Category: Kuwait

According to a reader Saied, the whale shark thats been stranded at Marina Crescent for a week now was saved. They were able to place the whale shark onto a marine parachute bed like device and then pull the whale shark out to sea where it was then set free. Around 15 divers took park in this rescue which lasted around 9 hours. Saied will be sending me pictures and once I get them will post them here.

Update: Got the pictures, check them out below. Thanks Saied!

My iPhone 3GS arrived today from Australia and I’ve been playing with it for over an hour now. I am upgrading from the original (2G) iPhone since I never saw a reason to upgrade to the 3G. The 3GS on the other hand had a decent amount of improvements that was worth upgrading to. Here are my impressions so far:

– It is literally twice as fast compared to my previous iPhone. My favorite game Fast Food boots up much much quicker than before

– Love the new smudge proof screen

– I got internet tethering working which means I can use my iPhone like an eGO

– Can’t get MMS to work (never mind just work, APN, username and pass should be pps)

– Voice command surprisingly easy and fun to use. I just talk to my iphone as if its my secretary and it understands commands like cancel or what band is this? when music is playing

– I don’t like the plastic back of the new iphones, I prefer the older aluminum

– 3G is faster than edge, finally I can browse at decent speeds. The BBC low graphics site now loads instantly and every link I click loads in under a second

So basically the new iPhone 3GS is a great step up from the original one. The OS speed difference, the 3G, GPS and the tethering were all worthy enough reasons for me to upgrade.

I just got the new copy of Thouq magazine today and it turns out they have a small write up on my blog. I also noticed the magazine is now like 6 to 8 times bigger in size, not page wise but actual physical size. Its huge and you can see in the picture below how big it is compared to the iPhone. I wonder if all their issues are going to be this big or if its just this one. Its definitely more interesting and I love the paper they used to print on.

I was on the 4th Ring Road on my way to Avenues for lunch today when I spotted a large cloud of smoke in the distance. I kept driving towards it past Al-Rai until just before the roundabout at the end of the 4th Ring Road I spotted the source of the smoke. There was a large fire at a construction site. I parked my car on the side and managed to shoot a video of it with my BlackBerry which you can watch above. [YouTube]

Now later in the day around 4:30pm I was on my way to Bin Khaldoun street in Hawalli to buy some computer speakers (which I will post about later) when I spotted another fire. There was a black parked Jeep that caught fire and then the two cars parked next to it also caught fire. I was there before the fire trucks came and was able to capture all of it on my Sony camera. I would have gotten closer but I’ve watched too many movies and a car on fire always ends up in a large explosion so I kept my distance. Its a good quality video and you can watch that above. Below is a picture showing how the fire damaged the three cars. [YouTube]

I had to go do the yearly car test and renew the papers today and they wouldn’t pass my car. Last year I installed the lift and large tires on my Wrangler and I didn’t know what to expect during the car test since I couldn’t find any proper information regarding the legality of car lifts.

I got to the check up area and the inspector took a look at the car and wrote something down on the paper. He then called a second inspector over and told him that I have a lift and large tires installed. The other inspector told him whats it to you let the guy install whatever he wants and pass him. The first inspector then told the second one that he had already wrote on the paper that I had large tires installed. They discussed it among themselves for a few seconds but since he had already wrote there was a problem there wasn’t much that could be done. I asked them what the problem was and the second inspector replied back in very fluent English that the problem was that my tires were sticking out from the side of the car and that I should go over to the other inspection area on the other side and see what they would have to say there.

So I drove to the second inspection area where a guy came up to my car and told me I wasn’t allowed to install different rims and tires on the car. According to him the only way he would pass me is if I install the original wheels and go back to him. So now I need to see if the garage that installed my lift still has my original tires. If not I guess will have to pass by the scrap yard and see what I can find.

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*.

I got an email from a reader telling me that last night while he was at Marina Crescent there was a Whale Shark around 3 meters in length and 2 meters wide stranded on the beach. There were 4 scuba divers with the shark and they tried to push him out to sea but the shark kept coming back. I am trying to get a hold of some pictures and once I do I will post them here.

I’ve previously posted about a whale shark that was caught in Kuwait. Hopefully this one will end up getting saved.

Update: Al Rai has a lot of pictures like the one above which you can see [Here]

Update2: Al Watan daily has an English article which you can read [Here]

Film Swap is a pretty great idea and its cool people are actively doing it. This is how film swapping works, you take a picture with your film camera and someone else across the world does the same thing. When you’re done shooting your roll of film you mail it to the other person and they mail you their roll of film. You then take their film and load it into your camera and shoot over his film. You end up with a double exposure of two different random subjects from two different countries together in one shot.

Yahsheik is a photographer in Kuwait that is film swapping and you can check out his pictures on Flickr. So far he’s swapped films with photographers in Philippines, USA, Japan and Thailand. Check out the pictures [Here]

They’ve changed their fries to regular ones and they’re using what looks like regular sliced cheese for the burgers. I am pissed.

Here is a link to my Fuddruckers burger review from last year. [Link]

Although Coffee Republic has been open for a while I only passed by and tried them the other day at 360. I had heard of their Kinder milk shakes and wanted to try it but when I got there I was amazed at the variety of shakes they had. My favorites were the Kinder Bueno, Nutella, Ferrero Rocher, Maltesers and Cadbury Flake milkshakes. How is one meant to to choose just one of those? Now I need to go back at least 5 times so I could try each flavor.

So this is whats opening up in what was supposed to be Arby’s at the Avenues food court. SUCKS!

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]

Ansam uploaded and posted a video recorded from a Saudi channel of a Kuwaiti TV series that’s been dubbed in English. Can anyone imagine if they did the same thing to Bye Bye London? I would watch that! [YouTube]

via Five One Eight