There is now a secondhand bookshop in Al Ain called Book Oasis. The owners believe it is the very first such shop in Al Ain, and, in fact, may be the only secondhand bookshop in the whole of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi! Inside, the shop looks like this… Most of the books are in […]
cost of living
Sophie Studio for printing photos in Al Ain
Perhaps the most popular place for ex-pats in Al Ain to get their photos printed is Sophie Studio, next to the entrance to the Hiltonia Club, which is to the right and behind the Hilton Hotel. This is what it looks like… This is what it’s like inside… The room to the right is a […]
Buying spectacles in Al Ain: Al Hakeem Opticians
Yesterday my 8-year-old son, Felix, sat on my reading glasses and broke them. This was just a few days after my wife suggested I get a new pair as my current set were looking a little tired. So Felix did me a favour. I might have put off getting a new pair for several more […]
Refilling ink cartridges in Al Ain
I saw a question about this on the alainexpats yahoo list. (See my Links page for more info about this.) Here’s how I replied… There are lots of places that do this. We live behind the Hilton, so there are several places there. If you were to come out of the Hilton, and turn right […]
Boys and men’s haircuts in Al Ain
Men and children can get their hairs cut for as little as 10 Dirhams on the local streets – less than £2. And sometimes our boys get a free can of Coca Cola each from the hairdresser. There are men’s hairdressers all over town, and you’ll often see men getting a shave with a cut throat […]
Getting help with household jobs
You may wish to employ a cleaner. Employing a cleaner costs in the region of 50 dirhams for two hours, which works out at less than five pounds an hour. (I’m not aware of the specifics, but I hear that if you employ anyone who doesn’t have a work permit then you could be liable […]
Comparing shopping prices with the UK
I think you’ll find that your shopping bill is about the same or as much as 25% less than it was back home. Our supermarket bill comes to about 700 dirhams a week which is about £125 for a family of 4. This is based on us cooking most meals from raw ingredients (e.g. uncooked […]
Accessing the internet in Al Ain
Accessing the Internet here in Al Ain is more expensive than in the UK or US. We are paying in the region of £25 a month for a one meg line. We managed quite fine with a 512k line for a few months, but accessing YouTube was a little too frustrating at times at this […]
Mobile phones
When we arrived in Al Ain we decided to buy two mobile phones for my wife and I from a local Carrefour supermarket. This was only slightly dearer than buying two Sim cards there and inserting them in our British phones. We spent about £10 a month in total on our combined phone bills. (We’re […]
Fill ‘er up
It costs just 60 dirhams, a little over £10, to fill the tank of a small size car at a local Adnoc petrol station. The one pictured below is a few hundred yards west of the landmark Etisalat building in the Sanaiya district… It costs about 100 dirhams to fill a 4×4. That’s less than […]