Burqini makes stylish splash

Dear Betsy, I follow your column regularly. Could you pass on the information about where I can find a lady swimming instructor and where can I buy a burqini? Thanks,

Chinn

Dear Chinn,

It is not easy to find a lady swimming instructor, but Pineapple Spa and Bodyline in Saar are two places you can inquire at.

Burqinis are becoming very popular, not just with the more modest ladies, but also as a smart way to protect your skin from the harmful rays of the sun.

You must have missed GulfWeekly's reporter Mai Al Khatib's special report recently on the swimwear on sale at Wave Pro in the City Centre shopping complex close to the Wahooo! water park which is due to open soon.

The Lost World of Dilmun Water Park also sells them in its retail shop and you will find them in Sports Horizon on the first floor of the old Seef Mall.

It is most important that you are wearing safe attire when you swim. Wearing long loose clothes in a swimming pool or the sea is asking for trouble as such clothing could put you in danger.

At least now it is possible to be safe and modest at the same time. Enjoy your lessons.

Dear Betsy,

IF I wanted to eat a food that would help my wrinkles and stop me being old, what one food would you tell me to eat?

K.L.

Dear K.L.

Well, you are not asking for much are you!

The importance of a sound nutritional diet cannot be stressed enough and it would be impossible for we humans to get all the nutrients we require for long-term good health from just one food (apart perhaps from purified seawater, but that's another story, for another time).

However, if I had to choose just one food to fit your requirements then it would have to be cantaloupe melon.

Its ripe luscious orange flesh is packed with vitamins C and A and super protective betacarotene. Vitamin A helps smoothe the texture of your skin whilst vitamin C boosts your collagen and elastin production keeping your skin supple and elastic, therefore reducing wrinkle depth and slowing down the formation of new wrinkles and other ageing signs.

In a previous article, I mentioned that betacarotene, as well as having cancer protective properties, also acted as a natural sunscreen too, a very important point in our part of the world.

Cantaloupe has also been shown to help protect against age-related macular degeneration and cataracts, the latter are common in our sunny climes.

Apart from the above, it tastes delicious served chilled and you can make a wonderful healthy lunch by serving slices of cantaloupe melon, sliced avocado and poached salmon with a spinach and tomato salad with olive oil and lemon juice dressing with a touch of chilli. This is a dish designed to help your skin, your arteries, your brain, your bones, your blood sugar levels and your digestion. Enjoy.

Dear Betsy,

As I know you are Scottish, I thought you might like to know about a grave injustice being done in Bahrain to Scots and those unfortunate people who return to Bahrain with Scottish bank notes in their pockets.

I returned from a visit to Scotland with £600 in my pocket and I went to a finance house in Seef Mall to change them into Bahraini Dinars.

I asked for the exchange rate and was told it was .610 fils . When I gave them my Scottish banknotes they at first said it was not 'pounds sterling' and they could not accept them.

When I insisted, they said they would call their head office and the answer was that they could accept them but would offer me 200 fils less per pound!

I ask you, is this fair?

Doesn't everyone realise that Scottish banknotes are legal tender and not in any way inferior, or of less value, to English banknotes?

I was totally flabbergasted and, of course, refused to accept their ludicrous exchange rate.

I went to their competitors and was immediately offered the normal bank rate.

I just want you to pass this on to your readers and heaven forbid that any visitor to Bahrain would be insulted like this as it just shows total ignorance.

Jock McWallace

Dear Jock,

Well, I got mad just reading your letter! Of course everyone knows that Scottish banknotes are totally superior in quality and value, so I want to know why you were not offered 200 fils MORE per pound sterling! Oops ... I can hear the sharp intake of breath from the hordes of horrified Anglophile readers! Just joking, guys! We accepted you as equals a long time ago; just ask Gordon and Tony (OK, bad joke, I accept that).

I made some inquiries and it seems that a reason for offering you less was that they felt that none of their customers would want to take the Scottish notes so they would have to 'make a loss' on those banknotes.

Mmmm, a likely story.

I have given them the contact details for the Manama and Awali Caledonian Societies and assured them that we would be delighted to take those Scottish banknotes off their hands ... at a reduced rate, of course! Unfortunately, they didn't seem to understand my (highly intellectual) Scottish sense of humour and they put the phone down on me!

It is obvious to me that the Sassenachs have got to them.

I thought Hadrian's Wall fever had been eradicated but it seems it still exists in certain financial enclaves.

On a final note, here is my advice to those exchange houses who try to devalue the Scottish banknote: "Gonnae no dae that".

Official translations can be obtained through the aforementioned Scottish societies.

BETSY SAYS RELAX

BE totally self indulgent. Spend a whole day at home doing absolutely what YOU want. This could be lying in bed all day watching movies, sleeping, reading, cooking, surfing the net and reading the GulfWeekly, or just spending time with those you love. Sometimes, we spend so much time rushing around doing things for our friends and families that we forget to just 'be'. Try it ... but not too often.