Category: Kuwait

Halloween is coming up and Dean & Deluca have some amazing looking pumpkins if you’re into pumpkin carving. But, it might be a good idea to sketch your designs first since at KD12 a pumpkin, any mistake is going to be an expensive one.

I updated my iPhone to iOS 5 and noticed a really annoying problem. I have the majority of my numbers stored with the country code +965 in front of them. But, I noticed a problem today which seems to be a common problem other people are facing as well. If you have a phone number saved with +965 in the front and that person is on your same mobile network, when they call you their number will appear without the +965 in front of it and iOS 5 won’t connect that number with the number you have saved. For example:

My iPhone has a Viva line. When Nat calls me from her Viva number I only see 55XXXXXX on my screen and not her name. When she calls me from her Zain line I see her name.

If anyone knows a solution to this problem please post it below. From the little information I was able to find online it seems either the mobile operators will have to send us a carrier update or it’s a fix which Apple will have to release.

A reader who’s currently studying in Italy emailed me some photos of an exhibition called Discover Kuwait that’s currently taking place in the streets of Milan. According to him they’re there for a week promoting Kuwaiti culture with pictures, information and even with music and dance. Below are some pictures he took and you can find out more by visiting the Discover Kuwait website [Here]

Thanks Hadi

Nicely shot film by Timothy Carr on Al Sawaber, the PK Jaguars and Parkour. This is the description attached with the video:

Al Sawaber is a Kuwaiti housing project built in 1976. This once beautiful complex is now a run down slum known for housing the worst of Kuwait’s criminal element. It is also an amazing parkour spot filled with unique architecture mixing harsh concrete edges and organic landscaping quite nicely. With its rooftops, elevated walkways, massive stairways, parks and unique architectural touches the PK Jaguars, Kuwait’s first and best Parkour team have made it their favorite spot to train. This is a film about Al Sawaber, the PK Jaguars and Parkour.

The film is nearly 10 minutes long which makes it a bit repetitive and I’m also not sure how accurate the description is about Al Sawaber housing criminals is. Still, it’s an interesting video to watch. [Vimeo]

Thanks Anes

Aramex posted the following on their Shop&Ship website:

Pleased to inform you that the customs strike in Kuwait is over. We will be delivering your shipments once they are processed and released from Kuwait Customs.

For more information please contact us on +965 (1) 820011 or email us at [email protected]

Shop and Ship Team

That’s great news. I have one shipment in customs right now, another coming in a few days and I’m also expecting the iPhone 4S to ship from the UK any day now.

Thanks Qatami

Spotted this video on the LWDLIK blog. It’s a presentation on the new railway system that is going to be built in Kuwait. I’ve posted about this topic a number of times before but this video offers a new glimpse on how the system will work and be implemented. They even have a few 3D renderings over real world shots showing how it’s going to look which is a design similar to the Dubai Metro but with a potential to be better since they’re planning to cover the whole country. [Vimeo]

Found this great black and white shot of the House of Parliament on Flickr. The photo was taken by interior architect Jeffrey van der Wees and he’s got a few more great shots he took while he was in Kuwait which you can check out on his Flickr page [Here]

Four of my Aramex packages cleared customs today and are out for delivery which is strange since I thought customs were on an “indefinite strike“. The packages actually cleared faster than usual since they were only stuck in customs for two days and that included yesterdays strike. Weird.

A reader going by the nickname “La Revue de Koweit” posted the comment below under the Avenues fight post and I thought it was funny but yet made sense at the same time. Below are 7 fight preventative actions that should be taken:

1) Serious shoppers should avoid going to the Avenues over the weekends and public holidays.

2) Increased presence of law enforcement officers on Segways throughout the mall and mounted on horseback in the parking lot.

3) Videowalls in the courtyard areas with live streaming videos from different fashion houses from Milan, Paris, London, New York and Tokyo plus exhaustive coverage of all the fashion weeks would be a useful distraction to keep the Jahra and/or Saudi set yobs engaged.

4) Rope in LoYAC to arrange activites that excite youth such as, kite flying, skateboarding and karting outside the mall.

5) Organize frequent blood donation drives and free health checks: mobile health camps to make possible blood draws for screening of thalassemia, blood glucose etc, all of which serve as small but rather useful diversions for channeling of youthful energies and making the national sport of weekend birdwatching seem less macabre and more civil.

6) Holding of spelling bees at That-el-salasil.

7) Naming and shaming policy can be a rather useful deterrant. Mugshots and names of the yobs involved in a fight should be displayed on a special bulletein board – the Avenues Fight Barometer for all and sundry to see.

Helle Wallah is a rap song by local group W.A.S.T.A. The song is in English and this is their first release. [YouTube]

A friend of mine sent the email below which was sent to him by his couriers account manager:

The Kuwait customs have gone on an indefinite strike. The strike will affect clearance at the airport and land customs, as well as the border between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. There will be no road movements into or out of Kuwait until the strike is over.

Clearance of inbound material (including Documents) at both the airport and land customs will be suspended throughout the strike.

Export from Kuwait will also be affected, and only Conveyable Non documents and Documents that can be transferred via passenger channels at the airport will be able to move.

Regular pickup’s will be carried out, until further notice.

There is a possibility that the strike could last more than one day, however we do not have confirmation of this as yet and will communicate as soon as we do.

I’ve got six packages currently held in customs and I guess I shouldn’t be expecting them to be cleared anytime soon. This sucks.

Update: Spotted the below on Buz Fairy taken outside the customs department. Can someone please tell me what “Customs we apologize to serve you strike a comprehensive” means?

Google Maps recently added driving directions to Google Maps in Kuwait meaning you could now tell Google where you are and where you want to go to and it will calculate the route similar to navigation devices. You can try it by visiting Google Maps [Here]

Thanks Ds

I woke up this morning to find out that Tikka and the Fashionway complex opposite Fanar in Salmiya had caught fire this morning. I don’t have any information yet on what caused the fire but it looks like the fire engulfed the whole top floor and probably causing damage to the shops below as well. The video above is of Tikka on fire and below are some shots taken after the fire was put out. [YouTube]

Thanks Rami and Karim

Update: Below are some shots of the fire taken by Hudson

Update2: Below is a 27 minute video of the fire, better quality than the one above.

Thanks Khaloody

The price isn’t mentioned neither is the mileage but it does looks pretty clean (ie. can’t see any blood stains). [Link]

Thanks Mohammad

I just read on twitter that Kuwait Customs are going on strike tomorrow. I really hope that’s not true, customs already take forever to clear packages and with a strike I’m sure things are going get delayed even longer.