Category: Personal

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.

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

Alghunaim Photo contacted me last week asking me if I’d be interested in reviewing the Spyder4Pro monitor color calibration tool. Since I’ve always wanted to try one of those tools I passed by and picked it up and then spent the weekend playing around with it.

Every monitor displays colors differently and my 27″ iMac never really felt very accurate when compared to other screens around the house. Even though there is an option built into the Mac system to calibrate the color, it involves a lot of eye squinting and results in a final calibration that I don’t trust. The Spyder takes away all the decision making from me, kinda like a little robot with a focus on keeping the colors on my screen calibrated.

First thing you need to do is install the Spyder software and connect the Sypder to a free USB port on your computer. When you run the software the first test it performs is to measure the ambient light in your room using the light sensor on the Spyder. Once it’s done measuring the light the software then asks you to hang the Spyder on top of the illustrated Spyder on the screen. The Spyder software then proceeds to perform a bunch of tests displaying various colors on the screen while the Spyder measures the results. After a few minutes the test is completed and you’re given an option to either save the new settings or go back to your previous one. You can also compare the new settings with the old one and they even provide you with a variety of pictures to use for comparison.

The best way to perform the before and after comparison is turn away from the screen while changing from one setting to the other. By flipping between the before and after I realized that before the Syder calibration my iMac screen colors were a very cool tone (cool = more towards the blue). After the calibration the colors are more balanced and even the screen brightness which was absurdly bright before is in a much more natural state after the calibration.

All is not good though since I do have a few quibbles here and there but they’re mostly the fault of Datacolor the company and not the Spyder product. My biggest issue is with the documentation or should I say lack of it. The manual doesn’t really tell you about any of the features of the Spyer and it’s also out dated. According to the manual the way to hang the Spyder onto the screen during the tests is with the help of the supplied rubber bands. But the model I got didn’t have any rubber bands and used a simpler newer method using a movable counter weight on the cable. Because of the lack of documentation there’s one feature that’s still confusing me. When connected to your computer the Spyder continuously measures the ambient room light and informs you with a a red icon if the light is different from when calibrated. What’s confusing me is what to do when the ambient light doesn’t match the one the test was performed with? Do I calibrate the display with different ambient light? Do I perform a test during the day and a test during the night? Do I switch between the different color settings myself? I have no idea what to do and the Datacolor website doesn’t even have the latest manuals uploaded yet alone answers to my questions. If you actually do end up purchasing the Spyder I would actually recommend you visit the product page on Amazon where one reviewer has a step by step guide on how to set everything up. That’s how poor the product’s documentation is.

But, even with the poor documentation I’ve still decided I’m going to purchase the Spyder4pro. The thing is it works and it works really well. Within just a few minutes after setting up to your computer you’ll start seeing results and the difference in some cases can be dramatic. It’s really something every serious photographer should have and also anyone doing any sort of design work. I highly recommend it.

Usually at the end of a review I’d proceed to place links to Amazon but in this case Alghunaim actually sells the Syper for prices slightly less than Amazon. He has three models in the store priced as following:

Spyder4expree KD38
Spyder4pro KD45
Spyder4elite KD65

The three Spyders are similar but each offers additional features than the other model. To see which one is suitable for you check out the chart [Here]

I’m going with the Spyder4Pro because it has the ambient light sensor which is missing from the Spyder4express and I also don’t really need any of the extra features from the Spyder4elite.

Alghunaim Photo is located in Baitak Tower in Kuwait City. Here my my previous post about them [Link]

Ever since I was a kid I always called this place Salmiya Plaza. Back in the 80s that’s where My Toy was located and that’s where the pastry shop we used to pass by to pick up finger food for birthdays and other events was located.

Today the place is still there but clearly looks like it isn’t being taken care of. I think that’s a shame since I believe this place has a lot of potential.

The plaza has a small parking right in front of it. You park your car and then walk up a few steps up onto a long shaded open corridor that separates the parking from the courtyard. It’s pretty nice since once you sit in the court yard you can’t see the cars. Around the courtyard in an L shaped layout lies all the shops. Each and every one of those shops overlook the spacious courtyard. Other than the parking spots in front of the plaza there is a huge lot behind the plaza where there is a wedding hall.

Imagine if this plaza was refurbished and trendy restaurants opened up over there. Imagine if Slider Station, Burger Hub, Zero, Pink Moon and Prime & Toast where actually all open there instead of their current location in the very tight Seef strip. I think it would have been a pretty cool place which is why I think this little plaza located off of Baghdad Street in Salmiya is a hidden gem.

Update: Here is a link to the location on Google Maps [Link]

One of the cool things about Marina Mall is the fact the glass roofs all open up so it feels like you’re walking outdoor. Problem is I haven’t seen the roofs open in years and I’m not sure if they stopped working or they just don’t bother opening them anymore. I think the last time I saw the roof open was in 2005.

I don’t post much about Lebanon on this blog but a subject like this needs as much exposure as possible. I’ve always known racism was a big issue in Lebanon but I didn’t think it was this bad. Notice how no one intervenes to stop this from happening? [YouTube]

The last day when I was in London I decided to try their public bike rentals. I was worried it was going to be a bit complicated riding around a city I didn’t really know but it actually turned out to be a lot more fun that way. First of all the bike are very cheap to rent costing one pound for 24 hours and no other costs if you use the bike for 30 minute intervals. The rental process is automated using a touch screen and credit card and once you’re done paying for the bike you get a code which you punch into the bike to release the lock.

Me and Nat picked up our bikes from the corner of Hyde Park and rode across to the other side before returning the bike to another bike dock. We then crossed the street to shop a bit and when we were done we picked up new bikes from a different bike dock further down the street. Since I had already paid for 24 hours worth I just placed my card in the machine which recognized me right away and printed out new codes to release 2 new bikes. We then rode down passed Buckingham Palace where we stopped to watch a ceremony and then proceeded to head down towards the river.

Because we were on bikes we were covering a lot of area much more quicker than if we were walking. We also rode in areas we would usually skip by taking the subway so that allowed us to see and discover new things. The fact they have a lot of bike docks all over makes it easy to pick up a bike when you need one and drop off the bikes when you’re done. So next time you’re in London try renting a bike, it’s worth trying out.

I just had the most amazing tea time at Souk Mubarakiya. I’ve been there a bunch of times before mostly for lunch but never actually sat at one of the tea places and had tea. This time though I did and I ended up trying three different flavors, the original, numi/lumi (lemon) and darseen (cinnamon). Who knew tea could be this good and at just 50fils a pop it’s a steal.

Note: Is it numi or lumi? I heard lumi but google says numi.

Since I’m planning to get the Nikon D800 when it gets released this month I decided to get rid of some things that I haven’t used in years. So below are all the things I’m current selling in the forum, kinda like a digital garage sale.

Nikon D90 with 18-105mm Lens SOLD
NeoGeo with 20 Games SOLD
11 Xbox360 and 1 PS3 Game SOLD
Muji CD Player SOLD
Ethernet over power adapters + routers bundle SOLD
Sakhr MSX2 with 20 Games SOLD
12 Game Gear Games SOLD
Panasonic 3DO with 20 Games SOLD
Game Cube with 2 Games SOLD
Coleco Vision with 17 Games and Racing Wheel SOLD
Sega Dreamcast + 4 joypads + fishing rod + keyboard + mouse SOLD
Apple TV 40GB SOLD
Wifi Extenders and Routers bundle SOLD
Holga Medium Format camera + 35mm waterpoof camera SOLD
Nine Eagles Solo Helicopter SOLD

If you’re interested in any of the items and don’t want to sign up to the forum then [Email Me]

Update: A lot of the items have now been sold so I’ve updated the list above.

Update2: All the items have now been sold!

Last month the Tempur dealer called me and offered me a mattress to review since they were hoping to get some publicity for their recently opened Tempur store at Tilal Complex. I was hesitant at first since I was actually pretty comfortable with my mattress but since I didn’t have anything to lose I decided to try it out.

Tempur have three main mattresses to choose from, the Tempur Original, the Tempur Sensation and the Tempur Cloud. I tried the Original but found it a bit creepy since the mattress felt alive due to the way you sink into slowly. Kinda like quick sand. The Sensation and Cloud were more to my liking and I had trouble deciding between the two before going for the Cloud which I thought was a bit softer than the Sensation.

It’s been three weeks since I got the mattress and I have to say I really love it. I never had an issue with my previous mattress but I don’t think I could go back to it after experiencing the Cloud. It’s going to be a bit hard for me to explain how the new mattress is different but one way I can describe it is that it’s cozier. Like everything Tempur their special material takes the form of your body, kinda like the bed is hugging you which actually explains the cozy feeling. The bed doesn’t use any metal springs and isn’t bouncy at all. One person could jump up and down on one side and the second person wouldn’t feel a thing. They actually have a small demonstration in the store where they drop a metal ball onto regular foam and Tempur foam. When the ball drops onto regular foam it bounces back up into the air but when the same ball drops onto the Tempur foam the impact is absorbed and the ball just stops. One way I feel it is when getting out of bed in the morning. When I try to push off the bed with my hand it actually absorbs some of the force which takes a little bit of getting used to. But, it’s really such a great feeling sleeping on this mattress.

In addition to mattresses they also have pillows and other Tempur accessories in their showroom. They have everything on display for you to try out and even if you’re not comfortable lying down out in the open they have a small room where you could try out the mattresses and pillows in private. If you’re interested, the Tempur store is located in Tilal Complex and their phone number is 22256191.

Earlier tonight I passed by Ubon, the new trendy Thai restaurant that opened up in Kuwait City. I’m not a big fan of Thai food but the place is located in my office tower and the interior looks amazing so I had to try it. Below is what I ended up ordering.

Tom Yum Goong Soup (KD2.400) It’s a hot and sour prawn soup with mushroom and vegetables. I asked mine to be made medium spicy which turned out to be too spicy for my liking.

Chicken Satay Sticks (KD2.200) These were really great. I kinda wish the peanut sauce was a bit thicker but that’s an issue I have with Thai food in general.

Green Curry Chicken (KD3.000) + Jasmine Steamed Rice (KD1.000) I loved this dish but next time I’m ordering it without the veggies.

Sticky Rice with Mango (KD2.800) This was the biggest surprise. I ordered it unwillingly since I didn’t find anything else on the small dessert list. It didn’t sound great (rice dessert?) and when it came it didn’t look that appetizing either. But after scooping up a bit of rice with mango and taking a bite I fell in love with it. 99% of the desserts I have involve chocolate so it was extremely refreshing to finally find a chocolate free dessert that I can really enjoy.

Fried Banana with Honey (complimentary) I originally wanted to order this for dessert but was told it wasn’t available. After my Sticky Rice with Mango arrived they told me that the Fried Banana was available and they would serve it to me after the Sticky Rice. I’m honestly glad they had originally told me it wasn’t available or else I wouldn’t have discovered the Sticky Rice. The Fried Banana is a very safe option and wasn’t that exciting. My recommendation would be to go with the Sticky Rice.

I had a good experience tonight and I can’t wait until they start opening for lunch since it would be very convenient for me. Right now they’re open from 6 to 11pm. Price wise they’re very reasonable and the portions are pretty good. I’m glad someone decided to open something other than a burger or frozen yogurt place. Now if someone would open a small trendy Chinese restaurant.

To find out more about Ubon visit their website [Here]

Have you gotten your loved one a Shani today?

I finally got my GX1 camera. I originally ordered it at the beginning of December but the camera with the specific lens I wanted started shipping end of January and Aramex just dropped it off to my office earlier today. The GX1 is a replacement for my Panasonic GF1 which was (and still is) one of the most enjoyable cameras I’ve ever used. So far the GX1 seems exactly like the GF1 except better although it’s still too early to get a first impression. I’ll be posting my view on it after using it for awhile.

I ordered the Panasonic GX1 with the 14-42mm x power lens from [Amazon]

I’m leaving to London early Friday morning for a week. It’s going to be a chilled out vacation and so far I’ve got the following things planned, all of which I haven’t done before:

– Cadbury World
– Stonehenge
– The Newman Arms
– G Kelly Pie
– The Last Tuesday Society
– The Hideout aka Trisha’s
– Cabman’s Shelter
– Bicester Village

Still trying to find an interesting castle to visit. Oh and I need to walk through Hyde Park. For some reason I haven’t done that yet. I’ll be staying at Easy Hotel in Paddington again since I had a good experience the last time. I’m going for a slightly larger room this time around so looking forward to that. If anyone has any recommendations on where to go just leave a comment below. I’ll of course be going to the regular places like Harrods, Oxford Street, Portobello Road, Borough Market etc…

I was contacted by Ford recently to test drive their all-new 2012 Ford Explorer. The last time I had driven an Explorer was ages ago and it was on a road trip from Montreal to New York and all I remember was how comfortable it was. Their new car looks a lot better and more exciting compared to their previous model which is why I was looking forward to trying it out.

The first thing I noticed when I started the car was the combination of an analogue and digital dashboard. The speedometer was analogue while the information on both its sides were digital which I thought looked very cool. The second thing I noticed was the large screen in the center console which turned out to be touch sensitive and featured something called SYNC which I’ll go into detail in a bit. So first impressions wasn’t bad at all.

Since I had the car with me all weekend I drove it down to Bnaider and as expected the ride was very comfortable. The Ford is pretty big and spacious with three row of seating with the last row of seats having ample leg room. When the last row is folded down you also end up with a pretty large and spacious boot which I like to call IKEA friendly. The model I had (XLT) came with a rear view camera which was practical although I wish it also came with a front cam or at least front sensors since the front of the car is pretty long and high. While we’re on the subject of wishes there are two things I really disliked in the Explorer. The first is the touch buttons on the center console. For some reason Ford decided to have all the physical buttons touch sensitive but I have something against touch buttons because I can’t tell if I’ve pressed them or not specially when my eyes are on the road. Although you hear an audible alert when you touch a button I always prefer to actually feel a button being pushed in which doesn’t happen with these buttons. The second thing I disliked about the car was that it was front wheel drive. I thought that was odd for an SUV especially since it was full time front wheel drive and didn’t have an option to flip into four wheel drive. That turns out is an extra option which the car I drove wasn’t equipped with.

Other than those two quirks I didn’t have any other major issues. The SYNC feature which I mentioned earlier is very cool although I wasn’t able to fully take advantage of it. Right below the center console is a small compartment which can easily hold an ipod or iphone with accessories. In that same compartment is an SD card slot, two USB ports and RCA (video and audio) inputs. The car also has built in bluetooth and Wifi. I’m not sure why all the cars don’t come fitted with Wifi, it should really be a standard feature nowadays. I was also able to connect the car to my phones 3G connection using bluetooth but the car can also connect to internet using USB 3G modems and Wifi. You could also have the car connect to your phones internet via bluetooth and the car can then share the connection over wifi for other passengers to use. My problem is once the car connected to my internet I didn’t know what I could do with it. I’m guessing I need to download apps or widgets but since it wasn’t my car I didn’t spend too much time experimenting.

The car I drove had a pearl white exterior with a beige interior. If I was getting this car I would definitely go for a gray or black interior since it would make the car interior look a lot trendier but I’m not sure if they carry those colors locally. The starting price for the new Ford Explorer is KD9,999 and goes up to KD14,000 depending on the features and model. For more information on the Explorer click [Here]

Ford if you’re reading this.. I WANT TO TEST DRIVE THE RAPTOR!