2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

WTF? This is TOTALLY unfair! Why would they open Shake Shack in Dubai or Saudi and not in Kuwait?!?! WTF?! I am pissed! [Link]

via Al Manakh

Update: Seems Alshaya are getting Shake Shack and some people are saying they will be opening in Kuwait first. I am trying to confirm that once I do will post again.

I am not sure if this site is supposed to be humorous or serious but its funny anyways. I’m Halal is a search engine that only shows you Halal results. So if you try to search for sex, pork, beer etc.. you will not get a result. Try it! [Link]

I just read on Frankom’s blog that the Sony dealer in Kuwait has an incredible offer on the new PS3 Slim. For a limited time offer they’re selling it for KD69. If they don’t have a decent amount of stock available then they’re probably already sold out by the time you read this.

Note: This deal is just available at their newly opened Avenues branch. It’s located near D*Lush and Nokia.

Update: This is what one reader had to say about his experience trying to get the PS3 Slim:

OK everyone I got it, its 120 GB euro, plays all region games, but the sony shop was horreendous i went at 11:00 am and was # 84 out of 120, it was a big mess, people shouting and old women begging for numbers. two kids even fingered the sales guy back side for a number which caused an even bigger delay, completly dis-organized , but cant blame them selling its for nearly half price, al ghanim is getting it in october for 100kd pre order, sony selling it for 69 is gonna cause chaos, but they should have been prepared to be honest. only good thing is that women dont have to wait for a number, by 12:00 i recieved mine and they had stopped giving numbers out so if you want to go in the evening i dont think there will be any left

Update2: According to Cajie a blog reader, when he passed by at 1PM the stock had already been finished.

Picture taken by Cajie

Just like the Gucci rumor I posted about a few days ago, there is another rumor going around that The Chocolate Bar in Marina Crescent was closed down by the ministry because they found chocolate that contained alcohol in them. That is of course not true or else I would have been their #1 customer. The Chocolate Bar at Marina was closed down due to renovations and all their other branches are still open for business.

They’re installing these new thingies (forgot what they’re called) around my office block in Kuwait City. Someone must have seen them in Europe and thought oh these would look great in Kuwait lets get some. They don’t, they look weird and out of place and I think they’re going to install them all over Kuwait City. Would be interested in what re:kuwait have to say about this.

Update: re:kuwait has commented on these bollards you can check his post [Here]

The prices are not that bad but the bandwidth limit sucks. I have 5GB for breakfast!

I got a phone call yesterday from a friend at Zain. He wanted me to try out their new e-GO which can hit speeds of up to 21.6Mbps. Sadly I couldn’t pass by to pick it up since I had to catch a flight to Lebanon but I was just catching up on some blogs and it seems some other bloggers managed to get the e-GO and try it out. So far the reviews have been positive. Here are some blogger reviews on the new 21.6Mbps e-GO:

zDistrict
Review: Zain E-Go 21.6 MB/s

4th Ring Road
Zain e-go 21.6 mbps…. we like.

Some Contrast
Exclusive: Zain’s latest E-GO 21.6 Mb/s

Blushberry
Review : Zain 21.6 Mbps Internet

I should get my hands on the new e-GO once I get back to Kuwait in a couple of days. The picture above is taken by zDistrict.

Update: According to Some Contrast, the new e-GO and 21.6Mbps connection is available right now at every Zain branch. The new e-GO sells for KD45 and the monthly membership is KD32 but if you sign up for 1 year you get the new e-GO for free.

Update2: 360Dewan tried his 7.2Mbps connection after Zain upgraded the network to 21.6Mbps and he was able to achieve download speeds of up to 758kb through a connection via his iPhone 3GS. So it looks like everyone’s connection has benefited from this upgrade. [Link]

A couple of days ago Gucci in Fanar was shutdown by the ministry. Of course rumors quickly started to spread that Gucci was shutdown because they were caught selling fake goods. That is not true of course. The reason Gucci was shutdown is because the inspector wanted to see the original store license which they didn’t have. They only had a copy of the license in Fanar because the original was at the head office in Shuwaikh so the inspector shutdown the shop for the day.

A friend at work saw the Jazeera Airways “Buy 1 Get 1 Free” offer the other day and decided to buy a ticket. He paid KD38 for a two way ticket to Dubai. Awhile ago he received an email from them to claim his free ticket. So he clicks their link and decides to get another ticket to Dubai and guess how much the free ticket is going to cost him? KD43! So his free ticket is costing him more than his paid ticket. I thought that was pretty funny.

Tip of the day: Always read the fine print!

Back in March I posted that P. F. Chang’s China Bistro will be opening up in Kuwait. Well I just found out that it will be opening up in December at Avenues in the same location the H&M’s male store was located opposite to Al Forno.

Note: Alshaya are the ones who are bringing P.F. Chang to Kuwait.

There is one thing I find very frustrating with Aramex Shop & Ship and that’s their formula for which package ships out first and which package stays behind until their next flight. It doesn’t look they have a formula but more like it’s completely random. I could have 5 packages in my mailbox and they would ship one, the third package that arrived, something random like that. So I sent them the following email today:

Dear Aramex,
I have 4 packages that arrived in my mailbox in the following order

1) Private Mail 08/29/2009
2) Amazon 4255 Anson Blvd 08/31/2009
3) HONGKONG SERVICES PO 09/01/2009
4) Mail & Magazines 09/02/2009

They all weigh less than 0.5lb which qualifies them for the daily flight from New York to Kuwait.

This is the order that the packages were shipped:

1) Private Mail 09/02/2009 (early morning Kuwait time)
4) Mail & Magazines 09/02/2009 (evening Kuwait time)
2) Amazon 4255 Anson Blvd 09/02/2009 (late evening Kuwait time)
3) HONGKONG SERVICES PO 09/02/2009 (late evening Kuwait time)

All four packages were shipped on the same day but on three different flights!
Package (1) got shipped in your regular slow shipping
Package (4) the least important because its a magazine got shipped with overnight shipping and I am expecting it this morning
Packages (2) and (3) got shipped regular slow shipping

What I would like know is what is your formula for deciding which shipment goes out and when? Why weren’t ALL my packages placed on the same flight as my magazines since they all weigh less than 0.50lb which I was told was the requirement to be on that flight and they would have ALL arrive today? Why wasn’t package #2 shipped before my magazines since it arrived before?

This complete random and unorganized (at least to us consumers it looks like that) is very frustrating. For example shipment #3 has an item which I could have used while traveling later tonight so its very frustrating for me to see a magazine arrive before something I really wanted to get here first.

thanks
mark

Now while looking through my previous Aramex posts I found one dating back to January 2008 when Aramex said it was going to introduce online payments. What happened to that?

I don’t know how old the video is above but I think its pretty new. It’s taken at the Cheverolet dealer and it’s of the new 2010 Camaro. Not a fan of yellow. [YouTube]

I knew things were bad in Lebanon when it came to the treatment of animals but I didn’t think it was this bad. I just found out about BETA which is the Lebanese equivalent of Animal Friends except with a lot less resources. Just to give you an idea of how bad things are there, here are four links [Link], [Link], [Link] and [Link]

It’s a very sad state and BETA are trying their best but they need a lot of help. I know I have some readers who check this blog from Lebanon but this also applies to anyone in Kuwait that cares about animals and can help out financially. As little as $10 a month can make a difference, that’s just KD3! They also have an automated payment system which you can set to charge your credit card monthly which is what I did because its a lot more convenient. So please if you can help out even if its a little amount it would be really great. Here is the page with info on how you can help. [Link]

Thank you!

I passed by Tilal Complex tonight to check out the new Tamiya store. They opened up in Tilal back in December 2008 but recently they moved to a larger store on the first floor. I was expecting the new store to be bigger than the previous but it turned out to be like 10 times bigger and looked amazing! Seriously I was in shock. It was very nicely organized, they have stations in the back where you could go and build your car, they even rent tools. They also have a painting room with exhausts for the fumes, a small photography studio where you can take pictures of your car and my favorite section, the spare parts! They have hundreds and hundreds of parts occupying the whole right side of the shop. What I used to hate about their old store was the fact that you had to know what part you wanted and then ask the salesman to get it for you from behind the counter but now I can just browse and find parts and accessories myself.

I really really love their new store and I highly recommend anyone that is interested in radio controlled cars or plastic models to visit it. They’re located on the first floor of Tilal Complex, opposite their older store. Oh and they have this HUGE space right by the shop where they are currently building a race track.

Here is a link to their website [Link]
Their phone number is 22256707

I don’t like tennis but this was cool. [YouTube]