Category: Kuwait

Since we don’t get that many world class sport events here in Kuwait I would think an event like this deserves a bit more publicity…

The Kuwait Men’s World Open will be staged from the 1st to 7th November 2009 and will boast a record prize fund of US$277,500.

The championship is the climax of a three year agreement with the Professional Squash Association (PSA) which has already seen the successful staging of Super Series Platinum events in 2007 and 2008.

As well as offering the largest prize money of any World Open, the championship will also include spectacular opening and closing ceremonies as well as an Official Championship Gala Dinner.

The championships will bring together all of the world’s leading players from the PSA World Tour. World No.1 Karim Darwish of Egypt will head a star-studded field including compatriots Ramy Ashour and Amr Shabana, Gregory Gaultier and Thierry Lincou from France, Australia’s former World Open Champion David Palmer and England’s British Champion Nick Matthew.

The quarter-finals, semi finals and finals will be played on a dedicated court being built on Green Island which sounds cool considering the weather is great at the moment. For more information visit the official website [Here]

Thanks Akbar!

That’s the new Ministry of Interior car, looks neat. It’s a Mazda 6.

A friend of mine was passing by Wagamama at 360 Mall and managed to capture this picture of the interior. Looks like they are sticking to their signature long shared tables but they also seem to have some smaller 4 person booths. Wagamama was supposed to open in September but they never did.

Thanks B!

Aramex and the Kuwaiti customs have come to an agreement. From now on all goods that are valued at $100 and up will be subjected to a 5% customs charge and a KD1 handling charge. No additional delays or charges.

Thats actually not a bad compromise at all. I would rather pay 5% than pay KD20 + 5% they were talking about last week.

Update: Some readers have brought up an interesting theory which is there never was any issue with customs and that Aramex created all this so they could just increase their prices. Some readers have also written that they had contacted USWS and DHL both of which had said they didn’t receive any letter from customs and that it was business as usual for them. This is just a conspiracy theory but an interesting one nevertheless.

A reader sent in pictures of the Chairman’s Club which is located on the last floor of the Burgan Bank building. The Chairman’s Club is an invite only club where they supposedly have a KD35 burger. Check out the pictures below.

Thanks Alex!

A friend of mine found Tupac’s Centerpoint card on the floor near Ruby Tuesday. [Link]

Today I was lucky enough to be taken on a tour of Infunity which will be one of the largest indoor amusement parks in Kuwait once completed. Three things that grabbed my attention there, the first is they will have a pretty cool indoor roller coaster that’s designed by the same people who build ones for Six Flags. Secondly they will have Go-Kart Drifting which I didn’t know existed but sounds pretty cool. Finally my favorite thing, they will have a huge proper climbing wall! The place will launch early next year and they will be located on the top floor of 360 Mall near the bowling and arcades.

Abdulaziz from Jukebox Society emailed me to tell me that the short film SHARQ is now available to watch online via Vimeo. I never got the chance to watch it so it’s pretty cool I can see it online now.

“SHARQ” from Jukebox Society on Vimeo.

I got two packages awhile ago from Aramex and I didn’t have to pay the new customs fee. Some readers are also saying the same thing.

My favorite dessert at the moment is the cinnamon sticks from Auntie Anne’s. I had it for the first time last week and since then I’ve had it nearly every day. If you haven’t tried it you should. 6 pieces for 900fils.

Watan TV interviewed the bloggers p0ach and Blushberry about blogging in Kuwait the other day and now the full interview is available on YouTube to watch. One thing I think Watan TV should have done was actually display the url’s of the blogs on the screen instead of just the blog titles. So instead of writing just “4th Ring Road” they should have had www.4thringroad.com under it to make it easier for the viewers to check out. Here is the interview split into two parts:

[YouTube]

[YouTube]

Does anyone here regularly ship stuff to their PO Box? When shopping on eBay I know a lot of people offer express mail shipping to PO Boxes, has anyone tried that? I know when I was in university back in Lebanon I used to order books from Amazon to my mailbox in Lebanon and it would take around 20 days to get there. How long does it take to get the items in Kuwait? Do you pay customs? How does one open a PO Box and what are the fees?

Update: I found this page with details. Mailbox annual fee is KD4 and KD2 as insurance for the key. I need to open a mailbox. [Link]

So you already have packages on their way to Kuwait via Aramex and yesterday like everyone else you found out you will have to pay at least KD20 to clear each package, what will you do?

Personally I have two packages on their way. One is valued at $20 and another at $30. There is no way I am going to pay KD20 for a package that’s worth just $20 or $30.

What are our options?
Did anyone receive any packages yesterday?
Did you have to pay the new clearance fees?
Can we refuse delivery of our packages?

Kuwait for Kenya will be holding a photo exhibit next week at Bayt Lothan under the patronage of U.S. President Barak Obama Mrs. Farah Pandith, Special Representative to the Muslim Communities for the U.S. Department of State. All proceeds from the exhibit will go towards the funding of future K4K projects. For more information about K4K visit their website [Here]

Location: Bayt Lothan in Salmiya near Marina Mall
Date: October 28-29, 2009
Time: 6-8PM

Update: I updated the time and date above.

Just got the following email from Aramex:

Dear Valued Customer,
Thank you for choosing Aramex as your transportation partner.

The Kuwaiti Customs Authority has recently notified us that all courier shipments containing non-documents shall undergo customs inspection upon arrival at Kuwait airport. While Aramex shall continue providing its clearance services, we are unable to provide a specific time frame as to the duration of the clearance period, which may exceed five working days. Aramex therefore encourages all its customers who require speedy clearance to collect their shipments’ documents for self-clearance at the Aramex Ardiya office.

Should you need further assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact us on + 965 1820011.

Best Regards,
Aramex Shop&Ship Team

I wonder if this applies to other carriers like U Shop We Ship and DHL?

Update: I just called Aramex to get more details. Basically everything is still exactly the same as before except now once the package arrives to Kuwait it will take a few days to get delivered to you. You don’t pay anything extra with this new rule, you just have to be more patient. But, like before, if customs decides to hold your package you would need to either clear it yourself or have them clear it for you for a fee.

Update2: I just called Aramex again and spoke to a person I know there. According to her I can expect ALL my packages to be held in customs from now on. Which means I will have to pay a fee to get my packages cleared. The fee is around KD15 (I think) which is just ridiculous!

Update3: Here is the breakdown of what you will have to pay from now on for EVERY single package you get via Aramex

a. 5% CIF.
b. 10 KD Kuwait airways.
c. 2 KD Bank Commission.
d. 1 KD Handling Charges.
e. 5 KD Clearance charges, if your good selves choose aramex to clear on your behalf, otherwise 2 KD only for self-clearance for customs declaration form.

That’s over KD20 per package! I still haven’t verified if USWS and DHL Easy Shop are effected by this since their offices were closed at the time of this posting.

Update4: Want to know how complicated it is to clear the stuff from customs yourself? Check my Kuwaiti Customs Clearance post with step by step directions and a map. [Link]