Search: “kuwait”

This giveaway thing is turning out to be pretty cool. I’ve got I think around 14 more giveaways to give since a lot of businesses want to be part of this which is great for everyone. I am also trying to get a variety of gifts, some food related, some electronic stuff, some stuff for guys and some stuff for girls etc. So far I think I’ve got a nice variety lined up. Today’s giveaway is courtesy of Saso Lounge who you guys will recognize from the banner right on top.

They’ve just opened up in a brand new location in Abu Hulaifa, right next door to Johnny Rockets and Starbucks in Alia and Ghalia towers. I haven’t been to their new branch yet but I have been to their Kuwait City branch and they’ve got a very large range of great dishes to suite everyone. Their website was also recently updated and now has a large food gallery where you can check out all their dishes (don’t check it if you’re hungry and fasting!). Saso Lounge are giving away a KD20 voucher which you could use at either of their branches. All you need to do to win this voucher is to leave a comment below and later on in the evening I will use random.org to select a winner. For more information on Saso Lounge visit their website [Here]

Rules: You need to put your proper email in the email field while commenting since the winner will be contacted by email. You can only comment once, anyone caught commenting more than once will get disqualified.

Update: The post was closed for commenting at 7PM. The winner is…

[YouTube]

Comment #68, you’ve got mail!
Everyone else check back tomorrow for another giveaway.

A blog reader just emailed me saying that my blog is blocked by KEMS. Can anyone confirm that?

Update: It seems this isn’t true, my site isn’t blocked with KEMS. Must be a fluke?

Update2: The error message the blog reader is getting is

This site is blocked according to the goverment filtering policy. If you feel this page has been blocked in errors kindly fill out the form and we will investigate thank you.

Very strange, is this because I said the bollards were ugly?

Update3: My site is now no longer blocked on KEMS.

Back in July my car failed the yearly mechanical test because of my large tires. Today I finally swapped them out for 4 much smaller tires that don’t even match and my Jeep passed the test. They were really dangerous to drive with so I quickly put back my large tires again.

As I mentioned yesterday I am going to try and have something to give away everyday until Eid. Today’s giveaway is courtesy of Choowy Goowy. Choowy Goowy are one of my favorite desert dessert places in Kuwait. They’ve got amazing cookies, make amazing brownies and also have delicious cheesecakes.

Today we’re giving away a package to one winner consisting of 2 jars of cookies of whatever flavor you want, a box of chocolate brownies and a full cheesecake with the crust and topping of your choice. All you need to do to win this package is to leave a comment below and later on in the evening I will use random.org to select a winner. For more information about Choowy Goowy visit their website [Here]

If you’re a business owner and want to be part of this giveaways [Contact Me]

Note: You need to put your proper email in the email fiel while commenting since winner will be contacted by email. You can only comment once, anyone caught commenting more than once will get disqualified.

Update: I just realized there are only 6 days till Eid left which isn’t much so the giveaways will last through Eid and not just till Eid.

Update2: Due to the high response in such a short period of time and the fact I need to leave the house, I closed the post for commenting at 7PM. The winner is…

[YouTube]

Comment #38, you’ve got mail!
Everyone else check back tomorrow for another giveaway.

I’ve got two tickets to give away to a special screening of the new IMAX film “Under the Sea 3D” courtesy of the Scientific Centre of Kuwait. The screening will be tomorrow the 14th of September at 12:30 noon. If you’re interested in these tickets leave a comment below. I will use random.org later tonight to choose the winner. The video above is the trailer to Under the Sea 3D. [YouTube]

Note: A valid email address must be entered in the email field when leaving a comment since the tickets will be emailed to the winner.

Note2: Winner will get both tickets.

Update: And the winner is…

[YouTube]

Comment #13, you’ve got mail!

This prize give away has given me an idea. I am going to try from now till Eid to give away a different prize everyday. So stay tuned till the next one tomorrow.

The other day I posted about the new bollards (poles) that were being installed in the area around my office in Kuwait City. They really didn’t fit in with their environment and it looked like a lot of money was wasted on them. Well one of my blog readers just made me realize that they’re not there anymore. I saw some guys working on them this morning when I was coming in to work and figured they were just properly fixing them but it seems they were removing them. Strange, just like that they’re gone, not a single one left behind. Hmmmm…

Teddy On The Go is an interesting social experiment by a Kuwaiti architecture student that recently moved back to Kuwait. To keep herself in check and out of a routine she decided to start the website Teddy on the Go as a way to motivate her into doing something interesting or new everyday and also as a way of expressing her opinions subtly through the bear. Her project is going to last for 365 days only after which the bear will be sold for charity. Currently she is at day 11. Check out her experiment by visiting her website www.yearofteddy.com

I haven’t been to Signor Sassi in London but I just came back from the one here in Kuwait and I was pretty impressed. They haven’t opened yet, they’re still testing but everything is pretty much ready and they will be soft opening on Sunday with the official opening in early October. I met the Signor Sassi owner since he’s in Kuwait making sure everything is perfect for the opening and he was very nice and friendly. The location that’s opening on Sunday is the Gulf Road one which is located in the same place as Fish Market and Fusion. The 360 Mall location won’t be opening for another 2 months at least. In case you haven’t heard of them before, Signor Sassi is a popular Italian restaurant located in Knightsbridge. It’s run by the same people behind the award winning San Carlo.

WTF? This is TOTALLY unfair! Why would they open Shake Shack in Dubai or Saudi and not in Kuwait?!?! WTF?! I am pissed! [Link]

via Al Manakh

Update: Seems Alshaya are getting Shake Shack and some people are saying they will be opening in Kuwait first. I am trying to confirm that once I do will post again.

I just read on Frankom’s blog that the Sony dealer in Kuwait has an incredible offer on the new PS3 Slim. For a limited time offer they’re selling it for KD69. If they don’t have a decent amount of stock available then they’re probably already sold out by the time you read this.

Note: This deal is just available at their newly opened Avenues branch. It’s located near D*Lush and Nokia.

Update: This is what one reader had to say about his experience trying to get the PS3 Slim:

OK everyone I got it, its 120 GB euro, plays all region games, but the sony shop was horreendous i went at 11:00 am and was # 84 out of 120, it was a big mess, people shouting and old women begging for numbers. two kids even fingered the sales guy back side for a number which caused an even bigger delay, completly dis-organized , but cant blame them selling its for nearly half price, al ghanim is getting it in october for 100kd pre order, sony selling it for 69 is gonna cause chaos, but they should have been prepared to be honest. only good thing is that women dont have to wait for a number, by 12:00 i recieved mine and they had stopped giving numbers out so if you want to go in the evening i dont think there will be any left

Update2: According to Cajie a blog reader, when he passed by at 1PM the stock had already been finished.

Picture taken by Cajie

Just like the Gucci rumor I posted about a few days ago, there is another rumor going around that The Chocolate Bar in Marina Crescent was closed down by the ministry because they found chocolate that contained alcohol in them. That is of course not true or else I would have been their #1 customer. The Chocolate Bar at Marina was closed down due to renovations and all their other branches are still open for business.

They’re installing these new thingies (forgot what they’re called) around my office block in Kuwait City. Someone must have seen them in Europe and thought oh these would look great in Kuwait lets get some. They don’t, they look weird and out of place and I think they’re going to install them all over Kuwait City. Would be interested in what re:kuwait have to say about this.

Update: re:kuwait has commented on these bollards you can check his post [Here]

I got a phone call yesterday from a friend at Zain. He wanted me to try out their new e-GO which can hit speeds of up to 21.6Mbps. Sadly I couldn’t pass by to pick it up since I had to catch a flight to Lebanon but I was just catching up on some blogs and it seems some other bloggers managed to get the e-GO and try it out. So far the reviews have been positive. Here are some blogger reviews on the new 21.6Mbps e-GO:

zDistrict
Review: Zain E-Go 21.6 MB/s

4th Ring Road
Zain e-go 21.6 mbps…. we like.

Some Contrast
Exclusive: Zain’s latest E-GO 21.6 Mb/s

Blushberry
Review : Zain 21.6 Mbps Internet

I should get my hands on the new e-GO once I get back to Kuwait in a couple of days. The picture above is taken by zDistrict.

Update: According to Some Contrast, the new e-GO and 21.6Mbps connection is available right now at every Zain branch. The new e-GO sells for KD45 and the monthly membership is KD32 but if you sign up for 1 year you get the new e-GO for free.

Update2: 360Dewan tried his 7.2Mbps connection after Zain upgraded the network to 21.6Mbps and he was able to achieve download speeds of up to 758kb through a connection via his iPhone 3GS. So it looks like everyone’s connection has benefited from this upgrade. [Link]

Back in March I posted that P. F. Chang’s China Bistro will be opening up in Kuwait. Well I just found out that it will be opening up in December at Avenues in the same location the H&M’s male store was located opposite to Al Forno.

Note: Alshaya are the ones who are bringing P.F. Chang to Kuwait.

There is one thing I find very frustrating with Aramex Shop & Ship and that’s their formula for which package ships out first and which package stays behind until their next flight. It doesn’t look they have a formula but more like it’s completely random. I could have 5 packages in my mailbox and they would ship one, the third package that arrived, something random like that. So I sent them the following email today:

Dear Aramex,
I have 4 packages that arrived in my mailbox in the following order

1) Private Mail 08/29/2009
2) Amazon 4255 Anson Blvd 08/31/2009
3) HONGKONG SERVICES PO 09/01/2009
4) Mail & Magazines 09/02/2009

They all weigh less than 0.5lb which qualifies them for the daily flight from New York to Kuwait.

This is the order that the packages were shipped:

1) Private Mail 09/02/2009 (early morning Kuwait time)
4) Mail & Magazines 09/02/2009 (evening Kuwait time)
2) Amazon 4255 Anson Blvd 09/02/2009 (late evening Kuwait time)
3) HONGKONG SERVICES PO 09/02/2009 (late evening Kuwait time)

All four packages were shipped on the same day but on three different flights!
Package (1) got shipped in your regular slow shipping
Package (4) the least important because its a magazine got shipped with overnight shipping and I am expecting it this morning
Packages (2) and (3) got shipped regular slow shipping

What I would like know is what is your formula for deciding which shipment goes out and when? Why weren’t ALL my packages placed on the same flight as my magazines since they all weigh less than 0.50lb which I was told was the requirement to be on that flight and they would have ALL arrive today? Why wasn’t package #2 shipped before my magazines since it arrived before?

This complete random and unorganized (at least to us consumers it looks like that) is very frustrating. For example shipment #3 has an item which I could have used while traveling later tonight so its very frustrating for me to see a magazine arrive before something I really wanted to get here first.

thanks
mark

Now while looking through my previous Aramex posts I found one dating back to January 2008 when Aramex said it was going to introduce online payments. What happened to that?