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Tonight after my gym I passed by fashionably late to the The Gulf Run Dinner. It was an event organized to get all the drivers to meet each other, enjoy some good shawerma and sajj while checking out pictures of previous Gulf Runs. They also had a Ford GT, Mercedes SLS and a Ferrari 599 on display to check out up close.

One of the announcements I had missed with my lateness was that the SLS will be one of the taxi ride cars at the upcoming Gulf Run. Taxi ride cars are for the spectators who come to the track to watch the races. The spectators will be able to take a ride in the SLS (and other taxi cars) around the Bahrain F1 circuit while being driven by professional race car drivers (i.e. lots of fun).
Update: The SLS taxi ride will only be for the GR6 drivers. There will be other sport cars available as taxi rides for the spectators. My mistake, sorry about that.

If you want to know more about Gulf Run you can visit their website [Here]

A few weeks back Nat accidentally slammed my FJ’s door onto a little pole while opening the door and I ended up with a nasty dent. The usual fix for this would be to take the car to a body shop and have them repair the dent and then repaint the door but I decided to pass by Dent Xpress and see if they could fix it. For those of you who’ve been checking my blog for a few years you might remember Dent Xpress as one of my previous advertisers. They’re a little shop behind Sun City in Shuwaikh that specializes in paint-less dent repair.

I had finished some morning chores that day and decided to pass by Dent Xpress to get an estimate and book an appointment. Once I drove up to their front entrance their employee was standing outside and noticed the dent as I pulled up. After getting a closer look he told me the dent was pretty deep and since my car was black he couldn’t repair it 100%, I told him anything would be better than the current state. I asked him how much it would cost and he told me just KD15 and it would take 30 minutes to repair. Luckily there wasn’t anyone there before me so I told him to go ahead and start on it.

I went and sat down in their cozy little corner and watched the guy work on my dent. It’s really interesting to watch so you don’t get that bored waiting. If you’ve got an iPad with entertainment on it I would bring it along or you could be old fashioned and flip through some magazines they had available. After exactly 30 minutes my FJ’s dent was repaired. Even though the guy said he couldn’t repair it 100% it looked like it was 100% fixed. He told me if I looked closely I could see a tiny little bump. That bump which you couuld only see under a certain light and up really close was basically non existent so it’s a 99% fix even though you really can’t see the tiny bump. I left extremely satisfied which is why I’m currently writing this post. So if you’ve got a dent and need it repaired Dent Xpress would be a good place to stop by before a body shop. They can’t repair all dents and the paint also needs to be factory original but it’s still worth passing by and seeing if they can repair it. Below is a picture of my FJ door before and after the repair.

Their website address is www.dentxpress.com
Their phone numbers are 24837666 and 55787747
Their Facebook page is [Here]

Last week I posted about the Gran Turismo 5 Time Challenge that’s taking place across the Middle East and how Kuwait wasn’t even ranked in the top 10. Well the competition is finally over and it turns out Kuwait came first. Pretty cool (although slightly geeky) achievement. [Link]

I found out about the Withings bathroom scale yesterday and straight away added it to my Christmas wish list. The digital scale not only records your weight but also your fat mass, muscle mass and BMI. The cool part is it then automatically uploads this data onto an online database which you can then check and use to monitor your progress. It also has an option which will automatically share your weight along with all the other data to your twitter or facebook account (I’m serious). Finally you can also download the free iPhone/iPad or Android app and view and monitor your results with your mobile. Pretty cool for a simple bathroom scale. I just ordered mine (along with an SSD drive) from Amazon for $159. [Link]

A small breakfast place opened up near my house and I decided to pass by and try it out last week. The place is called Breakfast & Brunch and is located in the large outdoor parking lot adjacent to Marina Mall (facing BoConcept). Nat and I passed by during the week around 10AM and out of the five small 2-seater tables at the place, only one was occupied. We sat down at a table and got the menus which had a ton of items on it. It was huge. Other than the regular breakfast place stuff like eggs, pancakes, crepes, etc.. they also had a long list of sandwiches to choose from (I’m guessing the “brunch” aspect of the place).

I ended up ordering freshly squeezed orange juice and a 3 egg omelet with cheese and turkey while Nat ordered the Nutella Crepe. I wanted to order pancakes as well but I knew Fahad would make me suffer at the gym if I did. The food arrived a bit later and looked very good. My omelet came with sausages, brown bread and hash browns on the side which I quickly dug into after taking the picture above. Everything tasted good but then again it’s hard to go wrong with omelets and crepes.

There isn’t really anything negative to say about my experience. The only thing I can think about is the fact the place was a bit too quiet when we first sat down but the couple on the other table asked for the radio to be turned on which fixed things. I personally liked the place, it’s close to where I live, there is a lot of parking space available and because it’s still not very popular, finding a place to sit shouldn’t be a problem. For those of you who are interested to try out the place, here is one of my famous maps to help you find the location [Map] and here it is on [Google Maps]

Last week Nat had dinner with some of her friends at a new restaurant that just opened up in Kuwait City called Ruby’s. She had a good experience and suggested that we pass by for lunch yesterday.

From outside the place doesn’t look like much since the shops and buildings next to it are pretty old but once you walk into Ruby’s it’s a completely different atmosphere. The place is pretty spacious and has a very cozy look and feel to it. We sat down in a comfy corner and the waitress brought us the menu. The first thing that impressed me was with how minimal their menu was. They have only 3 salads, 3 panini’s, 3 pastas and 3 burgers which I thought was very brave. Restaurants here seem to get the impression you need to have a million items on your menu but you really don’t since it’s about the quality not quantity.

Nat ordered the Mango Pumpkin Chicken Salad while I ordered the Bronte Burger on my first visit and the Chicken and Mango Chutney Panini on my second (had lunch there yesterday and today). Nat really loved her salad and I thought my burger which had a sweet chili sauce was really well made. It was delicious and on my second visit I was really tempted to order it again but decided to try something else and I am glad I did. As much as I thought their burger was amazing the Chicken and Mango Chutney Panini was even better. The Mango Chutney was sweet and gave the panini amazing flavor, I really loved it. I also ordered their chocolate dessert on my second visit and although it was good, I would prefer the Chocolate Fondant at Life with Cacao or the Chocolate Pudding at Slider Station instead.

Their prices are very decent. Their menu ranges from KD2.250 for their cheapest Salad up to KD3.750 for their Shrimp in Linguine which is their most expensive dish.

Ruby’s has been open I think for around 2 weeks only. They still don’t have a sign outside and they will be installing their Knet machine hopefully this week according to the waitress. I’ve drawn a map to the location which you can view [Here]. The service is great, the place is cozy and the food is amazing. I highly recommend the place.

Update: Currently (as of December 29, 2010) they open from 3PM to 11PM. According to the employees there within the next 10 days they will start opening from 11AM to 11PM. Their phone number is 22496526,

Starting December 22nd SAS will be closing down for renovations. The pictures above and below are 3D renderings of how the hotel will look like once the renovation is completed. I originally thought it was going to be a minor face lift of the interior but it looks like its going a major revamp. Sadly this also means Peacock, the best Chinese restaurant in Kuwait will be closed for at least a year. [Link]

via Desert Girl

Update: According to the owners of the place, the menu of the Peacock will be transferred to Rangoli so you can eat the Chinese food at Rangoli. Cool!

Update2: Turns out that the Peacock menu did not get transferred to Rangoli, instead the Al Bustan menu did.

نـــــــــــبــــــــــي طــــــــيـــــــــارة
الحملة الوطنية للمطالبة بشراء طيارة يديدة
AIRBUS A380
ليش ما عندنا وحده منها
lel7een msaween 18 menha !!
متى نحط شعار الكويتية عليها بسنة 2020 ؟؟؟
we don’t even have an order yet while others have received their custom made aircrafts :S

Ya Kuwait Airways .. naby A380 is actually the name of this Facebook group I found. Funny. [Link]

The cops now have new portable cameras and by the looks of it they will be very difficult to spot. Judging by the picture above they will be used to catch the people who drive on emergency lanes which is cool but I believe they will also be able to capture speeders.

The Ministry pointed out that the new radar is accurate and can be transported from one place to another easily, in addition to having the video and photographic characteristics, which confirms the fact of the violation. It stated that the mobile radar is currently working with high efficiency in many locations, especially places of high traffic density, including schools.

Here is the link to the article on Arab Times. [Link]

UFC legend and hall of famer Royce Gracie is coming back to Kuwait! Last time he was here I didn’t participate in his seminar but I managed to get a picture with him while he performed the rear naked choke on me. [Link]

Back in May I posted about MILSIM and how I took part in one of their Tactical Military Simulation Games. It was amazing! I was totally surprised we had something like that in Kuwait, it was lots of fun, the weapons were very cool and realistic and the location the simulation took place at (old abandoned prison) was something right out of Call of Duty. Now this year my friends at MILSIM (which is short for Military Simulation) have introduced something new called Desert Ops Tactical Paintball for the trigger happy people. Unlike the Tactical Military Simulation Games which require a lot of patience, skill, strategy and discipline, Desert Ops Tactical Paintball is a faster paced game that’s easier to get into right from the start.

The MILSIM Paintball is located in an area near Mutlaa. You can sign up and come as an individual or group. Price is KD15 for a full day of playing. A bag of 500 balls is for KD10 and can be shared amongst the players. You need to book in advance and you can do that from their website [Here]

They have another field opening up at Shaab Park in mid January. It’s going to be the first Milsim Airsoft and Milsim Tactical Paintball field in the region. Basically real life Call of Duty stuff and it’s going to be located right near my home so I can’t wait.

For the advanced players who are interested in the Tactical Military Simulation Games (pic above) which I took part in back in May, if you’re willing to take a 2 day training program at desert Ops to get familiar with the MILSIM game play and gear then you can also email them [Here]

I passed by the car exhibition tonight. I was expecting it to be really packed but surprisingly it wasn’t. The exhibit is divided into 4 halls, one is full of American cars, another European, a third was taken by Toyota and Lexus while the fourth was a mixture. The exhibition was ok, not too exciting but there were a few cars (and a bike) that grabbed my attention. My favorite has to be the Ford SVT Raptor (pictured above) but at KD20,000 I’m never going to own one. The Range Rover Evoque was on display surprisingly and priced very reasonably at KD17,000. Other interesting cars were the Aston Martin Cygnet, the Mini Countryman and the beautiful Confederate motorbike. There’s lots of parking space available and the entrance is free so it’s worth the visit. For more info on the exhibition click [Here]

It seems there is a regional Gran Turismo 5 competition taking place now that I wasn’t aware of. The countries participating are Oman, UAE, Qatar, Lebanon, Kuwait and Bahrain and currently players from UAE rank 1st and 3rd with a player from Lebanon coming in at 2nd (Kuwait isn’t even in the top 10). The competition is a time challenge, anyone can participate for free and the grand prize is:

The chance to be chauffeur driven in a SLS, at the Mercedes circuit in Germany.
1. Fully paid trip to Stuttgart and back including accommodation
2. Visit to the Mercedes-Benz Museum followed by lunch
3. Visit to the DTM race including hot laps at the Hockenheim circuit
4. Visit the AMG factory in Affalterback including an SLS emotion experience

I personally would rather drive the SLS myself around the circuit but I guess that’s not an option here. If you’re interested in participating and putting Kuwait on the map you can register on the GT5 Time Challenge website. The location of the local challenge is taking place at the X-Cite store in the Avenues. More details available on the GT5 Time Challenge website [Here]

Thanks Raed

I was excited when I first found out Obika was opening and then even more excited when they did but for some reason I never ended up going there. I guess not many people did either since I heard they’re closing down. Too bad since it seemed like a healthy place to eat.

The American Japanese chain Benihana opened up yesterday for business and I passed by today and took a quick peek. The place is much larger than I expected since although it has a small shop front it actually expands quite a lot to the back and sides. I didn’t eat there but took a look at their menu and the prices seemed pretty good if not cheap in some cases at first glance. They had 6 pieces of crab maki for example for KD1.500, 6 pieces of California for KD2.500 and their most expensive special maki was like KD5. Their teppanyaki dishes ranged in price as well with some of their more expensive lobster dishes hitting around KD16. I’ll probably pass by sometime this week and try them out. I usually enjoy sitting at the sushi bar and their sushi bar looked pretty good and big.

Benihana is located in phase II of the Avenues, in the area behind the escalator next to Dean & Deluca. They officially launch on the 20th but are open for business right now.

Note: Picture above is from last week before they opened. They’re the shop in the corner with the red sign.