Dubai - Abu Dhabi

[Naki]

Has anybody here been (or more importantly lived) in Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Qatar? Opinions on the place - what its like etc?

[ardypilot]

Been to the airport in Dubai twice- it was 30 degrees at midnight in July!

Haven't been outside the building walls, but an ex-Emirates crew member who's on my course says its a pretty good lifestyle there, petrol is ridiculously cheap apparently (like 40c NZ a litre, although I don't know if thats an exaggeration or not) and cars are also real cheap, the Pontiac Commodores are only $25k over there, brand new.

I can find out more specific details if you want... are you thinking of holidaying/emigrating there?

[AlisterC]

I've heard the drivers are MAD
It's extremely hot, and very busy.
Labour from Pakistan/ India/ is basically slave labour.
If you are a smoker cigarettes are extremely cheap
You can't buy alcohol anywhere except in a hotel
Homosexual behaviour is a death sentence
Jail for indecent behaviour with a member of the opposite sex in a public place
Good luck finding a McDonalds with beef
Did I mention it's very hot, and the drivers are MAD?
You will however earn good money over there, have plenty of ex-pats from all over the world for company, and can even keep up your skiing hobby indoors.
My insights are from a friend I used to know via the net who lived there, and also staff from my work have spent a few months over there on assignment! Plus news items!

http://englishmanindubai.com/

[Naki]

Thanks for the cool link Alastair and the other info Andrew (yeah would be great to have connection.

Yeah thinking of going over for one, two or maybe three years. Early days yet and may not happen but I have been looking at a job in Qatar and Abu Dhabi. Problem is I would prefer to live and work in Dubai - although I could commute from Dubai to Abu Dhabi every day its sounds rather horrendous (like you said mad drivers, plus big miles) - there is nothing in my line of work in Dubai at the mo. I could live in Abu Dhabi but wow its very expensive (rent etc) and would take a HUGE chunk of my expected income - plus there is a huge waiting list for houses there - one of the most expensive cities in the world whilst Dubai isnt too bad but still fairly expensive.
Qatar sounds a bit too boring, conservative and a bit small and also expensive.

yeah I know about the virtual slave labour, and the heat etc. You can buy alcohol if you hold a alcohol licence which westerners can obtain easily I think. ..and yes the income aint bad (say 3 times the amount I earn in NZ)...if I decide to make the jump..Ill post here ..maybe I can go to the Dubai International Airshow and I can post some pics!

[AlisterC]

Cool, good luck with the decision! I've dreamed of going myself.
Oh one last thing, the internet is a bit erratic over there too! (my guys at work seem to think it appears some sites get blocked by the providers)

[hoki1185]

I know some nurses and teachers who have worked there and had no problems but my brother in law,an experienced electrician went to Abu Dhabi and literally fled the country within a week,such was the difference from what he expected and then what his employers wanted him to do.Guess the further up the gravy train you are over there the better you are treated.Ian

[ardypilot]

QUOTE

Oh one last thing, the internet is a bit erratic over there too! (my guys at work seem to think it appears some sites get blocked by the providers[/quote]
Yeah I was told that all the media sources over there (TV/Internet/Newspapers) are owned and run by the Sheq (sp), so they only allow information through to their citizens that glorifies him and the U.A.E, a bit like China

I'd be interested to hear what line of work you are in Paul, that would make you want to change lifestyles, culture and climate in such a drastic way!

[Bazza]

I have three contacts there....

Two would strongly advise against it. The third is doing ok but would admit that his success was mainly down to a fluke about the time he
was thinking of packing it in.

Big decisions...but what the heck..?

[A185F]

I copied this of somewhere a few years ago, might have been pprune, cant remember but very funny.

Dubai, the best place to live

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This following extract is taken from an American who moved to Dubai earlier this year….
April 30th:
Just got transferred to work and live in beautiful Dubai, UAE! WOW!!! Now this is a city that knows how to live!!! Beautiful sunny days and warm balmy evenings. It’s like New York City minus all the crooks, murderers and drunks. What a place! I watched the sunset from a deck chair on my beautiful bedroom verandah. It was beautiful. I’ve finally found my home. I love it here.
May 13th:
Really heating up. Got to 95 degrees today. Not a problem. Live in an air-conditioned home, drive an air-conditioned car, and everything is fully air-conditioned. What a pleasure to see the sun everyday like this. I’m turning into a sum worshipper.
May 30th:
Had the backyard landscaped with tropical plants today around our lovely pool. Lots of palms and rocks. What a breeze to maintain. No more mowing the lawn for me. Another scorcher today, but I love it here. Heat is no problem at all.
June 10th:
The temperature hasn’t been below 95 all week, even during the night. How do people get used to this kind of heat? At least today it’s kind of windy though. But getting used to the heat is taking longer than I expected.
July 15th:
Fell asleep by the pool. Got 3rd degree burns over 90% of my body. Missed 5 days of work. What a dumb thing to do in this lovely city. I learned my lesson though. Got to respect the ol’ sun in a climate like this.
July 20th:
Kitty (our cat) sneaked into the car when I left for the office. By the time I got to the hot car for my lunch break, Kitty had died and swollen up to the size of a shopping bag and stank up the $60 000 Audi. I told the kids that she ran away. The car now smells like Wiskettes and cat shitte. I learned my lesson though. No more pets in this heat.
July 25th:
The wind sucks. It feels like a giant f...ing hair dryer in here!! And it’s hot as hell. The home air-conditioner died. The f...ing AC repairman charged 500 Dirhams just to drive over and tell me it was broken in f...ing Hindu/English or some language that I couldn’t understand.
July30th:
Air conditioner still broken. Been sleeping outside by the pool for 3 nights now because it is 7000 f...ing degrees inside. Bloody 2,000,000 Dirhams house and we can’t even go inside. Why did I ever come here? F..k the sun. F..k the wind. F..k the freakin’ ocean. And f...ing locals walk around dressed in white tablecloths followed by little black female ninjas. F...ing crazy town.
August 4th:
It’s 114 f...ing degrees today. Finally got the ol’ air-conditioner fixed. It cost 2,000 f...ing Dirhams and got the temperature down to 25, but the f...ing humidity makes the house feel 30 f...ing Dubai degrees. Stupid terrorist repairman. I hate this stupid f...ing place.
August 8th:
If another local wiseass cracks, “Hot enough for you today?â€￾ I’m going to f...ing whack him all the way back to his goddamn desert. F...ing Dubai; by the time I get to work with all that f...ing traffic and heat, the car’s radiator is boiling over, my clothes are soaking wet, and I smell like a baked cat!!!
August 9th:
Tried to run some errands today because it is f...ing Friday. Wore shorts and sat on the black leather seats in my Audi. The seat was so f...ing hot I thought my ass was on fire. I lost 2 layers of flesh and all the hair on the back of my legs and my f...ing ass. Now my car smells like burnt hair, fried ass and baked cat.
August 10th:
The weather report might as well be a f...ing recording. Hot, humid and f...ing sunny. Hot, humid and f...ing sunny. Hot, humid and f...ing sunny. It’s been too hot to do anything for 2 damn months and the weatherman dude wearing the f...ing white tablecloth on TV says it might really warm up next week. Does it ever rain in this damn f...ing place? What is next, a f...ing hell freezing over wave?
August 14th:
WELCOME TO HELL!!! Temperature got to 120 today. Now the air-conditioner’s gone in my f...ing Audi. The f...ing Audi serviceman said, “Hot enough for you today?â€￾ F..k him and f..k Audi. My wife had to spend the 7,000 Dirham to bail my ass out of jail for assaulting that stupid f..king Paki ###### wiseass. F..k Dubai! What kind of a sick demented f...ing idiot would want to live in this shitte hole?
August 15th:
F..k this place. I’m off back to New York.

[Naki]

Oh!..you put me off 185!
I do like heat though but maybe not that much!

Bazza - what happened to your mates why did they leave???

Andrew I'm a commercial property manager - I manage office builings, retail complexes and industrial buildngs...Dubai has some nice, modern and big buildings (including the tallest Bldg in the world..so nothing like here in NZ) that would make my work life more interesting ..plus I have never done an OE (and neither has my wife)..except for a stint in Sydney but I dont call that an OE..also Europe is not to far away from Dubai so maybe a side trip there ...plus it adds a bit of spice to my CV etc etc

[SeanG]

I can only offer some observations from being stuck in Ras Al Khaimah (about 1 and a bit hours North of Dubai) for a few months off and on....
- Expect everything to work on glacial slow time.... They have a phrase "If Allah Wills" which pretty much governs life there... if it's Allahs' Will then it will be, if not.....
- There is a lot of sand
- Drivers are mad, and I mean *M*A*D*, bonkers, nut, crazy, stupid, idiotic. The "Allahs Will" thing comes in here too.. driving along the 311 heading for Dubai, cars will come up behind you, doing easily twice your speed, flash there lights for you to get out of the way, and NOT SLOW DOWN! If it's Allahs' Will, you will move and they'll pass, if not....
- Sand, sand and more sand
- Everything outside the central city is cash, no EFTPOS, no credit cards, cash, in either Dirhams or USD depending on where you are.
- Sand, sand as far as the eye can see (which is about 5 miles in smog)
- Taxi drivers are madder than the average drivers, who are mad as a mad thing. We were in a cab doing over 100mph, coming up to a U turn bay on the motorway, when the guy reached for the handbrake, and started the classic scandy flick! (just about pushed my feet out theough the floor and pulled the hand grip outta the roof!)
- Did I mention the sand? On the ground, in the air, in your clothes, on your car, IN your car....
- Everything is broken. Even the shiney new Emirates Terminal, which probably cost a squillion dollars to build, and is really really new, is falling apart. Flouro lights not working, cracks in the walls etc....
- Sand sand and more F&*&^ sand!
- No building regulations...... Buildings have a strange habit of just falling down... one trip we saw the results of a building, which was being built, falling OVER, into the vacant lot next door.
- I did cover the sand thing didn't I?
- Some of the strangest laws on the planet... like If one of the Royal Family gets snapped by a speed camera, the fine will actually go to someone else, seemingly at random, even if they weren't there!
- Oh, and the sand thing...
- If you are in an accident with a Royal, it's you fault. End of argument.
- There may be sand.
- The internet is heavily censored. You can go to youtube and see some clips, but if there is an add on the page which breaches there "moral code" then the page will be blocked.. they are continually blocking VOIP, because ETISALAT (the only phone and internet provider) wants to market it's own VOIP....
- Yep, sand
- There is a winter, which is cooler, like high teens to mid 20's. Problem is; that's about the temperature that the flies like......
- Sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand ..... oh and sand
- No cooked pig... ham or bacon. Even if you don't eat the stuff here, you will start craving it when you can't have it! Expect Veal and Chicken... a lot!
- It is a wee bit "sandy"
- Their flag carrier isn't as good as everyone claims (In my humble opinion anyway.... lots of things have been broken on almost every flight I've had with them!)
- And the sand.....


Now... While I say all this negative stuff, of which I have more if you really want to hear it... I actually loved the place! I hate the heat, and was there in the middle of summer, when it was hitting 45ºC I didn't think it was that bad.
Yes the drivers are bad, yes the migrant workers ARE treated like slaves, yes the place is falling apart and there are weird laws, BUT, man is it a different world. If you are talking OE, and aren't bound to a job there for a set period I say, "GO", hell you can always come back!

My feelings about the place are biased because of the fact that I was stuck out in the desert, away from family and friends, and working every minute that god gave. But even after all of that, I remember standing in front of the hotel watching the sun set over the desert thinking "how amazing, I am standing here in the middle east!". Pretty special for a small town kiwi

Go and see I say... oh and have you thought about Al Ain instead? Cheaper than Abu Dhabi, and also has a cool airshow ;-)

Sheikh SeanG
Pacifc Simulators - RAK Division ;-)

[Ian Warren]

The Sandy Sheikh ' SANDMAN" SeanG has spoken to Allah for you Naki , I have one question both myself and Paul here Sheikh SeanG , You did not spot David Hasselhof and Pamela Anderson running half naked thru the sand dunes

ACHMID .. I kill you !

[SeanG]

QUOTE (Ian Warren @ Mar 7 2009, 03:20 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The Sandy Sheikh ' SANDMAN" SeanG has spoken to Allah for you Naki , I have one question both myself and Paul here Sheikh SeanG , You did not spot David Hasselhof and Pamela Anderson running half naked thru the sand dunes

ACHMID .. I kill you !

Well I did get to the beach once, place called Al Hamra, some very very nice scenery there too... mostly european, (eastern)
But no Pammy or Hoff ;-)

Oh, and for plane spotting, if you like dirty old classics, as I do, go to Ras Al Khaimah and have a look at the Volga fleet, IL-76's quietly rotting in the sun, B737-200's ex Egyptair (now painted white, with US Reg), a B727-200 which no-one know who owns... an early turboprop Gulfstream (less propellors....) a couple of CRJ-200's, some Russian Mi-2's (I think these used to be the RAK Poilce wing, now replaced with Bell 412's) and the biggest fleet of L-1011 Tristars I have ever seen! Oh, and operationally, there are more IL-76's, AN-124 (came in one day, left the next), Il-18 turboprop electra rip-off, B747-200's, and Heavylift Airlines' DC-8's
One quiet day, a B747 with no markings at all arrived overhead, flew circuits for an hour or so, then vanished.... based on the quality of the approaches, I'd say someone's 4 year old had borrowed the keys to daddy's 747!

SeanG

[Ian Warren]

Based on your plane spotters guide 'the airport experience' , think Paul may just go their just for that ... i'm packing already

[A185F]

I'm getting the impression that there is some sand over there, a fair bit infact....

[SeanG]

QUOTE (A185F @ Mar 7 2009, 09:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm getting the impression that there is some sand over there, a fair bit infact....

Now that you mention it... yes, I think there was sand ;-)

have a peek at: http://picasaweb.google.com/NZ6258/UAETrip for a few snaps I took on the August/September trip... I have more from the October, and January trips I need to upload as well..

SeanG

[Ian Warren]

Great viewing , thanx Sean , and one hell off a insight , this place is not for me , looks like the Arabs are out of there depth .. trying to hard to be Hollywood .

[greaneyr]

I'm with Ian. If for no other reason than the extent to which "Allah's will" rules their lives. Not being at all a spiritual person, that would really annoy me after a very short time.
"Alcohol Licence" ?? I'm just trying to think what questions they'd ask during the test.

It really looks like they've colonised an area that man shouldn't have bothered trying to live in!

[deaneb]

QUOTE (SeanG @ Mar 7 2009, 11:38 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Now that you mention it... yes, I think there was sand ;-)

have a peek at: http://picasaweb.google.com/NZ6258/UAETrip for a few snaps I took on the August/September trip... I have more from the October, and January trips I need to upload as well..

SeanG

Great pics Sean - must have been a great experience. Actually I couldn't help but notice you mentioned sand at least once I think.....when you look really carefully at some of the pics you can actually see some !! So I believe you.

AT the end of the day - working over there is up to the individual, if you want to make the big bucks then there are some things you need to sacrifice. I had family that worked in Brunei - same story, it seems all the fabulously wealthy countries are not easy for westerners to work in ! Saudi also springs to mind

[cambridgedan]

QUOTE (deaneb @ Mar 8 2009, 12:34 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Great pics Sean - must have been a great experience. Actually I couldn't help but notice you mentioned sand at least once I think.....when you look really carefully at some of the pics you can actually see some !! So I believe you.

AT the end of the day - working over there is up to the individual, if you want to make the big bucks then thaere are some things you need to sacrifice. I had family that worked in Brunei - same story, it seems all the fabulously wealthy countries are not easy for westerners to work in ! Saudi also springs to mind

They are nice pics.

What i do know about Dubai is that they are starting to struggle for money.
All the work projects have slowed down now.