Category: Kuwait

Back in 2006 I posted about a blog called IKEA Hacker that had just launched. The blog displayed different IKEA hacks done by other people, people who took regular IKEA stuff and using their creativity turned them into unique pieces. Well two of those people are a couple living in Kuwait, Pinot and Dita. They took IKEA fabrics, cut them up and then created fantastic wall art with them. Its really cool stuff and whats even more cool is the fact they taped the whole thing and created a video presentation which you can watch below. Currently they’re voting for the IKEA hack of 2008 and they are nominated so vote for them by clicking [Here]

Now watch the video below of the making of and check out the post about them on IKEA hacker. [Link]

[YouTube]

’11’ by Moza Al-Roumi at The Exhibition
On January 11 & 12 from 5PM to 10PM

Moza Al-Roumi is a talented Kuwaiti painter who is fresh out of college. On those two days, she will be displaying her abstract art paintings at The Exhibition. All of her artwork are for sale.

A little info about The Exhibition:
It is located next to Slider Station on ‘The Strip’ across from Alseef Palace in Jibla. It’s a place where artists, entrepreneurs, designers and others can show Kuwait their products and works of art. Whatever they want to exhibit.

Check out the-exhibition.com.kw or call 94066226 for more details.

Surprise surprise, yes the Burger Challenge is still on. I’ve got a few places I still need to try out before I end this but I’ve been very busy (i.e. lazy) so I haven’t been able to get around to it. Anyway two people previously commented that I should try out this burger place in Al Manshar mall so I decided to pass by today and see what it was about.

First lets get the weird part out of the way. The place doesn’t have a name. I don’t know how that’s even legally possible! How could a place not have a name? I asked the employee what the place was called and her reply was that they don’t have a name but that it belongs to the same owners of Papa Johns Pizza. I think that’s very strange but I have a theory on why it doesn’t have a name which I will share later on in this post. For now though I’ve decided to call the place “Papa John’s Burgers”. Cheesy I know but its there fault for not coming up with one themselves and I need a name for this post.

Their burger surprisingly turned out to be really good. I had a cheeseburger combo with an extra cheeseburger on the side and although I wasn’t expecting to like it I actually ended up loving it. Their beef patties are ground fresh every morning and their buns are very McDonalds Fillet-O-Fish like so the end result is pretty similar to Johnny Rockets except for one thing, the sauce. The sauce they put with the burger is wayy better than anything I’ve had at Johnny Rockets, its kinda like the Rocket Single sauce except better.

Now the bad news. Their patties are pretty thin and I think that has to do with the price since their cheeseburger costs only 650fils. The result is too little meat for the bun, it looks kinda ok in the picture above but thats because I actually pulled the meat out so it would show in the picture. If it had double the patty it might have been a strong competitor for best burger in Kuwait but its not so I rate this burger a 3.5 out of 5.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way I can talk about other things not related to the review. First of all the price, its unbelievably cheap! Imagine a Johnny Rockets burger for only 650fils because that’s exactly what this is! A combo consisting of cheeseburger, fries and coke is only KD1.100! Thats cheaper than McDonalds and even cheaper than Naif! Their location really sucks, they’re located on the mezzanine floor of Fun Ahoy (an arcade/themepark) right next to Papa John’s Pizza. Which brings me to my theory on why the place doesn’t have a name. The owners of Papa John’s also own Fuddruckers so my theory is they needed a cheap burger place to serve the kids at Fun Ahoy so they probably use the same meat that they use at Fuddruckers and also have Fudds make their buns. Now legally I don’t think they can own another burger brand since they have Fudds so they just opened this random place that serves burgers and doesn’t have a name. Its only a theory of course so don’t take my word for it. If you do end up passing by which you should, be sure to do so in the middle of the week when there won’t be much kids around.

Papa John’s Burger is located in Al Manshar Mall in Fahaheel.
The cost of the Cheese Burger is KD0.650

Here are the burger places I’ve reviewed so far:
Applebee’s
Bredz
Burger Boutique
Fuddruckers
Hashi
Gaucho Gril
Gourmet Burger Kitchen
Johnny Rockets
Munch
Prime & Toast
Ruby Tuesday
Slider Station
Sheraton Hotel
The Burger Hub
The Little Oven
Wimpy

Does anyone know what they’re building next to the airport. It looks like a large dome.

Picture by MacaholiQ8

I just got the following in my email from a passenger on a Kuwait Airways flight who’s currently stuck at the Cairo Airport. This incident just happened awhile ago:

Hey Mark –

I wanted to contact you for a [potentially] new post you might want to write. First off, what I’m gonna write about isn’t in the news yet but it will almost definitely be in the morning, so you get the insights before they do.

I was on Kuwait Airways flight 542 from Cairo to Kuwait today with my family. Basically, after the plane left the gates and was on the runway, we stopped and the crews opened up the doors claiming there was an apparently major technical problem with one of the engines. About a half hour later, they said it was fine and we could be on our way. Plane taxis once again, but I noticed that the ride was strangely bumpy.

We took off, and about 20 seconds after take off with the plane going up rapidly, the right engine exploded. The plane shook hard, another explosion went off with another hard shake, and then one final boom and the plane dipped. Passengers in the back started screaming that fire was coming out of the engine and the plane began to lose altitude freakishly quickly. People were screaming, panicking, praying and getting out of their seats. I was flying first, but even from there, I managed to see flames and smoke billowing out of the engine. Mix all that together, and voilà, a scene from Hell. I thought it was all over, and clearly, so did the 200+ others on that nightmare flight.

Lucky for us, after thirty minutes or so spinning around in the air, the pilot managed to stabilize the plane and we made an emergency landing at Cairo International again, complete with fire trucks and ambulances. The plane stops just off the runway, they offload everyone and the airline offered to set us up in a hotel. Things got a bit messy on the ground when a passenger blacked out and collapsed on the runway, but I hope he’ll be fine.

Definitely adds to Kuwait Airways’ stellar reputation lately, don’t you think?

I’m on the next Kuwait Airways flight out of Cairo in an hour or so. Wish me luck.

I hope to hear back from you.

– Khaled

Thats really freaky, I am never going to fly Kuwait Airways again. I just checked the Kuwait Airport website and it’s showing the plane as currently being delayed. This is crazy!

Update: I couldn’t find a mention of this incident in the Arab Times but the Kuwait Times have written about it. [Link]

Its the time of year again when AUK hold their annual car boot sale in their parking lot. If you’re interested in selling items out of the trunk of your car, one parking space is for KD10 while two is for KD15. The car boot sale will be held on January 10th, 2009. [Link]

Kuwait ranked 31st in the world in computer ownership. Doesn’t sound that bad until you realize Estonia, Slovania Slovenia, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Latvia scored higher than Kuwait. Not that I have anything against those countries mind you! [Link]

Update: I just purchased the ebook version of The Pocket World in Figures 2008 and here are some interesting facts I found related to Kuwait…

– Kuwait ranks second in lowest death rate per capita. UAE is first, Qatar is third.

– Kuwait ranks 20th in most deaths in road accidents, I used to think we were first?

– Kuwait ranks 2nd in most injured in road accidents, Qatar is first with more than 3 times the amount!

– Kuwait ranks 3rd in death by diabetes, UAE is first, Saudi is second.

– Kuwait ranks 2nd in largest amount of carbon dioxide emissions per person. UAE is first.

– Kuwait ranks 4th in “Proportion of a country’s population residing in a single city”. That city being Kuwait City which doesn’t make sense since not many people live in Kuwait City.

– Kuwait ranks 3rd in Least economically dependent on agriculture. I don’t know if thats a good thing, I doubt.

– Kuwait ranks 1st in Largest consumption of energy per head (oil). UAE is second, the US is 5th.

– Finally, Kuwait ranks 5th in most crowded road networks. Qatar is first, Hong Kong second and Germany third.

Back in September I posted the logo Nataly designed for the Choowy Goowy New Yorker Cheesecake. Well the packages are now also finally done and printed and they’ve started delivering the cakes in them. So if you haven’t tried the New Yorker yet now is the perfect time. It’s KD11.5 for a full cake and you get to choose any crust you want, my favorite is the brownie crust.

To order a cake call them on 22620011 or 22626559.

Beautiful weather today so I took my Tamiya car to a parking lot across the street from my house to play around with. I even tried shooting a video (below) which didn’t come out as I planned! Its a really cool car but I keep wishing I had the real version instead. I am going to get soooo much more Tamiya cars though, its like I finally found myself a hobby! [YouTube]

I just got an email from a reader saying he saw a Schlotzsky’s opening soon sign at opposite Alraya Mall in Kuwait City. I used to LOVE Schlotzsky’s back when they were open in Lebanon. They make the best sandwiches ever!

Thanks Aliman!

It seems Starbucks is having a Toys Drive where all toys collected will be donated to the orphans at Dar Al-Atfal. A reader spotted the sign above with a basket full of toys at the Starbucks branch located at The Palms so I don’t know if this is something that’s exclusively being done at that branch or if all branches are participating in this. If someone can clear that up it would be great and also does anyone know when will this toys drive end?

Thanks Someday Red!

Update: The following email was sent to me from Alshaya containing more details on the Toys Drive…

Thank you for your interest in Starbucks “Holiday Joy” toys drive. I am happy to share with you an overview of the toys drive, the first time to launch in the Starbucks Middle East Markets, in selected stores in Kuwait, UAE & Lebanon.

Participating stores in Kuwait are:
Al Kout, Palms, Mishref, Jabriya, Behbehani, Keifan Sporting Club, Flagship, Hilton Hawally Plaza, Souk Sharq, Shamiyeh and Free Zone.

Duration of the drive is from 1st week of Dec. till 1st week of January.

The idea originated mainly as we were looking for ways to give back to our communities, especially during the holiday season, so we are inviting our customers to join our partners (employees) in sharing the joy of the season, by donating a toy to an orphan.

Warm regards,

This looks like an interesting place to try out. Amaya Seafood as you can guess from the name is a seafood restaurant which is located at the Mishref Coop. I haven’t been there but judging by the picture above it looks like a cozy place. Amaya also seems very affordable, KD1.900 for sweet & sour prawns or prawn curry is actually really cheap. They have a website with more details on what they offer including the prices. I am going to try and pass by this weekend. [Link]

Thanks miss ghesquiere!

Does anyone by any chance have anything related to Kids ‘R’ Us? Pictures of the branches, the koala bear doll, an old ad, ANYTHING related to Kids ‘R’ Us? If you do please contact me, I want to try and preserve the brand by collecting or documenting as much Kids ‘R’ Us stuff I can find. [Email Me]

Don’t know when this match took place but it was between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Pretty messed up but I’m an Ice Hockey fan so I find fights in sports entertaining. [YouTube]

I got the following in my email today:

You are all cordially invited to attend FIVE60’s first Flea Market featuring handcrafts and arts, anime cartoonist, fashion & accessories, gardening & nurseries, food vendors (candy + pancakes + desserts + corndogs) and more.

The market is held on December 26th – 27th from 4:00PM to 10:00PM in FIVE60 HQ @ Al Rawada – Block 5 – St 60 – House #4.

For more information please give us a buzz +965 9785 3033 or drop us an email [email protected]

Cheers!
FIVE60 Group