Search: “kuwait”

The DailyStar newspaper, Kuwait edition is now online. [Link]

A Jazeera Airways pilot left the following comment regarding my previous post on the Kuwait Airways crash landing:

Ok the replacement plane is one to fly passengers back its not a charity, you do have a return flight you have to make. They aren’t giving Kuwait a free plane. Secondly, that plane is repairable unless there is structural damage or the cost to repair is too high, and crash landings or gear being stuck is a common problem, has nothing to do with the age of the aircraft. There is a manual release on gear, this breaks open the gear doors locks and releases the hydraulic system which is why the gear doors are hanging down like that. Finally, the use of emergency slides is a crew discretion, in a situation like this they would probably fear hydraulic fluid catching on fire or any other substance around the plane, pilots can’t tell what is going on outside thus they want to clear the plane as quickly as possible, remember they can’t tell whats going on behind them. From my view, Good job on handling the situation.

And another point sure KU customer service is crap, but trust me the people in Dubai are an outstanding team, they try their best, I’ve personally seen them in action a few times. The hotel situation is not up to them, you can’t find 50 hotel rooms in a busy traveling season in seconds or hours, and also do you think Dubai has a lot of empty top notch hotels. Upper management is corrupt in KU not the people who are holding the fort in the stations abroad. And yes KU has lost its touches around 2001/2002. They now officially suck.

A friend of mine yesterday told me that a Kuwait Airways plane “crashed” in the UAE and they were trying to cover up the incident. I didn’t believe him because you can’t cover up an aircraft crash. Anyway today it turns out there wasn’t a crash but a Kuwait Airways plane had to do an emergency landing because the landing gear failed to open. I will definitely never be flying with Kuwait Airways again.

Now two things grabbed my attention in the article. First, UAE offered Kuwait a replacement plane. I found that really strange because its not like Kuwait is broke and can’t afford a new plane. They must have looked at all the aging Kuwait Airways aircraft and gotten the idea Kuwait can’t afford to get a replacement and decided to donate one to us…

Then near the end of the article I also read about how Kuwait Airways later dropped the passengers off in Dubai with no hotel reservations or anything. I mean come on. When a plane crash lands and passengers get hurt and are forced to evacuate the plane, its a very traumatizing experience. At least, at the very least other then the million apologies to the passengers and the extra free air miles and cash for all the trauma they endured, at the very least put them up in a hotel. According to the article, Kuwait Airways just dropped off the passengers on the side of the road without offering to put them up in a hotel. The passengers are now planning to sue Kuwait Airways and I hope they end up winning.

Morale of the story, never fly with Kuwait Airways.

[Link to article]

The KAAA is tonight. Just getting ready to leave. I don’t like these events but its the only time I get to wear a suit without looking out of place.

From Naharnet today:

Kuwait issued a decision Sunday banning men from working in shops selling “private” women’s garments like lingerie.

The decision, issued by the ministry of social affairs and labor, gave businesses until April 7 to implement the ban or face a fine of up to 700 dollars for each violating worker.

It said that special inspectors from the ministry would enforce the ban.

The ministry also ordered its labor departments to stop recruiting male migrant laborers for employment in women’s lingerie shops.

I didn’t know men WERE allowed to sell lingerie in the first place…

Thanks Shak

A reader called Steven emailed me his review on the newly added United Airlines direct route, Kuwait to Washington DC. Its kinda long but it might be interesting for people who are considering this route (or airlines even). Here is his take on the flight:

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Hi Mark, I am a frequent traveler from Kuwait and have gold status in the frequent flyer programs of Kuwait Airways, Emirates and British Airways. I decided to try United Airlines new direct flight from Kuwait to Washington DC (14 hours) this weekend and I have to say that the flights there and back on United Airlines were some of the worst I have flown.

The flight UA981 on January 20th from Kuwait was one and a half hours late to fly because of computer problems on the aircraft. They did serve welcoming drinks – water. Once the aircraft flew, the inflight entertainment system was partly bad and the airmap which I like to use to track progress was not working. The business class seats have a very uncomfortable headrest in which the lower part presses onto your shoulders and forces you to sit in an uncomfortable position. The food aboard was very poor and service staff was not very attentive. To make matters worse, the lavatory drainage in business class backed up causing their sinks and floors to fill with foul smelling brown goo. I am sure there was some serious health hazards there.

The newly released Ducati 1098s Superbike will be launched tomorrow at Applebee’s on the Gulf Road at 12:30PM. Its one of the hottest and meanest looking bikes at the moment.

I also just checked and it seems TriStar (the Ducati and BMW dealers) finally got their site up and working. They have pictures of their new and second hand bikes but I couldn’t find the prices anywhere. www.tristarkw.com

As some of you might have noticed I have a new sponsor, Waa7a.com. They will be replacing Al-Ghanim Automotive who had been with me since April of last year.

Waa7a is a restaurant database and review site. Its all user generated content so if there is a restaurant thats not listed you can add it and if there is a restaurant you want to rate and review you can do so. Someone for example gave Hard Rock Cafe a positive review which I disagreed with so I wrote another review that reflected my experience which was negative one. Its a pretty cool idea and should be even cooler once a lot more people start posting their reviews.

The site design and features are still being adjusted and fine tuned so if anyone has any feedback you can email it to them or leave it below in the comments. I am posting reviews there under the name “Mark” and so far I think I have only 5 or 6 reviews.

So if you feel like writing reviews and rating restaurants then check out Waa7a.com

Early last month Nat ordered some Puma Satori Alto boots from Nordstrom for $250. They weren’t available in Kuwait and they were sold out on Amazon who were also selling it for $250. Around a week ago Athletes Foot got the boots and guess how much they are selling them for? KD59 which is $205! Thats $50 cheaper then US prices not including the shipping cost which was also another KD10. If only more places sold stuff cheaper then Amazon…

Yesterday night I finally got to meet Shark of Kuwait and I have to say, he turned out to be wayyy cooler then I expected him to be. We decided to meet in Starbucks Marina Mall which as you might have guessed is one of Shark’s most seen places. I got there first and he came in a few minutes later, we shook hands, sat down and we started talking. We spoke for around an hour and half to be exact before I had to leave. Here are some things I found out:

His name is Ahmed, he is 43 years old and he works in customs under the anti drugs department. His schedule is pretty cool, he goes to work one day then has two days off, and the cycle repeats, 1 day work, 2 days off, 1 day work, 2 days off etc. When he does have work its from 9PM to 7AM which is also pretty convenient. He used to be in the Kuwait Special Forces back in the day, nowadays though he freelances as a VIP security escort. He has a couple of clients which require his services whenever they travel abroad.

How did he get the nickname Shark?
When he was a kid he saw the movie Jaws and fell in love with it. He kept watching it over and over and got really obsessed with the movie and he even started scribbling the word shark on his jeans. Thats when his friends started calling him Shark and the nickname has stuck with him ever since.

He is a health freak. He doesn’t smoke, drink nor has he ever done drugs. He is on a vegetarian diet five days a week eating mostly his homemade salad creations. On weekends he allows himself to indulge in meat but he never has junk food. He likes anything extreme like parachuting or car/motorbike racing.

His regular day looks something like this:
– Wakes up 12pm
– Goes to Starbucks and has coffee
– He has a small snack at 3PM
– Goes to the gym from 5 to 7:30
– Showers, cleans up and then goes back out to meet friends usually at various Starbucks around Kuwait but mostly either Marina Mall or Souk Sharq

His music style is a split between two different styles. He likes techno and specifically Scooter. I tried to tell him how much Scooter sucked but I wasn’t able to convince him. Now here is the cool part, he also likes Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Ozzy Osborne, and Guns N Roses. I asked him if he also liked Nirvana but he told me he didn’t… he found them “too noisy”.

I asked him about his look and if he likes sticking out. He told me that guys today mostly dress like fags with their spiky hair and wrinkled up jeans. He prefers the more masculine look and thats why he dresses the way he does. He actually designs some of his clothes himself like the jeans he was wearing during the interview and honestly they weren’t half bad. He told me it amuses him how sometimes people freak out when they turn and see him but he also doesn’t like the problems his looks sometimes cause him. When he travels he sometimes isn’t allowed to go into clubs. The bouncers look at him and think he is a trouble maker so they tell him he can’t come in. He told me that although he gives out this aggressive and tough look he is actually a regular joe on the inside.

The Shark also has a passion for cars. He has a Bugatti racer but its a kit car not the original thing. He also just got a hold of an excellent condition 1972 Camaro which he had shipped in from Switzerland. He collects VW Beetles, he has a 1970, 1975 and 1981 model. I think he told me the 81 model was a convertible. He also has 2 Harleys, a Road King and a 1977 Shovel Head. And yeah he loves the show American Chopper. For his everyday car he has an Audi S8. He is also a mechanic. He takes care of his car himself and even does engine swaps and repairs. He just purchased a souped up engine for one of his Beetles and he will be swapping out the engines himself.

His favorite place in the world is Thailand. Every year he spends 3-4 months there chilling with his friends who also come in from various countries around the world most of whom are body builders and Harley riders too.

When March comes he will be traveling to Siberia to get married. He met his fiancee in Thailand while scuba diving. She is Russian, 23 and a really hot model. He showed me pictures of him and her together and they looked like a nice couple. He loves her a lot and he can’t wait to be with her.

Thats basically everything. He showed me a lot of photos of himself all over the world having fun with his friends. He is a really chilled out guy who is having the time of his life. I am really glad I got to meet him. Everyone who knows him says he is an extremely friendly and trustworthy guy and I can easily imagine that. I asked him if he had anything he wanted to say to my readers and he said all he wants from people is to leave him alone and let him be. And I agree, let him be.

www.SharkofKuwait.com

I am going to be meeting Shark of Kuwait tomorrow night for coffee and I will be interviewing him for the blog. Anyone have any questions they want me to ask him?

K.thekuwaiti just posted about Virgin at Marina Mall and how they are overcharging by up to 9 times the actual price of some of their products. NINE TIMES! I am curious to know if they are even allowed to sell grey market products which they are currently doing. Check out his post by clicking [Here]

(IMAGE REMOVED AT THE REQUEST OF AFL)

Today morning Rayboy posted in the forum on how while walking his dog in a public park he found a dalmatian dog that was locked up in a small cage all alone and freezing to death. Once he got home he called both PAWs and the Animal Friends League of Kuwait (AFL) to get some help.

The AFL ended up organizing a “Seek and Rescue” party later in the day. Their mission was to see the state of the dog and if possible contact the owners. If the owners were not found and the dog was in bad shape, they would then break the lock and take the dog.

The AFL arrived at the location and found that the dog was in really bad condition. After desperately trying to find the owners they took the decision to break the lock and free the dog. They then took the dalmatian to their animal shelter in Wafra where the dog is now being taken care of.

I think thats just an amazing story. To have a group like the AFL here in Kuwait who actually take action when an animal is being abused is really amazing. I really hate people who get pets but then end up treating them like shit. Locking up a beautiful dog like the dalmatian in a public garden in this weather in a small cage is just horrible. I imagine the dog would have remained in the cage even during the summer. Thank you AFL for freeing the dalmatian.

If anyone would like to find out more about the AFL, donate to the AFL or even adopt one of their pets then you can visit their website animalfriendskuwait.org

Kuwait’s first short film festival at Shaab park.
Date: Wednesday, December 13th and Thursday, December 14th
Price: Tickets are for free.

Below is the running order of the movies from the festival. Book your tickets at [email protected]

Just added the song Beladona Il Kuwait to the Kuwait national songs list.