Search: “kuwait”

There is a guy in Kuwait called Sa’ad who seems to be a pizza fanatic. He recently submitted his pizza ingredients to Serious Eats and ended up getting featured there which is pretty cool. You can check out the post and pictures by clicking this [Link]

via Slider Station

In Kuwait we’ve got the Facebook Cafe while in Lebanon it seems they have the Facebook Pub. Spotted this today in front of a nail salon called Hotnail.com (seriously).

A Bahraini blogger called Aysha was surprised to find out that not only did Al-Qabas newspaper steal one of her pictures and publish it in the newspaper but that the picture they stole was a picture of herself. She was completely shocked and surprised to find her picture plastered in Al-Qabas and now wonders if there is anything she can do. She has a full write up on her blog which you can check by clicking this [Link]

Sadly I doubt there is anything she can do about this and we all know this isn’t the first time that Al-Qabas uses pictures without permission.

Last month I posted about the indoor RC track that just recently got set up by the Kuwait Science Club and today I finally got to pass by and check it out. When I got there I met up with Nawaf from the Science Club who was setting up his car. He took me through the whole set up process step by step explaining how everything works. These tiny radio controlled cars work pretty much like our large cars with similar features. They even have tires with different softness and hardness like proper race cars.

Once we were done setting up the car he let me take it around the track. Some of the drivers there were averaging around 10 seconds a lap and I think I managed to break their record for the slowest lap ever. Once I get back from my vacation next week I’ll be taking my own car to the track at least once or twice a week since it’s like the perfect summer activity due to the fact the indoor track is air conditioned.

Now the exciting part is that this year I will be participating in their outdoor buggy practices and races which are held from October to March at their super large outdoor track next to 360 Mall. They will be teaching me everything there is to know from building a car to setting it up to racing it. I will be driving the Xray 808 which is the car I had my eye on last year (pictured above) so it should turn out to be a lot of fun.

For information on the Radio Control Car Club of Kuwait click [Here]

Update: If you’re interested in getting into this hobby you can call or SMS Nawaf on 99625805

So today I wore my Shake Shack t-shirt to the gym and on my way I took a picture and posted it on my twitter. To my surprise, one of my followers on twitter replied back telling me that Shake Shack will be opening in place of Le Pain Quotidien at Avenues. I quickly SMS’d my Alshaya insider to confirm and it turned out to be true.

Of course I was upset since I’ve been promoting Shake Shack ever since I first found out they were opening in Kuwait and instead of getting the information first from my insider, I ended up getting it from a twitter follower. My insider did tell me though that they were planning to have the branch open by end of the year and that I would get more information regarding that next week.

I also found out two more things, one is that they’re planning to open a second branch of P.F. Chang’s next to Al Corniche Club. My guess is they will probably open up where I Love Souk used to be located. Finally, I also found out that Pinkberry will be opening their Marina Mall branch before Eid next month. That’s everything I got for now.

A couple of weeks back one of the power plugs at home melted and started smoking. Luckily Nat was in the house at the time and smelled something burning and managed to turn off the plug before anything serious happened. A few days after that there was the fire incident that happened in my office building. Because of these two events I decided I should be “fire ready”.

I have a small fire cabinet in my apartment. I didn’t put it there, it came with the flat and it had 3 empty fire extinguishers inside which I never replaced or even threw out (they looked nice in the cabinet). I decided it was time I got them filled so I took the 3 empty canisters and headed to Rihab Complex in Hawalli. I had seen some fire supply stores on the first floor behind the video game stores and figured they would refill my canisters. Well, turns out although they do refill empty fire extinguisher bottles they wouldn’t refill mine since they were around 25 years old and so weren’t compatible with their machines.

So, I decided to get some new bottles. I figured they were going to cost me an arm and a leg but was completely surprised by how cheap the fire extinguishers turned out to be. There are two main types of extinguishers I found, powder and CO2 based ones. Both put out the same kind of fires but according to the salesman the powder one is cheaper but messier while the CO2 extinguishers cost more but don’t leave a mess. I ended up picking up two small 1KG powder fire extinguishers and one larger 2KG CO2 extinguisher from the shop pictured above. There are around 6 to 8 fire supply shops next to each other which means you can haggle on the price. The 1KG powder extinguishers cost KD2.5 each while the 2KG CO2 extinguisher costs KD8 (4KG powder costs KD8 as well), I picked three of them up for KD11.

So now you know where you can pick up fire extinguishers from and how much they cost so there really isn’t an excuse why you shouldn’t also be fire ready. I put one of the small extinguishers in Nat’s car since she didn’t have one (my car came with one) and I am now going to pick up a few more extinguishers this weekend for my parents home. Its better to be safe than sorry.

Looks like In-N-Out opened up in Lebanon before Kuwait.

Does anyone from Easa Husain Al-Yousifi & Sons co. (Panasonic dealer) read my blog? If yes I have a strange question. Around 6 years ago you had a stash of all video game systems on the top floor, far corner of your Kuwait City branch. Overnight the video game section closed and all the merchandise (Gameboy’s, Super Nintendos, Sega 32x’s etc..) where taken somewhere. My question is where is this stash now? If you can help [Email Me]

A reader emailed me an article in which Kuwait asks BlackBerry to block around 3000 porn sites so I went to myself what? I opened my browser on my BlackBerry and typed in playboy.com and hit go and guess what? It opened! Why didn’t anyone tell me about this before? I never knew I could access blocked sites on my BlackBerry.

Kuwait has asked BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM) to block pornographic sites though will not suspend services like other Gulf states have threatened to do, a local newspaper reported Tuesday.

RIM has given “initial approval” to block 3,000 porn sites at the request of Kuwait’s communications ministry, the al-Jarida daily said, quoting a source it did not identify by name.

It said the Canadian manufacturer asked the ministry to give it until the end of the year to implement the block.

It’s also good to know that the BlackBerry service won’t be blocked in Kuwait. Here is a link to the [Article]

Thanks Deborah

Dear Mark, Readers and Valued Kabab-ji Customers,

We would like to express our sincere respect and appreciation to the blog post comparing Kabab-ji with its competitors as well as the constructive feedback received by the blog readers.

At the start, the comparison shown within the initial blog post was misrepresented, we contacted Mark and he took the kind liberty to amend the post which is now accurate and resembles a fair comparison.

As mentioned within the amended blog post, it is true, we do focus and pride ourselves when it comes to high quality meats that are delivered to our customers at the highest quality standards.

We are passionate about our meat and care about where it comes from. We distinguish ourselves within Kuwait by utilizing Australian bobby veal meat which is an extremely tender & lean nutritious meat produced in South-Eastern Australia , inspected and certified for export by AQIS (Australian Government Quarantine and Inspection Service) and AUSMEAT (Meat-Standards Australia). No meat leaves Australia without accreditation and certification by the above bodies, on every shipment.

Being meticulously selected from Australia, our Hallal bobby veal meat is unbeatable in terms of quality. Most importantly, the animals used are growth hormone and antibiotic-free, are fed a vegetarian diet and of course, are humanely raised.

Furthermore, once the meat arrives to Kuwait, our production facility specialists handle it with utmost respect and attention to the BRC standards which is a leading global product safety and global certification program, which our production facilities strictly follow on a daily basis. You can read more about BRC on their website: https://www.brcglobalstandards.com/

In the end, yes, we may be a bit more expensive when it comes to our products, but our customers are also paying for unparalleled quality and flavour, with safety measures on a global standard.

Thank you once again for your initiative and we will do our best to continue offering our valued customers with the highest quality products and services.

We look forward to receiving feed forward from Kebab-ji fans and comments that can help us improve and better serve our valued customers.

Please do feel free to contact me directly on 97285651 or email me at [email protected]

Best Regards,

Miguel Angel Estevez- Gonzalez

KFG – Group
Director of Operations CD & IDD innovation Officer

I got a phone call today from someone at Kebabji regarding the comparison I did the other day. They told me instead of ordering 2 grilled meat tikka skewers for KD2.390 I could order their savings meal which comes with 3 skewers for KD2.595. They told me only then would it be a fair comparison. They also told me the reason their meat is more expensive is because it’s sourced from Australia. In any case I’ve now revised the review to reflect this new update.

As you can see with the chart below, even with this update Kebabji still provides the least amount of meat for the price. The picture above is also of the 3 skewers from Kebabji. I guess they’re focused on quality more than quantity.

Every night as part of my diet I am allowed to only eat grilled food and veggies. After the gym the most convenient thing for me to pick up is grills from either Turkish Grill, Kebabji or Villa Fayrouz Express. I usually call them from the gym parking lot and by the time I get to them the food is ready for me to pick up. Recently Kebabji increased their prices which annoyed me since their main competitors offered more for less. I decided to put up this post in hopes of someone from Kebabji reads this and realizes they need to go back to their old pricing.

Below are the three restaurants with some figures I took so I could compare them. The weight of the meat was calculated by placing just the meat on a digital scale and not the whole box. I ordered the exact same dishes from the three restaurants, grilled tikka meat and a side of tabbouleh.

Turkish Grill
Grilled Meat Tikka Cost: KD2.000
Pieces of meat: 15
Weight of meat: 175grams
Tabbouleh Cost: 600fils
Weight of tabbouleh: 272grams
Telephone: 25752565

Villa Fayrouz Express
Grilled Meat Tikka Cost: KD1.950
Pieces of meat: 19
Weight of meat: 196grams
Tabbouleh Cost: 850fils
Weight of tabbouleh: 508grams
Telephone: 25755527/32

Kebabji
Grilled Meat Tikka Cost: KD2.390
Pieces of meat: 12
Weight of meat: 66grams
Tabbouleh Cost: 950fils
Weight of tabbouleh: 295grams
Telephone: 1861616

I took the liberty to plug the figures above into a table for easier comparison. I highlighted the best prices and weight in green while I used red for the worst prices and weight. As you can see Villa Fayrouz Express surprisingly came out to be the best deal. I said surprisingly since between the three it’s actually the least fast foodish. Kebabji on the other hand didn’t fare too well. They had the most expensive prices and the least quantity.

Update: Thanks to a tip from a reader called Environmental, it turns out I can get the grilled tikka from Turkish Grill at half the price. You need to order the grilled meat tikka with “no service” and then the cost amounts to just 850 fils! You don’t get bread, veggies, pickles, hummus or a fancy box, just the meat wrapped in aluminum foil. Now the strange thing is I counted the pieces today and I got 25 pieces of meat, that’s 10 more from the regular which strikes me odd but hey I’m not complaining. That’s over a 50% savings, not bad at all. Below is a picture of the “no service” tikka.

If anyone from Turkish Grill reads this I have one comment, please install a Knet machine at your Salmiya branch. I don’t carry any cash with me most of the time so when I don’t have cash I usually head over to Villa Fayrouz since they accept Knet. There are no Knet machines on my way from the gym to your Salmiya branch.

Update2: It turns out Kebabji have a savings meal which gets you an extra skewer for around 200fils more. Below are the new updated details. Check the following link for more info on this [Link]

Kebabji
Grilled Meat Tikka Cost: KD2.595
Pieces of meat: 18
Weight of meat: 105grams
Tabbouleh Cost: 950fils
Weight of tabbouleh: 295grams
Telephone: 1861616

And here is the updated chart:

Posted by Fahad AlYehya | Core Fitness – Kuwait

I would first like to apologize for my long absence from the world of blogging and greatly appreciate all my supporting readers for being patient and understanding. Moreover, I’d also like to send my sincerest apologies to those of you who have emailed me but haven’t recieved a reply. I’d like to thank you all for putting up with my crap and style of writing, which by-the-way will only get worse. I’ve stated this a million times. If you’re not cool with my writing nature, then don’t read me. I should warn you, though; you’re going to miss out on some epic nutrition advice.

Before I begin preaching, I’d like to clarify how this guide will work:

1) I’ll list down all the basics of Ramadan eating and training to provide a brief understanding for the readers.

2) The reader will then post his/her goal, physical stats (height, weight, bf % if available) and Ramadan lifestyle (exercise timing, family gatherings, favorite/worst foods, etc).

3) I will then reply with a customized optimal plan for that reader’s goal

4) Other readers/haters who are too lazy to comment/hate can read/[go-kill-themselves] the Q&A’s below so that they may personally implement on their own.

The Q&A below will serve as a guide to unanswered questions anyone might have about Ramadan. Please refrain from emailing me since the goal of this post is to publicly educate through the written facts/opinions/experiences and the associated comments.

Credibility and Experience

It took me around 3 Ramadans to fully understand how my body works when it comes to losing fat and maintaining muscle when fasting. From eating small portions of food to indulging in every calorie dense food item, I’ve realized the only way to survive Ramadan is by doing the exact same thing.

1^st Attempt: I dieted in Ramadan, performing 30-60 minutes of cardio 2 hours prior to breaking my fast, and weight lifting 1 hour after a light futoor, followed by a light dinner and a light suhoor.

Result: Managed to lose 10kg in 1 month.

Damage: Managed to lose a lot of my hard earned muscle. Fail.

2^nd Attempt: I gorged on endless calories, weight-lifted with less intensity and did absolutely no cardio.

Result: Gained 5kg.

Damage: 5kg of fat; but I kept my muscle. Epic fail.

3^rd Attempt: Dieted 3 months prior to Ramadan (low calorie intake, 60 minutes of cardio, 30-45 minutes of weight-lifting). Stuck to the same level of calorie intake and workout-intensity in Ramadan, eliminated cardio completely.

Result: Nothing. Kept my muscle, maintained my superb condition.

Damage: Refer to the above. Boo-Yeah.

Tonight I was invited to a tasting at the soon to open Fatburger. I hadn’t had a Fatburger before and I honestly only heard about it around a year ago after watching the great documentary Hamburger America. In the documentary they spoke about various popular burger places in America and Fatburger was one of them.

I had the double burger tonight and thought it was great. It was juicy and meaty and I loved that. The senior vice president of Fatburger was there and he turned out to be a great guy in an incredibly colorful and flashy Hawaiian shirt. I meet a lot of burger lovers all the time but I’ve never met anyone into burgers more than me until today. The guy is just incredibly passionate about burgers and he’s been having burgers a lot longer than I’ve been alive. He knows it all and he’s seen it all. I mean he used to have Fatburger back in the 50s when they first opened so he was really there from the start.

Just a few interesting details I picked up from him. Since they want the local experience to be exactly like the US experience they’re importing all their ingredients from the US. That includes the beef, fries and even ketchup. The Heinz ketchup that’s regionally produced is different from the US version. The color is bright red while in the US its a dark red but most importantly the regionally produced Heinz is sweeter. Since they prefer the flavor of the US Heinz ketchup they’re importing it directly to Kuwait. Imagine that, they could have gone with the local Heinz but they’re instead getting it imported from the US. To me that shows how much they care. You’re going to have the exact same burger experience as if you walked into a Fatburger in LA.

If you’re interested in trying out their burgers they’re opening next week in Fintas at Spoons. It’s easy to find since its on the main Fintas sea side road opposite Pizza Express. Good stuff.

I got a forward in my email today that contained a picture I had taken at the Kuwait Airport back in 2005 (pictured above). I had spotted a sign that had been placed in front of a security camera and thought that was pretty stupid and took a picture of it. Now 5 years later, it’s become one of those “epic fail” kind of pictures that gets forwarded around. Pretty cool. [Link]