Category: Personal

I am practically done with my lessons, I think I might have one more left. I have learned nearly everything that needs to be learned, I no longer have any fears or problems. All of my problems got ironed out around 2 or 3 lessons ago and basically all I have been doing the past 3 lessons is just gaining more experience. It was getting kind of boring so today I got to try out some new things.

First thing I learned was how to climb over sidewalks, turned out to much easier then I expected. At first I thought it was going to be something like on a bicycle where you have to lift up the front wheel but in fact on a bike its much more easier.

Now the second thing I learned and really enjoyed a lot was driving on sand. The bike I am currently on is a road bike but it can go off road. Since there is a sand field next to the parking lot I spent sometime riding there. At first it was a bit scary because whenever I hit a deep patch of sand the bike would start swaying left and right. Then my trainer told me whenever that happens I should just give it some gas, watch the ass slide off a bit and then take off. After that the whole thing was just an incredible adrenaline rush.

Its basically a lot more fun to drive on the dirt then on the road. I now know my second bike has to be a dirt bike, I can imagine having a lot of fun with that.

Nat on the other hand is doing good, she had some problems yesterday where she dropped the bike like 5 or 6 times but today she didn’t drop it and never stalled so I think she has got the hang of it. Maybe she will post something about that.

I don’t eat at home since I don’t know how to cook nor do I want to learn how to cook. I know how to make the basics which are sandwiches, omelets, burgers and cookies and I don’t see a need to learn how to make other dishes.

Since its ramadan all restaurants are closed till like 5:30PM, this means when I am done with work at 3 I have over 2 hours before I eat. The thing is I can’t go out to eat at 5:30 because my riding lessons are from like 5 to 6:30. Thats why I have to eat at home.

Yesterday while shopping at Sultan Center in Salmiya I decided to pick up 2 packs of Kobe Burger, I have been wanting to try it for a long time now but since I don’t eat at home I found no need to get it. After picking up the burgers I picked up a packet of sliced American white cheese loaves, 1 white onion, a bottle of Heinz Ketchup and some burger buns. Nat didn’t want Kobe Burgers since she doesn’t like thick burgers so I picked up a packet of regular frozen burgers for her.

I have a Kenwood grill at home and I use it mainly to grill my burgers on and this is how I do it:

– I grill the burger for 5 minutes, flip it, let it grill for another 5 minutes, flip it, let it grill for another 5 minutes and finally I flip it one last time for a final 5 minutes.

– Once I am done I put a slice of cheese on the burger, leave it on the grill for another minute then I take the burger with cheese and place it on the bottom half of my bun.

– I then place it in the microwave for 10 seconds so the cheese can melt.

– I then put some ketchup on the burger and top it off with diced white onions

– I cover my burger with the top half of the bun and my burger is ready to eat.

I am sure Gastronomica is better at making burgers then me since if you check out his website you will notice all his meals are very gourmet like. Hopefully he will be nice enough to share a tip or two in the comments below but until he does this is how I make my burgers.

How did the burgers come out? Fanfrigintastic! I like my burgers well done and I was expecting this burger to come out dry but it didn’t. It was soft, juicy and tasted like something you would find at a posh restaurant or hotel room service. It was surprisingly very good and it turned out to be the best burger I ever made.

Now the biggest problem with the Kobe Burger is the price. Each patty costs KD1.250 which isn’t cheap if you compare it to other frozen burgers. BUT without getting into the taste or quality of meat please look at the picture above of the burgers on the grill. Do you notice the 2 large patties on the left? Do you notice the tiny patty on the top right? Guess which patty is your average everyday frozen one? These kobe burgers are big and thick. Kobe beef also comes from Wagyu cattle which are “renowned for its flavor, tenderness, and fatty well-marbled texture”. So yes KD1.250 is worth it specially if you have a passion for burgers.

From now on if I ever need to make burgers at home this is the only burger I will get. I can no longer have those crappy frozen burgers that come 8 in a pack. I have been spoilt. Final score is a 4.5 out of 5. I would have given it a 5 but they are a lot messier to cook then the regular burgers because these are bigger and juicier so they spray more grease. This means more cleaning for me which always sucks.

I am a big shawerma fan and I really enjoy trying shawerma’s from new places. Shawerma is such a simple thing but its amazing how many different flavors and presentation styles there are. I rarely get disappointed when I have a shawerma because they are hard to fuck up. Somehow though the Mishref Coop Restaurant found the secret ingredient to making a crappy shawerma.

Tuesday night I had a recording in a studio in Mishref, once I was done I decided I would treat myself to a shawerma from the Mishref Coop Restaurant. The skewer looked very appetizing so I went ahead and ordered two chicken shawerma and a coke.

It sucked to summarize my experience. The chicken tasted weird, like nothing was added to it when cooked, no spices, no flavor no nothing. The chicken was also very oily and had a weird smell. The garlic was also non existent. I was very disappointed and I would never have shawerma there again.

Final score is a 1 out of 5. It gets a 1 because I ate it and didn’t die afterwards.

I was just reading Toomz’s post on the new show Nine when I figured I would post on my current TV experience. Yesterday I watched the season premiers for Gray’s Anatomy (S3E1) and CSI (S7E1) yesterday (not CSI Miami or NY, still haven’t watched those premiers yet) and between the two I have to say I enjoyed the CSI episode much more. Firstly, CSI’s plot intro (not the title sequence) was the best intro since LOST episode 1. I had the sound system at full blast and it was just really exciting and fast. After watching a pretty decent episode something big happens near the end and then they said “To be continued..”. So now I can’t wait till episode 2.

Gray’s Anatomy on the other hand was pretty slow and uneventful for a premier, hopefully things will pick up the next episode. The premier episode reminded me of season 2 of LOST, where its all flashbacks from the past, not something I enjoy.

I haven’t started watching any new shows. I am currently catching up on old Family Guy and American Dad episodes, also just downloaded 9 seasons of Seinfeld so need to go through those, I am also going to start catching up on the old episodes of CSI Miami and NY. Finally I am also watching season 2 of Weeds, season 18 of The Simpsons, Gumball 3000 2006 and Prison Break season 2 which really really kicks ass. Luckily its ramadan so I have a lot of free time to watch everything.

update: According to CNN, Gray did better then CSI. [Link]

Today I got set up with an old 650cc Kawasaki bike. Since I was doing so well on the smaller 180cc bike I got moved up to the bigger one. I don’t like this new bike though, its too tall and feels weird. I had two “special” moments with the bike one of which was really scary and strange.

I was turning a curb with the bike going a bit quickly when for some reason instead of pressing the brakes to slow down I pulled on the clutch, then when I realized my mistake I panicked and turned the throttle for more power.. I don’t know why I did that instead of pressing the brakes but my next move was even worse… I let go of the clutch. After that everything went really quick and blurry, I just remember I put my two feet on the ground, then front wheel of the bike lifted up and I did a wheelie and then somehow I managed to control the bike like a wild horse, I pulled it back under me and continued riding. I was in like total shock cuz I should have been thrown to the floor.

The second moment I had with the bike was when I was coming to a stand still and I don’t know what happened but I lost balance and the bike fell down on its side. The problem is this bike was big and heavy so to put it back up was really difficult, but I managed without any help.

Today was Nat’s first lesson, I can’t say anything about it because she threatened to shutdown the blog if I do.. so you can imagine how her lesson went.

What the hell, it took me an hour and a half to get from Kuwait City to Jabriya. It was non stop jam, bumper to bumper the whole way. I think I saw atleast 8 car accidents and most involved more then 3 cars. On the bright side, I finally got my license!

I just came back from my first ride out in the public streets. I have been learning how to ride the whole week and I just wanted to get a feel of my Ducati and how much it differed from the Bajaj bike I am training on.

I strapped on my full gear, got on my bike and drove out of my underground parking lot out into the public streets. I circled the block and rode into the old Salmiya, it was around 4PM so there wasn’t much traffic, just a handful of cars but it still was very freaky. The bike is literally a monster. I have been training on the Bajaj Pulsar which is 180cc and pumps out 16.5HP. My Ducati is 618cc and pumps out 83.5HP. As you can imagine the jump between the two bikes is huge and I was prepared for it but it was still very shocking.

The bike stalled with me once and it was when I was nearly back home. Other then that I did fine. I don’t think my ride was very smooth though since I am still not used to the throttle. Just a small twist on the thing and the bike flys off leaving me hanging on like a mad man. The whole ride was just an incredible adrenaline rush but I was really glad when I got home. Next time I take it out it will be after I have more riding hours under my belt.

For some reason today I feel like moving to Luxembourg.

update: OK scratch that, they don’t even speak English there.

So I passed by the Hawally Traffic Department in Jabriya tonight because the guy yesterday told me to come back today. I got there 5:50PM and waited in line to have my picture taken. After waiting around 20 minutes I finally sat down to have my picture taken when the guy tells me they already have my picture and I need to take my papers to window #6. So I go up to the window and the employee is busy talking on the phone, he signals me with his hand to give him my paper and I do and then I go sit down waiting for my name to be called out so I could collect my license. 6:30PM exactly a guy comes out from the printing room and announces to everyone that the printer stopped working and to come back Saturday. All the employees got up and started leaving.

Now I need to pass by on Saturday. If its Ramadan I should pass by between 1 and 4. If its a regular day I have to pass by between 4 and 7. It will be my forth visit and all I am trying to do is get my license renewed!

Today as you can tell from the posts below is just not my day. I have to put all the blame on traffic. Not just any traffic but Shuwaikh traffic specifically. Shuwaikh traffic has got to be the worst traffic of its kind. The other day on my way to IKEA I got stuck 20 minutes at the intersection just before IKEA. In the end I just parked my car on the side and walked to IKEA.

My motorbike lessons take place in Shuwaikh and the place I take the lessons is also right next to IKEA. Once I am done with my lessons at around 6:30 I have to drive back to Salmiya. The first day I drove back via the 4th Ring Road and the drive back took over an hour. Then I started taking the long way round which is going to Kuwait City and then towards Fahaheel Expressway and that drive takes around 40 minutes.

Getting in and out of Jabriya at that time is also hell as I experienced today. Its like everywhere I went today it was just really packed. Traffic really stresses me out and I tend to snap at the tiniest thing. Anyway enough complaining for tonight.

My driving license is expiring in a few days, so on Sunday I passed by the Hawally Traffic Department in Jabriya. Regular readers might remember I had passed by the same place two weeks earlier when getting my motorbike learners permit. So once again I got my papers typed out in the typing room and then headed towards window #1.

When I got there it turned out to be the same person who had given me trouble the last time. Previously when I went to get my riding learners permit he had told me to come back the next day just like that for no reason. In the end a nice high ranking officer helped me and Nat out and I was able to get the paper work done in the same day. Anyway I went up to him with all my papers this time, he looked at them and then gave them back and told me to come back in the evening. I was like why? He was like from 4 to 7pm its for renewals. I was like fine whatever and left. On my way out I saw the nice cop from last time standing not doing anything. I was like cool, he will help me out again.

I go up to the high ranking cop and go hey remember me? Me and my wife came here 2 weeks ago and you helped us out and stuff. He told coldly replied no, and then rudely turned around and walked away. I was like thinking to myself what the fuck just happened here? This guy was like super friendly to us last time and he was kidding around with Nat and he was telling her about the dangers of riding and how he wouldn’t advise her to ride and stuff and then he went and finished up all our papers. Now its like he never met me before. I was like doesn’t matter, whatever, I followed the cop back to his office the whole time going excuse me in Arabic wanting him to turn around. Finally just before he got into his office he turned and was like what? I was like I want to renew my papers but that guy said I should come in the evening. He told me then come in the evening and walked away. I was like fuck it and left the place.

Tonight I passed by at 6:30pm to finish up my papers. I go in and the place was empty except for 2 guys sitting next to each other at 2 adjacent windows. I go up to one guy and without saying a word I give him my papers. Since my papers say I am Canadian I figured I would get better treatment like that, and it works most of the time. The guy signs my papers and places a stamp then the guy next to him tells him in Arabic “Tell him to come back tomorrow”. The guy continues to sign the papers then hands them back to me and tells me come back tomorrow. So I replied back in Arabic why? I came already before and you told me come back between 4 and 7, now I am here you are telling me come back tomorrow. The guy was like yes, no one is here now come back tomorrow at 5. I was like yeah buy I have work. He is like I finished everything for you, all you need to do is come back tomorrow have your picture taken here and get your license. I was like ok why can’t I do that now? He was like come back tomorrow.

So with no chance of reasoning with the guy and no wasta available I had to leave the place without getting my driving license renewed. Now I need to go back for the third fucking time just to get my license renewed. Three visits just for a renewel!

I know I said I will stop complaining but I can’t when there are companies like Fonz that still exist.

While at the airport the other day, my dad saw the Nokia N73 for the first time and he liked it. Today while flipping through the papers I found an ad for Fonz where they were selling the N73 for KD89 plus they were giving free stuff with it like a phone line, 6 months ART subscription and something else. So, I decided I would pass by and get him it as an early birthday present.

I went to the Fonz branch in front of Marina Mall next to Eastpak around 7pm. I went in and told the employee I wanted the N73. He replied telling its been out of stock for a couple of days. I was like yeah but I just saw the ad today in the paper. How could you advertise something you don’t have? I was like can you check on your computer and see if any of your other branches have it. He was like I can’t do that. I was like what the fuck, who can I call and complain about this? He told me the head office, he picked up the phone and called them up and handed me the phone.

A guy answers, I asked him if this was the head office. He was like why? I was like because I have a complaint. He was like about what? I told him that I saw an ad in the paper for a phone and I came in to buy it and the employee told me it was out of stock. When I asked him to check and see which other branch of Fonz had the phone he told me he couldn’t. The guy replied telling me they sometimes run out of stock. I was like fine, I understand that, but could you please tell me which other branch has the phone in stock? He replied telling me that he could give me the numbers of all their branches in Kuwait and I could call them all up and see which one still has it. I was like what the fuck? I am telling you I want the phone, and you are telling me go look for it, go try your luck and call every Fonz store in Kuwait? I told him YOU guys should be trying to find ME the phone because I am the customer and I want to buy it. YOU guys should be able to tell me which branch still carries the phone and YOU guys should make the phone calls if there are any to be made. He was like I am not free at the moment to do that. I shut the phone on his face, gave it back to the employee in the store and walked out.

How does a place that does business like that manage to survive? Am I asking for too much here, having the actual store find me a phone in one other their other branches? It can’t be too much to ask.

I have been having lunch at IKEA for the past 3 days. I grew tired of food court food and so I wanted to try something new and thats when I decided to try IKEA. Other then the set menu they have daily specials. On Saturday they had Fish done manchurian style with steamed rice, yesterday they had veal steak with mushroom sauce, potato wedges and steamed vegetables and today they buttered chicken with steamed rice. The price is pretty good, the fish cost KD2.450 but the steak and chicken cost KD2.250. The daily special comes with your choice of tea or coffee. Its currently my favorite place and everything I have had has just been really delicious. If one they have a daily special I won’t like, I could just have swedish meatballs or a club sandwich. Then on the way out if I can’t resist the smell of the bakery downstairs I might pick up an eclair or chocolate croissant. Hmmm, now I am hungry.

Today was pretty straight forward. Just drove around the parking lot for an hour. Its was pretty uneventful until I had my first fall. Don’t think its counted as a fall since the bike fell while I was still left standing. I was turning a curve slowly, I think a bit too slowly and the bike just fell down right under me. Luckily it was dark so it wasn’t that embarrassing…

Today I had my second riding lesson and it went really well, much better then I imagined it would go. Yesterday I was stalling on the bike a lot except near the end of the lesson where I finally managed to get things right. Today I managed to start off exactly where I left off yesterday which was really good. I was taking off without stalling and I even started shifting. Everything just got wayyy easier today and I was having a lot of fun just driving around the parking lot stopping and going, just getting the hand of riding. The hardest part of my lesson today was actually learning how to use the turn signals, it just made my life mor confusing.

Anyway at this rate by the end of the week I should be ready to take the driving test next week. I actually think I could pass the test now since I heard the test is easy, but, I would rather get as much riding as possible in this parking lot before I go out into the streets. Tomorrow is my third lesson.