2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

This is the best video so far showing the amount of chaos and flooding that happened at Souk Sharq. Really good quality video also. [YouTube]

I just drove in to work since I have some stuff I need to finish up. On the Gulf Road the hardest hit area was from where Fuddruckers starts to Souk Sharq. There you can see trees that had fallen and street lights that had toppled over. Once I got to Kuwait City the new blue glass tower adjacent to Muthana Complex housing Starbucks and Boots seemed to have gotten hit pretty badly. There was glass all over the street and most of the area around the building is surrounded by yellow warning tape. When I got to my office I was expecting it to have flooded but instead I was greeted with a physically devastated reception area. That was one hell of a storm last night.

Lots of videos are showing up on YouTube of Hurricane Kuwaitina. Here are the best so far:

Souk Sharq, Tornado Day (embedded above)
الماي داخل مركز السلطان سوق شرق
غرقت سوق شرق
hani rain 1
Kuwait
Snow in Kuwait
Kuwait First Twister
Holding ice in Kuwait
Hurricane Sibeecha
Hurricane Kuwaitina

Looks like Souk Sharq got pretty messed up.

A lot of people have started sending in some pictures of the Hurricane Kuwaitina aftermath. You can check them by clicking [Here]

If you have any pictures send them to [email protected]

Update: Found this news article by AFP

Gale-force storm, hail showers hit Kuwait
KUWAIT CITY (AFP) — One person was killed and several wounded on Friday when a strong sandstorm triggered by gale-force winds and hail lashed the desert state of Kuwait, officials said.

The victim, a man, drowned in the sea while several people were injured at a shopping mall where glass shattered and fell on shoppers, a security official said.

The meteorological department said the storm was caused by gale-force winds that blew in “semi-tornado” fashion at around 90 kilometres (56 miles) per hour and warned that a similar storm is expected to hit the emirate on Saturday.

The violent winds also uprooted hundreds of traffic signposts, billboards, and trees and damaged many cars in several parts of Kuwait, witnesses reported.

Authorities appealed to people to stay indoors.

I am finding Mishaal’s predictions pretty inaccurate at the moment. [Link]

Ok, I got the power back on in my flat. Although my windows were all closed dust still managed to come into the house and now EVERYTHING has a layer of sand on it. I couldn’t see ANYTHING outside my window. When I first heard the wind I looked outside and I saw a cloud of sand literally sweep into my block like a huge wave, something I’ve only seen in movies. Within second visibility dropped down to like 10cm, I couldn’t see ANYTHING outside. That extremely powerful wind with dust continued for a couple of minutes before I started hearing a banging sound on my window. I stepped back thinking whatever was hitting my window was going to break it but then I noticed it was rain drops. In a few seconds it started raining really strong and the dust cleared up but then I noticed the rain was so powerful and in such large quantity that water started pouring into my apartment like a waterfall from the window sill. I quickly grabbed a ton of towels and started to do what I can to hold back the water. Once I got that under control I called Nat up to see if she was ok.

Nat was at the gym when the storm hit and she was extremely pissed. The power shutdown at her gym and when they tried to exit the building all exits were locked. The elevators stopped working so when they took the fire escape all the exits were blocked. Her and the other gym members are EXTREMELY pissed off now because if there had been a fire they would all have been fucked. And its not some small shabby gym, this happened at Flex!

Anyway I would like to thank susheeh for naming this storm Hurricane Kuwaitina. How hard were you guys hit? Post your experience in the comments below.

If you have any pictures email them to me: [email protected]

Update: I am uploading all the pictures I get to a photo album which you can view by clicking [Here]

What the hell happened?? My block looks like New Orleans after Katrina! (Posted from my Nokia E61i)

What the fuck is going on outside. Suddenly there was super strength wind like a hurricane and its still happening. Fucking DUST STORM WITH RAIN, FUCK. Never seen anything like this before!!

A few blogs got mentioned in Abwab magazine’s latest issue. I’ve never seen the magazine before but Forzaq8 has a scan of the page on his blog. [Link]

I was just checking Q8car and I couldn’t access it, when I tried Q8showroom I also couldn’t access them. Can’t be a coincidence that both sites are down. They’re both hosted in different places so I am guessing they’ve been hacked?

Update: Q8car is now back up, Q8showroom is still down.

Update 2: Both sites working fine now.

This video was shot earlier tonight by Ahed on Damascus Street. A diwaniya was being transported on a back of a truck when it hit the Adailiya bridge and fell off the truck onto the middle of the road. Is this the first drive-thru diwaniya? [YouTube]

Update: Here is another video from closer [YouTube]

A reader called Mohammad just emailed me this map of the Kuwait City Metro which he scanned from the latest issue of MEED. It looks like there will be a subway station near my home which is pretty cool. The metro is supposed to be completed by 2014.

Here is the larger version of the map. [Picture]

The Burger Hub is another one of those places I never tried because I absolutely hated their branding. With places like Burger Boutique and Slider Station, the bar has been raised when it comes to the design of burger joints in Kuwait and the fact that Burger Boutique and Slider Station are local creations just like Burger Hub means there is no excuse for bad design. If we put aside the ugly logo, placemats and the confusing menu, whats up with the interior design? Its just really awful, and the bathrooms are even worse. The whole thing put together just makes it look like Burger Hub were trying really hard to be different and stylish but the result just makes them look like wannabes. Having Slider Station a few doors down isn’t helping either. One thing they got right and the most important aspect of this review though was their burger.

According to their placemat their most popular burger was the La Rose Burger which consists of the beef burger covered with caramelized onions, mushroom sauce and swiss cheese. So I placed an order for that with a side order of fries and waited. When the burger arrived I wasn’t impressed by the presentation. It came in a small metal pan that had white paper on the bottom and the burger on the top which looked pretty cheap.

I really came into the place already with a negative impression and nothing there was really helping me change my mind until I started eating the burger. Wow what a shock. Everything about the place was telling me this burger was going to suck but it was just delicious. When I first saw the bread I expected it to be hard but it turned out to be very soft and although the burger was really juicy, the bread never got soggy. The beef patty also tasted great while the mushroom sauce wasn’t overdone and the cheese was just right. I couldn’t believe I was not only liking the burger but loving it.

But not all is perfect, before I could really start to enjoy the burger I had already finished it. I guess for a 12 year old girl on an Atkins diet the burger is actually a good size but for me I wished it was ever so slightly bigger. I also wished the onions were more caramelized since some of it still tasted raw. Overall though the burger was really impressive and thats why I am giving it a 4 out of 5 which actually ties it in first place with their neighbors, Slider Station. I will definitely be going back again, they have a really large collection of burgers which I think I am going to have fun going through. Now if only they can revamp their identity.

The Burger Hub is located on the Gulf Road opposite Seef Palace.
The cost of the La Rose Burger was KD2.600

Although Totally Fish has been open in Marina Crescent for two years now I never passed by to try it. It was one of those places I kept hearing negative stuff about mostly that it was too expensive and that the food wasn’t really good. But last night I felt like having seafood and decided to pass by Totally Fish since it was nearby.

I was with Nat and we ended up ordering Salmon Croquette and Prawns Cake for appetizer while for the main course she had a Salmon dish while I had Balloul. The appetizers were pretty ordinary and we wouldn’t order them again. We also didn’t like our main courses that much, Nats salmon had too many flavors, none of which was Salmon while my Balloul was just really forgettable. The biggest surprise was the fact that the prices weren’t expensive at all. The Salmon Croquette was around KD1.500, while the Prawns Cake around KD2.500. The Salmon was for KD6.750 while the Balloul was KD6.500. The portions were also surprisingly big.

Even though we didn’t enjoy any of the dishes I am still going to go back. Its common to order the wrong dishes the first time at a place and since their location is good, the staff friendly and the prices very reasonable, they are worth a second visit.

A silly video. [YouTube]