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I found this radio station this morning by mistake. How long has this been around? It’s a US military station and unlike 96.9 it doesn’t have the annoying English 101 courses.

Oula just sent us this email in response to the previous post:

Dear All;
This incident was just brought to our attention by this blog. We are very grateful for this effort from your side to point out any deficiency on our side as we always aim to be the best employer we could be. we are currently investigating the issue and whoever denied him treatment in the first place will not be ignored and will be accountable for this violation. We at Oula Fuel are very clear with our contractors that we require the most fair treatment for the employees and that is why we pay even more than the market price to the contractor just to make sure that these employees are treated as best as possible. As long as we require the employees to be on their best while serving our customers, then it’s only fair to treat them well in the first place.

We here at Oula Fuel extend our best regards and wishes to everyone who provided us with a chance to correct a violation and whoever would point out misunderstandings that might go un-noticed without the collective effort from all concerned citizens who aim to make Kuwait the best country ever.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us on 1800111 or [email protected].

Regards,

Mohammad Al-Khareji
Sales Supervisor
Marketing & Sales & PR Dept.
Oula Fuel

Tel: (965) 2 2321 709
Fax: (965) 2 2321 333
Hotline: 1 800 111
m.alkhareji @oula1.com
www.oula1.com

I think it currently only applies to Kuwaitis since you would need one of the new SMART Civil ID cards. The way it works is you add funds to your Civil ID card using Knet and every time you pay with your Civil ID you get the amount deducted from your balance.

I can’t see how this could be useful for anyone with a Knet card. You can’t use this for your drivers because they need to be a Kuwaiti to get the new Civil ID’s and your children don’t have Knet cards but they shouldn’t be driving and filling up gas anyways. Am I missing something here?

You can get more information by visiting the ALFA website [Here]

Thanks Kuwait!

I’ve been visiting Bayan Dental for over 5 years now. I first found out about them from Zaydoun and ever since me and Nat have been getting all our dental work done there at their Salmiya branch. They were actually featured in my Miskan project back in 2005 as Day 303 which is where the picture above is from. Once every few months I pass by my dentist (Dr Samer Khaddour) for scaling because I know that the longer the gap between my visits the more I am going to suffer during my session so I try to keep the gaps small. My dentist and Nat always seem to team up on me since they find my fear amusing but I’m slowly slowly getting over it.

Anyway I recently got approached by Bayan Dental and got offered veneers for free if in return I could post and explain what veneers were on my blog and also about my experience getting them installed. I didn’t have a clue what veneers were but after a quick google followed by a detailed explanation from Bayan I found these two words the best way to explain them… Hollywood smile. Veneers give you the perfect smile and you get them installed in one hour without any pain or anesthesia and they last forever.

I asked them if my dentist could install them for me and since he specializes in restorative and aesthetic dentistry they told me it shouldn’t be a problem. Since then I’ve already had a couple of visits with my dentist getting a mould of my teeth done so I could see how my teeth currently look and how they will look once I am done. They will be sending me a bunch of pictures of difference cases before and after veneers so I could share them here with some proper information about veneers and how they work. For now I thought I would post this to keep everyone in the loop on whats going on. If you have any questions about veneers (and I guess anything dental related) you can post them below since someone from Bayan will be reading the comments and answering any questions you might have.

Since we’re on the subject of dentistry for those of you who have a fear from dentists you could post what concerns you have below and I could try to answer them from my experience like for example how much pain or discomfort a procedure might have or how long certain things take etc.. I haven’t done all the procedures but I think I’ve done most of the general ones. One thing I’ve learned from my experience is that if you have a dental issue now and you don’t take care of it, it will only get worse tomorrow and the fix becomes more complicated.

Update: If you’ve never been to Bayan Dental before, just mention my blog when you go in and you will get a 17% discount on non cosmetic procedures.

The Alpine iXA-W407 which I posted about a few days ago is supposed to sell for around $750 but for some reason it’s being sold for just $379 on Amazon right now. I’m sure its a mistake so I quickly placed an order for one. If you’re interested in it here is the [Link]

Update: I purchased the unit twice and both times the seller canceled my order. Did this happen to anyone else?

Update2: Price is back up now to $550. I placed an order for the fourth time and it seems to have worked now. $550 is still a good deal. I ordered the following items so far for my Toyota FJ install:

Alpine iXA-W407 Digital Media Station
Alpine HCE-C107D Rear View Camera
Peripheral PTR7 Multi control interface bypass module
Scosche TA2076B 2007 Toyota FJ ISO/Double DIN With Pocket Kit
Stereo Wire Harness Toyota FJ Cruiser 07 2007

The PTR7 will allow me to change the system settings and watch movies while the car is in motion and not just parked.

Update: I originally purchased the Scosche adapter for the Toyota FJ Cruiser but it turned out to be really crap and wouldn’t fit the stereo right. I ended up installing the Alpine using the Metra adapter which worked out a lot better. Here is a link to it on Amazon. [Link]

Posted by Fahad AlYehya | Core Fitness – Kuwait

It takes me 8 hours to write an article, 8 more hours to review it and 60 minutes to press publish; and I still make spelling and grammar mistakes. I shower 3-4 times a day, wash my face with the most expensive fascial cleansers out there and I still get mild acne. I see people train hard, diet hard and recover, but they still lack that muscular maturity. Females go through episodes of anorexia to look like that Cosmo model, yet they lose a lot of hair, the sparkle in their eyes diminish, their nails start to break off, their skin barely shines and their bones are as fragile as a piece of tissue.

The above are all side effects of a lifestyle low in fat. Has anyone seen those Lebanese, Jordanian, Syrian and Palestinian documentaries about how their senior citizens live above the age of 90? How do they do it? They have more energy and vigor than Kuwait’s older generation; but how do they do it?

“Ebnakul zaitoon,” or “bin7ib zait el zaytoon kteer.” (English Translation: we eat olives or we love olive oil a lot). Those are literally the two answers available to explain how they managed to live that long.

Or approach a Japanese dude and ask him how they live so long and why heart disease isn’t such an epidemic: “We uuuh, rive very hearthy rong rife because uuuh we eat sushi and aaah hearthy fatty fish high in omega sree! And when Godzirra come again, uuuh we can fight!” (English Translation: I’m not really sure what he said, but it had something to do with karate and sushi).

Fat is a lot more important than any other macronutrient. I’m not saying that fat should be consumed alone; in conjunction with other macronutrients, fat can do wonders. Unfortunately, I learned it the hard way.

When I started weight-lifting, I did what the pros did: ate a diet high in carbs and proteins and low in fat. I wanted to be as big and as ripped as they were. And come on, it’s common sense! Why would I listen to some nerd who majored in medicine and not a freak with veiny arms? Long story short, I paid the price and should’ve listened to the pencil neck. I had terrible acne, my short-term memory was a joke, my hair barely grew to considerable volume, my immune system was a disaster, every joint in my body hurt like hell, I was tired all the time, my muscles looked like soft ballons that only looked decent when training and I suffered constantly from overtraining. Why? Because I went low-fat, thinking that low-fat would get me big and ripped.

LoYAC is having its Annual Music Night on Tuesday, February 23rd 2010 at 6:00pm. The Music Night will be held in the AbdulAziz Hussein Theatre in Mishref and all the proceeds will be going to the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. This is considered to be the first step that the Help Haiti Committee in LoYAC (headed by Al Zain Al Humaidhi) will be taking in terms of awareness and collecting donations for the victims of the Haiti earthquake.

Many musicians from LoYAC will be performing, our main area of focus would have to traditional Arabic music and folklore. We are anticipating having people sing songs for Fairuz, Rashed Il Majed, Shereen, Abdel Halim and many more. We will also have instrumental pieces that will be played. Our pianist Faisal will be performing as well. Faisal has been sent on several scholarships through LoYAC internationally.

The tickets cost 5 KD, and 20 KD for corporate donations, the tickets are available at LoYAC in Bayt Lothan.

For more information visit the LoYAC website [Link]

Post by Fahad AlYehya | Core Fitness – Kuwait

Gym Rat #1: “Dude, you need to eat carbs with that.”
Gym Rat #2: “Your mother needs to eat carbs with that.”
Gym Rat #1: “Bro, what the hell, you need carbs with that protein shake right after your workout.”
Gym Rat #2: “I think your mother’s calling, and guess what? She wants more carbs.”
Gym Rat #1: “Look I’m serious, carbs fuel the muscle building process. You need a decent amount for energy expenditure.”
Gym Rat #2: “Your mother’s an energy expenditure.”

Gym Rat #2 was me a few years back when I thought carbohydrates were evil. They lurked everywhere. That chicken breast from Subway? Carbs. That protein shake? 3g of carbs per serving. Diet Gatorade? Still has carbs, only less, but carbs nonetheless. Splenda, Sweet & Low, Equal? Ayyyup! Dem artificial sweeteners are bayyud mmmkay?

A roll of sushi used to bloat me like the Michelin Man and turn my day into a living hell. I low-carbed my approach and in return found it relatively hard to build muscle. I high-carbed my approach and gained a lot of fat in the process. Don’t forget, I once was fat. I may not look like it, but I do have excess skin that you cannot see, but yours truly can feel. Since I was known for my gargantuan love handles, my lower back carries a fair amount of excess skin (again, you may not notice, but I can feel it). Whenever I consume a lot of carbs, my body begins to fill up nicely with much needed cellular water (water in the muscle). However, since I also carry around excess skin, water retains there easily too, which makes me feel fat. Ukh, the pain, the agony, the suffering; I strive to perfection but those little details stop me faster and harder than a concrete wall idiotically placed on a 120km+ speedway.

Lucky for you, this nutritionist wasn’t born a quitter. I did what I do best, research and experiment, proving time and time again that SCIENCE IS KING.

My last protein-oriented post was (for some) too complex, long, sciency and had a lot of numbers; so I’ll be using a different approach this time around (not really, but please bare with me). If anyone wants more information, feel free to ask.

I love my Wrangler and I never thought I would ever want to part with it but recently I realized it’s not a very practical car. Actually I always knew it wasn’t a very practical car but never had an issue with it until now. I can’t fit anything in the trunk! I just got a 1/5 scale RC car and it barely fits in the back, barely anything fits even with the seat folded. So, I am now considering swapping the Wrangler for another SUV, one that at least has some decent space to hold stuff. Personally I would actually prefer a pick up truck like the Ford Raptor but Nat hates trucks. The two options I’ve currently narrowed down to are the Nissan Xterra and the Toyota FJ Cruiser. I’ve actually been begging Negative Effect practically on a weekly basis for the past few months to sell me his nicely modified FJ but have failed miserably in convincing him.

Both SUV’s are actually great, the Xterra being the more practical out of the bunch while the FJ being the timeless one. Anyone have any opinion on the two cars?

Registration is now open for entry into the fifth annual dog show. The show will take place in the beautiful gardens of the British Embassy on Friday March 5th from 11AM to 4PM. I’ve been to their first and second annual dog show and it was a lot of fun. I only missed out on the other two because I was out of the country. It’s very well organized and it’s really great having an event like this in Kuwait. I always sign up my dog to the different categories and even though he always ends failing miserably we still have a really good time. Here is a link to pictures I took at their first annual dog show back in 2006 when my dog was still just a puppy then. [Link]

For more information on the dog show and all the proper forms needed visit the PAWS blog [Here]

Please note that even if you are not entering a dog in the show and just want to go to the event to hang out, you still have to pre-register because it’s being held at the British Embassy. You can’t just show up at the gate and walk in, you need to be pre-registered to be let in.

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]

GulfRun 5 is approaching very fast. I’m taking Thursday off so I can fly over Wednesday night to Bahrain so I could be there on Thursday and Friday for GulfRun. I missed out on GulfRun 4 but was there for GulfRun 3 and posted about it and all my pictures which I took [Here]

I will have Internet in Bahrain so will most probably be posting a daily update while there. In any case below is the list of cars that will be participating this year:

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!

Two days back I posted about how I was looking for a personal fitness trainer to come over to my place and give me a work out in my home gym. Surprisingly only two people emailed me recommending me a trainer, the rest of the emails were gym owners asking me to try out their gym. I don’t have time for a gym, I work till 7 and once I get home I start working on posts for my blog. I have two full time jobs basically with no time to waste at a gym. That’s why I declined all the offers.. except for one. The owner of Core Fitness emailed me. It turns out we had met via a friend last year when we went offroading and he promised to transform me from top to bottom for free if in return I reviewed his gym. As I was typing my thanks but I have to decline your offer email I decided to check out his website. There wasn’t anything there except for the logo and the line “Only 20 minutes Twice a week”.

20 minutes? Twice a week? I thought that was interesting. So I emailed the guy back asking if that was true. He told me to pass by the gym and he would explain everything which I did earlier tonight. So this is the deal. I’ve signed up for a 7 week course at Core Fitness and I will be going 3 times a week instead of 2. The gym is located opposite Al Massalah building on the Gulf Road which is the road I take back home after work making it very convenient. At any time there are a maximum of only 3 guests working out at the same time at the gym and each guest will have a personal trainer through out the whole 20 minute session.

I told him I found it very hard to believe that three 20 minute sessions a week would do anything. He told me to try it out and just share with you guys my experience and my honest opinion which is what I am going to do. Tomorrow I have an assessment session where I will get all my body stats, find out what weights I will be using and have my diet plan finalized. Once I do all that I will post everything here (including my diet plan) and we’ll see how things develop from there. I’m strangely excited to try this.

Update: Found this on their Facebook page

1) Every workout is 20 minutes, provided a scheduled appointment and personal trainer.

2) Each membership is based on the client’s specific needs. We do not have a set membership because people do not have common requirements and goals.

3) We aren’t a spa, we don’t have a jacuzzi, a steam room or a swimming pool; as far as we are concerned, those things are only for pussies and deliver no significant results.

4) We are a facility that delivers results. We provide the necessary tools to promote healthy lifestyles to our clients.

5) Failure to witness results will be strictly held against a client, since he was too busy eating his hamburgers and nesting on some couch rather than busting ass at Core Fitness.

In short, we own you for 20 minutes of your life (be it 2,3, or 4 times per week) and push you to the point of no return till you go home and cry like a baby.

Personal diet and demoralizing dietician included.

Contact us on 22520407 and find out 101 ways on how we can make your life a living hell.

A reader found this dog wondering aimlessly in Mishref yesterday. She has a collar with her name on it. If this is your dog please [Email Me]