Category: Information

This giveaway thing is turning out to be pretty cool. I’ve got I think around 14 more giveaways to give since a lot of businesses want to be part of this which is great for everyone. I am also trying to get a variety of gifts, some food related, some electronic stuff, some stuff for guys and some stuff for girls etc. So far I think I’ve got a nice variety lined up. Today’s giveaway is courtesy of Saso Lounge who you guys will recognize from the banner right on top.

They’ve just opened up in a brand new location in Abu Hulaifa, right next door to Johnny Rockets and Starbucks in Alia and Ghalia towers. I haven’t been to their new branch yet but I have been to their Kuwait City branch and they’ve got a very large range of great dishes to suite everyone. Their website was also recently updated and now has a large food gallery where you can check out all their dishes (don’t check it if you’re hungry and fasting!). Saso Lounge are giving away a KD20 voucher which you could use at either of their branches. All you need to do to win this voucher is to leave a comment below and later on in the evening I will use random.org to select a winner. For more information on Saso Lounge visit their website [Here]

Rules: You need to put your proper email in the email field while commenting since the winner will be contacted by email. You can only comment once, anyone caught commenting more than once will get disqualified.

Update: The post was closed for commenting at 7PM. The winner is…

[YouTube]

Comment #68, you’ve got mail!
Everyone else check back tomorrow for another giveaway.

I passed by Sultan Center in Dhajeej yesterday and noticed they had a section called “Consume by Expiry”. Basically its products that are about to expire soon (end of October) and they were being sold at heavily reduced prices. They had a whole range of products like cereal boxes, salsa dips, soups, chocolate, BBQ sauce, granola bars, maple syrup, pasta and more. I ended up picking up a case of A&W root beer for 50fils per can instead of the usual cost of 220fils a can. Also picked up Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes Gold for only 150fils. Pretty good deal.

Yesterday I posted about how pissed I was Shake Shack was opening up in Dubai and Saudi Arabia and not in Kuwait. Well a very reliable source called me up a couple of hours ago and I managed to get some more information.

Alshaya are bringing Shake Shack to the whole Middle East and not just Saudi Arabia and Dubai. Not only that but the first branch of Shake Shack will be opening up right here in Kuwait! The launch date is currently set for first quarter of 2010. So in your face Dubai and Saudi!

Just like the Gucci rumor I posted about a few days ago, there is another rumor going around that The Chocolate Bar in Marina Crescent was closed down by the ministry because they found chocolate that contained alcohol in them. That is of course not true or else I would have been their #1 customer. The Chocolate Bar at Marina was closed down due to renovations and all their other branches are still open for business.

A couple of days ago Gucci in Fanar was shutdown by the ministry. Of course rumors quickly started to spread that Gucci was shutdown because they were caught selling fake goods. That is not true of course. The reason Gucci was shutdown is because the inspector wanted to see the original store license which they didn’t have. They only had a copy of the license in Fanar because the original was at the head office in Shuwaikh so the inspector shutdown the shop for the day.

Office Depot has finally opened at the Avenues and I am kind of disappointed. I expected the place to be much bigger and have more stuff but at the moment they have a little of everything which I guess is ok for a shopping mall branch. They really need to have a much bigger place if they want to compete with the likes of Mogahwi. On the bright side at least we have a new franchise in Kuwait.

Update: I got the following response from the Office Depot marketing team:

In the future, we will have stand alone stores that will be much bigger in size having a bigger range as well as smaller stores that will have a limited selection focusing on stationery and small office supplies. Our focus is on offering the customers all they need in one shop at competitive prices, good customer service & an excellent shopping experience. We started with the Avenues store mainly for individual consumers however we will service business clients for that store as well. Our future plan is to open business targeted stores as well & in 2010, we will also launch our catalogue that will have the full range of products from all categories.

For more information, you can email us at [email protected] or check www.alshaya.com
If you want to receive a sms or email whenever we do offers, you can fill your info here https://www.alshaya.com/OfficeDepot/

Kuwait for Kenya is a LoYAC initiative made up of young Kuwaiti volunteers focusing on the overall youth development in Kenya. This year, Genan Dashti, Amna Hussein, Dala AlFuwaires, Sara AlDirbas, Faisal AlShawa, Willy Mathew, and Dari AlHuwail traveled to Mombasa and were able to achieve the following:

Child Development Center (CDC):
Installing and fitting a new kitchen and dining hall

Mombasa Youth Counseling Center (MYCC):
Upgrading the HIV laboratory and VCT center

Goodwill Academy:
Providing student’s desks and chairs

The above video is a summary of this years trip to Kenya. Their website which is still under construction is located [Here]. You can also find them on Facebook by clicking [Here]

I think its really great what they did and I hope they get all the support they need for future trips.

Now that I finally have an iPhone with a 3G connection I can finally do what a lot of other people are doing and that is listen to satellite radio and other international stations in the car. All you need is a 3G capable iPhone, an iPhone radio app and a way of connecting the iPhone to the car stereo.

My setup is an iPhone 3GS with the WunderRadio app and an Alpine iDA-X001 head unit with which my iPhone connects to using the dock connector. If you aren’t as lucky you could use an FM Transmitter or RCA inputs. With WunderRadio you can connect to XM and SIRIUS stations in addition to thousands of other stations from around the world. For example I can listen to Lebanese radio stations like Radio one or Mix FM if I want to. Its not perfect since sometimes the connection disrupts for a few seconds every now and then but thats mostly only with the XM and SIRIUS stations, haven’t had trouble with the rest.

Marble Slab just sent over a ton of ice cream to my office with a note saying they’ve opened up at the new 360 Mall. I posted about their Kout branch before but that location was really too far and out of my way.

Now the question is should I share the ice cream with my coworkers or keep it all for me *evil grin*.

The Noodle House that’s located next door to Carino’s on the Gulf Road is now officially open. I guess I will be having lunch or dinner there this weekend.

Photo by Nibaq

I got an email from someone telling me that Viva’s office on the 18th floor of the Olympia building was on fire. I brushed it away as a rumor and decided to ask a friend of mine who works at Viva if their office was really on fire. Turns out its true and they had to evacuate the building because of it. I don’t have any pictures but if I get any will post them.

Update: Just got one picture which I added to the post above.

Update2: According to a source at Olympia, it was a small fire started by an electric short. Both buildings were evacuated for 15 minutes.

Wow this is pretty cool. Seems like the new unreleased Aston Martin Rapide 4-door was spotted testing here in Kuwait. Car manufacturers usually test cars in severe climate conditions like extreme heat and cold before the car is released to make sure it can handle the weather conditions. The Rapide is expected to be introduced early next year and to compete with the likes of the Maserati Quattroporte and Porsche Panamera. [YouTube]

Wagamama has finally confirmed an opening date which at the moment is set for the first week of September. This will be their first store in Kuwait and they will be opening at the 360 Mall. Here is a link to their local website. [Link]

Just got an email and SMS regarding a Michael Jackson candle-light vigil and tribute that will take place tonight at the Marina Mall beach from 6:30PM till 11PM. Here is a link to the Facebook page. [Link]

I passed by 360 today and this is what I thought:

The Good
– The interior of the mall is probably the nicest in Kuwait. Looks very fancy with a mixture of wood, marble and carpet.
– Finally there is a proper Nike and Puma store
– Geant Hypermarket is huge
– Toys R Us!
– A lot of new brands launching at the 360
– Food court looks pretty

The Bad
– I would say only 20-30% of the shops and restaurants are open, everything else is still closed
– I was expecting a larger Toys R Us
– I compared one item at Geant which turned out to be more expensive than Carrefour. The WD HD TV player costs KD35 at Geant and KD31 at Carrefour. This of course isn’t an accurate assessment but it still gave me the impression that Carrefour is cheaper.

The Ugly
– Parking or should I say the complete lack of any parking. I was there during the day, the mall wasn’t packed and I couldn’t find parking. Its bad enough the parking isn’t shaded but the fact that there wasn’t enough parking during the middle of the week at 1PM is just ridiculous. I had to park illegally like a lot of people and I was lucky I even found an illegal spot. A friend passed by last night and told me he had to wait in a car jam for 20 minutes around a kilometer away from the mall and in the end he left because the line into 360 wasn’t moving.
– There were nice looking fountains outside but when I got closer they stank of sewage and were murky green and dirty.