Category: Information

An anonymous reader emailed me a link to this article. It seems its confirmed, Kuwait is going with Dodge Chargers which is something everyone thought would happen since the alternatives weren’t as practical. [Link]

I haven’t tried this, its a theory but it seems like a full proof plan. Vodafone in New Zealand sell unlocked versions of the iPhone 3G, meaning unlike the US versions, they New Zealand iPhone would work here in Kuwait without needing to crack/hack it. Vodafone also sell the phone online on their New Zealand website and you can buy the phone using a Kuwaiti credit card without any issues but you can only ship it to a New Zealand address. Whats the solution? Get a New Zealand forwarding mailbox!

Here is the link to the New Zealand Vodafone website [Link]
Here is a link to a company that will setup a forwarding mailbox [Link]

The price of the phone on the Vodafone website is KD212. With the fastest method for shipping (2-4 days) from New Zealand to Kuwait according to the forwading mailbox website it will cost you KD18. That means the phone with the price of shipping to Kuwait will be KD230. Pretty cheap.

If anyone tries it and has success leave a comment below.

Seems there was a minor earthquake in Kuwait at around 12:53AM.

Sultan Center recently purchased Giant and Monoprix Supermarkets here in Lebanon and they’ve started rebranding them. Buzberry earlier in the month posted a picture of the TSC PLUS logo which is what they are calling their small branches and today I noticed their really large branch was branded as TSC Mega Market. Sultan Center now has incredible amount of market share since they purchased the two largest supermarket chains here in Lebanon.

The Animal Friends League in Kuwait recently rescued 15 dogs that were living outdoors on a farm in Kebd. The dogs were never taken indoors not even during the extreme summer heat. AFL have some pictures and more information on their website plus a YouTube video. Fourteen of the dogs were Saluki’s and are now being prepared to be transported to the USA where they will be handed over to the Saluki Tree of Life Alliance. They are seeking donations to help with this and you can get more information about that on their website [Here]

I also found an article on the Saluki Tree of Life Alliance website on this rescue and on other rescues in Kuwait. The article contains a slightly graphic picture. [Link]

If you would like to help them out with donations please call them on 7001622

The Villa Moda warehouse which was originally located in the free trade zone recently moved to their Mubarakiya branch since they outgrew the original location. But, according to a Villa Moda employee by the end of September the Villa Moda warehouse will be moving to their new branch in Hawally. Many of you might have seen the building already, its next to the Qadsiya football stadium and originally was rumored to be a new Sultan Center. The new location is around 2000sq/m which is more than three times the size of the Mubarakiya branch but I think the building looks like crap and so very not Villa Moda like.

Update: Seems like they won’t be moving…

Dear Mark & Others,

Thank you for your comments and views, they will be duly noted.

On behalf of Villa Moda I would like to announce we will not be moving to Qadsiya location or relocating the warehouse to any other site.

Since moving to the Mubarakiya store we have had a great response from our customers. Enjoying the ability to shop for vintage or previous season merchandise whilst being in a unique environment.

Thank you once again.

I got an email from the Kuwait & Food group on Facebook today and according to the email The Butcher Shop & Grill will be opening in Kuwait soon specifically at The Avenues. I tried it before in Dubai and it was ok (I’m not a steak guy) but I keep hearing that The Meat & Wine Co. is even better.

Picture by Amro ABDOUN

Trader Vic’s and the other two restaurants in Dhiafa Village, Letter D’amour and Don Mario’s are now open from 6PM to midnight.

Update: Here is their reservation number 2475987

While I was in Thailand I spotted the Acer Aspire One at one of the electronic stores. The Aspire One was recently released to compete with the likes of the Eee PC and I think its got a pretty good shot at it. For one thing the Acer is around $150 cheaper, I just checked Amazon and the Aspire One is selling for KD100 which is pretty darn cheap. It also comes in different colors, the one I saw was navy blue but if I was going to get one I would probably get the white one pictured above.

Also today while I was at Carrefour I spotted the MSI Wind which is also competing in the same category. Carrefour had it priced at KD185 but its cheaper on Amazon although its currently out of stock. Here is the link to the Acer Aspire One on Amazon. [Amazon Link]

A bunch of people now have the new iPhone’s here in Kuwait and if you are wondering how to get a hold of one well it seems the easiest solution is eBay. You have two kinds of iPhone 3G’s you can get, you can get the regular locked version which is the one thats being sold in most parts of the world like in the US or you can get the Italian version which at the moment seems to be the only one that is officially unlocked.

The regular locked iPhone 3G is cheaper and sells for anywhere from $700 to $1000. Most users on eBay list them as unlocked iPhones but at the moment thats just not true. If you read the posts carefully they all promise to have the unlocking done a week after purchase… they are basically just waiting for the unlocking software to get released. You can go ahead and buy this version if you want but as of this post you won’t be able to use it in Kuwait at the moment. Very soon though with the next update of the unlocking software Pwnage you should be able to unlock it.

The Italian version is currently the only version available “officially” unlocked. This means if you buy the Italian version of the iPhone you can use it in Kuwait without needing to hack it or anything. This version is available for sale on the regular ebay.com but a larger collection is available on the Italian eBay which is ebay.it. The Italian iPhone sells on average for around $1400 which is pretty expensive but the advantage is that it works in Kuwait without a hitch.

If you’ve got the extra cash it might be a better deal to fly to Italy, spend a night or two there, buy an iPhone and then come back. If you don’t have the extra cash just wait a couple of months and the prices will probably drop down but I doubt they will go down under $500 or $600.

Just found out from q8loco’s blog that there is a new radio station launching in Kuwait called Mix FM 98.4. No one get their hopes up though its an Arabic station so BBC and VOA News are still our only other options over 99.7 for now. [Link]

A few days ago there was a news article that took many by surprise. A young Kuwaiti football player called Ibrahim Al Faresi got signed to a top Italian football team, the problem is no one had heard of him before. Well by sheer coincidence my good friend choowy goowy guy turned out to be friends with Ibrahim and was involved in the organization of the signing event that took place here in Kuwait. So who exactly is Ibrahim Al Faresi?

A couple of years ago Ibrahim was playing football with his friends in front of the Bulgarian embassy here in Kuwait when an employee at the embassy took notice of Ibrahim and told him he should go play football in the Bulgarian league. He offered to help him and hook him up with the right people so Ibrahim decided to take the chance and traveled to Bulgaria where he tried out for a football team and ended up joining them.

After awhile Ibrahim realized he wanted more and so went to the FIFA website and sent an email to a licensed agent so he would be able to travel and play in any club without issues. His new agent took him to England first where he was going to get signed to Crystal Palace F.C. But due to the fact that if you want to play in the English Premiership you need to have a work permit and also need to have played in your countries league at one point, Ibrahim couldn’t join them.

His agent then took him to try out at A.C. Siena in Italy. While there a very famous goalkeeper scout called Senior Silvano who had previously discovered the worlds best goalkeeper Gianluigi “Gigi” Buffon told him not to sign up with A.C. Siena and instead offered to have him trained more so he could get him signed up in a better team. Ibrahim accepted and went and trained under the guidance of Senior. After a short period Senior took him to try out for A.C. Milan and ACF Fiorentina. Fiorentina where right away impressed and instantly offered him a spot on their team.

And thats basically the story of Ibrahim. In a weeks time he is leaving Kuwait and heading to Italy for some medical test and some more training before officially signing for the club. Its a great story and it just goes to show that there are a lot of untapped talents here in Kuwait. I’ve always believed that there are some amazing football players here in Kuwait but I think the football league here is just not as strong as it used to be to draw in these talents. Hopefully this story will prove to be an eyeopener.

Picture from Al Azraq

I had breakfast at Johnny Rockets today and when I came to pay they told me Knet wasn’t working. Now after having lunch at Wasabi I came to pay and they again told me Knet wasn’t working. I am concluding from this that today is not Knet’s best day.

note: I am talking about Knet point of sales not the atm machines.

There is a slight problem with the forum which occurred during a routine server upgrade. I will try to fix the problem as soon as I can but for now the best way is to remove the styling from the page. In Firefox go to View>Page Style>None.

The stylish British cafe Napket is going to open at the Avenues phase 2 before the end of the year. I’ve never tried Napket but I passed by it a few times while in London and the place was packed. supposedly they’ve got amazing sandwiches. Now if only Pret a Manger would open up…