2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003
A friend at work just sent me two pictures to my phone, one picture (on the left) he shot while going into the baqala, the second picture (on the right) when he was coming out. The weather here in Beirut on the other hand is perfect as can be seen in the picture below.
Kuwait city was just hit by a major sandstorm; the view from my office is starting to look like the ‘Armageddon’ poster.. Where is the rain we are supposed to be getting?
Remember a months back when we informed Fasttelco users that their personal information was being leaked by their ISP.
Well, their official response by their Marketing Manager, Ali Dervasi, was that our post is “propaganda” to further our “history of hostility against FASTtelco“.
Sorry to burst your conspiracy bubble .. but we don’t carry any ill will towards any companies, just their services (or lack thereof). As for our ‘propaganda’ post .. In addition to FTs users experiencing the issue (and posting screenshots), Google themselves confirmed that there was a problem. And our “history of hostility” is a direct result of FT’s poor service, which isn’t limited to the following: blocking sites, high prices, false advertising, security issues and all-around shitty ads.
FT needs to take a step back and reevaluate their services (and prices) before pointing fingers at its users. The other ISPs have stepped up their services and offerings (except for UCC, they are terrible). Reading reviews on blogs and through word-of-mouth, end customers are more aware of the alternatives available. Until FT fixes its issues, I continue using (and recommending) الخمطة بربع.
Link to original article [here]
Posted by K.
From Cinemagic:
Cinemagic is delighted to announce the return of our weekly screening program. Screenings will continue to take place at our new location in Old Salmiya, above LG Electronics.
This week, we will be screening “The Kite Runner“.
Based one on of the most acclaimed novels in recent memory, ‘The Kite Runner’ is a profoundly emotional tale of friendship, family, devastating mistakes and redeeming love. In a divided country on the verge of war, two childhood friends, Amir and Hassan, are about to be torn apart forever. It’s a glorious afternoon in Kabul and the skies are bursting with the exhilarating joy of a kite-fighting tournament. But in the aftermath of the day’s victory, one boy’s fearful act of betrayal will mark their lives forever and set in motion an epic quest for redemption. Now, after 20 years of living in America, Amir returns to a perilous Afghanistan under the Taliban’s iron-fisted rule to face the secrets that still haunt him and take one last daring chance to set things right.
For its part, Cinemagic Kuwait, is organizing these events as part of its efforts to contribute to the development of an internationally competitive Kuwaiti audio-visual production industry, partly by bringing the filmmakers and audiences together and by Increasing the public’s interest in – and appreciation for – the art of filmmaking.
As always, attendance is free of charge (but seating is limited). Snacks and refreshments will be served. The Kite Runner screening will take place on Thursday, May 1st, at 7 p.m.
This story totally surprised me. I was talking to my brother today when he mentioned that last month a flash mob here in Beirut replicated “Frozen Grand Central” except in a mall. Over 200 people participated and although I think the Grand Central freeze was nicer I am totally surprised that a flash mob exists in Lebanon. Someone should setup a flash mob group for Kuwait. [YouTube]
I just downloaded (bought) the new Madonna album from the Amazon MP3 Store; and its probably one of her better albums since Ray of Light in 98. Initially, I was going to write a long winded review talking about each track, then I realized that Vocals=Madonna and Production=Timbaland, Pharrel and Kanye West.
Yeah .. that pretty much sums it up.
She is also going to be stopping by Dubai on Nov.21st for the Hard Candy tour (good luck getting tickets).
Link to Hard Candy album on Amazon. [Here]
Link to Hard Candy tour news. [here]
Posted by K.
(Is it just me or does the album cover match the blog a little too much.)
I am starting to sound like an old beat up record. Tomorrow I am leaving to Beirut for work and I will be there for 10 days. I am staying at a different hotel this time around, one with better Internet access and one thats also in a better location. I think I have two more trips before the summer and then things should get back to normal.
As most of you might have noticed I have a new sponsor on the blog, Gulf Insurance Company. They’ve basically launched a new service where people can just log into their website and sign up for one of their insurance plans, here is their press release with more info:
GIC unveils its online insurance services
Gulf Insurance Company (GIC) … Kuwait’s most preferred insurance solutions provider is proud to announce its online range of individual insurance products via: www.clickgic.comGIC’s valued customers can now simply login and insure their vehicles, Jet Ski’s, yachts, pleasure boats, domestic servants and travel insurance including family members and pay for such services online by K-Net, Visa or MasterCard in a fully secure environment.
Once the policy is purchased, GIC will send a policy confirmation email to the customer along with an SMS to the customer’s mobile phone advising policy number. The customer will have access to his policy and check information of the same any time by logging on www.clickgic.com and by keying in policy number and civil ID number for prompt display of all policy information.
Customers have the option of collecting their policies themselves from any of GIC’s 15 branches or request for a free delivery of the policy within 24 hours to the location of their choice in Kuwait. Customers however can print the motor comprehensive, domestic helpers and travel insurance policies directly from the comfort of their homes or offices.
GIC is currently offering its online customers a special discount of 10% on the Motor and Marine Third Party Liability policy premiums.
Simply log on to www.clickgic.com and see for yourselves GIC’s distinct wide ranging products and services and the ease and convenience of its use!
Anyway the reason for this post is that GIC want your feedback on their website. So if you have any comments on their website just leave it below.
I got my Nokia E61i last July so its been with me for nearly 10 months and through this time its been really abused. Whats surprised me the most is how well its held up. It must be the metal casing because I’ve dropped it soo many times, had it slammed into the wall and really not much has happened. Now I did manage to crack the screen slightly when I accidentally dropped the phone from nearly two stories high but thats really superficial compared to the damage that would have inflicted lets say an iPhone.
Yesterday I managed to inflict more damage to the phone after dropping it for like the millionth time. Basically the phone stopped charging when plugged in. The new version of the phone isn’t going to be out for a few months and I didn’t want to get another phone so I decided to pass by the doctor in Khalid Bin Waleed street in Sharq to see if he could fix my phone.
The doctor is a popular guy in Sharq who is an expert in repairing phones. He has a small shop in the same building as the store “My Phone” except his store is in the back side. I showed him my phone and told him what was wrong an he quickly opened it up, checked the phone’s board and found the culprit. A tiny resistor was missing and he could replace it for just KD4 (probably cheaper if I haggled). I told him to go ahead and it took him just another 5 minutes to unsolder a resistor from another broken Nokia phone and then solder it onto my phone and voilà, my phone started charging again.
It’s like a drive through phone repair shop. Since the guy is very nice and a real pro I figured I would help send business his way. So if you need to repair a phone, just pass by the doctor, the store is called Life Style (don’t ask) and his phone number is 4455692.
The new Grand Theft Auto is already out in some places and probably the most important question people are going to ask is which version is better, the PS3 or the 360? Kotaku tried both versions and have gone ahead and compared the two and the results seem very close. I’ve been wanting to get a PS3 for a while now but it looks like there isn’t a game out yet that makes it worth getting over my 360. [Link]
Update: Game Center in Rihab Complex in Hawalli are selling Grand Theft Auto IV for KD25
I placed an order for an iPhone a week ago and thought something went wrong when I didn’t receive a tracking number after a few days (They usually ship them within a day). After checking the order status, I found out that the iPhone isn’t going to be shipped out until May 13th; which is almost a month after my initial order.
In addition to knowing Apple’s history of keeping quiet about new products and the pending rumors about the new iPhone .. I am guessing that the 3G iPhone is released next month. If this does turn out to be the new iPhone, I wouldn’t suggest purchasing one until the current unlock method is confirmed to be working.
Posted by K.
A lot of you (like 99.9% of you) don’t like the sneakers I like and thats absolutely fine by me. But one thing I hope many of you will agree with me on is the fact that Foot Locker and Athletes Foot in Kuwait have the safest and dullest collection of sneakers imaginable. Walking into both those stores yesterday was depressing. After visiting my favorite sneaker stores in London like Size? and Offspring (Foot Patrol sadly closed down) Athletes Foot and Foot Locker both seemed dull, generic and PG rated.
My biggest regret from my London trip was not purchasing the Puma Disc Blaze sneakers. I can’t get them out of my head, kinda like Tara Reid’s boob at P. Diddy’s thirty-fifth birthday party. Its like driving by a car wreck, you don’t want to look but you really can’t help not looking and thats how those Puma’s were. On the bright side I did get the Adidas Oddity’s which I posted about in November.
I don’t mind the local stores selling safe sneakers for the mass, in the end they need to make money and they won’t be able to without catering to the large public. But how about a little corner for the people who want something more than just a white sneaker with 3 black stripes?
Anyway I took some pictures of various sneakers I saw at Offspring which I wanted to share with my readers below. As you can see colorful weird sneakers are something of the norm in London. Visiting a sneaker store in London will actually help you understand and appreciate the London 2012 Olympics logo.
The picture above is of the outside of my favorite Size? store which is located on Neal Street. Offspring’s most popular location probably is the one inside of Selfridges.
Summer is here and what other better way to welcome it than with a youtube video, watch it till the end. Video is called Wake Boarding Kuwait. [YouTube]
One of the places I was looking forward to visiting while I was in London is the hummingbird bakery. Some say that most of the cupcake stores in Kuwait were based on the hummingbird bakery, that might be true but I haven’t tried their cupcakes. My main reason for visiting the hummingbird bakery is for their Chocolate Devil’s Food Cake which is just incredible. Sadly there are only two hummingbird bakeries in London so there is very little chance that a branch will open up in Kuwait. If you ever visit London make sure you pass by the hummingbird bakery and then make sure you visit Ben’s Cookies for the best cookies in London.
The phase two of Avenues has opened up, I think the launch was two days ago. Anyway only three stores are currently open in that section plus the food court which had McDonalds and the other chains have now moved to phase two along with a couple of new ones.