Category: Information

So yesterday was my day off. I didn’t go in to work or do any posting, instead I decided to stay home with Nat who was still exhausted from her evacuation. Thanks to everyone who left comments welcoming her, she will most probably post about her experience today. One thing I realized is that leaving Lebanon isn’t a problem, its the Syrian airport that is.

According to a Kuwaiti lady Nat spoke to at the Damascus airport, it seems some Kuwaitis are really pissed off at the Kuwait embassy. According to that lady, the Kuwaiti embassy dropped them off at the airport with the promise they would be able to find a plane back to Kuwait but she had been in the airport for 2 day and she still is on the waiting list. There are also no representatives from the Kuwaiti embassy at the airport either, they were just dropped off and left alone. Hopefully the lady is back in Kuwait now and that there are no more people stuck like that at the airport.

update: just spoke to a friend who arrived yesterday from Damascus. She told me that she was able to get on an earlier Jazeera flight because they has 16 seats free so I guess there shouldn’t be any more Kuwaitis stuck waiting for a vacant seat.

As I mentioned earlier today Nat arrived at the Damascus airport around 1:40PM. Her flight takes off at 9PM so she wasn’t able to check in until after 7PM. I spoke to her on the phone and she told me the airport is a disaster. Its understaffed, overcrowded and it seems like there is no AC even. She told me a lot of Gulf nationals were panicking and having nervous breakdowns and that the situation at the airport is unbearable.

Lebanese prisoners in Israel: 4
Civilians killed in past 3 days: 60
Civilians wounded in past 3 days: 170
Value of damages: Seven billion dollars

Lebanese prisoners in Syria: Hundreds

Sources: [1] [2] [3]

You really have to owe it to these guys, they have done an amazing job so far.

Jazeera Airways is ready to fly travelers with tickets from other airlines to return to Kuwait at NO cost. Travelers must report to Jazeera Airways’ Damascus office with their tickets

Jazeera Airways accepts Kuwaitis with NO tickets at NO cost, with letter from Kuwait Embassy in Damascus

All Beirut flights re-routed to Damascus for 7 days (until July 21). Booked travelers have the option of flying to Damascus (or flying from Damascus to Kuwait), or canceling their flight and receiving credit in the amount of their ticket to be used to any Jazeera Airways destination within 12 months

[Link]

I purchased Nats ticket with my Jazeera account so they just sent me the following message:

We hope you are safe. Beirut airport is closed. You can travel via Damascus, or cancel and receive credit for future travel. Call 4338540 for more info.

Ok, this is a strange turn of events. Flickr is now no longer blocked by Fasttelco!

I just called FT now to find out why Flickr was blocked. According to the technical support person I spoke to, “Flickr is blocked because it contains links to adult content”.

So for FT users you have to continue using the following IP to access the site: https://68.142.214.24/

Since I just got the Nano I figured I should post an update on my experience with U Shop We Ship so far. I first posted about them back in March and have been using them since. Right after my first package got delievered by USWS I stopped using Aramex because the difference is night and day.

I have received 9 packages so far all via USWS and all without any problems. Other USWS users who have been posting in the forum also have been experiencing the same great service. The online payment system makes life extremely easy, and their shipping is very fast. Currently for a limited time they are shipping packages to Kuwait the same day they arrive to your US mailbox at no extra charge. Thats the coolest thing and I hope it they keep it like that. Another cool thing is the minute your package arrives in the mailbox you get an SMS telling you the package has arrived int he mailbox and whats in the package. For example I got an SMS a few days ago telling me an iPod Nano has arrived to my mailbox. This is a lot more practical compared to Aramex who would just state that I received a package from Amazon. You also get another SMS once the package ships from the mailbox and they even include the tracking number. Finally, their phoneline has NEVER been busy so far (4724673) and the customer support girl is always very helpful and cheerful.

Anyway if you haven’t signed up yet now is a good time since they have the shipping everyday offer going. [Link]

They are opening a branch in Salmiya near the gas station on the Gulf Road near where ShowBiz used to be. This means they will finally start delivering in my area.

This article I am linking to talks about the art of one carry on and gives tips on how to travel light. Its in response to Marzouqs British Airways post on how they recently decreased their baggage weight limit from 32KG down to 23KG. Jazeera Airways travellers have already mastered the technique of light travel since Jazeera allows only 20KG of baggage weight. [Link]

I figured this is a good time to post this link since many people are travelling. Seat Guru is the ultimate source for airplane seating, in-flight amenities and airline information.

Say you are flying with KLM on their 747 jet and you reserved seat row 30A and want to know if you made the right decision. With Seat Guru you would know you didn’t since they have that seat marked as “Be aware”. On the other hand seat 35C is marked as a “Good seat”. Flying Lufthansa on their Airbus A340? Lucky you since you will have internet access plus if you are seated in either business or first class you get your own power port.

Very helpful info. [Link]

The blog is only a month old but already has some cool hacks including my favorite the audiophile cabinet. [Link]

I have seen a whole bunch of different devices but this one beats them all. Best of all its very affordable. [Link]

Just loaded up the Watani Online page and noticed a banner stating WOL now supports Firefox. Finally! [Link]

zMacShop just emailed me a list of prices of some of their products.
Here they are:

iPod Video 60GB – KD130 KD138
iPod Video 30GB – KD115
iPod Nano 4GB – KD85
iPod Nano 2GB – KD75
iPod Nano 1GB – KD55

MacBook Pro 17inch – KD975
MacBook Pro 15inch (2.16Ghz) – KD890
MacBook White (2Ghz) – KD490