Good times rolling on and getting bigger, as Ol'blighty calls, fish and chips on the menu
Hedonistic times rolls on. Partying, buffets and free flowing travels adding to the rollicking mood with gay aplomb.
Caution gets thrown to the wind in such times, everyone thinking that partying and moneymaking will never end. Gaiety is in the air. Everyone is talking big. Visions are exploding megafolds.Dubai is transforming to be the next Manhattan, Monte Carlo, Singapore and what have you. Talking mundane is so offputting. Deals are being cut and dealmaking is just rudimentary, it happens naturally, no prerequisite skill is mandatory.
Whoa! Those heady days. Just sit in an upmarket plaza and you have dealmakers, investors, business agents, mortgage financiers and lenders coming from all corners of the world. You have a professional from Singapore, a businessman from South Africa, a Londoner couple who just used their house as ATM to release a chunk of monies...all with a single minded pursuit of wanting a slice of action, a slice of Dubai.
I too had a foot in the local reality market, while going in the opposite direction to the north of England. A place familiar to me where I had undertaken my MBA qualification. In the previous year, I had already put my foot in the door after getting my investors to buy ten offplan units in Bradford, being built by the renowned Miller Homes.
Times were exciting. I secured a large building leasing deal done in the International City development, designated in the freehold area of Dubai. Freehold in the simplest terms, denotes to an area where non-UAE nationals can buy and sell real estate. My position as profit centre head in the company got further strengthened.
We were looking to spend our summers again offshore, post the aborted Seychelles trip, after returning from attending my sister inlaw's wedding back home.
My superlative half had a charm for the Ol'blighty. A natural flow out of the school curriculum that sets many of the stories in English lessons on England's sprawling canvas. Over the hills, dale and meadows; the merry month of May etc are some of the unforgettable rhymes and sentences that transports a schoolboy/girl to a bewitching English backdrop.
She also wanted to check out my alma mater ( ascertaining if the qualification I am holding, was indeed obtained in a bricks and mortar business school). Well, jokingly she put forward her reasoning across. I too wanted to visit Bradford and assess the development by Miller Homes, as investors were becoming anxious here. So, business, longing and the summer's oppressive heat in Dubai, converged on cementing our travel plan to the Ol'Blighty.
Night time travel in Etihad Airways flight from the Abu Dhabi airport, took us to Manchester after a seven hour straight flight to the northwest of the globe.
We landed at around noon time at the Manchester airport. All smooth, except a pesky police dog who unsuccessfully tried to sniff out a sweetmeal packet, embedded somewhere in our packing.
We were booked in a Travelodge accommodation close to the airport. A van from the accommodation took us to our lodging. Everything went like clockwork. We took overnight rest and headed to the city centre by a local bus.
It was a whirlwind tour that encompassed business meetings in Manchester, site visit to Bradford and a detour to Scotland through New Castle upon Tyne. Dunfermline was our lodging destination from where we did a tour of Edinburgh.
All throughout the tour my exquisite half wanted to try out the local, globally famous fish and chips takeaways, developing a liking for it. I encouraged her to savour the dish to her heart's content.
We visited our almamater the Leeds University Business School, now housed in a 1568 AD grammer school building. There we met the then Director of our business school John Hilliard who did invite us for a dinner.
Fish and chips, however, remained our staple diet. Not surprising that UK has around 11,000 Fish and chips outlets against 1200 McDonald's and 840 KFC stores. 80% of Brits have this dish every year with 22% buying it every week. Quintessentially, its UK's favourite dish, beating Chinese and Indian foods to the top.
However, there's a darker side to the unlimited consumption of this favourite dish.
In a 2018 study, published in the Journal of Internal Medicine, A study of more than 420,000 people found too much fried fish is much worse for women than men.The largest analysis of its kind found regular meals of fish, particularly oily products rich in omega-3 fats such as salmon, sardines and mackerel, cut deaths.Those in the highest 25 per cent for consumption - more than about six ounces a week - were more likely to die over the 16 year study period. It increases their risk of dying from an infection by around a third. Death from heart disease, respiratory illness or any other cause is also more likely.
But this was not the case when it was fried - particularly for women.
Lead author Professor Ying Zhang, of Zhejiang University in China, said: "Women in the highest quartile of fried fish intake had three per cent higher all-cause mortality, five per cent for cardiovascular disease mortality, 11 per cent for respiratory disease mortality and 32 per cent for infections mortality."
This was compared to those who those in the lowest 25 per cent of fried fish eaters, having it about once a month or less.
A medium serving of fried cod or haddock has 838 calories and 9.42g of fat.
Whoa! Shivers my timber. The lopsided taste buds could actually push the eater into a downward spiral. Lights out!
Time to return to Manchester and the same Travelodge on our flight back to Dubai.
Simmering heat greeted us, as we alighted out of the airport. Ol'blighty had been a seemingly fairytale visit, although smeared by the vociferous intake of fish and chips that pushed our belly buttons to their ultimate limit.
Now, back to the groove. Restarted marketing two new offplan developments i.e. Stalybridge, followed by Durham. Both didn't take off and the developers cancelled the show after the investors had deposited their monies.
So, I translated the inferences I had gathered from my England visit in offering my investors low priced terraced houses. I christened them as 'the Cinderella of England's property market'.
The show goes on.
Unfolding the chime of the time roll, as we head to a critical year next. Keep discovering the unpeeled layers.
If you found this article interesting then please contribute on:
https://ko-fi.com/shariqthedolphin
References
https://www.nfff.co.uk/pages/fish-and-chips
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10437108/fish-and-chips-favourite-takeaway/
https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/eating-fish-chips-take-years-1803395?int_source=amp_continue_reading&int_medium=amp&int_campaign=continue_reading_button#amp-readmore-target
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/252029/Danger-in-weekly-fish-and-chips?int_source=amp_continue_reading&int_medium=amp&int_campaign=continue_reading_button#amp-readmore-target
Comments
Post a Comment