Search: “salmiya”

I got the following in my email today:

Cinemagic Kuwait Launches Weekly Short Film Screenings
“Short & Sweet”

(Kuwait 05/12/2006) Cinemagic Kuwait are organizing “Short & Sweet”, a schedule of weekly short film screenings. The screenings will commence on Wednesday, February 21st, and run throughout the year. The events will take place at the Cinemagic Courtyard in Bait Lothan, Salmiya, and will run between 7:30 – 9:00 p.m.

The screenings will bring together a collection of short films from all over the world including Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Poland, Brazil, Jordan, Lebanon and Kuwait. Each week we will screen a different selection of short films of varying genre, nationality, and style.

For its part, Cinemagic Kuwait, is organizing these events as part of its efforts to contribute to the development of an internationally competitive Kuwaiti audio-visual production industry, partly by bringing the filmmakers and audiences together and by Increasing the public’s interest in – and appreciation for – the art of filmmaking

Attendance for the event is free of charge, but seating is limited. Snacks and refreshments will be served throughout. For more information, please do not hesitate to contact me at the numbers below.

Yazan Al Ghazzawi
PR & Marketing Manager
Kuwait Cinemagic

Tel: (+965) 574 3253
Cell: (+965) 722 2416
www.cinemagics.com

Placed order with Papa Johns at 8:30. Promised would be delivered within 45 minutes. Called back at 9:20 telling them pizza hadn’t arrived yet, they told me within 10 minutes. Called back at 9:35 telling them pizza hadn’t arrived yet, they told me they will check on it and get back to me. Called back at 9:45 telling them pizza hasn’t arrived yet even though I called twice. They transfered me to manager who told me he will call back in 2 minutes. Its been 5 minutes and no call back yet and I need to leave the house.

update: called back at 9:55, spoke to manager again told him he had told me he would call me back in 2 minutes and he hadn’t. He told me he spoke to Salmiya branch manager and he is probably trying to call me now and he is getting a busy tone. I told him no I have call waiting if he was trying to call me I would know. I told him I need to know when my pizza will get here because I need to leave. He was like if you have to leave I can’t do anything about it. So I was like then cancel my order, he was like fine. What the hell, what lame customer service is that.

Then a few minutes later I get a phone call from the Salmiya branch manager telling me my pizza will be late. I told him why didn’t you call me half an hour ago when the call center manager told me you would call me. He was like I had to call the driver. I was like you need 30 minutes to do that? I was like anyway I canceled my order. He was like ok and I closed the phone.

I would never order from them again. Why?
– They should have been apologetic instead of blaming it on traffic
– Its Thursday night and they know there is traffic so why tell me 45 minutes in the first place
– After my first call they should have called the driver and found out how long he needed
– After they told me they would call me back they should have called me back
– At the very least they should have offered me the pizza for free, its been over an hour and a half and the pizza is going to be cold anyway
– The two managers I spoke to were not friendly enough

I was on the Gulf Road yesterday driving towards Salmiya when I saw a bright flash light go off around a 100 meters in front of me. The speed camera just before the gas station and Texas Chicken was installed again over the weekend…

Just got back from my ride today morning. I first cruised around Salmiya for a little bit and then headed off to Marina Crescent to see if their were any bikers there I knew. I ended up finding Marzouq who earlier in the morning had been out biking with Nat. We decided we would ride to Green Island where a bunch of Ducati and BMW bikers were gathering up for a ride out to the desert which was organized by TriStar.

As we were approaching the gathering area I spotted the new Ducati 1098s from far. There was no way to miss it, it was parked away from the rest of the bikers and it was sparkling under the sun. We parked our bikes, said hi to some friends and then me and Marzouq went over to the 1098. Its a really tiny and light bike weighing around 170KG and producing around 160HP! Thats nearly one horse power for every kilogram.

Anyway we hung out for a little while and then headed out for a ride. One thing I did today was go back to the intersection I had my first crash in and take the same route I took that day. Might not sound like much but after I had my accident I went through the whole incident in my head over and over and then I kept visiting that route with my car just to go over the spot and try to figure out how I messed up. So today I decided I couldn’t avoid that intersection for ever and I took it with my bike. I think going through the turn gave me a boost of confidence which is what I needed.

One issue I realized I had today was accelerating from a traffic light while I am with Marzouq. I usually know how much throttle to give and how much clutch to let go of using the sound of my bikes engine. But the problem is Marzouqs bike is bigger and much louder and so when I am with him I can’t hear my bikes engine anymore. I swear I think I messed up at like 6 traffic lights today, it made me feel like such a newbie. This is why I decided I am going to either upgrade the mufflers with some really cool louder ones by Termignoni or, try and convince Nat I “need” a Ducati 749.

I am going to start off by saying I am not a fan of Wataniya. I have been an MTC user since 1995 and I am very loyal to the brand. So, when I was contacted by Wataniya to try out their new W-net internet router I wasn’t very thrilled because I would rather it had been MTC calling me. But I still went ahead and met with the Wataniya guy who turned out to be cool and a Nintendo Wii fan and he explained to me what W-net was and told me that Wataniya had hooked me up with a 6 month prepaid subscription. I was thinking worst case scenario if the connection turned out to be crap I could take the router to work and hook it up over there since my office lacked a wifi connection which annoys the hell out of me whenever I take my Macbook to work. After using the device for over 2 weeks I can say I am impressed.

When I first opened the package I found the Quick Start Guide which involved 11 steps on how to setup the connection. I ignored the guide, turned on the router and connected to it via wifi on my Macbook. Thats it, I was connected to the Internet. Its a lot easier then 11 steps.

The Wataniya router works on the HSDPA network which is a 3G mobile protocol. Currently 3G isn’t covered everywhere in Kuwait so if you don’t have 3G in your area you will end up connecting onto the much slower EDGE network. So if you want to take full advantage of W-net you better hope you live in a 3G zone. I live in Salmiya and I have 3G here.

The most impressive thing about the W-Net connection is the download speed. I have a 512 DSL connection by Qualitynet and I usually download files at around 63 KB/sec. With W-net on the other hand I download at around 107 KB/sec which is nearly twice as fast as my DSL connection. The upload speed is slow though at around 15 KB/sec where as my Qualitynet hits around 35 KB/sec.

Loading websites feels slower on the Wataniya connection. When I type in a URL its always quicker to load on my Qualitynet connection. I thought it was because of the connection latency but I pinged mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com on both my Qualitynet connection and the Wataniya connection and the results were very close so I don’t know why the lack of acceleration.

Qualitynet
PING mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com (66.199.240.42): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 66.199.240.42: icmp_seq=0 ttl=45 time=321.393 ms
64 bytes from 66.199.240.42: icmp_seq=1 ttl=47 time=305.564 ms
64 bytes from 66.199.240.42: icmp_seq=2 ttl=45 time=325.444 ms
64 bytes from 66.199.240.42: icmp_seq=3 ttl=45 time=356.846 ms
64 bytes from 66.199.240.42: icmp_seq=4 ttl=45 time=376.722 ms

Wataniya W-Net
PING mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com (66.199.240.42): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 66.199.240.42: icmp_seq=0 ttl=45 time=306.380 ms
64 bytes from 66.199.240.42: icmp_seq=1 ttl=47 time=327.925 ms
64 bytes from 66.199.240.42: icmp_seq=2 ttl=45 time=383.964 ms
64 bytes from 66.199.240.42: icmp_seq=3 ttl=45 time=295.931 ms
64 bytes from 66.199.240.42: icmp_seq=4 ttl=45 time=472.001 ms

For the geek users, you can customize the settings of the router to your liking just as if it was an ordinary router. It originally came set with the IP address 192.168.1.1 but my network runs on 192.168.0.X so I just logged in to the router settings and just changed stuff like turning of DHCP and changing the routers name. The router has an Ethernet port so you can connect it to the regular network or directly to your computer in case you don’t have wifi.

The price of the router plus Wataniya data line is KD135. The monthly charge for the connection is KD28, or KD300 for 1 year and KD565 for 2. I don’t know if you can order a different cheaper router off the web and use it with the Wataniya data line, I guess it could work.

Would I give up my DSL connection for W-Net? No I wouldn’t. I upload a lot of stuff all the time and 35 KB/sec is slow for me yet alone 15. I also browse the web a lot and like it when pages load instantly. The W-Net connection reminds me of my previous Shownet connection (which was Satellite based). It has a high top speed but slow acceleration meaning when browsing websites you don’t really feel the connection is fast only when you start downloading files do you notice it.

Would I recommend the W-Net connection? Yes in certain situations. For example in my old place in Salwa I couldn’t get a DSL line setup because the phone network in my street didn’t support it. My only option was a Satellite/Dialup combo which sucked. If I was still living there then I would definitely get W-net. Also for people who can’t get phone lines for one reason or another or for people who simply want an Internet connection wherever they go (camping, challet, anywhere with a power outlet) then this would also be a good option.

Am I going to take the router to the office? Nope, whenever I have files to download I just switch over to the W-Net connection and download them. Its really convenient having it because its cutting my download time in half. Anyway if you have any questions regarding W-Net just leave a comment below and I will try to answer it.

www.wataniya.com

There will be a blogger meetup tomorrow at 5:30 since its the first Thursday of the month. The difference this month from other months is the meeting will be held at Dunkin Donuts in Salmiya. Thats a much cooler venue then the previous one which was Second Cup in Kuwait City plus its a lot closer to my house. Whoever changed the location a big thank you! I haven’t been to a bloggers meetup yet but I will tomorrow.

I was parking my car outside Sultan Center in Salmiya when I first spotted this place. Its located in the backside area near the clinic and because of the name I felt I had to try their shawermas.

After I was done shopping I put the bags in the trunk of my car and walked over to Shoo? Shawerma to order some food. I ordered two chicken shawermas with no pickles and a coke. Total price? 800fils. I was like “fuckin A” this must be some seriously good shawerma if they are charging 350 a piece for it. So, I picked up my two shawermas and headed to the car where I started eating them.

After my first bite I turned around and told Nat this was a 2.5, but the more I ate it the more I hated it. The shawerma was really bad, like really bad. It tasted really greasy and the garlic flavor was no where to be found so there was nothing to cover up the god awful taste of the chicken. It was so bad that once I was done with my first shawerma I threw the second one away. I had NEVER done that before!

Now if this was any ordinary crappy place selling shawermas for 200fils then I might expect something this bad, but 350fils for a shawerma, thats the big league, fuck that, thats the super league. Most top scoring shawerma places charge 300 fils for a shawerma and this joint was charging 350 for the worst shawermas I have ever had. Even the Pepsi can was the small 250ml one, who still sells these, even Bader Al Badoor sells the 330ml Coke cans!

So super high price, small Pepsi can, and most importantly the worst shawerma I have ever experienced in my life earned this place half a star out of a possible five. It only got that half star because if I was stuck in the desert with no food except for their shawerma then I would consider eating it.

After going to sleep early last night I woke up around 9AM today and decided I would go out for a ride. By 9:30 I was downstairs in full gear warming up my bike. Today I even put on my Alpinestars Knee Guard which I should have worn the day I had my crash because it would have saved my knee from getting road rash. Its kind of bulky but its not about the looks, its about the protection. One thing I forgot to do with all my excitement was brush my teeth which was a big mistake because I ended up spending the whole ride smelling my Friday morning breath inside the helmet.

I had 3 rules for my ride today:
(1) Keep off the Gulf Road
(2) On traffic lights, go straight or right but not left (since I had my accident while going left)
(3) Stay clear of roundabouts

Well I broke one of the rules. I ended up going out onto the Gulf Road but just for a tiny bit. My bikes gas light came on and I figured I might as well fill it up with gas, something I hadn’t done before. But before I got onto the Gulf Road I rode into the AUK parking lot and decided to do some riding exercises which involved lots of driving around in circles and braking and accelerating. Once I felt comfortable with the bike I rode out of the parking lot and headed towards the Gulf Road. I ended up going to the gas station opposite Pizza Hut. I was hoping I would find some of that ultra super high octane gas (the green one) but turned out they only had the regular and super versions. It was my first time filling up gas in my bike and I felt awkward. First I didn’t know how to open the gas gasket, the key wasn’t turning in the gasket lock so I called up Marzouq who told me I needed to push the key in and turn which worked. Second I didn’t know how much gas the bike would take but I kept filling it slowly until I could see the gas line in the tank. I filled up 550fils worth of super gas and rode back out onto the Gulf Road and then back into Salmiya.

In total today I rode for around an hour and a half. I would have stayed out longer but my wrist started hurting so I had to come back home. The weather was amazing and I spent most of my ride riding with the helmet visor open so that the wind blew in onto my face . I really had a lot of fun, can’t wait for my next ride.

I just came back from a short ride on my Ducati. It was my first time back out on the public roads since my crash 2 months ago. I was kind of nervous which is natural but not afraid which is a very good thing especially after a crash. I rode in Salmiya in the area around my building but there was a bit more traffic then I thought there would be. For my first ride I think I did fine.

Before I rode out on the streets I rode my bike a bit in my buildings underground parking. I did some 8’s with the bike and also some braking and moving, braking and moving. I still need to get the hang of my bike.

My wrist by the way still hasn’t heeled healed. I passed by Razzi Hospital two days ago and they told me I had a torn ligament in my wrist and still needed two months to heel heal. They told me I should rest my wrist for these two months and I shouldn’t ride the bike. Thing is in Kuwait there are only like two months of the year where you can actually ride the bike so I am not going to waste them giving my wrist a rest.

I am going to do a bit of riding everyday, small sessions not to kill my wrist but also just enough to get me the hang of the bike and give me some practice before I decide to go back out onto the main road again. Can’t believe I am riding again, it feels amazing..

Someone told Badar Al Badoor opened up in Salmiya in the restaurants road. The new branch is called Badar Al Badoor 2 which is pretty cool.

Here are the driving directions:
If Platinum gym is on your right, drive towards the sea side. After Platinum there should be a speed bump and a left turn. Take a left and drive straight and you will get to Badar Al Badoor 2.

Yeah I know I just posted that I wouldn’t post today but then I remembered I needed to post this. LG have a 71inch plasma TV with home theater setup thats gold plated. Its currently displayed at their Salmiya branch adjacent to Alghanim Electronics. Its a really ugly setup as you can see and in person it also looks pretty cheap.

Can you guess how much it costs?

The LG setup you see in the picture above costs KD25,000! Its just ridiculous, not only that but its a display model. If I was the store manager I wouldn’t have a KD25,000 TV on display where everyone can come in and touch it, that would depreciate its value. If I a buyer on the other hand and was planning on splashing out KD25,000 I wouldn’t want a display model.. I wouldn’t want an LG either!

Someone posted this comment under a Jazeera Airways post of mine:

dear sir,
i m an indian i like to go back to india for 45 days i m in kuwait now. is there booking open 4 dec 2006 2nd and third week & what are the fare rates two way or a single way coming from india back can i book it online. pls give me a complete detail and easy way to check the online fare rates to india from destination and from kuwait to uae that is ras al khaimah. thanking u. waiting 4 ur reply.

and this is an email someone sent me regarding the new Symphony Mall opening in Salmiya:

Savio wrote:
could you send us some information on the space available at the symphony mall along with area and prices.

Finally got to try out the KDD Cola Lolly. They are nearly impossible to find because those KDD ice cream sellers on the streets don’t sell them and the bakala’s also don’t stock them. Today though I got a call from Nibaq telling me he had found a bunch at KDD in Shuwaikh. So he came by to Salmiya, popped open his trunk and pulled out a Keep Cold fridge. Inside it was stocked with lollies of various flavors including the hard to find Cola and Passion Fruit flavors. Now it seems the Water Melon Lolly is the only one remaining to be found.

By the way, the Cola Lolly tastes like frozen gummy cola’s. So its good.

When I was in Canada I got introduced to Poutine and ever since its been a favorite dish of mine every time I visit Montreal. Around a year ago I found out New York Fries had opened up in Kuwait so I went to check it out because I knew NYF from Canada and they used to have Poutine. NYF had opened up next to Souk Salmiya and my first experience was a mess. Firstly it turned out they were called New York Friez not Fries meaning they were just copying the name and look of the original franchise. Secondly although they did have poutine on the menu they couldn’t make it right. Poutine is french fries topped with cheese curds and brown gravy but I got served french fries with chili and cheese. According to them it was because they had run out of gravy. I was like fine but you should have told instead of trying to pass me chili cheese fries as poutine.

Anyway that was the last time I went to them until today. I was meeting up with Nibaq near Johnny Rockets Salmiya and I noticed New York Friez had opened up right behind them. I was like let me give them another chance. I go in and ask the waitress if they have poutine, she was like yes and she showed it to me on the menu. I tell her great can I have one. Then I was like wait, how do you make your poutine, whats in it? She was like chili and cheese and fries. I was like thats not poutine, poutine is cheese, gravy and fries. She went to the back asked the cook and came back and told me no poutine is chili, cheese and fries. I was like no thanks and walked out.

Things like this piss me off. If you look at the picture I took from their menu you will notice they can’t even spell poutine right. In UAE they have the official New York Fries but sadly they don’t have poutine on the menu. But at least there they don’t try passing chili cheese fries as poutine to their customers.

Here is info on poutine at Wikipedia. [Link]

While driving to Maki yesterday at Marina Waves I noticed the Skate Park at the side of the parking lot was open. I had passed it a few times before but the lights were always off but yesterday they were open and some kids were riding their BMX bikes up and down the ramps. On the way out I got a better look (while still driving by in the car) and I noticed the two kids had similar blue helmets and bikes. This is why I am guessing that the park actually rents out bikes, boards, blades and gear. I should probably pass by another day and try to get more details unless a reader already has more details and can share it with us. It looks wayyyy better then the one that used to be located in the basement of the Salmiya palace Hotel.

update: here are some better pictures taken by Yo Ghurt [1] [2] [3]