2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

Pottery Barn is going to be opening up in the Avenues in place of where Top Shop and Top Man used to be. I’ve never been to Pottery Barn and according to the sign outside, this will be the first branch outside the States. That’s nice, but what about Home Depot? Costco? In-N-Out? Walmart?

The Kuwait Towers are getting a fresh coat of paint for National and Liberation Day. I wonder how long and how much paint it takes to paint the towers and how much it costs? It would be interesting if we can paint the towers different colors for different occasions. Wait, I take that back since someone might get the idea to paint it gold or peach even!

Dusty Beach from Moayad Hassan on Vimeo.

A very soothing 3 minute film by Moayad shot during a dust storm here in Kuwait. Other than a few scenes where you could see the camera reflection and some scenes with excess camera shake, this video is pretty well made.

Thanks Nasser!

I love my Wrangler and I never thought I would ever want to part with it but recently I realized it’s not a very practical car. Actually I always knew it wasn’t a very practical car but never had an issue with it until now. I can’t fit anything in the trunk! I just got a 1/5 scale RC car and it barely fits in the back, barely anything fits even with the seat folded. So, I am now considering swapping the Wrangler for another SUV, one that at least has some decent space to hold stuff. Personally I would actually prefer a pick up truck like the Ford Raptor but Nat hates trucks. The two options I’ve currently narrowed down to are the Nissan Xterra and the Toyota FJ Cruiser. I’ve actually been begging Negative Effect practically on a weekly basis for the past few months to sell me his nicely modified FJ but have failed miserably in convincing him.

Both SUV’s are actually great, the Xterra being the more practical out of the bunch while the FJ being the timeless one. Anyone have any opinion on the two cars?

I sat with a client a few days back in regards to his nutritional plan. He contacted me prior to the consultation for some advice for lean muscle building. Upon meeting him face to face, I immediately remembered seeing him around a few gyms. This guy stood 180cm, weighed 100kg of good muscle and was incredibly strong. He was genetically gifted of course, with his broad shoulders, tiny waist and large calf muscles (3 characteristics of great genetics). I thought to myself, why would he need my consultation? He definitely looked a lot better than me.

I assumed he would understand my nutrition/training lingo since he looked the part. When I said “protein”, he thought I meant protein powder. When I said “fat”, he got scared and looked at me in disgust. When I said “carbs”, he had no idea what that meant; so I said it in Arabic and still “no hablo nutrición.” He looked up, started thinking and said “Oh, you meant rice?”

The moral of this story is that everyone needs to know their 3 macronutrients before implementation of any nutritional plan. Knowing what to eat and when to eat it is every dietitians secret; and I’m about to ruin it for every nutritional consultant out there and today I’ll be talking about:

Proteins
Weightlifters adore this macronutrient and old school dietitians hate on it like it was the devil. In layman’s terms, proteins are part of every cell, tissue, and organ in our bodies. The proteins that exist in our bodies are constantly being broken down through vigorous weight training, athletic and cardiovascular activities, walking around or merely dealing through stressful situations. In order to replace broken down proteins, a good amount of ingestion is needed so that the body can convert it into amino acids and distribute it around our bodies for repair.

Why do I promote proteins more than any other nutrient? Enzymes that are found in proteins are the catalysts of metabolism. It takes our bodies a lot of energy to break down protein, which in turn boosts our metabolism. When the metabolism is at its best, it’s more efficient in the digestion of other nutrients, including fats and carbohydrates.In order for our bodies to benefits from the above, we need to ingest “complete proteins”.

A complete protein contains all the amino acids, and only then can our bodies ingest it properly. Complete proteins (listed from best source to not-necessarily-worst):
1) Whey Protein (found in dairy products or protein powders)
2) Whole Eggs (egg whites are not complete, but complete when combined with yolks)
3) Lean Animal Proteins

The above doesn’t mean you need to ingest a huge amount of protein powder. I’m only trying to show what types of proteins that easily digest.

I found the winning photo for the World Press Photo of the Year disappointing, but the one above, which came first under the General News category was my favorite of the bunch. Check out all the winners [Here]

Have you gotten your loved one a Shani today?

Eliss – trailer from steph thirion on Vimeo.

Eliss is currently my favorite iPhone game. It’s got retro graphics, a great soundtrack and an extremely strange and new style of play. It’s hard to explain so its best to watch the video above to get an idea. Once you start getting into it people watching you play will have no idea what the hell is going on and how the hell you’re playing it because visually there are soo many things going on at the same time. The game costs $2.99 but they have a free version in case you want to try it out. Here is the [Link]

Two years back I posted a picture of the new Nissan Patrol and I was really hoping they would change it by the time it got released. Well after following www.welcomethehero.com for the past few days waiting to see what they would reveal turns out it’s the new Patrol and it still looks as ugly. Hopefully it will look better on the streets but I doubt it. [Link]

It seems a Kuwait Airways landing caused quite a bit of commotion last month when it landed pretty hard at the Heathrow Airport in London. Someone managed to capture the whole incident on video and posted on YouTube which you can watch above. [YouTube]

Thanks Ahmad!

If you’re a Gmail user and have no interest at all in Google Buzz (like me) then the Buzz icon underneath your inbox is probably annoying the hell out of you. Well to turn off Buzz its very simple, scroll down to the bottom of your Gmail page and hit the kill switch.

Seems UFC 112 is still on for Abu Dhabi this April and the ticket prices have been announced as follows:

Platinum Floor:
AED 3,695.00
USD 1,006.81

Platinum Grandstand:
AED 3,695.00
USD 1,006.81

Diamond Grandstand:
AED 2,795.00
USD 761.58

Lower Grandstand:
AED 1,595.00
USD 434.60

Middle Grandstand:
AED 795.00
USD 216.62

Upper Grandstand:
AED 395.00
USD 107.63

Tickets will go on sale February 14th at https://www.boxofficeme.com

Here is the official fight card right now:

Middleweight Championship bout
Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort

Lightweight Championship bout:
B.J. Penn vs. Frankie Edgar

Welterweight bout:
Matt Hughes vs. Renzo Gracie

If anyone wants to join me at UFC 112 send me an email.

Thanks Nick!

Nat designed the Choowy Goowy valentines box and card this year so make sure you order one. The box which contains a dozen heart shaped cookies and a dozen heart shaped brownies along with the card is for KD12.5 while a jar containing 18 pieces of mixed heart shaped cookies and brownies along with the card is for KD6. To order it call 22626559 or 22620011. If you have a BlackBerry you can add Choowy Goowy with the PIN 2119FB77 or scanning the QR Code below.

Update: I just realized some of you might not know who Choowy Goowy are since I haven’t posted about them in ages. Here is a link to my previous Choowy Goowy posts [Link]

A new and small drive through car wash opened up at the gas station near my house. It’s an Oula gas station at the end of 4th Ring Road towards Salmiya. What’s cool about the car wash is the fact you don’t leave your car while it’s getting washed. It’s more fun that way and the sound of the machines and water around the car makes the whole experience sound like a Nine Inch Nails song. Very cool!