Search: “ace”

There is going to be a protest tomorrow (Monday) at 4PM in Mishref to raise awareness about the whole issue with the sewage plant problems and the construction that’s taking forever. The protest which will be more of a walkathon will take place near the sewage plant on the side of the 6th ring road in Mishref. Everyone is invited.

Thanks b19

The Lebanese luxury chains Aïshti and Aïzone have opened up at the Avenues. They’re the equivalent of Villa Moda in Lebanon carrying mostly the same brands which is why I was curious to pass by the Avenues one. I was in a rush so I had a quick walk through and noticed 80% of the store space is dedicated to woman with the rest for men. Here is the link to the Aïshti website [Link]

Qualitynet have updated their block page so if you go to say playboy.com you will get the following message:

And this URL:
https://blocked.qualitynet.net/blocked/index.php?cat=0

Now if you change the last number from 0 to say 1 you get a different message for example go to:
https://blocked.qualitynet.net/blocked/index.php?cat=1
You will notice a message added which is “Category: Pornography”

If you replace it with a 2 you get:
https://blocked.qualitynet.net/blocked/index.php?cat=2
Category: Gambling

Got it? Well this is where it gets interesting, if you replace that number with anything from 4 and up you get LOLCATS!

For example I replaced it with 19:
https://blocked.qualitynet.net/blocked/index.php?cat=19

And I got:

An ISP with a sense of humor, pretty cool.

Thanks larogue for discovering this

Update: It no longer works, Qualitynet removed the lolcats 🙁

Today I was lucky enough to be taken on a tour of Infunity which will be one of the largest indoor amusement parks in Kuwait once completed. Three things that grabbed my attention there, the first is they will have a pretty cool indoor roller coaster that’s designed by the same people who build ones for Six Flags. Secondly they will have Go-Kart Drifting which I didn’t know existed but sounds pretty cool. Finally my favorite thing, they will have a huge proper climbing wall! The place will launch early next year and they will be located on the top floor of 360 Mall near the bowling and arcades.

The new A-Team movie is going to get released next year and the picture above is the first picture showing the new team which is made up of Bradley Cooper (Nip/Tuck and The Hangover), Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson (UFC), Sharlto Copley (District 9), Liam Neeson (Taken). Rampage Jackson is actually a pretty cool replacement for Mr. T even though he’s being a dick in this seasons Ultimate Fighter. [Link]

I just got an email from a friend at NBK about this new service they will be trying out in Kuwait which is payment via NFC (near field communication). Instead of paying by cash or plastic cards you could pay by just waving your phone. The service is going to be called Bouky and they’re launching a 6 month pilot which you can sign up to if you’re interested (link at the end of the post).

This service is already used in places like Japan and the Far East but it will be the first time here in the Middle East. Another cool feature will be that you could wave the phone in front of “smart” posters and redeem offers or download free pre-paid visa cards. My friend signed me up for the 6 month trial so I will get to try it out. During the trial period I will be able to pay by waving my phone at some 100 outlets in The Avenues. If you’re interested in trying Bouky out they will be choosing only 500 customers for the trial period. To sign up follow this [Link]

Note: You need to be a Zain mobile user to beta test this service

Most of you know Cinemagic from their weekly rooftop movie nights but it turns out they’ve also got a small movie theater that they rent out. They originally called me because they wanted to participate in the giveaways last month but since I didn’t have any more space left I told them I would post about them anyway because their theater sounded interesting. They’re located near my house so I went to check the place out and was pretty impressed at how cool their set up was. They’re using the $100,000 Sony SRX-R110 4K cinema projector which is very cool, they had a movie playing when I was there and it looked amazing.

The theater has 12 comfortable reclining leather seats and they provide you with free drinks and munchies . You can rent the theater to watch live television so if there is a football match or a UFC fight you could watch it there. You could also rent out the theater to play xbox or PS3 games, they have both consoles just bring your own game. Finally they have both an HD-DVD and Blu-ray player with hundreds of Blu-ray and HD-DVD movies for you to choose from.

They have two rental prices, non peak and peak prices. Non peak price is KD96 for 3 hours while the peak price is KD144 for 3 hours. So if you are 12 guys thats KD8 per person during non peak hours and KD12 per person during peak hours. If you’re interested visit their website [Here].

For those of you who don’t know about their rooftop screenings you could also visit their website for more information on that.

A reader sent me a link to a travel guide about Kuwait which I thought was a bit… strange. Here is the interesting piece which talks about the nightlife:

Well, you may not find any trace of Arabian Nights while visiting Kuwait, however, Nightlife in Kuwait has its own charm to add a different kind of flavor to your vacation at this small constitutional monarchy on the coast of the Persian Gulf. Nightlife in this city does not only mean Nightclubs and Bars in Kuwait, but also stands for lots of other Things to Do in Kuwait.

At the nightclubs and bars in this city, you may find the lack of alcoholic drinks. However, that will not affect by any means the tourists’ entertainment since the staff is specially selected to meet the extreme need for Nightlife in Kuwait. Visit clubs and find there provocative-futuristic style! But it’s true that sometimes the drinks become even more exotic when served by the European ladies-staff.

Nightlife in Kuwait also offers you a royal smoking experience with hubble-bubble available in bars. The smoke is drawn through a syrupy fruity mixture of flavors into a water bowl filled with cold lemon flavored water which cools the smoke before entering the pipe you draw on. Enjoy life in the form of Nightlife in Kuwait. Experience a relaxing atmosphere at any one of the nightclubs.

Nightlife in Kuwait also includes shopping and modest people watching. However, one of the best ways to enjoy the night is having a stroll along the seashore which is moonlit and converting the white sands into silvery in color. For ladies, malls, beaches and restaurants are the options; however, it is advisable not to stay outside after 10 pm without any companions.

In fact, at midnight tourists may enjoy car race by local people in Jahra Road. Besides, you can also go for camping or join the desert gathering tent with local people (Duwaniya).

Enjoy the Nightlife in Kuwait!

Does anyone else see a few issues with this article? Here is the link to the source. [Link]

I love Kuwait with all its flaws except for one, the tree cutting for no reason habit. I can never understand why beautiful green trees get cut down in Kuwait. I am also not the only one who hates this because their is a group on Facebook called “Keep Kuwait Green! Stop the Izala from cutting our trees!” which is fighting to stop this. Here is information about the group:

After the government came and removed our 35 year old Rubber trees without any warning, it made me realize that there are many other houses being effected.

People started calling about the same thing happening to them, and told me stories of horrible murder like incidents of the trees they once planted.

The mission of this group is to report and post pictures of all wrong doing by our government and the removal of trees. Please post the address of the places that you see them removing trees that were not used as a personal garden. If possible post your pictures also.

We will be posting and sending the pictures to all newspapers and blogs and anyone willing to listen to us. Some of the trees in Kuwait are a part of our history.

They have been here long before we have.
Let’s unite and try to keep Kuwait greener!

I would like to add one more thing which is the trimming of the trees and bushes. The Gulf Road area near Burj Hamam was looking pretty green and natural for awhile now and then suddenly yesterday they started trimming all the trees and bushes into cubes. Can someone tell whoever is responsible for that to stop. Trees that look like cubes might look pretty at Disney Land but not on the Gulf Road and they definitely don’t give any shade or protection.

So if you think the government should stop cutting trees down then please join the facebook group and voice your support. Here is the [Link]

Tomorrow their will be a huge fire on the 61st floor of the Al Hamra Tower which is the soon to be tallest building in Kuwait. I can’t see the future but a reader emailed me telling me they will be testing the firefighting capabilities tomorrow. I didn’t quite understand if they will be testing the actual firefighters capabilities to fight a fire in a high-rise or if they’re testing the fire readiness of the building. In any case if you see smoke tomorrow you know why.

Thanks Ba3ks

Update: The exercise took place today but I don’t have any pictures so if you do send it in.

I sadly don’t have much info on this event only what I found on the Facebook page which is:

This is the very first car show to be hosted by the U.S. Embassy Kuwait, come enjoy the latest and greatest in automobile technology and modification.

Date: Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Time: 6:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: U.S. Embassy Kuwait
Street: Masjid Al-Aqsa St.
City/Town: Bayan, Kuwait

Here is the link to the Facebook page but there isn’t much else there. An event like this should have been better advertised… only 11 confirmed guests on their Facebook page. I don’t even have a logo or picture to attach with this post since there doesn’t seem to be a flier or anything of the sort. [Link]

I started barbecuing during Ramadan but since the weather has improved a lot more people will start barbecuing now. Actually by visiting Sultan Center you can tell its BBQ season since the Sharq branch for example is now highlighting BBQ equipment when you first come in. So here are some tips by me if you want to start barbecuing:

The Grill
One of the best grill brands you can get in Kuwait is Weber. Sultan Center, Ace Hardware and Sears carry Weber brand grills. From the three Sears is the cheapest while Sultan is the most expensive. Problem with Sears though is they don’t have a large variety of grills nor accessories. Ace Hardware on the other hand is just slightly more expensive than Sears but have the largest variety of grills in Kuwait with a ton of accessories. I picked up the 18 1/2 inch Weber grill pictured above for KD34 from Ace. It was KD36 at Sultan and KD33 at Sears. There are cheaper Weber grills and a lot more expensive and bigger ones but if you don’t want to spend you can find some no brand grills for under KD5.

The Coals
Two best places to buy coals are Sultan and Ace Hardware. Again I found Ace Hardware cheaper and they alsonhad a larger variety of coals some of which you can see in the picture above.

Fuel gels, starter cubes or lighter fluid?
Personally I hate waiting for the coals to get ready so I use a combination of starter cubes and fuel gel to light up my coals. Gel is better than lighter fluid since it doesn’t leave any smell or flavor behind. Both Sultan and Ace sell fuel gels, both cost KD2.200 but the one at Ace is a better brand plus if you’re picking up your grill and coal from there you might as well pick up the gel. For cubes Sultan has them while Ace doesn’t. Another tip, have a blow dryer handy since it helps speed up the process considerably. I got a cheap one for KD4 from Carrefour and combined with the fuel gel and cubes I could have a grill ready in 10 minutes.

Accessories
Both Ace and Sultan have a large variety of accessories. If you want a chimney starter to help speed up the coal burning process then you need to get it from Sultan Center where they have two models to choose from. For gloves, BBQ tools, cleaning brushes etc.. I’ve mixed and matched from both Ace and Sultan, it’s really personal preference and both have cheap and expensive options to choose from.

Burgers and more
I’ve been making some great burgers with fresh Sultan Center meat patties. Just go up to the meat fridge and tell the employee you want burgers. They will ask you what kind and what weight, I usually go for the 95% lean and a 200 grams patty for me while a 100 grams one for Nat. I don’t make them add any spices although you can ask them to, I prefer adding my own spices at home. For chicken taouk I get it marinated and ready on skewers from Dean & Deluca. 1KG is for KD2.500 compared to Sultan’s KD3.900. It’s really good and the only thing I do to it is swap the green peppers for fresh mushrooms before I grill them. Finally for kebabs I get them from the butcher which is located between La Baguette and Dodo on Baghdad Street in Salmiya. He makes two kinds, one with onions the other with garlic, I prefer the onions version. 1KG is for around KD2.500 and he prepares it for you while you wait. I can’t recommend any other items to BBQ since I haven’t tried anything else. Actually I did try to BBQ a steak but didn’t like the result because I think I chose the wrong type of meat. If you can recommend me something that would be great, just leave it as a comment below.

And that concludes my BBQ post. The prices I mentioned above are 99% accurate, my memory isn’t that great and I round up numbers so if they don’t turn out to be exactly the same don’t shoot me. If you have any tips, suggestions or questions just leave them below.

Tonight I passed by a shop called Pro-Hobbies in Dajeej. I needed some paint for my Tamiya crawler and the Tamiya dealer had run out so they recommended I pass by Pro-Hobbies instead. It was my first time there and the place turned out to be really cool. While Tamiya specializes in on and off road electric cars and buggies, Pro-Hobbies specializes in helicopters and nitro powered race buggies.

While there I also got to check out the KHR-1 Robot. I had seen this robot before on YouTube playing football so it was very exciting to see the robot live. They aren’t selling them yet, they just got one to try it out and see if there is a market for it. The robot costs around KD400 which isn’t cheap but the way it moves is just incredible. It’s fully programmable and is driven by 19 servos (motors) which explains the hefty price tag considering a single servo usually costs around KD12. I took a video of the robot which you can see below. It was running out of batteries and the floor was slippery but you can still see how cool it is.

[YouTube]

If you want to pass by the store they’re located in the mall behind Showtime in Dajeej. Here is a link to the [Map]. They have a website but it’s still under construction. [Link]

I was at a place in Dajeej today and noticed the buttons outside the lift pointed left and right instead of the usual up or down. At first I thought it was just on that floor but it was the same on every floor. Reminded me of the picture below which I took outside the Kuwait airport a few years ago.

Early in the year I decided I was going to start buying all my iPhone apps instead of illegally downloading them. Problem I faced was the fact that I couldn’t download some of my favorite apps because they were only for the US based users. The apps I couldn’t download were the Amazon and eBay ones and both of which don’t cost a thing, they’re free. But, since my credit card is Kuwaiti based I have to purchase all my applications from the Kuwaiti iTunes store which didn’t have those two apps. Recently CNN released an iPhone application and again it was only available to US based customers so I looked for a way to download these apps and I found one.

To download applications from the US based iTunes store all you need to do is get a US based iTunes gift voucher. I found a website online where you could buy a $15 cards for $18 and have the code emailed to you. The website uses PayPal so its safe and unlike some other websites this one sells legit cards so you know your account won’t get shut down by Apple later. Here is the [Link]

Once you get a US iTunes card just go to the US iTunes store and click on Redeem Code. Then create a new account and under the credit card option choose “none”. And that’s it, you can now download US only iPhone apps. As a bonus you can also download songs and movies as well.

Update: If you just want to download some free US only applications like the ebay and amazon apps, a reader just posted that you don’t even need to buy a voucher for that. Just go to the US app store and click on a free app, then create a new account like above with a US mailing address and for credit card choose none.