If you’ve wanted to know the story of Kuwait’s stock market crash in the 80s, NPR released a short 9 minute podcast about it a few days ago. Here is the description of the podcast:
In the early 1980s, Kuwait’s unofficial stock market — run out of a parking garage on the site of an old camel market — was the third largest in the world, second only to the U.S. and Japan. But then, in an instant, it all came crashing down, plunging Kuwait into a brutal recession that would last for nearly a decade. How is it that a simple financial innovation could create such vast wealth and such devastating chaos? And what can it teach us about the fundamental forces at the heart of modern capitalism?
Today on The Indicator: the story of the Souk al-Manakh and one of the greatest stock bubbles of all time. Source
If you want to listen to it search for “THE INDICATOR FROM PLANET MONEY” podcast in your favorite podcast player or listen to it below.
Here’s a great list for Kuwait to rank high on, the 20 countries where people live the longest. According to a recent report by the World Economic Forum (WEF), Kuwait has the 11th highest life expectancy in the world with an average life expectancy of 70.7 years. Kuwait has the highest life expectancy in the GCC and the second-highest in the Middle East with only Israel ahead in 8th place. Singapore tops the list with the highest expectancy of 74.2 years. Check out the full top 20 list here.
Early this year Kuwait Motor Town (KMT) opened up and started offering track day experiences where drivers can sign up to race their cars around the circuit for fun. It’s a great way to drive your car to its limit while in a safe environment. But if you’ve never taken part in a track day before, it can be a bit intimidating which is why I thought I’d put together a guide. I was lucky enough to have friends who’ve been taking part in track days for years (mostly in Bahrain) so my first time was easier than most. I’ve divided this post up into different sections which I felt were important to highlight:
Registration
KMT usually hosts around 3 to 4 open track car experiences every month during the winter season. They also hold motocross, drag, drift and ATV track experiences as well but I’ll only be talking about the car track days in this post. There are usually around 70-80 car slots available every track day and they fill up really fast as in the same day registration opens up. For example, this past Sunday night KMT opened up registration for January track days and they’re sold out already, two of the days sold out on the same night. The track day fee is KD75 and when new days are available, KMT publishes them on their Instagram account. They sell out so fast its become a habit for me and my friends to book all the days first and then think about it. So the best way to find out when new track days are open is by following @kmtkw on instagram.
Your Car
There are no limitations to what kind of car you can bring to a track day experience as long as its not a single-seater, open-wheel car, or SUV. But, if your car isn’t a sports car I can’t imagine it being any fun anyway. The reality is that everyone on the track is trying to go as fast as possible and if you show up in a 4-door Corolla you’re going to feel very uncomfortable and pressured on the track.
The majority of the cars at the track are usually Porsches. They’re generally great because they can be driven as daily cars while also performing really well on the track. I’ve got a Lotus which I think is great on the track but more importantly, because of its weight doesn’t go through tires and brake pads like there is no tomorrow. It makes tracking a lot more affordable. Because my car was meant to be tracked, I can also stay out a full session on the track without my brakes fading or my car overheating. American cars, on the other hand, don’t tend to do so well on the track, they’re generally fast on straights but don’t handle turns so well and they don’t last very long on the track without having to pit.
KMT is located off of highway 40. I tend to drive my car to the track and back without any issues but I know some guys who prefer to send their car to the track on trailer beds because they aren’t comfortable with the road conditions.
Once you get your car to the track it will have to go through scrutineering. They’ll make sure your car is safe to go on the track and once it passes their checks, they’ll give your a car a track pass. Make sure you don’t have any junk in your car. You’re going to have to empty all the loose items from your car and trunk or else it’s going to be flying around everywhere. You also need to have a tow hook installed to the front and they’ve recently started checking the condition of the tires including the age to make sure they’re in good shape.
Things to Bring with You to the Track
A helmet really is the only thing you need to bring and if you don’t have one, you can rent one at the track. I think the cost for rental is 20 or 25KD but you also need to leave a deposit of around KD75. For food and drinks there is a Starbucks and a Costa at the track as well as a burger place and a dessert place. You can bring your own food and water if you want as well. Some extra things I bring include lip balm, gum, my GoPro and some basic tools (ie. ducktape).
Once You Arrive
When you get to the track you’ll take your car to the scrutineering area first and park your car there. You then enter the building to right of that area and get your registration sticker and wristband. You would have to have already registered and purchased an entry to the track day online beforehand. Registration on the day of the event just involves you signing a waiver and collecting your passes. Once you get your pass you then go back to your car and wait for the scrutineering crew to check your car. After that is done you will be allowed to enter the pit lane.
Drivers are split into two groups, A and B. There isn’t a specific formula from my understanding, it’s not like one group is faster or has more experienced drivers, drivers are just split up randomly. Once you enter the pit lane you can park in any of the empty garages corresponding to your group letter. Once you park your car you can then set up your base for the day. You can empty your car contents and leave your stuff in that garage while you’re out on the track.
Briefing Session and Lead and Follow Laps
Before the track opens up a briefing session is held which is mandatory for every driver to attend. During the briefing session, they will discuss the track rules, explain what all the different colored flags on the side of the track mean and share tips and pointers. This is a good time to ask any questions as well.
After the briefing session, there will be lead and follow laps on the track. This is for drivers to familiarize themselves with the circuit by following a lead car around the track. Nobody is really speeding or racing here, it’s just a fast-paced drive around the track while following the cars in front of you.
On the Track
After the lead and follow sessions are done, the different groups are let out onto the track in 30 minute intervals. So for example, 4PM to 4:30PM is for Group A cars, then 4:30PM to 5PM is Group B, then it’s Group A again, then Group B etc. Although it doesn’t sound like much, 30 minutes is more than enough track time and a lot of the cars can’t really even stay out that long without coming into the pits to cool down.
Out on the track, it can be intimidating with everyone driving as if they’re racing for the championship but as long as you give way to faster moving cars you’ll be fine. Generally, you’re not meant to overtake on turns only on straights so if you see a car behind you that’s faster than you, move out of the way and let them pass.
The more you track the better you will get. One way of improving your driving is by having a more experienced driver sit next to you. In my case, I have friends who are really good drivers and every now and then I’ll have them hop in the car with me and give me tips like in the video above where I was able to shave off around 2 seconds from my fastest lap just by having my friend give me pointers. After that session I understood my weaknesses better and the following track day I improved on my driving even more and managed to break the 2 minute barrier (video below). If you don’t have a friend who can give you tips thats also not an issue. Lotus are sponsoring all the track days this season and they usually have two cars available to drive on the track with a professional driver.
Fuel
Depending on your car you might need to refuel often. There is a small fuel station at the end of the pitlane with Ultra 98 fuel. They only take cash, no Knet. Some guys bring their own fuel to the track that is also ok.
Off the Track
You don’t need to go out on the track every session, you don’t need to start at the beginning of the session either, once it’s your group’s turn you can go out onto the track at any time. It’s a very chill atmosphere, even in the pit garages, everyone is just hanging out. Me and my friends bring our own chairs to sit on while waiting for our next session and I’ve seen guys set up a cozy diwaniya as well. Not everyone there is in groups, you have a lot of guys who come alone so its easy to socialize. There aren’t that many female drivers, there is one whos there at every track day but the other girls I’ve seen at the track are there with their husbands or boyfriends and either chill in the pits or go out onto the track as a passenger.
Any Questions?
So that’s basically it really. I can’t think of anything else to add to the above but in case you have any questions just let me know in the comments below.
If you’re planning on using road 40 this weekend then you might be in for some traffic since they’ll be completely closing off part of the highway near Mishref because they’ll be demolishing a bridge. For those heading to KMT this Saturday for Open Track, might be better to take Fahaheel Expressway instead.
I’ve previously posted about the US Embassy’s Air Quality Index page which shares data on the pollution level around the US Embassy in Bayan. The data most of the time is pretty alarming because of the high level of pollution we generally have which is why it interested me when I found out it’s not that difficult for someone to set up their own air quality sensor.
PurpleAir is an air quality monitoring network where people can purchase an air quality sensor from them for $229 and then set it up near a wifi spot to allow it to measure and share pollution data over their network. As of now there are three sensors located around Kuwait, one at the Kuwait University Khaldiya Campus, one in Mishref (I think that’s my friend’s place) and one at the ArtStudio in Funaitees.
If you want to check the pollution levels around Kuwait then click here.
On the other hand, if you want to purchase your own air quality sensor and be part of this network then click here.
I’ve been driving my Alfa on a daily basis since the weather got cooler a couple of months back. I think I’ve put around 3,000KM mileage on it so far and since it’s a slow post week, I figured I’d post an update on it. I’ve been driving the car like it was meant to be driven 50 years ago when it was built. I’m not really taking it easy on it since it’s a car and really has just one job. And as expected, some parts have started failing on me but I knew that would happen and wanted it to happen so I can swap them with newer parts. Whoever restored the car originally tried to keep as much of the original parts as possible, and I can understand that, but end of the day that’s ok if you’re planning to drive the car once a week but it’s not going to work when daily driving. Here is what’s broken down so far with me which I’ve had to replace:
– Fan belt
– Radiator cap
– Starter motor
– Alternator
– Battery
– Distributor rotor arm
I actually drive around with spare parts in my trunk and my tool kit because “just in case” and yesterday that just in case moment happened. I was leaving Sultan Center at night and the car wouldn’t start. I had a full tank of gas, my starter was fine but the engine wasn’t turning on. I had a theory it might be from the distributor which sends electricity to the spark plugs which ignite the engine and I luckily had a new rotor arm for it in the trunk. After watching a short clip on YouTube on how to change the rotor arm, a few minutes later the car was running fine again.
There really are only so many things that can go wrong in the car since it’s such a basic setup. No fancy electronics, not even a radio, no powered steering or windows, ABS brakes or anything fancy like that. I think right now I’ve basically changed everything that needed or can be changed.
The car is getting a lot of attention which I was expecting since there isn’t another one like it in Kuwait, or at least there isn’t another one being driven on the roads. I’ve had people honk at me and give me a thumbs up, I’ve had people wanting to take photos with it and a bunch of people asking me if it was for sale. Really other than this one blog reader in a new G-Class that nearly ramed into me just to let me know how much he hates my blog, it’s been a very good experience.
I guess the only negative thing about the car is the lack of a radio. At first I liked the idea of not having one, but there is only so much alone time I can spend with my thoughts, plus I’m wayyy behind on all my podcasts and music. I’ve thought about driving around with earphones on but I tried it and it felt weird so I’m now looking into a way of installing a completely hidden sound system under my dashboard so not to mess with the cars interior aestetics.
So overall its been a great experience so far. Car is comfortable enough to drive daily even on our pothole ridden roads which is why I barely drive my two other cars anymore. I hope winter lasts long this year just so I can drive it as much as possible before I have to put it away for the summer.
It’s that time of year again when the Expat Insider list of worst places to live comes out and Kuwait gets named the worst place in the universe for expats. No surprise really, but it’s also not that bad when you compare us to other places you’d think would be much better off. Here are some of the worst cities for expats to live and work:
82 – Kuwait City
81 – Rome
80 – Milan
78 – Paris
77 – San Francisco
76 – Los Angeles
74 – New York
Ummm yeah, so Kuwait is basically like Paris, NY and LA so really, it can’t be that bad right?
For the full data and reasoning behind our poor ranking, click here. You can also check out the Arabian Business article on this here.
Yesterday on Reddit someone published a step by step guide on how to file a complaint against a telecom or ISP in Kuwait and I thought it was important to share here as well. The Redditor probably posted the guide after seeing another post where an Ooredoo customer had the pop up below come up randomly on his phone.
Below are the instructions on how to file a complaint copied and pasted from Reddit but you can still check out the original post and comments here.
First of all, I’m sure many of you have noticed the frequency of spam that you are receiving on your phones. Or the mysterious charges that are being tacked on to your bills.
So in order for all of this to stop is to start reporting such things to CITRA. What is CITRA? It’s the Communication & Information Technology Regulatory Authority in Kuwait. They have been established as the overall authority over all telecoms & info tech in the country. So nothing happens without their say so.
CITRA is staffed by a lot of qualified and knowledgeable people, I have worked side-by-side with them in the past. Even participated in some of the national infrastructure (overhaul) programs that they are introducing.
OK enough of an intro, what you need to do is to report those spam text messages and the illegal usage of the EAS system for advertising. The people receiving those complaints at CITRA do actually investigate each and every one. So go ahead and visit the Complaints Page, then sign up if you haven’t done so already.
Try to provide as much information as possible when filing your complaint, include screenshots/photos where possible.
Give it a few weeks for your complaint to be reviewed then actioned on.
Most of all, don’t worry about any backlash. Nobody is going to come after you and nobody is going to deport you. Telecoms laws were put in place to protect the consumers, so use them to your advantage.
People really need to act and stop these unfair practices by the telecoms in the country.
The Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI) has a section on their website filled with statistics. Below, for example, is their list of the top 10 jobs in Kuwait:
Kuwaitis
1- Inspector of Government Department
2- Other authors (no idea what this is)
3- Military Army
4- Correspondent and passport representative
5- Secretary (Clerk)
6- Accounts Clerk – General
7- Other education specialists
8- Data Entry Device Operator
9- Public Writer
10- His own trade business
Expats
1- Servant
2- Private car driver
3- Ordinary laborer
4- Seller on the market
5- Cleaning worker for buildings and residential buildings
6- Manual cultivation worker
7- Electric worker on high voltage networks
8- Nurse
9- Light transport vehicle driver
10- Correspondents, baggage carriers and other parcels
I don’t think there is anything surprising in the list, I’m just surprised we actually have these lists. The PACI page also has other stats like the oldest ages. The oldest male in Kuwait is 115 years old (Kuwaiti) while the oldest female is 119 years old (also Kuwaiti). The oldest male expat is 113 while the oldest female expat is 118.
The most populous nationalities in Kuwait? They are:
1- India
2- Egypt
3- Bangladesh
4- Philipines
5- Syria
6- Saudi
7- Pakistan
8- Seri Lanka
9- Nepal
10- Jordan
Percentage of workers in the private sector?
4% Kuwaiti – 96% Expats
Last night I got on Carriage and got a pop-up message saying I needed to choose a new Carriage Black plan. There was previously just one option, KD3.5 a month for unlimited deliveries which honestly a too good to be true price and I’ve saved a ton of money because of it. But recently Deliveroo stopped their free delivery promo so Carriage has now updated their Carriage Black pricing structure as well.
The new pricing isn’t bad at all since I order from Carriage daily. I’ll probably go with the KD7.5 a month plan since I rarely order from the grocery section and if I do it’s nothing good, usually chocolates which I should stop ordering anyway. But I will miss the old days when Deliveroo was free and unlimited deliveries on Carriage was just KD3.5 a month.
If you still shoot with 35mm film then you know how difficult it is to find a place that can still develop film and how expensive it is. Previously I’ve recommended Ashkanani in Salmiya as an option but because of the cost of chemicals, they tend to wait until there are multiple film rolls and then batch develop them all together. This means the process could take a week or a month, you never know but they’re also expensive charging KD10+ per roll.
But, a few days ago I was at Souk Al Watiya behind Sheraton Hotel in the city and spotted a small store that still had a 35mm film development machine. The place charges KD2.5 to develop a roll and then 100fils per photo print. This means a roll of 36 shots would cost you around KD6. Not only is it cheaper than Ashkanani but they’ll also develop them quicker for you since they have no problem developing a single roll of film at a time.
If you’re looking for a place to develop film then this is a good alternative to Ashkanani. The store doesn’t have a name but it’s on the ground floor of Souk Al Watiya near one of the exits. Here is the location of the complex on Google Maps.
Not sure if you guys are aware but you can actually use your Knet debit card to purchase stuff from Amazon.com (and other U.S. websites). Your Knet card is actually a Visa debit card and you can plug it into credit card payment forms and it will go through just like a regular credit card except the amount gets deducted right away from your bank account.
The goto hardware store for most people is either Ace or Bin Nisf in Shuwaikh but Jawad AlSaffar (JAS) recently opened a new location and I think it will give them both a run for their money.
The new JAS store has been open for a few months now but I only found out about this new and huge location last week. The new store is located across from the original True Value in Shuwaikh and is composed of two floors. The ground floor has garden stuff, shelves, paint and a large section containing generators, large air compressors and some heavy equipment like mixers, water pumps, ground compactors, and a bunch of other stuff I have no idea what they’re used for.
Once you move down to the basement things get more impressive. Firstly the basement is gigantic but it’s also really well organized. You have the usual areas like the power tools section, hardware tools, paint tools, protective gear, etc.. but in between all these main sections you have very specific areas like the caster wheels section, a section for nails and bolts, a welding area, a ropes section, a car garage equipment section, etc.. just very specific stuff.
The place is much larger than Bin Nisf and also larger than Ace, but I did notice that they didn’t carry any premium brand of hardware tools and some sections like their work lights area seemed lacking compared to Bin Nisf and even Ace Hardware.
If you like hardware stores then you really need to pass by and check out the new Jawad AlSaffar store. They’re open daily from 6:30AM to 10PM except for Fridays when they’re open from 6:30AM till 11:30AM. Here is their location on Google Maps.
Here’s some good news, the ice skating rink will no longer be demolished! After it was decided that the ice skating rink was to be demolished to make way for Al Shaheed Park phase 3, the demolition was canceled thanks to the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL).
The NCCAL determined that the Ice Skating Rink was a national landmark due to it’s historical and cultural value and so cannot be demolished. Al Shaheed Park phase 3 construction will continue without the demolition of the rink.
