Category: Kuwait

If you own an iPad you’ve most probably already downloaded Draw Something or Paper by FiftyThree. If you haven’t all you need to know is that they are two very popular apps right now that involve drawing. The regular way to draw on the iPad is using your fingertips but you can also use a stylus for a more natural feel.

I searched Xcite, Office Depot and Blink and ended up going for the Elago Slim Stylus from Blink. I thought from all the models I checked, the Elago stylus looked like something Apple would have designed themselves. The stylus weighs enough to feel comfortable and is made of metal but has a rubber tip. It also comes with an extra rubber tip in case you damage one for some reason.

Drawing with a stylus is a lot easier than drawing with a finger obviously. I won’t show you how my drawings improved using the stylus because I can’t draw for shit with or without the stylus. But it really does make a difference and if you’re having difficulty drawing properly with your fingers or if you’re serious about illustrating on the iPad then getting a stylus is a must. Their prices range from around KD3 and upwards. The stylus I got cost me KD7.250 which is very reasonable and just KD2 more expensive than amazon. It’s definitely worth getting a stylus.

Kuwaiti rapper Big D is back with a new music video and this time it’s a lot tamer than his previous one. My guess is the amount of negative comments from his previous video led him to go with this less fun and safer route. At least the other video was more fun to watch. [YouTube]

Me Blogging posted about the Bayt Lothan Photography Club Exhibition and going by her pictures it looks like there are some really great work. You can check out her post [Here]

If you want to check out the exhibition yourself here is where the exhibition will be on the following dates:

April 2nd and 3rd: Australian College of Kuwait Campus
April 6th and 7th: The Avenues
April 10th and 11th: American University of Kuwait

There’s a news story on Sheik Jassim Al Wathiqi in British “The Sun” tabloid. It seems they found it interesting and newsworthy that Jassim’s son likes to fall asleep when his dad takes him out in the 458 Spider. You can read the article [Here]

You can also watch the video below of Sheik Jassim driving around Kuwait in the Spider. It’s such a beautiful car.

[YouTube]

Thanks InfiniteDriver

The Midnight Oreo Pancakes is now available for breakfast at Cocoa Room. Previously these pancakes were only an option for dinner but I personally believe it works better for breakfast. It’s really really good.

A Ferris wheel was built at the Bayt Abdullah Children’s Care Hospice in Kuwait after children at the hospice expressed a wish to visit Disneyland. As this was not possible, it was decided a Ferris wheel would fit the bill, as it could be enjoyed by a child in a wheelchair. [Source]

I just checked out pictures of the hospice and it looks really great. Click on anyone of the thumbnails on the following page to check out all the pictures of Bayt Abdullah. [Link]

Two weeks back I briefly posted the photo above and spoke about a Kuwaiti resistance fighter who had survived an Iraqi execution during the 1990 invasion and was hidden in that home. Well I got to meet the guy today and I heard the full story which I thought was extremely interesting to share. He wants to remain anonymous so I will be calling him Hamad in the story.

During the 1990 invasion Hamad and his friends became part of the Kuwaiti resistance. Once night one of the friends went missing while transporting some ammunition. No one knew what happened to him but 12 days later Iraqi soldiers came looking for Hamad and his friends. Their friend turned out had been captured and tortured. The soldiers captured Hamad and his friends and took them to a detention center in Jahra. For the first three days they were left blind folded sitting on the floor of a corridor with their hands tied behind their backs. Soldiers walking by would kick them and they were left without food. They were then moved to cells and they were tortured for two weeks straight.

After two weeks they were told that orders were issued to set them free and they would all be going home. Hamad and his friends along with a few other prisoners were shoved into a small van blindfolded with their hands tied behind their backs. One of the prisoners blindfold was loose so he could see where they were going and kept updating the rest of the guys sitting in the back of the van. Finally they arrived to Dasman palace and the doors of the van were opened. The Iraqis told them they would be splitting them into groups and dropping them off based on location. First location was the city and Hamad and his two other friends told the soldier they lived there. So three of them still blind folded and chained where put into a rear seat of a car and driven to the city. On the way the Iraqi soldier driving was asking them questions like what was the first thing they would do when freed and how they were feeling now that they were being freed etc..

Finally they get to the address of one of the guys and they all get taken out of the car. The Iraqi soldiers then force them down to their knees. Hamad hears one of the soldiers loading a weapon so he realized what was about to happen. He starts praying loudly when the soldier fires a bullet into the head of his friend. Hamad realizing he was about to die next decides he wants to die quickly and so lowers his chin so that the bullet goes through the back of his head. As he does that the soldier fires the gun and the bullet hits Hamad’s head and he falls down face first onto the floor. The third bullet gets fired and his friend goes down. Hamad heard that shot and realized he was still alive. The bullet had grazed him. Then to make sure all three were dead the Iraqi soldier fired a second bullet into Hamad’s friend on his left. The soldier then fired a second bullet into Hamad’s head but the bullet again miraculously grazed him again. Finally the soldier fired a bullet into the second friend and then unchained the three of them and left them dead.

At first Hamad thought they must have used fake blood and bullets just to scare them. He whispered to his two friends to stay down and not to move until they were sure the Iraqis had left. A few moments later he got up and was still out of it. He hadn’t really absorbed what had happened. He put his hands in the blood and realized it was warm. He smelled it and then felt his head and realized it was all real. He had survived an execution.

Hamad’s two friends passed away that day but Hamad managed to find help from a Kuwaiti family in one of the houses nearby who stitched him up and then hid him in an abandoned house who’s door is pictured on top of this post. It’s a very chilling story but one I thought had to be shared.

If you haven’t already done so please make sure you check out the evidence.org.kw where you can find photos of the destruction of Kuwait by Iraqi forces during the 1990 invasion. The photo above is from there and taken by Dr Adel Al-Yousifi.

Tonight I passed by the new Mexican restaurant in Jabriya called En Mexico. It’s a new place that has been open for around a month now. A friend of mine on twitter had recommended the place so I decided to see if it was any good.

The place is small, cozy and located right across the street from Champions Gym and only around 50 meters from Early Bird. When we arrived there was only one other table occupied and so we were able to quickly sit down and check out the menu. I already knew what main courses I was going to have based on my friends recommendation which was the grilled chicken burrito and the braised beef brisket tacos. I also orders chips and guacamole and the jicama and mango salad.

The salad came first and I didn’t think much of it. It’s made up of sliced jicama (which is a sweet vegetable) and sliced mango. Problem is neither the jicama nor the mango were sweet so the salad felt a bit dull. The chips and guacamole followed soon after and I thought the chips were great but kinda regretted not ordering the regular salsa instead of the guacamole dip. So far I wasn’t too impressed but I was hoping things would change with the main course and luckily things did.

Both the chicken burrito and the beef tacos arrived at the same time. I ordered both of the dishes without any bell peppers but didn’t change anything else. The first thing I started eating was the chicken burrito which was pretty good although I wished it had a bit of spice. Later I found out that they were serving it spicy but customers were complaining it was too spicy. They’re still fine tuning the dishes so by the time you try it the spice level should have been adjusted. Now the star of the night was the beef tacos and that’s the dish I’d go back for. One bite into the taco and I knew this was it. The flavors just burst into my mouth and it completely turned the dinner around. The taco is soft which makes it easy to eat and I really loved everything about it. Once we were done I wanted to order the churros with chocolate sauce for dessert but turns out they needed 20 minutes to serve so I decided to pass on it.

En Mexico is currently still in a soft launch but I already have a favorite dish there. Next time around I would probably start off with the chips and salsa, I’ll skip the salad and order two side dishes instead, the Elote which is a mexican style grilled corn on the cob and the jalapeño corn bread with honey butter. For the main course I’ll definitely stick with the beef tacos but next time will make sure to order the dessert as soon as the main course is served.

While I was leaving in my car after dinner I nearly ran over the owner while reversing which was a funny incident. He’s a cool young Kuwaiti guy who’s running the place at night while having a regular day job during the day. I told him I’d be back again which I will. They’re currently only open in the evenings and they’re easy to find as long as you can get to Champions Gym. You can check out their menu by clicking the links below:

En Mexico Starters, Mains and Desserts
En Mexico Salad and Sides

Imagine parking your car outside a super market overnight and coming back the next day to find your wheels are stolen. This happened in Sulaibiya.

Thanks Keith

I previously read Jazeera was getting their own terminal and I’m guessing this design is it. [Images Source]

The quote below is taken from the Jazeera Airways website:

Jazeera Airways Terminal
We are on track to have moved some 4 million passengers by end 2008 and project passengers in excess of 8 m by 2012. The Jazeera Airways custom built dedicated terminal is our response to protect the integrity of our service offerings and offer the passengers a dedicated Jazeera Experience that is second to none and maintain our On Time excellence. [Source]

Thanks Othman

I just found out Alshaya are bringing Muji to Kuwait! Their first store is set to open this year at The Avenues. How cool is that? [Source]

What else do we need in Kuwait? Here’s what I think Alshaya should get next:

– Selfridges
– Pret A Manger
– In N Out
– Barnes & Noble

Thanks Joseph

Ever since I started this blog I’ve been searching and requesting photos of Kids ‘r’ us and I haven’t really had much luck until today. Awhile ago I received two really hi-res photos of Kids ‘r’ us Farwaniya taken right after the Gulf War. I thought I would be happy to finally get some pictures but looking at them actually depresses me. It really sucks how it got destroyed and it sucks even more that until today we don’t have a toy store that’s as big or as cool as Kids ‘r’ us was. Actually what also sucks is that we don’t have any pictures to show people how cool of a place it was!

Pictures were taken by Adel Al-Yousifi and a big thanks to Abdulaziz for sending me them. You can view larger versions of the pictures above by clicking the links below:

First Picture
Second Picture

WiMD has setup free wifi at The Village in Abu Al-Hassany. They’re planning to roll out a country wide wifi network in the near future and for the next few months they’re testing the service out at The Village. No idea what the download speed is or if any ports are closed but my guess is their network won’t have a problem handling any bandwidth abuse.

Looks like there is a new radio station launching for the Indian community in Kuwait called U FM. I called to find out when they will be launching but the person responsible wasn’t in yet so will be calling back again later. The station will be available on the 98.4 FM frequency and they already have a Facebook page up which you can check [Here]

Thanks Tijoe