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Knafeh with Nutella. I found this on my Facebook feed, supposedly a place in Egypt makes it. No idea if anyone in Kuwait does as well.

Last week I was craving Chinese food so I headed with a friend to Oliversan in Burj Jassim. Oliversan is the new Asian restaurant owned by the same owners as Maki. On any other day I would have visited Caesars or China Kitchen, my two favorite Chinese restaurants, but that evening I felt like going to a “nicer” place and until Peacock reopens, Oliversan is the only alternative.

The interior looks nice and cozy but like most restaurants during Ramadan, it was empty when we arrived. We were given the menu and I started looking for sweet and sour chicken (my favorite dish) which turns out they didn’t have. That was a good thing since it allowed me to try something new which wasn’t hard to do since their whole menu was full of dishes I hadn’t heard of before. We ended up ordering the following:

Velvety Creamy Chicken Corn Soup KD1.5
Spicy Garlic Sweet Snap Peas KD2.5
Oliversan Duck Salad KD4.5
Sweet and Sour Ostrich Fillet KD5
Braised Short Ribs with Oolong Tea Leaves KD6.5
Regular Oliversan Fried Rice KD2.5

The soup arrived first. I generally wouldn’t order cream of chicken soup at a Chinese restaurant but they only had three soups on the menu and I felt like soup that night. Glad I did because the soup was actually the least disappointing thing I had that night. The Spicy Garlic Sweet Snap Peas came once the soup was done along with the Duck Salad. I wasn’t too impressed with the Duck Salad, not for that price point at least since I didn’t think there was enough duck in it. The dressing was good though and it was a pretty light starter along with the snap peas which left lots of room for the main course.

Once we were done with our starters the waiter brought us our main dishes. The food presentation looked great specially the sweet and sour ostrich. Taste wise my friend liked both dishes but I personally didn’t. I thought the sweet and sour ostrich was the better of the two dishes but it was slightly bland. The meat was surprisingly tender and had good flavor, its just the sweet and sour sauce that let it down. The braised short ribs I had high hopes for but I didn’t end up liking it at all. I thought it was too dry and it should have been served a lot hotter. My guess is since they’re still in a soft launch phase the menu is still being fine tuned which is why I left them this same feedback before I left.

The service was great but since we were alone in the restaurant I wouldn’t have expected anything less. One thing that I found odd was the food plates. The main courses were served in huge plates while our dinner plates were tiny (similar in size to the bread and butter plates). I found it very unpractical eating out of a small plate since I could barely fit a bit of rice with two pieces of ostrich without food starting to spill out of the plate.

In the end I wasn’t too impressed. Maybe I should have gone for the Spicy Chicken with Box Choy or the Mongolian Ostrich with Thai Basil since those two dishes were the other ones I was considering. Anyway if you’re interested in trying them out they’re located in Burj Jassim and their phone number is 22901051.

[Menu Shot 1] [Menu Shot 2]

Note: Interior shot taken from their website

As much as we like to highlight how some things in Dubai are better than Kuwait, they still have their own share of problems.

Norwegian woman: I was raped in Dubai, now I face prison sentence

Dubai police arrest ‘shock video’ uploader (Guy who uploaded video above)

Kinda reminds me how at one point Dubai had Flickr blocked but kept the prostitute hangout Cyclone open. It’s like they’re not sure if they’re an open liberal country or a closed one and they just flip flop between the two.

Update: The Norwegian woman has been freed. [Link]

The Peacock Chinese restaurant at Radisson Blu will be reopening along with the hotel around mid September. I passed by today to get a sneak peek and I am please to say the place looks practically the same. It’s gotten a minor facelift with new materials for the seats and nicer ceiling and lights but generally the restaurant hasn’t changed. The original chefs are all still there and the menu will remain the same which is great. If it’s not broken don’t fix it. Check out two pictures of the interior [Here] and [Here]

I’ve got some more pictures of the hotel which I’ll also be sharing in a separate post.

Al-Shaheed Park in Kuwait City is currently going through some major construction. At first I was upset because I thought they were removing the park but turns out they’re actually going to be improving the space. Turns out the new park will include a museum, a memorial and 800 underground parking spaces which should please the employees at Al Tijaria Tower across the street. Construction is set to be completed by 2nd quarter 2014.

I have a PDF which outlines some of the main ideas that will be integrated into the park along with some 3D renderings on how some of the spaces might look like.

You can download the PDF by right clicking and saving from [Here]

I really hope the park will continue to remain open to the public once the project is completed and not locked off like the constitution monument.

This past weekend I was in Lebanon and up in the area Tannourine so I decided to pass by the Baatara Gorge. I had only seen pictures of it before and really wasn’t expecting it to be so huge. The gorge is around a 5 minute drive off the main road and then around a 15 minute hike down a valley. There is no tour guide there or any fees you need to pay its just there for you to see and explore.

During the spring there is a large waterfall that flows down through the gorge but when I was there it was just a small stream of water dripping down. Still it was a beautiful sight to see and since it’s in the middle of nowhere it was very peaceful. There are no fences or any kind of safety features so it wouldn’t be recommended to go with children. I took a bunch of pictures but they really don’t do the place any justice.

You can check out some great photos of the gorge [Here]

While in Tannourine I would also recommend you visit the large Cedar Reserve (pictured above), it’s a great hike on a trail with beautiful views as well. [Link]

We’ve moved up from 104th place last year to 72nd. Hong Kong has the fasted download speed average in the world with 49.10 Mbps. [Link]

via BlogBaladi

Ramadan Mubarak everyone. Since Ramadan is starting I wanted to write a post just informing you on Ramadan legal issues:

Working Hours

I am sure you have all noticed the fact that working hours decrease in Ramadan. That’s not just your boss being nice but working hours have to decrease during Ramadan because it’s the law. According to article 64 of Kuwait Labor Law (for the private sector only):

“It is forbidden to allow workers to work for more than 48 hours per week or 8 hours a day, except in such events as are specified in this Law. Working hours during the month of Ramadan shall be equal to 36 hours per week”

A maximum 36 hours a week in Ramdan for a 6 day working week is 6 hours a day (basically a 2 hour discount).

Eating in Public

There is a legislation dedicated for just eating/drinking in public in daytime during Ramadan. The legislation is the smallest I have ever seen and is under law No. 44/1968 if anyone wants to look it up.

Punishment up to KD100 and/or jail for 1 month:
i) for anyone that eats/drinks in public in daytime during Ramadan
ii) for anyone that helps or forces anyone to eat/drink in daytime during Ramadan

Also, a business that is caught serving food/beverages to the public in daytime during Ramadan will be punished by having their place shutdown for 2 months.

Again Ramadan Mubarak to everyone.

Post by Fajer Ahmed – Legal Counsel
Have a Kuwait law related question? Email me at [email protected]

The legal opinions expressed in this post are those of the author Fajer. Opinions expressed by Mark or any other writer on mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com are those of the individual’s and in no way reflect Fajer’s opinion.

Date: Wednesday 24th to Friday 26th July 2013
Time: 9:30PM to 11:30PM
Location: Contemporary Art Platform

Update: Here is some more info from their Facebook page

The Class of Chairs is a satirical commentary on the stereotypical characters found within school life. The school culture in Kuwait is relatable to Hollywood’s pop-cultural representation of the high school hierarchy and social groups found in playgrounds and classrooms.

The collection of chairs is a literal adaptation of the different student typecasts found in international and public schools in Kuwait. Each chair represents an individual high school persona, where the character’s attributes are translated in the design aspect of its material and functional use.

The template of each chair was based on the classical 1950’s European school chair in which different manufacturing processes were used to materialistically translate the different student characteristics. The Class of Chairs attempts to evoke nostalgic scenes of past high school memories to create a relatable experience for the viewer.

Collaboration between :
Aseel AlYaqoub, Jassim AlSaddah, Yousef Al-Mehdari

I’m going to hold an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session tomorrow morning similar to the ones that take place on Reddit. You’ll basically be able to ask me anything you want in the comments and I’ll try my best to reply to you right on the spot. I was originally thinking of holding two sessions, one in the morning and one in the evening but I figured we’ll see how the morning one goes first before setting up a second session.

If you’ve ever been curious about anything or just want to know more about me then this is your chance to get your answers. Just check this blog tomorrow at 10AM and I’ll have the “Live” Ask Me Anything post up for you to ask me questions under. The AMA session will take place from 10AM to 11AM tomorrow July 8th. I don’t think I will set any rules or have any subjects that are out of bounds, we’ll just have to see how it goes.

Wonderland ” A True Story”, Wonderland from danaalmojil on Vimeo.

Wonderland, the short film by local director Dana Al Mojil is now available to watch online. Wonderland was the Zero Film Festival Grand Jury Winner back in 2011 and I’ve been wanting to see it ever since I watched the trailer last year.

Wonderland is an adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass” that is set in Kuwait. it highlights the similarities between The social and political situation in modern Kuwait and Wonderland. The film starts when Alice doesn’t understand why does the Ace in playing cards equals 11 when it says one. And that becomes her mission that drives her through all the hierarchy of changing in Kuwait. On her way, for better or worse, she meets the Cheshire cat, the Mad hatter, Mosa’ed and Mes’ed “tweddlee Dee and tweddlee Dum”, the Caterpillar, the Joker and the Queen, which will shape the outcome of her mission.

You can watch the full film on top or check out the trailer below.

Wonderland from Zero Film Festival on Vimeo.

via Confashions from Kuwait

This is something completely random I just fell upon but found really interesting. It seems there was a series of UFO sightings in Kuwait at the end of 1978 and it was supposedly the first time UFO’s were sighted in our region. Reports of the sightings were published in newspapers and even the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) got involved. Below are some quotes I got from various places but at the end of the post is a link with a lot more details.

Finally, the investigating committee established by the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research held a press conference on January 23, spurred on, they said, by the Arab Times photograph, to which “The committee attaches special importance….” They admitted that they were “groping in the dark,” and said they could neither confirm nor deny the appearance of UFOs over Kuwait. – The Muffon UFO Journal 1979

Some local wags have made light of the first UFO sightings which came near the end of the long and traditionally exuberant holiday celebrations of Eid-al-Adha. However we have learned recently of an event coincident with one of the UFO sightings which has confounded some of our most level-headed Kuwaiti friends, and may have been what persuaded the GOK to make a serious investigation of the matter. A senior Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) official told us the the “UFO” which first appeared over the northern oil fields seemingly did strange things to KOC’s automatic pumping equipment. This equipment is designed to shut itself down when there is some failure which may seriously damage the petroleum gathering and transmission system and it can only berestarted manually. At the time of the “UFO’s” appearance the pumping system automatically shut itself down and when the “UFO” vanished the system started itself up again. This event was not addressed by the KISR committee report – Message sent by the American Embassy in Kuwait City to the State Department in January 1979

I believe. Check out these two links for more [Link 1] [Link 2]

Kuwait: Continuing its slow climb. Kuwait (9th) rises three spots as its economy grows steadily and outlook remains favorable amid increasing consumer spending and a greater presence of international retailers.

In line with an optimistic economic outlook for 2013, the retail sector is expanding and demand for retail space is growing despite expensive real estate. The country’s largest mall, The Avenues, opened its phase-three extension in 2012, and other developments, such as the Gate Mall, are opening their doors in 2013. The country’s mostly urban and suburban population has high levels of disposable income, and Kuwaitis are drawn to luxury products and high-end concepts. The Avenues’ new extension includes a street area of high-end standalone shops to cater to this luxury demand.

Kuwait is typically the second MENA location (after the UAE) for international brands. International retailers Cheesecake Factory, Victoria’s Secret, and COS entered in 2012 with franchise agreements with Kuwaiti retailer M.H. Alshaya Co. Prada opened its second Kuwait store at The Avenues in early 2013.

While the luxury market remains bright, Kuwait is a difficult environment in sectors with slim margins. In grocery, for example, large and well-established retailers (such as Sultan Center, City Centre, and Casino), expensive retail estate, and limited space for expansion pose obstacles for entry by foreign grocery retailers.

It’s all very interesting but I’m more interested to know where this Casino is located please. [Link]

The Kuwait National Assembly have a logo competition taking place, if you’re interested to give it a shot head over to their website [Here]

The rules and details are in Arabic and I can’t seem to find the English version. Don’t worry though the last day to submit a logo is November 1st so you have lots of time to have someone translate it for you.

Oh and the first prize is a cool KD5,000.

Photo by Jeff van der Wees
Thanks Rayboy

Update: Mustapha translated the competition guidelines into English. You can check it out [Here]

Arabian Business has a list of top 20 banks in the region and I was expecting NBK to be like in the top 3 but according to them, NBK came in 10th place. The only other Kuwaiti bank in the top 20 was KFH who came in 12th place. Check out the full list [Here]