Oh, the law applies to everyone. I tried to explain it in my last post. We're trying to cater to tourism, but it's not a "free" country.. The idea is to try to respect everyone's culture and religion. You can hold hands, no problem, in Dubai. You can do whatever you want if you're in the right place. But there are religious people in this country (well, modern religious) who would rather not see what they consider "adultery". Small price to pay for living here IMO.
So, we're just talking about Dubai city, the population is at 4-5 million? That's pretty impressive. The whole place looks to be absolutely amazing and impressive. Some day, if this place plays its hand right, I could see it growing close to the size of a Tokyo or Mexico City (neither places have I been to, I'm just going by population figures and whatnot).
ok, got it... that's cool then as far as tourist-type things to do, would you recommend visiting there right now? or maybe wait a couple years until more things are built up? and by tourist-type things, I mean stuff other than clubs...I have no interest in clubbing
I was born there...moved here in 91 when I was 7. It wasnt all that then but boy is is ballin now. Im gonna start my MBA and Im thinking about moving there for a few years if I get a nice offer (company car and apt paid by them too). It makes sense since there are no income taxes!
KePow, No doubt it will be better in a couple of years. Hell, it will be better in 6 months. But that's what people have been saying for 5-6 years now, and I imagine they'll be saying it for another 5-6 years until the growth slows down. Right now, there's lots of areas in the UAE that's not populated, so there's lots of room for growth. If you have no interest in clubbing, there's still stuff you can do. Some of the things you can do is check out all these projects, visit some of the hotels, check out some of our gorgeous beaches/resorts, go on a desert safari (those are fun, even for a resident)... Some more chilled out stuff you can do like go to the buddha bar, maybe just relax and have some shisha (hookah), go to the ski resort, etc... Like I said, you won't come here and see things like Acropolis or Stonehenge... Very young country, everything is about new-age entertainment... sammy, You're right the job market is great here. I don't know if it compares favorably with what you'd find in the states or Europe, but if you're well-qualified, you will get the benefits you mentioned in your post. Also, to avoid paying tax, I think you have to not visit your home country for long stretches. Zac D, I agree, lots of energy being used here. Something they have just started to think about, and they need to get a move on to find a solution. Then again, it's a small city in a small country. I guess that can be viewed positively and negatively.
Ehsan, do you think Dubai is growing too fast? I realize some people have thought that for some time and things continue to roll, but if there is ever a slowdown, it could get ugly because there is so much development in the pipeline. You think? It could be a spectacular bust. Hopefully it will not happen.
I got in trouble for making out with my girlfriend in the bar of the Grand Hyatt, of all places. It was strange, though, because you see fat Russian "entrepreneurs" with Russian hookers at the pool and around the hotel, which is fine, but a bit of kissing in a hotel bar gets you into trouble.
The only thing I find troubling about a city like this is that once you reach a certain point, it becomes impossible to protect yourself from a 9/11 number 2. With tourist destinations like this, and buildings as tall as those, and, given it's location, I'm surprised Dubai has been kept in the clear for this long.
It's definitely something to worry about, but not something that's been neglected IMO. It's happen to some extent as the stock market "crashed" last year, but it's recovering and people realize that they need to watch out for the things that have happened with countries that saw a similar growth rate. Plus, when the oil runs out, there will be trouble. But they've anticipated that happening so Dubai (I can't say the same for the other Emirates) has worked hard on creating a city that does not need oil money to function. Hopefully, by the time the oil runs out, that plan will be in full throttle.
SJC, Making out in public is not cool. Again, it could vary depending on the place, but generally speaking you will not get into trouble for making out in a club for example. Even at a bar, you won't get into trouble for just a kiss. How exactly did you get into trouble? What did he say and how did you respond?
The thing is, this country is filled with arabs, persians, palestinians, Iraqis, etc. If you hit this place, who are you targetting? No matter who you are, a big chunk of "your" people will be involved. In Saudi, for example, there are compounds where certain nationalities live exclusively. Not the case here.
In case anyone missed it, the islands are positioned to recreate the continents. I read about this a long time ago and it sounded like a fantasy story, but clearly they are very aggressive in developing and have enough money to follow through.
There are rumors that the ruling family sort of pays off the terrorists like a shop owner in Chicago would have paid the Mafia some protection money during the Al Capone days.
We were just kissing, in the bar of the Grand Hyatt, there were almost only non-Arabs around, except one Sheik or something who was sitting in a corner. Apparently that guy complained to the waitress (Russian) who told us that the guy complained and asked us to stop (even though she sort of secretly rolled her eyes at him as well). Again, I wouldn't even have done the same thing in public with a lot of veiled people and Arabs around, but that was at the lobby bar of the Grand Hyatt, where you could even see Arabs sitting there with apparent hookers as well as plenty of scantily clad Eastern European girls talking to traveling business men, so...sort of a double morale there.
Yeah well you see, if there's a complaint then there's a problem. LEGALLY, you can't do it. So if this dude calls the cops and says the bar didn't do anything to stop you, they get into trouble. That's why the waitress rolled her eyes, because even though the bar doesn't give a damn, they have to protect themselves. There were "apparent hookers" and "scantily clas European girls" but there's no way to prove what they do really. So unless they were doing something illegal right there in the bar, they wouldn't have a problem. Just like anywhere else, sometimes there are douchebags around (sitting with a hooker and complaining about a a kiss for example), but other than that it's really not a big deal. Just unlucky I guess!
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