Category: Kuwait

I got an email from the owner of a new boutique called Twist telling me about these BlackBerry covers they have which I found interesting. The covers are hand made using a technique called decopatch. This makes every cover unique with no two a like. I am not sure if they make them in Kuwait themselves or they’re made outside but I like the idea. She didn’t mention how much they cost but hopefully its something reasonable. If you’re interested they have a Facebook page with pictures of some of their covers and contact information [Link]

I’ve been eating healthy for nearly 3 months now and so far I’ve lost 5KG dropping my weight down from 89KG to 84KG. As my height is 186cm that puts my BMI at 24.3 which is where it should be. Keep in mind I wasn’t planning on losing weight with my diet, I just had to stop eating some types of food due to my acid reflux problem and the weight loss was just a bonus. I am still eating whatever I want I just have stayed away from two things, fried food and fast food. It was difficult in the beginning because I used to have fast food for lunch every day but once I found a replacement things became much easier. I no longer feel like eating junk food, I actually can’t stand it now.

I’ve already posted about two places which I’ve started eating at, Salad Creations and Macaroni Grill. Another place I’ve started going to is Nando’s. I passed by the first time after they started advertising on my blog and since then I’ve started popping in once a week for lunch. I haven’t tried many dishes there because I’m hooked on their Chicken Burger. They have 4 types of marinated chicken, I tried mild the first time but it wasn’t too spicy for me so I took it hot the second time and now thats how I always have it. The chicken is grilled which fits in my diet and the dish comes with a side order of your choice. I tried the corn kernels (pictured above) but I didn’t like it, my favorite side order is their coleslaw which is really good. The dish is KD2.250 which fits nicely in my daily lunch budget. Sometimes I have the Perri-Perri Hommous which is hommous with their spicy sauce, also very good. I think thats for KD1.500. Anyway they’re located at the Avenues in the back near Macroni Grill and Chili’s.

There is another place I have lunch at often and want to post about but I am worried if I do the place will start getting more packed and they might increase their prices so I am still thinking about it.

Now that I finally have an iPhone with a 3G connection I can finally do what a lot of other people are doing and that is listen to satellite radio and other international stations in the car. All you need is a 3G capable iPhone, an iPhone radio app and a way of connecting the iPhone to the car stereo.

My setup is an iPhone 3GS with the WunderRadio app and an Alpine iDA-X001 head unit with which my iPhone connects to using the dock connector. If you aren’t as lucky you could use an FM Transmitter or RCA inputs. With WunderRadio you can connect to XM and SIRIUS stations in addition to thousands of other stations from around the world. For example I can listen to Lebanese radio stations like Radio one or Mix FM if I want to. Its not perfect since sometimes the connection disrupts for a few seconds every now and then but thats mostly only with the XM and SIRIUS stations, haven’t had trouble with the rest.

The Kuwait Bookshop has been around for a pretty long time and although its not a Barnes & Noble it does have a pretty decent collection of books and magazines. If I am not mistaken I think it actually has the largest collection of books and magazines in Kuwait. Because its an old bookshop they have a lot of older books that sometimes can be pretty interesting. The bookshop is located in the basement of Muthana Complex and its a very quiet and cozy place with friendly and informed staff. There is a lot of parking which is a plus. Their phone number is 22423876 in case you need to ask about a book.

According to a reader Saied, the whale shark thats been stranded at Marina Crescent for a week now was saved. They were able to place the whale shark onto a marine parachute bed like device and then pull the whale shark out to sea where it was then set free. Around 15 divers took park in this rescue which lasted around 9 hours. Saied will be sending me pictures and once I get them will post them here.

Update: Got the pictures, check them out below. Thanks Saied!

My iPhone 3GS arrived today from Australia and I’ve been playing with it for over an hour now. I am upgrading from the original (2G) iPhone since I never saw a reason to upgrade to the 3G. The 3GS on the other hand had a decent amount of improvements that was worth upgrading to. Here are my impressions so far:

– It is literally twice as fast compared to my previous iPhone. My favorite game Fast Food boots up much much quicker than before

– Love the new smudge proof screen

– I got internet tethering working which means I can use my iPhone like an eGO

– Can’t get MMS to work (never mind just work, APN, username and pass should be pps)

– Voice command surprisingly easy and fun to use. I just talk to my iphone as if its my secretary and it understands commands like cancel or what band is this? when music is playing

– I don’t like the plastic back of the new iphones, I prefer the older aluminum

– 3G is faster than edge, finally I can browse at decent speeds. The BBC low graphics site now loads instantly and every link I click loads in under a second

So basically the new iPhone 3GS is a great step up from the original one. The OS speed difference, the 3G, GPS and the tethering were all worthy enough reasons for me to upgrade.

I just got the new copy of Thouq magazine today and it turns out they have a small write up on my blog. I also noticed the magazine is now like 6 to 8 times bigger in size, not page wise but actual physical size. Its huge and you can see in the picture below how big it is compared to the iPhone. I wonder if all their issues are going to be this big or if its just this one. Its definitely more interesting and I love the paper they used to print on.

I was on the 4th Ring Road on my way to Avenues for lunch today when I spotted a large cloud of smoke in the distance. I kept driving towards it past Al-Rai until just before the roundabout at the end of the 4th Ring Road I spotted the source of the smoke. There was a large fire at a construction site. I parked my car on the side and managed to shoot a video of it with my BlackBerry which you can watch above. [YouTube]

Now later in the day around 4:30pm I was on my way to Bin Khaldoun street in Hawalli to buy some computer speakers (which I will post about later) when I spotted another fire. There was a black parked Jeep that caught fire and then the two cars parked next to it also caught fire. I was there before the fire trucks came and was able to capture all of it on my Sony camera. I would have gotten closer but I’ve watched too many movies and a car on fire always ends up in a large explosion so I kept my distance. Its a good quality video and you can watch that above. Below is a picture showing how the fire damaged the three cars. [YouTube]

I had to go do the yearly car test and renew the papers today and they wouldn’t pass my car. Last year I installed the lift and large tires on my Wrangler and I didn’t know what to expect during the car test since I couldn’t find any proper information regarding the legality of car lifts.

I got to the check up area and the inspector took a look at the car and wrote something down on the paper. He then called a second inspector over and told him that I have a lift and large tires installed. The other inspector told him whats it to you let the guy install whatever he wants and pass him. The first inspector then told the second one that he had already wrote on the paper that I had large tires installed. They discussed it among themselves for a few seconds but since he had already wrote there was a problem there wasn’t much that could be done. I asked them what the problem was and the second inspector replied back in very fluent English that the problem was that my tires were sticking out from the side of the car and that I should go over to the other inspection area on the other side and see what they would have to say there.

So I drove to the second inspection area where a guy came up to my car and told me I wasn’t allowed to install different rims and tires on the car. According to him the only way he would pass me is if I install the original wheels and go back to him. So now I need to see if the garage that installed my lift still has my original tires. If not I guess will have to pass by the scrap yard and see what I can find.

Marble Slab just sent over a ton of ice cream to my office with a note saying they’ve opened up at the new 360 Mall. I posted about their Kout branch before but that location was really too far and out of my way.

Now the question is should I share the ice cream with my coworkers or keep it all for me *evil grin*.

I got an email from a reader telling me that last night while he was at Marina Crescent there was a Whale Shark around 3 meters in length and 2 meters wide stranded on the beach. There were 4 scuba divers with the shark and they tried to push him out to sea but the shark kept coming back. I am trying to get a hold of some pictures and once I do I will post them here.

I’ve previously posted about a whale shark that was caught in Kuwait. Hopefully this one will end up getting saved.

Update: Al Rai has a lot of pictures like the one above which you can see [Here]

Update2: Al Watan daily has an English article which you can read [Here]

Film Swap is a pretty great idea and its cool people are actively doing it. This is how film swapping works, you take a picture with your film camera and someone else across the world does the same thing. When you’re done shooting your roll of film you mail it to the other person and they mail you their roll of film. You then take their film and load it into your camera and shoot over his film. You end up with a double exposure of two different random subjects from two different countries together in one shot.

Yahsheik is a photographer in Kuwait that is film swapping and you can check out his pictures on Flickr. So far he’s swapped films with photographers in Philippines, USA, Japan and Thailand. Check out the pictures [Here]

They’ve changed their fries to regular ones and they’re using what looks like regular sliced cheese for the burgers. I am pissed.

Here is a link to my Fuddruckers burger review from last year. [Link]

Although Coffee Republic has been open for a while I only passed by and tried them the other day at 360. I had heard of their Kinder milk shakes and wanted to try it but when I got there I was amazed at the variety of shakes they had. My favorites were the Kinder Bueno, Nutella, Ferrero Rocher, Maltesers and Cadbury Flake milkshakes. How is one meant to to choose just one of those? Now I need to go back at least 5 times so I could try each flavor.

So this is whats opening up in what was supposed to be Arby’s at the Avenues food court. SUCKS!