Category: Information

Nat’s MacBook Pro arrived to Kuwait but got held up in customs so today I woke up early and headed to the cargo terminal outside the airport to clear it. I was expecting the process to be long and difficult but surprisingly it was pretty easy. The hardest part was knowing where to go first after that everyone just points you in the direction you have to go next. These are the steps I had to take, click on the map for a larger version:

1) I headed to the NAS building (National Aviation Service)
2) Once you go up the steps into the NAS building you will be greeted by a security desk where you have to exchange your civil ID card for a pass
3) You then have to walk through the cargo bay and head to the back offices
4) Once you enter the office head to the counter marked on the map. I paid KD3 here.
5) After paying the KD3 fee and getting a print out I was sent to an adjacent window to get another stamp
6) I then had to go back to the cargo bay where I gave my papers to a worker who went and got my package from inside their warehouse. Once the package comes out a customs officer has to check it. After checking, the package was taken away again and I got another paper which I needed to take to the building across from NAS.
7) When I entered the building across from NAS I headed to a window at the far end corner where I presented my papers. I had to buy a stamp for KD1.
8) After getting another paper with the stamp I had to go to the window in front of him where I handed in my papers and paid KD1.
9) I then headed back to the NAS offices and back to the window on the far end where my paper was stamped one more time.
10) I then had to take that paper into the cargo area and get another stamp from this small desk in the middle.
11) They sent me to a window in front of them where I got another paper printed out
12) I finally went back to the middle desk where I got my last stamp and they told me to pick up my package.

All in all it took me around an hour to clear my MacBook Pro and only paid KD5 in total. Now that I know what I have to do I think I could clear a package a lot quicker next time around. Everyone there was pretty helpful and it was very crowded. I was there around 9:30-10 but the earlier the better I guess.

A full list of local online stores. I will keep updating this post in the future whenever I find something new.

All in One
7arai
Kuwait Mall

Books
Ketaaby
Q8 Book Shop

Cars, Bikes and Boats
GCC Motors
Gulf Ride
Kuwait Cars
Q8 Boom
Q8 Car
Q8 HP
Q8 Showroom
Q8 RPM
Sell 11
Seyayer

Computers & Electronics
Click N’ Buy
Q8 Cost

Dessert
Dessert Kuwait
Choco Bite
Choowy Goowy
Little Treats
Pop Up

Fashion
3arabana
7ata 7eet
CASHART
Catalog Express
Catalog Plus
H&H Fashion
Fashion Addicts
La Merletto
Nafnofy
Nizaka
Oleana Boutique
Pink Moon Boutique
Powder Talk
Pret-A-Souk
Q8 Fasion
Raveena
She Style
Verona

Flowers
Q8 Flowers
Ward Q8

Food
6alabat
I Eat Online

Supermarket
Dekkany
Food Kuwait
Taw9eel

Thanks Half.Dead

Just updated the blog to WordPress version 2.5 and so far I’m loving it!

The owner of Slider Station just posted the following comment under the Slider Station burger review:

mark i’m gonna make this burger a bit more accessible to readers. All mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com readers could get the black widow for 8.5 KD till July 31st. All they have to do is mention the site when they order.

Thats definitely a good deal (as in better than KD11.750) especially if you are curious to try what probably is the most expensive burger in Kuwait. If you haven’t read my Black Widow review yet here is the [Link]

Effective March 31st U Shop We Ship will have a new address in the States and all shipments must be addressed to:

Inter-World Express Services
283 Hendrickson Ave
Lynbrook, NY 11563
Tel: (516)724-7421

I passed by the Panasonic dealer in Salmiya (Easa Husain Al-Yousifi & Sons Co.) and noticed they are selling the Pleo Dinosaur. They’re selling it for KD129 which is around KD50 more expensive than Amazon. If you don’t know what the Pleo Dinosaur is its basically a robot dinosaur that can see, feel and grow (mentally). Its extremely cute and intelligent, if I didn’t think my dog Geo would eat it I would have already gotten one. You can check it out in action on the Pleo website, just click on discover once you get there. [Link]

Today I passed by Abyat to get a sneak peek. They officially open on the 18th but I’ve got a friend who works there and he told me I could pass by any time to check it out. Although the store isn’t 100% complete yet I did leave feeling very impressed. Compared to Alghanim’s Platform, Abyat is exactly 3 times as big and so have a lot more items. I will be going back there for sure once they launch since I found a couple of items I needed. I took a bunch of shots which you can check out below by clicking on continue.

Someone sent me a PDF document by Areva, a nuclear power generation solution provider, and inside the PDF it says that Kuwait has an order for one nuclear power plant. I guess this is how Kuwait will be solving its power shortages. Here is the PDF [Link]

Thanks Tim

I just read on another blog that the Borders bookstore is opening up at The Avenues. I hope this information is true. By the way is there anything that isn’t opening up at The Avenues? I don’t read a lot of books but I do read a lot of magazines and I find the lack of selection in Kuwait disappointing. I mean you have more magazines about surfing than you do on motorbikes, who’s the genius behind that? [Link]

There will be a charity carnival tomorrow (Thursday, March 6th) titled “Finding Neverland” and it will be held at AlShaab Theme Park. All the profits from the event will go to Kuwaiti people in need. Check out the flyer for more details. [Flyer]

What do they have in common? Well yesterday I was sitting with the creative director of FutureBrand who designed the Zain identity and it turns he also designed the Bvlgari logo. Now that’s pretty cool.

Update: FutureBrand are one of the leading branding agencies in the world, I think they are in the top 3 or top 5.

According to one blog reader, it seems Alshaya are not the ones who will be relaunching Arby’s and Wendy’s but they are planning on launching Red Lobster in the phase 2 of Avenues. Not as cool as Arby’s or Wendy’s but still cool.

I passed by Abyat Megastore awhile ago and it hasn’t opened. Although the soft launch is today no one is allowed into the store. You need to be invited and accompanied by an Abyat employee to be let into the place. So if you are planning on checking out Abyat for the moment it’s not possible, you need to wait for the full launch of the store.

Abyat the super large home improvement store is supposedly soft launching tomorrow. I hope thats true because its supposed to be wayyy bigger and better than Platform which really sucked. I was going to pass by the BOSCH dealer tomorrow to pick up a Dremel but I guess I will pass by Abyat first just to see what they have.

Thanks Big Pearls

Update: Fixed the Abyat website link. [Link]

Update2: Just got back from Abyat, the security guard wouldn’t let me into the parking lot and when I asked him if they had opened he told me no. BUT, I just got an email from their customer relations telling me the soft launch IS today so I don’t know, they seem to have some miscommunication…

Every now and then a local company revamps their identity and the end result turns out to be great but that doesn’t happen too often. Most of the time the new identity turns out to be crap and it pisses me off. Salhia released a new identity last month and I have to say, I love it! Ever since I saw it I’ve been compelled to write about it but only just now did I manage to find the website with the new logo. When I first saw the logo I didn’t think it matched the atmosphere of the “Salhia Complex” but after reading their press release I realized the new logo replaces the Salhia Real Estate Company logo not the Salhia Complex logo. That makes a lot more sense since Salhia Complex is a lot warmer in reality while the new logo is colder and more corporate. Anyone know the agency behind this rebranding? [Link]