2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

I was at the Tamiya dealer in Tilal Complex and on my way out I decided to take a different route than usual. So I am driving when suddenly on my right I see all these scooters parked outside a store. So I park the Jeep, go down and realize I was standing outside the Vespa dealer.

Turns out they’ve only been open for 3 months and they’re also the new dealers for Aprilia, Piaggio and Moto Guzzi. If you’re interested, they’re located in the block across from Tilal Complex. If Explorers Base is on your right keep going straight past the intersection and they should be on your right.

I’ve got two tickets to give away to a special screening of the new IMAX film “Under the Sea 3D” courtesy of the Scientific Centre of Kuwait. The screening will be tomorrow the 14th of September at 12:30 noon. If you’re interested in these tickets leave a comment below. I will use random.org later tonight to choose the winner. The video above is the trailer to Under the Sea 3D. [YouTube]

Note: A valid email address must be entered in the email field when leaving a comment since the tickets will be emailed to the winner.

Note2: Winner will get both tickets.

Update: And the winner is…

[YouTube]

Comment #13, you’ve got mail!

This prize give away has given me an idea. I am going to try from now till Eid to give away a different prize everyday. So stay tuned till the next one tomorrow.

The other day I posted about the new bollards (poles) that were being installed in the area around my office in Kuwait City. They really didn’t fit in with their environment and it looked like a lot of money was wasted on them. Well one of my blog readers just made me realize that they’re not there anymore. I saw some guys working on them this morning when I was coming in to work and figured they were just properly fixing them but it seems they were removing them. Strange, just like that they’re gone, not a single one left behind. Hmmmm…

I passed by Sultan Center in Dhajeej yesterday and noticed they had a section called “Consume by Expiry”. Basically its products that are about to expire soon (end of October) and they were being sold at heavily reduced prices. They had a whole range of products like cereal boxes, salsa dips, soups, chocolate, BBQ sauce, granola bars, maple syrup, pasta and more. I ended up picking up a case of A&W root beer for 50fils per can instead of the usual cost of 220fils a can. Also picked up Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes Gold for only 150fils. Pretty good deal.

Looks like there was a cow loose near Bayan Co-op. Where it came from I have no idea. [YouTube]

I was lucky enough to get a private tour around the new Jumeirah Messilah Beach Hotel today and I have to say I loved the place. When you pass by it on the highway it looks like one giant building but once you’re inside its a completely different world. I really left the place impressed and I managed to take some pictures to share with everyone here. My favorite thing has to be the fact that they have a lot of Islamic design incorporated very beautifully into the design which you can see in some of the pictures below. The beach is a lot bigger than it used to be and they’ve built a very nice marina, not for boats but for swimmers which I think is cool. The place will have around 400 hotel rooms, 60 apartments and 12 private chalets. They’ll also have three pools outside, 2 large ones and 1 small one for kids. They’ll also have an indoor pool. Click continue below for all the pictures I took. Completion date is set for May 2010.

I left Marina Crescent after meeting up with a friend and was on my way home when I decided to pass by Brands for Less. I hadn’t been there in ages and since Nat was at the gym I could kill a bit of time there checking out what they had. I got lucky!

While browsing through all their electronics section I noticed something, the MUJI CD player! Its a beautifully designed CD player designed by the famous Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa back in 1999. It has built in speakers and just two buttons on the top, very minimalistic. I had originally seen it at a MUJI store in Munich and although I found it beautiful, at nearly $200 it was too expensive for me to justify the purchase. So here out of the blue I was at Brands for Less standing in front of an item that no one around me had a clue what it was. I looked at the price and it was just KD7.850!

So I picked up the box and headed to the cashier. Before I paid the employee asked me if I wanted to try it out to make sure it works. He plugged it in and we put a CD but nothing happened. After a few minutes we declared it dead until I remembered that the CD player design was influenced by a kitchen fan and to turn on a kitchen fan you tug on the cable underneath which I did and the player came to life. I then decided to see if I could get the price reduced to KD5 because the package was ripped but I only managed to get the price dropped down to KD6. Basically, I bought a $180 MUJI CD player for just $20! I am going to drill it into my kitchen wall and use it to listen to Radiohead while I bake.

For those of you who were interested in the “Ethernet over Power” adapters I had posted about previously. They had some more in stock and they’re still selling a box that comes with 3 adapters for KD13.700.

I know a lot of bloggers have been posting their views on Apple’s Snow Leopard and here is my addition. While getting my shots for my next post I noticed the image capture software has been updated and improved. Pretty cool.

The fake iPod Shuffle looking device in the picture above is the Fiio E5 Headphone Amplifier. For the past few years I have been using earphones (the kind you stick deep inside your ear) for traveling. They’re great because they isolate a lot of the airplane noise and if there is any kid screaming next to me I hear nothing. Now the disadvantage is after using these earphones for over an hour they start getting uncomfortable. They also aren’t practical to put on and take off every time you need to communicate with someone.

That’s why I ended up getting the Sennheiser PXC 250 sound isolating headphones back in July and since then I’ve used them a few times while traveling. They are very comfortable and cancel out the engine sound pretty well but I didn’t find them loud enough. In fact, my last trip I ended up using my older earphones instead. So, I decided to get a headphone amplifier to help increase the volume for when I find my headphones too low. I didn’t want to pay a lot and was looking for something portable. My two options ended up being either a homemade cMoy amp I could purchase from eBay or the Fiio E5 which was recommended by some users on Head Fi. I went with the Fiio.

Probably the nicest looking Mercedes in a very long time. [Link]

Update: Here is a nicer picture I found on Uncrate

Teddy On The Go is an interesting social experiment by a Kuwaiti architecture student that recently moved back to Kuwait. To keep herself in check and out of a routine she decided to start the website Teddy on the Go as a way to motivate her into doing something interesting or new everyday and also as a way of expressing her opinions subtly through the bear. Her project is going to last for 365 days only after which the bear will be sold for charity. Currently she is at day 11. Check out her experiment by visiting her website www.yearofteddy.com

Yesterday I posted about how pissed I was Shake Shack was opening up in Dubai and Saudi Arabia and not in Kuwait. Well a very reliable source called me up a couple of hours ago and I managed to get some more information.

Alshaya are bringing Shake Shack to the whole Middle East and not just Saudi Arabia and Dubai. Not only that but the first branch of Shake Shack will be opening up right here in Kuwait! The launch date is currently set for first quarter of 2010. So in your face Dubai and Saudi!

Qualitynet are having problems again! I can’t even talk to support because their lines are so loaded. The automated answering system won’t even put me on hold because there are no waiting slots available, they’re all taken by other customers waiting. Sucks!

Update: Qualitynet were just over. According to the support guy my DSL modem was very old and was causing me the problems. They’ve swapped my black wireless Speedtouch modem with a white wireless Netgear. Hopefully I won’t have anymore problems after this!

I haven’t been to Signor Sassi in London but I just came back from the one here in Kuwait and I was pretty impressed. They haven’t opened yet, they’re still testing but everything is pretty much ready and they will be soft opening on Sunday with the official opening in early October. I met the Signor Sassi owner since he’s in Kuwait making sure everything is perfect for the opening and he was very nice and friendly. The location that’s opening on Sunday is the Gulf Road one which is located in the same place as Fish Market and Fusion. The 360 Mall location won’t be opening for another 2 months at least. In case you haven’t heard of them before, Signor Sassi is a popular Italian restaurant located in Knightsbridge. It’s run by the same people behind the award winning San Carlo.

WTF? This is TOTALLY unfair! Why would they open Shake Shack in Dubai or Saudi and not in Kuwait?!?! WTF?! I am pissed! [Link]

via Al Manakh

Update: Seems Alshaya are getting Shake Shack and some people are saying they will be opening in Kuwait first. I am trying to confirm that once I do will post again.