Search: “kuwait”

When I posted my water review I wasn’t expecting much interest. I just did it because I thought it would be something fun but the response was much more than I was expecting. A lot of you requested I add more details like the sodium content or where the water comes from so I went ahead and did that. I just finished a long and very cold session in front of my fridge tasting all the water and taking down notes. Since the last review I went and purchased some more water brands and I think I managed to get one bottle from everything available in the market except for the bakala waters (random unknown brands you won’t see anywhere else).

For each bottle of water I’ve now written what kind of water it is, where it’s from, the sodium content and the taste. Water to me should have no taste but some brands (like the bakala ones) have a strange flavor for some odd reason. So when you read “none” keep in mind that’s a good thing.

Finally before I share the results, most of these brands of water can be found at your regular super markets except for the following:

10 Thousand BC and Icelandic Glacial are only available at Dean & Deluca.
Fiji I’ve seen only at Dean & Deluca and sometimes at Sultan Center.
TSC, O2GO and Metro Mint only available only at Sultan Center.
Isbre isn’t available anywhere yet but will be released in the Kuwaiti market this March.

The review did reveal some surprises. The biggest for me was TSC. Turned out to be bottled in Lebanon and contains only 2.3mg of sodium. I think TSC could actually be re-branded Rim water since both are bottled in Lebanon and both contain the exact same amount of Sodium. But that’s just my theory. Between locally produced water the two I would choose over other brands are Arwa and AlRwadatain. From the more expensive brands Highland Spring seems to be the best deal and also contains just 6mg of sodium. Check out the results below.

Over the weekend I picked up an iJacket while I was shopping in Bahrain. I originally posted about it back in 2007 and then totally forgot about it until I saw it at the store.

Firstly just to be clear, I got the jacket because the jacket looks good. I was not interested in the iPod connectivity, thats just an extra benefit for me but not the reason I bought the jacket. I am not the type of person that walks around listening to music and so I won’t be using the controls on the jacket a lot. Now since I did get the jacket and I do own a number of iPods I figured I might as well give my feedback.

The iPod has a special transparent and water proof pocket on the inside of the jacket. There is a regular iPod connector in that pocket and you connect your ipod to it. The pocket also has a small opening for your headphone cable to pass through. The controls on the jacket sleeve are fairly basic, volume up and down, pause/play forward and reverse. The idea is that when its cold outside you don’t want to unzip your jacket and pull out your iPod every time you want to perform a simple command and that’s where the controls on your sleeve come to play. Without unzipping your jacket or removing your gloves you can control your iPod by just touching the buttons on the sleeve. Although I call them buttons they’re not really buttons. The part of the sleeve where the buttons are located feels exactly the same as any other part of the sleeve. No bulge or anything of that sort just the shapes of the buttons imprinted on the sleeve.

When I first tried using the controls I thought I had a malfunctioning jacket since the buttons didn’t work. Then I found out that the jacket auto-locks the controls after 8 seconds of no use and to unlock the controls you have to hold down on the unlock button for 5 seconds. That’s the biggest issue I have with the jacket… the auto-lock feature. It makes the jacket unpractical. Imagine you’re listening to music and then a friend wants to tell you something. To pause the iPod you need to hold down on the unlock button for 5 seconds and then hit the pause button. So it takes at least 6 seconds to pause the iPod which is silly. You know how sometimes one track plays a lot louder than others? Well you need to wait 5 seconds for the buttons to unlock before you could quickly lower the volume to a decent listening level.

That’s why I’m giving the jacket a 2 out of 5. The auto-lock feature is the dumbest idea ever. There is no reason to have it since I can’t imagine the buttons being pressed accidentally unless someone grabs you from your arm and how often does that happen? I’ve already emailed Zegna asking if there is a way to disable the auto-lock but I doubt there is. As a jacket the iJacket is very comfortable and great looking. As an iPod controller it sucks big time because the auto-lock makes it impossible to use. Now a cool feature I would use a lot if it was included would be iPod/iPhone charging. I know there are a few jackets out there that do that but currently the iJacket doesn’t which sucks. I’m hoping if there will ever be an iJacket 2.0 it will.

I noticed the Google Kuwait page now has a Kuwait Occasion Google logo on top. Google changes the logo on special occasions and when you click on those occasion logos you get information about that event. On clicking the Google Kuwait logo you get a search for “Kuwait’s National Day”. I think someone at Google mixed up the dates. The Kuwait occasion Google logo should be online Feb 25 and 26 but by mistake is online January 25 and 26. Unless there is some occasion today I am not aware of… [Link]

Update: Looks like I was right, it was a mistake. Google just removed the occasion logo and put back the regular Google one.

I’ve decided to start documenting the different types of bus stops around Kuwait. Why? Because I am pissed off. I really love the old bus stops which we still have lying around randomly in different parts of Kuwait not being taken care of and left to wither away. The new bus stops on the other hand… it’s just very depressing. In any case I don’t know what I am going to do yet with this, I took some test shots yesterday just to see if there is something in this project and I think there is. What I need is some help. Does anyone have any information about the bus stops in Kuwait, like who designed which ones or the dates the different designs were introduced in Kuwait?

Last night I was invited to sneak peek a new trendy Italian restaurant called MELENZANÈ. It’s a local creation by two young Kuwaitis who put a great deal of time and effort to create what has to be the most bizarre looking restaurant I’ve seen. The concept is based around mistakes and so you have chairs that are upside down or missing legs, tables on the ceiling, tables crawling up the walls, bottles hanging out of upside down drawers.. just a completely unusual and strange setup. Very cool and it caught me by surprise since when I had checked their website before visiting the place I got the impression it was a classic Italian restaurant. Instead, I got greeted by what an Italian restaurant would look like if it was based in Alice in Wonderland.

They’re still finalizing the dishes but from what I saw and tried, they have a wide range of things to choose from and the prices seemed very reasonable. They’re not open yet but they will next month once the new Bidaa extension opens up which by the way looks amazing. I wanted to take more pictures of the restaurant but the place was dim inside so I only managed to get a few decent ones which you can see below. You can check the MELENZANÈ website but it looks and sounds nothing like the actual place. The mood, colors and music are completely different. Seriously ignore everything especially the cheesy Italian music, when I was there they were playing very cool lounge music and that’s what they will be playing generally. Here is the [Link]

The Ahmadi Music Group with Kuwait Jazz Collective present the musical production of Gideon.

Gideon recounts the ancient story of the boyish warrior-prophet who rises from obscurity as the “youngest in the poorest family in the smallest tribe” of all his people. He assembles an army to defeat the Midanite oppressors, who are “like grasshoppers for multitude”. His untrained army approach their enemy under cover of darkness, holding no weapons, but only a dish, a lantern, and a trumpet. On his signal, they break the dishes, wave the lanterns, and blow the trumpets, causing confusion and panic among Midanites, and gaining a great victory. Gideon then reigns as a righteous judge for forty years.

The Ahmadi Music Group are made up of 60 plus singers from many different nationalities here in Kuwait. They will be playing at the Tarek Al Ali Theater in Maidan Hawalli. I honestly hadn’t heard of them before today neither did I know there was a theater in Maidan Hawalli so all this sounds very exciting. Should be an interesting event to go to.

They will be playing on the following dates:
7:00PM Monday 25th, January 2010
7:00PM Tuesday 26th, January 2010
7:00PM Wednesday 27th, January 2010

For tickets call 66184192
You can visit their website for more information on the group plus a map to the theater. [Link]

Animal Friends and K’S PATH will be hosting its bi-annual Shelter Open Day where everyone is invited to come out, visit with the animals and learn all about their rescue and care. Visitors will be able to walk the dogs, cuddle the cats, play with the puppies, brush the donkeys, watch the baboons and so much more. The weather is beautiful, so come and make a day of it.

When: Friday 29 January, 2010, 11:00am to 3pm
Where: Animal Friends Shelter and K’S PATH sanctuary in Wafra
Cost: Free, although we certainly appreciate donations
Notes: Please leave your own pets at home and refreshments will be available for sale.

Huge Yard Sale — antiques, collectibles, book worm’s treasure trove, gently used infant clothing and toys, gently used adult clothes and shoes, Indonesian teak furniture, home wares, gourmet kitchen gadgets, dishes, pots and pans and so much more. Come on over and rummage through the goods and you might find a treasure. All funds will go to support Animal Friends.

When: Saturday 6 February, 2010, 10:00am to 3pm
Where: Fintas, Block 4, Street 11, House 29
Notes: Refreshments will be available for sale.

I just found an article with pictures of The Avenues Phase III and it looks completely different from Phase I and Phase II… and in a good way. The picture above is one of the shots and the caption talks about how it was designed to look like an outdoor space while the picture below is supposed to be a section that’s modeled on a traditional Kuwaiti souk and would contain an exhibit for the rich cultural heritage of Kuwait. Check out the article for more details and pictures. [Link]

I got an email yesterday from someone at Aston Martin and one thing led to another and I was invited to test drive one of their cars. So, after work I passed by the dealership which is located in the same place where Auto City used to be before they closed down. When I walked in I was completely surprised at how big the dealership was. According to them its actually the largest Aston Martin dealership in the world which I thought was pretty cool. The dealership is divided into three floors. On the top floor they have a collection of vintage Aston Martins including a very rare station wagon and an Aston Martin DB5 similar to the one from the James Bond movie Goldfinger. One the ground floor they have a large display of new cars and also a small Aston Martin boutique while the basement contained some pre-owned vehicles. After the tour I was finally led to my test vehicle, the Aston Martin Vantage. Sigh… what a beautiful car.

After a quick tour of how everything works I took off for a drive. The first thing I needed to get used to was the speedometer. With my Wrangler, when the speedometer needle is up in the middle it means I am going 100KM/h. In my Z4 when the speedometer is up in the middle it means I am going around 140KM/h. In the Aston Martin when the needle is pointing straight up you’re going 300KM/h. So I was driving thinking I was going maybe 60 or 80KM/h because the needle was still very low but then I took a look at the number next to the needle and I wish I could say how fast I was going but I don’t think I can without getting into trouble. It was very cool. Another thing I liked about the car is that it’s pretty quiet and comfortable when driving normally but as soon as you hit 4000RPM it turns into a beast like a werewolf under a full moon. Actually I think that’s what I liked most about the car, its a very comfortable day to day car when you want it to be and then step on it and you’re suddenly in a loud and aggressive sports car. I now totally understand why Jeremy Clarkson loves the Aston Martins so much.

Just before I took the car back to the dealership I decided to pass by the Avenues parking lot to take some pictures. I wish I had the car for at least a day or even a weekend but I am not going to be too greedy. They did promise me that I would get to test drive their other cars as well. So maybe the DB9 next and then a DBS after that.

Anyway if you want to check out their cars they will be on display at the Concours d’Elegance which I posted about 2 weeks back. The Concours d’Elegance is going to be held at Marina Mall and Crescent from the 20th to the 23rd. The Aston Martins will be on display near Le Notre. It’s the first time the Concours d’Elegance is being held in Kuwait so don’t miss out.

Update: Forgot to mention but the One-77 was in Kuwait 2 weeks ago!

I love burgers and I’m glad my new nutrition plan includes burgers once a week because I don’t think I could have stuck to a plan that didn’t allow room for burgers. This past weekend I headed to 360 Mall for the Gulf Run 5 car show but first I decided to have lunch at The Meat Co. I had been wanting to try their burgers ever since my first visit but I never got the chance until now. I have to say, this was the hardest burger to review and I’ll explain why below.

I got to The Meat Co. early and decided to sit on the balcony overlooking Life with Cacao and Lorenzo. The friendly waiter gave me the menu and I flipped right away to their burger section. They had 6 burgers to choose from, the Classic Burger, the Cheese Burger, the Gourmet Burger (who the hell puts pineapple on a burger, totally gross), Rib Meat Burger, Lamb Burger and Chicken Burger. I went with the Cheese Burger although next time I will most probably go with their Rib Meat Burger and then maybe their Lamb Burger after that. I ordered my burger medium which is cool because when I first started this burger challenge I used to have my burgers well done but then as I started reading more about burgers and really getting into it I started having it medium well. To move to medium is a step in the right direction although I don’t think I would have a medium burger just anywhere.

The burger arrived and it looked beautiful. The shape, the size, the way everything was very tidy it just looked like the perfect burger. I took my first bite and in under a minute or two max I had finished the burger. It was the healthiest burger I’ve ever had and I’m talking about the actual beef patty here. It just tasted like it was made with really great quality meat. It wasn’t heavy, it didn’t have a bad after taste, it wasn’t fatty and it was very light on the stomach. It had the makings of a perfect burger which is why it was very difficult to review. There was very little flavor. It was lacking oomph which is why maybe next time I would get rid of the vegetables and put some mustard to see if that helps.

If I want to be extra nitpicky I would talk about how I am not a big fan of powdery buns but I in this case it didn’t bother me that much. My burger was very juicy and the bun didn’t have any trouble holding up, it didn’t get soggy which is always great. Speaking of juiciness, my burger arrived medium well instead of medium but that was fine. The final score is going to be a 4 out of 5. I would highly recommend it, it’s a near perfect classic burger. At KD5.500 its actually a steal.

The Meat Co. is located in 360 Mall
The cost of the Cheese Burger was KD5.500

Here are the burger places I’ve reviewed so far:
Applebee’s
Bredz
Burger Boutique
Fuddruckers
Hashi
Gaucho Gril
Gourmet Burger Kitchen
Johnny Rockets
Munch
Napket
Papa John’s Burgers
Prime & Toast
Ruby Tuesday
Slider Station
Sheraton Hotel
Smoke House
The Burger Hub
The Butcher Shop
The Little Oven
Wimpy

I spotted an Alfa Romeo 8C on the Gulf Road today and it looked stunning. Usually some cars look really sexy in pictures but then when you see them in person they’re so so but in this case the 8C looks gorgeous in the pictures and even better in person. I know the Alfa Romeo dealership shutdown in Kuwait so I am guessing the guy imported the car so I wonder where it gets serviced? Then again, if you can afford to import a $230,000 car you probably fly in a mechanic.

I’ve had the Canon G11 for just over a month now and after using it practically on a daily basis. I did a lot of research before choosing to go with the G11 and I don’t regret my decision. I have mostly great things to say about this camera and will go through the different categories one by one.

Battery Life
I got my Canon G11 on December 11th and I charged it that same day. Its now January 15th and I still haven’t charged the camera since then. Not only that but the battery meter is still showing that the battery is full. This is perfect because it means when I travel I don’t need to pack the charger or buy an extra battery.

Usability and Feel
The camera doesn’t fit in my pocket so I spend most of the time either carrying it in my hand or in my bag if I am carrying one. It comes with a strap but it isn’t long enough to wear across the shoulder just around the neck which isn’t practical for me. The camera feels very solid and it’s also a bit heavy so it gives it a very durable feel. I love the dials on top and I use them a lot. I always keep the camera on “P” (Program Mode) which automatically adjusts the aperture and shutter speed but control the exposure (make the shot brighter or darker) I use the dial on the left to control that. On the right there are two other dials, one for the ISO which I also use a lot and the second to swap between the different programs. Other than the regular programs which you find on most cameras like aperture priority, shutter priority, automatic mode etc.. there are two custom modes called C1 and C2. These two positions contain your custom camera settings. For example I have C1 set the camera to “P”, change the format of the image to JPG, the dimensions to wide shot and the color setting to vivid. That’s the mode I use mostly when taking shots for my blog. C2 on the other hand sets the camera to “P” but then changes the image format to RAW+JPG and at full resolution (not wide). I use that setting in case there is a beautiful shot I want to capture at the highest quality. There are a ton of other settings you could also set for each mode as well but I won’t get into them here. I really wish my Nikon D90 had a custom mode feature and dials on top to control the iso and exposure.

Image Quality
It’s great for a point and shoot camera but no competition next to a good DSLR. The noise at fairly high ISO’s is pretty decent and I find myself often using ISO800 with no worries about the image coming out noisy with ISO1600 also being very usable. The only issue I have is with the white balance. Sometimes when indoors the images come out a bit too cold for my taste and that’s actually the only issue I have with the camera.

Swivel Screen
One of the coolest features in the camera for me is the swivel screen. It allows me to take pictures without having to hold the camera up to my face. I also like the fact that when the camera is not in use I fold the screen to face inwards which protects the screen while in my bag. For people who don’t like the swivel feature they can rotate the screen towards them and fold it in and keep it that way like a regular camera.

So overall I really love this camera. There were a lot of occasions where I wished I had purchased the Panasonic GF1 but in the end I realized the reason I got the Canon G11 is to use for my blog and when I travel and the GF1 although a great camera isn’t as practical (and also twice more expensive). I highly recommend this camera to anyone that is looking for small highly controllable and fully featured camera. I am going to give it a 4.5 out of 5, it looses points for the white balance issue I faced and the fact that it doesn’t fit in my jeans pocket.

If you’re interested in this camera it’s available in Kuwait for KD228 but I purchased mine from Amazon for just KD127.
Here is the link to the Canon G11 on Amazon [Link]

After my session at Core Fitness I passed by the Al Falah car wash in Kuwait City where the Gulf Run cars were getting all nice and shiny and having their sponsors decals stuck. I took a few pictures which you can check out below and a video which I will post later be.

[YouTube]

I was at the Al Falah car wash for the Gulf Run event when I noticed that the Al Tijaria building or what I used to call the monolith now has blinking lights that also change color. It looked like it was ready to party. [YouTube]

So I passed by Core Fitness today for my assessment. I figured it would be a Q&A session like How old are you? How tall are you? What is your favorite color? etc.. Turns out the first part of the assessment was getting my stats but then they got me started on the machines so they could see what weights I will be using and that session completely destroyed me. And the scary thing is my trainer said that wasn’t even a proper session and that its going to be a lot tougher when I start on Saturday. Freaky shit.

Note: I am going to get my stats on Saturday from them and post them here along with my nutrition plan.