Category: Information

Yesterday I had a meeting with TAP, (the local electronic payment company) since they wanted to let me know of some new things they’ll be introducing in a couple a months time. I can’t disclose any of it for now but while meeting with them I did manage to get some details on their current services. To be truthful, I wasn’t a fan of TAP before my meeting and that’s mostly because of the ridiculous no desktop browser rule they had in place. Basically on more than one occasion when I wanted to pay for an item using their service, the link the seller provided wouldn’t work from my computer. Turned out their service would only work when using a mobile phone browser and I thought that was the dumbest thing ever. There was no technical reason for it, they just decided not to allow people on desktops from using their service. Not very practical especially when I would link to workshops on my event page that required TAP payments. Thankfully, this annoyance will be solved with their upcoming updates.

With that rant out of the way, what I wanted to write about in this post is how their payment system is actually really great for home and small businesses in Kuwait. When I was starting a company and wanted to setup a payment system for an online store, the fees involved were ridiculous. Firstly you needed to be an officially registered business which means home businesses couldn’t setup an online payment system. Secondly the cost involved was just too high, depending on the bank you would pay a setup fee of around KD750 (KD1,000 in some cases), then a monthly fee ranging from KD25 to KD50 depending on the bank and then on top of that a charge per transaction, 1% for debit cards and 3% for credit cards. So if you’re just starting up those fees could be pretty brutal.

TAP on the other hand offer two services for home and small businesses and in both services you do not have to be an officially registered business.

GoCollect
The first service is called GoCollect. Say you have an instagram account and you sell cupcakes out of your home, when someone places an order with you through whatsapp, you would provide them with a link that will send them to the TAP website where they could pay you either with a debit card or credit card. There is no setup fee for this service and you can sign up to it from the TAP website. You could be up and running in less than 24 hours. TAP make their money with transaction fees, they charge 200fils 2.5% per debit card transaction and 3% for credit card transactions. TAP gets your customers money and then deposits it into your account. You don’t have to be dealing with a certain bank either, they work with all local banks.

GoSell
The second service they offer is called GoSell. This is for small businesses that have an online store. Say you’re selling tshirts and you created an online shop using one of the online services like Shopify, Magento, WordPress or whatever, TAP would provide you with a plugin (or API for pros) that would allow you to integrate their payment system with your ecommerce website. They charge around KD300 to set this up for you, maybe a bit less, maybe a bit more depending on the size of your business and then like with GoCollect, they charge 200fils 2.5% per debit card transaction and 3% for credit cards. No monthly fees.

If you’re a home or small business or thinking of starting a business then this is currently the easiest way to setup a payment system. If you want to find out more you can visit their website for more details [Here]

Update: I was informed by TAP to replace the 200fils debit card transaction fee in my post with 2.5% since they don’t have a fix rate. Depending on the size of your business and your negotiation ability the debit card transaction fee could be 200fils, could be 1%, could be 2.5% etc.. it varies

Awhile back I was talking to my friends dad who’s been in Kuwait working on the local infrastructure since the 60s and he told me that when the First Ring Road was originally conceived it was meant to be a loop. I don’t remember the exact conversation but they ran into issues (I think a politician didn’t want a bridge overlooking his property or something along those lines) and the project never got completed. Now the project is back on track and those of you who work in the city have probably noticed a lot of road closures. Last week the road from Dasman roundabout to the First Ring Road was shutdown and dug up and yesterday the Dasman roundabout itself was dissected (pictured below) so construction can start there as well.

I’m going to try and get official pictures of the project but once construction is completed it should look something similar to my drawing on top. I’m guessing as well that once the project is completed you should be able to loop the First Ring Road without stopping at any traffic light so I’m curious to see how they’re planning to connect the current end of the First Ring Road which ends at Souk Mubarakia to the new extension which starts near the Grand Mosque and Kuwait Stock Exchange. I checked the Projects Explorer on the Ministry of Public Works website and according to the information I found there, once this project is completed there will be a total of 5 bridges connecting the current end of the First Ring Road to the start of the First Ring Road. I couldn’t find a completion date nor could I find renderings of how the project will look like also once completed but I’m trying to get my hands on them.

If you have any renderings or more information please share it.

The 2016 Mercer’s Cost of Living Survey was released recently and Kuwait came out pretty low on the MENA list (which is a good thing). The most expensive place to live in the MENA region turned out to be Dubai and the cheapest place to live turned out to be Jeddah.

Top 10 most expensive cities to live in the MENA region:
1- Dubai, UAE
2- Abu Dhabi, UAE
3- Beirut, Lebanon
4- Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
5- Manama, Bahrain
6- Doha, Qatar
7- Cairo, Egypt
8- Muscat, Oman
9- Kuwait City, Kuwait
10- Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Mercer’s survey includes 209 cities across five continents and measures the comparative cost of more than 200 items in each location, including housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods, and entertainment. The survey is designed to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation allowances for their expatriate employees. New York is used as the base city, and all cities are compared against it. Currency movements are measured against the US$. [Source]

The 10 most expensive cities to live in the world are:
1- Hong Kong, Hong Kong
2- Luanda, Angola
3- Zurich, Switzerland
4- Singapore, Singapore
5- Tokyo, Japan
6- Kinshasa, Dem. Rep. of the Congo
7- Shanghai, China
8- Geneva, Switzerland
9- Ndjamena, Chad
10- Beijing, China

If you want to see the full report you need to register on the Mercer website [Here]

via BlogBaladi

4DX auditoriums include high-tech motion seats and special effects including wind, fog, lightning, bubbles, water, rain and scents. These effects work in perfect synchronicity with the action on screen creating the most unmissable and exhilarating cinematic experience yet.

Cinescape is launching 4DX tomorrow with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2. Ticket prices for 4DX films is KD8 which is double the price of regular tickets. According to the Grand Cinemas website they’re also going to be launching 4DX soon.

Not sure if I care for 4DX much, it sounds like a gimmick but I guess I’ll have to try it out at least once before I make up my mind on it.

Thanks ShadowofMath

Yesterday while at my mechanic getting some work done on my Datsun I decided to kill time by exploring the area a bit. For some odd reason there are around a dozen scuba diving shops near my mechanic and in between them was this one store called Alazame that sold outdoor gear. I decided to walk in and check their products out when I noticed they sold NiteCore flashlights. I’ve been wanting to get a new flashlight for awhile now since the one I have I now keep in my Datsun. I had researched a few and had decided on ordering a NiteCore one off Amazon and luckily I hadn’t placed the order yet. Alazame turned out to be the local dealer for the NiteCore brand and their prices are exactly like on Amazon. The two flashlights I had my eye on were the P12 and the MH12, the P12 sells for KD18 and the MH12 for KD24, which are their prices on Amazon not including tax or shipping. I ended up picking up the MH12 and figured I’d post about the place in case anyone is ever googling looking for one of their brands in Kuwait.

Alazame are the dealers for the following popular brands:

Leatherman
Gerber
NiteCore
Jack Wolfskin
Buck Knives
SOG Specialty Knives
Buff Headwear

They have an online store with some of their products and brands which you can order from although it’s not very accurate, the NiteCore P12 for example shows as out of stock but they actually did have it in stock. Still its a good source to check prices out and if it’s something you really want you could always call them and check if they have it in the store. Their website is alazame.com and their phone number is 66322666. If you want to pass by their store then here is their location on [Google Maps]

If you were hoping the American supermarket chain Whole Foods would open in Kuwait one day, well this is the closest thing you’re gonna get. Wholesome Foods is a new supermarket that Saveco have opened up and not only does it have the same name as Whole Foods, it basically has the same interior look and color scheme along with a similar concept (they mostly carry organic and healthy food products).

It’s not a very large place, but it’s two floors and they have a good variety of items you won’t find at other supermarkets. They’re located in Salmiya in The View building where Marks & Spencer is so the place is pretty close to where I live. Since I’m always frustrated with the lack of product range at Sultan I’ll probably be passing by Whole Foods (can we just call it that?) to pick up whatever I can’t find anywhere else.

If you’re wondering about the prices, they’re similar to Saveco. Whole Foods is open daily from 10AM to 1AM and here is their location on [Google Maps]

Truefitt & Hill is the oldest barbershop in the world established back in 1805 in London, and they’re opening their first location in the Middle East here in Kuwait at the Symphony Mall. I hadn’t heard of them until a redditor mentioned them and according to him they’ll be opening up by the end of the year.

There is an interesting discussion in the 248AM Community regarding internet latency in Kuwait. Internet latency is how much time it takes for a packet of data to get from one point to another so for example, from your computer to the website you’re trying to access. When browsing the web though, latency isn’t that important, but when playing video games, latency can make a world of a the difference in gameplay. A FASTtelco employee left some information regarding local internet latency in the discussion which I thought would be interesting to share, so I’ve copied and pasted it below with some minor changes:

—————————————————

In order the get the best latency, first we have to understand the dependencies and the major elements which might effect your latency:

First, the ISP’s are contracted with international providers either by dry routes (land) or through the wet routes (sea). Sometimes it’s a direct IPLC to Europe, and sometime through other destinations. The major difference might result in higher latency, but at the present time, most of the international routes are optimized to provide the best routes, resulting in closer latency ms. So let’s put this factor on the side.

LTE:
Unfortunately, the mobile is a non guaranteed service. It always depends on the load within the closest cell tower and this changes with your geographic location. You will always be getting different ms (ping) depending on how many people are using the same cell tower and the time of day.

Fiber GPON:
This is the most guaranteed service in Kuwait. Usually the latency between the ONT box located in the house to the main point of the ISP is 10-15ms and that’s consider to be the least across all the other internet services. Another factor, we have CAT6 cables connecting between the ONT box and the main router which isn’t the situation in DSL areas (with few exceptions to DSL clients having upgraded their copper cables to CAT6 cabling from the MOC external point to inside the house). The GPON provides stability and FASTtelco does offer the gaming package on the GPON due to the reduction of error factors.

DSL:
The various ISP’s differ in local ms (ping) latency depending on the equipments they use, the different routes and the types of services they have with the MOC. The best way to compare is to test the local ms (between you and your ISP). This will indicate the exact latency which will assist you when conducting the comparison between the different local ISP’s.

When an ISP conducts a test on the clients house, they check the external point, and that’s what’s guaranteed. Meanwhile, the local building cable (copper) is out of the scope. Therefore, a proper cable needs to be in place. Today most of the DSL areas are over 30 years old and so we heavily recommend to replace those old copper cables with CAT6 cables in order to have a much more stable service.

The router also plays a major part with the service and is the last factor that can effect your internet latency.

A friend who’s currently looking for a new home suggested this post. It’s a list of all the real estate websites where you can find an apartment or a house to rent in Kuwait. If you have any which I haven’t listed below then let me know in the comments. Also if you have any experience with any of them, share it in the comments as well since it might help other people.

Real Estate Websites
Al Tijaria
Aqar Real Estate
Asas International Real Estate Co.
Deirah
Hilite Homes
Horizon Q8
KREIC
Kuwait 4 Rent
My Q8 Home
Q8 Realtor
Kuwait Real Estate Directory
The House Box

Other
248AM Classifieds
Expatriates
FindQ8
Just Landed
Mourjan
OLX

Bait Al Arab is another project under the umbrella of Diwan Al Amiri, the same diwan thats responsible for various large local projects like Shaheed Park, the Kuwait Cultural Center and the museums in Shaab. Bait Al Arab (previously called Arabian Horse Center) was originally established back in 1980 and prominently positioned Kuwait on the world’s Arabian Horses map until it’s destruction during the 1990 invasion. Six years after the invasion the members of the Arabian Horse Committee were given the task to re-establish the center by traveling the world and bringing back with them the finest Arabian horses.

Today, Bait Al Arab is committed to supporting private Arabian horse farms in the country by providing stallions and conducting cultural workshops on horse nutrition, breeding, training and veterinary skills. The video above which showcases Bait Al Arab was shared with me by Tamdeen Group who were commissioned to design and develop the project. Several Arabian horse beauty contests have already been held at Bait Al Arab with the most recent one being the International Arabian Horse Festival Kuwait 2016. Check out the video on Bait Al Arab above, or on [YouTube]

Last night I had an Iftar dinner at the Kuwait Towers and to my surprise it wasn’t that bad. Firstly, if you try and get a hold of them via telephone thats not going to happen because I tried calling them for two days over and over to book a table but I couldn’t get a hold of anyone. Not an operator, not their reservation desk, nothing and I tried calling at different times of the day like 12PM, 4PM, 6PM, 8PM etc.. and all with the same results. Luckily when we got there it wasn’t that packed (yes there were people) and we managed to get a table right next to the window.

The interior actually doesn’t look that bad at night since it was nicely lit with not very bright lighting. The service was probably the most impressive thing about the place, the staff there were pretty professional, knew exactly what they were doing and it felt like we were dining at a 5 star hotel restaurant. When it came to the food that was also a lot better than I was expecting (in buffet standards). There were a bunch of different mains to choose from from traditional Arabic ones to more international ones with quite a good selection of seafood, meat and chicken dishes to choose from.

The only issue I had with the whole place was the price. I was expecting the buffet to cost somewhere between KD12 to KD15 per person based on the kind of food that was served but it turned out to be KD19 per person which ties it with Jumeirah for the most expensive Iftar buffet in Kuwait. **UPDATE BELOW** I think they also have the most expensive soft drinks in Kuwait since a can of coke costs KD1.5. You shouldn’t be drinking soft drinks anyway so I guess thats a good preventative measure. I think it’s not a bad place to go to if you’ve got an out of town visitor and if you keep your restaurant bill you’re allowed access to the the Kuwait Towers observation deck for free which is usually a KD3 cost per person. Overall I left impressed.

Update: Ok turns out I can’t calculate for shit nor can my friend. 28 divided by 2 is 14 and not 19. The buffet turned out to be KD14 per person which means its actually not expensive and what I was expecting the buffet to cost.

Light pollution has intensified in the past half-century, increasing about 6% each year in North America and Europe, according to research published using a previous atlas created 15 years ago by the same researchers. That atlas, and the new study, define “light-polluted skies” as having a luminance of 14 or more microcandelas per square meter—about 10% higher than normal night sky brightness levels.

The new atlas shows that now, more than 80% of the world experiences light-polluted night skies, which includes roughly 83% of Earth’s population, and more than 99% of Europeans and Americans. By population, Singapore has the world’s most light-polluted skies, followed by Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates—all densely populated countries. Africa has the dimmest skies; the top 10 least polluted countries are on the continent.

Kuwait’s on a roll… [Link]

Thanks D. Basu

Below are some important Ramadan timings, if you’d like add anything leave it in the comments below.

Banks: 10AM to 1:30PM (Airport 24 hours)
Government: Approx 9:30AM to 2PM
Highway Emergency Lanes: 8AM to 12PM

Cinescape: 9:30PM onwards
GrandCinemas: 2PM onwards

360 Mall: 11AM to 3PM & 8:30PM to 1AM
Avenues Mall: 9AM to 2AM / Stores: 10AM to 4PM and 8PM to 1AM
Gate Mall: 10AM to 4PM & 8PM to 1AM
Marina Mall: 11AM to 4PM & 8:30PM to 1AM
Salhiya: 10:30AM to 2:30PM & 8:30PM – 12:30AM
Souq Sharq: 10:30AM to 12:30AM

Carrefour: 10AM to 2AM
Geant: 9AM to 2AM
LuLu: 9AM to 2AM

A reader sent me a link to a CNN article that talks about NASA flying over South Korea to measure polluted air. The article isn’t that interesting except for the fact that it had a list for “Worst Countries for Air Quality” and Kuwait came in 9th place on that list. How is that possible? Our air quality can’t be THAT bad, I mean it isn’t even something I’ve heard anyone ever complain about. [Link]

Thanks Alex

Every year I try to put together the most comprehensive list possible, of restaurants in Kuwait that have either a Ramadan buffet or set menu. Below is this years list and like always I’ve highlighted the price increases over the previous year in red, and the decreases in green. Check out the full list of places below:

Abdel Wahab
Buffet Price: KD10
Telephone: 1821000

Al Forno
Set Menu Price: KD9.5
Telephone: 22214996 or 22283498

Al Jahra Copthorne Hotel & Resort – Taima’a Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD12 (+2.000)
Telephone: 24590000

Al Noukhaza Restaurant
Buffet Price (Mangaf): KD11.950
Buffet Price (Shaab): KD14.950 (+2.000)
Telephone: 24757775 or 1823888

Al Sanawbar Lebanese Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD9.950 (+1.000)
Telephone: 25756273

Applebee’s
Set Menu Price: KD8
Telephone: 1844466 or 25381481

Assaha Lebanese Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD11
Telephone: 22533377

Avanti Palace
Set Menu Price: KD3.500 (+0.300) – min 4 people
Telephone: 25751081

Baker and Spice
Set Menu Price: KD8.750
Telephone: 22407707

Burj Al-Hamam
Buffet Price: KD12.5
Telephone: 22529095

Cafe Blanc – The Avenues
Buffet Price: TBD (starts mid Ramadan)
Telephone: 22597568

Courtyard by Marriott
Buffet Price: KD13
Telephone: 22997000

Crowne Plaza – Al Ahmadi Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD14 (+1.050)
Telephone: 1848111

Dar Hamad
Buffet Price: KD13.5
Telephone: 22275555

Hilton Resort – Teatro Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD15.500
Telephone: 22256222

Jeans Grill
Buffet Price: KD7.750 (+0.200)
Telephone: 22264503

Jumeirah Messilah Beach – Garden Cafe
Buffet Price: KD19
Telephone: 22269600

JW Marriott
Buffet Price: KD15 (+1.000)
Telephone: 22455550

Katsuya
Set Menu Price: KD12.5 – serves up to 4 people
Telephone: 22283195/6 or 22214985

Kababji
Set Menu Price: KD5.5
Telephone: 1861616

Kosebasi
Set Menu Price: KD7.50 (-2.250)
Telephone: 22251303

Kuwait Towers
Buffet Price: KD14
Telephone: 22081999

La Brasa Argentinian Grill
Buffet Price: KD13
Telephone: 99052419

Leila
Set Menu Price: KD9.5 (+0.500) – min 5 people
Telephone: 22996414

Max Restaurant
Set Menu Price: KD12 – serves up to 4 people
Telephone: 25750647

Millennium Hotel & Convention – Lamar International Restaurant
Set Menu Price: KD14 (+1.000)
Telephone: 22050505

Movenpick – Free Zone – Bays Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD12 (+0.100)
Telephone: 24610033

Movenpick – Al Bida’a – Breeze Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD15 (+1.000)
Telephone: 22253100

Naranj
Buffet Price: KD12.5 (-0.500)
Telephone: 22268666

Palm Palace
Buffet Price: KD8.9
Telephone: 67009575

Paul
Set Menu Price: KD7.950
Telephone: 22208204

Pop A Loop
Set Menu Prices: KD8 to KD14 (5 menus to choose from)
Telephone: 22271439

Qasr Al-Saraya
Buffet Price: KD8.5
Telephone: 25711101

Radisson Blu – Al Bustan Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD14
Telephone: 25673000

Ruby Tuesday
Buffet Price: KD9.950 (+3.000)
Telephone: 22444454

Saladworks
Set Menu Price: KD5
Telephone: 22201888

Sheraton – Coral Tent
Buffet Price: KD17.250
Telephone: 22422055

Swiss BelHotel Plaza – Al Dallah Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD9
Telephone: 22436686

Symphony Style Hotel
Buffet Price: KD11 (-3.000)
Telephone: 25770000

Tallu Hbabna
Buffet Price: KD10
Telephone: 22200325

The Regency Kuwait – Silk Road Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD18
Telephone: 25766880

Vapiano
Set Menu Price: KD5.550 (+0.600)
Telephone: 22597171

Veranda
Set Menu Price: KD12.450 (+0.450)
Telephone: 22283141

Villa Fayrouz
Buffet Price: KD10 (-3.000)
Telephone: 22650052

Zafran
Buffet Price: KD7.5
Telephone: 22285203 or 97281007

Zahr El Laymoun – 360 Mall
Buffet Price: TBD – starts next week
Telephone: 25309511

If you’d like to add a restaurant to the list above [Email Me]

Note: I’ve been adding restaurants to this list as I get emails about them so keep checking the above list for new additions.