Category: Kuwait

My driving license is expiring in a few days, so on Sunday I passed by the Hawally Traffic Department in Jabriya. Regular readers might remember I had passed by the same place two weeks earlier when getting my motorbike learners permit. So once again I got my papers typed out in the typing room and then headed towards window #1.

When I got there it turned out to be the same person who had given me trouble the last time. Previously when I went to get my riding learners permit he had told me to come back the next day just like that for no reason. In the end a nice high ranking officer helped me and Nat out and I was able to get the paper work done in the same day. Anyway I went up to him with all my papers this time, he looked at them and then gave them back and told me to come back in the evening. I was like why? He was like from 4 to 7pm its for renewals. I was like fine whatever and left. On my way out I saw the nice cop from last time standing not doing anything. I was like cool, he will help me out again.

I go up to the high ranking cop and go hey remember me? Me and my wife came here 2 weeks ago and you helped us out and stuff. He told coldly replied no, and then rudely turned around and walked away. I was like thinking to myself what the fuck just happened here? This guy was like super friendly to us last time and he was kidding around with Nat and he was telling her about the dangers of riding and how he wouldn’t advise her to ride and stuff and then he went and finished up all our papers. Now its like he never met me before. I was like doesn’t matter, whatever, I followed the cop back to his office the whole time going excuse me in Arabic wanting him to turn around. Finally just before he got into his office he turned and was like what? I was like I want to renew my papers but that guy said I should come in the evening. He told me then come in the evening and walked away. I was like fuck it and left the place.

Tonight I passed by at 6:30pm to finish up my papers. I go in and the place was empty except for 2 guys sitting next to each other at 2 adjacent windows. I go up to one guy and without saying a word I give him my papers. Since my papers say I am Canadian I figured I would get better treatment like that, and it works most of the time. The guy signs my papers and places a stamp then the guy next to him tells him in Arabic “Tell him to come back tomorrow”. The guy continues to sign the papers then hands them back to me and tells me come back tomorrow. So I replied back in Arabic why? I came already before and you told me come back between 4 and 7, now I am here you are telling me come back tomorrow. The guy was like yes, no one is here now come back tomorrow at 5. I was like yeah buy I have work. He is like I finished everything for you, all you need to do is come back tomorrow have your picture taken here and get your license. I was like ok why can’t I do that now? He was like come back tomorrow.

So with no chance of reasoning with the guy and no wasta available I had to leave the place without getting my driving license renewed. Now I need to go back for the third fucking time just to get my license renewed. Three visits just for a renewel!

I know I said I will stop complaining but I can’t when there are companies like Fonz that still exist.

While at the airport the other day, my dad saw the Nokia N73 for the first time and he liked it. Today while flipping through the papers I found an ad for Fonz where they were selling the N73 for KD89 plus they were giving free stuff with it like a phone line, 6 months ART subscription and something else. So, I decided I would pass by and get him it as an early birthday present.

I went to the Fonz branch in front of Marina Mall next to Eastpak around 7pm. I went in and told the employee I wanted the N73. He replied telling its been out of stock for a couple of days. I was like yeah but I just saw the ad today in the paper. How could you advertise something you don’t have? I was like can you check on your computer and see if any of your other branches have it. He was like I can’t do that. I was like what the fuck, who can I call and complain about this? He told me the head office, he picked up the phone and called them up and handed me the phone.

A guy answers, I asked him if this was the head office. He was like why? I was like because I have a complaint. He was like about what? I told him that I saw an ad in the paper for a phone and I came in to buy it and the employee told me it was out of stock. When I asked him to check and see which other branch of Fonz had the phone he told me he couldn’t. The guy replied telling me they sometimes run out of stock. I was like fine, I understand that, but could you please tell me which other branch has the phone in stock? He replied telling me that he could give me the numbers of all their branches in Kuwait and I could call them all up and see which one still has it. I was like what the fuck? I am telling you I want the phone, and you are telling me go look for it, go try your luck and call every Fonz store in Kuwait? I told him YOU guys should be trying to find ME the phone because I am the customer and I want to buy it. YOU guys should be able to tell me which branch still carries the phone and YOU guys should make the phone calls if there are any to be made. He was like I am not free at the moment to do that. I shut the phone on his face, gave it back to the employee in the store and walked out.

How does a place that does business like that manage to survive? Am I asking for too much here, having the actual store find me a phone in one other their other branches? It can’t be too much to ask.

I have been having lunch at IKEA for the past 3 days. I grew tired of food court food and so I wanted to try something new and thats when I decided to try IKEA. Other then the set menu they have daily specials. On Saturday they had Fish done manchurian style with steamed rice, yesterday they had veal steak with mushroom sauce, potato wedges and steamed vegetables and today they buttered chicken with steamed rice. The price is pretty good, the fish cost KD2.450 but the steak and chicken cost KD2.250. The daily special comes with your choice of tea or coffee. Its currently my favorite place and everything I have had has just been really delicious. If one they have a daily special I won’t like, I could just have swedish meatballs or a club sandwich. Then on the way out if I can’t resist the smell of the bakery downstairs I might pick up an eclair or chocolate croissant. Hmmm, now I am hungry.

Today was pretty straight forward. Just drove around the parking lot for an hour. Its was pretty uneventful until I had my first fall. Don’t think its counted as a fall since the bike fell while I was still left standing. I was turning a curve slowly, I think a bit too slowly and the bike just fell down right under me. Luckily it was dark so it wasn’t that embarrassing…

Yesterday night on my way to the airport I saw an accident on the 5th ring road just before exit 50. The accident was still fresh since the medics were still at the scene. Turns out a bus carrying works some how rammed into the back of a truck so it was pretty messed scene with a lot of injuries. Here are two pictures I managed to take as I was passing by.

update: Here is a good video shot at the scene by Zaina [Video]

Today I had my second riding lesson and it went really well, much better then I imagined it would go. Yesterday I was stalling on the bike a lot except near the end of the lesson where I finally managed to get things right. Today I managed to start off exactly where I left off yesterday which was really good. I was taking off without stalling and I even started shifting. Everything just got wayyy easier today and I was having a lot of fun just driving around the parking lot stopping and going, just getting the hand of riding. The hardest part of my lesson today was actually learning how to use the turn signals, it just made my life mor confusing.

Anyway at this rate by the end of the week I should be ready to take the driving test next week. I actually think I could pass the test now since I heard the test is easy, but, I would rather get as much riding as possible in this parking lot before I go out into the streets. Tomorrow is my third lesson.

Fuzz a blogger posted in the forum about how the 777 emergency service failed his uncle. According to Fuzz his uncle had a heart attack on Thursday and his cousin was the only person with hus uncle at the time and so his first reaction was to call for help by dialing 777. Problem is no one ever picked up. He tried calling them over and over and over but no one picked up the line.

How could no one be there to pick up an emergency phone call? A quick search online shows this has happened atleast one other time. CyberRowdy another blogger tried calling 777 to inform them of a safety problem when a traffic light at a major intersection stopped working. He called them 8 times and no one picked up. Another member in the forum posted that his Aunt passed away last year even though 777 did respond. According to the writer when the response team arrived they refused to touch his aunt because she was a woman and so did not perform CPR on her. They didn’t even help get his aunt into the Ambulance!

I am sure there are more examples where 777 failed to answer and the thing is, even if they don’t answer only one time that is still a MAJOR problem. Personally we used 777 once here at the office and the response time was fast so I myself never had a problem with 777. But, if there comes a time where I need them I would probably want someone to drive me to the hospital instead of waiting for 777.

Fuzz’s uncle passed away on Thursday because no one at 777 picked up the phone. Wouldn’t it have been better if the KD200 given out to every citizen was instead used to improve something as important as the medical service in Kuwait? Instead of donating money to rebuild Lebanon wouldn’t it have been better to first fix an important problem like the 777 emergency department?

Today I had my first riding lesson. It was really cool because I got there and there were two training motorbikes, two mechanics, this cool American biker called Kevin AND Jafar Behbahani, the owner of TriStar where I got my bike from. I had heard a lot about him and how cool a guy he was so meeting him was like really great. He spent the first half of the course teaching me how to ride but then had to leave for a meeting but Kevin continued in his place.

My lesson didn’t go that bad. I was stalling a lot in the beginning but near the end of my lesson I started getting the hang of it. My left hand and right hand can not coordinate together which is what made my lesson difficult. Its hard for me to do one thing with one hand and a different thing with my other hand, but they told me with practice I will get the hang of it and I can’t wait till that day comes. My second lesson is tomorrow, I am going to try to finish up all my lessons very quickly so I can get my license ASAP.

I really have to say I am extremely impressed with TriStar, Marzouq had told me before about how good they were and thats why he had recommended I get my bike from them but I didn’t think they would be this good. They are real professionals. If anyone is interested in a Ducati, KTM or BMW motorbikes, new or used then you should pass by them or give them a call. They are located in Kuwait City, at the end of the Istiklal freeway, opposite Al Khaleejiah Complex. You can call them on 2405194 (ask for Salem) or visit their website on tristarkw.com.

Tomorrow is my second lesson, should be really fun.

Someone asked that question in the forum and I thought it was interesting. In case you didn’t know, the government gave every Kuwaiti KD200 two days ago. So the question is directed to the locals, how are you planning on spending the money? The funniest thing I heard was that some guys were betting KD200 against each other in rounds of Winning Eleven on the PS2. Easy come easy go..

Krispy Kreme is opening in Marina Crescent right next to Biella, where the Cuppicino place used to be. They have a Krispy Kreme opening soon sign outside and construction has already started inside. Now thats a cool location.

After posting about the iPod mini for sale the other day someone from Kuwait emailed me asking if I could help sell her iPod Video. The iPod is from 11/2005 and is in good condition. The iPod has only minor scratches from normal use. The iPod is 60 GB and black. It comes with the original package, with earphones, USB cable and Itunes CD.

Asking price: KD90 KD80

If interested send an email to [email protected]

Update: iPod is sold an no longer availabe

During Ramadan Tikka will have an all you can eat buffet for only KD1.750. Thats the cheapest open buffet I know of here in Kuwait.

Sultan Center in Salmiya now have a whole range of Kit Kat flavors inlcuding:

Kit Kat Original
Kit Kat Dark Chocolate
Kit Kat White Chocolate
Kit Kat Mint
Kit Kat Orange
Kit Kat Chunky Caramel
Kit Kat Peanut butter

On my way back from dinner yesterday around 10:30PM I noticed a new store had opened just before Marina Mall opposite Eastpak. The store located under the Ponderosa restaurant is called Bullz Auto or something like that. According to a friend of mine it opened up on Thursday.

I took a quick stroll through the store and they basically sell stuff for pimping your car. They had a ton of rims, front and rear car lights, sound systems and a ton of small accessories. Downstairs was closed but it looked like they had clothing, could be biking gear or something.

I only had my phone cam with me so the pictures are crappy. Outside they had a pimped out Corvette and Avalanche while on the inside they had a pimped out H2 with 28-inch rims. I will pass by another day and hopefully take better pics and check out what gear they have downstairs.

Here are some more pictures:
Part of their rims display
Pimped out Avalanche
Pimped out Corvette

update: its called Auto Bullz not Bullz Auto

Qualitynet have redesigned their site. I tried accessing it earlier with just qualitynet.net and was getting the old site but i just tried it now www.qualitynet.net and I see the new site. [Link]

Thanks 767

update: been playing with the site for a bit and its a lot cleaner and easier to navigate then the older one.