“What do you think of this ad from Air New Zealand?”

The question, and a YouTube link, came from my friend Bebhinn Kelly, Chief Fashionista at www.hellwafashion.com, and a regular supplier of juicy, thought-provoking and sometimes controversial material for AWR.

I clicked. I watched. I pondered. I considered blogging. I demurred.

That was earlier this week. This morning, I got my daily

The Burj Khalifa (formerly known as The Burj Dubai), the world's tallest building, officially opened today, January 4, 2010.

For the past 12 months, I've lived in its shadow, about a kilometer away from where it towers. Each time I left my not-so-temporary home-away-from-home in Jumeirah 2, one of Dubai's more established areas, I cast my eyes on "The Burj," in all its dubious

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Kikune knelt in front of Fukiko and me, the epitome of grace and beauty in a spectacular melon-coloured kimono.

She was in turn thoughtful, playful and coy, as she answered my questions and shared the trials, tribulations, and joys of fulfilling her dream: to become one of Kyoto’s legendary geisha.

It was a conversation I shall never forget.

One year later, I’ve finally produced the

I was going to start this blog entry with a caveat.

But then I decided it probably wouldn’t do much good – someone somewhere is bound to be offended by what follows. So there are no apologies here. I’ll seek forgiveness later if required.

Before I go any further, a word of advice: whoever you are, wherever you are, register for the next and closest TEDx event within reach (the worldwide

Being a vagabond and a nomad, (a cowgirl on the road as it were), has its up and downs.

On the one hand, travel is all about adventure, experiencing new stuff, and often being outside of your comfort zone – love those bits. Living out of a suitcase, on the other, can quickly become quite tedious – hate that part.

After being "on the road," for almost two months now (in UK, Croatia and

Women In Leadership Forum  25 - 27 October Dubai

 

Women In Leadership Forum is a platform to address the

challenges we are facing and to determine the future. When the

economy is moving forward robustly, most executives focus

on growing sales. But inevitably when the economy slows and

times become tough, most executives turn inward, looking at

how their

Reports today say the completion of the Burj Dubai, the world's tallest building, will be delayed by about three months. It's now slated to open in December 2009 instead of September as planned.

The EXACT final height of the building is apparently still under dispute; some say 818 metres, others say more. One thing for sure the Burj will be in interesting company as I explored in a

As post-election trauma and violence sweep across Iran, the powerfully positive forces of music and dance are also at work transforming our world.

Today, I was exposed to two inspirational musical initiatives, one of which I’d like to share with you now (I’m saving the other one for later).

One year ago today, I wrote my first-ever blog entry (Like A Virgin?), in which I joined "the millions online who share their joys, sorrows, thoughts, ideas, opinions and more, in a worldwide orgy of information."

At the time, I thought it marked the end of a journey, and so I wrote:

Most of the time I’ve traveled alone. I got lost, stumbled, tripped, fell, took wrong turns, and had to