Muscat Bay versus living near Muscat Grand Mall

Hi, I am here for six months. I found two apartments I like. One in muscat bay, scenic gorgeous modern and spacious. the second is cute little bachelor pad near the office. it would take me 20 or so minutes to get to muscat bay or to the office, and less than 10 minutes from the city apartment. I plan to have a car no matter which one I choose and both are in my budget. Any thoughts on this. I'm torn. Coming from Canada it would take me an hour to get to the office every day and an hour back home, yet my friends here think 20 to 25 minutes is a long commute. Keep in mind I leave out to get to the office at 6:30am so traffic will unlikely be an issue driving in, if I choose Muscat Bay. I am also the first in to the office in my department which is on flex time so if I arrive 15 mintues late once in a while it makes no difference to my day or my attendance record. Looking forward to your opinions.