2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003
Yesterday I shared photos of the Abu Al Hasaniya beach littered with plastic bottles and a group of volunteers from Trash Hero decided to take it upon themselves to go pick up all the trash.
Based on the video shared in their stories, it looks like most of the trash was picked up. But, they’re going back there today at 3PM to finish up the job so if you want to give them a hand, join them today. @trashherokuwait
Not sure if it was this was a fluke or what but I had a really great experience with the Kuwait post office last week. I had a package containing 4 car tires that shipped from the UK and arrived to me in less than a week. My tires left the UK on December 10th and according to the MOC tracking page, they arrived to Kuwait on December 15th. The following day I got an SMS from the Hateen Post Office to pass by pick up my package. When I got to the post office there was nobody there and the whole process of getting my tires took less than 10 minutes. I ended up paying just 1KD for customs clearance and they even had a porter cart my tires to my car.
If the post office was always like this I’d be ordering through them soooo much more often. They were so fast they made Aramex Shop&Ship look like the Kuwait post office.
Update: I knew things were too good to be true, turns out the post office gave me someone else tires! Link
Looks like eVisa’s are finally being issued again. According to the US Embassy website, Kuwait has announced that people of certain nationalities who would like to travel to Kuwait can apply for a visa electronically (e-Visa) through the Ministry of Interior’s website. There are some requirements:
But, it seems they’ve also placed a limit on how many eVisa’s can be issued. I’m trying to issue one for my mum but whenever I want to start the process I get the error “We have reached the maximum limit of visa applications, please try again later.” If you’ve successfully managed to apply for an eVisa, let us know in the comments.
A friend of mine put this list together on Twitter of the various trends we’ve gone through over the years and I thought it was so on point!
2010: Year of the Cupcake
2011: Year of the Froyo
2012: Year of the Gelato
2013: Year of the Karak
2014: Year of the Pistachio
2015: Year of the Pudding
2016: Year of the Chicken Burger
2017: Year of the Lotus
2018: Year of the Coffee
2019: Year of the Healthy Diet Boxes
2020: Year of the Shawarma
2021: Year of the Matcha
The only thing missing is the San Sebastian cheesecake phase we went through back in 2018.
via @_M87
I noticed recently on Twitter a lot of people complaining about Aramex. I thought I was the only one having problems with them recently but it looks like it’s everyone. Yes, I’m aware a lot of you don’t like them and prefer using other services, but from my experience, they offer the best bang for the buck. You also get what you pay for, so very affordable shipping but also fairly slow shipping which is why I don’t have an issue with their speed.
Recently things have been a disaster though. Not sure if it’s because of lack of staff or what exactly but not only are packages being delivered much slower than usual which I’m fine with, the mistakes they’re making is what I have an issue with. For example, I had one package go out for delivery only for the driver to say I rejected the package which I didn’t. It then took 2 weeks, 6 to 7 phone calls, 3 complaint tickets, and contacting their social media team twice just to get the package redelivered again.
This brings me to my post. Which company has the worst or best customer service in Kuwait? Everyone makes mistakes, that’s fine but good or bad service for me is based on how you go about trying to solve the mistake.
Worst: Aramex (Shop&Ship)
Like I said, it isn’t because they’re slow, it’s because they’re just terrible at solving problems when they do happen.
Best: Babel
This was difficult to choose because of the lack of options, but in the end I decided to pick Babel. I order delivery from them and their customer service is great. They always call to make sure the food arrived or call the next day to make sure if everything was ok. But really the reason I chose them is because of the one time I had an issue with my order, they went beyond what was required to make me happy even though I wasn’t even upset. They forgot to put the tabbouleh dressing with my order so I called them to let them know just as an FYI. They were very apologetic and insisted on resending the whole order again and even included dessert to make up for it even though I tried to tell them not to. Been a big fan ever since.
I’m curious to know what everyone’s Worst and Best is. Based on social media I’d assume it’s going to be either Aramex, Xcite or one of the telecoms.
Update: I was right! Looks like the majority of readers rank Aramex Shop & Ship, Xcite and Ooredoo as the worst followed closely by Talabat. When it comes to best customer service it looks to be Deliveroo which I also agree with.
It started off in 2008 as a group of domestic workers who got together to spend leisure time, cooking, and playing games. Then as the group got more popular, other domestic workers were coming to them for help, so they decided to do something about it.
“Before, nobody talked about domestic workers. They were there, but nobody could see them. But over the past 13 years, there have been a lot of changes.” – Ann Abunda
In 2010, they founded Sandigan Kuwait, a more serious group that advocates for the protection and welfare of domestic workers. They now assist and assess workers’ cases from different nationalities, and from different work sectors. They have a repatriation programme, offer legal aid, and provide psychosocial activities. In addition, every Friday they have a livelihood program for domestic workers.
It’s an inspiring story and you can read more about it on the International Labour Organization website ilo.org
via @AlHashemShaikha
Yesterday residents who have been stuck outside Kuwait for over 7 months were finally allowed to come back home. Based on the video above it looks like the procedures on arrival is really smooth which is encouraging.
But, a lot of people are facing difficulties either trying to get their vaccination approved by MOH or having difficulty trying to register in the immune app.
If you’re stuck outside of Kuwait and trying to come back in but are facing issues, let us know about them in the comments. Maybe we can help!
Today marks the 31st anniversary of the 1990 Kuwait Invasion, and every year on the anniversary, I like to share some links related to the war. Here they are:
Free Kuwait
This is a website that focuses on the campaign that was led by Kuwaitis in exile and is loaded with photos and information.
Kuwait Invasion – The Evidence
This is a website that contains over 1,200 pictures taken right after the 1990 invasion as photographic evidence to all the destruction caused by Iraq.
Short movie: Hearts of Palm
Hearts of Palm is a short movie set on August 2nd 1990 and deals with Kuwaiti students living in Miami Florida during the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait.
The Class of 1990
This is a short documentary about reuniting classmates years after the 1990 Iraqi invasion.
Homemade video from the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait
Video clips taken by a Kuwaiti family during the Iraqi invasion
Desert Storm Photos
Photos taken by soldiers during Desert Storm.
Short Animation: Sandarah
A captivating story based on true events that took place during the 1990 Iraqi invasion.
First Account of Iraq’s Invasion of Kuwait
Interviews with various Kuwaitis that were in Kuwait during the 1990 invasion.
Iraqi Invasion Pictures
Photos of the Gulf War aftermath.
Politics of War
A tumblr account with some not so commonly seen photos from the Gulf War. (Warning some are graphic)
BBC Documentary: The Last Flight to Kuwait
A series of documentaries on Iraq begins with a look at the fate of British Airways flight BA149 to the Far East in 1990. As the plane landed in Kuwait, Saddam Hussein invaded, capturing its crew and passengers.
Top photo by Steve McCurry, the rest by Bruno Barbey
If you have Netflix and are feeling nostalgic, the popular and hilarious Kuwaiti play Bye Bye London is available on the platform to watch. Link
It looks like it’s been there for a year now but didn’t really notice until someone pointed it out. The quality of the video is the best I’ve come across yet and it even has English subtitles.
Searching for “Kuwait” on Netflix brings up some other local shows and movies but the only other one I recognized is Back to the Future inspired movie, Back to Q82.
Thanks Nidal
A local coffee shop called Blend launched a new campaign for a black-colored soft serve by using a visual of a guy in blackface. The guy in the photo is the local photographer @bonmr who is known for superimposing himself onto photos. Both Blend and Bonmr turned off comments on the photos after people started protesting their use of blackface.
As of this morning, Blend have completely removed the photo from their account while Bonmr still has the photo up with the comments disabled.
You’d think after the huge backlash last year after the popular Kuwaiti makeup up artist Ghadeer Sultan posted a photo of herself in blackface that people finally understood the negative connotation behind it. I guess not.
The weather is great!
I love interesting stories about Kuwait and this one is particularly fascinating because I was able to get so much information, photos, and newspaper clippings to go along with it. Last week I got an email from someone telling me that their dad back in 1970 became the first and only Kuwaiti to ever be drafted by the NFL. They wanted to know if I’d be interested in telling the story and obviously, I jumped all over it! I really wanted to know how someone from Kuwait in the 60s ended up in the NFL so I met with his two sons and managed to get the full story.
Back in the 60s, their father Maher Barakat graduated from Shuwaikh High School for boys and received a government scholarship to attend the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. When Maher was in Kuwait he used to play soccer with his friends and family and he was known to be a powerful striker who was accurate and usually scored a lot of goals. It was soccer that got him into the NFL, and it was also soccer that ended his NFL career.
During one of his PE classes in college, Maher was given an opportunity to Punt (kick) a weird-shaped ball into a U-shaped goal. He hadn’t played American Football before but apparently, it was very easy for him to kick the ball as he used to when playing soccer. The coach then asked him to do it again and Maher scored the ball again. The coach then moved him to different points around the field and kept asking Maher to try and score from there and Maher would keep kicking the ball through the posts. After completing the assessment, Maher was given an offer by the coach to join the college football team as their starting punter and Maher accepted the offer.
Though his punting style was unconventional (leaning more towards a soccer kick), Maher Barakat became a star at South Dakota. He ended up breaking college and division records, which is most likely how he was spotted by NFL scouts. Maher became really well known in his college town and earned the nickname Bear-Cat.
Maher was officially drafted by the NFL in 1970 and became the first football player from his college as well as the first Kuwaiti to ever be drafted to the pros. Bear-Cat was approached by a number of NFL teams such as the Denver Broncos, Dallas Cowboys, and St. Louis Cardinals but ended up choosing to sign with the Broncos.
In the summer after signing his NFL contract, Maher Barakat flew back to Kuwait to see his family and share the good news. Once back in Kuwait he was eager to play soccer with his friends just like he used to in the old days and that’s where the story takes a turn. Unfortunately while playing soccer with his friends, Maher ends up fracturing his toe. Even after healing, he couldn’t kick the same anymore and that was the end of his American Football career.
Maher eventually graduated and moved back to Kuwait where he worked in the Ministry of Electricity until the early 80s when he decided to leave to start his own business. He ended up opening what eventually became the popular video store, Blue Belt (حزام أزرق) and held the rights to WWF (now WWE) for the GCC (that needs a whole separate post). In the 90s he also became the partner in IVC, the video store located next to Fanar Mall.
Maher had kept all the newspaper clippings and photos from his college years and his sons passed them to me to share. There were a lot but I chose to share the ones I thought were the most interesting and informative. I’ve shared some in this post but you can download the PDF with all the articles, photos and letters I scanned by clicking this link Maher-Barakat.pdf
There is very little information about Maher online so I really appreciate that his sons decided to share this with me. According to them their dad doesn’t like talking about himself and so very few people know of his story and accomplishment. Hopefully, after today he’ll get the recognition he deserves.
Back in 2014, a German documentary on used tires aired and Kuwait was featured prominently in it due to having the world’s largest used tires mountain. Recently the documentary made its way to YouTube and in English with no region lock and I just watched it now. Although a few years old I think the documentary is still worth watching although some things have changed since then.
Since the documentary aired I believe at least two tire recycling facilities have been set up including Green Rubber Recycling whom I posted about last year.
When I visited the tires graveyard back in 2012, the tires were all piled together in one large pile (pictured above). Due to safety issues and the continuous number of fires that take place there, the tires are now compartmentalized into smaller piles so that if a fire breaks out it’s contained in one area. Fires happen so frequently that it even shows on Google Maps.
While watching the documentary above just be aware that the info is not up to date. YouTube
Thanks Syed
Last week I was looking for something on Google and ended up stumbling across an old picture of Salmiya which I hadn’t seen before. I started digging around looking for a higher resolution version and turned out I had actually posted the photo on my blog back in 2009 with a bunch of other old photos.
My memory is terrible and I’ve published over 12,000 posts so there is no way I can remember everything. I tried to find a higher resolution version of the photo online but everyone else had taken it off my blog so I couldn’t find one. So I decided to go through my emails to see if the source had originally sent me better quality scans. Turns out he had scanned the images in high res but because they were over 160MB he only sent me low res versions. I decided to randomly reply back to that person’s original email 12 years later asking if he still had the high res images. Turns out he did! He sent me a link to all the photos and I downloaded them and just put them up on Flickr and you can check them out here.
Anyway, I wanted to do a before and after comparison of Salmiya and you can view that in high res here. It’s impressive how many old buildings are still there but sadly they haven’t been maintained and are all in a state of disrepair. The whole neighborhood honestly is disastrously mishandled with no sidewalks or parking spots and loads of large open garbage bins that stink up the neighborhood. My neighborhood has so much potential and it’s sad I can’t do anything about it.
Thanks Khalid!
The Kuwait Society for Human Rights issued a statement a couple of days ago on the recent decision not to renew work permits for people over 60 years old. The statement was done with Google Translate and not edited so a lot of it doesn’t make sense, but the gist of it is there. One of their main arguments is that some people have lived all their lives in Kuwait with only a passport connecting them to a different place and so it would be inhumane to force them out especially since a lot come from countries that are unstable.
They also share their recommendations on what needs to be done including the need to abolish the kafala system which I’m hearing a lot of support for. I’m not sure how influential the society is in Kuwait maybe someone can let me know in the comments, but I feel like they lost an opportunity here to get support from international media outlets by not editing their Google Translated statement. Maybe someone could volunteer to edit it and send them an updated version.
If you can read Arabic then I’d recommend you check out their Arabic release here, if you don’t read Arabic then here is a link to their English statement.
