You’ll never need to go to the petrol station again…

It's official, Dubai is one of the top cities in the world to visit.

Every time it’s written off Dubai surprises you. It takes some heat, makes a few unexpected moves, then takes centre stage once again. It happened in 2004 with the opening up of property markets to expatriate investment. In 2008 with the successful battle against global recession. Now it is happening again as our daily newsfeeds unfold.

Residents are advised to take extra caution this weekend until Monday as the country will be experiencing unstable weather with rain and some thunder activity.

The National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) said it is continuously monitoring the weather system developing in the northern part of the country that will bring weather instability from Friday onwards.

“This extended surface depression and upper air low pressure with a cool air mass from the north will affect the northern and eastern UAE starting Friday,” a forecaster told Gulf News.

South Africa successfully defended their Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens title after beating New Zealand 24-12 on Saturday.

The reigning world series champions unleashed all their attacking firepower in what was a breathtaking display of sevens rugby across the two days. With his most experienced side ever, head coach Neil Powell notched up his fifth tournament win of 2017 and continued South Africa's dominance on the global stage.

Dubai will need approximately 134 new schools to accommodate 200,600 new seats in time for the 2027/2028 school year, presenting potentially lucrative opportunities for investors and operators to build affordable schools, according to a new report from commercial real estate services provider Colliers International.

Elsewhere in the world, it's Black Friday, but here in Dubai, we call it White Friday out of respect for the day of worship and the gathering of friends and family.

Today is also the start of the three Day Super Sale where retailers across the city will slash prices, with discounts of 30-90% off on in-demand items over the course of the weekend. 

The developers of Dubai have joined in, and many have announced launches and deals to coincide with the retail madness

Dubai is expected to welcome 17 million visitors in 2017 making it the 6th most visited city on the planet. Over a million of those visitors will come from the UK , I am amazed that Dubai receives more visitors than places like Paris, New York, Tokyo and Rome. The rate of growth is up there with Mumbai and Delhi, read more here

More visitors meansmore business for Dubai and higher numbers of people choosing to stay for longer and hopefully settle. This week's property discussions and site visits have included the following:

We will never learn how to pump gas or fit the entire Burj Khalifa into a picture. Being a new expat in the stunning city of Dubai is something to get excited about! But, after living here for a while, you begin to face things that just wouldn't happen anywhere else in the world.

Here are 12 fun and innocent #DubaiProblems you will definitely face when living here. 

In the Middle East, Dubai, with 11.2% growth and 17 million visitors expected this year, and Mecca, with 9.8% growth and 8.7 million expected, were 2017's biggest winners in this region.

Dubai - Economic activity in Dubai remained positive during the first nine months of this year with 10 new company licences being issued in every business hour.

As many as 15,268 new business licences were issued by Dubai's Department of Economic Development including 1,152 in September alone as the emirate continued to attract investors looking at competitive locations.

Did you know that 80 percent of the Dubai population live in rented accommodation - apparently that makes Dubai one of the largest rental marketplaces in the world? 

Did you also know that Dubai tenants sign12-month tenancy contracts and pay in advance for the entire year via one to four post-dated cheques?