Packing our bags and we are moving to Dubai!! | ExpatWoman.com
 

Packing our bags and we are moving to Dubai!!

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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 08 February 2011 - 16:08

Well my DH has been offered a position in Dubai and we have accepted! We are moving from Brisbane! (looks like late March!!!)

There will be myself, hubby and my 2 girls (7 & 5).

DH & I came across to Dubai around 3 weeks ago to do the pre-relocation visit and thought we could do this!

So I would love any advice that you could give me.

We need to organise a furnished apartment (2 bedder) for the first 6-8 weeks, does anyone have any suggestions on how we could do this from here in oz other than dubizzle or is this the best source?

The other question I had was about areas to live - we have been recommended the Springs / Meadows area, can anyone give me an opinion regarding this or even recommend some where else?

I need to also consider schools that would be close by as at first I'm not sure that I will have access to a car until we get set up (more like I get the courage to hit the crazy roads there!!).

Also, car leasing is this easily done there when we arrive or should we pre-organise this before we arrive?

Any other advise would be awesome - I'm excited but I would be lying if I didnt say I was nervous as well!!
I hope that I can meet some new friends for myself as well as my girls!!

Thanks in advance!!

Alisha

687
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EW GURU
Latest post on 09 February 2011 - 10:14
If your husband is working in Internet/Media city, why are you considering Green Community? It may not be that far as the bird flies but living there will require a trek through traffic every day. Even Victory Heights which is geographically closer requires driving down Hessa Street from Sheikh Zayed and Hessa is badly backed up during the morning and evening rush hours. we are hoping to get the kids into Greenfields and want/ed to live somewhere with some space - bike tracks etc. Having said that things have turned a bit since he came back from an orientation visit and I am now investigating schools around IC - Jumeriah and considering Emirates Hills, Al Barsha etc. There is some appeal too in being closer to the action when living in a foreign city. I just wish I had a little fairy to wave a wand and have it happen. Have spent 5 hours straight on here today trying to get on top of schools and can't even tick the box to say the applications are done and in.
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 09 February 2011 - 10:02
Hi, Alisha! Good luck with the move! I was in your position, from Geneva, about 6 months ago and it is so difficult to work things out with useless google maps only showing routes within Dubai by metro and bus so you can't figure where things are in relation to each other! Have you tried Wikimapia? I find it better than google, myself, but even the, there are some things marked on it which are wishful thinking^^^still under construction.. http://wikimapia.org/#lat=25.0692929&lon=55.1507879&z=11&l=0&m=w&search=Dubai If you can get a relocation consultant (personally recommend our very own Cornish Pixie) into your hubby's budget, maybe you could get someone to fix up appointments to look at houses in different areas immediately you arrive? You might find that even though you have a certain place in mind, when you've had a look around, you find somewhere that suits you better. I was convinced I wanted to live in the Lakes, but couldn't find what we wanted for the money we had to spend, so settled in Meadows, very happily. Also there is a consultant who specializes in schools who is often mentioned here as being able to get places in the right schools for you, though I haven't had any contact with her personally.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 09 February 2011 - 09:45
Thanks heaps! I really like the idea of having some greenage around me, so I think thats why we were leaning towards the springs / meadows areas - does festival city have this set up as these other areas? I think we have decided that we will wait until september for the girls to start school in Dubai as its just too complicated with my youngest, they would both be soooo far behind. I have in been in touch with Distance Education here in QLD and they have an amazing program and said I would be able to get the girls completed in their current grades in time to start in september! So that's what we are tossing around atm! Thanks for all the feedback - all the advice is awesome!!
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 09 February 2011 - 09:27
hi Alisha. If your DH is going to work in the airport freezone then mirdif and festival city will be a good location to reside in. Also you will have lots of schools to choose from in these areas. The drive will also be relatively easy as in gress and egress have lots of options.lots of EWers live in these areas.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 09 February 2011 - 08:58
If your husband is working in Internet/Media city, why are you considering Green Community? It may not be that far as the bird flies but living there will require a trek through traffic every day. Even Victory Heights which is geographically closer requires driving down Hessa Street from Sheikh Zayed and Hessa is badly backed up during the morning and evening rush hours. For the rental cost of a villa in Green Community you can easily get a pleasant villa in Umm Suqeim and Al Sufouh which are much closer and accessible via back roads/the Beach Road, which has much less traffic. Those neighborhoods are more centrally located, right by the beaches and only minutes from the Mall of Emirates, Marina and Dubai Mall, as well as a plethora of schools. We are expecting to settle further south than you guys - maybe around the Green Community or Victory Heights which is closer to Internet City where DH will work.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 09 February 2011 - 07:32
Hi Alisha! Welcome to the forum. We moved to Dubai last september and stayed in rented accommodation for the first few weeks till we found a house. We also used PK rent and stayed in Dubai Marina. It was a good place to start out as it is easy access from there to the SZ road. They also had some places on the Palm, as we have to move there for a few days while our house was getting ready. We now live in the meadows and love it. Some of the springs and meadows like ours back on to an access road at the back giving very good access to the Al Khail Road and Emirate Road, both of which make travelling to the airport easy. It is very green here and I love sitting in the garden listening to the birds and pretending I am not in a big city! There are loads of nice areas in Dubai though, you just have to find what's right for you. Good luck with the move!
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EW GURU
Latest post on 09 February 2011 - 02:10
I have had it from a reliable source that it took her 6 weeks to crate stuff across. But that was a few years ago. "We haven't made a decision with which area we are planning at looking in as yet..." ah then, you are in for a lot of fun trying to marry things up on google maps! A_lisha: I will pop you off an email and introduce myself :-). Just gotta get the kids to school first.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 09 February 2011 - 01:30
I'm so loving this forum right now!! Tee Hee!! ;) Thanks for that Juzzrach!! Buy me a Pony, we do have to make contact before we leave!! (my email is below!!) We haven't made a decision with which area we are planning at looking in as yet, I am taking a very relaxed approach at this stage as I am generally a stress head and I don't want my DD's seeing their mum flipping out over things I might not be able to control until we get there!! LOL Does anyone have any idea how long it took to get their furniture across from oz and through customs? I will def be using the packing services as I have been told that this helps with clearing customs faster!! Cheers again!!
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 08 February 2011 - 20:16
I have your email if you wanted to delete it now
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 08 February 2011 - 17:59
Have you considered apartment hotels? I've stayed at the Star Boutique Hotel and they offer a fully equipped kitchen including washer, dishwasher, fridge, a built in counter 2 burners but no oven, yes to a microwave though (I think??) The 2 bedrooms both have full baths and there is a smallish windowless room probably meant for nanny/maid if you had one as well - it has a bed in it. There was also a half bath at the entrance if I recall correctly. Nice big living room with TV (actually both bedrooms had TVs too) a 6 seater dining room table and a balcony. I've only spent about 3 or 4 days there - if DHs employer is picking up the tab it's worth looking into. There are a couple of others in the area as well Copthorne is one I think.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 08 February 2011 - 17:45
Hi Alisha Welcome to the forum. We arrived here on 22 Dec so I know what you are going through. I don't have any school age kids but happy to advise on anything else as it was a bit of a steep learning curve even though we moved just the short hop from Bahrain! We were booked into a hotel apartment for a month by the company. Wouldn't recommend our particular one but it was a good idea as don't have to worry about making beds & cleaning and can just focus on finding somewhere to live etc. Likewise our car rental was done for us so we could simply drive away from the airport but we quickly found a better deal from a local company. Anything you want to know just ask and I'll try to help... we're still finding our way through the paperwork despite having a relocation company supposedly helping us. S
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EW GURU
Latest post on 08 February 2011 - 17:13
PMSL Alisha - just saw this thread. We have to talk! I too am from Brisbane, with 2 boys aged 8 and 5. Was expecting to move to Dubai late March, but it is now becoming more and more apparent that my DH's company do not have their act together and this date is slipping through our fingers. I honestly don't know when we will get there now and as of the last couple of days am seriously considering advising our current school that we may remain in Australia for another term *sigh*. Anyway, as someone said, check out my posts. There is so much info that can help you. I am having the same issues with my 5 year old (born in July) with the British Curriculum schools wanting to place him in Grade 2 in Spetember when he's only started Prep here 3 weeks ago. We are expecting to settle further south than you guys - maybe around the Green Community or Victory Heights which is closer to Internet City where DH will work.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 08 February 2011 - 16:53
Hi alisha Were also upping sticks and moving out, possibly around the same time as you :) Its good to get recommendations on areas to live and rent initially, so ladies keep the suggestions coming. Hopefully when i arrive i'll try and join one of the coffee mornings xx
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EW GURU
Latest post on 08 February 2011 - 16:52
Hi alisha Were also upping sticks and moving out, possibly around the same time as you :) Its good to get recommendations on areas to live and rent initially, so ladies keep the suggestions coming. Hopefully when i arrive i'll try and join one of the coffee mornings xx
539
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EW GURU
Latest post on 08 February 2011 - 16:51
Hi alisha Were also upping sticks and moving out, possibly around the same time as you :) Its good to get recommendations on areas to live and rent initially, so ladies keep the suggestions coming. Hopefully when i arrive i'll try and join one of the coffee mornings xx
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 08 February 2011 - 16:49
Thanks heaps for the responses!! Juzzrach - my email address is twistedtrani at hotmail dot com - we live over the southside in Boronia Heights! Which area are you currently living in Dubai? When we were there we had a look through 2 schools in Mirdiff as thats the area a few other ppl had suggested to hubby! So totally have no clue which area to head for!! hee hee!! His office will be in the airport free zone but he is happy to drive around 30 mins if this means we would be in a great area! When we had a look through the schools, they seemed to have an issue with my youngest DD as she would be finishing Prep there but only starting it here in Brisbane.. so they thought she would be too far behind, so I am even tossing up the idea of home schooling until September so the girls would be ready to start the next schooling year and not behind as they were suggesting... Still cant believe its happening - Lots to organise but we will get there!! LOL Thanks again ;)
298
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 08 February 2011 - 16:34
Hi Alisha, Welcome to the forum and goodluck with the move. I moved here with my hubby and 4 daughters aged 7, 6, 3 and 1 just last year from Brissy! I will try and answer some of your questions although I am still new myself. For temporary accommodation we stayed at Horizon Tower at the marina. It has a metro station right out the front so that will be handy until you can drive. It is furnished and we rented through PK rent for about 6 weeks....sorry can't remember their number but we found it on Dubizzle. I don't know much about springs or meadows as I don't live there but I am sure someone else on this forum can help with that. As far as finding somewhere to live, try and find somewhere close to school. We found that we were looking a villas in areas which are no where near where are girls are going to school before we actually moved but once we got here it was easier to get a perspective of where everything is and how long it takes to get to where you need to go. As for the driving it is not that crazy and you will find yourself quite comfortable with it in no time. I too was warned of the crazy driving before we moved however, once here I don't find it a problem what so ever. Leasing a car is done easily here and won't take much time to organise. We did it when we arrived so I am not sure of advice to give you to pre-organise. If you come in on a tourist visa you can hire a car straight away with your ozzy licence however once your residency visa is being processed you are not supposed to drive. Are you trying to secure a school place for your daughters before you come? What sort of curriculum do you want? If you find a school with places for your girls you can do a search on here for feedback however, just bear in mind that every school suits families differently and you can only take other peoples opinions lightly.....someone who has a negative experience at one school doesn't mean everyone will. I am VERY happy with the school we found for our daughters, its suits our family perfectly. If you would like any help or have any other questions I would love to help a fellow Brissy girl. I didn't have anyone here that I knew when we came so had to do everything and figure everything out by ourselves. Although in saying that most people on this forum provide great info on lots of things and I asked lots of questions on here before we moved. I am happy to email you if you would like any more info.......if you post your email address I will jot in down and then you can removed it. :) Good luck with everything.....oh and where in Brissy are you from?
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 08 February 2011 - 16:24
How exciting! welcome to the board. With 2 kids you really need to get onto schools to sort their places out. Definitely press the search button on here and look at everything Buy Me a Pony has put on here over the last couple of weeks. She even put a list together of just how much you need to make the move feasible ie rent, household bills, school fees etc - it's very expensive here. when you were here for your relocation visit - did you look at schools for the kids? Lots of stuff to sort out - hopefully Buy Me a Pony will see your thread and you can hook up as she's a few weeks ahead of you on trying to get stuff sorted.... good luck!
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 08 February 2011 - 16:23
oh not to worry...she will find a school easily. people that waltz in mid-summer-term get great place offerings.
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 08 February 2011 - 16:18
Does the company have reserved places at a school for your 2 children? If not you really need to get that sorted. All the best with the move
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 08 February 2011 - 16:17
Thanks Sue62 - think I'm gonna need all the luck I can get!! hee hee!! I'm only very new to this forum so I haven't spoke to anyone, is Buy Me a Pony a 'specialist' in this kind of thing? Thanks :D Check out her posts. She has done similar research on your questions.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 08 February 2011 - 16:16
Thanks Sue62 - think I'm gonna need all the luck I can get!! hee hee!! I'm only very new to this forum so I haven't spoke to anyone, is Buy Me a Pony a 'specialist' in this kind of thing? Thanks :D
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 08 February 2011 - 16:13
Have you spoken to Buy Me a Pony?
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 08 February 2011 - 16:12
hmmm
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 08 February 2011 - 16:12
Less than 2 months ? Are you insane ?????? lolol only kidding (no time to be talked out of it) - wish you all the best of luck :)
 
 

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