Search: “kuwait”

Platform the hardware store has opened up and I just saw the picture above (taken by MeHRAJA) and its made me want to pass by right after work. I love hardware stores and I need a cordless drill anyways so I can’t wait to check it out. Tip for the woman readers, if you can’t figure out what to get a guy for valentines there are two things which you can never go wrong with, radio controlled cars and power tools. Here is a link to Platform’s website with a map of their location and some more info. [Link]

Thanks MeHRAJA

Could someone please bring back my three favorite franchises to Kuwait. A&W originally opened up in the 80’s and then shut down only to open up again in the 90’s and to be shut down once more. Arby’s opened up in the late 80’s and then shutdown once the owner got the Burger King Franchise. Wendy’s opened up in the early 90’s to be shutdown for some unknown reason.

With Kuwait being the 8th fattest country in the world you would think that every imaginable franchise would fight for the opportunity to open here. How come my three favorite franchises no longer exist in Kuwait?

I saw the BeoSound 6 MP3 player at the B&O showroom in Fanar yesterday and it looked pretty slick until I picked it up and realized how light it was. I was expecting the BeoSound 6 to be a bit heavy but instead it was really light which made it feel flimsy and cheap. The player costs KD157 after discount so flimsy and cheap are two things you don’t want describing it. It costs KD164 on Amazon which makes it cheaper in Kuwait but I would still get an iPod.

Tagine is the new Moroccan restaurant that opened up at The Palms. I haven’t gone to it yet but after reading Desert Girl’s review I am not as excited to try it out. [Link]

Today’s newspapers had a story about a innocent KTV2 reporter getting beatup by a gang of Harley Davidson Bikers. While the storyline was far more interesting then most of KTV2’s current content; I found it to be a bit unbelievable (and biased). Which leads us to ask why would a group of Bikers pull the guy aside and beat him up? (other than watching Wild Hogs a few too many times).

Doing the job that the newspapers should have done .. We decided to speak to the Safety Officer of H.O.G-Kuwait (Harley-Davidson Organization Group), Khalid Abu Jabieen.

The other side of the story (as described by Khalid and 30 odd members of H.O.G), Is that the KTV2 reporter was invited to film them on their weekly drive, and do a story about bikers in Kuwait. The reporter, who showed up by himself, decided to take up the various jobs of full TV crew (cameraman, Driver, Producer) on his own. Between juggling driving the car and recording video, he managed to cause several traffic jams and piss off a few of the drivers and bikers on the road. One thing led to another and one of the drivers (not a member of H.O.G) pulled him over, which then led to a fight. The Harley Davidson Bikers, trying to recover whats left of a ruined day, broke up the fight and continued on their way.

Link to original DailyStar article [Link]
Link to Harley Davidson in Kuwait [Link]
Picture from H.O.G Kuwait Chapter [Link]

-Posted by K

I’ve had the car for a day now and so far its been surprising. Before I picked up the car I thought the thing I would like the most in the car would be the interior. I had checked the CTS website and I was really looking forward to the “Ambient Interior Lighting”. A lot of cars have it but the CTS has a unique version that uses LED’s that go along the dash from one end to the other. But, I quickly found out the version of the car I was reviewing didn’t have the ambient lighting, I don’t know if its not available as an option in Kuwait or if it just wasn’t an option in my car but I wasn’t able to experience it.

With one of the things I was looking forward to not available I had to find something else to take my interest and I quickly found it as soon as I hit the 5th Ring Road. The CTS has over 300hp and as soon as I slammed on the gas the engine let out a brutal grunt and took off. At high RPM’s the engine gets really loud and aggressive which is surprising because the car gives a civilized impression. Another thing that surprised me was the “Driver Shift Control” which allows me to manually change gears. Unlike most of the ones I have tried before the Cadillac’s transmission was pretty fast and responsive. I’ve been recently trying to cut down on my speeding and the CTS wasn’t helping.

Everything isn’t perfect and I do have my problems with the car. For one thing I found the audio and navigation system sluggish. Firstly the car I am driving only has the European map installed. I don’t know if a local map isn’t offered yet but without one the navigation system is useless. Going from menu to menu and raising and lowering the volume is also a hit and miss affair. Sometimes the system doesn’t respond to my commands or responds after a few seconds delay. After experiencing this issue a number of times I am convinced its a software issue and the system problem needs an update or a reboot. Another thing that I didn’t like was the location of the fire extinguisher, its located in the middle of the passenger side foot area. Nat didn’t know if she should put her feet on top of the extinguisher or stretch them out over it but it was really annoying and uncomfortable.

Those were the only negatives I could find in the car although I would also have liked a reverse cam since its become like a standard but other then that the car is fully loaded. There is a USB socket where you can plug in the iPod and the navigation system turns into a TV although I couldn’t catch any channels but thats a good thing since KTV sucks. The sunroof is amazing because the whole roof is a large glass panel which really brightens up the interior.

I have the car till tomorrow evening so I will still be driving it some more. The price of the car if anyone is interested is KD13,000 with the all wheel drive version costing slightly more.

I was flipping through a book on the history of Kuwait called “The voice of the Oud” when I found a photo of a kid who looked exactly like me. The book is full of amazing old photos of Kuwait and here I was in one of the pictures. I checked the date of the photo and it was 1983 and taken in Mubarakieh outside the carpet souk where I used to tag a long with my dad every Friday morning.

I scanned the photo and emailed it to my mum just to be sure that the picture was of me when i was a kid and she called me to confirm that it was. I think its pretty cool especially since the book has a ton of cool shots of old Kuwait. The girl in the picture was my neighbor who is no longer in Kuwait and I am also no longer chubby although I am still very white.

Over a year ago I posted “Elect me as mayor of Salmiya” because I was pissed at how the old shopping street in Salmiya was getting torn a part bit by bit and all my childhood memories were disappearing with it. Well since then things haven’t changed, I wasn’t elected as mayor and Salmiya is still losing its history.

The building that has Hardees, Tikka, KFC, Waleed Toys, Alamiah and The Family Bookshop is going to be demolished soon. Already Hardees, Tikka, KFC and Baskin Robbins have vacated the building and I am sure the rest will follow soon. What I heard is that whole block with the land behind it and to its sides plus the old souk in front of Marina Mall (Kaysariyah) will be demolished and turned into one giant super mall, as if we don’t have enough of those already.

I got my first computer, the Sakhr MSX2 from Alamiah, I had my first roast beef sandwich from that Hardees and I bought all my Peter and Jane books from The Family Bookshop. This really sucks.

The logo on the left is for a Kuwaiti student political group that was elected to run the National Union of Kuwaiti Students [Link]. The logo on the right is for the American Society for Surgery of the Hand. [Link]

Of course it could be just a big coincidence..

Thanks S A

The Emir Sheikh Jabir passed away two years ago on this day and a reader emailed me suggesting I share this song with everyone. The song is called “The prince of our hearts” and here is some information on it by its creators:

This song is dedicated to the late Prince Jabber. Also to Prince Saad, Prince Sabah, and Prince Nawaf. A mix of Arabic,R&B and Rap.

Although, Prince Jaber passed away on January 15 2006 “May He Rest in Peace”, he still remains firm in the hearts of Kuwaitis, arabs, and foreigners. This song was written, produced,and was sang by Luqman Sherriff A.K.A MiracaLz, Hany Baker A.K.A The_Kuwaiti_Don, and Salman A.K.A Morice. Combining R&B, Smooth Rap, and a new style of Arabic R&B.

I didn’t like the song but I don’t listen to this style of music anyway, you can download the mp3 and watch the video [Here]

The video embedded in the post above is a different song by Ahmad Al-Hajri which I just found on YouTube.

Thanks Zaid

This post will probably be understood just by Lebanese but my sister just told me about this place in Kuwait that sells ka3k and also makes ka3k sandwiches. I got 3 packs of Picon the last time I was in Lebanon so it would be cool if they can grill me a Picon sandwich in kaa3k. They also have a website and they deliver! [Link]

Since I paid my traffic violation at the beginning of the month I have stopped speeding. I now cruise the Gulf Road going around 80-100km/h max but I guess its easier since I am driving the Wrangler instead of the Beemer. The Gulf Road car-cam must be catching a lot of people because the MOI has now expanded their coverage to include a second car-cam on my morning route. The original car-cam that caught me speeding 21 times was located just before McDonalds on the way to Kuwait City, the new car-cam is located just before Fuddruckers. If only it was possible to invest in these cameras…

Picture by T

oobject has a top 20 list of skyscrapers in the Gulf, nearly all of them are in Dubai but Kuwait’s upcoming Mubarek Tower made the list. My favorite is the Ras Al Khaimah Convention Center (Dubai UAE) pictured above which is designed by OMA and led by Rem Koolhaas. Its made to look like the Death Star from Star Wars. [Link]

DJ Uruj from the night ride on FM99.7 just read everyones negative comments about her in an old post and has replied back with the following:

Gee you guys, didnt know I was that bad….. “a voice that cracks and rasps, and pitches up and down all the time, like she has a continual sore throat?Definitely not a voice for radio. She also has a strange sense of humour…..”

My goodness me…..I have tears in my eyes now…..lol….but seriously, i can see that this was two months ago…..what do you guys think of my show now…..please let me know how I can improve it without being insulting…..am looking forward to your comments…..and the name is Uruj Saeed…..not a pseudonym, its my real name…..!!

She also posted the following:

Hey everyone, listen up, there’s going to be a show tomorrow on hate mail in which i will mention this blog, so do tune in…..and dont take offense, its just for kicks…..:)

So if anyone here has feedback on how DJ Uruj can improve leave a comment below. I personally think she can’t be fixed but since no one listens to 99.7 anyway I don’t think it matters. If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

I was going to add this note to my Aramex post below as an update but I decided not to hijack it and instead post this separately.

On January 3rd my car amp arrived to my U Shop We Ship address.
On January 4th my car amp was shipped from my mailbox to Kuwait.
Today, January 6th, I just got my car amp delivered to my office.

This has to be the fastest I have EVER received a package.