Author: Mark

A couple of years ago I was looking to buy an arcade machine and a reader contacted me letting me know they had a few for sale. I was hoping to find either NBA Jam, Mortal Kombat I or II, Killer Instinct, the original Daytona or the original Sega Rally but sadly they didn’t have any of those games and I completely forgot about the whole thing. Then out of the blue around two weeks back the subject came back up and I ended up contacting the guy and passing by to check out what he had.

Turns out I actually knew the person since he used to be based in Burj Al Abyad (White Tower next to Marina Mall) back in the 90s when the arcade scene there was pretty big. He took me to their warehouse and I got to check out all the machines they had available.

They didn’t have any of the games I wanted but I figured I’d get the list (and their prices) so I could post them here on my blog. Some of the games are a good deal others seem a bit pricy (KD750 for Sega Rally 2 although it’s with the full moving cockpit) while others like the NeoGeo/Capcom machines are a steal at just KD75 with two games.

If you’re interested here is the games list and prices:

List of all the arcade machines they have (with the quantity)
The price list of the machines (FYI: twin means 2 machines side by side)

One thing that’s not listed in the price list above is the NeoGeo/Capcom cabinets. They have two kinds of cabinets, one that holds 2 games and another that holds 4. They’re selling the machine that holds 2 games for KD75 and the machine that holds 4 for KD100. This price includes the games.

What games? Here is the List

If you’re interested you can contact Nagib on 24841382 Ext 555

My Nikon D800 arrived to Kuwait a few days ago and I picked it up yesterday night on my way back home from the airport. I was hoping to have the camera with me when I went to Lebanon so I could take some pictures while I was there but the camera ended up arriving after I had already left. First impression… I’m in love. Going from the Nikon D90 to the D800 is a huge jump and it’s not because the D800 is larger and much better built or the fact it’s a 36MP full frame camera. The thing that has excited me the most so far is all the customizable options in the camera. EVERYTHING can be customized, there are just menus and menus of options and I’m loving it.

I’m going to be taking pictures all this weekend and should have a better first impression to post sometime next week but for now I’ll leave you with one picture to demonstrate how huge 36MP really is. Below is a photo I took today with a 24mm lens (thats why the image has some distortion) and below that is a 100% crop of the same image.

The amount of details the camera captures is ridiculous and each uncompressed RAW file is around 80MB in size. If you want to view the image above in full res click [Here]

I originally pre-ordered the camera from both BHphoto AND Amazon but they both had a long list of pre-orders (BHphoto I read have nearly 5000 pre-orders) but they both didn’t receive a large shipment of cameras (BHphoto supposedly got just 50!). So I decided to find a smaller less popular retailer and ended up pre-ordering from Electronic Express. I was the only one that had pre-ordered from them and around 5 days after placing my order they received just one D800 and shipped it to me. I was super lucky since there are thousands and thousands of people who’ve pre-ordered from early February and still have no idea when they’ll be getting the camera. The local Nikon dealer and AAB Photo both have the D800 in stock right now but due to the world wide limited availability their prices are still very high (around KD1,300). So your best bet right now if you want a D800 is to find a small online retailer and order it from them or pay a premium and pick it up locally.

According to a source of mine I found out that Alshaya was trying to bring the very popular franchise Chick-fil-A to the region but the deal fell through. Supposedly one of the terms they couldn’t agree on was the fact that Chick-fil-A wanted to close on Sundays (they’re a very Christian company). Alshaya was trying to convince them to change that rule for the region but Chick-fil-A wasn’t backing down and the deal fell apart. It sucks but I like the fact Alshaya were trying to get the Chick-fil-A franchise.

If you’re ever in the Beirut Souk in Downtown Beirut then you have to check out the old Greek and Roman (I think) ruins which are preserved underneath the souk. Instead of demolishing the ruins they built on top of them so while you’re walking in the modern souk there are openings and spaces where you can can see the old ruins. I think thats a great way of preserving the old without sacrificing the new.

YOU CAN HELP US SAVE ANIMALS IN KUWAIT
DIWANIYA AT AWARE CENTER
Tuesday, April 10, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.
by Kuwaiti animal-rescuer Nadia Al Kandari and local photojournalist Claudia Farkas Al Rashoud

With the inhumane ongoing official policy of poisoning stray dogs and cats, the status of animal rights in Kuwait has reached a new low. Added to that, the widespread practice of dog fighting, illegal importation and breeding of wild animals that are unsuitable or dangerous as pets, dismal conditions in the animal section of the Friday Market, and other unpunished acts of animal cruelty all tarnish Kuwait’s reputation in the international community. However, there are caring and active Kuwaitis, along with compassionate expats, who are striving to make things better for these innocent creatures.

Are there alternative, more human methods of stray animal population control? Of course there are! Are there laws to protect animals in Kuwait? Yes, they do exist but need to be enforced. Is there anything you can do to help prevent cruelty to animals? Yes, definitely! Please attend our diwaniya on animal rights in Kuwait, add your voice to the discussion, and become part of the solution. The AWARE Center is in Surra, Block 3, St. 50, Villa 84

For more information, call 25335260, ext 0/104/105 or log onto www.aware.com.kw or email [email protected]

Looks fun. Too bad their timings conflict with my Core Fitness schedule. [YouTube]

I received the below from K’S PATH and thought was important to share:

K’S PATHS’ animal shelter and sanctuary houses around 200 animals from over 10 species. The effort that goes into the daily care of these animals is great and the finances needed exceed 6,000KD per month. With summer approaching fast, experience tells us that our income is going to decrease greatly while the number of animals needing our care will grow. For K’S PATH to be able to survive through the summer months, we need to raise 10,000KD. We ask our community to rise up to the challenge and help us insure our work for the next few months. Our goal is to raise 10,000KD by the end of April. Remember every little bit helps, so please donate today to this worthy cause.

Options for donations:

1. Transfer money directly into our bank account.
Bank Name: Ahli Bank of Kuwait
Branch: Galleria 2000
Name:Ayeshah Waleed Al-Humaidhi
Account: 0626-468911-001
IBAN:KW42ABKK00000000006264689110 01

2. Drop off donation at:
a. Our shelter in Wafra
b. Animal Care Office in Mangaf
c. Animal Care Kennels at Royal Animal Hospital

3. Call 6700 1622 or e-mail [email protected] to arrange pick up

Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions

It’s taking place on April 27th in Dubai so hopefully I’ll be able to make it. [Link]

Kuwait 5 Aside is a new sporting venture, one that builds on the success of the outdoor football pitches. Salem Haidar the owner of Kuwait 5 Aside noticed a lack of structured football in Kuwait so he came up with the idea to start a 5 aside league.

By being part of a league you can playing more competitively but what I thought was more interesting is the fact you get to play in a large flood lit indoor and air conditioned football pitch. That means you could play football all year round no matter how bad the weather is outside.

According to the league rules, each team should have minimum of 7 players and they’re hoping to get a maximum of 140 teams to provide leagues running 6 days a week. The games are from 6 to 11pm and each game lasts 45 minutes. The cost is KD156 per player which would come out to around KD3 a game since there will be 52 games a year. If you’re interested to find out more check out the Kuwait 5 Aside website [Here]

The same friend who shot the picture of the “Desert Dance Floor” also shot the video above he took at one of the campsites. That’s a lot of crap all over the place and surprisingly it’s not an isolated incident. It’s like not one single camper cleaned up after themselves. [Link]

A friend just took the picture above and I thought it was very cool. Seriously I’m finding it really weird and sadly funny how people are finding sofas, tiled floors and toilet seats just randomly in the middle of the desert. [Link]

I read about the state of the desert after the camping season finished but I didn’t think it was that bad until I saw it for myself today. I was heading south on the 40th when I noticed a huge plot of desert with trash as far as the eye could see. I went off-road and headed towards the area and was completely shocked at what I saw.

Campers had left all their trash behind including full sofa sets, toilets, trash bags and just random items like wood and god knows what else. And it wasn’t just one campsite it was the whole area filled with sofas and toilet seats all over the place. It’s absolutely disgusting.

Personally I think the municipality should just leave everything the way it is and not clean up after the campers. As long as someone is picking up the trash people are not going to learn to cleanup after themselves.

I’m at the airport right now and I just noticed the Alshaya section past emigration is going to be huge. Their section will have Starbucks, Potbelly and Pinkberry but I just noticed they’ve actually built a second floor on top of the place. Pretty cool.

Zaydoun hadn’t posted on his blog for over a year but he came back today with a simple and legitimate question aimed towards the expat community… Why are you still here? It’s an honest and curious question and he doesn’t mean it in the if you don’t like it get the hell out kinda way. With all the problems in Kuwait what keeps you here? Here is why I’m still here:

I’m an expat but I grew up here so I don’t see myself as an expat although Kuwaitis do. This is my home. I’ve lived here all my life so even if there are a lot of problems I stay and deal with it. I adapt and I get used to it. Sometimes things really piss me off which is when I come here on the blog and rant but most of the time I just take it all in and try to ignore the problems. There’s always the “hope” that things will get better (although with the way things are going I’m finding it harder to believe that).

I’m not Kuwaiti but I do feel frustrated in the same way many Kuwaitis do. When I see all the trash scattered all around my area in Salmiya its really depressing and frustrating because with all the money available why isn’t Salmiya cleaner? When I see people running red lights in front of the cops I find it frustrating because again with all the money available why don’t we have better law enforcement. I guess it’s unfair to connect everything with money but I believe everything can be solved with money and since we have a lot of it here we shouldn’t have any of these issues.

But, with all these problems, as an expat I have to say one of the most frustrating things is the fact I can’t get a permanent residency. I’ve lived here for over 30 years and my visa still gets renewed year by year. If I want to quit my job and take a break I can’t. No job means no visa and I’m out just like that. I think that’s extremely unfair.

Anyway check out Zaydoun’s post on his blog and tell him why you are still here. I’m curious to read all the answers as well. [Link]

According to the first World Happiness Report launched at the United Nations, Kuwait came 31st in the world but behind UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. They used a number of measurements to come up with this figure and I downloaded the full report to find out more details but honestly it’s 158 pages long and it wasn’t written by Stephen King so I skipped it.

Now the reason I’m posting this is I found it a bit surprising that Saudi Arabia scored better than both Kuwait and Qatar. I would have imagined UAE first followed by Qatar, Kuwait and then Saudi but that isn’t the case. You can read the Arabian Business article on this [Here] or you can download the full report from [Here]

Picture taken by Patrick