Category: Kuwait

All the shops that are located under the streets adjacent to Safat Square have now been closed down. The shops used to sell random items from counterfeit perfumes with funny names to cheap toys and clothes. I always thought the shops didn’t fit very nicely with the location and it looks like they’ve now been closed down as part of the renovation process Safat Square will be undergoing.

Safat Square is actually surrounded by fences at the moment which I thought were set up because the construction work was going to begin but turns out the fences are there because of the demonstrations that have been taking place.

Mupi Signs are the outdoor adverts you see usually in the middle bank between two roads. I noticed they’re replacing the old tacky looking ones with the newer and I think cooler looking black versions. This should help both the ads and the roads look better.

Two Atlanteans for export to Kuwait at Northern Counties, Pemberton. 9 May 1983. [original]

Found these two pictures of the old KPTC double decker busses. Turns out they were built by the Northern Counties Motor and Engineering Company in England. The picture above is of the buses before they were shipped to Kuwait while the picture below is of the buses unpainted being taken for a test drive to make sure they’re working fine.

Turning into Enfield Street, Pemberton, heading for Northern Counties, a unpainted Leyland Atlantean for Kuwait. 28 April 1983. [original]

This was in today’s newspaper.

If you’re looking for an activity to do this summer then the Kuwait for Kenya (K4K) project by LoYAC might be one to consider:

The K4K trip will take place in Mombasa, Kenya as usual. The duration of the trip will be 3 weeks, from 02 July 2011 to 23 July 2011.

The objectives of this year’s trip will be slightly different from the previous years. We’re looking at 2 projects to conduct during the trip; an agricultural project in Barani community and starting the infrastructure for the MYCC (youth center) building.

During the trip, we will have two weekends, which we’ve planned a safari trip and a rafting trip respectively. Both should be plenty of fun.

For those of you that are interested in joining us, please keep in mind that the age criteria is 18-28 years old. Also, the trip will be self-funded with an estimated total cost of KD 800 (excluding Safari and Rafting activities). Interested volunteers should review the pre-field manual, to be aware of the trip’s process and risks.

If you’re interested then you can contact Aisha Alsayegh ([email protected]) or Sara Al Ansari ([email protected]) for more information. Here is a link to the K4K website with info and picture of their previous projects [Link]

Earlier in the week someone from the KitchenAid dealer in Kuwait sent me an email thanking me for my post on their mixer. They person also asked me if I would be interested in trying the mixer out and since I like to bake I was like sure why not. So the next day they had a delivery guy drop off a pretty black mixer for me to try out.

There are two things that grabbed my attention right away. The first is how heavy the damn thing is. The mixer not only has a solid metal base but the upper body is also made of metal and even all the switches. The second thing I noticed was the Made in USA marking. I knew KitchenAid was an American company but I didn’t think they actually made the mixers in the US.

I was originally planning to bake a triple layered chocolate cake but decided instead to bake cookies since I’ve made cookies a lot of times before and so would be able to compare this mixer to previous mixers I’ve used. Instead of my usual cookie recipe I decided to try a new one from The Hummingbird Bakery cookbook. I’m not going to share the recipe here, if you want it then buy the book and support them. Anyway, those of you who follow me on twitter know by now that the cookies I baked turned out to be delicious! Even though The Hummingbird Bakery recipe was pretty similar to my old recipe the little changes they made were enough to turn my fairly good cookies into amazingly good ones. I was originally planning to eat just one cookie but ended up eating like a dozen!

Working with the KitchenAid mixer was very easy. I’m pretty aggressive when I mix (I like mixing at full blast) and by the time I add in all the flour and sugar the mixer usually starts to bounce around and I need to kinda hold it down or lower the speed to stabilize it again. With the KitchenAid it just breezed through the process without a sweat. It didn’t even do a little hop or shake a bit. The mixer is just really well built and I love how it looks. They come in a ton of colors but the most popular one I’ve seen is the Empire Red. The black one is nice and evil looking though.

I really loved the cookies and I really love the KitchenAid Mixer so it’s going to be sad to give it back. If you’re interested, the dealer is called Mabrook and their phone number is 24818242.

If you want the cookbook I used it’s available on [Amazon]

Still alive… just not kicking.
Tapes are for 500fils while CDs are for KD1.

I just found out an interesting fact. I originally thought that Google was the one that was adding more details to the Kuwait map like new streets and highways but it turns out it’s people around Kuwait who are doing the updates. The video above is a timelapse showing how Kuwait City originally used to be and how it’s become more and more detailed over time. The details are added using Map Maker and basically anyone can add updates but once they are added a moderator has to approve it and then it takes a month or two to show up. Interesting to know. [YouTube]

Thanks Yousef

I was passing through Zahra Complex the other day and noticed a bunch of No Smoking signs. Not sure if they smoking ban is being enforced but at least they sound serious about it.

[YouTube]

Ali Taqi, a student at AUK emailed to tell me about their performance in the Microsoft Imagine Cup that was recently held in our region. The Imagine Cup is a student technology competition where the aim is to create technology that will help solve the worlds toughest problems. The AUK students came first in Kuwait and second in the GCC and have now qualified to the next level which is to compete on an international level in New York. Their idea is very simple and according to them was inspired from the blog.

The students saw how when I took a picture of a problem and posted it on the blog the proper authorities would find out about the problem and get it fixed. So the students came up with the idea of creating a software which would be set up with a variety of different authorities (emergency services, garbage collection, health ministry etc..). They then would create a phone application for people so that when they find a problem, they can just snap a picture of it and then have the application send it to the proper authorities along with a geotag so that the location of the problem can be located quickly. They’ve called their idea the Revolutionary Reporting System or RRS for short.

In the video above for example they’re showing you how this software can be used to report an accident. Usually you would waste time trying to get a hold of the emergency call center and then trying to tell them what the problem is and where the problem happened. With this software they created things would be a lot easier.

I wish the guys involved in this project the best of luck (Ali Taqi, Bader Al Mohammed Ali, and Eissa Al Qadeeri). It’s a great idea and I for one would use it all the time. I do think they need to work a bit more on the video presentation before the New York event so maybe a local film maker can volunteer to help them out with this.

You can read more on this project by visiting the AUK website [Here]

The Arabic says “Food for dieting”. Not sure what kind of diet that is but if you’re reading this Fahad, that’s the diet I want to be on!

A reader posted in the forum asking here he could find Matabbag in Kuwait. I hadn’t heard of it before but it looks and sounds pretty good so now I’m curious to try it. Where can I find Matabbag in Kuwait?

Note: According to the reader, Matabbag is very popular in Saudi Arabia, it’s made using thin bread dough and contains a mix of minced meat, egg and spices inside.

The Ahmadi Music Group has an upcoming show which you guys might be interested in called The Desert Song:

The Ahmadi Music Group, directed by Richard Bushman, is delighted to announce the forthcoming production of The Desert Song by Siegmund Romberg. Fully-staged, with costumes, dancing, professional soloists, a cast of around fifty people and a full symphony orchestra, this will be a wonderful opportunity to experience an evening of musical theatre in the stunning new Performing Arts Centre at The English School Salmiya.

The Desert Song is one of very few operas in existence set in the Arab world. It tells the story of the efforts of the French in Morocco, in about 1910, to suppress rebellion by a band of desert outlaws, the Riffs. The stern General Birabeau is sent from France to be in charge of the combat; he is impatient that his son Pierre is not interested in soldiery. Only at the end does he discover that Pierre is secretly the dashing Red Shadow, leader of the Riffs. The production includes comedy, romance, warfare, and more romance.

Desert Song is not well known nowadays, but in the first half of the 20th Century, its songs were performed by every major singer and orchestra and dominated the charts. Most tellingly, it has been made into a full Hollywood film three times, making it one of the most sought-after theatre properties ever created. In 1929, it was the first all-talking Hollywood musical ever made.

Date: Tuesday May 31st, 2011
Type: Preview Performance for students
Tickets: KD4

Date: Wednesday June 1st, 2011
Type: Black-tie Gala opening performance followed by buffet supper
Tickets: KD10

Date: Thursday June 2nd, 2011
Type: Performance
Tickets: KD8 for adults and KD4 for children under 12

Date: Friday June 3rd, 2011
Type: Performance
Tickets: KD8 for adults and KD4 for children under 12

All performances start at 7pm at The English School, Salmiya.
For more information and booking visit their website [Here]

A reader emailed me to tell me that Google sent him a note saying they’ve updated the maps for Kuwait. So I just checked it out now and it turns out its true, the maps did get updated and are now much more sharper than before. Above for example is the latest shot of Kuwait Towers on Google Maps while below is an old shot I had posted on the blog ages ago. As you can see specially from the sea and land edges, the new updated images are very sharp and very clear. But, it looks like their satellite passed over and took pictures in the middle of a dust storm or something since the new shots are all very gloomy and dark. That’s really too bad since on a bright sunny day the shots of Kuwait could have turned out amazing.

If you want to check out Kuwait on Google Maps click [Here]

I finished building my 808e around 2 or 3 weeks back but was waiting for the motor and speed controller to arrive plus the batteries. Once they arrived I took the stuff to Pro Hobbies to have them professionally solder the wires together for me as well as setup the buggy for me. It’s now ready to take to the track which is what I am going to this next weekend. So far it kicks ass!

Here are the parts I installed if anyone’s interested:
– Tekin RX8 Competition Brushless System
– Tekin T8 1900kv Motor
– Savox 1258TG Servo
– Turnigy 4500mAh 4S 30C hard case battery