Business Hours
Reviews in this guidebook
won’t list business hours un-
less they differ from the fol-
lowing standards� The united
Arab Emirates (uAE) weekend
is on Friday and Saturday�
Note that hours are more
limited during Ramadan�
Banks 8am to 1pm (some until
3pm) Sunday to Thursday, 8am
to noon Saturday.
Government offices 7.30am
to 2pm (or 3pm) Sunday to
Thursday.
Private offices 8am to 5pm or
9am to 6pm, or split shifts 8am
to 1pm and 3pm (or 4pm) to
7pm Sunday to Thursday.
Restaurants noon to 3pm and
7.30pm to midnight.
Shopping malls 10am to 10pm
Sunday to Wednesday, 10am to
midnight Thursday to Saturday.
Souqs 9am to 1pm and 4pm to
9pm Saturday to Thursday, 4pm
to 9pm Friday.
Supermarkets 9am to midnight
daily; some open 24 hours.
Courses
The following centres offer
Arabic language courses:
arabic language centre
(%04-331 5600; http://www.arabic
languagecentre.com; Dubai
World Trade Centre, Sheikh
Zayed rd) runs six courses a
year in arabic from beginner to
advanced levels.
berlitz language school
(%04-344 0034; http://www.berlitz
.ae; Jumeirah rd) offers courses
in a number of languages,
including arabic and urdu. The
latter is useful to know to some
extent, as this is the language of
many of the pakistani expats in
the uae.
polyglot language insti-
tute (%04-222 3429; www
.polyglot.ae; al-Masaeed bldg,
al-Maktoum rd, Deira) begin-
ner courses and conversation
classes in arabic, French,
German and english.Customs
Regulations
Anyone aged over 18 years is
allowed to bring in the follow-
ing duty-free:
̈ 400 cigarettes plus 50 cigars
plus 500g of loose tobacco.
̈ 4 l of alcohol or two cartons
(24 cans) of beer (non-Muslims
only).
̈ Total price of gifts not exceed-
ing Dh3000 in value.You are not allowed to bring in:
̈ alcohol if you cross into the
uae by land.
̈ Materials (ie books) that insult
islam.
̈ Firearms, pork, pornography
or israeli products.You must declare to Customs:
̈ Cash (or equivalent) over
Dh40,000.
̈ Total price of gifts with a value
of more than Dh3000.
̈ Medicines (you must be able to
produce a prescription).Electricity
220V/50Hz
The electric voltage is 220v
AC� British-style three-pin
wall sockets are standard,
although most appliances are
sold with two-pin plugs�
Adaptors are inexpensive and
available in supermarkets�Directory
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