So you’ve decided to move to Dubai or perhaps you are still mulling it over or maybe you've just landed. Here are my top tips:
1. FIND A PLACE TO LIVE: www.dubizzle.com is the best site to help you find suitable accommodation. There are apartments, villas ans shared accommodation listed. You can also check the message boards at the supermarkets called Spinneys. They are updated regularly and have a ton of info listed. You can check this site out before you get here and set yourself up with some places to check out. Remember that you don’t send any money or give any money without getting your contract in order.
2. SETTING UP HOME: Dubai is full of shops from all 4 corners of the globe so it might be a good idea for you to come with limited means and buy the things you need once you are here. It could work out cheaper for you. I lived in a hotel for the first month I was here and took my time to find the right apartment and shopped in stores like ikea, the One, Debenhams, Home Centre, Pan Emirates and various other retail outlets in the Mall of the Emirates and Dubai Mall. It’s always fun go shop at the old part of Dubai, Bur Dubai and Bastakiya to find interested one of pieces.
3. WEEKEND: the working week in Dubai is Sunday to Thursday. Friday is the holy day so the roads are fairly quiet and a joy to drive on. Don’t expect to get much done on a Friday as most, nearly all business is closed. Make the most of your weekend break by going to the beach. Jumeira Beach Park has a 5dhm entry charge and if you don’t want to lie on the sand you can hire a lounger for 15dhm …well worth it! Get to know the city by just getting out and about. It’s the safest city I’ve ever known. It’s very relaxed and as a chick I can tell you honestly that I’ve never felt fearful in all the time I’ve lived here. The desert safari is loads of fun and there are various companies that you can book with. I recommend you buy yourself the Dubai Entertainer which is full of 2 for 1 vouchers and has a few desert safari trips to choose from.
4. GETTING AROUND: hiring a car is easy and taxi’s are cheap. There is also a good bus service and the metro is now active so you don’t have to go by camel these days. Before I bought myself a car I hired one from hertz. There are many companies to choose from.
5. BANKING: having lived in Dubai since 2005 and been involved with various banks I can say that from my experience HSBC is by far the best bank to use. From talking with friends the general consensus is that HSBC is the most reliable service, easy user friendly internet banking and has good offshore banking facilities. www.hsbc.ae
6. GET MOBILE: get yourself a sim card. This is easily done at any mall. Etisalat is the main network provider followed by it’s competitor du. I have always been with Etisalat and my friends who switched to du when it first launched in 2007 have nearly all moved back to Etisalat.
7. DRIVERS LICENSE: British expats have it really easy as we get issued a UAE drivers license just by showing the UK drivers license. As far as I know the USA, Canada and Australia also get issued a license without going through any tests. This site is useful: https://dubaipolice.gov.ae/dp/english/main.jsp?
8. TV: get yourself sorted out with Showtime or Orbit so that you have plenty satalite channels to choose from. I’ve got showtime through du with a landline and a good internet connection which costs roughly 650 dhm/m. Pricey but worth it to have a decent net speed connection and the full tv package. As with sorting out your sim card you can sort your tv preferences out in any of the malls.
9. VISA: this is sorted out by your employer so all you have to do is give your company your passport and they’ll take care of it for you. I’ve heard of some companies who keep a hold of their employees passports but that is against the law so make sure you get your passport back.
10. EATING: there’s nothing I’ve not been able to buy here in Dubai that I would normally have bought in the UK. You’ll find everything that you want between each supermarket; Waitrose, Spinneys, Carrefour, Geant, HyperPanda and various others. Eating out in Dubai is very common. Most people I know eat out on a regular basis.
11. SOCIAL SCENE: A good place to look is www.timeoutdubai.com It is updated daily and gives you an insight to Dubai’s art scene, clubbing scene, what’s on guide, reviews, and it’s where I buy tickets to gigs or events. Dubai is famous for it’s Friday brunches. They are held usually bewteen 12pm and 4/5pm in many of the hotels. They are priced from 120 dhm to 800 dhmand are eat and drink all you want. As you can imagine they are popular with the expats and can be lots of fun. You can get a list of brunches from the timeout site. A really cool thing to do is to go along to Wafi Mall on a Sunday for Movies Under the Stars. They run 2 movies and you grab a bean bag and sit outside. You can get food and drink there. Try Ski Dubai out! Go on… it’s at the Mall of the Emirates. There’s endless things to do in Dubai so enjoy yourself.
12. MANNERS: Finally this is the middle east so be respectful and remember that even though Dubai is very chilled out and cosmopolitan it is still governed by Islamic Law. Get to know the do’s and don’ts. No public kissing, no overt displays of affection in general, don’t show too much skin e.g. don’t walk around a mall as though you just got off the beach, cursing and swearing is not tolerated,no hand gestures, if you want to have booze at home get yourself a liquor license and remember that cohabitation is strictly forbidden unless of course you are married.
Posts
