Search: “kuwait”

When I left Kuwait around a week ago it was 10 degrees and freezing cold. I got back yesterday and it’s was 23, hot and humid. Feels like winter came and left and I missed it while I was in New York.

According to a job post on Emirates 24/7, International Service Check are looking for mystery shoppers in Kuwait. I know the last time I posted about mystery shoppers there was a lot of interest so this is a way for you to become one yourself. For more information click [Here]

I should be posting about the Turkish airport and the Turkish Airlines Lounge but because I only spent around an hour at the airport I didn’t really have too much time to explore it. Since I’ll be spending more time at the airport on the return flight, I’ll post about the lounge once I get back to Kuwait. So instead, I’m going to post about the flight from Istanbul to New York.

The total travel time from Istanbul to New York is around 10 hours and 50 minutes and we flew in their Boeing 777-300ER V2. The business class setup on this flight was the latest one which is made up of just 4 rows split up as 2-3-2. One of the first people to greet you once you enter the business class is the chef which kinda sets a level of expectation on the kind of food you’ll be served during the flight. There’s obviously a ton of legroom in business class and it’s needed since the chairs turn into 180 degree flat beds. I wasn’t sure at first if they would be true 180 degree “flat beds” or instead be “lie flats” which are seats that turn flat but are slightly angled. I’ve experienced lie flats on two other airlines and they’re not as easy to sleep in and I always feel like I’m going to slide off them. Thankfully, the Turkish Airlines seats were proper flat beds which made sleeping really cozy.

Since the flight was long we were served two meals, one around an hour after take off while the other around 2 hours before arrival. The chef handled everything related to the food including handing out the menus which I noticed were customized with our names. It’s a little thing but gives the meals a very personal touch. The first meal we started off with were light appetizers which they rolled out on a trolley. You just tell the chef what you want and he’ll fill up your dish for you. Once we were done with the appetizers we were served soup which they only had one option called the traditional Turkish wedding soup. I had it and it tasted kinda like the Lebanese dish called “kebbeh bi laban” and that’s probably because think they both involve the same elements, beef and some sort of creamy sauce. After that we were presented with three options for main course, Swordfish Brochette, Grilled Beef Tournedos or Artichoke Ravioli. I went with the beef, Nat with the fish. She didn’t end up liking her fish much but I loved the beef. Once we were done with lunch they rolled out the dessert trolley which had a lot of different goodies. I was pretty full so I just went with ice cream. For my second meal later on in the flight I had a pasta dish and it was also superb.

The flight was very comfortable and I didn’t have any issues falling asleep on the flat bed. I’m actually not sure how I can fly economy knowing how much more comfortable it is in business. On short flights it’s not as important but when you’ve only slept for 3 hours and you get on board a 10 hour flight, the thought of being able to fall asleep comfortably on a cushy bed is priceless. Actually not priceless, just a lot more expensive than economy. We had large screens in front of us with a ton of movies and tv shows to watch. One disappointing thing was the fact internet access wasn’t active yet and was still “coming soon” according to the message I got on the screen when trying to access it. On the other hand they did have live news feeds available. Power sockets and USB sockets were available of course. If you have a USB stick or hard drive loaded up with movies you can watch them on your seats screen via the USB port. Not sure what movie formats their media player handles but I would be safe and not take any 720p or 1080p movies with me.

There’s an episode of Seinfeld where Jerry and Elaine’s flights get cancelled and they had to rebook on another flight. They end up finding two seats left, one in first class and the another in economy. Jerry explains to Elaine how she should take the economy seat since she’s never flown first and really wouldn’t miss anything but he on the other hand has and so he could no longer fly economy. Well that’s me right now, next time I fly economy I’m going to be thinking about all the cool things I’m missing from business.

Looks like we’ve got an advantage over Dubai when it comes to our sewage structure? According to an article on BoingBoing, most of the skyscrapers in Dubai aren’t connected to the sewage network and trucks actually need to come and empty the sewage from the buildings manually. [Link]

Score
Kuwait 3* – Dubai 3,204

*We got the first point when Dubai blocked flickr and the second point when malls in Dubai started telling people what to wear

I just saw this video on iLSuL6ana’s blog of the flood that happened in Kuwait back in 1997. Whenever I tell new comers about it they keep thinking I’m exaggerating. It really was that bad. [YouTube]

My hotel is conveniently located 5 minutes away from the Madison Avenue Shake Shack branch so I passed by last night for dinner. I ordered a double shack, a plain single cheeseburger, fries, a regular sized coke and a bottle of water. The bill came out to around $18 which if I’m not mistaken is cheaper than Kuwait. Taste wise I have to say the NY Shake Shack tastes better than the Kuwait one. The patty tastes less greasy, the veggies taste better (the onions were delicious) and the fries were crunchy crispy which I love.

Looks like Potbelly, Pinkberry and Starbucks inside the Duty Free at the Kuwait Airport isn’t opening anytime soon.

Teenager dies in Salmiya mall gang fight
A 19-year-old Iranian died of chest wounds and two other youths, including an Egyptian expatriate were severely injured in a bloody fight among some 80 individuals at a famous shopping complex in Salmiya area.

The youths are said to have used batons, knives and other sharp objects to attack each other and the injured people were left behind, bleeding profusely, while other members of the feuding party managed to escape at the sight of police. Even so, about 20 of them were taken into custody when paramedics referred the three injured people to the Mubarak Hospital for medical care. Later on, the Iranian died of internal bleeding. A case has since been registered for investigation.

Meanwhile, another group of youths engaged in a quarrel at the same commercial complex over a girl, resulting in severe injuries to a citizen of Kazakhstan and a Jordanian. The injured people were taken to the Mubarak Hospital by paramedics arriving at the scene with security operatives. A case was registered.

In yet another incident, two Kuwaiti juveniles suffered injuries in different places of their bodies, as they fought with six other juveniles at a public garden in Rumaithiya. Paramedics sent the injured citizens to the Mubarak Hospital, while securitymen referred the other juveniles to Juvenile Prosecution for investigation. [Source]

Rowdy youths harass, strip 3 girls naked in Hawalli mall
The Nugra police have arrested two youths, both believed to be criminals, for eve-teasing and tearing the clothes of three Arab girls because they did not give in to their mischief, at a shopping mall, reports Al-Watan Arabic daily.

According to eyewitness reports the youths were constantly harassing the victims and the latter criticized them in front of the people. The youths got annoyed and allegedly tore off the clothes of the girls, following which they screamed for help when they were left with only undergarments on. Someone called the police and the suspects have been taken into custody. [Source]

If these two horrifying incidents aren’t enough to have malls rethink their security then I’m not sure what is.

The large screen outside Al Hamra Tower was on as I passed by probably being tested out. Last week I noticed the tower lights were being tested out and the whole building was blinking and changing colors. Is it normal that every tower popping up in Kuwait now has it’s own light show taking place at night?

Earlier today I passed by the newly revamped Kuwait Science Club RC track near 360 Mall. I was the only one there so I managed to take the picture above of the track completely empty. It’s really huge and pretty difficult to race around at least for a newbie like me. There are some very cool jumps that had my car flying off the ground except the jumps usually ended with a sharp right turn so my car would end up flying off the course. Still lots of fun and I didn’t damage anything. I shot a video which I’ll try to post later tonight but for now you can check out a large panorama of the track by visiting this [Link]

I remember Tommy being open in Marina Mall around 7 years back but they weren’t doing good (I heard) and they shut down. Now it looks like they’re reopening again but this time at 360 Mall. Their new location is right next to Signor Sassi in place of Yo Sushi! and also right next to Mango.

Interestingly the brand doesn’t seem to be owned by Alshaya anymore. When Tommy was previously open in Kuwait Alshaya had the brand but, I just checked out the Alshaya website and there is no sign of Tommy Hilfiger so it looks like it’s opening under new ownership.

The Tamdeen Group’s headquarters is featured in this months issue of Middle East Interiors. I just read the article on their website and thought it was great that companies today appreciate and spend on good design but for some odd reason the article online features tiny thumbnails. So although the office sounds great you can’t really see all the goodness.

Maybe someone from Tamdeen can email me some larger photos (and more photos if available) so I could post them here? Check out the article [Here]

via

Update: Here is a link with around 20 pictures including the ones above in a larger size [Link]

Last night Qaiss, the owner of Digumz called me up and he told me he wanted to offer my readers a limited time deal on the occasion of Eid. After a bit of discussion we agreed on a deal that would be cool for my readers while still being fair to him. Starting today and for 3 days only he’s reduced the KD15 monthly membership price down to just KD10. The offer is available starting from now and for the following days:

Thursday, November 3rd
Friday, November 4th
Saturday, November 5th

KD10 a month will allow you to rent as many video games as you would like as long as its one video game at a time. Your membership will also continue to renew at the special offer price of KD10 a month and not KD15. If you’re interested, here is the link to sign up [Link]

Franklin Marshall opened up yesterday (I think) at the Avenues Phase II opposite Paul Smith.

I was also at Marina Mall last night and noticed SuperDry is opening up in place of where Diesel was located.

Finally some sad news, it seems my favorite Japanese restaurant in Kuwait Kei will not be reopening at Marina Crescent and instead Nestle Toll House will be opening in its place. Originally Kei closed down for renovation but they then gave half their shop to Columbus Cafe Caribou Coffe and it seems now they’ve given the other half to Nestle Toll House. They still have their JW Marriott location but I preferred the Marina Crescent branch since it was right next to my house.

Toll House picture by Mohammed

Bianca the owner of Early Bird is starting a new YouTube show called Bird Talk in which she will be video blogging about things to do in Kuwait other than the usual ones. I’m not a fan of video blogs but the trailer above looks pretty damn good and if her shows are going to look like that then I’m definitely going to watch them. [YouTube]

via Blogyac

Update: Found the video below in their channel and I think it’s their first episode.

[YouTube]