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A bunch of people now have the new iPhone’s here in Kuwait and if you are wondering how to get a hold of one well it seems the easiest solution is eBay. You have two kinds of iPhone 3G’s you can get, you can get the regular locked version which is the one thats being sold in most parts of the world like in the US or you can get the Italian version which at the moment seems to be the only one that is officially unlocked.

The regular locked iPhone 3G is cheaper and sells for anywhere from $700 to $1000. Most users on eBay list them as unlocked iPhones but at the moment thats just not true. If you read the posts carefully they all promise to have the unlocking done a week after purchase… they are basically just waiting for the unlocking software to get released. You can go ahead and buy this version if you want but as of this post you won’t be able to use it in Kuwait at the moment. Very soon though with the next update of the unlocking software Pwnage you should be able to unlock it.

The Italian version is currently the only version available “officially” unlocked. This means if you buy the Italian version of the iPhone you can use it in Kuwait without needing to hack it or anything. This version is available for sale on the regular ebay.com but a larger collection is available on the Italian eBay which is ebay.it. The Italian iPhone sells on average for around $1400 which is pretty expensive but the advantage is that it works in Kuwait without a hitch.

If you’ve got the extra cash it might be a better deal to fly to Italy, spend a night or two there, buy an iPhone and then come back. If you don’t have the extra cash just wait a couple of months and the prices will probably drop down but I doubt they will go down under $500 or $600.

Just found out from q8loco’s blog that there is a new radio station launching in Kuwait called Mix FM 98.4. No one get their hopes up though its an Arabic station so BBC and VOA News are still our only other options over 99.7 for now. [Link]

Only in Saudi of course! [Pictures]

Found some pictures on ads2blog of a fire at the new Salmiya Citybus depot. According to the person who took the pictures “It started off with 1 bus and then the rest; I guess 3 buses went up in Flames� Flames were at a height of approximately 3 floors�”. Check ads2blog for more picture. [Link]

It seems my posting will be sporadic in the next few days since I will be held up in all day workshops. I’ve been up since 7am and just got back to my room awhile ago (its 10:45PM now). I need to get some rest since the next two days the workshops are going to last past midnight which is going to be really exhausting.

On the bright side breakfast is great at the hotel and for dinner I showed everyone how much we eat back in Kuwait. I totally massacred what had to be the largest buffet I had ever laid my eyes on. Since the hotel is located on the river its like mosquito city and I am covered with bites all over.

Check safat.kuwaitblogs.com for other blogs while I am away since there is always something interesting to read there. You can also pass by the 248AM Forum and mingle with other readers or just sit back and read what others have to say.

I was just reading a post from a blogger in Beirut and I found out two interesting things about Sultan Center.

The first which was a surprise is that Sultan Center is now operating the large supermarket chain in Lebanon called Geant. Geant is a large French based supermarket chain like Carrefour which is why I found that interesting. Could Sultan possibly open Geant in Kuwait? Or will they rebrand Geant’s to Sultan Center in Lebanon? I don’t know if Sultan operating Geant in Lebanon will have any effect here in Kuwait but nevertheless a lot of interesting things could happen.

Now the second thing which I found funny actually is that it seems the problem Sultan has in Kuwait with expired produce has worn off onto Geant in Lebanon. The Lebanese blogger purchased rotten meat from the supermarket and had a bad experience with the management there which is why he posted about Sultan and Geant in the first place. This blog by the way is my favorite Lebanese blog so it has some pretty interesting stuff. [Link]

Update: I just found out about another local blogger who found expired food at Sultan Center and was able to document his finding with pictures. He took it up with management and when they found out about his blog they threatened to sue him if he didn’t remove the post. I think thats extremely bad for their image. Threatening a blogger for posting about expired food he found at their supermarket. If anything they should thank him for highlighting the problem. Here are his posts on his experience with Sultan Center…

Sultan center in trouble!
Sultan center did It AGAIN!!!!
Sultan center STRIKE 3!

Note: Please take into account that the above information might not be true. There is no way for us to verify that the bloggers above are telling the truth and we haven’t heard Sultan Center’s side of the story. I for one only shop at Sultan Center.

I am not sure if I should try the KD55 burger next week while I am in Thailand so I decided I will let you guys decide for me. The Trilogy Burger at Trader Vic’s in Bangkok costs KD55 ($200) because of the very expensive ingredients. If you guys vote that I should try the burger then I will do it, take pictures of it and post my feedback on this blog. Since I’ve already gone through most of the best burgers in Kuwait as part of my Best Burger in Kuwait Challenge then I think it would be interesting to see how the Trilogy Burger will compare. If you guys think its a stupid idea and not worth it then you can vote a no.

[poll id=”2″]

Update: Some readers suggested it would be better not to waste money on this burger and to feed the needy instead. So what I’ve decided to do is also donate $200 to the World Food Programme. That way if the result is YES to having the burger I won’t have to feel guilty. $200 will be enough to feed 133 children for a week. You can also help by donating to the WFP. [Donate Now]

Desert Girl sent me a list of nearly all the major health clubs in Kuwait with their prices. JW Marriott looks like its the most expensive while Ramada in Riggae looks like the cheapest. Sea C Club, Marina Hotel and Corniche Club are not on this list so if anyone knows their prices just post them below in the comments. Here is the list of prices as a downloadable pdf.

Download: [Health Club Prices]

Picture above of Marina Hotel

I passed by Saso Lounge yesterday for lunch. They are going to be placing a banner on my blog soon so I figured I would pass by and check the place out. The place is located in a strategic location, during lunch while I was there the place was full of business people since its close to many offices. The food was also pretty good and very reasonably priced. Its an Italian Asian menu which although sounds strange made perfect sense to me since while I was in Lebanon I had a habit of ordering Sushi and Pizza for dinner. The dish pictured above is the Shrimp n’ Hammour which was great and a dish I would order again. Check out their website for more details and their location. If you work in Kuwait City you should pass and try it out for lunch. [Link]

Looks nice although its pretty safe design wise. The rear seems very similar to the Lexus LS. [Link]

There is a cool post on the New York Times blog on 11 food items we should be eating. I am going to start eating more blueberries since supposedly it improves memory and mine needs a lot of improving. [Link]

I just saw two new Fasttelco ads and I think they are of really bad taste. The one above shows a dead bat bleeding while the other one shows a bat screaming in pain as it crashes through a window. These have to be the most horrendous ads Fasttelco have ever released. Check them out on ads2blog.com [Link]

Update: I just got an email from someone at Fasttelco telling me these ads were never and would never be released by them and that they were never approved. Ads2Blog have also updated the original post stating that the ad was done by an Art Director and “were never meant to see the light nor get published”. I guess that makes a lot more sense now. Its good to know Fasttelco haven’t completely lost it.

This picture of the Maserati was taken in the UAE. If I was Maserati I would take the car back and give the owner back his money. [Link]

Thanks A&B

This is the worst news ever and I can’t believe I just found out about it. A long time ago (like 6 years) before I started this blog I used to MoBlog. Basically I used to take pictures with my PDA, a Sony Clie UX-50 back then and upload them onto this site called TextAmerica. I had hundreds of pictures there ranging from my random lunches to interesting places around Kuwait. I actually preferred the pictures I had taken for my TextAmerica blog more than the ones I did later for my Miskan.com project because I felt they were more natural and random.

Just a few moments ago I went to my old Moblog usurp.textamerica.com and realized the whole site is gone. Turns out TextAmerica shutdown in December and I just found out now so i wasn’t able to back up my images and posts! This is depressing, soo many memories and moments which I had captured are now all gone.

LoFat now have a dine-in branch open and its located in Kuwait City. I didn’t pass by the place but its supposedly near Holiday Inn next to Burger Bar. I wonder if Burger Bar is still open, I haven’t heard about them in a while and I don’t know anyone who goes to the place. Last time I went I didn’t have a good experience. My burger challenge should hopefully continue this weekend, I think I have like 6 more burgers I need to try!

Thanks Ansam!