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Popular General Tips | Miscellaneous General Tips Tips | All Tips (131)  | |  |  | "Tough in the Gulf" - storms and flooding! | Tip Rating:   |  |  | |  |
The weather in the UAE isn't as visibly seasonal as in most other countries: no autumn colours, no spring flowers, etc. Usual it’s either hot, less hot, humid, or windy.
The UAE sometimes experiences some pretty extreme weather conditions that bring a new sense to the saying: It doesn't merely rain, it pours!
RAIN is very rare and always welcomed by UAE residents with great joy, with even adults running outside to stand in the rain & children cheerfully playing in puddles! From my experience, the highest likelyhood of rain is between the months of December - March. Due to the fact that the road sewage/drain system gets clogged with sand throughout the summer months, the water cannot go anywhere - leading to some quite severe localised FLOODING in the cities! (see photo)
Most extreme weather can usually be witnessed just before the major climate changes, i.e. just before or after summer. Prevailing northwesterly winds, known by their Arabic name Shammal (meaning "north") are the main cause of moderate to severe sandstorms, whipping sand up in the desert & lashing it across the country.
SANDSTORMS lend an eerie feeling to the day.
It almost seems like once in a while, the desert attempts to reclaim its territory and to bury the artificial glitter & glamour built by man. Exercise caution whilst driving during poor visibility, as well as mini-dunes building up on the highways.
THICK FOG is also a major disturbance in many parts of the country, due to previous rainfalls or sudden high humidity. It's quite common in September & October, and flights have had to be redirected or delayed because of heavy fog in Dubai, Abu Dhabi or the Northern Emirates.
Below, I have listed some newspaper articles about past weather disturbances that made it into the UAE's headlines:
Heavy Fog & Sand Storms before Eid Holidays:
Gulf News - 11th Oct. 2007:
The forecast came as dust, haze, and strong easterly winds hit Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah yesterday, with visibility dropping to 500 metres in some areas, but no major accidents were reported.
Dense fog reduced visibility at Sharjah International Airport to 100 metres early in the morning and some flights had to be diverted to Dubai, the UAE Met office said.
Agony continues as relentless rain floods the roads:
Gulf News - 15th January 2008
Dubai/Sharjah: Motorists had another agonising day on the roads as heavy rains flooded most of the busy streets while some areas became "lakes" trapping drivers who drove through. Most arterial roads were clogged with vehicles, which moved bumper to bumper.
Dozens of flights diverted as dense fog puts life in low gear:
Gulf News - 7th January 2005
Dozens of flights were disrupted when a heavy blanket of fog descended on many parts of the UAE. Residents woke last Tuesday to visibility as low as 100 metres as a result of the combined effects of cold temperatures and high humidity.
Health Warning:
Doctors strongly advise people with respiratory conditions to stay indoors during sandstorms and to take extra care if they do have to venture outside.
Dr Abdul Rehman Shihabi (Vetrauensarzt des Deutschen Generalkonsulats) said asthmatics were at risk of suffering attacks during sandstorms.
People with allergies to dust or elderly residents with chronic lung conditions should also try to avoid sandstorms, Shihabi said. Leave a Comment
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| | | | Working in Dubai Part I | Tip Rating: | | | | |
Due to rapid development, Dubai has attract many job seekers from different nationalities. Popular fields are among other Accountancy, Information Technology, Interior Design, Real Estate, Hospitality, etc.
If you asked me, is it difficult to find a job in Dubai?? Well, I can say that as many other places in the world, hunting and finding a job is different experience from one to another person. Some say will find it easy, while some don’t.
Looking to job advertisement in local news paper in Dubai, I notice that some advertisements are not hesitant to mention preferable citizenships. For example wanted US/UK educated, or Indian/Arabic preferred. Some advertisements mention preferable visa status, for example : Husband or Father visa preferred. It means that the advertised company will not give sponsorship for the employee and prefer to hire candidate on husband or father visa.
To work in UAE, you are legally required to have a valid labour card. This can only be applied once you have residency. Employment/Residence visa provided by a company unless if you are under husband/father sponsorship. A person who wishes to find a job in UAE under visit visa (valid until 60 days with an extension for 30 day and required extension fee) should change to employment visa once they found a job.
If you wish to find a job in UAE, it will be wise to read rules and regulations applied. For example, there is a regulation that impose a six-month ban for employee who resign from the company before certain period of time, or there are regulation to govern changing a job, visa transfer, minimum income for sponsor family, etc. You just need to know these regulations.
For further info :
http://www.gulfnews.com/UAEinfo/default.asp
http://www.dnrd.gov.ae/dnrd/default.htm
http://www.dubai.ae
Hope it’s help. Leave a Comment
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| | | | Living Cost in Dubai | Tip Rating: | | | | |
Living cost in Dubai is not that cheap. With so many shopping festivals, discounts and many places to go out will need a mammoth effort to save money in Dubai.
It seems many Dubai people trap into motto “earn hard and spend harder”. Dubai is not a very good place to save money or think about retirement plan.
Well again, lifestyle is individual’s choice (hopefully many choose a wise way : ))
Meal.
Simple meals like Paratha, Shwarma or sandwich cost around AED 2 to 10. In some cafeteria where you can have a package sandwich, french fries and pickle will cost you AED 15. Fast food families offer package meal start from AED 8 (quite big portion, satisfying and don’t ask whether it’s a healthy choice or not). Mineral water, coffee, tea and soft drink can cost around AED 1 to 3 (Warning : not a coffee from fancy coffee shop chains) With AED 30 per person, you can enjoy a nice meal in restaurant.
Telephone, Water and Electricity
Water and electricity will depend on the use. Free of charge for a local telephone (If you call local number from the local telephone) Telephone card is AED 30. Also voucher for pre-paid telephone card costs AED 30. Mobile number can be obtained by register to Etisalat or you can buy a used number from colleague or friends.
www.etisalat.ae
Transportation
It depends. If you travel by bus it will be cheap way to travel. You can save money a lot, but you can’t save time. Some bus destination takes quite a while to wait, just be patient and don’t easily to give up. Bus fare costs you AED 1.50 – 2.50. You can also buy subscriber card. It’s cheaper and faster. Leave a Comment
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| | | | Working in Dubai Part II | Tip Rating: | | | | |
The next most popular question is about salary matter. Well, we all know that salary will be depend on qualification, experience, education, skill, etc, etc. And sometimes it also depends on profession. I just can give a very rough illustration (My dear Dubai fellow, feel free to correct me if I am wrong)
For example, a labour work and maid salary range is from AED 800 – 1,500. For labour work, usually company provides accommodation and meals. Secretarial and administrative range is AED 1,500 – 8,000 (again, this is also depend on qualification. Arabic speaker or those who can speak Arabic or multilingual will be paid higher), Information Technology range is from AED 2,000 >15,000. Accountant starts from AED 2,500 above. There are many professions that I’m not familiar about the salary bracket.
Some companies are quite generous. They provide housing allowance (it would be great since housing in Dubai is costly), transportation allowance, medical and annual ticket to go back to home country. While there are also many companies apply “Less is the best” package. In this case, you need to be careful, since cost of living in Dubai is not that cheap.
Recruitment Agency :
www.clarendonparker.com
www.kershawleonard.net
www.talentdubai.com
www.nadia-me.com
www.bacme.com
www.bayt.com
www.strategiy.com
www.jobs-me.com
www.sosrecruitment.net
www.indigo.ae
www.mosaicsearch.com
www.charterhouseme.ae
www.IQselection.com
www.jobtrackme.com Leave a Comment
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| | | | Housing and Accommodation | Tip Rating: | | | | |
With a rapid development in Dubai, housing becomes quite popular issue these days.
Whether you are looking for room, flat, apartment or villa, it’s not just about the high price, but also availability.
Middle to lower budget will find it’s quite difficult to find a decent place to stay with the tight budget. The alternative way is to sharing accommodation.
The accommodation hunting also depends on the location.
Again, a rough illustration. Room only in Jumeirah costs around AED 2,000 to 6,000. per month plus water and electricity. Usually, a villa in Jumeirah has two to four bed rooms, available for rent. While one bed room apartment in Jumeirah starts with AED 75,000 per year. Villa with three bed room starts from AED 100,000 per year.
Satwa, Karama and Bur Dubai are favourite locations for new comer in Dubai. But the issue is to get accommodation in these areas are also not easy. Sharing accommodation in apartment per room starts from AED 1,250 above. Two bed room apartments starts from AED 30,000 per year.
Accommodation in Deira is little bit cheaper than aforementioned areas. (Room starts from AED 800 above) But many buildings are quite old and also the availability is pretty rare.
Another option is bed space. But for this kind of option, you must have first class of tolerance and patience to other people, since there will be at least 5 people in one room.
Some new apartment and housing area such as The Greens, The Meadows, Emirates Hills, Marina are quite fancy, since there is an option to own property in Dubai. But to rent apartment or villa in these areas are quite expensive.
(check www.emaar.com) Leave a Comment
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| | | | Dirham is UAE's Currency | Tip Rating: | | | | |
The currency for UAE is Dirham. Just for basic information, 1 USD = 3.65 DIrhams (always check)
Dirham comes in the note of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100,200, 500 and 1,000.
And coins os 25 fills, 50 fills and 1 Dirham.
1 Dirham is equal to 100 Fills.
You can find Money Changer Office spread in the main’s location such as shopping centers. Mercatto Mall, City Center, Lamcy and Burjuman has Money Changer Office. Leave a Comment
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| | | | A GLORIOUSLY RICH INDIAN INFLUENCE | Tip Rating: | | | | |
The ties between India and the Emirate of Dubai are historic, deep, and unique in many ways. The close proximity between the two, geographically as well as culturally, is reflected all through the city's character. Dubai is a land of expatriates, each bringing a slice of their own country with them. In this scenario, the Indian influence is visibly prevalent.
You can see it in the cuisine, with Indian resturants high on everyone's wish-lists. You can sense it in the clothing, with ethnic/ contemporary Indian boutiques, Indian designers/ models going down a storm with the people here. And then there's Bollywood - whose popularity is on par with Hollywood. Catch a Hindi film on a Saturday, and half the crowd in there will be locals! It'a pretty cool merging of ways and aesthetics.
I love the fact that i'm just two hours away from Bombay. I love the fact that I'm just 6 hours away from London. I love the fact that I can go to Asha's for kebabs with my friends - Indian, Swedish, French, American, Moroccan, Lebanese, Emirati friends - all attacking the food with gusto with our hands :) Where else, but in Dubai? Leave a Comment
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| | | | ART BEGINS TO TAKE CENTER-STAGE | Tip Rating: | | | | |
For many years a cultural desert, Dubai has only recently begun revealing an artistic tendency. The Majlis Gallery was the flag-bearer of all brush-related activities for nearly two decades. But it's not alone any longer. The mushrooming of several new art galleries, both large and small, has begun to foster a sense of community among the city's art missive.
Like any nascent scene, the art movement here has got many things going wrong for it - lots of pretentious rubbish on display, exorbitant prices for ridiculously mundane work, that sort of thing. But what's important is that there are many opportunities now for talented new artists to get their stuff out into the market. And even a small step in this direction is a welcome step away from the city's mall-obsessed mindset.
I trip out on some of the smaller, sexier art joints that have opened up over a relatively short time. The 5 Green Art gallery is at the vanguard of the indie sub-culture in Dubai. They've begun hosting exhibitions regularly, with an emphasis on pop-art projects - manga-inspired drawings, digitally altered paintings, etc. Jam Jar is another hotspot, inviting all and sundry to chill out over coffee while laying down some paintings and pottery. Two other places worth checking out are Art Space at the Fairmont & the XVA Art Gallery in Bastakiya. Leave a Comment
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on May 6, 2008
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