Category: Kuwait

I can see this huge fire from my window in Kuwait City. A friend of mine that works in one of the buildings on the Gulf Road near the Scientific Center told me its a restaurant after Green Island. That could be Burj Hammam which already caught fire before. If you have any details, videos or pictures [Contact Me]

update: so far I’ve heard it’s either the Lebanese, the Saudi or the UAE embassy, a power generator or a gas station.

update2: Seems most probably is was a power generator that caught on fire. Below is a video that was shot by one of my readers.

[YouTube]

Sultan is now carrying Pepsi cans with the new logo and design. They are imported not the locally produced ones and they’re also caffeine free but they look very cool. I know a lot of people hate the new designs but I think its a nice direction away from all the clutter and junk that’s currently around.

I sadly don’t have much info on this event only what I found on the Facebook page which is:

This is the very first car show to be hosted by the U.S. Embassy Kuwait, come enjoy the latest and greatest in automobile technology and modification.

Date: Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Time: 6:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: U.S. Embassy Kuwait
Street: Masjid Al-Aqsa St.
City/Town: Bayan, Kuwait

Here is the link to the Facebook page but there isn’t much else there. An event like this should have been better advertised… only 11 confirmed guests on their Facebook page. I don’t even have a logo or picture to attach with this post since there doesn’t seem to be a flier or anything of the sort. [Link]

I started barbecuing during Ramadan but since the weather has improved a lot more people will start barbecuing now. Actually by visiting Sultan Center you can tell its BBQ season since the Sharq branch for example is now highlighting BBQ equipment when you first come in. So here are some tips by me if you want to start barbecuing:

The Grill
One of the best grill brands you can get in Kuwait is Weber. Sultan Center, Ace Hardware and Sears carry Weber brand grills. From the three Sears is the cheapest while Sultan is the most expensive. Problem with Sears though is they don’t have a large variety of grills nor accessories. Ace Hardware on the other hand is just slightly more expensive than Sears but have the largest variety of grills in Kuwait with a ton of accessories. I picked up the 18 1/2 inch Weber grill pictured above for KD34 from Ace. It was KD36 at Sultan and KD33 at Sears. There are cheaper Weber grills and a lot more expensive and bigger ones but if you don’t want to spend you can find some no brand grills for under KD5.

The Coals
Two best places to buy coals are Sultan and Ace Hardware. Again I found Ace Hardware cheaper and they alsonhad a larger variety of coals some of which you can see in the picture above.

Fuel gels, starter cubes or lighter fluid?
Personally I hate waiting for the coals to get ready so I use a combination of starter cubes and fuel gel to light up my coals. Gel is better than lighter fluid since it doesn’t leave any smell or flavor behind. Both Sultan and Ace sell fuel gels, both cost KD2.200 but the one at Ace is a better brand plus if you’re picking up your grill and coal from there you might as well pick up the gel. For cubes Sultan has them while Ace doesn’t. Another tip, have a blow dryer handy since it helps speed up the process considerably. I got a cheap one for KD4 from Carrefour and combined with the fuel gel and cubes I could have a grill ready in 10 minutes.

Accessories
Both Ace and Sultan have a large variety of accessories. If you want a chimney starter to help speed up the coal burning process then you need to get it from Sultan Center where they have two models to choose from. For gloves, BBQ tools, cleaning brushes etc.. I’ve mixed and matched from both Ace and Sultan, it’s really personal preference and both have cheap and expensive options to choose from.

Burgers and more
I’ve been making some great burgers with fresh Sultan Center meat patties. Just go up to the meat fridge and tell the employee you want burgers. They will ask you what kind and what weight, I usually go for the 95% lean and a 200 grams patty for me while a 100 grams one for Nat. I don’t make them add any spices although you can ask them to, I prefer adding my own spices at home. For chicken taouk I get it marinated and ready on skewers from Dean & Deluca. 1KG is for KD2.500 compared to Sultan’s KD3.900. It’s really good and the only thing I do to it is swap the green peppers for fresh mushrooms before I grill them. Finally for kebabs I get them from the butcher which is located between La Baguette and Dodo on Baghdad Street in Salmiya. He makes two kinds, one with onions the other with garlic, I prefer the onions version. 1KG is for around KD2.500 and he prepares it for you while you wait. I can’t recommend any other items to BBQ since I haven’t tried anything else. Actually I did try to BBQ a steak but didn’t like the result because I think I chose the wrong type of meat. If you can recommend me something that would be great, just leave it as a comment below.

And that concludes my BBQ post. The prices I mentioned above are 99% accurate, my memory isn’t that great and I round up numbers so if they don’t turn out to be exactly the same don’t shoot me. If you have any tips, suggestions or questions just leave them below.

Tonight I passed by a shop called Pro-Hobbies in Dajeej. I needed some paint for my Tamiya crawler and the Tamiya dealer had run out so they recommended I pass by Pro-Hobbies instead. It was my first time there and the place turned out to be really cool. While Tamiya specializes in on and off road electric cars and buggies, Pro-Hobbies specializes in helicopters and nitro powered race buggies.

While there I also got to check out the KHR-1 Robot. I had seen this robot before on YouTube playing football so it was very exciting to see the robot live. They aren’t selling them yet, they just got one to try it out and see if there is a market for it. The robot costs around KD400 which isn’t cheap but the way it moves is just incredible. It’s fully programmable and is driven by 19 servos (motors) which explains the hefty price tag considering a single servo usually costs around KD12. I took a video of the robot which you can see below. It was running out of batteries and the floor was slippery but you can still see how cool it is.

[YouTube]

If you want to pass by the store they’re located in the mall behind Showtime in Dajeej. Here is a link to the [Map]. They have a website but it’s still under construction. [Link]

I was at a place in Dajeej today and noticed the buttons outside the lift pointed left and right instead of the usual up or down. At first I thought it was just on that floor but it was the same on every floor. Reminded me of the picture below which I took outside the Kuwait airport a few years ago.

Just a recap for those of you who don’t know my “Healthier Lifestyle” series of posts. I used to have junk food every single day but then I found out I had acid reflux as a result. I then decided to permanently stop having fried or junk food and since then I’ve dropped around 5KG in weight and most importantly, I feel and am healthier. I don’t miss fried or junk food and have actually found great alternatives instead and this is why I decided to create these healthier lifestyle series of posts so I could share these alternatives with everyone.

In this post I will be talking about Napket which is located on the first floor of Avenues Phase II. They’ve got a pasta and salad station plus a ready made sandwiches section. I haven’t tried their salads or pastas just their sandwiches and my favorite is called “The NY Thing”. The sandwich contains bacon, chicken, turkey, eggs, tomato and lettuce. Since it’s ready made its perfect to have during my lunch break because it doesn’t take time to prepare. The bread used for the sandwich is really delicious. I don’t know what it is exactly but it’s got a slightly sweet flavor to it.

The sandwich isn’t cheap though, at KD3.750 its on the expensive side but the service is great and the location and restaurant atmosphere is amazing so it kinda makes up for it. The sandwich is also filling so you don’t need a side order with it. I highly recommend it.

Other options:
Nando’s
Macaroni Grill
Salad Creations

Found this sign today. Glad the hungging issue is being addressed.

The creator of Grendizer will be holding a lecture this month here in Kuwait. I found the following on the blog electronish:

Go Nagai, is a Japanese manga artist and a prolific author of science fiction, fantasy and horror. He made his professional debut in 1967 with Meakashi Polikichi, but is best known for creating the seminal works UFO Grendizer, Cutie Honey and Mazinger Z in the 1970’s.”

Mr. Go Nagai will visit the middle east in October, he will be visiting Jordan, Kuwait and Egypt!! I’m glad to be nominated to be one of the coordination team members for this event. The event will be held on two days the 10th and the 11th of Oct. ‘09. The 10th will be exclusive for VIP “LIMITED SEATS”, to have the opportunity in attending the VIP event you should register with Mr. Wael Abdulsamad ‘cos you need to pass a certain contest/draw managed by him under the supervision of the Embassy of Japan. For the second day, 11th of Oct., the event will be for PUBLIC, everyone can attend. So you don’t have to contact Mr. Wael Abdulsamad for a registration to attend the second event. However, the attendance will be taken in a FIRST-COME-FIRST-SERVED basis, the capacity of the hall will be approximately 330-350. Anyhow, more details will be announced during Aug. and Sep., so if you’re really concerned just contact The Embassy of Japan in Kuwait or email Mr. Wael Abdulsamad ([email protected]) for further information.

Special thanks to the Embassy of Japan in Kuwait for hosting this event and for the opportunity in meeting Mr. Go Nagai in JAPAN KUWAIT!

There was an ad in the paper for this new electronics shop that was opening today in Hawalli called Best. According to the ad the store was going to sell Lenova netbooks for KD50, iPod Nano’s for KD20, an 8MP digital camera for KD10 and microwaves for just KD1. The result? An enormous mob gathered around the store waiting for it to open. But, probably due to the fact there was no way on earth they would be able to control the crowd, the store never opened. Check out the pictures and get more info [Here]

Update: Here is a video taken by M.Bahraini. That’s A LOT of people! [YouTube]

I spotted this goatse outside a money exchange shop at the Avenues. If you don’t know what goatse is then you are lucky.

Update: A safe for work goatse album on flickr [Link]

Q8Sultana posted about a Mirror House located in Qadsiya a few years back and now the owner has a website up with a ton of pictures and information on the house.

The house belongs to Lidia Qattan, an Italian lady who got married to a Kuwaiti (Pioneer artist/painter, Khalifa Al-Qattan), and has been living in Kuwait for decades. She has decorated her entire house, inside and outside, with pieces of mirrors. – Q8Sultana

Lidia’s website has pictures of every room and every angle of the house from the outside and inside. You can tell she put a lot of effort into fulfilling her dream of a “Mirror House” and it’s really one of a kind. Check out her website for more pictures and details. [Link]

I previously posted the first episode of The Chef’s Table but it seems since then two more episodes have come out. The one above is episode 3 and it looks like it was shot at eight6 Bistro in the Avenues. I guess the restaurant has opened already although I didn’t notice it this past weekend. [YouTube]

Note: The chef in the video is Ahmed Al Bader, the owner of Burger Hub and Prime & Toast.

Update: Don’t know how I missed this but the YouTube video description says eight6 Bistro is opening on Thursday, October 1st in Phase Two of Avenues.

I passed by for lunch at IKEA today and noticed they had some kind of shrimp festival going on. They had 6 different kinds of shrimps, sweet & sour, chopsuey, grilled, stir fried with noodles, fried and Thai curry shrimps. I had the Thai curry and it was ok but will probably go back and try something else next time. Each dish costs KD2.250.

Today is the final day of the giveaways. This giveaway campaign was not planned and I actually thought about it right after the post where I gave two tickets away to the IMAX film. I saw the response from just two tickets and thought to myself what about if I could give people cooler stuff and so I quickly scrambled emailing and calling people to see if they would be interested to participate. Choowy Goowy responded right away saying they would and that’s how I managed to get “Giveaway Day 2” out the door the next day.

Since that original post the response has been unbelievable and the campaign completely exceeded my expectations. The response from companies wanting to participate was also incredible and I ended up doubling the length of the campaign because of it. I actually still have enough giveaway offers to make this campaign last a month but two weeks is the limit I set and I decided to stick it.

The final giveaway is going to be from Choowy Goowy and its the just recently released Sony PS3 Slim. Someone had left a comment in the original Choowy Goowy giveaway post asking if we were going to give away a PS3 next, well here it is!

In case you didn’t know already, Choowy Goowy are one of my favorite dessert places in Kuwait. They’ve got incredible cookies, amazing brownies and they also make delicious cheesecakes. They are located at The Avenues but they also deliver right to your door. For more information on Choowy Goowy visit their website [Here] or call them on 22626559, 22620011 or 22597949 (Avenues) to make an order. Their email is [email protected] in case you have any comments.

All you need to do to win this giveaway is to leave a comment below and later on in the evening I will use random.org to select a winner.

Rules: You need to put your proper email in the email field while commenting since the winner will be contacted by email. You also need to respond to my “You Won” email within 24 hours or I will have to make another draw and choose another winner. You can only comment once, anyone caught commenting more than once will get disqualified.

Update: The giveaway is actually a Sony PS3 Slim 120GB (NTSC) with 2 gamepads and 2 games of your choice.

Update2: The post was closed for commenting at around 9PM.
The winner is…

[YouTube]

Comment #385, you’ve got mail!
This was the last giveaway so thank you everyone for participating.