Category: Information

I just heard that the former Crown Prince and Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah has passed away. I am trying to find some news about this online but as of this post no online news site has posted about it.

Update: The news has started appearing online. [Link]

Looks like its going to a food day on this blog. I hate it when I post about a certain topic and then by coincidence end up with a number of posts around the same topic, in this case food. A reader (SJM MUKI) just emailed me the flyer of the new fondue at Häagen-Dazs here in Kuwait and from the picture it looks reallllly good. According to the flyer the fondue costs KD7.500 and is enough for 4 people.

A reader in the forum (aglocogirl) just posted pictures of the Beef Festival menu at Cheeburger Cheeburger in Souk Salmiya. I already reviewed them when they first opened and their burgers were pretty ok but now with the Beef Festival they’ve heavily discounted their prices which makes them more tempting.

20 ounce burger was KD3.250 and now is KD1.750
3/4lb burger was KD2.450 and now is KD1.450
1/2lb burger was KD2.250 and now is KD1.250
1/3lb burger was KD2.050 and now is KD1.150
5.5 ounce burger was KD1.750 now is KD1.050

That prices are pretty cheap specially for the super large 20 ounce burger which I think I have to try. Oh and I haven’t forgotten about The Burger Challenge, I should start passing by more burger joints again very soon.

I’ve had a ton of people ask me what I thought of Syria so I figured I would dedicate a post to it. I had heard sooo much negative stuff about Syria that I arrived expecting the worst but it wasn’t that bad. Border security didn’t give me any issues even though I had a Canadian passport. No one asked for a bribe or even hinted to wanting something. The road from the borders to Damascus was gorgeous and reminded me of the drive from LA to Vegas. Damascus is and looks really old and everyone seems very poor but one things for sure, they sure know how to make the most amazing kebabs. The first night I had dinner at a restaurant called Abu Kamal and they had the best kebab’s I ever tried. The restaurant had been around for over 60 years so I figured they had time to get the formula right but next day for lunch I stopped by this random kebab place on the street and again I had the best kebab I’ve ever had! How the hell is it so easy for them to get kebab so perfect?? I could probably walk into a bakala and ask for kebab and it would be the best kebab in the world. The prices are also sooo cheap!

The hotel I stayed in was called Semiramis Hotel. The website says its 5 stars but I don’t know how thats possible. The hotel was decent, I am guessing for Syrian standards its like superb but it really was just standard. The room was big and the location of the hotel was right in the city, walking distance from a lot of things. I had some free time the next morning and headed to the famous Syrian souk (forgot the name) which was ok I guess, not my style.

The airport was the biggest disappointment. Its old, small, unorganized, dirty and boring. But my Damascus stay wasn’t bad, I wouldn’t go there on a vacation but I didn’t mind passing through.

My escape from Lebanon was a long and adventurous one. Looking back at it now it was an interesting experience but while I was in the car on my way to the Syrian border it was a completely different story. I wasn’t afraid or anything but I really didn’t like the idea that at any moment the road will be blocked and I would have to turn back and cancel my whole trip.

The roads from Lebanon to Syria were randomly getting blocked with burning tires, rocks and sand mounds. There were a lot of taxis offering to take people to the border but none could guarantee you would get there because of the way roads were getting blocked randomly. I needed a “sure thing” and this is why one of my relatives hooked me up with this guy who managed to arrange a series of rides from one area to another until I finally got to Damascus.

The main theory behind changing cars after every area is that the drivers would be very familiar with the roads. So for example if I take a car with a guy who lives in the neighborhood, if one road is blocked he would know another way out and if that road is also blocked he would know another way. By the end of my journey I had taken 6 cars including one that was a van that carried fish! As you can see from the photos, we didn’t stay on the main roads or even the inside roads, we spent most of the time on muddy farmland trails.

The Syrian border I went to (Daboosiyeh) was pretty empty but thats because the roads to get to that border were all blocked. I had some friends who had left much earlier in the day and had gotten stuck at another Syrian border for over 6 hours. Nat did a great job in getting me a Jazeera Airlines ticket before they got sold out and then managed to find me a room in a hotel to stay in even though most hotels in Damascus were fully booked. Anyway I am back and its good to be back but I will be leaving again in a couple of days to Munich.

Varouj is an incredible Armenian restaurant located in a tight backstreet of Bourj Hammoud in Lebanon. The place is tiny on the inside with only 4 tables and the restaurant is run by a father and son, the son cooks while the father takes care of the guests. Anyone who’s watched the Seinfeld episode with the soup Nazi will feel right at home in Varouj because the father is Lebanon’s version of the soup Nazi.

What makes Varouj unique other than the really good food is the character of the father. We were five people having lunch and we were ordering the cold appetizers when the father decided we had enough appetizers and walked away. He wouldn’t let us order any more. Then when he felt it was time he came to us and asked us what hot dishes we wanted and while we were ordering he again told us that he thought we had enough and walked off. We wanted frogs for example but he refused telling us we already had enough dishes. Then later he even decided to cancel one of our other dishes. So we ordered frogs again and again but he kept telling us we didn’t need it. The table behind us called the father and told him they wanted some soujouk and makanek (kinds of sausages) and he told them not now later. Its crazy. He also wouldn’t remove a dish from the table unless it was wiped clean.

The food was delicious, we ordered: hommos, moutabal, fattoush, loubyeh, batata harra, labneh, tongue, spleen, kibeh neyeh, sheep balls, little birds, chicken liver, chicken wings, basterma, soujouk and makanek. All the dishes were the best I have ever tasted.

The way everything is priced is also interesting. Basically nothing is priced and there is no menu. You go in, you order what you want and in the end he will tell you how much you need to pay and you don’t even get a receipt. Our bill came out exactly 100$ but according to my friend if we had ordered less or more the bill would have still come out the same. If you are planning a trip to Lebanon this is a place you need to try if you want a taste of local cuisine. The best way to find the place is to ask a taxi driver in Bourj Hammoud to take you or give the father a call on 03-882933

I just wanted to congratulate Mahmood and Bahrain for ranking #8 on the sinful capitals of the world list. There was a lot of strong competition this year but they managed to do pretty well, even better than Dubai which didn’t even make the top 10 list surprisingly. The criteria to enter the sin cities list is pretty simple: The country needs to offer a strong presence of gambling, sex, drinking, drugs, and/or partying. For the full top 10 list click [Here]

Who knew there were so many different kinds of ice cubes. The one pictured above is called the Orchid Ice and actually contains an orchid flower inside. When you get to the page just click “next” on the top to flip between the different ice cubes. [Link]

Cinemagic’s screening of The Kite Runner has been postponed till next week due to bad weather.

The people from FASTtelco have responded to our post ‘FASTtelco hates bloggers’; We have included FT’s response (and our reply) below. As it is a fairly long post (contrary to usual 248am postings), you will need to click ‘Continue reading‘ for the rest of the post.

Remember a months back when we informed Fasttelco users that their personal information was being leaked by their ISP.

Well, their official response by their Marketing Manager, Ali Dervasi, was that our post is “propaganda” to further our “history of hostility against FASTtelco“.

Sorry to burst your conspiracy bubble .. but we don’t carry any ill will towards any companies, just their services (or lack thereof). As for our ‘propaganda’ post .. In addition to FTs users experiencing the issue (and posting screenshots), Google themselves confirmed that there was a problem. And our “history of hostility” is a direct result of FT’s poor service, which isn’t limited to the following: blocking sites, high prices, false advertising, security issues and all-around shitty ads.

FT needs to take a step back and reevaluate their services (and prices) before pointing fingers at its users. The other ISPs have stepped up their services and offerings (except for UCC, they are terrible). Reading reviews on blogs and through word-of-mouth, end customers are more aware of the alternatives available. Until FT fixes its issues, I continue using (and recommending) الخمطة بربع.

Link to original article [here]

Posted by K.

As most of you might have noticed I have a new sponsor on the blog, Gulf Insurance Company. They’ve basically launched a new service where people can just log into their website and sign up for one of their insurance plans, here is their press release with more info:

GIC unveils its online insurance services
Gulf Insurance Company (GIC) … Kuwait’s most preferred insurance solutions provider is proud to announce its online range of individual insurance products via: www.clickgic.com

GIC’s valued customers can now simply login and insure their vehicles, Jet Ski’s, yachts, pleasure boats, domestic servants and travel insurance including family members and pay for such services online by K-Net, Visa or MasterCard in a fully secure environment.

Once the policy is purchased, GIC will send a policy confirmation email to the customer along with an SMS to the customer’s mobile phone advising policy number. The customer will have access to his policy and check information of the same any time by logging on www.clickgic.com and by keying in policy number and civil ID number for prompt display of all policy information.

Customers have the option of collecting their policies themselves from any of GIC’s 15 branches or request for a free delivery of the policy within 24 hours to the location of their choice in Kuwait. Customers however can print the motor comprehensive, domestic helpers and travel insurance policies directly from the comfort of their homes or offices.

GIC is currently offering its online customers a special discount of 10% on the Motor and Marine Third Party Liability policy premiums.

Simply log on to www.clickgic.com and see for yourselves GIC’s distinct wide ranging products and services and the ease and convenience of its use!

Anyway the reason for this post is that GIC want your feedback on their website. So if you have any comments on their website just leave it below.

The phase two of Avenues has opened up, I think the launch was two days ago. Anyway only three stores are currently open in that section plus the food court which had McDonalds and the other chains have now moved to phase two along with a couple of new ones.

Proud to be Kuwaiti is a foundation that was formed to recognize and encourage the youth of Kuwait to depend on themselves and establish their own business by giving their skills and talent a chance to shine. A ton of already established and new local businesses will be coming together in one place on April 30th at the Arraya Ballroom for a large exhibition including 6alabat.com, Q8Flowers.com, Burger Boutique, J’s Bakery, Slider Station, Munch, LoFat, Choowy Goowy, Thouq, Truth or Dare, Extreme Sports, Pink Moon and a lot more.

For more information on the event you can visit the Proud to be Kuwaiti website www.p2bk.com

Update: I was just informed that Burger Boutique, Slider Station and
Falafel & Co., are not participating in this event even though they are listed. It seems the organizers are placing companies without their consent. I also noticed LUSH on the list, I don’t know how that is the case since LUSH is not a local company, its an international franchise.

I came back to Kuwait last night and I have to say I was pretty disappointed with Jordan. The country is very poor which I found very shocking since I was expecting it to be something of a combination of Lebanon and Kuwait. The King and Queen seem very sophisticated and down to earth which is why its even more confusing why things are the way they are there. The Jordanian people are extremely nice, reminded me a lot of the hospitality of Bahraini people. Things I missed and would like to try the next time I am there: the falafels at Hashem, the burger at Lebnani and the Blouzaat store.