Dubai Local Custom Tips by Rinjani Top 5 Page for this destination

Reserved for Ladies!

If you take a bus when travel around Dubai, be aware, three front row seats are usually for ladies, and bus driver will warn man passenger not to sit in ladies section.

If the bus full, and some ladies passengers have to stand, giving the seat to them is really appreciated (and show that you are truly gentleman :) )

But, usually, the bus won't stop at the bus stop to take more passanger, if the seats are fully occupied and some people have to standing.

Light House

If you happen in Dubai and you see a house covered by the lights in the evening, usually that’s a sign there is wedding ceremony by local Arabic people. The bright shines of the light is beautiful. Unfortunately I never attend any of Arabic wedding ceremony (I wish I can….) But I am happy enough to capture the light house…from outside : )

Nails, Nails, Nails

Nails! Nails! Nails!
That was my friend who told me after I stay in Dubai for a while. Since then I started to notice that there are many women I met have beautiful hands and feet. Colorful and well maintained.

There are many beauty salons specialized in nails maintenance. They usually offer treatment for hands and feet, including manicure, pedicure, nails acrylic, nail extension, hand and feet spa treatment, hand and feet paraffin, etc. Some of the nails lounges also offer another treatment such as waxing and massage.

I visited some of nail lounges and immediately fall in love to treatment that they offer. Mostly, nails lounges I visited in Jumeirah area have wide variety of treatments, cozy places, reasonable prices and very professional staffs.

Just to give you an idea, the manicure treatment costs 40 Dirhams and Pedicure is 50 Dirhams. French manicure or pedicure are usually cost 5 to 10 Dirhams higher. Change the color polish costs 15 Dirhams (all the price needs to re-check) There are many salons offer cheaper price, starts from 20 Dirham. But if you really want to get really nails pampered, I recommend to try one of nail lounges. Usually they have wide variety of colors. From light to dark or you can also combine the colors to get special effect.

NailStation (my favorite!!)
Location in Town Center, Jumeirah Beach Road
Phone : 04-3490123
Website : www.nailstation.com/

NStyle (my second favorite)
Location in Madinat Jumeirah, Jumeirah Beach Road
Tel: 04-3686124
Website: www.nstyleintle.com

N. Bar
Palm Strip Mall, Jumeirah Beach Road
Tel: 04-3461100

Nail Zone
La Plage, Jumeira
Tel: 04-3446969
Cleopatra’s Spa
The Pyramids, Wafi City, Dubai
Tel: 04-3247700

Beauty Connection Spa
Oasis Tower
Tel: 04-3213553

Sasha Beauty Salon
Sheikh Zayed Road
Tel: 04-3242070

Tropical Tans&New York Nails:
Sheikh Zayed Road, opp Dusit Dubai
Tel: 04-3435567

Pretty Lady (cheaper price but quite nice)
Satwa
Tel: 04-3985255

Business Hours and Weekend

As many other cities in Middle East, official weekend off day in Dubai is Friday.

Business hours is a bit different from private sectors and government.
Government and many local-based companies have office hour timing starts from 7 AM to 3PM or 7 PM to 4 PM.

The private companies business hours are usually from 8 AM to 5 PM or 9 AM to 6 PM.

Some companies implement Friday, Thursday-Friday or Friday-Saturday as weekend off. And some of them work only half-day in Thursday.

If you need to deal with the bank and government offices it is wise to go before 2 PM.

Some shops, usually in Satwa and Karama area, close from 1 PM to 4 PM. And usually they open again at 4 PM or 5 PM.

Friday morning is usually a quiet time in Dubai. Many youngster too tired after party on Thursday night. Wednesday and Thursday night are usually crowded.

Friday, many shops open after 2 P.M. So, if you are happen in Dubai at that day, go to the open beach is the best option.

Ramadan Timing

Ramadan is a holy month for Moslems. In Ramadan time, the offices, shopping and government service office has a different schedule. Usually the timing starts 8 AM to 2 PM or 9 AM to 3 PM.

Food courts are usually close in the Ramadan time, except those food courts in several location such as Dubai Internet City (since many foreigner workers working here)

Dubai is quite a moderate and much more friendly for expatriates and tourists who visit Dubai in Ramadan timing.

But please bear in mind to keep respect the local custom. Never eat in the public place in Ramadan time, don’t eat and drink in front of people who fasting, don’t wear revealing clothes and don’t swear or express the bad words.

The fasting usually starts from 5 AM to 6 PM. After 6 PM, the shops are open as usual. For the nightlife, in Ramadan, live music is rare to perform. Some nightclubs just provide food and drink without Live Music performance.

Even Ramadan sounds strict, but it is really interesting to see the traditional custom in Ramadan month. Smoke Shesha, Ramadan tent, Iftar, etc are few of after fasting activities.