2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

Video was uploaded awhile back but this is the first time I see it. Nothing compared to the Saudi vids but what I found interesting is the fact they closed a bridge underpass in a residential area in broad daylight. [YouTube]

I’m currently on vacation in Lebanon and get back to Kuwait tomorrow. While here I’ve been taking a lot of great shots of my activities which you can check out on Instagram [Here]

Will be posting in detail about them once I get back.

So it’s like 5 in the morning, I’m at the airport, just finished checking in and I’m about to go through immigration when the emigration officer tells me I have a travel ban and I can’t go through. Suddenly I turn white (whiter than my usual whiteness) and my whole trip flashes in front of me. So many things I had planned for this long weekend and now it’s gone! I nervously asked him what can I do he pointed to an office which I went to. The guy there typed in my residency number and told me I have “rousoom qadaeya” which translates to unpaid court fees (I think). He told me I might have a phone bill or something I hadn’t paid and I need to leave the immigration area to the other side and check with the Ministry of Justice office. So I do.

I get there and there is a small line which was taking forever. I had no idea if I was going to travel, if I could fix things from this office or what the hell it was all about. I was upset and I really didn’t know what I would do if I couldn’t travel. The person in front of me finished, he had like a KD5,000 payment he had just paid and it was my turn next. The guy takes my passport and plugs in my residency number and tells me I have KD50 to pay. I was like what is it for? He told me “rousoom qadaeya”. So I was like I just pay KD50 and I can travel? And he told me yes. So I did and I’m now sitting in the lounge waiting for my flight.

Now that ordeal is over seriously WTF? This had to be the most nerve wracking 30 minutes of my life. Imagine you’re looking forward to a long weekend, you’ve checked in, you’re mentally already on vacation and suddenly you can’t travel, and over what? KD50? And KD50 I have no idea what for. Shouldn’t travel bans be reserved for more serious cases? KD5,000 I can understand but for KD50??

Update: I’ve been going through all the comments and there are a lot of interesting points and examples of previous situations people have gone through similar to mine. The majority of commenters agree that a travel ban is overkill but there were a handful of comments who believed I was at fault for not checking my travel ban status before traveling. That is slightly true but why on earth should I be checking if I have a travel ban anyway?

Finally just want to clear something up regarding the Ministry of Justice stall at the airport. When I got to the stall there were 2 people a head of me. It took nearly 30 minutes for my turn and that’s with only 2 people ahead of me in line. Behind me there were at least 6-8 other people waiting. If I had arrived at the stall just 15 minutes later I would most likely have missed my flight because I would have had a lot more people in front of me. So for those who think the stall is convenient, it is to a certain extent. If the stall isn’t packed like in my case you could make it with time to spare. But if the line is long there is a big chance you will miss your flight. If you know you have a travel ban you can’t even come to the airport early to settle your issue because you NEED to have your boarding pass. Most airlines checkin counter open 3 hours ahead of time, that could be enough time but it also might not be.

I was watching the video Falcon Eye on Q8 All in One when it reminded me of the video above called Earthflight. If you haven’t watched it before you should. [YouTube]

Note: Those are real birds and not 3D animations

I was going to pass by Kout Way this weekend but Me Blogging beat me to the punch. Kout Way is a new restaurant located on Baghdad Street right next to DoDo and La Baguette. They’re sort of a fast food restaurant but specializing in Kuwaiti dishes like machboos and murabyan.

Me Blogging has some great pictures and a bit more info which you can check out [Here]

Not only do they outrun the cops but then they go back and give them the finger. Only in Saudi Arabia. [YouTube]

An abandoned puppy mill was discovered in Lebanon by BETA (Beirut for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) where they found 28 dead dogs and 12 that were alive feeding on the dead ones. Absolutely horrible and the video is graphic so you’re warned. Hopefully this will cause Lebanon a lot of embarrassment and the owner of the puppy mill gets prosecuted to set as an example to others. [YouTube]

In other news, here in Kuwait the Public Authority for Agriculture Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR) will no longer be poisoning stray dogs. If you remember early on in the year a huge controversy erupted when video and pictures showed dogs in the Free Trade Zone dead after being poisoned. PAAAFR will now be working with the UK-based WSPCA and local animal non-profits organizations to learn alternative animal control methods. Here is the link to the full story on Kuwait Times. [Link]

A few digitized 8mm clips taken in Kuwait back in the 70s. Not too exciting and the music is annoying but there is one scene where for a split second you can see the Al-Salam building in Salmiya (the circle green building that got demolished) while it was still under construction. There are also shots of some parks, a parade and random streets. [YouTube]

I passed by Marina Mall tonight since I had read they were opening tonight. But when I got there I noticed the shutters were still down but the lights were on inside and I spotted some employees. So I made a few phone calls and managed to get a tour around the store and take some pictures.

First off, the place is HUGE. I was expecting it to be big but not this big. It’s like a giant supermarket filled with sporting goods. The store is located in Marina Mall where Virgin and a bunch of other smaller shops used to be right across from Cinnabon and The Athletes Foot.

Decathlon is a French brand and most of their stores have 18 different sections but the one in Kuwait will be missing two, climbing and hunting. The other 16 sections in the store are the following (taken from their website):

– Camping
– Running
– Cycling
– Fitness, Dance, Martial Arts
– Swimming
– Surf Sports
– Boating
– Diving
– Teamsports
– Racket Sports
– Horse Riding
– Walking
– Golf
– Roller, Skate, Scooter
– Fishing
– Target Sports

I really loved the place and can’t wait to go back once they open which will hopefully be tomorrow night (Tuesday). They were supposed to open up tonight but due to a technically difficulty they’re now aiming to open by noon tomorrow. If anyone is looking for a watch with a heart rate monitor I spotted an affordable one there for KD12.5.

Grand Cinemas will no longer be launching during Eid. I didn’t get an exact reason why nor did I get a new launch date just that it’s been postponed till after Eid.

I like the paint job.

via Zdistrict

Lt Gen Ghazi Al-Omar, Ministry of Interior’s Undersecretary has released new set of instructions to grant rewards, including cash payments to civilians who help prevent a criminal act or provide valuable information to police.

…

According to a report published by some Arabic dailies, the cash prize can reach up to KD 500 depending on the nature of crime and assistance provided. Both Kuwaitis and expatriates can benefit from the new regulation, said the source.

They should create an App for that. People submit pictures or tips on criminal activities and the ones with the most likes wins. [Link]

Thanks Tuan

[YouTube]

If you missed the first part here is the [Link]

It seems everywhere I look someone is wearing a FuelBand on their wrist. Since I recently got one myself, I was curious to find out how accurate it really was. The Nike FuelBand is a wrist band that has an accelerometer built in that measures your movements through out the day. Movements like running, walking, basketball etc.. get translated into something Nike calls Fuel. You start off by setting a daily Fuel goal and the more active you are the more Nike Fuel you earn. The FuelBand turns activity into sort of a game or at least makes it more enjoyable by giving you a visual target (in this case Nike Fuel) which you want to reach at the end of everyday.

The device looks pretty cool and it has a small button which when pressed lights up LEDs inside the bracelet displaying your information. Every time you press the button you flip through the menu which includes your Fuel count, calories burned, steps taken and the time of day. If you hold the button down for a few seconds it syncs the data with your iPhone and Nike Fuel App. But is it accurate?

I decided to take the the Nike FuelBand on a run along with my Garmin Forerunner. While the FuelBand uses movement to guess how much exercise you’re performing and how many calories you’re burning, the Garmin uses a heart rate sensor and a GPS connection to more accurately calculate the same. The total distance I ran was 5.12KM and this is how each device calculated the calories burned:

Garmin: 407 calories
Nike FuelBand: 602 calories

So the FuelBand was off by around 200 calories and at a sport which it should excel in. But the result was actually more accurate than I was expecting it to be.

Does it mean it’s useless? No, I don’t think so. If you’re already very active you most likely have a Polar or Garmin watch already which you wear to the gym or when running or riding your bike. The Nike FuelBand is more for people who aren’t that active but want to be. It’s something you could wear all day long and even though it’s not really accurate, it does give you a ballpark figure which helps starters understand how much their movement is burning calories or how its helping their Nike Fuel. Most importantly it’s a lot easier to use than most sport watches and the Nike App and website helps people visualize their activities and set higher targets.

The biggest issue I have with the device is the price. At $150 it’s not cheap and costs as much as those dedicated sport watches that are much more accurate (my Garmin cost me $128). The Nike FuelBand isn’t available officially in Kuwait right now but if you’re interested in getting one the best (and cheapest) options are:

Amazon: Sells for around KD60 there [Link]

Nike Store: Sells for around KD40 there but it’s a bit tricker to order. First make sure you are at the US Nike website. You can tell if you are by scrolling down to the bottom of the Nike page. If you see a US flag on the left you’re there just go directly to the shop. If you don’t see a US flag there then change it to the US store by clicking on the flag and then selecting the US. When you place the order you need to use an American Express card and then use your Aramex or Borderlinx shipping address as your billing address. I wasn’t able to use my Mastercard to place an order, it just worked with my Kuwait issued American Express. [Link]

This past week saw the release of one of the strangest mashups of game genres that I’ve ever come across: a role-playing game transformed into a fighting game. The game is called Persona 4 Arena which is available on the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360.

I’m just a casual fan of fighting games; I don’t spend hours upon hours practicing to spend even more time in the online modes. Growing up, I was a fan of Street Fighter, Tekken & Soul Edge/Soul Caliber. Later on, I got into Guilty Gear and a little bit of BlazBlue. If you’re a fan of those last two games, you’ll be interested to know that Arc System Works the developer behind them also developed Persona 4 Arena. I love the Persona franchise (as well as the other games in the Shin Megami Tensei series); it was one of the first games to really make me fall in love with role playing games on the Playstation at the time (with the help of Wild Arms and Final Fantasy VII later that year). I was a little skeptical when I read about the game and thought they were just trying to milk the franchise for all it’s worth, but after spending some time with the game I’ve come away quite impressed.