Category: Kuwait

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 can’t figure out if this is serious or just a spoof. [YouTube]

via p0ach

The owners of the kuwait.com domain have put it up for sale. It’s not very affordable, you would have to get two house loans to be able to buy it but if you’re interested you can contact Fahad on [email protected].

Before I purchased my Drobo backup system I passed by the local dealer 3gghead and checked out their price. They were selling the Drobo for KD165 while on Amazon it was being sold for KD100. So I ended up ordering mine from Amazon figuring I would be saving a good chunk of money.

When my Drobo finally arrived to Kuwait I ended up paying KD39 for shipping and customs which brought my total to KD139. Not much of a saving compared to the local dealer but still a saving.

Then a couple of days back I get an email from the local dealer saying they wanted to give my readers a discount on the Drobo to help bring down the price difference between ordering online and buying locally. So, if anyone is interested in the Drobo you can now have it for KD150. That means for just KD11 more than it would cost you to order it from Amazon, you can get the Drobo locally with a 2 year warranty. So you guys are lucky since I got mine without warranty and had to wait a week to get it.

3gghead is located in the basement of Baitak Tower in Kuwait City. If you haven’t been to Baitak Tower before it’s an interesting small place, there is an X-Cite Electronics store on the ground floor along with Quiznos, Salad Creations and The Nut Tree.

Update: Here is a picture they sent me of the store

A reader left the news article below as a comment but didn’t mention the source:

Municipal authority calls for halt of bulldozing unlicensed planted plots

The Municipal Council recommended on Monday halt of bulldozing plots of lands that have been cultivated without obtaining advance permit from the relevant authorities.
The council, at a regular session headed by the Chairman Zaid Al-Azmi, with unanimous blessing, recommended the halt of the removal of plants and trees at such plots till introduction of amendments into the regulations regarding plantations off private houses.

The council approved the cabinet decision to change the name of the border region from Um-Qaser to Al-Buhaith, and referred a request by the Environment Public Authority (EPA) to name the north of Boubyan island as “the reserve of Mubarak Al-Kabeer” — in reference to the late Amir, to a panel tasked with choosing names for public sites and regions.

The members of the council pondered various other procedural and bureaucratic matters related to maintenance of roads and water sewage systems.

If this is true then it’s great news.

Picture by Ramez

Animal Friends just launched their new redesigned website. You can check it out by clicking [Here]

GulfRun is coming up pretty quickly and the video above is the new trailer the guys just released. I personally think this is their best video so far. GulfRun 5 is going to be held from January 28th to the 30th in Bahrain and everyone is invited to come and watch.

This year they’ve got a special treat for spectators with something they’ve called the GulfRun Taxi Ride service. Basically they will have three cars in which spectators will be able to hop into the passenger seat and ride around the track. The three cars are the Lotus 211, a Radical and the Westfield SE, all of which are track machines. I haven’t seen the list of cars that will be participating this year but Marzouq over at zDistrict did and he says its going to be even crazier than last year.

All the cars are going to be on display next month at 360 Mall and I will post about that event ahead of time so you guys can pass by and check them out. As I mentioned earlier, everyone is invited to GulfRun 5 in Bahrain next month. There is no entrance fee or anything of that sort just get a ticket and fly over to Bahrain. [YouTube]

For more information on GulfRun visit their website [Here]

I was just checking the blog Tidbit Du Jour and found out about this beautifully designed jewelry store called Octium Jewelry that recently opened up at the 360 Mall. The store is designed by Jaime Hayón a Spanish born designer who judging by his work is one unbelievably talented guy. The best part about all this is that the store was just featured on the popular design blog The Cool Hunter. I can’t wait to pass by the place and check it out in person. [Link]

I just received my first package with DHL today and I have decided they will be my primary shipping courier from now on and here is why.

1) I was able to sign up, open an account and pay for it all online and in a few minutes

2) Their mailbox is located in Ohio which means I no longer need to pay the 8.375% New York sales tax

3) It seems they ship packages the next day which means my package doesn’t sit in the mailbox in the States for long

4) They have EXTREMELY detailed tracking (check this)

5) Because they have extremely detailed tracking I can use the iPhone app Delivery Status to keep track of my packages

6) They’re fast. Package shipped December 2nd, arrived to Kuwait December 5th, cleared customs and was ready to pick up on the 6th

7) They don’t deliver but they have 4 pick up locations, Khaleejia in Kuwait City, Ardiya, Fahaheel and Camp Arifjan. The Ardiya branch is open till midnight everyday except on Friday they close at 9. The Kuwait City branch closes at 9 every day.

8) You pay based on weight and the size of the package doesn’t effect how much you pay

9) It’s KD3.5 for the first half kilo and then its KD2.5 for every half

Now to clear something up. Like Aramex, you also have to pay customs for packages over $100. The stories about Aramex making up this 5% to make more money is not true. But, unlike Aramex, with DHL you pay 5% customs and KD3.5 handling fee. With Aramex its just a KD1 handling fee. Now the advantage of DHL is they clear the package the same day while with Aramex it currently looks like its taking over a week.

I picked up my Drobo today and I paid KD31 shipping and KD8 for customs and handling. Overall I found DHL cheaper than Aramex. Why? Because you save on the New York sales tax, because you pay based on actual weight and not volumetric weight and because you pay KD2.5 for every half KG instead of Aramex’s KD2.750.

If you want to sign up for an account here is the link to their website [Link]

Note: Ignore the shipping price that’s displayed in your DHL account when tracking a package. My Drobo according to the online invoice was going to cost me KD70.57 in shipping fees but that was based on volumetric weight which was calculated to be 11.02 kg. Before I picked up my package they put it on the scale and it weighed 5.5 kg and thats what I paid for.

Before I found out someone had broken into my car I was enjoying dinner at P.F. Chang inside the Avenues. They haven’t opened up to the public yet, it’s just by invite since they’re still training and I managed to get one. The first thing that struck me about the restaurant (other than the fact it was packed) was how big it was. According to my friend they’re either the largest or second largest P.F. Chang’s branch in the world. They’re also the 200th P.F. Chang branch to open and only the second to open outside the US. The other international branch is in Mexico.

I had the crab wanton for starters which was amazing and then for my main course I had sweet & sour chicken and this other dish that had prawns, melons and walnuts. The sweet & sour chicken looked nothing like the usual ones I have, it didn’t have the regular red sauce nor any vegetables or fruits but it still tasted really good (I actually always order my sweet & sour without fruits or vegetables anyway). The prawns and melons dish was a very strange but interesting combination, I can’t believe someone actually came up with this mix, very cool.

There was a ton of staff in the restaurant since in addition to the P.F. Chang Kuwait staff they’ve brought in over 20 more staff from the States to help with the training. Paul Fleming the creator of P.F. Chang was even in the kitchen overlooking everything. Our waiter was one of the local staff and was very friendly.

The prices haven’t been finalized yet but they’re supposed to be even cheaper than what was currently on the menu. The sweet & sour chicken was around KD4.400 and the prawns dish I think KD5.450 so if they drop the price it should be pretty affordable. The quantity of the food was too much and I think they know that because they were quick to offer to pack my leftovers to take home. Too much food is always better than too little. While there I also got confirmation that Shake Shack will be opening up in Kuwait early next year and the first branch will be at the Avenues. It was a pretty nice evening overall until the car incident…

Someone fucking broke into my Z4 this evening. I went to Avenues for dinner and because it was packed I parked my car across the street from Avenues. I was gone maybe an hour max and when I got back to the car the passenger window had been smashed in. There wasn’t anything in my car except for my house and wrangler keys which I had put behind the hand brake (check picture below). They took my keys and I have no idea what they are planning to do with them. I am going to change my home locks now and will probably need to change my Wrangler locks which is probably going to be expensive. Why would anyone steal my keys? Are they seriously contemplating on robbing me? How would they know where I live? Will they try to steal my Wrangler? Who the fuck steals cars in Kuwait? I’ve never heard about anyone’s car getting stolen…

My theory is someone smashed the windows to see if there was anything they could steal from inside (a phone, glasses, radio etc..). They then saw my keys and took them thinking they were the Z4 keys and maybe they could open the trunk or something. When they realized it had nothing to do with the Z4 I would assume they would throw the keys away. That is why I am going to go back now with a flashlight and look around and see if they threw my keys somewhere. I’m pissed.

Update: Went last night looking for the keys with a flashlight. Searched the whole block around where my car had been broken into but didn’t find anything. Passed by the BMW dealer earlier to have my window fixed. The window will cost only KD50 which is not bad except for the fact they don’t have it in stock. Will take over 2 weeks for them to get the part so I’ve got to search the scrapyard or glass shops in Shuwaikh for a replacement.

THE 99 is a locally created comic book featuring a team of superheroes based on Islamic culture and religion. Although it’s been only 2 years since the comic got published it quickly became a bit hit and is now licensed in 8 languages including Chinese. Next year Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and other members of The Justice League of America will team up with THE 99 in a global series by DC Comics. In addition to that THE 99 is being turned into an animated series and the video above is the preview. 26 episodes are currently in production written by top names in Hollywood who’ve also worked on Ben 10, Spiderman, X-Men and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. [YouTube]

Here is a link to THE 99 website [Link]

This is an interesting event, Genki Sushi who are located at Al Raya want people to try and see how good their sushi is so they’re holding an event at The Exhibition and inviting everyone to come and try their sushi for free. Here are the details:

Genki Sushi Nights @ The Exhibition
Enjoy FREE SUSHI for two nights ONLY!

6PM-10PM
Wednesday and Thursday
December 9-10, 2009

Directions to event: Three shops to the left of Slider Station on ‘The Strip’ – Across from Alseef Palace, Jibla, Kuwait.
Telephone: + (965) 940 662 26

The Genki Sushi restaurant is located in Arraya Mall, Kuwait City. Tel: (+965) 229 979 33

That’s free all you can eat sushi people!

Thanks Hiba

Here is the calendar for Cinemagic’s rooftop movie nights for December:

Thursday, December 3rd at 7:00 PM
BRODRE, DENMARK 2004
Director: Susan Bier
Genre: Drama | 146 min | English Subtitle

Saturday, December 5th at 7:00 PM
COUSCOUS, TUNISIA 2007
Director: Abdellatif Kecheiche
Genre: Drama | 148 min | English Subtitle

Thursday, December 10th at 7:00 PM
DEATH NOTE – THE LAST NAME, JAPAN 2007
Director: Shusuke Kaneko
Genre: Adventure | Mystery | 141 min | English Subtitle

Saturday, December 12th at 7:00 PM
SURPRISE FILM

Thursday, December 17th at 7:00 pm
A NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, USA 1993
Director: Tim Burton
Genre: Comedy | Musical | 80 min | English Subtitle

Saturday, December 19th at 7:00 pm
UN CONTE DE NOEL, FRANCE 2008
Director: Arnaud Desplechin
Genre: Drama | 150 min | English Subtitle

Cinemagic movies are screened in the old Salmiya, on the roof on top of Alghanim Electronics and LG. Attendance is free of charge and snacks and refreshments will be served.

Here is a link to their facebook group [Link]

The video above is the new teaser trailer for GulfRun 5 thats going to be held at the end of January in Bahrain. The guys promised me I will have another video and more information to post in a few more days so will keep you posted with any updates. [YouTube]

Here is a link to the Gulf Run website [Link]