I am in the process of acquiring a driver's license here in Dubai. Though I have been driving already back in my home country, The Philippines. After landing and securing a job, having a D/L is such an ideal thing to achieve for an expat. You know why?
When I came here back in 2007, the price of petrol is way way low since oil is abundant here in the Middle East. To give you an idea, like for 50 Dirhams that is equivalent to 13.6 US dollars in today's conversion; you can have an almost full tank of your vehicle. And aside from that, you can loan a car in a very easy way and again, cheap because there's no tax in here.
Today, after the economic turmoil, little changes surfaced. You could still see that drive among expats of having a car etcetera etcetera but more in a practical way now. Same goes to the locals here.
Locals are known of owning expensive, big and muscled cars, but Saturday morning on the 24th of December 2011, I saw this small white car parked near to our apartment building. It made me stop and stare, because it was my first time seeing a small car like this from this famous Asian brand Toyota, in Dubai. So I grabbed my ever dependable BlackBerry Bold and click. Then came the local owner, so I asked: can I take a photo boss, he said, "no problem baba". (Baba means mister in Arabic). So I took another one.
I know Toyota iQ is not really that cheap on its level but obviously a way way cheaper than a Nissan Patrol Super Safari or a Toyota Sequoia. The big PLUS also is, the mobility, easy to maneuver and especially the parking part. You can just easily squeeze in to any vacant parking areas. Very ideal if you're staying somewhere where parking is a problem. Downside of course, if you have your family here, but that's another story. :)
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