Search: “salmiya”

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]

Today I met up with Marzouq again to go riding. We met in front of Galleria 2000 like yesterday and we headed off onto the Gulf road. As we were getting onto the gulf road from Salmiya I fucked up and ended up crashing onto the ground and sliding towards the curb.

I am still not sure exactly what happened. I have played the scene over and over in my head and my current conclusion is I was taking the curb at a speed faster than I was comfortable with and I stupidly pulled the brakes too hard and locked up the front wheel making it slide under me. I crashed on to the ground and me and the bike both slid towards the curb.

It all happened really fast except one part felt like it was in slow motion. The view suddenly shifted to inside the helmet and I was on the floor sliding towards the black and yellow curb and I can very clearly see my helmet visor getting scratched and finally I stopped.

I got up, and looked around to see if any cars were coming. I saw Marzouq had already stopped his bike behind me so that the cars could drive around us. I then proceeded to lift my bike up when Marzouq came and took over and told me to go sit down. He asked me if I was hurt and I looked down and saw my jeans had torn at my knees and I was bleeding. I went sat down, took out my camera and started taking pictures of Marzouq moving my bike and then of my injuries.

My left knee was scraped, the left side of my waist also, I had a tiny scrape on my left elbow and another scratch on my right leg. Finally my left wrist was hurting me a bit.

We parked the bike and noticed the left foot rest had brkoen off so we called TriStar to come pick up the bike. They told us they already had found out about the crash and the bike truck was on its way. Talk about excellent customer service. Marzouq wanted to take me to the hospital but I told him to pass by my place first so I could change and take Nats car.

I got home, took off my watch (knew I needed to take it off for the xtray), got into shorts and a tshirt and left again with Nat and Marzouq. We got to the hospital and two hours later I left with bandages everywhere and my left hand in a cast. Yes, I have been typing this post with one hand, its a pain!

I am back home now. I am disappointed my hand is in a cast because it means I won’t be riding for a while. My favorite jeans are ripped which totally messed up my wardrobe. But, I am glad I came out of the fall with minor injuries. If I was an unsafe rider wearing shorts, tshirt and no helmet you can bet I wouldn’t be here typing this post. I regret not having gotten biking jeans. I was actually gonna post about Draggin Jeans the other day. If I was wearing them me knee wouldn’t have gotten messed up.

Here are some pictures, the ones marked GRAPHIC are you guessed it, graphic pictures.

Marzouq moving my bike
My busted knee (GRAPHIC)
My waist (GRAPHIC)
My leg (GRAPHIC)
My elbow (GRAPHIC)
My scratched helmet
Me waiting to have my cast put on

I have to end this post with a special thanks to Marzouq who was a true friend today. Thanks dude!

At 4PM today I met up with Marzouq in front of Galleria 2000. I was talking to him online at around 3:30 and he asked me if I wanted to go riding and I was like fine. I hadn’t really been out on the roads yet, only twice around my block but that was it. I was nervous but excited at the same time. I quickly got dressed and took my bike and rode down to Galleria 2000.

Once I got to Galleria Marzouq was already there waiting for me, he told me to follow him and off we went out onto the Gulf Road. Originally I was hoping my first time out on the Gulf Road would be when it was empty, like a Friday morning or something. At 4PM today the Gulf Road wasn’t empty as I was hoping instead it was kinda packed. We rode on the Gulf Road from Salmiya all the way to Shuwaikh. At first I was a really nervous but once we hit TGIF I had gotten the hang of driving in traffic and was weaving through it with no problems. After we passed Kuwait Towers I started to feel even more comfortable on the road. The road also had less cars by then and we were zooming by really fast.

When we got to the end of the Gulf Road in Shuwaikh, we parked our bikes and started taking pictures when another blogger, iDip happened to be passing by. He parked his car and we had a little bloggers meetup before he took off again. Marzouq and I finished taking pictures and then headed back to Salmiya. The ride back was pretty cool. There was a lot of traffic but I wasn’t nervous anymore. Its not that bad riding in traffic, as long as you don’t get an asshole on your tail blinking and honking wanting you to get out of the way. I think the max speed I hit was 130km/h. I know Marzouq hit like 160 with his bike.

It was a lot of fun and I can’t wait to go back out tomorrow. There shouldn’t be any traffic in the morning so the ride should be even more fun.

I don’t eat at home since I don’t know how to cook nor do I want to learn how to cook. I know how to make the basics which are sandwiches, omelets, burgers and cookies and I don’t see a need to learn how to make other dishes.

Since its ramadan all restaurants are closed till like 5:30PM, this means when I am done with work at 3 I have over 2 hours before I eat. The thing is I can’t go out to eat at 5:30 because my riding lessons are from like 5 to 6:30. Thats why I have to eat at home.

Yesterday while shopping at Sultan Center in Salmiya I decided to pick up 2 packs of Kobe Burger, I have been wanting to try it for a long time now but since I don’t eat at home I found no need to get it. After picking up the burgers I picked up a packet of sliced American white cheese loaves, 1 white onion, a bottle of Heinz Ketchup and some burger buns. Nat didn’t want Kobe Burgers since she doesn’t like thick burgers so I picked up a packet of regular frozen burgers for her.

I have a Kenwood grill at home and I use it mainly to grill my burgers on and this is how I do it:

– I grill the burger for 5 minutes, flip it, let it grill for another 5 minutes, flip it, let it grill for another 5 minutes and finally I flip it one last time for a final 5 minutes.

– Once I am done I put a slice of cheese on the burger, leave it on the grill for another minute then I take the burger with cheese and place it on the bottom half of my bun.

– I then place it in the microwave for 10 seconds so the cheese can melt.

– I then put some ketchup on the burger and top it off with diced white onions

– I cover my burger with the top half of the bun and my burger is ready to eat.

I am sure Gastronomica is better at making burgers then me since if you check out his website you will notice all his meals are very gourmet like. Hopefully he will be nice enough to share a tip or two in the comments below but until he does this is how I make my burgers.

How did the burgers come out? Fanfrigintastic! I like my burgers well done and I was expecting this burger to come out dry but it didn’t. It was soft, juicy and tasted like something you would find at a posh restaurant or hotel room service. It was surprisingly very good and it turned out to be the best burger I ever made.

Now the biggest problem with the Kobe Burger is the price. Each patty costs KD1.250 which isn’t cheap if you compare it to other frozen burgers. BUT without getting into the taste or quality of meat please look at the picture above of the burgers on the grill. Do you notice the 2 large patties on the left? Do you notice the tiny patty on the top right? Guess which patty is your average everyday frozen one? These kobe burgers are big and thick. Kobe beef also comes from Wagyu cattle which are “renowned for its flavor, tenderness, and fatty well-marbled texture”. So yes KD1.250 is worth it specially if you have a passion for burgers.

From now on if I ever need to make burgers at home this is the only burger I will get. I can no longer have those crappy frozen burgers that come 8 in a pack. I have been spoilt. Final score is a 4.5 out of 5. I would have given it a 5 but they are a lot messier to cook then the regular burgers because these are bigger and juicier so they spray more grease. This means more cleaning for me which always sucks.

I just came back from my first ride out in the public streets. I have been learning how to ride the whole week and I just wanted to get a feel of my Ducati and how much it differed from the Bajaj bike I am training on.

I strapped on my full gear, got on my bike and drove out of my underground parking lot out into the public streets. I circled the block and rode into the old Salmiya, it was around 4PM so there wasn’t much traffic, just a handful of cars but it still was very freaky. The bike is literally a monster. I have been training on the Bajaj Pulsar which is 180cc and pumps out 16.5HP. My Ducati is 618cc and pumps out 83.5HP. As you can imagine the jump between the two bikes is huge and I was prepared for it but it was still very shocking.

The bike stalled with me once and it was when I was nearly back home. Other then that I did fine. I don’t think my ride was very smooth though since I am still not used to the throttle. Just a small twist on the thing and the bike flys off leaving me hanging on like a mad man. The whole ride was just an incredible adrenaline rush but I was really glad when I got home. Next time I take it out it will be after I have more riding hours under my belt.

Today as you can tell from the posts below is just not my day. I have to put all the blame on traffic. Not just any traffic but Shuwaikh traffic specifically. Shuwaikh traffic has got to be the worst traffic of its kind. The other day on my way to IKEA I got stuck 20 minutes at the intersection just before IKEA. In the end I just parked my car on the side and walked to IKEA.

My motorbike lessons take place in Shuwaikh and the place I take the lessons is also right next to IKEA. Once I am done with my lessons at around 6:30 I have to drive back to Salmiya. The first day I drove back via the 4th Ring Road and the drive back took over an hour. Then I started taking the long way round which is going to Kuwait City and then towards Fahaheel Expressway and that drive takes around 40 minutes.

Getting in and out of Jabriya at that time is also hell as I experienced today. Its like everywhere I went today it was just really packed. Traffic really stresses me out and I tend to snap at the tiniest thing. Anyway enough complaining for tonight.

Sultan Center in Salmiya now have a whole range of Kit Kat flavors inlcuding:

Kit Kat Original
Kit Kat Dark Chocolate
Kit Kat White Chocolate
Kit Kat Mint
Kit Kat Orange
Kit Kat Chunky Caramel
Kit Kat Peanut butter

I am a big chocolate spread fan and the most common brands I get are Nutella, Crumpy and Hazella but mostly I just get the large Nutella jar. I tried the Galaxy chocolate spread but I just found it tooo sweet. So the other week I was at Sultan Center in Salmiya and I found a new brand of chocolate spread, the famous Neuhaus from Belgium. I was like gourmet chocolate spread? I have to try it! So, I went and purchased a jar of Neuhaus Chocolate Spread with Nuts and went back home to try it.

Was it any good? No question about it, the Neuhaus chocolate spread was the most flavored chocolate spread I have ever tried. Its thick and smells nutty plus the presentation of it is very minimal and elegant. Its really delicious. I never doubted the fact that it would taste really good, the only question is… is it worth it?

The 750-grams Nutella jar costs 915fils. The 200-grams Neuhaus jar costs KD2,780. That means the Neuhaus chocolate spread costs more then 11 times the price of Nutella, but is it 11 times better?

Simply no, it isn’t.

I can’t even imagine what Nutella times 11 would taste like but I am pretty sure it must be close to orgasmic and although the Neuhaus spread is really fucking good its no where near orgasmic. So would I recommend it? Yes I would, at-least to try it once. But I wouldn’t recommend it as a replacement to Nutella, its just not feasible, what you get is something better then Nutella but not something that deserves to be eleven times as expensive. This is why for the final rating it gets a 3.5 out of 5.