Search: “kuwait”

‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens‘ comes out next Thursday (the 17th) here in Kuwait, a day before the US launch. Me and my friends booked tickets yesterday since Grand Cinemas have already started selling them. When we booked last night the theater was fairly empty but I just checked now and it’s filling up pretty quickly (at least the 7:30PM showing). So if you want to catch the premier of Star Wars in Kuwait you should head over to the Grand Cinemas website and book your tickets [Link]

A fight took place earlier this evening during a football game between Al-Jahra and Khaitan. During the match, the manager of the Al-Jahra team attacked the referee due to a disagreement over one of the calls resulting in the chaos you see in the video. Kuwait is already suspended by FIFA so this altercation is definitely not helping. [YouTube]

Thanks Sala6a

Singarea, the Asian supermarket which was located in Dajeej has now moved to a newer and larger location in Shuwaikh. I ran into the owner by chance while I was there yesterday and he gave me a little tour of the place. They were still moving in with workers putting up a sign outside and shop staff busy stacking the shelves inside.

According to the owner they moved to Shuwaikh because the traffic and parking situation in Dajeej was unbearable. They were originally supposed to move to this location last year but due to licensing issues they weren’t able to until now. Their new location is larger and they will soon be setting up a fresh fish section (with fish imported from Japan) as well as their own in house bakery.

For those of you who’ve never been to Singarea before, they sell a lot of Asian products that aren’t available anywhere else. A lot of sushi and Asian restaurants buy their supplies from them. There also used to be a very cute Korean restaurant over the old supermarket but that closed down a few years ago. According to the owner there are sadly no plans to reopen the restaurant at the moment.

If you’re interested in passing by the new Singarea location, search for “Singarea Asian Supermarket” on Google Maps or just use this [Link]. Their phone number is 24912564.

It’s every parents’ worst nightmare to lose a child, and sometimes the only consolation is to preserve memories and keep mementos. Harry is a hot rod enthusiast, hence his nickname, Hot Rod Harry. He also has a passion for vans and motorcycles, as well as being the proud of owner of a 2011 Ford Mustang GT. As was his son, Dylon, who sadly passed away earlier this year. He was only 24. Dylon actually ended up selling his Mustang back in October 2012 to a dealership in North Carolina, and now Harry wants to buy it back.

According to the article the car was sold to a buyer here in Kuwait and the father is now looking for help in trying to find his sons car so he could buy it back. It’s a long shot but figured I’d try to help him by posting about it here. The vin number of the car is 1ZVBP8CF7B5156798. For more details check out the article [Here]

Thanks Ahmad

There are only so many topics I can cover on this blog which is why I’m always inviting friends to help out. The latest person I’ve invited to write on the blog is Loaay, my first boss at the first agency I worked for. Right out of university I got a job at a small local agency here in Kuwait called Knights Capital. It was my first job right out of university and it was a job in which I learned so much in, mostly because Loaay was very hands on and a great teacher. I worked there for three years before moving on but we’ve stayed in touch every since (that was over a decade ago).

Anyway, his first post is already up below so check it out.

Back in 1999 (stop singing that Prince song) an automotive dealer came to me for help with their ongoing promotional campaign. They were two weeks into it and their sales figures were poor and time was ticking because every promotion permit has a deadline in Kuwait. After redirecting the campaign’s proposition and visual layout through their agency, the promo was reintroduced into the market. Results jumped up by 40%. To say the dealer was ecstatic is an understatement. Their General Manager asked me to execute the marketing and advertising plans and tactics of their three-brand automotive collection. At the time, I only offered strategic marketing planning and advisory services. I thought it was an interesting path to explore so I started to hire designers and turn the business into a small marketing agency. That’s when Mark and I shared a journey.

In a way, both Mark and I were new to this experience. His first job out of university and my first time managing a team. When two strong personalities work together you’ll either produce some great work or unleash tornadoes everywhere. And we did both. Regardless of the ups and downs of the creative execution journey, I didn’t find the interactions with the clients or the profit from that line of business as rewarding as I thought they would be. A few years after Mark moved on to his next learning work experience I decided to go back to the basics and focus on providing one-hour advice sessions, one-page plans, training workshops and jam sessions (facilitated discovery and brainstorming meetings); the kind of work that fulfils me as a strategic business therapist.

Last year (in 2014), Mark and I talked about the idea of offering some sort of business related content on the blog. I’m no stranger to writing about business issues. Some of you may have read my Two Cents articles at bazaar magazine where I answered questions from managers and entrepreneurs since 2009. We had a couple of ideas on what to write about and we left it at that. Mainly because I was planning two things for 2015: expanding the business to the UK market and starting my masters in Service Design Innovation. In Q4 of 2015 I am now in the UK running the new business and going through my masters programme. Since the dust has settled, I thought the time is right to pick up the conversation.

Having said that, one of the worst things to do in business is to assume on behalf of your target audience when you could just ask them. Would you be interested in having a business therapy post every week or so? We could talk about any challenges or opportunities that revolve around business, branding, marketing, management, customer experience, entrepreneurship, service design or anything else related to my experience. From time to time I might talk about the Kuwaiti and British markets similarities and differences, if this is of any interest. So, what do you think, lovely people?

Post by Loaay Ahmed, a strategic business therapist since 1995. He currently lives and works in London, UK, while earning his master’s in Service Design Innovation, and managing knightscapital in Kuwait. For Loaay’s advice on business or work matters, send a short email to [email protected]. Regrettably, only the questions chosen for publishing will be answered.

Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium will be officially opening on December 18th by holding the Kuwait Champions Challenge, which according to their website is the largest entertainment and sports event of its kind to ever take place in Kuwait. The Kuwaiti All-Star Team will be playing a friendly match against the Football Champions Tour which will be a team made up on international football stars.

They haven’t listed the international players that will be coming but right now voting is open on choosing which players you want to be on the Kuwaiti All-Star Team. Tickets to this event will also be available next week. For more information check out the official Kuwait Champions Challenge website [Here]

I guess whatever issues the stadium had they’re all fixed now.

via sala6a

Update: The international players are being announced, so far the following players will be coming

Keep checking the official website for more details [Here]

Dogmatic is a new hot dog place that opened up at The Cube in Salmiya. It’s the second dedicated hot dog place to open this year with the other being Haute Gourmet Hot Dogs in Kuwait City. I haven’t had the chance to try Dogmatic yet since my cheat day is on Friday (and I’ll be stuffing down lobster rolls at Burger & Lobster) but I did take a picture of the menu for those of you who might be interested [Menu]. They’re open from 11AM to 1AM and they deliver. Here is a link to their [Instagram]

Out of curiosity do you guys leave tips at restaurants? Someone on reddit was asking for info on Kuwait because he was planning to move here and a person replied with a few pointers with one being that tipping isn’t something we do in Kuwait. I hope thats not true.

I tend to tip anywhere between 10-20% depending on the quality of service. It’s obviously not mandatory but the salaries of waiters in Kuwait (and anywhere else for that matter) isn’t very high so most live off the tips. The tips are also generally shared amongst the staff so that way the chefs in the kitchen also get a cut from the tip pool. So if you aren’t tipping you really should be.

Dinosaur is a local short film that was produced back in 2013 but due to it being entered in some film festivals, it just became available for the public to watch online a few days ago. The film is directed by Meqdad Al-Kout who’s behind another popular local film, Mustache (Shanab). Dinosaur follows a government employee who is trying to change his job title to a higher position before retiring.

I have mixed feelings about the film, overall I liked it but I did find some of the scenes a bit cheesy and I really didn’t like the film visually. But Dinosaur did have some hilarious moments with my favorite being at 15:43 minutes into the film when the employee walks into an office full of niqab ladies. There are a bunch of great moments like that in the film which made me enjoy it overall. The film is in Arabic but has English subtitles. It’s also not too long just 20 minutes so if you’ve got the time check it out on [Vimeo]

Areej International Est. is a small business that has been around since 1994 supplying gourmet products to restaurants, hotels and hypermarkets. Last week they decided to launch a website so they could sell their items directly to consumers. I checked it out and I don’t think I’ve run into their products/brands anywhere in Kuwait before which is a good thing since it makes their website more useful.

If you’re interested, check out their website [Here]

Elevation Burger approached me recently and offered to let me takeover their Al Bida’a location once a month. I could basically host any kind of event I wanted as long as it wouldn’t get them shutdown and me deported (so sadly no local winemakers meetup and no speed dating event). I’ve been trying to brainstorm and see what I could do, I’m not great at organizing things and socially awkward in general so not sure if thats the perfect skill set for something like this. I can choose between their indoor space upstairs our their outdoor space.

So, I figured I’d ask you guys for ideas, what kind of event could I host once a month that you would be interested in attending? I held a 248AM meetup back in 2006 and 35 people attended which was pretty cool. It might be an interesting way for people to meet new people? I don’t know I’m horrible at this. If anyone has any ideas let me know below.

A few weeks ago a reader emailed me a screenshot of a speedtest he ran on his Ooredoo 4G+ connection. His result? A download speed of 141Mbps and an upload speed of 40Mbps. I was pretty surprised at the result, I knew 4G+ was a lot faster than regular 4G but didn’t think it would be this dramatic. So I got in touch with my contact at Ooredoo and asked them for a test unit so I could try it out myself.

As I’ve mentioned before, I live in an old building in Salmiya where the max DSL speed I can get ranges from 1Mbps to 2Mbps. Luckily I have WiMD which works much better than DSL at my place, I’ve got a 10Mbps connection which I’ve been happily abusing for the past three years.

Since I had both connections at home I figured I’d run speedtests on both and compare the results.

Kuwait Server – Ooredoo (Left) vs WiMD (Right)

American Server – Ooredoo (Left) vs WiMD (Right)

Although I didn’t get anything close to 141Mbps I was still pretty impressed I got a speed faster than my WiMD connection since I didn’t think I had a faster option where I lived. Not only that but the ping speed was considerably lower with Ooredoo which means it would be better for when I’m playing games online. The difference in the upload speed was even more dramatic with the Ooredoo connection being 13 times faster when connected to the US server.

Cost wise, a 10Mbps WiMD connection with a 200GB monthly download cap would set you back KD310 a year. A one year 4G+ Ooredoo connection with a 300GB download cap would set you back just KD132 (even cheaper if you commit).

Since the connection speed of the Ooredoo varies depending on the area, signal strength and time of day, I’m going to continue to use it for the next couple of weeks in different locations around the house and also different places around Kuwait. I’ll then share the results here in a different post. I’m also curious to know how consistent the Ooredoo connection will be. Even though my WiMD connection is slower, it’s been fairly consistent for the past 3 years and I like that.

If you have a Ooredoo 4G+ device and are getting faster speeds, let me know below what speeds you’re getting and in what area you’re in.

The rumors are true, the popular Thai food restaurant Pataya Beach is for sale. Turns out the shop owner no longer wants to rent out the space to Pataya and instead is looking to sell the spot. So Pataya Beach will remain open until the location is sold. There is no closing date, if the shop gets sold tomorrow then Pataya closes tomorrow, if the shop gets sold in two months then thats when they will close down. I asked them if they would be moving to another location once the shop gets sold but it seems that they don’t want to and instead will leave Kuwait once the shop gets sold and they close down.

A lot of people consider Pataya the best Thai food restaurant in Kuwait (I personally don’t) and so it would be sad if they closed down. I asked them if they would be interested in selling the business, to have someone take over the brand if they wanted to leave and they seemed open to the idea. In any case, if you’ve never tried Pataya Beach then you probably should before they close down for good. They’re located on the mezzanine floor of Al-Dawliyah Complex (behind the old Kuwait Airways building). Here is a link to their building on [Google Maps]

The Kuwait Airport duty free has been under construction for awhile now but I noticed they’ve now partially opened parts of it. The new revamped Duty Free looks a lot better and fancier than the older one, but the rest of the airport still looks like crap.