Category: Kuwait

I hate the way Pepsi and Coca Cola have reduced their can sizes back down to 250ml. One of the reasons I used to prefer Like Cola was the fact that they had 330ml cans while Pepsi and Coke had 250ml. Maybe someone should bring back Like…

Desert Girl sent me the most amazing thing today, a PDF of scanned pages from a National Geographic issue from 1952 which talks about Kuwait. The article is 20 pages long and contains 25 pictures of which 11 are in color. It’s incredible I love it. The caption under the picture above says:

A Mobile Medical Clinic, Bought with Oil Wealth, Tours Kuwait Villages
For ailing Arabs who cannot travel to the capital, the Sheikdom provides an American-built trailer unit staffed by a physician, nurse, and technician. Here the doctor examines an elderly man at an outlying village; other patients wait their turn. Treatment costs them nothing. New hospitals, including one for animals, are part of Kuwait’s heavy investment in its own well-being.

Here is the PDF for you to down. It’s around 4MB in size. [PDF Link]

Thanks Desert Girl!

The new location is open under Coffee Republic at the 360 Mall and the seating area is pretty nice.

This is a new photo Eng.Aljamea has uploaded onto his flickr account. The previous one was the Gulf Road picture and this time its a picture of a gas station. There is no date mentioned but I guess it could be the 60’s. [Picture]

Someone shot a video of Kuwait while up in a paramotor (powered paraglider). I don’t recognize the area but it looks beautiful. [YouTube]

Even the US embassy is on YouTube. The video starts off interesting but quickly gets boring. I’ve never been to the US embassy here in Kuwait but it looks huge. [YouTube]

After Aramex increased their prices last month many readers decided to sign up with DHL’s version of the same service which they call EasyShop. If you happen to be one of the readers who signed up with DHL and started receiving packages with them could you please post your feedback about them below in the comments. I am curious as I am sure many other readers are to see how they differ from Aramex. Both DHL and UShopWeShip have kept their prices the same.

I had two packages delivered to me after Aramex set up the new rules and my experience has been mixed and here is why.

I had two packages, one containing a computer the other tshirts.

T-shirts
Arrived in mailbox on: 23/10/2009
Shipped from mailbox on: 29/10/2009
Arrived to Kuwait on: 08/11/2009
Paid: KD5.5 for shipping + KD1 handling charge

Computer
Arrived in mailbox on: 31/10/2009
Shipped from mailbox on: 02/11/2009
Arrived to Kuwait on: 08/11/2009
Paid: KD18 for shipping + KD1 handling charge

So the good news is computers don’t get held in customs. The KD1 extra charge is annoying on small packages but not a big deal on big important ones.

The bad news is it took over 2 weeks to get my tshirts.. whats up Aramex?

Cinemagic’s rooftop movie nights are starting again now that the weather is getting cooler. Here is their schedule of upcoming movies:

Saturday, November 14th, 2009 at 07:00 p.m
THE BANISHMENT, RUSSIA 2007
Director: Andrei Zvyagintsev
Genre: Drama | 146 min | English Subtitle

Thursday, November 19th, 2009 at 07:00 p.m
LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, SWEDEN 2008
Director: Thomas Alfredson
Genre: Drama | 115 min | English Subtitle

Saturday, November 21st, 2009 at 07:00 p.m
SURPRISE FILM

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 at 07:00 p.m
DEATH NOTE 1, JAPAN 2006
Director: Shusuke Kaneko
Genre: Adventure | Mystery | 126 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.

A week back I posted about how I wanted the HPI Baja 5b, a giant 1/5 scale radio controlled buggy. Well since then I’ve changed my mind. Turns out the buggy is too big to be allowed to race on the new off-road track that’s being built by the Radio Control Car Club of Kuwait near the 360 Mall (29°16’16.34″N 48° 0’10.48″E). The off-road track is going to be one of the largest in the world (they’re checking to see if it’s actually the largest) so it would be a shame if I couldn’t take advantage of it.

The track (pictured above) should be ready in 2 weeks time and anyone will be allowed to use it. Members have to pay KD2 per day of track use while non-members pay KD5. It’s going to be very cool and next year they’re planning on holding the Asian championship here in Kuwait. The picture above is made of multiple pictures combined since my wide camera lens wasn’t enough to fit the whole track. You can see a larger version of that picture [Here]

If I want to compete in the weekly friendly races on the track I need to get a nitro 1/8 scale buggy and I am currently leaning towards a 2009 XRAY XB808 (pictured above). I hadn’t heard of the XRAY up till yesterday but from what I’ve read it’s the Rolls Royce of R/C cars.

If you would like to get more information about the Radio Control Car Club of Kuwait (RCCCK) who are responsible for building this track and setting up all the events then visit their website [Here]

Al Watan Daily published a new article where they basically say I was wrong and they were right with regards to the Friday Market fiasco. Here is a recap of what has been happening the past couple of days:

On Monday, Al Watan Daily published an article where they stated that the municipality wasn’t allowing the shop owners at the Friday Market access to their animals. The article stated that the shop owners haven’t opened their stores in 15 days and all the animals were dying from hunger and lack of air. Here is a link to that article [Link]

But, according to three different sources, I stated Al Watan Daily were wrong. Here are my sources from the least credible to the most:

Source 1 – Anna (anonymous reader):

I just called a store owner there who I’ve dealt with extensively with my salt water fish tank. The good news is that all stall owners sneak in at night to feed the animals. The bad news is that the animals are there in total darkness, and sanitary conditions are even worse than usual (if you can imagine that).

Source 2 – Mrs F (a very good friend)

My husband spoke to a few shop owners and they mentioned that they were actually allowed to open their shops in order to clean and feed their animals.

Source 3 – Ayesha (founder of Animals Friends and K’s Path)

We have investigated the situation and most of the information around is incorrect. The shop keepers are able to enter their stores and care for the animals. We have a volunteer that knows many of the shopkeepers very well and he has visited them multiple times and spoken to them throughout the last two weeks of closure and they are still able to enter their shops. In fact you can even buy things from them they just can’t officially open their doors for business. On the weekends and evening you will see them outside on the road selling so clearly they can get in. Also the area has been closed for two weeks, if it was true that these animals have not been fed then they would all be dead at this point but you can hear them in the shops.

I will leave it to you to decide who’s right and who’s wrong. Here is the link to their “Citizen Journalism” article [Here]

I was taking this shortcut through Shamiya today and I accidentally found what I think is the only Filfila branch left in Kuwait. I thought all of them shutdown but it looks like there is one left.

I get emails from people quite often asking me to try their desserts but I always turn them down politely since chocolate is one of the things I am supposed to stay away from because of my acid reflux. But, the past week I’ve been craving chocolate for some odd reason so when I got an email from Hot Pot asking me to try their chocolate pudding I decided what the hell let me give it a shot.

They delivered 4 small pots of hot chocolate pudding to my office and I decided to share it with some co-workers. Firstly I have to say the ceramic pots the pudding come in are very cool. Once everyone was done with their pudding I forced them all to hand me back the pots so I could take them back home with me. I like the very simple design of it. Taste wise the chocolate pudding reminded me a lot of the Slider Station one which is pretty good. I actually think they use the same chocolate because they’re very similar flavor wise so I definitely recommend it.

I got my hot pots for free but their prices are as follows:
Big Box: One big bowl enough for 12 to 14 people KD12
Small Box: Four small bowls enough for 4 people KD5

They officially launched two days ago on the 1st of November. They deliver everyday except for Friday. To order you can call or sms them on 60023030

www.q8hotpot.com

<img src=’https://248am.com/images/museumkuwait.jpg’ alt=” />

A reader scanned and sent me the old pictures below of Kuwait. A lot of them are aerial shots most probably taken from a helicopter. On the back of the photos there is a stamp that reads “With the compliments of the Ministry of Information”. Is the building in the picture above still around? The file name says it was museum.

Thanks Khalid!

Update: I’ve reuploaded all the photos above in high res and you can view them here.

I got the below email from an editor at Al Watan Daily regarding the animals at the Friday Market post:

Hi Mark,
I’m the local editor of Al Watan Daily, and I would like to start off by saying that when I read your post last night, I was livid. No newspaper wants to print misinformation, that is not our goal, least of all mine. Our lead had actually originated from an Arab Times report that came two weeks ago, and we performed a follow up. In today’s Arab Times on page 3, you can see they were confused over the matter as well, because they had not reported that the animals were trapped. [Link] However, they do corroborate our story.

From Arab Times update: “Meanwhile Abu Sulaiman Al-Hadad, one of the shopkeepers, claimed that he, along with other proprietors, have not accessed their shops since these were shut down on Oct 15. “My animals have been imprisoned for more than two weeks and have all died from starvation,” he complained. Asked if he had entered his shop at all during this period he said it’s “impossible”. “If any of us is caught entering a shop we’d be obliged to pay a fine of KD 500, along with other legal action,” Al-Hadad said.”

Now, I did not sleep last night, I really didn’t, over your post, and the image it portrays, as well as some of the comments that followed. I planned to come in this morning and set the record straight, by either finding confirmation that our reporter had done their job correctly, or that she had failed in my trust in her. In the case of the latter, I had already informed my General Manager that I would print a retraction.

However, in the case that you were wrong in your citizen journalism, which is the case in my opinion, I feel that you should print an update, and perhaps even slant it towards recognizing that we were not printing misinformation and that perhaps you and the commenters on the post were quick to jump the gun at our expense.

Khaled Al-Ramly
Local Editor
Al Watan Daily

A blog reader also posted the following comment awhile ago:

I went there few hours ago, and the situation is:
All the shops are closed
4 or 5 from the ex employee are sitting there
I asked them about how do they feed the animals inside, and they answered with:
NO WE CANT, The shops are closed by the municipality and there is a sticker attached on each shop’s door and they cant open the door and they cant remove those stickers.
All the dogs inside are whining and barking from being without a food, water, air and also without light.

Its just a big MESS

-Ramez

I’ve contacted K’s Path regarding this issue and I am still waiting for a response. K’s Path are a Kuwaiti non-profit working to improve the lives of animals by protecting and preserving them and the places they live.

Update: I just found this article from todays Arab Times where Ayesha who is responsible for Animal Friend’s and K’s Path said the following:

Ayesha Al-Humaidhi, from Animal Friends League of Kuwait, assured that shopkeepers do have access to the shops and tend to their animals. “They do enter their shops and do conduct their business, but they can’t run their business openly until they settle the rent dispute with the Municipality,” she said. [Source]

Updates2: Ayesha emailed me back stating:

We have investigated the situation and most of the information around is incorrect. The shop keepers are able to enter their stores and care for the animals. We have a volunteer that knows many of the shopkeepers very well and he has visited them multiple times and spoken to them throughout the last two weeks of closure and they are still able to enter their shops. In fact you can even buy things from them they just can’t officially open their doors for business. On the weekends and evening you will see them outside on the road selling so clearly they can get in. Also the area has been closed for two weeks, if it was true that these animals have not been fed then they would all be dead at this point but you can hear them in the shops. Basically the welfare at the Friday Market has always been bad but it is not a whole lot worse at the moment.

We are hoping this rental disagreement with the Baladiya will be resolved soon. We are waiting to see.