Announcing BAGHA Unplugged November 2010

Our first Unplugged event in June received an awesome response, with tunes that ranged from the soulful to the upbeat to the positively hilarious. It was so successful that we decided to do it again in August.

We were amazed. More than 150 people came to show their love for great music, great food and cocktails. And so, we are bringing back Unplugged for you on Thursday 11 November.

Expect three hours of music, a two-hour Happy Hour, Tex-Mex barbeque, and a midnight raffle with great prizes. This is pretty much everything you need for a good time. All you need to do is show up early to grab a seat and a table.

To make sure you can be part of the event, we suggest you pick up tickets (on sale from tonight) as soon as possible.

This Unplugged event is particularly special because it is a celebration of the annual, worldwide United Nations “Universal Children’s Day”. The JAAGO Foundation children’s charity has challenged people to organize fundraising events that will help the 280 underprivileged children at the JAAGO School in Rayer Bazar near Dhanmondi.

BAGHA Unplugged November 2010 is our answer to that challenge.

Our Unplugged events are about relaxing, singing, sharing the love of music with friends, and eating food cooked under the stars. There is no simpler, better way to enjoy life.

Don't miss BAGHA Unplugged November 2010.

~Tickets are 400 taka (BBQ separate). Funds will go to the JAAGO Foundation children’s charity.
~Show an expat club card to enter.

3 reasons to join the BAGHA's welcoming community

If you to join a friendly and diverse community, check out the BAGHA Club.

You can swim, use the gym, receive tennis lessons, sip fresh coffee while enjoying the wireless Internet access, read books from our library, chat with the best staff in Dhaka, and mess around with the digital jukebox and karaoke system. You can spend an entire day here and still not get through everything that is on offer!

The great thing about the BAGHA is choice.

Our menu offers something for every kind of good time. Sizzling steaks. Barbeque chicken pizzas. Bacon sandwiches. The best and best-priced frozen daiquiris you will find anywhere. Shawarmas. Fish and chips. And awesome finger foods. This place is a treasure trove of satisfaction.

If you are new to Dhaka, visit the other eight international clubs, too. Check out their facilities. And spend some time getting a feel for each community because each place has its plus points. The Nordic Club is peaceful and offers great food. The British High Commission Club offers a wonderful pool and beautiful grounds.

The BAGHA is busy.

It is lively and exciting. You can meet people right away, which is great if you have just arrived. You can chat freely with fellow members who can help you settle down by pointing you in the right directions. All you have to do is say hello. And just so you know:

we process applications very quickly so you can get involved immediately. People have received their membership cards on the same day they applied! Just bring your EU passport with a visa, cash or chequebook, and two passport photographs. We will review your documents as soon as possible and call you when we have an answer for you.

You should choose a club that fits your wants. And if you want to settle down quickly and meet people easily, the BAGHA may be the place for you.

Think about joining us. Cheers.

- the BAGHA Club

Remember:

The great thing about the BAGHA Club is choice

The BAGHA is busy

We process membership applications very quickly

Announcing unique day trips for BAGHA members

Bangladesh offers some unforgettable entertainment experiences, though finding them can be a challenge because of a lack of info and advertising. To make things easier, we are bringing entertainment to you in the form of day trips. Join us for our first, a sunset cruise with Contic River Cruises, on Saturday 16 October.

For more info about Contic, check out its Facebook page or Wikipedia article. Contic’s flagship is the B613, a luxurious, 92-foot wooden boat that boasts the largest sails in Bengal. For a glowing review about the sunset cruise on the B613, click here.

Vans will pick us up from the BAGHA at 15:00 on Saturday. We will then travel on an hour’s journey eastward to Savar, where we will first enjoy a tour of the Tara Tari shipyard. Some French engineers there will give us a tour and tell us about their groundbreaking work in Bangladesh.

After the tour, we will board the B613. It includes six double cabins, bathrooms, a kitchen, a great roof and an ever greater deck. Over the course of a few hours, you will have a chance to catch a glimpse of river life, watch the sun go down, and, finally, enjoy a fantastic feast.

We will then return to the boat yard, jump back in the vans, and be back at the BAGHA by 21:30.

The sunset cruise is a wonderful experience. Roughly half of the 30 available tickets are already gone, so move fast.

We hope this will be the start of many, many extraordinary day trips. In the meantime, if you are looking for what else is on offer in this beautiful country, we suggest a copy of the Bangladesh: Bradt Travel Guide. It is fantastic. If you are looking for something online, check out the Been There: Bangladesh Facebook page.

Relax, socialise and be active in a safe and welcoming environment

The British Aid Guest House Association (BAGHA) Club was established in 1979. It is a part of the British High Commission estate and proudly serves a wonderfully-diverse mix of EU nationals.

The BAGHA is a place in which members can enjoy sports activities, relax and socialize in a safe and welcoming environment. It is one of nine international clubs in Dhaka and heartily welcomes members from other clubs every day of the week (after 18:30 on Fridays).

If you are interested in membership, please call 881 4644 or email manager@baghaclub.com. We will be happy to help you in any way we can.

Road 44, House 17, Gulshan (behind the back end of the Westin). If you are travelling south on Gulshan Avenue away from the Gulshan 2 intersection, turn right immediately after Movenpick and Fahim Music onto road 44 and go straight for 200 metres. The BAGHA will be on your right side.

Facilities

• all-day restaurant
• swimming pool and paddling pool
• tennis court and tennis instructors
• children’s play area
• second-floor terrace
• air-conditioned bar
• flat-screen televisions for sports events
• library and DVD library
• digital jukebox and karaoke systems
• wireless Internet access

Opening hours

• 06:30 to 23:00 on Sundays to Wednesdays
• 06:30 to 00:00 on Thursdays to Saturdays

Learn about the next big BAGHA idea: Unplugged

In June, we hosted Colours: a film exhibition, barbeque and unplugged music event. The tunes ranged from the soulful to the upbeat to the positively hilarious. It received such a great response that we are hosting something similar again.

So, get ready for Unplugged. This time round, the music will start earlier, and the theme of the barbeque will be Tex Mex. We suggest that you arrive early (around 19:30) for a good seat, as things will get very busy very quickly.

We think we may be on to a winning formula here here. Great food. Great drink. Great music. And a worthy cause to support. If this event works out as well as the last, we will turn these unplugged music nights into regular monthly features, as the demand for this kind of chilled-out entertainment appears to be tremendous.

Once again, tickets are 400 taka (BBQ separate). Funds will go to the JAAGO Foundation children’s charity. Please help us spread the word.

Helping you settle down into life in Bangladesh

We want to help you feel at home in Bangladesh. Probably the best thing you can do is visit the BAGHA and start chatting with our members, almost all of whom will be more than willing to point you in the right direction and give you ideas that can speed up your integration. The next best thing you can do is check out the links that we have provided below for you. If you can think of any other links that should be included, let us know. Enjoy.

The BAGHA Club Facebook page
A fun, easy way to keep in touch with the BAGHA Club community. Anyone can join, so please feel free to invite your friends and family.

The Been There: Bangladesh Facebook page
Maybe the best Facebook info resource for people who want to find out what is going on in Bangladesh.

HottDhaka.com
Great for restaurant menus. Some of the menus are old, so prices may be higher now.

Bangladesh: Bradt Travel Guide
The best offline resource for info of Bangladesh.

The Daily Star
The country’s largest English newspaper.

Nordic Club

Dutch Club

International Centre For Diarrheal Disease Research Bangladesh (ICDDRB) Traveller’s Clinic

British High Commission Dhaka

Hurry for a chance to join the Colours worldwide film festival!

Join us on Saturday 26 June, when we will host another exhibition of short films to help Big Blue Entertainment and Future Shorts Bangladesh raise funds for the JAAGO Foundation children's charity. The event will include unplugged music, a barbeque, a raffle, and the screening of the World Cup matches. We expect a busy, enjoyable evening.

Tickets are 400 taka (the barbeque is separate). The show will begin at 19:00. Great films, great music, great food. Space is limited downstairs for the films, so move quickly.

Thanks in advance to our raffle sponsors: Ms. Hiro Hisabayashi; Re:Fit fitness studio; Radisson Water Garden; Izumi; Contic Tours; and Nazimgarh Resorts.

Future Shorts is a a worldwide film festival as well as a distributor, sales agent, consultancy service and DVD label. It is recognised by filmmakers, the industry and press alike as the cutting-edge short film label. Its international network currently comprises of more than 60 cities and 18 countries worldwide conducting regular Future Shorts screenings. Future Shorts Exhibition aims to provide an alternative cinematic experience, where screenings are often accompanied by other multimedia elements including live music and rescores, performers and installations. Future Shorts Bangladesh is headed by film director Oniket Alam.

31 days of non-stop, big-screen World Cup 2010 action

The BAGHA Club recently purchased two flat-screen televisions in preparation for theWorld Cup 2010, which will start on Friday 11 June and finish on Sunday 11 July. We enthusiastically look forward to a busy month of fun and football-focused frenzy.

The opening matches will see the home team, South Africa compete against Mexico, and Argentina compete against Nigeria, starting at 20:00 local time. You are warmly invited to the BAGHA Club on this first day of football. A Quiz Night will take place downstairs, too, so we anticipate a nice crowd.

England will play its first match, against the United States, at 00:30 local time on Sunday 13 June. England will play its second match, against Algeria, at 00:30 on Saturday 19 June.

Click here for a full list of the schedule on FIFA.com.

Who wants to wear a silly hat for a great cause?

On Thursday 22 April, the BAGHA Club will host an evening of silliness to help raise money for the JAAGO Foundation children's charity. The idea is simple: bring some silly headgear, and be ready for an evening of pure fun and laughs.

The event will include performances from DJs Ryan and Shezzane, two young and respected artists who have collaborated in the past. Also included are a raffle for great prizes, a burger bar, and a photo booth.

The event will begin at 21:00 and end at 2:00 (last entry is 23:30). All proceeds will go to the JAAGO Foundation.

Joining in the Strange Love worldwide film festival

For the first time, the BAGHA will act as host of a monthly worldwide film festival that is organised by Future Shorts, the world's largest short film network. Short films that revolve around the title theme of Strange Love will be shown over 70-80 minutes. Some will make you think, some will make you laugh, and some will make you squirm in your seat. That’s the idea.

Future Shorts is a short film network, a festival and a DVD label. It accepts submissions from film directors around the world and creates fascinating compilations each month based on one theme. Future Shorts Bangladesh is the local chapter of this worldwide organisation.

Once again, funds from the event will be donated to the JAAGO Foundation children’s charity.

Sponsors this time round include Etihad Airways, Contic Tours, the Radisson Water Garden Hotel, the Re:Fit fitness studio and the Vietnamese Le Saigon restaurant.

Big Blue Entertainment is providing ad support.

Tickets are 400 taka. Don’t miss it.

And we are back online

The BAGHA Club website has been offline since 22 March 2009. After a break of a little less than a year, it is back today, 27 February 2010. Feel free to contact us with your suggestions for improvement.