2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003
Villa Moda started their summer sale on Saturday and it ends tomorrow (not sure about this). They have 35% off on most brands except for Gucci. Since they haven’t advertised their sale the place isn’t that packed. For more details on the sale you can call them up on 4827004. I tried calling them now to find out if the sale ended tomorrow but its 9AM and they are still closed.
Thanks Dana
K.thekuwaiti has a detailed write up on what is BlackBerry and the packages MTC are offering. If you are interested check out his blog. [Link]
This is a cool feature. It seems you can now make Google Images search for pictures of just faces. There isn’t a command available yet in the user interface but if you append &imgtype=face to the end of your search result url, it will filter the images and just display the ones that are of faces.
For example try these two links:
A search for images of Kuwait
https://images.google.com/images?q=kuwait
Same search for images of Kuwait but with the faces filter
https://images.google.com/images?q=kuwait&imgtype=face
Its slightly geeky but still cool. Check out this site for more details. [Link]
An interesting article detailing the way The Pentagon (US Department of Defence) building became a pentagon. [Link]
Ansam posted a letter someone had written to Carrefour management complaining about the shopping cart rules. The person was pissed because he wasn’t allowed to push his cart through the mall. Well yeah, I kinda understand why that rule is in place. Imagine everyone roaming around Avenues with a shopping cart, it would be total chaos. But, if I understood his letter correctly, you are also not allowed to push your cart in the parking lot outside the designated Carrefour area. That I think might cause a problem since when you enter the Avenues parking during peak hours its difficult to find an empty parking spot yet a lone one thats in the Carrefour area. Anyway you can read the letter on Ansams blog. [Link]
Slider Station is a new restaurant that opened up around a month ago. Its a local creation by the same guys behind Burger Boutique. I passed by yesterday night with Nat and a friend for dinner and I left the place extremely impressed and I will tell you from now that I gave the place a full 5 out of 5 rating without the slightest hesitation.
Since the place is pretty small you need to call ahead to reserve a spot. We called on Friday to reserve 3 places at the bar for Sunday night. I had seen the actual location before it was built, I saw sketches on how it would end up looking like and I even so pictures of the interior taken by various other bloggers after Slider Station was launched but even though, when I got to the place I was astonished. Pictures really don’t do the place any justice. I think its currently one of the nicely designed places in Kuwait, everything about it from the walls, to the chairs to the food conveyor belt, everything was paid attention to.
The food conveyor belt, thats the reason we asked for the bar seats. One of the coolest things at Slider Station is the large u-shaped bar taking up the majority of the space on the ground floor. Its surrounded by very comfortable seating and the bar has a built in conveyor belt. Each group at the bar is assigned a number and they serve your food by rolling it out on the conveyor belt. For example our number was 1 so all the dishes that came out on the conveyor belt with the number 1 in front of it was ours. Its a nice gimmick that is both practical and fun. The music that was being played was really cool and their choice of plates, cutlery and glasses were just spot on.
I could talk more and more about the actual look of the place but it would all mean nothing if the food wasn’t any good. The most popular burgers at Burger Boutique are the sliders. Sliders are mini burgers simply put and what Slider Station did was take them to a different level. I don’t know exactly how many different sliders they have but I think they were over 15 variations ranging from beef, to chicken to fish. Unlike in Burger Boutique where sliders come in groups of 4, at Slider Station, each slider order is just a single slider. This makes things A LOT more fun since you could mix and match sliders as you wish. I personally ordered the Roast Beef slider, the Wagyu slider with mature english cheese, the Caribbean crab slider which is a crab burger with a delicious mango sauce, and finally a Hammour slider. For appetizer we had two types of fries, the regular and the extra thin and crispy one. We also had buffalo wings and duck quesadillas. Everything was just really good, the presentation, the flavor, the buns, it was just perfect. There wasn’t anything I could find wrong with the place but I hadn’t ordered the dessert yet so before I could give it a final score I had to try their chocolate pudding. As you could already guess, I must have liked the dessert or else I wouldn’t have given the place a full five out of five. Yes, the chocolate pudding rocked!
So, good food, good atmosphere, good variety and good prices. I don’t know of any other restaurant in Kuwait that deserves a better rating. Final score five out of five. To get reservations call 2465047. They are open from 7PM to 11PM. You can also check out their blog by going to www.sliderstation.com
Pictures taken from SliderStation.com
note: I forgot to mention, they are located on the Gulf Road between Seef Palace and the House of Parliament.
I was showing my partner at work the blog uncrate.com when we got to the post on the Obelisk chairs (pictured above and right below). I was telling him about how cool the design was when he told me his cousin has them in her store. So during our lunch break we both headed to his cousins store called Home House which is located adjacent to the Amiri Hospital on the Gulf Road.
Right as we walked into the store which was actually an old Kuwaiti house we spotted the Obelisk right in front of us. It was exactly like the one we saw on uncrate except we didn’t expect it to be this big. We were given a tour of the place and it turns out they have some really really nice stuff. I really don’t know where to start since I literally fell in love with their brands.
I guess I will start with my favorite brand they carry which is Vange. They have some of the most beautiful industrial designs. Just flipping through their website now while writing this is giving me goose bumps. Most of the Vange stuff is by order but they had the K-Baby, the K-Bench and the MAUI console on display. I loved the K-Bench and the MAUI series of shelving is just so hot!
After the Vange we were shown some stuff by Gandia Blasco. Their stuff are mostly for patios, chalets and beaches, they reminded me a lot of the stuff I see on CSI: Miami. Their style is the very modern outdoor furniture which comes all in white, very straight edged with white drapes and they are very very sexy stuff.
Finally we were shown some lighting systems by Tobias Grau. It was another brand I hadn’t heard of before but again they have some really really slick looking lamps. So minimal and so cleanly designed. If Apple were to make lamps this is how they would come out.
I am probably going to go back there and see how much the MAUI console and the K-Bench cost since I would love to have them in my place. I didn’t ask their prices while I was there for some reason so I don’t know how much they cost. The Obelisk costs around KD1,600 which although isn’t cheap, its still cheaper then in the US where they sell for $8,500.
If you want to pass by the place its very easy to find. If you take the right after the Amiri hospital you will find that the first house on the left is called Bait Al Cedra. They are located right inside Bait Al Cedra. Its right next to the Karizma gallery. You can call them on 253 0358 in case you get lost or visit their website www.homehouse.be
Here are the websites to the brands:
Vange
Gandia Blasco
Tobias Grau
update: I made a mistake. The store is called Home House not Bait Al Cedra. Bait Al Cedra is the name of the old house where Home House is located. I just edited the post above to reflect this.
I hadn’t been to the Avenues for awhile so this is just an update for people haven’t been there recently also.
Carrefour is now open. I was expecting to find stuff there that wasn’t available at Sultan Center but surprisingly they either had the same stuff or less. The cornflakes section for example is a joke at Carrefour filled mostly with their Carrefour branded cornflakes. Their fish section was larger and their bakery seems better but didn’t get a chance to try it. The coolest thing about Carrefour is their electronics section. They have a ton of stuff and its all good brands like Sony, Samsung etc.. plus they have a ton of accessories and gadgets. Problem is you can find the stuff cheaper elsewhere.
Gap is now open. I was never a fan of Gap so I can’t say much about it. Kuwaiti Cosmopolitan has a detailed post on Gap so you can check that out. [Link]
GoSport is now open. The place is huge, much larger then I was expecting it to be. They have a lot of sports gear all laid out very nicely. I think its my favorite sports store at the moment not that they had strong competition.
Other notable mentions: Lucky Brand Jeans opened up. Ben Sherman is opening soon. Banana Republic still closed. I was supposed to have lunch at the Noodles place upstairs but there was an hour and a half waiting list. Parking wasn’t a problem at 2PM on Friday.
From todays issue of the Kuwait Times:
Someone emailed me telling me that the ministry shut down the Jahra branch of the Farah restaurant because it turned out they were catching street cats and using their meat for their shawerma. Today this news is in the papers and here is a link to an article from Al Rai Al Aam newspaper. [Link]
I think thats kinda sick but I am still curious to know if they were trying to pass it on as chicken or beef? I am also wondering what I would have rated it if I had tried it…
Thanks Afterstorm
IMPORTANT: Just a note, the article doesn’t mention Farah, the person who sent me the article said it was Farah.
A lot of people have iPods and a lot of people listen to them using the white earbuds that came in the box. The earbuds look pretty but really aren’t doing your music any justice since they aren’t very good. This is why I always suggest to friends to invest in a decent pair of headphones like they just invested in the mp3 player.
One brand I always suggest they give a shot is Sennheiser. They have a large variety of headphones so people are bound to find one that suits their needs. My first pair of Sennheiser’s were the PX100 which were amazing as I reviewed previously on my blog.
Anyway a friend of mine passed by aDawliah yesterday who are the dealers for Sennheiser in Kuwait and he told me they currently have a sale and their prices are now cheaper then Amazon. Not only that but the staff their were very helpful and even let him try on and listen to a variety of headphones until he found one that he liked.
So if you are still using your original Apple white earbuds or are looking to buy a new pair of headphones then now might be the best time to buy one. The easiest aDawliah branch to find is the one right across the street from Marina Mall. They are also dealers for Bose but I wouldn’t recommend them since they are over priced and don’t sound that great.
Here is a link to aDawliah’s website [Link]
Since I canceled my Showtime subscription I no longer watch TV, not even the free satellite channels. I don’t have a reason to since I download all my TV shows and movies. But, there are times when I do wish I have satellite TV, for example there are currently important events taking place in Lebanon from the bombings in the residential areas to the battles in the north and because I don’t have satellite TV I can’t watch what was happening…
Until now! I was playing around with CNN Pipeline when I noticed one of their feeds was a direct broadcast of LBC, the Lebanese TV station. I clicked on the link and it turns out because of the events taking place in Lebanon, CNN have given viewers an option to view a Lebanese TV station for latest up to date news. So I decided to sign up to CNN Pipeline for only $2.95 a month and I am currently watching a live feed of the latest bombing in Lebanon. Pretty nifty.
I really love watching this stuff. Thanks to hummer15al for uploading this documentary. Its divided into 3 parts and the video is in color which is cool.
Yesterday some people suggested that the reason behind KFC’s recent addition to the Fish Zinger sandwich is so that they can offer a non-chicken alternative on their menu in case of another bird flu scare. I suggested that if that was the case KFC should have advertised their Colonel Burger. Well turns out there is a story behind that burger. Tat, a reader of the blog commented with the following information:
Business predictions are that bird flu will reappear every summer. Last summer, Egypt’s KFC sales fell almost by half and the Gulf KFC’s by 20 – 25%. Therefore KFC international has come up with non-chicken products to offer alternatives.
The Colonel Burger has been around for a long time. It was a product, started many years back, by Americana locally, to beat a competitor called Jack in the Box; a burger chain concept that dared include fried chicken in their menu. Since the burger is not a KFC product its not advertised too much.
KFC in the gulf will move over to transfat free oil in a few months.
