2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

A few weeks back I was having a quick bite at Hashtag when Dari the owner sat down with me and started telling me about PlusOne. It’s a fairly simple concept, anytime you order a burger just tell the cashier to PlusOne and they will add one Dinar to your total bill. The one Dinar you add will be matched by the restaurant and then a meal similar to the one you just had would be given to a low income worker. He invited me to pass by again when they were preparing the meals so I could volunteer and see how the system works for myself. So I did.

It was a pretty dusty day when I met up with Dari at Hashtag but that wasn’t changing their plans. I arrived just as they were starting to make the burgers. There were three other volunteers including the super nice Ms. Bibi Al-Ayoub from “Draw a Smile,” a charitable campaign that inspired PlusOne. Once all the burgers were ready we headed out to a location where street workers were coming together before being taken by a large bus to their compounds. As we arrived to the location so did a car from Chocolateness who were also participating that day.

The workers right away got in a very organized line as the volunteers started handing out the food one at a time along with a drink. Sadly that day there were more workers than there was food to give but hopefully as more people are aware about PlusOne that won’t happen again.

Right now the following restaurants are participating in this year long campaign:

Hashtag Burgers

Solo Pizza Napulitana

Chocolateness

Lgaima Sweets

Scrumptious

Delivery Express

If you’re interested in helping, just PlusOne to your bill when ordering from one of the restaurants above. If you’re a restaurant owner and want to participate, you can do so by clicking [Here]

[YouTube]

Our friend TJCfilms shot a short documentary about PlusOne which you can also watch above.

Finally, for more information on the campaign and to find out how you could also volunteer, visit their website [Here]

Kuwaiti runner Mohammad Alazemi (in blue and white above) was disqualified after finishing 3rd in his 800m heat. It seems he pushed the Polish runner and so was disqualified for obstruction. [Link]

Mohammad Alazemi had previously won gold in both the 800m and 1500m races at the 2011 Asian Championships in Kobe, Japan. This was Mohammad’s third time competing at the Olympics.

Thanks Akbar

As I mentioned last week I’m starting triathlon training so I could hopefully participate in the upcoming triathlon this October. I had my first day with The 3 Club and I don’t think I did that bad. My biggest issue actually is the fact I barely had time to do anything with three different sessions squeezed into my evening. At 5PM I had cycling which went easier than I expected. This was stationary and indoor which is why it probably felt easier than my usual rides to the gym in blazing heat riding against strong headwind. Class was done by 6 and I barely had enough time to rest before I hit Core Fitness for an hour of intense weight lifting at 7PM. I finished from Core, headed home, barely had time to feed my dog, grab a bite and update my post on Fehaid Aldeehani before I had to leave again for my 10PM running session with The 3 Club. Exhausting to say the least.

The running session was held at a track in Keifan and while we were there I spotted a lot of young guys and girls doing a variety of track and field training. I spotted everything from discus throwing and high jumping to hurdles and tripple jumping. It felt great running around the track while a bunch of other track and field sports were taking place at the same time. It actually energized me and made me feel like an athlete for the hour I was there (an old one with a bad knee but still). So overall it wasn’t a bad first day at all.

After incorrectly reporting a few days back that Fehaid Aldeehani won a bronze medal at the double trap event, Fehaid ended up winning a bronze a few moments ago at the mens trap event (not double). As of right now I found only one article that mentions this since this just happened. Congrats again Fehaid! [Link]

Update: Here are the final results of the mens trap event [Link]

Kuwait has only won one other Olympic medal before and it was a bronze at the 2000 Olympics that was held in Sydney, Australia. It was Fehaid who had won the medal back then in the double trap event. The biggest accomplishment would have to be the fact that Fehaid was able to win the bronze medal this year without any support from Kuwait. According to a post on 965 Malls today, Al Qabas had an article on Fehaid in which he complains about the lack of support as well as the disastrous state of sports in Kuwait. Kuwait Airways for example didn’t even offer him extra baggage allowance when he was heading to London for the games so he had to pack light since his rifles alone weighed 17KG.

Hopefully with the bronze medal this year and the online exposure some of the athletes have been getting like Faye Sultan, the local sports authorities will realize that they need to support these talented athletes.

Update2: I’ve updated this post with pictures of Fehaid which I found [Here]

When I needed some grappling gloves I ended up ordering a pair online since I couldn’t find any locally. Go Sport used to carry the Venom brand but they ran out of stock ages ago and never restocked. Then Nat needed a pair of combat gloves and a friend of hers recommended Sportsline in Salmiya. I hadn’t heard of the place before but turns out they have a huge collection of training gloves.

They mostly carry gloves from the Everlast brand including grappling, training and boxing gloves as well as face protection and hand wraps. One wall in their store is just filled with different kinds of Everlast gear all organized very nicely.

They also have a good collection of boxing bags and gear from the Samurai brand.

Price wise I found them more expensive than Amazon even when including shipping. But if don’t want the hassle of ordering online then this is a good alternative. They’re located in the basement of Al Wataniya Complex in Salmiya. That’s the same building that has the bank CBK, right across the street from NBK and Eureka.

I guess it’s better than having them go up and down the Gulf Road doing that. [YouTube]

Back in May I posted a rumor that Alshaya was bringing Garrett’s Popcorn to Kuwait and now it’s been officially announced. Alshaya signed an exclusive Middle East franchise partnership agreement with Garrett’s and they’ll be opening their first store later this year in the Avenues. [Link]

Gourmet Magazine have a feature article listing some of the best burgers from around the world and Kuwait made the list. The featured burger from Kuwait is the Kuwait City edition burger from Smashburger. I haven’t had Smashburger yet so I can’t vouch for them but I am curious to try it now. Here is the link to the full list [Link]

Thanks Nasser

If you’re familiar with Reddit then you should be familiar with IAMA (I Am A/Ask Me Anything). It’s when a person states what they do for a living and then allows people to ask them anything. An American girl going by the nickname GlitterNails posted “I was an “Alcohol Dealer” in a Islamic Country. AMA” and within the comments you quickly find out by Islamic country she meant Kuwait.

It’s an interesting read and if you’ve got the time check it out. Right now it has over 850 comments. [Link]

Thanks Z

Fehaid Aldeehani won a bronze medal earlier today at the Olympic double trap event. The only other Olympic medal Kuwait ever won was back at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and it was again because of Fehaid. Congrats! [Link]

Update: Turns out Fehaid came in 4th NOT 3rd. I misread the Yahoo article. 4th doesn’t win him any medals but it’s still a very respectable ranking that puts Kuwait on the map.

I’m out of the country right now so didn’t experience it but looks like an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.2 hit Kuwait around 7:30 in the morning. [Source]

via Blogger Mathai and Sun2

Social Slave put together a short list of restaurants serving Iftar buffets along with their prices. The list needs more hotels but it’s a good start. [Link]

Photos taken by a Red Crescent worker back in 1991 right after the liberation. [YouTube]

I laughed so hard I cried. [YouTube]

Thanks Musaed

[YouTube]

Last month Sidekick Academy competed at the 2012 US Open World Championships in Orlando and they ended up leaving with a ton of trophies. Last year when they competed they ended up winning 17 trophies and medals but this year they ended up leaving with a total of 28 which was more than any other team at the tournament! Here are the results:

Day 1: Standup “Tae Kwon Do”

FORMS DIVISIONS
Shaikha Alshuaib 1st Place Creative Teen Forms
Omar Alosaimi 1st Place Int Creative Forms
Hussain Gholoom 1st Place Int Extreme Forms
Ahmad Hayati 1st Place Adv Creative Forms
Shaikha Alshuaib 2nd Place Extreme Teen Forms
Hussain Gholoom 2nd Place Int Creative Forms
Ahmad Hayati 5th Place Adv Traditional Forms

SPARRING DIVISIONS
Nasser Alqattan 1st Place Adv Cont Sparring Heavy Weight
Ahmad Hayati 1st Place Adv Clash Sparring Heavy Weight
Shaikha Alshuaib 1st Place Teen Clash Sparring
Shaikha Alshuaib 1st Place Teen Cont Sparring
Omar Alosaimi 2nd Place Int Cont Sparring Middle Weight
Abdulrahman Aljasser 2nd Place Int Cont Sparring Heavy Weight
Mosab Alali 2nd Place Int Point Sparring Middle Weight
Abdulhadi Aladwani 3rd Place Int Cont Sparring Middle Weight
Ahmad Hayati 3rd Place Adv Cont Sparring Heavy Weight
Shaikha Alshuaib 3rd Place Teen Point Sparring
Hussain Gholoom 4th Place Int Cont Sparring Middle Weight
Ahmad Hayati 5th Place Adv Point Sparring Heavy Weight
Nasser Alqattan 5th Place Adv Point Sparring Heavy Weight

Day 2: “Jiu-Jitsu”

NO-GI Division “No- Uniform”
Abdullatif Aladwani GOLD Blue Belt Bantam Weight
Abdulrahman Aljasser SILVER Blue Belt Cruiser Weight
Abdullah Alshamri SILVER Blue Belt Master Bantam Weight
Ahmad Hayati BRONZE Blue Belt Middle Weight

GI Division “Uniform”
Nasser Alqattan GOLD Blue Belt Middle Weight
Abdullah Alshamri SILVER Blue Belt Master Bantam Weight
Ahmad Hayati BRONZE Blue Belt Middle Weight
Abdulhadi Aladwani BRONZE Blue Belt Bantam Weight

I seriously love these guys, if you want to know more about Sidekick Academy you can check out their website [Here] and their Facebook page [Here]