The Dubai Expat Diaries

A funny piece sent to us by a reader via email…   What to expect when you receive your UAE ID Card in year 2010: Operator :’Thank you for calling Pizza Hut . May I have your…’ Customer: ‘Helloo, can I order..’ Operator : ‘Can I have your multi UAE identity card number first, Sir?’ [...]

Some expert tips from Theo Lotz, the Assistant Recreation Manager at The Westin Dubai Hotel, who offers guidance on Dubai Marathon preparation (nutrition, clothing, etc) The Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi has also launched their second Facebook competition! Upload a fan photo of YOU, dressed in your funkiest / snazziest or “sportiest” Dubai Marathon gear on [...]

If you still haven’t heard about the compulsory Emirates ID / Emirates Identity Card that all residents of Dubai and the UAE need to obtain, please read carefully… The official website of the Emirates Identity Authority states: As per the law of the Population Registry and the Identity Card Program, all nationals and legal residents [...]

The Westin Hotel on Jumeirah Beach will be the new home to the world’s richest marathon. The Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon 2009 will begin and end at the hotel. Check out the Facebook Page created for the Marathon, where runners and supporters alike can meet, become fans, share information and their training & running experiences: [...]

Some photos sent to us by a reader of the fire today. Dubai was abuzz with the news of a fire breaking out at the famed Atlantis Hotel, which is set to open this month. Sure enough, the smoke was visible from afar from very early in the morning and radio announcers frantic. A couple [...]

Some great tips from a Director of Human Resources for people considering moving to Dubai to take up a job. The video is from the hotel industry but the information is quite valid for most industries and countries here in the Middle East…watch the short of the long version below. Long version:

Experts from Investment Bank Morgan Stanley claim that research indicates the new flood of apartments to hit Dubai may cause prices to plunge by upto 10% by as early as 2010. The National also included this in it’s news report: Dubai property prices have soared 79 per cent since January last year, fuelled by a [...]

So just what ARE the new Visa rules and regulations being touted in the press and on the streets? Word has it that there will be 16 different Visa categories that tourists, business people and others of the travelling ilk need to consider and apply for. The main aim of the new regulations is to [...]

There’s been quite a lot of coverage as well as rhetoric in the British media of late, regaring Dubai and a possible terror threat, posed to the Palm Jumeirah and the Burj al Arab hotel. Some snippets from various media reports: From The Telegraph: Expats – who make up perhaps as much as 90 per [...]