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I was contacted by Alghanim Automotive asking me if I’d be interested in reviewing the new Camaro ZL1. I’m honestly not a big fan of American cars and if they were asking me to review the regular Camaro I would have most likely said no, but… the ZL1 is a different kind of Camaro, it’s a Camaro with a V8 6.2L 580-freakin-HP monster engine. So I said yes.

There’s a popular saying that people don’t change, well that’s not true. I’m usually a law abiding, non-agressive and courteous driver, but once I started driving the ZL1 I changed. In my neighborhood I became the asshole down the street with the loud car who tries to run down all the cats. On the highway I became the jerk that cuts everyone off, at u-turns I became the douche that slides his car at full thrust and at red traffic lights I was the dipstick who kept revving his engine loudly. This car is dark and evil. It changes people. All I wanted to do is drive around with my middle finger sticking out the window while doing donuts in the middle of every intersection on the Gulf Road. Oh and a large FUCK YOU sticker on the rear window would have been nice as well. I really loved this car.

The ZL1 I picked up was pretty aggressive looking. The color was a very dark gray (jet black), the 20inch wheels were black and the interior was also black. If I was to choose a color combination for my car this would have been exactly it. I am really thankful to Alghanim for not providing me with a bright yellow Camaro with black stripes running down the middle since I would have most likely puked all over it. The interior as I mentioned was also black but they also used Alcantara (suede like material) for the steering wheel, gear stick and dash which made the interior very sporty looking. I had a choice between an auto and manual but since my stick shift skills are as good as Kim Kardashians acting skills, I chose the auto to the dismay of all my friends. I don’t regret I did. Although the automatic gearbox has a lot to be desired in term of responsiveness and speed, it didn’t really matter to me since I wasn’t on the track and I was just having too much fun with the car to notice. The car really is a lot of fun to drive. The first two days when I picked up the car it was raining so obviously the roads were wet and a 580HP rear wheel drive car on a wet surface is asking for trouble (the good kind). You really do need to respect the power which I wasn’t really doing hence why I got the scare of my life when I was driving at around 110KM/H and gave the car a kick down which to my surprise slid the ass sideways so much I nearly hit the car on my right. This car is a beast. It’s loud, it’s angry and it wants to kill you. I have no idea how I didn’t get stopped by the cops and deported in the five days I had the car. It was crazy good times.

I do have a bunch of negatives about the car though. For one thing the seats aren’t sporty enough. I would have wanted them to be deeper bucket seats and tighter since I was sliding left and right on my seat without much side support. The stereo was also a disappointment even though it was a 250w Boston Acoustics sound system, it just didn’t have the oomph. Externally, the front and sides of the car look pretty aggressive but the rear not so much. If I bought this car the first thing I’d do is replace the rear wing with a carbon version to match the carbon on the front hood, I’d also black out the chrome around the rear lights and more importantly replace the rear bumper with one more aggressive looking and possibly one with a rear carbon skirt. Finally gas consumption. If you drive the car like an old women the gas consumption is actually not that bad. On the other hand if you drive the car like it’s meant to be driven then you’re going to consume a lot of gas, and I mean A LOT of gas. There was one day where I filled the gas tank full three freakin times! I’ve never done that with ANY car before not even on long road trips.

The price of the auto ZL1 in Kuwait is KD19,695. The manual version is for slightly less at KD19,195. If you’re looking for a very fun monster but one that’s still comfortable as an everyday car then I can’t think of anything better than this. I want this car.

Note: No cats were harmed during the making of this review

Gallup measured positive emotions in 148 countries and areas using the following five questions:

– Did you feel well-rested yesterday?
– Where you treated with respect all day yesterday?
– Did you smile or laugh a lot yesterday?
– Did you lear or do something interesting yesterday?
– Did you experience the following feelings during a lot of the day yesterday? How about enjoyment?

The percentage in Kuwait who answered yes to all the questions above was 79% placing Kuwait in 17th place. Impressive. [Link]

Thanks Othman

This time it took place at a gas station. I don’t have any details on why the altercation took place or what happened to the victim. If I find out anything will update this post. [YouTube]

Note: Sorry for the bloody photos below but The Avenues cleaners weren’t available to mop up the mess.

Update: I added a second video below

Update2: Kuwait Times has “some” information on this attack. [Link]

Update3: The attackers were arrested. [Link]

I got an email from a reader saying that KDD products are now available at the Qurtuba Co-op. Only at the Qurtuba Co-op and not any other Co-ops as of this post. Usually the Co-ops are all united with their decisions but it seems there is some sort of internal conflict taking place right now and the Qurtuba Co-op was the first one to breakaway from the Co-ops KDD boycott and put KDD back on the shelves. I’m curious to see where this is going.

Thanks Kuwait Lover

[YouTube]

The video above is a TV interview with Colonel Adel Alhashash who shared facts regarding the stabbing that took place last night at The Avenues. According to the Colonel the incident started over a parking spot at around 10PM. The victim and the killer got into a heated argument over a parking spot in the basement and the confrontation then continued inside the mall. The victim was a Lebanese citizen, Dr Jaber Yousef who’s a dentist while the killer was with three other friends. During the confrontation in the mall the killer went and purchased a knife from Carrefour and then headed towards the victim and proceeded to stab him. Dr Jaber Yousef passed away an hour after arriving to the hospital.

According to the Colonel, The Avenues helped the investigators out a lot by providing them photos and CCTV footage of the aggressor. Because of those images the investigators were able to identify the killer but when they went to his home they didn’t find him there. They finally found him at a campsite in Bnaider where he was arrested. He’s 22 years old. The three friends who were with him have still not been caught but they will be soon.

When the Colonel was asked about the lack of presence of police officers at the mall the Colonel responded saying that with private locations such as malls the security is provided by the malls themselves and not the police. But, from what I understood in the interview this might change soon because of this incident and previous violent incidents that have taken place at malls.

There is a memorial page set up for the victim on Facebook and you can visit it by clicking [Here]

Update: Below is the photo of the killer

It’s pretty impressive that a company founded back in 1889 still exists today and is considered one of the most innovative and creative companies in their field. Nintendo has survived throughout these years not by sheer luck, but by being able to adapt to markets and get ahead of the game. Nintendo didn’t always make video games – it started out making playing cards and when that business was waning the CEO of the time Hiroshi Yamauchis decided to move into other businesses like instant noodles, a taxi company, and even a TV network. Eventually, Nintendo made its way in the video game business and released the NES; 27 years later, Nintendo has finally released its sixth console, the Wii U.

Nintendo’s philosophy has never been about creating the most powerful console with the best graphics, but to create a console that anyone could enjoy, developers could create fun games for, and is affordable. They constantly try to innovate without going overboard. The Nintendo 64 was the first console to introduce analogue sticks and 4 player controller ports right out of the box that competitors adapted in the future. We’re seeing similar advancements with motion controls that Nintendo introduced with the Wii and now Nintendo has taken another step forward by introducing the Wii U and the Game Pad.

Mark was able to hook me up with a Wii U from X-cite to review and I got the chance to test it out by playing Super Mario Bros U, ZombiU, Nintendo Land and Batman Arkham City.

The first thing I was curious about was Nintendo’s new social network called the Miiverse and so far it’s been informative, entertaining, and pretty promising. For those who don’t know, the Miiverse is where you interact with other Wii U users through a community for every app or game out for the Wii U. So if you want to discuss some Youtube videos, you can go to the Youtube community and post about it there and other users can reply or give you a “Yeah!” (equivalent to a Facebook “Like”). If you want to discuss a specific game and you’re unsure about buying it, you can go to that game’s community and ask them about it. Other times, people will draw some really elaborate drawings using the Wii U’s gamepad and the community walls turn into a temporary art exhibit. And it works well – comments are posted instantly without delay. People will comment and try to solve things. For example, I was going through the ZombiU community and found a thread with over 25 comments of gamers trying to decipher some code someone found spray-painted on a wall in the game. I wouldn’t be surprised if communities like this sprang up in the next iteration of consoles Microsoft and Sony release.

[YouTube]

I’m going to take part in a Spartan Race. [Link]

Update: Just found out about the Tough Guy competition (video below) which is based in the UK. Here is a exceprt from Wikipedia:

It has been widely described as “the toughest race in the world”, with up to one-third of the starters failing to finish in a typical year.

After 25 stagings of the winter event, Wilson still claimed nobody had ever finished the course according to his extremely demanding rules. The race, and its summer equivalent, has suffered two fatalities during its history.

Tough Guy™ from Mr Mouse on Vimeo.

Sounds like a lot of fun and the UK version of anything is usually more hardcore than the US one (Dirty Sanchez vs Jackass).

Last month I posted about how trucks were coming and dumping garbage in the empty sand lot behind my house. Well luckily that stopped but they also removed the garbage bins that were there. Now everyone is just throwing the trash in a large pile. It’s pretty gross. I understand they’re going through a transition phase between two different garbage contractors but that shouldn’t be an excuse to remove dumpsters.

Now according to a reader who faced a similar issue, he called the baladiya hotline which is 139 and within an hour they had the garbage cleaned up. I’m going to give them a call tomorrow and see how effective that is.

A lot of readers yesterday recommended a bunch of Chinese restaurants to try out so I’m going to be going through the list one by one. One of the places that was recommended by more than one person was Golden Chopsticks. I used to know Golden Chopsticks from the early 2000’s back when they were located near Scientific Center but I hadn’t been there since. They’re now located in Shaab where they moved to around 8 years ago. The restaurant is pretty spacious with around 10 tables so finding a place to sit shouldn’t be an issue. I passed by last night and there were three other tables occupied so mid-week the place seems quiet and private.

We ordered the following items:
Chicken Corn Soup KD0.750
Crab Corn Soup KD0.850
Shrimp Spring Rolls (3pcs) KD0.950
Shrimp on Toast (8pcs) KD2.250
Boiled Shrimp Dumpling (8pcs) KD1.950
Sweet & Sour Chicken KD2.250
Chicken w/ Cashew Nuts KD1.750
Egg Fried Rice KD1.100
Prawn with Chili & Garlic KD3.250

Based on the readers comments about the place I was really expecting the food to be exceptional. But, most of the items I had were good at best. The Sweet & Sour Chicken was the worst thing I had while the Prawn with Chili & Garlic was my favorite dish. The dumplings and Chicken with Cashew Nuts were also both really good while the Shrimp on Toast and Sprint Rolls were really boring and I wouldn’t order them again. I was meant to try their Peking Duck which I was told was really good but they had run out of it by the time I got there so I couldn’t try it.

The service was really good and friendly and I was greeted with smiles as soon as I walked in. The interior is cozy and I was there for around 3 hours and never felt uncomfortable. Overall I wasn’t too impressed with the dishes (other than the ones I highlighted as good) but their prices are pretty cheap and their comfortable interior and friendly service would make me want to go back again.

If you’re interested in passing by their phone number is 22656161 and here is their location on [Google Maps]

A reader send me photos of a menu from a juice place in Fahaheel opposite the British School. I found the “For Husbands” section funny.

Thanks Thomas

My favorite Chinese restaurant used to be Peacock but since it closed down I really haven’t found a good alternative. I still go to Caesars every now and then but that isn’t really authentic Chinese food.

I’m looking for a new place and figured I’d ask, what’s your favorite Chinese restaurant (preferably a hole in the wall and a dine in) and how can I find it? Let me know.

Picture above is of the Chicken Thai Dynamite from Pei Wei

Kuwait came in 66th place which lies somewhere above the middle of the list while Lebanon came in a low 128th place and the UAE in a pretty good 27th position.

The most corrupt country in the world is Somalia while the least corrupt is Denmark. [Link]

I’m probably one of the few people left in Kuwait who hadn’t been to Oriental Cuisine before. I had heard about the place but never really felt like going until a couple of days ago. For those of you who don’t know, Oriental Cuisine is a Thai restaurant located in Kuwait City. It’s not a new place but it started off as a small and awhile back expanded into a larger restaurant.

I went with a friend and we ordered a whole bunch of things including:

Chicken Satay KD1.750
Khanom Pang Na Moo (Shrimps on toast) KD2.750
Tom Yum Soup (prawns) KD2.750
Kaeng Khiao Wan (chicken green curry) KD1.750
Honey and garlic chicken KD1.750
Pad Thai (chicken) KD2.000
Plain rice KD0.300

People told me everything on the menu is good and from my one time experience there it seems that could be possible. All our dishes were at the very least good but most were great. My least favorite was probably the chicken satay since there wasn’t much flavor there but on the other hand my favorite dishes were probably the honey and garlic chicken along with the shrimps on toast which I couldn’t have enough of.

Their prices are pretty affordable and they weren’t stingy with the food quantity. My only complaint about the place would be the fact that their service wasn’t that great. When I arrived no one greeted me and I had to wait at least 5 minutes for anyone to give me any sort of attention. Other than that minor quibble it’s a pretty cool place. If you’re interested, they’re open all week except on Mondays and their phone number is 22470400. Here is their location on [Google Maps]

I went to have dinner tonight at the Singarea Korean Restaurant and to my surprise I found it closed (even though it wasn’t a Tuesday). So I asked the Korean supermarket downstairs what happened and she told me they shutdown. There was a language barrier so I couldn’t understand why but I’m really upset. It’s such a unique place and it’s sad to see it go.

This story begins with an honest truth: A summer survey of Kuwait’s public access desert would reveal a landscape comprised primarily of farm animals, garbage, and earth (sand, dirt, and dust). A careful eye would notice some plants, but very few, very small, and nearly dead. I’m talking about those areas outside of the city, where urban civilization ends and nature begins. The obvious reason for the lack of plant life is that we live in a desert. We get very little precipitation. Plants need water. Sand is the natural substrate of the desert. These factors combined equal a quasi-moonscape, right? If you’ve made these conclusions, you are, I’m happy to say, mistaken, and it is my goal in writing this to amaze you with the beauty of Kuwait and encourage everyone to do better for the sake of our natural heritage.

The images of giant drifting sand dunes and storms that swallow up entire houses that so many of us associate with the word desert simply do not represent Kuwait. Our ecosystem is harsh: it’s hot, it’s dry, it’s wind-swept, it’s dusty, but most importantly, it is positively teeming with life. Actually, it SHOULD be positively teeming with life, but for the most part, it isn’t. It would be teeming with life if nature were allowed to take its course. Instead, we see the results of decades of under regulated grazing, off-road driving, and winter camping. It seems grim, I know. I’m here to tell you there is hope. More than that: there is life out there, just waiting for a safe place to live.

Enter the Abdaliya Nature Project.

The Abdaliya Nature Project was conceived in late 2010 by Kuwait Oil Company employees with a particular interest in seeing the restoration of Kuwait’s desert. These employees, acknowledging their role to utilize petroleum resources while protecting Kuwait’s natural environment, took the initiative to preserve an area of desert approximately 1.5 million square meters in size. Prior to reutilization as a nature project, this area was in the public domain and was being used for winter camping. Winter camping in Kuwait, while originally nothing more than a traditional way to enjoy the cool winter months has become so invasive and destructive that the desert ecosystem cannot compete with the concrete, garbage, tires, and other pollution dumped annually upon the spring abandonment of the campsites.

The project began with months of clearing garbage and debris left behind by more than a decade of camping. The most common forms of waste removed included water tanks, concrete blocks, concrete septic tanks, car tires, food and beverage containers, and materials used for shade. With a clean slate to work with, the next steps included constructing access roads and water pipelines followed by the planting of nearly 40,000 seedlings and saplings. Why not simply let the plants return on their own? The answer is diversity. While the “if you build it they will come” model is less costly and much more simple, the result is an imbalance of species. Much like a farmer’s field left empty and consumed by weeds, bare desert in Kuwait will result in a few species taking over the entire ecosystem, thus absorbing nutrients and precipitation and excluding other plants. From the very beginning Abdaliya was planted with a diverse group of native species.

Replanting commenced in early 2011. In less than a year, the Abdaliya Nature Project transformed a barren and utterly destroyed wasteland patch of desert into a unique and incredibly beneficial oasis of flora and fauna. During this period, K’S PATH has proudly been working with KOC on this project doing clean up, wildlife monitoring, anti-poaching, feral dog management, and more. Even in this relatively short period, we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of birds, lizards, snakes, rodents, and insects in the project, none of whom were introduced. Our goal for the next two years is to introduce fox and hedgehogs to the area as we continue to strive toward a natural, balanced, and well-managed ecosystem. KOC is also planning to build an education center at the site so that we can begin to spread this message of diversity and protection for Kuwait’s future. The fact is that it will take all of us working together to protect Kuwait’s natural heritage for future generations.

If you participate in winter camping or drive off-road, please consider the implication of your actions. Properly dispose of your waste, remove everything you bring into the desert, and stick to established driving tracks.

For more pictures click [Here]

Post by John Peaveler
Managing Director
Kuwait Society for the Protection of Animals and Their Habitat (K’S PATH)