Categories
Information Kuwait Personal

My trip to the post office

I had to pass by the post office to mail some defected RAM back to the States and I have to say the place was as weird as I was expecting it to be. I went to the Safat post office in Kuwait City and I only managed to find it by asking passers by since there wasn’t any sign outside the place.

Once I walked in I thought I took the wrong door and stepped inside the post office museum since there were cabinets with old stamps lining up the wall on my right and I could see more cabinets ahead in a large hallway.

I saw stamps in the cabinet that dated back to the 60’s and figured I might as well check out this museum first and then head to the post office.

After checking out a couple of cabinets the room opened up and I realized I was actually in the post office and not the museum.

I went up to the counter and asked the employee there about bareed mumtaz which is what they call EMS in Kuwait. He took my items, weighed them and told me it would cost KD6 to mail it to the States and that it would get there in under a week. In comparison, Aramex wanted KD10.5 to mail it in addition to another KD20 as a deposit in case US customs charged a duty.

Although the post office does look very outdated I didn’t mind it since the place was deserted which meant no lines. The employee I also dealt with was friendly and most importantly the EMS service seems pretty reliable and reasonably fast. Not bad.




Categories
Food & Drinks Gossip & Rumors Information Kuwait

Noodle House out, Moti Mahal in

They shut down The Noodle House on the Gulf Road at the start of Ramadan. I thought they were going to renovate but yesterday they put up the hoarding above saying the Moti Mahal Indian restaurant was coming soon. I hadn’t heard of the restaurant before but since there is already a Moti Mahal open in the UAE, I’m guessing we’re getting the same one. [Link]




Categories
Information Kuwait Offers

Easy Promotions

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.




Categories
Information Kuwait

Standard & Poor’s Credit Rating for each country

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




Categories
Information Interesting Kuwait

Even more good news on the old photographer

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

لفتة كريمة من سمو الأمير

حمزة عليان
أبدى السيد أحمد الفهد مدير مكتب صاحب السمو أمير البلاد الشيخ صباح الأحمد الجابر الصباح اهتماماً بالغاً بما ورد في المقابلة التي أجرتها القبس يوم 21 يوليو 2011 الماضي مع مصور الصحافة إبراهيم عبود والمناشدة التي كتبها الزميل سمير عطا الله في «الشرق الأوسط» يوم 2011/7/30 لصاحب السمو الذي استجاب كعهده دائماً في المواقف الإنسانية، فبادر سموه بالاتصال بمكتبه واعطى توجيهاته لتأمين ما يحتاجه الزميل إبراهيم من مساعدة.
القبس تقدر اللفتة الكريمة من صاحب السمو الذي لم يتوان عن مد يد العون الى كل محتاج فشكراً وعساك ذخراً.

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




Categories
Fashion Information Kuwait Sports

Run Foot Campaign

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




Categories
Apple Information Kuwait

New NBK App

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]




Categories
Information Kuwait

Be Aware: End the Stigma Against Mental Illness

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




Categories
Events Information Kuwait

LoYAC Expo

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




Categories
Activities Information Kuwait

Planetarium

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.




Categories
Information Interesting Kuwait

The old man is in Al Qabas

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!




Categories
Information Kuwait

LAPA Classes

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]




Categories
Geek Information Kuwait

Kuwait team at Imagine Cup finals 2011

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




Categories
Information Kuwait Offers

Entertainment City this Ramadan

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




Categories
Food & Drinks Gossip & Rumors Information Kuwait

Red Lobster Dubai and Kuwait

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.