2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

Wow… [YouTube]

This is a new photo Eng.Aljamea has uploaded onto his flickr account. The previous one was the Gulf Road picture and this time its a picture of a gas station. There is no date mentioned but I guess it could be the 60’s. [Picture]

9h is a new high end capsule hotel in Kyoto, Japan. The name comes from the idea that you need 1 hour to shower, 7 hours to sleep and 1 hour break which is a total of 9 hours. It looks a lot better than the usual capsule hotel’s I’ve seen and at only KD12 per night (9 hours) its pretty affordable albeit claustrophobic. [Link]

MyUS is a US forwarding mailbox that has been around for a long time now, before Aramex even but their prices were always more expensive.. or I thought. I always calculated small packages like 1KG and Aramex would come out cheaper but a reader made me realize that MyUS is actually cheaper when it comes to heavier packages. They also offer a few features that Aramex doesn’t offer like you can have them ship your magazines once a month while your regular packages twice a week. If you get a lot of junk mail you can choose not to receive any. You could even ship stuff when you want instead of a regular interval. So for example you ordered a few items from Amazon, instead of having them ship to Kuwait as soon as they arrive to your mailbox you could wait until they’re all in your mailbox and then ship them all together in one box.

Here is a price comparison with Aramex:
10 lbs Aramex $89 – MyUS $101
25 lbs Aramex $203 – MyUS $172
50 lbs Aramex $403 – MyUS $287
100 lbs Aramex $796 – MyUS $500
150 lbs Aramex $1201 – MyUS $500

If you decide to sign up use this link:
https://www.myus.com/AWL
It will cancel the annual membership fee. Just make sure you should choose annual while you’re checking out and it should reduce the amount to just the setup fee. I’m also in contact with someone at MyUS and they’re going to try and reduce the amount of the lighter items to compete with Aramex. So here’s another option for everyone, enjoy.

Two weeks ago one of the Z4’s wheels developed a crack probably from a pothole and I had an option of either repairing it or getting a new wheel. Since the crack was pretty big repairing it wouldn’t have been a good idea and buying a new wheel would have cost me in excess of KD250. My friends suggested that I order a set of four new wheels directly from TireRack.com. Surprisingly it turned out Tire Rack ship wheels and tires to Kuwait and for a very reasonable price.

K.thekuwaiti gave me the email of a sales specialist he had dealt with before called Gavin and I started searching for my wheels on TireRack.com. They had a huge collection that fit my beemer but I was looking for 18×8’s for the front and 18×9’s for the rear and there were only two models that interested me and were under $400 a wheel. Since I had narrowed down my choices to two, I emailed Gavin asking for a quotation and a few questions. He was very helpful and patient answering all my questions, I even changed my mind twice and he didn’t seem to get annoyed or pissed. I finally got a quotation back and the shipping for four wheels to Kuwait via FedEx economy was just $270. That was around KD18 per wheel which was very reasonable since the total weight of four wheels was 50KG.

I paid via money transfer with NBK online and as soon as they received the amount they shipped me my wheels. It took around a week for the wheels to get to Kuwait and I just installed them today at the Pirelli dealer next to AceHardware. If you’re interested in ordering wheels from TireRack.com you can email Gavin at [email protected].

Would be cool if they would let you choose your own songs. [YouTube]

Someone shot a video of Kuwait while up in a paramotor (powered paraglider). I don’t recognize the area but it looks beautiful. [YouTube]

Even the US embassy is on YouTube. The video starts off interesting but quickly gets boring. I’ve never been to the US embassy here in Kuwait but it looks huge. [YouTube]

After Aramex increased their prices last month many readers decided to sign up with DHL’s version of the same service which they call EasyShop. If you happen to be one of the readers who signed up with DHL and started receiving packages with them could you please post your feedback about them below in the comments. I am curious as I am sure many other readers are to see how they differ from Aramex. Both DHL and UShopWeShip have kept their prices the same.

I had two packages delivered to me after Aramex set up the new rules and my experience has been mixed and here is why.

I had two packages, one containing a computer the other tshirts.

T-shirts
Arrived in mailbox on: 23/10/2009
Shipped from mailbox on: 29/10/2009
Arrived to Kuwait on: 08/11/2009
Paid: KD5.5 for shipping + KD1 handling charge

Computer
Arrived in mailbox on: 31/10/2009
Shipped from mailbox on: 02/11/2009
Arrived to Kuwait on: 08/11/2009
Paid: KD18 for shipping + KD1 handling charge

So the good news is computers don’t get held in customs. The KD1 extra charge is annoying on small packages but not a big deal on big important ones.

The bad news is it took over 2 weeks to get my tshirts.. whats up Aramex?

I am a huge fan of XBMC which I believe is the best media playing software out there. I first started using it on my original xbox, then I installed it on the AppleTV and now I just moved over onto the Acer AspireRevo. XBMC on AppleTV was great except for the fact it couldn’t play 720p and 1080p videos.

Two weeks back I found an article on Gizmodo about how XBMC installed on an AspireRevo could handle 720p and 1080p video files with great ease and best of all it cost only $199. So after failing to find one for sale in Kuwait I placed an order for one on Amazon and got it via Aramex.

Installing XBMC was super easy and after I set it up I copied all my settings from my AppleTV and started experimenting. I can’t believe how easily this thing plays HD files! I have trouble playing HD files on my Apple G5 yet this little thing which is slightly smaller than an AppleTV can play it without a hitch. It has HDMI out, its small, its super silent and streams HD movies from my server with great ease, I love it.

I ordered a remote control for it but it hasn’t arrived yet so I am using my browser or iPhone to control it. Shipping with Aramex cost me KD18, no tax since computers no longer get taxed.

If you want to get one here is the [Amazon Link]
If you don’t know what XBMC is click [Here]
Here is a guide to install XBMC on the Revo [Link]

Update: This is the remote control I bought for it [Amazon Link]

Cinemagic’s rooftop movie nights are starting again now that the weather is getting cooler. Here is their schedule of upcoming movies:

Saturday, November 14th, 2009 at 07:00 p.m
THE BANISHMENT, RUSSIA 2007
Director: Andrei Zvyagintsev
Genre: Drama | 146 min | English Subtitle

Thursday, November 19th, 2009 at 07:00 p.m
LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, SWEDEN 2008
Director: Thomas Alfredson
Genre: Drama | 115 min | English Subtitle

Saturday, November 21st, 2009 at 07:00 p.m
SURPRISE FILM

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 at 07:00 p.m
DEATH NOTE 1, JAPAN 2006
Director: Shusuke Kaneko
Genre: Adventure | Mystery | 126 min | English Subtitle

Cinemagic movies are screened in the old Salmiya, on the roof on top of Alghanim Electronics and LG. Attendance is free of charge and snacks and refreshments will be served.

A week back I posted about how I wanted the HPI Baja 5b, a giant 1/5 scale radio controlled buggy. Well since then I’ve changed my mind. Turns out the buggy is too big to be allowed to race on the new off-road track that’s being built by the Radio Control Car Club of Kuwait near the 360 Mall (29°16’16.34″N 48° 0’10.48″E). The off-road track is going to be one of the largest in the world (they’re checking to see if it’s actually the largest) so it would be a shame if I couldn’t take advantage of it.

The track (pictured above) should be ready in 2 weeks time and anyone will be allowed to use it. Members have to pay KD2 per day of track use while non-members pay KD5. It’s going to be very cool and next year they’re planning on holding the Asian championship here in Kuwait. The picture above is made of multiple pictures combined since my wide camera lens wasn’t enough to fit the whole track. You can see a larger version of that picture [Here]

If I want to compete in the weekly friendly races on the track I need to get a nitro 1/8 scale buggy and I am currently leaning towards a 2009 XRAY XB808 (pictured above). I hadn’t heard of the XRAY up till yesterday but from what I’ve read it’s the Rolls Royce of R/C cars.

If you would like to get more information about the Radio Control Car Club of Kuwait (RCCCK) who are responsible for building this track and setting up all the events then visit their website [Here]

If fake blood makes you squeamish don’t watch this. [YouTube]

For some reason this song has been stuck in my head all morning. [YouTube]