2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

It’s a simple program, actually it sounds more like a promo since the way it works is for every 10 tickets you get one free. For more details click [Here]

I never considered New York beautiful until today. After visiting the meat packing district I decided to walk along the High Line which is a former elevated railroad track that was converted into a park in the sky. Not only is it a very cool concept but the execution of the High Line is extremely tasteful and stylish. Below are some pictures I took with my iPhone.

According to a job post on Emirates 24/7, International Service Check are looking for mystery shoppers in Kuwait. I know the last time I posted about mystery shoppers there was a lot of interest so this is a way for you to become one yourself. For more information click [Here]

I should be posting about the Turkish airport and the Turkish Airlines Lounge but because I only spent around an hour at the airport I didn’t really have too much time to explore it. Since I’ll be spending more time at the airport on the return flight, I’ll post about the lounge once I get back to Kuwait. So instead, I’m going to post about the flight from Istanbul to New York.

The total travel time from Istanbul to New York is around 10 hours and 50 minutes and we flew in their Boeing 777-300ER V2. The business class setup on this flight was the latest one which is made up of just 4 rows split up as 2-3-2. One of the first people to greet you once you enter the business class is the chef which kinda sets a level of expectation on the kind of food you’ll be served during the flight. There’s obviously a ton of legroom in business class and it’s needed since the chairs turn into 180 degree flat beds. I wasn’t sure at first if they would be true 180 degree “flat beds” or instead be “lie flats” which are seats that turn flat but are slightly angled. I’ve experienced lie flats on two other airlines and they’re not as easy to sleep in and I always feel like I’m going to slide off them. Thankfully, the Turkish Airlines seats were proper flat beds which made sleeping really cozy.

Since the flight was long we were served two meals, one around an hour after take off while the other around 2 hours before arrival. The chef handled everything related to the food including handing out the menus which I noticed were customized with our names. It’s a little thing but gives the meals a very personal touch. The first meal we started off with were light appetizers which they rolled out on a trolley. You just tell the chef what you want and he’ll fill up your dish for you. Once we were done with the appetizers we were served soup which they only had one option called the traditional Turkish wedding soup. I had it and it tasted kinda like the Lebanese dish called “kebbeh bi laban” and that’s probably because think they both involve the same elements, beef and some sort of creamy sauce. After that we were presented with three options for main course, Swordfish Brochette, Grilled Beef Tournedos or Artichoke Ravioli. I went with the beef, Nat with the fish. She didn’t end up liking her fish much but I loved the beef. Once we were done with lunch they rolled out the dessert trolley which had a lot of different goodies. I was pretty full so I just went with ice cream. For my second meal later on in the flight I had a pasta dish and it was also superb.

The flight was very comfortable and I didn’t have any issues falling asleep on the flat bed. I’m actually not sure how I can fly economy knowing how much more comfortable it is in business. On short flights it’s not as important but when you’ve only slept for 3 hours and you get on board a 10 hour flight, the thought of being able to fall asleep comfortably on a cushy bed is priceless. Actually not priceless, just a lot more expensive than economy. We had large screens in front of us with a ton of movies and tv shows to watch. One disappointing thing was the fact internet access wasn’t active yet and was still “coming soon” according to the message I got on the screen when trying to access it. On the other hand they did have live news feeds available. Power sockets and USB sockets were available of course. If you have a USB stick or hard drive loaded up with movies you can watch them on your seats screen via the USB port. Not sure what movie formats their media player handles but I would be safe and not take any 720p or 1080p movies with me.

There’s an episode of Seinfeld where Jerry and Elaine’s flights get cancelled and they had to rebook on another flight. They end up finding two seats left, one in first class and the another in economy. Jerry explains to Elaine how she should take the economy seat since she’s never flown first and really wouldn’t miss anything but he on the other hand has and so he could no longer fly economy. Well that’s me right now, next time I fly economy I’m going to be thinking about all the cool things I’m missing from business.

A reader sent me the picture above of the Gucci Edition Fiat 500. I actually saw it last week at Salhiya and although I’m a fan of the Fiat 500, I didn’t think the Gucci edition was that cool. Personally I think the Diesel edition looks much better. No idea how much the Gucci edition costs but I’m guessing a bundle.

I knew I was going to be using my iPhone a lot on this trip so before I arrived I ordered a battery powered case for my iPhone and had Amazon ship it to my hotel. There were a ton of options available and at first I was leaning towards a $90 Mophie Juice Pack Plus but then I decided I didn’t want to pay that much since I would only be using it on this trip, my London trip in January and then probably never again. So I looked around and finally decided to go with the Lenmar battery-powered case which you can see above and below. The price was just $30 and the reviews were mostly positive.

I’ve been using it for the past 2 days and so far it’s great. Whenever the iPhone’s battery level reaches 20%, I press a button on the back of the case and it automatically starts charging the iPhone back to nearly 100%. So now my phone lasts the full day with heavy use and still have a lot of battery left. Size-wise it just adds a bit of bulk to the phone but it still fits easily into tight jeans pocket with more than enough room to have your hands inside the pocket as well. Overall not bad for just $30.

Here is the battery case on [Amazon]

Last night I went to the Foo Fighters concert here in New York and it kicked ass! I was worried they would only play their new stuff which I am not too familiar with but lucky for me they played for 3 hours and included all my favorite songs from their first and second album. The stadium was packed with around 20,000 fans since it was a sold out concert and you could watch the video I shot above that kinda shows how packed it was. Song kicks in at around 4 minutes. [YouTube]

If you’re interested, I’m tweeting most of my activities while I’m in New York and you could follow my tweets [Here]

Looks like we’ve got an advantage over Dubai when it comes to our sewage structure? According to an article on BoingBoing, most of the skyscrapers in Dubai aren’t connected to the sewage network and trucks actually need to come and empty the sewage from the buildings manually. [Link]

Score
Kuwait 3* – Dubai 3,204

*We got the first point when Dubai blocked flickr and the second point when malls in Dubai started telling people what to wear

I really forgot how good the Five Guys burger was until I had it last night again. I know it doesn’t look like much in the picture above but with Five Guys it’s less about the looks and more about the taste and taste wise it’s easily a better burger than Shake Shack.

I just got back from watching Louis CK live at Beacon Theater here in New York. As part of the New York Comedy Festival, Louis CK had 3 shows and I managed to score tickets for his 3rd and last one. I’m a HUGE fan of his so watching him live was such a cool and unreal experience. Most of the time it actually felt like I’m watching him on TV which was very odd. He’s super funny and I can’t believe I just finished watching him live!

If you haven’t watched any of his shows you need to do so. First watch his HBO hit Lucky Louie and then watch his current show called just Louie.

I just saw this video on iLSuL6ana’s blog of the flood that happened in Kuwait back in 1997. Whenever I tell new comers about it they keep thinking I’m exaggerating. It really was that bad. [YouTube]

My hotel is conveniently located 5 minutes away from the Madison Avenue Shake Shack branch so I passed by last night for dinner. I ordered a double shack, a plain single cheeseburger, fries, a regular sized coke and a bottle of water. The bill came out to around $18 which if I’m not mistaken is cheaper than Kuwait. Taste wise I have to say the NY Shake Shack tastes better than the Kuwait one. The patty tastes less greasy, the veggies taste better (the onions were delicious) and the fries were crunchy crispy which I love.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I’m flying Turkish Airlines from Kuwait to New York Business Class courtesy of the airline. The trip is divided into two stages, the first is a short flight from Kuwait to Istanbul while the second is the longer journey, Istanbul to New York. One of the main reasons Turkish Airlines wanted me to review them is because they’ve gotten a brand new plane for the Kuwait – Istanbul leg of the journey which they’ve recently entered into service.

The new plane is an Airbus A321 and I think it was entered into service around a month ago if I’m not mistaken. First thing I noticed once I boarded the flight was the trendy color scheme of the seats which were dark gray and had minimal red accents and bright turquoise pillows. The seats have built in power sockets, USB ports, a large pull out screen and a remote control. Since the flight is a short one the seats don’t fold down flat into beds but they do recline back a good deal with leg supports as well. Since this was business class there was lots of legroom as well.

The trip going to Istanbul is 3 hours and 20 minutes long. One of the advantages flying with Turkish Airline to the States or any other European airline is the fact your journey starts by flying west which results in a quicker overall trip since you don’t waste time backtracking your flight path (if your journey started by going east for example).

Breakfast was served on this trip and even though I was told by some readers the food would be great I actually wasn’t expecting much for this first stage of the trip. I was wrong since the food turned out to be pretty good. They started of breakfast with some cheeses, labneh, tomatoes, cucumbers and olives. A light combination which I’ve noticed Turkish Airlines likes a lot since there was a similar setup at different stages of my trip (lounge and Istanbul-NY flight). There was also a bit of turkey, freshly squeezed orange juice, fruits, jam, butter and yogurt. Once I was done with my starter I was served a cheese and tomato omelet which was also very good. The whole meal actually made me look forward to the one I would be having on my next longer flight since there would be a chef on board on that one.

It was a pretty good start to my trip. My only quibble and I’m being picky here is the lack of a phone network on-board. The only planes I’ve been on where I could use my phone while flying to check my email and chat on BBM are the Wataniya Airways ones and I’d like to see other airlines introduce this feature as well. Below are some pictures I took on this trip.

Note: I will be posting about my Istanbul to New York flight as well as the lounge in separate posts.

Looks like Potbelly, Pinkberry and Starbucks inside the Duty Free at the Kuwait Airport isn’t opening anytime soon.