Silicon Oasis (Threads merged)

[XKV8]

FYI only to anyone looking at taking an unpaid move to said location.

If you manage to look at a plan detail for the area you might just notice a fabulous Sewage Treatment Plant on the NE side of the compound. Right below this, SE side of compound, there is a lovely Heavy Truck Maintenance Facility.

When the individual (Scottish I think) in charge of the water and electricity coming online for the 560 Villas was asked by yours truly if the adjacent sewage facility had an open air concept the answer was yes. When I mentioned the prevailing winds he just smiled....or was it a smirk.

Just info for anyone thinking about moving out there. If you do indeed get to choose your Villa then highly consider staying on the SW or even NW side (closest to Al Ain highway).

[BaghDaddy.]

They never mentioned any ****-farms in the recent email offer to move in...

[Desert Diner]

I think they called it "An Eco friendly Oasis"

[remlap]

I would like to try to locate this oasis on a map. Can someone give me a bearing and distance from some large, recognizable point of reference such as the airport or the city?

Remlap

[donpizmeov]

Its about 20km from Dubai, in the desert between Dubai and Al Ain. If you have a map that shows the Dubai to Al Ain highway, it is about 500m the other side of where Emirates road crosses that highway, from Dubai. As it is in the middle of no-where at the moment, that's about the best I can do. It will be near the Dubai land and all that sort of stuff when they eventually get built. One day it will be a fine place to be. At the moment it is far from schools (for those already with kids established at school already.), shops etc....seems it might be a long drive for a pint of milk or bread etc. I am sure shops etc will follow, but it might be a very long warm wait.

I think its a bit cheeky of the company to expect people to volunteer to move out there at no cost to the company. I think I will just wait to get kicked out of where I am now when the rent goes up, and get sent there. At least that way they give a couple of thousand AED to help with moving expenses.

Don

[turtleneck]

to be fair: at least they give us the option, even without paying the move and with no choice but to accept the one villa offered.
but some would most probably bitch if not given the option, however i don't think anybody will move there now.ttn

[uplock]

To be fair go have a look at the joint, The Villas are all seperated all though some back yards are small still beats living in a compound. The watch man told me he is getting around 15 guys a day checking out the Villas.

To give some comparison the same company that built these Villas also built the Villas at Arabian Ranches now selling for over 2.2 Million Dhs

Good comments about the location ,aspect and plot selection from XKV8 else you could start to acclimatise your self and do a sorty down the cabin to Economy Class on your next Dhaka flight.

[Buford]

Just curious...how many have lodged an app? And why? There were plenty of people out there when we went for a look and at present we're considering it ourselves.

[Fellowship of the drink]

the park plan is located at www.dso.ae
top bar - highlight microelectronics park - select park plan
Villa projects are in yellow. EK 560 villas are the ones on the left nearest al ain road (rte 66)
Fellowship of the drink

[kingoftheslipstream]

:eek: Ladies and Gents of EK,
The new Dubai Silicon Oasis Compound (560 villas) is being 'offered' to EK employees... as usual there's a cloud in every silver lining...
The homes will not be landscaped, that will need to be completed at the employee's expense, on top of the cost of your move.
More inconveniently, and potentially more costly, is the fact that the homes are NOT on 'mains water', they are provided with water from a tank, one for each villa. It has about a 400 Imp. Gal. capacity (my personal estimate, I may be way off).
The company is being used to prop up and populate a new compound to make it look like the whole area is 'up and coming'...
As usual, the 'fine details' regarding provision of services and amenities are 'still being negotiated'...
I smell a rat here in the ever dwindling EK package... look for: employees to pay their own utility costs, which of course are three times more expensive for a non-UAE National as they are for UAE Nationals...
Be Careful!:*

[The Real Pink Baron]

KOTST
Please tell me you are joking, Re: Water & landscaping! We are thinking of moving out there, where do you get your info. from?
Apart from the Gestapo attitude of "you will go to the villa we tell you , otherwise you will be shot" it dosn"t look too bad, or was I wearing the wrong sunglasses at the time.
Pink (so are the glasses)::

[fatigueflyer]

*No landscaping at all. You will find sand which may be up to three feet below your back steps and guess who is going to pay for the land fill. Yes, you! Costly depending on size of land plus landscaping. This is due to the fact that EK Accom Dept do not touch anything outside the walls of your villa. Good luck.

[max AB]

Same thing happend to the 90 odd families who went to Internet City a few years back. Had to fill about a meter of sand in their yards.

[halas]

When we moved into our villa, no one had landscaped the yard, or our nieghbours nor any one elses yard in the complex.

Please don't tell me you think they were going to give you a 400GAL tank and wait for the rains to come?????!!!!
Water supply is, like many villas in Dubai, via a header tank fed by, wait for it, mains water.

I think the offer is made to those that have "personal reasons" to want to move out of their present company locale, ie don't get on with the neighbours, don't like the construction site next door, sick of living next to the airport, etc........

halas

[remlap]

My wife wants information regarding waste disposal. Is it sewer, hole in sand or blue water arrangement? (I love that lav smell) After reading the posts, it sounds like almost anything is a possibility.

Just wondering.

[max AB]

Anything is possible.... If you make the move understand that promises will be made but in the end they will not be delivered. (The phone might take months to be connected). Accept that now and you won't be too dissapointed. Get written answers to all you questions from Accom Dept. Another suggestion is to make sure you can use the tradesman of your choice to do all the work that you will have to complete. ie, gardener, satellite provider, bottled water delivery etc as the compound manager will be getting kickbacks for his mates only. In the end accom will say that anything not delivered was not their fault but that of the Contracts Dept who did the negotiating. These are a few things that have happened to others so learn from their hassles.

[Uplink]

The water supply is piped into an outside tank then into the villa. Thats what I was told by the contractors. It is the same as having the tank on the roof and letting gravity do the rest.

As for the gardens, it is up to the individual to landscape the property. Any one know about the rest of the electrics and gas being covered by EK.

[mini cooper]

As it is so far out in the desert - do you get a place to park your camel?
:}

[Aircav]

XKV8,
Can you be more specific about the locations of the Sewage and Truck facilities. I had a look at the master plan but did not notice them. When you say compound do you mean Villa compound or the whole development??
As for the water issue, if there is no mains does this mean that water is going to be supplied by tankers.
My main issue looking at the main site map was the areas zoned for Medium/High density housing. I have been trying to get answers to this but the silence is worrying!!!!!

Anyone had better luck???:confused:

[Fellowship of the drink]

try this link
http://www.gis.gov.ae/en/downloads/pdfs/Major%20Projects.pdf
sewage plant is on the SW corner of International city, China section (not shown in map).
the truck stop is shown but is at the extreme end of the silicon project.
FOTD

[gatvol2006]

HEY Boyz. Who has applied? So its all to do with those who applied first or seniority? Is it an attempt to save money for the company? Shove all the flying workers in a new and cheaper compound? Imagine staring each other in the eyeball!

They R quite nice I must say, esp for the outbackers like me that like country (sand dune) living. However there R those villas for the city lot whom would like 7 families to look into their gardens.

I hear 15th we will hear our fate, YES / NO/ Maybe lets see....maybe I remain in Jumeira! Forget the Jane thing, at least no sand involved, sand could be errosive!!

[Icebreaker]

Has anybody moved into Silicon Oasis yet or is there still tumbleweed rolling down the streets? :confused:

[fatbus]

Sometime in June

[BigGeordie]

With shops etc to follow sometime about next June. Hope you like driving...:hmm: (I'm in a cynical mood today.)

[propaganda]

Awful place, 500+ villas, one pool, middle of nowhere...and where's the eco-friendly, save the planet solar-panels. :=

[waldorfin]

Im confused

Who is asking you to like the place? Why this innate reaction to bagging all things far and wide. You OBVIOUSLY don’t work enough. Productivity issues here….. me thinks.

[EKBBUS]

Hello EK drivers,

I have a question concerning the company accommodation. I have been reading all the thread that i found concerning this subject but i didn't found the right answer.
Is there a difference of standard between the furnished and the unfurnished accommodation. If i choose the unfurnished acc is there any risk to receive an appartment of a lower standard (beside the fact it will be empty) ? And what about the shortage of acc ? any update ?
I will appreciate any inputs and i found this website just fantastic.
EKBBUS.

[CAT IIIB]

There's a differece between furnished and unfurnished,company accomodation and not.So,which one?

When you first join,you will go through a lot of courses and training-induction,conversion, bla bla bla....

My advice is :you don't wanna waste your time shopping around for curtains,sofas bla bla bla or looking for a suitable accomodation while you should be concentrating on these classes.
You wanna have a peace of mind.

EK gets a good deal from vendors.The allowance might not be enough if you were to go on your own.

Once you opt for own accomodation(thinking that you'll save money and get a better deal),there's no coming back...

[CAYNINE]

Many different trains of thought, take the furniture and yes you will have a set up apartment/villa when you arrive, and that will be great less stress.

Chances are though that in 6 to 12 months the crap that the company gives you will drive you to distraction and you'll want to get rid of it and get something more your own taste, problem is EK won't just take it back so you will have to get rid of it yourself at next to nothing and still be liable for the value up to 3 years if you decide to leave early.

The allowance of around 30000AED will buy you most of what you need, but it will take time to organise and frustrating at best trying to get the stuff delivered and installed. That's just the way it is in DXB.

Or use the money to move your own things over and have that sense of security of familiarity that will make life a lot happier in the long run.

All your choice really.,

[EGGW]

Like others have said the company issued furniture is crap, its basically IKEA stuff they bought in bulk about 10+ years ago. Like others i bought my own stuff with the 30,000 dhs allowance, and bloody glad i did. Yes, its true when you join you may want to concentrate on the work in hand on your course, but at least during the first 2 weeks its boring, non-type related stuff.
Carrefour do a a nice line in blow up beds, i know many guys like me who lived on these for more than a month after joining. :p

At least you'll furnish the place to your taste.

EGGW

[BYMONEK]

Go with El Peligroso's advice. I did all of what he advises and it worked a treat. Bring the furniture with you. Buy the white goods, or silver if you're posh, here in Dubai.


And like EGGW, I also bought a 'blow up' but unfortunately it didn't last a full month though. Come to think of it, it wasn't a bed..........:O

[EKBBUS]

Thanks for all this answers ! i think i will go for the unfurnished company accom.
What about the shortage of accommodation ? Any update from an insider ? :ok:

[Oblaaspop]

What shortage?

We've got 560 new villas fully comissioned 20km out in the desert! Although I think a few guys were in temp accom waiting for them until fairly recently.

One thing's for sure, you wont know where you're living until the day you turn up, and its too bad if you don't like it, so I wouldn't bother loosing any sleep over it!!

Maybe you're thinking of Etihad? They have families living in hotel rooms for months on end!

[Uplink]

Arguments on both sides here. I took the allowance and am glad I did. The furniture is basic and serves a purpose. If you come here now you will most likely end up in Silicon Oasis. I have moved here and am glad I did. It serves my purpose.

The pro's are that it is a four bed villa. It is new and detached. If you take the allowance you will end up with an empty house with no beds or anything. If you are happy living like that then fine. You have the headache of then having to go out and buy everything from a cooker and fridge to a bed and sheets. You generally dont ship your stuff staight away as you dont know where you will be living, therefore it may be on average a month before you shipment arrives. THe best way to describe your furniture is functional. At least if you go straight into your villa furnished you can make a bed and sleep. I have been here some time now and have still a few items that are EK furniture. The one thing to think of though is that they have a retainer for this furniture. You have a value which decreases per month. If you decide that EK is not for you (I think inside 3 years or 5 years) you end up paying them money. The soft package is crockery and cutlery. This becomes yours after 12 months. The hard package (beds, fridges etc) yours after 5 years. I think it may have changed a little since I joined.

My shipment arrived and I was glad I had both my furniture and the EK package. After a few months you will start buying things here. I still have colleagues who have the full set of furniture. Each to his own and no offence to any Canadian here ;-) After 5 years the package is yours to do as you wish.

Silicon Oasis, for those who knock it, is actually very nice. I was very sceptical about moving. I work on the pretext of not fixing things which are not broken. But I am glad I have made the move. I lived near the airport before and have definitely downsized. You expand to the size of your property anyway. I have sold alot of my stuff (EK furniture included) The pros here are that I have not been stuck in traffic for the last 6 weeks. It takes me 15 mins to get to work (airport or trng college) or up to Jumeirah or Mall of the Emirates. NO TRAFFIC !! They are putting a Spinneys in the middle of the compound. In addition a ladies and gents salon. A restaurant and coffee shop in addition to some other shops. I know that I will not have to move for 15 years (god forbid if I last that long).

On the con side this area is under construction. The villas themselves are I think finished. The landscaping is very nice but still on the go. The big gardens are now gone. (I have one of them) This will become a mini city in itself. I have lived near a University campus before. They are putting in alot of shops bars and restaurants to cater for Academic city. The rub being that it will be under construction for the next couple of years. But where in Dubai isnt under construction.

Hopefully I have given an unbiased view. The furniture allowance serves a purpose and is ok. Its a good way of making a start here. If you are single no problems. If you are married then I can guarantee your wife will look in her own little way, deciding in about 5 minutes flat, which item will go first. Within 18 months if the average guy still remembers what the furniture looked like. He might just find an item or 2 in the house which is from the original package. The guys who take the money have their own goods from the start. However if you want quality then it will cost you and 30,000 does not go far in Dubai now. You will also buy functional furniture and will end up buying more within a couple of years.

THe choice is yours!

[clear to land]

From the 'single' perspective: I took the allowance after talking to mates who were already here. I was initially in Temp accom (about 3 weeks) and am now in a 3 bedroom unit. During the initial 3 weeks I sourced the bare essentials : crockery, cutlery, mattress etc (I didn't take the starter pack either). When I made it into the permanent it took about another week-10 days to finish off. I did get the full 30K, and whitegoods etc are comparitively cheap here. Curtains (lined and blackout for main bdrm) were 3K. On the basis that I am planning to be here for a while, so want to be comfortable, I ended up spending around 65K setting up. That includes lots of 'luxury' items though like LCD TV, high end stereo and a bar (essential!!!). For the 30K you can still comfortably furnish to a much higher standard than the supplied furniture, provided you take some time to shop around. Also, a delivery time in Dubai is advisory only. Have fun.:)

[Hawabaaz1]

How much is the allowance, if you decide to find your own accomdation? Does it vary between F/O, Capt & Engineers?

Also is it advisable to find your own? Cheers.

[EKBBUS]

waow ! it is nice to receive so much inputs from everbody ! Uplink unfortunetly i have no kids for the moment so i will not be one of the lucky dude who is going to have a villa in Silicon Oasis :) ! I just hope to have a nice 3 bed appart on Cheikh Zayed ! and after all i have read i will go for the allowance ! Any good website to have an idea of the cost and level of furniture ? And thanks again !

[ennui]

good luck!

try http://www.ikeadubai.com/content/main.asp

my wife firmly believes that the ikea world index is vastly superior to the big mac alternative :)

[EKBBUS]

thanks ennui !
Now i have a better idea of the cost of furniture.
Thanks to everybody. fly safe !:ok:

[CAT IIIB]

Dear Muttley crew,
Yes I understand that but EKBBUS also wrote:
"And what about the shortage of acc ? any update ?"

Meaning that he was also exploring the possibility of finding own accomodation.

And for your information, I don't 'work' for the management.

[Henry VIII]

Hi all,
I had the opportunity to visit DSO few weeks ago, but no way to better understand how is actually livable.

Anybody can better explain the situation about shop, stores, mall, gym, pool, school, taxi, etc. etc. ? I mean, the daily family needs.

Tks for coops

[splitbar]

Hi all. I have an interview scheduled for the end of November. Any insight into the process would be GREATLY appreciated. Has anybody else here been invited to Dubia to interview? Emirates said I have to get myself there but they will pay for my food & accomodations. Does Emirates have ZED fares from JFK or should I look into jumpseating on Delta? The full fare on Emirates was over $1000 and I would like to non-rev if I'm able. Is it worth me calling Emirates and asking for "space available" from JFK? Any info is appreciated guys/galls and I hope to see you soon over in the UAE!!!

[Henry VIII]

During selection process to be appropriate according the current topic is a factor...:ok:
Good luck ;)

[Fogrunner]

Hi all. I have an interview scheduled for the end of November. Any insight into the process would be GREATLY appreciated. Has anybody else here been invited to Dubia to interview?
There are pages upon pages about Emirates and the interview process if you use the search function. Also try www.airlinepilotcentral.com
I applied to Emirates in mid-September and was invited to an October Selection Program. I am currently in training on the MD for the next 5 weeks so I cannot attend.
Personnally I wouldn't risk non-reving or jump seating. Good Luck. I was in Dubai in September and was very impressed.

[Henry VIII]

Thank you anyway for the "NOT HELPING" received.

[Fellowship of the drink]

Hi all,
I had the opportunity to visit DSO few weeks ago, but no way to better understand how is actually livable.

Anybody can better explain the situation about shop, stores, mall, gym, pool, school, taxi, etc. etc. ? I mean, the daily family needs.

Tks for coops

Hi Henry VIII

Check out www.siliconoasis.org, there is a discussion going on regarding the facilities there.

FOTD

[Eldin]

Hi all. I have an interview scheduled for the end of November. Any insight into the process would be GREATLY appreciated. Has anybody else here been invited to Dubia to interview? Emirates said I have to get myself there but they will pay for my food & accomodations. Does Emirates have ZED fares from JFK or should I look into jumpseating on Delta? The full fare on Emirates was over $1000 and I would like to non-rev if I'm able. Is it worth me calling Emirates and asking for "space available" from JFK? Any info is appreciated guys/galls and I hope to see you soon over in the UAE!!!



In the past it was difficult, especially if you wanted to get into Business Class (or better). Soon there will be three daily Emirates services from JFK and my guess is that if you can't make it on one of the two non-stop flights, you could alawys try the newly introduced service via Hamburg, Germany. Two will be on the 777-300ER and one is on the 340-500, which almost doubles the number of seats compared to what we had a few weeks ago.

You could also try Etihad, they operate into AUH, just an hour down the road from DXB and you could take a rental car from there.


Etihad and the Emirates' Hamburg service are new, so better check when they will start operating and if it suits your needs.

No US passenger carrier offers currently any direct service into Dubai, what you may find in the published timetables are all codeshare flights, so better check whether your ticket will be accepted by the code share partner airline.


But first, I would check with Emirates, I heard through the rumour mill that they will now supply you with a ticket, but this could be wrong.



Good luck.

[Henry VIII]

Tks, I didn't know that site.
Cu

[calcio11]

Splitbar,
Don't bother calling Emirates for space available you aren't going to get it. How are you going to Jumpseat on Delta??? That will get you to Paris, then what? If you are serious about the job, spend the money and don't mess with the stress of non reving.

[Jason2000]

One of my friends who works for UAL out of ORD is visiting DXB at end of this month - they are travelling on an ID ticket ORD-FRA with LH/ UA and then managed to get FRA-DXB with EK on ID ticket still, so EK does offer.

Guess it depends which outfit you currently work with.

Good Luck!

[GO DIRECT]

Hi,
As Dubai is forever expanding, it appears that there are more people being "asked" to move to another location.
Now one of the largest rented compounds is DIC villas with perhaps 100 pilots there. The lease is due for renewal and I KNOW that in Dec the capped rents at DIC are removed and DIC enters the rat race of hiked rents. There has NOT been a resigning of the contract between Arenco and EK, as I know the people in Arenco who do this. What with the uncertainty of the future for the location of pilots, you then have to consider what would happen if all the children had to move schools if moved out to the desert.
Wow, the lack of communication is outstanding and why should headquartes worry anyway, we are only white collar expats, treated litle differently than the blue collar expats. :*

[fatbus]

Simple , on to the next job. Don't sacrifice family for job

[sandkfir]

Simple , on to the next job. Don't sacrifice family for job


So you would move them halfway across the world to save a slightly longer drive or change in schools. :confused: That sounds very well thought out. Did you miss the Asess, Action, Manage part of the CRM course?

[Payscale]

Eventually everone under company accomodation will life in silicon oasis. Just accept it...

[typhoonpilot]

Eventually everone under company accomodation will life in silicon oasis. Just accept it...

There are 560 Villas in Silicon Oasis with 1700 pilots and counting. Some non-pilot management positions are also entitled to a villa. So how exactly are we ALL going to be living there? Silicon Oasis is enough capacity for two years of New Hires and that's it. That's not to say that some leases won't be renewed, but to make a fear mongering statement that we will all be living there is a bit premature. EK will have to keep many of the current villas, they have no other choice.

TP

[Vorsicht]

TP

There is also another 560 being constructed in the second phase, plus any number of other villa complexes to come in the future. To think that EK arent going to move all staff out of expensive beachside villas as rents keep rising is naive in the extreme i believe.

V

[Ramboflyer 1]

With the rents approaching prices higher than most people's wages the smart landlords if there is any will try to retain the EK contracts for as long as possibble. I have a lot of friends out side of EK packing up and going home because of accomodation costs.
All the new apartments cant just be for mafia holiday homes Dubai needs workers as well.

[BIKKERDENNAH]

NOW theres a word which we dont see much use of!!

SMART:\

[NO DELAY EXPECTED]

I have read abit about Silicon oasis on this site but no one is saying what it's really like to live there.
How does it feel be surrounded by all those pilots all working for the same company?
It also looks like a long way out in a dusty sandpit and far from the fun,is it easy to get about from there !
Please can I get have some honest thoughts on it before I take the visit to Dubai because I understand thats where they send everyone these days and the pictures are putting me off !
Thanks

[145qrh]

You will find it difficult to get an honest reply...People who volunteered will obviously be happy, wither they are or not and the new folk don't know any different..

The only thing most people agree on is that it is a bit of a trek to get there.

[puff m'call]

Bit of a trek to get there.........rubbish! Never any traffic on the E66 come via Nad and it takes about 15 mins from Int 2 to get here.

It's a lot easier to get here than driving through the bloody awful traffic in town trying to get anywhere!!!!

I have been living here in Silicon Oasis for about six weeks now, we didn't move here initially because as some say " why would I want to live all the way out there" So we took a drive out here to see what all the fuss was about, and we were very impressed with what we saw. Very nice 4 bedroom villas. landscaped communal areas, parks, pools all very well done.

It's very quiet, you would never know you lived amid a couple of hundred EK pilots with their families. You just don't see anyone.

It's about 15 mins to Wafi, 20 mins to Emirates Mall. It took the same if not longer from my other house which was closer in miles.

Now we have a spinneys, ok not the best, maybe, but it's well stocked and you can get most things, Costa coming soon and other shops due to open.

All in all it's a very pleasant place to live and safe for the kids to play and walk around.

That's my honest view of the whole thing but don't take my word, drive out and look for yourself.

Those joining and coming out here i'm sure you will like it, if I have to say anything in the negative it's only that some of the middle villas have quite small gardens, but hey, if that's all you have to worry about.....:ok:

In fact it's one of the best things EK have done for pilots and their families since iv'e been here. :)

[Fart Master]

Puff.............seconded:ok: