6:30 am: Up early. Stayed in a hotel in Ras el Khaimah last night, filming a documentary about this emirate that has recently become very famous and popular in the UAE
7:30 am: Meeting with the crew and the director. Discussions about the shoot are non stop and heated. The director thinks the audience would enjoy it more if we provide a powerful sequence of scenes with only my voice in the background (easier for me as well, really!)
8:30 am: We have finally decided to include different scenes from Ras el Khaimah where the audience can hear my thoughts. My commentary will be accompanying every scene.
9:30 am: On Location. No make up, fancy hairdo or fancy clothes required as I will not be showing on air, (to my great relief as I have endured a terrible skin allergy over the weekend and its traces still show on my face)
12:00 pm: Shooting of first part done, as well as my voice recording. We go into our modest transportable studio and put the puzzle pieces together. The director was right! It looks good with somebody explaining the scenes in the background instead of being in the frame the whole time.
1:00 pm: Lunch break please! I am positively starved. I’m off my diet today since my eyes are catching junk food wherever they fall. I have a cheese burger with more or less cold French fries and a huge Kinder/ Banana pancake afterwards. I am investing a lot of my energy into this project today and a woman’s got to eat.
2:00 pm: Change of locations to one of the new resorts here in Ras el Khaimah, a piece of heaven, if I might add. Looks nothing like Dubai’s constantly congested resorts. I wish I could stay here and pamper myself for a day... or a month . . .
5:00 pm: I believe we are now finished. I have a headache at this moment. I no longer want to talk, pause, and repeat. I now practically know every detail of Ras el Khaimah by heart.
6:30 pm: Shot finally approved. The director had a serious attitude all day. Oh well, he always does. I think that’s what makes the crew perform much faster when he’s around. We do NOT like serious attitudes.
7:00 pm: The parade of cars and buses are ready to head back to Dubai. Cameras are all put away and we are dead tired. It’s going to take us a good two and half hours to get back and I might as well just fall asleep in the bus
9:30 pm: The junior producer is waking me up. We’re in front of our building. I won’t even bother to go up to the office so late at night. Walk through the parking, get my car, and head back home
10:30 pm: My couch at last!! Shower and treat myself to a big bowl of hot oatmeal with blueberries, while watching BBC News. No major events going on around the globe today.
12:00 am: Crawl to bed hoping I won’t have a long day at work tomorrow. It’s going to be working in front of the camera tomorrow, my usual weekly program to shoot n the studio with me and my co-hosts interviewing4 very colourful guests and trying to stay witty and engaging and well-informed and intelligent the whole time. Thank God my show is not live!! I think I need a getaway... Ras el Khaimah anyone?
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