Flatwater I am not an agent or working for anyone but a fellow US expat. There is a great community of expats living at the Pearl. It is very convenient socially to live there. As far as furniture goes you can get some functional stuff here. With two of the major malls here closed there are a couple less options but still easy to get a placed furnished in a couple days. We flew to Dubai for the day and ordered from IKEA and the items arrived about 3 days later. Many of the apartments here are offered furnished.