Living in Dubai and in need of practical advice please

[SleeplessInDubai]

Hello,

I recently moved to Dubai from the UK and would really appreciate some practical advice from people living here.

• I intend to stay about 6 months or less and am wondering which is better: buying a car or renting one. If the latter, could you please recommend any company for safe/ affordable cars. Could anyone give me some price tags? Apart from driving, I don't know much about cars and am worried that I might be taken for a ride, hence my need for a good reputable company.

• Could anyone please recommend any affordable shopping options in here? Which supermarkets, malls, etc. offer the best options quality-price wise?

• What is the local equivalents of shops like Holland and Barret and Boots and which also offer good products for reasonable prices. I have visited one store which offers a good range of supplements/ vitamins, etc. but with eye watering prices.

• Finally, what can be done only in Dubai? which products are cheaper here than in the UK? as I have only a few months in here, what do you recommend doing that is worth my time and (some) money.

Any other advice regarding living (temporarily) in Dubai will be appreciated.

Thanks!

Are you on Facebook?
I'd join Brits in Dubai and British Expats in Dubai (and possibly British Mums in Dubai). They will probably gave the info you want.

I wouldn't buy a car, but that's based on the hassle of selling one elsewhere in the middle east.

@TierFourTears thanks a lot for your post. Yes I heard about the FB groups but I don't use Social Media unfortunately for lack of time and I was hoping some of those very people would be part of Mumsnet and help me with my queries. Hopefully they will do! Please!

Also, I agree completely about renting a car Vs buying. A taxi driver advised me to buy instead as it might be cheaper but I really don't want the hassle of selling again after a few months.

You can join ecar, and get one off the street and pay per mile. To be honest, taxis are cheap and plentiful. If you’re only here for 6 months, I’d do that. Or else hire a driver and a car.

Carrefour is cheap or get a delivery from Kibsons. Must-dos are Louvre Abu Dhabi, Grand Mosque Abu Dhabi.

Hello @AgentProvocateur and thanks so much for the info! Very interesting indeed!

I’d just use taxis. I gelled with one nice, reliable driver, got his mobile, and used him regularly for a commute to Abu Dhabi, which worked well — also lived just by Marina metro station, and used it fairly often. We used to do grocery shopping in the Carrefour in Mall of the Emirates, but some things are just very expensive.

The only thing we did in Dubai which was wonderful may not be possible now — was to use it as a base for travel to India, Syria, Yemen (in safer days).

There is at least one Boots in Dubai Marina Mall as well as on The Walk. You can do a long term car rental with companies like Hertz but it's not cheap. Agree that you really don't want to buy a car for the short term especially if you need to take out any sort of loan to do so - I would avoid any credit agreements in Dubai like the plague. Vitamins are expensive as they are routinely prescribed by Dr's and most people will get them on their medical insurance. In terms of must sees the only things I really enjoyed in Dubai were the Desert Safari and The Farm a pretty cafe /restaurant in Al Barari which is in a lovely location - very rural for Dubai!

Hello everyone and thanks a lot for all the info. Really good to know.

Any other info is welcome!

Depending on where you live, you may not need to drive. For example, if you live in the Marina, you have easy access to the Metro (and tram) Otherwise, taxis are cheap and plentiful and we have Uber and Careem.

If you do want your own car, I wouldn’t buy just for 6 months. Registration etc is a pain in the arse. I would rent on a monthly basis through a company such as Hertz, Enterprise, Sixt. For something basic, you will pay just shy of Dh2k a month.

Supermarket wise, places like Lulu and Carrefour are cheap. Slightly ‘nicer’ is Spinneys, Waitrose and M&S. Kibsons have a good fruit and veg selection and will deliver to your door. They also stock some pantry basics (including Sainsbury’s items)

Agree with a PP about vitamins. Bloody expensive here as most people will get them on prescription.

@PrimeraVez thanks so much for your very informative post. I am currently living in Downtown Dubai but not near any metro station.

Could you or anyone else please tell me if you know any reputable herbalist where I can get some herbal supplements as I vitally need them to manage a condition I suffer from.

Do I need to register with a GP, have an appointment and just ask that they prescribe for me those supplements? Will they just prescribe them without issue or should I just explain why I need them?

Wow! I have just found a supplement (different brand) online that I usually buy in the UK from Amazon for around 14 pounds selling here for about 40 pounds and at a reduced price!!!

So you’re one of the lockdown dodging people on extended holiday to Dubai that Priti Patel is gunning for? Plus you want to know how to buy weed there?

Reverse?

Satire?

You can try a Holland & Barrett store (am sure there is one in Dubai Mall near you) otherwise binsina.ae stocks H&B products.

Otherwise you might also want to visit Dubai Herbal and Treatment Centre - it’s well established and I’m sure they would be able to point you in the right direction.

Unfortunately anything healthcare related here is going to be very expensive - there’s not really a way around it. And not all health insurance policies cover much in the way of alternative medicine.

Do you actually have health insurance? Otherwise even visiting a GP is going to be pretty expensive (I think our Family Medicine doc charges Dh400 for a basic consult)

Thanks @PrimeraVez; you're very helpful

Yes I have insurance. Should I visit a GP then and ask for the supplements to be prescribed?

@RickiTarr
I wish I were on holiday. In your opinion, if I could afford an extended holiday in Dubai, would I be asking about affordable this and that? Would I be shocked by a 40 pounds supplement? Would I even post in here to ask for advice??

This thread is odd and doesn’t sound right.
You’re excited about finding a supplement but you’ve arrive without knowing anything at all about health care ?
We’re you whisked there without your consent and abandoned ?

@HeronLanyon

Who was excited about finding a supplement pray?

Yes I didn't know about supplements/ vitamins being prescribed. Is this so odd?

I find your useless post odd. Too much time on your hands.

Ok ! Just feels as though you’ve landed there without any planning. Unusual.

Your posts are a bit cryptic so I'm not really sure what kind of herbal supplements you are after.

But realistically, you have 2 options:

1. Make a GP appointment and ask for them to be prescribed.
   However, a) the doctor may not want to prescribe something without 'proof' that you need it ie running blood tests etc b) there is an excellent chance that your insurance will not cover them. Even if you have great insurance, there most likely will still be a 'co-pay' percentage (normally 10-25%)

2. Go to a pharmacy and buy them over the counter and have to pay the full amount yourself.

Just to give you a recent example. I'm pregnant so my doctor has prescribed me a pregnancy multivitamin. My insurance covered 90% of this. I had to pay 10%. She also prescribed me a calcium and magnesium supplement. The pharmacy I went to didn't have the brand that the prescription specified in stock. They had something that was exactly the same supplement, just a different brand. My insurance rejected this because essentially I was trying to get something different to what my doctor stipulated, so I had to pay the full retail price myself.

@HeronLanyon

This thread is odd and doesn’t sound right. You’re excited about finding a supplement but you’ve arrive without knowing anything at all about health care ? We’re you whisked there without your consent and abandoned ?

That’s what made me think “reverse” )or maybe “joke”).

How can you just suddenly find yourself adrift and disoriented in Dubai “living there temporarily”?

I think some influencers maybe poor things. God knows who they are influencing !

@PrimeraVez as always thanks for your helpful post. And congratulations on your pregnancy! I am going to contact my GP to book an appointment.

@HeronLanyon & @RickiTarr
who said I landed here without planning? Because I asked about hiring cars and buying supplements? Strange!

I would appreciate if only people with helpful advice would respond.

Thank you

This is the kind of post which sounds like a journalist researching an article about what it is like for influencers.

I don't know that this is the case, and don't mean to say this disrespectfully. But it is interesting puzzling out some different-seeming posts.

I think influencers would be busy influencing and taking photos and not so interested in where to visit. After all, they'd join up with others who had been there longer and tag along with any outings they organise. Also, influencers tend to be young and I don't see them going to Mumsnet for advice. Journalists know that MN father's a wide cross-section of respondents, hence they use it.

I also think that journalists tend to ask a comprehensive spread of questions, and, always, they come back with subsequent posts asking questions on a range of things. I get the impression that someone really asking for themselves might try to Private Message one poster who knows a lot. Also, it tends to be an underlining worry and concern about a specific which will bring posters to forum. When the personal story doesn't seem to come out after a few posts, the one real thing which is bothering them doesn't emerge, it all begins to feel like a quest for information.

There isn't emotion coming from this post: neither anxiety or excitement.

An article headed 'What's it really like being an influencer in Dubai?' would fit.

The alternative is to get the item shipped from the UK. Depending on the item, iHerb is worth looking at. I know they ship to the ME.

What's your job op?