Author: Mark

I was excited when I first found out Obika was opening and then even more excited when they did but for some reason I never ended up going there. I guess not many people did either since I heard they’re closing down. Too bad since it seemed like a healthy place to eat.

The American Japanese chain Benihana opened up yesterday for business and I passed by today and took a quick peek. The place is much larger than I expected since although it has a small shop front it actually expands quite a lot to the back and sides. I didn’t eat there but took a look at their menu and the prices seemed pretty good if not cheap in some cases at first glance. They had 6 pieces of crab maki for example for KD1.500, 6 pieces of California for KD2.500 and their most expensive special maki was like KD5. Their teppanyaki dishes ranged in price as well with some of their more expensive lobster dishes hitting around KD16. I’ll probably pass by sometime this week and try them out. I usually enjoy sitting at the sushi bar and their sushi bar looked pretty good and big.

Benihana is located in phase II of the Avenues, in the area behind the escalator next to Dean & Deluca. They officially launch on the 20th but are open for business right now.

Note: Picture above is from last week before they opened. They’re the shop in the corner with the red sign.

A reader emailed me telling me that Caribou Coffee and BlackBerry had teamed up for an offer where if you show them your BlackBerry phone you get a KD2.5 voucher. Luckily I got the email while I was having lunch at Leila (Salhiya) and there was a Caribou Coffee right next door. After lunch I decided to pass by and see if it was true or not and if there was a catch. Turned out the offer was actually better than what the reader had emailed me.

Go to a Carribou Coffee at one of the following locations:
360 Mall
Avenues Mall
Al Kout Mall
Sahiya Mall

You will find a BlackBerry representative. All you do is show him your BlackBerry and fill out a coupon (your name, phone number, email) and you will get the following in return:

– Free coffee
– Free donut
– Free original BlackBerry rubber sleeve for your BB
– KD2.5 voucher
– A chance to win a BlackBerry Torch

You don’t have to buy anything to get all the above. I went in got all the above and didn’t even take my wallet out of my pocket. Now that’s a really good deal. The offer is available every Thursday this month only.

Thanks Babar

A reader sent me two pictures of a very long queue at Geant right now. Seems they have an offer on Samsung 1080 phones, they’re selling it for KD1 and that includes when you buy a KD5 phone line.

Thanks Yousuf

GoNabit is an interesting website that’s been around for awhile now I guess but just recently included Kuwait. It’s a website where they have new offers all the time. Last week for example you could open up an Aramex Shop&Ship account for half price, today for example you can get a KD10 voucher to use at Diva’s for KD5 or you can pay KD10 and get a KD20 voucher to use at Saso Ocean Groove. They have limited quantity on these offers and once they run out they move over to the next offer. For each deal to work a minimum amount of people is required to sign up. For example for the Diva’s offer 10 people need to sign up for it at least. If 10 people sign up then the deal goes through and you get your voucher. If less than 10 people sign up then you get your money back and the offer is canceled. [Link]

Thanks Ghinoua

Update: I added more details on how GoNabit works

This is one of my favorite events that takes place in Kuwait so I definitely will be passing by. I hope they have some interesting cars this year like the Lexus LFA or the Land Rover Evoque.

The Kuwait International Fair Auto Show is one of the oldest automobile exhibitions in the Middle East. To this day, the Auto Show is growing remarkably and has positioned itself as one of the foremost automobile exhibitions in the Middle Eastern region. This must-attend event is held once every two years, and 2010 will see its appearance once again, providing a wealth of opportunities for exhibitors, sponsors and partner organizations.

When: December 12 to December 18, 2010
Where: Kuwait International Fair, Hall 5, 6, 7 & 8

For more information you can check out the KIF website [Here]

I’ve got two tickets to give away for tomorrow nights stand up comedy show starring Nemr Abou Nassar. These are the KD20 tickets for tomorrows 8PM showing. If you want the tickets just leave a funny comment in the post below and tonight at 9PM I will use random.org to select a winner. Please make sure you are in Kuwait, use a valid email address and post something funny (I need a good laugh today).

If the winner doesn’t respond to my email by tomorrow 9AM I will have to give the tickets to somebody else. For more information on this event click [Here]

Update: Random.org chose the number 21. Winner has been contacted.

I love how all these random videos of Kuwait from the 80s are starting to pop up. This one is of a car exhibition that was held sometime in the mid 80s. [YouTube]

Just found this documentary about the KLT on their website. It’s really well made and interesting to watch (they’ve been around since 1948!). The documentary is divided into two parts, the first one is above and the second part if below. This is the description posted with the videos:

“From its humble beginnings as the KUOCO Independent Players in 1948 to its present day position as the leading amateur theater company in the region, Kuwait Little Theater (KLT) has undergone quite a transformation. Through archive footage, photos, interviews, and video clips dating back to the early days of The KLT, this documentary offers a fascinating stroll down memory lane of the busiest and best little theatre in Kuwait.

Join us on a journey back to times when sets were painted out in the 40 degree summer sun, theatrical lighting consisted of car headlamps, and staging a live performance in Kuwait meant closing down the local cinema for a night. Then, stroll through six decades of development as the Little Theatre is born and raised by a band of enthusiastic volunteers.

‘KLT – Celebrating 60 Years’ takes you on a journey, not only of the development of amateur theatre in Kuwait but also of the country at large as its members battle the climate, the culture and the aftermath of war to bring live entertainment to the stage year after year.”

Produced By – PANORAMA PICTURES (A division of Agrim Projects Services)
Script writer, Editor & Director – SONU SHARMA

Please write your reviews about this documentary to – [email protected]

Here is a link to the Kuwait Little Theater Documentary [Link]

I was at Dean & Deluca when I spotted the sign above and I could make out the word seedless underneath the sticker. I love seedless watermelons and always have them whenever I am in the States but never knew why we never got them in Kuwait. So I asked an employee there if they had any seedless watermelon and he told me they ran out but are getting some again in a couple of weeks. Finally seedless watermelons in Kuwait!

Found some high resolution photos of Kuwait back in 1982. Not too many photos just 20 but I hadn’t seen them before. [Link]

Thanks WTFDating

Firstly thank you to everyone who filled out the survey. I was originally hoping to get around 200 to 300 responses but instead I got 1,000 before I shut it down since I hit my account limit. I saved all the results as a PDF (total of 50 pages of small print) and have copied them over to my iPad so I could go through them. I’ve already got a ton of ideas in my head for the blog and I have a feeling 2011 is going to be a very busy year for me. Anyway below are some results of the survey I thought you might be interested in seeing.

Baskin Robbins have a buy one get one free offer just for today. You buy a single scoop and you get another single scoop free, buy a double and get another double free etc..

A reader emailed me saying she was on the 5th ring road and there was traffic because a pedestrian bridge had collapsed. Does anyone have any more info or pictures?

Oishi Nippon at Marina Crescent is opening today. Nat’s currently designing their menu and from what I saw they will have Japanese fruits, desserts and coffee and tea.

An interesting fact, I found out that in Japan fruits are sometimes given as gifts. I thought that was an interesting and healthy concept which I might pick up on since Oishi Nippon will be selling the Japanese fruits I had previous posted about. They even package them up as gifts for you.

Update: Nat just told me they opened up yesterday.

Update2: Sorry I mixed up in my post above. Turns out the place is called Kei Cafe and not Oishi Nippon. Oishi Nippon is the name of the fruit company.