Tips for Living in Dubai

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1. When driving in Dubai (I have not made any mistakes driving on the right yet, other than twice opening the passenger door looking for the steering wheel) if the person on front of you at the lights does not take off like they are at the Meremere dragstrip when it turns green, give them hornage.

2. Noone will let you into a gap when you are trying to pull into traffic - you have to barge your way in. But it is ok here, everyone drives like an asshole and it is expected, so there is no road rage.

3. Apartment hunting - it is a long process - be patient and demanding. Agents will not return you calls, not meet you on time, or sometimes at all. And when you get an apartment (one in a nice area) expect to pay a lot. Cost of living is generally cheap here. Cars, electronics, food etc is quite a bit cheaper, but accommodation is not. We have found a great large 1 bdrm apartment, brand new, squash court, badminton court, large pool, gym, underground carpark, pool view. Fantastic - at a bargain price of $920/week!!! But the salaries are much better here. So all in all, from a pure monetary point of view, much better than NZ.

4. Singapore has nothing on Dubai for shopping - but avoid the malls on Friday nights (weekend is Friday, Saturday). Dubai has to be the shopping capital of the world. One mall can have over 15 designer watch shops alone. The latest mall to be built - Mall of Arabia - to be completed in 2008/2009 is to be the biggest in the world. Apparently it will take 5 days to visit every shop. Not so good if (as we found when shopping in the Mall of the Emirates - the one with the ski field, which is a huge mall) if you need to visit a shop at each end.

5. Always tip. You never know when you will make a contact. Already have a contact for getting black market alcohol after tipping the restaurant delivery guy.

6. Don't believe the stories people tell you after you have said you are coming to Dubai. All scaremongering. And all the expats here that we have spoken had exactly the same thing - you will have to live in compound, you will have to give up alcohol, you will have to dress modestly, too dangerous to drive etc. This place is really safe and virtually crime free (probably becuase the police are so strict that if you don't stop when they want to pull you over, they will try to shoot out your tyres). Plenty of places to drink (although a bit expensive). People dress like people anywhere (apart from the strict Muslim Arabs).

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