Search: “kuwait”

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]

Video kinda drags but gets a lot more interesting at the 8:22 mark specially once the traditional Kuwaiti dancing meets breakdancing. [YouTube]

No idea why we suddenly have an outburst of crickets in Kuwait but on the bright side, turns out you can eat them.

The news segment is on the new speed cameras that have been installed all over Kuwait. I personally found the fact that KTV2 is still alive more interesting. [YouTube]

Thanks Kuwait

The Colombia coffeehouse chain Juan Valdez Cafe is opening up their first branch in Kuwait at Symphony Mall in around a months time. Juan Valdez Cafe sells 100% Colombian coffee which is reputed to be the richest coffee in the world according to Wikipedia.

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.

If you’re looking for graffiti supplies I found some for sale last night at the “Not Just a Pop-up” event that was held at Dar Al-Funoon (behind Casper & Gambini in Kuwait City). The event was supposed to be just one night but they’ve extended it for two more hours tonight, 8PM to 10PM. They had Montana spray cans, a collection of caps as well as Krink markers and some stencil books. So if you want any tonight is the last night to pass by.

A couple of weeks back Fasttelco hooked me up with a product they have called Aloo ISDN. Aloo ISDN is a phone line to use when traveling which will allow me to make and receive unlimited calls to and from Kuwait for free. It’s a really great simple product but a bit complicated to explain so I will try my best to be very clear.

– When you sign up to Aloo ISDN, Fasttelco will provide you with a local number, in my case its 22200XXX (XXX because I don’t want everyone to have my number)

– Once you get the number you then need to download the free app “Media5” from the app Store and follow Fasttelco’s setup instructions. I am personally using the application “Bria” instead of Media5 but it isn’t free. Both these apps work on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

The product requires the internet to work so your device needs to be connected to WiFi or 3G/4G LTE. I used Aloo this past weekend while in Lebanon and I thought it was great.

Before I left Kuwait I forwarded my Viva number to my Aloo number so that any phone call I receive while in Lebanon I would get to answer using my Aloo number. You don’t have to do that but I found it easier than giving everyone my “travel number” and that way I also avoid getting calls on my regular number and paying roaming charges.

The product works. I didn’t have access to WiFi while in Lebanon but I did have a 3G connection. I used the Aloo number a bunch of times and only on one occasion did I have a connection problem but at the time I was driving on a mountain road so my guess is the 3G connection was dropping. Using the number is fairly easy. When you get a phone call the app would pop up and ask me if I want to answer the phone call. To make a phone call I just launch the app and either dial the number or find one from my contact book. I was actually surprised I was able to use the service with a Lebanese 3G connection since the connection in Lebanon isn’t that fast. If it works in Lebanon it should work even better in European countries or the States.

If you travel a lot and pay a lot of roaming charges then this product could save you a lot of money. For a regular number is costs KD70 the first year and then KD60 every year after that so unless you make and receive over KD60 worth of roaming calls a year Aloo is not worth getting. They also have more premium numbers, the number they gave me for example is a silver number and costs KD120 the first year, gold costs KD200 the first year, platinum 500, diamond 1000 and royal 5000. All the numbers then cost KD60 a year after that. If you’re interested in signing up or getting more information you can call Fasttelco on 1838485.

Fouad decided that it’s time that he pops the question, and planned a trip from Kuwait to Beirut to surprise Remy the love of his life and ask her to complete him in a special way.

Cute. [Vimeo]

With the recent crackdown on expats, one of the rumors making its rounds was that if you were caught with any VOIP app on your phone you would get deported. According to the Ministry of Communication, Kuwait has no plans to ban any app be it Whatsapp, Viber or anything else for that matter. [Source]

I got an email a few days ago from an adopted American girl who recently found out her birth father was a Kuwaiti. She asked me if I could help her try and find him but she doesn’t have much information other than the below:

My birth mother was American and my birth father was Kuwaiti. My birth mother was in Kuwait for about 7 months in 1979, and she had a relationship with a Kuwaiti man and became pregnant. She came back to the US, gave birth and gave me up for adoption.

I have just recently learned that he was from Kuwait. I had met my birth mother about 13 years ago, but she lied to me about the father, so I never knew the truth until now.

I’m looking for some advice on how to locate or figure out who he was.

My mum is now deceased, so I have no way to find out more info from her. And I know nothing about him. All I know is she stayed at the Sheraton Kuwait, had an affair with a man, and came home pregnant.

I’ve learned that if an American got pregnant by a Kuwaiti man, they would have to marry if he wasn’t married. But I think he was married already. In that case, wouldn’t it be true that if anyone found out they’d both be jailed? The story is that she came back from Kuwait abruptly. I’m assuming its because she found out she was pregnant. I don’t even know if the man knew. One story is that he did know, but she told him it wasn’t his. I’ve also been told that he was here at some point. One person said that he is the one who brought her back. She also told the attorney that handled the adoption that the man was in the hotel business.

I don’t think there is much to go by, but I figured I would see if anyone here might have an idea of where to start.

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

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

1 – Abu Dhabi International Airport
2 – Dubai International Airport
3 – Bahrain International Airport
4 – Doha International Airport
5 – Muscat International Airport
6 – Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport
7 – Kuwait International Airport
8 – Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport
9 – Riyadh King Khalid International Airport
10 – Jeddah King Abdulaziz International Airport

I love Qatar Airways but their Doha airport is just depressingly cramped and crowded all the time. I’d even go as far as saying I prefer Kuwaits Airport. For the list of best airports around the world click [Here]

Note: Image above is of the Kuwait Airport when first constructed. More pictures can be seen [Here] For pictures of the new Kuwait Airport that will hopefully be built one day click [Here]