Category: Personal

Just got back from the meetup. I was expecting or should I say I was hoping that around 20 people would come but to my surprise around 35 people showed up. It was pretty cool and I got to put faces on a lot of nicknames, also having Starbucks as our venue was a good choice since we had a whole section to ourselves. Overall it was nice meeting everyone and for those who missed it maybe we will meet next time.

A week ago Z District reviewed the Seagate Portable HD and although I am a Seagate fan I thought the hard drive looked ugly and fragile. This is why I decided to put up a review of the drive that competes directly with the Seagate one, the Western Digital Passport.

I ordered the 120GB Western Digital Passport drive so I could use it to back my MP3s and personal work. I already have an external drive but I needed something much smaller and portable. Since I was going to use it for my most important data, the drive had to be reliable and durable. Thats why I went with the Passport drive, I have never had any problems with Western Digital hard drives and from the pictures the Passport drive looked like it could take a beating. Now that I have it sitting in front of me I can tell you that it can.

The Passport drive case is made from 2 materials, half of it is alluminum and the other half is rubber. The drive feels like its indestructable but still looks really slick and extremely cool. The other positive thing is you only need 1 USB slot to both power and run the drive unlike the Seagate which requires 2 USB slots.

I really am in love with the drive and can’t find a single flaw except for the fact that 120GB is the largest size available. I give it a 4.5 out of 5.

Buy the 40GB WD Passport drive from Amazon
Buy the 80GB WD Passport drive from Amazon
Buy the 120GB WD Passport drive from Amazon

I ordered a package from Amazon on Tuesday and I chose overnight shipping. Package arrived to my USWS mailbox on Wednesday and shipped at the same time. Today morning the package arrived to Kuwait and is now being delivered to me.

Now for my sign off.. Aramex sucks!

Two Red Bull chicks are in the office now giving out Red Bull cans and talking about some offer or something. I would rather have two Hardees chicks giving out Roast Beef N Cheddars and talking about their offers instead.

I was just checking Cyberrowdy’s blog and realized today is my 5 year anniversary since I moved back to Kuwait after university. I arrived on August 5th 2001, it was the most humid day ever recorded in Kuwaiti history or something like that. I remember by the time I got from the airport to the car I was soaked wet as if I had just taken a shower.

I forgot my wallet at home.

So the other day I get a call from a driver with some goodies for me. Someone had contacted me the day before asking me if I would like to try some brownies, muffins and cookies and I had happily accepted and now the driver was here with my stuff. I couldn’t wait, brownies, muffins and cookies, three of my favorite munchies for me to try out.

When I first opened the bag though I was disappointed, the muffins were Blue Berry muffins and I only eat chocolate muffins and the cookies were like chocolate with walnuts or something and I only eat chocolate chip. So 2 out of the 3 items I couldn’t eat which sucked. BUT, the brownies were regular chocolate brownies and I had no problem with those.

I had a blue plate in front of me with a dozen warm brownies on them and they looked really delicious. So I had one, then another followed by another. They were pretty good, they were soft and rich without being to sweet or heavy. Nat also tried them and really liked them to. I didn’t know how much they cost or what the place that made them was called since I didn’t get a menu neither did I get any kind of material with information on the place. So I sent an email to the guy who had contacted me and I asked him for some info and this is what I found out.

The service turned out is called The Daily Fresh. They launched less then 2 months ago and are still in the testing stage where they are still finalizing their menu with the different flavors and prices. Next month (September) they will have everything finalized including the menus and prices but for now you can order a dozen brownies for only KD3. Thats only 250fils per brownies which is a really good deal for what you are getting.

Currently the only other place I know of that delivers brownies is LoFat. Problem is LoFat’s brownies cost 500 fils each and are about half the size of the brownies from The Daily Fresh. They also taste just as good so there is no advantage except the low fat part but info on that is a bit abstract at the moment.

If you are interested in ordering some brownies all you need to do is call The Daily Fresh on 7702422.

I really want this tshirt but my size is sold out! [Link]

I have been looking for a new bag for my MacBook for what seems like forever. I am currently using my original ibook bag which I got back in 2001, its the Vertigo bag by Waterfield Designs. Its a nice practical bag but not funky at all. But after a long search I think I found the coolest bag and its a FREITAG.

FREITAG bags are made from original, used truck tarpaulins, bicycle innertubes, car seat belts and used airbags. Each bag is one of a kind and they have a whole range of sizes, colors and models. I am currently leaning towards the F21 NIGHTCLUB model since my MacBook would fit snuggly inside it. The problem is there are soo many choices to choose from and each bag is very different. I am having a hard time choosing a bag plus the pictures on the site aren’t that good.

Anyway check the site out by clicking on the link. Below this I have a bunch of pictures I found online that show how grungy and cool the bags are. I think the concept is really smart. [Link]

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Hard Candy was one of the movies I was looking forward to watch this year but sadly it disappointed me. Going into the movie I really didn’t know what it was about. All I knew was what I got from the trailer and that is a young girl meets an old guy over the Internet and then they meet up and things go wrong. Based on what I knew and what I was expecting, fifteen minutes into the movie and the whole thing takes a surprising 180 degree turn which was probably the coolest part in the movie. After that things just dragged for me.

One thing I have to say, the movie is visually stunning. The colors and styling in the house where most of the story takes place is really cool. The movie on the other-hand I felt was too long although the ending was very short. The movie finished and I was still trying to figure out what had happened and making sure I understood things correctly. Anyway I really can’t say much about the movie because I wouldn’t want to ruin any surprises. I am also going to advise you NOT to read the plot summary or ask questions about the movie and just watch it knowing very little. That way you will be in for a nice shock. For me the movie didn’t live up to my expectations and thats why I am giving it a 3.5 out of 5.

This is really annoying. Its the third time its happened to me, even posted about it last time. I scratched my cornea and it sucks.

My brother is online now from Turkey. He left Lebanon yesterday with the Canadian Embassy on a crappy ferry boat and today, 20 hours later he arrived to Turkey. They had to sleep on the floor on the ferry and it was a fucked trip. He is now at a highschool stadium where surprisingly they have WIFI. This is what he had to say about the evacuation so far:

20 hours on a fucking ferry boat
it fucking sucks
seriously
it’s so bad
i will show you pictures when i get to kuwait
you will think i was on an african refugee boat
they’re so unorganized
those who aren’t going to canada, have to wait for the rest of the people to go to the airport to pick up luggage
then we have to find our way to Istanbul
i hate canada

update: my brother was very tired and exhausted when he wrote that.

Yesterday I was invited for another test drive by Alghanim Automotive. I was hoping they would give me some small crappy car so I could give it a bad review and show everyone that if the car sucked I would say it sucked. Sadly, that didn’t happen. Yesterday I took the new Cadillac BLS for a drive and it was far from being crappy.

I picked up a gorgeous silver top of the line BLS from the dealer and drove down to the Gulf Road. The BLS is the smallest car Cadillac makes and the one I drove came with a V6 2.8L Turbo engine pumping out 250HP so it was fast. As soon as I hit the Gulf Road I got a call from a friend who had spotted me. He asked me if I was turning into Jermey Clarkson and he then asked what car I was driving since it looked really cool. Now this came from someone who drives an M3 so you can imagine how good the car must look. Pictures actually don’t do justice to the hard edged geometrically cut car so you need to see it in person to really appreciate its beauty.

I closed the phone with my friend and blasted down the Gulf Road. The Cadillac BLS I was driving came with a 6-speed automatic and paddle shift. I am used to the F1 style paddle shift where you use your fingers to change gear but the Cadillac BLS is the one where you use your thumbs instead. It felt awkward at first but I quickly got the hang of it. The interior seems to follow the styling cues of the new Cadillac Escalade which is a really good thing since it means its very un-American. Everything felt very plush and sophisticated and I just love that in a car.

After a long drive I parked the car and took some shots of the exterior and interior. When I was done I drove back to the dealership and handed them the keys. Cadillac really have come a long way when it comes to aesthetics. There is no other car in the market that looks like a Cadillac, its got a style all on its own. The only downside I could think of with the BLS is the engine sound. I would have preferred a louder grunt from a 250HP engine but I guess many people would rather have a quiet engine than a loud one.

The price of the fully loaded Cadillac BLS is KD11,995 which makes its more affordable than a similarly specced BMW or Mercedes. Its a pretty cool car for a sedan.

I found this really cool pouch which I use to put my my ipod cable, usb cable and USB bluetooth adapter in. Problem is both Nat and Rampurple think its girlish. I think its cool.

Why is it nearly impossible for an expat to get the Kuwaiti citizenship? I am saying nearly impossible because I know of some Lebanese who were given the Kuwaiti nationality which means its not totally impossible.

I wasn’t born in Kuwait (my brother and sister were) but I did grow up here and my parents have been in Kuwait since the early 70s. So why is it I can’t become a Kuwaiti citizen? If I was living anywhere else for this long I would have already been a citizen of that country by now. Here on the other hand I still need a visa and a sponsor so I could just stay in Kuwait.

If today was July 24, 1990 and a week from now Iraq was going to invade I would stand ground and try to fight off the Iraqis alongside the Kuwaitis. I like Kuwait, I like NBK, I like KDD, I like oil, I like Entertainment City and I like Mama Aneesa, so why can’t I become a Kuwaiti? [Link]

update: There is now a further discussion taking place in the [Forum]