ATR Driver - if your friend has only recently joined, that's probably why he thinks it's great. From experience, the awesomeness wears off pretty quickly. The only people I know who are happy are new joiners (see above) and cadets, who are living the dream in their first job with nothing else to compare FZ to.
Dubai certainly is amazing; amazingly hot, amazingly expensive, amazingly bureaucratic, amazingly bad driving, etc etc. I'm sure it's an amazing place to visit as a tourist, but to live in, I'd suggest it's only amazingly wonderful if you're coming from a dangerous and/or third world country. Compared to Europe or North America, it ain't all that.
Within the last year, we have had our parking at HQ taken away, been banned from using personal electronic devices or reading newspapers or books in the flight deck (try reading the QRH for 10 hours), and been awarded a derisory pay rise that's worth 1% in a busy month - far less if you have leave. Not to mention all the 'incidents' which have been well described above. And that's before you consider the constant night flying, single days off and swapping from nights to days. It will grind you down.
I personally know four FOs who have recently paid to buy themselves out of the bond and go home. Considering this company offers one of the quickest 737 commands in the industry, that alone should ring warning bells.