buddha said:
Hey nicoenarg,
My buddy from USA is moving to Dubai in 2 week for a work project. He will only be there for 3 months. Any words of advice? Thanks if you do.
Well, seeing that he's only going to be there for 3 months, I am sure he will have a good time there. Also, I think his company will take care of most of the things for him (when it comes to paperwork of any kind, Dubai can be a real B***h) so he won't need to worry about that too much.
Three months is a good time to enjoy a city, except, I always used to tell people that I would come across that you only need 7 days to get to know this city as all you have is malls and they all look the same.
As for what he should be careful about (serious stuff): Do not, under any circumstances, criticize either the government (Sheikh Mohammed is the ruler of Dubai, he is also the prime minister of the UAE. Sheikh Kahlifa, the ruler of Abu Dhabi, is the president of the UAE. The UAE is not a democracy) or government institutions in any form. He can get in serious trouble. Also, do not criticize, make fun of, or appear to disagree with anything that Islam institutes, either through the Shariah or just accepted Islamic tradition (after all, it is a constitutionally Muslim country). These rules are strictly followed and your friend would do well to know about all of this in advance. Do not take loans at all (which he probably wouldn't, being that he is there for three months) but if you can't repay your loans, you go to jail. No argument about it. Also, the police can arrest you without having to give you a reason and they can detain you, without having to give you a reason. Torture in jails (not sure about prisons) is common. In fact, it was either early last year or late 2010 that a British citizen was murdered in his jail cell as a result of torture. The family is still pursuing the case against the Dubai police but to no avail (as far as I can remember). Oh, try not to get drunk as you actually need a license to be able to drink (not enforced) and if you're caught drunk outside a club/bar, you will go to jail (enforced). Also, you can not buy alcohol outside hotels without a license (only two stores that sell alcohol that I can remember: A&E and M&M). Don't dance in public. Don't hug/kiss anyone of opposite sex (I got in trouble for hugging my wife).
Other things that he should know are (not so serious): He should not wear shorts above his knees. This is a law, however, it depends from person to person, some enforce it and some don't. A lot of the times, the law is not enforced until a Muslim complains to the police that they are offended (sad fact of life there, non Muslim complaints don't matter too much, unless you are complaining about someone not following Islam). This law applies everywhere except the beaches though. You can wear swin suits on beaches. You see women in bikinis and no one (but Paki/Indian workers staring at the women without blinking) does anything. It is also a very safe city when it comes to street crime. I lived there for over 6 years and never had anything stolen from me. Murders do happen but your friend only needs to worry about them if he is part of the Russian mafia, the Indian mafia, Hamas/Hezbollah/Al Qaeda/Taliban (whose money is funneled via Dubai) or a very rich person who has pissed either of these groups off.
Now that I think I have written about things that he needs to be careful about, I can tell you what he can maybe enjoy: The Ski-Dubai is a pretty cool touristy thing to do. It is this ski slope thing within Mall of the Emirates. It is especially enjoyable during the summer when the temperatures outside reach for 50 degrees celcius and you're freezing your butt off inside the mall in the Ski Dubai. Apart from that, there is a cafe called "Chill-out cafe" (I think, they changed their name from Ice cafe) where the furniture is made of ice. Its pretty cool too but you can only spend about 20 minutes in there before your balls start to feel numb. This is at the place called "Times Square Center". Since he is going there during the "nice" time of the year, he could take the Big Bus tour in which they will tell him the whitewashed history of Dubai. But the advantage of the tour is that he can hop on and hop off as he likes. The whole city is safe, no problems. He can walk around at night, its all good. If he just wants the nice picture of Dubai (most of Dubai is very new), then he would do well to avoid areas like Deira, BurDubai, Satwa and Karama. Except, if he likes Indian food, then Satwa and Karama have some nice Indian restaurants (like Ravi). I would advice that he goes to Ibn Batuta mall and eats at India Palace there (only if he likes Indian food, that is).
Honestly, I can't think of much else right now since I lived (and grew up there) as a resident and didn't do a lot of touristy stuff. However, your friend can contact me here or whatever he prefers and I can answer any questions he's got regarding Dubai.
Hope this helps.