Posted by Mark

Just a quick update on the attempt by Kuwait’s Al Farsi family to break the record for the worlds largest kite. After yesterdays failed attempt they were supposed to try breaking the record today but they had to call it off since it was too windy.
It’s now not know when they will try to break the record again. [Link]
Posted by Mark
Yesterday I posted about the attempt by Kuwait’s Al Farsi family to break the record for the worlds largest kite. They already hold the record but they’re trying to re-break it with an even larger kite. Sadly, the kite ended up getting ripped today and so they couldn’t continue with the record attempt. They are currently working overnight to try and repair the kite and will hopefully be flying it again tomorrow. The BBC website has more information on this as well as a video from today’s flight. [Link]
Posted by Mark
Kuwait’s Al Farsi family already holds the record for the world’s largest kite but it seems like they’ll be trying to break their own record in the next two days with their new Manta Ray kite at the Bristol International Kite Festival. In case you didn’t know the current world’s large kite is actually in the design of the Kuwaiti flag (pictured above). Here is a link with some more details on their new record attempt. [Link]
Posted by Mark

I just read that the Public Authority for Agriculture and Fish Resources is planning to build a Safari Zoo in Jahra. It’s going to be a drive-thru zoo where you will only be able to travel through it by car or specially designed trains. The fact they admit that the current zoo is inhumane is a good sign and is actually part of their reason for building the new zoo so I have high hopes for this project.
The funny part is it seems we have an animal exchange program with the Korean Zoo where we sent them deer in return for a leopard. I thought that was a pretty good deal. Check out the full article [Here]
Posted by Mark
Turns out in one of the leaked documents that were released by Wikileaks they talk about bloggers in Kuwait. This is from back in 2005 when we were only a few blogs but even if the information is outdated it still gives an interesting glimpse to how we were viewed. Nibaq from the now defunct KuwaitBlogs.com gets a mention as well.
The freaky thing is the fact that the US Government was spying on the bloggers. According to the leak, someone from the embassy attended a bloggers meet up to get more details on who the bloggers were. Makes you wonder if any other government spied on us as well or if the US government spied on us again after that meeting.
Check out the full document [Here]
via Kuwaitiful
Update: According to Talal (who was mentioned in the wiki), the officer from the US Embassy actually identified himself as being from the Embassy and also told them he was trying to get some information for the Cultural Affairs. So that’s not spying.
Posted by Mark
This is very odd. On the front page of Al Rai newspaper there is a notice from Avenues saying that we can no longer mention Avenues, talk about Avenues or post pictures of Avenues without getting written permission first. That includes, newspapers, magazines, blogs etc…
I’m not sure why they would release something like this. I guess from now on I’ll refer to Avenues as Alshaya Mall?
Thanks Salah
Update: The Avenues have responded [Link]
Posted by Mark
When I first heard that the orange Chihuly sculpture at 360 Mall got damaged I got really upset since I imagined a large chunk of it had fallen to the ground. Luckily my imagination had run wild and the damage turned out to be barely visible. I passed by 360 Mall earlier tonight and actually had a hard time spotting the damage which is great.
If you’re curious to know how both the Chihuly sculptures were built check out these pictures that were taken during the installation. [Link]
Posted by Mark
In the first incident of its kind, a traffic policeman issued a citation against an Arab motorist for having bad breath, reports Al-Anba daily.
A police source said it is a very strange incident and problematic too because the penalty is not known. “Will the motorist be fined; if so, how much will he have to pay and if his car is impounded, how long will it be in the police garage?” he asked.
Incidentally, it is also mentioned on the citation that the motorist admitted that his mouth smells. [Source]
If they’re issuing tickets for bad breath then my previous joke about how sunglasses should be banned might actually happen.
Update: I added the picture of the ticket to the post
Update2: The MOI is denying such a ticket was issued [Link]
Posted by Mark

A reader emailed to tell me that the First Ring Road is going to open up tomorrow but I didn’t think it was true. I passed by the other day and it didn’t look like it was going to be finished but according to an article on Kuna the road and bridge should be open to the public tomorrow. Weird. [Link]
Thanks Q8 Mods
Posted by Mark
The Kuwait Fund for Arab and Economic Development (KFAED) loaned Morocco 712 million dirhams ($89.2 million) as part of the first phase of its participation in funding the project of the High Speed Train (HST) linking Tangier to Casablanca.
I just read about this awhile ago and it kinda upset me. Where is our high-speed train? [Link]
Posted by Mark
According to Arabian Business, the British toy store Hamleys will be opening in Kuwait within 6 to 12 months. The article doesn’t say where it will open but my guess would be in the Avenues phase III. [Link]
Posted by Mark
TIME Magazine have an article titled “Extreme Heat: 10 Worldwide Spots With Tough Temperatures” and Kuwait was included as the hottest city. That’s not surprising at all considering how everyone has been recording temperatures over 50 degrees.
Here is the [Link]