photos: Ghada Abd El-Kader A memorable National Day reception was held at the Conrad Hotel,with the yemeni ambassador Abdul-Wali Al-Shamari -- who held the reception -- and sampled the delights of Arabian cuisine. My colleague Ghada Abd El-Kader spent time with my good friends Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni, Minister of Social Affairs Ali El-Moselhi, Italian Ambassador Antonio Badini, Political Adviser to the President Osama El-Baz, head of the Council of the Arab Economic Unit at the Arab League Ahmed Geweili, head of Yemeni Embassy Media Office Khaled Al-Sudi, actresses Afaf Shoeib, Fardous Abdel-Hamid and Jala Fahmi, writer Neam El-Baz, the head of Garden City Lions Club Awatef Serageddin, lawyer Rita Badreddin and poet Aza Badr. PA long-standing and warm 50 years of friendship between the two countries brought the Chinese Ambassador Wu Sike together with General-Director of Museums and Exhibitions Fayza Abdel-Moneim. They inaugurated of a most memorable exhibition at the Plastic Arts Hall of the Cairo Opera House, where my lovable friend Opera House Director Abdel-Moneim Kamel appeared to be in his element. It featured over 100 fine art photographs, dears, and what a beautiful way to stress the connection between two ancient cultures. Latino singing talent and heartthrob Ricky Martin is going to have his first concert in Egypt on Monday at the Media Production City. Be sure not to miss it my lovelies! The Spanish Embassy hosted a most thrilling evening of flamenco fusion, with the Spanish band Màrtires Del Compàs playing together with the very popular local band West Al-Balad. Held at the Cairo Opera's Nafoura Theatre. It brought together an astonishing mix: blues, jazz, pop, ranchera, rap, reggae, rock. An evening to remember, dears. This week, my lovelies, Cinema Palace in Garden City was the site of "Star and Seminar", one of a delightful series that afforded me the wonderful chance to catch up with the love of my life, veteran media figure Samir Sabri. Not only that, dears, but it was conducted by another excellent friend of mine, the inimitable Nader Adli, who drew the most gripping tales out of Sabri -- singer, presenter, producer and lead actor in over 85 films... A graduate of Victoria College -- well, that I knew, as well as his being an Alexandrine -- Sabri had spent a good part of his youth doing Shakespeare at Oxford. Close as I am to the star, I would never have suspected that. The event was crowned by a screening of Sabri 's 1992 film, Dumou Sahibat Al-Galalah (Her Majesty [the Press's] Tears). On the premises of Child Cancer Hospital 57357, Proctor and Gamble offered the organisation a donation of LE500,000 to the sound of music, dears. And what a delightfully surprising evening it was, with performances by Wama team and coterie of attendees including Neam El-Baz, Proctor and Gamble representatives Mohamed Samir, Mohamed Seada and Mohamed El-Tohami, as well as Director of Scientific Research and Foreign Relations at 57357, Khaled Abul-Naga. To celebrate 37 secondary school students' year abroad in the US, cultural attaché Elizabeth Thornhill hosted a party in the garden of her spacious villa in Maadi, honey bunnies. And what a party that was, attended by all 37 of those promising youngsters and their families, with my good friend the US Embassy Cultural Counsellor Haynes Mahoney present to congratulate the students on their excellent academic profiles and to tell them they would be Egypt's envoys in America. But it was largely the presence of my very good friend Sherifa Bahaaeddin -- national director of the Andrew File System (AFS), under whose auspices the exchange programme is taking place -- that made the event so delightful. photo: Ayman Barayez Had you come along to the very beautiful Barbie 's latest fashion show at the Four Seasons Nile Plaza, not only would you have had the delight of seeing that gorgeous friend of mine, the model-cum-actress Madeline Tabar, you would also have had a better chance of knowing what to wear to Ricky 's concert.
