2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

Qaiss from the local blog io81 has recently launched a new business. I’ve been reading his business oriented blog for a long time now since I am always interested in what he has to say about the local market and I also enjoy reading his complaints, tips and business ideas. So when I heard he launched a new business called Digumz I was excited to find out more about it and so far the first impression is really good.

Qaiss basically has set up an online video game rental website which also has a physical location at Omnia Mall in Salmiya. He has kept it simple with 3 flat rate rental plans, KD7 a month will allow you to rent as many games as you want per month as long as you rent 1 game at a time. KD13 will allow you to rent 2 games at a time and KD18 will allow you to rent 3 games at a time. Once you sign up and become a member you just login to his website, choose the game you want and they will deliver it for free.

I think it’s a pretty simple and cool idea. So if you’re interested check out his website www.digumz.com

As you already know by now I am currently being sued by the Las Palmas Restaurant Company who own Benihana and Subway in Kuwait. They’re suing me over my review which you can read [Here] in case you missed it. Anyway today was the first hearing and this is just an update of what happened.

My lawyer went to the court but I didn’t since it turned out I didn’t have to. At the court the Benihana lawyer basically stated their accusation which is the same one as the court order which is that I conspired with the company I work for against Benihana to benefit my company and their competitors which I mentioned in my post; Chocolate Bar, Maki, Wasabi and Pinkberry. They also submitted documents related to the case and now my lawyer has a month to study the documents and prepare our defense for the next session which is April 12th.

So there currently isn’t much to share other than that. Thank you everyone again for your support.

Note: I created a new category on the right which will contain all my posts related to the lawsuit.

Proud to be Kuwaiti is a foundation that was formed to recognize and encourage the youth of Kuwait to depend on themselves and establish their own business by giving their skills and talent a chance to shine. This year will be the third fourth year for the P2BK event.

Date: 16, 17, 18 and 19 March 2011
Location: Kuwait International Fairgrounds Mishref Hall 8
Time: 10:00am – 2:00pm and 5:00pm – 9:30pm

via Desert Girl

For more information you can visit their website [Here]

Just to give you an idea on how much K’S PATH (Animal Friends) cares for animals in Kuwait this is a story I just received in their latest newsletter on a recent rescue:

Around the beginning of March, K’S PATH was notified that there was a stray Saluki in front of the UN building in Mishrif. When John, our Lead Capture Specialist, arrived to assess the situation, he discovered that the dog was suffering from the worst embedded collar he had ever seen. The wound was severe and was starting to rot.

Unfortunately, the Saluki proved to be a stealthy guy and not looking to be captured. The poor dog was clearly in a tremendous amount of pain and completely terrified. John spent many days setting traps, attempting to dart him and missing and sometimes just attempting to chase him down with no luck. The Saluki then went missing. About a week later, we received an e-mail from a supporter describing a dog that sounded exactly like our stealth Saluki a little bit South of where he was before. John was on vacation at the time but as soon as he got back, he went straight out to see if he could find the dog and there he was. On this occasion we were in luck and John was able to capture the dog. However, in process of rescue, the Saluki was hit by a car. John rushed the dog to the Royal Animal Hospital and amazingly he was deemed to have no broken bones or any other damage from the hit. Dr. Jill and her team then focused on removing the collar and treating the horrendous wound around his neck. The Saluki remained in hospital for 2 days and was then cleared to go home. He has come home with John and Ayeshah for some extra TLC while he is on his very long road to recovery.

They’re really doing an amazing job in Kuwait and if you would like to help them out they have a page setup on their website with information on how you can donate. You can even donate with Paypal if you want. [Link]

A few days back I posted about the fact that the architects Foster+Partners will be designing the new Kuwait Airport terminal. Some of you had questions which I didn’t have any answers to but an architect working on the airport project at the Ministry of Public Works emailed me with some more information regarding the project. This is hot off the grill since she had just come out of a meeting with Foster+Partners, the last meeting in the design development phase.

– The new airport terminal is a completely new construction and is designed fully by Foster+Partners while Gulf Consultants are only the local sub-consultant for the project

– The completion of the design stage is scheduled to be completed by the end of March 2012 and the construction completion of the terminal and the soft opening by Mid 2016

They promised to send me renderings of the new terminal building as soon as the design phase ends but for now… below is a passenger that had just arrived to the new terminal (scale 1:5000 1:200 model) and below that is the A380 he boarded.

Just found out by mistake that there is a mini Olympics of a sort just for women that being held in Abu Dhabi for the next six days. Not sure if it’s been publicized or not but I just found out about it now and not sure if the games will be broadcasted on television or not. Kuwait is participating in the games as well as female athletes from Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and UAE. They will be competing in athletics, volleyball, equestrian, taekwondo, bowling and shooting. Not sure who or how many from Kuwait are participating so if anyone has more information on this I will gladly post it. Here is a link to an article about the games. [Link]

Josef Stagg brings the KLT production to the stage with a talented cast, headlined by Pauline Barry, bringing to life the real and imagined families of Susan, a woman on the verge of a mental collapse and whose twin worlds appear, disappear and collide in spectacular fashion as the evening progresses.

“Woman in Mind” is an intelligent evening of truly entertaining drama. In true Ayckbourn style audiences are made to smile, laugh and even shed a tear as the characters’ lives unfold before them and KLT’s production is certain to thrill all who attend.

Date: March 9th to March 11th 2011
Time: 7:30pm
Location: Kuwait Little Theater

You can book online at TheKLT.com or by calling 99373678

A couple of days back I found the image above of Lionel Richie on a website and it cracked me. So, I decided to replicate it and put it up in my office. But, I then decided to print a couple of more copies and paste them around town (check an example below) since I figured it would put a smile on the face of a stranger when they saw it.

Now I’m sharing the PDF of the flyer I did in case you want to print and paste it somewhere as well. It’s a silly little thing but it’s fun. [PDF]

If you don’t get this post click [Here]

The Kuwait Chamber Philharmonia is organizing the 1st Kuwait International Music Festival to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the founding of The State of Kuwait. The festival is going to be held under the patronage of H.E.Shaikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al -Sabah, Minister of Al Diwan Al Amiri Affairs. The Polish Minister of Culture Bogdan Zdrojewski (who is one of the sponsors of the event) will be a special honor guest of the festival.

QATAR CLASSICAL ENSEMBLE
Consists of virtuoso members of Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra
Program: Rachmaninoff & Schoenberg
Date & Time: Friday, March 11th 2011 at 8pm
Location: Al Hashemii II Grand Ballroom at Radisson Blu Hotel

SINFONIETTA CRACOVIA ORCHESTRA
One of the leading European orchestra from Poland with soloist Robert Kabara (violin)
Program: Mozart -Symphony No. 40 in G minor (KV 550), Violin concerto D-Major KV 218, Karlowicz, Kilar, Gorecki,
Date & Time: Saturday, March 12th 2011 at 8pm
Location: Al Hashemi II Grand Ballroom at Radisson Blu Hotel
and
Date & Time: Sunday, March 13th 2011 at 8pm
Location: Mishref Theater

YOUNG MUSICIANS OF THE GULF
Date & Time: Sunday, March 14th 2011 at 7pm
Location: Mishref Theater

Tickets: KD5 and KD10 (available at Radisson Blu tel 25673000 and Virgin)

For more information visit www.kuwaitcp.com

A bunch of students in Kuwait have come together to create an online radio station called Student VIBE. The station is going to be mostly in English and they will be covering a variety of student related subjects in hopes of keeping students around Kuwait informed and updated on the latest happenings. They’re also offering a chance for talented students to shine as well since students can have their own live shows hosted on the station. The radio station is online based and you can listen to it by visiting their website [Here]

If you are a student and want to host your own show then contact them on [email protected]

The 2011 Kuwait Rally is going to be held this month and I think it’s a great opportunity to take some amazing photos. It’s not often we get automotive events here and since the weather is currently great I think photography enthusiasts should take advantage of this happening.

If you’re interested to shoot the Kuwait Rally this year then you need to visit their website and fill out an application. Click on Media and then Accreditation Form on their website [Here]

I just read that the incredibly fantastic architects Foster+Partners will be designing the new Kuwait Airport terminal. That’s basically amazing news because I was just recently starting to wonder when we would go back to awarding great designers with large landmark projects. I can’t wait to see a rendering of the new terminal and I can’t wait for it to be built. [Link]

Note: Picture above is of the Beijing airport which was designed by F+P

Update: In case you’ve missed my older post, the current airport (before all the ugly updates made to it) was designed by the legendary Japanese architect Kenzo Tange. Here is a link with some pictures of the airport in it’s original state. [Link]

This has to be the strangest thing I’ve read in ages. According to Badoo the compilers of the world’s largest ever study on online flirting, Kuwait ranked 3rd in flirtatious behavior online. 3rd place out of 200! Isn’t that so very weird?

Top 10
1 Athens
2 Moscow
3 Kuwait City
4 Baku
5 Tunis
6 Kiev
7 Beirut
8= Turin
8= Rome
10 Bari

Here is a link to the article [Link]

Thanks FYI

On my trip to Dubai I decided to stay at EasyHotel. I had a good experience with them on my last trip to London so was interested to see how the hotel was in Dubai. What attracted me to the hotel was the fact rooms start at just KD7.5 a day (99dhms). Yes KD7.5 a day! I thought that was ridiculously cheap and specially for a hotel in Dubai. I looked for reviews online but couldn’t find anything and the only pictures I found were the PR shots. I was a bit worried to book a room but figured what the hell its only for 3 days so worse comes to worse it would be over quickly.

The hotel is located in the Jabel Ali free zone which is around 40 minutes from the airport and 30 minutes from Dubai Mall. I rented a car from the airport and headed with my GPS towards Easy Hotel. Even though the software on my GPS is the 2010 map it seems since the map got released the roads in Dubai changed because the GPS made me take the wrong exit and I spent 40 minutes trying to get back to the main Sheikh Zayed road. Once you find the hotel though its pretty easy to get there.

My first impression with the hotel was positive. The building was very clean and simple on the outside with ample parking underneath. The reception was also very clean with a few vending machines on one side and some computers connected to the internet on the other. I should mention this in case you didn’t know already but Easy Hotel is a no frills hotel in the same way how Jazeera and Fly Dubai are budget airlines. The rooms are cheap but that’s because you get just the basics and you pay for extra stuff. The Easy Hotel I previously tried in London was also extremely tiny (see review here) but if all you care about is a place to sleep at night then you really won’t mind it all.

The rooms at Easy Hotel Dubai are pretty big compared to the London branch. There was ample space around the bed , a flat screen tv (with just 4 channels), a small open closet with shelves and hangers. There was even a little desk next to the window and a small safe to put your items in. The bathroom wasn’t that bad as well, the sink was kinda small but the shower area was pretty big.

As I mentioned with Easy Hotel you pay for extras. For example the fact I wanted a room with a window.. thats an extra cost. If you don’t care about a window then you pay less for the room. TV remote? You pay for that as well (although we were given one for free), extra towels? you pay, Internet? you pay, you want your room cleaned? you pay, water? you pay, room service? its a vending machine in the lobby. Surprisingly I didn’t have to pay to park my car at the hotel!

But with all that I loved staying there and in the end my room with extras came out to just KD10 a night which is still incredibly cheap and this is DUBAI!!. The hotel was super clean, the Internet was fast and the staff were very friendly. From now on that’s the hotel I will be staying in when I fly there.

Things to keep in mind though, you need to rent a car since the hotel is 30 minutes away from places like Dubai Mall. There are no cabs outside or near the hotel so you would have to order one and I don’t know how long that would take. There is a metro nearby but not walking distance. There is also nothing around the hotel, nothing you can walk to. But, because the hotel is so cheap you can splurge on a rental, my Toyota Yaris from Budget cost me just KD15 a day with all the insurance, gas and crossing 4 electronic toll systems a day. Would I recommend EasyHotel? Yes I would.

Just an FYI, I’m going to be talking tonight at GeekFest about blogging in Kuwait and my Benihana lawsuit. I sadly won’t be there for the event but I will be presenting via Skype video. If you’re in the UAE and want to find out more about this event you can visit their website [Here]

I think they’ve arranged for a bus from Dubai to the venue twofour54 (hmmm) and there is more info on that in their Facebook page [Here]