[desertdiva]

hi there,
We have recently shifted to abudhabi from sharjah. anyone from abu dhabi
quite lost out here.. need to start all over again.. and missing sharjah a lot

[kanaka Raghavan]

Dear friend
Right now I am in Abudhabi.I live in Electra area close t o colours building.Sharjah must be almost like abudhabi.Please keep in touch.There is one more person here.She had given her contact no.Have to contact her.

[sumisen]

Hello Ms Kanaka
Happy to hear you are back in Abudhabi. Hope you enjoy this Hot summer in Abudhabi. I saw your FB about your meeting with MS Chithra. I saw the Photograph also I was looking for you. But you face was not visible clear in that photograph.

Hope you are enjoying your life between India and Abu dhabi. I am not going to India this Vacation. We are enjoying the hot summer. Hope we will meet one day when you are free.

Thanks and Regards
sumisen

[kanaka Raghavan]

Dear sumisen
Thousand apologies.In fact I planned to talk to you .But I left for India.Icame here 2 weeks ago.In fact I have noted your no.How did I forget I do not know?When I was replying to that mail in this forum I was planning to call you.I definitely will.I was wondering whether it is your office no and wondering what I should be calling you.Thank u for responding

[daffodil]

Hi,
Hope alls well with you. Abu Dhabi is a wonderful place to be in. Its quite contrary to Sharjah with reduced population and less congestion. But we do have quite a few Indians over here. Its only a matter of time I guess when you will be at home over here.Tk Care

Janhavi

hi there,
We have recently shifted to abudhabi from sharjah. anyone from abu dhabi
quite lost out here.. need to start all over again.. and missing sharjah a lot

[dcsekar]

Hey 'm also from abudhabi.
Abu Dhabi is a very small and beautiful city.
Much better than sharjah in so many many ways.

What wud u like to know about Abu Dhabi?
I am very much familiar with Abu Dhabi.
Remember as somebody said it is not like "SHARJAH".

Luv DCsekar

[doctor]

Hello everyone ! My husband is currently based in Saudi Arabia but he got transferred to Abu Dhabi .I have loads of questions .I need someone to guide me .Please tell me as much as u can about Abu Dhabi .I have been to that place once for visit .But what I need to know is .1 .His company will provide him with 180,000 dirhams a year for housing .Tell me whats better ?which area and whether we should opt to live in a compound or separate villa ?There are so many areas and I want to get villa in a place that is near the amenities but quiet .My husband's office is near the airport but I am afraid thats a long distance away form city center .how long does it take to drive from city center to airport ? 2 .how are the medical facilities in abu dhabi ?can you name the best hospital in Abu Dhabi ?I am planning on getting pregnant .last time I had a premature baby so I am afraid that may be this time I suffer through the same .In that case best medical expertise are required to save the baby .I heard the medical facilities in dubai are excellent but i wanna know abt abu dhabi. 3 .I am planning on keeping a full time maid .how long does it take to get a maid ?if u have telephone numbers of any good maid agency kindly give me .Which country maid is better ?I was thinking of keeping an Indian but someone told me that they are less efficient and less serious about work .sri lankan are better .is that true ? 4 what are the best places for buying electronic and other household items ,for grocery and for buying gifts for people back home ?Thanks a lot .i would really appreciate if u could guide me .Thanks again !

[Ushakrishnan64]

Hi Doctor,
Welcome to IL. I live in Dubai and so could not give you answers to your questions right away. I shall check with my contacts and get back to you about ADH.

Regards
USHA

[desertdiva]

Hi Doc,

Welcome to Abu dhabi first of all. Infact i've been in abu dhabi for about a year now. We were in dubai for quite a few years. When we moved to abudhabi it was like hell for me....life is totally different out here..with a one month old baby it was like a house arrest for me. not able to move out.. no place to go.. no friends..but now i'm ok.. settled finally. so dont worry will answer to most of your queries.
no.1 - housing is a big issue out here with this HRA you shouldnt have much of a problem in finding a decent accomodation. now to decide on what to go on with. are you looking for a villa or a flat. I mean what is your interest. If you are looking for a villa you should be able to find something within this range but it will be in the ouirts like khalifa area or Raha which is a lil far away from city but there are lots of people residing in this area. Airport is a lil far away from city as well so these areas would be convenient for him as well but you need a car if not you will be really handicapped staying away from the city centre. I live in the heart of the city close to corniche and we pay AED 100,000
for our 2 BR apartment. now airport is 30kms from city centre and that might take him about 40 mins max for a drive. you dont have to worry about traffic in abudhabi as in dubai.
no.2 - maternity care...I would say is a lil problem in abudhabi. not scaring you dear. I had my baby is dubai in midst of all the comfort as my folks were in dubai and the private hospital that i go for check ups were good as well. I did a research on this as another friend of mine is pregnant (7th month)now.Here we have a corniche hospital which is a govt maternity hospital. and it is the final word for delivery for all woman in abudhabi. from what i have understood its a good hospital but you have to go thru some probs like say u have to wait long on an appointment, husband not allowed inside the hospital,(wait out and they will call him when ur turn comes), if you are lucky enuf you might get a single room after delivery if not u have to share with soemone else(they are considerate enuf to put u along with someone of ur nationality)...these are a few probs you have to face in there but since you have problems with your pregnancy it is always better to go to corniche as all the other hospitals will advice/ refer you to corniche hospital. now that means that it is the best in town competant enuf to attend all sorts of cases.. so its better to go to corniche. I'm not scaring you with all these rather bad comments on corniche. so dont worry thinking about this.
no.3- housemaid is another issue - well i do have a parttime maid now for cleaning for about 2 hours and I pay 600 monthly which is very reasonable. we managed to get a good deal as there are 2 families in the same bldg who needs her. so its good for her (can save the taxi fare) but we will be having this facility only for a few months or mabbe a month or so as the govt is making it real strict. you have to sponsor your housemaid cannot employ a housemaid who is on anothers sponsorship. sponsoring a housemaid would be better in your case as it would cost you about 10k to 12k yearly+ her salary (AED 500 to 600) and other expenses. now going thru a agency might cost you AED 20 or 25 per hour which is expensive. Reg the nationality I am confortable with indian maids. it depends on how you train them. Srilankans are ok as well.
no.4- household items you have ikea, homecentre, homes are us etc plus you have local market as well. for electronics there is a costless electronics..which has most of the brands, jumbo electronics etc ..but compared to dubai you dont have a wide range.. grocery there is lulu chain supermarkets & dept stores. grocery, supermarket mainly depends on where you stay and once you arrive you will settled down with that.. dont worry...I guess that was quite a lot... first and formost look out for an accomodation and the remaining will work out just fine.. dont worry.. once you are here i'll b here for all the help needed esp with all advices on preg and childcare. by the way my lil one is one year old now.. her name is sarah.
take care.. bye for now..
seena

[kanaka Raghavan]

Dear Doctor
Welcome to Abudhabi.I have been shuttling between here and Chennai for the past 3 years.
I will share with you what little details I managed to gather.
I f your husband is close to the airport ,it is better if you get a place in Raha or Shanama.Airport is nearly 30kms from the city centre.Villas are available there.I heard from someone that rents are very reasonable outside the city.Inside the city a 2 bedroom flat costs nearly 75,000 dhms.Rentals have gone up tremendously.
They say corniche hospital and Ahalia are good.Today a liitle known friend of mine delivered a baby at Corniche.She said facilities are really good.There is also New Medical Centre.There are lot of Indian doctors here.
About maids you can lot of Indians as well as Sinhalase.A male servant works for me .He is a tamilian and he comes once a week.Most of my friends have only male servants and they are reliable,as far as I know.Some of my friend are here for the past 10 years and they have no complaints.Their salary ranges between 20 to 30 dhms per week.
All Indian items are available in a shop called Adil.Electronic items are available in Lulu.Km,a french outlet called Carrefour and Abudhabi co op.
I t is nice place.Not much of entertainmemt excepting for malls,gardens and the corniche.You get to watch indian movies at the theatres.There are Indian eating joints .Not many like Dubai.You find only high rised buildings in the city centre but away from the city it is much better.It is easy to navigate as it is not big like Dubai.Taxis are available at a reasonable rate.It is quite safe here.You can easily move alone.This ismy personal experience.You are more at home .Only drawback here is there not good veg joints like sarvanna's.We have Sangeetha and small veg joints.On the whole I enjoy coming here.You feel at home.All best.I have shared whatever I knew.If you need anymore info I will find out from my friends.