Category: Information

Last week I posted about how a tall metal fence was being constructed around Kuwait’s Constitution Monument. Well a reader who I presume is somehow connected to the project left a comment explaining why the decision to erect a fence was made:

Initially the monument and the garden hosting it were supposed to be opened to the public, as the garden was designed to tell a story, the story of the state of Kuwait before and after the constitution. The side of the garden as you enter it from the Tijaria tower represents the past, you`ll see only desert plants arranged in randomly and in groups, planted in sand, representing the tribes scattered over the deserted area of the country. Once you pass trough the monument, which represents the Kuwait Constitution (and which is actually built from titanium plates electroplated with bronze and the bronze blocks you see on the monument are representing the articles of the constitution, one block for each article) you enter the garden representing the present, on the right, and the future on the left. The fountain to the right has few vertical sprinklers representing the oil-wells. The flowers are representing the people of Kuwait (diversity of flowers for diversity of people) and a stream of water that goes to the roots of the monument is the symbol of the will of the people feeding/changing the constitution according to the modern needs. The left side has a mirror fountain, still water, beautiful flowers; is the future of Kuwait.

This is how the park was designed/imagined by the architect.

All those olive trees were brought from Italy and carefully selected to look almost the same in shape and height. Flowers have been brought from outside most of them. The marble used for pathways is also from Italy.

A lot of work/expensive materials/money have been invested in this project. It was supposed to be a place for leisure/ relaxation.

Few days after it was inaugurated flowers/plants were uprooted, stones and plants thrown in the water olive trees with broken branches and the disaster continued. Two times the plants/flowers were replanted with the same effect on people (uneducated / unsupervised kids mostly).

As so.. the decision to place a fence around this area has been taken very easy. This fence will be in place until the second phase of the project (rehabilitation of the entire park) will start/finish.
In conclusion, THAT fence is there because of the people (not drawing a conclusion that all people are the same so don`t jump with lame comments, who wants to understand what i mean will understand; see Mark`s article related to the Zoo) not because someone wanted to stop access of the people to the park. Hopefully one day will be open for everyone to see and admire.

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Thanks Phoenix

With all the gun control talk that’s currently taking place in the States right now I thought this little bit of information was interesting. According to gunpolicy.org, the rate of private gun ownership in Kuwait is 24.82 firearms per 100 people. When I first heard that figure it sounded like a lot until I realized the rate in the US in comparison is 88.8 firearms per 100 people. But, confusingly, the rate of private gun ownership in Lebanon is just 21 per 100 people.

You can get a lot more information on gun numbers in Kuwait along with more facts and figures by checking the following [Link]

Kuwait has the 4th highest average price per minute for voice calls in the Arab world and the highest among GCC countries. Lebanon on the other hand is in 1st place with the highest average price per minute while Egypt has the lowest prices. Check out the full graph [Here]

via BlogBaladi

Strange subject I know but the bathrooms at The Prestige section of Avenues Phase III are probably the nicest bathrooms I’ve ever seen in any mall. Every stall is a bathroom by itself with its own sink, bidet, large mirror and of course the toilet. They’re clean and I don’t think get much foot traffic unlike all the other bathrooms in Avenues which are generally horrible (but still way better than Souk Sharq and Marina Mall). So if you’re ever at The Avenues and want to use the bathroom, head to The Prestige ones.

A couple of weeks back I was walking in Avenues Phase III when suddenly I smelled something incredibly good. I followed the smell all the way inside the Williams-Sonoma store to a pot sitting behind the checkout counter. I asked one of the employees about the smell and she was extremely helpful, like she went into their store room and brought out all the ingredients to show me kind of helpful. She told me it was basically just a crockpot (rice cooker/slow cooker) filled with water and had the following ingredients boiling inside:

– 2 sliced oranges
– 2 chopped apples
– 2 sticks of cinnamon
– 3 teaspoons of cinnamon powder

So last night I passed by Kenwood (Jashanmal in Kuwait City) and picked up a crockpot along with all the ingredients I needed from the supermarket. I found crockpots that were as cheap as KD5 at Xcite but they only had crockpots in white while I wanted a black one. The Kenwood dealer didn’t have a black one either but I ended up getting the stainless steel version pictured above which looked pretty cool but also cost around KD15.

All you do is add the ingredients with water into the pot and then just wait until the water boils and your house fills up with an incredible aroma. My apartment now smells like I’ve been baking apple pies all day long and I love it.

Does anyone know of a company that specializes in cleaning and sanitizing mattresses and furniture from dust mites and other bacteria? I have a friend that’s allergic to them and I knew of one company that specialized in this called Green Cleaners Company but they shut down awhile back.

Over a year ago the owner of 965 Flowers contacted me wanting me to write about his website. It’s basically a website similar to 6alabat except instead of ordering food you order flowers. I’m not a flower kind of guy so the website really didn’t interest me at all. I then kept getting emails from him every few months and even phone calls but I still wasn’t interested and it was kind of getting annoying. But, one thing he did achieve was implant the website into my head so I wouldn’t forget it.

Finally the day came where I needed to send flowers and 965flowers.com popped into my head. The website has 10 flower shops listed which combined means I had hundreds of different flower options to choose from with a lot of different prices. After painstakingly hunting through all the thumbnails I finally found what I wanted and ordered it. I placed the order around 9AM and asked it to be delivered between 11AM and 2PM of the same day. At 12:18PM I get a confirmation email telling me the flowers were delivered.

So yeah it works and I thought it was easy to use and practical. Only thing I would have liked is the ability to view all the flowers from all the stores on one page since it was pretty annoying going into every store one by one and then flipping through pages and pages of thumbnails. Other than that I had no issues at all.

Here is the link to the website if you want to check it out. [Link]

Update: Based on my feedback they’ve now added the option to view all the flowers from all the store at the same time, but you’re still limited to viewing just 15 thumbnails at once.

Aramex have yet again increased their shipping prices. The first half kilo is now KD3.250 when it used to be KD3.150 and each additional half kg is now KD2.750 compared to 2.650 last year. I’ve noticed they no longer even try to explain the price increases anymore. [Source]

A fire took place late last night at Souk Mubarkiya. I don’t have any info on it just the pictures I was sent which I’ve attached to this post. Judging by these two photos the fire damage looks pretty extensive.

Update: Kuwait Times have published more details on the fire. It started around 9AM yesterday (Tuesday 1/1/2013) and it engulfed around 35 shops. [Link]

Gallup measured positive emotions in 148 countries and areas using the following five questions:

– Did you feel well-rested yesterday?
– Where you treated with respect all day yesterday?
– Did you smile or laugh a lot yesterday?
– Did you lear or do something interesting yesterday?
– Did you experience the following feelings during a lot of the day yesterday? How about enjoyment?

The percentage in Kuwait who answered yes to all the questions above was 79% placing Kuwait in 17th place. Impressive. [Link]

Thanks Othman

I got an email from a reader saying that KDD products are now available at the Qurtuba Co-op. Only at the Qurtuba Co-op and not any other Co-ops as of this post. Usually the Co-ops are all united with their decisions but it seems there is some sort of internal conflict taking place right now and the Qurtuba Co-op was the first one to breakaway from the Co-ops KDD boycott and put KDD back on the shelves. I’m curious to see where this is going.

Thanks Kuwait Lover

It’s pretty impressive that a company founded back in 1889 still exists today and is considered one of the most innovative and creative companies in their field. Nintendo has survived throughout these years not by sheer luck, but by being able to adapt to markets and get ahead of the game. Nintendo didn’t always make video games – it started out making playing cards and when that business was waning the CEO of the time Hiroshi Yamauchis decided to move into other businesses like instant noodles, a taxi company, and even a TV network. Eventually, Nintendo made its way in the video game business and released the NES; 27 years later, Nintendo has finally released its sixth console, the Wii U.

Nintendo’s philosophy has never been about creating the most powerful console with the best graphics, but to create a console that anyone could enjoy, developers could create fun games for, and is affordable. They constantly try to innovate without going overboard. The Nintendo 64 was the first console to introduce analogue sticks and 4 player controller ports right out of the box that competitors adapted in the future. We’re seeing similar advancements with motion controls that Nintendo introduced with the Wii and now Nintendo has taken another step forward by introducing the Wii U and the Game Pad.

Mark was able to hook me up with a Wii U from X-cite to review and I got the chance to test it out by playing Super Mario Bros U, ZombiU, Nintendo Land and Batman Arkham City.

The first thing I was curious about was Nintendo’s new social network called the Miiverse and so far it’s been informative, entertaining, and pretty promising. For those who don’t know, the Miiverse is where you interact with other Wii U users through a community for every app or game out for the Wii U. So if you want to discuss some Youtube videos, you can go to the Youtube community and post about it there and other users can reply or give you a “Yeah!” (equivalent to a Facebook “Like”). If you want to discuss a specific game and you’re unsure about buying it, you can go to that game’s community and ask them about it. Other times, people will draw some really elaborate drawings using the Wii U’s gamepad and the community walls turn into a temporary art exhibit. And it works well – comments are posted instantly without delay. People will comment and try to solve things. For example, I was going through the ZombiU community and found a thread with over 25 comments of gamers trying to decipher some code someone found spray-painted on a wall in the game. I wouldn’t be surprised if communities like this sprang up in the next iteration of consoles Microsoft and Sony release.

I never got to call the Baladiya hotline about the garbage issue behind my building since mysteriously the garbage was cleaned up and the garbage dumpsters brought back. But, a reader called 139 to complain about the garbage situation near his building and it got sorted out very quickly (picture above).

So if your neihborhood has a garbage problem call the Baladiya on 139 and they’ll get the mess sorted right away. Very impressive.

Thanks Mathai

I was invited to pass by Magnolia Bakery today for a sneak peek and while there I met with Bobbie Lloyd, the president and operating partner who filled me in on the brands history as well as what’s in store for the Kuwait location. The Kuwait store will be the 10th Magnolia Bakery in the world with seven branches located in the US, one in Dubai and one that recently opened in Beirut. If you live in Doha you’ll be pleased to know Magnolia will be opening there next month as well.

Those of you who know Magnolia Bakery will notice one big difference with the Kuwait location and that is they’ll be serving savory dishes like pasta and sandwiches alongside their desserts. This will be the first Magnolia Bakery branch that will be serving savories with the second being the Beirut location.

While getting a tour of the location I was asked if I wanted to ice a cupcake. Since I’m a klutz and I didn’t want to embarrass myself I politely said no but they insisted I give it a shot. After a short lesson I was handed a bucket of icing, a cupcake and a spatula. Even though the Magnolia Bakery staff make icing look really easy I knew it wasn’t going to be but I gave it my best and my cupcake actually didn’t turn out THAT bad.

Magnolia Bakery is located on the mezzanine floor of Hamra Tower and will be opening up this coming Wednesday. If you want to find out more about the brand you can visit their website [Here]