I really really really hate Aramex. I stopped using them for my important packages ages ago and instead started using U Shop We Ship who are much better. I now only use my Aramex account for my magazine subscriptions and it seems I can’t even trust them with that anymore. Today I got a package after not getting anything for 2 months and it turns out I have 2 months worth of magazines missing! I have been trying to call them since morning to try and see what happened but their lines are all busy, ALL THE TIME! I can’t understand why people still use Aramex, USWS isn’t perfect, they have their own issues but at least packages get shipped promptly from the US and do arrive in Kuwait on time. Where are my magazines???
Category: Information
Aramex Shop & Ship Problems
So it didn’t get shut down by the ministry, it was just moved into GameWizz.
Can anyone here recommend a good car sound system place. I am looking for a place that has either JL Audio, Bazooka or Rockford Fosgate. I passed by the places in front of Al Raya and they have neither.
Tonight I passed by Sultan Center and noticed they no longer had Indian eggs and instead have replaced them with fresh locally produced eggs by KUPCO selling for a very reasonable KD1 for a tray of 30 eggs. I guess the local egg crisis is nearly over?
The world is ending
Badar Al Badoor increased the price of their Kebab and shawerma sandwiches to 300fils.
Clothing care symbols
A very handy site to bookmark specially if you do your own laundry. [Link]
Saddam’s yacht for sale
And because the former dictator had reason to be paranoid, the boat has bulletproof glass, closed-circuit television, storage space for a large cache of weapons, including heavy machine guns and surface-to-air missiles, and a secret passage that runs the length of the boat for easy access to a fast patrol boat and a mini-submarine pod for emergency exits.
Maybe we could all pitch in and buy the yacht and then take it out to Kubbar where we spend the whole day partying on it. At the end of the night we burn the yacht to symbolize our hatred to Saddam but we keep the mini-submarine since thats just too cool. [Link]
The Local Egg Crisis
The egg crisis in Kuwait is a mix of market forces, bird flu, production issues, feed prices and inaction from government forces. The Kuwait egg market is pretty huge; we consume over a billion eggs a year and we just produce around 40% of that. The rest we have to import from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and India.
Production in the gulf has dropped dramatically this year due to the bird flu epidemic. Kuwait was hit first which led to 6 out of the 8 farms to stop production, cutting our production levels to 15%. These farms have just recently started production and will take another 12 months to reach their full levels.
Saudi Arabia has recently been hit by the bird flu virus which has cut their production. This has also led to Kuwait placing an import ban on Saudi eggs in order to protect our local farms and people.
Due to the high demand from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf countries our other exporters like Jordan and Syria have placed an export ban to keep the remaining eggs in their own country to avoid their own crisis.
The only remaining eggs that we can import are Indian. Indian eggs are considered the cheapest and lowest quality eggs that you can find in the market. They take over a month to arrive from India to Kuwait via container and sometimes not qualified for human consumption. Sadly main supermarkets are marketing them as “fresh eggs”. Fresh eggs are considered by USDA and GCC law as eggs are maximum 3 days old from the farm. Indian eggs are over 30 days old from the farm.
The other factor in the egg crisis is due to feed supply. Since under Kuwaiti law chickens must be fed 100% organic feed without any chemicals, feed additives or meal. This adds up to 70% of the cost of the egg and this year has been a huge increase in feed prices leading the Kuwaiti egg producers to also increase their prices.
They have requested from the government to offer them a subsidy on the feed to reduce their cost, yet the government has not been helpful. Instead the Ministry of Commerce and Kuwait Coop Supermarket Union has been demanding from them to reduce their prices to pre-bird flu and feed increase prices or face being shut out of the supermarkets.
This is of course a guise of “protecting the consumer”, since they are still selling Indian which are over a month old as “fresh” eggs around 1KD when the real cost of Indian eggs is around 400fils. The Coops are making over 250%. Compare this to real fresh Kuwaiti eggs which are just above that price. This is so they can increase their profit margin by cheating the local consumer and leverage the Kuwaiti egg producers to submit to their control.
Other Gulf countries are facing the same shortage in Kuwait, but instead of fighting the local producers they have been offering them support by giving them bigger subsidies and allowing market forces to choose the egg prices.
So support your local egg producer by buying from their official stores in Shuwaik area near the vegetable market. They are offering real fresh eggs and at reasonable prices, and demand for the Coops to bring Kuwaiti eggs back.
Good Granny vs Bad Granny
Dear Students and Staff,
In response to all your questions and inquiries about the Axis of Evil Show, please be advised of the following:
– Tickets for ALL ACK STUDENTS and STAFF are: 30 KD a piece
– Tickets can be purchased Tuesday and Wednesday from 12pm – 4pm at ACK ONLY—no tickets can be purchased after these dates!
– There are only 100 tickets available…buy your tickets early—there will be NO TICKET RESERVATIONS
– Students and Staff must present their ACK ID when purchasing tickets
– Students and Staff may only purchase tickets for themselves
– Tickets for family members can be purchased for 40 KD per ticket
The event will be on:
– December 17th at 6pm (ACK Auditorium)
The night of the event:
– Without your ticket and ID, you will not be permitted entry to the event.
Please note—there will be tight security for this event; Regular ACK Rules and Regulations apply.
Thanks Mr CHoCoLaTe
Mr.CHoCoLaTe sent me the following:
The Axis of Evil Comedy Show is coming to ACK! The 4 American Comedians will be having their show on our campus December 17th at 6 p.m. in the ACK Auditorium.
Ticket Sales will be from Tuesday, December 11th from 11a.m. to 3p.m. and Wednesday, December 12th from 11a.m. to 3p.m.
Price of ticket: For ACK Students with ID presentation: 20 KD
Axis of Evil back in Kuwait
Axis of Evil will be back in Kuwait again on December 16th. It will be held at AUK again there will be two shows. Tickets will go on sale in about a weeks time.
Thanks Reema
Arrival sign departs
I used to like the old Kuwait Airport since I grew up with it but like everything else in Kuwait its being modernized and not in a good way. The new airport is generic looking and doesn’t have the character of the original airport which was designed by one of the most significant architects of the 20th century, Kenzo Tange.
I was at the airport on Friday and noticed they’ve taken out the old retro looking arrival sign and replaced it with this colorful ugly LED panel. I used to really like the retro one and I wonder where it is at the moment, did they just trash it in the junk yard? Anyway if you want to check out old pictures of the Airport when it first opened like the first one in this post click [Here]
If you want to see pictures of other great architecture projects from the 70’s and 80’s check [Here]
I think Kuwait should replace the dangerous lamp posts on the Gulf Road with these flexible and much more safer ones. I posted about this 2 years ago but I didn’t have a video to accompany my post but I just found it now on YouTube so I thought I would share it with everyone. The safer lamp posts cost more but its not like Kuwait is going broke anytime soon. [YouTube]
Here is a link to my original post. [Link]
Nissan GT-R in Kuwait
According to 4thring, the new Nissan GT-R will be on display at the Kuwait International Automobile Exhibition that is being held in Kuwait this month. If its true then it looks like this years motor show will be the best one yet featuring the Nissan GT-R, Spyker cars and the BMW concept car, the CS.