UAEASY

Going on to your husband’s visa (in Dubai)

2014-02-07T14:50:00.003+03:00

This, like everything, is easy to do, but long-winded, I’ve just rounded up the figures so don't judge my maths. The point is, is a lot of money!

The first and possibly most important thing to do is have your marriage certificate translated into Arabic and both versions attested by the UAE embassy in your home country, a notary and the UAE Ministry of Justice in the UAE.

You can get a company to do this for you and will cost around £300 or about 1500 dirhams, it takes around 6 weeks. This is the best way, since it would be more expensive for you to do it yourself, as you would have to go back to your home country, and that isn’t always easy to do!

If your company isn’t paying for your visa, it’s quite an expensive procedure- roughly around £600 or 3500 dirhams. Once you have the attested marriage certificate, take it to a reputable typing centre along with yours and your husband’s passport copies and 6 of your passport photos.

They will make an application for you, which you will have to take to the DNRD office. At the DNRD office you will need to take your DEWA bill and tenancy contract and pay for these to be attested at the marked counters. Every single thing will need to be signed by your husband.

Once this is done, you will need to wait in a LONG line of 3 hours to have your documents checked, stamped and put into the system. You could also do this in the ladies only section, but they are extremely difficult to deal with. I have complained to the DNRD about this and apparently they are dealing with it.

Now you have to take the printed pink slip you get from the DNRD and take it to the typing centre with some passport photos and I think around 700 dirhams.

A medical form is then typed up for you. This has to be taken to the approved health centres with 2 more passport photos, where you will have to do your medical tests for hepatitis and TB. Once your medical has been approved, you will get a confirmation sent to you via Fedex.

Now you will need to have your Emirates ID card papers written up at a typing centre for more money. This will all have to then be taken back to the DNRD, with the pink visa page you were given and your passport, where your visa will have to be stuck in your passport. The Emirates ID card is done separately at the Emirates ID office and will be left at a post office (usually Karama) for you to pick up.

I hope I haven’t forgotten any of the steps, I last did this in December; if I have, please message and let me know!

Biker's Cafe

2013-11-13T21:39:00.004+03:00

I don't usually do this but a while ago, Biker's Cafe asked me to review them. God knows why they care what I think- @HHShkMohd goes there so there must be some appeal. I didn't want to let them know when I was going, to remove any obvious bias, plus I've been meaning to try it out for ages.

Anyway when a friend of mine told me she was doing the Dubai thing to be an hour late for our date, I thought I may as well go check it out and double up as a venue for Comedy Dubai.

First impressions:

When I entered the restaurant and said I just needed a table for one, I was greeted by a raised eyebrow: "Only?"
Me: "Er, yes, is that a crime?"
I suppose if I wasn't me, that sort of comment may have put me on edge, so that needs to be addressed.

The vegetarian selection is reasonable but not so lucky for vegans: Pizza, pannini, nachos, 2 types of veg soup and breakfast served till 3pm with things like French toast.

The location is good, right next to the beach and easy to find, quite a lot of parking in a sandpit across the road.

I decided to go for the green mango salad - because it needed to be light and I do a green mango salad with lemon and chilli and if it's even slightly as good as mine, then it gets 5 stars

The service was good; drinks were on the table within a minute/ the food took 8 minutes with a pretty substantial portion size.

The mango salad tasted amazing, as good as mine, right amount of everything including . Brilliant blend of flavours and the calamari was cooked to perfection, so easy to get it wrong

Clientele - a mix, very normal, very Dubai- everything from traditionally-dressed Emaratis, to old Englishmen and students

Anyway the experience was good, so I decided to go again with my sister and a cousin visiting from South Africa, during an in-between time on his way to the airport.

I had the green mango salad again - it wasn't as nice this time, because they skimped on the calamari and used green instead of red chillies, but my cousin had a booster sandwich which he described as "tops". That means good.

We also had fries with chilli powder on them which were perfectly done, and according to my sister, the Mexican hotdog was amazing- I have never seen her finish what's on her plate in a restaurant before... But it was also the reason why she had zero space for dessert, which I think is madness.

My dessert was SO good -sticky toffee pudding, with a bit of toffee in a lava fountain in the middle and strawberries and ice cream on the side- I would go back just for this.

My cousin didn't have the same luck with his slice of cheesecake, which was dry.

And amazingly, the mint tea was real...like with actual mint. I LOVE it when there's real mint.

All in all, while I'm not convinced by the biker theme and think it's basically a restaurant in Jumeirah, but I would go just for the food and the fact the beach is 1 minute away adds to the appeal.

For me, obviously the appeal is while there are lots of waiters, they are attentive but not hovering and annoying like every single other place in Dubai including my favourite take-out place Carluccio's

Ramadan Dos and Don’ts

2013-07-03T09:20:00.000+03:00

Ramadan is coming up and I feel quite reflective. Also, I’m helping a friend out with a Ramadan presentation to UAE newbies and thought I’d try to give UAE newbies who may come across this blog a bit of understanding of how to deal with coming to the UAE in Ramadan for the first time. As always, I am aware its with a little bit of my own bias, because I do fast and I like it....also this is my blog so I’m allowed to say whatever I like :-)

There are a lot of preconceptions and misconceptions about the “holy month” that I hear which is down to ignorance. The most common is an incredulous: “I can’t believe you can’t have sex for a whole month” I mean seriously, Islam was started off in red-blooded Arabia, do you really believe that’s the case? Also, I’m not going to try to correct you when you’re so daft.

Ramadan and fasting is about abstinence but not just abstinence of food and drink from sunrise to sunset. It’s also about abstinence from bad habits. When I was younger, my spiritual teachers would say that it’s very easy to become angry, give in to your urges and tell someone where to get off for being a moron.

It’s not so easy, however, to be calm and treat that person kindly and that’s why you should take the harder route. Think about it: who benefits from you losing your temper? Not the said “moron” and certainly not yourself.
(This is advice I try increasingly to follow and I have to say thank you to UAE customer service people, you have done wonders for my patience, especially you, Du. Thank you from the bottom of my heart and thank you twitter for giving me a space to vent so I don’t have to head-butt anyone :-) Btw, the secretvent blog is very good if you want to have a loud but confidential rant, I regularly think of quite a few things to vent about during the week and then usually someone else puts it up, which is still satisfying!)

Some of the Don’ts

1. Eat, smoke or drink (even water) in public – malls, service stations, office, your car, even most gyms and beaches don’t allow this

2. Play offensively loud music at any time of the day – including in your car

3. Dress provocatively – this is a rule for the entire year but people are more sensitive to this kind of thing in Ramadan

4. Swear or be aggressive – and especially not at anyone. Ramadan is a time for reflection and meditation and this could be seen as a sign of direct disrespect to people who are trying to maintain this.

5. Complain of the fact that the nights are dry, or regale people with your stories of house parties where you got drunk last night. The fasting person wants to keep in the pure and meditation zone and doesn’t really care (and if its me, then I don’t care even if I’m not fasting.)

NB: While following these rules may be good to help one understand and be sensitive of the culture here, please note a lot of the above is the law, and anyone caught breaking it could be find up to 2000 Dirhams or put in jail for a month.

Do Get Involved

1. Accept invitations to iftar – what better way to understand the culture than to first hand see the benefits of families getting together. The Sheikh Muhammad Centre for Cultural Understanding has traditional Emiratiiftars with a Q&A after it if you want a local flavour to the month http://www.cultures.ae/

2. Be understanding of the fact that people are not eating, smoking, having their regular doses of caffeine and have also stayed up a large part of the night in prayer. They are bound to have a withdrawal headache of some sort, be slightly dull and/or possibly irritable.

3. Give charity – why not?

4. Try fasting for a day – if only to get an understanding of what your fasting colleagues are experiencing

5. Use wisely the 2 hours extra of your working day that you are legally required to get off in the UAE. In my case and some other media people, we add up the hours and get days in lieu which we can add up and take as holiday – it works out to about 4 days extra for that month, which is amazing.

Fasting (from food, swearing etc ) is an activity like yoga; it starts of extremely difficult and the more you do it, you realise suddenly that you can accomplish exercises that 6 months or sometimes even 6 days ago seemed like climbing a mountain. Each time you make it harder for yourself, because it feels good to conquer your own inadequacies and it feels good to know you can do anything and YOU are the controller of your body and feelings.

The fasting person is encouraged not to swear, become angry or aggressive. They are encouraged to be even more mindful of people’s feelings, be kind, give charity every day- more than once if possible, do all of their five prayers (which they should do anyway) and a massive extra one in the evening.

The fasting person is supposed to cultivate better manners and try to develop at least one good character trait that they can nurture during Ramadan and then keep for the rest of their lives and I don’t think there is a more beautiful way of living than trying to better person

Cake shop reviews

2013-06-16T08:36:00.001+03:00

Just for the record, I want to make it clear that any reviews in this blog are just my own personal experience and I’m not paid for any of them. Also, the places I’m going to aren’t aware that they are being reviewed and while I have been invited to numerous places to review (all of which are on a list) I will not let these places know prior to going and I will pay for everything out of my own pocket just so the review is non-biased. Also, I base my reviews more on customer service than anything, so if I get great customer service somewhere, then I am loyal to that place and will not go anywhere else if my life depended on it.

If you want to suggest any places for review, let me know and I will try to fit it in during the coming weeks/months!

So the three cake shops are:

· Sugaholic http://sugaholic.com/contact/

· Choco’a http://www.chocoa.ae/en/contact-us/contact-us

· Brownie Point http://www.browniepointuae.com/contact_us.php

The cake for my wedding party came from Sugaholic

I had some issues:

1. When my friend and I walked into the store, we were ignored for the good part of 15 minutes. When we were finally seen to and asked questions about the kind of cake we wanted, it turned out the person we were speaking to was not the right person. The right person was I presume the lady who owned the store and was doing something on her laptop still ignoring us.

2. When the laptop lady was told she would have to deal with us, she left us to our own devices for a bit to do something else. This was slightly annoying but I needed to book a cake that day and I was already there.

3. She came back and went into a detailed discussion about what the cake could look like and excitingly for me took pictures of my husband and I, so that she could model the figurines on us – this turned out to be a COMPLETE waste of time because as you can see neither of figurines look like either of us.

4. There was zero tasting offered and I bought my own cupcakes to make sure the taste was good enough. Normally, I wouldn’t mind this, but for a wedding party cake, you have to agree this is off.

5. The cake I bought was for 40 people, 2 layers and cost 570 dirhams- it both tasted and looked great.

The customer service issues were minor in the grand scheme of things but it is a huge selling point for me. So, based on customer service, location, design and taste, I’m going to give them 5/10 and will only go in to book when I have lots of time to spare…sadly this is hardly ever.

Brownie Point

My friends had ordered a cake for me from this store on the day of my bachelorette party and it tasted quite nice. Also, since I didn’t want to go all the way to Bur Dubai to deal with the Sugaholic lady who would make me wait, I decided to go to the Barsha branch of Brownie Point. I had been at work since 5am so I was really hoping to walk in and out since I sort of knew what I wanted, if I could just have a quick discussion with someone who would be able to tell me what was on offer. I also REALLY needed something chocolatey right at that moment. This is part of a letter I sent to Brownie Point (Which makes a big deal of customer service) shortly after walking into that store- with the response.

I just walked into your Barsha Store. There was nobody behind the counter, when I had called out for someone, a man turned up and asked if I wanted help. He said I needed to wait for 2 minutes- which was obviously 5.

He came back and asked what I would like, as I was discussing it, he said he needed a few more minutes and went off again leaving me with pictures to decide what I needed.

I chose my cake and sat patiently for a bit. Finally I called out again, he appeared as if it was a shock I was still there and again asked me to wait a short while.

I did, but my patience was waning, I wake up at 4am for work, I don't want to hang about doing nothing in my free time after it.

I called out to the man again, he didn't appear so I left.

Response from Brownie Point:

Hello Mam

I am extremely sorry and sincere apology for inconvenience caused

to you at the store. Saw you crossing the road and could not stop you.

Please provide me your cell number to book the order.

Once again sorry for this mishap.

Thanks. Anthony

You could not stop me? Really? I don’t really remember you trying to stop me. Weird. Also, you want my cell number to book the order- are you joking? I got another email from Brownie point asking me to book the cake but deleted it as I had already booked one somewhere else. Anyway, since I have tasted the cakes here before they get points based solely on that taste experience and design 5/10

The same day I was ignored in Brownie Point, I went into Choco’a down the road from them in Barsha– it took a total of 3 minutes to book my personalised cake, which was ready on time, when I went in 2 days later and tasted AMAZING. I ordered the Chocolate Ganache for 10 people-more than 20 people ended up having a slice and it cost a grand total of 200 dirhams. This is the bargain of the century, as far as I’m concerned. Also two days later, it still melted in the mouth- and tasted simply heavenly with a chunk of ice cream.

Choco’a gets 9/10 for taste, customer service and price and loses a point on the variation of design, but from now on, this is where I shop for party cakes.

Booking a Dhow Cruise exclusively for your party – Part II

2013-06-15T13:59:00.000+03:00

The cruise was extremely enjoyable, the food was great except for dessert which was awful. However, we had our own cake, which made up for that. It’s good to note that every one of my guests who had to speak to Rikk’s Managing staff (Except for the aforementioned Pooja) told me that they were incredibly rude. I experienced this myself with one of the managing staff before getting on the boat. The staff on the boat itself were helpful and efficient. Either way, the experience was not ruined. Rikk’s had booked a Tanoura dancer for the cruise, even though I had cancelled it prior to the event- so we were all a bit surprised when he turned up in his gear. We had to cancel him again though, since he would have interfered with the picture-taking and cake cutting.

The mic system was not state of the art- but we didn’t need that, so it worked fine for our short speeches.

I’ll upload a picture of the cake as soon as I have one (I, personally, didn’t take any on the cruise!) especially since I have a review of 3 cake companies including the one I got the wedding party cake from.

Booking a Dhow Cruise exclusively for your party - Part 1

2013-06-08T15:41:00.000+03:00

This may sound like an amazing way to have a party. I thought so too, when I was searching for a venue to have a party with some close friends in Dubai who would not have been able to attend my wedding in the UK. A colleague sent me a website she came across for a Dhow Cruise company, I gave them a call and while the guy I spoke to was quite vague about everything, he seemed efficient since I got an email very quickly after our conversation. He said the finer details would all be sorted out closer to the time. He told me I could have up to 110 on the boat – I said it would be 50-65 (This will become relevant) He said that was perfect since I had to pay for 65. So my party was booked within 20 minutes.

Four days to go and I hadn’t heard a word from this man including the food that would be served (I had mentioned that a lot of us would be vegetarian) and whether I could have my own music etc. Also, I wanted to make clear that I didn’t want a cheesy belly dancer or any of that sort of thing.

The conversation was completely not what I was expecting. As we spoke, it turned out the air-conditioned part of the boat was specifically for 50 people. This put me in a massive panic, since it would mean 15 of my guests would have to be outside in the 35 degree heat- Our conversation was as follows after that- I HAD to make a record of it because this guy seemed crazy:

Me: “Why was I not informed of this before? If you had informed me, I would have only invited 50 people or less. You could have said that I had to pay for 65 but could only have 50 in the AC section or at least made me aware in some way”

Him: “Why didn’t you ask me? You said you wanted 65 people and we can accommodate up to 110”

Me (My voice raised slightly): “I didn’t know I HAD to ask, I assumed you would use common sense and realise I wouldn’t want 15 people out in the heat”

Him (Shouting): “How dare you speak to me like that? Its your party, you should know what questions to ask.”

Me (Quite Irate now): “Well, sorry, but I had no idea that you would be incompetent. I think you need to realise that you’re speaking to someone who has organised events before, and for someone in your position, you have been extremely derelict. I also don’t appreciate your rude manner, when YOU have made a mistake. I am losing my patience now”

Him: “ Don’t be rude to me. DO NOT speak to me like that!” (I had an image of Rumplestiltskin stamping his foot at this point)

Me: “What are you talking about? You are the one being rude, I need to know what to do with my 15 guests and you haven’t even contacted me once prior to this to even discuss payment”

Him: “I AM NOT YOUR SERVANT! DO NOT BE RUDE TO ME. I DON’T CARE ABOUT YOUR GUESTS”

Me: “Okay, we clearly have a communication issue, you are seriously unhinged. Give me your manager’s contact details, I no longer wish to deal with you”

Him: “Fine, I’ll put you on to my boss”

His boss turned out to be a nice lady called Pooja, who was very patient despite me at this point wanting to blow a gasket.

Awkward! The guy then called me back and said I was like his sister and that he was sorry for the communication issue, he sent me the menu, arranged to collect payment and then gave me a few solutions- we finally decided to make the AC section accommodate up to 60 people, which works out ok. I was extremely confused.

Anyway, the party is in 4 days, I will update!

Also, the school fees post is coming! I cant believe how long I haven't done a post!

Dear Young Journalist…

2012-11-17T10:58:00.003+03:00

There is so much you don’t even know you don’t know. You know?

Before I start, I just want to clarify that I am not an authority on this subject. However, I felt like I needed to write this, after being interviewed by a few media-students recently, star-struck by the world of journalism, thinking they’re going to be the next Kate Adie or David Frost, even though they really didn't have a clue.

This post is really for students in the UAE, those in Europe and Africa and North America seem to have better curricula and access to better teachers.

What I mostly got from the students that came to interview me was a grave misunderstanding of the profession they were signing up for. I feel comfortable writing this because none of them have publicised the interviews (which were for coursework I think), which means their identities aren’t at risk, only they, their lecturers and I know who they are, so its all good.

The first thing I can't emphasise enough to young journalists is research. It is extremely important and DON'T assume you know things. Make a point of researching your subject and make sure of the reasons you are doing the interview. You need to know who you are interviewing and why they are interesting. If you don’t find them interesting, chances are, nobody else will.

Follow up questions: when someone has answered a question, listen to the answer! Do not just go ahead to the next question you have on your list. Not a single student asked me a follow up question- to one of the newspaper students I may have even thrown in that I used to work for the CIA before becoming a journalist – just got a blank stare from him and the next question. (It’s not true, I was just fed up at that point) But its quite obvious he was so intent on getting his next question out, he didn't listen to the answer. In the real world, you can't afford to miss things.

Know how to use your equipment, one of the students that came to interview me did not know how to use the recording device and also did not have those journalism basics- a notepad and pen. This is incredibly amateur. If you want to get into this profession, grow up immediately.

NEVER be late. In the Middle East, I am well aware of the ‘inshallah’ culture, but you do not have that luxury as a journalist. It is your duty to make sure you know how to get where you’re going and how long it takes to get there. If you are late, an event will start without you and even worse, if you are going to be late to a one-on-one interview, immediately you have put the interviewee off. If they were excited, they won’t be anymore, if they were susceptible they wont be anymore and if they were going to impart some major secret, they won’t. It doesn’t matter if the interviewee is late. It is your job to wait. If you are annoyed waiting, then ask yourself why you are doing this story?

Example: When I first got here, I was sent to a press conference where the Minister of Environment and Water was due to attend- I got there 45 minutes early, because I had just finished at another event. It was just me and a photographer from a tiny UAE newspaper who were there early- shock horror the Minister actually turned up 20 minutes before time, did a couple of photo opportunities, then an interview with me for 10 minutes (a VERY long time in radio!) with a very good angle on the UAE’s green initiatives and left. When everyone else turned up, the photographer girl and I were leaving with the goods, and they had nothing. Also, the minister, Dr Rashid and I are on great terms at meetings now, so thank you everyone who turned up late!

To make my point about the lax attitude here- 3 of the 4 students turned up more than 30 minutes late to my apartment. I was astounded; had I really taken time out of a busy day to make time for people who couldn’t even be bothered to turn up on time? To the two students I turned down after that, I am extremely sorry, but this is one of the reasons why.

Equally important, make sure you have the whole story before you leave an event. In 2007, we sent a reporter to a Dubai Cares Event, it may have even been the first Dubai Cares event ever, I cant remember, but the reporter came back with the angle that Dubai Cares had raised something like 500 million dollars for schools in Africa… but because they left early, they didn’t realise that His Highness Sheikh Mohamed had equalled the amount raised, so it was actually almost a billion dollars. Not the biggest mistake ever, but we did look stupid for a quite a few bulletins.

You have to get into this profession, because you’re passionate about it. What most of us want is to get the truth out; and yes, of course we seek approval for our work, because it means we can keep doing what we love. There isn’t a real journalist out there who seeks fame, if that’s what you’re looking for, you are in the wrong profession.

When I say ‘journalism’ I don’t mean the churning out of press releases- a million of which will get sent to you by some crappy PR company trying to sell their crappy products. Trust me, it’s easy to churn that stuff out, especially here in the Middle East- the dearth of crime and scandal in the UAE certainly make that kind of lazy journalism easy, and let’s be honest, when there’s a tight deadline, we’ve all been victim to it.

But EVEN then- DO NOT rely on one source. PR people and press-releases always want to get their news out to make themselves look positive. If you work in radio or TV, you ALWAYS have time to get one or even two more opinions, even if they are quick and you don’t actually interview those people, you just have to get some of their thoughts on subjects that they are experts on. In newspapers, you have too much time, so if you don’t get at least 4-5 other sources to talk to you, you should go to journalism jail.

Make sure you’ve listened to, watched or read your final piece. If your name is going against something, be sure to know what it is. Also, when I worked in newspapers, sub-editors annoyed the hell out of me by changing things that did not concern them and occasionally changed the angle of the story. In radio and TV, its just to make sure you haven’t left in a massive edit, that makes you look like a big tit- because nobody’s going to remember the story then, they’ll just remember you clearing your throat in that ‘news piece’.

Journalists have a dark sense of humour, but that is only to lighten the mood after the death and destruction we are reporting day in and day out, this does not mean we are not empathetic. If you don't care about the story you are doing, your audience will know and you will alienate them, so be empathetic.

For aspiring broadcast journalists, having a good voice does not mean you need to be on radio. You need an active brain and you need to be quick on your feet. Alan Johnston, the BBC journalist who was captured in Palestine is a point in case, he doesn’t have what one would describe as a ‘radio voice’ but he is one of the best reporters in the field and I don’t think anybody notices what he sounds like, because he is amazing. Similarly, having a 'good' voice does not mean you should be in radio- it's about 100 times faster than newspapers and magazines (especially in the Western media) and about 10 times faster than TV- so as a reporter you should be steaming through your entire shift.

Also, good writing doesn’t mean using all the big words you know. It’s actually using every simple word you know so that EVERYONE has access to your message from the cleaner to the politician.

For all the understandable animosity toward us, journalists do have a greater purpose, and people know this, or they won’t go onto our websites, or buy our newspapers or listen to our radio stations or watch us on television.

And just so you make no mistake, even though things in the Middle East are a little more laid-back than the West, it is still a dog-eat-dog world out there. It is tough. It is competitive. And it is bloody long hours.

The way I see it, journalists are middle-men; the representatives of society. We are there to make things easier for the average citizen. If their local recycling company is charging them fees but is actually just dumping the goods somewhere, they deserve to know. If a local bottled water company is using tap water, they deserve to know. It’s hardly Watergate but it makes a difference to somebody’s life. By us getting the word out, people can make informed decisions on how they want to proceed.

A few points:

·Always strive to be better at what you do. Write better, read better, talk better, sound better. Every good journalist I know agonises over every single thing they write. Any small mistake is seen as a disaster of nuclear proportions. If you aren’t your worst critic, you will never get better

·Do not be afraid to change the way you do things and never stop learning- I’m sure Jon Simpson had no idea he would have to send emails when he started off, just like Barbara Walters would not be the influential woman she became had she not been constantly learning

·Learn from worthy journalists, know who they are, what they did and why it was wrong or right.

I’ve put a few links below, to help you, maybe you’ve seen them already.

1.   Robert Fisk on 50/ 50 journalism in the Middle East. I love how he fights for the underdog http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bgpx1STOblw

2.   Other journalists on how to do it properly http://careers.guardian.co.uk/advice-for-aspiring-journalists

3.   Bob Woodward on why you need to do more than churn out a press release

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVKGUctuoXE

4.   Carl Bernstein on Rupert Murdoch’s ‘gutter journalism’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LGcmB5RfLw

5.   Journalism versus the ‘dark side’ (PR) http://francis-moran.com/index.php/inmedia/what-makes-a-good-pr-person/

6.   And just to make you laugh… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gZhRfx2qLc

Turkey: Where have they all gone?

2012-10-19T19:15:00.003+03:00

Recently on social media, a number of people have queried where their favourite brands of Turkey have gone. I contacted the Municipality in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and neither had the brands on their banned list, which they said meant it was a federal issue. I contacted Spinneys instead of the Ministry of Environment and Water- because I knew it would be a quicker response! Their marketing department was very kind to respond with the email below:

Dear Feyaza,

Thank you for your query, which was forwarded to me from our customer service email address.

As you will appreciate we only sell Halal turkey on the main shop floor.

For whole turkeys; our regular supplier, Butter Ball, have decided to no longer supply halal turkeys – therefore our buyers have visited the USA to select another halal supplier that can meet with our exacting standards. The company we have selected Jennie-O Turkey Store, the turkeys are an all-natural product and selected for its great taste. Jennie-O has a well-deserved reputation for high quality products and have years of experience in turkey production and processing. The turkeys that we will sell from Jennie-O are certified Halal.

Regarding pre-packed turkey – we currently stock a range of brands including Trunkle from Austria and some local brands e.g. Khazan Vital.

Some of our US suppliers have decided to stop producing products for this market, however our buyers are looking to source some additional US/ international brands in order to offer a wider range to our customers.

In the deli counter (serve over) we have a number of local brands including Prime and Randa – these products are selling well however a gap has been created by the loss of dietz watson and butter ball, so our buyers are busy sourcing some other international brands that meet our quality, taste and halal requirements. We will also be expanding our range of Trunkle to include deli options.

We are also investigating the possibility of producing our own hahal versions from our state of the art production facility here in Dubai.

I hope this helps, if you have any further queries please feel free to contact me.

Kind regards,

Ramadan in the UAE

2012-07-20T04:42:00.002+03:00

When I first visited the UAE, I was quite surprised to find that nobody is allowed to eat in public during Ramadan fasting hours, except very small children. In some cases, people are even fined. However this is only in very extreme cases where people had been ignoring the warnings for a while. This was a strange concept to me, having grown up in the ‘West’ as they call it here, I was always taught that people eating and drinking around you while you were fasting was good for you, to help remind you of the sacrifice that you were making.

That really is what Ramadan is all about to me, sacrifice. Discipline. Patience.

Virtues, I have very little of when I’m not fasting.

There’s so much about Ramadan in the UAE that makes it quite a beautiful experience (even if people do drive worse than normal)

For starters, most companies will offer employees lesser working hours- because of a strict government rule that every company should only let their employees work 6 hours a day (Muslim or non-Muslim) and if they work over that, there should be hours in lieu or overtime pay.

I know some places that don’t give this option to their employees who aren’t Muslim, and think it’s terribly unfair, especially since this is one way of creating a community atmosphere. (This year, I wonder if I should let the Minister of Economy know the names of these places so he can send out an inspection team?)

What I find quite unique about the UAE than elsewhere is many non-Muslims seem to take the opportunity in Ramadan to fast. I met an American woman in my first year here, who does it every Ramadan, because she likes that it makes her concentrate on being a better person. I haven’t come across this embracing of culture anywhere else.

Iftar tents were a novel concept to me before I arrived, I had no idea what to expect, turns out they are usually extremely lavish buffets, open from the time the fast ends at sunset for the iftar for about 2-3 hours. The tent is then cleaned up and tables are laid again, and this now becomes a suhoor (morning meal) tent, which starts around 10pm.

Sunset in Abu Dhabi

This year, I am going to try to avoid the tents, because they can be far too extravagant, and the wastage is quite upsetting. As far as I understand it from the Dubai Municipality, the hotels have no choice but to throw away their excess food because of a rule by the Food Safety Authority to prevent food poisoning. This is also why the excess food can’t be transported to labour camps, since a lot of them are far out and this will not be allowed by the FSA. I am trying to find a hotel that will tie up with a bus company to transport labourers to the hotels to take part in the iftar, so that the food isn’t wasted. Because of the snobbery involved, hotels can perhaps set up a male-only tent for labourers, taxi drivers and anyone who cannot afford to eat that day. I’ve suggested the idea to my company as well to help get it moving. Let’s see what happens.

During Ramadan, some stores open later than others to suit people’s food and prayer times, which adds to the festive feel in the month, and restaurant timings are all over the place. Some open for lunch, quite a few don’t. I believe @GeordieArmani has a list of places that are open for lunch on her blog so check that out.

During Ramadan, in the malls, there are numerous stalls set up by the Awqaf or Charitable Affairs Authority where you can buy tickets starting at 5 dirhams going up to 50 dirhams where you can donate money, food, books to those in need.

For Muslims, its so beautiful to pray taraweeh here (90 minute long prayers), the atmosphere is just lovely, you get a proper community feel. One of the cool things that happens is famous visiting Imams, last year we had Saudi imams like Imam Sudais, Shuraim and Abu Bakr Shatri leading prayers at the Blue Mosque (The Turkish one) in Jumeirah, which was very exciting. Tahajjud prayers are also held here.

The mosque is also a good place to meet members of the community who can suggest people in need of Zakah, which most people tend to give out just before Eid Al Fitr.

Sheikh Zayed Mosque Abu Dhabi

Eid is a public holiday in the UAE and is a celebration of the end of the month of fasting and the hope that people have learnt lessons of virtue that they will carry out for the entire year.

Traditionally, parents, grandparents or any adult that meets children will give them a small monetary token (In the UAE, I believe its about 20 dirhams). Nowadays people give out Eid gifts, but the whole point is to not get sucked into capitalism so money is better.

Back home we used to take plates of goodies (sweetmeats, dates etc) to neighbours and friends on Eid day. Here most people don’t know their neighbours, I certainly don’t know mine, and am not sure how they would react to this. If I’m in the UAE for Eid, I’ll do it and let you know.

Mainly the month is about being with family and friends, and trying to be good. People are more tired during Ramadan because of extra prayers and lots of meetings with friends and family, and most organisations are quite understanding of this.

A typical working day in the life of a Muslim this Ramadan could be as follows (The timings change every day, as the day gets shorter)

3.15 am- Breakfast

4.00 am-stop eating and get ready for Morning Prayer

4.10 am- Morning Prayer (called Fajr)

4.20am- back to bed or pray

8.00am- work

There are two prayers during work hours called Dhuhr and ‘Asr

4.00pm- home

4.00-6- with family, Reading Quraan

Sunset in Dubai

7.10 pm- break the fast

7.20 pm- prayer (called Maghreb)

8.30 pm- prayer (called Isha)

8.35 pm- long evening Ramadan prayer called Taraweeh

10.00pm- Family/ recreational time

2.00 am- Tahajjud prayers

3.15 am- Breakfast

The Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding in Dubai hosts a traditional Iftar every evening for a small fee. People are required to book ahead because it gets quite full, and they are treated to a full Emirati/ Muslim experience, which includes breaking the fast with the traditional dates and water, watching as fasting people say their prayers, taking a tour of the Bastakiya area and a Q n A session where volunteers will answer anything you ask them about the UAE. For more information, contact 04 353 6666

Comedy in Dubai: How We Started ComedyDubai

2012-06-22T21:53:00.003+03:00

If you want to try something new for the first time, the UAE is certainly the place to do it. Because it’s such a new country, it is open to everyone and anyone trying their hand at art, music or culture. My fiancée jokes that anyone in Dubai who can take a picture that isn’t blurry could open up an exhibition in Al Quoz or compile a photography book, and people would support it because there is so little of ‘that kind of thing’ in the Emirates.

Thinking of my next joke while the audience laughs :-)

I’ve found this with comedy. Last year, if you asked me if I thought I was funny, I would have probably said ‘no’. If you asked me today, I would probably still say ‘no, but people do laugh at my jokes’.

In February, I signed up to a comedy course with my fiancée because I thought he needed an outlet for his jokes, which I find hilarious- and unsurprisingly so does the rest of Dubai.

We didn't know what to expect and were hoping to get an idea of how to write stand up material and tips on how to be amazing and engaging performers.

Audience reaction to @ComedyDubai

The course was 10 weeks long and mainly based around improvisation. This became rather tedious after six weeks, but thankfully in the last two weeks, the exercises were based around writing, honing and performing material.

This was all with the aim of a student show, including other performers from the school like tap-dancers and improvised sketch artists, all of which would be performed to friends and family.

@HillierRobert

With our busy work schedules, learning the material and how to perform it all in two weeks was quite a challenge, especially since this was something we had to do for ourselves without the help of the tutors. But we managed it, and because of what was clearly a ridiculously supportive audience, most of us got a great reaction to our sets.

The adrenaline was immense, but as far as I remember, every normal person that I spoke to that night, including me said: ‘No way in hell am I performing again’

What a joke.

One week later I was sweating over another set with new jokes getting ready to perform at my favourite shawarma joint WildPeeta.

We headed to the venue on the metro and on our way there, my fiancée, myself and two other people on the course, Sheida and Ray came to the realization that this was it. After this weekend, we would have nothing to do on Saturdays- the last 12 Saturdays had been occupied by comedy and now the rest of them loomed ahead of us.

There were 2 shows on offer over the next two months, but that wasn’t enough for us. We wanted to make comedy and performance part of our life, we wanted more!

We decided then and there that we needed to start up a group so that we could offer people a place to perform and where we could perform ourselves.

Within a few days of Wildpeeta, the four of us had started up a group, worked on getting venues together, starting up a facebook page, twitter account and we’ve even got an incredibly talented graphic designer to create a logo for us (@nora_adib on twitter)

@LaSheidakeh

It’s been two months and our group Comedy Dubai (Get Up, Stand Up) has already produced 6 events. Two of which are at an amazing venue, the Pavilion Downtown. We have had the best reaction to our sets here, the venue is cosy, the audience is supportive and comes in droves. It is a joy to perform here.

What we also do at the Pavilion venue, which is unique for the UAE, is an open mic. We give anyone who wants a chance at standup a platform to perform 2-3 minutes of prepared standup. We do vet the material first, and so far have had a really good response to the first timers, who want to keep performing.

Ray has since decided to leave ComedyDubai and start up his own group, which is a great move for Dubai and the UAE as a whole. We’re always asked to take events to other Emirates and the fact that there will soon be at least 3 or 4 comedy groups here, and hopefully many more means not only will the venues we perform at increase, but the type of comedy that we do will mature. In three or four years I envisage a scene similar to London in the 80s, with hopefully a better audience, since people in Dubai are too cool to heckle and I like it that way.

For more information on Comedy Dubai follow us on twitter @ComedyDubai or like us on facebook.com/comedydubai or just email comedydubai@gmail.com

Comedy Dubai’s next event is at Pavilion on July 4^th

We’ll break for Summer and Ramadan and then we should be back on September 12^th at Pavilion.

And then September 18^th at Harvesters in the Crowne Plaza on Sheikh Zayed Road

Look forward to seeing you there.

What are Housing Fees and Getting a home landline/ internet Service

2012-05-22T06:24:00.002+03:00

Getting anything done in the UAE- simple things like a home telephone or connecting your lights and water-require more time and energy than elsewhere so be prepared for this. Also, as I have said before, always have passport pictures and copies of your visa and passport, because you never know when you will need it.

Let’s start with the housing fees- this is a Dubai fee.

As I understand it from conversations with officials, housing fees are a sort of tax, paid every month to the municipality for the upkeep of the area you are in. It is about 5 percent of your annual rent divided into 12 months and tagged onto your DEWA bill.

You can register for it online on the municipality website, after registering for DEWA. For advice on registering for DEWA, visit a previous page of mine at http://uaeasy.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/getting-dewa-adwea-sewa-fewa-water-and.html

If you have any questions, the Municipality call centre people are mostly helpful and knowledgeable on 800 900 or visit this link https://portal.dm.gov.ae/SCWebUI/DataDetails.aspx?servicecode=4113&id=2188&parentid=0&name=SER485&DeptId=32

Getting a DU/Etisalat account is relatively easy but time consuming. You have to be 21 and over to get an account; the documents you will need, along with your credit card:

UAE nationals and GCC residents:

· passport or national ID plus copies
· tenancy contract or proof of property ownership plus copies

Expats:

· passport or national ID plus copies
· Copies of Visa page
· tenancy contract or proof of property ownership plus copies

Companies:

· Visa and Passport and copies of business owner or sponsor
· Copy of valid Trade License
· Power of Attorney

If I may offer some advice, Du has notoriously bad customer service, even the people who control their twitter account do not give timely responses. Etisalat (@EtisalatUAE) on the other hand, may take a while solving issues, but they are constantly accessible on twitter and on the phone, with knowledgeable customer service representatives who you don’t want to violently shake some sense into. So, if you’re someone that likes a challenge, go for Du. If you want an easier life, choose Etisalat.

There is one issue, it may not be possible for everyone to choose the provider you wish- it just depends on the area you are in. In the spirit of true competition between Du and Etisalat, the parts of the UAE that they serve are divided more or less equally between them. This is changing and there are few areas which give the customer the choice to decide on whether they want Du or Etisalat. But I have only heard these amazing places exist and can offer no more information.

Racism in Dubai

2012-04-02T09:53:00.000+03:00

I have written and re-written this post so many times now, I have lost count. The issue is I haven’t been able to find a balance between people who feel they have been picked on in parts of Dubai because of their colour/ nationality and others who feel like this ‘racism’ is used by people who are over-sensitive and even bigoted themselves.

So, this is my final draft of this post, everything that I’d written previously has been scrapped; make of it what you will.

Many of the people who wrote to me about the incidents of racism they felt had been directed toward them wrote in because they felt the need to highlight an injustice.

I am South African, I grew up in the latter part of apartheid; I remember bits of racist behaviour directed toward me during this time, but mostly I remember the feelings of helplessness my parents talked about. They knew they weren’t any different, they knew they were sometimes smarter than people who got jobs ahead of them, they knew that carrying around a dompas was against their human rights. Even so, there was nothing they could do. Racism is one of the worst forms of injustice and its definitely something we should all look to remove from our lives and from within ourselves. Who are we to judge someone based on their colour?

To know more about Apartheid in South Africa, see the links below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apartheid_in_South_Africa

http://www.southafrica.to/history/Apartheid/apartheid.htm

http://www.rebirth.co.za/apartheid.htm

http://overcomingapartheid.msu.edu/

So many colleagues and friends have mentioned they had been subject to racism in Dubai, that I felt it necessary to dedicate a post to the subject. Here in the UAE, it’s even more difficult to find a balance because of the more than 200 nationalities that live here. For some reason, instead of embracing the variety in the cultures here, most people promote classist attitudes and stereotyping.

If anything we should use the unique opportunity that we have here to promote unity.

Of course, this needs to also come from the highest levels. It is a tough bullet to bite when I know certain colleagues earn less than me because they are from a poor Arab country or the subcontinent. It’s similarly difficult to forget that my South African colleagues are seen as cheap labour- despite the South African education system being far better than the British one. (This is my honest opinion, and having studied in both countries I am allowed to make this judgement.)

We should be judged on our abilities not our nationalities and it is something we should promote. People should be judged by their ability and not their colour.

When I told people I was writing this post, I had dozens of emails with stories (thank you to everyone who sent me your stories, apologies if yours isn’t in here)

I’ve compiled some of the stories I was told, below. There are far too many to go into. Make your own judgements into whether or not they are racist.

A white colleague told me that during the US elections, he met a liberal-looking white American couple who live in the UAE…when he asked them if they would vote for Barack Obama and they replied no, because: “Helllooooo, he’s black.”

I got an email from a girl- Gulf Arab- and because she was in traditional dress in Apres which I believe is a restaurant that serves alcohol in Mall of the Emirates, she was asked to leave. She felt ostracised, especially because they didn’t stop her when she walked in, and there were men in traditional dress in there too who were not asked to leave.

I decided to definitely write this post after an Indian colleague told me about her experience at the Dubai nightclub Malecon. She had booked a table for her and a few family members. They were told by the bouncer they could not enter because one of them was dressed with a traditional Indian top. After some argument, they were finally told they could enter as long as they left by midnight. I haven’t actually contacted Malecon to ask for their side of their story but this does seem to happen quite a lot across the clubs in Dubai and I’ve included another story below.

Boudoir is another club in Dubai and an Indian colleague who went there with a group of friends says they were turned away because of an apparent lack of reservation. This was minutes after the same bouncers allowed two girls, who were not Indian, into the venue and who didn't have a reservation. Also, when the group called friends who were in the club already- they said they hadn't needed a reservation which is what led them to believe the bouncers were racist.

Being an outsider to the stories above, it’s hard for me to distinguish whether or not the incidents were racist. But in my experience, people know when something is genuine or when someone is using their power for their own bigoted gain. Of course, in the first story, the American couple were clearly disapproving of Barack Obama because of his colour and one has to wonder about how they go about dealing with the 200 plus nationalities they presumably interact with on a daily basis.

Another colleague of mine from New Zealand wrote me a long email with regards to this post, bits of which I agree with. However, I think it brings up an interesting point that I’ve heard many tout. I will end this post on an excerpt from that email.

“Given the choice most people generally gravitate towards socializing with their own race. When a bunch of people from the same race get together, it is usually a safe environment to have a ‘bitch’ about another race. Which is unhealthy – but unfortunately true in many cases. The thing I find most alarming is the fact that people are just as rude an unaccommodating to their own race as they are any other. Racism is often the scapegoat that is used to describe the fact that a lot of people get treated badly here. The fact is Dubai is filled with rude and self-important selfish people. The people that are often identified as the most racist, I don’t believe it’s a race thing – I think that they just believe they are the most important people here.”

Media in the UAE

2012-02-19T18:38:00.001+03:00

The media here may come across as amateur and under-developed but it has improved immensely from when I first came over in 2006.

At the end of the media breakdown section of this post, I’ll write up my opinions on where Middle East PR companies go wrong, and the best ways to get your story in the news.

There are two English television stations here. The first is City 7 and does very few new programmes. A lot of the stuff on City 7 is at least a year old and some of the presenters now work at Dubai One (the country’s other English station) its very bizarre and in my opinion not really worth reviewing.

The second channel is called Dubai One. After watching the programmes, you’ll come to the conclusion that many people working in the media in Dubai just don’t have the experience you’ll find in other countries. Many of the presenters on the shows below are quite young, and in their first ever presenting jobs, while very few have actual journalism experience. This means their interviewing style can be amateur, or presenting style is either over-exuberant or too wooden.

The channel is clearly understaffed by about 8 producers at the very least. As a result, the show reviews below should be seen in context. I was going to give you a review of each programme on the channel but it was so negative that I have just decided to give an overview on what the programmes are and you can make your own mind up.

The flagship-show Studio One, airs at 7:30 for half an hour is a magazine show, presumably aimed at families who’ve just got in from work and school. There is a cooking bit at the end, which has some amazing chefs who really should have their own shows.

Emirates 24/7 is straight after that. This is a news programme looks in-depth into issues affecting UAE residents as well as the wider international community.

Emirates News is on at 8.30pm. A daily news programme which usually starts with government stories and then goes on to other local and international issues.

Out and About is on Saturdays at 10.30am. As the name says, its about things to do out and about the country with movie reviews and sometimes interviews with celebrity personalities.

That’s Entertainment on Saturdays at 11.00am- entertainment news and events.

There are a host of radio stations here, some with news and some without. Most are music-based.

I will try not to impose my views here (since I do work for Radio 1 and Radio 2) but will try to give an honest review of the radio here as honestly as possible, but please do forgive me if I don’t.

Radio 1 104.1 in Dubai and 100.5 in Abu Dhabi

Aimed at 16-40 year olds, music-heavy and competition-oriented. News on this station is live and up to date.

Radio 2 99.3 in Dubai and 106 in Abu Dhabi

Aimed at over 35s playing tunes from 80s, 90s and now. This station is competition-based and talk-heavy in the mornings with a very full breakfast show. News on this station is live and up to date. Like Radio 1, the reporters are always out and about reporting on location.

Virgin Radio 104.4

Aimed at 16-40 year olds. Solely for the music, recorded news and weather is a side feature, mainly headlines and entertainment-heavy.

Channel 4 104.8

Presumably aimed at 16-35 year olds. To be honest I listened to this station specifically for this blog, and came up with the following: good music selection, awful presenters and no news.

Dubai 92 92.0

Aimed at over 35s, seemingly without a specific music policy. I believe the news is recorded after 10am, but can’t be sure.

Rock Radio 90.7

Aimed at anyone who likes Rock. This station plays everything from Green Day to Nirvana to Muse to Metallica. There is no news on this station but the morning presenter does do headlines in case you missed something major.

Dubai Eye 103.8

A talk station which opens with a business breakfast show and also has one in the evening. There’s also a phone-in discussion at 8pm. The news is recorded in the afternoon. Sometimes (usually at 9pm) the news presenters leave in edits they’ve forgotten about (long pauses, coughs etc) it’s fun to look out for them.

BBC World Service 90.3 in English between 9am and 6pm and Arabic between that.

Excellent programmes and news, but the signal isn’t always amazing which can be annoying.

And just because a few people on twitter and FB messaged regarding advice for PR companies in the UAE. See below a deviation from my usual blog:

PR for Radio in the UAE …

One issue I have with the way public relations is handled in the UAE is the fact that the story isn’t tailored to suit the medium they’re pitching to. For example, newspapers, online and television can cover chef/ barista competitions because there are pictures and they aren’t as immediate as the radio medium. On radio, we need generally interesting stories, preferably with equally interesting audio.

Another issue I have with PR here is that they don’t have a clue about news. It’s highly annoying when people ask ‘on what programme will the interview will be aired’ or ‘when does the news air’. Seriously?

My biggest bug-bear has got to be PR people who think Radio, TV, newspapers and online are all the same. For example, television is just not as popular as radio in the UAE, for a variety of reasons- it’s not developed and people are always in their cars are two reasons.

Radio 1, according to IPSOS figures has an average audience of around 600,000 listening at any one time. This figure may well be higher because surveys are not entirely accurate and the figures are also constantly changing. That’s a huge number of people. Yet PR people seem to think that it’s okay to make one of our journalists wait while a local camera crew takes about half an hour to set up and the presenter needs about ten tonnes of make up before getting on camera. Radio journalists usually need about 5 minutes of pre-recorded air time- the best 30 seconds of which will be used edited to make the dude on mic sound amazing.

The other reason why you should not make someone in radio wait is the negative effect on your story; since the quicker we get the interview, the quicker we get it on air, which equals more air time, and who doesn’t want more air time?

This follows on to another issue: immediacy. Radio is immediate, all I need is a phone line and I can report what I’m seeing, a fire, ship sinking, ridiculously boring conference whatever.

It’s okay for a newspaper journalist to wait sometimes even a week for an interview. They don’t care; they can afford to take an hour doing the interview and spend a leisurely day writing 300 words for one publication. We’ll take five minutes to conduct the interview and have it air within 20 minutes on 2 stations to more than half a million people.

Over here it’s similar for television people to take an age doing things because their story will air once in the daily news programme that evening and then go up on a website that doesn’t usually work.

So sorry about the rant, but if PR people just understood how they’re shooting themselves in the foot, they would get places quicker.

How to get your story in the news

It’s the easiest thing in the world getting your story in the news in the UAE, and if you aren’t doing it, there is something wrong. The fact that there is a serious lack of reportable news here means if you pitch the story correctly, it will get in.

The first rule, which I cant state enough is KNOW the medium you’re pitching to AND know the publication you’re pitching to. Don’t pitch a story about banks and finance to Radio 1. Pitch it to Arabian Business. Don’t pitch a story on how to address the nurse shortage to What’s on Magazine; pitch it to Radio 2. That may sound simple to some of you, but the amount of irrelevant press releases I get, this is a valid point.

If you are going to pitch to the wrong medium, just because you’re that kind of PR company, then at least do it right. So let’s go with the banking story, finance and Radio 1. How do you get your banking story on Radio 1- a totally entertainment-based station with music aimed at 16-35 year olds? Make it relevant to the listener. Give them advice on how to manage loans? How to pay for student life? Do a study, come up with a statistic- 80 percent of the people who are in high school now wont be able to afford uni. What? OMG that is shocking and very relevant to our listeners- but don’t worry, our financial advisor can help you…and your story will get in.

Anyway, that’s all for now; I am available for hire as a consultant if you want to know more about radio, television, newspapers or online. I and my partner also provide media training for those CEOs who feel too shy in front of a camera or mic to get their message out in the right way.

Ciao

Registering your car in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah

2012-02-03T09:03:00.000+03:00

I have chosen these three emirates, because they are the most common and because procedures in all the other emirates are likely to be a mish-mash of these three. Also, in all cases before re-registering all traffic fines must be paid for.

I’ll start with Dubai because it’s the easiest (for me.)

Registering in Dubai

Usually when you buy your car, brand new from a showroom, they’ll take care of the registration process for you.

If you’re buying it second-hand, it’s a similar process to re-registering. You will need to transfer the car onto your name from the previous owner. The previous owner will have to go with you to a Tasjeel Centre.

If your car is less than 3 years old, you can register over the phone as long as you have your insurance sorted. If it isn’t, you have to go down to the Tasjeel centre – Emirates Road with

· Technical examination test (if you bought your car more than two years ago)

· Insurance document

· Vehicle registration card

· Passport copy (for individuals) or commercial license copy (for companies)

If you live in Dubai but have a visa from another emirate, also take your Dewa bill and / or tenancy contract.

This service does cost around 400 dirhams for a light vehicle…but check how much it is before you go, it changes all the time. Your Emirates ID card will not be suitable at RTA offices at the time of writing this blog, I have no idea why, but they don’t seem to know what it is.

This is the link to the Tasjeel Centres in Dubai http://www.rta.ae/wpsv5/links/map/rta_map_en.html

The documents and prices regularly change, so please call the RTA on 800 90 90 to check you have the right documents.

Note: If you have a car registered in another emirate (Sharjah, Abu Dhabi etc), you will have to go to that emirate to re-register your car, even if you live in Dubai. As far as I know, it’s the same across the country. But when you do this, you may be able to apply to change the registration of your car, so the year after you could register in the Emirate of your choice.

In the case of a second hand car, you will need to transfer the car into your name from that of the previous owner. This costs about 400 dirhams also. The car seller will need to go with you.

You will need to get

· A sale agreement, which you can get in Tasjeel centres

· Passport copy of both parties plus originals

· Insurance in your name.

· Technical test. (If the car is damaged, you will need to repair and pay for that damage.)

Also, just as an aside, the RTA does offer disabled badges, it’s a nightmare to get one I’m sure. Here’s a link if you would like to know the procedure http://www.rta.ae/wpsv5/wps/portal/DNH

Abu Dhabi

This is all done through the Abu Dhabi Police since there isn’t an RTA in AD.

It costs around 200 dirhams to register a light vehicle and you will need far more documents than Dubai. I would suggest taking both a copy and the original of every single document, even though they say it’s not necessary. You will need:

1. Passport and Visa

2. Employment certificate

3. Driving license

4. Car Insurance policy for 13 months.

5. Technical Test result

6. Vehicle Contract- issued by manufacturer or vehicle selling agent

7. Bank certificate- regarding car loan information

8. Notarised vehicle ownership transfer certificate- if you’re not the first owner of the car

According to Abu Dhabi e Government, the service is pretty straightforward if your documents are in order. Once you get to the Traffic & Licensing Department, you just need to fill in the designated form, submit the required documents and then check with the delivery counter to receive the registration.

It’s a similar procedure for Re-registering, but you will only need the following documents. Again please take both a copy and the original, just in case. It costs around 100 AED for a light vehicle.

1. Vehicle Registration card

2. Technical Inspection certificate

3. Passport and visa

4. Insurance policy, shouldn’t be older than a month

5. Employment certificaxxte- original, apparently. (Glad I don’t live in Abu Dhabi because I have no idea what an employment certificate is.)

If you have any questions beforehand, call 600 5 333 33.

Sharjah

I have been told that registering a car in Sharjah is quite difficult, and that a person is allowed only one car in their name. I am unsure if this has changed at the time of writing and would appreciate some input on the subject. This is the number for the Sharjah Traffic Department 06 538 1111.

It costs around 380 dirhams to register.

For registering your car you will need

· Sales certificate

· 13 Months insurance certificate

· Bank certificate regarding car loan

· Passport and Visa

For Re-Registering (costs around 200 AED)

· Insurance in buyer’s name valid for 12 months

· Vehicle testing certificate

· Registration card

· Passport and Visa

I haven’t been told that the seller needs to go with you, but assume that they do, since the process has been described to me as ‘similar to Dubai but difficult’

This isn’t the best google map in the world but here’s the Tasjeel centre location in Sharjah http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/place?client=safari&rls=en&oe=UTF-8&redir_esc=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=vehicle+registration+sharjah&fb=1&gl=uk&hq=vehicle+registration&hnear=0x3e5f5f5fede7964b:0x2a830aa19c1f6d89,Sharjah+-+United+Arab+Emirates&cid=17546229196503331075

Now, remember, take a copy and original of everything and just breathe

Using the UAE as a launching pad to travel the world…

2012-01-24T18:09:00.000+03:00

This blog is late, I know. Apologies.

This week, I’m giving you a review of airlines I’ve used in the last two years and places you can go from the UAE for a reasonable price, and still have fun. I won’t choose every destination there is, because there are far too many, but I do hope to give you a good indication of how to make the best of your time living here in the UAE. On occasion, I’ve used travel agents that I would recommend, however places like Oman, India, Nepal, Thailand, Turkey etc are very easy to navigate with a travel book. I don’t eat much while on flights, except breakfast, because I’m too excited to get to my next destination I suppose, but I do always order a special meal and give it a try…just in case there’s something chocolatey.

Also, I put a lot of stock on customer service, so if inflight or check-in staff are unpleasant, it leaves a sour taste in my mouth and I don’t particularly want to travel that airline again, so a lot of my reviews are based on that. If you’re okay with people being rude, ignore that bit.

Places

Thailand-This is the place of cheap massages and relaxation. You will need at least ten days here, only because having a 40 dirham massage every day is ridiculously relaxing and addictive and after two days in Bangkok you will need it. I would suggest landing in Bangkok, staying for two days to see the sights (if you’re a fish lover, be sure to check out the seafood market restaurant, yum!) and then head off to one of the beachy areas.

India—Can definitely do this on a long weekend and it’s the obvious choice for anyone who lives in Dubai; it takes three hours to get to and there are hundreds of things to see and do. Practically every low-cost airline flies to India and it is possible to stay in a good hotel, eat amazing food, chill out on beautiful beaches, tour some amazing heritage sites for a very reasonable price. Also, if you don’t know it already, you will learn the enormous differences between the North and South of India from food and culture to education and politics with just one visit to each side. I recommend Mumbai (it’s dirty but real) and Kerala (just generally gorgeous).

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka— This is possibly one of my most favourite places in the world. Sri Lanka is very easy to get around and if you have a good guide you can get A LOT done in 4 days. Make sure your guide takes you to authentic Sri Lankan restaurants rather than the touristy ones that are about. Definitely try fried, chilli banana flowers and Sri Lankan grilled prawns! I went with two girlfriends and we used a company called Eurolanka (http://www.eurolankatravel.com/) who managed to book us a number of holidays- we had a beach holiday, visited an orphanage, fed an elephant, went to a turtle sanctuary and did some shopping in Colombo during our four night/ Five day stay. And that was just half of it.

Turkey—Another place to visit if you’re living in Dubai and have 5 days spare. Istanbul is a city full of history, culture and seemingly the world’s happiest people. There are hundreds of restaurants in the winding, cobbled streets of Sultan Ahmet with waiters trying to lure you in, depending on your character this could be fun or annoying, I say make it fun! Most restaurants there now also have quite a good selection for vegetarians, which I’ve been told was not the case previously.

Russia- I know its not an obvious destination and incredibly expensive. BUT Moscow is only 5 hours away, so it’s an easy long-weekend destination. If you’re into history and museums like me, this is definitely somewhere you have to visit. You could take a walk down the red square, passing Lenin’s grave as you admire the beautiful St Vasily’s Cathedral whilst eating a warm Russian pastry. That evening you could go to the legendary Bolshoi theatre for an opera or ballet. I enjoyed every minute of this beautiful city, and it makes me want to see more of Russia. The people are really nice, I have no idea why Russians are given such a bad rep, but the women are incredibly beautiful and helpful, the men are not so beautiful but ridiculously chivalrous. Admittedly people are shy and quite a few don’t speak English, which can make traveling about difficult, but get a good guide and all will be well. I can recommend http://www.travelrussia.net/ I dealt with a lady called Natalia Anikeeva who is just spectacular and can tailor-make your journey to suit yourself, whether you want to visit villages in Russia or just tour the cities.

St Vasily's (St Basil's)

The Airlines and What I think they’re like

I have been travelling regularly by plane since I was 9 years old and almost 20 years later I think I have a right to my opinion. Everyone has different experiences, which is why I have decided to only review airlines I have used at least three times each, which I think gives a person an all round view of what they’re like.

Low Cost Airlines

All the low-cost airlines below are exactly what they say on the tin. No frills, but they are infinitely better than European ones I’ve travelled on and give you exactly what a low-cost airline is supposed to give you, sometimes more.

Air Blue- Pakistan three times

This isn’t the best of the lot I’ve chosen, especially because it flies from Dubai Terminal 2, which is my least favourite terminal. Also, the seats are quite tiny and sometimes it can feel like you’re travelling in a squashed bus from Karachi to Hyderabad, which is not a pleasant experience. BUT it is incredibly cheap and gets you where you want to go, so worth a look.

Air Arabia- used for Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Turkey on numerous occasions

Don’t let the fact that Air Arabia flies from Sharjah put you off, if you book a reasonably timed flight, you can avoid the traffic to Sharjah and get there remarkably quickly. I have used this airline the most out of any other and I really like it. I know a couple people who have had bad experiences on Air Arabia, mainly because of their ticket refund policy. I’m not sure what the other airlines are like on refunds but Air Arabia does come across as harsh on this issue. However, it is a low cost airline and it does need to stay in the game, so if you are planning to travel, stick to your plans. It has a great list of destinations and I believe it won an excellence award this month and that has got mean something.

Fly Dubai- Saudi Arabia about 4 occasions

This is a low-cost airline with class; it offers in-flight entertainment! What more can I say? It’s also got a list of excellent destinations at reasonable prices. The only reason I haven’t used Fly Dubai more often is I can either never get a ticket at short notice or the flight timings don’t suit my travel plans, but it may be different for you.

The Big Boys:

Etihad

I really like Etihad Airways its comfortable, has excellent inflight entertainment and it is at least 1500 dirhams cheaper than Emirates on journeys that I’ve looked at. Also, I would be ungrateful if I didn’t mention that Etihad Airways was the only airline that offered to sponsor a trip for me to go over to Japan and help with the recovery process after the March 11 tsunami last year. Economy class is comfortable but Business is in a league of its own and I think this is down to the in flight staff making it as comfortable a journey as possible. However, you may find it difficult with their check in and telephone staff (In Flight staff are usually amazing.) In the interest of balance, I need to mention check-in staff can be quite rude, which is quite off-putting and telephone staff can’t speak English, which makes life very difficult. On a recent trip I was given a raw vegetarian meal (I had requested a regular vegetarian meal) so had to make do with salad for breakfast. This was simply because the operator presumably could not understand me.

Ofunato, Japan

Emirates

This airline is quite expensive but if you’re travelling to the UAE with Emirates and don’t live here, you have the added benefit of being able to buy a UAE visit or transit visa from Emirates over the counter. On the whole, staff are good, but again the people on the phones are ridiculously difficult to deal with. In flight entertainment is excellent. Economy is quite squashed, depending what kind of economy you’re sitting in but the food is great. Business Class is good, not as comfortable as Etihad’s, possibly because the flight attendants come across as hassled. Also, what annoys me about Emirates is on the flight from Dubai to my hometown of Durban, they use the crappiest plane with the crappiest entertainment. Why even bother with the flight? It’s not much different to 3^rd class on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

Air France

Next to British Airways, this is the worst airline I have flown in my life. I had given it three chances only because they were reasonably priced at times, but food, staff, seats, entertainment…all round awful.

British Airways

Business class on BA is excellent, but staff are unbearable. This is the same on economy class. On our first flight with them, my family and I actually thought it was because they were racist, because their rudeness was so blatant, but a few flights later and discussions with friends proves that BA has the worst in-flight staff known to man. Also the food is nothing to write home about and I haven’t flown them in a while (and won’t be for…ever) but the last time I did, in-flight entertainment was okay.

Qatar Airways

This is an airline competing with Emirates and Etihad and its good but for some reason falls just short of being on par with them on the food and entertainment front—the food looks amazing but taste? Not so much. Check in and in-flight staff are very good but the guys on the phone for Qatar are again a bit touch and go. Haven’t flown Business on Qatar so I don’t know but Economy has always been reasonably comfortable. It’s also quite reasonably priced, if you don’t mind stopping off in Doha for a bit, this is not a bad airline to go with.

South African Airways

This is the airline of my home country and sadly, I haven’t been impressed by them. I haven’t flown Business on SAA, but can say Economy is madly squashed and f they’re delayed it can be stressful getting a domestic connecting flight from Johannesburg and the staff don’t really do anything to reassure you which grates on my nerves. The food isn’t amazing, but then only Emirates and Etihad seem to pay any attention to that. I’m not sure what in-flight entertainment is like because there doesn’t seem to be any of worth but maybe I just don’t know how to use the remote control properly.

And Finally…

Since I am mentioning Airlines, I think should mention my recent trip on Saudi Airlines. It’s a rant so click off now if you don’t want to read my moaning. I took a flight from Dubai to Jeddah, crappy flight and food but I wasn’t expecting much on a 3-hour journey. On my way off the plane, I put my mobile on the seat, while I helped my sister (who was travelling with me) get her luggage out of the overhead compartment, at the same time some random Saudi dude was telling me how amazing and liberal his country was. I got off the plane, found a space on the bus and realised I had forgotten my mobile. Got off the bus at the terminal and asked the Saudia staff there if I could be taken back to retrieve it. ‘No, no, don’t worry’ they said ‘go to Lost and Found after immigration and it will be there waiting for you.’ This didn’t seem unreasonable since it is what would happen in the UAE, so off I went.

Once I’d got through immigration, I went straight to Lost and Found and Lo and Behold…my phone was not there. They said I would need to wait two hours. I was okay with that, except I had to do a pilgrimage since that was my reason for entering Saudi. So, I asked if I could pick it up the next day. ‘For Sure, it will be here’ they said. Great, I filled in a form and again, off I went.

I got to Makkah, did my pilgrimage and 3 hours from my first conversation with Lost and Found gave them a ring to check up on the progress. My phone was not there, they had no idea who I was, they didn’t even seem to know what a Blackberry was.

Let’s skip forward to four days later, over 60 phone calls, dozens of emails, facebook messages and twitter jibes and I finally go to the office in Jeddah Airport to find my phone was not there and never found.

During one of the 60 phone calls, I was told by a Saudia staff-member that my phone had probably been stolen and there was nothing they or I could do about it. Also, except for the last dude at the airport, every single staff member made me feel like I was an idiot for leaving my phone on the flight. Which I was, but guys, be nice! Especially when you can barely communicate and can just about spell Blackberry.

I was mostly outraged and shocked at the stealing allegation, there is no way that would EVER happen in the UAE. I have left my mobile on the table at Starbucks while ordering a coffee and know its 100 % safe. People just don’t take things in the UAE.

Anyway suffice to say, I am no longer going to have that rant at UAE customer service, because I have been to Saudi Arabia and the customer service there makes the UAE’s seem like heaven on earth (I also tried to return something to Nayomi in Makkah and OMG the guy just sat behind the counter looking at me like I was some kind of freak. Very unsettling, never going in there again!)

More things to do in the UAE:

2012-01-10T00:37:00.001+03:00

There was so much to talk about in the last post, that I felt I must complete the list in this one. It’s also based on ideas from some amazing twitter followers (@Audiomonkee) and I hope they are helpful

Horseriding

There are lots of places in the UAE to go Horse-riding, its part of the culture.

Two places I have tried personally are riding centres in Dubai at Al Mamzar and Arabian Ranches. The one in Al Mamzar is quite reasonably priced, but the horses aren’t as well kept as at Arabian Ranches. Hacking at Arabian Ranches is more expensive but there never seems to be a spot open despite the amount of time you book ahead.

Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Ajman have Equestrian clubs you can get in touch with for riding lessons or hacking. And out of interest, Al Ain’s Intercontinental Hotel has riding facilities.

For people who have their own horses or who just love horses, there is also an online equestrian community at www.qudraland.ae

Moving on…there’s a marine club in Um Al Quwain that seems quite interesting, and might be good if you’re schoolteacher looking to take your class somewhere educational and safe for either a day or overnight trip. This is the website www.uaqmarineclub.com

Joining a Gym

There are Fitness First gyms across the country and it costs around 4000 dirhams a year to join. Other than their premium facilities, you can use your fitness first card at any of their branches in the UAE. If you go away for a while, you can suspend your membership for up to two months. Fitness First also offers ladies only gyms, the one in Oasis Centre in Dubai is one of them.

Mina Salam on Jumeirah Beach Road has a gym with personal trainer and tennis court access-that costs around 10,000 dirhams a year.

In Abu Dhabi there are numerous health facilities, the biggest is Al Wahda located at the Grand Millenium hotel, which costs around fifteen thousand dirhams a year. A more economic option is the Armed Officers Club, which costs around six thousand dirhams a year. There are others as well with varying prices.

In Sharjah there are a few health clubs and hotels with gym facilities. Grand Millenium and Sharjah Wanderers club are two I can think of off the top of my head, but I’m not sure of the prices.

However most apartment buildings will have a free gym, they’re usually smaller than the ones at Fitness First, but unless you’re a fanatic and fussy about the type of equipment you need, they should be more than adequate.

Miscellaneous

If you live in the UAE, one of the things people never get around to doing is visiting the Burj Khalifa, and it’s a real shame. If you book ahead of time on the website www.atthetop.ae it costs around 100 dirhams per person, but you will have to go at exactly time you booked. There isn’t much to see except a panoramic view of the city, and some guests of mine were disappointed with the fact that there was no commentary once you got to the viewing deck (so I provided one) but it is the tallest building in the world for now, so you really should go up and have a look.

If you go around 5pm, you will be done by around 6.30 and then can get an outside seat at one of the restaurants at the Dubai Mall-More Café is my favourite-the butterfly prawns are amazing-but too large a portion for one person, so maybe order it as a starter to share. The Anna Marie Se Kiep’ is a good chicken dish from my home country of South Africa and it also does really good ice-cream made on the premises- the chocolate ginger is amazing. While you eat, you could watch the dancing fountain, which starts at 7pm. I haven’t done it in a while, but the last time I remember getting increasingly annoyed that the same song played every 15 minutes, because it was sponsored by an international company. Another two restaurants I would recommend in that line are California Kitchen (Californian salad) and PF Changs (dynamite shrimp and stir-fried egg plant). The Italian restaurant Vapiano’s does good and simple food, but the service is so awful that its really not worth it; you could wait up to 45 minutes for service, and they are guaranteed to get your order wrong-I’ve been there three times just to give them a chance and really can’t be bothered with doing that anymore. You won’t have a good view of the fountain from PF Changs or California Kitchen but the service is usually good and the food is amazing, so you probably won’t care. I don’t.

Most people will tell you the highest point of the UAE is Jebel Hafeet a mountain in Al Ain. The highest point is actually Jebel Yabir-I have no idea where it is and most people haven’t heard of it. Jebel Hafeet however is a popular destination, and is worth a look. There’s a hotel towards the middle of the drive up, which I suppose you could stop at for a bite to eat-but where’s the fun in that? It’s quite rocky at the top so if you take a picnic with suitable cushions, you can say that you’ve eaten on the UAE’s highest point…sort of. Admittedly, it isn’t that high when you compare it to other high points of the world, but it does make your ears pop on the way up, so its high enough.

Since you’ll be in Al Ain already, you may as well visit its Wildlife Park. It costs around 10 dirhams to enter and is home to a number of buck that are extinct in the wild (see images) The park also has an animal rescue programme that rescues and cares for wild animals like tigers and lions that have been domestic pets and whose owners can no longer take care of them. It is illegal to have wild animals as pets in the UAE, but unfortunately many are able to escape the law. His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who regarded the animals as his guests, established the park. It’s also linked up with sanctuaries in other parts of the world to breed and reintroduce extinct animals into the wild.

There are also springs you could visit in Al Ain (which is presumably where it gets its name from-in Arabic Al Ain means ‘eyes’ or ‘springs’) One thing you need to know about the city is its very much like Milton Keyes in England-there are roundabouts everywhere, and every roundabout has a name-its not clear what the names are, sometimes they’re on them, sometimes they’re not. If you have a gps-navigation system, however, you should be fine.

If you’re looking for something quiet to do with the kids, Café Ceramique may be a good place to visit. There are a couple in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It’s just a little café where you can buy or create your own little piece of pottery and paint it with your children. This gets put into a burner, and you can pick up your masterpiece when you’re done.

If you want a little bit of Emirati culture, there are camel races that go on daily in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The jockeys are computerised dummies, and the races start at 3.30 pm. The number for the racecourse in Nad Al Shiba (04 4 322 277) I’ve tried calling numerous times but haven’t been able to get any information from the dude on the other side. As a result, I’ve not actually been to a camel race myself, so cannot comment on it. If you do go, I would love to know your thoughts.

The Fruit and Vegetable Market is amazing. I’ve only been a few times and not recently, but it doesn’t change so I believe I can comment quite confidently. Every fresh food you could possibly need is available at this market, which is on the way to Al Aweer. I love cooking with fresh fenugreek, coriander and parsley- these and dozens of other indian vegetables are available at this market. It’s all well priced and regularly checked by the government to make sure the prices stay stable.

Dragon Mart is an enormous warehouse type place in Dubai’s Al Aweer (International City) area. It has hundreds of stores with everything from lawnmowers to curtains and blinds to jewellery to home and office furniture. Everything is made in China and is much cheaper than anywhere else in Dubai. Using a store in Dragon Mart, we had blinds made and fitted for our three-bedroom apartment for a total cost of 1700 dirhams. I must warn you however, it is very busy, there’s hardly ever parking, even if you valet and it’s very confusing, you will need a whole day here whatever you’re going for.

Outlet Mall houses designer stores with factory prices. Of course this comes with its problems, because you only get what is on the shop floor, if its not there in your size then its unlikely that it will be available at all. Every single brand you can think of is available here from Juicy Couture to Chanel to Adidas. If you’re not a shopper like me, it can be a nightmare, but if you do like shopping, like all the guests I’ve ever hosted in Dubai, this place is a haven. I must warn you though not to go to Outlet Mall expecting Karama prices. Here you will get original designer ware for a fraction of the price but certainly not at the prices of fake goods. Also, I am opposed to Karama and object to taking any guests to support fake goods. This is especially since the people who bring these counterfeit goods to the UAE illegally are also part of human trafficking syndicates, and I refuse to support that. Every time you wear your fake Louis Vuitton bag, just remember, you may have helped the kidnap of a 15 year old girl from somewhere in the world, who has subsequently been forced into prostitution. I hope it’s worth it. Please read the following literature to help you give up fake goods forever.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2049015/Holidaymakers-warned-fake-goods-fuel-organised-crime.html

http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/tocta/8.Counterfeit_products.pdf

http://www.kent.gov.uk/community_and_living/consumer_advice/report_a_rogue_trader/counterfeit_goods.aspx

http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/2011/December/blue-for-good_-fashion-with-a-conscience-for-victims-of-human-trafficking.html?ref=fs1

A place I love visiting is the Antique Warehouse. This is in the depths of Al Quoz, which is a bit like Aladdin’s cave. It’s bursting with little gems that you could take back home as gifts for everyone- Arabic-style lamps, carpets, wooden Arabic furniture (once saw a beautifully carved indoor swing in there) and they also offer framing services. They are the cheapest framers I’ve come across in the UAE, and extremely high quality. Their service is always impeccable, and it’s a very interesting place to visit with its many doors, and passages filled with all kinds of interesting treasures.

This is my attempt at directions: Get off at the Times Square exit off Sheikh Zayed Road (exit 43), turn left at the lights, first right and then second right and you should see about 3 sandy parking bays for people visiting the Antique Warehouse. Their number is 04 347 9935. The receptionist is lovely and friendly and speaks English, and is used to people asking for directions because they’re very lost.

Over the last 6 months I’ve travelled so much that I’m taking (@JamesWorldNews) advice for my blog next week. I’ll be talking about how to use the UAE as a hub to travel around the world and will also do an airline review. Be sure to check in for that!

UAE Mall Culture: There are other things to do:

2011-12-30T17:25:00.001+03:00

There are a number of malls across the United Arab Emirates, and a great deal of them are mostly full almost all of the time. This is partly because there are so many tourists in the country, partly because its too hot to breathe outside and partly because everything you could ever need is in the mall. At the end of this post, I’ll put a list of malls and my opinions of them (not everyone agrees with my opinion, but you’re reading this blog, and really have nothing else to go on.)

Before that, however, I just want to let you know there is so much more to the UAE than malls, and I’ll try to put some of that in here. As always feel free to question, criticise and get in touch.

How about we start with the beach? There are so many places to go to the beach in the emirates, some private ones with facilities that are attached to in hotels that you have to pay for, free government ones which are always busy, and some public ones that you pay to enter, but have facilities. My favourite type of beach, is the open beach that’s hidden behind a bush or road, that nobody goes to and feels like it belongs just to you, if you look around, you’ll find a lot of these.

Beaches

I’ll go through a couple in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Fujairah just to give you an idea of what’s available. Please note in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, there are some restrictions on how you dress on the beach. The rules do apply in other emirates but in Dubai and Fujairah, its quite lax.

The Abu Dhabi Municipality has recently renovated the entire corniche area, complete with little swimming areas dotted around (see image). They’re clean and quite nice. These beaches have also recently got Blue Flag status from the UN; a massive achievement for the emirate and something Dubai has been trying to do for quite a while. There are lots of walking areas, restaurants and other points of interest on the corniche. It can be a pain to get to at the weekend, because of traffic.

Sharjah has some lovely beaches, I haven’t been in a while, but many are free and the water is a lovely colour with shallow, lapping waves. Al Khan Beach covers a long stretch of land, with lots of facilities and the Hamriya Lagoon beach is excellent for jet skis and windsurfers. The beaches in Sharjah do tend to have more litter than elsewhere but the water is generally clean.

Al Mamzar beach is a family spot with picnic tables and lots of parking. It’s close to both Sharjah and Dubai and quite popular on public holidays.

In Dubai, practically all of Jumeirah Beach Road has a beach, hence the name! The most popular is Jumeirah Open Beach, which is situated next to the Dubai Marine Hotel, its free to enter, enough parking, walking/ rollerblading/ running space with a little cafeteria.

There’s also Jumeirah Beach Park, which costs around 10 dirhams per car to enter with a beach, play park for kids, picnic area, cafeteria and reasonable bathrooms. It also has a day just for ladies on Monday. (While on that note, Wild Wadi, my favourite Dubai Waterpark has a ladies-only evening every Thursday during the summer. However if you want a ladies’ evening because you want to avoid unwanted attention, this is not the place to be and I do prefer to go during the week with visiting family)

Fujairah is a beach town, and you can relax at a free beach with looming mountains as a backdrop. There is good parking and a beach park in Fujairah But unless you have a massive picnic, not fussy about bathrooms or live in Fujairah, I would suggest checking into one of the hotels in the emirate at least for part of the day, because coming across a bathroom that is amenable may be difficult. It costs around 150 dirhams for an adult for using the beach and swimming facilities at hotels.

Camping

During the summer, its far too hot but weekends during winter are amazing for camping. Because the UAE has a Bedouin culture, you’re more or less free to camp wherever you like in the desert. There are a number of sites that are better than others and the Hatta pools areas or near the Fujairah mountains have some excellent secluded spots. You are also always likely to come across friendly goat or camel herders who smile or wave but cant speak English, so don’t ask for directions! Tents and other camping gear are very reasonably priced in grocery stores like Carrefour or Geant. Along the way to your camp site, you are more than likely to come across a number of little stores that sell weird plastic inflatable toys but also amazing firewood. If you’re not sure about the terrain or where to go, I would suggest buying an Explorer book or Lonely Planet which is likely to have a number of excellent ideas for camping spots and how to get to them.

Go Karting, Jet Skiing…and other stuff

In Dubai’s Jebel Ali area and Motor City areas there are facilities for go-karting. It’s quite a fun way to spend a few hours, especially if you have kids. The one at Jebel Ali is around half the price (60 aed for 30 mins) of motor city (120 aed for 30 mins) and a karting-expert has told me its got better karts. I don’t know the difference, so can’t really say. The one at motor-city also has an indoor karting area and is attached to a laser-drome place. It’s fun to go here if you’re a big group of people, get into teams of two and work out military strategies using laser guns against the other team. It’s also a good place for team-building exercises.

Jet Skis can be hired and used at most beaches in the UAE. In Dubai there are restrictions, and I believe Um Suqeim beach is the only legal jet-ski designated area. You will also need a license and a registered jet ski. It’s not the case in other emirates, but should be since many swimmers have died at the hands of careless jet-ski riders.

Sky-Diving

Um Al Quwain has a sky-diving school attached to its Aeroclub, there have been some good reviews, even though it is out of the way for some people.

There is also Sky Dive Dubai, of which His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum is a patron of; he also recently got his sky dive license from there.

And of course, you could always go to the indoor skydive area at Mirdiff City Centre Mall, which apparently gives you the same thrill. It is, obviously, a very different thing to jumping out of a plane at 10, 000 metres on the back of someone you don’t know.

Swimming with the Dolphins

This can be done at the Dubai Dolphinarium and at Atlantis, the Palm. It costs just over 900 dirhams at Atlantis, but not sure of prices at the Dolphinarium

I have to admit that I wont do this again because I did feel sorry for these creatures that they were made to perform for me. They really should be out in the wild.

Sea Diving

There are a host of places to dive in Dubai and Fujairah and also a large number of places that can train you for a PADI license. The ones I know of that are PADI Accredited are Al Boom Diving, Divers Down ,Scuba Dubai 7 Seas Divers, the sandy beach diving centre and Scuba 2000

Souqs

There are a few good souqs in Dubai. For shopping the ones to visit are Naif Souq (pronounced Knife and is in Deira) and Mina Bazaar.

Mina Bazar is in Bur Dubai and has an array of both western and easten clothes, lots of salwar kamis for men and women (Pakistani-style dress), saris, shoes, jewellery stores, perfume stores with brands at discounted prices and great Indian food restaurants. The Dubai museum is close by, as is the Arabian Courtyard hotel.

Naif Souq has lots of ethnic gear, jewellery, harem-style trousers, abayas, headscarves, neck-scarves, bakhoor (incense). There are some great abaya tailors in the area and if you like to sew there are haberdasheries dotted along most of it.

The spice and gold souqs are very close to Naif, about a 15 minute walk-on a few winding and extremely busy roads along the way you’ll pass oud perfume stores, roadside shawarma cafes (4 dirhams and delicious- and if you’re vegetarian like me, they are happy to make a chip wrap with pickles and mayo, even if you do get odd looks!), haberdashers, tailors, mobile phone stores, gadget stores, clothes and shoe stores and a host of others I cant remember. A lot of the shawarma stores do fresh juices, and a sweet-melon (Sham-maam) juice is the perfect thing to accompany you down the road.

A day-plan can be spent walking around the bustling streets of Mina Bazaar, taking a short food break in one of the lovely little restaurants with authentic Indian food, having a look around the museum. After this you could walk to the creek and crossing on an Abra (boat) for 1 dirham. When you get to the other side, go through the pedestrian bridge and you end up at the spice souq where you can get things like the usually ridiculous expensive saffron for half the price of conventional stores, chat to the amicable stall owners, buy incense- even frankincense and myrrh (there’s also a tiny museum here) and a short walk later you’re at the gold souq, which has so many stores, you just don’t know where to look…at the other end of the gold souq, walk all the way down the road to Naif Road which is about 20 minutes. The souq is next to the police station and on two floors. You can get all types of bargains and tat and its just interesting to see everything.

After all of this, around 10 hours later is my average calculation, take a taxi back, as you will be to shattered to walk the way back. Well I usually am anyway.

Malls

I really couldn’t list every mall in the UAE but here are some below with a one-sentence review.

Dubai Mall- enormous and with musical fountain from 7pm onwards, next to the Burj Khalifa. It’s very easy to lose your bearings in this mall.

Dubai Marina Mall- perfect size with everything you could need.

Dubai Mercato Mall-Good size, good location, play area for kids like most malls. Not an amazing selection of stores.

Mall of the Emirates- big but manageable when you know it. Tends to be a hangout for snotty teenagers at the weekend. Indoor Ski Slope.

Ibn Battuta Mall-This mall has the best cinema- and the only IMAX-and people don’t talk on their mobiles like elsewhere in the UAE and good store selection.

Mirdiff City Centre- good selection of restaurants, easy to get to and has an indoor Sky Diving area.

Deira City Centre- always madly full, I tend to stay away unless absolutely necessary, which is never.

Abu Dhabi Marina Mall- really nice mall next to the corniche, lots of traffic at the weekends

Abu Dhabi Mall- large range of stores, lots of coffee shops and easy to get to.

Sharjah City Centre- Very similar to the other city centre malls, nothing much to report.

Sharjah Taawun Mall-reasonably sized, not much to report. I wouldn’t go here to specifically see it but useful to know it exists if you plan to live in Sharjah.

Now that I’ve written all this, I realise there are at least 20 more things that I haven’t mentioned for people who live here or are visiting to do but am leaving for another post. This is me, signing off.

Getting Dewa/ Adwea/ Sewa/ Fewa (Water and Electricity)

2011-12-24T15:13:00.000+03:00

If you know what to do, this is a very simple procedure and takes about an hour in total to complete. The Water and Electricity Authority will take about two days to put your power on so factor in this time before you move in.

You will need you passport, visa and copies and 1,000 dirhams in cheque or cash for a deposit. You will also need your tenancy contract and your landlord’s passport or visa copy.

These need to be taken down to the offices, you wait in a queue for what seems like years and when it’s your turn it should be a simple data entry process.

In Dubai, you can register online for DEWA once you’ve got your customer service number. It takes about a week to get approved but after that you never have to see a DEWA office again and can pay your bills at home. You could also pay at some petrol stations,

In Abu Dhabi you can call 800 555 for all government-related questions. The staff will be helpful and usually speak excellent English.

These are the numbers for ADWEA Abu Dhabi Contact Centre: 800 2332 and Al Ain Contact Centre: 800 9008. However Abu Dhabi government employees very seldom have to pay for their rent, water or electricity and usually Abu Dhabi residents will have water and electricity included in their rent.

I’ll do a list of offices for DEWA below and other authorities also, if I can find them!

It’s is a similar procedure for getting a Du/ Etisalat home service and you also need a deposit to start one of these also.

What I would suggest is always keep a copy of your landlord’s passport and visa, your passport copy and via, your tenancy contract and passport pictures in your car. Its ridiculous the amount of times you need your passport copy or passport pictures to get things done here and just makes life all the more simpler.

These are DEWA office opening times. The number for the main operator is 04 601 9999. If I’ve left anything out, feel free to leave a comment or email.

#	Customer Service Centres	Opening Timings
1.	Head Office(Al Garhoud)	Saturday to Thursday 7:30 AM to 8:00 PM
2.	Al Hudaiba Centre	Sunday to Thursday 7:30 AM to 8:00 PM Saturday 7:30 AM to 2:00 PM
3.	Burj Nahar Centre	Saturday to Thursday 7:30 AM to 8:00 PM
4.	Customer Service Centre at Dubai Municipality - Al Manara Centre	Sunday to Thursday 7:30 AM to 2:00 PM
5.	Customer Service Centre at Dubai Municipality – Al Twar Centre	Sunday to Thursday 7:30 AM to 8:00 PM Saturday 7:30 AM to 2:00 PM
6.	Customer Service Centre at General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs - Head Quarter	Sunday to Thursday 7:30 AM to 2:00 PM
7.	Customer Service Centre at General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs - Jebel Ali	Sunday to Thursday 7:30 AM to 2:00 PM
8.	Umm Ramool Centre	Sunday to Thursday 7:30 AM to 8:00 PM Saturday 7:30 AM to 2:00 PM
9.	Ayal Nasir Centre	Sunday to Thursday 7:30 AM to 8:00 PM Saturday (Bill Payment Only) 7:30 AM to 2:00 PM
10.	Al Wasl Centre	Saturday to Thursday 7:30 AM to 8:00 PM
11.	Discovery Gardens Centre	Sunday to Thursday 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM
12.	Jebel Ali Industrial Area Centre	Sunday to Thursday 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM

Public Transport Versus Car

2011-12-16T11:31:00.002+03:00

Before I start, I would just like to say thank you to everyone who has been reading this blog since I started it a couple months ago. If the stats are correct, hundreds have read it so far and I hope it’s been helpful in giving you an understanding of what the UAE is like.

Most people in the UAE prefer to use cars, the government has been doing its best over the last couple of years to encourage people to use the metro and bus system and it has been a somewhat successful campaign because of the economic advantages.

Using the metro is really good for the environment and should absolutely be encouraged, which is what I would like to do in this post. But I have to admit if you’ve got guests, you will need a car.

Also, after speaking to regular metro users a lot, I find saving cash is one of big advantages of taking the metro and bus system for the moment.

Personally, on average I use the metro to work two out of five days in the week. Some weeks I use it every day, but usually its not always possible because I regularly have out of town guests and its not convenient lugging them around on the metro.

The only reason I can use the metro with reasonable ease is that the station is a ten-minute walk from my apartment block and then a ten-minute walk from my stop to my offices.

This is one of the reasons why taking the metro is difficult in Dubai: the lack of pavements. There are very few places to walk in Dubai and doing so can be quite dangerous because you will encounter roadworks in quite a large part of the city, which also makes walking a dusty experience.

This means you will have to take one of the many feeder buses that the RTA provides, which aren’t always available because they’re tend to be quite late.

This is a serious hindrance to an otherwise excellent system, the metro itself is always on time, always clean and very cheap. The cheapest in the world, we were told when it started up two years ago, though I am not sure if this is still true.

Buses in the city have gotten better and even cheaper than the metro but they are possibly the slowest mode of transport in the UAE. The buses are clean, air-conditioned and women get priority seating. But this mode is for people who will leave home 2 hours before they need to get into work. Also, the RTA drivers are always falling asleep and they drive ridiculously fast, so avoid it if you’re prone to motion sickness.

In Abu Dhabi, the bus drivers are much nicer and the buses seem cleaner, possibly because they are newer. The bus service are fewer than in Dubai, but they are more likely to be on time.

I have no idea about Sharjah bus services, but am sure it’s awful. Sorry, ignore that. That’s just my Sharjah bias.

Of course, one could always hire a taxi if you don’t want to buy a car but because of the high monthly cost, you may as well buy a car.

If I lived in Bur Dubai but worked in Deira, I would take a water taxi across the creek to work, or an abra. They’re cheap, convenient and just a lovely way to travel.

What I would suggest if you’re moving over and would like to use public transport rather than buy a car is make sure your apartment is very close to a metro station with a good walking area, and if your office is too, that’s a bonus. The main malls and places you’re likely to go have metro stations attached to them, which is useful. And, if you get guests but not very often, just hire a car for the week or however long they’re staying. You could hire a car for around 1800 dirhams a month, which is quite affordable.

Transferring your drivers license:

Most European, South African, Australian driving licenses are transferable in the UAE. All you need is a valid eye test, both the card and paper part and a nominal amount of money for typing. If you go to one of the many conveniently located RTA license offices, you will be able to convert your license. If you can’t do an eye test anywhere, there should be facilities at the RTA office. Depending on the time of day, the entire process including eye test shouldn’t take more than an hour.

The UAE Turns Forty (December 2nd, 2011)…

2011-12-11T21:53:00.001+03:00

Because of this anniversary, this is a semi-tribute blog. I had originally started writing this on November 31^st but fell quite ill and then had a host of issues following that, which is why this is up so late.

What I realised when covering the National Day celebrations is that so many people are unaware of the UAE’s pearl diving history, that not many people know the significance of Bani Yas and that very few people are aware of the trucial states.

So I thought I’d put that right.

Before I do, I must stress, there are some excellent books on this subject (Look up Chris Davidson or Jim Krane) my warblings are a very condensed form of history but will possibly interest you enough to make you want to look it all up yourself.

Sheikh Zayed Mosque at night

Bani Yas: This was the UAE’s biggest tribe, made up of numerous divisions. They were a section originally based in Liwa-where the annual date festival is held, you must check it out- and this section of the tribe gave rise to the Al Nahyan’s –Abu Dhabi’s ruling family. Bani Yas was quite well-regarded across Arabia for both its military prowess and also because it was such a large tribe. What I admire most about Bani Yas is that it gave rise to quite a big number of noble families including the Maktoums who now rule Dubai, but I am also impressed by the love of art, literature and culture that its members promote and that is very evident across the country to this day. The Sheikh Zayed Mosque exemplifies this. Look at my amazing pictures of this stunning piece of architecture (and try not to steal them without crediting please!)

Light show at Sheikh Zayed Mosque

Trucial States: Before the UAE started in 1971, there was already a lot of trade going on in Dubai (which had a tiny little port, with just one bulb that had to be kept on all night, presumably so ships knew they were close to land). The rulers of Dubai had a very long-sighted vision and had signed a deal to be under the protection of Britain. It also offered a tax exemption to foreign businessmen. The city itself was dusty with little mud huts that served its mainly-Bedouin population. People from across the water had come to Dubai to trade and many ended up settling there.

Oil had been discovered around 30 years prior to the country’s independence and it was a definite blessing-more so than in other places. This was since the UAE had long relied on pearl diving for its income-in every one thousand or so oysters, divers would find a pearl. However, a short while before oil as discovered in the Emirates, cultured pearls, which could be produced in the thousands with a definite shape started to become all the rage. Suddenly, the UAE could no longer compete with the international market of cultured pearls.

The Trucial states originally included Qatar and Bahrain and in 1972, after the UK decided to end its treaty with the 7 Trucial Sheikhdoms, the rulers decided to form their own state. Since an agreement could not be reached with these two Sheikhdoms in 1971, 6 emirates went on to form the UAE and Bahrain and Qatar became independent states. The seventh emirate, Ras Al Khaimah joined in 1972.

Random Facts: Things I find quite interesting are that even though the currency of the dirham was introduced in 1973, Indian traders and workers here were still allowed to buy and sell things in rupees (I’m not if this was the case for other currencies) and the previous currency had been called the Gulf Rupee. As a result, in parts of Deira and Jumeirah, if you meet someone who’s been here for over thirty years, they’ll still quote you prices calling the currency ‘Rupee’ instead of dirham, which is confusing, but quaint.

Another weirdness (in my opinion) is that Sharjah (yes, Sharjah!!!) had the only functioning airstrip, built by the British in 1939, so for a long time, this is where commercial flights landed-after much discomfort of travelling from Bahrain. Chris Davidson says in his book that this meant flights to Sharjah were few and far between and so Sheikh Rashid told his majlis that an airport was really needed in Dubai. They couldn’t see why it was needed, and let's forget the tourism and travel aspect for a second…but can you imagine a world without Dubai Duty free?

The Islands- View from the Burj Khalifa

It’s incredibly impressive what the UAE has done in the short time its been around. To illustrate; an aunt who’s been married for some time recently said to me that she’s asked her husband to renovate their home and he’s dawdled over the matter until weeks became months which became years. Fifteen years later she is now able to say to him we still haven’t renovated our house and the UAE’s managed to build up an entire country in that time. I don’t think my uncle was impressed.

Cost of Living in the UAE- updated

2011-11-25T11:37:00.003+03:00

I’m updating this because I have had a few emails from people who are bringing families over, people want me to include gym membership costs (they are on another post on this blog but I agree should be included in this one too) and also because the cost of living in the UAE is rising while salaries remain stagnant. This can be seen in the rise in the cost of apartments in Sharjah and Ajman- which used to be considered cheaper places to live, now they are not far off prices in Dubai

Also there are new costs being added every day, this includes ID cards, housing fees and ridiculously high cooling charges, usually incurred by the tenant.

This is a much more inclusive post than the previous one, it includes petrol prices, housing fees and Salik. For your information, the UAE has one of the highest costs of petrol in the gulf; in Saudi Arabia, it’s less than half the price we pay!

The positive news is more companies are expected to hire in the coming months after the lethargy of the last few years, so that should help boost the job market.

Please note, am not an accountant and maths is certainly not a strong point but this time am working on AN AVERAGE of the cost of rent in 3 emirates. Costs like Salik only apply to Dubai, so take that cost off if you’re living in a different emirate (Note: People living in all Emirates will need a Salik tag if you visit Dubai)

Things to note out of interest:

Getting a small car in the UAE, like a Toyota Yaris is quite affordable (about 1800 dirhams a month) however it’s certainly not advisable. This is mainly because most people here have enormous cars and drive like they’ve never been taught- it can be quite a harrowing experience in a small car. A small SUV like a Hyundai Tucson, Honda CRV, Lexus RX should work fine.
Using the metro is only convenient if you have an hour to spare getting into work and live near a metro station- homes in Mirdif, Motor City, Arabian Ranches are not close to a metro station and would make the journey into work extremely difficult
Paying your rent can be quite difficult, since landlords insist on four cheques a year. Some landlords insist on the entire rent amount at the start of the year- don’t fall for this; this used to be common practice pre-2008 but its not anymore. You can do it in 4 cheques; it still hurts though, when 20,000 dirhams goes out of your account every three months. And note: Unless you’re with an Islamic bank, they will not take kindly if the money isn’t in your account when its supposed to be. Try not to bounce a cheque in the UAE, it could land you in jail.
With the cooling charges, usually its the tenant foots the bill, it’s high. These are just averages- you will have to pay a supposedly refundable deposit (I’ve never got mine back) as well make as a monthly payment
Similarly there is a 5% supposedly refundable deposit on the flat you take, the landlords I’ve had in recent years have only ever refunded me the smallest dividend back for ‘repairs’
Register as a tenant with your land department, if you don’t they may not be able to help you when there is an issue with the landlord or a dodgy estate agent
As always, if there is anything you would like to know, feel free to email me, hope I haven’t left anything out! Let me know if I have!

· All prices in AED

Expense	Cost Per Year	Emirate
Rent-Studio	38,000	Dubai
Rent-Studio	45,000	Abu Dhabi
Rent-Studio	35,000	Sharjah
Rent-One Bed	50,000	Dubai
Rent-One Bed	60,000	Abu Dhabi
Rent-One Bed	48,000	Sharjah
Rent-Two Bed	62,000	Dubai
Rent-Two Bed	75,000	Abu Dhabi
Rent-Two Bed	60,000	Sharjah
Rent- Villa	120,000	Dubai
Rent- Villa	180,000	Abu Dhabi
Rent- Villa	90,000	Sharjah

	Cost per month
Groceries Single	2,000
Groceries Family	4,500
Lights and Water	300
Housing Fees	400
Car	2000
Petrol	800
Salik	400
Internet, TV	600
Cleaner	500
Entertainment	2000
Gym Membership	400
Monthly Cooling	550
Rent Deposit	5 % of annual rent
Cooling Deposit	2000

UAE Vs The World

2011-11-18T21:41:00.002+03:00

Okay the blog this week was supposed to be a rant at customer service- but then someone from the UK tweeted me (@Audiomonkee) saying they’re coming to visit to Dubai-and wanted to know what is and isn’t allowed in the UAE. I replied saying ‘normal things’ are allowed, having only 160 characters.

However, I do think it’s brought up an important point. The UAE, while it does have random idiosyncrasies, is also one of the most liberal places in the region. Yes, there are rules and regulations, but as far as I know, all societies are made up of certain rules. In the UK you can take pictures of government buildings, in the Ukraine you can’t. In Malia, you can have sex on the beach, in Dubai (and mostly everywhere else in the world) you can’t.

The UAE has got some bad rep recently, thanks to some frisky Brits and equally frisky tabloid papers, which is why I hope I can help you make an informed decision about the country. Firstly the couple infamous for their sexual exploits on the beach would have been breaking public decency rules in pretty much most of the world and an insider has told me that the couple who were charged for kissing in a restaurant were warned numerous times before they were dobbed in.

The UAE bases a lot of its rules on a culture based on a mixture of Islam, Gulf culture and the nomadic and pearl diving heritage it has. Because of the set up, women and men tended to have different tasks and did tend to be separated from each other in a lot of situations. This is something that has stuck, but does not mean the female population here are downtrodden. In fact, Emirati girls are higher achievers than the boys at school and university. This week, I met two who were convinced that there’ll soon be more Emirati women in the UAE cabinet than men, they say like everything, it needs time to help perceptions change, and they are right.

Consider the fact that the UAE is forty years old on December 2^nd, England is hundreds of years old-yet in England only around 22 percent of women make up the parliament today, while a very similar number of women are in government in the Emirates. In the UK, the first woman elected into parliament was in 1919 after the war, in the UAE, women were in parliament since parliament existed. This is an excellent article by two women I have interviewed many times

http://www.dsg.ae/PUBLICATIONS/PublicationDetail.aspx?udt_826_param_detail=501

Around 40 years ago, there were less than 50 cars on the UAE’s dirty, sandy roads…and today it’s got over 400 skyscrapers and a few million cars and an annoying but quite advanced toll system.

The point I’m getting at, is the UAE is a relatively young country and it will make mistakes but its positives outweigh the negatives by far or so many of us expats will not live here.

Of course there are a lot of rules I, and many others, don’t agree with; for example this week a girl was fined 300 dirhams for falling asleep on the metro. When I called the RTA to ask why, the simple answer was it’s a rule. Another metro story, earlier in the year, a colleague of mine was fined for running in the metro station, when I contested it with the police officer, he said the train comes every 8 minutes, just wait and be patient.

Those rules really infuriate me, just like all the bureaucracy it takes to do something simple like cancel a visa or move jobs, but at the same time living here is easy, its safe and there is a strong cultural awareness. Children here are very respectful of older people, to the point I can always tell if an expat has been born and raised in the UAE or their home country.

So, yes, getting back to my point...walking around showing overt public displays of affection are frowned upon, but I don’t really know any society where this is actually okay. I’ve been on buses in England where people do their best to look everywhere but at the couple who are trying to swallow each other’s tonsils at the front. It really isn’t pleasant, whether or not you’re a prude and I say hallelujah to a government that fights for my rights to look all around a bus and have a tonsil-free view.

Things you need to know

2011-11-11T07:14:00.001+03:00

This post will cover four short topics that you really need to know if you live here.

Paying Fines

Getting fined for traffic offenses in the UAE is quite a regular occurrence for a lot of people…mainly because they don’t stick to the speed limit. Paying them is quite simple and the government has been lenient on people who owe thousands of dirhams-some of them have been pardoned and others have been given the option of installment payments.

In Dubai you get two different authorities that can fine you, the RTA (For issues like parking) and the Police (for issues like speeding). The good news is you can pay both types of penalty at either office. There is also an online facility, which makes life incredibly easy. I have included the sites below. I’ve made sure they work, so if they don’t, please let me know on feyaza@gmail.com

These are the online sites for the 3 most important emirates:

Abu Dhabi

http://www.adpolice.gov.ae/en/Portal/e.services.aspx

Sharjah

http://shjpolice.gov.ae/en/index.html

Dubai

http://www.dubaipolice.gov.ae/dp/jsps/home.do?switchLanguage=en&noCache=1320981524980

(The Dubai website has a ‘most-wanted’ section on the home page, which is quite fun…they’re mostly Europeans at the time of writing)

What to do in an Accident

If you ever meet in car crash-whatever emirate you’re in and however minor- you must always call the police. The officer will come out to you (within an hour depending on traffic) and will determine who caused the accident. Usually the person who has caused the crash will be given a 200-400 dirham penalty for being so ridiculous.

Your insurance details will be taken and depending on the circumstances, you may have to go with your crash-partner to the police station.

If your car has been damaged-whether you caused the crash or not, you will also have to visit your insurance office and determine how much excess you will have to pay and where to send your car, they very rarely sort this kind of thing on the phone.

In the cases of crashes with damage to your car, expect around 3 days of hassle.

Salik Toll

Salik was introduced in Dubai to curb the traffic, at first these ‘gates’ were remarkable, for four dirhams, you passed through with ease and bypassed all the other cars. Then everyone decided they don’t mind paying Salik and if you now try going to Deira at 5pm using Sheikh Zayed Road, you will be stuck in manic traffic coming from Abu Dhabi. Same goes for the opposite route in the mornings. (Also, they’re not really gates, they’re more like square arches that use Radio frequency technology, so its all automatic; your Salik tag is charged every time your car passes through one of them)

There are four Salik toll-gates-two of which are on Sheikh Zayed Road and one on the way to the airport. They can be avoided by using other roads, I know lots of people who never pay Salik, but you still need a tag.

You will never be charged more than 24 dirhams in a day and if you take less than half an hour to pass from one to the other gate on Sheikh Zayed Road, you’ll only be charged once.

You can get a Salik application form at some banks or you can apply online. It costs about 100 dirhams- 50 of which is credit. It’s one of the easiest things to do. You’ll need ID and car registration card. This is the website

https://customers.salik.ae/app/RegisterOnline.aspx?culture=eng

Please note, you will be fined if your salik tag isn’t fixed-starting at 100 dirhams and then doubles every time you cross a gate. Also, if you don’t have enough credit on your tag, you will be fined 50 dirhams every time. However, you do get 4 ‘free’ passes before you’re fined for no credit. Since your mobile phone is registered to salik, you’ll get an SMS every time your pass by a toll without credit. I haven’t tested this out but have heard that if the credit is topped up within two working days, the penalty will be waived.

E-gate

Getting an e gate card, is the easiest thing ever and has changed my life. I haven’t waited in an immigration queue at a UAE airport for years. It costs 200 dirhams and needs to be renewed every year. You will need to physically go to the offices in the airport, DNATA buildings or DNRD yourself, since your picture and fingerprints will need to be taken and officials will have to see you are who you say you are.

It takes about 10 minutes in total, and your card will be issued in front of you. You will then be able to bypass the queues use the e-gates at any airport in the emirate.

Please note you should always take cash, and the prices may change so bring enough.

EDIT: As of January 2012, you can link your e-gate card to your ID card; just take your ID card to the DNATA offices, pay the fees and voila.

I haven't decided what to talk about in next week's post as yet, but am considering a rant on customer service in the UAE, and how to maintain your sanity.

Getting a Emirates ID Card

2011-11-04T09:53:00.000+03:00

If I remember correctly, the first mention to the public of ID cards happened sometime in 2008.

The idea was to have super card that will eventually link bank accounts, health logs, drivers licenses, traffic fines, e gate cards etc and will massively contribute to the ease of the nation. It’s also more convenient for the government to have the records of its mostly-expat population, so in the event of death, for example, it will be a quicker and more convenient way for the government and families to deal with the situation of closing bank accounts and other records.

However, over the past two or three years, the application deadlines for expats and nationals have changed constantly to accommodate the apathetic attitude of the public to the cards. This was partly due to the fact that the online registration form did not work very well (You had to download some type of software to go with it and if you made a mistake you needed another form and would then have to download it from a different computer, it was slightly crazy), the ID card centres were always insanely busy and some government departments and banks had no idea what an ID card was. Dubai’s RTA had also made things easier for people who didn’t have an ID card saying it wouldn’t make it mandatory for people applying for drivers licenses etc to have an ID card.

As a result, the government has had to take a more hard-line approach to get people signing up to the card, it announced more achievable deadlines and also fines for people who didn’t sign up by that time.

The deadlines are separated between UAE nationals, government departments, each emirate and people who already have ID cards and need to renew them. I’ve attached a sheet with information regarding the deadlines, as you will see some deadlines have already been passed. People who have missed their deadline will be fined 20 dirhams per day to a maximum fine of 1,000 dirhams.

If you’ve just arrived in the UAE and are applying for a visa, your HR department should also set up an Emirates ID application for you since the visa and ID card application is now linked.

I hadn’t applied for my ID card till this week and only then because I was writing this blog (Even though I know the process I wanted to experience it) I think the main reason for my procrastination was possibly because of the queues. I had forgotten however that women in the UAE don’t really need to queue. The first part is really easy; you hand your passport over to a reputable typing centre (some are in the ID card centres but can get full very quickly) they fill in a form for you. This could take up to a day depending on how busy they are and the fees will be up to 400 dirhams at the typing centre.

You should get an sms before your appointment (I got mine the day of my appointment and had I not already known when it was thanks to the typing centre, it would have been a mad scramble)

When I got to the ID centre (I went to Al Barsha), there were about 40 men in a queue and my heart sank since we were apparently supposed to collect a ticket before heading to the appointment. This is a bit strange since you shouldn’t need a ticket to tell you when to go for your appointment since you have already been given a time.

Of course, since I was female I didn’t have to wait in the queue and someone very kindly scanned my document from the typing centre and handed me a ticket. Still, what a pointless hassle for the men! A friend says its because they need to check your documents are in order, but I honestly think this could be done during you ’appointment’

After that though, smooth sailing! You wait for your ticket number to be called, head to the appropriate desk and get your fingerprints and a picture taken. And then you’re done. The ID card should take around 6 weeks I’ve been told.

This is the Emirates ID website which may be of some use http://www.emiratesid.ae/en/process-and-fees/registration-process.aspx

Thank you for the positive and kind comments on Facebook and Twitter and please recommend my blog to people who are moving to the UAE.

As always if you have any questions or comments, please email me or comment below and I will do my best to help.

Next week, I’ll do a number of small topics and bunch them together Paying Fines, What to do in an accident, Salik Toll and e gate.

Working in the UAE

2011-10-28T10:36:00.001+03:00

In order to live the UAE, you must obtain a residency visa or be a dependent of someone who has a residency visa. As a result, most people who live here will have jobs or be able to stay on an investor visa (I will cover this at some point).

As a side note, women who are unmarried can stay in the country on their parents’ visas, which is quite useful; men can only do this until the age of 18.

Depending on which sector you work in, the benefits you receive with each job will differ. However, there are some things that apply nationwide and to every employee. This is a fairly wide topic and I expect I will have to add to it intermittently.

We’re quite lucky in the emirates, since your employer is duty-bound by law to provide you with health insurance and a ticket back home. If you have a family, the employer will usually also cover their visas, medical insurance and tickets back home.

Visa and medical test

To get a residency visa, everyone is obligated to take a tuberculosis X-Ray and a blood test for HIV and AIDS, Hepatitis, leprosy and in some cases pregnancy. Except for pregnancy, please note positive results of any of the others will result in immediate deportation. In the case of pregnancy of a woman applying for a job, it is up to your employer to decide whether you should still be employed. If you are unmarried and pregnant, it will be treated as a criminal offense here.

Leaving before your contract Ends

This can be tricky, but things are getting better here. According to UAE Labour law, you aren’t allowed to move from one employer to a competitor-unless you receive a NOC (No Objection Certificate-learn this, you will need one for a lot of things) Usually employers aren’t so kind as to provide you with an NOC, which means you will either have to work in a completely different industry-which for obvious reasons can be impossible-or be banned from working in the UAE for at least a year. The UAE is working to change this rule. This article may help you to understand it better.

http://www.thebigprojectme.com/2011/06/12/uae-expat-labour-laws-to-change/

Things to be aware of

· Some private companies try to keep hold of your passport when you start working with them. This is illegal, and usually an HR department will back off if you bring this to their attention. They may compromise and take your labour card instead. The Ministry of Labour works very hard to ensure that contracts are adhered and will penalise companies that try to rip you off. The worker's rights are taken quite seriously and your complaint will be taken seriously.

· During Ramadan every employee, Muslim or not, should work 2 hours less in the day. In government companies, it's an 8 hour work day and usually the timings are from 7.30 to 3.30- but 7.30 to 1.30 in Ramadan. In private companies the timings are usually 8am-5pm and in Ramadan 8am to 3pm. However, some private employers don’t follow this rule and will go through extreme measures to ensure their employees work the regular 9 hours. If you do work a 9-hour day during Ramadan you are entitled to 2 hours in lieu per day. Ministry of labour inspectors go round to ensure companies are sticking to the Ramadan hours, and you can contact them to organise a 'spot' inspection at your office if your company is not abiding by the law.

· If you work on public holidays like Eid, National Day etc, you are entitled to the days off. Eid holidays fall on a different date each year since Muslims work according to a lunar calendar. You should get 30 days of annual leave

· When you sign a contract, your company may offer you a ‘furniture allowance’ of around 8-10,000 dihams. You will have to pay this back if you work for the company for less than 2 years. You also have the option of an interest free loan from your company to pay your rent if your landlord is asking for the full yearly amount in one cheque. Try not to do this though, and instead look for a place to stay where the landlord asks for 4 or more cheques.

· Your company medical insurance doesn’t usually cover dental, maternity or optical. You may want to think about an additional medical plan for these things

· Most companies will work through the working week (Sunday to Thursday) with Fridays and Saturdays off. However there are a few businesses that work 6 day weeks (Saturday to Thursday) but the Saturday will be a shorter working day than the rest of the week

This is the link from Gulf Talent, which has a translated version of the UAE labour law for more information.

http://www.gulftalent.com/repository/ext/UAE_Labour_Law.pdf

If you have any questions at all, feel free to comment or email me and I will be happy to answer them. Similarly, if you feel I have left anything out, please let me know. I would love to have positive or negative feedback.