2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

According to the first World Happiness Report launched at the United Nations, Kuwait came 31st in the world but behind UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. They used a number of measurements to come up with this figure and I downloaded the full report to find out more details but honestly it’s 158 pages long and it wasn’t written by Stephen King so I skipped it.

Now the reason I’m posting this is I found it a bit surprising that Saudi Arabia scored better than both Kuwait and Qatar. I would have imagined UAE first followed by Qatar, Kuwait and then Saudi but that isn’t the case. You can read the Arabian Business article on this [Here] or you can download the full report from [Here]

Picture taken by Patrick

Are there any schools in Kuwait that teach Chinese as part of the curriculum? When I was in school French, Italian, German and Spanish were all languages I could learn if I wanted to but really it actually makes more sense to have kids today learn Chinese.

If you’re into photography you’ll be interested to know that The Shot Lounge is organizing the biggest photography event in Kuwait called Fototalks. The event which will be taking place on April 16th and 17th will include workshops, seminars and photography challenges. If you’re interested to find out more or to register for this even check out the Fototalks website [Here]

Last week I was lucky enough to visit the Kitco factory. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do since it’s a brand I grew up with plus I’m a huge fan of the show “How it’s made“. Before taking the tour I met with Jassim Al-Wazzan who told me how it all started.

Back in the early 1950’s Jassim Al-Wazzan senior decided to open up a small grocery store at the age of just 15 in the old Kuwaiti souk (now called Souk Al Mubarkia). He had the only Kuwaiti owned grocery store so when the old women used to come to shop, they’d see 15 year old Jassim and feel nationalistic pride. They all started shopping at Jassim’s grocery store and with time his business started to grow.

Around that time, he met an Indian by the name of B.R. Oberoi. They formed a strong friendship and partnered in one of the many grocery stores Jassim Al-Wazzan had acquired by then. One of the stores most popular products was a snack that used to come from Iran called Pufak. Because the item was coming all the way from Iran the item sometimes ran out of stock or the prices fluctuated. So Mr Oberoi went to Jassim and told him they should make their own and so using technology brought from the Dutch, the Kuwait Indo Trading Company (Kitco) was established. Today three generations later the two families still are partners and good friends.

So the big question, how are the Kitco potato chips made? Turns out it’s a very simple process. I took pictures of all the steps so you can check it out below.

If you have a Kindle you can now subscribe to 248AM and read it on the go. Any new posts will be downloaded and updated on your Kindle automatically and of course you can then read the blog without having to be connected to the internet. I check out the majority of the blogs on my Mac or iPad but I have a few I prefer to read on the Kindle so I figured I’d make this option available to whoever wants it. Since most of my posts don’t have any videos you really won’t be missing out on anything. This option sadly isn’t free since Amazon has set the subscription price to 99cents a month and I don’t have any say in that.

To subscribe to the blog on your kindle you can either visit the Kindle Store from your Kindle and search for 248AM or you can subscribe from your browser by following this [Link]

Last month I posted about the National Youth Project and yesterday their website and identity was launched. It’s only in Arabic and you can check it out by visiting [youth.org.kw]

A friend of mine recently ordered a camera lens from the website DigitalRev (made famous by the very entertaining Kai) and had it shipped directly to Kuwait. It cost him less than the Amazon price, they included free FedEx shipping, it was delivered to him in just 4 days, he paid only KD12 customs fee AND the lens included local warranty. How cool is that?

Here are some more details regarding the whole thing:

Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G Lens
Kuwait: KD603
Amazon: KD525
DigitalRev: KD476

If he placed the order on Amazon he would have had to pay the 8% NY tax, then the Aramex shipping fee to Kuwait plus local customs and the package would have taken around 10 days to get here. He also wouldn’t have any local warranty.

On the other hand he paid KD476 to order it from DigitalRev, he didn’t have to pay tax neither did he have to pay any shipping fees. They shipped it for him from Hong Kong to Kuwait directly via FedEx and it took 4 days from the day he placed the order for the lens to be in his hands. In addition FedEx handled the customs and he had to pay only KD12 in total. Now more importantly DigitalRev will offer you warranty for your lens in Kuwait. The way it works is if the item is defective, you take it to the local dealer who will give you the estimate for the repair. You then send the estimate to DigitalRev who will approve it (based on warranty conditions).

I’m actually surprised at how easy and convenient this is. From now on if I ever need anything photography related that’s too expensive locally I’m just going to order it from them. Here is their [Website]

Thanks Cajie

There are 5 cars I’d like to own one day and #5 on the list is the Datsun Skyline GTR and if you’re a fan as well then you’ll be interested to know there’s one currently for sale on Q8car. BUT… the owner wants KD25,000 for it. You can check out the listing over [Here]

While we’re on the subject of old cars below is a picture taken this weekend by InfiniteDriver of another cool oldie, the Datsun 510.

Update: Forgot to add that Datsun is actually making a comeback although they’ve now got a new logo. I would rather they kept their old one. [Link]

Cool video by TJC Films of the last BBoy competition that took place in Kuwait. Only wish there was a shorter “best of” (max 3 minutes) cut-down of the video. [YouTube]

I think it’s their smallest store in Kuwait. Just remembered they have the much smaller Marina Mall branch.

If you own an iPad you’ve most probably already downloaded Draw Something or Paper by FiftyThree. If you haven’t all you need to know is that they are two very popular apps right now that involve drawing. The regular way to draw on the iPad is using your fingertips but you can also use a stylus for a more natural feel.

I searched Xcite, Office Depot and Blink and ended up going for the Elago Slim Stylus from Blink. I thought from all the models I checked, the Elago stylus looked like something Apple would have designed themselves. The stylus weighs enough to feel comfortable and is made of metal but has a rubber tip. It also comes with an extra rubber tip in case you damage one for some reason.

Drawing with a stylus is a lot easier than drawing with a finger obviously. I won’t show you how my drawings improved using the stylus because I can’t draw for shit with or without the stylus. But it really does make a difference and if you’re having difficulty drawing properly with your fingers or if you’re serious about illustrating on the iPad then getting a stylus is a must. Their prices range from around KD3 and upwards. The stylus I got cost me KD7.250 which is very reasonable and just KD2 more expensive than amazon. It’s definitely worth getting a stylus.

Kuwaiti rapper Big D is back with a new music video and this time it’s a lot tamer than his previous one. My guess is the amount of negative comments from his previous video led him to go with this less fun and safer route. At least the other video was more fun to watch. [YouTube]

Me Blogging posted about the Bayt Lothan Photography Club Exhibition and going by her pictures it looks like there are some really great work. You can check out her post [Here]

If you want to check out the exhibition yourself here is where the exhibition will be on the following dates:

April 2nd and 3rd: Australian College of Kuwait Campus
April 6th and 7th: The Avenues
April 10th and 11th: American University of Kuwait

There’s a news story on Sheik Jassim Al Wathiqi in British “The Sun” tabloid. It seems they found it interesting and newsworthy that Jassim’s son likes to fall asleep when his dad takes him out in the 458 Spider. You can read the article [Here]

You can also watch the video below of Sheik Jassim driving around Kuwait in the Spider. It’s such a beautiful car.

[YouTube]

Thanks InfiniteDriver

Hahaha we made TMZ! [Link]