Inselaffen

got a quote from 800 brakes. still a lot at 980AED but a lot better than the dealer quoted

DXBtoDOH

Getting back on topic (my, we really know how to drift on here, don't we?)

Office quietly laid off another five staff today. Western A/E/C firm in Qatar.

I am safe, once again, because of the projects under me. Truth be told, the handwriting was on the wall for the last few months for these poor dudes and the company did postpone the inevitable as long as possible (major Qatari agency just isn't paying the invoices - many now two years overdue).

Meow

There are piecemeal redundancies all over the place at the moment.

Several senior staff, as well as others, at one of Dubai's new theme parks in the past week as they aren't getting the numbers of visitors they expected.

DXBtoDOH

Why not? Any theories?

Too expensive? Not good enough? Weather factors?

Millhouse

If they reduced the ticket for a family of four from over 400USD, they might get some more business!

Plus it's a good 100dh cab ride from anywhere, what tourist is going to bother

DXBtoDOH

Is it that expensive? Probably doesn't include the F&B on top.

Wow. Even by Western standards. Don't know many middle class families who'd spend $400 on theme park tickets. And in the UAE the real middle class are the South Asian families and they can't afford that.

At least with brunch you get food and booze and the kids get a play area.

Millhouse

Plus 100dh to park the car. It's abusive.

On the plus side, it will be quiet and there will be no indian-rif-raf pushing in the queues or leaving their rubbish in the food areas.

Boomhauer

$400
Only cost me $1200 (per person) for 3 nights , including flight and all you can eat great food at a top notch hotel on the Maya Riviera . The adventure parks in the area (with underground cave snorkeling) was around $35 per person.

Irishbeekeeper

Dude I know has been handling RTA License applications / classes coordination since 2005 here in Burdubai for one of the driving schools' branches.
He has already seen the 2008 dip and he says the drop in numbers is worse than then.
His average was 100 applications a month which is down to 40 a month :/
Plus the company used to pay for 2 hours overtime at 30aed per which would average him 1800 extra income per month and they have stopped giving that since about a year now. No HR, no crap, just one day stopped and sent a memo, we wont pay overtime anymore...across the board. AND they havent had any salary increases in a couple of years either.
I wonder which bank goes first? thats always a sign isnt it?

mission

Dubai Parks & Resorts was shyte....well I guess LEGOLAND wasn't so bad....but Bollywood Park was sh*t and as for Motiongate, 75% of the park wasn't even finished when I visited with a mate back in Dec, and the only reason we went was coz there was an offer on for AED 295 for all 3 parks.
They also charge you frigging AED 50 for just parking your car, or AED 100 for valet parking....like seriously WTF.

Miss Ann Thrope

May I ask please, what does an adult (who is not a supervising parent or a nonce) do in LEGOLAND?

mission

not much...there isn't much to do....other than look at the lego structures which to be fair are quite stunning.....this is what I meant by, when I said LEGOLAND isn't so bad.

DXBtoDOH

I was a lego freak at one point. Truth be told, I quietly played with the legos long after most had moved on to girls and booze (very discreetly, in the closet and out of sight and all that. Had a reputation to maintain )

Been decades since I touched a lego brick but the theme park might still be worth a trip just to see the structures.

Millhouse

I knew you were an AFOL

DXBtoDOH

More like a TFOL hey, I was not that dorky.