Sep 7, 2014
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A-Z of Dubai!

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A

– Arabic is the national language of Dubai and the UAE in general, the Gulf dialect of Arabic is spoken by the Emirati Locals. The gulf Arabic is spoken widely in the Eastern Arabia. Although the different types of Arabic derive from one source and a Saudi Arab can understand an Arab who speaks the gulf Arabic, the grammar, vocabulary and accent is slightly different in the Gulf dialect of Arabic.

B

– Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world, and it is located in Downtown Dubai. The tower is 828meters high and accommodates over 100 floors, it is a hotel, hosts residents and offices, as well as being a popular tourist destination; “At the Top”. The Burj K first opened on the 4th of January 2010. It also has an elevator with the longest travel distance in the world, the highest outdoor observation deck in the world, and has 4 stories dedication to fitness and recreation! Book your stay at Burj Khalifa now dubai blog

C

– Currency; The current currency In the Dubai is AED (Arab Emirate Dirhams). The currency holds a 25 fils, 50 fils, and 1 dirham coin and 5,10,20,50,100,200, 500 and 100 dirham note. It holds an inflation rate of 2.30% at July 2014, the average % between 1990-2014 is 2.04%, reaching at a high of 12.30% in December 2008 and a record low of -1.60% in January 2011.

D

– Duty free Dubai! DFD has recently celebrated their 30th anniversary (20th December 2013), with sales being a record of USD$1.8billion last year, and them flying to another record for the end of this year, it is certainly worth a cheer! DFD employs over 6000 people and has received over 400 awards to shine their glory, including “Best airport travel retailer of the year”, “Middle East retailer of the year”, along with awards for the Executive Vice chairman of DFD; “CEO of the year” from the 3rd Asian Leadership Awards and “Lifetime Achievement” Editor’s Choice Award at the inaugural Conde Nast Traveler ME Awards. DFD arrivals hosts shops like Yves Saint Laurent, Fendi, Le Clos, Paul Café, Starbucks and many more, DFD departures hosts a range of Jewelry, gift, liquor, perfume, fashion and many other shops for you to spend those final dirhams in!

E

-Expo! In November 2013 Dubai won the bid for the Expo in 2020, this was a major celebration that set all the city up in fireworks! Dubai has reached such a peak in tourism that the Expo is like the icing on their cake. With plans for a “temperature” controlled city, massive construction in the form of hotels, residents, restaurants and entire parts, Dubai is blasting all out for the expo, they even have plans to make a expo city within Dubai! Expo’s last 6month and bring together the worlds businesses, and what better place to do this than the central hub of the UAE, the bursting Middle East city; Dubai. With its Tax free economy, many businesses have already started to move in to prepare for 2020, it is expected to bring in 25million visitors in 2020 and 75% of those being overseas visitors! The Dubai’s expo is all about innovation, connecting minds, creating the future and sustainability. It is definitely worth a visit if you are still about!

F

-Festival city! (DFC) This is one of our favorite parts of Dubai, a picturesque part of Dubai that is not in the heart of downtown, but still holds all the beauty Dubai has to offer. DFC is a 1300 acre waterfront urban community that aims to capture the culture in our 21st century modernized community. With the richest and finest dining, residence, entertainment, leisure, retail, hospitality, etc. You will never be bored of DFC! Home to the only IKEA in Dubai, Honda, Jeep, Lexus, Hard Rock Café ToysRus, Marks and Spencer, Al Badia Golf club and much much more, it’s simply irresistible.

G

-Gold Souk! The heart of the old Dubai, this place is worth a trip, even if you don’t want to buy any gold. The souk truly allows one to indulge in the culture and heart of how Dubai came about. The variety one show ranges from pin prick studs to the foot long heavy gold wedding necklaces, with the world’s lowest prices, you may even be tempted to buy something, treat yourself!

H

-Heriot Watt University (HWU)! Heriot watt is a branch campus of HWU in Edinburgh. It was established in Dubai in 2005, being the first campus of an overseas university to open in the Dubai International Academic City! The university offers courses in Business, Life Sciences, Fashion, Engineering, Computer Sciences, Mathematics and much more! Serving foundation levels, undergrad, postgrad and in 2014 they also opened up to offer PHD programs. So now Dubai students can get the finest British education at their doorsteps, with all the degrees coming from the UK.

I

-International City (IC), this part of Dubai is truly global, it is a country-themed architectural plot of residences, business, leisure, hospitality and much more. IC has everything from a Persia cluster, to an England and Spain cluster, going all over the world, without the jet lag the day after!

J

-Jazz Festival! Yes, Dubai has it all. The jazz fest began as a 3-day mainstream festival to celebrate jazz, selling just over 1,200 tickets and since the second edition the numbers have doubled, the 2013 fest hosted more than 55,000 visitors! The festival has given its audience everything from the well-known script and one republic to the commendable deep purple and James Morrison, The classic pippin sisters and James blunt! This is more than just music, it is a celebration and comes with great part time and voluntary job opportunity to all ages of young adults residing in Dubai.

K

-King! Dubai is ruled by His Highness Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Makhtoum was born on the 22nd July 1949, and he took his place in January- February 2006. He is the king of the hearts of the people Dubai. He has a big role in development of Dubai and its all because of his long term vision. He is a Sunni Muslim and has 2 wives, from whom he has 23 officially acknowledged children; 9sons and fourteen daughters. His family wealth is heard to be “in excess of” USD $4 billion, wow! However his highness is well known for his charitable activities in education, donating millions each year to the poor outside the UAE, supporting world health organizations and much more! He also created a UAE Pakistan Assistance to help the 2012 flood victims in Pakistan. His highness and his family are enthusiasts in Arabic poetry and arts, very culture individuals.

L

-Laws! Many of Dubai’s Laws follow the Sharia law of Islam, and sometimes it is over exaggerated. The word respect means a lot in this country, with its vast amount of tourism and western culture flying in, it is hard to strictly enforce some laws, but as long as you respect the countries culture and religion, you are safe. Such things such as Public Display of Affection (PDA) and extreme bod exposure (walking around in a bikini) are things that have seen to be not accepted and punishable by law.

M

– Malls! There is too many of them! Dubai is famous for the shopping, along with hosting the world’s largest mall, the common malls in Dubai are also quite impressive, the luxury retail, the variety of shops and malls is outstanding! Each mall has its own interpretation and style. Each area of Dubai has its own mall, from MOE (Mall of the Emirates) to Mirdiff City Centre, Deira City Centre, Khaleej Centre, Ibn Battuta Mall, Mercato Mall, the list is endless!

N

-Night Life! Party your nights out, although the 21+ rule upsets many young tourists, when you are at that age, there is no shortage of nightlife. From partying on a beach at Barasti to the classical Crystal at Wafi, to a Desi Night at Pulse on a Friday, there is something for everyone. The house music at Mansion and The Holiday Inn and The Urban and R’nB nights at sensation at the Crowne plaza… ant they are just the clubs! Why not try one of Dubai’s bars, pubs or lounges, fancy a nice private lounge? Indulge in the Middle East with the many Shisha bars with live entertainment, the latest football, weekend are always fun In Dubai! (Friday/Saturday are the weekends and the week begins on a Sunday).

O

-Outlet mall! So you think the shopping ended at M? Think again! Dubai Outlet mall is the first “Outlet” concept in the Middle East and brings you all those big names, but with little prices! With over 1200 shops you can grab discounts ranging between 30%-90%! The Mall is located in Dubailand on the Dubai-Al Ain Road. “Big brands, Big Savings, Every Single day!”

P

-Police! Dubai Police are famous for their extravagant cars, everything from a Lamborghini to a Ferrari, these law enforces have style! The Dubai Police Force was established in June 1956 and was based in “Naif Forts’ as its HQ, which was later transformed into a station. With a force of more than 15,000 the Dubai Police Force holds a mission to “Improve the quality of life in the country by operating in accordance with the constitutional rights to enforce law and maintain security and safety of the community and everyone living in the country.”

Q

-Quran! This reference to Dubai may seem odd for many readers, questions may rise as to why it is here but being a Muslim myself I feel there is nothing that fits better to the letter Q! The Quran is the holy book of Islam and Islam is the religion of the State! The Quran portrays the words from God (Allah Subḥānahu WA TaAla: Our God.), Islam (Meaning Peace) is a way of life which is explained and outlined in the Holy Quran. Many of the Sharia Laws of Dubai are taken from the teachings of the Quran.

R

-RTA: Road Transport Authority; This is the governing body for all public transport inclusive of taxis, buses, metro, Road Engineering, Marine Transport, Rail-Projects, Inter-city transport and much more!

S

-Seven star hotel! The Burj Al Arab is the world’s first 7* hotel, with its underwater facilities, its own helipad and golden I-pads to every guest, to the option of a chauffeur with a Rolls-Royce, luxury was not spared when this was built. With its 202 luxurious duplex suites, personalized butler service, Complementary access to the Wild Wadi Water Park, Talise Spa, 9 world Class restaurants and not one, not two, not even three! But FOUR swimming pools and private beach. Everything was thought of!

T

– Trade! Dubai trade is an entity that offers electronic services from a variety of different trade and logistics service providers in Dubai, all under one wing. With its extraordinary man-made and natural geographically unique location and unexplainably excellent infrastructure and excellent process across the governmental agencies and private sector it highlights Dubai’s position as the Ideal base for trading. Dubai has been trading for years, the expertise and growth with technology and development of different techniques and ship export and import has shown an extensive growth along with the modern facilities Dubai has to offer. Dubai ports offer everything from Marine services to Cargo, offering free zone authorities and companies registered under Dubai and the UAE Freezones to use Dubai’s ports and facilities to import and export freely.

U

-Universities! This one is without a doubt global. Dubai is a global city with its 100s of different nationalities arriving and residing every year, but the education sector is proof of how Dubai educates these different nationalities with their very own curriculums and styles, under one roof. You will find schools from India, America, Europe, Universities from Canada, the UK, America, Australia and much more! The global city certainly lives up to the global expectations.

V

-Visa! Unless you are local (which is defined as; the Emirati people, people who go back to the Arabic peninsula), you cannot hold a UAE passport and therefore require a visa, certain tourists from certain countries will receive on arrival visa’s; UK, USA, Germany, Portugal, Cyprus, Finland, France, Australia, Austria, Belgium, and many more! However if you wish to reside in the UAE you must obtain a visa through work, education or family sponsors.

W

-Weather! The Dubai temperatures throughout the year are usually range between 6.2(being a record low in the month of January)- 52.1 Celsius (being the record high in the summer). The desert climate has dry, extreme hot and humid summers and (if any) the rains occur between December and March, the months that are considered the most comfortable weather months for local residents and several global holiday makers.

X

-Expats! Dubai is sweltering with expats, with thousands and thousands swamping in for work, studies, business and pleasure every year, a whopping 73% of Dubai IS the expat community. There are people from all over; Europe, Africa, America, Other parts of the Middle East, Australia, you name it, they are here! Dubai isn’t the global hub for nothing! It has the people to prove it! A large amount is from the Philippines and Asia.

Y

-Yacht club! Dubai Marina Yacht Club is located in Dubai Marina, near the JBR Walk. Stretched along an amazing 3.5m canal the yacht club is renowned for its private yacht membership. It maintains over 500 yachts and hosts many different elements to the luxury yacht life! It is more than just a club though! From the themed nights to the fine dining and lounges, the yacht club is stepping up to the higher levels of membership!

Z

-Zoo! There’s always room for animals, the Dubai zoo is over 3.7 acres of animal madness! With approximately 230 species of animals including foxes, lions, pumas, jaguars, lions, monkeys, baboons, giraffes, a few endangered species (Bengal tiger, gorilla) and many more exciting animals, the zoo is a little animal kingdom in itself! It was considered a landmark in the late 1960s and in 1971 it was taken over by the Dubai municipality (Jurisdiction governing body of Dubai) and re-designed from May 1986-May 1989.

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