When Aramex increased their prices because oil hit over $100 a barrel I was fine with it. When oil prices fell back to normal and Aramex didn’t decrease their prices, I was like no biggie. When Aramex decided to charge an extra KD1 for to each package I receive and added a compulsory 5% customs tax to all my packages worth of $100 I was like whatever, I can deal with that. But, to pay this much more than what I was paying before and have my packages arrive slower? That’s something I won’t accept.
I had a package arrive to Aramex on November 6th. It showed up in my mailbox on November 12th and then shipped the next day on November 13th. As of November 21st I have still not received the package. Since a lot of people have been saying good stuff about DHL’s similar service EasyShop, I decided to sign up with them and use their service instead.
It took me under 5 minutes to setup my account with DHL and also pay the $37 setup fee all from within their website. The DHL forwarding mailbox is based in Ohio which means I don’t have to pay the NY taxes when ordering from Amazon. I also pay for the package by weight only and not dimensions. With Aramex they charge based on weight and size which can result in a higher shipping fee. Once a package arrives to my DHL mailbox it should also ship right away to Kuwait since they have daily flights. Once the package arrives to Kuwait I have to go pick it up myself from DHL. There are 4 collection points to choose from and I chose the Kuwait City branch since its near my office.
If you want to open up a DHL mailbox it’s really easy, just follow this [Link]
I passed by and spoke to the manager today and he told me they were opening on Sunday. He said they “might” open Saturday night but he can’t confirm since they still have some training to do.
I met this cool BBC director a couple of days back who’s in Kuwait to film a documentary about people who are pursuing a healthy lifestyle. She’s looking for young Kuwaitis who would be interested in appearing on the show and I told her I would help out by posting their request on my blog. Here is what she sent me to publish:
BBC– 4x Part Educational & Health Series/Travelogue
BBC3 is working on a series of one-hour long observational documentaries looking at young people who are trying to pursue a healthy lifestyle.
In each episode two young people from the UK who are struggling with their weight will travel to a different country.
As well as an hour on Kuwait, the series will also be filming in the USA, Argentina and Greece.
The programme will be used as an educational tool to discourage young people from leading an unhealthy lifestyle as well as giving viewers a unique window to the country we visit.
In Kuwait we want to show Kuwaiti traditions, lifestyle and culture – including weddings, malls, restaurants, diwaniyas, a trip to the desert, etc.
At the moment we are looking for young Kuwaiti’s who might be interested in appearing in the show, and we would love any help and guidance that you can give us in this matter
I am always on the lookout for photos that were taken either during the 1990 occupation of Kuwait or after the liberation and with flickr finding them is pretty easy… if they’re tagged properly. Below are a few links of photo sets I found that were mostly taken by soldiers during Desert Storm. If anyone has photos they’ve taken and would like to share them [Contact Me]
Ace Hardware surprisingly are selling these wooden LED clocks. I had previously seen them only online and they look pretty cool. They’re priced very reasonably with the small ones for around KD5 and the big ones for KD6.
Sports Corner in Salmiya is getting rid of all their athletic equipment because they want to focus just on sports clothing. So they’ve got 50% on all their sporting gear from treadmills, to Mongoose bikes, pool and table tennis tables, baby foot, boxing gear, workout equipment etc.. They’ve put all the stuff on their top floor and everything is half off. They have an elliptical machine for example that originally cost KD1300 and is now priced at around KD600. Even the Nike + iPod sport kit is now KD11.500 instead of KD20.
On Friday morning I went to the junkyards to sell my old beemer wheels. Once I was done I decided to drive around and take pictures since the weather was good and the sky nice and blue. I really love the place, you can find everything there from the old double decker buses to broken down tanks. There was this one place I found which I think was a huge government impound lot that looked really cool. It was surrounded by a barbed wire fence but I managed to sneak inside from a hole in the fence and walk around a bit. The place is amazing, I found a lot of old trucks and cars, it was beautiful. If anyone can help me get in there legally again so I could take pictures that would be great. If not I guess I would have to jump the fence again.
Update: Higher resolution pictures now available [Here]
I passed by Intersport at 360 Mall today. They’ve been open since 360 launched but I only went in a few days ago and really liked the place. The shop feels really cozy and calm because the place is still brand new and there isn’t that much foot traffic. I used to like GoSport when they first opened up but now it feels hectic and the way things are laid out reminds me of Costco.
Intersport is smaller than GoSport but still manages to have a bit of everything. They’ve got sport watches, workout dvd’s, bicycles, skateboards, camping and beach gear, gym equipment, clothes, sneakers, a football section etc.. in addition to a few items here and there you can’t find anywhere else. The staff is also pretty friendly which is always a plus.
Intersport is located on the third floor of 360 Mall.
Note: I am organizing my categories and decided to create a new one called InFocus where I post about random places I find interesting or worth a visit.
I hate the way Pepsi and Coca Cola have reduced their can sizes back down to 250ml. One of the reasons I used to prefer Like Cola was the fact that they had 330ml cans while Pepsi and Coke had 250ml. Maybe someone should bring back Like…
Desert Girl sent me the most amazing thing today, a PDF of scanned pages from a National Geographic issue from 1952 which talks about Kuwait. The article is 20 pages long and contains 25 pictures of which 11 are in color. It’s incredible I love it. The caption under the picture above says:
A Mobile Medical Clinic, Bought with Oil Wealth, Tours Kuwait Villages
For ailing Arabs who cannot travel to the capital, the Sheikdom provides an American-built trailer unit staffed by a physician, nurse, and technician. Here the doctor examines an elderly man at an outlying village; other patients wait their turn. Treatment costs them nothing. New hospitals, including one for animals, are part of Kuwait’s heavy investment in its own well-being.
Here is the PDF for you to down. It’s around 4MB in size. [PDF Link]
This is a new photo Eng.Aljamea has uploaded onto his flickr account. The previous one was the Gulf Road picture and this time its a picture of a gas station. There is no date mentioned but I guess it could be the 60’s. [Picture]
