Search: “kuwait”

With this one we also broke the Guinness World Record for lamest idea ever. Here’s a link with a bit more details. [Link]

Thanks Mishari

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I’m flying Turkish Airlines from Kuwait to New York Business Class courtesy of the airline. The trip is divided into two stages, the first is a short flight from Kuwait to Istanbul while the second is the longer journey, Istanbul to New York. One of the main reasons Turkish Airlines wanted me to review them is because they’ve gotten a brand new plane for the Kuwait – Istanbul leg of the journey which they’ve recently entered into service.

The new plane is an Airbus A321 and I think it was entered into service around a month ago if I’m not mistaken. First thing I noticed once I boarded the flight was the trendy color scheme of the seats which were dark gray and had minimal red accents and bright turquoise pillows. The seats have built in power sockets, USB ports, a large pull out screen and a remote control. Since the flight is a short one the seats don’t fold down flat into beds but they do recline back a good deal with leg supports as well. Since this was business class there was lots of legroom as well.

The trip going to Istanbul is 3 hours and 20 minutes long. One of the advantages flying with Turkish Airline to the States or any other European airline is the fact your journey starts by flying west which results in a quicker overall trip since you don’t waste time backtracking your flight path (if your journey started by going east for example).

Breakfast was served on this trip and even though I was told by some readers the food would be great I actually wasn’t expecting much for this first stage of the trip. I was wrong since the food turned out to be pretty good. They started of breakfast with some cheeses, labneh, tomatoes, cucumbers and olives. A light combination which I’ve noticed Turkish Airlines likes a lot since there was a similar setup at different stages of my trip (lounge and Istanbul-NY flight). There was also a bit of turkey, freshly squeezed orange juice, fruits, jam, butter and yogurt. Once I was done with my starter I was served a cheese and tomato omelet which was also very good. The whole meal actually made me look forward to the one I would be having on my next longer flight since there would be a chef on board on that one.

It was a pretty good start to my trip. My only quibble and I’m being picky here is the lack of a phone network on-board. The only planes I’ve been on where I could use my phone while flying to check my email and chat on BBM are the Wataniya Airways ones and I’d like to see other airlines introduce this feature as well. Below are some pictures I took on this trip.

Note: I will be posting about my Istanbul to New York flight as well as the lounge in separate posts.

Before on top, now on the bottom. Other than the clutter I think the biggest change is the lack of natural daylight inside the airport.

Here is a link to a previous comparison. [Link]

via Thorsten

This is the best thing to happen to the airport since they shutdown McDonalds. They’re opening them all in place of Costa right after immigration.

According to Arabian Business, Kuwait is raising the bar and aims to generate 10 percent of its electricity from sustainable sources by 2020. All I have to say is it’s about time. With our sunny cloudless skies all year round, solar energy is the way to go. Next stop should be replacing all the heavily polluting buses with electric running ones and it should be pretty easy to do. [Link]

Kuwait Black Market spotted the Walls brand ice cream at Geant in 360 Mall. I remember someone telling me ages ago that Walls ice cream was banned in Kuwait because the Walls logo upside down read as “Allah” in Arabic. Kinda like those Nike Air shoes back in the 90’s that were also banned because the way “Air” was written also looked like “Allah”.

I guess the Walls thing was just an urban legend and now we can all enjoy our Magnum ice cream. [Link]

Yes it exists. If you’ve got a cat you can join the Kuwait Cats Club. [Link]

Now this is an organization that needs all the support they can get. Their mission: Make Kuwait Green.

This group is for an environmental project which calls on people who go camping during the winter time to plant 10 trees of certain type and irrigate it during the winter season. By the end of the season this tree will be able to survive and year after year our deserts will be our kid’s oasis.

Doesn’t sound very difficult and you can buy the small trees for really cheap from the nurseries on the 4th Ring Road. Imagine how beautiful the desert would be all green. Check out the Kuwait Oasis Facebook page [Here]

I updated my iPhone to iOS 5 and noticed a really annoying problem. I have the majority of my numbers stored with the country code +965 in front of them. But, I noticed a problem today which seems to be a common problem other people are facing as well. If you have a phone number saved with +965 in the front and that person is on your same mobile network, when they call you their number will appear without the +965 in front of it and iOS 5 won’t connect that number with the number you have saved. For example:

My iPhone has a Viva line. When Nat calls me from her Viva number I only see 55XXXXXX on my screen and not her name. When she calls me from her Zain line I see her name.

If anyone knows a solution to this problem please post it below. From the little information I was able to find online it seems either the mobile operators will have to send us a carrier update or it’s a fix which Apple will have to release.

A reader who’s currently studying in Italy emailed me some photos of an exhibition called Discover Kuwait that’s currently taking place in the streets of Milan. According to him they’re there for a week promoting Kuwaiti culture with pictures, information and even with music and dance. Below are some pictures he took and you can find out more by visiting the Discover Kuwait website [Here]

Thanks Hadi

Aramex posted the following on their Shop&Ship website:

Pleased to inform you that the customs strike in Kuwait is over. We will be delivering your shipments once they are processed and released from Kuwait Customs.

For more information please contact us on +965 (1) 820011 or email us at [email protected]

Shop and Ship Team

That’s great news. I have one shipment in customs right now, another coming in a few days and I’m also expecting the iPhone 4S to ship from the UK any day now.

Thanks Qatami

Spotted this video on the LWDLIK blog. It’s a presentation on the new railway system that is going to be built in Kuwait. I’ve posted about this topic a number of times before but this video offers a new glimpse on how the system will work and be implemented. They even have a few 3D renderings over real world shots showing how it’s going to look which is a design similar to the Dubai Metro but with a potential to be better since they’re planning to cover the whole country. [Vimeo]

Google Maps recently added driving directions to Google Maps in Kuwait meaning you could now tell Google where you are and where you want to go to and it will calculate the route similar to navigation devices. You can try it by visiting Google Maps [Here]

Thanks Ds

I just read on twitter that Kuwait Customs are going on strike tomorrow. I really hope that’s not true, customs already take forever to clear packages and with a strike I’m sure things are going get delayed even longer.