Category: Information

Back in October there was a press release in the papers by a company which stated that they were opening Fatburger in Kuwait. Today there was another press release by another company stating that they are also opening Fatburger in Kuwait. So what gives?

Well this is what I found out. A local company got the Fatburger franchise rights 2 years back for Kuwait but never opened up a store. So, Fatburger decided to take the franchise rights from them and pass it to another local company. Fatburger will now be finally opening in Kuwait before June.

I am still holding my breath for Arby’s and Wendy’s.

Update: Turns out yesterday’s press release was actually placed in the newspaper by Fatburger North America themselves to clarify that there is a new Fatburger owner in Kuwait.

The 2010 Quality of Life Index is out and Kuwait ranked 106 which is up nearly 30 spots since 2006. Jordan is the only Arab country ahead coming in at 104 while UAE is 141 and Lebanon 113. The highest ranking goes to France followed by Australia and then Switzerland. Here is the link to the full list. [Link]

Thanks Farid!

Blogger Feryah managed to get pictures of the interior of Planet Hollywood which I posted about last month. He also confirms that they will be opening in March but also adds that Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, and Arnold Schwarzenegger will be attending the grand opening as per their contract. I don’t see how Arnold is attending considering the fact he severed all ties with the chain in early 2000 according to Wikipedia. In any case if Demi Moore is coming I would assume Ashton Kutcher is as well unless he will stay home and babysit the kids. All I care about though is meeting Sylvester Stallone, so if anyone is reading this, hook me up! [Link]

So I’ve been pushing DHL EasyShop a lot recently as a replacement to Aramex’s Shop&Ship but now it looks like I am going to start pushing Aramex again.

I received an email earlier today from a reader telling me about how DHL has new calculations for the weight. So I called them up and spent 20 minutes trying to understand how to calculate my shipping weight and honestly I still don’t know exactly how it works. The DHL employee told me its simple mathematics, I told him the last thing I want to do with my life is start plugging in formulas and make calculations to try and figure out how much my shipping cost will be. Here is what I understood:

If you get a package that weighs 2KG but it comes in a big box that gives you a volumetric weight of 8KG then you do the following:

8 – 2 = 6
6 > 5 = charged based on volumetric weight

So the formula looks something like

v: volumetric weight
w: actual weight

v – w = x
if x > 5 then you will be charged based on volumetric wieght
if x < 5 then you will be charged on actual weight Lets try it again. I have a shipment that is 6KG but the volumetric weight is 10kG the answer is? 10 - 6 = 4 4 < 5 so I pay based on actual weight The biggest problem is you can't figure out what the volumetric weight (v) of your package is until it arrives to your DHL mailbox which means you can't estimate the shipping cost. Seriously who at DHL came up with this smart idea? They had a chance here to gain customers that were pissed off with Aramex and now with this new change I think other customers like me will move back to Aramex. Update: I just passed by the Kuwait City DHL branch to pick up my package. What can I say, its hard not to like them. They’ve increased the amount of staff at that branch to 2 which is a good move since 1 guy wasn’t enough and I paid the regular shipping fee for my package which was based on actual weight since it was 2.5KG. I guess I will keep using DHL for everything under 5KG. I will use Aramex for items that are over 5KG but under 13KG and I will use MyUS for items 13KG and up. Life is complicated like that.

That’s a side by side comparison of the new Zain MiFi next to my BlackBerry. It’s pretty tiny.

Update: The Zain MiFi is a portable wireless internet router that runs on battery. The price is KD30 with a 1 year internet subscription.

According to this list Kuwait has a extremely low unemployment figure of 2.2% which is one of lowest unemployment rates in the world. The issue is the figure was last updated in 2004. UAE has an unemployment rate of 12.7% but I think that’s actually low. Thing is I don’t think these numbers for the GCC are accurate because if you don’t have a job here you can’t stay if I am not mistaken. Other interesting numbers, Zimbabwe has the highest unemployment rate which is 90%. Iraq has an unemployment rate of 18% but 83% of the woman in Iraq are unemployed. Thats probably related to the security situation there. Qatar has the third lowest unemployment rate with just 0.6% and in Andorra everyone is employed because they have a 0% unemployment rate. Here is the full list [Link]

Fereej took the time and effort to round up the top blogs in Kuwait based on Alexa’s rankings. I decided to take his list and one by one get all the actual rankings of the blogs and put together a Top 20 blog rank list. Now there are actually two lists that differ slightly. The first list is the Top 20 Kuwait Blogs in Kuwait. The second list is the Top 20 Kuwait Blogs in the World. Whats popular in Kuwait doesn’t necessarily make it popular outside of Kuwait and its interesting to see the differences. Here are the lists:

Top 20 Kuwait Blogs in Kuwait
1- mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com 260
2- ilSul6ana.com 1,000
3- KuwaitStay.com 1,126
4- Frankom.com 1,379
5- ma6goog.com 1,403
6- Buzberry.com 1,799
7- 360Dewan.com 1,804
8- freejsaud.blogspot.com 1,894
9- SomeContrast.com 2,042
10- 4thRingRoad.com 2,926
11- P0ach.com 3,752
12- 3grbgr.blogspot.com 3,760
13- BlushBerry.net 4,035
14- kuwaitpaperdump.com 4,011
15- confashionsfromkuwait.com 4,878
16- Q8BlackMarket.com 5,764
17- blog3amty.blogspot.com 6,349
18- loft965.com 6,670
19- HiKuwait.com 6,751
20- couchavenue.com 7,574
21- catism.org 7,814
22- Qortuba.org 8,029
23- YearOfTeddy.com 8,859

Top 20 Kuwait Blogs in the World
1- mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com 68,092
2- loft965.com 212,939
3- zDistrict.com 247,540
4- Frankom.com 351,00
5- ilSul6ana.com 373,252
6- SomeContrast.com 569,120
7- 4thRingRoad.com 588,836
8- kuwaitpaperdump.com 596,987
9- Buzberry.com 606,637
10- ansam518.wordpress.com 636,523
11- 360Dewan.com 656,446
12- ma6goog.com 689,286
13- BlushBerry.net 765,799
14- Uptill1.com 874,165
15- freejsaud.blogspot.com 956,647
16- P0ach.com 1,109,988
17- MeBlogging.com 1,224,863
18- catism.org 1,394,504
19- Rayboy.org 1,494,994
20- couchavenue.com 1,505,123
21- Blog37.net 1,512,128
22- 3grbgr.blogspot.com 1,569,294

Update: I updated the list with a blog called Catism that wasn’t there before. The previous #20’s got pushed off the list and are now crossed out. Every time a new blog gets added a blog will get pushed off the list.

Note: If your blog is not listed above, check your blogs rating in Alexa and if it turns out your blog should be in the top 20 email me or comment below so I can update the list. [Alexa]

I should have posted about this last week but I just started catching up on all my emails. Luckily the exhibition is still on so you’ve still got time to catch it.

“Our exhibition is about “عتيج الصوف ولا يديد البريسم؟” rethinking the way we view our Kuwaiti culture from its proverbs to its simplest and quirkiest words illustrated through traditional calligraphy but digitally enhanced to create an art piece.” -Jassim and Anas

The exhibition is being held at thenumber4 in Shuwaikh Industrial area, Mahdi Habib street, opposite the BMW showroom. [Map]

The exhibition started on the 24th but will be there till the 5th of January.

Confashions passed by and took some pictures which you can check [Here]
And here is a link to the exhibit [blog] and [Facebook Group]

The Aramex Ardiya branch has new working hours. Starting today, the Ardiya branch is now open from 8:30AM to 9PM from Saturday to Thursday and Friday from 12PM to 6PM. I am guessing this is in reponse to DHL EasyShop who’s Ardiya branch is open daily till midnight except for Friday when they close at 9PM. I hope this is a sign that Aramex is going to try and improve so that they can compete with other mail forwarding services. I just hope packages go back to taking a few days to arrive to Kuwait and into my hands instead of the 10 days its taking now.

According to a survey held by HSBC, Bahrain turned out to be the friendliest country in the world. Couldn’t find Kuwait on the list not even after I downloaded the full report from the HSBC website. That’s probably because there is no HSBC in Kuwait. Here is the top 10 friendliest countries:

1. Bahrain
2. Canada
3. Australia
4. Thailand
5. Malaysia
6. South Africa
7. Hong Kong
8. Singapore
9. Spain
10. United States

Here is a link to the Forbes article [Link]

Jacqui has put up an Aramex vs DHL experiment. She ordered the two exact items and shipped one to her Aramex mailbox and one to her DHL. She then posted in detail her experience. The conclusion? Find out [Here]

The New York Times has an article about Shake Shack and their expansion plans and this is the first time that I know of where Shake Shack themselves confirm the fact that they’re opening up in Kuwait. Previously when Shake Shacks PR department was asked regarding the Kuwait launch they wouldn’t confirm it. As I mentioned before in one of my previous posts, Shake Shack will be opening early next year at The Avenues mall. My personal opinion is that they will open up in the location where the Debenhams home store just closed. [Link]

Note: My fingers are still crossed for someone to bring back A&W, Wendy’s and most importantly, Arby’s.

Update: Big Moe sent me the link to this YouTube video of an interview with the Shake Shack guys. Kuwait of course is mentioned since the journalist wanted to know “why Kuwait???”

[YouTube]

Abdullah, a reader of the blog put together a price chart comparing the 4 most popular mail forwarding services, Aramex’s Shop & Ship, U Shop We Ship, DHL’s EasyShop and My US. Is color coded it and the price chart goes up all the way up to 30KG. The conclusion is USWS is the cheapest until you hit 20KG when MyUS becomes cheaper.

You can view the chart by clicking [Here]

Got this from the MOI website (fixed some spelling mistakes but too lazy to fix the grammar). Looks like its going to be one crappy week:

In preparation for the GCC summit some roads will be closed starting from Monday 14/12/2009 from 11:30 AM-1:30 PM

1. King Faisal motorway will be closed from the Airport to Fifth Ring Road.
2. King Faisal main motorway the side coming from Kuwait city after Yarmok area towards the Airport will be closed and diverted to Fifth Ring Road as an alternative road for both sides to Jahra and Salmiya.
3. King Fahad main motorway coming from the city will be closed and diverted to Fifth Ring Road both toward Jahra and Salmiya.
4. King Fahad main motorway coming from Fahaheel will be closed and diverted to Six Ring Road of both sides left side to Jahra and right side to Salmiya.
5. Side road of the Fifth Ring Road going to King Fahad motorway which coming from Salmiya towards Ahmadi will be closed only but towards city is permitted.
6. King Khaled bin Abdulaziz with all intersections will be completely closed starts from Khaitan Club bridge to Mishref bridge of King Fahad motorway.
7. Sabhan road, from Seventh Ring Road to Sabah Airport road will be completely closed for both sides.

For all who want to go to Kuwait International Airport, they either to take airport road towards Six Ring Road on the right side to cargo station or through Ghazali motorway to cargo station then to the airport.

And for all who want to go to Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Airport terminal have to go towards Sabhan Qurain bridge road and King Fahad motorway and take road (208) the military show road.

Alternative roads
All road users in case of close of all previously mentioned closed roads can use the following routs:
– All seven ring roads (First Ring Road-Second Ring Road-Third Ring Road-Fourth Ring Road-Fifth Ring Road-Sixth Ring Road-Seventh Ring Road) of both sides are open towards Jahra and Salmiya.
– Ghazali motorway.
– King Abdulaziz (Fahaheel motorway) both sides.
– Airport road, Farwaniya side.

The Traffic General Department is calling upon road users to cooperate with policemen and follow the issued instructions for the success of the summit events.

[source]

I got my Drobo tonight and just wanted to post an update on how much it ended up costing me including shipping.

Price of Drobo: KD100
Price of shipping to DHL mailbox: Free
US Tax: None since it shipped to my DHL mailbox
Shipping to Kuwait: KD31
Customs and handling fee: KD8

Total price of Drobo: KD139

It looks very cool and the size isn’t that big. My 1.5tb hard drives just arrived to Kuwait tonight so they should be ready to pick up tomorrow so I could install into my Drobo. You don’t need a voltage converter, the Drobo adapter is 100-240v.

Here is the link to the Drobo on Amazon [Link]