2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

K’s Path (Animal Friends) are having a cool Christmas event for animal lovers. I’m going to take Geo my dog (pictured above) and have him meet Santa.

Join us on Friday at the K’S PATH shelter and sanctuary in Wafra.

When: December 24th 2010
Time: 1pm to 4pm

– Socialize with fellow animal lovers and bring your dog
– Bring a gift to the animals. We suggest a value of 10 – 20KD.

Suggested Donation list:
– Large size paper towel rolls for large dispensers
– Betadine
– Clorox
– Whiskas cat food (dry and can)
– Purina dry dog food
– Pedigree canned dog food
– Toys
– Rawhides
– Small size dog collars

A Christmas gift to an animal in need will not be forgotten.

Bring your dog for a photo with Santa (5KD)*

*Dogs must behave well around other dogs and must kept on leash and under control at all times.

Tonight after my gym I passed by fashionably late to the The Gulf Run Dinner. It was an event organized to get all the drivers to meet each other, enjoy some good shawerma and sajj while checking out pictures of previous Gulf Runs. They also had a Ford GT, Mercedes SLS and a Ferrari 599 on display to check out up close.

One of the announcements I had missed with my lateness was that the SLS will be one of the taxi ride cars at the upcoming Gulf Run. Taxi ride cars are for the spectators who come to the track to watch the races. The spectators will be able to take a ride in the SLS (and other taxi cars) around the Bahrain F1 circuit while being driven by professional race car drivers (i.e. lots of fun).
Update: The SLS taxi ride will only be for the GR6 drivers. There will be other sport cars available as taxi rides for the spectators. My mistake, sorry about that.

If you want to know more about Gulf Run you can visit their website [Here]

A few weeks back Nat accidentally slammed my FJ’s door onto a little pole while opening the door and I ended up with a nasty dent. The usual fix for this would be to take the car to a body shop and have them repair the dent and then repaint the door but I decided to pass by Dent Xpress and see if they could fix it. For those of you who’ve been checking my blog for a few years you might remember Dent Xpress as one of my previous advertisers. They’re a little shop behind Sun City in Shuwaikh that specializes in paint-less dent repair.

I had finished some morning chores that day and decided to pass by Dent Xpress to get an estimate and book an appointment. Once I drove up to their front entrance their employee was standing outside and noticed the dent as I pulled up. After getting a closer look he told me the dent was pretty deep and since my car was black he couldn’t repair it 100%, I told him anything would be better than the current state. I asked him how much it would cost and he told me just KD15 and it would take 30 minutes to repair. Luckily there wasn’t anyone there before me so I told him to go ahead and start on it.

I went and sat down in their cozy little corner and watched the guy work on my dent. It’s really interesting to watch so you don’t get that bored waiting. If you’ve got an iPad with entertainment on it I would bring it along or you could be old fashioned and flip through some magazines they had available. After exactly 30 minutes my FJ’s dent was repaired. Even though the guy said he couldn’t repair it 100% it looked like it was 100% fixed. He told me if I looked closely I could see a tiny little bump. That bump which you couuld only see under a certain light and up really close was basically non existent so it’s a 99% fix even though you really can’t see the tiny bump. I left extremely satisfied which is why I’m currently writing this post. So if you’ve got a dent and need it repaired Dent Xpress would be a good place to stop by before a body shop. They can’t repair all dents and the paint also needs to be factory original but it’s still worth passing by and seeing if they can repair it. Below is a picture of my FJ door before and after the repair.

Their website address is www.dentxpress.com
Their phone numbers are 24837666 and 55787747
Their Facebook page is [Here]

Last week I posted about the Gran Turismo 5 Time Challenge that’s taking place across the Middle East and how Kuwait wasn’t even ranked in the top 10. Well the competition is finally over and it turns out Kuwait came first. Pretty cool (although slightly geeky) achievement. [Link]

Found a store near my office that has the funniest named perfumes. Most are actually mimicking big brands but some like the above are just completely random. Actually I have a theory to how they might have come up with the name Whisky on Titanic. Here it goes… What did the Titanic hit? An iceberg. What do you put with whisky? Ice. What do you call that? Whisky on the rocks. So rocks is ice which is the iceberg which is what the Titanic hit resulting in the name Whisky on Titanic. At least this is my theory on the concept behind the name. Check out some more funny ones below. (Another favorite of mine is “Just call me Taitanic”).

Cinemagics have launched a film festival in hopes of paving the way for the new generation of film makers in Kuwait. You can find information on this competition on their website but here is the list of categories you can participate in:

– Cinematography
– Editing & Sound for cinema
– Advertising for Cinema & New Media
– Acting for Cinema
– Directing & Filmmaking

This competition is only for students (school/university) and people under the age of 30. If you are interested in participating in the film festival you can visit their website for more information and details. There is plenty of time to create something if you don’t have a film ready since the submission deadline is March 10, 2011. [Link]

I found out about the Withings bathroom scale yesterday and straight away added it to my Christmas wish list. The digital scale not only records your weight but also your fat mass, muscle mass and BMI. The cool part is it then automatically uploads this data onto an online database which you can then check and use to monitor your progress. It also has an option which will automatically share your weight along with all the other data to your twitter or facebook account (I’m serious). Finally you can also download the free iPhone/iPad or Android app and view and monitor your results with your mobile. Pretty cool for a simple bathroom scale. I just ordered mine (along with an SSD drive) from Amazon for $159. [Link]

A small breakfast place opened up near my house and I decided to pass by and try it out last week. The place is called Breakfast & Brunch and is located in the large outdoor parking lot adjacent to Marina Mall (facing BoConcept). Nat and I passed by during the week around 10AM and out of the five small 2-seater tables at the place, only one was occupied. We sat down at a table and got the menus which had a ton of items on it. It was huge. Other than the regular breakfast place stuff like eggs, pancakes, crepes, etc.. they also had a long list of sandwiches to choose from (I’m guessing the “brunch” aspect of the place).

I ended up ordering freshly squeezed orange juice and a 3 egg omelet with cheese and turkey while Nat ordered the Nutella Crepe. I wanted to order pancakes as well but I knew Fahad would make me suffer at the gym if I did. The food arrived a bit later and looked very good. My omelet came with sausages, brown bread and hash browns on the side which I quickly dug into after taking the picture above. Everything tasted good but then again it’s hard to go wrong with omelets and crepes.

There isn’t really anything negative to say about my experience. The only thing I can think about is the fact the place was a bit too quiet when we first sat down but the couple on the other table asked for the radio to be turned on which fixed things. I personally liked the place, it’s close to where I live, there is a lot of parking space available and because it’s still not very popular, finding a place to sit shouldn’t be a problem. For those of you who are interested to try out the place, here is one of my famous maps to help you find the location [Map] and here it is on [Google Maps]

Wallpaper* magazine featured an article on the Octium Jewellery store at 360 Mall. It’s not the first time Kuwait was featured in Wallpaper*, I know of at least one other time since I posted about it [Here]. Too bad the Wallpaper* article doesn’t really show how beautiful the Octium store really is. [Link]

Not sure if it’s a typo or actually an ingredient.

Thanks Zaid

Update: I got an email from 7Bars Restaurant regarding the above. It was a spelling mistake on the Scalopini Sandwich which has already been fixed. The correct word is tabasco.

A reader sent me a link to an article in Al Watan Daily on the new Gulf Road cameras that are installed. According to the article the speed cameras on the Gulf Road don’t just take pictures of speeding cars but are similar to the cameras on the First Ring Road in that they calculate your average speed from one camera to another. That means even if you slow down when passing camera 1, if you get to camera 2 too quickly then they would know you were speeding.

Personally I don’t think this is true. When compared to the First Ring Road, that stretch has 2 lanes of traffic and 2 cameras at the start each pointing to a lane with 2 more cameras at the end of the stretch also with each pointing to a lane. The Gulf Road on the other hand has 3 lanes and traffic lights all along the way. There is also 1 camera pointing across all the lanes instead of 3 different cameras each pointing to a seperate lane. I could also speed down the Gulf Road at 120km/h but as soon as I stop at a red traffic light my average speed is back to normal. Of course I won’t be speeding just in case this is true. [Link]

Thanks Nooris

Last week Nat had dinner with some of her friends at a new restaurant that just opened up in Kuwait City called Ruby’s. She had a good experience and suggested that we pass by for lunch yesterday.

From outside the place doesn’t look like much since the shops and buildings next to it are pretty old but once you walk into Ruby’s it’s a completely different atmosphere. The place is pretty spacious and has a very cozy look and feel to it. We sat down in a comfy corner and the waitress brought us the menu. The first thing that impressed me was with how minimal their menu was. They have only 3 salads, 3 panini’s, 3 pastas and 3 burgers which I thought was very brave. Restaurants here seem to get the impression you need to have a million items on your menu but you really don’t since it’s about the quality not quantity.

Nat ordered the Mango Pumpkin Chicken Salad while I ordered the Bronte Burger on my first visit and the Chicken and Mango Chutney Panini on my second (had lunch there yesterday and today). Nat really loved her salad and I thought my burger which had a sweet chili sauce was really well made. It was delicious and on my second visit I was really tempted to order it again but decided to try something else and I am glad I did. As much as I thought their burger was amazing the Chicken and Mango Chutney Panini was even better. The Mango Chutney was sweet and gave the panini amazing flavor, I really loved it. I also ordered their chocolate dessert on my second visit and although it was good, I would prefer the Chocolate Fondant at Life with Cacao or the Chocolate Pudding at Slider Station instead.

Their prices are very decent. Their menu ranges from KD2.250 for their cheapest Salad up to KD3.750 for their Shrimp in Linguine which is their most expensive dish.

Ruby’s has been open I think for around 2 weeks only. They still don’t have a sign outside and they will be installing their Knet machine hopefully this week according to the waitress. I’ve drawn a map to the location which you can view [Here]. The service is great, the place is cozy and the food is amazing. I highly recommend the place.

Update: Currently (as of December 29, 2010) they open from 3PM to 11PM. According to the employees there within the next 10 days they will start opening from 11AM to 11PM. Their phone number is 22496526,

Just found out Alshaya are bringing IHOP to Kuwait. IHOP stands for International House of Pancakes and is an American breakfast chain. I don’t think they’re open anywhere outside of North America.

In non-food related news, Harvey Nichols will be opening their first store in Kuwait in Avenues Phase III. Originally Harvey Nichols said they were opening the store in the summer of 2011 but not sure if that’s still the case since I thought Phase III still needed more time then that to be completed.

Thanks damdy

During the summer while in Lebanon I posted about how I found out I was allergic to dogs by doing a “prick test”. Well there was a lot of interest on that subject so I figured I would share this information with you. First of all for those of you who don’t know what a prick test is, basically they write on both your arms with a pen a variety of things that cause allergies like cats, dogs, dust mites etc… and then they put a concentrated drop of that item next to the corresponding name and they prick you. After 10 minutes whichever spot swells then thats what you have an allergy to.

So anyway I was recently having breathing problems I called International Clinic, booked an appointment with the lung Dr and then passed by. She asked me if I had allergies and I told her over the summer I did a prick test and found out I was allergic to dogs. She told me I might have an allergy to pollens. Turns out every country has different pollens, for example in France they have apple trees, in Lebanon pine trees, in Kuwait it’s completely different type of plants as well. The test I had in Lebanon most probably covered only the pollens that are popular in Lebanon. She told me she would give me the prick test again.

When I took the prick test in Lebanon they tested me for 11 different kind of things I could be allergic to. The one I did at International Clinic had 26 different item, more than double of that in Lebanon. The Dr was also right, turned out I was allergic to two more things other than dogs, I was allergic to palm trees and another sort of weed pollen that grows everywhere in Kuwait.

Regarding my allergies, she told me I either had to get rid of my dog or start on a dog allergy vaccine which within 3 years would cure me from my dog allergy. The palm tree and weed allergy is a seasonal thing and could be solved with medication so I didn’t really need to get a vaccine for them.

So if anyone is interested in the prick test you can get one done at International Clinic. The cost of the prick test was KD40. I also paid a KD20 consultation fee but not sure if that’s the same for everyone (I also did a respiratory test among other things).

This news hasn’t been confirmed yet but according to a reader and a contact at Alshaya, there are currently rumors circulating that Caribou Coffee (Alsayer) no longer have the rights to The Cheesecake Factory and that Alshaya are now looking to open the actual Cheesecake Factory restaurant (not just cheesecakes) and are shopping around for a location on the Gulf Road. Although its currently just a rumor it would make sense since Alshaya have been on a roll acquiring all these American chains recently (Bath & Body Works, Victorias Secret, Pottery Barn, PF Chang, Shake Shack etc..).

Speaking of Caribou Coffee, I got this in the email today which is related to [This] previous post:

Happy Thursday Kuwait! Free coffee, donuts & goodies for the first 1000 BlackBerry users today at Caribou Coffee. You can take advantage from 10am – 4pm at CBK and Al Raya AND between 4pm – 10pm at Avenues, 360, Salhiya and Al Kout. You’ll also have a chance to win a new BlackBerry, but make sure you get in early.