Category: Information

Posted by Fahad AlYehya | Core Fitness – Kuwait

Consistency in dieting can be a challenge, especially when living in a country that endorses food more than anything else. Most of our days start out with food, some coffee and dessert, a little strolling around and shopping, and some more food. And at night, a small gathering of friends that involves barbecuing and a lot of muffins.

Some clients, relatives and friends call me every weekend, with inquiries such as “I’m at Gaucho. What do you recommend?” or “Pinkberry! Yay or nay?” and “Dude, why isn’t my girlfriend returning my calls?” For starters, you can’t really go wrong with Gaucho if you stick to Filet De Lomo; Pinkberry’s loaded with 20g of sugar per serving; and you should try being less douchey.

I’m not saying you should eat out everyday, but when you’re cornered into a meal, the right recommendations will prove useful. Moreover, dieting puts you in a state of hunger similar to that of a heroin addict; aching and scratching for that next meal. One last advice before I start dissecting each and every restaurant: if it tastes too good, then it’s probably not what you’re looking for.

Oh, Fahad-san! Ret us begin with hearthy restaurants!

What I hate more than carb and fat-infested fast food chains are eateries that preach about health, but are everything but healthy; which is why I’ll be poking at them first:

Yesterday the Things by November store at Tilal Complex caught fire due to an electrical fault. The owners had this message they wanted me to pass on:

Hello everyone 🙂
Things by November in Tilal will be closed for one month due to a fire.. But kitchen is running perfectly as it is in another location, so flowers and bakery will be by order only. Sorry for the inconvenience, but all things happen for a reason and we will be back better than ever soon 🙂

Please call 97313310 or [email protected] for delivery.

How do electrical fires start and how can I make sure I don’t get an electrical fire at home?

I use my In Focus posts to highlight some great businesses here in Kuwait and today’s post is no different. As I mentioned previously, I’m lifting my FJ Cruiser and installing large tires just like I did with my Wrangler. The previous place I had installed my Wranglers lift had shut down so I asked a friend from the FJ Club for a recommendation and he pointed me towards ORP.

ORP is short for Off Road Performance and that’s exactly what they specialize in. If you’ve got a 4×4 and want to install a heavy duty bumper, or get a suspension lift, larger tires and wheels, maybe a light bar etc.. then they’re the place to go. Personally I would love to install everything myself and if I had my own little house with an indoor garage I would attempt to do that but since I don’t, I have to get stuff installed at specialized places which I usually don’t like doing. With ORP I felt comfortable getting my lift installed there because the guys are 4×4 affectionados. I met two guys, both Kuwaitis. Yousef is the one I first spoke to over the phone while Saud I didn’t communicate much with since he was always busy working on a car. They’re both passionate about what they do and to me that’s extremely important.

First time I passed by ORP was to check out the location and see how much they would charge for my suspension lift install. Then I just set up an appointment, dropped my FJ in late at night and picked it up again the next evening. I needed to get the FJ aligned and they recommended I take it to a guy called John at Auto1 on Canada Dry street who also turned out to be really great. So overall I had a very good experience and their prices are very competitive. Now I have to go back and buy a shorter antenna since with the lift kit installed my FJ’s antenna is hitting every pipe in my underground parking. I haven’t even installed my large tires yet so I am starting to worry my FJ is going to be too big to take underground. Hopefully I should be ok.

If you need anything for your 4×4 I highly recommend them. They’re very easy to find in Shuwaikh. If you’re on Canada Dry street with McDonalds on your right keep going straight past the bridge and then do a u-turn at the round-about so you’re heading the same way you came from, then take your first right and drive maybe 100 or 200 meters and you will find them on your left. (see map above). Their website address is www.orp.com.kw and you could also call Yousef on 99422254.

An update for the 2:48AM iPhone App is now available in the app store. In this version I added the Bazaar Magazine category to the app so now you can read the magazine on your iPhone. Bazaar have also added a full RSS feed to their site so you can now add them to your feeds. I think I like the direction this app is going where I’m trying to get a variety of local entertainment in one app. If you have a suggestion that would fit leave a comment below. Next update will be for the Kuwait Blogs app. [Link]

I woke up this morning to a phone call from a friend in charge at 360 Mall asking me if I wanted to try out the roller coaster at Infunity. Infunity hasn’t opened yet and won’t be open for a few more months but today they were testing out the roller coaster and if I accepted the mission we would be the first passengers on it. I though it was a fun idea since I never beta tested a roller coaster before and agreed to meet him there before lunch.

Last time I passed by Infunity was in October and since then the place has changed a lot. As I mentioned back in October, Infunity will have a bunch of cool things going for it including a very large climbing wall, Go-Kart Drifting (very cool), an indoor roller coaster designed and built by the same people who create ones for Six Flags, and also a ton of other stuff I’m not sure if I am allowed to share.

When we first got there it turned out the German engineers were still working on the roller coaster so I walked around and checked out the place and took some pictures to kill a bit of time. Nat hadn’t been to the place before and I wanted her to see everything anyway. Once they were ready we went up the stairs to the boarding area. They had just finished testing the ride with sacks full of sand and now we would be the first people to ride it. We got into the seats, fastened the safety harness and took off. First of all the whole place was very dimly lit by a few portable projectors here and there. There was no one in the whole place except for three German engineers and the five of us so it was very empty. We were also the first people to try out the ride so there was that slight fear in the back of our minds that something could go wrong which added to the excitement. The ride although short turned out to be incredibly fun. The roller-coaster although on a fixed line actually rotates so one point you could be facing forward, the next backwards or sideways. The ride also takes you through one wall and then spits you out from another side and once the ride is completed the area behind the wall will actually have fake snow that comes down while you pass through. It was really a lot of fun and the whole time I felt like I was either going to get thrown from the track or hit my head on some pole, I loved it. We rode it a couple of times before we headed to lunch.

Now hopefully I am going to go back again once they start trying out the wall climb or drifting. I shot a video of the ride in the coaster which I might put up later but for now you can check out the pictures below.

Anyone know where this is. I tried google but found nothing. It looks like its in one of those old Kuwaiti houses behind the Church in Kuwait City or opposite Souk Sharq on the Gulf Road. [YouTube]

Damn, I’ve always been pronouncing chipotle wrong… [Link]

Burger picture above which has nothing to do with the link or post was taken by pouryourheartintoit. Looks delicious. [Picture]

A few weeks back a good friend of mine in Lebanon told me he wanted to start a Lebanese blog. I thought that was something I would be interested to be part of so I decided to work with him on it. First thing we had to do was come up with a name. We went through a few names and for awhile we were going with zouzou ebba (you’d get it only if you’re Lebanese) before finally settling on Blog Baladi.

There are a total of 5 writers on the blog (including me) with that list mostly likely to grow in the near future. The majority of the posts will be related to Lebanon in the same way 2:48AM is related to Kuwait. So if you’re in Lebanon or a Lebanese living outside of Lebanon, make sure you check out and bookmark Blog Baladi. [Link]

HSBC Kuwait launched their retail services in Kuwait making them the first international bank to launch retail in Kuwait. I just checked out their site and it seems for now they’ve just launched with their HSBC Premier account. So if you’ve got an extra $100,000 lying around you’re lucky because thats the amount you need to open up an HSBC Premier account. The rest of us will have to hold out until their other accounts become available. [Link]

Thanks Hamad!

I found the snippet above pretty gross. Check out the rest [Here]

The U.S. Embassy in Kuwait is sponsoring a blues concert that will be held at the Kuwait University on the 14th of April at 7:30PM. The U.S. Embassy is bringing over the Little Joe McLerran Quartet as part of their Gulf Tour. The event is open to the public and is free of charge. Tickets and seat reservations are not necessary. Here is some info about the bands tour of the region [Link] and here is a link to the flyer [Link]

Posted by Fahad AlYehya | Core Fitness – Kuwait

“Man’s proper stature is not one of mediocrity, failure, frustration, or defeat, but one of achievement, strength, and nobility. In short, man can and ought to be a hero.” – Mike Mentzer, the father of High Intensity Training.

If you’re eating a snicker’s bar, drinking a Red Bull and smoking a cigarette, then put your weapons down, step back slowly and carefully, and take a good gander (wow, GANDER, where did that come from?) at yourself. What you’ll probably see is regression; the convergent evolution of man, but in a very bad way.

Devolution, or the opposite of evolution, is what we are currently witnessing with the entire world. In a recent study that took over 10 years to accomplish concluded that males 10 years ago were manlier than males today. The study also concluded that the farther you go back, the larger “bowling balls” males had.

My grandfather had 4 wives, with a total of 13 kids. I’m willing to bet that your fathers, grandfathers, and the fathers of your grandfathers went through the exact same trend. I’m also willing to bet that no one in present time has a pair (biologically speaking) to do the same.

High Rate of Impotence & Erectile Dysfunction

On the 23rd of March 2010, Al Watan Newspaper published an article on it’s first page stating that Kuwait’s fertility rate is at risk. Moreover, it also stressed the high rate of impotence and sexual dysfunction. I’d like to add in my own theoretical opinion by saying that a lot of men are at the lower end of normal testosterone production, which is OK, but puts you just a few notches above a female. Yes you concerned female, you might be as manly if not manlier than your husband, boyfriend or whatever relationship you decided to pursue.

Seriously though, low-testosterone is also a contributer to the increase of divorce rates in Kuwait; females are not getting their fair share of manhood.

“Yeah..but how is that of benefit to us, Oh Master of the Fitness Universe?”

For those of you considering getting an iPad here in Kuwait here is a helpful tip. The App Store, one of the most crucial parts of the iPad experience doesn’t work with your Kuwaiti credit card. There isn’t a Kuwait iPad store yet just a US one and you won’t be able to access the US one from your iPad unless you have a US account.

If you’re like me and don’t have a US based credit card then you need to do the following:

Open iTunes on your computer. By default it should load the Kuwait store. Scroll down to the bottom of the store and click the Kuwait flag on the right. Then choose the US flag on the next screen, that will take you to the US store. Now you need to create a new US iTunes account. For your address enter a US mailing address like your Shop&Ship address. When they ask you for credit card choose none. This will allow you to download free apps from the US app store without a problem. If you want to purchase apps from the US app store then you need to purchase an iTunes gift card from [Here]. They will mail you the code instantly. Once you get the code go to the US iTunes store and choose to redeem your gift card. Again for credit card choose none. You will now end up creating a US iTunes account with some cash in it. (Check step by step instructions below)

On your iPad when you launch the App Store it will automatically take you to the Kuwait store and then quit giving you an error that the Kuwait store doesn’t exist. What you need to do is log in to your US iTunes account which you just created above. To do that go to Settings and then Store and log in from there. Once logged in you will get a message saying you can only use this account to purchase apps from the US store. Click ok, then exit to the main screen and click on App Store and it should launch now without any issue and log you in directly to the US store.

With the above trick I was able to purchase and download apps and books from the App Store including for example the My Blackboard app pictured above.

The only thing I wasn’t able to do was stream TV shows from the ABC App but that can easily be solved with a VPN (completely different story). If you have any questions post it below and I’ll try my best to answer it.

Update: Here is a step by step walk-through…

1) Go to maximuscards.com and purchase an iTunes card
2) Open up iTunes and go to the iTunes store
3) Make sure you’re not signed in to your Kuwait account
4) Scroll to the bottom of the store and make sure the US flag is showing on the bottom right. If its not click the flag and choose US.
5) On the bottom of the iTunes store you will find a bunch of text links
6) Click on “Redeem”
7) Copy and paste the code Maximus Cards emailed you
8) Then choose create new account and follow the instructions (enter a US address)
9) When it comes to payment options there should now be an option called “none”, click that
10) Continue till the end and you should end up with a US account without having to use a credit card

When you run out of credits in your account you need to follow steps 1 to 7 and then for step 8 sign in the account you previously created. Below are screenshots showing the steps above.

Now if you aren’t interested in purchasing anything from the US app store but instead just want to download free apps that aren’t available in the Kuwait store (like CNN, Amazon and eBay) you can follow the steps below:

1) Make sure you’re not signed in to your Kuwait account
2) Scroll to the bottom of the store and make sure the US flag is showing on the bottom right. If its not click the flag and choose US.
3) Buy any free iPhone or iPad app from the US store
4) When you are asked to login create a new account
5) Enter a US address and choose “None” for payment method

Yo! Sushi has reopened in Kuwait again but this time at the 360 Mall. I passed by for lunch today and although I found the sushi below average I will be going back again.

The place was pretty packed when we got there but we managed to find a table in the back. Wherever you sit in the restaurant you have a conveyor belt in front of you. The idea is that you sit down and watch the different types of sushi pass in front of you on the conveyor belt, when you see something you like you just pick it up. There are 5 different colored plates, each representing a certain price. So for example a green plate is 700fils while a blue one is 900fils. When you’re done with your meal, you call the waiter over and he calculates how much you’ve eaten based on the colored plates in front of you.

I actually found an app for the iPhone that allows you to keep track of how much you’re spending but it was in British Pounds so I’m probably going to make one thats in Kuwaiti Dinar since its a simple thing to do.

Anyway the sushi isn’t really that great. I had a bunch of stuff and they were below average BUT this is like a fast food sushi place so you can’t expect Kei quality sushi specially when they’re really cheap. Me and Nat had around 6 different dishes plus a drink and our bill came out around KD8. As I said, although the sushi wasn’t that great, my experience was and they’ve still got a ton of stuff I haven’t tried so I’m bound to find something I like sooner or later.

Update: I contacted the creator of the Yo! Sushi iPhone app (SumSushi) and asked him if he could include Kuwaiti currency, turns out he was planning on adding more countries/currencies to the app but didn’t have access to the prices. Since I had emailed him the prices in Kuwait he is now going to add it in the next update which should be by the end of the month. He even sent me a screen shot of his app with KD. Should make the Yo! Sushi experience even better.

This is the second app that I’m releasing for the iPhone and one that should be very useful to many, its the Kuwait Blogs app. I’ve taken all of my favorite blogs and placed them in one app which is very convenient and practical. I will still be adding more blogs in the next update but for now these are the blogs that are included in the app:

2:48AM
360 Dewan
4th Ring Road
Ansam
Blushberry
Buzberry
Confashions
Frankom
iLSul6ana
P0ach
Some Contrast
Tidbit du Jour
zDistrict

I would have added more blogs but it was very time consuming trying to create an icon, header, footer and color scheme for every blog so that it matches their actual blog theme. So if you’re not in this first release I’m sorry but you might be in the next update.

For the Kuwait Blogs icon and launch screen I wanted to use a picture that represented Kuwait but didn’t want anything cliche like the Kuwait Towers or flag so I ended up going with an abstract shot of the Ice Skating Rink which I had taken a few years ago for Miskan. I love the design of the Ice Skating Rink and thought it would represent Kuwait very nicely.

To install the app search for Kuwait Blogs in the App Store on your iPhone or install it into iTunes by click this [Link]