Category: Kuwait

I heard a lot of bad stuff about Toshiba hard drives yet somehow I ended up buying one. Back in February Nataly needed a larger drive for her MacBook and I ended up going to Red Star in Walla Complex in Hawalli to see what they had available. I usually buy my stuff from Red Star or SoftIsland across the street since they both usually give me the best prices. The largest drive they had in my budget was the 160GB Toshiba. I didn’t want to get it but the salesman there convinced me that unlike the old Toshiba drives that were made in China and were prone to failure, the new drives are now made in Philippines and were supposedly of much better quality. I bought into that and went ahead and purchased the drive.

Just before we sold her MacBook the drive ended up dying. Luckily she had everything backed up on her old drive and so was able to recover her work but the Toshiba drive was dead. I put it aside and forgot about it until a few days ago I accidentally found the original invoice. There in very clear hand writing it stated “6 months warranty”. I checked the date and realized it had only been 5 months since I bought the drive so I headed to Hawalli today and got the drive replaced. I wasn’t to sure if they would replace it for me or not since most of the places there are pretty shabby but Red Star were pretty cool and after testing it out told me I could come back tomorrow and get a replacement. Since I didn’t want to come back the next day and since I also didn’t want another Toshiba drive I ended up settling on a 120GB Seagate and a nice discount on a decent HDMI cable.

I just installed the drive in my PS3 and its working perfectly. I will never buy another Toshiba drive ever again and I would not recommend them to anyone. They are cheap which makes them tempting but you really should stay away from them.

I passed by Marina Mall today to pick up my MacBook from the Apple store Digits. My computers logic board died and last month they told me they would fix it under warranty but it would take around 2-4 weeks for the part to arrive. Well it ended up taking 3 weeks and my Macbook is back from the dead. The whole thing only cost me KD10 which I believe was for shipping or customs. Now I’ve got three completely different sized laptops. I’ve got the 15″ MacBook Pro for work which I am finding extremely enormous. I’ve got my Asus Eee which I am finding super tiny compared to my MacBook Pro. Finally I have my perfectly sized 13″ MacBook which lies somewhere in the middle. It feels good to be back typing again on my MacBook.

I saw a new Dodge Charger police car today mounted onto a tow truck. I think the Ministry is still deciding which car to go with and changes are still being made on the cars. For example I noticed the front bumper on the car (pictured below) was different than the one pictured [Here]

This is my second video post for the day. This one is of a video I found on YouTube showing a project thats supposedly going to built on Failaka. It seems they will be turning Failaka into one large resort but the strangest thing is that they will have a large zoo and amusement park on it. Pretty strange since I would rather they fix up the current zoo before having a new one built and entertainment city needs some new rides as well. [YouTube]

Two videos for today, this is the first one. Its a video of some people flying kites in Kuwait, I posted about them before but now there seems to be wayyyy more kites and not small regular kites I am talking about really cool big ones, just check out the video. [YouTube]

Marks & Spencer in Kuwait is pretty strange. Its been open for a really long time and they seem to be doing pretty well but they’ve yet to open up in a popular mall. I usually pass by Marks & Spencer for their food section, they’ve got a ton of munchies and random items like jams, salad dressings and cornflakes. Their food packaging is also beautifully designed so I just buy random stuff because they look good. If you haven’t been to Marks & Spencer its worth checking out, they’re located right next to Marina Mall, I am not sure they have another branch elsewhere.

How much does it cost to sponsor a bridge here in Kuwait and once I sponsor it would I be allowed to paint the whole bridge in fluorescent pink? I am sure it would look a million times better than the one pictured above and at least I would be adding much needed color to the Kuwaiti landscape.

I just found out about a new online electronics store called Feeezo. They don’t have a very large collection of electronics but if this is just the beginning then the idea sounds promising. The website looks like crap, and I think most of the items are from Alghanim except Feeezo is more expensive. But, its a nice idea which I think Alghanim should implement themselves. [Link]

Thanks Rakan!

My favorite person to go out eating with is Choowy Goowy guy since we both have similar tastes in food and all his recommendations usually leave me with a happy stomach. Yesterday we decided to pass by and have lunch at Burger Boutique, I hadn’t been there since Slider Station opened and since I am finishing up the Burger Challenge it was on my to do list.

It wasn’t easy trying to choose a burger to have. I’ve had nearly all their burgers before and they were all great but for the burger challenge I need to choose just one. I decided to go with one of their new burgers which came highly recommended, the Madison. I’ve had it before as a slider at Slider Station and loved it so I couldn’t wait to try the burger version.

The Madison’s ingredients are a chargrilled rib eye infused beef patty, processed American cheddar, pickles and west coast sauce. I ordered mine without pickles and fries as my side dish.

I love how Burger Boutiques burgers look like and the Madison is no exception. Although a simple burger the presentation was very appetizing with a great looking bun and nicely melted cheese on what looked like a perfectly sized patty. But not all was perfect. Although I loved the Madison slider I don’t think it works well as a full sized burger. I had the same issue with their Midnight slider, it was one of my favorite sliders but when I had it as a full fledged burger it didn’t come out as good. I think the sauce is great in small quantities but once you have a lot of it then it becomes a bit too heavy. The bun was excellent though and their beef patty is seriously one of the best.

I think Slider Station which also belongs to the same owners raised the bar on burgers in Kuwait and now a good burger just doesn’t cut it anymore. I am giving the Madison a 3.5 out of 5 which is still a really good score but just not as high as I was expecting it to get. I think the Madison is one of the best looking burgers so far in this challenge, I will definitely be having it again… but as a slider.

Burger Boutique is located in Alraya Mall
The cost of the Madison Burger is KD2.950

I was at Alghanim today and saw this portable Humax satellite dish. It comes with a 17inch screen on the front and the dish mounted on the back. You just setup the tv/dish anywhere and point it in the right direction using the built in compass and thats it, live satellite TV where ever you are. Costs around KD300.

With the temperature hitting 50 degrees there is only one place to go. [Link]

It’s been a while since my last burger review and I was hoping to start it off again with a great burger but that didn’t happen. I passed by Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK) today for lunch, it was my first time and probably my last.

Their burger menu is pretty big with lots of different styles to choose from. I asked the waitress what their most popular burger was and she told me it was the Cajun Burger. She also told me they had a special offer now where they gave away a drink and fries with the burger. I thought that was cool and I went ahead and ordered it.

The Cajun Burger is made up of Black-Angus beef, smoked chili mayo, salad, and Cajun relish. It didn’t take too long to arrive and at first glance it was disappointing. The burger looked very dry and unappetizing while the bread itself looked very poor and thin. It didn’t get any better from there. Once I had my first bite I realized that although looks can be deceiving, it wasn’t in this case. The burger didn’t taste good, the Cajun relish was slightly sweet and I didn’t think it went well with the chili mayo while the bun was the worst part. The upper half of the bun was very thin and was breaking apart while I was having the burger as if it was old. The burger was also pretty messy to eat which didn’t make things any better.

For a place like GBK which specializes in burgers its strange that their buns are so bad. Maybe GBK is a popular place in London but with strong local creations like The Burger Hub and Slider Station, GBK doesn’t have a chance here. I gave the burger a 1.5 out of 5. The burger patty was good but everything else around it wasn’t.

GBK is located in The Avenues and Marina Mall
The cost of the Cajun Burger is KD2.950

I just found out today that CAMPER is open at The Avenues. Its been open for a month now but due to the fact its in a very concealed location I didn’t find out about it until now. I passed by it and was disappointed to see such a poor collection of mens shoes. Most of the popular models weren’t available and according to the salesman they won’t be getting any more models for the time being. CAMPER is located in Avenues Phase 2, under the new food court, right under the new Johnny Rockets that opened there.

I just saw two new Fasttelco ads and I think they are of really bad taste. The one above shows a dead bat bleeding while the other one shows a bat screaming in pain as it crashes through a window. These have to be the most horrendous ads Fasttelco have ever released. Check them out on ads2blog.com [Link]

Update: I just got an email from someone at Fasttelco telling me these ads were never and would never be released by them and that they were never approved. Ads2Blog have also updated the original post stating that the ad was done by an Art Director and “were never meant to see the light nor get published”. I guess that makes a lot more sense now. Its good to know Fasttelco haven’t completely lost it.

LoFat now have a dine-in branch open and its located in Kuwait City. I didn’t pass by the place but its supposedly near Holiday Inn next to Burger Bar. I wonder if Burger Bar is still open, I haven’t heard about them in a while and I don’t know anyone who goes to the place. Last time I went I didn’t have a good experience. My burger challenge should hopefully continue this weekend, I think I have like 6 more burgers I need to try!

Thanks Ansam!