2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

Ace Hardware are selling UV flashlights. CSI fans will know what a UV flashlight is and can be used for and I picked one up for that very reason. Lots of warning labels all over the place, I didn’t think a UV flashlight could be dangerous. Now I understand why they wear those orange goggles on the TV show. Price? Just KD2.770

Note: As someone mentioned in the comments, this is not a toy and not for kids. There is a reason for all those warning labels on the package and flashlight.

Canadian coffee chain Tim Hortons will be opening up in Kuwait. Back in 2004 I took the picture above in Salmiya, supposedly Tim Hortons was opening up there but Dunkin Donuts ended up opening instead. [Link]

Thanks Omar

I know I haven’t mentioned anything about the Benihana case recently and thats not because they’ve dropped the case against me but because I’m trying to keep a bit of normality on the blog. Today though blogs around the world have taken my original Benihana review and reposted it on their blogs while twitter also lit up with supporters tweeting against Benihana’s actions. So, I decided to post a status update on the situation so far.

Yes, Benihana are still suing me

If you don’t know what all this is about here is a quick summary. Last December I passed by Benihana for dinner and then the same night I posted about my experience which wasn’t that great. The next day a person claiming to be the GM of Benihana commented on my post threatening to sue me for my review. A month later I got served with a court order, Benihana was suing me for posting a not so positive review.

After getting the court order and talking to my lawyer, I decided to share with everyone what was happening to me. Originally I had thought this lawsuit was just going to affect me but I quickly realized this lawsuit was bigger than me since the outcome of this case would affect all the bloggers in the region. The amount of support I started receiving from people was unimaginable. Bloggers and tweeters all around the world posted what they thought about this lawsuit and the media quickly picked up on it.

As of today the case still hasn’t been dropped by Benihana and I am still being sued by them. According to the court order they’re suing me for a yet undisclosed amount that will be over $18,000. I am not sure why they want my money and I really think this lawsuit is unfair. Being sued for a review that wasn’t even that negative is just ridiculous.

My court date is still scheduled for March 8th. Below are links to my previous Benihana posts. Thank you once again everyone for your support.

My Benihana Experience
I’m being sued by Benihana
Media coverage on Benihana post

Have you gotten your loved one a Shani today?

A reader emailed me awhile back asking me if I could use this blog and my readers to help me create a list of places that are open 24 hours in Kuwait. I thought that was a good idea so I’ve started the list below with some places I know of that are open 24/7. If you know of any place that’s open 24/7, post it in the comments below and I will add it to the list.

Places open 24/7 in Kuwait:
• Burger King – Bneidar Gas Station 1, Bneidar Gas Station 2, Farwaniyah, Fintas, Hawalli, Khaitan, Messilah, Plajat, Sadiq South Surra and Salmiya opposite Sultan Center.

• Caribou Coffee – King Fahad Road (towards Chalets)

• Coffee Republic – King Fahad Road (towards Kuwait City)

• Co-op – Al Adan, Al-Faiha, Al Qousor, Al Qurain, Dasma, Mishref, Qurtoba, Salmiya and Yarmouk

• Costa – Dar Al Shifa Hospital, Hawalli

• Debenhams – Airport

• Dunkin Donuts – Amman Street (Salmiya) and Fintas

• Fedex Kinkos – Fahad Al Salem street, Kuwait City

• Geant Easy – Salmiya

• Hardees – Khaldiya, Rumathiya and Salmiya (opposite Fanar)

• KFC – Kuwait City, Salmiya (opposite Fanar)

• McDonalds – Al-Qosour, Al-Rai, Bayan, Bnaider, Fintas, Gulf Road, Jabriya, Surra and Yarmouk

Pizza Hut – Faiha, Fintas, Hawalli, Mishref and Salmiya City Center

• Platinum Gym – Salmiya and Kifan

• Prime & Toast – Seef

• Subway – Khaldiya

• Sultan Center – Dajeej, Fahaheel, Hawalli, Jabriya, Mangaf, Al Rai, Salmiya, Salwa and Souk Sharq

• Viva – Airport

• Wataniya – Airport

• X-Cite Electronics – Al Rai, Fahaheel and Hawalli

• Zain – Airport

A Kuwaiti architect called Omar Al-Rajhi decided to start a new hobby after graduating from Kuwait University. He decided to recreate Kuwait City in 3D bit by bit. So far he has already has gone ahead and created 3D models of some of the most famous buildings which you can see on the projects FaceBook page.

It’s a painstakingly slow task and he currently doesn’t know what this could be used for once he’s done (maybe commercial or educational purposes) but for now he’s focusing on remodeling the whole of Kuwait City and once he’s done he’ll see what he can do with this data he is creating. Personally I think this could probably mean we could finally get 3D navigation like some of the main cities in the US. Here is the link to his projects Facebook page [Link]

This is just a reminder that the deadline to submitting your film for the Kuwait Young Film Contest is March 10th which is less than a month away. If you need more information about the contest, its rules, regulations and details on how to submit your film then visit their website [Here]

They’ve also set up a YouTube channel with tip and tricks to film making [Here]

[YouTube]

On the occasion of Kuwait’s 50th National Day as well as the 20th anniversary of Kuwait’s liberation and the 5th anniversary of HH The Amir of Kuwait “Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah, Al-Sayer will be attempting to break the Guinness World Records by releasing 5000 doves into the sky.

Date: February 24th, 2011
Location: Marina Crescent
Time: 3:30pm to 6:00pm

For more information visit their Facebook page [Here] and [Here]

CNN has two videos on golf in Kuwait. The first video talks about how golf came about in Kuwait and the Golf Me store located in Muthana. The second video is about the Sahara Country Club and the rising stars of golf in Kuwait. Here are the links to the videos:

Kuwait’s slow rise to world golf scene
The future golf stars of Kuwait

The other day @nibaq posted a 360 panorama of a graveyard in Kuwait and I found out he did it with an iPhone app called 360 Panorama. So I downloaded it and tried it out and found it incredibly easy to use. I just did a 360 interactive panorama of Fahad al Salem street which you can see by clicking [Here]

I think I will be doing various panoramas of places and events around Kuwait when I can and post them here since its so easy to do. The image above is NOT the 360 panorama, it’s just the flattened out panorama.

Last month I posted an email by a 27 year old Kuwaiti girl who wrote about how the one thousand Kuwaiti Dinars grant would make a difference in her life. The girl has a birth defect (severe overbite) and she was saving up to get the operation done because she wasn’t able to get any help from the public health care since no one knew what to do with her and they just kept bouncing her around in a circle from one person to the other. Well thankfully a dentist working in the government sector read her message and was able to contact her, diagnose her and send her to the right doctor. She is now scheduled for two operations and this is the update she emailed me:

First of all i would like to thank Mark for posting my story and thank everyone for their support, the comments were so overwhelming and made me cry.

I have been contacted by a doctor who is not a doctor at all but an angel, he helped set up a meeting with a surgeon and he even came with me and took care of everything.

The boring details are that my case is so bad that they need to break both of my jaws, not only one, and I will be needing a pre-operation to help set up my condition for the main operation. All of this will take months of work, but at least I am on the right track now.

I don’t like to talk much because each time I do everything comes out of my mouth wrong, I prefer writing instead and this puts me in awkward situations many times and I hope I don’t offend anyone or say rude things especially to the kind amazing doctor who is helping me now. He is being so sweet and kind and giving me some of his time to help me get through this.

There were times where I felt like a burden, and wanted to call it off just because I don’t want to get anyone involved and annoyed by my condition, but I need this, I really need this. I am suffering almost everyday and I want it to stop.

I really appreciate everyone who tried to help me and everyone who emailed Mark. Thank you so much. AlI I need now is your prayers for this pain to stop and for my operations to be easy and painless.

Thank you so much.

In case you missed the original post here is the [Link]

I noticed one of the over sized clocks on the roads had something the other ones didn’t. If you check the picture above you can see 3 black squares underneath the clock, those are going to be lane status indicators. Basically it will probably show a green circle (O) or arrow for open and a red X for closed. I’ve seen those used mostly in tunnel entrances but I guess they will be using them here during emergencies like accidents.

I just saw a post on Confashions about an art auction that was held in the still under construction Phase III of the Avenues. The place looks great and the artwork looked amazing but sadly the public exhibition of the work was on February 8th and the auction was last night. Luckily Confashions took some pictures which you can check [Here]

I’ve updated the navigation bar on top and added two new sections, Events and Activities. The events page basically will contain things to do in Kuwait but things that are time sensitive like exhibitions, movie screenings etc.. Activities on the other hand will include things to do in Kuwait through out the year like scuba diving, karting etc..

Whatever gets posted under these two sections will continue to get posted on the main page as well but since items move down and off the main page pretty quickly, these two links will make it easier to find things.