Category: Information

There are two promotions I know about that basically involve you not doing anything different from your usual routine and yet get entered in a draw to win a prize. One promotion is for Alfa the other is for NBK.

Alfa Gas Stations
Friday I passed by the Alfa gas station on the Gulf Road to fill up and noticed they had mascots, clowns and loud music playing. I thought it was EXTREMELY annoying since all I wanted to do was drive in, fill up gas and leave but instead I was greeted with a long queue of cars stopping to find out what all the commotion was about and parents with kids stopping so they could see the clowns. Some guy approached me to give me a flyer but since I was pissed off at the traffic they had created I didn’t even care what the promotion was about.

Yesterday on my way home from work I passed by to fill up again but this time asked about the offer and it turned out to be pretty good. Basically fill up like you regularly do and get a receipt. Every receipt has a code which you SMS to a specific number and every week you will have a chance to win a bunch of prizes including a car, iPhone and iPad’s. I thought that was pretty easy to take part in. [Details]

NBK
The second promotion is for NBK and is also very easy to participate in. All you need to do is use Watani Online and that’s it. Just by using it you’ll have a chance to win KD1,000 every week. Simple as that. [Details]

If you know of other promotions that are currently taking place and also as easy to take part in, mention it in the comments below.

Note: Full disclosure, NBK is my agencies client but I am posting about their offer on my own accord.

Credit ratings for every country around the world including Kuwait. Our rating is AA which is similar to the US. [Link]

A reader sent me a link to an article in Al Qabas newspaper which you can read below:

Basically what the article says is that the His Highness the Amir found out about the old photographer and has given instructions to have him taken care of, giving him whatever he needs. Isn’t that just the coolest thing ever!

Thanks Tannous

I found out about this yesterday and I think it’s a great idea. The 3 Club along with Viva are launching a campaign to collect a thousand pairs of wearable running shoes from now till the end of Ramadan. Once all the running shoes is collected they will be sending them to Africa and given to people who really need them. So if you have sneakers lying around you don’t wear anymore (I know I do), then follow the instructions below.

For more information check out the The 3 Club blog [Here]

The donation boxes as of now are currently located in the following locations:

Extreme Sports – Tilal and Salmiya
Viva HQ – Salmiya
Lashes Salon for ladies – Yarmouk
Baking Tray – Kuwait City
Tatami – Kuwait City
AUK – Salmiya
ACK – Mishref

The new NBK iPhone and iPad app is finally out. I’ve actually had the demo version of the app for a few months now but I couldn’t show anyone or say anything since I had signed a non-disclosure agreement. The new app is way better than their previous one as you can clearly see by the options and features available. If you want to download it just search for NBK in the app store or click [Here]

Last month I posted about a recently graduated high school student who decided to start a campaign called “Be Aware” to raise awareness on mental health issues. Well they’ve now put together a video for their campaign which you can watch above. [YouTube]

Website: www.beaware-campaign.org
Facebook: facebook.com/BeAware.EndTheStigma

LoYac will be holding their Summer Program Expo tomorrow (Saturday) at 360 Mall. They will be having a bunch of different activities including a performance by DJ Miro from Marina FM, a performance by a Flamenco Band, a singing performance by Eisa Al Marzouq, Poetry, an acoustic guitar performance, break dancing and Nagy Souraty theatrical performance with LoYAC students in addition to booths for the different departments showcasing their work.

Date: Saturday, July 30th 2011
Location: Exhibition Hall, 360 Mall
Time: 4:00pm to 9:00pm

The Kuwait National Planetarium is one of those things that not a lot of people know too much about. I personally like the planetarium for two reasons, the first is because it’s located in the Kuwait National Museum which is a must see. Most of the museum is closed because it was never repaired after the Iraqi invasion but even so I love going there and remembering how beautiful it was back in the 80’s. It also looks a bit creepy at night all burnt and abandoned which can also be nice in it’s little weird way. The second reason I like the planetarium is because it’s actually interesting and well taken care of. Since not a lot of people go there the place is in great shape and the tech is pretty up to date since it only got rebuilt around 10 years ago and just recently they installed a new projection system.

They’re open Monday to Saturday with morning and afternoon shows at the following timings:

Morning Shows
9:30 / 10:30 / 11:30 / 12:00

Afternoon Shows
5:00 / 5:45 / 6:30

No morning shows on Friday. Saturday mornings shows are at 9:30 and 10:30 only. Sundays they’re closed. For more information you can call them on 22451195 and 22456534 The entrance is free!

Here is the location on [Google Maps]

Information and photos collected from Mathai and My Travels, My Experiences.

Remember the old photographer who I posted about last year? In case you don’t, he was an old man who came to Kuwait over 50 years ago and became a photographer. He was pretty lonely and depressed when I met him but with the help of my readers we were able to make his dream come true and send him to Hajj. Well I just found out Al Qabas newspaper have a full page spread about him in today’s issue (Thursday 21, 2011) which is pretty amazing!

So pick up the newspaper if you can and read about the old man’s life journey or you download the PDF from here [Page 1] and [Page 2]

If you want to read the previous posts about him then here they are:

In Kuwait since 1959
Update on old photograher
What would help the old photographer
Quick update on old photographer
The old photographer left to Hajj!

This is a pretty interesting activity to do and it doesn’t involve being outdoors. LAPA which stands for the LoYAC Academy of Performing Arts offers a variety of classes in Hip Hop, Break dance, Salsa, Fitness, Drama, Guitar, Violin, Arabic Orchestra, Puppet theater, and Ballet. The classes operate on a six-week basis and at KD36 per course I think it’s very reasonable. Here are the timings:

Hip hop (mixed): Wednesday 6-8 pm
Hip hop (females): Saturday 12:30-2:30 pm
Break dance: Saturday 6-8 pm
Salsa: Monday 8-9:30 pm
Drama: Thursday 7-9 pm
Guitar (English): Sunday 5-9 pm
Guitar (Arabic): Thursday 5-7 pm
Violin & Arabic Orchestra: Sunday 5-9 pm / Tuesday 5-8 pm
Ballet: Monday 6:30-8 pm / Thursday 5-7 pm
Fitness: Monday 5-6:30 pm / Wednesday 4-6 pm / Saturday 4-6 pm

If you’re interested in taking any of these classes you can call them on 96653377. For more information check out the LOYAC blog [Here]

I can’t believe I forgot to post about this ahead of time but the Worldwide Finals of Imagine Cup 2011 were held yesterday in New York and a team from Kuwait where there competing in the software category. They came up with this idea which they wanted to present to the Ministry of Interior in hopes of having it implemented so we could get a lot of day to day problems solved. I previously posted about them and their idea [Here] if you want to read more on it.

I was just checking the results page and it doesn’t seem they won. Even though I think they must have gained a lot of experience competing at an international level and I’m sure they’re going to be coming back with even more motivation. I really hope the Ministry of Information will still help them bring their idea to life, since it’s an idea that will help make Kuwait a better place. Here is a page from the Imagine Cup 2011 yearbook which has details about the Kuwait team, their project and their intentions. [Yearbook Page]

Picture by @ahamshay

I’m a huge Entertainment City fan although a lot of people think it’s pretty crap. It’s not. It just need’s a bit of TLC which for some odd reason it’s not getting. Anyway this Ramadan they’re reducing the ticket price from KD3.5 per person down to just KD1. This mean’s spending a day at Entertainment City will be cheaper than visiting the Kuwait Towers. [Source]

Photo by Ahmed Al Bather
Thanks Burhan

Today I found out the Dubai branch of Red Lobster will be opening up for business on July 20th at Dubai Mall. In Kuwait on the other hand, Red Lobster is expected to open sometime in late December at Arabella.

I had a meeting earlier today with a person that wants to remain anonymous. The person I met is connected to one of the local ISP’s and wanted to meet me so he can set some things straight regarding the internet caps.

First just a brief intro on how ISP’s get their internet. They have two ways generally, one is via satellite and the other by cable. Satellite is too costly and has limited bandwidth so most ISP’s go with cable. Now all communication coming in or out of Kuwait needs to go through the Ministry of Communications. They act like border immigration and this rule applies to both internet providers as well as telecommunication companies. The MOC charges the ISP’s for the various kind of lines that passes through them. You can check the documents at the end of post for details on this. Since 2007 the Ministry hasn’t decreased their prices and they also haven’t been investing in their infrastructure.

Now ISP’s have cables from their main headquarters to the MOC, and then from there they head to different countries. An example of a route might be ISP-HQ to MOC to Dubai to UK. Now the problem from what I understood is that because the Ministry of Communication hasn’t upgraded their infrastructure the ISP’s can’t get more lines and bandwidth into Kuwait. At the same time the amount of internet users in Kuwait is increasing. So if back in 2007 there were lets say a thousand people using 1 cable, the same cable today is providing to 1500. This is just an example and the numbers I mentioned are not accurate but just to help you visualize the problem.

So high demand and limited supply and add to that the price war that was taking place between the ISP’s and they all got to the point where they had a lot more subscribers than they and the MOC could supply bandwidth. The situation became critical and so for the first time ever, the ISP’s united and decided to increase and unify their prices during the last expo since the demand was was more than the supply. The ISP’s were hoping the increase in prices might also spark an outcry from the consumers which would in return put pressure on the MOC but that didn’t happen.

Since nothing changed after the expo and the ISP’s were still lacking bandwidth, they didn’t have a choice other than to set limits. The ISP’s came together for a second time and decided to place download caps on all their users and here we are today. The good news is that the caps resulted in an outcry that triggered the MOC to take action. I’ve also been told that both parties are currently in talks and it looks like everything is going to get fixed soon.

I’ve attached a few documents below related to everything I spoke about above. If anyone has any questions you can post them below and I’ll try to either to get you an answer. Here are the [Files]

If there is anyone from the MOC reading this, please contact me so I could get your side of the story.

Ahmadi Town from Archofkuwait on Vimeo.

If you’re a long time reader you will know I have a soft spot for old pictures of Kuwait. Right now I’m extremely ecstatic because Architecture of Kuwait have just posted what has to be the best Ahmadi post ever. They’ve posted a ton of incredible pictures of Ahmadi, nearly all of which I had never seen before and all of them are very good quality shots. They even posted the 20 minute documentary above! Check out the picture of Ahmadi at the bottom of this post, it just looks beautiful.

Here is the link to the Ahmadi post on AOK [Link]