Search: “kuwait”

I don’t know why we don’t have this at McDonalds in Kuwait. We were running late this morning so I passed by McDonalds for a quick breakfast and found something called the McGriddle which I decided to try out. Turns out the buns are made with something that tastes like pancakes with maple syrup. So with one sandwich you’re getting pancakes, eggs, cheese and sausage. It was delicious! [Link]

I ended up finding a Magnolia Bakery branch that didn’t have a long line outside and so decided to try it. I have no idea what all the fuss is about since everything I tried turned out to be average. I ordered some chocolate chip cookies, a chocolate cake and some cupcakes and they turned out to be extremely sweet and very average tasting. We’ve got better dessert in Kuwait.

One of my favorite hobby shops in Kuwait which is the Tamiya dealer was featured on TV. You can check it out above. [YouTube]

Before I got to New York I had read about this stand people were buying for their iPad that was very cheap. It’s not really an iPad stand, it’s a business card holder from Office Depot that someone had realized works perfectly as an iPad stand. I passed by Office Depot in Kuwait and they didn’t carry it there so I passed by Office Depot here in New York where I ended up finding a few still in stock.

They had 10 left and I took them all so I could pass to my friends. How much does it cost? just 62 cents!

Due to the great success of the video Abu Halifa 1988, they’ve released the sequel, Fahaheel in 1988. [YouTube]

Thanks Simon

I passed by Madison Square Garden around 3:30PM for lunch to try out Shake Shack. When I got there it turned out there was a very long line so I stood in it and waited. 40 minutes later I got to the front of the line and it was my turn to order. I decided to go with one single Shack Burger for Nat, a double Shack Burger for me, two fries and two cokes. The bill came out around $21 and I sat down at a table and waited again until it was my turn to pick up my order.

I picked up my order around 10 minutes after that and it looked delicious. I love the way they serve the food in a carton box. I took a few pictures quickly and started eating. The burger was delicious. But was it worth the 40 minute wait? Don’t think so. I mean its a good burger but 40 minutes just to order?? According to the person in line behind me their lines are usually even longer! I guess everyone here is used to waiting in line so 40 minutes is probably nothing to them. I waited 30 minutes at the Apple Store just to pay for some items and I saw people waiting in line outside Abercrombie & Fitch to get in as well. Lines are part of everyday life here.

Now the Shake Shack seating area is also as impressive as their burgers. Since it’s in the park, the seating area reminded me a lot of the beer gardens in Munich except here you had beer AND burgers, they’ve got the Germans beat with that. In any case I can’t wait for Shake Shack to open up in Kuwait. I just hope there won’t be a line like at Pinkberry…

Here is a picture of the line outside Abercrombie & Fitch.

I flew over to New York via Qatar Airways. I didn’t have many options since I was looking for an airline that would fly non-stop from the GCC to New York. My two best options were Qatar Airways and Emirates with the later costing a lot more. The flight from Kuwait to Qatar was around and hour and it had to be on one of the worst planes ever. There was no legroom, I have no idea how I managed to fit in my seat. The legroom was so bad I couldn’t even put my small bottle of water in the seat pocket in front of me because I my knees were hitting it. The flight was packed but luckily it was just an hour. Once we landed to Qatar we had to go through airport security. Because it was nearly boarding time for my second flight they had a fast track lane for us which was great. Once done we got to our gate only to realize we had to go through a second more intense checkpoint but that was fine since we had plenty of time to spare.

The Doha-NY plane was a lot bigger off course and newer. Its the Boeing 777-330 ER and it was equipped with a pretty cool and fast entertainment system with USB ports on the seats. They had over 200 on demand movies ranging from new stuff like Avatar and The Book of Eli to classics like Bullitt, Raging Bull and North by Northwest. They also had over 200 episodes of various TV Shows. I didn’t watch anything on their entertainment system since I had my Archos 7 with me preloaded with over a months worth of my favorite shows (I stopped watching everything once I booked my tickets and have been saving them for this trip).

The legroom was pretty good and I never felt uncomfortable. The plane took off at 8AM and I was able to quickly fall asleep since I hadn’t slept all evening. I woke up at various times during the flight but overall it was a lot more comfortable than I was expecting my trip to be.

OK be prepared for the best post yet on this blog…

I was talking to a friend of mine about Salmiya in the 80s and one thing led to another and I was telling him how strong a brand Tikka was back then. I was telling him about the “I like it spicy” guy (pictured above) and the Tikka commercials and how if you asked anyone who grew up in Kuwait back in the 80s they would remember the commercial and even sing you the jingle. It became a classic like the Pizza Italia and Hungry Bunny commercials.

Anyway I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be cool to find out who the “I like it spicy” guy was, what happened to him and how he looked like today? Well guess what… After a bit of research and digging around I found out who he was.

The actor who played the “I like it spicy” character was Galal Zaki. He wasn’t an actor, he worked in the ad agency that came up with the idea. Like Alfred Hitchcock, Galal liked to star in his own work and that’s how he ended up becoming the Tikka guy. the picture below is of Galal Zaki which I found on Google and is dated 2007. Although a lot older now you can still see some resemblance.

Today Galal Zaki is the CEO of Perception Communication in Egypt. He was also recently awarded the Rameh IAA Lifetime Achievement Award.

Update: Here is an old Tikka commercial. It’s not the famous one but its better than nothing…

[YouTube]

Update2: And here is the more popular one…

[YouTube]

I guess the gelatin issue isn’t really an issue.

Over the weekend I found out about a cool real estate website called Masahati that actually works pretty well. There are a ton of websites dealing with real estate in Kuwait but the majority are either outdated, don’t work right or just too complicated to use. Masahati, although doesn’t contain a lot of apartments right now is actually very enjoyable and fun to use.

There are a variety of ways to use the site but I like using it with the map of Kuwait. You scroll around on the map and when there is an apartment for rent it shows up as a 3D icon which you can click and get more info. The search can be customizable and if you don’t like the map view you can flip through available apartments in a list view, thumbnails view or even a photo flow. Hopefully with more exposure they can get more popular and add more apartments. Check out the website [Here]

Update: Here is a link to their facebook group [Link]

Animal Friends is holding a fundraiser quiz night on Friday 14th May at the Movenpick Al-Bida’a. A quiz night is like a trivia night. There are about 10 teams of five and they have 6 rounds of questions, ranging from general knowledge, sports, music etc. The cost is a 10KD and this includes a buffet dinner.

When: Friday 14th May
Time: 6.30pm
How much: KD10 donation per person Includes prizes and dinner
RSVP by 13th May
Teams of up to six people
Please email your team details to [email protected] or call 9737 7867

All proceeds go to help rebuild the K’S PATH animal shelter in Wafra

I was supposed to post this a few days ago but completely forgot sorry about that. Call them today if you’re interested. Here is the flyer [Link]

Seems the dance off is on. Last week I posted a video of local McDonalds employees doing a pretty impressive dance routine and this week Caribou Coffee have their own video up. So which video is better? McDonalds without a doubt. Lets wait and see who will challenge them next. [YouTube]

[YouTube]

I just found out about EoS. Seems like they’re a cool local group that bring in international DJ’s to Kuwait and set up parties. They’re pretty organized with a website that contains information, pictures and even a blog. The video above is of one of their latest parties but check out their website for more details.

I guess this could be counted as an activity if you can get an invite? [Link]

Update: Wow, according to their DJ list they’ve even brought EL DJETTE to Kuwait!

Sidekick Academy have a self defense program for women called Be-Safe. Nat was telling me there weren’t any activities for women and this is one of the first activities I thought of as a response. It’s indoor and it sounds like something fun and educational. Their lessons are twice a week and are a mixture of striking, Jiu-Jitsu and self defense. They’ve got a newly opened 1000m2 training facility right behind Tilal Complex and their prices are very reasonable. It’s KD45 per month and their lessons are every Sunday and Tuesday Monday and Wednesday from 5 to 6pm. The classes are for women only.

I first found out about Sidekick Academy when they brought UFC legend Royce Gracie to Kuwait for a 3 day seminar. There’s and amazing team behind Sidekick Academy that are trying to do something really great here in Kuwait. Visit their website for more information on all their programs. [Link]

Getting an international driving license in Kuwait has to be one of the easiest things to do. It’s a very simple 15 minute process. There is more than one place in Kuwait to get this done but I went to an office that was located in Kuwait City, in the same building as Centro Electronics on the first floor. It’s on the corner right behind Souk Al Kabeer and the office is called Gulf Automobile Association.

All you need is a photocopy of your current Kuwaiti driving license (back and front), your civil ID copy (back and front), your passport copy (photo+name page). You also need two photos (3×6 size) and KD10. The international driving license costs KD8 and they charge you KD2 as a service fee.

Once you pass by the GAA office you give them the papers, they fill out a form and then ask you to wait a few minutes for them to type it up. Ten minutes later you leave with an international driving license. Pretty sweet. They’re open from 8:30AM to 1PM and then from 4:30PM to 8PM. For directions on how to get there, here is the [Map]