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The long term parking at the airport is so small that on weekends it’s usually closed with a sign saying that it’s full and you’re basically forced to park in the short term parking and pay an exuberant price or park outside the cargo terminal for free but have to take the long walk back to the airport. Since I’ve been traveling a lot I kinda developed a routine which was working pretty well for me until this past weekend.

What I do now is get to the airport early like I usually do but I park in the short term parking. I then checkin to my flight and once I get the boarding pass I get back to my car and just park it outside the long term parking entrance and I sit and wait for someone to leave so that security will let me in. Usually it takes 15 to 30 minutes and it’s became a routine that works for me.

So this past Thursday, 30 minutes had passed and no one had left but since I had already checked in and still had around an hour for boarding I was doing ok. Then a car pulled up behind me and a Kuwaiti guy got out and came up to my window. I rolled it down and told him parking was full and I was waiting. The guy then goes to the security office and a few minutes later comes back with a Kuwaiti security guy who comes up to me and is like I am going to let the guy in because he wants to try his luck and look for a spot. I told the security guy I had been waiting here for 30 minutes now why can’t I go in to “try my luck”? Then the Kuwaiti guy came and told me to move my car so he could go in. I was like no, I was here first and I have been here for 30 minutes and I am not moving. The security told the guy in Arabic that I was a westerner and you know how stubborn they can be. The Kuwaiti guy kept trying to get me to move and telling the security he had his whole family in the car and his flight would be taking off soon etc.. etc..

Finally around 10 minutes later a passenger comes into the long term parking and was leaving. I tell the security guard I should be let in first to park and then you can let the other guy go in and try his luck. Of course he didn’t listen and let both of us in. I ended up driving the wrong way to get to the parking spot first to park.

So much drama just for parking. We definitely need more long term parking spots. My temporary fix would be to combine both the short and long term parking spots into one and then develop a pricing plan that would work for both. Until then it’s going to be like this every weekend.

Early in the month I was sent to Basel World, the largest watch expo in the world by Trafalgar so that I could cover the event for my blog. I was there for 3 days and I think by the last day I had managed to check out the whole expo since it was just so ridiculously huge. I managed to get access to a few brands I wanted to see except for two which were Rolex and Breitling. Rolex had the new anniversary edition Daytona I wanted to check out while Breitling had the new Emergency. If you don’t have access to a brand you basically only get to check out their displays outside their booth. With access you get taken inside the booth where you get to see the watches in person. Below are my favorite watches from the expo.

Last weekend I went to Milan and stayed at a trendy little hotel called Nu. It was actually my second choice since I had originally set my eyes on Hotel Straf, but Nu Hotel ended up coming in at half the price which made it the obvious choice.

The hotel is not located in the city center and is not walking distance to Duomo which is actually a good thing. Duomo is in the city center where all the cathedrals, department stores, franchises, luxury brands and ALL the tourist are. Many people actually want to be in Duomo which is fine by me but I would rather shop and stay in places with more locals than tourists. The hotel is located 5 minutes away from the Metro anyway which means a ride to any part of Milan will mostly take just under 20 minutes.

My room was pretty spacious for European standards but what probably helped the room look even more spacious was the super large window that occupied most of one wall. It brought in a lot of soft natural light into the room even on an overcast day. The room had all the regular amenities like free interent, mini bar, a safe and breakfast in bed should you choose. The customer service was fantastic, I was having minor issues with my AC since in typical person from Kuwait style I wanted it on all the time and at the coldest possible temperature and they were extremely helpful with sorting that issue out for me.

There wasn’t much going on around the hotel other than a happening bar across the street. Other than that everything on the street was usually closed by nightfall. If I ever go back to Milan I wouldn’t hesitate staying at Nu Hotel. Here is the link to their [Website]

The post below was written by a friend of mine, a Kuwaiti doctor currently living and working/training in Montreal.

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Recently, posts on twitter and many blogs including this one have featured a text message appearing on peoples phones as a random statement that Mental health facilities are available in Kuwait (pictured above). I’m sure that the idea was a good one, unfortunately there was no information on how to get in contact with people who can help (no email, website or hotline to call).

Like many of you I met these efforts made by the ministry with heckling and criticism. In my eyes this was an imported idea that we just couldn’t get right. Granted, it’s not a major disaster but still it’s just one more thing to complain about (the national sport) and it’s not like people here in Montreal don’t have problems with their hospitals. On the contrary, if you read the papers you’d see that some of these places are nearing bankruptcy, and others are being sold off all together with staged layoffs commencing soon.

People complain in Montreal too, they complain a lot, the difference is that despite all the problems and near disasters they face here, there’s always progress being made.

We can now boast that at the Montreal General Hospital (a level 1 trauma centre) we go from the trauma bay to a whole body CT scan and to the ICU or the operating room in less than 30 minutes. You might assume that this is as a results of care considerate government planning. It isn’t, the Montreal General Hospital relies on non government foundations to provide donations on a regular basis to fund research and buy equipment that the government can’t afford. These include MRI machines, CT scanners and surgical equipment that has made the place a true monument to trauma and emergency surgery.

They don’t just wait for people to donate, they set up funds and activities to provide long term assured income annually. This year their campaign included a “dancing with the docs” event where you could sponsor doctors in a dance off and an annual raffle.

Another hospital has come up with similar events such as annual tennis tournaments and fashion and style events as well as an annual gala that honours their doctors as well as many many others (about three per season). They also have franchises open within the hospital which are obligated to donate annually (the frozen yogurt place beats anything I can find at a hospital cafeteria).

That hospital has become the first robotic cancer surgery (surgical oncology) center in the province and one of the most active in Canada. Some of it is because of the money they donate and make for the hospital but a lot of it is because we can rely on these fantastic volunteers to help moving patients, inspect rooms to make sure they’re clean and take care of elderly patients who can’t take care of them selves.

These foundations are practically built on volunteers led by the CEO of the hospital (every hospital has a CEO to handle the business side of things over here). Some of them provide administrative work, others organize activities and others actually involve themselves with patient care activities such as feeding, pet and animal therapy and patient transport as well as acting as translators throughout the hospital I don’t think these hospitals would be the centres of excellence in their fields if it wasn’t for these community led initiatives.

The generic response would be مالت علينا these people are organized and efficient and our guys can’t even run a small emergency room but the fact of the matter is that progress in hospitals in Montreal isn’t just reliant on doctors, nurses or administrators alone, it comes from the community we service.

Think of how much you and I can do to help our hospitals, maybe we can educate diabetics, help inspect rooms or just set up donation pools and funds to build initiatives and not just giant buildings or buy equipment with no further planning involved.

Trying to do this in Kuwait will take an effort on both parts, hospitals have to be willing to accept donations, volunteers and also train them while on the other hand people have to be committed to making their hospital the best they can. Success in this field is never due to one individual and I’m probably as guilty as you are for neglecting my local hospital when it is clearly in need.

Post written by Saud, a Kuwaiti doctor living and working/training in Montreal. Twitter: @saudnz

Back in 2011 I posted about how a team of students from Kuwait came second place in the GCC Microsoft Imagine Cup. The idea that got them there was the creation of an App that would use crowd sourcing to inform the authorities of various problems around Kuwait. Using your phone you could snap a picture of overflowing garbage, large pot holes, accidents etc.. and then send the photos to the proper authorities with a GeoTag of the location.

Fast forward a couple of years and the Riyadh municipality just launched an iPhone App that does all of that. The screenshots above are in Arabic but the App also has English. Another example of a great local idea that gets implemented by another GCC country. [Link]

via @ahmed

The Contemporary Art Platform will be screening the film The Silence of the Angel by Paul Klee next week. Below are the details. The screening is free.

Artist: Paul Klee
Film: The Silence of the Angel
Duration: 52 minutes
Director: Michael Gaumnitz
Date: Wednesday, 15/5/2013
Time: 7:00pm
Location: CAP exhibition space

About the film:
Paul Klee is a German artist that was born in Munchenbuchsee in December 18, 1897. He studied in the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. The Silence of the Angel is a visual journey into the work of a major painter of the 20th century by Michael Gaumnitz, an award-winning documentarian of artists and sculptors. Like Kandinsky and Delaunay, Klee revolutionized the traditional concepts of composition and color. By listening to the heartbeat of nature, exploring the science of his time, and studying music and poetry, Klee created his own artistic language, which questioned the nature of form, line, and color. He moved beyond figurative abstraction to capture the very essence of movement in his painting. Using the writings of Paul Klee, as well as the events of his life and career, Gaumnitz presents the pictorial universe of a visionary artist. Klee died in June 29, 1940, Muralto.

[YouTube]

Also read that they were planning to arrest him after the concert because he was speeding in a borrowed Lamborghini. Too much drama.

Rio is a new Brazilian steakhouse that has been open for around a month and last night I decided to pass by and try it out. Unlike regular restaurants, the way the Rio menu works is slightly different since there is just one fixed price of KD15.5. For that price you get to choose one starter from a list of about eight, you get to choose an unlimited amount of side orders and then it’s all you can eat beef, fish and chicken. It’s similar to a buffet except you never have to get out of your seat.

Rio is located on the ground floor of Jawhara Tower in Kuwait City. It’s the same building that has Ubon and a few other restaurant. But from the restaurants that are currently located there, Rio has to be the biggest, probably double the size of the others. I was actually pretty surprised at how spacious Rio was compared to the other restaurants next door. The interior was also very trendy and nicely lit with large windows on two sides creating a very open and spacious look. You could easily forget the fact that you’re not in Kuwait once you’re inside. Once we sat down the waitress proceeded to explain to us how the menu works and then provided us with two coasters, one side had a red circle the other side a green circle. You put the coasters on the table with the green side up when you want your plate refilled and the red side up when you want to stop.

I was with my brother so we got to order two starters, the Carpaccio and the rocket salad. Between the two dishes I surprisingly favored the rocket salad but that’s probably because the balsamic dressing was so ridiculously good. One thing I found a bit annoying was the fact the starters came out so quickly after we ordered and then before we were completely done with the dishes they wanted to clear the plates so they could bring in the main course. I felt a bit rushed but that’s probably due to the lack of experience since they just opened. We ordered a whole bunch of sides to go with our main course, I ordered healthy sides like mushrooms, broccoli and carrots while my brother ordered potato wedges, onion rings and fried banana. We also had 6 or 8 sauces to choose from and we decided to order all of them so we could try them out.

They serve around 14 different kinds of meats and I would say 12 of them are served on skewers that they bring to your table and slice onto your plate. One after the other a waiter would come with a different skewer for us to try like various kinds of steaks, grilled shrimps, grilled chicken and sausages and even grilled pineapple. As they would fill our plate and walk away another skewer would come which meant we didn’t have enough time to start eating. Then I remembered the colored coasters the waitress told us about so we flipped ours to “red” and the food stopped coming. Since there are so many different kinds of skewers there are bound to be some you won’t favor and in my case I didn’t favor a few but the ones I did end up liking, I liked a lot (the sliced chicken and the chicken sausage being my favorites).

I do have a few gripes about the place and it mostly has to do with the service. The whole experience just felt very rushed. Right as soon as we sat down and the waitress explained to us the concept she wanted to take our order right then on the spot even though we didn’t have time to take a look at the menu. Then as I mentioned, the starters came out very quickly after the order was taken and before the starters were completely finished the plates were being cleared for the main course. Then the way you get bombarded with one grill after the other is also a bit overwhelming. Another issue I had is when we had gone through maybe 8 or 10 grills they started coming back with grills that we had already tried. When I asked the waiter if we were done trying all the grills he said yes. Since we were pretty full we decided to ask for the bill. When the bill arrived a waiter came with chicken sausages which we hadn’t been served before. So we each took one. Then I paid the bill and another skewer came this time with beef sausages, again we hadn’t tried those before. So I asked the waiter why he would tell us we were done trying out all the grills when we hadn’t and I don’t think he understood us. I think it must have been just a language issue but it’s kinda awkward to ask for the bill and pay for it while food is still arriving. I also have an issue with the price. At KD15.5 I would have appreciated if soft drinks were included or at the very least have free refills. If you want dessert that is also an additional cost. I think dessert should be included in the price since when you go to a buffet or order a set menu, generally all the food is included.

Rio is an interesting concept and a great looking place in a good location with a ton of parking spaces all around. It’s also probably the closest thing you’re going to get to an all you can eat steak buffet in Kuwait. As a matter of fact, this is probably the closest thing you’re also going to get to a healthy buffet since the menu is mostly made up of grilled protein. My issues mostly revolve around the service but they should easily be fixable by just slowing things down a notch. If you’re interested in trying Rio here is a [Map] to the location and their phone number is 22260788.

Update: I forgot to add they’re currently in a soft launch stage and so are only open from 7PM to 11PM

The weather is still good right now catch a rooftop movie while you still can. Volver and The Life Aquatic are two movies I would want to see and maybe for nostalgia purposes I’d watch Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal again. Check out the full list of movies for Maybe below:

Thursday May 2nd, 2013 at 7:30PM
SAMSARA
From the award winning director of Baraka, Samsara takes you on an incredible journey, filmed over nearly five years in twenty-five countries on five continents, and shot on seventy-millimetre film, Samsara transports us to the varied worlds of sacred grounds, disaster zones, industrial complexes, and natural wonders.

Saturday May 4th, 2013 at 7:30PM
BALLAD OF NARAYAMA
In Kabuki theatre style, the film tells the story of a remote mountain village where the scarcity of food leads to a voluntary but socially-enforced policy in which relatives carry 70-year-old family members up Narayama mountain to die. Given a masterpiece rating by the late Roger Ebert, and winner of Best Film at the Mainichi Film Awards, a unique insight into Japanese folk culture.

Thursday May 9th, 2013 at 7:30PM
ROSEMARY’S BABY
Multiple award winner, and considered to be one of the most haunting films of all time, Rosemary’s Baby tells the story of a pregnant woman who fears that her husband may have made a pact with their eccentric neighbors, believing he may have promised them the child to be used as a human sacrifice in their occult rituals in exchange for success in his acting career.

Saturday May 11th, 2013 at 7:30PM
HAROLD AND MAUDE
Chosen by the AFI as one of the top ten classic American comedies of all time, and considered a huge influence on the work of Wes Anderson and Jared Hess. Young, rich, and obsessed with death, Harold finds himself changed forever when he meets lively septuagenarian Maude at a funeral.

Thursday May 16th, 2013 at 7:30PM
DAYS OF HEAVEN
Cinematic Master and Aueteur, Terrence Mallick (director of Tree of Life and The Thin Red Line) won the Best Director award at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival for Days of Heaven. The film has since then been considered an American masterpiece, being called “one of the most beautiful films ever made”. Days of Heaven follows a hot-tempered farm laborer who convinces the woman he loves to marry their rich but dying boss so that they can have a claim to his fortune.

Saturday May 18th, 2013 at 7:30PM
VOLVER
On over 25 top ten of 2006 lists, and winner of Best Actress and Screenplay at Cannes, plus over 50 other awards worldwide, Volver comes from the masterful Pedro Almodovar. After her death, a mother mysteriously returns to her home town in order to fix the situations she couldn’t resolve during her life.

Thursday May 23rd, 2013 at 7:30PM
THE LIFE AQUATIC
From Acclaimed director Wes Anderson (Moonrise Kingdom, The Royal Tenenbaums, Rushmore, and Fantastic Mr. Fox) takes us on a dreamlike journey in this award winning film. With a plan to exact revenge on a mythical shark that killed his partner, oceanographer Steve Zissou rallies a crew that includes his estranged wife, a journalist, and a man who may or may not be his son.

Saturday May 25th, 2013 at 7:30PM
THE SEVENTH SEAL
Winner of the Special Jury Prize at Cannes, and ranked #8 in Empire Magazine’s “100 Best Films of World Cinema”, Ingmar Bergman’s most recognised films follows a man who seeks answers about life and death as he plays chess against the Grim Reaper during the Black Plague.

Thursday May 30th, 2013 at 7:30PM
CHUNGKING EXPRESS
From the critically acclaimed director of In the Mood for Love, Wong Kar Wai’s Chungking Express holds a 96% rating on rottentomatoes.com, and winner of 15 international awards. Two stories, two lovelorn cops, two objects of desire: one a big-time heroin dealer in deep trouble with her boss after the cargo disappears, the other a seriously flaky take-out waitress who inadvertently gets hold of the keys to her admirer’s apartment, all shot in a breathless kaleidoscope of color and hand-held camera work to create a mesmerizing portrait of Hong Kong in the 1990s.

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 film-making. Cinemagic movies are screened in the old Salmiya, on the roof on top of Alghanim Electronics and LG and there is no entrance fee. Here is a link to their Facebook group [Link]

A few months back I was sitting with the owner of Tag Heur and Patek Philippe in Kuwait and we were discussing watches when he asked me if I would be interested to cover Basel World for my blog. Basel World is the worlds largest watch expo which takes place every year and this year was going to be a bit more special since it would be the first Basel World held in the newly renovated exhibition building. I was also told I could cover any watch brand and not just their own brands so here I am at Basel World.

This is easily the largest expo I have ever been to. The exhibition building is huge and the booths, they’re not even booths they’re gigantic structures, like mini buildings inside a bigger building. I am not sure my pictures below do justice to the place since you really have to be here to see how huge these booths are. The exhibition building is three floors and each floor has a super high ceiling with super high brand booths occupying a ridiculous amount of space. I spent all day yesterday just walking around quickly trying to at least see everything quickly and I thought I had until after I left I was checking the Basel World App on my phone and I realized I missed two exhibition halls completely.

To be able to enter the booths you need to be invited in (like if you’re a watch collector or a VIP) or you need to be one of their dealers. Since I am in good contact with the dealers in Kuwait I am getting access to most of the brands I want to see except for a couple. Below is the list, if you can help get me access to the ones I am having trouble with let me know.

Hublot – Have access
Tag Heur – Have access
Patek Philippe – Have access
Chopard – Have access
Rolex – Working on access
Brietling – Working on access
Casio – No access (help needed)
Harry Winston – Have access
Omega – Working on access
Citizen – No access (help needed)

Gulf Consult in association with Atkins were engaged to develop a comprehensive detailed Local Plan for Kuwait City entitled ‘Kuwait City Urban Development 2030’. The Plan is to guide development for Kuwait City over the next 20 years to affirm its role as a national/international, financial/business and commercial centre.

Kuwait City is strategically located at the northern peak of the Metropolitan Area overlooking Kuwait Bay, surrounded by the sea to the north east and the 1st Ring Road to the south west. It covers an area of 1,200 hectares and is well connected to the rest of Kuwait through a series of arterial roads that transverse the 1st Ring Road.

The Local Plan proposes that the new development in the city be concentrated in four Action Areas: Sawaber; Mirqab West; Mirqab East and Qibla Commercial Area 1 and 2. The main development premise for these areas is to create mixed use sustainable developments which introduce new land uses into the city.

Also integral to the Plan is the integration of a Park and Open Space Strategy; Transport Strategy; and Utility upgrades and additions.

The Project was completed in six phases: Data Collection and Analysis; Detailed Planning and Traffic Studies; Planning Alternatives for Kuwait City; Detailed Local Plan; Detailed Zoning and Subdivision Plans; and Final Plans and Documents.

The area in question is around Al Tijaria Tower, opposite Al Shaheed Park. It’s currently occupied by old warehouses, an abandoned hospital, a grave yard, garages and tons of stores selling metal pots. The renderings look pretty but since this was just a study, we shouldn’t get our hopes up. More renderings and info [Here]

The weather this past week has been fantastic, it was sunny and the skies were a deep blue with very little wind. It’s really the best time for outdoor activities including jet skiing.

If you’ve never jet skied before it’s really very easy and not complicated at all. Jet ski has just two buttons and one leaver. The buttons are for starting and shutting down the engine while the lever is for accelerating. To slow down the jet ski you just let go of the lever. You don’t need to know how to balance a jet ski or anything of the sort, you just sit on it and pull the leaver and that’s pretty much it.

There are various locations on the Gulf Road where you can rent jet skis from and they all basically follow the same guidelines. You need to keep your Civil ID with them while the jet ski is out with you and you also have to sign a waiver/contract. Some locations offer lockers to put your stuff in others don’t. I would recommend you keep everything in the car anyway and then either leave your keys with them so they don’t get wet or get a small waterproof pouch to take with you. Some jet ski renters also give you a cheap Casio watch to wear so you know how much time you’ve been out for and when you need to be back by. Most also have a tap/shower to rinse off once you’re done.

The cost of renting a jet ski is KD10 for 30 minutes or KD15 for 1 hour. If you’re interested in renting one below are some Google Map links to various locations along the Gulf Road. If you’re planning to take pictures make sure your phone has a water poof case.

Location 1
Location 2
Location 3
Location 4

Kuwaiti author Saud Alsanousi won the 2013 International Prize for Arabic Fiction to become the youngest writer to win the prize. Saud won the prize for his story “The Bamboo Stalk” which is about a character called Issa who is a son of a Kuwaiti father and a Filipino mother.

On returning to his father’s homeland as an adult, Issa finds himself in a difficult position. Rather than the mythical country his mother has described to him, he discovers he is caught between the natural, biological ties he shares with his father’s family and the prejudices of a traditional society, which views a child of Kuwaiti-Filipino heritage as socially unacceptable. Skilfully constructed, The Bamboo Stalk is a story of great strength and depth which questions identity in modern society.

You can find out more about Saud and the prize by following this [Link]

I’ve had my eye on the Bang & Olufsen Beolit 12 for some time now and last week I finally decided to splurge and get it. The Beolit 12 is a portable speaker that can operate on battery or electricity. When I first got the Beolit I had buyers remorse but that feeling has since long gone.

Unlike most other portable speaker systems, the Beolit uses AirPlay instead of Bluetooth which can be a good or bad thing depending on your requirements. Setting it up for the first time took around 5 minutes and was a fairly simple process as long as you follow the instructions. A lot of people online have complained about the setup being too complicated but I have no idea why. All you need to do is download the Beolit app from the Apple App Store and then follow the on screen instructions.

The Beolit 12 looks ridiculously cool. It comes in four colors, two being fairly safe grey tones and the other two coming in either blue or yellow. Mine is the yellow model which I think looks the best. The Beolit 12 has a leather handle which makes the whole thing resemble a picnic basket but it also makes the Beolit easy to carry around while giving it a bit of a retro feel. I took the Beolit with me to the beach and also out tagging and in both occasions I thought the Beolit performed really well. On the beach the Beolit was loud sounding like a full fledged sound system. The Beolit pumps out 100w worth of power and at full blast the sound is just too loud for comfort when you’re close to it. A couple of days later I took the Beolit with me to an abandoned parking lot where I did some tagging and the Beolit was super loud again with music most likely being heard by people passing by on the outside. Even though the speaker is fairly small it still manages to pump out a decent amount of bass for its size.

When home, I keep the Beolit in my bedroom connected to electricity, turned on and connected to the wifi network. That way when I want to play music on the Beolit it’s available right away. If you don’t keep your Beolit on with wifi on then it will take around a minute for it to turn on and connect to the wifi network before you can stream music to it. According to B&O battery life is 8 hours unless you’re using AirPlay then its 4 hours. I had the Beolit on the beach for 3 hours playing music at 80% volume and battery was down to around 54% by then. So I guess at lower volumes it could last 8 hours and maybe even more.

I have two gripes about the device. The first night I had the Beolit on the table and when I tried to slide it towards me one of the rubber feet came off. I put it back on and it hasn’t fallen since but I informed the dealer and they told me to let them know if it falls off again. Hopefully it won’t. The second issue is the lack of Bluetooth. Although I love AirPlay at home when I’m out of the house I would rather stream music wirelessly to the Beolit and not have to use a USB cable.

Other than those two issues I really love the Beolit 12. It costs KD250 which is pretty pricy but there really isn’t any other portable unit that delivers the same sound quality while still looking this good.

Ecru is a local Kuwaiti homeware brand (yay! not cupcakes) that will be launching this week with a pop-up shop at Dar Al-Funoon. What I found interesting about them is that their prints are created manually. Basically the way their prints are created is an old fashioned technique where blocks are carved with the pattern and then the pattern is manually stamped onto the fabric. I did a bit of that as part of an art class back in university and I loved the technique because every time you stamped a pattern it was slightly different from the other.

Date: April 24th to April 30th 2013
Time: 10AM to 8PM
Location: Dar Al-Funoon

For more information you can visit the Ecru website [Here]