Search: “salmiya”

Yesterday night I went to the bakala (local word for very tiny mini markets) under my building to get KDD Silver icecream. To my surprise the guy didn’t have any left, just the Gold one. So I went to the second bakala near by and he also didn’t have Silver. Luckily there are like 20 bakalas in a 5 meter radius behind my building (I love Salmiya) so I went bakala jumping trying to find one that still had Silver left. Luckily I found a box full at the 4th bakala and decided to buy it all and take home. Don’t know if this is a problem around Kuwait or just in my street but maybe the country is running out of Silver??

update: just went and got myself a Raspberry Lolly

Is there someone in Kuwait that imports the Vespa brand of scooters? I think it would be cool to travel around Salmiya in a baby blue Vespa. No more looking for parking at Sultan Center..

Don’t do it in public places. I was just walking in Salmiya while video calling and I was getting a lot of stares. Walking with my hand out in front of me, phone open and talking out loud is just too weird in public.

I don’t think I will ever have McDonalds again because of this extremely cheezy and poor advert. Come on, with all this improvment in advertising in the region this is what McDonalds is advertising? This is what McDonalds in the Arab world thinks is trendy? I can’t think of any brand that would suit this advert yet alone McDonalds! This advert wouldn’t even work for those cheap ass bargain bin stores in Salmiya. I am seriously shocked at how terrible this is. [Larger Picture]

Note: The headline roughly translates to “Keep your taste big”

On Friday I picked up my friend and we went and had lunch at IKEA before heading off to the H3 Ride & Drive event. When we got to the location it was like arriving in the middle of no where, we couldn’t see anything it was all desert and hills. Then we noticed some dust coming up from behind one of the hills and we decided to go and investigate. Luckily I was in my Wrangler because there was no paved road, its like you needed an H3 to get to the H3 event. I didn’t mind that since it felt like a true off road event even before I got to the place. When we reached the top we found the H3 camp, it was located at the bottom of the hill surrounded by a ton of Hummers and random visitor cars. We drove down to the camp and parked the Jeep… first impression was very positive so far.

We walked into the tent where we were greeted by some cute girls who took our names and made us sign a disclaimer stating if we got hurt they wouldn’t be responsible. I found that odd since its supposed to be just a test drive.. how bad could things go you know? Once we signed the papers they gave us a goodie bag and pointed us to another person who would put us into a Hummer.

This is where the fun starts. We get into the Hummer and drive off a hundred meters down the road where the Hummer driver tells me to swap seats so I could drive. I get into the drivers seat, adjust everything to my liking and then drive off towards a Hummer flag further down the road. When I first was told about the event, they told me that there were two tracks, a soft one and a hard one. I would be allowed to drive on the soft one while a professional driver would drive on the hard one. So automatically I assumed the soft track would be a stupid flat circle where I would safely drive around looking like an idiot. Well that turned out to be a completely wrong assumption. When I got to the Hummer flag I saw a deep fucking ditch in the ground filled with water. I figured that was the end of the test drive and I probably need to swap seats with the Pro driver so he could take me around the hard track. To my surprise the driver was like ok go in. I was like where, in that ditch? He was like yeah so I was like fucking cool. At first I thought this was a privilege I got because I knew the organizers but it turns out it wasn’t a privilege but in fact this was actually the start of the soft course! I got down the ditch and drove through the water till the end where I reached to a wall. I am not exaggerating here it was a nearly vertical sand wall that was soo high up I couldn’t see out of the ditch. The driver told me to step on the gas and not to press the brakes. I thought for sure the front end of the car would hit the wall before the tires but it didn’t. Up the wall I went and out of the ditch I drove. It was very cool and kinda unreal. I drove down to the next check point and this time the road ahead turned into holes. Each hole was maybe around 40cm deep and they were placed on both the left and right sides of the track. We drove through the track without any problems and very smoothly. Sure the car was moving up and down like a fishing boat in a perfect storm but we were driving through a track filled with 40cm deep pot holes! The whole time I was thinking shit my Wrangler can’t do this…

When we were done from the soft track which involved numerous impossible to climb looking obstacles, it was time to give the control back to the pro. He drove us to the hard track and put the H3 on 4x4low and told us to fasten our seat-belts. The first obstacle involved the H3 driving across two small dunes where half way through the driver stops and explains to us how the H3 at this point has only 2 wheels touching the ground. We then continue off to what I can only describe as a roller-coaster ride. We went up and down so many obstacles that were so high up and so steep it was just unbelievable. I tried to take pictures out of the window but all I could capture was either the sky or the ground. It was seriously jaw dropping. Once the drive was over I called up Nat and told her to get ready because I was going to come and pick her up. I drove all the way to Salmiya and back just so she could experience the drive. That ofcourse was a big mistake because now she can’t stopped nagging me about how she wants an H3 and when I could take her to the showroom.

I took a lot of pictures that day but something happened to the memorystick and all my pictures got erased. But, Alghanim sent me pictures yesterday that were taken by a photographer who came in from Dubai and they are way better pictures then the ones I had taken. Check them out, they are all from the Ride & Drive event here in Kuwait. The H3’s have Dubai numbers because they were brought in from Dubai. [Pictures]

I had a lot of fun.

I don’t care much about the movie, and I really didn’t find any of these pictures interesting.. except for Spider Man’s costume. Now thats just fucking amazing, this is the shot I am talking about [Pic]. If I had that suit I would walk around Salmiya on a Thursday night picking fights with strangers. [Link]

[source digg]

I tried Papa Johns pizza for the first time yesterday and it was really amazing. What everyone has been saying about Papa Johns is true, they do make the best pizza in Kuwait. I really really liked it a lot and I loved the pizza dips they gave with the pizza. They don’t deliver to Salmiya which sucks because it means I have to drive to Jabriya and pick it up but its worth it. If you want to try them out you can call them on 827272. I had the Little Italy pizza which has mushrooms, oregano, black olives, pepperoni and Italian sausages except I ordered it without the sausages.

My favorite sushi place in Kuwait is Kei but honestly I hadn’t tried sushi anywhere else here until yesterday night. Once you get used to a sushi place its difficult to eat sushi somewhere else because the dishes differ and your favorites in one place might be a completely different experience in another. Thats mainly the reason I have been hesitant to try any other place. Another advantage of eating at the same sushi place all the time is the fact that you make friends with the people who work there and if you are like me and only sit at the bar then you get to make friends with the most important person at the sushi place.. the sushi chef or “my bartender” as I like to call him. Our bartender is always creating new and exciting dishes for us to try including my favorites so far a sushi pizza and most recently maki desert which involves banana, mango, crab and some other ingredients wrapped in rice and seaweed. Yesterday night though I was invited to Maki and I wasn’t expecting it to be any good since Nat had been there before and given it a rating of 1.5 out of 5. My own experience last night was on the other hand a very good one.

Maki is a very trendy looking place that feels like a pub minus the beer taps and whisky bottles. From the minute you walk in you forget you are in Kuwait, which is a good thing when you want to get away from things. The interior is very cozy and the tables are closely packed together, not as close as Al-Boom but still very close. We sat next to the door, which is probably the best location since you could see the people coming in. Our host was a regular at Maki and he ordered a very large assortment of appetizers for us. My favorites were the Negimayaki, which consists of sliced beef rolled with spring onions surrounded by teriyaki sauce. I think it looked very appetizing and interesting, kinda like tiny potted plants.. My other favorite was the deep friend chicken with plum sauce. For main course our host also ordered a wide range of dishes including a maki dish that was named after him called the Issa. My favorite dishes from the main course were the Fusion, the Fusion 2, Issa and Ghandour. They were all REALLY incredible dishes. The Fusion’s were sushi wraps, but the wrapping paper is their own creation and tasted really good. The Issa and Ghandour were maki dishes and they were really superb, maybe the best maki dishes I have ever had.

The service was good and very friendly. The owner of Maki is Lebanese and the manager and main waiters are also all Lebanese which is similar to how Casper&Gambini and Waterlemon are. The problem I had with the place is that near the end of our evening they started playing Arabic music really loud which I didn’t find cool at all. If it was a pub I would have finished my drink and walked out and down to the next pub, but in reality its a Sushi place and there is no pub anywhere near.

The pricing is decent and compared to Kei, Maki is more expensive but just by a tiny bit. You can check out their prices yourself and compare it to your favorite place by downloading the menu from their website. I also noticed that Maki isn’t what I would call an authentic Japanese experience. They do have your regular maki’s and sushi’s but the regular dish I tried which was the Crazy Maki tasted normal and bland. Its their special dishes with their secret sauces and ingredients that are exceptional but they are what I call modern sushi.

Maki is located in Salmiya behind Diva’s. Its easy to find and if you want to pass by make sure you reserve since I went there on a Sunday night and the place was fully packed. At the end of the month they are opening a new location in Marina World in that thing I don’t know what you call it.. you know when you stand outside at Marina Crescent and you look right you see that large structure with colorful lights? Its the thing located between Marina Crescent and Hard Rock Cafe. Anyway they were opening there which should be cool.

I really enjoyed Maki and I would definitely start going there but I also won’t be ditching Kei anytime soon. Both places offer completely different experiences and dishes and I would rather have both then to choose either one of them. I am going to give Maki a 4.5 out of 5. It lost points on the Arabic music. You can check out more pictures and details on Maki by visiting their website olivermaki.com. Next week I will try Edo since they tell me its really good and will post a review once I do.

I don’t know about the rest of Kuwait but its raining hail like crazy here in Kuwait City. I called my mum and it still hasn’t rained in Salmiya.. weird.

This is from the article in Kuwait Times about the Al-Rifai crash:

A Kuwaiti woman crashed into shop in Salmiya with her four-wheel-drive vehicle. The woman put her vehicle on in drive instead of reverse and then accelerated quickly. Her vehicle crashed into the shop and broke the glass door causing KD5,000 worth of damage. [source]

Ok so it turns out the woman WAS Kuwaiti but the biggest surprise here is the KD5,000 in damage. According to this picture, looks like the only thing that might have been damaged was the computer at the register, how did they get 5,000 worth of damage?

Thanks Q8techdrive

I had to take Geo to the vet again today. Since he has been using his injured hand as a weapon, hitting everything in his way with it, the plastic stick inside (the spoon) shifted positions and I got worried this would disturb the healing process. So, I went to the vet, I took the BMW this time since driving all the way there in the Wrangler is a very slow process and takes around 25 minutes. In the BMW, I was driving an average speed of around 140-160 and even managed to hit 190km/h in one place so I got to the vet in 15 minutes from Salmiya. It doesn’t feel like a long trip anymore. The vet fixed his leg again and now I have to keep an eye on him to make sure he stops hitting stuff with it.

I went to work today to finish up a couple of jobs before starting my 10 day vacation. I was on my way back home when I spotted this strange accident. According to eye witnesses at the scene, there was a woman parked in front of the store and instead of hitting reverse she put the gear on drive and ended up climbing up 3 steps into the store.

Here is another angle
Here is also another angle

Update: The location of this Al-Rifai branch is in Baghdad Street, Salmiya.

Introduction
In January I posted about my home theater setup and I mentioned I wanted to upgrade my aging old Kenwood receiver with something newer and better. Well a few days ago I passed by the Denon dealer in Salmiya to check out some AV Receivers and I ended up buying one. I did a lot of research online before I decided to upgrade my receiver and I came to the conclusion that for my budget and my needs, the Denon AVR-2106 fit the bill perfectly. I had previously seen the receiver when I tagged along with K.TheKuwaiti when he was getting a Denon for his living room and I remember the price was around KD175 since they were having discounts. So I passed by the Salmiya dealer and I looked around and I couldn’t find the Denon AVR-2106. I asked the salesman about it and he told me they were out of stock but he would check to see on the computer if any of the other branches had any left. Two minutes later he tells me he found one more piece left, but its the display model in the Hawalli branch. I am not good at price haggling at all, in-fact there is only one person I have ever met that was worse then me and thats TivoGuy, but I went ahead and asked the guy how much discount extra would he give me since it was the display model. He checked on his computer and told me the lowest he could give me the amp was for KD161. I was like stunned, I wasn’t planning on getting the receiver, I was just checking on the price, but now with this special price it was just soo fucking tempting to resist. So I tell the guy OK and he was like give me a minute to call the Hawalli branch and make sure they still have it. Five minutes later he comes back to me and tells me that the receiver they have in stock is actually not displayed and is still brand new in the box. I was like thats great but I still just want to pay KD161. The salesman laughed and said that wouldn’t be a problem since I was a good customer. I couldn’t believe what a good deal I was getting, I quickly paid the money and went and picked up the receiver from the Hawalli branch.

Susan, a regular reader of the site recently went on a sky tour of Kuwait and this is what she had to say about it:

A recent start-up called Kuwait Sky Tours is now operating in Kuwait and taking passengers on 15-minute helicopter rides at a cost of KD25 each. The 15-minute flight takes off from the helipad behind the Sultan Centre restaurant on the Gulf Road, travels up to Green Island and then back down to the Amir’s Palace in Salwa, before returning to land. It is a great way too see Kuwait from a different perspective. The helicopter is a MD 500-E and seats 3 adults. There is space for a child or a very skinny person between the pilot and front passenger. If you want to go, give Steve a call on 705 6666. They also fly from Khiran and Failaka on occasion. Cameras are allowed.

You can also go on a larger helicopter, for an hour-long flight for the princely sum of USD1,500. Or, try the executive jet, which is ready to fly you and 13 of your friends to any destination in the world! Don’t know that price; I was too afraid to ask!

P.S. Don’t talk into the headset during the flight. The pilot told me off!

Here are Susan’s pictures from her trip:
The Helicopter
Looking North West
Marina Mall and Marina Hotel
The Scientific Center
View of Salmiya
The Gulf Road and Kuwait Towers
House in Salwa
Radisson SAS

I was just checking out Frankom’s site when I found a picture of this guy above. If you have ever been to any of the popular malls in Kuwait you MUST have seen this guy atleast once. It seems he goes by the nickname Shark and you could usually spot his Blue vintage Bugatti or yellow T-Rex parked outside Starbucks in Salmiya opposite Fanar. I sometimes see him at Souk Sharq during my lunch break and Marina Mall during the evening and I always wonder if this guy has a job or not since he is always hanging out at cafes. Anyway you can check out more pictures of the Shark at his website. Maybe next time I see him I will try to find out what he does for a living. [Link]