Assuming that none of you know this, I lived in Dubai for 5+ years and only now I can say that I miss it so much. (Wouldn't have heard that coming from me a year ago, that's for sure). I could say that I've spent some of my worst days and some of my best days in that city. Life there is very unpredictable yet so boring and repetitive, no words can really explain it, so you'll have to go and live there yourself. Oh, the many times my friends and I have joked about starting our own reality tv series, because that's just how life there is, like reality television.
You miss out on opportunities which are then compensated with opportunities which you'd never imagine coming your way. I would have never imagined of seeing the things I've seen or even living on the 35th floor of a skyscraper (building above). I've seen the craziest driving, been in a car with a nutjob driver, beach bars and clubs were an every weekend kind of thing, a pool 10 meters away from your front door was nothing out of the ordinary, grocery stores delivered and so did most fast food restaurants .. 24/7, I've seen the worlds tallest building being built yet I've never set a foot in it, I've been on the skiing slopes inside a mall, and the list goes on. But to me none of that really matters, what matters are the memories I'm left with, so many of them.
I've got great friends still living there, and for some reason even most of the people who once left, have now returned. It's the magnificent pull of Dubai, drawing you back in even though you have a love hate relationship with the place. And that's what I miss about it the most, just the continuous changing atmosphere, people come and go and then return yet again to make your life that much more fun. 
And then there's the partying. Yes, technically you need to be 21 to be able to get anywhere. But then again there's always ways around it, and therefore, I believe that there is probably not many people my age who have a strong healthy liver left, because it's crazy. Let's just leave it at that.
I graduated from high school there, with a full IB Diploma (yes go me), and that was followed by a gap year.I had a lot of time to 'waste', which I did. And now looking back there are so many things I could have done cough get a job cough. But I'd say that the city just doesn't have a 'young working culture'. It's hard to get a job there, so I just didn't. Regret it now, but it was a great year nonetheless.
I got my first puppy Daisy, did some crazy things, fell out with many people, made great friends, spent too much money, shopped too much, drank too much, did too much of nothing. But hey that's Dubai. Apologies for the picture spam
Ask away if there is anything that you would like to know about specific things like nightclubs,malls etcetc. You get the drift. <3
