Miscellaneous

The city was originally built on 7 hills or Jabal (or Jebel) but now spans over 19 hills. The main neighbourhoods are Jabal Amman (the center), Jabal Weibdeh, Abdoun (high end residential area and Embassy residences), Sweifieh (old commercial neighborhood) and Al Abdali (the new financial/residential/entertainment district).

Appointments. When meeting for dinner, people are rarely on time… Be patient!

Ramadan. During Ramadan, bear in mind that you’re not supposed to eat or drink on the streets during the day. Some restaurants are also closed during the day.

Alcohol. There is no problem drinking alcohol in Jordan. There are liquor stores, local beers, and local wines (Christian families). For wine, go for the Zumot brand and in particular, their St Georges red of the “Wine maker” selection.

DVD’s – copyright? What copyright? You’ll find loads of video shops but, in Jordan, you don’t rent, you buy copies… The best is the “Orange” DVD’s shop, on the street in front of the Sheraton’s main gate. The owner’s very kind and knows his stuff. His name is Nibal.

Boukra. Boukra means “tomorrow.” If you are told  that something is for Boukra, this might well be the case… or not. Then, there is worse: Baïd Boukra. It means it is surely not for tomorrow but maybe, for the day after. The worst of it all is Baïd Boukra Inch’Allah: you’ll never know if or when it is going to happen…

Most of the places like restaurants, shops,… don’t have a proper website. They have a facebook page!

 

Business Hours

 Weekends are Fridays & Saturdays. Some shops are closed on Fridays (the Soap House, Silsal) but, in the Malls, they re-open on Fridays at 2pm, closing only on Friday morning. Supermarkets are opened 7 days a week from early in the morning until late in the evening.

 

Traffic

Thursday nights: All youth is out. Traffic can be horrendous, mostly around Abdoun circle, First circle and in Rainbow street. Young boys like to show their muscles and try picking up girls while driving. Be cautious if you drive or want to cross a street!

Pedestrians: watch out when trying to cross a street. No car will stop for you! Just pick your chance.

Map: Finding your way based on an address can be quite a challenge though it’s getting better lately. The concept of street names is quite recent. So hardly anybody knows them! Instead, when people need to locate a place (when you’re in a taxi for instance), they refer to the closest landmark, for instance, the Junia Pharmacy, the “street of the Blue Fig,” the Taj Mall,… and the circles, of course. The city is developed along the main road called Zahran, which links 8 roundabouts or “circles.” So when people tell you, “it’s on 6th circle,” don’t lose your time looking ON the circle because it most probably means “OFF 6th circle,” somewhere in the streets behind… Also Googlemap is not always helpful here!

 

Moving around

Taxis:  as there’s no real efficient public transport system, people use taxis a lot. So you’ll see yellow cabs everywhere. They are super cheap and most of the time, reliable. Always ask for the meter. Don’t take it if the cab driver says it’s broken. Always have small bills (1JD) because they won’t have change. Some of them are really clumsy and by the way they drive, you wonder if they ever got their driver’s license. But then, it’s the same with all the drivers in Jordan.

For a better experience (and a more reliable one), slightly more expensive but still very affordable, you can call 24/7 the Al Mumayaz taxi company: they will pick you up where you want: 06 – 5799999. They also can drive you outside of Amman.

Driving: It’s a poem or a nightmare… The only rule you have to know is that… there are no rules whatsoever! A national sport is “pac-manning.” Do you remember the game of Pac-man and how he ate the dots? Well, the cars drive right on the white line lane dividers! So, if you rent a car, take a deep breath and go with the flow. Just stay relaxed.

Valet parking: you can give your car to the valet and he will take care of parking your car. When picking it up, give 1JD to the valet, even in hotels.

Taxi company: like I said: Al Mumayaz: 06 – 5799999.

Emergency number: 911

 

Phones

The major telecom companies are Zain and Orange (there’s also Umniah but…). You can buy a top-up sim card for your stay (always a good idea). They have lots of shops around town but the easiest way is their shop at either Taj Mall, City Mall or even Mecca Mall (the oldest Mall in Town)

 

Quickly need an outfit?

They don’t have the culture of window browsing in the streets like us. Either, you go to a particular boutique because you know it. Or you go to a Mall. Here are the best Malls, just in case you need something:

• Taj Mall: the newest and the most complete with shops, restaurants, cafés and cinemas. The first floor is dedicated to luxury brands like Vuitton, Michael Kors, Burberrys, Aishiti (the luxury multibrand store); the second floor to cafés, restaurants, sports brands; the third, cinemas. The ground floor is for casual brands (Gap, H&M,…) and beauty. The lower floor for the supermarket (Spinneys), banks (if you need to change money, the Housing Bank is good), electronics, phones,…
• City Mall, where you’ll find all the Inditex Group brands (Zara, Massimo Duty, Uterqüe…), Virgin Megastore, Paul (the French bakery where you can have a quick bite) and Aizone, a luxury multi brand store (same company as Aishti in Taj Mall.
• Mecca Mall: the oldest Mall in town. Miles is a great supermarket (see tip). For the rest, some shops (shoe shops mainly) are quite something!) but no need to go there if it isn’t for Miles.

 

Health

Jordan is well known for its quality of medical care. The emergencies at the Arab Hospital center are perfectly fine. It’s located just next to the Sheraton, 5th circle, easy to find.

Need a GP? Amy Khoury is located in the building opposite to the Arab Medical center (BioLab).

Need a physiotherapist? call Modhi Al-Haj from Physio Jo at 06-5922.667. He’s very close to the Sheraton/Four Seasons hotels (84 Mousa Bin Nusair street, Jabal Amman).

Need a back massage? Dr. Yang center: he has ten or so masseuses, all Chinese. So relaxing! It’s not a luxury place but it’s clean and they are professional. For one hour massage, it’ll cost you 20JD (+ tip). Dr. Yang practises also acupuncture and fixes back problems. That’s why they’ll ask you massage or acupuncture (you’ll have the massage too but slightly shorter). They don’t speak English well. So if you need to explain your problem, ask for Dr. Yang. They are located near the Sheraton. Shang Hai Massage Center +962- 795996075