I’m so excited to talk about the brand new native experience we delivered to our LandmarkShops customers in India. And even so because it sports Google’s latest visual language — Material Design! Read on at our official Medium blog.
As part of the Landmark Group’s Web Team and my Product Management portfolio includes leading digital engagement channels for Shukran – web, mobile, in-store engagement – and mobile apps for LandmarkShops in UAE & India. More on LinkedIn
Its hard to live in the Middle East and not know about Shukran. After all, its the largest retail loyalty program in the Middle East & North Africa, and I’m proud to lead the program’s digital initiatives.
With 15 million members across 10 countries, thinking about scale has become a habit. And here’s how we solved the problem our members forgetting to carry their Shukran card or discount coupons. Read more about the launch at the Web Team’s Official Blog.
[Update 24-Jun-2016] The Shukran app’s very first time at The Loyalty Magazine Awards won us runner-up position in 2 categories: Best User Experience and Best Coupons Programme. Couldn’t be happier!
As I promised on the Musandam camping post, here’s a complete checklist for your next camping adventure. If you have any favorites that I missed, please note them under comments, and I’ll merge them back.
Barbeque
Barbeque*
Skewers*
Tongs*
Firewood/Coal briquetes*
Matchbox/Jet flame*
Lighting Fuel
Blower/Fan*
Meats/Veggies*
Greasing brush
Plastic plate or metal containers
Clamp grill (for smaller items like prawns & veggies)
Cleaning brush
The flame torch is a blessing! Fires up the coal in minutes
Long weekends are hard to find in the UAE. And with the weather getting better for a change, it was just the right time for camping. As amateurs, Balan & I picked up the entire kit from Lulu and packed it in the trunk. Yes, the camping list is planned for another post.
After a lazy start, we set on the road to Khasab via Ras Al Khaimah. We got a bit lost and instead landed on the road to Jabal Jais – the highest mountain in the UAE. It’s a 30 min detour that goes uphill through rocky mountains and serves a view from the not-so-high summit.
View from Jabal JaisI love bakeries!
We headed back to RAK to join the coastal road and stopped by at a local bakery for a quick bite. The freshly baked pizza & assorted fatayer were just delectable – only to release that the delivery boy had baked them in absence of the chef 😉
Next stop was the border. On the UAE side, we had to park to get exit stamps. This is where they verify that the visa is eligible for visa-on-arrival in Oman. There’s an exit fee of 35Dh per head, only accepted via the e-Dirham card. So if you have one, carry it along. We were given a slip mentioning the number of people & vehicle number which we had to give at the UAE border exit.
Omani Border post
We stopped again in about 100m at the Omani border to get our visas. Lucky for us, there were no queues. The visa fee of OMR 5 (~50Dh) is not accepted in Riyals, so we paid by card. A 30 day permit was stamped in exchange for the fee and a small form. Back in the car, Omani customs took a quick peep in the boot and let us go. 5 minutes in to Oman and the views were heavenly. We were just in time for sunset.
We happened to learn about the Al Ain air championships at a restaurant in MoE. I got Aditi & Bijon to agree to going, and we all loved it. Here are a few shots from the event. For more, follow me on Instagram
After a saddening experience in Izmir, we were back in Istanbul for the last day of our Turkey trip. Weather was once again not reliable, but we still headed to Princes’ Islands after breakfast.
Funiculur to Kabatas
We took the cheapest ferry to Princes’ Islands for 6TL one way.
On the train from Selcuk, I was reading about how close Greece was to Izmir. With daily coast-to-coast ferries, I regretted not planning a trip despite of a valid Schengen visa. On arriving, we were all extremely hungry and headed to a cafe on the main street connecting Basmane station with the coast.
Delicious lahmacun & pide with lentil soup
We noticed an unusual transition in the anthropological scene. Instead of an European influence, we noticed more Arabic features. We saw garment stores selling life jackets & tubes. Some suspicious men were walking in and out of the cafe. In a flash second, all dots connected in my head. Izmir was the starting point for refugee death boats headed to the Greek coast. The unraveling of facts and accompanying images only saddened us.
Our bus from Pammukale took us straight to our seaport hotel in Kusadasi. The view from the room was to die for. But the room itself seemed to have been designed for the 60’s; no one had imagined there would be personal devices that would need additional electric points in the room.
View from our Kusadasi hotel
We negotiated with Ondur the taxi driver, to drive us to Virgin Mary, Euphesus and drop us at Selcuk railway station – for 120TL.
From Kayseri, we got off the bus near Pammukale and were driven to the city on a free feeder bus. It later turned out that this was an agent selling his own local services. We teamed up with Balan & Kavita to rent a car and head straight to Aphrodisias.
Stadium
Panoramic view
We headed back to Pammukale to visit the world heritage site of Hierapolis.
Located on hot springs in classical PhrygiaWalking down through the travertines, barefoot
After a 125 km drive from Kayseri to Cappadocia, we had one of the most beautiful hotels I’ve ever stayed at. Of course, because I never lived in a cave before.
The Artemis Cave Hotel
On enquiring about the ballooon flight, we were told that no flights were being operated on account of weather. We had almost given up, but something made us step in to a travel shop. We were more than delighted to learn that flights were being operated, but in an equal dilemma about spending €100. But we realized it was now or never and booked ourselves. The rest was beyond imagination.
