Category: Kuwait

My motorbike license test is on Wednesday so today I went to bike practice with Nat so I could train a bit before the exam. It was my first time back on the bike since my crash over a month ago. I wasn’t on the Ducati today, I was back on the Bajaj Pulsar. At first I was afraid I had forgotten how to ride but I managed to get a hold of things quicker then I had anticipated. My wrist is still killing me and it was hurting quite a bit while I was riding but its not that big a deal. I just want to pass my test and get the license and then I can give my wrist all the time it needs to heal. Can’t wait to get back on the Ducati and ride again.

Alghanim Automotive sent me an email today informing me that they will be launching three cars tomorrow. The three new cars are the new Lumina, the new Caprice and the new Epica. All the car models will be on display including the S, SS and Royale versions. I will probably be going so I can check out the new Lumina SS. Here are some pictures they sent me. [1] [2] [3]

On my way to work today as I was passing Souk Sharq on the Gulf Road I saw a few police cars parked on the side and an ambulance. They were parked on the curb near where all the old wooden fishing boats park and it looked like something bad had happened. There was a large crane also parked and I figured something must have gone wrong. So I parked my car and walked towards the crowd. As I was passing the police barrier to get to the other side two cops stopped me and asked me if I was “joumhoor” meaning crowd in Arabic. I used my Miskan technique and just pretended I didn’t speak a word of Arabic, pointed towards my camera and then towards the sea. They were like OK and they let me stay in the restricted area.

Anyway turns out they were salvaging a boat that had sunk. Their were scuba divers in the water and it seems the ambulance was there just in case anything goes wrong. I snapped a few pictures and then left back to work.

Someone uploaded the documentary Speed on Two Wheels online and you can download if you hurry. Its 400MB so its not a small file but its the whole episode without the commercials. [WMV 400MB]

If the link is dead then the person who was hosting the file deleted it. If you want to know more about Speed on Two Wheels or if you want to buy the actual DVD then click [Here]

Was coming back to the office today on the Gulf Road when I spotted these bikers. They were performing stunts right in the middle of traffic. Once we got to the area just before Fuddruckers I decided to record some of their stunts with my camera. You can watch it above on YouTube.

For those of you who couldn’t make the charity photography exhibition at Beit Lothan (like me) you will be glad to know its been extended for one more day. Saturday is now the last day. For information on the exhibition click [Here]

Finally got to try out the KDD Cola Lolly. They are nearly impossible to find because those KDD ice cream sellers on the streets don’t sell them and the bakala’s also don’t stock them. Today though I got a call from Nibaq telling me he had found a bunch at KDD in Shuwaikh. So he came by to Salmiya, popped open his trunk and pulled out a Keep Cold fridge. Inside it was stocked with lollies of various flavors including the hard to find Cola and Passion Fruit flavors. Now it seems the Water Melon Lolly is the only one remaining to be found.

By the way, the Cola Lolly tastes like frozen gummy cola’s. So its good.

When I was in Canada I got introduced to Poutine and ever since its been a favorite dish of mine every time I visit Montreal. Around a year ago I found out New York Fries had opened up in Kuwait so I went to check it out because I knew NYF from Canada and they used to have Poutine. NYF had opened up next to Souk Salmiya and my first experience was a mess. Firstly it turned out they were called New York Friez not Fries meaning they were just copying the name and look of the original franchise. Secondly although they did have poutine on the menu they couldn’t make it right. Poutine is french fries topped with cheese curds and brown gravy but I got served french fries with chili and cheese. According to them it was because they had run out of gravy. I was like fine but you should have told instead of trying to pass me chili cheese fries as poutine.

Anyway that was the last time I went to them until today. I was meeting up with Nibaq near Johnny Rockets Salmiya and I noticed New York Friez had opened up right behind them. I was like let me give them another chance. I go in and ask the waitress if they have poutine, she was like yes and she showed it to me on the menu. I tell her great can I have one. Then I was like wait, how do you make your poutine, whats in it? She was like chili and cheese and fries. I was like thats not poutine, poutine is cheese, gravy and fries. She went to the back asked the cook and came back and told me no poutine is chili, cheese and fries. I was like no thanks and walked out.

Things like this piss me off. If you look at the picture I took from their menu you will notice they can’t even spell poutine right. In UAE they have the official New York Fries but sadly they don’t have poutine on the menu. But at least there they don’t try passing chili cheese fries as poutine to their customers.

Here is info on poutine at Wikipedia. [Link]

Woke up at 5:30AM to walk my dog and it was freezing cold. I was literally in my shorts and t-shirt shivering. I guess winter is here early this year.

Like many of you I have been visiting IKEA in Shuwaikh since I was a kid. Sadly at the same time this post gets published (5PM) IKEA in Shuwaikh will have closed down for good. Tomorrow IKEA will reopen but at a new location in The Avenues mall. I was lucky enough to pass by IKEA for lunch today and see the original IKEA for one last time before they closed their doors. It was really strange walking around and not see any furniture on display. I took some pictures with my phone so check them out. [Pictures]

I was planning on going to the 4×4 event which is currently being held at the Mishref Fairgrounds, but after checking out some pictures taken there I don’t think I am gonna anymore. It looks really boring compared to the one they held last year at Marina Crescent. [Pictures]

The Strong Man Competition is going to be held at the Hilton Kuwait Resort this Friday the 10th of November. The event starts at 10AM to 5PM. For more information and pricing you can contact Hilton on 3725500.

update: Admission is KD12.5 and that includes food and drinks.

update2: here is the poster of the event. (Thanks Moustapha) [Poster]

Just found this online store called Lo3baty which turned out is located in Kuwait. They aren’t selling much just one product, a radio controlled helicopter. Looks cool and its cheap but I am guessing its tiny. I emailed the owner asking if he would send me one so I could review, haven’t gotten a reply yet. [Link]

note: I don’t think its the same Lo3baty as My Toy located in Muthana. The reason is if it was the same I would think they would atleast have their contact numbers and shop address on the site. I also did a whois on the domain name and the information there is fake. If it was the same My Toy as Muthana they would have had the correct whois info. I think this site is just someone taking advantage of the Lo3baty name but isn’t actually connected to the real Lo3baty in Muthana.

Four girls went on a trip to Cambodia last February and got really touched by the poverty and injustice they saw over there. When they got back they decided they were going to do something about it. The girls decided they would hold a fund raising photography exhibition which would include all of their shots that they took while they were there.

The exhibition is taking place at “Beit Lothan” which is located adjacent to Marina Mall and begins on the 6th of November and ends on the 8th starting at 6PM.

Their pictures will be on sale for KD30 each. All the money they make will be donated to the Schools for Children of Cambodia (SCC) charity.

Click here to view the poster of the event

I live in Salmiya, Salam Mubarek Street. The “old” Salmiya. I live right on the main shopping street and have been living on this street for most of my life.

Pre 1990 I was living in the building that had A&W, after 1990 I moved to the building across the street from it and thats where I have been living ever since. As you can imagine, I know the street very well. How well?

I remember The New Super Market before it closed down, I remember when Dairy Queen was open here and then shut down and Jashanmal opened instead. I remember buying my Thermos metal lunch box with the Dukes of Hazzard picture on it from there. I remember the night A&W opened with Mister Donuts right next to it. I remember when Majda el Roumi the famous singer came to open a perfume store right across the street from my building. I remember Hungry Bunny, I remember how after they renovated a cookie store opened inside it which had the best chocolate chunk cookies ever. I also remember the sad day when that cookie area inside got closed down.

I remember the high end stores like Channel, Versace and Cartier. It was a high end street and Rolex and Mercedes are still open here today serving as a reminder to what was once a beautiful street. I remember when Kids R Us opened and I remember what was there before it opened and after it closed. I remember the most popular music stores of their time, Soul II Soul, Bells and Swan Lake. I remember buying my original copy of Windows 95 from Computer World, I remember the small video game store on the ground floor of the same building, he had a NeoGeo in the display and I used to watch the Samurai Showdown demo play while I gazed through the glass hoping to own the system one day. I got my first Swatch from Fay stationary, I remember getting my Peter and Jane books from Family Bookshop. Fay shutdown, Family Bookshop is surprisingly still open.

Well my Salmiya isn’t what it used to be. All the upper scale stores shut down and everyones attention moved up to the Sultan Center area. All thats left here are low end stores all selling the same shit. The whole street has turned into a garbage dump. The sidewalk tiles are damaged, the trees look unhealthy, and the worst thing of all, Salmiya is slowly slowly losing its soul.

I was taking a late night walk just a while ago and I noticed the building that housed Swan Lake was going to get demolished. Thats when I realized I need to do something.

Why do old buildings get demolished and not refurbished? Salmiya (and Kuwait even) would look so much nicer if the old buildings were just redone up. Look at what was done with Beirut. They could have demolished everything and sprung up modern glass buildings but instead they decided to keep Beirut’s soul intact. Why can’t that be done here? My Salmiya really has a lot of history, how many other shopping streets in Kuwait can even begin to compare. No other has sidewalks wider then here nor is any other street located in such a good location. No other street has as much history! The Swan Lake building has a style, it can be cleaned up, updated and reopened but instead its going to get demolished and replaced by a cheap ass low end tiny crappy wannabe mall.

I want to be elected as the mayor of Salmiya. I would clean it up, repaint it, re-tile it and revive it. I don’t know who the mayor is now (if there is even such a position here in Kuwait) but I do know that he can’t be a true Salmiya dweller or else he wouldn’t let it die and rot like this. Vote for me, I won’t let everyone down.