Author: Mark

A reader emailed me saying that all ISP’s have started applying a fair access policy meaning they will now be placing limits on our bandwidth. I checked the Qualitynet website since they’re my provider and noticed that at the bottom of their DSL page it states “Terms and Condition & Fair Usage Policy Apply.” I figured that was something that was always there but I checked the google cache version of the page and noticed it wasn’t there before.

Of course I freaked out and quickly called Qualitynet, the support guy I spoke to didn’t know what fair usage policy was but after explaining it to him he said there is a temporary limit imposed at the moment due to a technical problem but once it’s solved everything will be back to normal and we won’t have any limits. Hopefully that turned out to be true because I would hate to have a limit.

Here are the links to all the ISP’s where fair usage policy is mentioned:

Gulfnet: https://gulfnet.com.kw/web/FAP.html
Qualitynet: https://www.qualitynet.net/?page_id=269
KEMS: https://www.kems.net/price_list_new.aspx?id=1
Fast Telco: https://www.fasttelco.net/AxCMSTemplates/FAP_1471.pdf

Thanks Ebrahim

[YouTube]

I’ve posted about MILSIM before [Here] and [Here] but in case you missed it MILSIM is short for military simulation. It’s an outdoor activity where unlike paintball you use very realistic weapons and the game focuses more on strategy than running around shooting randomly. Anyway they’re now open in Shaab Park, I haven’t been there yet but you can see a bit of the place in the video above in which they demonstrate some of the weapons you get to use. If you need more information you can visit their website [Here]

Hairspray is the latest musical performed by the Kuwait Little Theater. It’s directed by Kirsty McDonagh with an all singing, all dancing KLT cast of talented actors. Most of the performances are already sold out but they still have some openings available so if you’re interested you need to book right away.

Location: Kuwait Little Theater
Dates still available: May 17th, 18th, 24th and 25th
Time: 7:30pm
Price: KD5 per person

You can book online [Here]
or call the Box office on 99373678

For more information visit the [KLT Website]

I just heard awhile ago from a source that Tesco and Sultan Center have just worked out a deal where Tesco will supply Sultan Center with an extensive range of British lines. This will include Tesco products and British brands that are not yet available in the region. I don’t know how reliable this source is so count this information as a rumor for now but if it is true it contradicts my previous post in which I said that Alshaya was bringing Tesco to Kuwait. Or maybe both things can happen?

I watched Limitless last night here in Beirut since my only other options were Scream 4 (crap) and Pirates of the Carrabian (more crap). I wasn’t expecting it to be great but it ended up exceeding my expectations. It was entertaining without any slow parts and it left a good impression on me way after the movie was over. There might be less than a handful of scenes cut in Kuwait (mostly kissing scenes) but nothing that would take away from the movie. I highly recommend it.

Not sure whats up with Marina Crescent and whale sharks but this is the second time one has gotten stranded there. Back in July 2009 a whale shark got stuck there and ended up being rescued using the marine parachute bed. [YouTube]

Back in October I posted about a reader who’s neighbor installed telecom transceivers on his roof and covered them up to look like decorations. After complaining to the baladiya they came and removed the telecom towers a few weeks ago. So a happy ending right? Well a few days ago another neighbor suddenly had what looks like a water tower popup on his roof. After careful inspection turns out there were telcom transceivers hidden inside them.

So now he’s going to go back to the baladiya to complain again. This time he knows the correct department to talk to so the towers should get removed pretty quickly. It is illegal to place telecom transceivers on the roof tops of residential buildings. So know your rights and know how to spot them.

Just watched Thor tonight here in Lebanon. I don’t think anything would be cut in Kuwait, maybe just 1 kissing scene and that’s about it. It’s a good movie to watch, dragged slightly somewhere around the middle but other than that it was entertaining. I sadly watched it in 3D since there wasn’t a 2D option available. Is there anyone who actually enjoys wearing glasses to watch a movie? Does anyone really care about 3D movies? Thor is not worth watching in 3D, if you have a choice watch the non 3D version.

A reader shared with me a story that happened to him recently which I found shocking and wanted to share on the blog. I don’t have anyway of verifying his story but if it is true then it’s pretty messed up and freaky. Below is his story slightly edited by me.

Two weeks ago, I got jumped by five guys! Yep, five guys. It all started in the gas station, where this SUV loaded with these a-holes eyeballing me for no obvious reason. I have never met them in my life. So I gased up my car and left not caring about them or causing any trouble.. I mean come on who am I to cause any trouble with an SUV loaded with muscular guys.. I was alone.

So I left.. as I entered some dark parking lot, this SUV appears and blocks me! And they come out running towards me, so I obviously shift to reverse and let my foot give an orgasm to the pedal. BUT! They run back into the car and follow me, RAMMING ME.. yes, this is in Kuwait.. just like in the movies, they’re ramming and whacking the shit out of my 2009 Corvette and trying to block me, they did that for like 5 or 6 km! Everyone was looking at them just basically ramming me trying to stop me, I managed to escape to a main street where people would see me and help! Finlly, they hit me from the left rear and my car spins and ends up a few meters away from the street light!

And the story doesn’t end there. After everything they did one would think they’d run away or something but that didn’t happen. They got out of their car came over to mine and beat the shit out of me! All of them! Can you imagine? Everyone on the street was just standing there watching not helping. What the hell, am I being executed? I was shocked, alone and helpless.

The reason he emailed me is he wanted to know the legality of self defense weapons like stun guns and pepper spray. If you had one would it be legal to use in a situation like his? Is there a store in Kuwait the sells self defense weapons? I don’t know what I would have done in his situation.

Update: Below is a picture of the rear of the car. Note the rear wheel…

Update2: Here are more shots plus a map of where the incident took place. This was also in the papers.

Here is a large size of the map [Picture]

Update3: Here is an update I just received which explains a lot of things. It wasn’t a random attack and it did involve a girl.

I had my girlfriend with me and the reason why I was going to the parking lot is to drop her to her car. After the investigation it appears that the SUV’s driver is her ex-bf which she left over a year ago.. Some fucking grudge huh? And one of the guys with him is his younger brother, and rest are his friends.

I didn’t want to give out that information since I didn’t want it to interfere with the investigation or whatever, I’m telling you now because I made sure that it is ok to talk about the incident and won’t cause me any legal issues.

Anyhow, the girl was with me the whole time and they beat her up too! And the reason why no one in the street helped is because the guys were yelling “it’s a family/honor matter” Which it’s not! I tried to explain to them on the spot but no one listened.

When the police came, all of the guys managed to escape except the driver. But they eventually got them because their were a lot of witnesses. And of course, they’re denying everything they did!

Last summer a group of students from the Kuwait University went on a trip to the Himalayas. They first arrived to New Delhi in India and then took an 18 hour bus ride to Manali. They stayed there for 3 days prepping and then headed on a 5 day trek of the Himalayas. Whats cool is they actually filmed their trip and uploaded it onto YouTube. They’ve got them divided up into 5 parts and you can check them [Here]

The video above is a quick summary of their trip. Looks like something I would want to do one day.

Since I’m traveling for five days I decided to give my diet the finger tonight and headed towards Dandosh right after my gym to get a kebab. I first ordered a chicken shawerma since I wanted to make up my mind on if it’s better than Badar Al Badoor or not. After careful consideration I believe that Badar Al Badoor still has the better shawerma.

The second thing I ordered was the double kebab sandwich. I didn’t know they did the double until a reader pointed it out. While a single kebab sandwich costs 300fils a double costs 500fils and involves two kebab skewers. Personally I think I prefer the single kebab since it’s easier to eat but single or double the kebabs are amazing.

When I was done I decided to head over to Tabab and try their kebabs as well. I’ve heard A LOT about Tabab but never had the chance to try them out until tonight. I ordered a single kebab sandwich and since I had it right after Dandosh I found it easier to compare. Tabab didn’t seem as popular or packed as Dandosh and I don’t think anyone goes there for their shawermas.

People go to Tabab for their kebabs and thats actually the center of attention at the shop. The large kebab grill is outside the shop right in the middle with the cashier right next to it. I thought the Tabab kebabs were a lot juicier and greasier than Dandosh. Taste wise is where things get tricky. The Tabab kebabs taste great when you’re eating them but once you’re done all the taste is gone. On the other hand with Dandosh, while you’re eating the kebabs there isn’t much taste but once you’re done there is an amazing tingling flavor which really makes me want more.

But in the end there has to be one winner, or maybe two? Since both Dandosh and Tabab are near each other I would recommend you pass by Tabab first, eat a kebab there and then head over to Dandosh and have another. But, if I was stuck on an island and had to choose only one kebab place to be there with me… I would go for Dandosh. After I had a single kebab at Tabab I managed to leave without craving another. Dandosh on the other hand… I leave by force. To me that’s a sign of a great kebab.

Here is Dandosh on [Google Maps]
Here is Tabab on [Google Maps]

I found out the other day that you can actually order items from Amazon.co.jp and have them shipped to you via a mail forwarding company called Tenso to your Aramex mail forwarding mailbox in New York. This opens a whole new door on gadgets we can buy and price wise it seems pretty reasonable.

Basically you need to open an account with tenso.com who are a company that specialize in forwarding products from Japan to other parts of the world. Their prices are ok, I checked how much it would cost for 1KG and it turned out to be approximately KD10 including their service fee and shipping fee. Once you have an account with them (free to setup) you can order items from Amazon Japan and pay with your Kuwaiti card or order from other Japanese websites or even the Japanese eBay Yahoo auctions. When you place your order you give them your Tenso address in the same way you give US sites your Aramex address. Once the package arrives to your Japanese mailbox they will ship the item to your US mailbox. They sadly don’t ship directly to Kuwait. They also don’t ship batteries so if you order say a camera, they will remove the battery before they ship it to you. You also might have to pay US customs depending on the items you order.

I know there are quite a few negatives but it’s still good to have this option. Check out tenso.com by clicking [Here]

Update: I was just told another option for buying from Japan is using the site From Japan. From what I understood they ship to Kuwait directly as well. Check them [Here]

Here’s a quick spoiler, I’m very disappointed. When I first saw pictures of the X100 I fell in love with it right away but after playing with the camera all day I’m having trouble understanding how Fuji went wrong with this. The issues this camera has aren’t major but there are many which I am going to try and go through some below.

The first issue is with the Menu/OK button on the rear (pictured above). I read a lot of complaints online about how the button is too small and very difficult to press. I thought psshhht whatever, can’t be that bad. Well it IS that bad, I don’t know how the engineers at Fuji missed this but the button is tiny and nearly impossible to press. Every time I try to press it I end up pressing up or down instead. It’s really bad and very annoying when you’re trying to quickly select an option or delete a file since you keep missing the OK button and spend wasted seconds going up and down instead.

The second issue is with the focusing. It doesn’t focus! It’s ridiculous how terrible the focus system on the camera is. At first I thought I was having problems focusing on low contrast objects but I was just checking some portrait shots I took today and I don’t think any one of them is focused properly. Another issue with the focus is the fact the camera thinks macro mode is like a mile away. With most cameras you need to activate the macro mode when you get super close to objects but with the X100 you have to activate macro mode on objects that are more than 50cm away. And if that’s not bad enough after you’re done taking a picture in macro mode the camera puts it back in regular mode so if you have to shoot another shot in macro you need to activate it again. Finally when in macro mode the optical view finder turns into an electric view finder (which I hate) so during my shoot today the camera spent a lot of time swapping between the two modes and it annoyed the hell out of me.

There are some cool things about the camera, just not enough to make me want to get it. I love the retro look and the metal body although I do wish it was a bit heavier. The X100 has something called a hybrid viewfinder where information is displayed on top of what you’re seeing through the viewfinder. Hard to explain but imagine looking through a view finder and seeing information displayed on top of your subjects [Check this visual]. Some reviewers online complained about the start up speed and recording speed but it didn’t cause me any issues when I was shooting.

Now compared to my GF1 I prefer the GF1 in every way except for two things, the knobs and the optical view finder. I really like the exposure dial on top of the X100, it’s similar to the one I have on the Canon G11 and it’s a knob that should be on top of all the cameras. The shutter speed and aperture ring around the lens are also two things the X100 has and I wish the GF1 had as well. Lastly I wish the GF1 had an optical viewfinder like the X100. The X100 has both an optical viewfinder and an electronic one which you can swap between. I don’t care for the EVF, I have it on my GF1 and would rather have a proper optical viewfinder instead like the X100. Size wise the GF1 is slightly smaller and heavier than the X100. Focusing, although the GF1 isn’t that great focusing and although it gives me trouble every now and then it’s like ten times better than the X100, that’s how bad the X100 is.

Basically because I got to try out the X100 I’ve decided to cancel my Amazon.com order and stick with my Panasonic GF1. I really really wanted to love the X100 but I didn’t enjoy using it and if I’m not going to enjoy using it then whats the point in getting it? Now keep in mind my review was based on my experience with the camera in one day. There are a ton of better reviews online which I’ve listed at the end of this post. But personally I had issues with the camera shooting today and ones that would effect my ability to take shots the way I want. I’m not a great photographer and need every help I can get out of the camera and I felt the X100 was holding me back with some of it’s annoyances. Below are some pictures I took with the X100, they’re not as is from the camera since I’ve color processed them.

The X100 is available on Amazon for around $1,200 [Amazon Link]

Here are some reviews online:
Luminous Landscape 1
Luminous Landscape 2
The Pictorial
DigitalRev
Steve Huff Photo 1
Steve Huff Photo 2
Steve Huff Photo 3
Enticing the light 1
Enticing the light 2
Enticing the light 3
Photo Radar
ePhotozine
DC Resource
135 Street

Since on Friday I didn’t cheat the way I wanted to I decided I would sneak in 1 kebab sandwich from Dandosh after my gym yesterday (don’t tell Fahad) based on the recommendations of some readers. I made sure I carried only 500 fils with me since I wanted to control my intake and 500 fils would buy me just one sandwich which costs 300 fils. I ordered my kebab with just tahina and fries and started eating it. It tasted like every other kebab I’ve had and was actually kind of let down. Then suddenly the aftertaste kicked in, wow what a shocker. I don’t know what’s in the sandwich but the aftertaste is just incredible. It has a slight tingling sensation since it’s kinda spicy but not too much and for some reason this tingling sensation kicks in around a minute after finishing the sandwich. Since I only had 200 fils left I checked to see if I had any change in my car and I found exactly 400 fils. So I went back and ended up eating two more sandwiches. I think they have the best kebab sandwiches in Kuwait, I left after 3 sandwiches still wanting more… or maybe it’s because I’ve been deprived from this kind of food for too long. Here is Dandosh on [Google Maps]

Paris Hilton has a reality show called My New BFF which I’ve watched once before by mistake. The show is about Paris Hilton looking for a new best friend and it involves a bunch of guys and girls all trying out for that position. Well the show has now moved to Dubai and one of the contestants is a Kuwaiti girl called Reem Al Alnezi (pictured above). The Dubai version of the show doesn’t have any male contestants which means I am not in the running to be Paris Hilton’s best friend. That’s ok though since the only thing we had in common anyway was our love for Hardees.

Here is a link to photos from My New BFF Dubai [Link]

Thanks Fatemah