Category: Kuwait

Ok, I got the power back on in my flat. Although my windows were all closed dust still managed to come into the house and now EVERYTHING has a layer of sand on it. I couldn’t see ANYTHING outside my window. When I first heard the wind I looked outside and I saw a cloud of sand literally sweep into my block like a huge wave, something I’ve only seen in movies. Within second visibility dropped down to like 10cm, I couldn’t see ANYTHING outside. That extremely powerful wind with dust continued for a couple of minutes before I started hearing a banging sound on my window. I stepped back thinking whatever was hitting my window was going to break it but then I noticed it was rain drops. In a few seconds it started raining really strong and the dust cleared up but then I noticed the rain was so powerful and in such large quantity that water started pouring into my apartment like a waterfall from the window sill. I quickly grabbed a ton of towels and started to do what I can to hold back the water. Once I got that under control I called Nat up to see if she was ok.

Nat was at the gym when the storm hit and she was extremely pissed. The power shutdown at her gym and when they tried to exit the building all exits were locked. The elevators stopped working so when they took the fire escape all the exits were blocked. Her and the other gym members are EXTREMELY pissed off now because if there had been a fire they would all have been fucked. And its not some small shabby gym, this happened at Flex!

Anyway I would like to thank susheeh for naming this storm Hurricane Kuwaitina. How hard were you guys hit? Post your experience in the comments below.

If you have any pictures email them to me: [email protected]

Update: I am uploading all the pictures I get to a photo album which you can view by clicking [Here]

A few blogs got mentioned in Abwab magazine’s latest issue. I’ve never seen the magazine before but Forzaq8 has a scan of the page on his blog. [Link]

This video was shot earlier tonight by Ahed on Damascus Street. A diwaniya was being transported on a back of a truck when it hit the Adailiya bridge and fell off the truck onto the middle of the road. Is this the first drive-thru diwaniya? [YouTube]

Update: Here is another video from closer [YouTube]

A reader called Mohammad just emailed me this map of the Kuwait City Metro which he scanned from the latest issue of MEED. It looks like there will be a subway station near my home which is pretty cool. The metro is supposed to be completed by 2014.

Here is the larger version of the map. [Picture]

The Burger Hub is another one of those places I never tried because I absolutely hated their branding. With places like Burger Boutique and Slider Station, the bar has been raised when it comes to the design of burger joints in Kuwait and the fact that Burger Boutique and Slider Station are local creations just like Burger Hub means there is no excuse for bad design. If we put aside the ugly logo, placemats and the confusing menu, whats up with the interior design? Its just really awful, and the bathrooms are even worse. The whole thing put together just makes it look like Burger Hub were trying really hard to be different and stylish but the result just makes them look like wannabes. Having Slider Station a few doors down isn’t helping either. One thing they got right and the most important aspect of this review though was their burger.

According to their placemat their most popular burger was the La Rose Burger which consists of the beef burger covered with caramelized onions, mushroom sauce and swiss cheese. So I placed an order for that with a side order of fries and waited. When the burger arrived I wasn’t impressed by the presentation. It came in a small metal pan that had white paper on the bottom and the burger on the top which looked pretty cheap.

I really came into the place already with a negative impression and nothing there was really helping me change my mind until I started eating the burger. Wow what a shock. Everything about the place was telling me this burger was going to suck but it was just delicious. When I first saw the bread I expected it to be hard but it turned out to be very soft and although the burger was really juicy, the bread never got soggy. The beef patty also tasted great while the mushroom sauce wasn’t overdone and the cheese was just right. I couldn’t believe I was not only liking the burger but loving it.

But not all is perfect, before I could really start to enjoy the burger I had already finished it. I guess for a 12 year old girl on an Atkins diet the burger is actually a good size but for me I wished it was ever so slightly bigger. I also wished the onions were more caramelized since some of it still tasted raw. Overall though the burger was really impressive and thats why I am giving it a 4 out of 5 which actually ties it in first place with their neighbors, Slider Station. I will definitely be going back again, they have a really large collection of burgers which I think I am going to have fun going through. Now if only they can revamp their identity.

The Burger Hub is located on the Gulf Road opposite Seef Palace.
The cost of the La Rose Burger was KD2.600

A friend at work just emailed me this video, it has explicit lyrics so you’ve been warned. [YouTube]

Thanks Erzulie

As some of you might have read on SomeContrast, Mishary posted pictures and information about the availability of new gasoline and diesel introduced at the Bayan Station. The prices are 120fils for pink gasoline and 100fils for orange diesel.

I initially thought that this would be a step-up from the current green gasoline, ultra (98 octane). It turns out that someone (insert big name) requested that Kuwait should introduce Euro-Spec petrol (environmentally friendly); and KNPC agreed. Afterwards KNPC realized that their refineries are not ready for producing Euro-Spec petrol, so they imported it from the Q8 system in Europe; hence the higher costs.

The pink gasoline (Ultra-Euro) is 95 octane (lower than green) and the orange diesel is most likely the same as the Kuwaiti garden variety. The only unproven benefit if used on our engines is lower emissions.

Link to SomeContrast. [Here]
Link to Al-Watan (arabic article). [Here]

Posted by K.

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted about Cinemagic’s weekly film screening so in case you don’t know about it, here is the latest film they will be showing:

Cinemagic is delighted to announce the return of our weekly screening program. Screenings will continue to take place at our new location in Old Salmiya, above LG Electronics.

This week, we will be screening “Children of Men”. The Screening will take place on Thursday, April 10th, at 7:30 p.m.

Y Tu Mamá También and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban director Alfonso Cuarón returns to the helm to tell this futuristic tale in which society is without hope since humankind lost its ability to procreate. The year is 2027, and women can no longer give birth. The youngest inhabitant of the planet has just died at the age of 18, and all hope for humanity has been lost. As civilization descends into chaos, a dying world finds one last chance for survival in the form of a woman who has become inexplicably pregnant. Now, as warring nationalistic sects clash and British leaders try to maintain their totalitarian stronghold on the country, a disillusioned bureaucrat (Clive Owen) is brought back into the fold of activism by his guerrilla ex-wife (Julianne Moore). Reluctantly, he takes on the daunting task of escorting Kee (Claire-Hope Ashitey), the refugee who represents humankind’s last hope for survival, out of harm’s way and into the care of a mysterious organization known as The Human Project. Chiwetel Ejiofor, Charlie Hunnam, and Michael Caine co-star in this adaptation of author P.D. James’s gripping 1992 novel.

For its part, Cinemagic Kuwait, is organizing these events as part of its efforts to contribute to the development of an internationally competitive Kuwaiti audio-visual production industry, partly by bringing the filmmakers and audiences together and by Increasing the public’s interest in – and appreciation for – the art of filmmaking.

As always, attendance is free of charge (but seating is limited). Snacks and refreshments will be served.

The guys from Deera Chat have just launched a website dealing with the elections in Kuwait. If you have any feedback just leave them a comment. The website is in Arabic. [Link]

Electrozan recently relocated to a new larger location a few buildings away from their original spot. I never passed by the old place since to be honest I hated the name and their logo and for me sometimes thats all I need to stay away from a place. Tonight though I passed by the new store and although I still hate the name and logo, I kinda liked the place.

They don’t have anything special electronics wise and the place isn’t really that big but what I liked about the place was the warehouse look. It reminded me a lot of Costco in the States except without the special offer on the 100-roll pack of toilet paper. According to a banner Electrozan had in the store, they didn’t spend money on the interior design because they wanted to pass on the savings to the consumers. Well I think more stores should follow in their steps since most places can’t get the design right anyway so they might as well just not bother trying and just do it like this, it looks wayy better than a lot of crap out there. Two more pictures after the jump.

I was talking to a friend who is trying to get her driving license here in Kuwait and she told me its as if the system is set up to fail you unless you have wasta. That comment reminded me of the written test Nat and I took over a year ago when getting our motorbike license in which we both got the same question in the test except my question didn’t have a right answer. Here is a larger picture showing what I am talking about. [Picture]

Other than my motorbike I am also selling my BMW so I just called both Q8Car.com and Q8Showroom.com to see how much it costs and whats the process of having my car published on their site and this is what I found out:

Q8Car
– Cost for placing your car on their site with one picture for a duration of one month: KD5
– Cost for placing your car on their site with four pictures and the ad will remain until you sell the car: KD10

Q8Showroom
– Cost for placing your car on their site with three pictures and the ad will remain until you sell the car: KD5
– Cost for placing your car on their site and Waseet newspaper: KD10

Both Q8Car and Q8Showroom send a mandoob over to take a picture of your car, collect payment and get the details of the car. I think Q8Showroom’s KD10 offer is the best deal but Q8Car does get a lot more visitors to their site. I will post my car on both and see which gets me more calls then post my findings on the blog.

If anyone is interested in my car its a 2001 BMW 330ci with 102,000KM mileage. You can [Email Me] for more details.

The elections are coming up and it reminded me of this video I shot last year showing the amount of ads in the newspaper. It was ridiculous! I heard this year its not going to be as bad though. [YouTube]

Nat’s MacBook Pro arrived to Kuwait but got held up in customs so today I woke up early and headed to the cargo terminal outside the airport to clear it. I was expecting the process to be long and difficult but surprisingly it was pretty easy. The hardest part was knowing where to go first after that everyone just points you in the direction you have to go next. These are the steps I had to take, click on the map for a larger version:

1) I headed to the NAS building (National Aviation Service)
2) Once you go up the steps into the NAS building you will be greeted by a security desk where you have to exchange your civil ID card for a pass
3) You then have to walk through the cargo bay and head to the back offices
4) Once you enter the office head to the counter marked on the map. I paid KD3 here.
5) After paying the KD3 fee and getting a print out I was sent to an adjacent window to get another stamp
6) I then had to go back to the cargo bay where I gave my papers to a worker who went and got my package from inside their warehouse. Once the package comes out a customs officer has to check it. After checking, the package was taken away again and I got another paper which I needed to take to the building across from NAS.
7) When I entered the building across from NAS I headed to a window at the far end corner where I presented my papers. I had to buy a stamp for KD1.
8) After getting another paper with the stamp I had to go to the window in front of him where I handed in my papers and paid KD1.
9) I then headed back to the NAS offices and back to the window on the far end where my paper was stamped one more time.
10) I then had to take that paper into the cargo area and get another stamp from this small desk in the middle.
11) They sent me to a window in front of them where I got another paper printed out
12) I finally went back to the middle desk where I got my last stamp and they told me to pick up my package.

All in all it took me around an hour to clear my MacBook Pro and only paid KD5 in total. Now that I know what I have to do I think I could clear a package a lot quicker next time around. Everyone there was pretty helpful and it was very crowded. I was there around 9:30-10 but the earlier the better I guess.

I’ve never liked Applebee’s because I never had a good experience there. Whatever I ordered I ended up hating and their menu just didn’t have as much variety as I wanted. Yesterday I passed by for the first time in over a year ago and things have changed considerably since my last visit. The menu has a lot more interesting stuff on it and probably the most shocking thing of all, I actually left the place satisfied and thinking about going back.

They had four burgers on their menu but I decided to go with the cheese burger since the other options were a classic burger with no cheese, a cheese burger with bacon, and the last burger was I think a Hawaiian burger with Pineapple (gross!). All the burgers are made using a 100% Angus Beef and cooked medium well.

My burger arrived 10-15 minutes after placing my order and after a few bites I realized that although the Applebee’s burger isn’t good enough to be a contender for the top spot, it was a pretty good burger. It tasted and smelled like it was grilled on a backyard barbecue which is a good thing because barbecued burgers always taste good. The burger was not super thick but was still very juicy and the cheese melted perfectly. Now one thing I found weird although it didn’t have an effect on the taste was that it felt like I was biting into a steak and not a burger. I don’t know if thats normal with Angus beef but it just felt weird.

Overall though there wasn’t much wrong with the burger. It didn’t have this “oh I need to have another one right now” taste to it which is why it didn’t score any higher. But it did score pretty high because I’m giving it a 3.5 out of 5 which puts it inline with the Fuddruckers burger. That alone is an achievement.

Applebee’s is located on the Gulf Road, Mishref and Souk Sharq.
The cost of the Angus Cheese Burger was KD2.150

Previously Reviewed:
Bredz
Fuddruckers
Hashi
Johnny Rockets
Munch
Prime & Toast
Slider Station
Sheraton Hotel
The Little Oven
Wimpy