Media in the UAE

 The media here may come across as amateur and under-developed but it has improved immensely from when I first came over in 2006.

At the end of the media breakdown section of this post, I’ll write up my opinions on where Middle East PR companies go wrong, and the best ways to get your story in the news.

There are two English television stations here. The first is City 7 and does very few new programmes. A lot of the stuff on City 7 is at least a year old and some of the presenters now work at Dubai One (the country’s other English station) its very bizarre and in my opinion not really worth reviewing.

The second channel is called Dubai One. After watching the programmes, you’ll come to the conclusion that many people working in the media in Dubai just don’t have the experience you’ll find in other countries. Many of the presenters on the shows below are quite young, and in their first ever presenting jobs, while very few have actual journalism experience. This means their interviewing style can be amateur, or presenting style is either over-exuberant or too wooden.

The channel is clearly understaffed by about 8 producers at the very least. As a result, the show reviews below should be seen in context. I was going to give you a review of each programme on the channel but it was so negative that I have just decided to give an overview on what the programmes are and you can make your own mind up.

The flagship-show Studio One, airs at 7:30 for half an hour is a magazine show, presumably aimed at families who’ve just got in from work and school. There is a cooking bit at the end, which has some amazing chefs who really should have their own shows.

Emirates 24/7 is straight after that. This is a news programme looks in-depth into issues affecting UAE residents as well as the wider international community.

Emirates News is on at 8.30pm. A daily news programme which usually starts with government stories and then goes on to other local and international issues.

Out and About is on Saturdays at 10.30am. As the name says, its about things to do out and about the country with movie reviews and sometimes interviews with celebrity personalities.

That’s Entertainment on Saturdays at 11.00am- entertainment news and events.

There are a host of radio stations here, some with news and some without. Most are music-based.

I will try not to impose my views here (since I do work for Radio 1 and Radio 2) but will try to give an honest review of the radio here as honestly as possible, but please do forgive me if I don’t.

Radio 1 104.1 in Dubai and 100.5 in Abu Dhabi

Aimed at 16-40 year olds, music-heavy and competition-oriented. News on this station is live and up to date.

Radio 2 99.3 in Dubai and 106 in Abu Dhabi

Aimed at over 35s playing tunes from 80s, 90s and now. This station is competition-based and talk-heavy in the mornings with a very full breakfast show. News on this station is live and up to date. Like Radio 1, the reporters are always out and about reporting on location.

Virgin Radio 104.4

Aimed at 16-40 year olds. Solely for the music, recorded news and weather is a side feature, mainly headlines and entertainment-heavy.

Channel 4 104.8

Presumably aimed at 16-35 year olds. To be honest I listened to this station specifically for this blog, and came up with the following: good music selection, awful presenters and no news.

Dubai 92 92.0

Aimed at over 35s, seemingly without a specific music policy.  I believe the news is recorded after 10am, but can’t be sure.

Rock Radio 90.7

Aimed at anyone who likes Rock. This station plays everything from Green Day to Nirvana to Muse to Metallica. There is no news on this station but the morning presenter does do headlines in case you missed something major.

Dubai Eye 103.8

A talk station which opens with a business breakfast show and also has one in the evening. There’s also a phone-in discussion at 8pm. The news is recorded in the afternoon. Sometimes (usually at 9pm) the news presenters leave in edits they’ve forgotten about (long pauses, coughs etc) it’s fun to look out for them.

BBC World Service 90.3 in English between 9am and 6pm and Arabic between that.

Excellent programmes and news, but the signal isn’t always amazing which can be annoying.

And just because a few people on twitter and FB messaged regarding advice for PR companies in the UAE. See below a deviation from my usual blog:

PR for Radio in the UAE …

One issue I have with the way public relations is handled in the UAE is the fact that the story isn’t tailored to suit the medium they’re pitching to.  For example, newspapers, online and television can cover chef/ barista competitions because there are pictures and they aren’t as immediate as the radio medium. On radio, we need generally interesting stories, preferably with equally interesting audio.

Another issue I have with PR here is that they don’t have a clue about news. It’s highly annoying when people ask ‘on what programme will the interview will be aired’ or ‘when does the news air’. Seriously?

My biggest bug-bear has got to be PR people who think Radio, TV, newspapers and online are all the same. For example, television is just not as popular as radio in the UAE, for a variety of reasons- it’s not developed and people are always in their cars are two reasons.

Radio 1, according to IPSOS figures has an average audience of around 600,000 listening at any one time. This figure may well be higher because surveys are not entirely accurate and the figures are also constantly changing. That’s a huge number of people. Yet PR people seem to think that it’s okay to make one of our journalists wait while a local camera crew takes about half an hour to set up and the presenter needs about ten tonnes of make up before getting on camera. Radio journalists usually need about 5 minutes of pre-recorded air time- the best 30 seconds of which will be used edited to make the dude on mic sound amazing.

The other reason why you should not make someone in radio wait is the negative effect on your story; since the quicker we get the interview, the quicker we get it on air, which equals more air time, and who doesn’t want more air time?

This follows on to another issue: immediacy. Radio is immediate, all I need is a phone line and I can report what I’m seeing, a fire, ship sinking, ridiculously boring conference whatever.

It’s okay for a newspaper journalist to wait sometimes even a week for an interview. They don’t care; they can afford to take an hour doing the interview and spend a leisurely day writing 300 words for one publication. We’ll take five minutes to conduct the interview and have it air within 20 minutes on 2 stations to more than half a million people.

Over here it’s similar for television people to take an age doing things because their story will air once in the daily news programme that evening and then go up on a website that doesn’t usually work.

So sorry about the rant, but if PR people just understood how they’re shooting themselves in the foot, they would get places quicker.

How to get your story in the news

It’s the easiest thing in the world getting your story in the news in the UAE, and if you aren’t doing it, there is something wrong. The fact that there is a serious lack of reportable news here means if you pitch the story correctly, it will get in.

The first rule, which I cant state enough is KNOW the medium you’re pitching to AND know the publication you’re pitching to. Don’t pitch a story about banks and finance to Radio 1. Pitch it to Arabian Business. Don’t pitch a story on how to address the nurse shortage to What’s on Magazine; pitch it to Radio 2. That may sound simple to some of you, but the amount of irrelevant press releases I get, this is a valid point.

If you are going to pitch to the wrong medium, just because you’re that kind of PR company, then at least do it right. So let’s go with the banking story, finance and Radio 1. How do you get your banking story on Radio 1- a totally entertainment-based station with music aimed at 16-35 year olds? Make it relevant to the listener. Give them advice on how to manage loans? How to pay for student life? Do a study, come up with a statistic- 80 percent of the people who are in high school now wont be able to afford uni. What? OMG that is shocking and very relevant to our listeners-  but don’t worry, our financial advisor can help you…and your story will get in.

Anyway, that’s all for now; I am available for hire as a consultant if you want to know more about radio, television, newspapers or online. I and my partner also provide media training for those CEOs who feel too shy in front of a camera or mic to get their message out in the right way.

Ciao

Using the UAE as a launching pad to travel the world…

This blog is late, I know. Apologies.

This week, I’m giving you a review of airlines I’ve used in the last two years and places you can go from the UAE for a reasonable price, and still have fun. I won’t choose every destination there is, because there are far too many, but I do hope to give you a good indication of how to make the best of your time living here in the UAE. On occasion, I’ve used travel agents that I would recommend, however places like Oman, India, Nepal, Thailand, Turkey etc are very easy to navigate with a travel book. I don’t eat much while on flights, except breakfast, because I’m too excited to get to my next destination I suppose, but I do always order a special meal and give it a try…just in case there’s something chocolatey.

Also, I put a lot of stock on customer service, so if inflight or check-in staff are unpleasant, it leaves a sour taste in my mouth and I don’t particularly want to travel that airline again, so a lot of my reviews are based on that. If you’re okay with people being rude, ignore that bit.

Places

Thailand-This is the place of cheap massages and relaxation. You will need at least ten days here, only because having a 40 dirham massage every day is ridiculously relaxing and addictive and after two days in Bangkok you will need it. I would suggest landing in Bangkok, staying for two days to see the sights (if you’re a fish lover, be sure to check out the seafood market restaurant, yum!) and then head off to one of the beachy areas.

India—Can definitely do this on a long weekend and it’s the obvious choice for anyone who lives in Dubai; it takes three hours to get to and there are hundreds of things to see and do. Practically every low-cost airline flies to India and it is possible to stay in a good hotel, eat amazing food, chill out on beautiful beaches, tour some amazing heritage sites for a very reasonable price. Also, if you don’t know it already, you will learn the enormous differences between the North and South of India from food and culture to education and politics with just one visit to each side. I recommend Mumbai (it’s dirty but real) and Kerala (just generally gorgeous).

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka— This is possibly one of my most favourite places in the world. Sri Lanka is very easy to get around and if you have a good guide you can get A LOT done in 4 days. Make sure your guide takes you to authentic Sri Lankan restaurants rather than the touristy ones that are about. Definitely try fried, chilli banana flowers and Sri Lankan grilled prawns! I went with two girlfriends and we used a company called Eurolanka (http://www.eurolankatravel.com/) who managed to book us a number of holidays- we had a beach holiday, visited an orphanage, fed an elephant, went to a turtle sanctuary and did some shopping in Colombo during our four night/ Five day stay. And that was just half of it.

Turkey—Another place to visit if you’re living in Dubai and have 5 days spare. Istanbul is a city full of history, culture and seemingly the world’s happiest people. There are hundreds of restaurants in the winding, cobbled streets of Sultan Ahmet with waiters trying to lure you in, depending on your character this could be fun or annoying, I say make it fun! Most restaurants there now also have quite a good selection for vegetarians, which I’ve been told was not the case previously.

Russia- I know its not an obvious destination and incredibly expensive. BUT Moscow is only 5 hours away, so it’s an easy long-weekend destination. If you’re into history and museums like me, this is definitely somewhere you have to visit. You could take a walk down the red square, passing Lenin’s grave as you admire the beautiful St Vasily’s Cathedral whilst eating a warm Russian pastry. That evening you could go to the legendary Bolshoi theatre for an opera or ballet. I enjoyed every minute of this beautiful city, and it makes me want to see more of Russia. The people are really nice, I have no idea why Russians are given such a bad rep, but the women are incredibly beautiful and helpful, the men are not so beautiful but ridiculously chivalrous. Admittedly people are shy and quite a few don’t speak English, which can make traveling about difficult, but get a good guide and all will be well. I can recommend http://www.travelrussia.net/ I dealt with a lady called Natalia Anikeeva who is just spectacular and can tailor-make your journey to suit yourself, whether you want to visit villages in Russia or just tour the cities.

St Vasily's (St Basil's)

The Airlines and What I think they’re like

I have been travelling regularly by plane since I was 9 years old and almost 20 years later I think I have a right to my opinion. Everyone has different experiences, which is why I have decided to only review airlines I have used at least three times each, which I think gives a person an all round view of what they’re like.

Low Cost Airlines

All the low-cost airlines below are exactly what they say on the tin. No frills, but they are infinitely better than European ones I’ve travelled on and give you exactly what a low-cost airline is supposed to give you, sometimes more.

Air Blue- Pakistan three times

This isn’t the best of the lot I’ve chosen, especially because it flies from Dubai Terminal 2, which is my least favourite terminal. Also, the seats are quite tiny and sometimes it can feel like you’re travelling in a squashed bus from Karachi to Hyderabad, which is not a pleasant experience. BUT it is incredibly cheap and gets you where you want to go, so worth a look.

Air Arabia- used for Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Turkey on numerous occasions

Don’t let the fact that Air Arabia flies from Sharjah put you off, if you book a reasonably timed flight, you can avoid the traffic to Sharjah and get there remarkably quickly. I have used this airline the most out of any other and I really like it. I know a couple people who have had bad experiences on Air Arabia, mainly because of their ticket refund policy. I’m not sure what the other airlines are like on refunds but Air Arabia does come across as harsh on this issue. However, it is a low cost airline and it does need to stay in the game, so if you are planning to travel, stick to your plans. It has a great list of destinations and I believe it won an excellence award this month and that has got mean something.

Fly Dubai- Saudi Arabia about 4 occasions

This is a low-cost airline with class; it offers in-flight entertainment! What more can I say? It’s also got a list of excellent destinations at reasonable prices. The only reason I haven’t used Fly Dubai more often is I can either never get a ticket at short notice or the flight timings don’t suit my travel plans, but it may be different for you.

The Big Boys:

Etihad

I really like Etihad Airways its comfortable, has excellent inflight entertainment and it is at least 1500 dirhams cheaper than Emirates on journeys that I’ve looked at. Also, I would be ungrateful if I didn’t mention that Etihad Airways was the only airline that offered to sponsor a trip for me to go over to Japan and help with the recovery process after the March 11 tsunami last year. Economy class is comfortable but Business is in a league of its own and I think this is down to the in flight staff making it as comfortable a journey as possible. However, you may find it difficult with their check in and telephone staff (In Flight staff are usually amazing.) In the interest of balance, I need to mention check-in staff can be quite rude, which is quite off-putting and telephone staff can’t speak English, which makes life very difficult. On a recent trip I was given a raw vegetarian meal (I had requested a regular vegetarian meal) so had to make do with salad for breakfast. This was simply because the operator presumably could not understand me.

Ofunato, Japan

Emirates

This airline is quite expensive but if you’re travelling to the UAE with Emirates and don’t live here, you have the added benefit of being able to buy a UAE visit or transit visa from Emirates over the counter. On the whole, staff are good, but again the people on the phones are ridiculously difficult to deal with. In flight entertainment is excellent. Economy is quite squashed, depending what kind of economy you’re sitting in but the food is great. Business Class is good, not as comfortable as Etihad’s, possibly because the flight attendants come across as hassled. Also, what annoys me about Emirates is on the flight from Dubai to my hometown of Durban, they use the crappiest plane with the crappiest entertainment. Why even bother with the flight? It’s not much different to 3^rd class on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

Air France

Next to British Airways, this is the worst airline I have flown in my life. I had given it three chances only because they were reasonably priced at times, but food, staff, seats, entertainment…all round awful.

British Airways

Business class on BA is excellent, but staff are unbearable. This is the same on economy class. On our first flight with them, my family and I actually thought it was because they were racist, because their rudeness was so blatant, but a few flights later and discussions with friends proves that BA has the worst in-flight staff known to man. Also the food is nothing to write home about and I haven’t flown them in a while (and won’t be for…ever) but the last time I did, in-flight entertainment was okay.

Qatar Airways

This is an airline competing with Emirates and Etihad and its good but for some reason falls just short of being on par with them on the food and entertainment front—the food looks amazing but taste? Not so much. Check in and in-flight staff are very good but the guys on the phone for Qatar are again a bit touch and go. Haven’t flown Business on Qatar so I don’t know but Economy has always been reasonably comfortable. It’s also quite reasonably priced, if you don’t mind stopping off in Doha for a bit, this is not a bad airline to go with.

South African Airways

This is the airline of my home country and sadly, I haven’t been impressed by them. I haven’t flown Business on SAA, but can say Economy is madly squashed and f they’re delayed it can be stressful getting a domestic connecting flight from Johannesburg and the staff don’t really do anything to reassure you which grates on my nerves. The food isn’t amazing, but then only Emirates and Etihad seem to pay any attention to that. I’m not sure what in-flight entertainment is like because there doesn’t seem to be any of worth but maybe I just don’t know how to use the remote control properly.

And Finally…

Since I am mentioning Airlines, I think should mention my recent trip on Saudi Airlines. It’s a rant so click off now if you don’t want to read my moaning. I took a flight from Dubai to Jeddah, crappy flight and food but I wasn’t expecting much on a 3-hour journey. On my way off the plane, I put my mobile on the seat, while I helped my sister (who was travelling with me) get her luggage out of the overhead compartment, at the same time some random Saudi dude was telling me how amazing and liberal his country was. I got off the plane, found a space on the bus and realised I had forgotten my mobile. Got off the bus at the terminal and asked the Saudia staff there if I could be taken back to retrieve it. ‘No, no, don’t worry’ they said ‘go to Lost and Found after immigration and it will be there waiting for you.’  This didn’t seem unreasonable since it is what would happen in the UAE, so off I went.

Once I’d got through immigration, I went straight to Lost and Found and Lo and Behold…my phone was not there. They said I would need to wait two hours. I was okay with that, except I had to do a pilgrimage since that was my reason for entering Saudi. So, I asked if I could pick it up the next day. ‘For Sure, it will be here’ they said. Great, I filled in a form and again, off I went.

I got to Makkah, did my pilgrimage and 3 hours from my first conversation with Lost and Found gave them a ring to check up on the progress. My phone was not there, they had no idea who I was, they didn’t even seem to know what a Blackberry was.

Let’s skip forward to four days later, over 60 phone calls, dozens of emails, facebook messages and twitter jibes and I finally go to the office in Jeddah Airport to find my phone was not there and never found.

During one of the 60 phone calls, I was told by a Saudia staff-member that my phone had probably been stolen and there was nothing they or I could do about it. Also, except for the last dude at the airport, every single staff member made me feel like I was an idiot for leaving my phone on the flight. Which I was, but guys, be nice! Especially when you can barely communicate and can just about spell Blackberry.

I was mostly outraged and shocked at the stealing allegation, there is no way that would EVER happen in the UAE. I have left my mobile on the table at Starbucks while ordering a coffee and know its 100 % safe. People just don’t take things in the UAE.

Anyway suffice to say, I am no longer going to have that rant at UAE customer service, because I have been to Saudi Arabia and the customer service there makes the UAE’s seem like heaven on earth (I also tried to return something to Nayomi in Makkah and OMG the guy just sat behind the counter looking at me like I was some kind of freak. Very unsettling, never going in there again!)

UAE Mall Culture: There are other things to do:

There are a number of malls across the United Arab Emirates, and a great deal of them are mostly full almost all of the time. This is partly because there are so many tourists in the country, partly because its too hot to breathe outside and partly because everything you could ever need is in the mall. At the end of this post, I’ll put a list of malls and my opinions of them (not everyone agrees with my opinion, but you’re reading this blog, and really have nothing else to go on.)

Before that, however, I just want to let you know there is so much more to the UAE than malls, and I’ll try to put some of that in here. As always feel free to question, criticise and get in touch.

How about we start with the beach? There are so many places to go to the beach in the emirates, some private ones with facilities that are attached to in hotels that you have to pay for, free government ones which are always busy, and some public ones that you pay to enter, but have facilities. My favourite type of beach, is the open beach that’s hidden behind a bush or road, that nobody goes to and feels like it belongs just to you, if you look around, you’ll find a lot of these.

Beaches

I’ll go through a couple in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Fujairah just to give you an idea of what’s available. Please note in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, there are some restrictions on how you dress on the beach. The rules do apply in other emirates but in Dubai and Fujairah, its quite lax.

The Abu Dhabi Municipality has recently renovated the entire corniche area, complete with little swimming areas dotted around (see image). They’re clean and quite nice. These beaches have also recently got Blue Flag status from the UN; a massive achievement for the emirate and something Dubai has been trying to do for quite a while. There are lots of walking areas, restaurants and other points of interest on the corniche. It can be a pain to get to at the weekend, because of traffic.

Sharjah has some lovely beaches, I haven’t been in a while, but many are free and the water is a lovely colour with shallow, lapping waves. Al Khan Beach covers a long stretch of land, with lots of facilities and the Hamriya Lagoon beach is excellent for jet skis and windsurfers. The beaches in Sharjah do tend to have more litter than elsewhere but the water is generally clean.

Al Mamzar beach is a family spot with picnic tables and lots of parking. It’s close to both Sharjah and Dubai and quite popular on public holidays.

In Dubai, practically all of Jumeirah Beach Road has a beach, hence the name! The most popular is Jumeirah Open Beach, which is situated next to the Dubai Marine Hotel, its free to enter, enough parking, walking/ rollerblading/ running space with a little cafeteria.

There’s also Jumeirah Beach Park, which costs around 10 dirhams per car to enter with a beach, play park for kids, picnic area, cafeteria and reasonable bathrooms. It also has a day just for ladies on Monday. (While on that note, Wild Wadi, my favourite Dubai Waterpark has a ladies-only evening every Thursday during the summer. However if you want a ladies’ evening because you want to avoid unwanted attention, this is not the place to be and I do prefer to go during the week with visiting family)

Fujairah is a beach town, and you can relax at a free beach with looming mountains as a backdrop. There is good parking and a beach park in Fujairah But unless you have a massive picnic, not fussy about bathrooms or live in Fujairah, I would suggest checking into one of the hotels in the emirate at least for part of the day, because coming across a bathroom that is amenable may be difficult. It costs around 150 dirhams for an adult for using the beach and swimming facilities at hotels.

Camping

During the summer, its far too hot but weekends during winter are amazing for camping. Because the UAE has a Bedouin culture, you’re more or less free to camp wherever you like in the desert. There are a number of sites that are better than others and the Hatta pools areas or near the Fujairah mountains have some excellent secluded spots. You are also always likely to come across friendly goat or camel herders who smile or wave but cant speak English, so don’t ask for directions! Tents and other camping gear are very reasonably priced in grocery stores like Carrefour or Geant. Along the way to your camp site, you are more than likely to come across a number of little stores that sell weird plastic inflatable toys but also amazing firewood. If you’re not sure about the terrain or where to go, I would suggest buying an Explorer book or Lonely Planet which is likely to have a number of excellent ideas for camping spots and how to get to them.

Go Karting, Jet Skiing…and other stuff

In Dubai’s Jebel Ali area and Motor City areas there are facilities for go-karting. It’s quite a fun way to spend a few hours, especially if you have kids. The one at Jebel Ali is around half the price (60 aed for 30 mins) of motor city (120 aed for 30 mins) and a karting-expert has told me its got better karts. I don’t know the difference, so can’t really say. The one at motor-city also has an indoor karting area and is attached to a laser-drome place. It’s fun to go here if you’re a big group of people, get into teams of two and work out military strategies using laser guns against the other team. It’s also a good place for team-building exercises.

Jet Skis can be hired and used at most beaches in the UAE. In Dubai there are restrictions, and I believe Um Suqeim beach is the only legal jet-ski designated area. You will also need a license and a registered jet ski. It’s not the case in other emirates, but should be since many swimmers have died at the hands of careless jet-ski riders.

Sky-Diving

Um Al Quwain has a sky-diving school attached to its Aeroclub, there have been some good reviews, even though it is out of the way for some people.

There is also Sky Dive Dubai, of which His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum is a patron of; he also recently got his sky dive license from there.

And of course, you could always go to the indoor skydive area at Mirdiff City Centre Mall, which apparently gives you the same thrill. It is, obviously, a very different thing to jumping out of a plane at 10, 000 metres on the back of someone you don’t know.

Swimming with the Dolphins

This can be done at the Dubai Dolphinarium and at Atlantis, the Palm. It costs just over 900 dirhams at Atlantis, but not sure of prices at the Dolphinarium

I have to admit that I wont do this again because I did feel sorry for these creatures that they were made to perform for me. They really should be out in the wild.

Sea Diving

There are a host of places to dive in Dubai and Fujairah and also a large number of places that can train you for a PADI license. The ones I know of that are PADI Accredited are Al Boom Diving, Divers Down ,Scuba Dubai 7 Seas Divers, the sandy beach diving centre and Scuba 2000

Souqs

There are a few good souqs in Dubai. For shopping the ones to visit are Naif Souq  (pronounced Knife and is in Deira) and Mina Bazaar.

Mina Bazar is in Bur Dubai and has an array of both western and easten clothes, lots of salwar kamis for men and women (Pakistani-style dress), saris, shoes, jewellery stores, perfume stores with brands at discounted prices and great Indian food restaurants. The Dubai museum is close by, as is the Arabian Courtyard hotel.

Naif Souq has lots of ethnic gear, jewellery, harem-style trousers, abayas, headscarves, neck-scarves, bakhoor (incense). There are some great abaya tailors in the area and if you like to sew there are haberdasheries dotted along most of it.

The spice and gold souqs are very close to Naif, about a 15 minute walk-on a few winding and extremely busy roads along the way you’ll pass oud perfume stores, roadside shawarma cafes (4 dirhams and delicious- and if you’re vegetarian like me, they are happy to make a chip wrap with pickles and mayo, even if you do get odd looks!), haberdashers, tailors, mobile phone stores, gadget stores, clothes and shoe stores and a host of others I cant remember. A lot of the shawarma stores do fresh juices, and a sweet-melon (Sham-maam) juice is the perfect thing to accompany you down the road.

A day-plan can be spent walking around the bustling streets of Mina Bazaar, taking a short food break in one of the lovely little restaurants with authentic Indian food, having a look around the museum. After this you could walk to the creek and crossing on an Abra (boat) for 1 dirham. When you get to the other side, go through the pedestrian bridge and you end up at the spice souq where you can get things like the usually ridiculous expensive saffron for half the price of conventional stores, chat to the amicable stall owners, buy incense- even frankincense and myrrh (there’s also a tiny museum here) and a short walk later you’re at the gold souq, which has so many stores, you just don’t know where to look…at the other end of the gold souq, walk all the way down the road to Naif Road which is about 20 minutes. The souq is next to the police station and on two floors. You can get all types of bargains and tat and its just interesting to see everything.

After all of this, around 10 hours later is my average calculation, take a taxi back, as you will be to shattered to walk the way back. Well I usually am anyway.

Malls

I really couldn’t list every mall in the UAE but here are some below with a one-sentence review.

Dubai Mall- enormous and with musical fountain from 7pm onwards, next to the Burj Khalifa. It’s very easy to lose your bearings in this mall.

Dubai Marina Mall- perfect size with everything you could need.

Dubai Mercato Mall-Good size, good location, play area for kids like most malls. Not an amazing selection of stores.

Mall of the Emirates- big but manageable when you know it. Tends to be a hangout for snotty teenagers at the weekend. Indoor Ski Slope.

Ibn Battuta Mall-This mall has the best cinema- and the only IMAX-and people don’t talk on their mobiles like elsewhere in the UAE and good store selection.

Mirdiff City Centre- good selection of restaurants, easy to get to and has an indoor Sky Diving area.

Deira City Centre- always madly full, I tend to stay away unless absolutely necessary, which is never.

Abu Dhabi Marina Mall- really nice mall next to the corniche, lots of traffic at the weekends

Abu Dhabi Mall- large range of stores, lots of coffee shops and easy to get to.

Sharjah City Centre- Very similar to the other city centre malls, nothing much to report.

Sharjah Taawun Mall-reasonably sized, not much to report. I wouldn’t go here to specifically see it but useful to know it exists if you plan to live in Sharjah.

Now that I’ve written all this, I realise there are at least 20 more things that I haven’t mentioned for people who live here or are visiting to do but am leaving for another post. This is me, signing off.