2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

I had my riding test today and I passed! Like last time my test was easy. The cop just told me to do a large circle and when I came back he told me I had passed. The whole process took like 10 minutes.

Nat on the other hand like last time ended up having problems. She went in and they made her wait behind cars for like 30 minutes. Then when it was her turn the cop told her to make a couple of 8’s with the bike. Once she was done the cop told her she had passed and she drove out.

We then left the testing area and went inside to the offices to pick up our papers. After waiting for another 30 minutes we got them. I had passed, Nat had failed. She was completely shocked, she went back into the room to talk to one of the cops and she told him the guy had told her she had passed. He just took her learners permit and gave her another date for the test.

I am happy, she is really pissed as you can imagine.

The picture above is of Nat on the Bajaj training bike while leaving the testing area.

I got a bunch of old Kuwaiti National Songs from Delicately Realistic. I still need Beladona Il Kuwait. If anyone has it please pass it to me.

Shadi Al Khaleej – Kaseeroh Dalah
Sana Al Kharaz – I7na IlKha6awi AlAkeeda
Sana Al Kharaz – 6ig Ya Mu6ar 6ig
Sana Al Kharaz – Al Azrag
Sana Al Kharaz – Salam Ya Wa6ani
7naina Il Ayadi
Il Wa7id Allah (Om A7med – Wainich Yal Ibra)
Imbarak 3alaik il3id
Abdul Kareem Abdul Qader – Wa6an Al Nahar
Abdullah Al-Ruwaishid – 3ashat Lina Il Kuwait (Original)
Hussien Al Jasmi – La Telomoni (Hala February)
Nabeel Sh3ail – Ya Dar (Hala February)
Rashid Al-Majid – 6ayir Men El Far7a
BBS Kids – Wa6ani 7abeebi
Kuwaiti TV Band – Ya Wardity Ya Nidiya
Kuwaiti TV Band – Al Ziman Dawar
Haydoo

Update: Here is Beladona Il Kuwait

Anyone remember in the early 90’s the music the DJ at the ice skating ring rink would play? These are the songs I remember:

I’ve got the power – Snap
Rhythm is a dancer – Snap
Back to Life – Soul II Soul
2 Legit 2 Quit – Mc Hammer
Wiggle It – 2 In A Room
Now that we found love – Heavy D and the Boyz
Everybody – Black Box

Just a small peak into The Avenues mall. Maybe I should email Mabanee and see if they would let me go in and take some shots for the blog.

The top 50 music videos all playable on one page. [Link] #

Here is the photo in big [Picture]

Someone just sent me this link which shows a Kuwaiti cop dancing with a bottle of whisky in his hand. Notice how many topics involving alcohol this week? It must be a sign. [Video]

update: here is a link to another older video of a girl dressed in a copy uniform and dancing. [Link]

update 2: it seems Iraqi police can do it better (thanks moayad) [Video]

Just booked a flight for me and Nat to Beirut. Will be leaving on the 27th and coming back January 1st. I booked with Jazeera Airways and was expecting not to find any places but it seems the current political situation in Lebanon has led to a lot of cancellations. Last time I celebrated New Years in Lebanon was in 2000 so it should be fun.

I was going to post about this for awhile now but never got around to it. Doesn’t matter though, Brand New has a write up about PWC’s rebranding into Agility. It was done by Siegel+Gale and I heard it cost them 1.5 million dollars. [Link]

Just read about this on Kuwait Unplugged. Must be the funniest thing I read this year.. unless, they know something we don’t like maybe they are legalizing alcohol starting January 1st. More details on Kuwait Unplugged plus a scan of the press release. [Link]

I just ordered two Jack Bauer bags from Amazon. The Jack Bauer bag is the military messenger bag Jack Bauer uses on the show. I was looking for a nice sized bag in which I could dump all my stuff in and was aiming for a Freitag but every time I try to order one from them I can never decide on which color or design. In the end I decided to go for the Jack Bauer bag since it costs just KD7 and figured it would be fun to have. [Link]

bonus: here is a really cool 24 photo [Picture]

A funny list of actual English subtitles from films that were made in Hong Kong. Lots of funny stuff. [Link]

So I am coming back home after work on the Gulf Road and I notice there was a huge fire behind Texas Chicken. So made a detour, passed Texas Chicken and parked my car just as the fire truck was arriving. I take my camera, locked the car and walked towards the fire. The fire looked huge and still fresh so I turn on my camera to shoot and turns out I had no battery! This was the first time I ever ran out of battery when I needed to shoot something. I felt naked.

Wow I suck. This is a flash game where you try to guess the location of a country. Press start to begin. I scored a 44 in my first run. Africa just confuses me. [Link]

update: I got 74!

I love Montreal. Its my favorite place on the planet. Since Christmas is nonexistent in Kuwait and since Nat has never been anywhere other then Lebanon and Kuwait I figured we would spend Christmas and New Years in Montreal. I was looking forward to binging on Labatt Blue while stuffing myself with poutine. Nat on the other hand was looking forward to the Tiesto concert on New Years night. We had everything planned and ready, only thing missing was Nats visa to Canada. I don’t need a visa because I have the Canadian citizenship.

Around a week ago we sent Nats passport and all the forms and papers needed to the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi (local embassy don’t do visas). Visa costs like KD18 while DHL with a return airway bill costs KD55. So thats KD73 for a one time entry visa.

Today Nat got her passport back and guess what? They refused to give her a visa! Their reason was the following:

You have not satisfied me that you meet the requirements of Regulation 179; that you would leave Canada at the end of the temporary period if you were authorized to enter. In reaching this decision I considered your ties to your country of residence/citzenship balanced against factors which might motivate you to stay in Canada.

In summary, they think Nat will basically go to Canada, tear up her passport and request asylum. How did they come up with this conclusion? Its because she is Lebanese. How much more discriminating can they be? No one called her to talk to her, no one called her in for an interview, they didn’t even care that her husband is a Canadian.

I am extremely pissed off now because it basically means I can no longer go to Canada unless I am alone, which isn’t going to happen as long as I am married. Tomorrow I will be calling up the embassy and giving someone there a piece of my mind. No way am I gonna accept the fact that some stranger all the way in the UAE is going to ruin my Christmas!