norsk

You must have noticed that the only time people on here use those awful abbreviations is to take the p*ss..

al dente

Bugger. I wasn't really thinking, just let my fingers do the typing. I was trying to help the OP in giving a personal recommendation for the school. Hand is slapped and in future the collective mindset of the board shall be considered.

norsk

Yeah. You should watch yourselves more closely in future..

Ronnie Biggs

Al dente - consider yourself "on report" son. DD, DH, DS etc etc are strictly terms used by porky middle-aged women who have maids that are dressed like chefs pushing their trolley round Spinneys looking for industrial sized Galaxy bars....

Something strange is happening to me- I seem to be agreeing with more and more of Commander's posts. Maybe I'm getting old.....

Back to the original question, I also lived on Al Raha Gardens in Khalifa A and it's not somewhere we would choose to go back to. I've heard it's improved in the past couple of years but I'd still have a crack at Mangrove or Seashores if there's availability as you've got a lot more on your doorstep and AD City isn't too far away either. Best of luck....

al dente

Ha! Didn't realise we knew each other.

weasel central

Do you also have skin that can be descibed as leather or mahogany ?

al dente

Well it's 'brown' according to my D... daughter, while she is proud to be 'pale pink'. A former colleague memorably said to me ' you've got a bit of foreign in yer ain't yer?'

weasel central

Well unless its been cultivated by extensive tanning and goes down at least the dermis level of your skin it doesn't qualify.

Tillybean

Al Raha - very popular
Sas Al Nakhl - nice, a bit further out
Al Reef - new villas, good prices, further out though and not too sure of the commute to the school, but around 20 minutes

Mangrove and Seashore - always were at the high end price wise, unless they have reduced dramatically? Also, a tad desperate housewives as in identi-kit houses, 2.4 kids, a swathe of SUV's etc, but the compounds are quite nice.

Get an independent villa in Bain Al Jasrain (B2B) although you may find price wise KCA is your best bet. A few friends have moved out to Mohamed Bin Zayed City and got huge villas for next to nothing.

commander

in general, people who chose to live in B2B are the people who cannot afford or couldnt get into Mangrove..

PS, the villa's in mangrove are well dated now. They are pretty shabby. I dont have 2.4 kids and definately dont have a desperate housewife, come to think of it neither do any of my neighbours..although we do all drive 4x4's.

I wonder how they managed to secure a hugh villa for next to nothing in MBZ? Its the Epi centre of........yea thats right, Mussaffah industrial area

SAS al Nakheel is okay, you get the radiation from the pylons thrown in for nothing..which is nice of them.

Ronnie Biggs

Sas Al Nakheel is just incredible....when you have miles and miles of desert, who in their right mind would build family housing dotted in amongst the biggest stretch of electricity pylons in Abu Dhabi? You'd have thought they were risking people's health in favour of a large profit or something....

leepee

I know I am being really ignorant now but are these areas all expat compounds or just areas where expats tend to live? We lived in the wonderful KSA years ago and of course it was all compound living - guards etc....I know, obviously it isn't the same in AD but are compounds still the way to go??

Thanks again and thanks for all the suggestions
Lisa

commander

expats live all over the place, it really depends what you want. It is nothing like Saudi.

The security on our gates at Mangrove are very strict when it comes to entrance..usually a wave from white skin will suffice.

Expats live on compounds, stand alone villa's whatever.

depends on budget, circumstance and locational requirements.

wooah, thats the most sensible answer ive given for ages.

PM busybee (she is still alive? not bored herself to death?)...she will tell you more.

busybee2

hahahaha still alive......... and its my birthday today so another year closer to death as you put it!!!

if you are going to be going to CIS my first choice would be KCA, I am glad that I dont have to go into KCA from the main mussafah road, as getting off the main road people push in and its 2 lanes going up the slip road on a 1 lane road, and then people pushing to get onto the main road and then big traffic then at the roundabout, pretty slow going up to the next roundabout which is where you would then turn right upto cis. Al Reef is also ok but much further commute, but you are then having to sit at the new traffic lights which take an age to change, but you can then go through the back way into CIS and therefore miss a lot of the traffic up from all the other schools such as Raha, Yasmina, Gems, Chouefiat, etc

lullabelle

Don't move to MBZ city. you may get a huge villa but there's nothing there except Mussafah, and why on earth would anyone want to go there unless they worked there? I worked there and I will be happy to never see the place again. Even if you can get excellent cheap curries cut price booze.

These housing areas are really not anything like you expect. seeing them on the internet doesn't really prepare you. The distances are far greater than you imagine and some of those places really are very... err....deserty. And not in a romantic, rolling dune way.

My friend lived in Al Reef and to be absolutely honest you would have had to pay me to live there. I'm sure it suits some and each to their own but it is sooooooo far out and soooooo close to the airport and soooooooo oppressive feeling and I thought it was rather scruffy.

Another mate lived in Al Raha and rather liked it - but it goes on for miles. She was close to Al Yasmina school and there seemed to be more happening around there. No facilities though, so if you want a pool/gym etc you will be disappointed.

We looked around off island and the best areas by far were Bain Al Jesrain, Mangrove, seashore, and Golf Gardens. The apartments at Al Bandar are stunning but there are some noise issues from Yas.

Personally i would go for a smaller villa in a better area. Or even a lovely apartment. Cheaper on the chiller and a better quality of life I think.