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Before you get too excited this isn’t in Kuwait, its in Dubai. But, with cheap Jazeera tickets it still comes out to be pretty affordable. You could probably fly out in the morning, skydive and come back in the evening. The video above is of some guy skydiving and here is the link with more info and prices. [Link]

I really really really hate Aramex. I stopped using them for my important packages ages ago and instead started using U Shop We Ship who are much better. I now only use my Aramex account for my magazine subscriptions and it seems I can’t even trust them with that anymore. Today I got a package after not getting anything for 2 months and it turns out I have 2 months worth of magazines missing! I have been trying to call them since morning to try and see what happened but their lines are all busy, ALL THE TIME! I can’t understand why people still use Aramex, USWS isn’t perfect, they have their own issues but at least packages get shipped promptly from the US and do arrive in Kuwait on time. Where are my magazines???

As I mentioned before I am currently upgrading the sound system in my Wrangler. I already received and installed the head unit which I have to say is incredible. I installed the Alpine iDA-X001 which is made for the iPod and its extremely practical and easy to use. I am really glad I went for it, absolutely no regrets and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a new head unit.

For the speakers and amp I was planning on going with JL Audio but I wasn’t able to find a combination that fit my budget. Also the JL Audio amps are pretty big and I wanted something I could fit under the drivers seat. In the end I decided to go with Boston Acoustics SX55 for the front and rear with an Alpine MRP-F250 amp under my drivers seat. I already ordered these items and I should be getting them next week.

For the subwoofer I decided to go with an Infinity BassLink II. I use the trunk of the Wrangler for my dog every time I take him out so I don’t have room for a large sub enclosure neither do I have room to install an amp. I decided to go with the BassLink II since as you can see in the picture above, it won’t take up much room in the trunk and it has a built in 250watt RMS amp which makes it all very compact. I could get my dog in and out of the Wrangler without even having to remove the sub which is really practical.

All thats left now is the installation which I have decided to do myself. I already have a step by step guide with pictures on what I need to do and so far the only hard part seems to be the removal of the drivers seat so I could install the amp under it. The reason I want to do the installation myself is because I want to learn how to do it plus the fact that it should be fun. I will be sure to post pictures of the installation once I am done.

AOL just announced that they will be killing the Netscape Navigator browser on February 1st 2008. Its hard to understand how AOL were able to run an extremely popular browser like Navigator into the ground while less popular browsers like Opera and OmniWeb are still surviving. Anyway if you feel nostalgic here is a link to nearly all the versions of Netscape Navigator ever made for any system starting all the way from version 0.4. [Link]

news source

If I post something negative about a place in Kuwait, some people get the impression that I am out to hurt that place. If I post something positive about a place in Kuwait, some people get the impression that I was paid to do so. It’s pretty fucked up really.

Last week I posted two negative posts about Sultan Center, one regarding their eggs, the other about how they stole the Kellogg’s mascot. One reader told me if I hated Sultan that much I should just stop shopping there. What kind of mentality is that? Its kinda like how if I post something negative about Kuwait people come and tell me to get the fuck out if I don’t like it.

I only shop at Sultan Center and I have been a customer ever since they opened up their Salmiya branch back in the 80’s. When I encounter a problem at Sultan Center I complain, I have the right to as a customer. If I complain it doesn’t mean I hate the place, it means I want the place to improve.

Same with my Bazaar posts, some people get the impression I hate Bazaar. I don’t.

One reader asked why I don’t contact customer service when I have a complaint instead of posting it on the blog? Well three reasons. First the obvious which is I need content for the blog. Second is the fact that I am used to sending emails to customer service only to have them ignored and the third and final reason is that problems get fixed quickly after I post about them on the blog.

So from now on if I say good things or bad things about a place or product I hope there will be no misconception.

I don’t think I can take another Christmas song! Every station is playing Christmas songs and I don’t mean Christmas carols, I am talking about regular songs remixed into Christmas songs. Who the hell still plays Coco Jumbo yet alone the Christmas version. Once you leave the car it doesn’t get any better, practically every store in the mall is also tuned into a radio station so the horror never ends! (Posted from my Nokia E61i)

The good: The Girl Next Door
Extremely shocking and stomach turning. Not for the squeamish. Based on the true story of Sylvia Likens whom you can get more info about from the Crime Library.

The bad: Bee Movie
Not near as funny as the least funniest Seinfeld episode. I watched it at The Avenues movie theater which I think is just a fantastic looking place. By far the best theater I have ever been to anywhere.

The ugly: Shoot ‘Em Up
What a b-rated piece of trash this movie turned out to be. Definitely one of the worst movies I have seen this year. No plot, fake cheesy action and terrible acting by everyone except for Monica Bellucci, but thats because she had major cleavage through out the movie. I also just found out she is married to the french guy who stared with her in the movie Irréversible which you should watch instead of this crap.

The 90’s are coming back in style and although there was a lot to dislike (Mc Hammer pants) the color combinations of the 90’s were just completely messed up but in a good way, like the London 2012 Olympics logo. Anyway Vanilla Ice is still alive and looks like he is still cool as ice. [Link]

We were at work yesterday when someone came in and told us there were firemen downstairs trying to rescue a cat that was stuck on the second floor of a building. So I took my camera and headed downstairs even though I thought it might be a dumb prank but surprisingly it turned out to be true.

There was one large fire truck and two small ones parked in the middle of the street and wen I got closer I spotted the everyday street cat trapped on a small ledge on the second floor of the building. It was pretty weird seeing the firefighters there planing out the rescue of a regular street cat. I never imagined the firefighters in Kuwait would care about saving pets yet alone a street cat.

Everything was going smoothly and the firefighters on the ground looked like they had figured out a way to bring the cat down safely when suddenly this other firefighter popped his head outside the second floor window and with a large stick started pushing the cat off the side of the ledge. This idiot was trying to push the cat off the ledge and the other firefighters below were yelling at him to stop but he kept on pushing the cat off the ledge.

Finally once the cat got to the far end of the ledge it tried to escape the stick by stretching out and down towards the window below. Then suddenly the firefighter pushed the cat off and the cat landed hard on the windows ledge and fell into the building. The cat was lucky. Once the firefighter came back down he got a yelling at from his superior below for disobeying him and nearly getting the cat killed.

Even though the dumb firefighter ruined what could have been the perfect rescue it was still great to see them answer a call to come rescue a cat. I thought that only happened in movies.

After reading the post below by Nibaq on The Local Egg Crisis I am suddenly very disgusted by Sultan Center. I just recently noticed that we have an egg problem, I had heard something about an egg crisis from a friend but only when I was at Carrefour this past weekend and noticed their eggs section was completely empty that I realized how severe the crisis was.

I do all my shopping at Sultan Center and awhile back I noticed they were suddenly getting eggs made in India. I decided to get a pack and later in the evening while making dinner I cracked open a few eggs only to find some strange black stuff inside some of them. It was really disgusting and I ended up throwing away the whole pack. I now don’t buy eggs from India and instead buy the more expensive locally produced organic eggs.

After reading Nibaqs post below I just found out that the fresh eggs Sultan are selling are NOT fresh and instead are over a month old! Thats really gross and no wonder the eggs I got were rotten. I usually don’t keep anything in my fridge for long and to find out that the eggs from Sultan are a month old is just shocking specially when eggs last only 5 weeks. Sultan Center should do what Carrefour is doing and not bring in Indian eggs at all! I would rather see the shelves empty instead of buying eggs only to find them rotten.

The egg crisis in Kuwait is a mix of market forces, bird flu, production issues, feed prices and inaction from government forces. The Kuwait egg market is pretty huge; we consume over a billion eggs a year and we just produce around 40% of that. The rest we have to import from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and India.

Production in the gulf has dropped dramatically this year due to the bird flu epidemic. Kuwait was hit first which led to 6 out of the 8 farms to stop production, cutting our production levels to 15%. These farms have just recently started production and will take another 12 months to reach their full levels.

Saudi Arabia has recently been hit by the bird flu virus which has cut their production. This has also led to Kuwait placing an import ban on Saudi eggs in order to protect our local farms and people.

Due to the high demand from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf countries our other exporters like Jordan and Syria have placed an export ban to keep the remaining eggs in their own country to avoid their own crisis.

The only remaining eggs that we can import are Indian. Indian eggs are considered the cheapest and lowest quality eggs that you can find in the market. They take over a month to arrive from India to Kuwait via container and sometimes not qualified for human consumption. Sadly main supermarkets are marketing them as “fresh eggs”. Fresh eggs are considered by USDA and GCC law as eggs are maximum 3 days old from the farm. Indian eggs are over 30 days old from the farm.

The other factor in the egg crisis is due to feed supply. Since under Kuwaiti law chickens must be fed 100% organic feed without any chemicals, feed additives or meal. This adds up to 70% of the cost of the egg and this year has been a huge increase in feed prices leading the Kuwaiti egg producers to also increase their prices.

They have requested from the government to offer them a subsidy on the feed to reduce their cost, yet the government has not been helpful. Instead the Ministry of Commerce and Kuwait Coop Supermarket Union has been demanding from them to reduce their prices to pre-bird flu and feed increase prices or face being shut out of the supermarkets.

This is of course a guise of “protecting the consumer”, since they are still selling Indian which are over a month old as “fresh” eggs around 1KD when the real cost of Indian eggs is around 400fils. The Coops are making over 250%. Compare this to real fresh Kuwaiti eggs which are just above that price. This is so they can increase their profit margin by cheating the local consumer and leverage the Kuwaiti egg producers to submit to their control.

Other Gulf countries are facing the same shortage in Kuwait, but instead of fighting the local producers they have been offering them support by giving them bigger subsidies and allowing market forces to choose the egg prices.

So support your local egg producer by buying from their official stores in Shuwaik area near the vegetable market. They are offering real fresh eggs and at reasonable prices, and demand for the Coops to bring Kuwaiti eggs back.

– Post by Nibaq
– Picture by Kamal

I woke up early today morning to take Nat to the Villa Moda sale. She had seen this purse two weeks ago which she liked and she figured with the 50% off it would be a much better deal. After not facing any major morning traffic, we arrived to Villa Moda early at 9:40AM to find a large crowd waiting outside the closed doors. We didn’t wait for too long though before the doors opened at 9:55 and the large crowd started rushing into the building. There wasn’t any running or shoving but everyone was moving pretty fast.

The most popular stores inside were Gucci, Prada and D&G in that order. The guys store was empty since there were practically no guys there, they were probably all still asleep like I should have been.

The most surprising thing was that woman weren’t buying an item or two, they were mostly buying in bulk. Its just crazy, I saw one woman with 8 Gucci bags, a few belts and small boxes probably filled with wallets and scarfs. I saw one woman buy the same bag in 3 different colors. It was unreal, everyone was just walking around with a handful of bags and shoes as if they were buying CDs from the discount bin.

It was an interesting experience and although some of you might disagree, 50% off is a lot and makes everything much more approachable. Of course there are exceptions, a 1000KD leather Prada jacket is still expensive even after a 50% discount but a 170KD Prada nylon jacket is now much more affordable at only 85KD. There were a ton of good deals and it does make sense getting there early. The sale is going to last till Monday so it might be worth passing by although I doubt there is much left.

Fuck, FINALLY! [YouTube]

The song above is called Peaches which is my favorite from the new stuff. Here are some more new songs all of which were recorded from a concert that was held last week.

Wicca
Hunter
Mystic
Machine Gun

If you are like me and have a collection of old vinyl but can’t carry then when you travel, well we have found salvation! This bad boy can rip your old records to your computer for easy transferring, editing and scratching. Also the best part is once your are done you can still use it as a stand alone 3-speed player. [Link]

Here is an updated list of current DSL pricing:

As I have said in the past; I wouldn’t suggest signing up with United Networks or FastTelco due to their incapability to deliver promised speed, provide sufficient support or maintain a stable network.

The most enticing ‘offer’ (we still pay too much) is the 4mb connection from Qualitynet at 900KD. As you would be looking at a download speed of roughly 400+ KBPS. Although, I am not sure if most telephone lines are capable of handling that speed. Come to think of it, ISPs could offer a 1000MB connection knowing that your telephone line will tap out at 3MB.

With Info-Connect 2008 only two months away, I would suggest extending your subscription until you can make use of the offers there.