2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

I hate peeling mango so I usually have someone peel it for me and cut it up and give me it in a bowl. Nat was in the shower and I really felt like mango so I decided to try peeling it myself. Not as easy as I thought. The first mango I peeled turned into mango juice. The second faired better but still mostly juice.

I should have fucking googled for instructions.

Someone just emailed me this and I had never seen it before. Two guys rapping about meat in Arabic, its supposed to be a spoof but I think its ones of the best Arabic rap songs I have heard. [Video]

update: OK check out these guys also, they are pretty funny too:
Gangsta Iftar Party: Muslim Brotherhood 3
Muslim Brotherhood 2
Muslim Brotherhood 1
Cribs with Abbas and Shebron

I was filling out an inquiry form on alsayer.org trying to find out when they will be getting the Toyota FJ and there is a mandatory question asking me which nationality I was. What kind of question is that in this day of age? Why do they want to know where I am from? Will I get better or worse service if I answer I am from Uganda? What would the best answer be, USA or Kuwait? I am betting USA and thats what I put. [Link]

update: Alsayer have replied back:

Dear Mark,

This question is purely for analysis reasons, and we apologise if was misunderstood. Alsayer group is a privately owned business and we have genuine respect for all nationalities. However, ethnic studies in marketing is anywhere in the world including the USA. And we believe this is normal in multi ethnic societies. Asking the question doesn’t mean a racist. It is a pure and simple marketing question taken out of context.

Thank You

Maak

I am busy busy busy busy busy busy busy very busy.

I always complain about crappy service in Kuwait but this time I am going to talk about amazing service in Kuwait.

I was leaving Souk Sharq today after lunch when my Jeep Wrangler wouldn’t start… my battery was dead. So I called up the Jeep Road Assist which I got for free when I purchased the car last year. The woman on the line took my info and told me she would call me back right away. I hang-up and she calls back from a +974 number. She told me to hold and then put me on a conference call with a tow truck guy here in Kuwait. I told him where I was located and he told me he would be there in 20 minutes. 15 minutes later he arrives and starts my car for me. I then drive to the Jeep quick service garage on the Gulf Road with my AC off and the windows open because Road Assist guy told me to do this so I don’t risk shutting down the car. The drive to the garage felt like driving through hell as you can imagine.

With the burning wind cooking my ears I was thinking on my way how I was going to cause a large scene at the garage cuz the battery wasn’t just dead it was like all oxidized and shit like it was 100 years old. That shouldn’t happen to a 1 year old car and I wasn’t going to pay for it. Anyway I get to the garage and I explain to the service manager my Jeep battery was dead and that I also wanted to do the 20K service, he quickly calls another guy over and tells him to get someone from the Jeep parts so he could see the battery and then replace it under warranty. I stood there shocked, I didn’t even mention to the guy that I was pissed about the battery and that I wasn’t going to pay for it. I was all ready to argue, fight and send emails out to every Jeep board member complaining about how I got stiffed but the manager didn’t give me a chance to get pissed. He told me not to worry they would take care of everything and service my car and have it ready for me to pick up tomorrow. I thanked the manager a lot and told him their excellent service never stops to amaze met.

On my way back to work in the cab I get a phone call from a +973 number, some guy in a weird accent tells me he is with Jeep and was wondering if everything is ok and if someone came to help me out. I told him yeah everything is great and I dropped my car off at the garage. He asked me what time the tow truck came, I told him he came 15 minutes after I spoke to him. He thanked me and I thanked him and hung up the phone.

This is not the first time the Jeep dealers have been great to me. Since the day I purchased the car I had the salesman call me to make sure I had no problems, I had the showroom manager call to check up on my car and every 6 months I get a call from a +974 number asking me if I have had any kind of problem. Its hard to believe there is a company that provides service this good here in Kuwait or anywhere else for that matter. They are just superb.

If you are looking for a pet dog or cat check out the Animal Friends League of Kuwait website. They have a huge list of dogs including a Great Dane which I am very tempted to adopt. [Link]

There is also a company in Ahmadi closing down and they have pedigree German and Belgian Shepherds, a Labrador and 2 Ridgebacks all under 1 years old and are looking for homes urgently. Call Karen at AFL 7001622 or Samir Eltom on 7704654.

Back in January I posted about this experiment you could try out (I did at work and posted a video of it) where you take a bottle of Diet Coke and empty Mentos into it to cause the Coke to rush out like a fountain. That experiment involved 1 Coke bottle and 1 packet of Mentos. Now imagine 200 liters of Diet Coke and 500 Mentos and you get an idea of how massive this experiment is. Check out the video. [Link]

The summer is here and all the cool shows are taking a break so this is a good time to catch up on some shows like CSI, Six Feet Under, The Simpsons etc.. and also find some new ones. One show I just started watching is So You Think You Can Dance. My friend first told me about it but I didn’t think much until I watched this funny clip on YouTube. I then ended up downloading episode 1 of season 2 and I just fell in love with the show. I just LOVE the popping and the break dancing, its just really amazing to watch. There are also some REALLY weird people that come on this show and its also extremly fun to watch them. Anyway if you get a chance watch the show, click on the links in this post to see some cool samples of what the show is about.

The coolest thing about Firefox is all the various extensions you can get. This site has over 200 extensions and they are listed in a way that makes finding what you want very easy. If you don’t know what Firefox is, its basically one of the best browsers ever made. [Link]

Over 300 tv shows including some favorites as Charles in Charge, Doogie Howser, Growing Pains and Quantum Leap. [Link]

[source digg]

Mein Gott, zwei kilogram! [Link]

Toot are having a design competition for the best designed blog and I want to win either second or third place. The first place prize doesn’t interest me since I already have more cameras then I need but I could definitely find a use for the iPod nano (second place) or the $50 gift voucher from Amazon (third place). So help me win second or third place by voting for my blog. Click the link to go to the voting page, it will just take you a second. [Link]

Yesterday night I attended the KREA which stands for Kuwait Rewards Excellence in Advertising. I hate attending such events and yesterday was actually my first time attending one. I prefer being low profile and as Bruce Mau says, “Don’t enter awards competitions. Just don’t. It’s not good for you”. But, yesterday was an exception and I had to attend. A good friend of mine was one of the judges at the event and he was only in Kuwait for a few days and the only 2 days I would be able to see him were the night before the event and during the event. So, I ended up attending the event so I could see more of him.

Unlike what I was expecting, the event turned out to be pretty fun. I ended up seeing a lot of old friends and the whole thing felt like a high school reuninion. I was sitting with Nat and some friends at work on a table on the first row and we spent most of the time joking around and having some fun. The event honestly was a disaster although people were telling me this one was slightly better then the Kuwait Awards that was held a few months back. There were a lot of presentation mess ups and the whole thing didn’t feel very organized. There were also some fishy moments which didn’t help with the awards credibility. Agencies were only allowed to submit work that was from 2004 up till now yet there was one agency I know of that submitted work that was prior to 2004 and they ended up winning awards! I found that very shady.

Overall though it was a good night for my agency, we won a whole bunch of awards and I actually got on stage to receive a couple.. not a smart move for someone who would rather remain low profile. But it was fun and I was dressed up very formally which I only do like once every blue moon. The event finished before midnight but by the time I got home (it was held at the Hilton Resort) it was past 12 so I just quickly hit the sack. I don’t think I will ever attend another awards ceromony but atleast now I know incase I do it will probably be fun.

I ordered the Philips Body Groom the other day from Amazon and today it arrived into my U Shop We Ship mailbox. I found out by an email I received from USWS telling me my package had arrived. I logged into my account and noticed that the item had already been shipped from the states and is on its way to Kuwait. I checked the shipment details and got a full description including the vendor name, whats in the package, the size of the package, how much it weights, and how much the shipping costs. I then went to my payments page and saw that I have 1 outstanding payment which was for the shipped package, I clicked a few links and paid for the package with my Knet card and thats it. Now I just wait till they deliver it to me. So far this seems really practical and cool.

Today I took Geo to the Dog Beach. Its a beach where every Friday morning dog owners take their dogs there to interact with each other and play. They usually get there around 8:30 in the morning but since I stayed up late last night I woke up around 9:30 today. We got to the beach around 10 and everyone had left except for one dog and his owners. Geo played with the dog a bit and then we went down to the water. We have taken Geo to the beach before but he never goes into the water but today he walked all the way in until he was nearly fully submerged. He still doesn’t know how to swim so he spends most of his time jumping around in the water. He’s completely exhausted now so he is sleeping. The picture above was taken by Nat today at the beach.