2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

The craziest thing I’ve ever seen, it has to be the coolest goat in the world so make sure you watch the video till the end. [YouTube]

via Nibaq

I get emails from people quite often asking me to try their desserts but I always turn them down politely since chocolate is one of the things I am supposed to stay away from because of my acid reflux. But, the past week I’ve been craving chocolate for some odd reason so when I got an email from Hot Pot asking me to try their chocolate pudding I decided what the hell let me give it a shot.

They delivered 4 small pots of hot chocolate pudding to my office and I decided to share it with some co-workers. Firstly I have to say the ceramic pots the pudding come in are very cool. Once everyone was done with their pudding I forced them all to hand me back the pots so I could take them back home with me. I like the very simple design of it. Taste wise the chocolate pudding reminded me a lot of the Slider Station one which is pretty good. I actually think they use the same chocolate because they’re very similar flavor wise so I definitely recommend it.

I got my hot pots for free but their prices are as follows:
Big Box: One big bowl enough for 12 to 14 people KD12
Small Box: Four small bowls enough for 4 people KD5

They officially launched two days ago on the 1st of November. They deliver everyday except for Friday. To order you can call or sms them on 60023030

www.q8hotpot.com

<img src=’https://248am.com/images/museumkuwait.jpg’ alt=” />

A reader scanned and sent me the old pictures below of Kuwait. A lot of them are aerial shots most probably taken from a helicopter. On the back of the photos there is a stamp that reads “With the compliments of the Ministry of Information”. Is the building in the picture above still around? The file name says it was museum.

Thanks Khalid!

Update: I’ve reuploaded all the photos above in high res and you can view them here.

I got the below email from an editor at Al Watan Daily regarding the animals at the Friday Market post:

Hi Mark,
I’m the local editor of Al Watan Daily, and I would like to start off by saying that when I read your post last night, I was livid. No newspaper wants to print misinformation, that is not our goal, least of all mine. Our lead had actually originated from an Arab Times report that came two weeks ago, and we performed a follow up. In today’s Arab Times on page 3, you can see they were confused over the matter as well, because they had not reported that the animals were trapped. [Link] However, they do corroborate our story.

From Arab Times update: “Meanwhile Abu Sulaiman Al-Hadad, one of the shopkeepers, claimed that he, along with other proprietors, have not accessed their shops since these were shut down on Oct 15. “My animals have been imprisoned for more than two weeks and have all died from starvation,” he complained. Asked if he had entered his shop at all during this period he said it’s “impossible”. “If any of us is caught entering a shop we’d be obliged to pay a fine of KD 500, along with other legal action,” Al-Hadad said.”

Now, I did not sleep last night, I really didn’t, over your post, and the image it portrays, as well as some of the comments that followed. I planned to come in this morning and set the record straight, by either finding confirmation that our reporter had done their job correctly, or that she had failed in my trust in her. In the case of the latter, I had already informed my General Manager that I would print a retraction.

However, in the case that you were wrong in your citizen journalism, which is the case in my opinion, I feel that you should print an update, and perhaps even slant it towards recognizing that we were not printing misinformation and that perhaps you and the commenters on the post were quick to jump the gun at our expense.

Khaled Al-Ramly
Local Editor
Al Watan Daily

A blog reader also posted the following comment awhile ago:

I went there few hours ago, and the situation is:
All the shops are closed
4 or 5 from the ex employee are sitting there
I asked them about how do they feed the animals inside, and they answered with:
NO WE CANT, The shops are closed by the municipality and there is a sticker attached on each shop’s door and they cant open the door and they cant remove those stickers.
All the dogs inside are whining and barking from being without a food, water, air and also without light.

Its just a big MESS

-Ramez

I’ve contacted K’s Path regarding this issue and I am still waiting for a response. K’s Path are a Kuwaiti non-profit working to improve the lives of animals by protecting and preserving them and the places they live.

Update: I just found this article from todays Arab Times where Ayesha who is responsible for Animal Friend’s and K’s Path said the following:

Ayesha Al-Humaidhi, from Animal Friends League of Kuwait, assured that shopkeepers do have access to the shops and tend to their animals. “They do enter their shops and do conduct their business, but they can’t run their business openly until they settle the rent dispute with the Municipality,” she said. [Source]

Updates2: Ayesha emailed me back stating:

We have investigated the situation and most of the information around is incorrect. The shop keepers are able to enter their stores and care for the animals. We have a volunteer that knows many of the shopkeepers very well and he has visited them multiple times and spoken to them throughout the last two weeks of closure and they are still able to enter their shops. In fact you can even buy things from them they just can’t officially open their doors for business. On the weekends and evening you will see them outside on the road selling so clearly they can get in. Also the area has been closed for two weeks, if it was true that these animals have not been fed then they would all be dead at this point but you can hear them in the shops. Basically the welfare at the Friday Market has always been bad but it is not a whole lot worse at the moment.

We are hoping this rental disagreement with the Baladiya will be resolved soon. We are waiting to see.

A few days ago someone in the forum mentioned that he passed by the animal section of the Friday market and found it closed. I figured that’s great news, they finally did something about the animal cruelty that was taking place there.

Turns out I was very wrong. Today I found out that what really happened was the municipality shutdown all the shops by force and not because of animal cruelty but because of rent issues. Not only that but since the shops were closed down 2 weeks ago they haven’t been allowed to reopen and all the animals were left inside to die!

…the business owners are helpless as the animals howl and cry for food, with every passing day the stench of death growing ever stronger…

…All the animals are inside the stalls, and most of them have died due to lack of water, food and air. These animals have been in cages within the stalls for 15 days and they have not seen any light, nor eaten anything…

Instead of making things better, they killed all the animals. Fantastic. Here is the link to the article on Al Watan Daily. [Link]

Update: A friend of mine passed by the Friday market with his wife today after reading the post to see what they could do. They spoke to a few owners and it turns out the Al Watan Daily’s story is not true. Here is the correct information:

– The municipality did shutdown the shops

– The shop owners ARE allowed to open the shop to clean, feed and air their animals

– Some shop owners were neglecting their animals and it’s NOT the municipality that’s stopping them. Some owners are just insensitive and are just leaving their animals to die

Basically unlike what Al Watan Daily reported, the municipality isn’t stopping any shop owner from taking care of the animals. I don’t know why a leading English newspaper would print misinformation like that. In any case animals are still being left to die by some shop owners who should be fined or prosecuted. For more details you can visit my friends blog where they have more information and pictures [Link]

iLSuL6ana has pictures and information on the new mall that opened near the 7th Ring Road called Al Bairaq. It doesn’t seem very interesting compared to 360 and Avenues but it could be convenient for people who live there. [Link]

There is going to be a protest tomorrow (Monday) at 4PM in Mishref to raise awareness about the whole issue with the sewage plant problems and the construction that’s taking forever. The protest which will be more of a walkathon will take place near the sewage plant on the side of the 6th ring road in Mishref. Everyone is invited.

Thanks b19

I like how the sea and beach were right next to the road. [Picture]

Look’s like Hard Cook has some competition.

Picture taken by k.thekuwaiti

Didn’t know it was that popular and they have a pretty active blog. [Link]

A HPI Baja 5B… [YouTube]

Update: I called Extreme Hobbies, they HPI Baja dealers to see how much they would sell me the buggy but they ended up selling their last piece today. Jassim from Blushberry even passed by to get one but they told him we’ve got to wait till they get a new shipment next month. Sucks.

I just heard fire engines pass by awhile ago and I am guessing they were heading to Marina Waves. I have no idea yet what caught fire or what started it but judging by the pictures it looks like the skateboard park.

Thanks Khalid!

Update: It was the skate park that caught fire and according to the owner it was arson.

The Lebanese luxury chains Aïshti and Aïzone have opened up at the Avenues. They’re the equivalent of Villa Moda in Lebanon carrying mostly the same brands which is why I was curious to pass by the Avenues one. I was in a rush so I had a quick walk through and noticed 80% of the store space is dedicated to woman with the rest for men. Here is the link to the Aïshti website [Link]

I got the following by in my mail about an Improv Comedy Troupe that’s in affiliation with LOYAC:

Are you the funniest person in your family? Do you make people laugh with your clever wit and humor? Is Jokey your favorite Smurf?

If you answered YES to any of the above questions, then
Audition for Kuwait’s first ever Improv Comedy Troupe

When?
Saturday, November 1st from 4:30-6:30pm
Monday, November 2nd from 6:00-8:00pm

Where?
Bayt Lothan – Room 78 (Drama Studio)
Bayt Lothan is located right next to Marina Mall in Salmiya

Who?
Males and Females, age 18+, all nationalities are welcome, proficient English speakers only.

No preparation necessary.
For questions, contact Hassan at 97211327.

Qualitynet have updated their block page so if you go to say playboy.com you will get the following message:

And this URL:
https://blocked.qualitynet.net/blocked/index.php?cat=0

Now if you change the last number from 0 to say 1 you get a different message for example go to:
https://blocked.qualitynet.net/blocked/index.php?cat=1
You will notice a message added which is “Category: Pornography”

If you replace it with a 2 you get:
https://blocked.qualitynet.net/blocked/index.php?cat=2
Category: Gambling

Got it? Well this is where it gets interesting, if you replace that number with anything from 4 and up you get LOLCATS!

For example I replaced it with 19:
https://blocked.qualitynet.net/blocked/index.php?cat=19

And I got:

An ISP with a sense of humor, pretty cool.

Thanks larogue for discovering this

Update: It no longer works, Qualitynet removed the lolcats 🙁