Search: “kuwait”

After my previous post comparing internet in Kuwait to Lebanon I was made aware that local internet providers just slashed their prices by 45% a couple of days back. A 2Mbps connection now costs around KD120-130 a year depending on your provider which is pretty cool. You can check out the new prices below:

Fasttelco Prices
Gulfnet Prices
KEMS Prices
Qualitynet Prices

Update: I was checking my account history and found the prices I was previously paying for my internet subscription with Qualitynet and I realize now they were super expensive compared to the new ones. Check them out:

July 2007
1Mbps (2Mbps free for first 3 months)
KD506 a year

July 2008
1Mbps (2Mbps free for 12 months)
KD380 a year

July 2009
1Mbps (2Mbps free for 12 months)
KD361 a year

If you want to appreciate your internet connection in Kuwait all you need to do is spend a few days in Lebanon. Most internet connections there are 256Kbps or 512Kbps and it’s just really really horrible. But there is some good news and that’s starting next month everyone’s connection in Lebanon is going to get a huge boost. Check the old and new speed/prices above to get an idea on how it compares with Kuwait.

You’ll notice with the new speed and prices, internet in Lebanon is actually going to be cheaper than Kuwait but what I want to highlight here is the download caps. Those caps listed above are the monthly download caps NOT daily ones. Imagine having a 2Mbps internet connection with just a 20GB monthly cap! I got pissed when my 2Mbps connection here in Kuwait got capped at 85GB a month but it’s like 4 times as bad in Lebanon. It really sucks.

First time I hear of this project and I’m curious to know if it will ever get executed. The idea behind Sport City is to create world class Olympic level sporting facilities in Kuwait:

The concept consists of a plan in the shape of infinity, around the existing Jaber Stadium and a new man-made lake on which will float three Olympic sized stadia. Contained within the main superstructure are another Olympic stadium, a five star hotel and a shopping centre. The tower, working within the long tradition of Kuwaiti tower-based architectural icons, contains a seven star hotel as well as luxury apartments, VIP suites for the stadium, and a Michelin star restaurant with extraordinary views. [Source]

The Kuwait Fund for Arab and Economic Development (KFAED) loaned Morocco 712 million dirhams ($89.2 million) as part of the first phase of its participation in funding the project of the High Speed Train (HST) linking Tangier to Casablanca.

I just read about this awhile ago and it kinda upset me. Where is our high-speed train? [Link]

By accident I found this website full of photos from Kuwait dating back to the 1950s all the way to current times. The photos I’ve posted here are just some of my favorites, but you can check out all of them by clicking [Here]

Notice the photos on the wall?

Love the Dodge

Hippo loose in the zoo after the Iraqi invasion

Sorry I don’t have any idea how old this shot is or where in Kuwait it is exactly. I just found a link to it on Flickr and a link to the image not even the uploader of the shot. [Link]

Update: I’ve updated the link above. Photo was uploaded by Brett whom I’ve posted about before [Here]

According to Arabian Business, the British toy store Hamleys will be opening in Kuwait within 6 to 12 months. The article doesn’t say where it will open but my guess would be in the Avenues phase III. [Link]

Wayne Carini from the Discovery Channel show Chasing Classic Cars was in Kuwait last February for the Concours d’Elegance and since then I’ve been watching every episode hoping to catch the one on Kuwait. Well turns out Kuwait won’t be showing up until this fall according to a source of mine. Once it does get released I’ll link it on the blog but for now here is an interview Wayne did at Marina Crescent when he was in Kuwait. [YouTube]

I know many of you feel we already have too many burger places in Kuwait but I have to obviously disagree with that. I think we still have room for a couple of more burger joints and the couple being Five Guys and In-N-Out. From what I was told by one of my readers, it looks like Five Guys is coming to Kuwait.

According to the reader him and his partner were trying to strike a deal with Five Guys and after getting all the paperwork, doing a feasibility study and agreeing on all the terms, they contacted Five Guys again only to be told that they had given the franchise rights to someone else in Kuwait. The rumor is Al Homaizi got the franchise rights and I’ve already sent an email to my contact there hoping to get a confirmation on this but I still haven’t received a reply yet.

What does that mean? It means all we need now is In-N-Out and we will officially be the burger capital of the world.

Thanks Fahad

I’ve previously posted about old cinemas in Kuwait but I’ve got some more old photos to share, ones that aren’t on the Cinescape Facebook page. The picture above for example is of the Hawalli open air cinema. I can’t imagine sitting on this hard metal chairs for 2 hours and in this heat, not sure how they used to do it before. Below are all the pictures I got:

If you want to see some more old pictures you can check out the ones that are on the Cinescape website [Here]

Thanks Ali

I found out about the website “Kuwait Invasion – The Evidence” and I’m really surprised I didn’t come across it before. The website contains over 1,200 pictures taken right after the 1990 invasion as photographic evidence to all the destruction caused. The pictures are organized into galleries but each page has only 12 thumbnails at a time so you will need to do a lot of page flipping to see them all. In case you’re looking for something specific you could try the search feature on the website but I’m not sure if all the images are tagged properly.

I flipped through 80% of the photos and managed to find a picture of Safeway and Showbiz but I wasn’t able to find any pictures of Kids R Us for some reason. I also saw a lot of pictures, the kind I hadn’t seen before like the one above of a residential door barricaded to keep the Iraqi’s out. Most of the photos feel very eerie and I only wish there was an easier way to view them all. Here is the link to the website [Link]

Photos by Adel Al-Yousifi

TIME Magazine have an article titled “Extreme Heat: 10 Worldwide Spots With Tough Temperatures” and Kuwait was included as the hottest city. That’s not surprising at all considering how everyone has been recording temperatures over 50 degrees.

Here is the [Link]

This is a list of confirmed (or at least 99% confirmed) and unconfirmed international food chains that will be opening in Kuwait. If I’ve missed anything out leave a comment and I’ll add it to the list

Confirmed
– Olive Garden
– Red Lobster
– LongHorn Steakhouse
– IHOP (International House of Pancakes)
– The Hummingbird Bakery
– Pei Wei Asian Diner
– The Cheesecake Factory
– Texas Roadhouse
– Potbelly Sandwich Works
– SNOG Frozen Yogurt
– The Upper Crust Pizzeria
– Tim Hortons

Unconfirmed
– Arby’s [source]
– Wendy’s [source]

Wishlist
– Five Guys
– In-N-Out
– Ben’s Cookies
– Pret A Manger

The Kuwait Scorpions rugby football club is one of the oldest clubs in the Gulf. They were formed back in the 1940s when the Kuwait Oil Company and the British Army played the region’s first ever recorded rugby fixture and they’re still around today and still very active. The pictures below are of the Kuwait Scorpions dating back to the 1950’s.

Here is the link to the clubs website [Link]
Here is a link to the the pictures in high resolution [Link]

Thanks Tron

I can’t believe I forgot to post about this ahead of time but the Worldwide Finals of Imagine Cup 2011 were held yesterday in New York and a team from Kuwait where there competing in the software category. They came up with this idea which they wanted to present to the Ministry of Interior in hopes of having it implemented so we could get a lot of day to day problems solved. I previously posted about them and their idea [Here] if you want to read more on it.

I was just checking the results page and it doesn’t seem they won. Even though I think they must have gained a lot of experience competing at an international level and I’m sure they’re going to be coming back with even more motivation. I really hope the Ministry of Information will still help them bring their idea to life, since it’s an idea that will help make Kuwait a better place. Here is a page from the Imagine Cup 2011 yearbook which has details about the Kuwait team, their project and their intentions. [Yearbook Page]

Picture by @ahamshay