A desert Destroyed

Now that the heat of summer is steadily making it's way to us the desert camps have packed up leaving all of their trash behind. This year I saw green trash bins placed near the camps for collecting garbage. I decided to check one out to see if they are being used but of course it was empty and within 2 feet of the bright green bin there was trash everywhere.



This "well" thingy was part of a huge camp set up by a big company and this is how it was left. Not even the companies supplying this huge camp had the decency to pick up their mess. If they had to money to spend on this elaborate setup I'm sure they had money to clean it up and leave it as they had found it.

Toilet graveyard.

There was a fence keeping people out but of course it was cut away and a road was made leading to the camping area.

Even when the government tries to keep them out they break through the barrier. I wonder who is truly responsible for taking care of the desert?

Kuwait is the fattest country- One more Study

It's no wonder Kuwait is the fattest country in the world considering every day there is a new restaurant opening. I really think for every restaurant a gym should be opened and the membership should be reasonable so every one can enjoy it. Kuwait is a country with the highest number of gastric bypass surgeries as well even though it's not the answer to weight loss. Even after the surgery and weight loss most people tend to gain it all back plus more as the stomach is still capable of stretching back over time.

The government should provide a "Biggest Loser" type weight loss program for citizens instead of offering free surgery, it should be the last resort if diet and exercise doesn't work. Here's a new study and Kuwait is number one. (link)

Change for expats is coming to Kuwait

There were several articles about change coming to Kuwait in the Kuwait Times today. The country has been sleeping for so many years and finally change may be coming. Of course there is still "wasta" so there will still be people getting around the new laws but alas something is better than nothing.

Conditions for obtaining driver's licenses: (link)

Visa restrictions: (link)

Opinion by Labeed Abdal: (link)

I find it funny that in the beginning of the sentence it states the new law but further down talks about all the exemptions to the law. I guess time will tell if any of this talk will have any positive results. I just wish I could go back to 2005 when I could drive from Marina Mall to Fintas in 12 minutes. These days you can't get out of your parking space in 12 minutes, gone are the days of wanting to go out for fun, sadly any outing has to have a strategy on how to avoid traffic. Once upon a time everyone waited for summer months so everyone would leave and Kuwait would be empty, I really miss those days.

I'm thinking about changing jobs but when I went for the interview the place was in an over crowded area and getting out would take about an hour or more. It seems everyone has to consider the traffic and area instead of just the salary.

Million dollar cake stand for Sultan Qaboos

The Sultan of Oman must have a thing for English tea time considering his custom made million dollar cake stand.

 "Flown by private plane from Essex to Oman, this £1 million cake stand was commissioned by the Sultan of Oman to give his tea times a touch of English elegance.

The 14ft-high solid silver masterpiece was made by Christopher Lawrence, 78, a silversmith from Westcliff, Essex.

He proudly made it for the Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said, 72, who has an estimated £470m fortune.
Master silversmith Mr Lawrence created the cake stand 14 years ago, but has only now revealed the story.

The lavish one ton cake stand still serves the Sultan's guests at his palace in the Gulf.

Mr Lawrence explained: 'It was made in my workshop at home, and I then had to check that it all fitted together. So I erected it in the garden." (link)

I bet Prince Al Waleed of KSA doesn't have one of those.

Comic Con Dubai 2013

Comic Con is in Dubai for it's second year and will be bigger and better!

 

 

Location: Dubai International Marine Club, Mina Seyahi Hall

Tickets:
1 Day- 75 AED
2 Days- 135 AED
VIP- 500 AED

Contact: MEFCC Facebook MEFCC Website   or call 971 4 4474344

Kuwaiti Taxi Drivers

The buzz lately around Kuwait is about the 100,000 expats to be pushed out of Kuwait annually. The expats react by asking who will work our jobs and Kuwait cannot survive without them. I read a comment about who will work as taxi drivers, well there are already Kuwaiti taxi drivers who have been doing their job for many years already. When I first came to Kuwait I saw them driving huge station wagons like the ones from the Brady Bunch show.

 

These days they have their green and white cars waiting outside the terminal for customers. The picture below is of the fleet on the back side of the terminal. From what I've heard they can be a little grouchy sometimes. 

 

 

Another important service announcement, there is construction at the airport on lower level so traffic is a bigger nightmare than usual.

It has been a long time since I went to the airport but I saw they had replaced the sheesha place with a McDonalds. There should be more restaurants to choose from like Dairy Queen, they have that in the Bahraini airport.

CIK article featured in Huffington Post- Woohoo!

CIK and Z District blogs were featured on the Huffington Post website. A Reddit user had uploaded photos of the "Villa Akbar" house in Kuwait. Huffington Post saw the picture and did an article about the house featuring posts from CIK and Z District, how cool is that?

Quote from HP:

"Upon doing some research we learned that this home is located in Mubarak Al-Kabeer, and someone wrote a blog about how it's the "ugliest house in Kuwait." There's also another post from Crazy In Kuwait, where the author suggests that interior designer Nate Berkus comes to transform the mansion. "Quick! Someone call Oprah and have her buddy Nate take a flight to Kuwait and help this poor guy out with some decorating tips!"

*Getting my Oscar speech ready*

Polaroid is Back- Socialmatic 2014

Remember the old school Polaroid pictures from back in the days? I loved those! 

 

 Shake it, shake it, shake it like a Polaroid picture....

News Flash!!!!

Polaroid/Socialmatic will be coming out with the new Polaroid type camera in 2014!

(concept picture)

 

The square camera lets users add Instagram filters before printing out their picture as a postcard-sized photograph or uploading it to the internet using built-in WiFi capability.                                                (link)
 

Something light weight to fit in your bag and voila! instant print of your photo!
 

The world's most influential Arabs- Top 500

It's that time of year for Prince Alwaleed to top every list out there. He is once again the world's most influential Arab so I hope he doesn't whine and complain with this list as he did with the Forbes list. Kuwait takes 27 places which doesn't seem like a lot and some of those who were on the list last year dropped significantly. You can check out the list here.

What do you buy the man who has everything?

Janet's hubby Wissam Al Mana bringing luxury empire to Kuwait

It seems Janet Jackson might come visit Kuwait someday since her husband Wissam Al-Mana is bringing his luxury empire to Kuwait, according to the Brand Manager position for Al Mana Retail on Bayt.com the fashion brand is set to hit Kuwait within the next three months and 4-8 other stores in Qatar and Kuwait will open within the next two years. He is already a stakeholder in Sak's Fifth Avenue in Dubai, Bahrain and Kuwait as well. I wonder if he is a friend or foe of Al-Shaya?

You heard it here first!

Kuwait to cut expats by 100,000 yearly

Kuwait to cut expats by 100,000 yearly:

FOREIGN WORKERS TO CAP AT ONE MILLION IN 10 YEARS

KUWAIT CITY, March 19, (KUNA): Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Thikra Al-Rashidi on Tuesday said her ministry was taking necessary measures to reduce the number of foreign workers in Kuwait by 100,000 annually.

“The strategy envisages bringing down the total number of expatriate workers to only one million in 10 years,” Al-Rashidi said in a statement to KUNA.

“It’s part of the Ministry’s efforts to regulate the labor market, curb the phenomenon of marginal labor and restore the demographic equilibrium of the country,” she explained.

The Ministry decided to stop approving invitations for foreign workers in whatever form as of April 1, 2013, while handling the already-issued invitations,” Al-Rashidi disclosed.

The Ministry has joined the joint committee on online hookup of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Kuwait Municipality, she revealed.

Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry has been tasked with providing the legal definition of a businessman while inspectors will verify the abidance of employers nationwide by the legal regulations.

With Wasta there will still be people coming in. Now, if they would get rid of Wasata then the country might start moving ahead.

Things to do in Kuwait- Al Qurain Martyr's Museum



The Al-Messilah band of resistance fighters decided to battle against the Iraqi forces from their home in Qurain. As 20 of their 31 members made their plans on February 24, 1991, an Iraqi patrol knocked on their door thus starting the beginning of the battle which lasted for 10 hours. Three members were killed in battle, nine were captured and executed, two of them were found hiding in the attic but were saved when an Iraqi soldier decided to overlook them and six escaped before the battle ended.

The attic where two members were hiding.

You can visit the Kuwait Invasion: The Evidence website for original pictures from 1991.

Kuwait compensates protesting Iraqi farmers

 Kuwait has compensated several Iraqi farmers in a bid to ease tensions over the demarcation of the countries’ border, which involved demolishing three houses, Kuwait Times has reported.The oil-rich nation had agreed to build 200 houses for the affected Iraqi farmers, 3 kilometres from the border, the newspaper said.

Tensions between the neighbouring countries recently escalated as Kuwait attempted to enforce a UN-backed border demarcation that Iraq agreed to in 1994 following the first Gulf War when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait before being pushed out by a US-led coalition.Many Iraqis oppose the border ruling, claiming it has robbed them of property and territory.

Last week they protested by throwing stones. Iraqi police said the protesting crowd hurled stones at security forces in the border town of Um Qasr, prompting the security forces to fire in the air to disperse them, Reuters reported.Kuwaiti border guards who heard the gunshots believed they were being targeted and opened fire at Iraqi security forces in response. There were no reports of casualties on either side.

However, Kuwait’s foreign relations committee secretary, Taher Al-Failakawi, said 205 kilometres of border markers from Salmi to Umm Qasr had been repaired without incident and with cooperation from Iraqis, Kuwait Times said.(link)

Kuwait can't build houses for Kuwaiti citizens but they can build houses for Iraqis, I wonder what  the martyrs would think about that?

60's Kuwaiti restaurant in Hawalli

My mom told me about an old Kuwaiti restaurant she visited and I had to check it out. It's in Hawalli across from the Beirut building on the Mezzanine floor. It's pretty big with one side for single men and the other side for families. I love the decorations!

We ordered my marubian, hamoor fish in tomato sauce, gaboot and margooga, Yum!

We completed the meal with hot tea and gaimat..... totally stuffed and had leftovers to take home.

Emirati graduates eye $7,300 monthly salary for first job - Education - ArabianBusiness.com

We thought Kuwaiti graduates asked for a lot.....

Emirati graduates in the UAE are seeking pay of up toAED27,000 (US$7,300) for their first job and prefer working in the public sector, according to the findings of a new poll.

A study by recruitment firm GulfTalent.com found 86 percentand 66 percent of Emirati male and female graduates, respectively, favouredconditions in the public sector, citing higher salaries and greater jobsecurity.

Just 4 percent of male graduates and 10 percent of femalegraduates claimed they wanted to work in the private sector.

The report, which was conducted in association with tenuniversities in the UAE, also found that Abu Dhabi investment vehicle Mubadalawas the most popular working destination for new graduates, followed by AbuDhabi National Oil Company, Masdar and Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation.

The only private company to make GulfTalent.com’s list ofmost popular employers for Emirati graduates was advertising agency LeoBurnett, which ranked 12. Government-owned Emirates Airline came in at 7 in thestudy.

In terms of salary expectations, male Emiratis said theyexpected AED27,000 per month pay for a first time job, whereas women eyed anAED19,000 pay packet. (link)

Car Accidents in Kuwait

I'm not sure what happened but it involved a Jeep, Maxima and a light pole on highway 30.

Another daily accident on the roads in Kuwait.

30,000 expats to lose Kuwaiti government jobs

Changes coming to Kuwait?

About 30,000 expatriates employed by the Kuwaiti government are expected to lose their jobs after parliament approved a new legislation capping the percentage of foreigners allowed in the public sector.

Lawmakers on Monday agreed to reduce the percentage of expats employed by the government from 28 percent to 20 percent, according to Kuwait Times.

Presently, 109,000 of the 386,000 government employees are expats. If the legislation is implemented immediately, that means 30,000 would be fired, the newspaper reported.

The MPs did not reveal when the change would come into force.

The legislation also requires the Civil Service Commission to employ Kuwaiti nationals within six months of receiving a job application or pay the salary expected from the requested job.

A proposal to raise government employees’ salaries also was approved, although it was not stipulated by how much or when the pay rise would be implemented, with the details to be determined by the financial and economic affairs committee.

Kuwaiti MPs recently have been attempting to crack down on the country’s expats – who make up almost two-thirds of the population.

In the past month, proposals have been put forward to charge expats higher fees for some medical services and to designate specific times that expats and nationals can seek medical care.(link)

Baqala Convenient Store on Highway 40

The new gas stations are being built with convenient stores but most are still empty. This one is of  Highway 40 before the 210 exit. It's nice and clean and has a Subway restaurant inside.

It almost reminds me of home minus the fountain drink machine, slurpee machine and hot dogs.

Money = Sick Cars

Some new cars coming soon so get your wallets ready. First is a new Rolls 4x4 concept car. It looks kind of weird but anyone who has the money to show it off will want it even if they don't like it.

Then we have the new Rolls-Royce Wraith which will be one of the fastest Rolls so far. I think it's kind of manly.

Although I love the Rolls-Royce Phantom it would come second to my all time favorite Lamborghini Murcielago. Now Lamborghini has come out with the Veneno (named after a lethal fighting bull). They cost over 3 million dollars and will have three different designs as a tribute to Lamborghini's 50th anniversary. There will only be three made and they are already sold. I wonder if one of the buyers is from the GCC?

Next thing to do is check out Wrecked Exotics website to see if any of these cars will come up crashed.