There has been a lot of hype regarding 360 over the past few years, and especially this past month. There was a little delay but hopefully it will be worth it since this is supposed to be an extremely nice mall. I can’t wait to check out the movies they are planning on playing in the IMAX theater hopefully it will be uncut because these days they are switching to digital film. I know they are also building a recreational center that I’m really looking forward to, even we enjoy going to Magic Planet every once in a while so I wonder how this one is going to turn out.

These are the ones that are open in this time, and a lot more stores are supposed to open. They had a tough time staying on schedule so a lot of times didn’t have the right time to prepare for the opening, so I’m assuming over the next couple of months the other stores will open as well.

• Van Cleef & Arpels
• BEBE
• Cosch Bottegs
• Geant Hypermarket
• Freedom Furniture
• Inter Sport
• Toys R US
• Turquios
• Zahar Allayom
• Meat Company
• Cafe Meem
• Cinema with IMAX + VIP + Theaters
• Wagamama

Update: Check out 360 Dewans Post on 360 Mall, they have a lot of pictures of the interior, you really get a feel for the mall!

Thanks: Daddyz Girl
Link: 248am

I ordered the Norco DS-1500 Sata Storage to incorporate into my Rack Server, planning a very interesting build. I have had it in my Amazon Cart for about 6 months, and I at last decided to buy it as of three weeks ago. Around the 20th of June it came into Kuwait and there was a problem at customs, I knew something was going to happen just wasn’t sure what. The smart people at Aramex listed this Sata Storage device as a sporting goods on the manifest, so how surprised were the customs guys when it looked like a box with a bunch of wires. So automatically they held the box so Aramex contacted me asking for the invoice, I told them the invoice is inside the box and I decided to finish the paperwork myself.

Went to the customs guy and finished all the paper work necessary, they just asked for the MOC clearance for the product. I know that usually they will clear it quickly. The box was opened one day so the next morning I went to the MOC and that took sometime, more then I thought was necessary since I had to find the head of the MOC clearance department and he was taking a longer break then usual, as the secretary said. I didn’t have time to go to the customs so I thought I would go the next day. When I went the next day they couldn’t find the box, I went to Kuwait Airways and they said they returned the box to Global Logisitics for storage. It has been over four days now and I have sent formal letters to both Kuwait Airways and Global Logistics regarding my Sata Storage and nobody seems to be giving me the time of day, I’m bouncing back and forth between the two and they are both denying that any of them had kept it or the other received even though I was with the customs guys when they returned and it has been over a week and I’m asking for financial damages to paid for the item as well as the shipping that I paid for it. Lets see how this all works out and how long it will take, and the customs guys are saying that Kuwait Airways and Global Logistics are responsible for holding the items.

I got this form when we first landed and there was a lot of warning about making sure that we do the check up. I don’t even know how they want to cross check all the people traveling so they make sure they don’t have the H1N1 virus. Its a 50 KD fine or a 1 month jail time if you don’t follow up with one of the clinics designated in the back. I left it to the last day and head toward Sabah Al Salem since I am in the Hawally Area, I found it fairly easily and its relatively close. Once we went in, my friend knew where to go, there was a lady at the register I gave her my form and my Civil ID. She said this is Sabah Al Salem, you live in Mishref so you must go to Rumaithiya. I told her I called before and they said its fine, and the airport said any of the ones in your Area, and today is my last day. She said no, so I told her, your name is “something something” and I will be reporting you to the police for refusing to check if I have the Pig Flu and that if I am jailed I will be filing damages against you. She said fine, and took my paper wrote my name down and the Egyptian gentlemen in the room stood up and point a little red laser to my forehead to take my temperature which took all in all about 30 seconds but the arguing took 10 minutes. She was rude and it wouldn’t have taken too much time, and what would have happened if someone didn’t argue like I did, bureaucracy is annoying as hell.

I couldn’t believe these beauties in front of my eyes, Ducati have perfected an Art form. I got a text from Salem @ Tristar telling me that the Streetfighter and the Streetfighter S were both on the show room floor. I took off as soon as I landed from Singapore. The pearl white from Ducati is beautiful from every angle, they even had one pearl white 1198 just behind the two of these beauties. Then there was the red Streetfighter S which I couldn’t keep my hands off of, I really wanted to throw my leg over the machine and take off. I want to congratulate the owners of the machine whoever they are going to be.

Ducati have really struck a cord with these beauties and I really think they will expand to other beautiful machines. I didn’t know how they could improve on the 1098, then they came out with the 1198. I can’t wait to try the Streetfighter, it looks so enticing, and inviting to ride, I bet the experience would be exhilarating. The Streetfighter is selling 5250 KD and the Streetfighter S is going for 6250 KD, and I think these prices are comparable to the UK. The beauty of the lines, the curves, the shades of this machine have been crafted by an artist, it calls to any rider next to it.

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I have never seen this before, but I was curious to why there was a flag of Kuwait at the entrance of the Ritz Carlton in Singapore. I was told that the Kuwait Embassy has occupied half of the 31st floor for the past 14 months now. I was shocked, they have half a floor with only four Kuwaiti employees and three Singaporian secretaries and two drivers. And they have special parking in front of them which is reserved for the staff of the Embassy.

From my understanding they have bought a building and are slowly renovating, but also from a Kuwaiti living in Singapore that they are so comfortable that they aren’t in any hurry to finish the supposedly new embassy, they are enjoying the services of the Ritz Carlton. I always speak to the door men since they know almost everything about the hotel, and I was asking about the embassy. They were telling me that they are very nice, and the staff at the hotel likes Kuwaitis. I asked him what time do they come in, he told me they have relaxed hours, Monday to Thursday from 9-10 am to 3-4 pm with a two hour lunch in between, and on Friday they come in for one hour then leave for Friday prayer and don’t come back, then they have Saturday and Sunday off. For a country that is suffering from a financial crisis the staff seems to be enjoying all the eminities of the Ritz Carlton.

Now that they have all launched Blackberry its interesting to compare all the services. I will be doing that at a later point but Viva packages seems interesting, they went for the idea of more expensive packages, but they are quite interesting.

• BB 15 KD – 200MB Local – Pay as you go for International
• BB 25 KD – 1 GB Local – 20 MB International
• BB 44 KD – Unlimited Local – Unlimited International

One other note you can switch between these plans at any point in time without any contractual problems, if you traveling you can take BB 44 and if you are just in Kuwait you can switch it back to BB 25.

I have to say that they give you a better bang for your buck for the packages, unlike Zain. I think Zain might lose a few customers if they don’t offer more value. I for one only use my BB for data and connectivity usages, not really calling people from this phone so switching to Viva does seem very appealing. The idea of having unlimited data is unprecedented for international use and never has been offered before, and that looks very appealing.

Link: Viva

Wataniya Telecom has pulled the same move as Commercial Bank of Kuwait, Fire everyone and rehire, just to lower the costs. So the breakdown of the situation is simple.

They are giving presentations about the changes and open discusssions, for a little while. And a Wataniya Telecom employee has only 4-5 hours to decide if they will sign the new contract with the new terms, or else they will be terminated, fired, out of job, on the street.

They have lowered the basic salaries of a majority of the employees, but compensated for it in large allowances. Now they have changed the working days to 5 days instead of 6 days which is good, vacation days have improved. Bonuses are calculated at a lower rate because its based on the basic salary which has been lowered, but health insurance has been improved towards people with families and three days for compationate leave. They even added one week for weddings not included with your vacation, both male and female.

Overall its an interesting combination but they are putting their employees

Update: They only have two hours to sign or they are terminated

At last they have come to launch the Blackberry Service, as of today Wataniya has launched the new Blackberry Service with the pricing plan below. Looks like their tis going to be competition for the Blackberry Subscribers, and our brethren in the Wataniya camp can at last communicate with us through BBM. Now I wonder how many people will be switching over to the BB service who already have Wataniya.

It seems you can easily switch between the plans, you don’t have to stick to one or the other.

Pricing Plan:

• Basic: 9 KD with 1 fils per KD
• Unlimited: 13 KD 10 GB Free
• Unlimited +: 25 KD 10 GB Free & 10 MB Free Roaming
• Update:Prepaid Blackberry Service Available

I get pretty hungry through out the day, I keep thinking about when the next meal is going to be. Got me thinking, Falafel and Company opens up today and I remember they had amazing shawarma, I might pick up some on the way home later at night from the family engagement. Now I’m just crossing my fingers and hoping that the Seef Strip won’t be packed and there will be some parking, because I want to get down and check out their menu to know what I’m ordering.

Klue offers you a chance to find out. Heart-stopping, mind-blowing, adrenalin-pumping fun and an experience you are not soon to forget. We send you on a custom-made adventure around Kuwait made especially for you and your friends.

A game across Kuwait, I remember doing something similar like this a while back and now this has come together. It looks like something interesting and different to do with a group of friends, I hope their games are indoors for the next couple of months. I was the driver of the last group so I pretty much broke every driving rule to make sure I won.

Link: Klue