Category: Kuwait

Big D released a new music video yesterday directed towards all the people on 248AM that have hated him. The music video starts off with Big D reading the comments about him on this blog and then goes into an angry fit. The music then starts and while he’s rapping, various quotes from different commentators flash up on the screen. So if you’ve left a negative comment about Big D before you might see your comment in this video. [YouTube]

The BBC show Big Meets Bigger came to Kuwait a couple of years back and when the episode was finally aired it was uploaded online to the BBC website but no one outside the UK could watch it. Today though someone uploaded the video onto YouTube and it’s now finally available for everyone to watch. The episode is divded into four parts, the first part is above and I’ve listed the rest below.

Big Meets Bigger – Kuwait 1
Big Meets Bigger – Kuwait 2
Big Meets Bigger – Kuwait 3
Big Meets Bigger – Kuwait 4

An abandoned building in Fahaheel started collapsing earlier tonight at around 8:30pm. The building is currently leaning forward and looks like it’s going to collapse on the adjacent apartment building. According to a reader, the surrounding buildings have been evacuated and the area has been cordoned off.

Thanks Hansel
Photos taken by Mohamed Harsath

According to the blog Qortuba Valley, Kuwait’s approved LTE frequency is 1800 MHz which means iPhone 5’s purchased from the UK will work in Kuwait while ones purchased from the US will not. [Link]

Update: Arab Times also confirms the approved frequency is 1800 MHz [Link]

The Guardian published the photo above of Kuwait at night taken from space. The photo was one of many photos captured by the European Space Agency and Nasa satellites last month. The description of the photo says:

A night view of Kuwait City, the coastal city which serves as Kuwait’s political and economic capital. The metropolitan area has a population approaching 2.5 million

Check out The Guardian article [Here]

Below is another photo taken from space back in August also showing Kuwait at nigh. It was previously featured as a NASA image of the day.

NASA have a pretty good writeup on the photo above as well as a higher resolution photo which you can check out [Here]

Thanks Khalid

A friend just messaged me telling me an apartment building collapsed in Salmiya near the corner of the Fahaheel Expressway and the 4th Ring Road. Lots of cops and firefighters on the scene.

I don’t have any pictures or information right now other than the above. Hopefully it was an abandoned building and no one was hurt.

Update: One of my readers with more information shared the following

I passed by around 8:30PM, 3 hours after the incident took place and I couldn’t see any fire trucks or police cars on the scene. I did spot the building though which is located right behind Texas Chicken on the 4th Ring Road in Salmiya.

Update2: I added the photo above which was taken by Namastey Kuwait. More photos on their Facebook page [Here]

Expat and the City has an interesting post on how Chinese prostitutes have taken over American housing areas in Fahaheel and Mahboula. The girls are trying to pick up guys during the day and night without even trying to stay low key. Where are the cops? Nowhere in sight. The reason I’ve chosen to highlight her post is because it’s related in a slight way to my 5àsec post from yesterday and my numerous complaints on how cops parked traffic lights on the Gulf Road watch cars run red lights and not care.

It’s easy and obvious to blame the cops for not doing their job but personally I no longer blame them. I think the cops are frustrated and have just given up caring but for good reason. Why should they waste their time handing out tickets or arresting people when everyone has wasta to get out of a ticket or a misdemeanor? I can imagine how demoralizing this must be for them.

Check out Expat and the City’s post [Here]

The above is the latest video by K’S PATH and below is the description:

This short film features the release of a Scops Owl and a Steppe Eagle. The owl was found being sold by children while the eagle was found exhausted on the beach, presumably having exhausted itself flying against the wind during the day. Our community responded wonderfully by calling K’S PATH and helping to catch and transport these majestic creatures. Both birds were promptly given a clean bill of health after being seen by K’S PATH veterinarian Dr. Madhulal Valliyatte. Thankfully, they were both released the following day.

If you find a wild bird in distress, call 6700-1622. If it’s safe for you and the bird, you can use a towel and cardboard box to catch it. Keep the bird covered in the box, in the dark if possible, and in a quiet place. Avoid heat and noise. You may give a bowl of water if necessary, but don’t attempt to feed a wild bird. The wrong food can be much worse than no food for a short time. Our phone is switched off at night but all missed calls are returned in the morning. A message will get the quickest response.

Let’s be a community that works together to take care of wildlife.

[Vimeo]

I was leaving the house this morning when I got a phone call from Xcite letting me know they received the new iPhone 5 and if I was interested in picking it up to check it out. Luckily traffic wasn’t that bad and I was over at their head office 15 minutes later picking up the phone.

The new iPhone 5 looks smaller than my iPhone 4s even though it’s taller. It looks very slick and slim while the iPhone 4s which I didn’t have a problem with an hour ago now looks pretty bulky sitting next to the iPhone 5 on my desk. I have the black iPhone 5 with me which is black all over including the side trimming which is what is also helping the iPhone 5 look smaller than it actually is.

Even though I was expecting the iPhone 5 to be light based on the reviews I read online, I wasn’t expecting it to feel this much lighter than the 4s. It’s really the first thing that grabbed my attention when I picked it up and it kinda feels like the phone is hollow on the inside. The second thing that grabbed my attention was the aluminum back of the phone. To me it doesn’t look or feel like aluminum but more like a plastic. I think it’s because I was expecting the metal to have some sort of texture which is doesn’t.

I booked my nano sim card from Viva [Here] but I still haven’t received the sim card yet nor do I know when they’ll be available. So right now if you want to use the iPhone 5 you’re going to have to cut and sand your sim card down to the size of the nano.

If you want to check out the iPhone 5 yourself you can since Xcite have it on display right now at their Avenues location. They aren’t selling them just yet nor have they priced them since they’re waiting to secure a large quantity of phones first. If you have any questions or curiosities about the phone let me know since I’m going to have it with me for a few more hours.

Update: Xcite just informed me they’re now selling the iPhone 5 starting at KD299

Want to help make a difference? Using Instagram take pictures the good, the bad and the ugly and hashtag the shots with #welcometokuwait

Spread the word.

I’ve driven by the site and I have to say it’s going to be HUGE. [YouTube]

According to a friend of mine this happened last night and the owner was found dead. I haven’t confirmed the story so no idea if that’s true or not.

Photo was taken from @3abdalla78 on Instagram.

I was trying to find information on the Anglo American School of Kuwait and by chance ended up finding a whole bunch of old photos of Kuwait dating back from 1960 up till 1984. I hadn’t seen any of them before and the one that grabbed my attention the most was the one above of a karting track in Ahmadi back in 1964. Most likely the first go-kart track in the region. There are a ton of photos, some are more interesting than others but all help paint a picture of life in Ahmadi back in the 60s and 70s. Check them out [Here]

I had no idea who Emmy was until a reader emailed me telling me about her. Emmymade in Japan is a YouTube channel where Emmy usually reviews different kind of candies (mostly from Japan) while eating them in front of the camera. Well it seems she has some Kuwaiti viewers because someone from Kuwait sent her a box full of treats all the way to Japan. It’s really fun watching her trying to figure out what everything is. [YouTube]

Thanks Teeba

Exit is a short film that revolves around a Ministry building in Kuwait. It’s really not that great a video but I really liked the idea of a bored employee making a film at his workplace. [Vimeo]