefs until they jealousy from some of her work think: ‘If Maria was able [to bear it], is a part of my life. I’ve been here girl.” gave her a helper’s spot when one mates. why can’t I?’” she says. “Racism has for 14 years and I owe it a lot. When she fi rst mentioned her became available. But she is not resentful. “I think always existed but I think you should There is a moral and professional interest in cooking, her companions At that time, she had to endure of myself as a mirror in which many not bear grudges – about anything.” commitment.” – DPA