2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

If you guessed telecom antenna you guessed right. Never seen one shaped like a water tank before.

Thanks Saud

Just an update regarding the annoying SMS’s I was getting from the number 50122, I am no longer getting them and no one else is either. It just stopped overnight, my guess is someone saw my post and investigated the incident and shutdown the service. Pretty cool.

After my previous post comparing internet in Kuwait to Lebanon I was made aware that local internet providers just slashed their prices by 45% a couple of days back. A 2Mbps connection now costs around KD120-130 a year depending on your provider which is pretty cool. You can check out the new prices below:

Fasttelco Prices
Gulfnet Prices
KEMS Prices
Qualitynet Prices

Update: I was checking my account history and found the prices I was previously paying for my internet subscription with Qualitynet and I realize now they were super expensive compared to the new ones. Check them out:

July 2007
1Mbps (2Mbps free for first 3 months)
KD506 a year

July 2008
1Mbps (2Mbps free for 12 months)
KD380 a year

July 2009
1Mbps (2Mbps free for 12 months)
KD361 a year

If you want to appreciate your internet connection in Kuwait all you need to do is spend a few days in Lebanon. Most internet connections there are 256Kbps or 512Kbps and it’s just really really horrible. But there is some good news and that’s starting next month everyone’s connection in Lebanon is going to get a huge boost. Check the old and new speed/prices above to get an idea on how it compares with Kuwait.

You’ll notice with the new speed and prices, internet in Lebanon is actually going to be cheaper than Kuwait but what I want to highlight here is the download caps. Those caps listed above are the monthly download caps NOT daily ones. Imagine having a 2Mbps internet connection with just a 20GB monthly cap! I got pissed when my 2Mbps connection here in Kuwait got capped at 85GB a month but it’s like 4 times as bad in Lebanon. It really sucks.

When I first heard that the orange Chihuly sculpture at 360 Mall got damaged I got really upset since I imagined a large chunk of it had fallen to the ground. Luckily my imagination had run wild and the damage turned out to be barely visible. I passed by 360 Mall earlier tonight and actually had a hard time spotting the damage which is great.

If you’re curious to know how both the Chihuly sculptures were built check out these pictures that were taken during the installation. [Link]

The wrong Tripoli. [Link]

Thanks Caline

I don’t miss the weather, but I do miss my internet *hugs modem*

Just an update on whats going on with the Benihana lawsuit. Back in late April I posted about how I won the lawsuit against Benihana and how I thought it was a great victory since it reinforced the right for us bloggers in Kuwait to state our personal opinions. Well around a month after the victory Benihana appealed the courts decision which is their right to do and we headed to court once again. Except the second time it didn’t go so well.

Yesterday I found out that the court ruled in favor of Benihana and have ordered me to now pay them the sum of KD1,000. The court still hasn’t released their decision for this ruling and I have to wait around 2 weeks to find that out. I of course will be appealing the decision and be heading back to court to defend our right of freedom of expression. Once I have anymore updates will post them here.

If you have no idea what lawsuit I am talking about click [Here]

A reader recently filled an online survey for Jazeera Airways that was all around the topic of them introducing a reward program. I was signed up to the Wataniya Airways rewards program and I’m also signed up to a number of other airlines reward program as well but since I usually fly with Jazeera most of the time it would be great if they started a reward program as well.

Thanks Aidan

I am guessing Fahad would not approve this.

The partial opening of the 1st Ring Road got postponed because they forgot to put up signs so until the project fully opens here are shots of a 1st Ring Road model that will give you an idea of how it will look like once completed.

Thanks Cyril

I’ve started getting SPAM on my phone and I don’t know how to stop it. Some company is sending me around 4 or 5 SMS’s a day containing sports news from the number 50122 and I don’t know how to stop it. I replied saying REMOVE but I got back an SMS telling me if I send a reply back containing certain letters I can also receive news on celebrities, the world and I don’t know what else. Anyone know how I could unsubscribe? Is there a universal reply back I need to send to get off the list that I’m not aware of?

Update: Below is what I get when I send “stop” “remove” or “unsubscribe”

Update2: I noticed with a number of readers that we started getting SPAM after entering the Alfa gas station draw I posted about last week. If you also started receiving SPAM after participating in the Alfa gas station draw leave a comment below.

Even though I live 5 minutes away from the Jeita caves, for some odd reason I hadn’t been to them until yesterday. The caves are currently nominated as one of the new 7 wonders of nature but I’m still undecided if I like the place or not.

The cave are divided into two parts, the lower grotto and the upper grotto. The lower grotto consists of a ride on a little boat through the caves which sounds cool but out of the 7km depth the journey only takes you to the first 450 meters since the path becomes too tight for the boats. So it’s a really short trip that ends a few minutes after it starts.

The upper grotto is a walking path through the caves and I found it much more impressive than the lower grotto. The height of the ceiling is ridiculously high and the whole place is lit up very nicely. But my problem with the upper grotto is again the fact that it ends too quickly. Not as quickly as the lower caves but still, I just wish it was longer. Now this might sound strange but I honestly wished there was a Starbucks at the end of the path inside the cave. I would have loved to chill out on a couch eating my chocolate muffin while checking out and appreciating the caves around me.

If you’re coming to Lebanon I guess the caves are worth visiting, just don’t expect to spend the day there, the whole experience takes an hour or two. Also a point worth mentioning is that cameras and phones are NOT allowed inside the caves. Tickets for adults costs around KD3.5. Here is a link with more info [Link]

Although I’ve been trying out burgers on this trip, I rarely have any when I come to Lebanon since the burgers here aren’t good at all. Instead I usually have other things:

Salads
I think the salads in Lebanon are better than the ones I have in Kuwait. The salads are lighter and taste better, probably because restaurants have access to better produce. I had the one pictured above yesterday and it came with goat cheese, walnuts, baby tomatoes, lettuce and figs for a bit of sweetness. It was great.

Pizza
For some odd reason pizza is extremely popular in Lebanon in the same way burger joints are popular in Kuwait. It seems every place around the corner makes pizza and most of them are pretty good. I end up having pizza maybe every other day and every time at a different place.

The Healthy Alternative
When I’m on vacation I’m off my regular diet but I also don’t like overdoing it since I end up feeling guilty. Other than salads there is one healthy dish that I love having and it’s the one above called the light grilled chicken. It’s delicious and very tender grilled chicken that comes with steamed carrots, mushrooms, broccoli and corn. I also order a side of honey mustard with it and I end up wiping the plate clean since everything on it including the broccoli just tastes amazing.

In the first incident of its kind, a traffic policeman issued a citation against an Arab motorist for having bad breath, reports Al-Anba daily.

A police source said it is a very strange incident and problematic too because the penalty is not known. “Will the motorist be fined; if so, how much will he have to pay and if his car is impounded, how long will it be in the police garage?” he asked.
Incidentally, it is also mentioned on the citation that the motorist admitted that his mouth smells. [Source]

If they’re issuing tickets for bad breath then my previous joke about how sunglasses should be banned might actually happen.

Update: I added the picture of the ticket to the post

Update2: The MOI is denying such a ticket was issued [Link]