lullabelle

it sounds like they're moving in the right direction butr I'm thinking of lifestyle for the family: if we're gonna live in a hot country I'd want access to a pool, somewhere to sit oustide and enjoy the warm evenings, places to walk, a decent beach, interesting shops. If that's REALLY not available in Abu Dhabi then I'll weather the commute and try to get in on a car pool.

The green community looks lovely: still quite pricey though! Am I right in thinking it's the closet thing of this type to Abu Dhabi or are there others?I see that as having the quickest commute but am I misled in some way?

Mullet

There are hotels and clubs in Abu Dhabi which offer all those facilities at a cost, good way to met people.

I wouldn't write off either place until you arrive and have a look around. My initial take on Abu Dhabi was 'what a massive s-hole', but now I've been here a few weeks I'm coming to like it....

Green community does look good, but it has an infamous roundabout which is meant to make the commute a bit of a 'mare

Aikman7981

If you don't need to be in a villa look at the marina area and the Palm Jumeirah. 100 -200k and you'll have gym, pool, beach, restaurants and all the conveniences at hand. I commute from the Palm and it is easy on and off. The extra distance is about 3.5 kilometers over Marina, so nothing for a 1 hour drive. Traffic looks bonkers in and out of Emirates Living and Arabian Ranches which are the other two spots for villas at this end of town.

Millhouse

I think you'll find if you speak with people in Abu Dhabi a lot of them would say that they would never live in Dubai and vice versa. I'm in AD, and quite like it... it's nice and quiet.

You often find that people from Dubai have never been to AD, while people in AD go to Dubai frequently for entertainment but are quite happy to leave there. Personally, I see a lot of benefits to living in Dubai over AD – the rents are way lower for one and the quality of housing and facilities is much higher… sadly it’s full of tossers (although they are coming to AD in their droves now too)

I’ve thought about doing the commute but decided against it in the end… one of the reasons I moved here was to spend more time with my family, adding 3 hours travel to my day kind of goes against that.

Millsyisland

Not correct - I live in a gated compound in Abu Dhabi with green areas, pool, gym, playground etc. Maybe not on the scale of those in Dubai but they are here, and driving around you see a lot more developments underway which I expect will have similar facilities.

This may also bring the prices down as they are very expensive and there are usually waiting lists.

Blue Cat

If you are wanting a better lifestyle I don't think commuting to AD from Dubai is a good option. My husband drives down to AD from Dubai once a week and wouldn't do it any more than that. You will end up having a very long working day. I still don't think the package you will be offered will cover the lifestyle you are yearning though.

Aikman7981

You're one of the lucky few. Sas al Nakhl was the only one I was aware of and there was no availability. Prices started at 230k plus fees.

The commute is an hour and twenty min. give or take. For me, the lifestyle upgrade for my family way outweighs my drive. There are also some savings as we now don't need a club membership since our rent covers gym, pool etc. I don't work long days (lucky me!) so I could see that might alter things a bit.

lullabelle

Me again

Blue cat you've kind of hit the nail on the head about lifestyle. Honest to goodness I'm not a champagne brunch/high maintenance/maid for the sake of it/designer clothes kinda person. Although I wouldn't say no to a nice bottle of sparkling saumur of an evening.

My brother lived a happy life in Dubai in springs (an area which I know HORRIFIES many people on another forum) with a local pool and easy access to work at meeja hore city and the lovely bars down around the madinat. The people he mixed with were the same sort of people we'd mix with in London: not up their own arses, friendly, happy people who liked a laugh and a drink and a good old bitch about tv/films, declining standards and why no-one can psc direct despite having a three year meeja hore degree.

If I couldn't have at least what I have here then I wouldn't want to move. Now I don't have a terribly glam lifestyle at all: but its very pleasant. I'm into
creative and challenging work, friends, gardening, drinking cocktails, travelling and camping. Not all at once though. And if many of those things would be missing in abu dhabi then it doesn't matter what the package is, it would never be enough. That's pretty much what I'm trying to work out. But it's hard cos I'm seduced by the idea of SUN. And BEACHES. And palm trees. And the cocktails down at the Bahri Bar in Mina Al Salam were really good. But that's shallow, right?

Blue Cat

my advise would be to steer clear of expatwoman

The Dean

I'm not a champagne brunch/high maintenance/maid for the sake of it/designer clothes kinda person

Hmmmmm........ you really must meet MM..................

shakh your bootie

Lulabelle, I don't know if this helps but from the perspective of someone returned from the UAE to the UK for a couple of years now:

Creative and challenging work: Different challenges, used to be enormous scope for creativity. In the past, if you could conceive of something and present it right, Dubai was a well of opportunity. The Challenges are more to do with dealing with the melting pot of cultures, the various mafiosi (Locals, Indians, Lebos, Brits) - and somewhat dubious business practices by most peoples standards.

Friends: Well, you live close to London and work in the Media nowadays, so are probably exposed to a wider spectrum of people than Mr Seething of Bath and Wells. However, the diversity of the ME does lead to some interesting and unlikely friendships. I grew up there, so am kind of used to it, but it can blow open the minds of small time butt-f nowhere types. I find the inverse in Rural England - people seem to view me as a specimen of curious exotica.

Gardening: Lovely, yes. But pay someone to do it for you. Less facetiously, if you like to grow your own organic vegetables you will certainly find it an entertaining challenge in Dubai. If it were a thing that held any interest for me, I would try hydroponic farming and recovering my water from harvesting my putative villa's sewerage (if you're at all green, you must realize that simply by living in the UAE your carbon footprint will quadruple to the level of an eco-terrorist).

Drinking Cocktails: The skill, in all fairness, is in mixing them, not consuming or ordering them. My beleaguered favourite pub in Woodstock are more than capable of mixing anything I ask of them. However, due to the recession and the punitive taxation system of this country, they cannot afford to stock ingredients for anything I may perchance dream to order. Rather, they offer what they excel at and will not waver from this. They cannot afford to stock the ingredients for every cocktail one might order. Similarly, they will only stock locally farmed produce for their menu. You will not find this, anywhere, in the UAE - in a country where every item you consume is beladen with Carbon Miles, it makes little difference. By the same token, you will not get meat, veg or fish lovingly cultivated by an artisan farmer with more than passing concern for the welfare of his charge.

Travelling - the UAE is a wonderful hub for travel. No worries there. You can offset your carbon footprint by how many less airmiles you will consume for visiting countries in the Orient or the Maghreb. Of course, you could say that you need travel no further than Brick Lane in London to experience Bangladesh, or further than Brixton to experience Kingston. The UAE got that too - go to those weird Indian nightclubs where the taxi-drivers convene to throw garlands over the necks of abducted young Indo beauties who can sing the latest Bollywoood songs, or go chew gath with some Yemenis. There are as many underground sub-cultures in the UAE that you can excavate but you have to possess the imaginario. Aye.

Camping - I miss this most since leaving. I am loathe to take my camping gear to some loathsome UK campsite that has de-natured nature by assigning designated camping spots and robbed its immediacy by imposing civilized rules and levies. So much nicer to jump into your jeep with a tent and a few basics, drive into the desert until you find a spot you like and set yourself up for the night. It's a genuine freedom that the UK has denied itself through the anally retentive nature of its' so called maturity. F you, Nanny state, sometimes a person needs to be in the wilderness for a few days. Jesus, Moses and Mohamed got it for forty days and forty nights. Is a weekend too much to ask for????????? You gotta do the desert, child.

Just a few random responses. Ignore me if you will - s'all the same.

Madam Medusa

hahahahaha, yeah, i'll put her straight...

MM, xx

lullabelle

I just re-read all these fabulous responses as it looks like it may be on. We may actually be relocating en famille to thebiggest sand pit my kids will ever see (I've been on google earth, I've seen what my possible new backyard will mostly look like...)

Had good phone interview, lovely prospective boss offered me great role with fabulous creative opportunities and confirmed that they will pay housing and transport allowance, whole family medical, school fees of 30000 per child and relocation costs.

Coming over for a visit at end of April for formal interview and visits to schools, estate agents and meetings with new work colleages. No doubt get more figures then. The salary is good - no idea about housing but I keep going on about it so maybe they'll get the message that less is not more in this case.

Slightly concerned that they've stuck md out on a hotel on Yas island wich appears to be close to .. errm... nowhere. Which to me defies the whole purpose of the visit, but I have pointed that out to the headhunter and asked for clarification that the company will be sorting out transport for when Im there. Actually this is the one thing that concerns me... why would you fly somone to London where they will be conducting most if their business in the cente of town and then put them up in Heathrow? Seems a similar analogy. Plus if I'm going there to see what abu dhabi has to offer, am I going to find out on Yas?

Mind you, whaddoiknow? Only what you lot have told me....

Millhouse

There is nothing on Yas. nothing

request to stay in the Hilton Corniche, it's a good starting spot.

Alexa

SYB, your posts, and this one in particular, are a pleasure to read.