2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

Around 5 years ago I collected some photos of the Gulf War aftermath from various sources online and put them all up in a Flickr group. There are 48 pictures currently which you can check by clicking [Here]

This is what happens when you throw a brick into a washing machine. Action starts at the 55 second mark. [YouTube]

We just had to evacuate our office building due to a fire on the 6th floor. We had to walk down from the 21st floor. Will post pics and more later.

Update: I’m back home now so I can post about what happened. Our office is on the 21st floor of Jawhara Tower behind NBK on Fahad Al Salem street. It was around 10:30 I think and I decided to go down to the grocery to get some water. I took the lift and when I got to the ground floor I noticed a small crowd of people gathered outside the lifts but I didn’t think much. I was on the phone with Nataly and when I walked out of the lift area into the main lobby I noticed more people gathered there and I started to hear the fire alarm. I didn’t know what was going so I told Nat I would call her back. I then called one of my workmates up in our office and told him it looks like there could be a fire in the building since the fire alarm is on and there are people downstairs. He asked me what we should do I told him I would come up and talk to him.

So I casually went back into the lift and headed back to the 21st floor. When I was passing the 9th floor I noticed it smelled like fire. I was like WTF? I got to our floor and I started to tell people there was a fire. We weren’t sure if we should evacuate because everything looked normal on our floor. No fire alarms, no smoke, no smell and nothing unusual. So we were thinking maybe it was just a false alarm when someone noticed the elevators area which I had just come up from was now starting to fill up with smoke. That’s when we started evacuating everyone.

The building isn’t fully occupied yet, I think out of the 26 floors only 10 are occupied. We started heading down the fire escape, it was a long way down and for most of it uneventful until we hit around the 10th floor. That’s when we started to notice a bit of smoke. When we got to the 7th 6th floor we noticed the smoke got a lot heavier and that on the fire was on the 6th 5th floor below us. I snapped the picture above which was of the poor building security guard trying to put out the fire.

We decided to cut across to the other side of the building and take the fire escape on the other side since I figured there should be less smoke and water there. When we crossed and got to the second fire escape we noticed it was filled with construction material. Large rocks, pieces of metal, foam, nylon bags… I wish I took a picture. We cleared some out of the way since there were people coming down that fire escape and the trash was slowing things down. There was a line of people going down the escape and it was moving pretty slow since there was a woman who seemed to be exhausted going down and we were all waiting behind her. Someone was helping her go down but it was still just very slow. By the time we got to the second floor I noticed one fireman coming up that fire escape and then finally we got out of the building.

Now that I am home I am thinking of all the mistakes that occurred like why didn’t the fire alarm go off in the whole building? If I hadn’t gone down to the ground floor by coincidence I wouldn’t have heard the fire alarm and I wouldn’t have been able to warn people upstairs. Also usually when there is a fire the elevators stop working and all automatically go down to the ground floor. The elevators in our building actually allowed me to go up to the 21st floor during a fire! Thirdly the fire escapes contained a lot of items in them which made our escape hazardous and slowed everything down. The security guards although were being brave to try and put out the fire shouldn’t have been doing that, if anything they should have been helping people get out. They didn’t have any masks on or proper gear and I am sure they are all now suffering from smoke inhalation. Hopefully they all made it out ok. I didn’t experience that much smoke and I am already blowing out black sooth from my nose. Because they also had the fire escape door open when they were trying to put out the fire, that resulted in the whole fire escape filling up with smoke and making things dangerous for the people escaping.

This all brings me to my final question. The other day the elevators weren’t working in my apartment building so I took the fire escape down. It was dark so I used my phone to light up the way and there were a ton of obstacles in the way which made it very difficult for me to go down. Who can I call to complain to so they can come and check our buildings fire safety? I am sure it’s illegal to fill up the fire escapes with garbage. Below are some pictures I took with my iPhone of the fire in our office building.

Update2: Sorry just proof read what I wrote and noticed a bunch of spelling mistakes and grammar errors. Didn’t have time to do that earlier. Also the fire turned out to be on the 5th floor not 6th.

Every night as part of my diet I am allowed to only eat grilled food and veggies. After the gym the most convenient thing for me to pick up is grills from either Turkish Grill, Kebabji or Villa Fayrouz Express. I usually call them from the gym parking lot and by the time I get to them the food is ready for me to pick up. Recently Kebabji increased their prices which annoyed me since their main competitors offered more for less. I decided to put up this post in hopes of someone from Kebabji reads this and realizes they need to go back to their old pricing.

Below are the three restaurants with some figures I took so I could compare them. The weight of the meat was calculated by placing just the meat on a digital scale and not the whole box. I ordered the exact same dishes from the three restaurants, grilled tikka meat and a side of tabbouleh.

Turkish Grill
Grilled Meat Tikka Cost: KD2.000
Pieces of meat: 15
Weight of meat: 175grams
Tabbouleh Cost: 600fils
Weight of tabbouleh: 272grams
Telephone: 25752565

Villa Fayrouz Express
Grilled Meat Tikka Cost: KD1.950
Pieces of meat: 19
Weight of meat: 196grams
Tabbouleh Cost: 850fils
Weight of tabbouleh: 508grams
Telephone: 25755527/32

Kebabji
Grilled Meat Tikka Cost: KD2.390
Pieces of meat: 12
Weight of meat: 66grams
Tabbouleh Cost: 950fils
Weight of tabbouleh: 295grams
Telephone: 1861616

I took the liberty to plug the figures above into a table for easier comparison. I highlighted the best prices and weight in green while I used red for the worst prices and weight. As you can see Villa Fayrouz Express surprisingly came out to be the best deal. I said surprisingly since between the three it’s actually the least fast foodish. Kebabji on the other hand didn’t fare too well. They had the most expensive prices and the least quantity.

Update: Thanks to a tip from a reader called Environmental, it turns out I can get the grilled tikka from Turkish Grill at half the price. You need to order the grilled meat tikka with “no service” and then the cost amounts to just 850 fils! You don’t get bread, veggies, pickles, hummus or a fancy box, just the meat wrapped in aluminum foil. Now the strange thing is I counted the pieces today and I got 25 pieces of meat, that’s 10 more from the regular which strikes me odd but hey I’m not complaining. That’s over a 50% savings, not bad at all. Below is a picture of the “no service” tikka.

If anyone from Turkish Grill reads this I have one comment, please install a Knet machine at your Salmiya branch. I don’t carry any cash with me most of the time so when I don’t have cash I usually head over to Villa Fayrouz since they accept Knet. There are no Knet machines on my way from the gym to your Salmiya branch.

Update2: It turns out Kebabji have a savings meal which gets you an extra skewer for around 200fils more. Below are the new updated details. Check the following link for more info on this [Link]

Kebabji
Grilled Meat Tikka Cost: KD2.595
Pieces of meat: 18
Weight of meat: 105grams
Tabbouleh Cost: 950fils
Weight of tabbouleh: 295grams
Telephone: 1861616

And here is the updated chart:

[YouTube]

Check out the energy drink commercial above then watch the video below which is a kind of making of.

[YouTube]

Don’t know who this guy is but it’s one weird trippy video. [YouTube]

Thanks Patrick

Noticed today they closed up an area next to IKEA, I am guessing this is the location of the second Pinkberry branch.

Update: I just got a confirmation, this is the new location of the second Pinkberry. Nothing still on Shake Shack.

The 70 colored photos were taken from 1939 to 1943 and are some of the only color photographs taken of the effects of the Depression on America’s rural and small town populations. Some seriously amazing stuff there. Makes me want to bang my head on the wall for not taking pictures of Salmiya back in the 1980’s. [Link]

I have had the iPhone for a week now and so far like the majority of iPhone 4 users, I haven’t had any reception problems (note: I am using an Apple Bumper). No dropped calls or anything. As I’ve previously mentioned the reception is actually better than my previous iPhone 3GS. With the iPhone 3GS the 3G wouldn’t work in my office just EDGE while with the iPhone 4 I now have 3G in the office. Another example is when I park my car underground when I go to my gym, before I wouldn’t be able to use the phone there because I would get a no network error, now I get 1 or 2 lines of signals and can make calls.

Other than the much improved reception and antenna, another improved feature is the camera. The iPhone 4 camera is just amazing, I’m actually finding myself shooting a lot more pictures with my phone now and if you check my twitter page you’d see that. The camera is probably the best new feature followed by the screen and improved reception.

Now not all is perfect. What I am facing is issues with the proximity sensor. That’s actually the problem most iPhone 4 users are complaining about. The problem is the sensor the tells the phone that its next to the ear and should shut off the screen doesn’t work all the time. So I would be talking to someone on the phone and then suddenly I put the person on speaker phone or hang up by accidentally pressing a button on the screen with my ear. Luckily Apple are aware of the problem and admitted this was an issue that would get fixed with the next software update.

Other than that it’s all good, The screen is amazing, battery life is great and the phone is just really fast and responsive. I highly recommend it.

Anyone know when this documentary on Al Jazeera will be showing or if they’ve already shown it. The subject seems very interesting since its about reuniting class mates years after the 1990 Iraqi invasion. In 1990 I graduated from Sunshine School which ceased to exist right after the Iraqi invasion (later it became BSK). I never ended up seeing anyone ever again but with the help of the Sunshine School Facebook group I was able to get in touch with some of them again. [YouTube]

Update: Taken from the Al Jazeera website

On August 2, 1990, the Iraqi army invaded the emirate of Kuwait, which Saddam Hussein, the then Iraqi president, had declared Iraq’s 19th province.

The occupation of Kuwait may have only lasted seven months, yet the memory of it remains strong, not least in the minds of the children of that conflict.

At the end of the school year of 1990, students in an international school in Kuwait said their final farewells as they headed off for the summer holidays. Many of them would never meet again.

Al Jazeera’s Nashwa Nasreldin was one of those whose family was forced to relocate following the invasion.

Twenty years on, she returns to Kuwait, the country of her birth, along with a group of her classmates as they organise a reunion to find out what happened to their friends – and their school – during the war that separated them.

Kuwait: The class of 1990 can be seen from Monday, August 2, 2010 at the following times GMT: Monday: 1900; Tuesday: 0600; Wednesday: 0300; Thursday: 1400; Friday: 0600; Saturday: 1900; Sunday: 0300.

Posted by Fahad AlYehya | Core Fitness – Kuwait

I would first like to apologize for my long absence from the world of blogging and greatly appreciate all my supporting readers for being patient and understanding. Moreover, I’d also like to send my sincerest apologies to those of you who have emailed me but haven’t recieved a reply. I’d like to thank you all for putting up with my crap and style of writing, which by-the-way will only get worse. I’ve stated this a million times. If you’re not cool with my writing nature, then don’t read me. I should warn you, though; you’re going to miss out on some epic nutrition advice.

Before I begin preaching, I’d like to clarify how this guide will work:

1) I’ll list down all the basics of Ramadan eating and training to provide a brief understanding for the readers.

2) The reader will then post his/her goal, physical stats (height, weight, bf % if available) and Ramadan lifestyle (exercise timing, family gatherings, favorite/worst foods, etc).

3) I will then reply with a customized optimal plan for that reader’s goal

4) Other readers/haters who are too lazy to comment/hate can read/[go-kill-themselves] the Q&A’s below so that they may personally implement on their own.

The Q&A below will serve as a guide to unanswered questions anyone might have about Ramadan. Please refrain from emailing me since the goal of this post is to publicly educate through the written facts/opinions/experiences and the associated comments.

Credibility and Experience

It took me around 3 Ramadans to fully understand how my body works when it comes to losing fat and maintaining muscle when fasting. From eating small portions of food to indulging in every calorie dense food item, I’ve realized the only way to survive Ramadan is by doing the exact same thing.

1^st Attempt: I dieted in Ramadan, performing 30-60 minutes of cardio 2 hours prior to breaking my fast, and weight lifting 1 hour after a light futoor, followed by a light dinner and a light suhoor.

Result: Managed to lose 10kg in 1 month.

Damage: Managed to lose a lot of my hard earned muscle. Fail.

2^nd Attempt: I gorged on endless calories, weight-lifted with less intensity and did absolutely no cardio.

Result: Gained 5kg.

Damage: 5kg of fat; but I kept my muscle. Epic fail.

3^rd Attempt: Dieted 3 months prior to Ramadan (low calorie intake, 60 minutes of cardio, 30-45 minutes of weight-lifting). Stuck to the same level of calorie intake and workout-intensity in Ramadan, eliminated cardio completely.

Result: Nothing. Kept my muscle, maintained my superb condition.

Damage: Refer to the above. Boo-Yeah.

Here is some more old footage of Kuwait. This time around it’s 1975. The video has a lot of footage of the Gulf Road, Kuwait City and other various places around Kuwait. Good stuff. [YouTube]

Note: The video contains no sound.

This coming weekend, July 30th to August 1st, Villa Moda will showcase an exhibition of mixed talent from Kuwait in an exhibition called ‘Kuwait’s Got Talent’. The talent are:

Haya Al Qateefi
Brand: Vogue Jumpsuits – the name is self explanatory

Abdullah Suleiman Al Dosary
Brand: Arabic perfumes, lotions and oud as well as accessories

Asmah Al Dosary
Amazing up to date trendy clothing line

Shaikha Al Houti
Brand: Purse-is-Hers – a line of accessories for women that can be custom made or customized according to the individual’s needs, from materials to finishing. HIS – the same line for men

Nour Al Jasem
Brand: Butterfly Gallery – customization of everything from shoes to car steering wheels

Ascia Al Farraj
Brand: Twenty Ten – great t-shirts with a twist and some handmade accessories

Nili Zahar
Nili Couture and prêt-a-porter clothing –kaftans

Lolwa Al-Mannaie
Brand: LOLOMASS –clothing collection – featuring some Diraa and kaftans for Ramadan

Nat Bakes
A small business specializing in baked goods, mainly cupcakes, freshly baked and delivered to your door. Customized cupcakes, for events, even weddings. Samples will be available for tasting.

Date: Friday July 30th to August 1st.
Time: 5:00pm to 9:00pm
Note: VIP & Press preview is on Friday 30th from 5:00pm to 7:00pm

That’s gotta suck! [YouTube]

via iLSul6ana

Anyone have an Apple Mac Pro they’re not using and want to sell? [Email Me]