Category: Personal

Here’s a quick spoiler, I’m very disappointed. When I first saw pictures of the X100 I fell in love with it right away but after playing with the camera all day I’m having trouble understanding how Fuji went wrong with this. The issues this camera has aren’t major but there are many which I am going to try and go through some below.

The first issue is with the Menu/OK button on the rear (pictured above). I read a lot of complaints online about how the button is too small and very difficult to press. I thought psshhht whatever, can’t be that bad. Well it IS that bad, I don’t know how the engineers at Fuji missed this but the button is tiny and nearly impossible to press. Every time I try to press it I end up pressing up or down instead. It’s really bad and very annoying when you’re trying to quickly select an option or delete a file since you keep missing the OK button and spend wasted seconds going up and down instead.

The second issue is with the focusing. It doesn’t focus! It’s ridiculous how terrible the focus system on the camera is. At first I thought I was having problems focusing on low contrast objects but I was just checking some portrait shots I took today and I don’t think any one of them is focused properly. Another issue with the focus is the fact the camera thinks macro mode is like a mile away. With most cameras you need to activate the macro mode when you get super close to objects but with the X100 you have to activate macro mode on objects that are more than 50cm away. And if that’s not bad enough after you’re done taking a picture in macro mode the camera puts it back in regular mode so if you have to shoot another shot in macro you need to activate it again. Finally when in macro mode the optical view finder turns into an electric view finder (which I hate) so during my shoot today the camera spent a lot of time swapping between the two modes and it annoyed the hell out of me.

There are some cool things about the camera, just not enough to make me want to get it. I love the retro look and the metal body although I do wish it was a bit heavier. The X100 has something called a hybrid viewfinder where information is displayed on top of what you’re seeing through the viewfinder. Hard to explain but imagine looking through a view finder and seeing information displayed on top of your subjects [Check this visual]. Some reviewers online complained about the start up speed and recording speed but it didn’t cause me any issues when I was shooting.

Now compared to my GF1 I prefer the GF1 in every way except for two things, the knobs and the optical view finder. I really like the exposure dial on top of the X100, it’s similar to the one I have on the Canon G11 and it’s a knob that should be on top of all the cameras. The shutter speed and aperture ring around the lens are also two things the X100 has and I wish the GF1 had as well. Lastly I wish the GF1 had an optical viewfinder like the X100. The X100 has both an optical viewfinder and an electronic one which you can swap between. I don’t care for the EVF, I have it on my GF1 and would rather have a proper optical viewfinder instead like the X100. Size wise the GF1 is slightly smaller and heavier than the X100. Focusing, although the GF1 isn’t that great focusing and although it gives me trouble every now and then it’s like ten times better than the X100, that’s how bad the X100 is.

Basically because I got to try out the X100 I’ve decided to cancel my Amazon.com order and stick with my Panasonic GF1. I really really wanted to love the X100 but I didn’t enjoy using it and if I’m not going to enjoy using it then whats the point in getting it? Now keep in mind my review was based on my experience with the camera in one day. There are a ton of better reviews online which I’ve listed at the end of this post. But personally I had issues with the camera shooting today and ones that would effect my ability to take shots the way I want. I’m not a great photographer and need every help I can get out of the camera and I felt the X100 was holding me back with some of it’s annoyances. Below are some pictures I took with the X100, they’re not as is from the camera since I’ve color processed them.

The X100 is available on Amazon for around $1,200 [Amazon Link]

Here are some reviews online:
Luminous Landscape 1
Luminous Landscape 2
The Pictorial
DigitalRev
Steve Huff Photo 1
Steve Huff Photo 2
Steve Huff Photo 3
Enticing the light 1
Enticing the light 2
Enticing the light 3
Photo Radar
ePhotozine
DC Resource
135 Street

Since on Friday I didn’t cheat the way I wanted to I decided I would sneak in 1 kebab sandwich from Dandosh after my gym yesterday (don’t tell Fahad) based on the recommendations of some readers. I made sure I carried only 500 fils with me since I wanted to control my intake and 500 fils would buy me just one sandwich which costs 300 fils. I ordered my kebab with just tahina and fries and started eating it. It tasted like every other kebab I’ve had and was actually kind of let down. Then suddenly the aftertaste kicked in, wow what a shocker. I don’t know what’s in the sandwich but the aftertaste is just incredible. It has a slight tingling sensation since it’s kinda spicy but not too much and for some reason this tingling sensation kicks in around a minute after finishing the sandwich. Since I only had 200 fils left I checked to see if I had any change in my car and I found exactly 400 fils. So I went back and ended up eating two more sandwiches. I think they have the best kebab sandwiches in Kuwait, I left after 3 sandwiches still wanting more… or maybe it’s because I’ve been deprived from this kind of food for too long. Here is Dandosh on [Google Maps]

I got a nasty chip in my windshield the other day from a flying pebble and if that wasn’t bad enough the chip happened right up in the middle of my line of sight. It was extremely annoying and I wanted to fix it right away so I ended up taking it to our friends at Al Falah Car Wash since they recently started repairing windshields.

It took them around half and hour to repair two chips in my windshield (the new one and an older tiny one) and now my windshield looks new again. It cost me around KD5 plus I tipped the repair guy. They did a great job so I highly recommend them plus you can get your car washed when you’re done.

Things I’m craving:

– Caesars pizza (pictured above) and hotdog rolls
– Apple Pie from Choowy Goowy
– Shawerma from Dandosh
– Kit Kat Chunky Hazelnut
– Quarter Pounder with cheese from McDonalds
– Little Ruby’s french fries
– Goowy hot chocolate cake from Chocolate Bar
– KDD Silver ice cream
– Chocolate pudding from Slider Station
– Diet Coke

Sadly I don’t think I am allowed to have all that even on my cheat day so I’m going to have to choose…

Last weekend I decided to try and walk home from work. The distance was around 12KM and took me 2 hours and 20 minutes. Today I decided to try and beat the time and try to get home in 2 hours or less. So I ran, and ran and ran. I don’t think I’ve ever ran as much or as far as I did. It wasn’t non stop running since I’m not that fit but I ran a lot more than I walked. To my surprise, I managed to cover the exact same distance but this time in 1 hour and 39 minutes! Not bad for a guy who can barely make it on a treadmill for 30 minutes. The above time is todays run while the below time is from last week.

I’ve had a lot of iPods but I don’t think I’ve been impressed with one recently as much as I have been with the latest iPod Shuffle. I got it to use while I am running or walking since the new Nano although small and light, it doesn’t have any physical buttons which makes it difficult to control without looking at the screen. The Shuffle on the other hand is super light and has buttons which for me makes it the perfect iPod for exercising.

Of course the downside is that there is no screen.. you would think but it isn’t. The shuffle has a nifty feature (like the nano) called voice over. There is a little button that you press and a guys voice comes in over your music to tell you what song is currently playing. Click that button twice and the voice tells you how much battery is left. Hold down the button and the voice will flip through your playlist and when you decide on one just press play. This feature is extremely helpful since it really allows you to control the shuffle and find out what you’re listening to all by just feeling your way around the buttons.

Price wise the shuffle is cheap. Sheeel had them on sale for just KD10 and I should have bought one then but I didn’t, instead I bought one from the market for around KD17. Still not too bad, it’s more expensive than Amazon but if you include the shipping cost it comes out the same. The Nano sells for around KD50 here as well so the shuffle is less than half the price. Really the only problem I have with the shuffle is the fact that there is no hold button which is annoying since I accidentally managed to press the forward button a few times by brushing against it. Because of that I was going to give the shuffle a 4.5 out of 5 BUT, I just decided to check the manual and make sure there isn’t a way to put the shuffle on hold and guess what? Turns out there is a hold mode, I just need to press the play/pause button for 3 seconds to activate it. So now it’s perfect. If you’re looking for a music player you don’t want to worry about scratching, breaking or losing and if you prefer physical buttons over a touch screen then the Shuffle is perfect for you. Final score is a 5 out of 5.

When I was walking back home from work the other day I spotted this shawerma place called Dandosh. What grabbed my attention was a red skewer of chicken which according to a friend of mine I met there was their “mexican mix”. So since I was taking a day off from my diet I decided to pass by tonight and try out their shawermas.

I didn’t try their meat but I ended up having three different combinations of chicken shawerma which are:

– Mexican chicken shawerma with regular garlic and fries
– Regular chicken shawerma with red spicy garlic and fries
– Regular chicken shawerma with regular garlic and fries

I had all the above without their onion/greens mix.

The Mexican shawerma was a bit too strange for me. It had a lot of different spices and I tasted a hint of green pepper which I don’t like. The regular chicken shawerma with their special red spicy garlic was good although I thought it was a bit too spicy. My favorite shawerma turned out to be the classic, regular chicken with regular garlic. The garlic wasn’t too strong and the overall combination I think might be better than Badar Al Badoor although I would need to go back and try it one more time just to be sure. They also have benches outside if you want to sit and eat.

I would definitely recommend the place and if you want to know how to get there here is a link to [Google Maps]. For those of you who know where Badar Al Badoor is then it’s very easy to get to Dandosh. Just go straight instead of taking the right turn that takes you towards Badar Al Badoor.

So Thursday after work I decided to walk home as a bit of exercise. My office is located in Kuwait City near Muthana Complex and my apartment at the beginning of Salmiya. I estimated the distance would be around 15km and I wanted to try and make the trip in 3 hours or less. Well the whole trip turned out to be 12km and took me around 2 hours and 20 minutes to complete. I thought that was disappointing because my regular walks around Salmiya are 11km long and Kuwait City to Salmiya sounded a lot longer than that. I didn’t feel tired or exhausted and it really wasn’t challenging enough. What was even more depressing was when I got home and was checking Facebook I noticed pictures of a friend of mine who had just gotten back to Kuwait after participating at the Marathon des Sables… a 6 day long 243km endurance race. I guess I’m taking baby steps? On the bright side at least it’s something I can do more often now. I took some pictures during the walk and was uploading them to twitter but in case you missed it you can see them at the bottom of this post.

On a different note I measured my body fat percentage today and it’s 13%. That means I dropped down 1.6% since the beginning of the month (I was 14.6) and I lost 1.2kg of body weight and all of it was fat, no muscle loss. So not what I was hoping for but still better off from where I was earlier in the month.

The progress on my XRAY 808E RC buggy build has been pretty slow since I’m taking my time with it. My brother has also started his first build ever (pictured above), he’s putting together the Tamiya 501x he won from the My Toy competition on Facebook.

An advantage I have over him though is the fact I’ve already started buying the electronics for my car while he hasn’t which means my car will probably finish before him. I ended up ordering the Tekin T8 1900kv motor with the RX8 electronic speed controller (both pictured above) as well as two 4s 4500mAh hard case batteries. I ended up ordering the motor/esc combo online since I couldn’t find it locally and I ordered the batteries online because they’re a lot cheaper than here. I still need to get a servo (the small motor that steers the car) and tires which I will most probably get from Pro-Hobbies since that’s where I got the XRAY from.

Now the aim of posts like this is to try and introduce people to new activities or hobbies to my readers. Building cars is a great way to kill time and it’s an activity that is heavily supported by the local RC shops and a hobby that I really love. I am by no means an RC expert, I’m learning as I am going along and the people who work and run the RC shops are extremely helpful. So don’t be scared to build a car if you haven’t before, it’s as easy as LEGO. I didn’t know the difference between LiPo batteries were a few days ago or even the difference between a 1900kv motor and a 2650kv motor for example. I’m still learning! But if anyone has any questions about RC cars post them below and I’ll answer them.

This is going to be a bit of a long post and it will sound like an advertisement but I don’t care since it’s something that’s very important to me.

I’ve never thanked Fahad for changing my lifestyle and I figured the best way to do it is by dedicating a post to him. For those of you who’ve been checking the blog from the start you might remember the amount of junk food I used to eat. Just check these old posts [Click Here] and check the dates underneath those posts. That’s basically what I used to eat on a daily basis and it wasn’t just a phase, it was my lifestyle from the day I left to college up until over a year ago when I signed up to Fahad’s gym Core Fitness.

I remember when I found out I had acid reflux the Dr told me I had to change my eating habits and start exercising I literally laughed at him. Told him no way that was going to happen since I’m just too lazy. Then one day I decided to try this exercise thing, I had a home gym which I had only used once before and figured maybe if a trainer came over to my place and trained me at home I wouldn’t be too lazy about it. I posted on the blog asking people if they knew any trainers and that’s when Fahad emailed me. I had met him previously on an offroading trip and so I kinda knew who he was, he told me he had a gym and I could sign up there. I was replying back telling him thanks but no thanks when I decided to check his website and that’s where I read “20 minutes just 2 times a week”. 20 minutes? That’s nothing, no matter how busy I am with work and my blog, fitting 20 minutes into my day just twice a week would be doable. So I signed up and ever since I’ve changed into a completely new person.

I’m so into the Core Fitness lifestyle I’ve become a traveling salesman for them. Everyone I know who tells me “Mark you’ve lost a lot of weight, you look really fit” I shift into Core Fitness sales pitch mode. Their first excuse when I tell them to sign up at the gym is “I wish I could but I don’t have time”. I hit back with “dude it’s just 20 minutes twice a week!” And that grabs their attention just like it grabbed mine the first time I heard it.

Thing is you start off twice a week for 20 minutes but after awhile you end up wanting more. I’m not going to post Fahad’s secret to how he hooks you in (yes I’ve figured out the formula!) but lets just say it works really well. I went from a junk food addict who hadn’t done any kind of exercise for over a decade into the fitness/health obsessed freak I am today. I started with 20 minute sessions twice a week and then it became three times a week and then four. Now it’s 1 hour sessions three times a week and if I could fit in more sessions into my busy life I would. I’ve been going to the gym steady for nearly a year and a half now. I don’t miss sessions and if I do it’s usually because of an emergency or I’m stuck at work. Food wise I’m eating incredibly healthy now and I don’t even find it tough anymore when Fahad assigns a new routine for me. He could tell me to eat beans and spinach three times a day for a whole month and I would do it without any issues or complaints.

Now what made me want to write this post today is the following comment a reader left under the “My Bike Ride” post:

I have 30% body fat. I smoke like a chimney. I eat whatever I want. I drink like a fish. The most exercise I get is working the gas and brake pedals. I’m so happy with my lifestyle choice, not having to do crazy things like walking home to achieve a target.

It made me realize that I don’t have to eat healthy, I don’t have to exercise, I don’t have to hit 12% body fat and I don’t have to walk home. I WANT TO do all the above. I like doing them and I want to do more and the reason for this drastic lifestyle change was Fahad. So for this reason I want to say THANK YOU FAHAD. Thank you for changing my lifestyle and I hope you manage to change a lot more people as well. And of course a huge thank to all the trainers at the gym who kept pushing me even when I was begging them to be easy on me.

Make sure you guys visit Fahad’s blog [Here]
And here is a link to the Core Fitness [Website]

So yesterday I ended up riding home from work. It was a fairly chilled out ride with the most difficult part trying to get from my office near Muthana Complex in Kuwait City to Souq Sharq. There are no bike paths and the sidewalks aren’t consistent but once I got to Souq Sharq it was pretty straight forward from there on.

It took me just over an hour to complete the journey and I was mostly cruising at a moderate pace since I didn’t know how long the journey would be and if I would run out of energy before I got back home. The weather was great and I had good music playing so it was pretty much enjoyable and I think I’m going to do this a few more times before it gets really hot. I did have some problems with my bikes gear shifting by itself and I noticed my brakes weren’t performing that well so I’m going back to Extreme Sports to get these 2 issues fixed before I go riding again.

Now tomorrow on the other hand I’m going to attempt to walk back home from work. I’m estimating it should take me around 3 hours but hopefully not more than that. I need to burn as much fat as I can before Saturday since that’s when I’m going to be checking my stats and hopefully I’ll hit my target of 12% body fat. This also means no cheat meal this Friday, it’s been pushed back till Saturday night instead.

I got the headphones above specifically for one thing and that’s to use when exercising. None of my other pairs of headphones are suited for sports because they’re either the type you stick inside your ear which isn’t practical when playing sports or they’re the kind you put over your head and then spend the whole time adjusting them so they don’t fall off. The 680’s are made for sports and I’ve had them for a couple of weeks now and really really love them.

First off these headphones are very light, once you’ve got them on you really can’t tell they’re there. You can also jump up and down, wiggle your head and probably hang upside down and they wouldn’t fall out of your ears. The headphones wrap around over your ears and then behind your head and once you put them on there is absolutely no need to fidget with them anymore, they just stay there the whole time. I’ve used them for running, walking and biking without facing any issues or having to adjust them in the middle of my routine.

The versions I got are the 680i, the “i” standing for ipod or iphone since the remote that comes with it works with them. By that I mean you can pause, play, forward, rewind, fast forward and fast rewind with the remote as well as raising and lowering the volume, activating voice over, answering calls as well as acting like a mic when talking on the phone. Now the problem is ALL the above is done with just 3 buttons. That’s where it gets tricky since you have to memorize a lot of button combinations like a double click is forward, a triple click is rewind, a double click and hold I think is fast forward, a single click and hold does something else… they’re just too many to remember and with my memory all you end up doing is rewinding a song by mistake instead of forwarding it or accidentally ordering pizza while trying to fast rewind.

Sound wise they’re pretty good, at first I found them a bit too bright but that got solved once I put on the tiny black ear foams that came with them. Another solution is to run them through a headphone amplifier like the FiiO E5 which I did and got some great results (without the foams). Only problem is you add bulk by running around with a small amp clipped to you as well as the fact you lose out on the iphone/ipod controls. Overall though I highly recommend these headphones for fitness and other sport activities. I ordered mine from Amazon for $70 but I found the same headphones except the cheaper 680 version without the “i” at Go Sport for KD18.5.

Here is the link to Amazon. [Link]

I’m really not a good writer neither am I great in speeches which is what I believe this verdict deserves. I was extremely nervous today waiting to find out the outcome as you can imagine and it was such an incredible relief to find out I won.

I’m really not sure what to say other than the fact this ruling goes to show how much freedom of speech is highly respected in Kuwait. I love living here and I love having the right to state my personal opinion on this blog. I really want to thank EVERYONE for all the support that you gave me. Seriously what you guys did was just incredible and really gave me the courage to fight this out till the end. I also want to thank my lawyer Khaled Al Shamali from The Group Law Firm for taking this case and doing an amazing job. And most importantly I want to thank the judge and the court for their ruling.

I hope no other blogger will have to go through what I did and I hope the result of this case will serve as an example that you can’t stop people from stating their personal opinions.

Thanks again everyone!

PS: If you have no idea what lawsuit I am talking about click [Here]

The weather is getting hotter and biking season will soon be over. Before it is though there is something I’ve been wanting to do for awhile now and that is ride my bicycle to work and back. Since my car is at the dealer getting serviced plus I’m trying to burn some fat before the end of the month I figured it’s the perfect time to try this. I wiped the dust off my bike this past weekend and walked to Extreme Sports at the end of my street in Salmiya to get some new tires. The service guy there was pretty helpful, ended up getting some meaner wider tires for my bike, plus some new inner tubes as well as a pump in case I get a flat. It cost me KD15 per tire, KD4 per inner tube (comes with slime inside them) and another KD17 for the air pump. Not sure if these prices are good or not since it’s my first time replacing my tires.

My bike is now ready to ride to work and I’ve basically planned the route in my head already. I live in the old Salmiya and my office is near Muthana Complex in the city. I’m going to be going out onto the Gulf Road and ride my bike on the seaside pathway from in front of Shaab Park all the way till Souk Sharq. If I remember correctly the path ends once you hit Seef Palaace. From that point I’m not sure what route I will take. There is no way I am going to ride my bike on the street and I don’t recall there being a sidewalk. So I might end up cutting across towards the Kuwait Stock Exchange and head to Fahad Al Salem street and continue on the sidewalk from there. It’s around 8KM from my house to the Kuwait Towers and I would say less than 8KM from the Kuwait Towers to Muthana so I think it should take me under an hour if I take my time.

It really sucks how we don’t have any bike paths in the city. I know the weather gets very hot in the summer but this year there were at least 6 months of nice weather. In Salmiya we have sidewalks but if it’s crowded you can’t really ride your bike on them and then you have problems with the curb (check picture above) where you have a slope on one side of the street but no slope on the other. That’s not wheel chair friendly yet alone bike friendly. Anyway the plan is to ride to work tomorrow so will post again once I actually do it.

Update: Does anyone remember the yellow siren below? I used to have one on my bike as a kid, I wonder if they still sell them in Kuwait…

After building the amazing Tamiya 502x last week I got back into the RC cars mood again. So, over the weekend I decided to get another car to build and passed by Pro Hobbies and purchased the Xray 808e. I’ve had my eye on the Xray 808 since 2009 but back then they only came in nitro versions until last year when Xray released the electric version of the same car and called it the 808e. Xray is a high-end radio controlled car company and they’re sometimes called the Rolls Royce of RC cars. As soon as I opened the box I understood why, everything looked just incredible and felt top notch. From the thick plastic bags the parts are placed in to the glossy fully colored manual and the “authenticity certificate” it comes with. Makes the whole package feel more expensive than what I paid for it.

[YouTube]

One of the main reasons I wanted the Xray 808e is because it’s a 1/8 scale car which means I will finally be able to take it to the Radio Control Car Club of Kuwait (RCCCK) off-road track near 360 Mall. It’s one of the largest tracks in the world and it would be a real shame not to take advantage of it. You can watch the video above of the track which I shot last year.

Usually when I start building these cars I zone out and ignore everything around me (including the blog) but this time I am going to take my time by dedicated only 2 or 3 hours a day to work on the car. Hopefully it will be ready sometime next month before it gets too hot. Still need to think of a color scheme, the wheels are white and the spoiler is white so not sure what color I am going to paint the body yet.