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
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
Apparently an old building was being demolished and collapsed sideways on the side building. No one is hurt but authorities are searching as it fell on a temporary room. -NAK
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.
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.
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
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]
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]
Hamad Al-Tourah is a Kuwaiti writer and filmmaker who is currently getting ready to shoot a short film here in Kuwait in about 3 weeks time. Right now he’s in the pre-production phase and is currently casting actors/actresses for the roles. He is also raising funds to cover the cost of equipment and production so he’s got a Kickstarter kinda thing going on.
Here is the summary of what the short film will be about:
Playtime is a short film about Matthew, a 10 year old expatriate who’s just moved to Kuwait with his single mother, whose just been hired for a post at an American Army Base. One night, after his mother leaves him alone for the first time, he escapes to track her down. Instead, he quickly crosses paths with Dalal, a teenage Kuwaiti girl who lives next door. Fearing a second abandonment, Matthew convinces her to help him find his mother.
What Matthew doesn’t know is that Dalal needs more help than he and that the only way to combat his own feelings of alienation is to stop depending on the care of others. Having descended far into the depths of the Kuwaiti desert, Matthew must fend off some threatening characters and return the two of them safely home.
Hamad is trying to raise $8,000 to make the film and right now he’s at the halfway point with around $4,000. Every donation gets you a perk and you can donate as little as just $10. To find out how you can help click [Here]
A few weeks back I was having a quick bite at Hashtag when Dari the owner sat down with me and started telling me about PlusOne. It’s a fairly simple concept, anytime you order a burger just tell the cashier to PlusOne and they will add one Dinar to your total bill. The one Dinar you add will be matched by the restaurant and then a meal similar to the one you just had would be given to a low income worker. He invited me to pass by again when they were preparing the meals so I could volunteer and see how the system works for myself. So I did.
It was a pretty dusty day when I met up with Dari at Hashtag but that wasn’t changing their plans. I arrived just as they were starting to make the burgers. There were three other volunteers including the super nice Ms. Bibi Al-Ayoub from “Draw a Smile,” a charitable campaign that inspired PlusOne. Once all the burgers were ready we headed out to a location where street workers were coming together before being taken by a large bus to their compounds. As we arrived to the location so did a car from Chocolateness who were also participating that day.
The workers right away got in a very organized line as the volunteers started handing out the food one at a time along with a drink. Sadly that day there were more workers than there was food to give but hopefully as more people are aware about PlusOne that won’t happen again.
Right now the following restaurants are participating in this year long campaign:
If you’re interested in helping, just PlusOne to your bill when ordering from one of the restaurants above. If you’re a restaurant owner and want to participate, you can do so by clicking [Here]
Gourmet Magazine have a feature article listing some of the best burgers from around the world and Kuwait made the list. The featured burger from Kuwait is the Kuwait City edition burger from Smashburger. I haven’t had Smashburger yet so I can’t vouch for them but I am curious to try it now. Here is the link to the full list [Link]
If you’re familiar with Reddit then you should be familiar with IAMA (I Am A/Ask Me Anything). It’s when a person states what they do for a living and then allows people to ask them anything. An American girl going by the nickname GlitterNails posted “I was an “Alcohol Dealer” in a Islamic Country. AMA” and within the comments you quickly find out by Islamic country she meant Kuwait.
It’s an interesting read and if you’ve got the time check it out. Right now it has over 850 comments. [Link]
