Search: “kuwait”

This is definitely definitely definitely one of my favorite ad campaigns ever. Burger King hired independent researchers to travel to remote places around the world and find people who have no clue what a McDonalds or Burger King is and who have never eaten a burger and then have them try both the Whopper and the Big Mac and see which one they preferred. Its pure GENIUS! Its a very short touching and entertaining documentary which you can watch on the Whopper Virgins site and although I hate Burger King in Kuwait I think I am going to go have a Whopper for lunch tomorrow.

I LOVE IT so watch it! [Link]

I’ve had this cookie recipe ever since I was in university and when used with proper ingredients it never failed me. Problem is I can’t find good chocolate chips in Kuwait. My favorite used to be Baker’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunks but all I can find in Kuwait are the Nestle and Hershey ones which suck. Anyway I baked some cookies today (used the Hershey chocolate chip) and I think they came out a 2.5 out of 5. I might be able to score a 3 if I use better brown sugar next time but it would still be a hopeless case without the proper chocolate. Maybe I should just order packs from Amazon..

My favorite cookie recipe

1 cup (2 sticks) (226 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup (150 grams) white sugar

1 1/4 cups (270 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 3/4 cups (525 grams) all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons (10 grams) baking soda

1 1/4 teaspoons (6 grams) baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups (375 grams) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 165 degrees celsius. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper (or use non stick cookie pans).

In a mixing bowl cream the butter. Add the sugars and beat until well combined. Beat in eggs one at a time making sure to beat well after each addition. Add vanilla and beat until incorporated.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and beat until just incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts, if using. The cookie mixture will be moist and hold together.

Using two tablespoons, drop about 2 tablespoons of dough (38 grams) on the prepared baking sheets. Do not flatten cookies. Bake on the center rack of oven for 12 minutes, or until golden brown and still soft when gently pressed.

Makes about 48 cookies.

I passed by My Toy a few hours ago and picked up a Tamiya Frog radio controlled buggy. Originally released in 1983 the Frog was re-released in 2006 and I think its one of the coolest looking buggies. Interesting fact, the largest off-road track in the world is currently being built in Kuwait. Check out this link for some pictures. [Link]

update: In case anyone is interested here is the phone number of My Toy 22256707

Last night I was checking out the Tamiya cars Frog and Hornet online and figured I would pass by the Tamiya dealer in Kuwait, My Toy to check and see if they had them. Today out of the blue my friend calls me up and asks me if I wanted to pass by the launch of the new My Toy store in Shuwaikh. Turns out they opened up a branch at the trendy Tilal Complex and the official opening was today so after work I passed by to check it out.

The new store is small but the location is really great and they had this huge indoor race track setup in the basement which I think RC fans will love. I spotted the Frog and Hornet on display but it was too packed to check out properly so I will have to go back this weekend. I used to love My Toy as a kid in the 80’s so its great to see the brand still alive.

Now someone please bring Kids “R” Us back to life!

They’re going to need something a lot faster than a Mustang if they expect to catch up with some of the cars in Kuwait.

Thanks Ali

Food wise there were only two things that stuck out for me in Cairo. The first is the burger at the Four Seasons, the second is the spicy chicken fillet at McDonalds.

When I first had the burger at the Four Seasons tea lounge in Cairo (opposite the Zoo), it came with blue cheese which I thought overpowered the burger. So when I went to have it the second time I asked them to replace the blue cheese with cheddar and it made a world of difference. The burger turned out to be great and if I was to rate it I would probably give it anywhere between 3.5 and a 4 out of a 5. Highly recommended. (Burger picture above)

The spicy chicken fillet at McDonalds was another surprise. I don’t know why we don’t have it here in Kuwait but we should since we’re missing out on a great chicken sandwich. Unlike the McChicken, the spicy chicken fillet kinda looks like Burger King’s Chicken Royale but tastes like KFC’s chicken Zinger. So basically its the best of both worlds and honestly everything else I had in McDonalds in Cairo tasted terrible so the chicken fillet is the only way to go.

And that’s about it, there wasn’t anything else I had in Cairo that stuck out.

I get back to Kuwait tonight and can’t wait! I have a few more pictures and posts I want to share related to my Egypt trip and will try to do that tonight so tomorrow everything is back to normal.

Since I arrived to Cairo on the weekend I hadn’t really experience Cairo traffic until today. It took us around an hour and a half to get to Lucille’s a burger place that was highly recommended by a few readers on the blog while it took only 20 minutes on the way back. If that wasn’t bad enough there was a football match tonight in which the Egyptian team Ahli won and I ended up getting stuck in one crazy traffic jam celebration on my way to the production house.

Anyway finding Lucille’s wasn’t very easy and when I did the place didn’t look impressive. I decided to ignore the location and look of the place and go in and order a cheese burger. I had read a lot of positive stuff about this burger so I was really expecting it to be great, it wasn’t!

For everyone who rated this burger highly you must have had a different burger than the one I had because mine was pretty ordinary. Presentation wasn’t appetizing at all and although the bun was soft and the meat tender the burger overall was just fair. If it was in Kuwait I would have rated it a 3 or 3.5 out of 5 not more so I don’t understand how this could be the best burger in Cairo. The one I had at Four Seasons last night was a better burger than this.

No more burgers for me on this trip, I need to start having more local dishes.

Back in 2006 I posted about how I was able to get a hold of three original Apple Think Different banners from the local Apple dealer (Digits) and today I finally put them up.

For those of you who don’t know, the slogan “Think Different” was created for Apple back in 1997 (yes they were around before the iPod). The slogan was used in various commercials and print adverts but the most famous ones were the creative innovators tribute ads. I was able to get a hold of 3 banners, a Pablo Piccaso, Martha Graham and the rare Buzz Aldrin one.

Since I just finished redecorating (I now officially live inside my blog), I managed to find space to put up the banners and they look great. It took me two years but they’re finally up. The picture above is of the Buzz Aldrin banner, its 70cm wide and 160cm in height.

Ace Hardware is one of the few places in Kuwait that has actually improved over time instead of getting worse. I pass by usually once a week either to pick up some treats for my dog or just to aimlessly wonder through the aisles checking out the totally random stuff they have. That’s my favorite part about Ace and its that they carry items that you don’t need until you really need it. I don’t know if that made any sense but in my case I’ve passed by items that I never imagined I had any use for or even knew what they were until one day while I’m working on a project I find out that I really need this one item and seeing it at Ace.

Abyat and Platform were both rumored to be competition for Ace Hardware but now that they’ve launched its obvious they aren’t. Although they carry hardware and home improvement items they don’t carry the wide range of smaller random items that Ace does. If you haven’t passed by Ace Hardware you should. They’re located in Al-Rai near the Pirelli and Dunlop dealership.

I am a HUGE fan of the original Mortal Kombat game. I used to play it non stop back in 1993 in Canada at the arcades and I then got the SNES version and Sega GameGear version to satisfy my addiction. I even wanted to try and get the arcade machine for my house here in Kuwait but I couldn’t find a place that had it.

Anyway I ordered the Plug & Play version of the game last week from Amazon and I got it today and its amazing! They’ve basically squeezed the game into a joypad that runs on AA batteries and you just plug the joypad into the TV and play a version of the game thats extremely close to the arcade original. Its very practical and it costs only KD2!

If you’re interested here is the link to the game on Amazon. [Link]

And if anyone knows where I can buy the arcade machine from please tell me!

I just found this incredible book about Kuwait dating back to 1975. It has a ton of great pictures which I will scan every now and then and post over here. The caption under the picture above reads:

Kuwait also enjoys some of the more sophisticated pleasures of the West, and even the Far West. Here, for example, is a drive-in cinema in the open air not far from the city. In order to enable you to watch a film in comfort without moving from your seat, two large “pumps” introduce into your car the sound track of the film being shown and the air-conditioning which is essential at the height of the summer. All you have to do is to watch.

It sucks that no one has invented the time machine yet!

According to The Avenue’s website Arby’s is opening there! They have a list of all the restaurants that are open and opening at The Avenue’s and Arby’s is on that list!! Just go to their website, click on restaurants and then on the burger picture. [Link]

Name: Laylat Al Ro3b / Night of Horrors
Date: Thursday October 30th (This Thursday)
Time: 6 PM – 10 PM
Entrance Fee: 3 KD
Location: AUK, American University of Kuwait Salmiya ,Salem Al Mubarak Street, Opposite to Plaza Complex

Entrance Fee Includes:
Haunted House
Water Fight
Costume Contest

Other Activities:
Mask Making
Face Painting
Fortune Teller
Fire Performance
Laser Show
and much much more!

Here is a link to a jpg they sent me with the event details. [Event Flier]

According to Alhamour.com; Bassam Al-Ghanim has submitted his official resignation as the Chairman of the Gulf Bank. Gulf Bank still has not announced his replacement, but they expect it to be someone from the Al-Ghanim family. This is a result of the Gulf Bank Shipwreck; which has resulted in a total loss of US$ 1.2bn (KD 313 mm), an amount that represents 70% of Gulf Bank’s Tier 1 & 2 Equity.

Update: Kutayba Al-Ghanim is the new Chairman of Gulf Bank.

Posted by K.