Search: “kuwait”

According to the Arab Times, 7,543 citations were issued by the surprise General Traffic Department campaign this past week. I was super close to getting a violation myself the other day because of my car tint but I guess my tint wasn’t as bad as others since I was allowed to pass through the checkpoint.

I really think car tints should be legalized or at least light tints where you could still see who’s inside the car. Something dramatic must have happened recently for cops to crackdown down this hard on car tints and I’m curious to know what.

Anyway, these campaigns do benefit everyone and they do make the roads safer but because the campaigns last a week or two it’s a temporary fix and not long term. I’ve recently noticed a lot more people are running red lights and to me those drivers are a lot more dangerous than car tints. But, on the bright side I heard they’re going to be installing a lot more red light cameras so that’s a good thing.

I finally got to pass by Payless over the weekend. Payless is the X-Cite Electronics outlet and they’ve been open for a couple of years now (I think) but never really had a reason to pass by until now. I was looking for some Alpine components for my car sound system and I was told I would find some models at Payless. I didn’t end up finding what I was looking for but I still found the place interesting. They had a lot of random stuff all over this large warehouse and some looked like great deals while others didn’t seem discounted at all. They had a lot of laptops, phone accessories and I even spotted a bunch of Sonos devices. They’re located in Shuwaikh near the main Alghanim head quarters opposite City Center. It should be easy to spot since the warehouse has a large yellow sign on top.

Since we’re on the subject of good deals I managed to get my hands on an Alpine PDX-4.150 car stereo amp for just KD21! The retail price for this Amp was $399 in the US before it was discontinued and that’s without tax or shipping cost to Kuwait so KD21 is ridiculously cheap. For some reason X-Cite is getting rid of all their Alpine stock so you can find some really good deals.

If you’re interested in the PDX-4.150 I took a snapshot from their point of sale system showing all the available locations where they might still have them. I passed by the Hawalli and Marina branch but they both didn’t have them even though the computer says they did so I marked them both out. The Rai branch is where I got mine (it was the last piece) and the Baitak Tower branch has one on display but missing some accessories. That leaves 3 other branches which I didn’t pass by but they should have a piece each left so good luck finding one.

Leila is my favorite Lebanese restaurant in Kuwait and I’m there usually on a daily basis for lunch since one of their locations is right next to my office. Last week they added a new “light” menu which includes some popular Lebanese dishes that are cooked in a healthier way for example their light taouk dish now uses a mustard based marination resulting in a final dish that contains only 430 calories. Yeah they actually have the calories listed next to the dishes, something I hadn’t seen at a Lebanese restaurant before.

They only have a few items on the light menu right now but they will be adding some more over time. The location I visit the most is the one next to Johnny Rockets outside Salhiya Complex but they have another one at The Avenues near the cinema as well.

It’s about time! The small LoFat canteen above is located at the American International School.

via PinkGirlQ8

Update: LoFat is also available at Al-Bayan Bilingual School

I was surprised to find out that Lita’s the small Mexican food joint in Mahboula had closed down. They literally served the best Mexican food in Kuwait but even their website was down so I figured something really weird/bad had happened. Turns out they closed down because they’re moving to a larger location on the Gulf Road and they should open in a few months time. But, I still think that’s weird. If it was me I wouldn’t have closed down the Mahboula branch since it was very popular with the expats over there so I’m wondering if there is another side to this story. On the bright side, if they do open up on the Gulf Road then that’s better for me since they’d be a lot closer to my home.

Nawaf al Gheraibah, is a half Kuwaiti, half Indian/Portuguese musician with a pretty weird music style like nothing I’ve heard locally. It’s not mainstream stuff so not sure how many people here will like his music but even if it’s not your style it’s still worth appreciating. My biggest criticism though is the fact that I think his music lacks a local identity. When I listen to the music it sounds like a lot of different things but none of which sound like the songs originated from Kuwait by a Kuwaiti.

Anyway his songs are all available for free to download on his [Website] and Facebook page. I found it a lot easier to listen to the songs on the Facebook page so check it out [Here]

I got the following email from one of my readers:

I just witnessed the most stupid and careless accident I have seen in ages. It happened on the Gulf Road maybe 2-3 km before Kuwaiti towers going towards Kuwait city around 10.30 am today.

I was driving on the slow line ..maybe 70 – 80km/h. The road was not very busy.

There was a car coming on the fast line with a speed of maybe 85- 90km/h …it was rather slowly passing me, so could not speed much for local standards. Out of this car on a passenger seat there was a guy hanging out through the open door having a great fun!!! I swear, I was about to reach my phone to take a picture when he fell out !!! He rolled good couple of times on the road and was laying there. His head was pouring blood and I am pretty sure he must have broken few bones. He was conscious though, but must be in shock. Luckily the car driving behind managed to stop just before him, otherwise he would drive over him.

I’m not sure what to say or who to put the blame on. It’s obviously the fault of the guy hanging outside a fast moving car but I’ve seen so much crap on the Gulf Road I wonder sometimes why there isn’t more law enforcement monitoring it. But then there is the problem that law enforcement a lot of times don’t enforce the law either. On a number of occasions I’ve seen people run a red light right in front of a cop without fear of being stopped. If people are running red lights in front of cops then that’s a sign there is a major issue here. Hopefully the person didn’t suffer a serious an injury.

Pet Zone in Al-Rai recently got a dog tag machine. Actually it’s a pet tag machine but I got a tag for my dog. You get to choose a tag from a variety of shapes and colors and then you tell them what you want to print on the front and back. You also get to choose the font you want and then you get to watch your tag being made. It takes around 5 minutes and costs just KD2.

I ended up going with a pink tag for my male dog because they didn’t have this shape in any other color. Once they get a blue or black I’m going to go back and get another one made. If you don’t know where Pet Zone is click [Here]

There is a local website called Photo Lenders which rents out photography equipment like lenses and cameras for reasonable prices. This concept isn’t new since it already exists in the States but it’s still great that someone decided to set up something similar in Kuwait. I’m sure all the local photographers are going to appreciate this and I’m personally waiting for them to start renting out cameras as well. Check out the website [Here]

A company in the US called ICON asked themselves a question, if they were to revisit the classic FJ40 how would they improve on it? They kept the same classic styling but gave it modern performance and the result is the ICON FJ Series. Someone needs to import these cars to Kuwait like right now! [Link]

Back in 2009 right after 360 Mall had opened I posted about how they needed to install plaques to tell people about the vertical gardens and the Dale Chihuly structures. That was back in September 2009 and nearly two years later 360 Mall started installing these plaques. I shot the one above in front of Ladurée while heading towards OFK. Good move.

I found out about Contemporary Art Platform from the Art Kuwait website and it looks like a big and cool looking space that might end up becoming the trendiest exhibition spot in Kuwait.

CAP already have a Facebook page with a small description and pictures which I just realized were taken by my brother so I’m going to try and get some more information from him. Here is their Facebook page [Link]

A reader sent me an internal 360 Mall memo which contains more information on the world record attempt that’s taking place at 360 Mall. Turns out Habchi & Chalhoub will be attempting to build the biggest perfumes pyramid in the world using 50,000 bottles of Paco Raabane perfume cartons.

According to the memo the pyramid will be ready and on display starting today since a judge from the Guinness World Records as well as the media and other personalities will be there to check it out. Here are some more details regarding the pyramid:

Base: 36 m2
Height: 5.5 m
Number of perfumes used: 50,000 pieces
Building time: 32 hours for 2 days

Thank Yousuf

[YouTube]

Yesterday I posted about the NewAir recycling program but a reader emailed about another organization which he is part of that also provide recycling solutions (but only for companies). The organization is called Istidamah and the video above is one of their projects which they worked on with Al Diwan Al Amiri.

A couple of you were also asking about electronic waste in the comments. According to Istidamah they are currently developing a campaign with the Kuwait Municipality regarding electronic waste recycling. Currently in Kuwait e-waste (which consist of hazardous chemicals) is mixed with other types of waste and dumped in poorly designed municipal landfills. At this current time Istidamah is the only company in Kuwait that works with UN certified electronic waste recyclers. What they do basically is segregate and dismantle e-waste in Kuwait but then ship the items to the certified recyclers abroad. They’re hoping to one day develop their own local facility for e-waste recycling but for now that isn’t an option.

You can find out more about Istidamah by visiting their website [Here]

Just over a year ago I got an email from Dhari Al-Gharabally from the Kuwait Oil Company telling me about a problem they had with stray dogs in Ahmadi and how they wanted to deal with this issue in a humane manner without causing any harm to the dogs. I put him in touch with K’s PATH and since then they’ve been working together solving the stray dogs issue.

Earlier today KOC released a video detailing their relationship with K’s PATH and how they collaborated together on this problem that faced the residents of Ahmadi. All I can say is that I wish there were more companies in Kuwait like KOC and that I’m also really glad we have an organization like K’s PATH to take care of animals in Kuwait.

The video is in Arabic but at around 2:50 into the video John Peaveler the co-founder of K’s PATH comes in and talks in English. [YouTube]