Living in Adu Dhabi: yay or nay?

[Robert]

I have a job opportunity in the U.A.E and I wanted to know your opinion about this place. It would be in Abu Dhabi for a french company. I don't know anything about the country and I'm puzzled between the global wealth of the area which could give me very good life standards and the lack of interesting things to do.

Any kind of comment would be appreciated.

 

[brightangel]

Just PM'd you, Robert.

I lived in Dubai for many years, which is only a couple of hours' drive away from Abu Dhabi.

Email me with any questions and I'll do my best to help you out.

And just to keep this thread relevant:

I was in Dubai at Christmas and picked up 4 AES carts. Okay, they weren't particularly good titles but they were cheap and absolutely mint. They were on the store shelves for years and had the original Neo Geo sealing stickers on them.

I managed to get King of Monsters (dog tag), Alpha Mission II (dog tag), Ninja Combat (what an absolutely shit game) and Thrash Rally (the cart itself was in a baggy-is this normal?). I got all of this for about $100.

First thing I did was open the boxes and inhale 15 year old air.

The guy at the shop was lamenting the fact that his cost for the carts was about $220 each all those years ago. He was practically begging me to buy the rest of them.

There's still another KOM and NC as well as World Heroes sitting on his shelf right now.

 

[k'_127]

email The_True_Warrior. He used to live in Abu Dhabi.

Be adivised that we have one of the hottest climate in the world. It only gets a bit cold in Winter. The weather remains hot through the rest of the year.

You can get a fairly good accommodation for a decent price.

There are not that many shopping centers there (centers are the best option for hanging out, since the weather is generally hot and humid), but like brightangel said, Dubai has plenty of big shopping centers and it's an hour drive from Abu Dhabi (the roads in Dubai are also quite good compared to other cities, although sometimes they get jammed).


You can find all sorts of retaurants and coffee shops, especially in shopping centers.


most ppl there can speak and understand english decently.


I heard of an arcade there that has KOFs with some decent players, but I've never been there. ask The_True_Warrior about it.

hope that helps. Let me know if you have any speciefic questions.

 

[brightangel]

the roads in Dubai are also quite good compared to other cities, although sometimes they get jammed

You should see it these days....absolutely horrendous...

 

[k'_127]

You should see it these days....absolutely horrendous...

yeah lol, but they have opened a new major road (Emirates Road) which streches from Abu Dhabi to the northern Emirates (along side "Sheikh Zayed Road"). so getting into Dubai is not a problem for those who come from the other cities anymore, but driving in the city center is still a pain in the ass

still it's not THAT bad as long as you avoid driving during:
- weekends
- rush hours (8:00 am & 1:00~4:00 pm)

 

[Average Joe]

Does this mean that somebody is actually going to be using the Abu Dhabi flag on purpose instead of because they forgot that when you edit your forum profile it sets it to it by default?

 

[Robert]

Thanks for the info everybody and the for PM Brightangel (replied ).

My main concern now is about the price of the everyday life there and the way my girlfriend will be able to live there. I really hope she will be able to get a real social and professional life.

 

[aria]

There are so many expats in the UAE, particularly Dubai (but I'm sure Abu Dhabi has a number) that I'm certain there's got to be a lively expat scene.

I wouldn't be surprised to hear there are good resources on the web for the expats already living there, maybe you should see if you can find one.

 

[aria]

Here are a few sites (don't know how good they are):

UAE Expat Portal: http://www.relocate2emirate.com/

There are some links all over Wikipedia's external links for particular articles, again, don't know the quality

 

[Robert]

Here are a few sites (don't know how good they are):

UAE Expat Portal: http://www.relocate2emirate.com/

There are some links all over Wikipedia's external links for particular articles, again, don't know the quality

Thanks Bobak, I will check the link. It seems to be very informative. The more I hear about this country, the better it sounds.

 

[aria]

Thanks Bobak, I will check the link. It seems to be very informative. The more I hear about this country, the better it sounds.

Think of it this way: the country was very quick to acknowledge that the oil wealth isn't going to last forever, so it quickly moved to make itself into something worth visiting for massive tourist dollars.

Now places like Dubai are trying to be like Vegas without the vice, but not as lame as Bransen.

YOu should run a search on the Dubai threads in unrelated.

 

[Loopz]

but not as lame as Bransen.

Can anything be that lame?

 

[ki_atsushi]

Wow, I didn't know we even had members from that region. Pretty cool. You learn something every day.

 

[Funk Buddy]

Now places like Dubai are trying to be like Vegas without the vice, but not as lame as Bransen.

You of all people. It's Branson, son!

What can compare to The Baldknobbers, Yakov Smirnoff or a trip to Silver Dollar City?

- edit

I forgot to mention that the last time when I was in Hawaii several people were telling me how they were planning trips to Branson. All I coule think was you're going to travel that many hours by plane to come to Missouri? There is something very wrong about that. I have not been to Branson for 20 + years. Bet I wouldn't see anything I'd remember.

 

[Loopz]

Wasn't this the place Garfield was always trying to send Nermal the kitten to?

 

[SPINMASTER X]

I don't have really anything helpful to add, I just want to say if you choose to move there I wish you the best of luck. I had similar wishes to become an expat and move to Luxembourg after I finished my military service. Lately i've been reading alot of articles on the U.A.E. and I thought about that place as well.

I've been learning German and French since I got here being that I live in Germany near the borders of 3 french speaking countries. Once i've gotten well rounded in enough of these languages I'm looking to hit the road and see where it can take me.

best of luck to you.

 

[K_K]

i remember there was a whole episode of fifth gear about abu dhabi in their last season and about how they were working on making a new class of racing knownas A1 racing where all the cars are equal in every way and it's the drivers who decide who's best. and like i know it's totally irrelevant but isn't that city like the richest city on earth?

 

[Lagduf]

You of all people. It's Branson, son!

What can compare to The Baldknobbers, Yakov Smirnoff or a trip to Silver Dollar City?

- edit

I forgot to mention that the last time when I was in Hawaii several people were telling me how they were planning trips to Branson. All I coule think was you're going to travel that many hours by plane to come to Missouri? There is something very wrong about that. I have not been to Branson for 20 + years. Bet I wouldn't see anything I'd remember.

I'll just add that this is the second time I've seen Bobak make fun of Branson and spell it wrong. I called him on it too. Well on his spelling, not the lameness of Branson.

 

[norton9478]

Now places like Dubai are trying to be like Vegas without the vice, but not as lame as Bransen.

.

Isn't Camel Racing/ Betting a big thing in Abu Dahbi?

Or am i thinking of Bahrain?

Where the F is Bahrain anyways?

 

[Lovecraft0110]

I don't have really anything helpful to add, I just want to say if you choose to move there I wish you the best of luck. I had similar wishes to become an expat and move to Luxembourg after I finished my military service. Lately i've been reading alot of articles on the U.A.E. and I thought about that place as well.

I've been learning German and French since I got here being that I live in Germany near the borders of 3 french speaking countries. Once i've gotten well rounded in enough of these languages I'm looking to hit the road and see where it can take me.

best of luck to you.

I am an expat too, a Spanish one living in Germany to be more precise. And I am most likely going to the US next year.

I actually recommend it, I think living abroad is a very enlightening experience for anybody.

 

[aria]

Wasn't this the place Garfield was always trying to send Nermal the kitten to?

Yes, it was Branson

 

[Mushiki]

i remember there was a whole episode of fifth gear about abu dhabi in their last season and about how they were working on making a new class of racing knownas A1 racing where all the cars are equal in every way and it's the drivers who decide who's best. and like i know it's totally irrelevant but isn't that city like the richest city on earth?

That was actually Dubai.

And yes, it it one of the richest places on earth.

 

[NeoTheranthrope]

Wasn't this the place Garfield was always trying to send Nermal the kitten to?

Branson?

Edit: Damm you, Bobak.

 

[norton9478]

For the record:

No Straight Male over the age of 8 Likes Garfield.

 

[GregN]

Wasn't this the place Garfield was always trying to send Nermal the kitten to?

Exactly what I was thinking. I thought it was a fictional place at the end of the universe or something.