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Some people have emailed me regarding the new devices that have been installed next to the speed detector cameras on the highway. There is a rumor that these new devices track your speed from one camera to another. I don’t believe that is the case. From what I gathered by checking the manufacturers website of these devices, their speed detecting cameras have an option for adding a secondary camera which is what these are. My guess is they’re just taking two pictures simultaneously (or sequentially) of speeding cars either for better accuracy or in case they have trouble reading the plate number in one of the photos.

Photo by Edgar

Update: A reader emailed with an interesting bit of information. According to him he takes the King Fahad Road (40th) from the First Ring Road every morning and drives past all the cameras going 150KM/h. He told me that the first camera on the King Fahad Road doesn’t take a picture, the one after that does, then the one after that doesn’t while the one after that does. This happens all the way till the end of the highway. I’ve always had a theory that only one side of those double sided camera boxes actually contains camera while the other side is a dummy. If what he says is true then that theory is correct and if you’re driving back the opposite way, the cameras that didn’t go off previously would go off on the return.

Over the weekend I had a project I needed to shoot which would require low light shots and very low angles so I decided to pass by Alghunaim Photo and pick up a tripod. There were a few tripods too choose from but only two fit my budget. The first one I checked out was the Manfrotto 290 series with the quick release ball head. The ball head is the upper part of the tripod which connects to your camera (picture near end of post). Generally you can choose I think between 3 types of heads but I like the ball head due to it’s ease of use. Anyway the 290 was pretty stable, easy and quick to operate but my issue with it was that it wouldn’t go down low enough since 38cm from the ground was the lowest it could go. It was disappointing since price wise at KD45 including the ball head I found it really affordable (for a quality tripod that is).

The second tripod I tried was the 190XPROB. This tripod didn’t go as high as the 290 series but it could go down a lot lower to around 8cm from the ground. It was also slightly smaller and lighter but not by that much. Since I was looking for a tripod that could go very low I ended up getting this one for KD35 WITHOUT the head. The cheapest ball head would set you back another KD25 on top of that price so you’re actually paying around KD60 for this tripod which isn’t cheap specially if like me you won’t be using it that much. But it’s made in Italy and really should last a lifetime so I decided to bite the bullet and just get it. After using the tripod for my project over the weekend I actually found it a bit complicated to use. Maybe finicky is the right word here. Each one of the tripod’s leg adjusts to 4 or 5 different angles and I ended up spending a lot of time trying to get all three legs to open at the same angle. If one of the angles differs then the tripod would end up being slanted. But even though I ran into that issue I had no regrets getting it since I found it very versatile specially since I was able to lower the tripod down so much that my camera was just a couple of inches off the ground. It would really be perfect for anyone wanting to shoot ants or other insects.

If you’re interested in buying a Manfrotto tripod Alghunaim Photo is the local dealer. But, you might be better off waiting until the end of the month before passing by since they’re currently out of stock on most of the items and their new shipment arrives end of the month. Their prices are similar or cheaper than Amazon’s listed price which is amazing. If you know what you want then I guess you could pass by and reserve your tripod. When I checked they had the 190XPROB in stock but only the high end ball heads (KD60 and up).

Just found out there is another mall/plaza popping up in Salmiya right across the street from Laila Gallery (next to Omnia Mall and Sultan Center) called The Cube. Based on the rendering it looks like it’s going to be another restaurants project similar to Bidaa and The Village but my biggest question is where will everyone park? The street is already heavily congested and the only proper parking spaces nearby are behind Sultan Center and Laila Gallery but those two lots already get super packed. [Link]

Not sure whats with the sudden surge of all these dramatic new law proposals but this is one that’s sure to freak out a lot of people:

Kuwait is considering a proposal to crush cars of drivers caught speeding before selling the vehicles as scrap metal, according to reports in the Gulf state

In a bid to combat speeding, drivers caught travelling over 180 km/hr will have their vehicles confiscated, crushed and sold as scrap, Kuwaiti press reported.

My car can’t even get to 180 so I’m safe in that aspect but it still does seem a bit extreme. [Link]

Thanks Ahmed

This is very sad news. I just read that legendary footballer Sameer Saeed is in a coma after being hit by a car while jogging. I used to really love watching Kuwait play football in the late 80s and early 90s and as a goalkeeper myself I used to really look up to Sameer Saeed. Even today he’s still one of my favorite goalkeepers of all time and I really hope he’s going to be ok. [Link]

Photo from q8i stuff

A couple of years ago I was looking to buy an arcade machine and a reader contacted me letting me know they had a few for sale. I was hoping to find either NBA Jam, Mortal Kombat I or II, Killer Instinct, the original Daytona or the original Sega Rally but sadly they didn’t have any of those games and I completely forgot about the whole thing. Then out of the blue around two weeks back the subject came back up and I ended up contacting the guy and passing by to check out what he had.

Turns out I actually knew the person since he used to be based in Burj Al Abyad (White Tower next to Marina Mall) back in the 90s when the arcade scene there was pretty big. He took me to their warehouse and I got to check out all the machines they had available.

They didn’t have any of the games I wanted but I figured I’d get the list (and their prices) so I could post them here on my blog. Some of the games are a good deal others seem a bit pricy (KD750 for Sega Rally 2 although it’s with the full moving cockpit) while others like the NeoGeo/Capcom machines are a steal at just KD75 with two games.

If you’re interested here is the games list and prices:

List of all the arcade machines they have (with the quantity)
The price list of the machines (FYI: twin means 2 machines side by side)

One thing that’s not listed in the price list above is the NeoGeo/Capcom cabinets. They have two kinds of cabinets, one that holds 2 games and another that holds 4. They’re selling the machine that holds 2 games for KD75 and the machine that holds 4 for KD100. This price includes the games.

What games? Here is the List

If you’re interested you can contact Nagib on 24841382 Ext 555

My Nikon D800 arrived to Kuwait a few days ago and I picked it up yesterday night on my way back home from the airport. I was hoping to have the camera with me when I went to Lebanon so I could take some pictures while I was there but the camera ended up arriving after I had already left. First impression… I’m in love. Going from the Nikon D90 to the D800 is a huge jump and it’s not because the D800 is larger and much better built or the fact it’s a 36MP full frame camera. The thing that has excited me the most so far is all the customizable options in the camera. EVERYTHING can be customized, there are just menus and menus of options and I’m loving it.

I’m going to be taking pictures all this weekend and should have a better first impression to post sometime next week but for now I’ll leave you with one picture to demonstrate how huge 36MP really is. Below is a photo I took today with a 24mm lens (thats why the image has some distortion) and below that is a 100% crop of the same image.

The amount of details the camera captures is ridiculous and each uncompressed RAW file is around 80MB in size. If you want to view the image above in full res click [Here]

I originally pre-ordered the camera from both BHphoto AND Amazon but they both had a long list of pre-orders (BHphoto I read have nearly 5000 pre-orders) but they both didn’t receive a large shipment of cameras (BHphoto supposedly got just 50!). So I decided to find a smaller less popular retailer and ended up pre-ordering from Electronic Express. I was the only one that had pre-ordered from them and around 5 days after placing my order they received just one D800 and shipped it to me. I was super lucky since there are thousands and thousands of people who’ve pre-ordered from early February and still have no idea when they’ll be getting the camera. The local Nikon dealer and AAB Photo both have the D800 in stock right now but due to the world wide limited availability their prices are still very high (around KD1,300). So your best bet right now if you want a D800 is to find a small online retailer and order it from them or pay a premium and pick it up locally.

According to a source of mine I found out that Alshaya was trying to bring the very popular franchise Chick-fil-A to the region but the deal fell through. Supposedly one of the terms they couldn’t agree on was the fact that Chick-fil-A wanted to close on Sundays (they’re a very Christian company). Alshaya was trying to convince them to change that rule for the region but Chick-fil-A wasn’t backing down and the deal fell apart. It sucks but I like the fact Alshaya were trying to get the Chick-fil-A franchise.

I received the below from K’S PATH and thought was important to share:

K’S PATHS’ animal shelter and sanctuary houses around 200 animals from over 10 species. The effort that goes into the daily care of these animals is great and the finances needed exceed 6,000KD per month. With summer approaching fast, experience tells us that our income is going to decrease greatly while the number of animals needing our care will grow. For K’S PATH to be able to survive through the summer months, we need to raise 10,000KD. We ask our community to rise up to the challenge and help us insure our work for the next few months. Our goal is to raise 10,000KD by the end of April. Remember every little bit helps, so please donate today to this worthy cause.

Options for donations:

1. Transfer money directly into our bank account.
Bank Name: Ahli Bank of Kuwait
Branch: Galleria 2000
Name:Ayeshah Waleed Al-Humaidhi
Account: 0626-468911-001
IBAN:KW42ABKK00000000006264689110 01

2. Drop off donation at:
a. Our shelter in Wafra
b. Animal Care Office in Mangaf
c. Animal Care Kennels at Royal Animal Hospital

3. Call 6700 1622 or e-mail [email protected] to arrange pick up

Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions

Kuwait 5 Aside is a new sporting venture, one that builds on the success of the outdoor football pitches. Salem Haidar the owner of Kuwait 5 Aside noticed a lack of structured football in Kuwait so he came up with the idea to start a 5 aside league.

By being part of a league you can playing more competitively but what I thought was more interesting is the fact you get to play in a large flood lit indoor and air conditioned football pitch. That means you could play football all year round no matter how bad the weather is outside.

According to the league rules, each team should have minimum of 7 players and they’re hoping to get a maximum of 140 teams to provide leagues running 6 days a week. The games are from 6 to 11pm and each game lasts 45 minutes. The cost is KD156 per player which would come out to around KD3 a game since there will be 52 games a year. If you’re interested to find out more check out the Kuwait 5 Aside website [Here]

Since Mark is back on his strict diet he asked to review a Chinese place called China Garden. I really enjoy good Chinese food but when it comes to Chinese take-out in Kuwait I’ve become quite skeptical with the options we have. I’ve tried a bunch of places and there doesn’t seem to be one that really stands out, a place that serves good Chinese food that isn’t overly greasy and that isn’t overly expensive.

China Garden is a place that has been around for a while (it’s located next to Showbiz/Holiday Inn), but was purchased by two Kuwaiti restaurateurs, revamped and reopened around a week ago. There are a few things that make China Garden stand out from their competitors. First off, they’re “Green”, meaning they’ve gotten rid of all their styrofoam boxes, got rid of the majority of plastics and aluminum and replaced them with paper take out boxes that are made here in Kuwait. Their plastic bags have been replaced with fully recycled and biodegradable brown paper while they ditched their plastic eating utensils and replaced them with sustainable bamboo forks and knives. Even their menu’s are made from recycled material.

When I usually order Chinese take-out I like to place an order for an appetizer, a chicken dish, a beef dish, and some noodles. I typically finish all the food on my own so when it came time to ordering from China Garden I decided to go with Sweet Corn Chicken Soup, Shrimp Spring Rolls, Orange Chicken, Beef Black Pepper, Mixed Noodles and Nutella Wontons for dessert (who can say no to anything Nutella?). The first thing that struck me once the food arrived is that there is no way I could eat all this food by myself. Their quantities are pretty big and the food I ordered could have easily fed two or three people and definitely not just one person. I basically had a lot of food leftover for dinner.

The food was generally pretty good and I did’t have any complaints. The soup wasn’t too watery and wasn’t too sweet with a good mix of chicken and corn. The Shrimp Spring Rolls were 6 decent sized pieces and they were nice and crunchy. The Orange Chicken was the most impressive, the dish is sweet and spicy and cames mixed with orange peels, chili peppers, ginger and chicken. It looked really appetizing. My “safe” dish that I always order is Beef Black Pepper because it’s really difficult to screw up a simple dish like this. China Garden’s Beef Black Pepper was pretty juicy, the beef wasn’t overly cooked and it wasn’t too saucy. My only complaint is that there were way too many large pieces of onions, something which they can easily fix (and should do so). The Mixed Noodles were the last things I ate and I found them neither bland or greasy and actually hit the spot quite nicely. Finally the Nutella Wontons were the perfect way to end the meal, the moment you bite down on the crunchy wonton you’ll be welcomed with the taste of delicious Nutella, not to the point where it feels like you’re drowning in chocolate, but enough to satisfy your Nutella urges.

The total for my meal was KD10.700 which seems like a lot for one person but like I previously said this meal could easily feed two or three people (if not more) and if I had two other friends over, it’d come out to around KD3 per person, which seems like a really reasonable price to pay for the quality of food you’re getting. I would definitely order again from China Garden, they have a decent sized menu with a lot of choices, not to the point where you feel overwhelmed but enough where they can satisfy everyone’s needs.

They’re open Saturday to Wednesday from 12PM to 12AM and Thursdays and Fridays from 2PM to 2AM. To order you can call them on 25720010 or 25720070. They’re also available on 6alabat.

Posted by Patrick.

I read about the state of the desert after the camping season finished but I didn’t think it was that bad until I saw it for myself today. I was heading south on the 40th when I noticed a huge plot of desert with trash as far as the eye could see. I went off-road and headed towards the area and was completely shocked at what I saw.

Campers had left all their trash behind including full sofa sets, toilets, trash bags and just random items like wood and god knows what else. And it wasn’t just one campsite it was the whole area filled with sofas and toilet seats all over the place. It’s absolutely disgusting.

Personally I think the municipality should just leave everything the way it is and not clean up after the campers. As long as someone is picking up the trash people are not going to learn to cleanup after themselves.

According to the first World Happiness Report launched at the United Nations, Kuwait came 31st in the world but behind UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. They used a number of measurements to come up with this figure and I downloaded the full report to find out more details but honestly it’s 158 pages long and it wasn’t written by Stephen King so I skipped it.

Now the reason I’m posting this is I found it a bit surprising that Saudi Arabia scored better than both Kuwait and Qatar. I would have imagined UAE first followed by Qatar, Kuwait and then Saudi but that isn’t the case. You can read the Arabian Business article on this [Here] or you can download the full report from [Here]

Picture taken by Patrick

Last week I was lucky enough to visit the Kitco factory. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do since it’s a brand I grew up with plus I’m a huge fan of the show “How it’s made“. Before taking the tour I met with Jassim Al-Wazzan who told me how it all started.

Back in the early 1950’s Jassim Al-Wazzan senior decided to open up a small grocery store at the age of just 15 in the old Kuwaiti souk (now called Souk Al Mubarkia). He had the only Kuwaiti owned grocery store so when the old women used to come to shop, they’d see 15 year old Jassim and feel nationalistic pride. They all started shopping at Jassim’s grocery store and with time his business started to grow.

Around that time, he met an Indian by the name of B.R. Oberoi. They formed a strong friendship and partnered in one of the many grocery stores Jassim Al-Wazzan had acquired by then. One of the stores most popular products was a snack that used to come from Iran called Pufak. Because the item was coming all the way from Iran the item sometimes ran out of stock or the prices fluctuated. So Mr Oberoi went to Jassim and told him they should make their own and so using technology brought from the Dutch, the Kuwait Indo Trading Company (Kitco) was established. Today three generations later the two families still are partners and good friends.

So the big question, how are the Kitco potato chips made? Turns out it’s a very simple process. I took pictures of all the steps so you can check it out below.

A friend of mine recently ordered a camera lens from the website DigitalRev (made famous by the very entertaining Kai) and had it shipped directly to Kuwait. It cost him less than the Amazon price, they included free FedEx shipping, it was delivered to him in just 4 days, he paid only KD12 customs fee AND the lens included local warranty. How cool is that?

Here are some more details regarding the whole thing:

Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G Lens
Kuwait: KD603
Amazon: KD525
DigitalRev: KD476

If he placed the order on Amazon he would have had to pay the 8% NY tax, then the Aramex shipping fee to Kuwait plus local customs and the package would have taken around 10 days to get here. He also wouldn’t have any local warranty.

On the other hand he paid KD476 to order it from DigitalRev, he didn’t have to pay tax neither did he have to pay any shipping fees. They shipped it for him from Hong Kong to Kuwait directly via FedEx and it took 4 days from the day he placed the order for the lens to be in his hands. In addition FedEx handled the customs and he had to pay only KD12 in total. Now more importantly DigitalRev will offer you warranty for your lens in Kuwait. The way it works is if the item is defective, you take it to the local dealer who will give you the estimate for the repair. You then send the estimate to DigitalRev who will approve it (based on warranty conditions).

I’m actually surprised at how easy and convenient this is. From now on if I ever need anything photography related that’s too expensive locally I’m just going to order it from them. Here is their [Website]

Thanks Cajie