Category: Information

The news segment is on the new speed cameras that have been installed all over Kuwait. I personally found the fact that KTV2 is still alive more interesting. [YouTube]

Thanks Kuwait

Here is a list of the prices for Ramadan buffets at various restaurants. I will add more restaurants to the list as I think of them. If you know any I’ve missed let me know.

Abdel Wahab
Buffet Price: KD8.750
Telephone: 1821000

Al Noukhaza Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD13.950
Telephone: 24757775 or 1823888

Applebee’s
Buffet Set Menu Price: KD6.950
Telephone: 22407536

Assaha Lebanese Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD9
Telephone: 22533377

Cafe Blanc – The Avenues
Buffet Price: KD7.5
Telephone: 22597568

Courtyard by Marriott
Buffet Price: KD9
Telephone: 22997000

Crowne Plaza – Al Ahmadi Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD12.5
Telephone: 24757775

Jumeirah Messilah Beach – Garden Cafe
Buffet Price: KD14
Telephone: 22269666

Jumeirah Messilah Beach – Ghabka
Buffet Price: KD12.5
Telephone: 22269666

JW Marriott
Buffet Price: KD12
Telephone: 22455550

Movenpick – Free Zone – Bays Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD10.900
Telephone: 24610033

Movenpick – Al Bida’a – Breeze Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD14
Telephone: 22253100

Missoni Hotel
Buffet Price: KD14
Telephone: 25770000

Naranj
Buffet Price: KD12
Telephone: 22268666

Paul
Set Menu Price: KD7.250
Telephone: 22597044

Qasr Al-Saraya
Buffet Price: KD7.5
Telephone: 25711101

Ruby Tuesday
Set Menu Price: KD5
Telephone: 22444454

Sakura
All You Can Eat Price: KD12.950 (1st 10 Days of Ramadan)
Buffet Price: KD13.950 (11th day onwards)
Telephone: 24757775 or 1823888

Sheraton
Buffet Price: KD17.250
Telephone: 22422055

Villa Fairouz – The Avenues
Buffet Price: KD11.5
Telephone: 22597200

Zafran
Buffet Price: KD7.5 (KD4 for kids)
Telephone: 25750647

Zahr El Laymoun – 360 Mall
Buffet Price: KD7.5
Telephone: 25309511

Update: Added more restaurants to the list

Ramadan Mubarak everyone. Since Ramadan is starting I wanted to write a post just informing you on Ramadan legal issues:

Working Hours

I am sure you have all noticed the fact that working hours decrease in Ramadan. That’s not just your boss being nice but working hours have to decrease during Ramadan because it’s the law. According to article 64 of Kuwait Labor Law (for the private sector only):

“It is forbidden to allow workers to work for more than 48 hours per week or 8 hours a day, except in such events as are specified in this Law. Working hours during the month of Ramadan shall be equal to 36 hours per week”

A maximum 36 hours a week in Ramdan for a 6 day working week is 6 hours a day (basically a 2 hour discount).

Eating in Public

There is a legislation dedicated for just eating/drinking in public in daytime during Ramadan. The legislation is the smallest I have ever seen and is under law No. 44/1968 if anyone wants to look it up.

Punishment up to KD100 and/or jail for 1 month:
i) for anyone that eats/drinks in public in daytime during Ramadan
ii) for anyone that helps or forces anyone to eat/drink in daytime during Ramadan

Also, a business that is caught serving food/beverages to the public in daytime during Ramadan will be punished by having their place shutdown for 2 months.

Again Ramadan Mubarak to everyone.

Post by Fajer Ahmed – Legal Counsel
Have a Kuwait law related question? Email me at [email protected]

The legal opinions expressed in this post are those of the author Fajer. Opinions expressed by Mark or any other writer on mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com are those of the individual’s and in no way reflect Fajer’s opinion.

1 – Abu Dhabi International Airport
2 – Dubai International Airport
3 – Bahrain International Airport
4 – Doha International Airport
5 – Muscat International Airport
6 – Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport
7 – Kuwait International Airport
8 – Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport
9 – Riyadh King Khalid International Airport
10 – Jeddah King Abdulaziz International Airport

I love Qatar Airways but their Doha airport is just depressingly cramped and crowded all the time. I’d even go as far as saying I prefer Kuwaits Airport. For the list of best airports around the world click [Here]

Note: Image above is of the Kuwait Airport when first constructed. More pictures can be seen [Here] For pictures of the new Kuwait Airport that will hopefully be built one day click [Here]

According to the Skytrax 2013 World Airline Awards, Kuwait Airways is so bad it didn’t even make it into the Top 100 Airlines list. The #1 best airline in the world according to Skytrax is Emirates while the Royal Jordanian Airlines was ranked #100. Below are the Top 10 Airlines in the Middle East for 2013:

1 – Emirates
2 – Qatar Airways
3 – Etihad Airways
4 – Oman Air
5 – Gulf Air
6 – Royal Jordanian Airlines
7 – Saudi Arabia Airlines
8 – Middle East Airlines
9 – Air Arabia
10 – flyDubai

For the list of Top 100 Airlines in the world click [Here]

Kuwait: Continuing its slow climb. Kuwait (9th) rises three spots as its economy grows steadily and outlook remains favorable amid increasing consumer spending and a greater presence of international retailers.

In line with an optimistic economic outlook for 2013, the retail sector is expanding and demand for retail space is growing despite expensive real estate. The country’s largest mall, The Avenues, opened its phase-three extension in 2012, and other developments, such as the Gate Mall, are opening their doors in 2013. The country’s mostly urban and suburban population has high levels of disposable income, and Kuwaitis are drawn to luxury products and high-end concepts. The Avenues’ new extension includes a street area of high-end standalone shops to cater to this luxury demand.

Kuwait is typically the second MENA location (after the UAE) for international brands. International retailers Cheesecake Factory, Victoria’s Secret, and COS entered in 2012 with franchise agreements with Kuwaiti retailer M.H. Alshaya Co. Prada opened its second Kuwait store at The Avenues in early 2013.

While the luxury market remains bright, Kuwait is a difficult environment in sectors with slim margins. In grocery, for example, large and well-established retailers (such as Sultan Center, City Centre, and Casino), expensive retail estate, and limited space for expansion pose obstacles for entry by foreign grocery retailers.

It’s all very interesting but I’m more interested to know where this Casino is located please. [Link]

Arabian Business has a list of top 20 banks in the region and I was expecting NBK to be like in the top 3 but according to them, NBK came in 10th place. The only other Kuwaiti bank in the top 20 was KFH who came in 12th place. Check out the full list [Here]

According to a friend of mine the sinkholes on the King Fahad Highway (40) are being caused by ongoing pipeline projects. They’re micro-tunneling under the 40 passing pipes from one side of the highway to the other and because the ground beneath the road is not stable it’s creating sinkholes [1,2].

A friend of mine called me earlier tonight from Bneider telling me that the road was blocked towards Saudi near the Starbucks rest stop because of a new sinkhole in the road. I found the picture above via the almubarkia blog showing the hole. This is the second sinkhole on the 40 this year, the first one was back in February.

According to the 2013 Global Fire Power Index, Kuwait ranks 63 worldwide in military strength. It’s a low ranking but thats because the index doesn’t take into consideration foreign military support. The highest ranking GCC country is Saudi Arabia in 27th place. Below are some interesting numbers related to Kuwait’s military:

Active Frontline Personnel: 14,500
Tanks: 368
Armored Fighting Vehicles: 932
Total Aircraft: 108
Helicopters: 44
Coastal Craft: 39

For the full ranking list and more details click [Here]

A reader left the comment below under on of the old posts:

I will clear everything at the current moment, this house belongs to my dad’s uncle. In the Late 50′s all four brothers built quite similar houses, 4 of them to be exact, One in Shamiya, Two in Daiya and one in Salmiya (the one posted). Three of them were lived in and the fourth was made a diwaniya (the one in Salmiya). All the houses have been demolished and still are held by the same owners. They were two toned, white and blue. The only one left is in AlDaiya you could visit it, holds the same desgin. The house is not haunted, it was held on a valuable location that at the time it was impossible to forecast how much it was worth. How could people lower the prices of such a land create rumors about it. The family kept away from media and didnt care about any rumors. Since it was a sharp location

So basically the reason the house was vacant for all this time was because it wasn’t being used anymore and the owners were just waiting for the right time to sell it and not because the house was haunted.

While the world is becoming less peaceful, Kuwait moved up a few spots and came in 37th place out of 162 in the most recent Global Peace Index report (Iceland came first). The peace index uses a variety of different stats to generate an overall ranking including:

– Level of organised conflict
– Relations with neighbouring countries
– Level of perceived criminality in society
– Political instability
– Terrorist activity
– Number of homicides per 100,000 people
– Level of violent crime
– Likelihood of violent demonstrations
– Number of jailed population per 100,000 people
– Nuclear and heavy weapons capability
– Ease of access to small arms and light weapons

Amongst our neighboring states Kuwait ranks 3rd behind Qater (19) and UAE (36). For their full findings and stats visit their website [Here]

The new Kuwait University building under construction caught fire again earlier today for the second time this month. Pretty weird.

Thanks Mohsin

The Eight is a new project by Tamdeen that will feature 70 sea view apartments, in-line retail shopping, fine dining, cafes, and drive thru services that vary from financial institutions to fast food restaurants. The Eight is going to be located in Sabah al Salem, West of the Fahaheel express way and adjacent to the sea. Based on the 3D renderings it looks like it’s going to be a mini city of a sort with lots of stores and restaurants surrounding the apartment block. Check out all the pictures and more information [Here]

*VIDEO REMOVED*

According to a TorrentFreak user, it seems theres currently a phishing scam which tries to fool local internet users into thinking the MOI has blocked their IPs for illegally downloading torrents. The scam tries to get users to pay to remove the pop up warning which will take up the full computer screen and block the user from performing any task on the computer. The scam takes over the computer through a malware so if your computer is virus free or if you use a Mac you’re most likely safe. You can watch the video above showing the scam or click on the following link for more information [Link]

Thanks Quintin

Update: Video was removed since it was no longer playing