Frazzle
Posts 203

Wow - that is a big difference!

Do you know where Al Jelaiah is in relation to West Bay? I'm wondering how long it'll take me to do the nursery runs. I'm glad I decided to put both of mine in the same nursery now!

Maybe I'll decide on an area once we get there. Thankfully we'll have a serviced apt for 6 weeks so this will hopefully give us plenty of time to get our bearings

lalala
Posts 686

Quick warning: I have a complete block on Qatar geography but Qatar traffic at the moment is not normal Qatar traffic. You probably need to double summer commute times to get the commute times for the rest of the year. My nursery run usually takes me 45min - 1 hour and at the moment I can do it in around 20 mins.

Frazzle
Posts 203

Hi Ali

How are you finding Doha so far? We're not moving over till September & spending summer & Ramadan here rather than Doha as I figured it would be harder to meet people if they've all gone home for the summer Have you settled into your villa now?

I keep hearing a lot of good things about Y Village - where is it?. I haven't figured out where the areas are yet so we were just going to look for a villa in West Bay as that's where DH works (he's there already). Do any of the villas have 5 bedrooms? We also live in Al Barsha btw.

I have a 14 month old girl & my ds is 3 in september so hoping to make lots of little friends for them as they love playing with other children

Good luck anyway & I hope all is good!

Alilaslett
Posts 109

Hiya - ive just arrived too from Dubai - just settling into Y Village Compound too! Desperate to meet some people as im not good with my own company (and that of my 2 little ones!) all day every day! Finding my feet - car hasnt arrived from Dubai yet so cant get out and drive.....compound here seems lovely pool, restaurant, kids play area and this is all new for us as in Dubai we lived in an independent villa in Al Barsha....still unpacking tonnes of boxes - we have accumulated so much stuff! Animals all arrived safe and sound on Sunday also so its feeling more permanent now! ( just need to get used to local mentality towards dogs when i walk them outside the compound) Would love to catch up with anyone living in Y Village or new from Dubai... im here all summer doesnt seem fair to leave hubby to unpack! ....There used to be a thread for Y Village and I cant see it now....my son is 20 months and on wait list for Starfish 4 which i plan to visit once i have wheels.....and my little girl is 4 months now BTW Frazzle my hubby works in West Bay also and it takes him about 20 minutes to get home so not too bad.....

northernstar
Posts 362

I am at Starfish 4, but they are all great x

JillMV
Posts 1436

Frazzle - you're not wrong. Govt offices have very short days during Ramadan and everything seems to take longer. Also- I've really only heard good things about starfish lane. We visited starfish lane 4 yesterday to check it out for my son and it looked great.

Frazzle
Posts 203

Well good luck with it all. I hope they do wait until after Ramadan as yes, I imagine it would be tricky getting stuff arranged. We're going at the end of september for that reason as we've been told that a lot of Qatar basically stops over Ramadan (ie malls closed during the day, government offices on a few hours a day etc. pls correct me if I'm wrong of course) Perhaps we'll bump into each other at a mum's meeting sometime

Northernstar - thanks for your reply. I have heard Doha is a lot friendlier than Dubai and as I've never really experienced any "unfriendly-ness" here, people in Doha must be REALLY nice I've registered my 2 cherubs at Starfish Lane 2 and am quite excited about it as it seems lovely and have read a lot of positive reviews about it. Are you a teacher there?

Nosey Norah
Posts 236

Thanks for the info. We have no definite dates just now, they want hubby to start during Ramadan but we are trying our damnedest to get it changed to after Eid. Relocating is stressful enough without doing it during Ramadan when everyone is on an even slower go slow!!!!!

northernstar
Posts 362

Not sure on cost but I know the expat site includes nurseries and star fish details are on there, if you have a definite date of arrival it may be worth registering your little one now, trust me Star fish is one of the best ones, they have 3 units plus 2 units tied to companies, if you register and one and it ends up not been the nearest to where you are living you can apply to transfer easily. Good luck with it all.

Nosey Norah
Posts 236

Thanks for the info northernstar. My little one is 2.5 so will be looking for nursery come sept. do you have any idea how much nurseries are in Doha? I think we would be looking to do 3 or 4 mornings a week?

northernstar
Posts 362

Hi Frazzle, Doha is okay, its smaller than Dubai and quieter, but myself and 3 friends from Dubai who are all new think its very friendly and making friends is easy. As for nurseries, I work at Star Fish Lane 4, well worth calling for information, its Australian curriculum, a lovely place, I am a Brit and very impressed with it. they are still open doing a summer club so worth a call. Good luck am sure you will like Doha, just hope the malls get reopened soon!

shellsuk
Posts 47

Hiya...Yes I too met lovely and genuine people in Dubai...but they are here too I promise! ;-) But about things like bills, tv, nurseries and all that, I'm sorry I don't know...still a newbie about all that and so you may want to start a new thread...good luck both with everything! I'm leaving for the summer in a few days and so won't be on here...hope to meet you both though sometime in September!

Frazzle
Posts 203

That is a very good question Norah - I do love the telly!

Shells - thank you for your replies. It's good to know that you're happy over there. I know we will be too but I'm just so sad to be leaving the great friends I have made here and my DS will be leaving his little mates too I'm lucky that I've met lovely, geniuine people here who if I had known them back home, would have been friends there too no doubt. I am looking forward to meeting more lovely people in Doha too though as you all seem very nice! I know that Doha is not like Dubai at all so luckily, I'm not going to be expecting something different when I get there. I've heard that living in the right place is key so now that my children are registered in nurseries, that is my next task. Where is Y village in relation to West Bay (where DH is working)?

I did hear about the dreadful fire in Villagio - it broke my heart. Those poor people Although I imagine that it is an inconvenience having so many malls close down at one, it's a big relief to hear that something is being done to try to improve safety there. It's scary however that you say there are a lot of fires on the pearl etc

Norah - I am also not a 'blingy' kind of girl (if I had it might be though lol ) and live in jeans (even in this heat!). I used to live in The marina too btw - we could have been neighbours!

Re nurseries;, I've got my two (3 in sept and 14 months) into Starfish Lane 2. I've heard nothing but good about it and heard the waiting lists were huge so was happy when I got them in. Do you know what area you'll be living in? Once you know that, you can find a nursery close by otherwise the commute can be huge (or so I've heard) Fees are about 7k a term from memory

We only went for the day so didn't book a hotel so can't help there I'm afraid

When are you likely to move if you go?

(pls excuse any typos - I'm on an iPhone & it autocorrects everything!!)

Nosey Norah
Posts 236

Also are OSN packages the same in Qatar as they are in UAE?

Nosey Norah
Posts 236

ShellsUK thanks again for the reply. I loved Bahrain, I loved the close community, knowing you could head to the Brit club and you would bump into someone to have coffee with, I loved bumping into people you knew in malls and shops and having Bahraini friends. Don't get me wrong Dubai has been a great 2 years and we live in the marina and me and my daughter walk, bus, and metro everywhere but I don't really feel like I have ever fitted in being a Tom boy owning very little bling. I am hoping that Qatar will be more like Bahrain than Dubai and I'm looking forward to meeting some down to earth fellow slummy mummies heheh

Can you help me out with a few questions such as how much is qewc for a 3 bed villa (roughly)? And on top of rent and utilities are there any other housing charges such as housing tax that I should be factoring in to my budget?

shellsuk
Posts 47

NN - YES! Well if you lived in Bahrain for sure you know exactly what Doha is like! My hubby too started expat Middle East life in Bahrain for almost a year, just as the recession hit unfortunately and he was made redundant after about 7-8 months and then we moved to Dubai. I visited him in Bahrain (Brit club memories ha ha!!) a couple of times and oh my it was sleepy! It was similar re the 'buzz' if you know what I mean..it was like "where is everyone?"...but you did 3.5 years and so I am sure you will be fine here!! How long have you lived in Dubai?

Oh yes and by the way, my hubby is loving his job and that makes him happy which makes us happy!

Nosey Norah
Posts 236

Wow, thanks for the very frank and informative post shellsuk! We have previously lived in Bahrain for 3.5 years and left just before the trouble started and they way you are describing Doha sounds very much like Bahrain!

Nosey Norah
Posts 236

Wow, thanks for the very frank and informative post shellsuk! We have previously lived in Bahrain for 3.5 years and left just before the trouble started and they way you are describing Doha sounds very much like Bahrain!

shellsuk
Posts 47

Hi ladies,

I know exactly how you must be feeling moving from Dubai. For us it happened so fast we didn't have time to think really, but in my husband's industry (planning pre construction), everything was moving this way and there was nothing happening in the UAE. I loved my life there, I was teaching yoga, had loads of friends, great social life, loved Dubai Mall...sigh! ;-)

Listen I think I have to tell you something to help with your transition to Doha...Doha is absolutely nothing whatsoever like Dubai! Nothing AT ALL!!! It is really important that you realise this now, accept it and be happy about it. It is like comparing London or New York with a sleepy town in the middle of America or UK.

There was a mall called Villagio which was modern, nice and everyone went to and you may have heard that tragically there was a fire and 19 people died including 13 children...this has broken many hearts and rightly so has made people very aware of safety..or lack of it. The mall is now closed and who knows, may never reopen. There are fire's going off in tower blocks on the Pearl (new development), smoke alarms, fire alarms, etc don't work, malls are all closing due to fire hazzards and lack of training of personnel, etc. It is NOT DUBAI or UK. It is Doha and you have to really take responsibility for yourselves, where you live, where you go, be alert, aware and don't drive like the crazy people (who are from all over the place..even Westerners who should know better..one said to me the other day "buy a bigger car and drive like they do"...err, no I don't think so!).

I had a driver for the first couple of months, but being let down by him a couple of times I decided to drive. I am fine, I stay relaxed and avoid trouble. If someone wants to cut in front of me to make themselves feel better, good on ya! I don't do stress and I don't do road rage (I am pregnant and a yoga teacher who meditates....negativity and stress don't fit in with my life at all). There is no SZR but maybe Salwa road is the closest. There are lots of roundabouts and bascially people don't know how to drive round roundabouts it's that simple. Just ignore the honks as people just honk cos they feel like it I'm sure, just take your time and be safe, keep your eyes peeled all the time, If you are not going too fast, you can avoid most collisions, although I know from people I have met that accidents can happen for no reason at all. I have met some really lovely people. I joined a baby class, music class and Doha mums coffee mornings. You have to get out and meet people. I know when the weather is better we will go Aspire Park which is v nice and green and head to the beaches and walks around the Pearl. There isn't really a 'buzz' in Doha, whereas there for sure is one in Dubai (my opinion). Our compound is our life at the weekends and it is beautiful...beautiful pool area, restaurant and tennis courts. We eat out less as it's not so easy or convenient (and with a baby), so the villa had to tick all the boxes and we were lucky that this compound does tick all the boxes (it's called Y village). I do think the majority of people in Doha are here for the money rather than in Dubai we just loved the life! We lived in the marina and so I didn't need to drive as I had the metro and a taxi every two minutes stopping by. The taxis are not like in Dubai and there is no metro. The malls are small and few and far between. Life is quiet, more relaxing, but am I happy? I'm happy as long as I have my husband and my baby. It takes time to make friends, but I'm getting there as i have met some really nice people...everyone here wants to make friends, there is for sure a community spirit. Try to stay positive, forget about Dubai apart from when you get to visit and think of Doha as a new adventure in your life! I am sure you will need help with the compound...people are happy to help you on here I know, but it's not an easy one as it depends on so many factors. Once you are here it will be easy for you to meet people and ask. I hope I have helped a bit and my final word has to be, try to remember why you became an expat, for the adventure, to do something different and to meet people from all over the world, visit new places...looking forward to meeting you both I hope in the future.

Nosey Norah
Posts 236

Hi Frazzle, where did you stay when you went over for a visit? We are looking for a central hotel just now.

Yes I have a 2.5 year old that I will need to find a nursery for. How did you pick your nursery, do you already know where you will be staying? If you don't mind can I ask how much you are paying for nursery. I would like my little one to go to a nursery first for a year or 2 before starting in a school.

Can anyone else with nursery info too. Are they same price as reception years in the schools or are the cheaper?

Frazzle
Posts 203

We're moving over from Dubai in September so I'll be keeping an eye on this thread as there are some very helpful tips. Thanks!

Norah-we went over or a look see in march and did just turn up to compounds for a look. It seems that a lot of the big ones have on site offices you can go to for info an if there are any vacant properties, you can have a look. Do you have children? Do you need info on schools / nurseries?

Shellsuk & northernstar - are you happy so far? I'm really nervous about the move as I love it here and have 2 little ones to worry about too.. also, have you been brave enough to drive yet? :O

Nosey Norah
Posts 236

Hiya,

Looks like we will be over next weekend for a final interview and look around.

Can we just rock up to compounds and ask for a look around or do we need an agent?

How much should we factor in for elec/water for a 4 bed?

TIA

shellsuk
Posts 47

Hi NN! Well I think NS has pretty much covered everything. We have been here just over 2 months. We did a visa run to Dubai after two months which was great to see our friends again and do some shopping. Our shipping didn't take long, as soon as found a villa it was here within a couple of weeks with nothing damaged. We used the companys shipping company and I can't remember the name and neither can hubby at the moment. We had to get 3 quotes and then they told us who to use anyway. We had sent the stuff then spent a month in the UK and 2 weeks in a hotel here, so it was at a port waiting to be released. We had to wait for hubbys RP to get internet which was probably the biggest pain. I now have a temporary driving license which lasts as long as the visa. You get a month stamp when you arrive and then it is extended a month when you are here, I guess HR sorts that out at hubbys work. Same as NN we bought a car and the rent is paid monthly with just a months deposit and so that is much better for sure than UAE. I am sure you will have lots of q's so just ask away, but I'm not on here that much, but there are loads of people from Dubai here and loads of people willing to help...everyone was so helpful on here to me when we came and so I will help if I can! When do you arrive?

northernstar
Posts 362

We have been here 7 weeks from Dubai too JLT to be exact! Doha is not Dubai but its okay, renting is easier than the UAE as you can lease as soon as you arrive with a letter from the company, we found a place in 3 days of arriving, the rent is paid monthly, so you pay the first month and deposit cash and write 11 cheques once the bank is open. The RP for DH took 3 weeks as did the bank, big niggle is wives can't be sponsored for 6 months according to some or 2 months pay according to others and if you overstay your 30 days its 200 riyals a day fine! you can extend or nip over to Dubai, thats the only annoying bit really. We shipped 21 boxes with one company but got big things damaged I would suggest using move one a couple of friends used them and had minimal damage, the biggest hassle was customs clearance for our stuff. We have bought a car, so everything is a bit easier than the UAE as you can do stuff without your RP. Good luck with it all, hope this helps!!!

Nosey Norah
Posts 236

Hiya, I have been trawling through these boards trying to find as much into as possible so I don't have to post too many silly newbie questions.

I noticed that you had recently moved from Dubai Marina to Doha so thought you would maybe be able to help me? Hubby has been offered a job and we are trying to suss things out and have loads of questions about relocation, housing, residency etc.

Would you mind answering a few questions like has your residency been sorted? Is rent required up front like Dubai? How long did your shipping take? Any help would be much appreciated.