2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

I just found out about this and think its amazing news for Villa Moda and all the other local start ups. It just goes to show that great local ideas are great ideas anywhere in the world.

Majed al-Sabah, the Kuwaiti lifestyle retailer known in the fashion world as the “Sheik of Chic,” has teamed up with the government of Dubai to create a global brand development strategy for his Villa Moda enterprise.

The Dubai International Finance Center, or DIFC, was to announce Monday that it had taken a majority investment in the multibrand high fashion retailer, where Sabah will remain as chairman and creative director. The exact amount of the investment was not disclosed.

I think Dubai is a perfect partner for Villa Moda but its depressing because Villa Moda is a Kuwaiti based idea and operation and it would have meant more to have Kuwait finance Villa Moda. But I guess its not only about the money, Dubai have a vision, Kuwait’s vision is… Dubai? [Link]

Thanks Mish!

According to Falantan the blogger who first told us about YouTube getting block, the order to block YouTube was cancelled today morning. YouTube is here to stay for now.

A reader called Omar emailed me a very startling email about his experience with Sultan Center. Now I can’t verify if this is true or not because I don’t know Omar but the pictures look pretty legit to me. This is what he had to say:

I bought two After Eight dark chocolate bars from Sultan Center last week. I opened one and after taking my first bite I almost puked. I checked the expiry date on the sticker and it said 31/10/08. I then decided to peel that sticker only to realize that Sultan had covered up the real expiry date! The chocolate had expired on June 2008! I am heading there right now to make a big scene about this, but I doubt I will get very far.

Who prints and sticks these labels, is it Sultan Center or another company does anyone know?

Update: Omar passed by Sultan Center and it seems the labels are printed by the American supplier, this is what he had to say:

Thanks for posting this Mark. After I sent you the pictures I went to Sultan and asked to meet the manager. A pleasant Indian guy came over to talk to me. He is the floor manager (working in Sultan for 9 years). I showed him the expiry date and the real expiry date underneath. He was truly shocked and not feigning. I can usually tell when people are faking. After the initial shock set in, he got extremely apologetic, saying that he�s worked here for 9 years and never came across something like this. He agreed that this is not an honest mistake and is FRAUD!

We then went to check the rest of the stock, unfortunately it was all sold out (so sadly a few more people are gonna experience moldy chocolate at its finest). The floor manager took my details and promised that the “big” manager will call me soon.

30 mins after leaving Sultan I get a call from a very apologetic, sweet talking Lebanese guy who identified himself as The Manager. He apologized a million times, and also admitted that this was not an honest mistake. However, Sultan is not the source of the fraud. Apparently the �ministry of something� here in Kuwait insists that food products come with that Arabic sticker from the source, and should be tagged before clearing customs. So the “American Food Supplies Inc. ” which provided Sultan with the chocolate (already with the sticker) is the one to blame. They have been using that company for over 10 years and are truly shocked. To prove to me they are serious they will keep me updated of the proceedings with the American supplier. He also asked me to come back so they can compensate me for my troubles (whatever that means). I will go see him tomorrow.

I must say, I was expecting complete indifference by the management, but I am pleasantly surprised that they took the matter very seriously. If the stickers really are applied by the supplier, before they reach customs, then Sultan is not the source of the Fraud. Can anyone confirm that those stickers are in fact applied before they reach customs?

Falantan a blogger that works at a local internet provider just posted that today they received an order from one of the department heads at the Ministry of Communication asking them to block Youtube.com. I hope this isn’t true since if they block YouTube they might as well just go all the way and block the Internet completely.

You can find more info on Falantan’s blog. [Link]

It seems there are rumors that Hashi is going to be closing down soon. I’ve only been there a few times and although the place isn’t my favorite sushi place I do like the interior a lot and their food is actually good. I would hate to see the place get shutdown and replaced by another Chili’s or something. As a sign of support to Hashi some people have started a Facebook group called Keep Hashi Alive. Here is the link in case you also want to join the group. [Facebook Group]

I installed Mac OS X on my MSI Wind today and its running perfectly! The installation went very smooth and everything is working fine including the wifi, webcam, bluetooth, ethernet port and sound. I really didn’t think OS X would run so well on the Wind, I love it! I am actually so happy with the Wind now I am going to be selling my Asus Eee 900. I tried installing OS X on it today also but it was running really slow so I just went ahead and installed the dreadful Windows XP. Its running much better but I prefer OS X over XP any day so thats why I am going to be sell it. I will be losing money on it since the price of it has dropped since I got it but since I got the MSI Wind for free I don’t mind. The thing is I really don’t have the need for two ultra portables in my life and the fact that the Wind is running OS X means I will always choose it over my Asus.

If anyone is interested in installing OS X on the Wind all you need to get it working right is a Dell wifi card. I purchased the Dell 1490 from eBay for $15 with shipping.

Update: My Asus Eee 900 is now listed for sale in the forum [Link]

As many of you already know starting October 17th Kuwait is shifting from 7 digit numbers to 8. Zain numbers will get a 9 added at the beginning, Wataniya a 6, landlines will get a 2 added and commercial numbers that start with eight will get a 1 added to the front. Already over this weekend Zain and Wataniya started adding the extra numbers so its basically time to start converting all your phone numbers as well.

There are now a number of ways to convert all your numbers automatically. Zain and Wataniya both are offering this service. For Zain you need to send the letter B by SMS to 99509 and for Wataniya users you need to SMS the same word BACKUP but to 1618 instead.

Now if you would like to take matters into your own hands some guys have created applications that will do the conversion automatically.

For Windows users the blogger Q8ba7th has created an application that will take all your numbers and convert them with the new digits. You can download his application from his blog [Here]

For Mac users the blogger Q8i has created an Apple script that will also convert all your numbers to the correct format. You can download his script from his blog [Here]

Finally, iPhone users, you’re in for a treat because the local blogger Bojacob has created an iPhone application that will convert the numbers for you directly on your phone. To find out how to install his app visit his blog [Here]

Update: Here is the link to the Zain Mobile Backup site [Link]

This has to be the most embarrassing thing to hit Lebanon in a long time. It’s not as bad as Kuwait’s supercar the Scorpion but still… [Link]

via

Sephora the leading retail beauty chain in Europe opened at The Avenues yesterday.

A friend of mine called me up yesterday, he purchased Salmon eggs from Sultan Center and while eating them he noticed they tasted strange. He took a look at the expiry date and it turned out the eggs had expired over a month ago on August 18th! Sultan Center is the only supermarket I shop at so its really frustrating that something like this keeps happening over and over. From now on I am literally going to be checking the expiry date on every product I purchase.

My friend has now started a Facebook group so people can voice their concerns on this issue and he is also planning on releasing it in the papers this week specially after the fact that when he went to Sultan to complain they took the matter very lightly and told him to come back next week. Hopefully by shinning the spotlight on this issue Sultan Center will be forced to take action in stopping this from happening again. [Facebook Group]

[YouTube]

The video says this fire happened three days ago (16/9/08) but I haven’t heard anything about it. Here is another video showing the plane more clearly.

[YouTube]

I took my MSI Wind to Munich with me as my travel laptop and it turned out to be a really practical alternative to lugging my MacBook around. Its much more lighter than my MacBook and its also thinner and smaller so it fit easily into my small carry on travel bag and it also wasn’t a pain to carry around. My biggest problem with the Wind is the fact that it runs Windows XP which I hate.

That problem is going to get solved very soon though. It turns out I can install Apple’s Mac OS X onto it which is what I am going to be doing very soon. I ordered a new Dell wifi card from eBay for $15 with shipping to replace the standard one that comes with the MSI Wind. The Dell wifi card works with OSX while the standard card doesn’t. I am also going to be upgrading the battery to a 6-cell which will make it last twice as long. Finally I am going to be upgrading the RAM from 1GB to 2GB, not because I really need to but because it costs only KD7 to do. I am now just waiting for the wifi card to arrive in the mail and once it does I will do the install and post my feedback on how the MSI Wind runs with OSX.

I passed by the Kuwait Regency Palace today and managed to take some pictures of the construction thats taking place there. Many of you might remember Kuwait Regency from before the Gulf War, it was one of the best hotels in Kuwait and most school graduation ceremonies used to be held there, I’ve had two graduations there personally. They were also known for their incredible indoor tennis courts and during the Iraqi invasion the hostages from the British Airways flight 149 were even held captive at the Kuwait Regency. Well the place is getting a huge makeover and as you can see from the picture above the tennis courts are currently being used as offices. The hotel should be soft launching by the end of the year with the proper launch by early next year. I took some more pictures which you can see by clicking on continue below.

I think its really great that the place is getting a renovation instead of being completely demolished and rebuilt. I also love the way the name has progressed in time, when it first launched it used to be part of the Hyatt group of hotels and it was called Hyatt Regency, it then became Kuwait Regency and now with the relaunch it will become just The Regency. Sadly the indoor tennis courts will no longer exist once the renovation is completed.

Choowy Goowy have soft launched their new line of cheese cakes. Its a soft launch because their cheese cake packaging isn’t completed yet but the cheese cake itself is out of the testing phase. Since I am good friends with one of the owners I was able to try their cheese cake around 2 months back while they were still working on the recipe and one of the coolest things about their cake (other than the taste) is the fact that you get to choose what type of crust you want. The crust itself is made from their Choowy Goowy cookies so you have a wide range of options to choose from.

You can find out more about their cheese cakes on the Choowy Goowy blog plus get a preview on the package designs and contact info in case you want to order a whole cake or slice. [Link]

So many great looking sneakers, so little money and closet space! [Link]