Address: PO Box 11677, Dubai, UAE Telephone: 04 405 4447/8 Web: www.outpostdubai.com Email:outpostdubai@shell.com

Did You Know...?

An archive of previous DYK's published each month in the Outpost Dubai Newsletter.
All information and links were relevant and active at time of original publication. Please note that Outpost Dubai does seek to verify the data after this time.

September 2009

Religious
You can find English translations to some of the Friday sermons on the Islamic Affairs website.
Friday 31st July concerned 'Matrimonial Life' and the obligations of husbands and wives to each other.
Miscellany
Britain's calendar had no 3rd - 13th September in 1752.
Crime
Travelling Brits are more likely to be arrested in the UAE than any other country in the world.
Figures published by the UK Foreign Office for the year to 31 March 2009, show 294 citizens of the UK were arrested or detained from the 1.1 million visiting, and the 55,000 resident expats here.
Many of the arrests related to drink or drugs charges.
Culture
The Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding is organising a Bedoin Iftar where guests are free to ask volunteers all their questions about Ramadan and UAE traditions.
The Centre is located in the Bastakiya area and worth while to pay a visit if you are interested in the cultural aspects of the UAE - not only during Ramadan.
Iftar AED 75, AED 30 for kids 7-14, Thu, Sat, Sun trough Ramadan, Sunset-8pm, 04 353 6666.
Time Out have also published a comprehensive list of 'Iftars to Try' around the city...
Entertainment
One for the Slingbox / Hulu users:

Dexter, Dollhouse, Fringe, Heroes, House and The Office all return to US tv screens this month. Fans of 'Mad Men' should note that Series 3 started in the middle of August.

Season Premieres: 24 - Sun 17 Jan 2010; 30 Rock - Thu 15 Oct 2009; Big Love - 2010; Breaking Bad - 2010; Dexter - Sun 27 Sep 2009; Dollhouse - Fri 25 Sep 2009; Fringe - Thu 17 Sep 2009; Heroes - Mon 21 Sep 2009; House - Mon 21 Sep 2009; Lost - Jan 2010; Mad Men - Sun 16 Aug 2009; The Office - Thu 17 Sep 2009; True Blood - Summer 2010
New Series that may be worth watching out for include: Flash Forward - Thu 24 Sep 2009; The Forgotten Tue 22 Sep 2009 and remake of the 1960's series Prisoner - Nov 2009
Entertainment
Fans of the UK's 'X-Factor' may care that sisters Danii & Kylie Minogue are said to be in Dubai now for the 'Boot Camp'.
Food and Drink
This month's special offers for Ramadan from The Entertainer include 2 for 1 deals at :
Angsana 3D - Angsana Suites, SZR - Iftar
Az.u.r - Dubai Marina - Iftar
Baker and Spice - Souk Al Bahar - Ramadan Menu
Cafe Arabesque - Park Hyatt - Iftar
California Pizza Kitchen - Dubai Mall - Pizzas
Carnevale - Jumeirah Beach Hotel - Italian fare
Chimes - Seven Sands Hotel, Al Barsha - Ramadan Menu
Jimmy's Killer Prawns - Burjuman Mall - Shellfish
Mezza House - Downtown Burj Dubai - Iftar
Pisces - Madinat Jumeirah - Seafood cuisine
Vista Rooftop - Holiday Inn Express, Internet City - Iftar
As usual, you'll need to log on to your account on the Entertainer site and print off the vouchers to avail the offers.
Travel
A nice travel article about driving in Oman

August 2009

Transport
Dubai Police have flagged the prospect of an auction of upto 3000 confiscated and unclaimed cars. "We will have to get rid of all abandoned cars, but we are doing it in batches...We have not decided the exact date of the auction but it will be after the grace period (of one month) finishes," the official said. So, if you're interested in buying a car, lookout for notices at the end of the month.
Transport
It seems Dubai Airport has increased the Departure fee (included in the price of your ticket) to AED 75. Comments on bulletin boards indicate the previous fee was around AED 50.
Transport
MoE and Deira City Centre have announced their parking fee tolls, to become effective 10 September. An additional free hour is available for patrons using the cinema.

Hours
 Sun-Thu
 Fri & Sat
1
 FREE
 FREE
2
 FREE
 FREE
3
 FREE
 FREE
4
 AED 20
 FREE
5
 AED 20
 AED 40
6
 AED 20
 AED 60

Holidays
Just a quick reminder of the Company holidays for the remainder of this year (first advised to Shell staff 25 January 2009):

Eid Al Fitr 20,21 & 22 September
Eid Al Adha 26,29 & 30 November
UAE National Day 2 & 3 December
Hijira New Year 18 December

These dates may change to fall in line with public announcements closer to the holiday.
(Staff taking tuesday 1 December as holiday could allow for over a week off work !)
Media
This decidedly critical article in the Economist is somewhat pessimistic about Dubai's future. The content may explain why residents in the Emirate are unable to procur a printed copy of the magazine.
Media
Rod Liddle joins the trend of UK-based journalists briefly visiting Dubai and writing snide articles about the Emirate and its residents.
Finances
Mercer Consultants released their 2009 Cost Of Living survey, showing Dubai is now the 20th most expensive city in the world, close to London in 16th place and passing Amsterdam at 29th place. Abu Dhabi is rated 26th.
Finances
In a slightly different approach, The Economist Intelligence Unit identified the weighted cost (to a business traveller) of an overnight stay in 132 cities across the world. Dubai ranked #90 @ $576.16, Amsterdam #48 @ $648.57, London #61 @ $643.68, Abu Dhabi #72 @ $438.49. The weightings indicated the desirability of the location, in which Vancouver, Toronto and Adelaide scored best, with Lagos, Algiers and Karachi scoring worst.
Travel
Another survey where Dubai is ranking reasonably high is in the "Best airports to sleep in" list. It comes sixth, ranking just below Changi, Seoul, Amsterdam, Oslo and HK. (The worst are considered to be LHR, Rome, Manila and Mumbai.)
Travel
It seems that the UAE is not a much good at converting its' resources into long and happy lives for its citizens. The "Happy Planet Index" is used to measure human well-being and environmental efficiency. It claims that whilst Life Expectancy and Satisfaction rate well for the Emirates, the Ecological Footprint is as bad as the USA and that's really not good.
Media
The news of Orbit's merger with Showtime seemed to overshadow the news that Showtime lost the rights to broadcast Premier League football next season.
Cultural
HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has both a Facebook page and a Twitter account.
Crime
It's a minumum AED 500 fine for picking flowers from public places in Dubai.
Business Travel
How to pack shirts and suits with minimal creasing...
Finances
If you're returning to Dubai after a visit to the UK and are looking to reclaim the VAT on purchases made, this thread on Expatwoman might be of some interest. I guess that similar schemes apply in all EU European countries (?).
Shell
You can see Shell Dubai's John Mills taking part in the BBC broadcast "World Debate: Cleaning up Fossil Fuels" here:

June 2009

Advice: Shipping Your Car From Dubai
Ton Sipkema writes:
I shipped my car back to the Netherlands this month, and the process itself was fairly straightforward.
First you will need to contact a few shipping agents to get some quotes. I have experienced a wide spread in these quotes, for virtually the same service, so shopping around makes sense. Both ISS and Freightworks came with competitive quotes. Best to ask for a container service for the car. A single car goes into a 20ft container.
They will most likely provide you with two quotes; one "door to port", and one "door to door". The door to door sounds more convenient, but is also likely to cost you more in the end. I have opted for the door to port and source my own receiving company.
Once you select a company, agree a shipping date and container date. This will allow you to park your car next to the container, and even see it loaded and sealed. This way the car is not parked for a long time at some far-away lot.
Within two weeks of the shipping date you will have to take the car to the Al Barsha RTA office, where they will do an export inspection (VIN verification) and where you will have to settle any outstanding tickets (also those on your other cars).
Bring with you: Passport plus copy and Car Registration, enough cash to pay small items and tickets.
The system is as follows:
- Drive the car up to the check in booth, and ask for an Export certificate (you will get a number)
- Pull the car into one of the inspection bays, for number verification.
- After this drive the car around to the license plate area, where somebody can remove your plates.
- With the plate under your arm go inside to the waiting area and check your number on the counter.
- Once called go to the desk, and receive a form that needs to be translated.
- Go to the type-counter for the papers to be typed.
- Go back to counter and receive a new number for the second waiting room.
- Once called you can settle your tickets, and you will receive your export certificate. If you have a special license plate like B3 or L5 you can elect to keep those, otherwise hand in you old license plates.
- Go to the license plate counter and receive two blue export plates. Pay AED 10 to get them fixed to your car.
- At the license plate point outside let the guy fix the blue plates to your car.
Now you have two weeks to export your car. There is actually a sticker on the blue plate with an expiration date.
Once you place your car into the container ensure you get the shipping documents, vessel number, estimated departure and arrival dates.
Enjoy the car in its new place!
Legal
A note if you find yourself involved in an incident (such as a car accident) that requires legal representation.
Shell does not have PRO’s and is therefore unlikely to be able to provide any assistance with your case beyond advising that the British Embassy publish a list of lawyers available for hire: ukinuae.fco.gov.uk/lawyers-list
“Advocates without Frontiers” (awf.ae/index) is a local firm that deals with rent issues and criminal & civil law. Whilst neither Shell nor Outpost are in a position to recommend lawyers, there have been good reports about them.
As a final word of advice and as a matter of practice, you should consider availing yourself of legal advice in the case of a legal dispute - the law and legal processes in UAE are not necessarily familiar to expatriates from Western Europe (or similar territories).
Clearly if you instruct a lawyer, you need to make sure:
     - that you are happy with the individuals involved,
     - that you understand their fees (and you may want to see if you can agree a cap on fees) and
     - that you accept that you will need to pay their bill!
General
"There are several theories as to how Dubai was named. One theory is that the word Dubai is a combination of the Farsi words for "two" and "brothers", the latter referring to Deira and Bur Dubai. Others believe that ‘Dubai’ was so named by people who considered its souq a smaller version of a thriving market named ‘Daba’. Another possibility is that the name came from a word meaning money - people from Dubai were commonly believed to have money because it was a prosperous trading centre."
Travel
Emirates airline baggage allowance increases. Economy passengers may now carry 30kg; business passengers get an allowance of 40kg.
Housing
Renewing your lease?  This rental price guide takes into account the age of your property
Expat
The Economist highlights a study that shows expatriates are more 'creative' than people who don't live abroad
Food & Drink
Ice-cream vans have come back to Dubai
Activity
Founder of Dubai-based 'Bad Times Boot Camp' talks (on video) about the economic slowdown
Travel
The Emirates Airline website fails EC Consumer Affairs standards on clarity and fare availability.
Post
To calculate the postage costs of any parcel, Money Order or Registered delivery package whether sent locally or internationally, go to this page of the Emirates post website:
Brunch
The Spectrum On One Friday brunch at The Fairmont probably offers the best food selection in Dubai, but at AED 550 each, it is expensive - especially for anyone who doesn't drink alcohol.
From this week, an all-you-want selection of alcohol-free drinks will be available with the food, for a price of AED 295 per head, AED 150 for children.
Added incentives include money-off coupons upto AED 100 redeeemable against  future meals.
And whilst we'reon the subject of The Fairmont, they're still offering 41% discount on dinners completed by 8:30pm (excluding beverages).

May 2009

Accommodation
Shell EP has its own hotel and leisure complex near Aberdeen, Scotland. Shell staff globally are entitled to a discount rate of GBP 30.00 per room, per night.
Terms and conditions apply. For more details, refer to advertisement in the "Classifieds" section in the Newsletter.
Schools
Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau are rolling out their reports and rankings of all schools located in the Emirate. You can find their reporting here:
Panorama Documentary
At the beginning of the month, a BBC Panorama documentary investigated the conditions of the workers building Dubai in a programme called “Slumdogs and Millionaires”
Video of the programme is available for those with access to the BBC's "iPlayer".
Flights
KLM are providing free train tickets home for passengers arriving in Schiphol (on tickets purchased as part of the “World On Your Doorstep” campaign).
Flights
Fly Dubai (the low-cost airline which starts operations on 1 June) has announced it will fly from Terminal 2 to Amman and Beirut for AED 250 one way (inclusive of taxes and 10kg hand baggage; exclusive of check-in baggage, seat selection and refreshments).
Activities
The Grand Prix comes to Abu Dhabi 30 October – 1 November. A 20% discount applies to all tickets bought before the end of May.
Legal
Expatriates living in the UAE are advised to write their wills...
Food and Drink
MMI, the store that sells stimulating refreshments, are opening their Umm Suqeim store half an hour later in the morning from now on, at 11am.
Food and Drink
San Pellegrino have published their World Best Restaurants list.
Within the coveted Top 50, the UK is represented with The Fat Duck, Berkshire (#2), St John, London (#14), Nobu, London (#34), and Hakkasan, London (#36). The Netherlands’ Oud Sluis also appears (#29).
Dubai represents the only entry for the Middle East at Number 100 with Reflets par Pierre Gagnaire (at the Intercon, Festival City).
Food and Drink
Time Out Dubai rather likes Reflets too…and Pierchic, Medzo, Ossiano, Da Shi Dai et al.
Geography
Apparently, there is no such thing as the "Arabian Gulf". It's the "Persian Gulf". The United Nations says so.
House Prices
A comprehensive guide to Dubai's house rental prices can be found here:

April 2009

Commentary
Simon Jenkins, former editor of The London Times thinks Dubai’s doomed…
Commentary
...Not everyone agrees
Culture
You knew that the Dubai government (may) have issued new guidelines on acceptable dress and behaviour, right?
Media
You want to know how much a journalist at The National newspaper earns? (Opens as pdf file)
Flights
British Airways have extended their offer of return flights to the UK from AED 1,990. The offer now expires midnight 6 April. (Return flights to the UK with Emirates are around AED 4,300 at the moment)
Accommodation
Abu Dhabi hotels aren’t affected by the recession and continue putting up their room rates, according to Hogg Robinson (a corporate travel services company). Abu Dhabi is now said to be the most expensive city in the world for hotel room rates. (Opens as pdf file)
Offers
Discounts up to 30% off food and beverages continue to be offered at most Jumeirah locations in The Madinat, Beach Hotel, Emirates Towers and Bab Al Shams. You will need 4 people and must pay with Visa. Sirius Card holders have no minimum diner restrictions. Offer excludes bars and brunches.

March 2009

Transport
If you incur a fine in Oman whilst driving a Dubai-licensed car, you won’t know about it until you try re-registering your vehicle with the RTA. (The Omani Traffic Fines website has no facility to show details of foreign licence plates.)
The RTA staff will give you a printout of the fine (usually in Arabic, so ask for assistance if necessary). Take this to a currency exchange desk (e.g. under the Lulu supermarket in Al Barsha) and ask for a cheque to be raised in Omani Rials for the amount specified, payable to the Sultanate of Oman. Then proceed to the Dubai Police Fines Department (next to the RTA Licensing Centre near Mall of Emirates) and queue to pay. You won’t receive a receipt or confirmation of payment, so wait beyond the first “halas” to make sure the clerk actually processes it. Be warned that the queues are usually lengthy, slow and subject to inexplicable interruption. (The “Ladies desk” is invariably empty however.) You may then return to the RTA to complete the vehicle registration process.
Food and Drink
The Organic Shop and Cafe in Satwa has closed and moved to the Dubai Mall with effect 01 March.
The next 20% sale is Saturday 21 March (as usual, it’s the third Saturday of every month).
Commentary
The Economist ponders the future for Dubai after Abu Dhabi’s bailout of $10 billion last week.
Communications
Etisalat have finally agreed terms to allow the sale of iPhones in the UAE. It doesn’t come cheap though. You’ll be tied in for a year, and will pay between AED 5034 and AED 7716 per year for the lower-spec 8GB package and between AED 5478 and AED 8091 per year for the 16GB version. Each option comes with enough SMS and call-time included to suit any adult, but only you will know if the data usage limits offered will be enough for your intended use of the internet. Etisalat don’t appear to give any advice, but Vodafone in the UK give a useful guide to data use for web pages, emails etc.
Activities
Wild Wadi is now open for families from 8am on Saturdays
Banking
The new (almost unused) HSBC branch in Dubai Mall is on the lower ground floor, near Waitrose.
Flights
How NOT to behave if you miss your flight.
Leisure
Regarding the Prophet Mohammed’s Birthday - Remember that it’s standard practice for liquor not to be served on religious holidays, and that such holidays are considered to start the evening before – worth noting if you’re at the Rugby 7’s finals (perhaps there will be a waiver…?)

February 2009

Legal
Have you applied for your ID card yet?
The deadline for expatriates is 28 February 2009. There is to be no penalty for late registration, but you will probably want to avoid the queues of construction workers applying for their cards later this year…
Shell
Jeroen Van Der Veer responds to some aggressive questioning in an interview about Shell’s environmental policies in this video…
Commentary
Rumours that Emirates and Etihad airlines are to cooperate or even merge (strenuously denied by them since)…
Commentary
Richard Dean (from Dubai Eye Radio) writes a column predicting that the ‘end is nigh’ for the remaining Jumeirah Janes…
Offers
Etisalat are offering 50% off international SMS messages during February. As long as they are sent between 1am and 7am (local time).
www.etisalat.ae< (Click on “Offers”)
Commentary
The fact that Doctor Who is filming an episode in Dubai has ruffled some feathers…
Offers
The next 20 % sale at the Organic Shop is on Sunday 14 February…
Flights
Fewer ‘trailing’ spouses are accompanying their partners on business trips…
Activities
Wild Wadi are offering AED 45 discount to residents of Dubai until the end of February…
Legal
You can be fined heavily for having a “For Sale” sign on your car – even if it is parked.

November 2008

Legal
Reminder: You have until 31 December to get the compulsory UAE ID card. We’re getting reports that November appointments are now fully booked and no appointments are being allocated during December – meaning last-minute applicants will experience the joy of waiting in first-come, first-serve queues.
The Post Office now offer a service for receiving your registration form (for a fee of AED 40), though you will still have to go to the registration office to scan your finger print.
Events
The Dubai Mall opening has been delayed until 4 November. My hairdresser tells me the foreman told her the fish in the aquarium won’t stop eating each other…
Shell
"You Tube" have a cool, if brief, video of a rare deep-sea squid taken at Shell’s Perdido site (in the Gulf of Mexico) last November.
Transport
Ever wanted to know what the relevance of the coloured car licence plates in Dubai are?
Export – BLUE ...Diplomat – RED...Consular – ORANGE...Political – GREEN...Taxi – YELLOW...Government – RED and WHITE
Commentary
The Economist 08Oct08: “If you have children and want to work abroad, stay away from the United Arab Emirates. But if you're childless, the chance to earn a lot and live luxuriously should be strong enticement to go there. That's one of the messages from HSBC’s survey of more than 2,000 expats in 14 countries.”
You can read the article and the reports here:
Food and Drink
With effect 01 October, Pizza Express introduced a 10% service charge for meals delivered to your door. There’s nothing about it on their website, so it’s like it never happened…
Communications
Rumours abound that VOIP (e.g. Skype) could be legitimately available again sometime soon…
International News
The US election results programmes can be seen on BBC World 3am – 10am on Wednesday 5th November. Hosted by David Dimbleby with Matt Frei and Ted Koppel.
If you prefer news with louder graphics and sound effects, you can join CNN from 3am for a full day of conjecture, analysis and debate. The usual presenters expected – Cooper, Wolf, et al.
Communications
You can watch any UK tv channel you want, right here in Dubai, by using a Slingbox. If you don’t have a tv in Britain to connect to, or your upload speed there is pretty poor, the guys from “thetelly.net” offer the service of looking after your equipment and sending a decent signal from London. You just need a consistent internet download speed of at least 1 Megabyte and a bit of spare cash…
Flights
You know about the Emirates Airline offer of free accommodation at The Atlantis, by now, right? It’s available to first and business class passengers (no Skywards awards or upgrades) flying most long-haul flights to or via Dubai.
Events
The QE2 cruise liner comes to Dubai on 21 November

October 2008

Events
The dates for the Ladies Open (held at Emirates Golf Club) have been announced for December. It’s Annika Sorenstam’s final tournament.
Events
MMI (the store that sells ‘stimulating refreshments’) are offering red cardholders first opportunity to get tickets for the Rugby 7 tournament in November. Tickets (maximum 4) should be reserved in person at the MMI outlet, ready for collection 9 October.
Transport
500 more speed cameras are being installed around the emirate (including 50 on SZR), becoming effective after the Eid holiday.
Food and Drink
HSBC Credit Card holders get 20% discount on food and drink at most Wafi restaurants.
Food and Drink
The next 20 % Discount Day at the Organic Foods and Cafe is Saturday 18 October. That’s twenty percent off everything…
Activities
The Caledonian Society have changed their website address…
Humour
“Expatriate wives”, according to comediennes French & Saunders
Food and Drink
Fish-lovers feeling uninspired by the tired-looking fillets on display in Choithrams may want to try getting their fish from these guys… Winners of the UAE Small Business of the Year 2006. Do please let us have your feedback if you use them…
Food and Drink
Anyone with a passing interest in the UAE’s food industry might find the series of articles on the Canadian Agricultural Ministry website interesting…
Activities
During October, Wild Wadi will open at 8am on Saturdays for ‘families’. Open time for everyone else remains 11am.

September 2008

Computer Software
Shell’s agreement with Microsoft means that company employees can benefit from a limited range of free copies of Microsoft products, such as Office 2007, under the Microsoft Home Use Program (HUP). This means that you can get Office 2007 and other Microsoft products for one computer in your home for just the price of delivery. It also means that you have an opportunity to familiarise yourself with new software before it is introduced in Shell, particularly Office 2007 (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint), which is different to our current version.
Who is Eligible?
Shell employees, except for employees working in or are nationalities of Generally Embargoed and Highly Restricted Countries. This benefit is not available to third party contractors.
How it works
You can get a limited range of Microsoft products at no licensing cost for a single computer in your home as long as you already have a license to use them on your work computer. You are only entitled to use them as long as your remain employed by Shell. You will, however, have to pay any delivery cost. These costs vary by country but are generally minimal.
Important consideration
New products such as Office 2007 use a lot more memory than older versions. In order to run them effectively, please refer to Microsoft’s website here for more information. Additionally, the Office 2007 suite of applications is designed to run on the Microsoft Vista Operating System, if you install Office 2007 on Windows XP or 2000, it may not run as effectively. Shell is taking these factors into consideration when we roll out these products so that our computers run as effectively as possible.
Available Products
Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007 (Access, Communicator, Excel, Groove, Infopath, OneNote, Outlook, PowerPoint, Publisher & Word)
Microsoft Office for Mac 2004 and 2008 (Entourage, Excel, Word and PowerPoint for Mac computers)
Microsoft Project 2007
To determine eligibility and order, staff can access the sww IT website at:
Health & Safety
Recently Dubai Petroleum had a Legionella case with one of their expat staff.
One of the practices here in (hot) Dubai is to switch the boiler off during summer, and to use that boiler reservoir as "cool shower" water instead of the cold tap, which often is much hotter due to piping running outside the house.
The temperature range in the boiler is the optimum for Legionella growth and hence potentially the boiler/water heater could be a source of the bacteria.  The level of risk however will be dependent on the type of water system that is fitted, the supply water quality, any maintenance routine and also the frequency of use.
With the small (one feed for each room) domestic water heaters that are commonly in use, and regular use of any shower, the risk is slight.  The most likely time that an exposure might occur would be on initial use of the shower after a longer period of leave, where the boiler has been turned off and stagnant water remains in the system.  The risk increases with larger water systems (one feed for the whole residence) where there is a potential for stagnation in part of the system (eg multiple showers fed from a single tank, with only intermittent use of each shower).
With the cold water system providing water that is considerably hotter than the cooled boiler water this system too is a potential source of Legionella.  Again the potential for exposure will be at its highest following leave periods or low usage of showers.
We would suggest … that following a period of absence, the boilers are turned on for an hour to allow the water the heat up, and then showers flushed through.  Flushing should be for both the hot and cold parts of the system.  Following this exercise the practice of using the hot water system as a 'cool' shower will not pose an unacceptable risk to health.  Though the risk is not high it still exists and good practices can be used to lower this risk to a minimum.
Periodic (annual) inspections and cleaning (if deemed necessary) should be carried out on the systems to limit the build-up of any scale, slime or deposit in any water tanks, boilers etc, and to ensure that control through a temperature regime is being maintained.  This should form part of any building management system.
Food and Drink
Visa Promotion: 25 % discount (food only) at Madinat restaurants continues until 15 September 2008:
Transport
The new Salik tollgates at Al Maktoum bridge and Al Safa (opposite Mazaya Centre on SZR) will be activated on 9 September. Vehicles passing through both Al Barsha and Al Safa tollgates on the same journey will only be charged once:
Leisure
Kylie Minogue is playing at the Atlantis hotel on September 24 with another date to be announced:
Leisure
Tickets go on sale in September for Sting’s concert on December 12.
NB - he will only be performing songs from his Classical album “Songs from the Labyrinth”.
Leisure
The cinema at festival city is now open. Although Time Out isn’t impressed with their “Grand Class”:
www.grandcinemas.com/grand-future.php
www.timeoutdubai.com/dubai/features/review.php?id=3679
Government
The UK Embassy have unveiled their new-look website for UAE:
Transport
Only 12 months to go before the opening of the Metro Red Line (the one that runs alongside SZR):
Transport
The huge Arabian Ranches Interchange is now open:
Legal
New animal welfare laws have been introduced in the hope of ending animal cruelty in the UAE:
Transport
Dubai Airport’s Terminal 3 to open 14 October 2008 in phased roll-out:
Leisure
The Dubai Mall is to open 30 October – hundreds of shops and Aquarium, Ice Rink and Gold Souk
Transport
The RTA has started to assign names to Streets in Jumeirah 3 in a pilot programme.
Don’t forget to update your personal maps:
Government
VAT (GST) of 3 % probably to be introduced in 2010:
Transport
ENOC has converted 3 petrol stations (opposite Jumeirah Jail, behind Sahara Centre & Al Manar on Beach Road) in Dubai to self-service. Customers must pre-pay in the store before pumping: