Categories
Interesting Kuwait Shopping

A good idea

Yesterday a reader emailed me telling me that the Electrozan branch in Salmiya got shut down by the ministry. So I emailed my Electrozan contact to find out what happened and it turned out to be a license issue. Now the cool thing is that today they put up stickers on the door which you can see above.

The first message apologizes to the customers for being closed and explains why. The second message tells customers that if they take a picture of the door with the message on it and show it to any employee at another one of their branches they get a 5% discount.

I thought that was pretty cool since usually when shops get closed by the ministry no one knows why and rumors get spread. In this case they actually tell everyone why and offer a nice little discount in return.




Categories
Guest Bloggers Healthier Lifestyle Information Kuwait Sports

Professionals that don’t Suck

Posted by Fahad AlYehya | Core Fitness – Kuwait

Did anyone ever notice how almost every aerobic/kick-boxing/gay dancing class has an instructor that’s out of shape and 20 other people that are also of round variety? I mean, how do you expect to get in shape if the instructor looks like he’s/she’s been eating sambosa for the past 20 years? To add insult to injury, the obese members are forced to perform high kicks. It’s like show girls, but with a lot less turn-on and a lot more LOL.

And what about those self-proclaimed gurus roaming around the gyms of Kuwait? I’ve researched on a couple of famous gurus to see what they were up to. One of them refuses to work with drug-free athletes; he won’t even turn to look at you if you approach him with the “I’d like to do this naturally” speech. The last guy that did ended up in the hospital urinating blood; due to 5 anabolic and androgenic compounds that he were recommended to take (this was partly the client’s fault since he didn’t know bodybuilding involves a nutritional plan and intense training). Another guy trains both naturals and chemically enhanced athletes, but fails to inform young amateurs of the consequences associated with early AAS drug use, which they subsequently fall victims too.

Awesome Super Friends
I’m here to discuss health and fitness professionals and practitioners in Kuwait who talk it and walk it. In the pursuit of spreading the influence of a healthier lifestyle, I’ll be providing information about competitors who I am more than glad to lose my business to. They all have the passion, the drive, the experience and the ability to motivate others in attaining a healthier lifestyle.

Consequently, I’m planning on crushing each and every one of them so by the time you read this, they might be dead. They also might end up in my belly. My 7% body fat belly.

As a gym owner, I constantly get asked by many people about what the right exercises are, what the right diet is and about how many freaking Pinkberry yogurts are acceptable. (Depends on what you’re trying to do; again, depends on what you want to do). Sometimes, I find I don’t have the time to answer questions in detail, and that makes me feel, as the self proclaimed Master of the Fitness Universe, like I have failed you. And I do not like to fail.

Here’s a list of people (in no particular order) you can consult about health and fitness in Kuwait, or as I like to call them, my awesome super-friends, who I don’t necessarily know personally. (You can call them people who are not quite as awesome as I am.)




Categories
50s to 90s Kuwait Photography

Sultan Center 1986

I recently got a hold of this beautiful picture of the original Sultan Center in Salmiya taken back in 1986. Here is a link to a larger version of the photo. [Picture]

Update: This picture was taken in 1986, not 1982.




Categories
Food & Drinks Kuwait

The Pinkberry Cone

I am not a fan of Pinkberry, I actually only tried it once in Kuwait and couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about. It tasted too much like regular yogurt and I told Nat (who worships Pinkberry) that I would only have it again once they introduced chopped cucumber as a topping (yogurt + cucumber = delicious).

But while in New York I noticed Pinkberry had cones, like regular ice cream cones. Since it was really hot and I had been walking for ages I figured I would have a chocolate Pinkberry cone (guilt free). Turns out it was pretty good and actually tasted like regular chocolate soft ice cream. They had mango and coconut flavor as well which we don’t have here plus mini-cups which are around half the size of small cups. I didn’t taste the mango and coconut and not interested in the mini-cups either, what I want is for Pinkberry in Kuwait to introduce cones.

So if anyone is listening, please get us cones or else we will have to eat chocolate ice cream at McDonalds which I am guessing has more calories.

Update: I was told awhile back that they’re thinking of opening a second Pinkberry branch at the Avenues. I hope that’s true since I hate waiting in line (unless its for a burger).




Categories
Events Kuwait Music

Event: 13th International Music Festival

The 13th International Music Festival started yesterday in Kuwait and ends on the 11th of June. The website is in Arabic so I couldn’t really understand much but it has a schedule and details of the event. If you can read Arabic here is the [Link]

I tried to use Google Translate to convert the page to English for me to read and ended up with a composer called Rashid Vegetables? Doesn’t sound quite right…

Thanks Dalal

Update: Dalal from 7achy.com was kind enough to translate the schedule, here it is:

Yesterday was Kuwaiti music night in the memory of the composer Rashed AlKhodhar, performed by:
Sahar
Mohammed AlBoloshi
Met’ab faraj
Sulaiman AlMulla

Here is the upcoming schedule:

Monday: Turkish music
Tuesday: Brazilian music
Wednesday: Egyptian music
Thursday: Russian music + Kuwaiti traditional music
Friday: Spanish music

Admission is free of charge.
Concerts start at 8:30PM and are performed at the Al Dasma Theater.




Categories
Food & Drinks Healthier Lifestyle Kuwait Personal

My Burger Rampage Diet

As most of you might have noticed, while in New York I ate a lot of burgers. Many people thought I was actually posting too many food posts but they would have been a lot more if I posted about all the burger places I went to. Before going to New York I had a list of around 60 burger places I wanted to try out which I got from the blog A Hamburger Today and even though I didn’t even get close to trying out 60 burger places I did have on average two burgers a day while in New York. And guess what? I lost weight!

Before I went on vacation I spoke to Fahad and I told him that there was no way I could eat healthy on my trip. It was New York and I wasn’t going to spend my time looking for something healthy to eat. He told me as long as I was going to do a lot of walking than I could eat whatever I wanted as long as the proportions weren’t too big. He told me I also had to have a meal every 3 hours. I could also have dessert if I wanted but it couldn’t be part of my main meal, it would have to be counted as a meal on its own. So if I had a burger at 12PM I could have an ice cream at 3PM. I thought that was fair and took his advice.

My morning started off either with a big breakfast from a cozy diner near my hotel or a McGriddle from McDonalds. I stuck to places near my hotel since I needed to have breakfast an hour after waking up. That would happen around 9 or 10am. Then, 3 hours later I would have a burger, 3 hours after that dessert (usually a chocolate cone from Pinkberry or a cookie from a bakery), 3 hours after that another burger and finally my last meal at night would be dinner at one of the trendy restaurants near my hotel.

I rarely had fries with my burger, I think I only had fries 3 times on my trip. I would also always order only 1 burger but sometimes it would be a double patty. One great thing (or it could be a bad thing) about New York is the fact I think by law they need to display the calorie count of everything on the menu. So one time I was at Wendy’s for example and I felt like a double bacon and cheese but then noticed the calorie count and decided to go with a regular double cheese burger instead. I think the calorie count helped me save a ton of calories. It was also one major reason I didn’t have french fries with my burgers since if I did the calorie count of my meal would double. I also went with Coke Zero over regular Coke since that was another easy 200-300 calorie saving.

I walked a lot, around 12 hours and the only time I took a cab was to and from the airport. I was using the subway mostly and it was mostly from Brooklyn where I was staying to Manhattan which is where everything was located. While there I walked everywhere and only took the subway if I was in a rush like to catch a store before they closed. One night I walked back to my hotel even which was around a 8-9KM walk according to Google Maps.

The result? I left Kuwait weighing 77KG and I came back weighing 76KG. I thought I had lost more weight but I am not disappointed losing only a KG with the food I was eating. Now that the vacation is over and I’ve returned to Kuwait I’m eating healthy again and today was my first time back at the gym since I left. Until my next burger rampage…




Categories
Automotive Kuwait Videos

Car on fire near Marina Mall

I love how slowly the guy walks to the car and throws the bucket of water on the fire. [YouTube]

Update: Here is another car on fire, this time on the side of a busy highway. [YouTube]




Categories
Automotive Funny Kuwait Strange

Smiley Car

Spotted on the Gulf Road by a friend.




Categories
Fashion Kuwait Sports

Where to get local football team jerseys?

A reader emailed me an interesting question. Where can one get original local football team jerseys like Qadsia Club or Salmiya Club jerseys here in Kuwait?




Categories
Kuwait News Sports

Kuwait in top 10 shocking World Cup moments

I love it how Kuwait always makes it to the most random lists. This time Kuwait is ranked #5 on CNN’s top 10 most shocking moments in the World Cup.

5. France v Kuwait, 1982

France were coasting to victory in this group game in Valladolid, Spain. Leading 3-1 and with the clock ticking, Alain Giresse burst through unchallenged to add a fourth goal.

However, the Kuwaitis claimed they stopped playing because they had heard a whistle, and TV replays clearly picked up the sound of a whistle, presumably blown by somebody in the crowd.

This infuriated Kuwaiti FA president Prince Fahid, who promptly stormed onto the pitch and demanded that his players walked off in protest. Inexplicably, Russian referee Miroslav Stupar bowed to the Kuwaiti protest and chalked off a totally legitimate goal.

To make the situation even more bizarre, France defender Maxime Bossis then went on to score his only international goal in 76 matches to revert the scoreline to its rightful position with just a minute remaining. [CNN Article]

I’ve already mentioned before that I think thats actually one of the coolest moments in the World Cup but I can see how some people might see it otherwise. You can watch a summary of the match in question narrated by Sean Connery by clicking [Here]




Categories
Kuwait

From the top down

I am sure most of you know the round green building at the corner of old Salmiya on Salem Mubarek Street. If you don’t its an old tall circular shaped building that is sadly being demolished. Now funny thing is how they’re demolishing it. It seems using a crane they lifted and placed a bulldozer on top of the building and that truck has been destroying the building bit by bit from the top to the bottom. That has to be more dangerous than crab fishing. Now the million dollar question is… how does the bulldozer driver get down at the end of the day?




Categories
Events Information Kuwait Movies

Cinemagic rooftop movie schedule for June 2010 – A Thrilling Summer

Here is the calendar for Cinemagic’s rooftop movie nights for June. This month they’ve got a wide array of thrilling, funny and chilling films. Check out the full list below:

Thursday, June 3rd at 07:00 PM
Paprika, Japan 2006
Director: Satoshi Kon
Genre: Animation | 90 min | English Subtitle
Rated: R

Saturday, June 5 at 07:00 PM
Eastern Promises, UK/Canada 2007
Director: David Cronenberg
Genre: Drama | 100 min | English Subtitle
Rated: 15

Thursday, June 10 at 07:00 PM
The Orphanage, Spain 2007
Director: Juan Antonio Bayona
Genre: Thriller | 105 min | English Subtitle
Rated: PG 13

Saturday, June 12 at 07:00 PM
Three Monkeys, Turkey 2008
Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Genre: Drama | 109 min | English Subtitle
Rated: PG 15

Thursday, June 17 at 07:00 PM
Jar City, Iceland 2006
Director: Baltasar Kormákur
Genre: Thriller | 93 min | English Subtitle
Rated: PG 15

Saturday, June 19 at 07:00 PM
Festen, Denmark 1998
Director: Thomas Vinterberg
Genre: Drama | 105 min | English Subtitle
Rated: 15

Thursday, June 24 at 07:00 PM
Tears of the Black Tiger, Thailand 2000
Director: Wisit Sasanatieng
Genre: Action | Comedy | 110 min | English Subtitle
Rated: 15

Saturday, June 26 at 07:00 PM
The Unknown Woman, Italy 2006
Director: Guiseppe Tornatore
Genre: Drama | 118 min | English Subtitle
Rated: 15

Cinemagic movies are screened in the old Salmiya, on the roof on top of Alghanim Electronics and LG. There is a KD1 charge for the venue fees which includes refreshments, popcorn and much more. Here is a link to their facebook group [Link]




Categories
Events Kuwait Movies

Event: Whispers of Sin Premier


[YouTube]

The locally produced movie Whispers of Sin is now playing at GUST university. Yesterday was the first showing but the movie will be playing tonight and tomorrow night as well. For reservation and more details call 67001250. The movie showtime is 6PM. Here is the Facebook [Link]

Thanks Ali




Categories
50s to 90s Kuwait Videos

Fahaheel to Abu Halifa 1988

This is the last of the 3 part series. In this video we travel from Fahaheel to Abu Halifa and then take a tour of a grocery store from the inside. What’s cool is you get to see some old packaging like the old Aero chocolate packs that used to be brown, some old KDD packs, and a brief glimpse at my favorite corn flakes, Country Corn Flakes. Good stuff. [YouTube]

In case you missed them here are the first two parts
Fahaheel 1988
Abu Halifa 1988

Thanks Simon




Categories
Kuwait R/C Videos

My Toy on TV

One of my favorite hobby shops in Kuwait which is the Tamiya dealer was featured on TV. You can check it out above. [YouTube]