The_Citizen

Hi Guys,

I am moving to Dubai on Friday and will be living in the Tecom area. I have been on the forum for a few weeks now but I have a few questions to ask before I fly out;

- I currently have a UK Iphone on 3. Would my best bet be to get this unlocked in the UK and then just get a new sim card once I arrive in Dubai. Or should I just keep the current sim card in the phone and use it just for wifi, skype, facetime etc and use my work phone for calls?

- Is there anything that you would recommend me to bring from the UK. I have been told to bring Lemsip!

- What type of clothes do people wear outside of work. Are shorts ok to wear in the malls and on the streets?

- Is there anything I need to make sure I know before I fly?

Thanks is advance!

Bahtatboy

The_Citizen

Thanks Bahtatboy.

I better have a quick nip to Primark and overload on shorts and tshirts!

I agree with the sand and sex, don't really want to end in prison.

Thanks for the advice

Bahtatboy

It was the friction I was thinking about.

The_Citizen

haha!! sand does get in some strange places as well.

auzdafluff

Getting a sim card over here is easy. You'll be able to get fairly quickly from Du or Etisalat at Mall of the Emirates, which is literally 5 mins on the metro away. Will cost you about AED55 (just under £10) and comes with free talk time.

You will find that work probably won't appreciate you using the phone for personal calls.

First thing I will say is be VERY careful with the medicines you bring out. Do not bring anything with cocodamol out with you for example. In fact, it's best just to leave it all there. There are as many pharmacies here as there are in Paris, as well as Boots. So the issue of buying stuff isn't a huge issue.

As for none drug things, if you use hair product, bring it with you. For example, I use VO5 Styling Putty. You can not find it over here. (**** off Commander before you start with the pussy/gay jokes )

Aside from that though, I don't think there's been anything I can't find out here. Well, aside from Chicken OXO cubes... but that's another story.

Depends. I tend to wear jeans a lot because of the air conditioning, but I do wear shorts at the weekend. So long as they are around/below your knee, you'll be fine.

Also, one piece of advice I wish I'd had. Count how much underwear you have. Then go out and double it up. Same goes for t-shirts if you are used to only wearing one a day. You will sweat a lot, and especially at first, you'll probably want to change quiet often into dryer stuff. You'll find yourself going through clothes quickly at first.

Have breakfast/lunch before you leave. MAD cafe at MAN are thieving bastards.

But seriously, you'll be fine. While Dubai isn't the UK, thanks to Boots/Waitrose/WH Smith etc, you can buy pretty much anything you need.

Oh, that said. If you're bringing over travellers cheques, you'll need to cash them when you get here. You'll need to hand your passport over when you apply for your visa, and you can't cash them without your passport.

auzdafluff

Just to emphasise my point, make sure you do have some jeans. They love their air con over here – think about what it's like wearing shorts to the cinema in the UK, and you'll have an idea – so if you've only got shorts, you might actually feel cold occasionally.

The_Citizen

I've packed a couple of pairs of jeans

I'll make sure I get my phone unblocked one day this week as well then. I wasn't really going to use my work phone for personal calls as I have told people that it will all be on skype etc.

What sort of TV packages do you both have or do you just use your laptops and VPN's? That reminds me I need to sort that out

Meow

And it gets cold in Dec/Jan/Feb, especially in the evenings, so don't forget to pack a couple of jumpers.

If you want to make yourself really popular you could bring me a jar of that new gold Marmite. Can't get that version here!

flares

you can get your name on the front page of the local rag (albeit spelt wrong) but can't get a pot of Marmite Gold...tsk

Meow

On front page of local rag? What? You'd think gold Marmite would be a massive seller around these parts. Opportunities lost.

kittycat1

Happy moving day Manchester. I'm in Tecom, decent area to live although they have just added the most ridiculous speed mountains which seem to have put off taxi drivers coming into the area grr!

There are some good bars- the Begian Beer cafe is well worth a visit but make sure you have had enough alcohol to kill a small elephant before stepping in Rockbottoms! Anyway lots of nice bars and a few dodgy ones as well.

You can getLemsip here- in Boots, I can't think of anything you can't get here- Waitrose stock prettuy much everything ( be it at a price), photos of family and download Skype before you get here. thats about it-and I'd say pack several pairs of jeans, I am constantly cold here.

Fluffy
'Also, one piece of advice I wish I'd had. Count how much underwear you have. Then go out and double it up. Same goes for t-shirts if you are used to only wearing one a day. You will sweat a lot, and especially at first, you'll probably want to change quiet often into dryer stuff. You'll find yourself going through clothes quickly at first.'

I feel this is too much information! (you can buy underwear here as well)

The_Citizen

haha I will try if I remember to

auzdafluff

Haha. True. But it's worth being prepared.

Oh and Manchester. RockBottoms is perhaps the most aptly named bar in Dubai...

The_Citizen

Thanks Kitty Kat

So the general consensus is jeans, jumpers and lots of boxers If you wouldn't have said I prob wouldn't have taken any jumpers to the desert so thanks for the advice!

I will make sure I check out the Belgian Beer Cafe